The Name Game

I hate any and all forms of racism. I have zero tolerance for people who judge based on religion, race, sexuality, nationality etc. So where does one turn when it's our own government doing the labeling?

Imagine that you applied for a car loan. You have a decent credit score of about 675. You should have no problem buying that dream vehicle of yours. Until you find out that your middle name is on some terrorist watch list.

One California couple, Tom and Nanci Kubbany, were denied a loan to buy a home when his credit report came back with an alert saying his middle name, Hassan, was an alias for one of Saddam Hussein's sons.

In another case, a Sacramento man could only collect money wired to him through Western Union after providing his ID, Social Security number and place of birth, because his first and middle names, Mohammed Ali, were on the list, the report said.

SAN FRANCISCO - Businesses checking customers' names against a Treasury Department terrorist watch list are sometimes denying services to innocent people, according to a report released Tuesday by civil rights lawyers.

The 250-page list, posted publicly on a Treasury Department Web site, is being used by credit bureaus, health insurers and car dealerships, as well as employers and landlords, according to the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.

The list includes some of the world's most common names, such as Gonzalez, Lopez, Ali, Hussein, Abdul, Lucas and Gibson, and companies are often unsure how to root out mismatches. Some turn consumers away rather than risk penalties of up to $10 million and 30 years in prison for doing business with someone on the list, the group said.

"Much of (this screening) is overbroad and unnecessary, and increasingly denies Americans services, livelihoods, and their good name based on opaque determinations and administrative fiat," the report said.

Does it seem odd to you that in one of bush's speeches he said, ".. they hate us because of our freedom..." yet this same man is insisting we give up said freedoms for a false sence of safety?