Showing posts with label DeprogrammingALAPropaganda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DeprogrammingALAPropaganda. Show all posts

Monday, April 4, 2022

ABC News Propagandizes For Child Grooming Librarians; ALA Propaganda Exposed

Graphic child p r n in public schools is rampant. American Library Association (ALA) is the prominent groomer (people who give graphic child p r n to children) ensuring school children get and retain access via a number of means, such as giving awards, training school librarians to spread it, etc.  “It has become the leading advocate for sexualizing children and politically indoctrinating them.”  Source: “What To Do About Your Local Library Putting Porn On Kids’ Shelves,” by Jonathan G. Lange, The Federalist, 26 October 2021, accessed at https://thefederalist.com/2021/10/26/what-to-do-about-your-local-library-putting-porn-on-kids-shelves/.

One prominent means to ensure kids retain access to graphic child p r n is to get mainstream media to parrot what ALA groomers say without any fact checking whatsoever and without any balance.  ABC News is an example of a media source parroting the groomers.

In “The Librarians Uniting to Battle School Book Ban Laws; Many of the Banned Books Focus on LGBTQ and Racial Issues,” by Adisa Hargett-Robinson and Keira Shannon, ABC News, 26 March 2022, accessed at https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/librarians-uniting-battle-school-book-ban-laws/story?id=83678096, we see ALA propaganda parroted so much that it changes the entire story.  The story points out “71% of Americans” don’t want censorship of books and “ideas,” while those who do are a “very vocal minority” who hate gays and black people.

The truth is the exact opposite.  But ABC News did not do any significant fact checking.  It merely parroted exactly what the ALA groomer and the school librarian groomer said, leaving people with the impression groomers were right to protect the “freadom” of kids to read anything and, “Mama GrizzlyStacy Langton was just another “conservative” targeting books by gay and black people.  

ABC News didn’t even report that Stacy Langton was herself censored (in violation of open meetings law) at a school board meeting for reading aloud and displaying the contents of pedophilic books children get in Fairfax schools.  That gets you silenced at school board meetings but school librarians get to give that same material to school children.  See, “Virginia Mother Who Exposed Pornographic Books Barred From High School Library,” by Jeremiah Poff, Washington Examiner, 8 November 2021, accessed at https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/virginia-mother-who-exposed-pornographic-books-barred-from-high-school-library. 

And Stacy Langton doesn’t oppose books by gay and black people.  ALA twists that on purpose and ABC News broadcasts ALA’s fake spin.  In reality, something ALA doesn’t reveal and ABC News doesn’t fact check:

Langton said the characterization that she’s unhappy because there is gay pornography in our children’s schools is not factually correct. “This is pornography full stop. Straight up,” she said. “It doesn’t matter at all to me what the gender is of the people depicted engaging in the pornography. It doesn’t matter to me at all what the sexual orientation is of the people engaging in the pornography. If this pornography had been a normal heterosexual situation – a man and a woman engaging in it or whatever, I would have said exactly every single word the same way I said it at that meeting. This is about the decency of the school environment that our children go to school in.”

Source: “Mother Exposes Sexually Graphic Books Available in FCPS Libraries,” by Heather Zwicker, Fairfax County Times, 1 October 2021, accessed at https://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/fairfax_county/mother-exposes-sexually-graphic-books-available-in-fcps-libraries/article_42cdbfee-220e-11ec-acfa-8f17e3ad96b6.html.

Here we see again Langton opposes the material for its sexual content, not because supposedly conservatives hate gays and blacks as ALA implies and ABC News parrots: 

Stacy Langton believes parents should control when and how their children learn about sex, and she is adamant that “Gender Queer” and “Lawn Boy” should not be on the shelves in the Fairfax County Public Schools, where two of her six children are enrolled.  She has spent the past six months trying to remove the texts, which she believes threaten children’s morals because they describe sex scenes in graphic detail—including, in “Gender Queer,” an encounter between an apparent teenager and an older, bearded man.

“There’s an age-appropriateness to all things, and that includes sex education—you’re inherently going to be destroying a child’s innocence and their purity until they’re old enough to be able to understand,” said Langton, 52.

Librarians Fighting Bans and Scrambling to Preserve Children’s Freedom to Read,” by Hannah Natanson, Washington Post, 22 March 2022, accessed at https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/03/22/school-librarian-book-bans-challenges/, hyperlink in original.

Somehow ABC News could not find either report while fact checking.  So it could not report accurately and without the political spin that conservatives hate gays and blacks, a spin ALA wields decade after decade to spread more inappropriate material to more community schools.

For more on what Stacy Langton experienced for speaking up at her school board meeting, see “Watch: School Board Squirms as Mom Reads Them the Gay Porn in Books Available to Students; ‘Go to Jail. Go to Jail!’ Crowd Chants,” by Luke Rosiak, The Daily Wire, 23 September 2021, accessed at https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-mom-reads-graphic-gay-porn-found-in-school-library-to-school-board.

Further, ABC News completely omitted the whole reason for the story, namely, school children are getting access to graphic pedophilic material in schools and it’s so bad that parents and legislators are finally acting to oppose the groomers, as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently did, pictured top right, and moms are even running for political office on this issue, like Noelle Kahaian in Georgia—see https://www.noelleforgeorgia.com/.  It’s child p r n, it’s graphic, kids are getting it, in schools, from their school librarians directly or via teachers, organized and trained by ALA—and ABC News is completely silent on that.

As to the complete opposite, the truth is that 62% of people oppose school children having access to explicit material in schools.  The ALA groomer said, and ABC News blindly reported, that 71% oppose book censorship.  That’s true, but the 71% poll was about public libraries generally, while the 62% poll was about school libraries specifically.  So the reality is most people oppose inappropriate material in public schools.  That’s nowhere in the ABC News story.  Instead it reports the exact opposite.  

And the 62% number comes from a Harris poll.  See, “Most Oppose Explicit Books in Public Schools Says Harris Poll,” by Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries, 26 April 2011, accessed at https://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2011/04/most-oppose-explicit-books-in-public.html.  

