The professors said the student was told by the agents that the book is on a “watch list,” and that his background, which included significant time abroad, triggered them to investigate the student further.
“I tell my students to go to the direct source, and so he asked for the official Peking version of the book,” Professor Pontbriand said. “Apparently, the Department of Homeland Security is monitoring inter-library loans, because that’s what triggered the visit, as I understand it.”
Although The Standard-Times knows the name of the student, he is not coming forward because he fears repercussions should his name become public. He has not spoken to The Standard-Times.
The professors had been asked to comment on a report that President Bush had authorized the National Security Agency to spy on as many as 500 people at any given time since 2002 in this country.
Article Posted at www.KnowledgeDrivenRevolution.com
The eavesdropping was apparently done without warrants.
The Little Red Book, is a collection of quotations and speech excerpts from Chinese leader Mao Tse-Tung.
In the 1950s and ‘60s, during the Cultural Revolution in China, it was required reading. Although there are abridged versions available, the student asked for a version translated directly from the original book.
The student told Professor Pontbriand and Dr. Williams that the Homeland Security agents told him the book was on a “watch list.” They brought the book with them, but did not leave it with the student, the professors said.
Dr. Williams said in his research, he regularly contacts people in Afghanistan, Chechnya and other Muslim hot spots, and suspects that some of his calls are monitored.
“My instinct is that there is a lot more monitoring than we think,” he said.
Dr. Williams said he had been planning to offer a course on terrorism next semester, but is reconsidering, because it might put his students at risk.
“I shudder to think of all the students I’ve had monitoring al-Qaeda Web sites, what the government must think of that,” he said. “Mao Tse-Tung is completely harmless.”
Note: www.KnowledgeDrivenRevo...
Stumble It!
monitoring the library network probably doesn't require a court-order; that info is probably a matter of public record.
i'm glad homeland security are doing their job, there's nothing wrong with what they did. like i said, important informationhas been left out of the story. the student wasn't visited solely because of his reading material and he wasn't denied access to it was he?
btw: i would add "communism" to "totalitarianism" and "fascism." same difference.
www.knowledgedrivenrevolution.com
the new england headquarters for homeland security is not a brick building. it's at 99 high street, downtown boston, and it's a 32 story white colored building.
what's up with that?
what's wrong with fbi having files on radical protestors?you think they can operate without intelligence gathering? are those protestors prevented from exercising their constitutional rights? no. you don't think the rcmp doesn't keep files on people and groups? that's pretty naieve.