Free Republic

The dean of library services at the University of the Incarnate Word has canceled the library's subscription to the New York Times to protest articles exposing a secret government program that monitors international financial transactions in the hunt for terrorists. "Since no one elected the New York Times to determine national security policy, the only action I know to register protest for their irresponsible action (treason?) is to withdraw support of their operations by canceling our subscription as many others are doing," Mendell D. Morgan Jr. wrote Wednesday in an e-mail to library staffers. "If enough do, perhaps they will...

NORFOLK - A judge ordered that a grand jury should consider a felony charge against a man accused of propositioning a 14-year-old girl at a shopping mall. The man, Charles A. Speller, was charged in March with producing sexually explicit material after the girl said Speller offered her $200 to be in his "porno." The girl and her father testified on Tuesday during a preliminary hearing. The Virginian-Pilot is withholding their names to protect the girl's privacy. The girl's father said he saw the man approach his daughter twice as they walked through The Gallery at Military Circle. He lagged...

After fighting for nearly a year to keep details of a counterterrorism investigation secret, the federal government has abandoned efforts to obtain library records in Connecticut, concluding that the implied threat had no merit. The decision was hailed yesterday as a victory by the four Connecticut librarians who mounted one of the few known challenges to the nation's strengthened antiterrorism law when they filed a lawsuit last summer objecting to the government's request for patron records and its insistence on absolute secrecy. Government officials, in seeking to explain why something that was once a matter of national security was no...

While the debate rages over what to do with the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library and whether we need a new central library for the city, a larger concern is being ignored: Internet porn at the library. When I walked into the West End Branch Library on 24th Street NW last week, several men were sitting at the computers, looking at hard-core pornography on the Internet. Meanwhile, children on the other side of the room were also using computers. One child was running around behind the men, who were studiously observing the most intimate parts of a woman's body...

NAMPA, Idaho (AP) -- The Nampa Public Library Board has decided not to remove a sexually explicit book -- The Joy of Gay Sex -- from library shelves. Some residents wanted it banned because of its content. Library Board Chairman Sharon Brooks says the issue is not about the contents of one book, but about whether individuals should be able to remove material they don't like from a public library. In yesterday's meeting, the board did approve putting that book and about 60 other sexually oriented books on top shelves. Bruce Skaug is the only library board trustee who wants...

HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, NJ -- Library Director Michele Reutty is under fire for refusing to give police library circulation records without a subpoena. Reutty says she was only doing her job and maintaining the privacy of library patrons. But the mayor called it "a blatant disregard for the Police Department," which needed her help to identify a man who allegedly threatened a child. Reutty, the director for 17 years, now faces possible discipline by the library board. Members of the Borough Council have suggested she receive punishment ranging from a letter of reprimand in her personnel file to a 30-day unpaid...

The American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal judge to stop the Miami-Dade County school district from removing a series of children’s books from its libraries, including a volume about Cuba which depicts smiling kids in communist uniforms. The ACLU and the Miami-Dade County Student Government Association argued in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Miami on Wednesday that the school board should add materials with alternate viewpoints rather than remove books that could be offensive. Last week, the board voted 6-3 to remove “Vamos a Cuba” and its English-language version, “A Visit to Cuba” from 33 schools,...

First Lady Laura Bush, who served as a public school teacher and librarian in the Houston, Dallas and Austin school systems, is scheduled to speak to the American Library Association's (ALA) annual conference in New Orleans next week. The First Lady isn't planning to speak about anything political. The non-controversial topic of her panel: "School Libraries Work: Rebuilding for Learning" in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Nevertheless, her mere scheduled presence has moonbat activists within the ALA steaming. On a library e-mail list publicized on the SHUSH blog ( http://www.SHUSH.ws ) this week, ALA councilor-at-large Mark Rosenzweig's rant must be...

BERKELEY: Workers union fought with Jackie Griffin over issues of staff reduction, radio frequency devices - Berkeley Public Library Director Jackie Griffin will step down later this month, ending a tumultuous five years of highs and lows. The highs included balancing the library's budget, renovating the central library branch and successfully suing the contractor for cost overruns. The lows included claims of unfair treatment by library workers, staff reductions caused by budget cuts and the controversy surrounding radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs), which some say invade patrons' privacy and pose health risks.Griffin's resignation was accepted last week by the Board...

Qassam lands near Sderot library, 2 suffer from shock Two people suffer from shock as rocket lands near home of hunger striker and public library; teacher says: 'I left my little son under my daughter's care; when the rocket fell she jumped on him to protect him with her body' Shmulik Hadad At least four Qassam rockets were fired by Palestinians in northern Gaza toward Israel Sunday evening, but only one landed in Israeli territory. "I ran to my house in panic, and my daughter said my little son was sleeping. She simply jumped on him and lay over him...