And that poll was about explicit text, not the graphic pedophilia the groomers are promoting nowadays.  Were the poll to be rerun today regarding the graphic child p r n kids are getting from ALA and school librarian groomers quoted by ABC News like Carolyn Foote crying “FReadom,” the value would likely jump up to 99% opposed, 1% librarians, and the groomers would be the “very vocal minority.”

Another ALA lie ABC News parroted is that conservatives target gays and blacks.  Had ABC News done the slightest fact checking, they might have learned ALA itself has a deep history of racism, right from its creation, that it hides to fool people.  “Librarianship has a propensity to sanitize its history.  ….  By such means, … librarianship has manifested a consistent desire to control the narrative surrounding libraries and their defense of intellectual freedom and opposition to censorship.”  Did you know Melvil Dewey who founded ALA “was a racist and anti-Semite because of membership rules at his private New York Lake Placid Club and that he was also a sexual harasser driven out of the American Library Association (ALA) by a group of ALA women in 1905 who refused to condone his behavior any longer”?  See, “Sanitizing American Library History: Reflections of a Library Historian,” by Wayne A. Wiegand, The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, Vol. 90:2: 108-120, 2020, accessed at https://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:784376/datastream/PDF/download.

ABC News somehow completely missed that and instead decided to help ALA “to control the narrative surrounding libraries and their defense of intellectual freedom and opposition to censorship.”  This time ABC News is defending graphic child p r n for school children that everyone else in the world knows is wrong and should be removed immediately.

ALA also has a history of homophobia, having hired then rehired a homophobic trainer even after she first trained librarians to oppose child p r n whistleblowers, who happened to be a gay man and a married woman with children, by asking the librarian trainees why would a woman let her small children around a gay man.  See: “Brave Librarian Speaks Out as ALA Facilitates CHILD Porn,” by Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries, 21 January 2017, accessed at https://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2017/01/brave-librarian-speaks-out.html.  Read what a scared librarian whistleblowing on ALA itself said, where “the ALA woman” is Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Esq., so you can see the true character or lack thereof of the woman telling all librarians that “Gender Queer” isn’t child p r n and school children must keep reading it—but who media like ABC News love to cite without fact checking:

To: Megan Fox 

Ms. Fox,

Our [library] received your recent FOIA request related to the crisis workshop held December 17, 2013. I attended this event but have been told not to respond to you so I am doing this [after work] from a new email account. My job would be threatened if it were known I was telling you this so please do not try to ID me.

My notes from the workshop were taken from me [in the past] when a big brouhaha happened about this. Not sure what it was all about but my boss said [he/she] got a call that you were looking for things related to the workshop and depending on FOIA and so my notes from the workshop were taken at that time and I was told not to ask for them back. They are gone now.

I was told recently that you had used FOIA to ask for them again and that you will be told that no notes exist but that is not true. They were taken but they did exist.

What I can remember about the workshop is this. There were five speakers. Two from Orland Park. Two others were women from the ALA and there was a man from the ILA. Not sure on their names. The two Orland employees were one older with brown hair and glasses and one blonde younger woman. Not sure on their names. But the Director was the older woman and I think the younger woman was the Asst. Director. Not sure. The older woman was more measured and careful when she spoke but the younger one got emotional at times.

You and a friend of yours whose name I don't recall were featured as examples of two people from the tea party who are attacking libraries around the country as part of some plot. The ALA woman said that this is like what happened to Acorn but now the tea party is going after libraries. They really seemed to believe this but [where] I was at few people bought into that.

The Director said that you and your friend were paid operatives of the tea party and that you came to Orland Park in October looking for something to invent a complaint about. They said you made up a story and lied about seeing someone doing inappropriate things. Then you started filing FOIA requests about the library after that excuse. Blondie said that you were paid by the tea party to do this.

Then the Director and Blondie went into a big production about what they had been doing to stop you. The Director said that any library encountering the tea party should involve the police because there are good relationships with the police in towns and villages. The Director said that she has a personal friendship with the Orland police chief and that this was "instrumental" in handling you. I remember how she said the word "instrumental" and she said that the police and the village officials were working with the library on preventing you and your friend from getting any traction. The Director also said that the police should scare you away and have you move on with your lives soon. Blondie said that the police are good tools to use against attackers like you because no one wants the police visiting them and the police will side with the library against patrons especially when they are not even from town.

A big deal was made about how you and your friend do not live in Orland and you are outsiders and paid operatives.

Then it got more personal and they showed slides from your website and I guess your friend's website. I remember a picture of a big shark and also a picture of bees. There was a picture of your friend with Sarah Palin and another picture of him with Hillary Clinton shown. And there were pictures of you that looked like they were head shots taken for promotional purposes. The Director and Blondie said that the two of you were setting up a scheme for money and that this was all a stunt to either get attention for you or to write a book.

Blondie said that Orland was focusing only on you and ignoring your friend because he is gay and it gets messy to attack a gay guy. But they have plenty of examples of how to combat a mom who complains. Treat her like Sarah Palin and tell everyone she is dumb and just makes babies was the gist of that. This is when that photo of Sarah Palin and your friend was shown I think. This was a big section of their talk and it went on for a while about how you were painted as a liar and how Blondie looked at everything you said or wrote to find any inconsistencies. The Director said that as soon as an inconsistency was found that the media were alerted to it as proof that you could not be trusted.

Blondie also said it was necessary to say that you did not have children with you in the library because that further made you a liar. She said that since you had no videos or photos of your kids in the library that it was their word against yours and people automatically believe the library over regular people.

The ALA later picked up that thread and said it was a useful tool to use because people just believe what a library says and we need to take advantage of that. Who would believe that the library was doing anything wrong?

The Director and Blondie then talked about how they were documenting everything that you and your friend did and taking it to the police until a charge could be filed at some point. Once you crossed a line they would be able to neutralize you and get an order from a judge keeping you away from the meetings.

