Thursday, February 28, 2002

15151 » February 28 7:10 AM. Sigh. In case all this talk of foreign crazies was stealing the spotlight from our homegrown malcontents. [MetaFilter] I always believed our own wackos are just as dangerous as any middle eastern terrorists. Thankfully most of them are too stupid to do any harm 12:52:12 PM    Comments []

Somehow I missed Nat Hentoff's second piece about the Patriot Act, the one that discussed libraries. Big John Wants Your Reading List outlines the slippery slope librarians have been warning against. "As I often do when Americans' freedom to read is imperiled, I called Judith Krug, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association. I've covered, as a reporter, many cases of library censorship, and almost invariably, the beleaguered librarians have already been on the phone to Judy Krug. She is the very incarnation of the author of the First Amendment, James Madison. As she has often said, "How can anyone involved with libraries stand up and say, 'We are going to solve problems by withholding information'?" I called to talk with her about the FBI's new power to force libraries to disclose the titles of books that certain people are reading[~]and she, of course, knew all about this part of the USA Patriot Act. And the rest of it, for that matter. Accordingly, the press ought to awaken the citizenry not only to the FBI's harvesting lists of what "suspect" Americans read, but also to the judicial silencing of bookstores and libraries that are being compelled to betray the privacy and First Amendment rights of readers." Judith continues to fight the good fight - more power to her. Thanks to Library Juice for pointing this one out. [The Shifted Librarian] 11:07:47 AM    Comments []

Kristallnacht for the Pepsi Generation?. Over the past few months, there has been a great deal of discussion in the American, European, and Israeli conservative press about an alarming group of events taking place in Europe. These events -- seeming anti-Semitic* language from Europe's "chattering classes" and anti-Semitic attacks from the shadows of Europe's Muslim community -- hearken back to the shattered glass and yellow stars of blackest days of the 20th Century: Nazi Germany. The mainstream media has slowly picked up on disturbing reports of still-smoldering synagogues and of sniper fire, however there are many who suggest that these events have more to do with anger over Israel's policies than they do with Jews themselves. Are the events a natural response to Israeli treatment of Palestinians, or are they a symptom of something deeper brewing within Europe? [kuro5hin.org] 10:41:27 AM    Comments []