Kat Stevens Update

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From Time via discourse.net:

“The Yusuf Islam incident earlier this week, in which the former Cat Stevens was denied entry into the U.S. when federal officials determined he was on the government’s “no-fly” antiterror list, started with a simple spelling error. According to aviation sources with access to the list, there is no Yusuf Islam on the no-fly registry, though there is a “Youssouf Islam.” The incorrect name was added to the register this summer, but because Islam’s name is spelled “Yusuf” on his British passport, he was allowed to board a plane in London bound for the U.S. “

Gosh, that’s reassuring. I mean, I always figured that there would be issues with various spellings of names originally written in a different alphabet, and in a language that includes a consonant (‘ayn) that sounds as though the speaker is trying to jump-start a motorcycle in his or her throat, but I would have hoped that we might get the spelling right when dealing with a famous ex-pop star from Britain who helpfully maintains a website called YusufIslam.org.

But hey, at least we’re keeping some people from flying. From the Time article: “Still, the TSA is learning. It recently acknowledged that a Federal Air Marshall, unable to fly for weeks when his name was mistakenly put on the “no-fly” list, was in fact not a threat, and removed his name from the list.”

8 thoughts on “Kat Stevens Update”

  1. It’s rampant incompentency on such a colossal scale that makes me wonder about ever giving the government power again…

  2. From that Time story, it’s hard to tell what the heck is even supposed to be going on, not to mention what actually is going on. It could be that:
    1. The “Youssouf Islam” on the list was supposed to be Kat Stevens, and the error was that he was allowed on the plane
    2. The “Youssouf Islam” on the list was supposed to be some other guy, and the error was that they deported Kat Stevens
    3. Some combination of the above (perhaps the other guy is also known as Yusuf Islam)
    I think the funniest take on it so far comes from Matt Yglesias.

  4. Names are funny. I don’t know who “Kat Stevens” is, myself. (Though I have no trouble believing it’s supposed to refer to some entirely other person, who has a who different set of associations and history.)
    I know a guy who wrote all these songs, and went on to be Yusuf Islam. don’t associate him with “Kat Stevens,” though. Ask me the question fresh, and that’s what I’d say, with no disenguousness. “Do you know a ‘Kat Stevens’ associated with Islam” “nope,” I’d say. Ask me about Cat Stevens, and you’d get a whole different answer from me.
    My making the connection would be iffy, and depend upon an actual connection being made between the two.
    I bet the federal computer system has more Asperbergers’ syndrome than I do.

  5. Basically, I have tons of info filed in my head under “Cat Stevents.” None under “Kat Stevens.” It’s unclear to me why I should associate famouse guy A with “who?” B.

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