Comments on: The Sicko Conflagration

By: Spekkio

Spekkio — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:22:15 +0000

Just wondering, AL – why was ‘progressive’ in quotation marks?

Also…anarchy really doesn’t fit in with liberalism, socialism, and progressivism. Anarchy IS on the left socially (far, far left) but there’s still economics to consider.

Useful tool: politicalcompass.org.

By: DaTrip

DaTrip — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 17:19:26 +0000

I couldn’t agree more. I found the whole orgy of whinging and posturing from the smug and self-righteous appalling. And it can’t be argued by any reasonable person (I exclude rabid progressives) that the film series as planned wasn’t very skewed indeed, insofar as political leaning was concerned. You’d think these people would throw their arms out of joint, patting themselves so hard on the back.

By: finallyaLibrarian

finallyaLibrarian — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:49:39 +0000

Sounds more like a false advertizing problem than censorship.

By: SafeLibraries

SafeLibraries — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 02:48:32 +0000

AL said: The head of the ALA OIF said that a balanced library collection or program “‘certainly does not mean that all opinions must be presented all at once’ but is instead ‘an assurance that the interested library user will be able to find a diversity of opinion within the library’s collection over time.’” Correct. The ALA OIF said that, but that is not what it practices. For example, books about ex-gays are routinely excluded from library collections. The source of my information? Among others, the AL herself. See: "Some 'Censorship' is Good," Annoyed Librarian, Library Journal, 8 October 2008.

By: SafeLibraries

SafeLibraries — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 02:48:32 +0000

By: leavingtheoffice

leavingtheoffice — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 20:16:00 +0000

Norma, Assange is an Aussie, so calling him a traitor doesn’t make any sense. If you’re referring to Bradley Manning who’s being punished for exposing obvious war crimes, that’s even more ridiculous. (Or maybe killing Arabs for sport is OK in your eyes?) It may not be a library issue, but the rhetoric is not necessary either.

By: the.effing.librarian

the.effing.librarian — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:41:12 +0000

Our library had the same township problem when we showed Mamma Mia!
But we couldn’t find any music to balance against the horror that is ABBA, so our director quit.

By: Annoyed Librarian

Annoyed Librarian — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:21:35 +0000

Norma, I was going to make fun of the SRRT resolutions to ALA Council about Wikileaks after ALA, but I was afraid that Anonymous group would hack LJ and steal my identity.

By: will manley

will manley — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 14:09:50 +0000

AL, you raise some good points about censorship, freedom, and balance, but to me the bottom line in this controversy is where does the library board stand on the issue. The members of the board are the ones who should be dealing directly with the town council on policy and funding issues; not the library director. The library belongs to the people,and the board represents the people. The library director should not be caught in this crossfire. Let the board resolve it one way or the other.

By: Norma

Norma — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 13:10:14 +0000

When I saw the title, I thought you were addressing the predictable ALAOIF support of the wikileaks traitor.