Wait - WHAT!?

Paul Ryan is insane!

Ryan’s Proposed 2015 Budget Would Eliminate IMLS:

Among librarians...the most controversial cost-saving measure proposed in the Ryan budget might be its elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) entirely, cutting millions in grants to libraries around the country.

Craziness! You should read this: ALA President responds to House proposal to eliminate IMLS

IMLS provides funds that enable libraries across the country to support their communities, providing resources and information access to anyone and everyone who needs it. As ALA President Young points out, public libraries see 1.5 billion in-person visitors a year - the equivalent of 4.1 million visitors a day! These libraries provide free entertainment - via books, movies, music, and more, host educational programs for the public, teach early childhood literacy skills, enable access to the Internet, act as repositories for government documents, and so much more. And that's just public libraries - we've not even touched on the vital offerings of public and higher education libraries, the cultural importance of museums, and so much else IMLS supports.

Action Alert: Oppose Elimination of IMLS and NEH! That's right - he's also calling for the elimination of the National Endowment of the Humanities. I suppose he believes cultural enrichment and information access should only belong to the wealthy?

Links!

• Libraries, Books, Writers, & Suchlike
• Libraries at the forefront of the digital privacy movement Related: Library Freedom Project 
• Aren’t libraries already doing that? "My questions about the current big plan to 'give' ebooks to low income kids" 
• New York City’s Libraries Need Money "Mayor Bill de Blasio should give them the money, no question." 
• Manchester council bans homeless people from using library "The city council said the ban came after protesters attempted to storm the central library and occupy the premises on Tuesday, distressing children and families.  But protesters said they were being treated as 'second-class citizens' and 'members of the underclass' and accused Manchester city council of social cleansing." I'm wondering what librarians and library staff in Manchester are thinking/doing/saying about this...
• New entries added to Dictionary.com: 'dox,' 'gender-fluid,' 'lifehack' 
• May 6, 1940: John Steinbeck wins a Pulitzer for The Grapes of Wrath 
• Net & Tech
• Facebook’s Web of Tiers This is one of many reasons why net neutrality is important, and needs to be protected from ISPs! 
• Should You Really Share That? Protecting Privacy Online 
• Lawmakers want to protect the online freedom to Yelp Related: Why We Need Federal Legislation To Protect Public Speech Online 
• Our New IP Czar Gives His First Speech... And It Is Not Encouraging At All 
• This terrifying malware destroys your PC if detected "The malware, nicknamed Rombertik by Cisco Systems, is designed to intercept any plain text entered into a browser window. It is being spread through spam and phishing messages....Rombertik goes through several checks once it is up and running on a Windows computer to see if it has been detected....Rombertik 'is unique in that it actively attempts to destroy the computer if it detects certain attributes associated with malware analysis,' wrote Ben Baker and Alex Chiu of the Talos Group." That's really not good...
• Appeals Court Says Warrantless Phone Tracking Doesn't Violate 4th Amendment Because 'Third Party Doctrine' 
• President Bernie Sanders Would Dismantle NSA Spying "Hillary Clinton is reluctant to take a clear stance on mass surveillance. But Sanders has no problem knocking the spy agency's 'Orwellian' programs." I am very quickly becoming a Sanders fan.
• Health & Science
• Save the Children releases global motherhood rankings The U.S. is 33^rd, which, frankly - I think we can do better, guys. "Women in the United States face a 1 in 1,800 risk of maternal death, the worst odds of any developed country in the world, according to the report.  American women are 10 times more likely to die of pregnancy related causes than their counterparts in Poland, according to the report. And an American child is as likely to die as a child in Serbia." Yeah, that's pretty embarrassing, y'all.
• Scientists Unravel The Causes Of Schizophrenia 
• Childhood Neglect Leads to Abnormal Brain Wiring, Research Finds 
• Dissolve My Nobel Prize! Fast! (A True Story) Awesome! 
• College students are making global warming a moral issue. Here's why that scares people. Although I don't know why anyone would assume it's not a moral issue. Of course, I also believe most things are moral issues...
• Report Warns Of Human-Induced Earthquakes 
• Fracking Chemicals Discovered In Drinking Water Related: Texas Bill to Prevent Local Fracking Bans Passes Senate Maybe they think it makes the water taste better? I don't know.
• Heimdal, North Dakota, Evacuated After Fiery Oil Train Crash 
• EPA’s curbs on coal-burning will save thousands of lives 
• Education
• Corinthian Colleges files for bankruptcy 
• 6 Words: 'My Name Is Jamaal ... I'm White' 
• Chlamydia Outbreak Hits Texas High School With No Sex Ed Which is a pretty good indicator that you need sex ed, I think...
• Authority Issues
• Aide to Kamala Harris, 2 others accused of running rogue police force "An  aide to state Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris and two others are accused of operating a rogue police force that claimed to exist for more than 3,000 years and have jurisdiction in 33 states and Mexico, authorities said Tuesday. Brandon Kiel, David Henry and Tonette Hayes were arrested last week on suspicion of impersonating a police officer through their roles in the Masonic Fraternal Police Department, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department." Uh...wow...
• Two Stories About The Criminal Justice System And Consequences "These stories are not the exception. They are the rule. The rule is this: citizens generally face consequences for breaking the law and violating the rights of others, but those with the power to administer those laws and impose those consequences rarely face any themselves.  That's the justice system."
• International
• France passes new surveillance law in wake of Charlie Hebdo attack "Controversial new bill that allows intelligence agencies to tap phones and emails without judicial permission sparks protests from civil liberties groups"
• Denmark moves step closer to being a cashless country 
• Other (Serious Stuff)
• The Rise of the Working Poor and the Non-Working Rich 
• How for-profit prisons have become the biggest lobby no one is talking about
• A Growing Body of Secret Intelligence Law 
• Register Minority Voters in Georgia, Go to Jail 
• 15 of 16 Members of LSU’s Board of Supervisors Are White Men Who Collectively Donated Nearly $400K To Jindal
• Sexist #HowToSpotAFeminist hashtag is reclaimed by feminists on Twitter "#HowToSpotAFeminist - Usually fat & ugly, always inherently unlikeable, supremely hypocritical, snarky, annoying, deluded, intransigent.  — Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) May 5, 2015" Well, I am snarky and intransigent, but none of the rest seems like me at all. Maybe - just maybe - these guys are confused about what a feminist really is. They should consult their local librarians - there are plenty of resources out there to help them. Related: Feminists Have Taken Over #HowToSpotAFeminist, And It Is Glorious 
• Failed Christian shoe promoter makes anti-gay first-person shooter I am horribly offended at this man's claim to be Christian, frankly. 
• Other (Awesome Stuff)
• How to Criticize with Kindness: Philosopher Daniel Dennett on the Four Steps to Arguing Intelligently 
• Nailing The American Dream, With Polish "Vietnamese immigrants now dominate California's nail-care industry — and make up a significant percentage of all manicurists nationwide.  The story began with a hurried immigration after the fall of Saigon almost four decades ago."
• Martin Freeman joins Captain America: Civil War