Library Juice 4:45 - December 12, 2001
Contents:
- First Monday, vol. 6, no. 12
- George Draffan's Public Information Network and Endgame
- Call for Submissions: Revolting Librarians Redux
- Papers from the AILA Public Libraries Conference
- An invitation to join DIGITALDIVIDE
- Assorted Civil Liberty Links
- Google USENET archive now goes back 20 years
- Susan Fuller speech at SJSU
- Orders to purge records have librarians worried
- New Paper Urges Librarians to Promote Open Archives
- The Special Task Force on the Status of Librarians
- Confessions of a Traitor
- The War for Public Opinion
- Library Bonnet
- Library Secrets
- Library Card (song lyrics)
- Update on "Support Christ and Your Local Library"
- Sex in the library
- NYC Surveillance Cameras
- Whose terrorism will be investigated?
Quote for the week:
"The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination
of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty
bound to do his share in this defense are the constitutional rights
secure." ALBERT EINSTEIN
Homepage of the week: Ralph Sanderson
http://infotrain.magill.unisa.edu.au/Epub/People/sandr/sandr.htm________________________________________________________________________top
1. First Monday, vol. 6, no. 12 (December 3rd, 2001)
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue6_12/
Free Software/Free Science
by Christopher M. KeltyRe-engineering Scientific Credit in the Era of the Globalized Information
Economy
by Philip MirowskiCode, Culture and Cash: The Fading Altruism of Open Source Development
by David LancashireThe Economics of Software Distribution over the Internet Revisited
by Yaron IlanThe Electronic Starry Plough: The Enationalism of the Irish Republican
Socialist Movement (IRSM)
by Michael DartnellCommunicating Information about the World Trade Center Disaster: Ripples,
Reverberations, and Repercussions
by Michael Blakemore and Roger LonghornThe Day the World Changed: Implications for Archival, Library, and
Information Science Education
by Richard J. Cox with Mary K. Biagini, Toni Carbo, Tony Debons, Ellen
Detlefsen, Jose Marie Griffiths, Don King, David Robins, Richard Thompson,
Chris Tomer, and Martin WeissLibraries, the Internet and September 11
by Judy Matthews and Richard WigginsBook Reviews
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2. George Draffan's Public Information Network and Endgame
George Draffan is an MLIS holder who has built himself a career as a social
activist, as the creator of the "Endgame" site and the Public Information
Network. Draffan is interviewed about these projects in this month's issue
of The Sun (a good magazine, not shy to address reality square on, in
fiction and essays, with all of its sadness intact).The article is not online, but The Sun can be ordered from the website:
http://thesunmagazine.org/.
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3. Call for Submissions: Revolting Librarians Redux
edited by
Katia Roberto and Jessamyn West
Deadline for summaries: January 15, 2002
Submit a brief summary (3 paragraphs maximum) and a short author's
statement or URLs where appropriate. Electronic submissions only.Deadline for manuscripts: April 15, 2002
One electronic copy emailed to revolting[at]librarian.net. Black-and-white
artwork may be submitted in hard copy. Text may range from 25 to 5000
words; author responsible for securing image copyright permissions.This book is intended as a follow-up to Celeste West and Elizabeth Katz's
Revolting Librarians (San Francisco: Booklegger Press, 1972). We want
library workers to write insightful critiques of any aspect of
librarianship. A special section on the 1972 book's impact is also planned.
In the spirit of the original book, all contributions should be as readable
and interesting as possible.Possible ideas include:
* contributors to the first book - where are they now?
* reactions to Revolting Librarians
* original artwork
* original cartoons
* original poetry or fiction
* alternative libraries
* librarianship & whiteness
* librarianship & heteronormativity
* why is librarianship so apolitical?
* horror stories and lessons learned
* cataloging issues
* reference work issues
* intellectual freedom
* additional resources for radical librariansContact:
Katia Roberto
Cataloging Dept.
