Messaging: One House

The destruction of knowledge is a sign of desperation and despotism. It’s no accident that it coincides with the militarization of our police forces. OWS Library Update < Killing the Buddha. Back in November of 2011, an epic act of state occurred in New York City—the seizure and destruction of the OWS library. More seizures ensued. The library reappeared on the Brooklyn Bridge. Readers and writers all over the world spoke out against the so-called Bloomberg Bibliocide. What’s been happening with our favorite library? KtB recently caught up with People’s Librarian Betsy Fagin via email.

The Scary Potential of the National Defense Authorization Act | Muslimah Next Door. So let’s get this straight: No longer is there the slim protection that the White House will veto the National Defense Authorization Act. Any person, citizen or otherwise, can be detained, indefinately, without trial, if they are suspected by the government to be a member of al Qaeda or its allies. I think that it would be difficult to find any American who does not support the United States protecting itself against terrorism. But at what cost? At the cost of our civil liberities? At the cost…

Readers on Andrew Sullivan’s site talk about the transition the Eastern European countries faced as their regimes fell in the 80s and 90s, and how that transition is incomplete. They then make the obvious connection with the “Arab Spring,” and the fact that we should not expectations of a quick transition there. “The Slow-Grinding, Boring Mill Of Justice” – The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan