6-Year-OId girl on US terrorist watch list

The father of a 6-year-old Ohio girl who turned up on the U.S. government's terror watch list says the worst thing his daughter has ever done is probably been mean to her sister.

But Santhosh Thomas, a doctor from Westlake, Ohio, says he's sure that's not enough to land his 6-year-old Alyssa on the no-fly list of suspected terrorists. "She may have threatened her sister, but I don't think that constitutes Homeland Security triggers," he told CNN.

An airline ticket agent informed the family of their predicament when they embarked on recent trip from Cleveland to Minneapolis. "They said, 'Well, she's on the list.' We're like, okay, what's the story? What do we have to do to get off the list? This isn't exactly the list we want to be on," Thomas said.

The Thomases were allowed to fly that day, but authorities told them to contact the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to clear up the matter. Now they've received a letter from the government addressed to 6-year-old Alyssa, telling her that nothing in her file will be changed.

Federal authorities have acknowledged that such a no-fly list exists, but as a matter of national security, they won't comment on whose names are on it nor why. "The watch lists are an important layer of security to prevent individuals with known or suspected ties to terrorism from flying," an unnamed spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration told Fox News.

"She's been flying since she was two-months old, so that has not been an issue," Alyssa's dad said. "In fact, we had traveled to Mexico in February and there were no issues at that time."

That's likely because of a recent change by the Transportation Security Administration, which used to check only international passengers' names against the no-fly list, but since earlier this month has been checking domestic passengers as well.

The Thomases told CNN they plan on appealing Alyssa's status to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security again, and will be sure to leave plenty of extra time for check-in the next time they fly.

(Via AOL news.)

OddJack Dyson28 June 2010Comment

Tokyo spam sandwich (with pork beans)

People have funny little routines when they get home from work. Some people turn on the telly and tune out until bed time. One very good friend of mine likes nothing better than to just sit on the sofa with all the lights off. Another turns on his Xbox 360 and rains merry hell onto the heads of digital terrorists from his virtual gunship. I don't have a telly (I do, but it's only for films and stuff), so I quite like to cook. It's very relaxing - meditative if you like. And you know what? I'm not alone. The video below comes from jetdaisuke, in Tokyo. Turns out we share a great deal in our cooking techniques (and, I think, general attitude to life). I need to know where he got his panda-thing from. And I love the way he says "sliced cheese". Rocking. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H2bRd91sZw]

Odd, silly, VideoJack Dyson10 June 2010jetdaisuke, tokyo cookingComment

The grown-up film, the children's book - lil' inappropriate

You might recognise Josh Cooley's pen from his time at Pixar. For the last two years, he's spent his spare time working on his Lil' Inappropriate Book line. They've now been compiled into a book, and will be released alongside a rocking set of saucy playing cards. There are a few galleries dotted around. I want to buy one of the prints. There's a link here to some larger images, and a larger range (though smaller) on his blog. Click through and see if you can recognise the films...