Libraries, Privacy and Patriot Tidbits

A few tidbits that have been floating around my consciousness (and the library listservs) of late, which I haven't had time to blog:

Radical Militant Librarians and Other Dire Threats (Truthout.org) - http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121905Z.shtml

The NY Times NSA story (link is to rawstory.com - they link to original article at nytimes.com) - http://rawstory.com/news/2005/New_York_Times_admits_it_held_1215.html

Pres. Bush makes executive order on FOIA (a bit scary and odd) - http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051214-4.html. In response,

Thomas S. Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive responded to the new Executive Order by stating, "After five years of throwing sand into the gears of the FOIA, the Bush administration is finally designating someone at the agencies to be responsible for compliance and performance. Now the question is: Will they have the determination and the authority to implement any real changes in the current ailing FOIA system?"

Related: Bill Moyers keynote address at the anniversary of the National Security Archive at The George Washington U. (Dec 9) - http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/anniversary/moyers.htm From the text:

It's an old story: the greater the secrecy, the deeper the corruption.