Watch What Book You Read On A Plane

Posted by Pile (6408 views) Add this story to MyYahoo Add this article to del.icio.us Submit article to Reddit Add story to Furl Add story to StumbleUpon [E-Mail link]

[Activists]
US rocker and writer Henry Rollins was reported to the National Security hotline during his recent Australian tour because of a book he was reading on flight to Brisbane.

A furious Rollins was informed he was "nominated as a possible threat" for reading Jihad: The Rise Of Militant Islam In Central Asia.

From Rollin's online journal:
#30. 01-30-06 Melbourne Australia: 2139 hrs. I just got a letter from a nice woman who told me the man I sat next to on the flight from Auckland to Goldcoast Australia reported me to the Australian Government because of the book I was reading.

I hope this finds you before you leave Australia as I think its something that won't surprise you but might give you a smile when you are sitting in a hotel room. I work in one of those Government areas that deals with anti terrorism matters. A fine service is provided but unfortunately we get to read a lot of things submitted by lunatics. The Australian Government set up the National Security Hotline to report terrorists.

The person who sat next to you on the flight from New Zealand does not agree with your politics or choice of reading and so nominated you as a possible threat. As they were too cowardly or stupid to leave their details I can't call them to discuss their idiocy with them.


Interesting that he and I exchanged nothing but polite hellos. I was reading Ahmed Rashid's book Jihad: The Rise Of Militant Islam In Central Asia. He's a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and the book is on the Yale University Press. Didn't Bush drink beer at Yale? Didn't he not seem to learn much at Yale?

Of course I wrote the nice lady back.

I was reading a book called Jihad by Ahmed Rashid which is a history of Central Asia. I didn't speak to the man next to me past how do you do. I think Ahmed Rashid is published by Yale University Press. Bush's alma mater. Please tell your government and everyone in your office to go f*ck themselves. Tell them twice. If your boss is looking for something to do, you can tell him I suggest he go f*ck himself. Baghdad's safer than my hometown and your PM is a sissy. You have a nice night.

I really don't take kindly to that kind of shit. I like it though. Love it. Confrontation. Tension. Adversarial relationships. More please. It's the only time it gets real.

Details

 

Black Flag
Posted by Clitterbug on 2006-02-23 12:37:51
I miss Henry Rollins' BLACK FLAG days! I Saw him in concert at the Cameo Theatre in Miami Beach, FL a long time ago and he was awesome back then and he still just rocks! People can read what they wanna read! As far as I'm concerned, it's better to learn and get informed and educated than it is to be stupid and ignorant.
My similar experience
Posted by d.e. on 2006-03-10 14:32:02
The book that I was flagged for trying to carry onto the airplane was called _French for Reading Knowledge_.
 

Comments

 
Name: (change name for anonymous posting)
Title:
Comments:
   

1 Article displayed.

Pursuant to Section 230 of Title 47 of the United States Code (47 USC § 230), BSAlert is a user-contributed editorial web site and does not endorse any specific content, but merely acts as a "sounding board" for the online community. Any and all quoted material is referenced pursuant to "Fair Use" (17 U.S.C. § 107). Like any information resource, use your own judgement and seek out the facts and research and make informed choices.

Powered by Percleus (c) 2005-2047 - Content Management System

[Percleus 0.9.5] (c) 2005, PCS