Protesters Detained in Milwaukee; Matthew Rothschild, The Progressive
If you're a peace activist, non-U.S. citizen, or just have a "foreign-sounding" last name, you could find yourself missing a flight, reports Matthew Rothschild of The Progressive. Rothschild examines a disturbing case in which several Milwaukee activists from Peace Action missed their flight because their names turned up on the "No Fly List," an intelligence agency compilation that supports recent fears about a return to McCarthyism. The creepiest aspect of the list is not the individual cases of mistaken identity or computer errors; it is the deliberate secrecy and silence surrounding its origins and the methods for selecting names. As Paul Turk, a spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration, puts it, "The list is a compilation from intelligence agencies and is shared with the airlines. But as to how you get on it, or how it's maintained, or who maintains it, I can't help you with that."
--Madeleine Baran
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