tireironsaint
* BANNED *
Posts: 4299
Registered: 5-14-2003
Location: Colorado
Member Is Offline
Mood: Beltones
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Big Brother is watching
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.
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.
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."
original article
Veritas odium parit
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BDx13
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DAMN RIGHT HE IS!
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/19/bush/index.html
Bush: Secret wiretaps won't stop
President accuses senators of 'playing politics with Patriot Act'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush defended using government wiretaps without court authorization to monitor terrorism suspects and urged the Senate
to renew the USA Patriot Act during his year-end news conference Monday.
The president said he intends to continue using secret international wiretaps to monitor activities of people in the United States suspected of having
connections to al Qaeda.
"To save American lives we must be able to act fast and to detect these conversations so we can prevent new attacks," Bush said during the event, in
the East Room of the White House. (Watch Bush defend using secret wiretaps -- 2:23
"I swore to uphold the laws. Do I have the legal authority to do this? And the answer is, absolutely." (Transcript)
Senate Democrats expressed strong disagreement with the president.
"I'm stunned by the president's rationale," said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island. He said Bush's justification for the eavesdropping was "without
merit."
Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold said Bush's comments represent a "retreat from who we are and who we should be" as a nation. (Full story)
Democratic House leaders are calling for an independent panel to investigate the legality of the program. (Full story)
USA Patriot Act
Discussing another issue related to the Bush administration's fight against terrorism, the president said "senators who are filibustering the Patriot
Act must stop their delaying tactics, and the Senate must vote to reauthorize the Patriot Act."
Friday, the Senate refused to reauthorize significant portions of the Patriot Act after critics complained they infringed too much on Americans'
privacy and liberty.
"In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment," Bush said.
The bill's Senate supporters were not able to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster by Feingold and Republican Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho,
and their allies. (Full story)
Monday, Bush referred to possible clues to the planned terrorist attacks that went unnoticed before September 11, 2001.
"The Patriot Act helps us connect the dots. And now the United States Senate is going to let this bill expire -- not the Senate; a minority of
senators.
"It is inexcusable to say, on the one hand, connect the dots, and not give us a chance to do so," Bush said.
"I want senators from New York or Los Angeles or Las Vegas to go home and explain why these cities are safer.
"If people want to play politics with the Patriot Act, it's ... not in the best interests of the country," the president said.
Iraq intelligence: 'I felt the same way'
Bush spoke the morning after he delivered a prime time television address that focused on the U.S.-led Iraq war.
In Sunday's address, Bush said U.S. forces are making "steady gains" in the nearly 3-year-old Iraq war and urged Americans not to "give in to
despair." (Full story)
Bush said during his news conference Monday that he understands why people are angry that prewar intelligence about Iraq was wrong.
"You say, 'Well, wait a minute: Everybody thought there was weapons of mass destruction; there weren't any.' I felt the same way."
More than 2,100 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the invasion, which Bush and top aides argued was necessary to strip Iraq of chemical and
biological weapons and efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. No such weapons were found once the government of Saddam Hussein collapsed in April 2003.
The Sunday night address was the latest in a series of speeches meant to shore up declining public support for the war. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll
last week found 59 percent disapproved of the president's handling of the conflict. (Full story)
'I've got to do a better job'
Bush also commented on negative reaction to the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina -- some of which accused the president of
neglecting New Orleans residents, many of whom are black.
"You know, one of the most hurtful things I can hear is ... 'Bush doesn't care about African-Americans,' for example," he said.
"First of all, it's not true. And secondly ... I believe that -- obviously -- I've got to do a better job of communicating, I guess, to certain folks.
Because my job is to say to people, 'We're all equally American, and the American opportunity applies to you just as much as somebody else.' And so I
will continue to do my best to reach out."
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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clevohardcore
* Kick\'n ass on the wild side *
Posts: 12937
Registered: 9-19-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sick Of It All, Youth Of Today
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When I posted aboutnot liking Bush as PResident. This website spazzed out. It froze anddid weird shit. Seriously. I began to freak.
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Voodoobillyman
The Artist Formerly Known As...
Posts: 4247
Registered: 8-12-2005
Location: Eastern Seaboard of the United States
Member Is Offline
Mood: my daughters beautiful curiousity
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I find the Patriot act to be a double edged sword. It is definitely the precurser to a 1984 kind of society, and if abused is definitely the scariest
shit this country has ever faced. On the other hand I do agree, to a certain degree, with what the President is saying about the narrowing of the gap
in reaction times. The more we know and the sooner we know it the more prepared we are for defense in a terrorist attack. It is no secret that there
are sleeper cells in this country who are in communication with global networks and are buying time and planning the next attack. Our countries
intelligence communities ability to moniter these cells and their communications is imperative in stopping the killing of civilians in this country.
