Cat Stevens denied entry to US

Seems Cat Stevens or whatever his name is now, shows up on a "you aint coming in here with that" list. He was on a commercial flight headed to Dulles from London and they made the plane land in Maine to get him off and turn him around. The other passengers probably were not singing Peace Train.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040922/D858E8780.html

Here's my theory...I think Mr. Islam is somehow connected with a mosque in Albany NY that was raided by the FBI a couple months back. I have no concrete proof but working as a video editor for a local TV station I got a good look at the generic video that ABC fed for "Cat Stevens" - he is being interviewed at what appears to be a mosque and kneeling behind him are 2 of the individuals who were charged with attempting to buy a shoulder-fired missile from an undercover informant. I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it but I found the video pertaining to the Albany raid and damn if it doesn't look like the same people! I think we're going to discover that Mr. Islam (Cat Stevens) had probably made a financial contribution to this mosque and when the Feds accessed their books - they added them to the "watch-list." Maybe I can make the jump now from technician to investigative reporter? Or maybe I can be full of shit...
Remember you read it here first...off the record, on the QT and very hush hush.

It's funny that the only reason anybody cares what happens to him is because of who he once was..a pleasing artist...in a form that is now forbidden by a group he has chosen to be part of.

so...it seems he;s being followed by more than a moon flower.

Gigantalope,that's really funny.HeeHee.

On 2004-09-21 22:35, Gigantalope wrote:
so...it seems he;s being followed by more than a moon flower.

Moon Shadow... Sorry, had to say something. :)

...aaah..MachTiki...good knowledge.
I mised him up with Santana...I hang my head in shame.

On 2004-09-21 22:27, johntiki wrote:
Maybe I can make the jump now from technician to investigative reporter? Or maybe I can be full of shit...

Are the two mutually exclusive???

My mother always warned me not to hang around bad people, poor old Cat Stevens must never got that kind of advice.

I hope they don't allow him back into the UK! He's opinions are dubious to say the least, he's got an absurdly inflated view of himself, a complete lack of any sense of humour and his music was shite.

Trader Woody

On 2004-09-22 10:32, Trader Woody wrote:
I hope they don't allow him back into the UK! He's opinions are dubious to say the least, he's got an absurdly inflated view of himself, a complete lack of any sense of humour and his music was shite.

Trader Woody

so are you for or against him?

Let's just say that the Cat Stevens Fan Club have never had the trouble of having to bank a cheque (check) from me!

Trader Woody

On 2004-09-22 08:26, Gigantalope wrote:
...aaah..MachTiki...good knowledge.
I mised him up with Santana...I hang my head in shame.

No need to hang your head in shame Gigantalope. Just call me a pain-in-the-a** know-it-all.

In regards to Mr. Stevens... I'm sorry that things have turned out the way they have for him. I say that in a totally selfish way, because I really loved his music. My wife actually saw him in his heyday at a show attended by a handful of people. She literally watched him perform in the middle of a small room with everyone sitting on the floor just listening.

On 2004-09-22 08:31, Bamboo Dude wrote:

On 2004-09-21 22:27, johntiki wrote:
Maybe I can make the jump now from technician to investigative reporter? Or maybe I can be full of shit...

Are the two mutually exclusive???

At least where I work...some smaller markets reporters do all their technical stuff as well but not in Baltimore.

I feel sad when I see the animated shell of a human that used to be Cat Stevens.

It makes me wonder what must have snapped in his poor fool head to turn him into what he has become. I just don't get it.

I keep hoping he'll wake up.

Poor Cat. I always connect him up with one of my all time favorite movies "Harold & Maude" for the great soundtrack that is so much an intregal part of the film. I also enjoy spinning his "Tea For The Tillerman" album every once in awhile for a nostalgic rush. All that is just a pop-culture trivia question now from a time when we had a "kinder, gentler machine gun hand". I sincerely doubt that Cat Stevens or Yousef Islam (or The Artist Formerly Known As Cat) has any terrorist motives for his visit here, but he should not be surprized by his ouster given the current state of global politics. As the old saying goes: "when you hitch your wagon to a car-bomb, you gotta go where it takes you" (I lied...I just made that up)

On 2004-09-22 13:05, johntiki wrote:

On 2004-09-22 08:31, Bamboo Dude wrote:

On 2004-09-21 22:27, johntiki wrote:
Maybe I can make the jump now from technician to investigative reporter? Or maybe I can be full of shit...

Are the two mutually exclusive???

At least where I work...some smaller markets reporters do all their technical stuff as well but not in Baltimore.

I think he meant the investiative reporter and being full of...
BTW, Channel 13 seems to support your theory.

