Voltaire’s Fanaticism, or Mahomet the Prophet: A New Translation Author: Voltaire Translation and Introduction: Hanna Burton Preface: Malise Ruthven Price: $15.00 ISBN: 978-1-936117-81-9 Published: September 2013 Printed on acid-free paper. … Read more Voltaire’s Fanaticism, or Mahomet the Prophet: A New Translation
The constitutional rights of people who are caught up in the criminal justice system are always an issue, but this is a little bit different, because the activities that got … Read more Daniel McGowan Forbidden From Publishing Articles Without Permission
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
This was Session 4 on Day 1 of the conference ‘All that is banned is desired’ which was held in Oslo, Norway, in October 2012. Speakers: Larissa Sansour, Visual Artist … Read more All That Is Banned is Desired
Banned Books Week sometimes feels like National Library Week, in the sense that it is something that lets librarians shine a celebratory spotlight on our profession, since we are all … Read more Banned Books Week – Yeai Us? Not So Fast. Sandy Berman on Self-Censorship
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
Journalism students at the University of Missouri have published a very important report on book censorship in Missouri. It makes for chilling, but necessary reading. Take a look here.
Take note of this outrageous situation at the Canadian Library Association conference yesterday. Librarians opposing cuts to the Canadian National Library and Archives were ejected from the conference by force … Read more Censorship at Canadian Library Association Conference – Librarians Expelled by Security Guards for Leafletting
Robin Pogrebin has an article in the New York Times from Wednesday, titled, Former Employees Feel Silenced on Library Project. They don’t just “feel” silenced though. First two paragraphs: The … Read more Former NYPL employees silenced by non-disparagement agreement
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)
Alternatives in Print is a directory of book publishers and critical periodicals, consisting of the former print resources, Annotations and Alternative Publishers of Books in North America (APBNA). Library Juice … Read more New online resource: Alternatives in Print
Excerpted from Barney Rosset’s obituary: By Elaine Woo, Los Angeles Times February 23, 2012 Barney Rosset, the renegade founder of Grove Press who fought groundbreaking legal battles against censorship and … Read more Obituary: Barney Rossett, groundbreaking publisher at Grove Press, lived to 89
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
For those who have noted, along with Jon Stewart, that in the Fox News era the media treats facts in a relative way, as a matter of political taste… This … Read more Repressive Tolerance (link to essay by Marcuse) and a comment on information literacy
Given Google’s dominance in search and the scope and integration of their Google Books product (hate to use the word product, but libraries have been converted into product here), we … Read more What Google permits and does not permit in Google eBooks
Dan Kleinman is the man behind the SafeLibraries campaign, which opposes the American Library Association’s intellectual freedom efforts regarding challenged books in school libraries and classrooms. From Dan’s point of … Read more Rory Litwin interviews SafeLibraries’ Dan Kleinman
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)
You will probably be hearing more about Weibo, a Chinese social networking site that combines aspects of Twitter and Facebook and presently has, at a minimum, 140 million users, which … Read more Tension over Weibo, the Chinese Twitter
Some of my colleagues in the Progressive Librarians Guild used to complain that Banned Books Week was an unfortunate distraction from the greater problem of a propagandistic media system. I … Read more My problem with Banned Books Week
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility is coming to the defense of biologist Charles Monnett, who is being hounded by the Interior Department because of a 2006 publication that communicated alarming … Read more Suppression of science has continued, despite Obama’s Scientific Integrity Initiative