Soros, the ALA, and Terrorists

George Soros has given $350,000 to the American Library Association [ALA] to further "privacy rights." See the ALA's press release entitled, "Open Society Institute Gives American Library Association $350,000 Seed Grant for 21st Century Privacy Rights Institute," 21 May 2008.

I'm no George Soros expert, so can anyone please tell me if this represents a problem?

According to the editorial, "The Soros Threat to Democracy," Investor's Business Daily, 24 Sep 2007, George Soros wields great influence in a nontransparent way to harm American democracy in major ways, such as by assisting terrorists and illegals. For example, the article says the Open Society Institute "gave more cash to other left-wing lawyers who persuaded a Texas judge to block cell phone tracking of terrorists. They trumpeted this as a victory for civil liberties. Feel safer?" "[T]he public makes decisions about issues without understanding the special agendas of groups behind them. Without more transparency, it amounts to political manipulation." Please read the entire article--I am assuming the editorial board of IBD is a reliable source.

And now Soros is funding the ALA in the area of civil liberties.

Judith Krug, the de facto leader of the ALA, referred in the press release to "our nation's librarians" being "the front line of America's privacy wars." Is she implying that local community members are the enemy? She wants librarians to "lead Americans in a conversation about the importance of privacy to sustaining a democracy in the 21st century [sic]." This is the same women who decried a librarian's reporting to the police the presence of a 9/11 terrorist--I suppose it violated the terrorist's privacy and the ALA's efforts to "usher in legislative protections." For whom, the terrorists? See also "Librarians for Terror," by Lee Kaplan, FrontPage Magazine, 17 Aug 2004.

Given all of the above, and given both George Soros and Judith Krug appear to believe terrorists are entitled to privacy, though I am not making that statement, is the $350K infusion from Soros to the ALA for "privacy" any cause for concern?  Please explain.

It is okay to ask these questions in the interests of intellectual freedom, right?


NOTE ADDED 16 JANUARY 2011:

ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee Report to Council 2011

Midwinter Meeting San Diego, CA

Tuesday January 11, 2011

Choose Privacy Week

OIF is very pleased to announce that it has been awarded a two-year grant in the amount of $105,650 from the Open Society Institute (the Soros Foundation) for privacy programming.  OIF had previously received a 3-year, $350,000 grant from OSI that enabled the development of the first-ever Choose Privacy Week.  With the new grant, OIF will be shifting its focus to topics of government surveillance; privacy and young people; and privacy in the cultural context of immigrant and refugee communities’ use of libraries.  The grant will help OIF gain even greater traction with Choose Privacy Week and develop this annual event into an institution, similar to Banned Books Week.  The Open Society Institute has a strong interest in libraries’ role of informing their communities about privacy, and they have been very pleased with OIF’s work thus far.  Visit www.privacyrevolution.org to learn more about Choose Privacy Week and the resources OIF has developed to help libraries engage their users in a conversation on privacy.


NOTE ADDED 5 SEPTEMBER 2012:

The ALA's OIF and its George Soros-funded efforts to teach children nationwide Soros's "open society" political views via the ALA has now been given an award from "Consumer Action"—for "protecting consumers [and] immigrant communities" in a manner having nothing to do with librarianship, the mission of the ALA:

• "Consumer Action INSIDER - June 2012," by Consumer Action, Consumer Action, 31 May 2012:

  Consumer Action has chosen three honorees for its annual fundraising benefit and awards ceremony on Oct. 2 at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. ....
  
  At the event, Consumer Action will honor three distinguished awardees making major contributions to protect consumers. ....
  
  The American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (ALA OIC) will receive our 2012 Consumer Excellence Award in the Community Organization category.  We honor the ALA OIF because of its outstanding efforts to educate consumers on their privacy rights via participation in privacy coalitions, Choose Privacy Week at local libraries and development of the Privacy Revolution (privacyrevolution.org) website.  For 2012 Choose Privacy Week the office made an excellent short video called "Vanishing Liberties," which focuses on the loss of privacy and civil liberties for immigrant communities.