Dangerous Thoughts
A look at Mao's Little Red Book gets a student a visit from the Feds, writes Aaron Nicodemus:
A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's tome on Communism called "The Little Red Book."
Two history professors at UMass Dartmouth, Brian Glyn Williams and Robert Pontbriand, said the student told them he requested the book through the UMass Dartmouth library's interlibrary loan program.
The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Professor Pontbriand's class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number. He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the professors said.
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.
Suddenly, it's 1963. My brother Mike - the valedictorian, as it turned out - gets harrassed as a senior in high school for picking the Little Red Book for a book report.
Idiocy can be neither be created nor destroyed, merely changed in form. As real people knew about the planets long before Galileo had to save himself from torture sanctioned by "holy men", so is knowledge and respect for learning shown to be cyclic. The idiots have killed the intelligent among us for millennia, for being "different" and raising uncomfortable questions.
Radwaste at December 19, 2005 2:32 AM
funny i really do feel safer now,
that's billions well spent...
-mike- at December 19, 2005 2:22 PM
Just make sure the royalty check gets to the right place. Hey, let a hundred flowers bloom but I dig the dough ray me.
Mao See Tung at December 19, 2005 10:21 PM
Whoops!
Jim Treacher at December 24, 2005 9:49 AM
Though something like this is much better if you confirm your
facts. It seems he made the whole thing up. See
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-05/12-24-05/a01lo719.htm
Ron at December 24, 2005 8:02 PM
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