CULTURAS IN VITRO
Patriotic Fervor: Vermont Booksellers Protest Patriot Act: An "open letter" signed by two-thirds of Vermont's independent booksellers and many librarians protesting anti-civil liberties provisions of the Patriot Act has inspired Vermont Representative Bernie Sanders (Independent) to file corrective legislation with the House of Representatives when Congress opens again in January.
The Patriot Act gives the government the power to seize bookstore and library records to check customers' and patrons' reading lists. A gag order in the legislation prevents bookstore owners and librarians from telling anyone about the seizure.