(10:57 pm) Open Vs. Vacuum

     You debate enough people enough times and you see certain things repeat. Apparently being a Conservative means I don't have an open mind. I'm the last person who should be quoting the Bible but one of Christ's parables in Matthew pretty much sums it up:

     House + Rock = Still Standing
     House + Sand = Not So Much

     You can explore all kinds of things, read all kinds of books, experience a lot of what the world has to offer. But if you don't have a solid foundation of ideas and beliefs that you can rely on all that experience will be wasted. It will twist you and turn you this way and that and in the end you'll be no wiser then when you began.

     The fact is most people do have some core of some kind. They don't like to share for fear of being labeled one way or another. But that's what its for. And if you don't have one, I'd advise you to sit down and figure it out. Its kinda important.

Thursday March 03, 2005

  (07:55 pm) Nice

     A comment in the Feedback section that just turned the whole day around:

Hi Greg, I just read your comments about the social movements reference set. I think that was one I decided not to order for the very reasons you noted. Ironically, earlier today I looked at a brochure for _The Encyclopedia of Politics: The Left and the Right_. It was more of the same...examples of "Leftist Political Issues" included "Democracy" and "Desegregation" and examples of "Rightist Political Issues" were "Segregation" and Despotism". As one responsible for collection development in the area of political science, I'm always conscience of not letting my conservative bias show. However, with what is being published, I don't think that will be a big problem! By the way, my official Shush clock arrived today. I love the quote and plan to commit it to heart along with a gazillion Bible verses and my favorite of George F. Will..."This is an age in which one cannot find common sense without a search warrant." ...Susan

  (07:34 pm) Noise

     I'm involved in or monitoring 6 ALA listservs and at times they may as well all be the same on. I don't know if you know this or not but Bush is the Devil and we live in a third world country. Bit of an exaggeration on my part but considering these are supposed to be library related groups the topics have been closer to the exaggeration then the subject of libraries.

     I don't want to pull a Lenny Bruce but here's an email I just posted to SRRT today with the email I responded to below it.

Dear SRRT members et al,

I believe the word I've been using is 'blacklist' and the since the only complaint that I have lodged is this one: http://www.shush.ws/2005/021305_021905.htm#0219050907 and since it was sent to SRRT along with everyone else and since it is now two weeks later and Rory is just now figuring this out I would like to say 'Thank You' for making my case for me.

And for the record, the email in question does not say banned. It shares Rory's original email and his wish for an alternative to the supposedly open forum of srrtac-l.

Greg McClay
SHUSH - for the conservative librarian
www.shush.ws / greg@shush.ws

     "I choose free libraries as the best
     agencies for improving the masses of
     the people, because they give nothing
     for nothing. They only help those who
     help themselves."

- Andrew Carnegie

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-srrtac-l@ala.org [mailto:owner-srrtac-l@ala.org]On Behalf Of Rory Litwin
Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2005 4:47 PM
To: SRRT Action Council
Subject: [SRRTAC-L:15998] Nobody was banned from the SRRT list

Dear SRRT members,

It's come to my attention that Greg McClay has lodged a formal complaint to ALA alleging that he was banned from the SRRT discussion list.

Greg was not banned.

The only thing I can think of that might have led him to believe that he was banned was the recent glitch on the ALA mail server that shut down our list for a couple of days. That or the occasional long delay we find in trying to get mail through to our list. These occasional problems affect all SRRT members equally.

Oh, there was also a delay in verifying Greg's membership in SRRT when he subscribed to the list. According to Joel Tscherne, the SRRTAC-L listowner, Greg did not reply to his inquiry about his membership in SRRT, which forced Joel to verify it with ALA. That took a few days, delaying Greg's subscription.

I hope Greg will contact whomever he contacted at ALA initially to retract this allegation.

Rory Litwin
SRRT Coordinator

     And yes, I saw that "and the since" in my email... after I sent it. Oh well.

Tuesday March 01, 2005

  (09:10 pm) 'Para'Professional of the Year

     Link via LISNews. A Cataloger!!

     I'll be sending her some questions soon and hopefully she'll be as generous as Linda Porter.

  (08:56 pm) If You Read Anything...

     ... read this.

     This is why pacifism doesn't work. This is the 21st Century. Nobody can see this and not be reminded of the Hitler Youth Brigade, and yet, and yet, Putin still felt comfortable doing this. The man has traveled the world as Russia's leader. He's not a stupid man. He's seen the best and worst the world has to offer and yet, and yet he still felt comfortable doing this.

     No matter how 'civilized' as whole the world gets, there's always going to be some idiot who wants to put it at risk for personal gain. You can talk all you want but unless you're packing heat this kind of person isn't listening.

  (08:35 pm) Nativist?

     I was going over some new reference works with a vendor today. One of them was Sharpe's Encyclopedia of American Social Movements, considered an "outstanding reference source" for 2005 by RUSA. It is a nice set and it has a lot of good information in it. I just was pulled up short by one of the category headings and its chapters: Nativist, Conservative, and Right-Wing Movements which includes the Anti-Catholism Movement, the KKK, and the Militia Movement.

     To be honest I'm not familiar with the Anti-Catholism Movement but what made it conservative or right-wing? Are the KKK or militias considered movements or just drunks who like to shoot guns? And again what's conservative, right-wing, or even nativist about them? Why are these considered conservative but there's a separate section on Moral Reform, including Prohibition and Prostitution Reform? Isn't morality a conservative principle?