Uh, yeah. There are many stories of people who are on the no fly list mistakenly; and also of the feds being overly intrusive in collecting information.
This makes the recent cluster-fuck of a guy with drug resistant TB getting on a plane and flying around a bit…ironic. Since both airlines and the WHO were notified, and he was on a no-fly list.
The TB case itself is really interesting, and may serve to increase awareness of this as a continuing issue. Here in the US we tend to be a bit too relaxed about infectious disease. Amazingly, the WHO says nearly 1/3 of the world’s population is infected with TB.
If they can’t control this disease, and the bacteria continue to evolve resistance to drugs, we may be back in the days of the sanatoriums again. (You did know that’s why it’s illegal to spit in public most places, right? Oh, and this paper seems to suggest LazyBoy recliners may be related as well. How’s that for your daily trivia!)
EDITED TO ADD: GrrrlScientist has a great rant about how selfish this guy was to travel around, and also more info on TB.
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This is a bit off topic, but for a good cause. Could you spread it around like an antibiotic resistant contagion? The good people of Colorado will thank you.
http://dysfunctionalanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/05/saving-southern-colorado.html
Oh, and the Colorado Springs campus of the CU system used to be a TB ward.
The problem is, they ONLY have the name on the list. No other identifying information is kept. So if there’s a “Bob Roberts” on the no-fly list, then NO ONE IN THE COUNTRY whose name is Bob Roberts can fly.
The TSA says that setting up a database with more than that would be technologically unfeasible. Then explain how I can have up to 100,000 contacts, with personal information, INCLUDING pictures, on my CELL PHONE???
Remember: they’re from the government, and they’re here to help…
Shane!! Good to hear from you.