I Have a Crush...

So, in case you missed it, John Oliver had a talk with Edward Snowden regarding government mass surveillance and certain troubling sections of the USA PATRIOT Act that are set to expire. You should go see it, and then you'll know why we really, really want those sections to expire. Really, the whole thing is a mess.

And, actually, all you really need to know can be found at Can They See My Dick? Look, I didn't name it. But, yeah, that's how bad U.S. surveillance has gotten - they can totally see it. And I don't think any of us are happy about that.

All of that was very important, so I hope you were paying attention, even though some of you were probably offended by the style of humor. Now, back to my crush...I have a crush on Edward Snowden. It is DH-Approved - that is, DH is fine with me having a crush on Snowden, because Snowden is awesome. That is all.

Links!

• Libraries, Books, Writers, & Suchlike
• ALA unveils shortlist for 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction 
• The Case For Libraries "When it comes to books, libraries and publishers should be in it together, argues a leading marketing expert"
• The Bohemian Librarian "Library school grads veer off the well-trodden career path and discover rewarding vocations"
• ​Queensland police set to drop charges against 'bikie' librarian Sally Kuether 
• What Happens to a Book After You Donate It to the Library? 
• Historic Christian library in Iraq saved from ISIS "Dozens of the handwritten tomes were spirited to safety in nearby Kurdish-ruled areas. There they remain, hidden in a nondescript apartment in the Kurdish city of Dohuk, where Christians who have fled the extremists' onslaught are living and watching over them."
• Colouring books for adults top Amazon bestseller list 
• Walmart has banned Olympic medallist Ronda Rousey’s book because it is 'too violent' "Rousey's sister Maria Burns Ortiz, who co-authored the book, took to Twitter to make the point that Walmart sells guns – but won’t sell a book." 
• April 7, 1770: William Wordsworth is born
• Maya Angelou's new stamp features quote that wasn't hers 
• What do American Pie's lyrics mean? "As the singer himself said recently: "'The writing and the lyrics will divulge everything there is to divulge.'"
• California and the literature of water 
• Health & Science
• Nestlé’s despicable water-crisis profiteering: How it’s making a killing — while California is dying of thirst 
• Scientists Say It's Time to Reinstate the Brontosaurus 
• Education
• No Child Left Behind: Senators Unveil Bipartisan Agreement on Rewrite 
• Parent complains after Dublin, GA teacher talks politics in classroom "'According to a letter from the Dublin Laurens NAACP...the teacher told her students President Obama is not a Christian and 'any parent who supports him is not a Christian.' She also challenged her students to 'prove their Christianity.'"
• Defending Darwin "We live in a nation where public acceptance of evolution is the second lowest of thirty-four developed countries, just ahead of Turkey. Roughly half of Americans reject some aspect of evolution, believe the earth is less than ten thousand years old, and that humans coexisted with dinosaurs. Where I live, many believe evolution to be synonymous with atheism, and there are those who strongly feel I am teaching heresy to thousands of students. A local pastor, whom I've never met, wrote an article in The University Christian complaining that, not only was I teaching evolution and ignoring creationism, I was teaching it as a non-Christian, alternative religion." 
• Other (Serious Stuff)
• NRA Bans ‘Operational’ Guns At NRA Convention For Security Reasons So, the NRA wants to protect your "right" to carry guns anywhere and everywhere, except near them...
• Rand Paul announces presidential run 
• The right-wing and absolutism 
• A Case Study On Why The Obamacare Lawsuit Is Based On Mythical History 
• Former Blackwater gets rich as Afghan drug production hits record high "In a war full of failures, the US counternarcotics mission in Afghanistan stands out: opiate production has climbed steadily over recent years to reach record-high levels last year.  Yet one clear winner in the anti-drug effort is not the Afghan people, but the infamous mercenary company formerly known as Blackwater."
• The Social Worker in the Patrol Car 
• Obama trying to reassure children about bees is a perfect metaphor for his foreign policy 
• President Obama Refuses To Let His Faith Be Tarnished By The Broad Brush Of GOP Hate