Nothing new, just like the airplane purchased to support terrorism, it's being used by Mueller for personal use is even more uncontrollable. His excuse, it's for terrorism speeches, for his security and for the moral of the bureau personnel. Since when????

It's getting a little ridiculous. My husband can no longer check in early for flights to avoid long lines due to his name being similiar to a suspected terrorist. And it's not even "foreign"--it's a very common first and last name.

You people wanted a police state? Looks like you finally got one.

Who cares about the inconvenience. I can barely sleep at night as it is. I am not paranoid by any means....I am a normal 31 year old female in DC and I am glad they even have a list no matter how long it is..... I believe the list just needs to evolve with the times and more man power is needed to do it. Its because of these liberals that believe we are sitting pretty and doin just fine shaking our hands with the enemies that this kind of stuff is getting news. Do you care or dont you that we are sitting ducks?

Unfortunately it looks as if we are going to have to start profiling. I don't want to here that that is against persons rights. It is different times we live in and if we are going to survive, then we must do what we must do.

Jeez becca, quit watching Fox News and all the Bush propaganda and get a grip.

9/11 was caused by a small group of people. Instead of trying to bring those people to justice, our neo-fascist government used this as an excuse to expand their military corporate welfare system. Osama? According to our President, he's irrelevant.

The War on Terror, Afghanistan and Iraq have nothing to do with real threats to Americans. They are a way to expand the neo-fascist corporate/military alliance in this country.

If a criminal you know kills a member of your family, should the police ignore that person and arrest a person they don't like in another part of the country. That is the equivalent of the War on Terror. This crooked administration ignores the perpetrators of the crimes and goes on expensive expeditions to destroy political enemies who won't tow their extremist political line.

One can guess that the FBI Terrorist Watch List, like the Homeland Security list, includes such "terrorists" as gays, anti-Bush demonstrators, and anybody else that doesn't fit the acceptable right-wing NEOCON, evangelical profile. George Orwell's 1984 has DickNBush pegged right - it was just a bit ahead of its time.

It's a sad day when people can justify ratial profiling and the removal of freedom because of their own paranoid fears, which are in large part supported by our government. This country needs to wake up and realize that small bands of middle-easterners armed with a little more than rocks and sticks pose no threat to our way of life. It is the fear that cripples us, not these pathitically weak individuals.

becca said, "Its because of these liberals that believe we are sitting pretty and doin just fine shaking our hands with the enemies that this kind of stuff is getting news."

You mean there's 509,000 'enemies' right now waiting to kill us all? And they're all on that 'list', eh? Wow, thanks for the update. I hope I don't accidentally meet, and then 'shake hands' with, one of the 509,000 people on the list. Because, who wants to shake hands with the 'enemy'? Are you on the list becca? Have you even checked yet? There are bound to be a few dozen 'beccas' on there. Please find out if you have been deemed 'the enemy', and if so, kindly report back to us.

Becca:

Get a grip.

The terrorists have done nothing to this country compared to what this government has done. You are fearing the wrong people- turn off Faux News.

A friend of mine got put on this list because she is associated with a peace group. There's something ironic about that. And not the funny kind of irony. I want my country back.

I am still awaiting the extradition of the organisers of Noraid who provided weapons and money to the IRA. Who then went on to murder just as many British civilians as those who died on 9/11.

Oh wait a minute that was good terrorism wasn't it?

This is the Dawn of the American Gulag...

First it starts with a 'list' that rapidly gets larger and larger with no controls...and the original purpose of the list becomes muted and then fades away as the true design becomes clear: as a tool for identifying and repressing potential dissidents to the increasingly authoritarian rule...America is, right now, not anything close to a democracy, nor a representative republic, it is a modern feudalistic state, fueled by corruption on virtually every side, and a drunk with power out-of-control vice-president and a stupid, stubborn, ignorant man who believes he has the Divine Right of Kings as president.

Who actually said it was only for terrorists? More likely the list also includes those persons who are thought to be a threat to the government.

The THREAT of an attack on "The Homeland" (how fascist does that sound) is causing far more damage to our country than an actual attack could.

We lost most of an entire city recently and life went on.

