Free Republic

In March, 2003 Senator Charles Schumer asked the Justice Department to investigate how the federal prisons selected Muslim chaplains. Schumer noted that the two Islamic groups which “endorsed” chaplain candidates promoted Wahhabism, a form of Islam especially hospitable to terrorism. At least 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers, for example, are believed to have been Wahhabis. Within a year the Justice Department’s inspector general produced a list of defects in how “Muslim Religious Services Providers” were recruited. The most alarming was this: the doctrinal beliefs of Muslim applicants were not examined to see if they were consistent with prison...

HARRISON, N.Y. (AP) - Even the dead apparently have to pay the fines on their overdue books at one Westchester County library. Elizabeth Schaper said she was charged a 50-cent late fee while turning in a book that her late mother had checked out of a Harrison Public Library branch. "I was in shock," Schaper said. "This has rocked me to my core." Schaper's mother, Ethel Schaper, died at the age of 87 on Sept. 16 after suffering a massive stroke. A few days later, Schaper said she found a library book, "The Price of Silence," by Camilla Trinchieri, that...

Public libraries are stocking hundreds of Islamic books by advocates of "holy war", with many glorifying acts of terrorism, a new report claims. Council taxpayers' money has been spent on the books, with one library stocking works by the convicted preachers Abu Hamza and Abdullah al-Faisal. An investigation by a leading think-tank found extremist literature at six libraries, three in the London area, two in the Midlands and one in the North. It raises fears that public libraries could inadvertently fuel the radicalisation of young Muslims. The recent case of Dhiren Barot, who was jailed for 30 years for plotting...

A homeless man was arrested this week at the downtown Central Library after allegedly masturbating in a back aisle and then pulling a knife on a librarian who was trying to escort him out of the building. A security guard used a Taser on the man, who was arrested by police and charged with multiple offenses, from lascivious conduct to aggravated battery. No one, luckily, was injured or killed in the incident. But it's an ugly reminder of a community problem hidden in plain sight. On any given day, you'll find a group of homeless regulars at the Central Library,...

DENVER — A library patron suspected of selling hundreds of books, tapes and DVDs he had borrowed has cost Denver-area libraries tens of thousands of dollars, officials said. Thomas Pilaar, 33, was suspected of using different names to obtain seven library cards from the Denver Public Library, then checking out 300 items per card and selling at least some of the items, KCNC-TV in Denver reported. "It appears his intent was to sell 2,100 (items) from the Denver Library collection," Denver Public Library spokeswoman M. Celeste Jackson told the station. She estimated the losses at about $35,000. Arapahoe County library...

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, JULY 17, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Since structural weaknesses forced the Vatican library in Rome to close for three years of renovation, researchers are finding assistance at a U.S. university. Gregory Pass, the current librarian of the Knights of Columbus Vatican Film Library at St. Louis University, told ZENIT that since the announcement was made about the closure of the Vatican Library, his offices have gotten busier. "We have seen a rise in the number of inquiries regarding the availability of our microfilms and of space in our reading room, as well as a rise in the number of...

Aaron Swartz today announced the launch of the new Open Library project. The goal of the project is to produce the world's greatest library on the Internet free for anyone to use. Starting with the Internet Archive's book scanning project and organizing the insertion of new content via a wiki-type model the project seems to be off to a great start. The demo, source code, and mailing lists were all opened up today in hopes of drawing interest from the public at large.

Mayor: "I fear that we're the first city that has a hard-core porn collection in our public library." By Elizabeth O'Brien FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, July 11, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Following a heated controversy between Mayor Jim Naugle and members of the homosexual community last week, the city commission approved the opening of a gay and lesbian library on public property. The commissioners voted 3-2 yesterday to allow the Stonewall Library collection of gay and lesbian materials to be moved from its present location at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center to the more spacious, county-run ArtSpace library at Holiday Park....

Zanesville “Library Rally” Friday, 6/15/07, 11am, John McIntire Library COPE is working with Citizens Against Sexually Oriented Offenders (CASOO) to present a “library rally” in Zanesville, Ohio. We will be at the John McIntire Library on June 15, 2007, at 11am, and we encourage others to join us. CASOO has been instrumental in getting ordinances passed in many towns/cities throughout Ohio that restrict registered offenders from living in certain areas where children frequent. CASOO has tracked and helped incarcerate offenders who neglect to register. COPE is proud to be standing with CASOO. Please join us.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Visitors to the new, presidential-style museum honoring evangelist Billy Graham enter and exit the building through crosses as tall as 40 feet high, a design meant to emphasize that the $27-million complex is an extension of the minister's work. "My hope is there will be thousands of people who come here every year and accept Jesus Christ as their savior," said the Rev. Franklin Graham, son and successor to his father, the world's most widely heard preacher. On Thursday, former Presidents Carter, Clinton and George H.W. Bush met with the Graham family before the formal dedication of...