Library Affairs, Mail Code 6632
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL 62901-6632
revolting[at]librarian.netJessamyn West
Box 95474
Seattle WA 98145
revolting[at]librarian.netFor additional information, contact the editors or go to
http://www.librarian.net/revolting/
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4. Papers from the AILA Public Libraries Conference
(AILA is the Australian Library and Information Association)
http://www.alia.org.au/conferences/public/2001/
2001 Public Libraries Conference
Index of conference papers Papers from the 2001 Public Libraries
Conference will be available online from 16 November 2001.Please note: Papers will be placed onto ALIAnet when they become
available.Put the icing on the cake: entrepreneurs in the public library, Jill Best
Bookstores and libraries: marketing reading in the 21st century, Mary
DalmauCharting a course throught the local studies web-page maze, Pat Fischer
What's overseas from the internet: finding of the Victorian Public Library
collaborative online reference project, Brendan Fitzgerald and Stephanie
McGlincheyFollow the eBook road: eBooks in Oz public libraries, Sue Hutley, Mylee
Joseph and Pam SaundersCustomer Service -- making island communities more livable through library
services, Marlene MageeThe fronline librarian: a skillbased approach to training, Lyn Macleod and
Moya McConnellYouthlink -- supporting, collaborating, education, Sarah Marland
Read all about it! -- The Moreland Reading Project and the UK National
Reading Campaigns, Genimaree PanozzoAccounting for outcomes -- demonstrating the impact of public libraries,
Bob Usherwood
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5. An invitation to join DIGITALDIVIDE:
An international discussion list on bridging the digital divide
(Please feel free to redistribute this message)
As part of its ongoing commitment to exploring new ways of bridging the
digital divide, the Benton Foundation's Communications Policy Program would
like to invite you to join the DIGITALDIVIDE listserv. DIGITALDIVIDE is a
moderated discussion in which citizens can discuss the wide range of issues
related to bridging the digital divide. The listserv, which currently
includes over 2300 members from around the world, cuts across disciplinary
boundaries: community activists, educators, researchers, representatives of
commercial and nonprofit enterprises, volunteers, students and concerned
citizens are all encouraged to take part in this online discussion.The listserv tackles the digital divide from a variety of angles, that
include (but are not limited to) the following subjects:
- Internet access issues;
- content creation for underserved populations and communities;
- combating illiteracy in its many forms;
- online diversity;
- economic development and workforce issues;
- community building;
- technology accessibility and the disabled;
- the Internet and cultural diversity;
- digital divide news and events;
- education and training;
- best practices from local, national and international digital divide efforts;
- obstacles to bridging the digital divide;
- new tools for measuring the divide;
- public/private and commercial/nonprofit partnerships;
- public policy issues
DIGITALDIVIDE is moderated by veteran listserv facilitator Andy Carvin,
Senior Associate at the Benton Foundation.In order to subscribe to DIGITALDIVIDE, send an email message to
In the first line of the body of the message, include the following text:
subscribe digitaldivide yourname
with nothing else contained in the message. Be sure to replace "yourname"
with your name.If you prefer to subscribe via the web, you can visit our web site:
http://www.DigitalDivideNetwork.org
Simply fill out your email address on the left side of the page where it
says "Sign up for the DIGITALDIVIDE discussion list" and press the "submit"
button.Once you've submitted your request, you'll receive a confirmation email that
will help you complete your subscription to the list.For more information, feel free to contact Andy Carvin at
acarvin[at]benton.org.thanks,
ac*****************************************
Andy Carvin andy[at]benton.org
Senior Associate
Benton Foundation
http://www.edwebproject.org/andy
http://www.DigitalDivideNetwork.org
*****************************************
Visit my new website, Anatolian Fortnight
http://www.edwebproject.org/anatolia
*****************************************
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6. Assorted Civil Liberty Links
Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2001 09:21:36 -0600
From: "Don Wood" <dwood[at]ala.org>
To: Intellectual Freedom Action News <ifaction[at]ala1.ala.org>11/16/2000
EPIC Carnivore FOIA Documents
http://www.epic.org/privacy/carnivore/foia_documents.html11/21/2001
