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F R I D A Y , S E P T E M B E R 2 4 , 2 0 0 4Cat Stevens: Stop Laughingby Michael in New York on
9/24/2004 02:38:00 AMOkay, the story of Cat Stevens -- now known as Yusef Islam -- was afunny bit of filler. The one-time singer of "Peace Train" has at timesbeen reported to support the fatwa against Salman Rushdie (Islamlater said he was misquoted) and now the US accuses him ofdonating money to Hamas and other terrorist groups. So rightly orwrongly he's barred from the US. When he boards a flight headedhere, the plane is diverted to a US city, Islam is interviewed and sentback to the UK. Homeland folk try to blame the airline for letting himin; the airline says Islam's name wasn't on the lists they've beengiven to check. (It's the old problem of multiple spellings for namestranslated from a foreign tongue.)But what does this incident say about the safety of our airports andour screening of shadowy international terrorists? It says a lot andnone of it is good. We are trying to stop unknown individualspresumably donning false identities from getting into the US andcausing havoc. But we can't even spot Cat Stevens, a world-famousrock star and arguably the most famous Western convert to theIslamic faith of the last thirty years! He's basically the Bono of theIslamic faith and he's been active performing music and being in thepublic eye quite a lot in the last five or so years, especially after 9-11.If we can't even catch him before he enters the country, how can wepossibly expect to catch people who aren't world famous and writtenabout regularly in People magazine?Feel safer now?P.S. Note to Homeland head Tom Ridge: Osama Bin Laden is alsosometimes spelled Usama. You might want to check for that nametoo on flight lists. Just a thought.
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www.TheGodMovie.comAds by Google AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Cat St...http://www.americablog.com/2004/09/cat-stevens-stop-laughing...
1 of 64/6/09 9:54 PM
9/24/2004 02:38:00 AMOkay, the story of Cat Stevens -- now known as Yusef Islam -- was afunny bit of filler. The one-time singer of "Peace Train" has at timesbeen reported to support the fatwa against Salman Rushdie (Islamlater said he was misquoted) and now the US accuses him ofdonating money to Hamas and other terrorist groups. So rightly orwrongly he's barred from the US. When he boards a flight headedhere, the plane is diverted to a US city, Islam is interviewed and sentback to the UK. Homeland folk try to blame the airline for letting himin; the airline says Islam's name wasn't on the lists they've beengiven to check. (It's the old problem of multiple spellings for namestranslated from a foreign tongue.)But what does this incident say about the safety of our airports andour screening of shadowy international terrorists? It says a lot andnone of it is good. We are trying to stop unknown individualspresumably donning false identities from getting into the US andcausing havoc. But we can't even spot Cat Stevens, a world-famousrock star and arguably the most famous Western convert to theIslamic faith of the last thirty years! He's basically the Bono of theIslamic faith and he's been active performing music and being in thepublic eye quite a lot in the last five or so years, especially after 9-11.If we can't even catch him before he enters the country, how can wepossibly expect to catch people who aren't world famous and writtenabout regularly in People magazine?Feel safer now?P.S. Note to Homeland head Tom Ridge: Osama Bin Laden is alsosometimes spelled Usama. You might want to check for that nametoo on flight lists. Just a thought.
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Logged in as AnonymousUser
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HuffPost PoliticsAllison Kilkenny: Obama, Nukes, and the World -President Obama has seized upon North Korea'smissile launch to talk about a new approach tonuclear disarmament. Most people agree with theswell commonplac...22 minutes agoDaily Kos"Difference isn't a threat" - Dave Neiwert, theblogosphere's leading expert on the eliminationistmovement, has a typically excellent post about theweekend's tragic shooting at Croo...25 minutes agoCrooks and LiarsNCAA Basketball Open Thread - Satire from TheOnion. Yeah, yer brackets are in the toilet. Openthread for the NCAA Championship game, a regularopen thread appears at 8:30 Pacific Ti...47 minutes agoEschatonMonday Night Thread - I wonder if Peter will dosomething stupid on Heroes tonight.1 hour agoFiredoglakeFDL Movie Night Welcomes John Holowach: High:The True Tale of American Marijuana - Last month,Attorney General Eric Holder said the federalgovernment would stop raiding marijuanadistributors in states where it is legal. But lastweek H...1 hour agoJ O H N ' S P H OT O S
Show All
The Geneva IO-MBAA unique MBA focused on IOs & NGOsCome find out more for yourself!www.iomba.chWant A Job At The UN?Gain Volunteer Experience Abroad 10,000+Past Volunteers. Apply Now!www.Volunteer.org.nz/UNJobHow to make electricity ?Don't pay for electricity, when you cansimply make your own at home.MakingHomeEnergy.com
www.TheGodMovie.comAds by Google AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Cat St...http://www.americablog.com/2004/09/cat-stevens-stop-laughing...
1 of 64/6/09 9:54 PM