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is a division of the American Library Association that likes to offer sexual advice for teens (check: Healthy Relationships for Teens). One of the web sites they recommend (under Resources for Teens: Sexuality and Sexual Behavior) is the Coalition for Positive Sexuality. The organization can be also found at Wikipedia. Parents of teens, meet the CPS. It was designed for “teens who are sexually active now or just thinking about having sex.” So, next time you talk to your teen about sex, tell him to “Just Say Yes”: Just Say Yes is about...

June 15, 2006 (CHICAGO) - A small fire at a Chicago Public Library on the city's North Side has burned about 100 books -- 90 of them in the gay and lesbian section. Chicago Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said the fire is being investigated as an arson -- but not as a hate crime. Gay rights activist Rick Garcia questioned that decision, noting the unique location of the fire. About 10 books in the branch's African-American history collection were also burned. No one was injured in the fire. The library branch where the fire occurred is near the center of...

By Steve Crampton AgapePress June 13, 2006 (AgapePress) -- Laurie Taylor is the mother of two school age children. She lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Like most parents, she cares about her kids' education. So, when she discovered the school library had a sexually explicit book, It's Perfectly Normal, aimed at elementary age students, she did what any concerned parent would do: she went to the administration and asked that it be removed, along with two other books with similar themes. At first, school system leaders seemed to agree with Taylor, and placed the books in a "parent library" section with...

With the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act by Congress this past March, local libraries find themselves again confronted with having to balance the public’s privacy rights with the potential practice by federal authorities of section 215 of the anti-terrorism bill. Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, allows the FBI to obtain any tangible things such as records or books, and other relevant material, from any entity without having to show probable cause that the person whose records it seeks is engaged in criminal activity. Additionally, those served with Section 215 orders to turn over any relevant material are...

Last year children's librarian Debby At- well put a new set of encyclopedias on the shelf at Thomaston Public Library. A year later, it has yet to be touched. "I have never seen an encyclopedia lifted from the stacks," Atwell said. Librarians across the state report the millennials, the generation born roughly between 1980 and 2000, are not using libraries the way past generations did. Reference materials are gathering dust on the shelves of libraries everywhere. Reference librarians are being reassigned to other tasks, and library directors are pondering the future role of the traditional lending library. The trend has...

THESE ARE THE SENATORS WHO VOTED TO GIVE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL PARTY, THESE POLITICIANS NEED TO BE DEFEATED IN 2006, 2008 OR 2010, WHENEVER THEY NEXT COME UP FOR OFFICE. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW; THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION -- THAT IS, UNLESS THEY DO NOT MIND SHARING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY WITH FOREIGN WORKERS WHO NEVER PAID INTO IT AND AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING LEFT OUT. Grouped by Home State Alabama: Alaska: Stevens (R-AK), Yea Arizona: McCain (R-AZ), Yea Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR),...

I am curious why none of the media covers the most important aspect of the Malvo shootings. If you look at Newspapers on the dates when the shootings are underway you discover something I find quite interesting. The shootings begin to dominate the news the day before the debate on the Iraq war starts and they catch them the day after the declaration of war??? If you ask most people "do you remember the debate about starting the second Iraq war", they will all answer "yes of course". But if you followup with the question "name one point in the...

I recently received a reply to a post that stated: "This should be beneath a "freeper". Sad." So I asked.. what is it that makes a FReeper? My reply (and I will admit was tasteless) was also questioning. It stirred controversy and was removed? Why Moderators? Can you not tell me? Did it not meet with your "FReeper" mentality? According to all posted guidelines it should be listed but no, you chose to delete it. Yes.. I'm the first one IBTZ, I'm sure you'll nick me for speaking up..

Last night the Arkansas Republican Assemblies met at the Terry Library. Thursday May 18th at 6:30pm. The meeting was a discussion on what to do about immigration in Arkansas. Several issues and candidates for the May 23rd primary were talked about. Several pieces of information were passed out. The idea of a ballot initiative similar to Prop 200 of Arizona, talked about but it appears that a proposition like that could not be funded in time for the 2006 elections. Most of the group plans to conservative candidates for the May 23rd primary and hand out literature about illegal immigration....

AP) St. Cloud, Minn. The Great River Regional Library system has purchased 50 books written in Chinese for its collection. The books were procured after library-goers in Buffalo asked for books written in Chinese. The library has been buying books written in foreign languages for years, however, it's somewhat unusual for the library to acquire books that are written in characters not based in the Latin alphabet, librarian Mic Golden said. The library bought the books through the Online Computer Library Center, a worldwide library cooperative that sells sets of books in a various languages. Nobody on the library's staff...