ZDNet News: FBI's magic revealed as old tricks
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5099906,00.html?chkpt=zdnnp1tp11/22/2001
FBI Is Building a 'Magic Lantern' (washingtonpost.com)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3371-2001Nov22.html12/03/2001
FBI 'Magic Lantern' reality check (original article picked up by ISN,
below)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/23150.html12/04/2001
[ISN] Magic Lantern reality check
http://lists.jammed.com/ISN/2001/12/0015.htmlKangaroo Courts
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/26/opinion/26SAFI.htmlCareless With The Constitution? The Problem With Military Tribunals
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20011129_grossman.htmlWhy Congress Must Curb Bush's Military Courts
http://www.thenewrepublic.com/121001/tribe121001.htmlUsing Our Fears to Justify a Power Grab
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-000095119nov29.storyNull and Void: Guarantees of Liberty
http://www.nyobserver.com/pages/story.asp?ID=5162Tribunal Comparison Taints Courts-Martial, Military Lawyers Say
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/02/national/02TRIB.html?pagewanted=print"Ashcroft has sought to conceal menacing facts of the Bush tribunal order"
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/04/opinion/04LEWI.htmlA Realistic Look at Terrorism Trials by Military Commission
http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/terrorism/lathrop.trials.112001.htmlJohn Dean supports tribunals
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20011123.htmlRobert Bork argues for extending military tribunals to include US citizens
(I am not making this up)
http://www.nationalreview.com/17dec01/borkprint121701.htmlPreserving Our Freedoms While Defending Against Terrorism
http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/policy/senate.htm
http://www.law.duke.edu/fac/silliman/Bush Law Chief Tried to Drop Habeas Corpus
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001540012-2001560640,00.htmlAshcroft Seeking to Free FBI to Spy on Groups
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/01/national/01BURE.htmlFBI Agents Rebel Over New Powers
http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,610381,00.htmlAmnesty letter to the US government about Mazan Al-Najjar
(held and deported on secret evidence)
http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/AMR511162000?OpenDocument&of=COUNT
RIES%5CUSA
http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0798/9807028.html
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/000/619vpyea.asp
http://www.cafearabica.com/law/law16/lawsec16x3.html
http://www.courttv.com/assault_on_america/1102_evidence_ap.html
http://news.tbo.com/news/MGA183UHNUC.htmllist of the identified detainees charged by the US
http://cryptome.org/s93/screwed-93.htmdefense lawyers refusing to defend people accused of ties to the attacks
(but without defense lawyers, innocent people go to jail)
http://www.law.com/cgi-bin/nwlink.cgi?ACG=ZZZ65Y00TUCCongressional Research Service: The Fifth Amendment
http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/constitution/amdt5.htmlNYC Surveillance Camera Project
http://www.mediaeater.com/cameras/
http://www.appliedautonomy.com/isee/
http://wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,48664,00.htmlUS Assumes Global Cyber-Police Authority
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/23036.htmlAntivirus Vendors Split Over FBI Trojan Snoops
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/23057.htmlFBI "Magic Lantern" Reality Check
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/23150.htmlGeeks and Spooks
http://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/251-300/00283_geeks_and_spooks.htmlA New Legal and Military Approach to Terrorism
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/misc/okculr.htmlUniform Code of Military Justice
http://jaglink.jag.af.mil/ucmj.htmEU plans "suspected protester" database
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2001/nov/19sis.htmjargon watch: quotes from Lynne Cheney's odd speech at Princeton
(her opposition to teaching about Islam in response to 9/11 is bizarre)
http://www.loper.org/~george/trends/2001/Oct/66.html
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2712628&BRD=1697&PAG=461&dep
t_id=44551&rfi=6Many People Saying Bad Things
(best response to Cheney's list of alleged enemies of civilization)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/11/27/DD24114.DTLPhotographer at Yankee Nuclear Power Plant Threatened With Treason Charge
(it's a good thing the Constitition defines treason so carefully)
http://timesargus.nybor.com/Story/38326.htmlWho EU Calling a Terrorist?
