geoswan's Journal: 80,000 American terrorism suspects on the no-fly list

I just learned there are 80,000 American terrorism suspects on the no-fly list.

I already knew about Ted Kennedy making the list. He had to personally button-hole Tom Ridge in order to get removed. But I didn't know about the Congressman, or the four year-old kid.

I don't think there is any question that the list shows clear evidence of being very carelessly composed.

The questions it raises for me are (1) what does the surprisingly long length of the no-fly list imply about the number of Americans on President Bush's warrantless wiretap list? (2) Given that the warrantless wiretap list was even more secret than the no-fly list, and was designed so it would never be subject to independent audit, how much care was put into its composition? (3) Could 80,000 Americans have been subjected to warrantless wiretaps?

Just 80,000?

[Concern]

I'll be very surprised if the number of Americans who've been spied on without a warrant is that small.

The feds have for years run a program mandating that telecom equipment used here must allow a significant and steadily increasnig percentage of calls to be monitored and potentially recorded simultaneously. It's called CALEA. I forget what we're at now; up to 5% maybe? Can't find the link a the moment.

There's a faction of law enforcement culture in this country that simply does not believe in constitutiona

Re:Just 80,000?

[eglamkowski]

I've always hated using telephones anyways and have avoided it like the plague. Talk to me in person, why don't ya? Damn it. Phone is neither too personal, nor too impersonal. It's completely sucky - communication needs to be either complete personal or completely impersonal, not this crappy middle ground that the phone provides.

Re:Just 80,000?

[NeMon'ess]

It would take rather unexpected circumstances for me to find myself in Georgia anytime soon. If you're ever travelling to the Bay Area though with a free lunchtime available, I think it would be interesting to meet you.

Re:Just 80,000?

[eglamkowski]

I'm not much keen on California - it's one of only two states in the USA I have no desire to go to (the other being Utah). Though I have been there - twice. Once to LA the other to San Jose. Bleh.

Ask TechnoLust - I'm actually a boring person in-person. Although it's rare I can find anyone with whom I can discuss face-to-face such things as politics and philosophy and religion. I loved being in college for that reason - it was easy to find people to talk to. Now it's much harder. Such people aren't we

Re:Just 80,000?

[SimianOverlord]

Damn right. Pauses on the telephone are always awkward, pauses in conversation in the real world don't matter a jot. Talking on the phone just encourages people to blather any old rubbish that comes into their head to fill the space.