Theatre historian, 90, can't get U.S. mail since ISIS fighter used his name as an alias

[TU Curmudgeon]

From the CBC

Theatre historian, 90, can't get U.S. mail since ISIS fighter used his name as an alias
​

David Mayer has had trouble travelling and receiving U.S. mail ever since a Chechen ISIS militant known as "Akhmed the One-armed" adopted his name as an alias.

That Mayer is a U.S. military veteran who is well-known in academic circles doesn't seem to make any difference.

Nor does the fact that the person who adopted his name, Akhmed Chatayev, was killed during a counter-terrorism operation in Georgia a year ago.

"For three years, I've lived with this problem of having mail disrupted, my research interfered with, for no reason other than that my name corresponds to an alias that the man was using," Mayer told As It Happens host Carol Off.

COMMENT:-

Obviously this can't be a real problem since the IRS mail manages to get through without any issues - right?

There is no known way to have your name removed from these lists with any assurance that it will not - immediately - be put back on.

But, as a loyal American, Mr. Mayer should put up with the minor inconvenience in order to protect the United States of America from being attacked by someone who is dead - right?
​

 

[Skeptic Bob]

I obviously knew this kind of thing can get you on the no-fly list, but I have never heard it could interfere with your mail. That is...weird.

 

[Grand Mal]

From the CBC

Theatre historian, 90, can't get U.S. mail since ISIS fighter used his name as an alias
​

David Mayer has had trouble travelling and receiving U.S. mail ever since a Chechen ISIS militant known as "Akhmed the One-armed" adopted his name as an alias.

That Mayer is a U.S. military veteran who is well-known in academic circles doesn't seem to make any difference.

Nor does the fact that the person who adopted his name, Akhmed Chatayev, was killed during a counter-terrorism operation in Georgia a year ago.

"For three years, I've lived with this problem of having mail disrupted, my research interfered with, for no reason other than that my name corresponds to an alias that the man was using," Mayer told As It Happens host Carol Off.

COMMENT:-

Obviously this can't be a real problem since the IRS mail manages to get through without any issues - right?

There is no known way to have your name removed from these lists with any assurance that it will not - immediately - be put back on.

But, as a loyal American, Mr. Mayer should put up with the minor inconvenience in order to protect the United States of America from being attacked by someone who is dead - right?
​

Sounds like a function of the 'Patriot Act' and Department of Homeland Security, more small-government conservatism at work protecting the individual rights of Americans.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

I obviously knew this kind of thing can get you on the no-fly list, but I have never heard it could interfere with your mail. That is...weird.

It can interfere with anything that the government wants it to interfere with. If your name was "Osama bin Laden" and you (and everyone of your 128 immediate ancestors had been born in the United States of America) you'd still have a hard time buying a ticket on an airplane in the US.

Heaven help you if your trade was "Blaster".