(no civil rights for terrorists! but the term's been defined very broadly)
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,48807,00.htmlBush Freezes Suspected Terror Assets
http://news.findlaw.com/ap/a/w/1151/12-4-2001/200112041007475943.html
http://news.findlaw.com/cnn/docs/dotreas/terroristsanctions110701.htmlSomalis Said to Feel Impact of US Freeze of al-Barakaat
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A36303-2001Nov29?language=printerconflict at the NRC over nuclear power plant security (February 1999)
http://www.ncwarn.org/orrikfilesmay4-01.htmEmergency Preparedness and the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain
http://www.ashp.org/public/proad/emergency/em_prep.html
http://www.ashp.org/public/proad/emergency/exec_summary2001.htmlNTSB Birdbrains Sticking Heads in Rockaway Sand
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nypost/20011202/cm/ntsb_birdbrains_sticki
ng_headsin_rockawaysand_1.htmlFlight 587 Probe Turns to Pilots' Rudder Training
http://www.msnbc.com/news/665341.aspinvestigation of flight 990
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/interviews/int2001-11-15.htmLoose Nukes
http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/1205/p1s3-wogi.htmlBioterror: What Can Be Done?
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/14971bioweapon horrors
http://www.thethresher.com/richardpreston.html
http://newyorker.com/FROM_THE_ARCHIVE/ARCHIVES/?011008fr_archive01Ames Strain of Anthrax Limited to Few Labs
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36408-2001Nov29.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31242-2001Nov28.htmlhttp://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/172642.html
Neither the White House nor Microsoft Corp. would confirm rumors today
that Microsoft Security Chief Howard Schmidt may be leaving his
position to serve as a electronic security advisor in the Bush
administration.http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011204/wr/tech_security_dc_1.html
``The center will create, if you will, an acupuncture map of
the country, so that if there is a fire in a railroad tunnel in
Baltimore, we know the Internet slows down in Chicago,'' [Richard] Clarke
told a gathering of high-tech executives**************************************************************************
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________________________________________________________________________top
7. Google USENET archive now goes back 20 years
Google is great. Great great great. They keep coming up with something
new and, well, just great. Now they have USENET going back to May 12,
1981, in their archive, at http://groups.google.com/. Fully and easily
searchable.Their announcement, at
http://www.google.com/googlegroups/archive_announce_20.html
gives a nice timeline of USENET postings going back to the first mention of
Microsoft, with links to the actual posts. A great resource.
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8. Susan Fuller speech at SJSU
Susan Fuller, the Santa Clara County librarian, spoke at San Jose State
University's School of Library and Information Science, in a talk organized
by the ALA Student Chapter.She has valuable things to say about libraries becoming more controversial
post-9/11, and how we should respond.The read is at http://witloof.sjsu.edu/people/alasc/fuller_lecture.htm
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9. Orders to purge records have librarians worried
Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 11:53:30 -0600
From: "Monika Antonelli" <MANTONEL[at]library.unt.edu>
To: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org>
Reply to: MANTONEL[at]library.unt.eduI thought some of you would find this article that appeared in the Fort
Worth Star-Telegram about the purging of government information from
libraries of interest. Monika AntonelliSee, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram:
http://web.star-telegram.com/content/fortworth/2001/12/08/topstory/fw010102-1208-XA001-security.htm
Monika Antonelli, Librarian
ALA Councilor-At-Large
University of North Texas
Libraries
P.O. Box 305190
Denton, TX 76203-5190
Voice: 940.565.3981
Fax: 940.565.2599
E-mail: mantonel[at]library.unt.edu
"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth
is truly a revolutionary act." --George Orwell
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10. New Paper Urges Librarians to Promote Open Archives
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2001
For further information please contact:
Judith Matz <judith[at]arl.org>
Communications Officer, ARLLIBRARIANS URGED TO PROMOTE OPEN ARCHIVES
Washington, DC -- Librarians are uniquely positioned to take a
leadership role in helping the higher education community regain control
of scientific publishing. Recognizing the importance of librarians in
the struggle to keep the knowledge commons open and accessible,
Professor Jean-Claude Guédon is urging librarians to "throw all of their
weight--and it is considerable--behind the Open Archive Initiative."Professor Guédon's proposal is detailed in his new work, In Oldenburg's
Long Shadow: Librarians, Research Scientists, Publishers, and the
Control of Scholarly Publishing. The paper is based on a recent
presentation he made to members of the Association of Research Libraries
(ARL) and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL).Professor Guédon proposes a new alliance between research scientists and
librarians to combat the "serial publishing crisis" in which scientific
journals have been priced out of the range of many libraries. He is
particularly interested in the potential of networking technologies to
