Passenger Cat Stevens Gets Plane Diverted

[msu#1]

I think so SGH! And why do they always divert to Maine? How do the people in Maine feel about that?

they divert to Maine because it's the closest U.S. airport.

Yep.. Gander, NFLD has a great airport, but you know those wacky Canadians and their hard-line stances on uninvited air visits...

As an aside, Gander is where 40-some (or was it 60-some?) U.S. and foreign aircraft landed on 9/11, when U.S. airports shut down. There are incredible stories of kindness on the part of Newfoundlanders. They opened shelters, opened their homes to elderly and pregnant passengers, cooked food, bought just about every cell phone available and handed them to passsengers (U.S. cell phones don't talk to Canadian towers), and generally took care of hundreds of stranded passengers. If someone hasn't already, someone should write a book about it.

Actually my phone works all the time when I go to Ontario

[Captain Morgan]

I think so SGH! And why do they always divert to Maine? How do the people in Maine feel about that?

they divert to Maine because it's the closest U.S. airport.

Yep.. Gander, NFLD has a great airport, but you know those wacky Canadians and their hard-line stances on uninvited air visits...

As an aside, Gander is where 40-some (or was it 60-some?) U.S. and foreign aircraft landed on 9/11, when U.S. airports shut down. There are incredible stories of kindness on the part of Newfoundlanders. They opened shelters, opened their homes to elderly and pregnant passengers, cooked food, bought just about every cell phone available and handed them to passsengers (U.S. cell phones don't talk to Canadian towers), and generally took care of hundreds of stranded passengers. If someone hasn't already, someone should write a book about it.

Actually my phone works all the time when I go to Ontario

As does mine

[RinglingRingling]

I think so SGH! And why do they always divert to Maine? How do the people in Maine feel about that?

they divert to Maine because it's the closest U.S. airport.

Yep.. Gander, NFLD has a great airport, but you know those wacky Canadians and their hard-line stances on uninvited air visits...

As an aside, Gander is where 40-some (or was it 60-some?) U.S. and foreign aircraft landed on 9/11, when U.S. airports shut down. There are incredible stories of kindness on the part of Newfoundlanders. They opened shelters, opened their homes to elderly and pregnant passengers, cooked food, bought just about every cell phone available and handed them to passsengers (U.S. cell phones don't talk to Canadian towers), and generally took care of hundreds of stranded passengers. If someone hasn't already, someone should write a book about it.

Actually my phone works all the time when I go to Ontario

As does mine

Mine probably would, if I had one, and wanted to waste good beer money on roaming and "overseas usage" charges. As it is, I prefer to head to Toronto, have a huge bacon cheeseburger combo at Apache Burger, Ride the Rocket, and hang out at City Centre Island. (as well as the Sky Dome, and The Bay).

You never have to make it east of Yonge if you don't want to...

[SchoolGirlHeart]

Actually my phone works all the time when I go to Ontario

As does mine

cool! I wonder if that's a new(er) thing, though.... Dual phase, triple phase, something or another..... I know my circa-2000 phone won't work at my sister's camp in northern Vermont, when it tries to talk to the nearest cell tower, in Canada.

[diamonddan]

Maybe Ted Nugent should do a new song....... CATCH CAT STEVENS

[Jahfin]

According to CMT.com, Cat/Yusef was on his way to Nashville to work on a new record.

http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/149130 ... id_0.jhtml

Cat Stevens Had Scheduled Nashville Session

The singer-songwriter formerly known as Cat Stevens was en route to a recording session in Nashville when authorities removed him from a flight from London to Washington for what the Homeland Security Department has termed as "national security grounds." The planned Nashville visit was confirmed to CMT.com by a reliable source within the music industry. A convert to Islam, Stevens changed his name to Yusuf Islam more than two decades ago. He was taken from a United Airlines flight after it was diverted to Bangor, Maine, on Tuesday (Sept. 21). He was denied entry into the U.S. after officials received information regarding his connections to potential terrorists. On the home page of his official Web site, the Web master posted a message stating, "He has vehemently and consistently criticized terrorist acts and has always advocated peace through his songs and his extensive humanitarian relief work. He has traveled many times to the U.S., most recently two months ago on a visit with his record company. Any suggestion therefore that he poses a security risk due to alleged connections with terrorist activities is totally denied as it is simply wrong."