The plan was to ignore anything you wrote in social media as much as possible but counter it using the local media which promised they would put forward the library's defense against your claims.

The strategy was to use the police to get you to stop coming to meetings and to make the community members not believe you by making you look like a liar.

[I or someone] asked in the question answer period if what you were saying is true and if there were reports of things happening in the library and the Director said that unfortunately you had gotten ahold of old reports and were lifting them out of context.

The Director said that no more incident reports would be written on matters in the library and that instead communication would be verbal to avoid FOIA.

The ALA picked this up too and advised everyone to stop writing incident reports and to instead do them as voicemail round robins to be deleted every day. This way staff stays informed but there is no paper trail later.

The takeaways and learning experiences from this matter involved how to neutralize attackers like you and your friend and how to make people not believe them and how to use allies in the community such as the police to make people like you go away.

This was not the kind of workshop a lot of us thought we were signing up for and it [was a waste of everyone’s time]. I was upset that I had to listen to all this. Most of it seemed crazy to me because no one would answer the question on whether or not what you had said happened had happened and if the incident reports were true. It was all just a meeting about how to chase you and your friend away.

There was also a big thing where Blondie got upset and had to justify why she decided to go on some radio show. I forget which one but the ALA woman said that you should never go on a live show unless you are well acquainted with the host and know the questions in advance. She said that Blondie made the mistake of allowing the hosts of the show to put words in her mouth and that damaged the library from a PR perspective. Blondie said she would never do a live interview again and would instead stick to putting out the press releases that the ALA would proof for her.

The ALA and ILA said to never send emails but to call on the phone and the Office for Intellectual Freedom would help. They gave us the number and I remember writing it down. I remember writing down the phone numbers for the Director and Blondie too and the number for Bob from the ILA. No one wanted anything in writing just phone calls. Nothing important on voicemail either just say to call back. It was a big deal to keep saying to keep everything verbal and off email and not in writing.

I am trying to think if there is anything else.

You asked about a presentation that was given and we never received a copy of it but the Director and Blondie had pictures of you in a presentation. It had about 30 slides. They had pictures of you from online and pictures of your friend.

Blondie kept pointing out that he is gay and also that he attacks the President and that he also told everyone years ago that Michelle Obama made a "whitey tape". I didn't know what she was talking about but she really seemed to have a personal hatred of your friend because Blondie got most upset when talking about him.

The Director got most upset when talking about you however. She called you "Ms Fox" and never said the name Megan. Blondie said Megan and also said your friend's first name, I remember. But the Director kept saying "Ms, Fox" and her tea party colleague. She said that you live in Mokena and your friend lives in Chicago and you both have no business being in their library.

I also remember that a jab was made at you for being a homeschooler and for being tea party members and that you should not be hanging out all day with a gay guy with your kids anyway.

Why aren't you and him at work? Blondie asked that. Why don't you have jobs? And Blondie made a crack about maybe you should be at home taking care of your kids and not harassing the library.

It was a very strange workshop. No one I know who went had a positive response to it.

Then afterwards it was pretty much forgotten until March when the brouhaha happened and my boss came racing around telling me that I had to get rid of everything from the workshop. That's when my notes were taken.

And now we are back at this again for some reason and I'm being asked if I got rid of all my notes because you are emailing about this again and everyone wants to make sure. My boss said [he/she] got a call about this to make sure. I don't know who the call was from. But I thought you should know because I've never been to a workshop like this where afterwards it was a big thing to collect all the notes and pretend like it never happened.

And I never was at a conference where people talked so personally about patrons like you and your friend. That has never happened before and I thought you should know.

I do not want any trouble so do not try to contact me or find me. This is the only contact I am going to have with you and I hope you understand and it is the only help I can give you.

And who is the “ALA woman” person who hired and rehired the homophobic trainer named “Blondie”?  None other than ABC News’s own source, Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Esq., Director of ALA’s so-called Office for Intellectual Freedom who instead orders librarians to destroy public records and evidence of its homophobia and how it trains librarians how to attack parents and how to get others like the police to attack them as well.  Somehow ABC News didn’t report on her homophobia and her attempt to get the following deleted: “Gay Hate @ Your Library,” by Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries, 27 July 2014, accessed at https://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2014/07/gay-hate-at-your-library.html.

Here, watch the homophobes who covered up child p r n in action being homophobic against the gay child p r n whistleblower.  The principal harasser is the person “Blondie” who sued me and who the ALA Director Caldwell-Stone rehired even after knowing of her homophobia: "Bridget Bittman Commits Disorderly Conduct/Breach of Peace on 7/8/14 According to Officer Schmidt," by Megan Fox, YouTube, 8 July 2014, accessed at https://youtu.be/idu0lur4OCc as shown here:



There was even a book written about this child p r n coverup and ALA’s associated homophobia, but somehow ABC News’ fact checker missed it: “Shut Up!: The Bizarre War that One Public Library Waged Against the First Amendment,” by Megan Fox and Kevin DuJan, 2016, accessed at https://www.amazon.com/Shut-Up-Bizarre-Library-Amendment/dp/1533382336.

It’s also noteworthy that ALA ordered librarians or destroy the public records made of its homophobic teaching, as my “Gay Hate @ Your Library” publication explained.  For a homophobe to attempt to hide her homophobia—by ordering librarians to defy records retention laws, no less—is evidence that she’s fully aware of her homophobia and is trying to cover it up.  Did ABC News report this?  Of course not.  And because librarians support ALA efforts to sexualize children, not a single negative consequence has occurred for Caldwell-Stone, instead, she has been promoted.  If your company promoted homophobes, that would make your company homophobic.  ALA is homophobic.  And ABC News cites this homophobe without a peep.

So ABC News is publishing false statements that parents oppose gays and blacks while not reporting ALA itself is homophobic and has a long history of racism.  ABC News is publishing fake news that most people oppose censorship of library books, which is true standing alone, but in the context of this story about school books, leaves out that most people oppose explicit books in public schools.  It’s media malpractice.  All to facilitate efforts to keep graphic child p r n books in the hands of children in public schools.