improve scholarly communication. ARL has published his paper to
stimulate discussion and encourage new thinking on the important issues
he raises.In Oldenburg's Long Shadow examines the history of scientific publishing
beginning in Europe in the mid-seventeenth century when Henry Oldenburg,
Secretary of the Royal Society of London, created the first public
registry of ideas to protect intellectual property and ensure the rapid
evolution of scientific knowledge. Little changed in the scientific
publishing system until the mid-nineteenth century when publishers
"managed to transform scholarly journals-traditionally, a secondary,
unpromising publishing venture at best-into big business." Professor
Guédon traces this transformation to the development of "core journals"
and the use of core journals in the creation of the Science Citation
Index in the 1960s. The notion of a scientific core of journals in which
elite scientists must publish and which libraries must acquire at any
cost, resulted in the identification of "targets of opportunity" for
commercial publishers who developed strategies to acquire and control as
many of the leading scientific journals as possible.The advent of digitization, however, changed the dynamic of scientific
publishing. Digitization allows a distinction between an article and the
journal in which it is published. The refereed evaluation process of an
article by the research community can now be separated from the print
publication process. The large investment of time, money, and equipment
required to include an article in a print journal is not an issue in the
digital world. In particular, the rise of the Internet has allowed for
the creation of a system of open archives with no-fee access to
articles, unified harvesting tools, and citation linkages. "In short,"
Professor Guédon states, "the evaluation process stands ready to be
reinvented in a clear, rational way by the relevant research communities
themselves." The challenge for librarians, working closely with
scientists, is to seize the opportunities offered by these advances in
technology for they "hold the key to developing a total, global mapping
of science" for the benefit of humanity rather than for the advantage of
an elite few.Jean-Claude Guédon holds his doctorate in the History of Science from
the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and is currently Professor of
Comparative Literature at the University of Montreal. His interest in
both theoretical and practical issues regarding electronic publishing
has led him to produce numerous papers on the subject as well as to
present at conferences worldwide. He has been actively engaged in
projects pushing the boundaries of scholarly communication including
serving on the steering committees of the Canadian National Site
Licensing Project and the Digital Library of Electronic Theses and
Dissertations.ARL published the paper with the expectation that the library and
scholarly communities will give serious consideration to the issues and
suggestions presented by Professor Jean-Claude Guédon. In Oldenburg's
Long Shadow is available both in print and online. For further
information, see:
http://www.arl.org/arl/proceedings/138/guedon_aboutpaper.htmlARL is a not-for-profit association representing 123 research libraries
in North America. ARL programs and services promote equitable access to
and effective use of recorded knowledge in support of teaching,
research, scholarship, and community service.________________________________________
ARL-ANNOUNCE is a broadcast service from ARL that provides updates on
Association activities, workshops, publications, and other items of
interest to those in the library and educational communities.To subscribe, send a message to listproc[at]arl.org . The text of your
message should read: "subscribe arl-announce [your name]."
________________________________________________________________________top
11. The Special Task Force on the Status of Librarians
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 14:41:30 -0600
From: "Don Wood" <dwood[at]ala.org>
To: Intellectual Freedom Action News <ifaction[at]ala1.ala.org>
Reply to: dwood[at]ala.orgThe Special Task Force on the Status of Librarians, which was appointed
last spring by Nancy Kranich during her ALA presidency, has created a
website, with the help of the staff of the Office of Human Resource
Development and Recruitment, to share its work with members of the
profession. The website gives the background of the task force, some
background materials on status issues, a statement of issues identified by
the task force, and some informational materials concerning the tax exempt
status of the American Library Association. You will find the website at
the following URL: http://www.ala.org/hrdr/status.html .Within a few days there will be a bulletin board feature activated and
librarians will be able to post their opinions and reactions to the issues
that have been identified. Very shortly we expect also to have a draft of
recommendations available for comment as well.The information concerning ALA's tax exempt status is particularly
important since many of the recommendations for action by this task force
and by the closely related Task Force on Better Salaries and Pay Equity,
appointed by Vice-President Mitch Freedman, may require that ALA establish
a separate organization whose tax status would enable them to undertake
activities not permitted under the current tax status.The task force members hope that you will visit the site often and
participate in this important conversation about the status of librarians
in our society. We especially hope that you will comment on the draft
recommendations for action when they appear.