One thing to consider is: if our nation is truly in danger from foreign terrorists, why would our so called President want to allow more than 12 million illegal aliens some of which could be terrorists to remain here? If the danger truly existed our border would be closed so tight a mosquito couldn't get through.

Remember that for every name on the list there are at least 10 other people with the same or similar name. Also, there is no office set up to review the list and delete the names of those who are killed, captured or cleared. The list can only grow until it chokes its own usefulness.

Reminds me that FL CPS put a couple on the child abuser list, because of "kidding around" about their child.....who happened to actually be a pet racoon.

No amount of persuasion could get FL to take their names off the list.

Government seems to always find a way to demonstrate their stupidity.

Half a million? Half? Hell, we had twice that many 40 years ago. They must mean that they got half a million snitches, I mean neighbors, watching you to make sure you're not a witch, or a terrorist.

This list is nothing more than such dangerous folks as vegans, Quakers, Democrats, Green party, anyone who ever signed a petition disagreeing with the RNC/Bush/Cheney, or who were picked by security screeners to get their bonus for each name contributed. Note to those afraid of terrorists: They're running the government. Duh!

That sitting duck thing had to have been posted by some college student looking for a laugh, right? Let's put everyone on the list and then we will be really safe, right? Nobody is that stupid, not even Bush.

We are only sitting ducks if we sit there quacking like ducks

Becca, I feel sorry for you and people like you. Living in fear is no way to live. When all americans are on the watch list, will you feel better and sleep at night?

These people with "rocks and sticks" easily managed to destroy the two largest buildings in New York City and heavily damage the largest building in Washington D.C.

Some of you are even saying that losing a New Orleans-sized city every few years is an acceptable loss.

We have to rely on our Government to do everything it can to protect us no matter who is in office. Our enemies aren't attacking Bush, neo-cons, or Faux News...they are attacking western civilization in America, Britain, Spain, Russia, etc...

On The Closer the other night, an FBI agent (trying to intimidate her, the fool) tells Brenda that the victim whose murder she's investigating was on their watch list. She dismissively says, "Cat Stevens is on the list," and ignores him.

Here's an idea for a TV reality show, "The 509,000 Most Wanted." Think what a long run that could have.

Leave Becca alone, she's right, the list does need to be updated, that much is obvious, but for you others, this is just another opportunity to bash the Bush Administration. How many were on the list when the Clinton was in office? Oh, sorry, we didn't complain about that then, we were too busy concerned about his "other" activities.

DEAR AMERICANS
I READ MOST OF YOUR COMMENTS.THANK GOD YOU MOSTLY ARE SMART/COURAGE TO FIND THE TRUTH AND EXPERSS IT.I HAVE BEEN IN "US" FOR MORE THAN 8 YEARS. WIFE/KIDS MORE THAN 5 YEARS.ACCEPTED AS POLITICAL ASYLEE.
NOW APPARENTLY I'M IN ONE THESES LISTS!!!! BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN HOLDING MY "CHANGE OF STATUES" IN THE DEPT. OF HOMELAND....
DO YOU SEE THE CONTRADICTION!!!
ACCEPTED AS A POLITICAL ASYLEE. NOW I'M IN THE BAD PEOPLE LIST!!!
THE ONLY LOGICAL REASONS COMES TO MY MIND IS :a- I DID NOT CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY B-MY FACE/RELIGION
NOW ME/FAMILY ARE PAYING FOR NEW DEMOCRACI.
I HAVE HAD THE LEAST CHANCE TO GET A GOOD JOB.
MY WIFE APPLIED SEVERAL TIMES IN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS TO GET A JOB. NO WAY!
MY KIDS AT THE SCHOOL HAD BEEN TEASED AND HARASSED BY SOME KIDS AND SOME STUPID TEACHERS IN SEVERAL OCCASIONS!
NO WAY TO GET CREDIT CARD.
NO WAY TO GET MORTGAGE AND BUY A HOUSE
IF THIS HAPPENS IN SOME OTHER PART OF THE WORLD EVRY BODY CRYS OUT IN HERE BUT WHAT ABOUT HERE!

