All purpose news and politics thread part VII: News & Politics Total Landscaping

[Tami]

Red states threaten librarians with prison — as blue states work to protect them

Sam Lee, a leader of the Connecticut Library Association, heads to work these days torn between hope and fear.

She’s encouraged because legislators in her state proposed a bill this year making it harder for school boards to ban library books. But she’s fearful because Connecticut, like America, is seeing a sustained surge in book challenges — and she wonders if objectors will see the legislation as a reason to file more complaints.

“I would like to be optimistic,” Lee said. “But having been in my position for the last few years … I don’t know, it really feels like it’s been forever. And I am worried the book banners are just going to be emboldened.”

The bill in Connecticut, pending before an education committee, is one of a raft of measures advancing nationwide that seek to do things like prohibit book bans or forbid the harassment of school and public librarians — the first such wave in the country, said John Chrastka, director of library advocacy group EveryLibrary. Legislators in 22 mostly blue states have proposed 57 such bills so far this year, and two have become law, according to a Washington Post analysis of state legislative databases and an EveryLibrary legislative tracker.

But the library-friendly measures are being outpaced by bills in mostly red states that aim to restrict which books libraries can offer and threaten librarians with prison or thousands in fines for handing out “obscene” or “harmful” titles. At least 27 states are considering 100 such bills this year, three of which have become law, The Post found. That adds to nearly a dozen similar measures enacted over the last three years across 10 states.

Lawmakers proposing restrictive bills contend they are necessary because school and public libraries contain graphic sexual material that should not be available to children. Some books’ “sole purpose is sexual gratification,” said West Virginia Del. Brandon Steele (R), who introduced a bill that would allow librarians to be prosecuted for giving obscene titles to minors.

“It is strictly about pornography,” Steele said. “On that limited basis, this isn’t going to have the chilling effect people think it’s going to.”

Yeah, right....

[The Cool Thatguy]

Yes, because when kids want porn, they go to the school library

[Tuck]

Red states threaten librarians with prison — as blue states work to protect them





Yeah, right....

The laws to try to ban books are dumb, and unconstitutional. But how do you draft a law that . . . uh, bans banning books? Libraries have to be curated, if for no other reason than shelf space. How do you craft a law that knows when a book was banned, and when it was just not chosen for the library?

[Tami]

The laws to try to ban books are dumb, and unconstitutional. But how do you draft a law that . . . uh, bans banning books? Libraries have to be curated, if for no other reason than shelf space. How do you craft a law that knows when a book was banned, and when it was just not chosen for the library?

As a former Librarian, I can state factually that there is a difference between curation and book banning. When a library needs to open shelf space for new books, they usually do so by reviewing borrowing records and determine which books are rarely borrowed out, keeping the ones that are frequently used. Public libraries also take into account which books are available via online sources and other libraries nearby or that are part of the local library borrowing systems. There are standards of practice that govern normal curation of books, and often those books that are removed are handed over to the library's support groups for books sales to raise money for the library to purchase new books.

The standards of practice are those recommended by the ALA and the state Library Associations. So curation is not banning, the books removed are not removed based on content, only on which ones fit in with the needs of the local community as a whole.

[Tuck]

The standards of practice are those recommended by the ALA and the state Library Associations. So curation is not banning, the books removed are not removed based on content, only on which ones fit in with the needs of the local community as a whole.

But how do you craft a law that keeps book banners from claiming a book was removed under these guidelines?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Red states threaten librarians with prison — as blue states work to protect them





Yeah, right....

This smells to me of an end around by Republicans to ban LGBTQ books which holy rollers and Talibangelicals are convinced are pornographic by nature. I mean, God forbid kids read books where girls have relationships with girls, and boys have relationships with boys, maybe even do the horizontal boogie. In the warped minds of intolerant bible thumpers, that's tenth level smut which MUST be eliminated.

[Catlady in training]

At least 13 people killed and 61 injured in Russian strike on Chernihiv, say emergency services

A Russian strike on the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv killed 14 people and injured 61 people on Wednesday, as Kyiv sounded the alarm over shortages in its air defence capabilities, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). Earlier reports had put the death toll at 10 people (see 09:40 BST).

First responders searched for survivors in the rubble, carrying away the wounded on stretchers as pools of blood formed on the ground near the scene of the attack, reported AFP citing what official images showed.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy blamed Russia for the attack on Chernihiv but also said the west should do more to help defend Ukraine’s skies, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“This would not have happened if Ukraine had received sufficient air defence equipment and if the world’s determination to resist Russian terror had been sufficient,” he said in a social media post on X.

“The Ukrainian determination is sufficient. There must be equally sufficient determination from our partners and, as a result, sufficient support,” added Zelenskiy.

The Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba echoed the comments in a separate post on social media and suggested that Ukraine should enjoy the same cover from aerial attacks as Israel.

“In the Middle East, we saw what reliable protection of human lives from missiles looks like,” he added, referring to Iran’s drone and missile barrage on Israel that was intercepted by western and Israeli forces.

Kuleba also thanked Germany for agreeing to supply Ukraine with another Patriot air defence system and said he would appeal to other countries at a G7 meeting this week for more weapons.

Their comments added to a growing chorus in Ukraine appealing to allied countries to supply more sophisticated air defence weapons to ward off the regular Russian strikes on key infrastructure.

A country can't defend itself without proper equipment. The longer the Congress waits with approving the military aid, the higher the cost will be.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

At least 13 people killed and 61 injured in Russian strike on Chernihiv, say emergency services







A country can't defend itself without proper equipment. The longer the Congress waits with approving the military aid, the higher the cost will be.

And if the Nutbag Caucus (led by Madam Howler Monkey and Rapey McForehead) gets it's way, that wait will be indefinite, just like their dear leader Trump wants.

[Tami]

But how do you craft a law that keeps book banners from claiming a book was removed under these guidelines?

There is a clear and legal distinction between a Librarian or Library removing books based on standard practice versus an outside entity, government agency, person, or organization, demanding that a book be removed. It is much the same as if medical practice decides, based on its own criteria, to offer Abortion services or not instead of outside forces not in the medical profession demanding that the medical facility not do abortions.

Every professional entity, whether it is a library, a law office, a medical facility, an engineering firm, an accounting and tax prep firm, and so on all have their own standards of practice. Laws can be made to limit or restrict those outside the profession from dictating what they can and can not do.

The laws in consideration in NJ basically state that no one can threaten or harass a library employee and that only residents of the local community can make requests of the library, and only requests, that a book be removed from the collection. This is designed to protect the library and to ensure that the library serves its community, NOT some random outsider with a hate for all books and a desire to cause trouble.

[Tami]

Trump's new nickname, "Drowsy Don".

[Kirby101]

Don Snoreleone
The Nodfather
Sleepy Don

[aja_christopher]

Trump's new nickname, "Drowsy Don".

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Don Snoreleone
The Nodfather
Sleepy Don

Oh, I like those!

[Catlady in training]

Kharkiv at risk of becoming ‘second Aleppo’ without US aid, mayor says

Kharkiv is at risk of becoming “a second Aleppo” unless US politicians vote for fresh military aid to help Ukraine obtain the air defences needed to prevent long-range Russian attacks, the city’s mayor has warned.

Ihor Terekhov said Russia had switched tactics to try to destroy the city’s power supply and terrorise its 1.3 million residents by firing into residential areas, with people experiencing unscheduled power cuts for hours at a time.

The mayor of Ukraine’s second city said the $60bn (£48bn) US military aid package, currently stalled in Congress, was of “critical importance for us” and urged the west to refocus on the two-year-old war.

“We need that support to prevent Kharkiv being a second Aleppo,” Terekhov said, referring to the Syrian city heavily bombed by Russian and Syrian government forces at the height of Syria’s civil war a decade ago.

On 22 March, Russian attacks destroyed a power station on the eastern edge of the city as well as all its substations; a week later officials acknowledged a second plant, 30 miles south-east of the city, had been eliminated in the same attack.

Power in the city, about 30 miles from the Russian border, was interrupted after another bombing raid this week, causing the metro to be halted briefly. Residents said there was usually a few hours’ supply a day in the city centre, although in the outskirts the situation was said to be better.

Children are educated either online or in underground schools, for their own safety. The water supply remains on, but Terekhov said there were concerns the Russian military may switch to targeting gas distribution, after storage facilities in the west were attacked last week.

Ukrainian leaders have begun asking western nations to donate Patriot air defence systems, requests for help that were thrown into sharper relief by the US and UK military support for Israel over the weekend when it neutralised an air attack from Iran.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the allies’ defensive action “demonstrated how truly effective unity in defending against terror can be when it is based on sufficient political will” – before making a comparison with Ukraine.

Iranian-designed Shahed drones used by Russia “sound identical to those over the Middle East”, he said. “The impact of ballistic missiles, if they are not intercepted, is the same everywhere.”

The Ukrainian leader concluded: “European skies could have received the same level of protection long ago if Ukraine had received similar full support from its partners in intercepting drones and missiles.”

[Deathstroke]

The five major publishing companies are now all part of a lawsuit opposing Iowa's book banning bill. It's about damn time.

Anyone in favor of banning books or who supports those who want to ban books are in desperate need of being told they are the enemy they are looking for.