[prthd4353]

An example of why the "no fly list" is a bit scary. TSA is also currently planning to order the airlines to turn over data on passengers to test their databases for the latest iteration of the "no-fly list".

My question is: In a country where one is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt (at least that is the theory...); how does one make the "no-fly list" when one's biggest threat is having spoken out against a government policy?

It's hard to prosecute hijackers who burn up in a plane crash.

well then the problem is solved, and judgement of their deeds is handled by a higher court, isn't it?

Theirs and hundreds or even thousands of others too. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that Yusuf Islam should be on the list, but a list like this should exist.

Im sure they dont just put you on the list for no reason, We have the best intelligence in the world im surethey haev their reasons.

[Fins in Low Places]

Im sure they dont just put you on the list for no reason, We have the best intelligence in the world im surethey haev their reasons.

It still takes people to take "intelligence", interpret it & make the decision to add someone's name. We may have the best "intelligence" gathering ability, but we have seen & continue to see what can happen when it is cherry-picked or exaggerated.

[Jahfin]

Cat Stevens Says He Was Profiling Victim

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- When he was yanked off a Washington-bound plane and sent home, the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens says he became the victim of an "unjust and arbitrary system" that is diminishing the United States' reputation as a defender of freedom.

In an opinion piece published in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times, Yusuf Islam said he and his 21-year-old daughter were on their way to Nashville last week to look into a music project when their flight from London was diverted to Bangor, Maine.

The captain told passengers "heavy traffic" was to blame, Islam said, but as soon as the plane touched the ground, a half-dozen uniformed men approached, asked his name and told him to come with them. He had turned up on a list of people suspected of having terrorist links.

"I was devastated," Islam wrote. "The unbelievable thing is that only two months earlier, I had been having meetings in Washington with top officials from the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to talk about my charity work.

"Had I changed that much? No. Actually, it's the indiscriminate procedure of profiling that's changed," Islam wrote. "I am a victim of an unjust and arbitrary system, hastily imposed, that serves only to belittle America's image as a defender of the civil liberties that so many dearly struggled and died for over the centuries."

Since he converted to Islam in 1977, he said, there have been repeated efforts to link him to violent causes and groups.

"I denounce all forms of terrorism and injustice; it is simply outrageous for anyone to suggest otherwise," he said, noting he has spoken out against the Sept. 11 attacks and the taking of hostages in Iraq.

He has largely shunned music in recent years, although he did record a new version of his 1971 hit "Peace Train" last year for the album "Hope," which raised money for Iraqi children. Others participating in the project were Paul McCartney, David Bowie and Avril Lavigne.

Islam told ABC in an interview to be broadcast Friday on "20/20" that he has been a frequent U.S. visitor in recent years.

He said in his opinion piece that he was trying to keep this visit low-profile "because of the speculation it might have raised in the music world about a return of `the Cat.'"

"Media attention was the last thing I wanted," he said. "But it seems God wanted otherwise."

[Dutch Harbor PH]

Wow. So many different opinons and ideas, thoughts and emotions, rational and irrational (and of course that's just my opinion!).

It seems that there is an isolationist tendency in some of our parottheads. My rememberance of history tells me that isolation doesn't work. It feels good (kinda like turning a cold sholder to the homeless guy on the corner....not MY problem) because you feel justified in not sticking your nose into someplace it dosn't belong. The truth is though, you will be drawn into whatever the frey is sooner or later. Often with cataclismic(sp?) results (remember Pearl Harbor anybody????). To bury ones head in the sand is not only silly looking, but downright dangerous and irresponsible (somebody could trip over your ass and get hurt...or you could get hurt trying to remove somebodies foot from your ass......). A better policy is one of being prepared and proactive (to not be, puts you in the position of reacting to something that is out of your control). The unfortunate truth is that the cost of freedomn IS eternal vigilance (kinda just rolls off the tounge....). While the words are easy to say, it is the act that is the difficult thing. Nobody likes difficult things, easy just feels better and requires little or no effort. Difficult requires effort and we as a society have taught ourselves that instant gratification is what counts, we have forgotten that things like prosperity and freedom take work and effort.

We live in a small world, that gets smaller every day.....face it. There is nothing that will change that. Adaptation to the way the world is now is the key to, not only survival but the ability to thrive. Like the old "Kung Fu" master said "Turn your weaknesses into strengths, Grasshopper" and " Use your opponents weight and power to your advantage, Grasshopper". If we fail to adapt we will fail to grow and survive. If we master adaptaion we can influence and (dare I say it...) control our world (well, at least to some degree....).

