Loss of Privacy

Libraries are the backbone of civilization. They’ve been around since ancient times. They contain a wealth of information. Free access to books is essential for societies to thrive. Besides containing books, poor people also use it for free access to the internet. The unemployed use it for job searches and resumes. Yet, FOX news is seemingly advocating the closure of libraries to save money.

I personally think my local library is crappy. They never have what I want and I end up purchasing the books I want online. That said, every time I go to the library, there are usually 3-4 people using the computers for internet access, 5-7 children looking for books to read, and 4-5 adults looking getting books to check out. There is also a video rental system that is heavily used. The more popular titles have waitlists.

Libraries have numerous programs for children. Adults have literacy programs and cultural events. There are summer reading programs for all ages. The library saves the community thousands of dollars on items ranging from audiobooks to the latest fiction precisely because they can freely check them out and not purchase them. Libraries have access to newspapers and magazines that most people cannot afford. Libraries provide valuable research opportunities to students as well as scientists. 2.5% of property taxes in Chicago is not a large asking price for the community to pay for providing a place of learning.

To get rid of the public library is to eliminate knowledge for the masses. While some libraries might suffer some budget cuts, completely closing an avenue to free knowledge is never the answer. Politicians should look elsewhere for their money.

The video below is the evidence of shoddy journalism. Reporter Anna Dalvantes did little investigative work into exactly what the libraries are used for. Chicago borrows more than 88 million books a year, yet that doesn’t seem to be enough to Ms. Dalvantes to keep them open. She completely ignored the librarian that told her that borrowing was going up every year, thus proving that they are worthwhile. Instead, she focused on the fact that it cost $120 million to run them each year. She suggests that the money be used for schools, when Chicago already sends 60% of property taxes to education already.

There was no report on the percentage of users who use the computers for job related searches. There were no interviews with anyone from the Chicago library system. There were no suggestions for the people who can’t afford computers as to how they are supposed to afford ebook readers for the ebooks she says they should buy. The undercover reporting stated that one particular library sees 5,000 people per day, yet no questions were asked of why the people were there.

Ms. Dalvantes spent an hour in one library and randomly asked a few people on the street if they go to the library. There was no investigative journalism here. There was only support for cutting money to fund the libraries. There weren’t any interviews with people who were actually in the library using it. In depth? I hardly think so.

Info-film explaining the origin of the UK’s nationwide Curfew.

The Curfew, a new adventure webgame from Channel 4 and Littleloud, written by Kieron Gillen, released Summer 2010.

A man in San Francisco likes to jog and stop at the park to do some pull ups. This particular park is near the start/end of the jogging trail by the old Presidio. He checked his phone a few times, then jogged off. A bunch of mothers freaked out and called the police.

Moms have mobilized in recent days against the man they say shows up at Mountain Lake Park playground without kids, does pull-ups, offers kids candy and takes pictures of boys and girls using his cell phone.

The parents, fearing the white man wearing sunglasses, slacks and a jacket while at the park might attack their children, launched a widely-circulated e-mail campaign that earned much attention from community groups and an investigation by the San Francisco Police Department.

So a bunch of paranoid parents over react to a situation and put an innocent man in potential trouble. What would have happened if a mother, gasp, actually spoke to the man? They would have discovered he wasn’t handing out candy and he wasn’t taking pictures of children. When the police did this very thing, they discovered he was harmless.

“He allowed officers to examine his cell phone and his laptop computer,” the report said. “He stated that he hadn’t taken any photographs. He explained that he was looking at his phone’s screen while using the telephone’s stopwatch feature as part of his workout.”

Apparently, there are signs in the park that prevent adults from being there with a child.

Police then told the man about signs in the park that say adults are prohibited from entering the children’s play area except when they are with children,” Corriera said.

Curiously, would a sign in the park really prevent any abuse or abduction from occurring? Even as an adult, people enjoy going to the park and hanging out or swinging on swings. Why should citizens be forced to pay for public parks and then be prevented from using them?

This incident reinforces the belief that, if you’re a man, you must be a pedophile. Why else would be around children? There are many men today who are terrified of being around children for this very reason. How many men might have been elementary school teachers or doctors, but 21st century political correctness made them reconsider?

These women acted irresponsibly in creating a witch hunt for this man. They had little justification for their actions a relied on rumors in preemptively judging this man as guilty. Their frivolity towards assuming this man was a pedophile only serves to make men more paranoid than they were before.

Many people like to use the local park when they want to exercise, but cannot afford a gym membership. The monkey bars are great for pull-ups. So are the high bars, if the park has them. Swings are a great place for some cardio workout or just relaxing at the end of the day. You don’t need to be eight to appreciate swings. Parks are also places where people sunbathe, play Frisbee, and toss around a football.

There is also the fact that the women should be looking more at themselves and their families if they’re worried about someone abusing their children. A child is more likely to be abused by a friend or family member than some guy looking at his cell phone. Unfortunately, parents, such as the mothers in this story, won’t ever see the error of their ways, nor will they feel any shame in the matter.

They will still think that they did the right thing and that, maybe, next time, they’ll catch the pedophile. At the very least, they’ll pat themselves on the back thinking they did a good job warning off all would-be pedophiles from “their” park.

The media’s constant hammering of the idea that men must be predators is also partly to blame. They drill the idea into ignorant parents’ heads that all men are to be looked upon suspiciously. These parents then go out in the world believing that there is a pedophile around every corner and over react the first time a man comes near children. Over zealous parents need to step back and observe the situation objectively before potentially ruining another person’s life.

Unfortunately, incidents such as these, complete with signs telling adults that they are not welcome, are becoming all too common. They teach their children that the world is far more dangerous than it really is, essentially telling the children that only they can protect the children. Instead of letting children explore and enjoy the wonders of the world, adults are busy putting up signs that cover their collective asses.

Sadly, for these women, next time, they still won’t see a jogger.

By now, you’ve heard the story of the school district in Pennsylvania spying on its students via webcams from laptops that the students took home. This has been covered to death this week, so, here’s a video and some links in case you want to know more.

The webcams were activated 42 times over a 14-month period.

It’s one thing to attempt to install security procedures to protect against the loss of a laptop. It’s quite another when those procedures appear to have been enacted without the knowledge of students or parents and leave the school open not only to all of the charges already leveled in the Robbins’ lawsuit, but also–as in the case of a student who leaves her laptop open in the shower to listen to music–to charges of child pornography.

The school district is being sued [pdf] .

The school sent out a letter to parents. This is their initial response.

The complaint alleges that they are in violation of:

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act
The Computer Fraud Abuse Act
The Stored Communications Act
Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act
The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution
The Pennsylvania Wire-tapping and Electronic Surveillance Act
Pennsylvania Common Law

The local DA and the FBI are now investigating.

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