@zoraker

In the 9/11 hijackings, the 'weapons' used to take over the plains were of all things, BOXCUTTERS. These people have virtually no sophistication. As a result, hundreds of thousands of terror plots were foiled before 9/11 occured. The problem is that people vastly overrate the threat. The fact that this country's security has been greatly improved is certainly a wonderful thing, but make no mistake, the blunders that actually led to 9/11 occuring are a once in a lifetime event. It is such a shame that this administration drives everyone to be so paranoid.

My sister who is a quaker, is on the no fly list, seemingly because she is a quaker. She has never even demonstrated against the liars in government. I haven't tried to fly recently but for all I know I am on it too, for the same reason. The FBI cannot keep track of 500,000 people what the fools running the organization need to do is decide who is really a threat and deal with them intensively, watch them. But deciding people should be on the list, seemingly because.... without a reason is stupid beyond belief. When our fearful president says I don't think about Bin Laden much anymore I know he is not keeping an eye on the threats. He is just a talker. All hat and no cattle. I don't understand how faux actually manages to sell him as anything but asnake oil salesman.

509,000??? That too funny!

Recently they couldn't stop one guy that flew all over the place and re entered from Canada after talking to border security (loosely translated term). I'm afraid to ask just how stupid can it get. I don't want to know.

Making a list and not checking it twice even Santa Claus does that. Controling the population is a big job.

Hey...does anyone know what happened to that airliner that up and vanished a year or two ago? Wern't we concerned terrorists could have gotten ahold of it?

What's the problem?? Everyone has voted for the Patriot Act. Everything in this article is in line with the Patriot Act which has been accepted by everyone!! Again, what seems to be the problem?? Get a life you all!!

Has everyone forgotten the infamous 'felon' list employed by Jeb Bush in the 2000 election? That was just about 100,000 names long, and this federal list is only 4x longer.

The terrorists hate us for our freedoms, so Bush is doing us a great service by removing all of them. Pre-emptive strike on the Constitution, and all that.

The terrorists hate us for our freedoms, so Bush is doing us a great service by removing all of them. Pre-emptive strike on the Constitution, and all that - indeed, the US should go further and chip and barcode all americans - imagine without the scan no one will be allowed to go anywhere, the terrorists won't go anywhere cause they won't be chipped! hey presto - america is safe
BUT - IS THE WORLD SAFE FROM AMERICA?

Is Ted Kennedy still on the no-fly list?

These lists are a sick joke.

It is scary that some people in here are actually supporting this fascist takeover of our rights.

You people make me sick.

Hey NewLeft,

By the way, everyone voted for the Patriot Act except for B. Boxer & T. Kennedy. Do a little math and you will realize that that's 2 out of 100.

That's it. After a decade in the US, I am outta here before they try to stop us leaving. And I taking ALL my cash and assetts with me. America is not the same country I knew.

Hey tom3,

We make you sick?????
Why don't you answer these questions:

- Did we pass the Patriot Act in '01?
- YES.

- Did anyone raise a word against the war in Iraq in '03?
- NO.

- Did we re-elect George W. Bush in '04?
- YES.

Again, I have only one question. Considering the answers to the questions above, WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE PROBLEM NOW??

That's quite an impressive list of dissidents and subversives. Not a bad start. Should have everyone on there in a few years!!

BTW, to those who've said they want to leave the US before it's too late ... I hope you already have your passports. You won't be able to leave without one. And if you're on the list already, it wouldn't help anyway.

What it's coming down to: Martial law or military coup?

I would like to know how many on the list are american citizens

They had to get a useless, 500,000+ and growing list. What bureaucrat, hell what human, would want to be the one who failed to put a person on the list who later commits a terrorist act? A well-run program would simply make special ID cards easily obtainable for the innocent. Yes some people will be inconvenienced once, but I really doubt that many will complain if it is only once. What I do find disturbing, however is the little noticed story that many of the potential terroists our "intellegence" services believe to be most dangerous are not being put on the no-fly lists, because these competency-challenged bozos fear it may expose that we know about them. This reasoning boggles the mind. Phrank

509,000 - dang! Those guys in Guantanamo gotta be running out of bogas names to feed us. Anything to make the pain stop says McCain. This is what you get with a torture/police state.

the 911 terrorists were saudis, yemenis, and egyptians financed by the United Arab Emirates. the UAE is in charge of US port security. Saudi Prince Bandar Bush is W's brother from another mother. do these facts make you feel safe?