Thats what gets me about terrorism, they claim to be freedom fighters and battling oppresion blah, blah, blah..........and then because military
targets are too "hard" they choose soft targets like buildings loaded with innocent men, women and children. This "war on terrorism" has certainly
divided the country into those who believe we are doing the right thing by taking the fight to their lands, and then those who believe we are wrong
and should change our policies in the mid east and take an isolationist stance. Do you think if we did this we would be safe from the kinds of attacks
we experienced in 2001? Personally, I do not. It's easy for people to say it's all about the oil, I am not blind, I know who the GOP is in bed with,
the ties between the Bush family and big oil companies is no secret. I do not believe our soldiers are in the mid east dying for oil, it is more
fundamental than that, oil is just the flavor of the day and when it runs out, the flavor will change. The military is over there to show that this
country will not stand by and let thousands die without reprocussions. Iraq was the wrong target, we all know that too, and that wasnt about oil
either, it was about little Bush proving something to big Bush in my humble opinion. You didnt finish the job dad, so I will. Afghanistan is where we
should have concentrated our efforts, we went in strong and then kind of just stopped and focused elsewhere. If we do catch Osama Bin Laden, it wont
end Al Queda, but to think it would not be detrimental to their cause is foolish. They hold him up as the highest of almighty martyrs and he is a
legend to them. He was able to strike the heart of the zionists and then dissapear into the shadows of the mountains of Afghanistan. If we catch or
kill him and show it to his brothers in arms, they may face there own mortality a little more. It's important to show the world that he is just a man
and bleeds the same color as the rest of us. Sorry about the tangent, i always get into one with these subjects, and I know not everyone will agree
with me. The Patriot act has benefits, but humans cannot wield that much power without corrupting it.
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Killthehumans
Senior Member
Posts: 597
Registered: 12-1-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: simon and garfunkal
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What really scares me was this book was a communist book, not a book about alqueda or the middle east and they still spied on him.
just take a look at the papers
your leaders
they\'re killers
they\'re liars
what they do in your
name to make the bodies pile higher
the murders, the terror
they\'ve done it forever
as we sit band and smile
at the script they sell us
but now the victims, they\'re rising
their numbers\'s multiplying
they want their revenge for the years
that they\'ve been dying
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Killthehumans
Senior Member
Posts: 597
Registered: 12-1-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: simon and garfunkal
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Voodoobillyman
I find the Patriot act to be a double edged sword. It is definitely the precurser to a 1984 kind of society, and if abused is definitely the scariest
shit this country has ever faced. On the other hand I do agree, to a certain degree, with what the President is saying about the narrowing of the gap
in reaction times. The more we know and the sooner we know it the more prepared we are for defense in a terrorist attack. It is no secret that there
are sleeper cells in this country who are in communication with global networks and are buying time and planning the next attack. Our countries
intelligence communities ability to moniter these cells and their communications is imperative in stopping the killing of civilians in this country.
Thats what gets me about terrorism, they claim to be freedom fighters and battling oppresion blah, blah, blah..........and then because military
targets are too "hard" they choose soft targets like buildings loaded with innocent men, women and children. This "war on terrorism" has certainly
divided the country into those who believe we are doing the right thing by taking the fight to their lands, and then those who believe we are wrong
and should change our policies in the mid east and take an isolationist stance. Do you think if we did this we would be safe from the kinds of attacks
we experienced in 2001? Personally, I do not. It's easy for people to say it's all about the oil, I am not blind, I know who the GOP is in bed with,
the ties between the Bush family and big oil companies is no secret. I do not believe our soldiers are in the mid east dying for oil, it is more
fundamental than that, oil is just the flavor of the day and when it runs out, the flavor will change. The military is over there to show that this
country will not stand by and let thousands die without reprocussions. Iraq was the wrong target, we all know that too, and that wasnt about oil
either, it was about little Bush proving something to big Bush in my humble opinion. You didnt finish the job dad, so I will. Afghanistan is where we
should have concentrated our efforts, we went in strong and then kind of just stopped and focused elsewhere. If we do catch Osama Bin Laden, it wont
end Al Queda, but to think it would not be detrimental to their cause is foolish. They hold him up as the highest of almighty martyrs and he is a
legend to them. He was able to strike the heart of the zionists and then dissapear into the shadows of the mountains of Afghanistan. If we catch or
kill him and show it to his brothers in arms, they may face there own mortality a little more. It's important to show the world that he is just a man
and bleeds the same color as the rest of us. Sorry about the tangent, i always get into one with these subjects, and I know not everyone will agree
with me. The Patriot act has benefits, but humans cannot wield that much power without corrupting it. |
to me The mid-east fundementalist and the right wing in this country are the same. They both achieve thier goals by keeping people ignorant. Both want
to limit freedoms. Both want power so they can control what people do and how they do it. i know its been said to death but it still blows my mind
that the reagan admininistratin support the mid east extremists. However i dont see anyway out now except to stay in iraq so this doesnt happen again.
just take a look at the papers
your leaders
they\'re killers
they\'re liars
what they do in your
name to make the bodies pile higher
the murders, the terror
they\'ve done it forever
as we sit band and smile
at the script they sell us
but now the victims, they\'re rising
their numbers\'s multiplying
they want their revenge for the years
that they\'ve been dying
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Voodoobillyman
The Artist Formerly Known As...
Posts: 4247
Registered: 8-12-2005
Location: Eastern Seaboard of the United States
Member Is Offline
Mood: my daughters beautiful curiousity
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| Quote: |
the reagan admininistratin support the mid east extremists
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It was between them and the Soviets trying to invade and capture more territory for the "Iron Curtain" Reagans people had to choose between the lesser
of two evils and figured for the time being the Soviets posed more of a threat than the fundamentalists. The CIA did train and arm Bin Laden and his
people in their fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, but they also knew that they were going to see this eventually come back to bite them
in the ass some day, and boy did it ever. Reagans administration made the best decision in my opinion for the time regarding this issue. Hindsight is
always 20 / 20 
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