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12. Confessions of a Traitor
December 8, 2001
By FRANK RICH
It's no longer just politically incorrect to criticize
George W. Bush or anyone in his administration these days -
now it's treason.John Ashcroft, testifying before the Senate on Thursday,
declared that those who challenge his wisdom "only aid
terrorists" and will "give ammunition to America's
enemies." Tough words. They make you wonder what the guy
who's charged with helping us whip Al Qaeda is afraid of.
The only prominent traitors in sight are the usual civilliberties
watchdogs and a milque- toast senator or two
barely known beyond the Beltway and their own
constituencies. Polls find the public squarely on the
attorney general's side, and even the few pundits who knock
him are ridiculed by their journalistic colleagues as
hysterics so busy fussing about civil liberties that they
forget "there's a war going on."Well, with the smell of victory over the Taliban crowding
out the scent of mass murder from the World Trade Center,
the Ashcroft defenders have half a point: some people are
indeed forgetting that a war is still going on. But it is
not those questioning the administration who are slipping
into this amnesia so much as those who rubber stamp its
every whim.While I wouldn't dare call it treason, it hardly serves the
country to look the other way when the
Ashcroft-Ridge-Thompson-Mineta team proves as inept at home
as the Cheney-Rumsfeld-Powell-Rice team has proved adept
abroad. In the Afghan aftermath, the home front is just as
likely to be the next theater of war as Somalia or Iraq.
Giving a free pass to Mr. Ashcroft and the other slackers
in the Bush administration isn't patriotism - it's
complacency, which sometimes comes with a stiff price...http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/08/opinion/08RICH.html?ex=1009007073&ei=1&en=3af5f132c35fc8d2
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13.
The War for Public Opinion
Tamara Straus, AlterNet
December 10, 2001In 1922, social critic Walter Lippmann wrote, "Decisions in modern states
tend to be made by the interaction, not of Congress and the executive, but
of public opinion and the executive."Never has this been truer than in the war on terrorism. The Bush
administration has justified its bombing campaign against Afghanistan not
with a Congressional declaration of war, but with polls indicating that
close to 90 percent of Americans want military action. How easy it must be
to point at those numbers and claim, "The public made us do it!"Public opinion polls have become a kind of Fifth Estate in American
politics. As soon as they are released, poll results become fodder to
justify policies, attack opponents or wage wars. When the numbers hover
around 90 percent, as do Bush's current approval ratings, they are
political gospel. After all, when 9 out of 10 Americans agree, the
country's resolve must be strong as steel. Or is it?Therein lies the rub. Public opinion is a fickle thing, sometimes turning
on as little as one horrific image or triumphant speech. A few well-placed
media messages can cause sea changes in national opinion: think of Southern
cops turning dogs and fire hoses loose on desegregation marches; or the
videotape of Rodney King; or napalmed villagers in Vietnam.The Bush administration knows this media truism all too well. They also
know its corollary -- that with the right pressure, public opinion can be
manipulated. And so, as bombs began to fall on Kabul, the administration
launched an equally aggressive front here at home: the war for America's
approval of war...http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12050
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14. Library Bonnet
In one of his recent postal mailings, Sandy Berman sent out a photocopy of
a little article on school library censorship from a zine called "Library
Bonnet." I had never heard of this zine and I thought it was pretty cool,
so I ordered all four issues that have been released so far, and have been
enjoying them thoroughly. They're pretty sick though. Issue four has a
typical cute bunny next to a machete, under the slogan (describing the new
issue): "Even bigger, like your mom." The zine is a real zine, in that it
actually includes interviews and fan pieces on punk rock bands. For
example, there is an informative piece by Julie (the other author is
Tommy), on page two of issue four, about how cute Stephen Malkmus of
Pavement is. In the same issue Tommy interviews Pansy Division, the gay
punk band. In true zine style, funny, perceptive and young writing is
mixed with funny, perceptive and young drawings and photocollage. I like
this zine. I paid up for $10 worth of future issues, and I am not a
frequent zine buyer. Other stuff in issue four includes "Nude Man vs.
