From yesterday's San Franciso Chronicle (via Slashdot), "No-fly list ensnares innocent travelers":

As the war on terrorism spurs U.S. intelligence agencies to constantly expand aviation watch lists, many airline-reservation systems rely on name-searching software based on a 120-year-old indexing system that mistakes the similar spelling or sound of innocent passengers' surnames for those of terrorists.

The result: Thousands of travelers have been flagged at airports for additional searches and police questioning -- while critics say real terrorists could slip through undetected....

Nationally, the FBI cannot cite a terrorist who's been captured because of the no-fly list. Civil-liberties advocates say the Bush administration's refusal to disclose policies and practices about the secrecy-shrouded watch lists may simply conceal the lists' embarrassing ineffectiveness.