Battleangel

The red scare is back. I thought they had abandoned that old myth for much hipper terrorism fear mongering. Or is it just that DHS has recycled its old agents that are still stuck in the Cold War?

Sploid - A UMass-Dartmouth senior, who has asked that his name be withheld for fear of further troubles, was recently visited by agents from the Department of Homeland Security after they learned he had requested a copy of Mao’s “Little Red Book” from his school’s library.

The student was researching a paper on Communism for his class on fascism and totalitarianism when he left his name, address, phone number and social security along with his request for Mao’s 1964 classic from the inter-library loan program.

“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.”

The department’s interest in the student was heightened further by his having spent significant time abroad.