Granny," "Milk-Nose Kitten" (a warning about how not to drown your kitten
while bottle feeding him/her), "The Babiest Page" (a cartoon game),
"Anxiety Bunny," a poem called "I'm thrifty with affection," by Julie, and
a piece called "Hair Pain." Prior issues include a serialized story of
times Tommy was mean to other kids as a child (very amusing), observations
on "alternagirls," observations on Christina Ricci's weight loss,
observations on childrens' propensity to eat paste, "passive-aggressive
things to do in the library," nonsensical "craft time" instructions,
"Mind-numbing tasks in the school library," and a very amusing "ten things
I hate about myself" from both Tommy and Julie. In all, it is much
cleverer and much sicker than I have been able to relate.There is a modicum of library related stuff, owing to both of the creators'
jobs in libraries, one in a school library and the other in an
administrative position at a public library. Tommy's piece on the
censorship of "Notable Lives of Gay Men and Lesbians" from the Junior High
School Library in which he works is worth the price of admission (I
recommend ordering your copy if you are interested in reading this).The lesson, for me, is a reminder that not everything "young library" is on
the internet.To order your "Library Bonnet" send $2 per issue (cash only) of issues 1,
2, 3, or 4 to:Library Bonnet
1315-I N. Tustin Ave. #259
Orange, CA 92867I know this address works, because I have just used it.
I should warn you, much of Library Bonnet is not suitable for children or
adults.
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15. Library Secrets
by Julie
Library Bonnet #4I worked at an old library for a long time. I started when I was
seventeen, and quickly learned that the big marble-walled building had
secrets. The Foreign Language room concealed an old dumb waiter, and its
door, pulleys and shelf were still visible if I pushed back a book case.
There was a fireplace in the public lounge that used to hold crackling
fires; old ashes remained in the grate. The basement was a maze of secret
rooms; dark, shadowed rough-hewn rooms that held groaning stacks of books
and old newspapers. The Children's Room had cold, hard tile and a window
seat. The wooden letters were long gone but I could still make out the
fiant words "BOOKS FOR GIRLS" above the fiction shelves. The third floor
held a serene staff lounge that no one used. I kissed Mike Peterson on the
cracked vinyl couch a few times. I used to show movies to kids. I had to
climb a small iron staircase, then hunch down on a special landing made
just for this, with the whir of the rickety projector clicking in my ear.
An accordion wall no one knew about rested in a hollow. The Children's
Patio had wrought iron gates and a greened-over birdbath. Can you tell I
loved it? I did. Every echoing footfall of it.Then a new library director came and tore it all up... walls were ripped
open, ceilings were moved, the lounge was sealed and the vinyl couch was
thrown away. The birdbath disappeared, the dumb waiter was bricked up, and
the Children's Room was moved to the other side of the building, its
shelves hammered down and broken into pieces. I kept a chunk of marble
from a demolished wall and put it in my garden.
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16. Library Card (song lyrics)
a single from the Library Bonnet EP "Still Dripping," on Dewey Decibel
records (lyrics printed in Library Bonnet #4):I'll slit your throat with my
library card
I'll gut a fish with my
library cardSlide it through your ass crack
to see what info I can glean
It won't get us cash (oh no)
But maybe it will help me seeHelp me pry it outta you
library card fly fast and true
Slide it underneath your face
A semi-literate disgrace!I'll slep your belly with my
library card
plastic... skin... plastic... skin
library card oh yeah!Romance or murder,
library card?
What will you check you next?
