Watch what you say

From an editorial in the Calgary Herald:

No-fly list - Re: "Canada to launch no-fly list in spring," Jan. 14.

My name is on that international list, and I'm not a Muslim terrorist or an Irish Republican. Every time I attempt to check in for an international flight (which I do frequently), I'm challenged and made to feel like a criminal until I get clearance.

At the moment, my visa to enter Australia is held up while the consulate checks me out.

(The Calgary Herald is my hometown newspaper).

Overall, sounds like a pretty typical story: Innocent person's name ends up on some no-fly list or international "watch list" and gets hassled every time he tries to board a flight.

No doubt there is a scoundrel out there by the name of James McLaughlin, but if the data base were to include other details such as date of birth, passport number or other unique identifiers, surely they could identify me as the harmless wimp I've worked so hard to be.

James McLaughlin... Hey, that's my name! (James is my first name). The guy who wrote that editorial is my Dad, and since we have the same name, I'm on the list too. My Dad has joked before about my CIA file, since I started writing politically-oriented stuff on this blog. But seriously, I have this feeling that the "scoundrel out there" is probably me.

Isn't it coincidental that I/we have ended up on this list since I've started publishing stuff here? I was put through extra scrutiny the last time I went to the States, though the Virgin checkin clerk wouldn't say exactly why; Just that I'm "on a list". I can't do online checkin any more either. It couldn't be that having occasionally-contrarian political opinions gets you on a watch list, could it?

Sure it could:

Meet Professor Walter F. Murphy, emeritus of Princeton University. He's a former Marine, with five years of active service and 19 years in the reserve, and a legal critic of Roe vs Wade and supporter of the Alito confirmation. He's also on the Terrorist No-Fly List:

"I presented my credentials from the Marine Corps to a very polite clerk for American Airlines. One of the two people to whom I talked asked a question and offered a frightening comment: "Have you been in any peace marches? We ban a lot of people from flying because of that." I explained that I had not so marched but had, in September, 2006, given a lecture at Princeton, televised and put on the Web, highly critical of George Bush for his many violations of the Constitution. "That'll do it," the man said."

I guess we all have to be careful what we say. Particularly if we're not American citizens.

I leave tomorrow morning to spend the week in California, for work. Those INS cats at SFO in San Francisco are a joy at the best of times. Wish me luck.