Turbo - thanks for clearing that up...my mind was elsewhere when I read Bamboo Dudes response. Yes...investigative reporters are synonymous with bullshit! :)

WJZ definitely caters to the lowest common denominator...the dumbest news in Baltimore but surprisingly the highest rated...doesn't say much for the audience I guess! :wink:

It's probably just more BS trickling down from the Patriot Act. Somewhere out there is a "Yusuf Islam" that some intel wag believes wants to cause trouble to the ol' US o' A. With a Watch List that dings anyone with the same (or similar) name Yusaf Islam (formally Cat Stevens) gets deported. Ted Kennedy was denied entry on a flight due to a "T Kennedy" being on a Watch List.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/19/kennedy.airlines/

i work with a guy who can't fly a US carrier (or carrier affiliated with a US carrier) anymore. His name is exactly the same as someone on a Watch List - doesn't help that he's Arab-American and a Muslim too.

On 2004-09-22 13:23, Geeky Tiki wrote:
I feel sad when I see the animated shell of a human that used to be Cat Stevens.

It makes me wonder what must have snapped in his poor fool head to turn him into what he has become. I just don't get it.

I keep hoping he'll wake up.

Are you implying that followers of the Islamic faith are suffering from a mental condition?

i knew nothing about the guy (other than to immediately turn the dial on the radio if one of his tunes came on) until today, but from what i've heard/read of his charity work for children, i can't see him as having a "poor fool head."

On 2004-09-22 13:27, Shipwreckjoey wrote:
I sincerely doubt that Cat Stevens or Yousef Islam (or The Artist Formerly Known As Cat) has any terrorist motives for his visit here, but he should not be surprized by his ouster given the current state of global politics.

...so i take it the US should start tracking other Muslims such as Kareem-Abdul Jabbar
and Muhammad Ali (or the Saudi royal family)?

Hi, Baron.

I was saying that in the context of someone, like his style or not, who seemed to have had an affinity for creating music, and that it got squashed by his conversion. Did he suddenly realize that making music was evil? Wouldn't he know in his heart what the root of his love of music had been?

When the ayatollahs pronounced the death sentence (fatwa) for Salman Rushdie, Cat was quick to say he validated their homicidal intent - seemingly completely at odds with his previously better understanding of human nature.

It just seems like he "got it" better before his conversion. It smelled more like 'unenlightenment' than the other way around.

Not meaning to talk religion, I was referring to him alone. My basic hunch, though, is that any sort of radical fundamentalism becomes a mental condition when it is used to justify oppression or violent bahaviors.

He could have become a radical fundamentalist Presbyterian and I'd still feel bad about his endorsements.

Question back at ya:

Why the need to mention the part about changing the channel if his music came on the radio?

Not meaning to be contentious, that part of your post didn't seem to fit the rest of what you wrote.

On 2004-09-22 17:26, BaronV wrote:
It's probably just more BS trickling down from the Patriot Act.
[are you trying to pick a fight?]

...so i take it the US should start tracking other Muslims such as Kareem-Abdul Jabbar
and Muhammad Ali (or the Saudi royal family)?

As long as coward basturds hide behind hoods and cut the heads off of innocent victims and call themselves Muslims...Hell Yeah! And if they hang or know the wrong people...Hell Yeah!
Yeah...your trying to pick a fight.

Thanks, Turbogod, for stepping in for me...you got it exactly right. I have never felt that a huge distinction between investigative reporting and bullshit has ever existed...nothing personal johntiki.

When I was in high school, my father, a pediatrician, witnessed another doctor, an ob-gyn, suffocate an infant who survived an attempted saline abortion performed on the 17 year old daughter of a local high school principal. The pregnacy was in the third trimester. Because it is so easy to block an infants airway while 'pretending' to check for a pulse, the infant died before my father realized what had happened. My father decided to do the right thing and go to the authorities with his accusation, something that just was not done at the time...doctors do not 'rat out' other doctors...and the whole thing became a national debate over abortion rights. Sometime before the trial, Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes, interviewed my father, as I watched on, for an expose' on the case. Instead of the episode being about an ob-gyn who had attempted an illegal abortion, AND WHO, SUBSEQUENTLY, STRANGLED THE SURVING INFANT TO DEATH, the 'spin' became: "Isn't someone who contracts with a doctor for an abortion entitled to a dead baby?" The experience left me with little trust of the media.

I know this was long winded, and not on topic, so let me say this about Cat Stevens...he is a person who has made choices in his life based on strong personal convictions. His music was born while in prison, and his message has always been about peace and human understanding...not too much different from our beloved John Lennon. I am amazed that people on this forum are in a rush to condemn a man who they probably know only via this recent episode while trying to enter the country. All I can say is that I encourage you all, in light of the above story, to withhold judgement until all the facts eventually come out.

THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED TO REMOVE ANY POTENTIALLY SUBVERSIVE MATERIAL

On 2004-09-22 18:45, Geeky Tiki wrote:
Why the need to mention the part about changing the channel if his music came on the radio?

Not meaning to be contentious, that part of your post didn't seem to fit the rest of what you wrote.

i've never been of fan of Cat Stevens - bad memories of sitting in my mom's station wagon in the 70's hearing the same 8-tracks over and over and over.

Just because i don't like the man's music doesn't mean that he deserves some amount of dignity.

Islam's support of the Ayatollah's fatwa against Rushdie is just as inane as many Americans' support of killing abortion doctors.

On 2004-09-22 20:32, BaronV wrote:

Islam's support of the Ayatollah's fatwa against Rushdie is just as inane as many Americans' support of killing abortion doctors.

I agree, I don't think my post validated the killing of anybody.

Cat went from not supporting that sort of thing to supporting, a move backwards.

I would have said the same thing I said about Cat about Martin Denny if he suddenly started endorsing violent religious extremism, even if he loved little children.

I'm not sure how we ended up with abortion being part of the topic, but hey, the more notions, the merrier!

On 2004-09-22 17:26, BaronV wrote:

On 2004-09-22 13:27, Shipwreckjoey wrote:
I sincerely doubt that Cat Stevens or Yousef Islam (or The Artist Formerly Known As Cat) has any terrorist motives for his visit here, but he should not be surprized by his ouster given the current state of global politics.

...so i take it the US should start tracking other Muslims such as Kareem-Abdul Jabbar
and Muhammad Ali (or the Saudi royal family)?

I don't advocate, condone or support any tracking, surveillance or detainment of any U.S. CITIZEN by any arm of the American justice system unless the person in question is a legitamate suspect in a criminal investigation. Unless Cat Stevens obtained U.S. citizenship in the last thirty years without my knoweledge, he doesn't fit that criteria. As far as "Muhammad Ali (or the Saudi royal family)" goes, you'll have to explain that to me in greater detail before I can comment.

ride on the peace train...

On 2004-09-22 22:38, donhonyc wrote:
ride on the peace train...

don't need no ticket
you jus get on board

On 2004-09-23 01:07, Shipwreckjoey wrote:
don't need no ticket
you jus get on board

We must never confuse Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" with a Cat Stevens song. :)

This post has definitley entered into the political territory. Unless Cat Stevens magically comes out with a cover of Quiet Village, maybe we should put this thread to bed...

Cat stevens is a complete friggin moron, and he deserves whatever bad treatment he gets!

I feel this way because he supports a religion (if you can call it that) that praises violence, beheadings, killing of totally innocent women and children,no rights for women, and barbaric draconian punishments for even the smallest crimes...

If anyone disagrees, google the word "floggings" and see the nice pictures from prisons in afghanistan and iraq and iran!!

Don't anyone forget the story of the girl in Africa that was raped by some of the local town thugs, and then sentenced to be stoned to death for it!!

This is what Cat Stevens is all about my friends.....

he is just as bad as the Pat Robertsons, Jimmy Swaggart and David Dukes out there....

Just as bad as that midwestern pastor who marched his followers to the funeral for that poor kid who was tied to a fence and beaten to death....where they chanted "God Kills aids faggots"...in front of the grieving family...

Sorry, but to me, there is evil in this world..real evil, and to actually support it makes you a party to it!

I have met many Muslims, and for the most part, they are fine people...but never underestimate thier hatred for Israel!

Those people are the same kinds of people attracted to Islam..no difference!

I am just really starting to hate the Cat Stevens of the world..and I sorry if this offends anyone!

On 2004-09-23 12:20, Dack Sambo wrote:

This is what Cat Stevens is all about my friends.....

he is just as bad as the Pat Robertsons, Jimmy Swaggart and David Dukes out there....

Just as bad as that midwestern pastor who marched his followers to the funeral for that poor kid who was tied to a fence and beaten to death....where they chanted "God Kills aids faggots"...in front of the grieving family...

Sorry, but to me, there is evil in this world..real evil, and to actually support it makes you a party to it!

I have met many Muslims, and for the most part, they are fine people...but never underestimate thier hatred for Israel!

Those people are the same kinds of people attracted to Islam..no difference!

I am just really starting to hate the Cat Stevens of the world..and I sorry if this offends anyone!