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17. Update on "Support Christ and Your Local Library"
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 19:36:07 -0800
From: "Matt Barry" To: <rory[at]libr.org>Hello Mr. Litwin, I thought you might be interested in the following
update to http://libr.org/Juice/issues/vol4/LJ_4.29.html#7. If you think
it would be of interest to your readers, feel free to publish it.==========
As a result of reading my article that originally appeared in the Freedom
From Religion Foundation's newspaper Freethougtht Today (and subsequently
republished in Library Juice), several others ordered their own library
tiles, including "Religion Is Poison In Your Mind" and "Sexism: The
Original Sin." On September 2, 2001, I mailed an order for three more
bricks, as well. Almost two months later, on October 30, the Friends of
the Redmond Library mailed my order forms and check back to me and informed
me that the brick program had been suspended on September 1 (the day before
I mailed my order) "in order to reconsider our pricing, our public
relations approach, the projects benefited by our program and the program
guidelines. We expect to reinstate the tile program with some changes in
the 1st quarter of 2002."The Friends of the Redmond Library indicated that one of the possible
revisions will be to limit brick inscriptions to names. If that turns out
to be the case, then apparently the library's devotion to its
content-neutral "public forum" idea has crumbled in the face of a
continuing stream of content it doesn't like. If the Redmond Library does
indeed close the Pandora's box it naively opened, then I hope it will warn
other government agencies about the dangers of anything-goes policies, thus
keeping religious messages in the private sphere where they belong, not
permanently engraved on government property, which belongs to all of
us.
==========Thanks,Matt
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18. Sex in the library (true stories and fun chatter)
http://www.mightybigtv.com/ijsbb/forum.cgi?a=list&f=320&d=20&t=583827&n=50,1#n
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19. NYC Surveillance Cameras
NYC Surveillance Camera Project [.pdf]
http://www.mediaeater.com/cameras/i-SEE v.911: "Now more than ever" [Flash]
http://www.appliedautonomy.com/isee/These two sites focus on the increasing numbers of surveillance cameras in
New York City. The first provides a .pdf-formatted map of the more than
2,300 camera locations throughout New York as well as text listings broken
down by community. The information was compiled by volunteers from the New
York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU). In addition to information on camera
locations, in the news section of the site, users will find links to related
Websites, FAQs, and sites related to taxi cameras and traffic cameras. The
second site, from the Institute for Applied Autonomy, contains an
interactive map of New York with which users can map routes through the
city. Users click on their starting point and destination, and i-SEE will
generate a route for them with the fewest surveillance cameras. Note that we
had trouble using the map with Netscape on a Mac, but no trouble with
Internet Explorer. Both of these sites are unabashedly anti-surveillance
technology and will be appreciated by New Yorkers concerned with civil
liberties issues. [TK]From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2001.
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/
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20. Whose terrorism will be investigated?
Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2001 08:46:40 -0800
From: Lincoln Cushing <lcushing[at]library.berkeley.edu>
To: PLGNET-L[at]listproc.sjsu.edu, patsybehrend[at]yahoo.com, jreardon[at]igc.org
Reply to: lcushing[at]library.berkeley.eduLetter submitted to the SF Chronicle:
Dear editor:
Attorney-General Ashcroft's hard-line campaign to persecute domestic
terrorism has filled me with mixed reactions. On the downside, there is
the very real threat to civil liberties and the risk of racist
xenophobia. On the upside, I see the opportunity for dealing a serious
blow to the long-standing acts of Cuban terrorism - the unpunished
bombings, murders, and violent threats that throttle American civil
society. Of course, I'm talking about acts by anti-Castro members of the
Cuban exile community. Until 9-11 they were at the top of the FBI's list
of domestic terrorist groups. Since May 25, 1977 there have been 24
bombings and attempted bombings in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Since 1970,
there have been 92 terrorist incidents in the Miami area alone. 65 of
these attacks were bombings or attempted bombings. New York City has had
25 of these terrorist incidents since 1970. Oddly enough, virtually no
one has been arrested, tried, or sentenced in this unprecedented crime
spree. It is my deepest hope that the time has finally come to quash
this terrible state of affairs and restore domestic free speech to the
dialogue about Cuba.Lincoln Cushing
1418 Milvia St.
Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 528-7161
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L I B R A R Y J U I C E
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