How can the number on the list be so high? In the fall of 2006, both ABC and CBS were saying the total on the no-fly list was 44,000. This is ridiculous. And who on earth believes a real terrorist wouldn't have access to a fake passport/i.d. if he wanted to board a plane. No, this isn't solely about protecting the airways. Not when people like the author of "Bushs'Brain" & a Professor of Jurisprudence Emeritus at Princeton are singled out. This can only be retaliation for their being critical of this administration's policies. Pure petty politics.

Truthseeker: You are correct, insofar as what you're really saying is that Americans as a whole share in their government's guilt.

As for everyone but Boxer and Kennedy passing the Patriot Act (in the Senate; opposition in the House was greater than that) doesn't really mean much. Have you ever even taken a look at the Patriot Act? It's a bunch of very technical amendments to another bunch of technical statutes. It took lawyers months to understand. Yet the government dropped it during the night, and expected a vote the next day. Are you surprised no one read it? It was impossible. So your senators had two choices: vote against it, and be painted as unpatriotic WITHOUT ANY specific complaints to bring against it (because they hadn't had the time to read, let alone study it long enough to understand its implications), or vote with it. Guess what they did...

So Congress wasn't really to blame. On the other hand, ALL OF YOU are to blame for Bush's re-election; there's no avoiding the criminal guilt there...

On one hand it's pretty disconcerting that those who are charged to "protect" us can't seem to prioritize anything. But maybe it's a good thing that the list is now so long it's been rendered virtually useless. "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Benjamin Franklin

Those who give up freedom for security deserve neither!

Hi folks,
I am one of those people on that watch list. Of course that hasn't yet been officially confirmed, but I'd say having my picture taken and personal particulars recorded by the CHP and being stripped of my first amendment rights while protesting identity theft at a Sacramento illegal immigrant rally, I'd feel comfortable assuming I made the ranks of the being watched.

I would advise becca and others like her to watch Adam Curtis' documentary series, "The Power of Nightmares."

Curtis also has another interesting documentary series on called "The Trap."

I am amazed at how much damage one administration has done to this country. I no longer feel like this is my home. I want to leave also and am looking for work elsewhere.

I don't want my children to live here either because they've been taught values rather than lies and religious hypocrisy and social darwinism.

"Out of control"?
Haven't hundreds of thousands of Americans been saying that since the creation of the Patriot Act???
What? Now that there are numbers these claims are somehow magically validated?
It matters little. By the time any real legislation is created to rectify the situation most of us will be buried somewhere and too many others will be populating new prisons.

I agree with Mayor Bloomberg, who says your more likely to be struck by lightning than to fall victim to a terror attack. We can't obsess over potential attacks, because we have to keep the economy moving and get our children educated and keep our families healthy. What worries me most is the fact that the "authorities" seem to be compiling lists of political enemies of the administration and critics, rather than concentrating on the bad guys. A list with 500,000 names is completely unusable, and the FBI appears to be actively hindering their own mission.

Who is to say this isn't somewhat of a political enemies list?

It's too big otherwise. Plus, seeing as torture, an insanely anti-American act, has become the norm, why draw distinctions between terrorism and dissent, why not round out the list to include protesters and activists?

Guess we'll never know who is on the list because we have no oversight in America anymore. That went down the tubes with our cowardly servile press and our lobbyist owned and operated congress.

By the way, postiing to this blog automatically places one on "the list".

Is there any way we can volunteer to be on the list? I think it would be really cool if thousands of us got ourselves listed.

we just need to have a massive campaign to get all anti-war demonstrators, human rights campaigners, and general peace lovers to change their last names to Smith or Jones, en masse, and overwhelm their stupid database...

Becca will be happy when every citizen has a number tattooed on their body, so when you check in at the airport you will either be directed on to your destination or a destination of the government's choice.

