Quiet Please (film about homeless library users)
QUIET, PLEASE from Quincy J. Walters on Vimeo. About homeless people who use the library….
Category: Civil Liberties
A Guide for People Navigating the Expanded Powers of Surveillance in the 21st Century
Some people from Radical Reference have put together a zine with anti-surveillance resources for the discerning library worker-slash-activist. (Full title: We Are All Suspects: A Guide for People Navigating the … Read more A Guide for People Navigating the Expanded Powers of Surveillance in the 21st Century
Radical Archives and Index of the Disappeared
Chitra Ganesh and Mariam Ghani are artists, archivists, and activists. Both have been involved in immigration rights activism, especially after 9/11, and they created the shifting exhibition Index of the Disappeared, … Read more Radical Archives and Index of the Disappeared
Democracy and Big Data
NSA Data Center — Bluffdale, Utah In a recent post to this blog, I outlined how the debate regarding the National Security Administration’s data gathering activities pitted privacy against national … Read more Democracy and Big Data
Privacy and National Security
The recent revelations that the National Security Administration has been collecting metadata for the phone calls of American citizens and that they have been acquiring data from Google, Yahoo!, facebook, … Read more Privacy and National Security
Whistleblowers, Intellectual Freedom, and Librarians
On February 28, 2013, Bradley Manning read a 35-page statement at a courthouse in Fort Meade, in which he detailed how and why he released certain information to the public. … Read more Whistleblowers, Intellectual Freedom, and Librarians
Political Repression and Illegal Books in Portland
Just in time for Banned Books Week, here is a bit of news that I hope comes to your attention if you are concerned with civil liberties and the freedom … Read more Political Repression and Illegal Books in Portland
Censorship through travel restriction (two links)
Two links to share about what may be a growing trend – travel restrictions as a way to stifle political speech. A column in Salon by Glen Greenwald a few … Read more Censorship through travel restriction (two links)
Occupying the First Amendment
The recent assaults by the police on various Occupy movement encampments highlight the tenuousness of our right to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances. Certainly, there is … Read more Occupying the First Amendment
An Illinois Man Is Facing 75 Years In Jail For Filming Police (video)
Not exactly a library issue, but one which rests on the same ideals. It seems urgent to me that we legalize making video recordings of on-duty police officers. (Only illegal … Read more An Illinois Man Is Facing 75 Years In Jail For Filming Police (video)
And our privacy quietly erodes as state power grows
Here is a scary if unsurprising bit of news: a report in PC world on a recent study by Christopher Soghoian: “US Police Increasingly Peeping at E-mail, Instant Messages.” Soghoian’s … Read more And our privacy quietly erodes as state power grows
A Space for Hate: The White Power Movement’s Adaptation into Cyberspace
Introduction [Book information] June 10, 2009: James von Brunn logged off his Packard Bell computer, grabbed his keys and strode out the door of his son’s Annapolis apartment. He … Read more A Space for Hate: The White Power Movement’s Adaptation into Cyberspace
The Mad Men of the FBI
I thought the FBI had been shamed out of spying on pacifists long ago, but check this out. Incredible. Greenpeace, Thomas Merton Center, Catholic Worker, and other anti-war activists got … Read more The Mad Men of the FBI
Mother Jones article on Connecticut librarians’ defiance of the PATRIOT Act
Amy Goodman and David Goodman (of Democracy Now) have an article in the current Mother Jones magazine about the great Windsor, Connecticut librarians’ defiance of the FBI and the PATRIOT … Read more Mother Jones article on Connecticut librarians’ defiance of the PATRIOT Act
UN says British libel law violates human rights
I’ve always been appalled by British libel law as long as I’ve known about it. Basically it puts a strong onus on defendants to prove that what they have said … Read more UN says British libel law violates human rights
Intellectual Freedom advocacy in a Huxleyan world
A favorite debate of pessimistic sophomores, or perhaps sophomoric pessimists, is as to whether our society and its future is more like George Orwell’s 1984 or Aldous Huxley’s Brave New … Read more Intellectual Freedom advocacy in a Huxleyan world
Librarian ejected from ostensibly public McCain rally for holding a sign
Carol Kreck, a librarian, was arrested and removed from a public campaign event for John McCain in Denver yesterday. She was in front of the Denver Center for Performing Arts, … Read more Librarian ejected from ostensibly public McCain rally for holding a sign
Instructor fired for refusing to sign a loyalty oath
The Los Angeles Times reports that Wendy Gonaver, an American Studies instructor at Cal State Fullerton and a Quaker, was fired from her job for refusing to sign a loyalty … Read more Instructor fired for refusing to sign a loyalty oath
People’s Campaign for the Constitution
The Bill of Rights Defense Committee is a group founded in November, 2001 that works to protect (and restore) civil rights and liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. They … Read more People’s Campaign for the Constitution
The Golden Compass and “anti-Catholic bias”
I have not said anything about the controversy over the Golden Compass, because the issue has seemed too simple and clear cut to warrant comment. But take a look at … Read more The Golden Compass and “anti-Catholic bias”