And exactly why is ABC News seeking out ALA for opinions on what is child p r n in school books when—another fact check ABC News missed—ALA trains its librarians they cannot determine what is child pornography since only lawyers can do that.  Sort of like you don’t know what is a woman if you’re not a biologist.  

Judith Krug, an ACLU board member who joined ALA and single-handedly changed it from within so children would be exposed to harm including child p r n, said this 20 years ago but somehow ABC News missed it: “‘A librarian is not a legal process,’ Krug said. ‘There is not librarian in the country—unless she or he is a lawyer—who is in the position to determine what he or she is looking at is indeed child pornography.’”  Source: “Librarians vs. Police In a Suit Sparked by Porn,” by Jeffrey M. Barker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 12 August 2002, accessed at https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Libraries-vs-police-in-a-suit-sparked-by-porn-1093410.php.

And this is why librarians claim “Gender Queer” and “Lawn Boy” and books like that contain no child p r n—because they were trained by an ACLU board member then at ALA’s “Office for Intellectual Freedom” that they do not know what is child p r n.  And ABC News is right there to be the groomers’ megaphone.  In reality, a graphic depiction of a boy giving a man oral sex is child p r n, and everyone knows it, but people let groomers groom because everyone assumes school librarians are there to help children, instead of trained by ALA to harm them.

Of course, ABC News is not the only media source hiding the truth.  NBC News is along for the ride, calling the pedophilia in “Gender Queer,” vital, needed, and life-saving (source: “Author of ‘Gender Queer,’ One of Most-Banned Books in U.S., Addresses Controversy,” by Matt Lavietes, NBC News, 19 December 2021, accessed at https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-life-and-style/author-gender-queer-one-banned-books-us-addresses-controversy-rcna8991).  And, homophobe Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Esq., is interviewed there too, again with not a peep about ALA’s own racism and homophobia:


Here are other facts ALA and media are not revealing about graphic child p r n in schools but that you can use to counter the false statements and the media megaphone:
  • Even ACLU/ALA leader Judith Krug said regarding inappropriate material, and I quote, “get it out of there.”  It’s not censorship to immediately remove graphic child p r n from public schools—without any need to follow ALA-recommended materials reconsideration processes that ALA designed to make it less likely inappropriate material would be removed.  Here’s what she said in context: “On rare occasion, we have situations where a piece of material is not what it appears to be on the surface and the material is totally inappropriate for a school library.  In that case, yes, it is appropriate to remove materials.  If it doesn't fit your material selection policy, get it out of there.”  See: “Marking 25 Years of Banned Books Week: An Interview with Judith Krug,” 46 Curriculum Review 1, September 2006, p.12, accessed at https://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2011/09/marking-25-years-of-banned-books-week.html.
  • Everyone knows inappropriate material should be removed from schools, but the US Supreme Court encapsulated it best in the case ALA lost on library p r n filters where the Court said, “The interest in protecting young library users from material inappropriate for minors is legitimate, and even compelling, as all Members of the Court appear to agree”—but ALA doesn’t agree so it doesn’t tell anyone about this.  Again, as Wayne A. Weigand said, it’s ALA burying its bad history (and $1.5M loss) so it can harm school children’s futures with false claims of intellectual freedom and censorship.  See US v. ALA, 539 US 194 (2003).
  • Specifically regarding public schools, the US Supreme Court ruled that while books may not be removed from schools for the ideas they contain, they may be removed forthwith for being “pervasively vulgar”—and a graphic of a boy giving a man oral sex pervades the whole book, does it not?  Indeed that’s what all the news is about.  So removing books like “Gender Queer” is fast and easy under the case if one is not intimidated by school librarian groomers and their groomer library associations who inevitably bully people.  The case has been used in a number of jurisdictions to successfully remove such books from schools—despite what ALA claims.  See Board of Education v. Pico, 457 US 853 (1982).
  • That groomer homophobe Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Esq., says “Gender Queer” and the like cannot be removed because another US Supreme Court case ruled that for something to be considered obscenity a three prong test applies and the work must be considered as a whole.  So “Gender Queer” having only some graphic child p r n means it does not meet the obscenity test “as a whole.”  “‘So clearly, Gender Queer would not meet that standard,’ says Caldwell-Stone. ‘It is a literary graphic novel memoir, a coming-of-age [story], that happens to, at parts, deal with sexual topics.’”  What she doesn’t tell you is this case does not apply to a school setting that was addressed almost a decade later.  See, “Wake County Library Makes It Harder to Ban Books; Following Administrators’ Decisions to Remove and Reshelve Books, Wake’s Library System is Updating its Book Challenge Policies,” by Jasmine Gallup, Indy Week, 16 March 2022, accessed at https://indyweek.com/news/wake/wake-libraries-new-banned-book-policy/.
  • Further, why does anyone take her legal pronouncements seriously when at the same time librarians are told only lawyers can determine what is child p r n.  Librarians may not decide what is child p r n but they somehow all know “Gender Queer” is not child p r n because it does not meet the Supreme Court’s three prong obscenity test.  “Clearly,” ALA’s top lawyer says, “Gender Queer” is not obscene.  It’s a double standard ALA uses to spread more harm to more children.  They don’t know what child p r n is but they definitely know what child p r n isn’t.  Do not be fooled.  Remove “Gender Queer” from schools and anything like it—it’s your legal right, just get over the shouting of the groomer librarians.  See Miller v. California, 413 US 15 (1973).
  • Lastly, even school students know they should not be reading inappropriate material in public schools.  Look at what they say (source: twitter.com/sexharassed/status/1509986243974676488):



So ALA is flat out misleading people with inapposite poll results, leaving out applicable poll results showing the exact opposite, and calling out parents for being conservatives who discriminate against gays and blacks, all to ensure school children continue reading graphic child p r n pushed into schools by ALA in the first place.  And media parrots and trumpets this false view while casting parents as racist, homophobic censors for daring to oppose school librarians who are protecting First Amendment rights affording the freedom to read for marginalized children.

