well, most 4 r olds are terrors anyways

[Guest guest]

Name of four-year-old boy shows up on government 'no-fly' list

05/01/2006 8:07:00 PM

 

HOUSTON (AP) - Edward Allen's reaction to being on the government's

" no-fly " list should have been the tip-off that he is no terrorist.

 

 

" I don't want to be on the list. I want to fly and see my grandma, " the

4-year-old boy said, according to his mother. Sijollie Allen and her

son had trouble boarding planes last month because someone with the

same name as Edward is on a government terrorist watch list.

" Is this a joke? " Allen recalled telling Continental Airlines agents

Dec. 21 at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport. " You can tell he's

not a terrorist. "

 

She said it took several minutes of pleading and a phone call by the

ticket agent to get on the plane to New York.

 

Allen, a Jamaican immigrant, said workers at La Guardia Airport were

even more hard-nosed before their Dec. 26 flight home. She said a

ticket agent told her: " You're lucky that we're letting you through

instead of putting you through the other process. "

 

The Transportation Security Administration's " no-fly " list was

established immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to prevent

people who may have terrorist ties from boarding commercial flights.

 

" I know the government is trying to protect because of the terrorist

attacks, but common sense should play a role in it, " Allen said. " I

don't think he should go through the trouble of being harassed and

hindered. "

 

TSA regional spokeswoman Carrie Harmon said the agency tells airlines

not to deny boarding to children under 12 or select them for extra

security checks even if their names match ones on the list.

 

" We do not require ID for children because there are no children on the

list, " Harmon said. " If it's a child, ticket agents have the authority

to immediately de-select them. "

 

Continental spokesman Dave Messing said Thursday that the airline would

not discuss its security policies.

 

Other people with common names who have encountered " no-fly " list

problems at airports include Representative John Lewis (D-Ga.) and

actor David Nelson from The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Senator

Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has said he had to make several calls to

federal officials before his name was separated from the one on the

list.

 

 

1000 miles of endless screams, where all the dead heroes lay

I've got the choice to set my knife, I've got the courage to set my life

I've got the day I'll pick to die. Gotta hate someone, I don't know why

I'll fight for a better way, be a dead hero for the U.S.A.