IS SO! IS NOT!
OK boys, zip it up.
On the one hand, there is subtantial evidence that there may be some sort of list or lists being used to bar activists from certain travel, especially at borders.
On the other hand, there is a lot of really sloppy reporting and there are many dubious claims being circulated. The Oden story is especially suspect given her obvious sense of privilege and entitlement, which does not work well with security guards. Duh!
It is not clear if these lists are federal or private or both. While the Regional Information Sharing System or the FBI might be involved, there is NOT ONE SHRED of journalistic-grade much less court-grade evidence that has been produced to verify the nature of this type of repression.
Still, a number of credible activists have reported being stopped over a period of months. Several civil liberties groups are conducting research and compiling incident reports to see if there is a pattern.
Let's wait for more evidence before definitive claims get cemented into place.
:-)
-Chip Berlet
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Doug Henwood
> Sent: Monday, November 18, 2002 4:55 PM
> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: GROUNDED: The Feds DO maintain an air travel
> blacklist
>
>
> Michael Pugliese forwarded:
>
> > Your recycling of the Salon.com article on the No-Fly list
without
> > any further checking is typical of the way this incident has
been
> > broadcast without any attempt to ascertain the reality.
Salon.com
> > has made substantial corrections in this sloppy article that
you
> > re-posted, the main point of which seems to be an attack on
the
> > skeptical Greens who did not buy Nancy Oden's story of being
> > spotted on a computer list of Green Party activists.
> Recently there
>
> Turns out you can view Salon Premium for free if you sit through
four
> screens of Mercedes ads. Here is the correction. These don't
strike
> me as "substantial." And in one of the three cases, the error was
an
> understatement.
>
> Doug
>
> ----
>
> >"Grounded", a story published on Nov. 15, incorrectly reported
that
> >attorney Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional
Rights
> >was attempting to board a JetBlue flight when she was stopped and
> >strip-searched earlier this year. In fact, when she flew out of
> >Newark, she was not taking JetBlue. The story also reported
> >incorrectly that Green Party activist Doug Stuber, after being
> >stopped from taking his planned flight from Raleigh-Durham, N.C.,
to
> >Hamburg last month by U.S. Secret Service agents, was able to fly
to
> >his destination on a later flight. In fact, after trying for two
> >days at various airports, Stuber found he was barred from
boarding
> >any flight and missed his business trip. The story also described
> >Peace Action as a Roman Catholic organization. In fact, it is not
> >affliated with any religious group. The story has been corrected.
> >Salon regrets the errors.
> >[Correction made 11/15/02]
>