Any parents or legislators working to stop grooming in public schools need to be aware ALA will flat out lie and make like librarians are innocent as shown above and media will act as ALA’s megaphone without a shred of fact checking or balance—all to keep groomers grooming students in schools.  

Librarians act like they know what they are doing and everyone thinks they do.  It’s time to turn that around.  Parents know what they are doing and school librarian groomers need to be brought up on grooming charges with litigation holds placed on schools so they don’t destroy incriminating public records, no matter how many times they claim the “destruction of our democracy” or how loudly they shout, “FReadom.”  

Sonia Poulton gets it spot on:
NOTE ADDED 5 APRIL 2022:

The morning after I published this, ALA published it’s annual “State of America’s Libraries.”  Exactly as I wrote above, ALA defended giving kids graphic child p r n in schools by leaving out the graphic nature of the material and instead blaming conservatives and claiming they were hating on gays and blacks.  It’s the same old same old, whatever it takes to intimidate/scare off parents and legislators with the “R” or “H” word to keep the child p r n flowing.

“[C]onservative groups … sought to pull … stories of people who are gay, trans, Black….”  “[A]ttacks orchestrated by conservative parent groups and right-wing media that targeted books about race, gender, and LGBTQIA+ issues….”  “[C]learly targeted LGBTQ students; it was so clearly targeting race.”  “[A] rising tide of xenophobia and homophobia….”

These are groomers using intimidation/bullying to keep children exposed to graphic child p r n.  They shouldn’t be given any credence.  They should be brought up on grooming changes, and laws should be amended to preclude graphic child p r n from public schools and include school librarian groomers.

See my tweet about it here:

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

ALA Misleads on Internet Pornography in Libraries

Internet pornography in public libraries is a serious problem.  The American Library Association [ALA] misleads media and communities into allowing porn by intentionally ignoring the issue or by saying porn is protected by the First Amendment when that is not true in public libraries.  See US v. ALA, 539 US 194 (2003).  ALA is attempting to make an end run around the law by not discussing the elephant in the room, namely, pornography.  When ALA does discuss pornography, it is to say it may not be blocked from libraries.  But people are starting to catch on, as we shall see.

ALA Completely Omits Pornography

Watch the top leaders in ALA's "Office for Intellectual Freedom" speak at an Orland Park Public Library [OPPL] library board meeting about the problem of so much unfettered porn that even Saturday Night Live starring Lady Gaga joked about it.  Notice not once is pornography mentioned.  But they repeatedly mention they have attorneys who will assist libraries, and definitely do not take any legal advice from anyone else:

Watch Sexually Harassed OPPL Librarian Emphasize Pornography

Contrast ALA's lack of mentioning pornography with the words of a former OPPL librarian.  Linda Zec reveals the extent of the pornography problem at OPPL, the "creepy" sexual harassment she experienced as a result, and how library management told her she could quit if she wanted because OPPL would continue to make porn available to patrons under the ALA's false claim that it is a First Amendment right:

ALA's Omits Pornography, But Is It Intentional?

The US Supreme Court makes pornography the issue in US v. ALA.  A sexually harassed librarian at OPPL makes porn the issue.  On the other hand, top ALA leadership completely avoids the issue and advises, despite being from the "Office for Intellectual Freedom," not to listen to attorneys who do discuss the issue, as we saw above.  But are ALA's actions in misleading the media and the community intentional?  Yes.


ALA Advises Libraries to Mislead Media and Communities

ALA advises libraries to mislead media and communities by intentionally refusing to answer questions about pornography then reframing them as something else.  When asked a tough question, a librarian, trained by ALA diktat, will change the topic to how wonderful is the library:
  • "Libraries and the Internet Toolkit: Crisis Communications," by ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association, 29 May 2007:
    Reframe a question such as 'Why do you think students should be allowed to view pornography on the Internet?' to 'You're asking me about our Internet policy...'
    ....
    Avoid use of negative or inflammatory words such as "pornography."

No, that's not what media are asking.  That's not what communities are asking.  Obviously a library that answers this way has something to hide, especially where it refuses to discuss the very issue central to US v. ALA and similar cases such as Bradburn v. NCRL that allows libraries to refuse to unblock porn even upon request.


OPPL Obeys ALA Diktat to Mislead Media

But do libraries actually follow ALA diktat to mislead on porn?  Absolutely.  Look at what OPPL was asked on WLS's Bruce and Dan Show, then observe how well the OPPL representative follows ALA diktat to reframe questions to avoid discussing porn and instead promote Internet policy:
Dan Proft: What?  Wait, oh okay.  So why don't you have filters on the computers that adults have access to?    
Bridget Bittman: Well, let me explain also that on our teen computers, that consist of kids who use it from ages, uh, probably around 12, 13 to the age of 17, those computers are filtered as well.  Because we feel that those safety measures for kids are very important. In addition to parents supervising whatever they look at online.  And we also recommended that parents take a look at what their kids are checking out…  (overtalk)   
So OPPL follows ALA diktat to mislead media to a tee.  Here are sources for the above:






When ALA Does Talk About Pornography, It Is to Say the Exact Opposite of the Holding of US v. ALA, Further Showing ALA Works to Mislead Communities and Push Porn

When ALA does discuss pornography head on, it is to say the exact opposite of the holding of US v. ALA, further showing ALA works to mislead communities and push porn.  You cannot advise the exact opposite of a US Supreme Court case you yourself lost, and advise not to listen to those who cite the case to support filtering out porn, and not be considered as pushing porn.