I for one am offended. How dare you presume to know WHAT this "moron", as you refer to Cat Stevens, is "all about". You pile years worth of headline news on his lap, and proclaim that these evils in the world define the man??? Shame on you! When his view of the world transcended popular 'American' sensibilities, he at least had the balls to follow his convictions. Then history turns on a dime, and all the injustices that we have turned a blind eye to, have come home to roost. The new reality is that we are forced into protecting our homeland, and many innocent folks are being caught in the squeeze. Cat Stevens is no more responsable for the terrorism in the world today than you or I am for Mei Lai.
Please visit this web site and learn what some of our fellow countrymen did in Vietnam.

http://www.earthstation1.com/Mei_Lai.html

(For those who served honorably, just about all who served, I offer my sincere apologies for this...but the dude just asked for it.)

hm. i wonder how we can get David Hasselhoff on the "singers we dont let back" list :lol:

What's that old saying, Iconoclasm is the mother of great discussion?

Don't actually be offended, think of it as another "Tiki Central High" debate thread and leave out the e-indignation for a change of pace.

We should be celebrating the fact that we can have self loathing liberal Americans getting to mix it up with their conservative xenophobe Tiki bretheren all on one thread about some oldies act who seems to rate near Jimmy Buffet on the Tiki appreciation scale!

Sit back, relax, enjoy. Watch the subtext, get a feel for hipster cliquesmanship with the defense of Cat being done in the same breath as belittling his music, savor the clash of agendas, revel in the sloganeering....mmmmmmmmmm.

Sorry, got lost in the moment. I'll be sorry to see this thread reach its inevitable conclusion.

B-dude...I think you may have misunderstood me..I don't dislike Cat Stevens the vietnam peace train war protester..it is "Yuseff Islam" who I don't like, and anyone who has a similar name!!!!!

We are at war, ok!! 9-11 was the direct result of Islamic Fundamentalism....and yes, I understand that while not all Muslims support this stuff, most seem to, or look the other way, or don't speak up enough!!! They allow themselves to be defined by the actions of the crazies...and not enough say "hold it....I am a muslim that thinks differently"....not enough, my friend...

personally, as someone who supports human rights, women rights and every other leftist cause in this world..I am really offended by people like "Yuseff Islam"....

I was ashamed of the actions of some service people during the vietnam war, and during the current war (abu Ghraib) as well...but one thing has nothing to do with the other...and Cat Stevens or whatever you want to call him gets no pass from me....he specifically chose this lifestyle...and he protested the vietnam war then (and so would I) where are his protests at innocent people (aid workers) getting thier heads slowly cut off? Where are his protests now?

Say what you want about our country...but when bad things happen to us, the people over thier are DANCING WITH JOY in the streets! I personally don't remember me or any of my friends dancing when they captured Saddamm Hussein...or when we toppled the Taliban (one of the worst human rights abusers, according to Amnesty International)

I don't remember any Americans dancing or celebrating, do you?

It really comes down (in my opinion) to not trusting peope who don't eat bacon.

or...anyone who yabbers on about what thier version of god thinks...heaven and hell...it's all bullshit...but mostly...it's the bacon thing.

Hey Dack...

I guess this is why they suggest staying away from politics in these forums...

Not wanting to beat a dead horse, I will just add that we agree on the fact that we ARE at war. It is somewhat scary in that it is sooooo difficult to know exactly WHO are our friends, and who want to kill us. BTW..maybe it is time for us to start burning Osama in effigy in all the public places....Ritualized Hatred...could be the next new craze..."Osama on a Stick" comes with it's own 911 commemorative lighter!!! I'm rambling now...out!

Well, I gotta agree with you on that!

bacon is extremely good!

People who don't eat bacon are missing one of the greatest joys in life!!

red beans and rice....cooked with bacon!

Scrambled eggs, made in the same skillet as you just cooked the bacon in...

BLT's!

Most hawaiian food has pork, or leans toward pork....kalua pork rules!

Life is like a box of Buddha Chocolates!!!!!

And, by the way, Buddhism (which if Cat Stevens really was a peacnik, he should have looked into..instead of the blood thirsty religion he chose)

......Buddhism is the one faith that probably has committed no atrocities, and killed very few people, not counting the priests of emptiness and nothing, of course, who did battle with the samurai!!

(and no, the kamikaze warriors during WW2 where followers of Shinto, not the Buddha)

But, they can't really have pork or any other kind of meat!

Which to me is sad..but hey, Tofu makes me fart...a LOT!

How about Tikis, designed to look like political figures?

The Dubya tiki (complete with yell leader megaphone..go team..you can do it!!), the Osama Tiki (the tallest one of the lot) a Saddam Tiki.(thick stylized eyebrows)
And a suicide Tiki which blows up as you try to drink it, spraying mai-tai all over you!!

I've always liked the idea (being enthusiastic about the fine art of offending) of prducing wecome mats that look like The Shroud of Terin, (sp?) and all other religuous and politiacal icons...the french flag for example.

It's the next step up from the Calvin pissin on -----fill in the blank stickers on all lowered mini trucks.