A frail Billy Graham, using a walker and leaning on his son Franklin, was honored Thursday by three former U.S. presidents as they dedicated a museum built to be a "living crusade" that will carry on his work after the minister is gone. The $27 million Billy Graham Library traces the evangelist's journey from farm boy to the most widely heard minister of all time. He befriended every U.S. president since Harry Truman and preached in person to more than 210 million. "This building behind me is just a building," Graham said in brief remarks. "It's an instrument, a tool...

Vienna library launches erotica hotline 1 hour, 55 minutes ago VIENNA, Austria - This isn't the typical whispering you might expect to hear at a library. Vienna's City Hall has launched a "sex hotline" to raise money for the capital's main public library, officials said Tuesday. It's unusual, but it's not particularly raunchy: Callers pay 39 euro cents (53 cents) a minute to listen to an actress read breathless passages from erotica dating to the Victorian era. City Hall set up the hotline earlier this month to help the library raise cash for planned remodeling and expansion, Austrian media reported....

Neenah, Wis. (AP) -- A law protecting library records' confidentiality has hamstrung officials pursuing a man who reportedly masturbated among the books at the Neenah Public Library earlier this month. City Attorney James Godlewski said the library can't turn a surveillance video of the man over to police without a court order. "That is state law," Godlewski said Monday. "The library is merely following what state law says." The Wisconsin attorney general's office said in a Nov. 27 opinion that library surveillance videos fall under the state's public library records confidentiality law. The law prevents libraries from releasing records that...

After gaining widespread support among city and county officials, the proposal to merge the Minneapolis and Hennepin County library systems ran into a potential roadblock Tuesday. Officials said they have been unable to agree on how unionized city library employees, who generally earn more and work shorter weeks, will be blended into the county system, which has its own union workers. The Hennepin County Board postponed a vote to tentatively endorse the merger Tuesday, leaving uncertain how the issue will be dealt with today as the proposal gets its first hearing at the State Capitol. "It's not sufficient to say...

Iranian Police Clash With Women's Day Protesters March 8, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Police in Tehran today clashed with rights activists who gathered in front of the Iranian parliament to mark International Women's Day. Reports say the crowd -- which included students and women -- was attacked by police with batons. One organizer of the demonstration, Fatemeh Govarayi, told Radio Farda that several people were injured. Police forces "were dispersing the crowd violently," Govarayi said. "We were among the people who were beaten. [One woman's] leg was seriously injured. Some of the [student activists] also were seriously injured." Govarayi was among...

LANCASTER, Ohio — Police tried to identify a woman they pulled from an icy river by checking on her library card, but the library would not cooperate, citing a policy set by its board. The woman, who was treated for unknown injuries, was carrying her library card on a key ring but had no other identification when a passer-by found her in the Hocking River on Thursday night, police said. So a dispatcher, then an officer called the Fairfield County District Library and were told the library could not release the information without a court order. The woman later was...

The George W. Bush Library: Asset or Albatross for SMU? By William K. McElvaney and Susanne Johnson For some time Southern Methodist University has pursued the George W. Bush Presidential Library. We assume this quest will not likely change. Nor do we doubt that the best interests of the university are honored in the minds of SMU’s administration. Indeed, we have great respect for SMU’s present leadership and its many remarkable achievements. In this instance, however, we seek to love the university in a different way by offering an alternative viewpoint and by raising questions we regard as healthy...

A group of Methodist ministers has begun a national petition drive asking Southern Methodist University to remove itself from negotiations to get the George W. Bush presidential library. "As United Methodists, we believe that the linking of his presidency with a university bearing the Methodist name is utterly inappropriate," reads the petition, which is posted online at ProtectSMU.org. "Because SMU is owned by the United Methodist Church, the imposition of a George W. Bush library, museum and think tank at SMU will irreparably connect the denomination with this presidency,” said Rev. Andrew J. Weaver, a petition organizer in Brooklyn, N.Y....

ANDERSON, S.C. (AP) - Police say a security guard at the Anderson County Library fired his gun at a car after the driver triggered a security alarm. Police say security guard James Turner asked the woman to stop after the alarm went off as she left around 5 o'clock Saturday afternoon. A police report states Turner chased the woman as she ran to her car and he said the bumper brushed his knee as she pulled away. Police say the guard then fired into the driver's door. Authorities say the woman kept going and they don't know if she was...

United States Naval Academy -- Nimitz Library RECOMMENDED READING LIST INTRODUCTION To the Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy -- One of the frustrations of Naval Academy life -- for both Faculty and Midshipmen -- is the extent to which the daily schedule limits opportunities for informal encounters between teacher and student. Midshipmen simply do not have the time to take full advantage of the range of academic potential the Academy offers. You cannot always meet in leisure with your professors, pursue spontaneous discussions to their conclusion, or read much beyond the books required in courses. The purpose of...