I am directly responsible for forcing ALA to finally address the issue of pornography in libraries and to make what amounts to admissions against interest.  I was quoted in the Chicago Tribune in the OPPL matter saying no library has even been sued for blocking porn.  As a result, the following was published:
That must have struck a nerve because ALA felt the need to respond to "correct" "several factual inaccuracies," like my assertions as reported by Mr. O'Connor that a lack of filters sometimes results in sexually harassed librarians and resultant lawsuits:
Therein, Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the ALA attorney who spoke at OPPL as discussed above, said, "CIPA does not require libraries that accept e-rate discounts to filter 'pornography.'"  "Notably, materials some consider 'pornographic' or 'indecent' do not meet the standard for obscene material and are thus fully protected by the First Amendment. "

So when ALA talks about pornography, finally, thanks to me, it is to say CIPA, the Children's Internet Protection Act found constitutional in US v. ALA, does not require filtering out porn, which is true, and porn is not obscene so it is protected in libraries by the First Amendment, which is false.

The US Supreme Court case finding CIPA to be constitutional interpreted the law as enabling the blocking of pornography, not just obscenity nor child pornography that the Court had addressed in prior decades.  The Court would not have taken the case in the first place if it was only to repeat what it had decided in the past.  So what ALA is misleading people into thinking is exactly the 100% opposite of what US v. ALA ruled.  It doesn't make sense to have a law and a Supreme Court decision ruling on that law to decide what was already decided about obscenity in a previous Supreme Court case in 1973.  Read US v. ALA, 539 US 194 (2003) ( http://laws.findlaw.com/us/539/194.html ).  Read what the CIPA author said about how ALA misleads people on the lawhttp://tinyurl.com/ErnestIstookInterview ).  Yes, I am named by CIPA's author as a "trusted source" for exposing ALA propaganda, so all inquiries are welcome despite ALA warnings not to speak to other attorneys.

Where does US v. ALA rule that, as the ALA attorney said, "materials some consider 'pornographic' or 'indecent' do not meet the standard for obscene material and are thus fully protected by the First Amendment"?  Nowhere.  Instead it ruled, with respect to Internet pornography, "public libraries' use of Internet filtering software does not violate their patrons' First Amendment rights."   In public libraries, the First Amendment right to "legal" porn does not apply.  It is perfectly legal to block porn in public libraries and to keep it blocked.  It is no coincidence ALA advises people to speak only to ALA recommended attorneys and no one else.


ALA Claims First Amendment Right to Porn But Does Not Disclose US v. ALA Created an Exception for Public Libraries

Further, the entire US v. ALA case was about porn.  The entire case looked at the history of libraries blocking out porn and found that they always have.  The case said you can legally use filters to block porn without having to make individualized decisions, obviating ALA's "who's to judge what's porn" argument.  The case ruled public libraries are not open public fora so governments have every right to block out porn without violating the First Amendment.  Not just obscenity, not just child pornography, things already made illegal in other cases from the past that ALA cites to mislead.  But the entire category of porn, both "legal" porn and "illegal" obscenity and child pornography.

US v. ALA said, "The decisions by most libraries to exclude pornography from their print collections are not subjected to heightened scrutiny; it would make little sense to treat libraries' judgments to block online pornography any differently."  It does not say only obscenity.  It does not say only child pornography.  It says pornography.  US v. ALA holds, "public libraries' use of Internet filtering software does not violate their patrons' First Amendment rights."  ALA holds "materials some consider 'pornographic' or 'indecent' do not meet the standard for obscene material and are thus fully protected by the First Amendment."  Perhaps generally, but not specifically in a public library, thanks to CIPA and US v. ALA.

By the way, under US v. ALA, libraries may legally filter out porn whether or not they accept federal funding.  That is another point about which ALA misleads.  In reality, every library may use filters to legally block porn.  It is common sense and it is the law.  The case also says "privacy screens" or moving computers do not work to control porn and actually make the problem worse.  So be aware of that when ALA or local acolytes suggest that or other useless options such as so-called Acceptable Use Policies.


Not Everyone Is Fooled by ALA Propaganda

Not everyone is falling for ALA's propaganda.  Megan Fox is an OPPL patron who has been working hard to expose the library's unlimited porn policy and unreported sex crimes.  In her latest post, she called out ALA for "defend[ing] the library's decision to offer unfiltered access while never mentioning the specifics of what that really means: access to bestiality, necrophilia, sex trafficked victims of rape, identity theft, pedophiles accessing children online via chat rooms and much more":

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Esq.
And John Kass of the Chicago Tribune notes families will be shocked in libraries that follow ALA's law-defying policy: "Specifically, sexually excited human animals, predominantly male, operating under the belief they are protected by the First Amendment, watch[] pornography at the Chicago Public Library and other libraries, in full view of patrons."  When ALA says libraries may not block legal porn, he calls out the lie:
  • "Libraries Are For Free Books, Not Free Porn," by John Kass, Chicago Tribune, 5 November 2013:
    Deborah Caldwell Stone, deputy director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, said Internet filters are placed on computers used by children.  But with adults, it's different.

    "Libraries can only do so much when accessing content that isn't illegal," Stone said.

    Really?  Then taxpayers should help by doing a bit more, like refusing to allow one cent to go to libraries that don't have any common sense.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Internet pornography in public libraries is a serious problem.  ALA intentionally misleads media and communities so porn will not be filtered out despite the law.  But citizens and media sources are no longer falling for the usual ALA misdirection.  Not even on ALA's home turf in Chicago.  It is time for others to take notice as well.  The best antidote is to read US v. ALA, the very case ALA works hard to get people to ignore.  See also Bradburn v. NCRL.  Feel free to contact me despite ALA admonitions to contact only ALA recommended attorneys—besides, I'm recommended by CIPA's author Ernest Istook as a "trusted source" and I will provide better/truthful advice.



On Twitter:  @BruceAndDan @ChicagoTribune @IntolerantFox @Istook @John_Kass @OIF @OrlandPkLibrary @VillageOrlandPk @WLSAM890

Sunday, November 10, 2013

ALA Admits Libraries Have Never Been Sued for Blocking Porn

The American Library Association [ALA] has tacitly admitted that no library has been sued for blocking pornography despite its past warnings, thereby clearing the way for libraries to freely block pornography at will.  I am the catalyst in forcing ALA to make this admission, so my analysis of the issue will be key to many communities and libraries considering blocking Internet porn.


