"Terror Reading"

[Harmon Seaver]

On Mon, Sep 01, 2003 at 12:03:00PM -0700, Meyer Wolfsheim wrote:
> On Sun, 31 Aug 2003, Anonymous wrote:
> 
> > >Some librarians are probably now thinking they have a patriotic duty to
> > >see what people are reading and to report any "suspicious" behavior.

   First of all, the entire library community is outraged at being put in this
position, and, in fact, the American Library Assoc. is suing Asskruft and the
fedzis over it. Secondly, I personally know a great many librarians, holding an
MLIS myself and having worked in several libraries, and all the librarians I
know are very pissed about this and have no interest in cooperating if at all
possible. 


> > >Part of the intent of the Patriot Act and the Library Awareness Program
> > >was to bamboozle the nation's librarians into acting as the kind of
> > >"ward watchers" that were once so common in the Soviet Union (the
> > >babushkas who sat on each floor of apartment buildings and filed
> > >reports on the comings and goings of their flock).
> >
> > The purpose of this is purely a show and indoctrination.
> >
> > 1. No self-respecting terrorist would go to a fucking library to do
> > terror reading (maybe there is something positive here - I think that
> > we should get protected by pigs from extremely dumb terorists.)
> 
> The risk is not one "terrorists" have to fear. The biggest problem with
> the librarian narc program is the same as most of these anti-terrorism
> measures: completely innocent people are harassed, arrested, or placed
> under suspicion.
> 

   So far I only know of one instance of the pigs coming to a library and
demanding info on a patron. And it wasn't the fedzis, it was the local pigs and
they weren't after a terrorist, they were after some poor souls library records
because they suspected him of something to do with drugs. And I'll bet you that
the vast majority of pig demands on libraries are in the same vein. 
   This one was on the web:

"The Virginia Public Library received a request for patron records from the
Deputy Sheriff. The staff member informed the officer he would need to talk to
the Director. Director Nancy Maxwell stated that she would check with the city
attorney. When he could not be located in time, she contacted ALS and was
advised to give them the information requested since it was accompanied by a
court order."

http://www.arrowhead.lib.mn.us/compass/minutes/august02.html


> You won't catch a terrorist learning to be evil at a library, but you
> might wrongfully snare an innocent citizen who happens to have an interest
> in "bad" books.
> 
> How long until this program is extended to include anyone checking out any
> book that some part of the US law enforcement body deems bad? If you read
> Pikhal, do you end up on a watch list?


    Yup. That's their main interest. Fuck terrorists -- the pigs are only
interested if there is something to steal at the bust, like drugs or money, or
there might be property to grab. Just try and get them to do anything about
regular crime like enforcing disturbing the peace or drunk and disorderly. So,
of course, that's what they are using the unpatriot act for. 


-- 
Harmon Seaver	
CyberShamanix
http://www.cybershamanix.com