Fly those friendly skies?
Only if you’re not on the no-fly list. And watch out for those dangerous elderly nuns. Article from Salon (fee)
A spokesman for the new Transportation Security Administration has acknowledged for the first time that the government has a list of about 1,000 people who are deemed “threats to aviation” and not allowed on airplanes under any circumstances.
And in an interview with Salon, the official suggested that [some] political activists may be on a separate list that subjects them to strict scrutiny but allows them to fly. “We have a list of about 1,000 people,” said David Steigman, the TSA spokesman. The agency was created a year ago by Congress to handle transportation safety during the war on terror. “This list is composed of names that are provided to us by various government organizations like the FBI, CIA and INS We don’t ask how they decide who to list. Each agency decides on its own who is a ‘threat to aviation.'”
The agency has no guidelines to determine who gets on the list, Steigman says, and no procedures for getting off the list if someone is wrongfully on it. Meanwhile, airport security personnel, citing lists that are provided by the agency and that appear to be on airline ticketing and check-in computers, seem to be netting mostly priests, elderly nuns, Green Party campaign operatives, left-wing journalists, right-wing activists and people affiliated with Arab or Arab-American groups. Via ProRev.
Hmm, Am I, as an active Green, on on the list. Will you be next? This is getting crazy.