As the decendant of a former emmigrant (from the original emmigrant boat, the "Mayflower" on my fathers side, to my German speaking maternal grandmother) I certainly hope we never shut off the ability for foreigners to immigrate to this country. If you ask an immigrant why he wants in, the explaination generally has to do with Freedom and opportunity and having a future (these can also be classified as "Lack of Serious Oppression"....). We, as decendants of immigrants, either forget (or never had a memory of it) why our forebearers came here. And unless you are a native American, you either came here on a boat, a plane, a vehicle or on foot across the borders that you would like to have shut.

This does not mean that I beleive we should have an open border policy (remember, ya need to adapt to the changing conditions....). I beleive that we need to do a better job of screening immigrants, and encouraging those that are allowed to immigrate to becoming citizens and productive in our society. I think that in order to protect and preserve our freedom (and the hope of freedom for those who do not have it) we need to adapt to the changing world around us. Does this mean that we have to adapt our ideas about the security line at the airport? Yeah it does. Does it mean that I need to not give the officer a ration of crap when he asks to look through my bags or hand screen me? Hell yes. Is it going to to inconvience me? Better that than find out the screen process wasn't all that good at 30,000ft. Does it mean that there is a do not fly list? Yup it does.....Adapt to it........

Ok I'm done....Sorry for the rant .......got my juices stirred up....

I'm gonna go adapt a cheeseburger and a beer to the inside of my stomach......

[Key Lime Lee]

Im sure they dont just put you on the list for no reason, We have the best intelligence in the world im surethey haev their reasons.

Yeah, they did a crack job on the legitimacy of the WMD threat in Iraq...

You need to learn to view your own government with a more critical eye.

[captainjoe]

If we have learned and improved so much since 9/11, how did he get on the plane? Why can't people from other countries share in the American Dream? Our country is big enough to support the dreams of those who wish to dream it and those who wish to work for it. It is a sad state of affairs when people don't want to help out other people. Maybe this is one of the reasons why the rest of the world does not like us anymore. A few people here who have said that we need to take care of our own are very selfish. Why don't people look out for their fellow man anymore?

[tommcat327]

Im sure they dont just put you on the list for no reason, We have the best intelligence in the world im surethey haev their reasons.

Yeah, they did a crack job on the legitimacy of the WMD threat in Iraq...

You need to learn to view your own government with a more critical eye.

AND YOU SHOULD VIEW THE REST OF THE WORLD WITH AN EVEN MORE CRITICAL EYE.

[RAGTOP]

Im sure they dont just put you on the list for no reason, We have the best intelligence in the world im surethey haev their reasons.

Yeah, they did a crack job on the legitimacy of the WMD threat in Iraq...

You need to learn to view your own government with a more critical eye.

AND YOU SHOULD VIEW THE REST OF THE WORLD WITH AN EVEN MORE CRITICAL EYE.

well said Tom

[Jahfin]

Stevens to Receive Peace Prize in Rome

ROME (AP) -- The singer once known as Cat Stevens, now a peace activist whose name was on a U.S. list of people suspected of having terrorist links, will receive a peace prize from a foundation headed by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, organizers said Monday.

The singer, now named Yusuf Islam, is expected to attend the ceremony on Rome's Capitoline Hill on Wednesday, said Enzo Cursio, a spokesman for the Gorbachev Foundation. Islam will receive the award from Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni and Gorbachev, the spokesman said.

In September, the British musician was expelled from the United States after authorities diverted his London-to-Washington flight to Maine to remove him, saying he was suspected of ties to terrorism.

He says he was a victim of an "unjust and arbitrary system," and that he has denounced terrorism.

The "Man for Peace" award was being given to Islam "for his dedication to promote peace, the reconciliation of people and to condemn terrorism," said a press release by the Gorbachev Foundation and Rome's City Hall.

The ceremony Wednesday will mark the opening of the fifth reunion of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, a meeting organized every year in Rome by the Gorbachev Foundation. The reunion ends Friday.

Other recipients of the "Man for Peace" award include Italian actor-director Roberto Benigni, who won in

[captainjoe]

I liked Jay Leno's idea....

(tune of moonshadow)

I'm being followed by a sky marshall

Sky marshall, sky marshall....

That s*** is just funny!