"Watch" lists

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."
...
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.

www.southcoasttoday.com...

Its been some week for freedom, eh?

How contrived...

All this person had to do is spend $9.95 anonymously on Amazon.com.

The Little Red Book

I doubt the veracity of this report, perhaps there is a more compelling reason this person was investigated?

Originally posted by Mirthful Me
All this person had to do is spend $9.95 anonymously on Amazon.com.

I'm not quite sure Amazon accepts anonymous purchases...

How exactly would one accomplish this with the authorities making it legal to get any information from anyone for any reason , without even needing a warrant in most cases.
No one does anything anonymously , without leaving a trail of dead bodies in their wake , while wearing a stolen body condom in a stolen car , in the dead of night , and with a lot of luck in hopes the authorities would miss something in the investigation...............
Yeah , it has been a bad week for freedom.

Originally posted by XiNGYaNGFoo
How exactly would one accomplish this with the authorities making it legal to get any information from anyone for any reason , without even needing a warrant in most cases.

How would the "authorities" extract such information? Under what guise? Please be specific.

Thanks.

If true, this person shouldnt have to do or even have to think Hey maybe i should do this anonymously This is America ffs, this is a bunch of Bs..

A little update:

www.thecrimson.com...

Perhaps I should be posting in the Paranormal Forum.

Tree Psychic Monkeys, not just for Kennedy indiscretions anymore...

I don't know about getting on a "watch" list through purchasing a book.

But im pretty sure a few contributor's to this board (and many other boards) have landed themselves on an official "watch" list.

Check the link...

Editor's note: This story was determined to be a hoax.
See followup story click here
To read editor's notebook on story click here

Hell, I've spent a lot of time abroad, and one of the courses I was taking back when foreign espionage was my major d'jour..., was Chinese Politics. I'm sure such texts would be considered perfectly normal for such studies.... I also checked out books regarding Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism, etc. for numerous papers, but no agents visiting me...