Do you think average citizens are really flagged by the government for the books they buy?

Absolutely. I've had great chats with librarians over the Patriot Act - the government is public about the fact that they monitor library activity as well as bookstores. They also read the email and listen to the telephone conversations of average citizens. They won't even tell us everything they monitor. They've put people in detention camps for years without even telling them why. I am sure they also monitor Yahoo! Answers, so if I disappear, please send somebody to look for me.

Back when I watched X-Files, conspiracy theories were something only the weirdos believed. Now we know they were right all along, Big Brother really IS watching.

That has been a huge fight in the library system. The Patriot(sic) Act authorized it, but the librarians took it to court and have staved off the best efforts of the thought police - as far as we know because just talking about Patriot Act cases is often illegal.

As far as what you buy on Amazon or in Barnes & Noble, we don't know. Those records can be gotten to through credit card and bank records. Again the secrecy has made it impossible to discover if there IS a problem.

When you consider that my anti-war activity in the 60s and 70s, which consisted mainly of standing on the steps of a Federal building in downtown Kalamazoo MI with a sign saying, "Honk if you're against the war" garnered me a State Police file and an FBI file, plus a visit from "military intelligence" people (sorry about the oxymoron), then, yes, I do think so.

Of course they do. Something else to think about. The Government has been tracking people through the products they buy. This is done through the UPC symbols and the fact that hardly anyone uses cash anymore. Those UPC symbols are linked to your credit/debit cards and a "profile" of your shopping habits are compiled. What this database will be used for I do not know, but it makes one wonder about our nearly cashless system where everything, including us, has become digits.

Do you mean back when Eisenhower was president in the 1950s? Possibly....

Nowadays, I think we're all a bit more busy worrying about Mr. Extremist and the whole kill as many Americans as we can thing.

Some libraries actively participate in this program, but I am sure that many do not. University libraries are probably supervised more closely than public libraries.

Tell me one person in power that has suggested banning all guns. No one is saying that, and you know it. Guess what genius, many Liberals own guns, just as many Conservatives smoke dope. See what happens when you generalize about one group of people? Your question sounds idiotic.

The scary thing is that no one knows. We are living in an era where Big Brother is watching us. We no longer have any right to privacy.

Yes. And by the way I'm reporting you to the SS for suggesting such a ludicrous and obnoxious question!

Nothing would surprise me. They are listening to our phone calls.