How to make me freak out
Apr. 29th, 2009 01:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
readingthedarkThere are a few issues that are innately important to me. Some of them are so important that I proselytize. One of them freaks me out and I just start ranting:
Librarians getting fired because they think freedom of speech is important is dead center in my freakout zone.
Artists getting banned for outlandish statements. Punishing people for talking about sex in ways that sound wrong. Oh, thought police, no.
Here's what I just posted elsewhere when![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
snurri talked about how four members of the library board in West Bend, Wisconsin got booted:
<<Wow. One is a middle-of-the-road guide to teen girls' health that must have a passage about lesbianism or masturbation, one is often required summer reading for students in Massachusetts, and I remember hearing about Geography Club but I forget why. I just wrote a little rant in my f-list about this, but what freaks me out is how freedom of speech, by it's very nature, only applies to books a person hates. You want to ban it? You can't. It's freedom of speech. I want to ban it? I can't. It's freedom of speech. Even the most repressive regimes in history have been in favor of speech they liked. How come I live in a world where Ferlinghetti won this one once and for all and other people don't? How come whenever I hear something that offends me to the core, I think, "Awesome. Celine Dion isn't my bag, but I think people have the right to listen to her...">>
I want libraries open. I need books. And I could care less what other people read.
Some people want libraries to be like this:
Hours:
[I yanked this table off of a library in Lexington's website where they accidentally list hours for a building that had a serious water leak. But the library got a new building. It is open. I just talked to their reference desk and the librarian rocked.]
Librarians getting fired because they think freedom of speech is important is dead center in my freakout zone.
Artists getting banned for outlandish statements. Punishing people for talking about sex in ways that sound wrong. Oh, thought police, no.
Here's what I just posted elsewhere when
snurri talked about how four members of the library board in West Bend, Wisconsin got booted:<<Wow. One is a middle-of-the-road guide to teen girls' health that must have a passage about lesbianism or masturbation, one is often required summer reading for students in Massachusetts, and I remember hearing about Geography Club but I forget why. I just wrote a little rant in my f-list about this, but what freaks me out is how freedom of speech, by it's very nature, only applies to books a person hates. You want to ban it? You can't. It's freedom of speech. I want to ban it? I can't. It's freedom of speech. Even the most repressive regimes in history have been in favor of speech they liked. How come I live in a world where Ferlinghetti won this one once and for all and other people don't? How come whenever I hear something that offends me to the core, I think, "Awesome. Celine Dion isn't my bag, but I think people have the right to listen to her...">>
I want libraries open. I need books. And I could care less what other people read.
Some people want libraries to be like this:
| Day | Opens | Closes |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | Closed | Closed |
| Monday | Closed | Closed |
| Tuesday | Closed | Closed |
| Wednesday | Closed | Closed |
| Thursday | Closed | Closed |
| Friday | Closed | Closed |
| Saturday | Closed | Closed |
| Above hours valid from: Valid From August 21 until Further Notice | ||
| Holidays Closed: All legal holidays | ||
| Notes: | ||
[I yanked this table off of a library in Lexington's website where they accidentally list hours for a building that had a serious water leak. But the library got a new building. It is open. I just talked to their reference desk and the librarian rocked.]
