Kelly writes “More on the UCLA taser policeman: “LOS ANGELES The U-C-L-A campus policeman who was videotaped shocking a student with a Taser reportedly has had previous violent encounters. KVOA TV reports via The Los Angeles Times, Terrence Duren also shot and wounded a homeless man three years ago and once was suspended for using his nightstick to choke someone outside a fraternity.”
Curmudgeony
Librarian wins wrongful dismissal suit
Fang-Face writes “ Mo. librarian prevails in quest not to work on Sabbath says the headline of an article posted at First Amendment Center. Connie Rehm said she was fired for refusing to work on Sundays, and and last month she was reinstated on the orders of a federal judge.”
Wisconsin Library Facing Budget Cuts
An all too often circumstance in the library world comes to the La Crosse County Library System with budget cuts looming for the library. The library is facing a proposed reduction of $131,000 in its operating budget.
Library Scores Well In FOA Survey
The Clinton Township Public Library in Waterman, Il received glowing praise from the editorial board of the Bloomington, IL Pantagraph for their performance in a Freedom of Information Act survey. The library was one of two public bodies that scored well on this test. Well over half of the approximately 400 public bodies to which FOIA requests were sent failed to follow the law in a recent statewide test by the Better Government Association.
New FGI Discussions: October 23, 2006
This week found FGI BOTM Tim Skeers and the volunteers at Free Government Information (http://freegovinfo.info)(FGI) starting the following discussions we hope you will join:
Tim’s Posts
Volunteer postings:
- Library of the 21st Century Symposium – James A.
- The Digital Divide: Speed Matters – James A.
- Herrick describes DLC Digital Distribution Session – Daniel
- Amnesty International campaign to combat censorship – James A.
- Federal Trade Commission technology blog – James A.
- Google to index government deep web? – James A.
- When Standards Are Political — ODF (the Open Document Format) – James A.
- Saving Democracy With Web 2.0 – James A.
- The Technical is Political – James A.
- Former FCC chairman dismisses net neutrality as distraction – James R.
- remix: US congressional staff salaries – James A.
- Sites for election junkies – James R.
- OMBWatch releases database of govt spending – James R.
- Attorney General’s Report on FOIA – James A.
We’d like to thank Tim Skeers for his contributions as his month ends as FGI Blogger of the Month on Tuesday. November brings us SLU docs librarian and author Lori Smith to the FGI mike. Welcome Lori!
If you use Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com/) or some other RSS reader, consider subscribing to the FGI Feed at http://freegovinfo.info/blog/feed to get FGI stories as they are posted.
This week found FGI BOTM Tim Skeers and the volunteers at Free Government Information (http://freegovinfo.info)(FGI) starting the following discussions we hope you will join:
Tim’s Posts
Volunteer postings:
- Library of the 21st Century Symposium – James A.
- The Digital Divide: Speed Matters – James A.
- Herrick describes DLC Digital Distribution Session – Daniel
- Amnesty International campaign to combat censorship – James A.
- Federal Trade Commission technology blog – James A.
- Google to index government deep web? – James A.
- When Standards Are Political — ODF (the Open Document Format) – James A.
- Saving Democracy With Web 2.0 – James A.
- The Technical is Political – James A.
- Former FCC chairman dismisses net neutrality as distraction – James R.
- remix: US congressional staff salaries – James A.
- Sites for election junkies – James R.
- OMBWatch releases database of govt spending – James R.
- Attorney General’s Report on FOIA – James A.
We’d like to thank Tim Skeers for his contributions as his month ends as FGI Blogger of the Month on Tuesday. November brings us SLU docs librarian and author Lori Smith to the FGI mike. Welcome Lori!
If you use Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com/) or some other RSS reader, consider subscribing to the FGI Feed at http://freegovinfo.info/blog/feed to get FGI stories as they are posted.
Laura Bush Reads Halloween Tale to Palm Beach Kids
birdie writes “At library First Lady Gets the Word Out .Invited by the library, Mrs. Bush proceeded to read The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt. It’s a story about a fly that is lured into a spider’s web by flattery. She stopped after each page to show the children the illustrations.
‘What’s the lesson?’ Bush asked at the end. ‘Just because someone says flattering words, don’t be tricked into doing something you shouldn’t.'”
ACLU Withdraws Patriot Act Lawsuit
Citing changes in the 2001 law made earlier this year, the ACLU has decided to drop its lawsuit related to section 215 of the Patriot Act. This section, the ACLU claims, presents serious constitutional problems in light of its supposed restrictions on free speech. The ACLU will continue to litigate other sections of the Patriot Act.
Bush’s family profits from ‘No Child’ act
Ignite–A company headed by President Bush’s brother and partly owned by his parents is benefiting from Republican connections and federal dollars targeted for economically disadvantaged students under the No Child Left Behind Act.
With investments from his parents, George H.W. and Barbara Bush, and other backers, Neil Bush‘s company, Ignite! Learning, has placed its products in 40 U.S. school districts and now plans to market internationally….
Most of Ignite’s business has been obtained through sole-source contracts without competitive bidding. Neil Bush has been directly involved in marketing the product.
For more on the Bush family exploitation of reading and education not only in the U.S. but world-wide through Bush family connections see:
National Papers Uncover Bush exploitation of “No Child Left Behind.”
A Place to Read
In an essay at Inside Higher Ed–“A Place to Read,”– Terry Caesar observes: “Lately, however, it’s seemed to me that the place of reading has become harder to establish. The ubiquitous video screens – in our dentist’s offices and our airplanes as well as our homes- represent the problem. Why read when you can look?”
The comments are all interesting, especially this one:
“I wish I could say that a public library can still be a place to go to read, but in my second job at a library (I’m an adjunct at a community college) I find the place just as noisy as, say, the hallway of a middle school between classes.
And the designated “quiet reading” spots aren’t much better. E.g., when did people think that cellphone conversations weren’t audible? Whatever happened to parents teaching their children that the library is a place to consider others’ needs for quiet?”
GPO to discuss digital distribution to libraries
Daniel writes “http://freegovinfo.info/node/689
“On October 17, 2006, the FDLP-L listserv announced the availability of a briefing paper to be used for discussion at the Fall 2006 Depository Library Council meeting. The paper is called Digital Distribution to Federal Depository Libraries and is available at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/council/fal l06/digitaldistribution06.pdf.
According to the FDLP posting, this document will be used in a discussion at DLC next Wednesday, October 25, 2006. We at FGI strongly encourage you to read the two page document before then. We would also like to commend Council and GPO for having this discussion and asking what seem to be good questions for a system of digital deposit.””
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