I am a strong critic of the President, and I am deeply upset with the Bush Republicans for all the horrible things they've done since 2001, but I AM optimistic about the future, because the American people do the right thing in the long run.

The Bush Republicans had to lie, cheat, and steal, because it's the only way they could get power. Real Americans would no more likely give Bush the keys to the White House than they'd give a drunken man the keys to a car. He cheated and lied his way in, and has had to cheat and lie to stay in power.

For this reason, believe it or not, I remain optimistic. When Bush is gone, leaders will be required to play by the
rules agin.

no-- better yet-- let's just all choose the names of former presidents... or current neo-cons.... yes, thousands of Wolfowitzs...

Does this list include such terrorists as George W Bush (alias Dubya),Dick Cheney or Paul Wolfowitz. If it does not, it should. After all, these men and the terror cells they operate have hijacked our government and flew it into death and destruction.

Anyone that still believes a handful of Arabs with box cutters hijacked airplanes and flew them into the twin towers and the pentagon is nuts or blind or both. Buildings don't fall at free fall speed. Fire has never caused a steel reinforced building to fall, except here in the US where we had 3 collapse because of fire in 1 day. No, something else is going on here. This incident on 9/11, the patriot act, NSA spying on American citizens, habeas corpus, torture, corrupting the Judicial system, mercenaries policing the street (Katrina), I could go on and on. Dems, Repubs, it doesnt matter who is in power because Pandora has been released. Bend over and kiss your sorry asses goodbye

I think they're watching me...

Dear Cruiser,

I'm a strong critic of the President, but 9-11 denial is idiocy. The events actually did happen, and promoting 9-11 denial merely makes critics of the administration look like kooks.

We have a lot of stuff to do. We have to totally rebuild this country so we're no longer dependent on foreign oil, we have to prevent global warming, which already killed 1000 people during Hurricane Katrina, and, just this year, is damaging large portions of our country with drought.

Our nation faces far bigger dangers than terrorists.

If Cruiser's questions are so bizarre why doesn't someone offer some genuinely empiric scientific evidence by way of explaining the fall of the towers?
Anybody?
C'mon. Just some basic physics or newtonian laws of gravity would be nice.
Oh, the "pancaking"? That's about as solid scientifically as the single bullet theory.
A que ball dropped from the roof of the towers experiencing no resistance except from the air around it will fall at a rate that delivers it to ground in approx. 8 or 9 seconds.
The towers, especially with "pancaking" (as is the explanation the American people have been given) fell in approx. 8 seconds.
This is all verifiable and repeatable in experimentation and watching live coverage of 9/11. It's science. And there's lots more where this came from by way of some very learned physicists and tenured professors of hard science.
So maybe Cruiser doesn't have the questions you're comfortable with. And maybe the possibilities other than what you've been told make you uncomfortable. But so too do the illogical and laws of science bending explanations we've been given make many of us feel.
I'll leave you with this...
How is it that the fuel tanker that exploded and burned for hours in the Bay area a month or so back left enough pig iron rebar, concrete and asphalt to leave the over passes recognizable, but one jet liner for each tower, exploding on impact 80 some stories above the foundation level totally pulverized all the concrete and turned the high quality beams and girders 80 stories above and 20 stories below the surface to molten, evaporated steel which doesn't melt until it reaches 15,000 degrees for several hours?
If you want to get this going as a for real debate, email me, please.
But unless you have some real answers for the many questions that this government has left unanswered, please don't be so quick to simply write everything you may not understand as some wacko conspiracy theory.

There are plenty of people out there who have the science, and who attack the 9-11 deniers far better than I could. 9-11 denial makes critics of the administration look like kooks, and we're not. We're a helluva lot smarter than critics of the administration, which is why 9-11 denial is in the same mental backwater as aliens and ESP. No one is listening to them, regardless of their whining.

(ooops typos in that last one, sorry about that!)

...all I'm saying is that there are serious real problems facing the American people, and promoting some paranoid conspiracy theory that has less than one-thousanth of a percent of being true distracts us from the work we have to do. We have to make the country energy independent and efficient, so the middle-easterners can eat their oil.

