Passenger Cat Stevens Gets Plane Diverted

[RAGTOP]

I don't think the sentiment that we live in a very different time since 9/11 can be stressed enough. IU I applaud your convictions but our own soil is vulnerable to attack and every procaution not matter how extreme must be taken as long as the civil liberties of those LEGALLY here are not jeapodized. Just my opinion.

[buffettbride]

(and i do lots of volunteer work with immigrant kids or kids of immigrants in a neighborhood that has turned to 87% minority in 5 years from 40% and therefore am not a heartless b*tch, or clueless to the situation, as some may think)

All that, and you still find time to memorize 'Spaceballs'...

I'm all that AND a bag of chips, Frankie dear....

mmmm....chips

Throw in some cheese and you have yourself some NACHOS!

[rednekkPH]

(and i do lots of volunteer work with immigrant kids or kids of immigrants in a neighborhood that has turned to 87% minority in 5 years from 40% and therefore am not a heartless b*tch, or clueless to the situation, as some may think)

All that, and you still find time to memorize 'Spaceballs'...

I'm all that AND a bag of chips, Frankie dear....

mmmm....chips

Throw in some cheese and you have yourself some NACHOS!

Cheese? I like cheese!

[Melli_Fera]

(and i do lots of volunteer work with immigrant kids or kids of immigrants in a neighborhood that has turned to 87% minority in 5 years from 40% and therefore am not a heartless b*tch, or clueless to the situation, as some may think)

All that, and you still find time to memorize 'Spaceballs'...

I'm all that AND a bag of chips, Frankie dear....

mmmm....chips

Throw in some cheese and you have yourself some NACHOS!

Cheese? I like cheese!

Bring it on!

[buffettbride]

All that, and you still find time to memorize 'Spaceballs'...

I'm all that AND a bag of chips, Frankie dear....

mmmm....chips

Throw in some cheese and you have yourself some NACHOS!

Cheese? I like cheese!

Bring it on!

The cheese? The cheese? You can't handle the cheese!

[PHBeerman]

NOTE

Immigration is what has built this country. Closing our borders is not the answer.











However, I am all for randomly shooting all easterners who attempt to cross the mississippi

[Melli_Fera]

NOTE

Immigration is what has built this country. Closing our borders is not the answer.





However, I am all for randomly shooting all easterners who attempt to cross the mississippi

Agreed... but existing laws and protocols MUST be enforced, and because of the population situation here... laws and protocols must be re-evaluated....

[Jahfin]

A Small Kindness:
http://yusufislam.org.uk/sk

[Jahfin]

From ABC News:

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040922_1334.html

Singer Cat Stevens Has No Terrorist Ties

Singer Formerly Known As Cat Stevens to Be Deported; Brother Says He Has No Terrorist Ties

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Sept. 22, 2004 — Singer Cat Stevens, taken off a London-to-Washington flight because his name showed up on a government "no-fly" list, has no ties to suspected terrorists, his brother said Wednesday.
Stevens, who converted to Islam and changed his name to Yusuf Islam more than a quarter-century ago, recently made the watch list after U.S. authorities received information from multiple sources indicating he may have associations with potential terrorists, a government official said.

United Airlines Flight 919 was diverted to Bangor, Maine, on Tuesday afternoon after U.S. officials who checked the passenger list learned that the singer was aboard. Federal agents met the plane and interviewed Islam.

Islam's brother and business manager, David Gordon, said in a telephone interview that he could guarantee that Islam does not associate with possible terrorists.

"It's not true," Gordon said. "His only work, his only mind-set, is humanitarian causes. He just wants to be an ambassador for peace."

Gordon, who said he spoke by phone to Islam on Wednesday, said his brother was in good humor. "He's fine. It's an unfortunate incident, but on the other hand, people are worried and they want to feel secure when they're flying," Gordon said.

