Librarian Beats The FBI

Somebody needs to give this Librarian a medal man. Thanks to the Patriot Act, yes, you still have the right to read anything you like, as long you don't read anything "they" don't like, otherwise your going to get profiled as a potential terrorist. Finally, a librarian in Whatcom County, Washington stood up to this Nazi rubbish. God forbid anybody try to read the wrong book.

www.worldnetdaily.com...
A librarian in Washington state stood up to the FBI after it demanded internal patron information – and she won.

Joan Airoldi, director of the library district in Whatcom County, Wash., between Seattle and Bellingham, told her story in an op-ed piece in USA Today.

"It was a moment that librarians had been dreading," Airoldi writes in the opening of her column.

She explains that in June, an FBI agent stopped into one of the district's branches and requested a list of people who had borrowed a biography of Osama bin Laden.

"We said no," Airoldi wrote....

The library told the FBI it would have to go through legal channels to request the information, which it did. A week later, the agency served a subpoena on the library demanding a list of everyone who had borrowed the book since November 2001.

Wrote Airoldi: "Our trustees faced a difficult decision. It is our job to protect the right of people to obtain the books and other materials they need to form and express ideas. If the government can easily obtain records of the books that our patrons are borrowing, they will not feel free to request the books they want. Who would check out a biography of bin Laden knowing that this might attract the attention of the FBI?"

The library trustees, Airoldi explained, had to balance privacy rights with its desire to help the government fight terrorism. It decided to fight the subpoena in court, and 15 days later the FBI dropped its demand....

"With a Patriot Act order in hand, I would have been forbidden to disclose even the fact that I had received it and would not have been able to tell this story."

In an e-mail praising Airoldi, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership warned of what it perceives as Patriot Act dangers.

"If somebody else's margin scribble in a library book is enough to put you on the FBI's suspect list, then do you have more liberty or less?" the group asks. "Secret courts with unreviewable court order powers – are these more a feature of free countries or of police states?"

As a result, FBI asks Congress for extraordinary powers

i would check out a book knowing it could attract the FBI's attention, that's who. so what, they'll know what i'm reading, big damn deal. i'll go even further. if they want to know why i checked out a certain book then they're free to drop by my house at a proper time and ask me. i'll give them my, and this word is important people... LEGITIMATE answer and a cup of coffee if they'll be long enough. i've got nothing to hide and no, i don't consider a little Q'n'A a hassle. some don't like the FBI being able to check out lists likes this because they worry it's a slippery slope to banning material. that's a reasonable arguement so fair enough. but let's not forget certain material is already banned, and it's not banned because the government wanted it so, but because certain groups with enough political power strong arm everyone into believing classic literature could offend someone (consult any list of banned books online).

Originally posted by astroblade
i would check out a book knowing it could attract the FBI's attention, that's who. so what, they'll know what i'm reading, big damn deal. i'll go even further. if they want to know why i checked out a certain book then they're free to drop by my house at a proper time and ask me.

They won't ask you. The powers they have now give them the right to search your place w/o you being present -- I read about this here on ATS (with supporting materials). God forbid they find a fwe mp3 files with OBLs speeches. Then you might be detained (no charges filed) for a long time.

Welcome to our brilliant day and age.

astroblade, I was thinking the same thing but going a step farther. I was thinking about inviting them to all of the chat rooms I visit. When I go on a date, they'll be there. When I hop on a plane, they'll be there. When I drive my car, they'll be there. When I go shopping, they'll be there. When I go to the bathroom, they'll be there. Geez, I was thinking, heck, who needs privacy? I mean, what's the point of keeping things to yourself? I remember the time I went on a top secret mission and may neighbors wanted to know. Boy, that was easy! I just gave my code name, my real name, all of my contacts, who my contacts contacts were and just about anything they asked for. Gave away my passwords to all my computers, ... even gave em a key to my house. Anytime they want to see how much money I have in the bank, I let em. Anytime I want them to know my utilities, I say, "Shucks! Just walk right on in."