We MUST have car mileage standards 50% better than they are at present. Why send our dollars abroad to buy fuel when we don't have to. Defend democracy - take the bus!

Cruiser and Zach, watch the PBS Nova episode "why the towers fell". There is plenty of information there to inform you that, no, those weren't controlled implosions, and that yes, jet fuel and building contents can burn hot enough to penetrate the insulation around the steel and weaken the steel enough to cause the buildings to collapse. Educate yourselves before making such claims.

As to the PATRIOT Act, NSA spying, loss of habeas corpus, torture, mercenaries, etc., those were the actions of authoritarians exploiting the fears of poor, misbegotten sheep like Becca above. It's taken a while, but to measure from the comments in this post, I think the people are waking up from their delerium. I hope so, anyway. And God forbid that we revert to that shaken, scared-rabbit state if and when we are hit again.

In December, a political nutcase in my town sent a bogus criminal complaint to the AG of my state saying that I and 16 other good citizens of my town (including the town council president and vice president) were eco-terrorist. Though we have been cleared, I bet I'm on the Fed terrorist list now.

If it get any tougher to hijack a plane, they'll have to start bombing terminals.

Dang. I misspelled delirium.

I think everyone should be on the list. I mean, untimately, if everyone is on the no-fly list, then it will be impossible for any terrorist to board a plane. End of story.

Steve Jones, steel does not melt nor weaken at the temperature of burning jet fuel. Believe me, I work with it. Google "scholars for truth" and try to pry your mind open.

Way to change the direction of the discussion Rob. Too cute by half. Marginalize the 9/11 conspiracy theorists, put them in the same place as UFO believers and other mental midgets (I'm paraphrasing here but that is the gist of your post) and then turn the conversation to a "real" problem facing we Americans,the paranoids and those bad middle easterners that force us to buy the oil we so highly desire to fuel our enviable life here in the "land of the free and the brave" Pre PATRIOT ACT , and all the evil that only this administration and it's enablers could perpetrate against the Constitution,Habeus Corpus,Posse Comitatus,The Bill of Rights and the right to some modicum of privacy. Lenin ,Mao, Stalin,Hitler, Hoover et al would be delighted.Oh yeah, least we forget the psuedo christian theocratic thugs that have endorsed and coddled the "real" bad guys in this country and please don't forget the ever popular and loved and highly repected for whatever, Ann coulter,Rush"the pill head" Limbaugh,George "I'm the decider" bush,Katherine"I delivered!" Harris,Sean "the con" Hannity,Bill"lecheous shill" o' Reilly, Satan"In charge for the forseeable future" Like the Mafia, "doesn't exist".
Thank you for your forbearance, one and all.

F.B.I.:

Famous
But
Incompetent

HEY! HOW CAN I GET ON THIS LIST?

Hey, Guy...
I've read more than a few of your posts, Buddy.
Don't get into feeling left out.
I got a feeling you're already on that list.
LOL

Americans, who found nothing wrong with this invasion of privacy and abuse of power,didn't think they would end up on any list. They should have paid atention when Senator Kennedy ended up on the list in retribution for criticizing this and other administration invasion of pricacy actions.
It's like "profiling", where people are fine as long as they're not the one being profiled.

At least we are trying to prevent
Whackos from hijacking planes. No.... If
you think i am Bible reading conservative christian from south or a Rabbi... you are
wrong. I am a Immigrant minority (look different and probably will not be served in many restaurants in A-La-Ba-Ma). But I
do love this country (not so much Bush though). And am proud of our efforts to
beat the Whackos.. whatever it may be i support it. God (if there is one) Bless America. If there is no God.. no problemo ... there are die hard fans of this nation (like me) we will get the blessing by hard work honesty and most important "decency".

The FBI has a long history of violating civil rights & murdering innocent US citizens (Waco, RubyRidge, AmIndians) so the 500k names on terror list isn't unusual. If Arabs are the enemies and such a threat then why did Bush hand out 20k visas last year to Saudi 'students?' Why did FBI shut down probe of 9/11 hijackers just BEFORE attack? Answer? Cause there is NO war on terror--9/11 was GulfOfTonkin-style staged event meant to end the BillOfRights, establish policestate and create endless wars.