Federal agents' visit was a hoax

Cross posted in LBN -

NEW BEDFORD -- The UMass Dartmouth student who claimed to have been visited by Homeland Security agents over his request for "The Little Red Book" by Mao Zedong has admitted to making up the entire story.
The 22-year-old student tearfully admitted he made the story up to his history professor, Dr. Brian Glyn Williams, and his parents, after being confronted with the inconsistencies in his account.

<snip>

"I grew skeptical of this story, as did Bob, considering the ramifications," Dr. Williams said yesterday. "I spent the last five days avoiding work, and the international media, and rest, trying to get names and dates and facts. My investigation eventually took me to his house, where I began to investigate family matters. I eventually found out the whole thing had been invented, and I'm happy to report that it's safe to borrow books."

<snip>

The student's motivation remains a mystery, but in the interview on Thursday, he provided a glimpse.
"When I came back, like wow, there's this circus coming on. I saw my cell phone, and I see like, wow, I have something like 75 messages and like something like 87 missed calls," he said. "Wow, I was popular. I usually get one or probably two a week and that's about it, and I usually pick them up."


More details at the link
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-05/12-24-05/a01lo719.htm

Shit like this is really helpful :eyes:

in public recently used this as an example. maybe democrat.com in my email. i will check. little shit. ah well. gets lonely at that age. fun to be popular

on edit, wasnt democrat.com or boxer email, but i read it somewhere today, two example and the little red book was one of them.

we cannot be absolutely certain which story is correct--authoritarians rule by uncertainty as much as by fear and force. Note that I'm not saying I disbelieve the newer story or think it's not unhelpful; it's an observation of dictatorships and their exploitation of Occam's Razor.

Seems he wasn't answering for anyone. I don't feel so bad now that he never returned my calls. Sounds like he was dodging the press himself.

I am still not convinced that it all was a hoax. Maybe it was, but doesn't it seem almost too easy to dismiss this as a story without some level of truth in it?

I remember that someone posted that they talked to the librarian at UMass, and the librarian said that it did happen.

I will try to contact the librarian when I can. They most likely won't be back until after the Holidays, but I will check next week just the same.

And that it wasn't just this one student. Very peculiar.

So what the hell? Is saying this is a hoax actually a "hoax"??

Dan Rather (should have).

Anyway, glad that's been set to rights. Ya gotta suspect one person's uncorroborated 'blockbuster' story - ANY one person.

PS
He shudda stuck with the dog ate his homework.

Glad to hear this. And I gotta admit I fell for it. Damn.

Why is it that is seems too easy?

Was it contrived to begin with?

What to believe, what not to believe.

first of all. Who REALLY talks like that, except a fictional college student dreamed up by some gov PR guy?


Iknow I sound like the world's most gullible conspiracy nut, but maybe they ALL got a little visit from Homeland and recanted their tale. Too wierd for me...

:eyes: