A friend who didn't know me very well gave me a gift card at Barnes and Noble. Since the corporate scum already have the profit, I figured I might as well use that money for a good book. To my shock, the Barnes and Noble I visited (Oakbrook, IL) did not have any books by Leonard Peltier, Ralph Nader, Winona LaDuke, and Cornell West. (At the time, this was all of the authors I could think of, there are most definitely more) I was getting mad and was trying to think of how far this would go before I found a book in stock, I asked if they had a book of speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. The woman looking it up said there is a book, but it is not in stock. I'm surprised there wasn't a table set up for Martin Luther King Jr! McDonalds has

corporatized him with an edited speech on their trays.

By this time, another worker had taken an interest in the fact that I couldn't find a single book I wanted yet. I asked if there was anything by Abbie Hoffman, Aha! There is one book in the US History section. The other worker was kind enough to offer to find the book for me and we both went to find the book. She finds it and then, with no one around tells me that there is a very conservative manager who has been stopping books from coming in that she has tried to order for the store. I am shocked, she tells me she can't even think of all the books that were supposed to come in for the Fiction and Literature section, but said that this was also true for children books, in which she had orders 5 copies of "The Giving Tree" and not a single copy came in. She told me that customers are welcome to order a book and it will come in 5 days or so, but most customers are turned off by this.

The book by Abbie Hoffman was "Letters from the Underground" or something close to that name and was written by someone else as well as Abbie Hoffman.

I was mad that this book I've never heard of before is the best I could find and decided I'm not going to give money to this store and left. It was then that I realized that if I just gave up, I have already lost and I went back

in and ordered books. Unfortunately, the woman who had told me her secret was unable to order my books for me as some other guy got to me first. I ordered books by Winona LaDuke, Leonard Peltier, and Cornell West. I was going to

order a book of speeches by Martin Luther King Jr, however the guy was able to find a book in stock on the computer and directed me to the African American studies section and that book was the book I bought. I guess that corporations haven't been able to edit enough books to make a table for

Martin Luther King day so they keep all his books hidden a back section away from the controlled "Fiction and Literature" section.

Another problem I found at Barnes and Noble was my inability to find copies of BuisnessWeek magazine on the shelves in the magazine section, however when

I asked if they had the magazine they did have it in stock somewhere. If I didn't hear about the magazine through Ralph Nader I never would have found it in the store.

The point of my story is that Barnes and Noble has allowed managers to edit their stores as they please and this is hurting our society who probably don't know these books exist. We need to take action across the nation and

around the world and tell Barnes and Noble that this type of behavior will not be tolerated. My suggestion for now is to go to Barnes and Noble and order as many books as you can think of that are not in stock. Especially

Leonard Peltier which is probably not stocked in a single store. (check the store first so they can't find a book in an obscure corner of the store, thus allowing the person who is ordering the books to realize how far censorship

exists) Before you go into book order mode, ask if they have in stock any books by each author and act surprised. You probably will be already! I am planning to write the manager of the Oakbrook Barnes and Noble, as well as

the CEO, but the opportunity given to us to order books and not buy them when they come in is almost too good to be true. Obviously, we will not buy books from conservative, censoring, corporate abusers and with many people ordering

the same books the message will be clear that these books need to be shelved or else they will have to order the books. This ordering process takes time folks and time is money to Barnes and Noble when lines get long. I'm not sure if Barnes and Noble returns books that are not bought to the warehouse they came from or put them on the shelves. No matter what though, unless they have the book in stock you have the right, as a customer, to demand they order that book. I suggest masses of people coming in together to create a protest of people wanting to read Leonard Peltier!

I am looking forward to holding up the lines at Barnes

and Noble with my friends once I go back to school next week.

Thank you,

Nick Berveiler, ISU student

Thank you Nick for being both young and aware- people like you are going to help save this country for the future generations of hopefully unbrainwashed and free citizens.

Censorship and the use of print as propaganda was honed to a fine art by Hitlers fascist regime. Hitler did not take away peoples guns. He took away every iota of free thought in the form of literature and film first- while subplanting it with his own.

One notable difference between the 'Left' and the 'Right' is the Rights propensity to attempt thought control in all media presentation. Perhaps they learned some lessons from Hitlers regime in how to control the masses most effectively, efficiently and bloodlessly; unless of course they are the ones spilling it.

The day to day sublimation of consumerism is most obvious of course. We even have to submit to being 'commercialized' while standing in line AT THE STORE... ie: 7-11's.

So cudo's to you Nick, for being a 'free thinker' and following through with your convictions.

They want to shut off the tap of alternative thought? Make 'em pay baby- right where it hurts them the most $$$$$

I will be glad to check the bookstores in my area for the same red-line censorship you illustrated here.

Boy!

I am so frequently shocked at how little the Left understands the Right that the really shocking thing is that I am still shocked!

The Right supports "thought control" through control of the media? Como?

The Right learned these techniques from Hitler?

Come again?

Bear with me please for a 3 minute primer on the Right wing philosophy (if I can do that effectively).

First, everyone has a right to Life, Liberty and Property, Speech, Free Exercise of Religion, Freedom to be Secure In our Persons and Homes from Unreasonable Search and Seizure.

(Property -- if you earn it -- you should keep it baby.)

Collectively, these are your Individual Rights.

We all have the right to defend our Individual Rights.

Government is formed when a group of people say "let us join together for the mutual defense of our Individual Rights."

The Government's right are no greater or higher than the rights of the individual's who formed it -- it can defend the Individual Rights of the citizens.

A citizen can't walk into your house with a gun and say "give me money for my house, my food, my clothes, my health care and my medicines".

Therefore, the Government, having no greater rights than the citizens, can't send an armed officer into your house and say "give us money so that we may give it to others for their house, food, etc."

That would be a PERVERSION of the law. The Government is intended to PROTECT the citizens' property -- not steal it.

(Yes, of course, the Government may make these actions LEGAL, but it is still a misuse, or perversion, of the law.)

Now, unfortunately, the perversion of the law is virtually inevitable. Some sleazy individual always figures out a way to get something out of the system for nothing. Here's an obvious example -- slavery. There's a REAL perversion of the Law.

Now, upon seeing the Law perverted, there are two reactions you can have.

The first is to become outraged, call it a perversion of the Law and demand it stop.

The second is to say "hey -- how can I get in on this action, baby?!?!"

Sadly, the latter response has become the utterly accepted reaction by virtually everyone in our society. Republicans and Democrats alike.

However, among Principled members of the Right -- who are not afraid to throw stones at Republicans -- the appropriate reaction is still outrage toward the use of the law for any purpose other than the protection of Individual Rights.

Hitler, by the way, was not particularly well known for his respect for Individual Rights.* If you're looking to learn something about the Right, stay away from Mein Kampf.

*That's understatement, intended for humorous effect. (I try.)