Airlines have access to watch lists and are supposed to screen passengers to make sure those deemed direct threats to aviation do not board planes. The official said it was unclear why United Airlines personnel allowed Islam to get on the flight in London.

A call to the airline was not immediately returned.

Homeland Security Department spokesman Dennis Murphy said Islam was "denied admission to the United States on national security grounds" and was expected to be sent back to London on Wednesday.

A second government official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said U.S. authorities think donations from Islam may have ended up helping to fund blind sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and Hamas, a Palestinian militant group considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel.

In July 2000, Islam was deported hours after arriving in Jerusalem. A local paper reported then that the government claimed he had delivered tens of thousands of dollars to Hamas during a visit in 1988. Islam denied ever knowingly supporting Islamic terrorists.

Islam has made a number of trips to the United States in recent years, including one in May for a charity event and to promote a DVD of his 1976 MajiKat tour. He donated half the royalties from his most recent boxed set to the Sept. 11 Fund to help victims of the attacks.

Islam, who was born Stephen Georgiou, took Cat Stevens as a stage name and had a string of hits in the 1960s and '70s, including "Wild World" and "Morning Has Broken." Last year he released two songs, including a re-recording of his '70s hit "Peace Train," to express his opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

He abandoned his music career in the late 1970s and changed his name after being persuaded by orthodox Muslim teachers that his lifestyle was forbidden by Islamic law. He later became a teacher and an advocate for his religion, founding a Muslim school in London in 1983.

Islam founded Islamia Primary school in London in 1983. In 1998, it became the first Muslim school in Britain to receive government support, on the same basis as Christian and other sectarian schools.

Islam drew some negative attention in the late 1980s when he supported the Ayatollah Khomeini's death sentence against Salman Rushdie, author of "The Satanic Verses."

Gordon denied that he had called for Rushdie's death. "They completely misunderstood what he said," he said.

Recently, Islam has criticized terrorist acts, including the Sept. 11 attacks and the school seizure in Beslan, Russia, earlier this month that left more than 300 dead, nearly half of them children.

In a statement on his Web site, he wrote, "Crimes against innocent bystanders taken hostage in any circumstance have no foundation whatsoever in the life of Islam and the model example of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him."

[SchoolGirlHeart]

A government official said on Wednesday that Stevens, who changed his name to Yusuf Islam, had recently been placed on the list after U.S. authorities received information indicating associations with potential terrorists, a government official said Wednesday.

---

The government official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said Islam was placed on a watch list after multiple intelligence sources in recent weeks indicated the peace activist may have associations with potential terrorists.

---

A second government official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said U.S. authorities think donations from Islam may have ended up helping to fund blind sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and Hamas, a Palestinian militant group considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... cabd4.html

I liked Cat Stevens' music, but I don't want Yusef Islam running around the U.S. .........

[Wino you know]

I liked some of his music back in the 1970's, and even bought a few of his records. (The song "Another Saturday Night" was the song that got me hooked on him before I knew who the late, great Sam Cooke was).

But he can take his PEACENIK and YUSEPH ISLAM crap and shove it where the sun doesn't shine and his mother doesn't wash.

[LIPH]

I liked some of his music back in the 1970's, and even bought a few of his records. (The song "Another Saturday Night" was the song that got me hooked on him before I knew who the late, great Sam Cooke was).

But he can take his PEACENIK and YUSEPH ISLAM crap and shove it where the sun doesn't shine and his mother doesn't wash.

Don't hold back now, tell us how you really feel.

[SchoolGirlHeart]

I just found out that a friend of mine was on the plane!!!

He didn't get back on the plane........ Instead, he drove from Maine to DC.........

[UAHparrothead]

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?

maybe cuz he's not a citizen? (is he? I don't know for sure)

it's unfortunate, but times like these, you have to be skeptical...and it's even more unfortunate that I think it's high time that the US examines it's immigration laws.... I don't know how to do it... but something inside me says if you aren't a citizen here, then you don't have an automatic RIGHT to come here.... it's sad to say....but I see no end to terrorism or war until the world re-evaluates this mass movement towards mass globalization.... we are NOT one big happy family that can be one big happy society.... the pressure to move that way is our biggest downfall....

What about refugees? Sudanese? Serbian/Bosnian? etc?

Our country has to keep our borders open to them.

And what about how much our national economy is dependant on foreign workers? Sorry... but if you like your standard of living, you better hope and pray we don't start limiting immigration to the U.S.

tell that to the poor soul who lost his/her job to outsourcing in India, China, Mexico, Taiwan, etc

[tommcat327]

They don't ask for hand-outs from our government because they don't understand the concept.

they sure understand it around here just fine.

[tommcat327]

NYC is fine, it's been Disney-fied.

REALLY?THATS STRANGE BECAUSE MOST OF MY FRIENDS WENT OUT THERE FOR THE 9/11 BIKE RIDE.2 OF THEM WERE STUCK INSIDE A BAR UNTIL THE GUN FIGHT OUTSIDE ENDED,AND ONE HAD HIS HARLEY STOLEN.VERY DISNEY

What part of NYC were they in?
I know it's hard to believe for people who remember what it used to be like here, but NYC has one of the lowest crime rates, maybe the lowest, of any big city in the US. I've been out walking in NY and riding the subway at all hours of the night and I've never had a problem. Or felt threatened.

not sure but another buddy who broke down left his bike at one of the firehouses that lost a bunch of guys on 9/11.they were really cool to him

[PHBeerman]

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?

maybe cuz he's not a citizen? (is he? I don't know for sure)

it's unfortunate, but times like these, you have to be skeptical...and it's even more unfortunate that I think it's high time that the US examines it's immigration laws.... I don't know how to do it... but something inside me says if you aren't a citizen here, then you don't have an automatic RIGHT to come here.... it's sad to say....but I see no end to terrorism or war until the world re-evaluates this mass movement towards mass globalization.... we are NOT one big happy family that can be one big happy society.... the pressure to move that way is our biggest downfall....

What about refugees? Sudanese? Serbian/Bosnian? etc?

Our country has to keep our borders open to them.

And what about how much our national economy is dependant on foreign workers? Sorry... but if you like your standard of living, you better hope and pray we don't start limiting immigration to the U.S.

tell that to the poor soul who lost his/her job to outsourcing in India, China, Mexico, Taiwan, etc

I had a job outsourced. I would say get another job.

[tommcat327]

In a statement on his Web site, he wrote, "Crimes against innocent bystanders taken hostage in any circumstance have no foundation whatsoever in the life of Islam and the model example of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him."

and if all muslims actually read the teachings of muhammad and followed them we wouldnt have things blowing up all over the world.however most of them seem to have read into the teachings a little too deep because they found where it says it is there duty to kill americans.

[dancelikeafool]

When my great-grandfather came here from Italy, he did all he could to integrate his family into the American culture (Italian wasn't allowed to be spoken in the home, only "British" as he called it) even when the government took him from his family during WWII to Montana because he was Italian (the Japanese were not the only ones to be put in detention camps). When he passed away back in the 1993 at the age of 104, he was disappointed with how this country had allowed itself to become a "mop" to everyone. I think he said once that foreigners lost respect for this country when we lost respect for it ourselves.
So many other countries have strict immigration laws (Ireland to name 1) because they are concerned with protecting their citizens. Why are we supposed to be the country who is taking all? Guilty conscience?

[dancelikeafool]

In a statement on his Web site, he wrote, "Crimes against innocent bystanders taken hostage in any circumstance have no foundation whatsoever in the life of Islam and the model example of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him."

and if all muslims actually read the teachings of muhammad and followed them we wouldnt have things blowing up all over the world.however most of them seem to have read into the teachings a little too deep because they found where it says it is there duty to kill americans.

this is true as well.....but it goes for Christians as well, look at Northern Ireland.