Legal Background

The Children's Internet Protection Act was authored by Ernest Istook.  It requires libraries accepting certain federal funding to block certain material from public library computers.  It was signed into law by President Clinton in 2000.  ALA and the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] brought suit to prevent the use of Internet filters in public libraries.  Initially, they won.  But in US v. ALA, 539 US 194 (2003), the US Supreme Court ruled that libraries are not open public fora so they have the right to limit content, libraries have traditionally blocked pornography with book selection policies so using an Internet filter to accomplish the same goal is perfectly legal, the use of Internet filters does not violate First Amendment rights, using filters obviates the need for librarians to make individualized decisions, and, based on all that, the Court found CIPA to be constitutional.  In 2013, the Federal Communications Commission sought comments on the entire program and I submitted a comment mainly detailing significant fraud by libraries illegally obtaining CIPA funding that comes from the Universal Service Charge on our telephone utility bills.


Bridling at Losing US v. ALA, ALA Misleads People to Get the Ultimate Win

Bridling at the loss in US v. ALA, ALA has to this day worked to mislead people about CIPA so that they think they are doing the right thing by setting aside CIPA's benefits and instead allowing unlimited pornography in libraries.  This is essentially what the CIPA author himself said:




One Means ALA Misleads is to Claim Lawsuit If Libraries Filter Porn

One of the many means by which ALA misleads is to advise that if libraries choose to filter porn, they may be sued in court.  That has never happened, and ALA has finally admitted as much in response to what was reported about me in the Chicago Tribune:

ALA directly responded to my statement that libraries have never been sued for blocking porn:
  • "ALA Reply to ‘ALA Supports Orland Park Public Library Stance on Viewing Porn," by Sean O'Connor, Chicago Libraries Examiner, 7 November 2013, reprinting in its entirety a response the author received from ALA's Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Esq., the Deputy Director and former Acting Director of the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom [OIF], italics in original:
    Notably, materials some consider "pornographic" or "indecent" do not meet the standard for obscene material and are thus fully protected by the First Amendment.
    .... 
    You further quote the article written by Chicago Tribune reporter Taylor Anderson as stating that "No library has ever been sued because someone said 'you blocked my pornography.'"  But schools and libraries have been sued for employing filters to block access to what some deem "pornography," on the grounds that the filters block materials that are not obscene and are constitutionally protected.

    For example, the plaintiffs in PFLAG, Inc. v. Camdenton R-III School District sued their school district because the filters used by the school library unconstitutionally blocked access to web content that promoted gay rights and affirmed gay identity that was not sexually explicit, while allowing access to sites that opposed civil rights for LGBT persons and promoted "ex-gay" ministries.  The school district argued that it had an obligation to protect students from "inappropriate" and "pornographic" material and had broad discretion to choose which materials students may access in the school library.  The court ruled that the school district's use of the discriminatory "sexuality" filter in its library violated the students' First Amendment rights to access information.  The school district agreed to entry of a judgment that required it to stop blocking LGBT websites, submit to monitoring for 18 months and pay $125,000 in attorneys’ fees to the plaintiffs.

    You also say that the article written by Mr. Anderson states that "[t]he ALA's position is that a public library that does not allow an adult visitor to view pornographic photographic stills or videos on a public computer risks being sued."

    This is inaccurate.  In fact, Mr. Anderson stated that "the association says that libraries that restrict the ability to view certain images or videos online put themselves at risk of lawsuits."  Mr. Anderson does not mention pornography, and as the PFLAG v Camdenton case demonstrates, libraries have been sued for blocking access to constitutionally protected materials published online.


ALA Tacitly Admits Libraries Will Not Be Sued For Filtering Out Porn

In responding as she did, ALA OIF Deputy Director Deborah Caldwell-Stone tacitly admitted I was right while tripping over herself to make it appear otherwise.  I will explain below in detail, but basically PLAG v. Camdenton R-III School District stands for the exact opposite of how ALA misrepresents it–in reality, the case was not about filtering out pornography and indeed permits doing so.  ALA also exposes how it will completely misrepresent legal holdings as a means of misleading people into making harmful decisions.  It is an excellent example of how ALA intentionally misleads people on the law.


ALA Needs to Change Your Thinking So You'll Do What It Wants

ALA does not have the power to act in the stead of local interests, so instead it misleads people into thinking whatever it takes to get them to voluntarily sidestep CIPA and US v. ALA.  None other than the CIPA author detailed exactly how and why ALA misleads people.  Definitely read what he said.  In short, "they couch it in different language so you don't fully understand what they truly mean":

In this case ALA wants people to think libraries will get sued if they use Internet filters in libraries to block porn.  The truth is that has never happened and it basically never will.


In the Past, ALA Described Camdenton Differently Than Now and 
Warned of Possible Lawsuit If Libraries Filter Out Porn

For example, a previous time ALA responded within hours to what I exposed about it was when my work was used as support for listing ALA as one of the nation's leading facilitators of pornography:

Within days ALA responded with this which describes the Camdenton case:
  • "Filtering and the First Amendment," by Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Esq., American Libraries, 2 April 2013, hyperlink in original (and corrected):
    Recent court filings, news reports [NOTE: that would be international news that ALA was a leading porn facilitator thanks to my research], and online posts, however, have begun to shine a spotlight on libraries’ filtering policies and practices.  According to legal complaints, some libraries are denying users access to websites that discuss Wicca and Native American spirituality; blacklisting websites that affirm the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities while whitelisting sites that advocate against gay rights and promote "ex-gay" ministries; and refusing to unblock webpages that deal with youth tobacco use, art galleries, blogs, and firearms.  School librarians, teachers, and even Department of Education officials are openly complaining that the overzealous blocking of online information in schools is impairing the educational process.
    ....
    Theresa Chmara, general counsel for ALA's Freedom to Read Foundation, has explained why librarians and trustees should not rely on the Bradburn decision for guidance in crafting their internet policies.
And that in turn links to another ALA attorney, Theresa Chmara, who again describes the Camdenton case and who threatens the possibility of lawsuit for blocking porn or, as ALA calls it, "constitutionally protected material."  Notice too how she defines CIPA to exclude obscenity and child pornography but not pornography:
  • "Blocking Access to Protected Speech Can Lead to Litigation and Legal Fees," by Theresa Chmara, Esq., American Libraries, 24 July 2012:
    In another recent case involving a school library, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri ... held on February 15 that the school district in Camdenton, Missouri, had unconstitutionally blocked websites that support or advocate on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people while permitting students access to websites that condemn homosexuality or oppose legal protections for LGBT people.

