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
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
It is still not dead. A resolution has just been sent to the ALA Council list for discussion, calling on ALA to recognize the dissident “independent librarians” as members of … Read more The Cuba Debate – Why the “middle” is not the middle
You could call it a bombshell if what the New York Times is reporting now were not already well known by skeptical observers, but it’s significant that the Times is … Read more NY Times reports on media manipulation by Pentagon
Here’s some predictable news: A group of four researchers have published findings in the new issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that articles in medical journals … Read more Drug companies authoring articles in medical journals and adding scientists as authors after the studies are written
The new issue of Information for Social Change, issue 25, is available online. It is another theme issue, this time dealing with libraries and information workers in conflict situations. Examples … Read more New issue of Information for Social Change
One nice thing about true open source software, especially when it’s running a huge website like Wikipedia, is that creative programmers can make useful add-ons to it. Wired Magazine (which … Read more Wikipedia Scanner
Another example of the Bush Administration’s information evil. Marjorie Heins has some commentary on the Free Expression Policy Project’s website about Guantanamo prisoners’ recantations of abuse charges in exchange for … Read more Guantanamo secrecy through plea-bargains
I urge everybody to read Kathleen de la Peña McCook’s post on her main blog, Fighting the Bush Doctrine of Disinformation is a Librarian’s Mandate. She hits the nail on … Read more Fighting the Bush Doctrine of Disinformation is a Librarian’s Mandate
I am going to take another stab at outlining my views on “library and non-library issues.” Last time I did it I was sloppy in the way that I stated … Read more Library and non-library issues
My friend John Gehner just told me about this watershed piece of investigative reporting by James Bamford, an article from Rolling Stone that won the 2006 National Magazine Award in … Read more John Rendon – the Goebbels of our era
Here’s a little detail about the present government that everybody should know. The Office of the Vice President, along with all executive branch offices, is required to submit a list … Read more Dick Cheney’s stealth operation
Just briefly mentioning two important things that I have neglected to follow here. 1). The 9th Circuit Court’s rejection of Brewster Kahle’s constitutional challenge to copyright laws that prevent people … Read more 9th Circuit rejects Kahle vs. Gonzales, AAP PR
The Progressive Librarians Guild has endorsed a resolution by the American Historical Association, titled Resolution on United States Government Practices Inimical to the Values of the Historical Profession. The resolution … Read more PLG endorses AHA resolution on US gov’t and historical preservation
After his last address on Iraq, President Bush broke with precedent and refused to be photographed at the podium by journalists, instead distributing an official, government produced photo which he … Read more Bush refuses to be photographed
As you may have noticed throughout the EPA library closure situation, the government’s big justification for closing the libraries has been that it is a digital age, meaning that physical … Read more Reports disappearing from EPA library website
This is from LISNews. It turns out that LibrariansForFairness, the ostensible library group that opposed SRRT’s criticism of Israel a few years ago, is actually a project of the PR … Read more LibrariansForFairness a project of PR firm Rothstein and Memsic
This has been available online for a while, but I just recently found it: Language: A Key Mechanism of Control: Newt Gingrich’s 1996 GOPAC memo. In retrospect it is clear … Read more Newt Gingrich’s 1996 GOPAC memo
There’s a brief article in Counterpunch about the National Book Festival, which features our very non-warlike First Lady. It is intended as a happier source of news than the complete … Read more Are you proud of our “National Book Festival?”
In a way I think it is unfortunate that this story is about Cuba, because being about Cuba means that a lot of people just aren’t going to want to … Read more 10 Miami Herald journalists on US gov’t payroll