I'll tell you what I'm doing right now. I'm eating a bowl of fruitloops, thinking about scratching my nose and well. So, who cares about privacy. I'll install a web cam in my house pretty soon

and you actually think the FBI WOULD search my house without me being there, HA. it hasn't happened, and it's not going to unless circumstances warrant it, such as evidence of terrorist activity. the problem with most of you is you actually believe the FBI is evil or out to get you for no reason. i'm not that negative. besides, what exactly makes what you check out from a library private? your librarian can look that information up anytime and no one is worrying about that. let me ask you Aelita, for what possible reason would someone have OBL speeches on their computer in the first place? perhaps they're researching for a book or something else legitimate. well once that's explained you don't get detained for a long time, everything goes back to how it always was. as for you pfunk, way to take it to the extreme! what i stated was realistic. they ask me a question, i'll give them the answer. it actually is that simple, regardless of what you want to think. privacy is stilll abundant pfunk, you just have to be mindful that the governement doesn't want to miss any of the red flags they missed the last time around.

Intersting story. Since its from the worldnutdaily, is there any reason to beleive that its true???

@astroblade

According to the Patriot Act, the FBI can come into your house when you aren't home and snoop around.

I might add that that's a violation of your Fourth Amendment rights--your right to be served with a warrant first.

Back in the good old days, they had to have decent evidence that you are involved in a crime before they could get a warrant. Now they bypass the warrant and snoop around if they THINK you MIGHT be involved in terrorist activity!

Originally posted by Nygdan
Intersting story. Since its from the worldnutdaily, is there any reason to beleive that its true???

USA Today not good enough a source for you? Where would you like your stories posted from? What source is good enough if it conflicts your beliefs?

Joan Airoldi, director of the library district in Whatcom County, Wash., between Seattle and Bellingham, told her story in an op-ed piece in USA Today.

Originally posted by twitchy
Where would you like your stories posted from?

A reputable newsource that doesn't constantly publish lies and propaganda perhaps??

What source is good enough if it conflicts your beliefs?

What beleifs are being conflicted with here???

www.google.com...

There's a couple more sources at the top.

I'm not having a go at you, Nygdan, but you could have easily punched in the relevant keywords into Google and answered your own question. Yes we know that there are biased and laughable sources out there, and perhaps the thread starter should have taken that into consideration when choosing the source. But I think we have enough "That sources is a biased propaganda machine" posts already at ATS.

You are right to express your displeasure at seeing a particular article sourced from whichever site annoys you. But in the same post you could have provided another.

Originally posted by astroblade
i've got nothing to hide and no, i don't consider a little Q'n'A a hassle.

You may find it a hassle if you were placed on a no-fly list if you like to travel by air. Hopefully you would get the courtesy of a visit to find out more information instead of an entry team and a warrant.

It would depend on what other books you have been reading and what items you have been buying with your credit card and what other phone calls you have been making. What kind of transactions you have on your bank account, how often you travel, where you travel when you do go abroad, what you are throwing away in your trash, who you e-mail, what web sites you visit, what you post on those sites, what groups you belong to, what is in your DD form 214, etc.

One red flag...nope. A dozen or so...all bets are off.

Originally posted by cargo
I'm not having a go at you, Nygdan, but you could have easily punched in the relevant keywords into Google and answered your own question.

Why should I have to? Worldnutdaily is utter garbage. They're not jouranlists, and when they are reporting on something that actually occured, its gone thru a series of 'bullcrap' layers that just add more and more bullcrap to it.

But I think we have enough "That sources is a biased propaganda machine" posts already at ATS.

Obviously not, since people still site things like India Daily or Worldnutdaily as if they were worthwhile.

I understand what you are getting at, but the problem is, worldnutdaily is a biased source, heck not even biased, they're an incompetent source that pushes stuff that only agrees with their whacked agenda. Anyone using them as a source has to expect that people would take note of that. Indeed, people should take note of that.

Yes astro, it has never happened, I mean, if they did one would know, wouldn't they? I mean we would know if the remote was on the left arm of the chair and not the right when we left. I mean, we would know if the computer chair had been at a 47 degree angle to the back wall and not a 46 degree angle. Do you really think anyone would know if the FBI had searched their house? Think the FBI just burns the place down when done to make sure you knew they were there?