(05:53 pm) Randomness

     I'm probably not going to have time to post after today before the long weekend so I'd better get some stuff up here or its going to be a light week.

     The convention has been awesome but staying up late every night hasn't. I stopped watching The Daily Show. It can be funny sometimes but its obvious that they are anti-war. I was watching Hardball last night instead and got to see the Miller/Matthews fight. It was terrific! Zell is the man!

     McCain was okay Monday night, but Giuliani was incredible! I loved it went he pointed out that Yassar Arafat has a Nobel Peace Prize. He made a great case for terrorism's existence before 9/11 and how its been poorly dealt with in the past.

     Tuesday was good, Arnold was great, not as good as Rudi. Economic Girly-men is exactly how we should view all the naysayers. Compared to the rest of the world we live in the lap of luxury. Laura is a saint, you get the idea she's not big on crowds (can't blame her, still love her).

     Last night. Wow. Cheney is the master of poise, and Zell was passion central. He reminded of a preacher shouting fire and brimstone.

     Tonight's the big one, not sure about Pataki though. Won't matter, Bush rules!

     To all you liberals who think we are just spreading fear: On September 11 I sent out an email to friends and said simply this "The sole purpose of terrorism is to make people afraid. Don't be afraid. Be angry. Be very very angry."

  (05:13 pm) Spitballs and Nobel Peace Prizes

     I feel like I've just had Thanksgiving dinner and still waiting for dessert, overloaded yet waiting for more.

     This has been the best TV watching since the Patriots took the Superbowl.

Sunday August 29, 2004

  (01:56 pm) Welcome

     The Librarians For Victory petition is small but its been slowly growing this past month or so. I'm seeing sigs from all over the country and first of all I just want to say "Thank You" and second "Welcome Aboard!".

     Most people on both sides generally prefer to keep their politics separate from their work. A lot of conservatives however, have been watching ALA's antics for a long time and felt like you were alone in the library world. You are not. In fact I'd say there are quite a few us, and when you add in those that may not agree with us but aren't happy with ALA I think you'll find the number multiplies rapidly.

     You don't have to start preaching politics at work. That's not the point of all this. You do need to start letting others in our profession know that there is an alternative. Pick an issue CIPA, Patriot Act, Cuba, whichever one means the most to you and say something about it. You don't have to give a big lecture. Start with an email to others in your state organizations. Turn up the heat on your state reps and get them to turn up the heat on ALA. There's plenty of us out here to start backing you up.

  (01:36 pm) RNC

     2 things.

     1. To all 'librarian protestors' a word of warning. There are people there who want to do more then just disrupt the convention. If by chance even one of them should even partially succeed and someone gets hurt, particularly if a police officer gets hurt, run like hell. Don't whine about 1st Amendment rights, don't look for reporters to tell 'your side' of what happened. It won't be the FBI or Homeland Security looking for suspects it will be ticked off cops looking to make someone suffer. Get to your hotel room and stay there.

     2. To all Republicans, heck, to everyone. You're going to hear a lot of speeches. A lot of talk about the economy, just as much as about Iraq. Talk about health benefits and jobs going overseas. If for one instant you believe this is the job of a President you are a fool. History did not start on Sept 11, 2001 but what we should have learned on that day defines everything from now on.

  (01:17 pm) Patriots 17 : Panthers 20

     Ouch

     I got an email from an Emily Walsh a student journalist working on a story for class on the Librarians Against Bush group and the Radical Reference group. I spoke with her on the phone last night. I guess the RRs will post her story when she's done, plus she's going to shop it around to see if it can be printed. I only answered a few questions in terms of how I saw them and how I saw the Patriot Act. I'll warn you in advance that its much harder to answer questions on the fly then it is to blog about them. I'm not sure I liked the answers I gave in terms of directness and general coherence. But such is life, I'm not going to worry about it. I'm just giving a heads up.