    The district court held that the library's use of an "anonymous" system for requesting that sites be unblocked was stigmatizing and ineffective if students did not know what had been blocked.  After the court's finding of unconstitutionality, the school district agreed to stop blocking LGBT websites, submit to monitoring for 18 months, and pay $125,000 in attorneys' fees.

    Libraries should continue to be wary of using internet filtering systems that block constitutionally protected material for adults or minors.  CIPA only requires filters that block access to visual images of obscenity, child pornography, and, for minors, material deemed harmful to minors.  If libraries use filters that block constitutionally protected material deemed harmful to minors and do not allow adults to disable filters, or fail to provide an effective unblocking system, those libraries may open the door to years of litigation and significant legal expenses.


ALA Creates New Theory On Blocking What Is "Deemed" To Be Pornography

With that history in mind, let's turn back to the recent ALA response.  ALA's Deborah Caldwell-Stone cites that Camdenton case where material about homosexuality and/or gay rights was filtered out in a school.  She argues the people merely "deemed" that they were blocking porn:
You further quote the article written by Chicago Tribune reporter Taylor Anderson as stating that "No library has ever been sued because someone said 'you blocked my pornography.'"  But schools and libraries have been sued for employing filters to block access to what some deem "pornography," on the grounds that the filters block materials that are not obscene and are constitutionally protected.
For example, the plaintiffs in PFLAG, Inc. v. Camdenton R-III School District sued their school district because the filters used by the school library unconstitutionally blocked access to web content that promoted gay rights and affirmed gay identity that was not sexually explicit, while allowing access to sites that opposed civil rights for LGBT persons and promoted 'ex-gay' ministries.
But that is a case about blocking, as she admits, "gay rights and affirmed gay identity that was not sexually explicit," not about blocking pornography!  And filtering manufacturers claiming gay rights sites were pornographic as a means to discriminate does not make them pornographic.


ALA Claims Libraries Sued For What Is "Deemed" To Be Pornography; Cites Camdenton

Notice how she now claims "schools and libraries have been sued for employing filters to block access to what some deem 'pornography'" using Camdenton as the example when she needs to mislead people about my saying libraries are never sued for blocking porn.


ALA's Previous Statements on Camdenton Made No Such Claim of Anything "Deemed" Pornography

Contrast that with her own previous writing on Camdenton where pornography is not the issue; instead the issue is described by her as "blacklisting websites that affirm the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities while whitelisting sites that advocate against gay rights and promote 'ex-gay' ministries."

Confirming this is the description of Camdenton she links to fellow attorney Theresa Chmara.  Again, pornography is not the issue.  Instead it is "websites that support or advocate on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people."


"Years of Litigation and Significant Legal Expenses"

Chmara defines CIPA to exclude protection from pornography then goes on to threaten suit for blocking porn: "If libraries use filters that block constitutionally protected material deemed harmful to minors and do not allow adults to disable filters, or fail to provide an effective unblocking system, those libraries may open the door to years of litigation and significant legal expenses."  And she says more than just open the door to litigation.  No, she uses scare tactics, "years of litigation and significant legal expenses," for nonexistent legal cases.  She completely leaves out that libraries that do not filter really do face years of litigation and significant legal expenses for librarians who are sexually harassed as a result of unfettered porn viewing occasioned by library policy direct from the ALA.  I'll be addressing that issue in a separate post.


The Height of Deception

Deborah Caldwell-Stone knows the true issue in Camdenton is blocking LGBT sites because she said so in the past.  She can produce no other case to support her view that libraries have been sued for blocking porn.  So she suddenly recasts Camdenton as a suit against blocking pornography and claims "schools and libraries have been sued for employing filters to block access to what some deem 'pornography.'"  Is this the height of deception or what?  This in response to my accurately reporting that no library has been sued for blocking porn.


Past Camdenton Media Reports Show Exactly the Opposite of What ALA Is Now Claiming

Here is some press on the matter.  Notice ALA's Deborah Caldwell-Stone is dead wrong.  Pornography was not the issue, in fact blocking "explicit material" and "pornography"was perfectly acceptable, even to the ACLU:
  • "School District Told to Replace Web Filter Blocking Pro-Gay Sites," by Michael Winerip, The New York Times, 26 March 2012:
    this particular filter, which along with blocking obscenity also discriminates against content supportive of gay people....
  • "Camdenton School District Required to Remove LGBT Web Filters," by Rachel Lichtman, PFLAG, 13 April 2012:
    The lawsuit was filed after multiple warnings that the district's website filtering software discriminated against LGBT content, including the websites of the plaintiffs.  If a student tried to access a site related to LGBT support such as gay-straight alliances or local PFLAG chapters, they were treated as if they were attempting to access explicit material.  However, anti-LGBT sites such as the National Organization for Marriage were allowed to be viewed.
  • "Court Orders Missouri School District to Stop Censoring LGBT Websites," by media@aclu.org, American Civil Liberties Union, 15 February 2012:
    A federal district court ruled today that the Camdenton R-III School District must stop censoring web content geared toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities through discriminatory filtering software. The ruling orders the district to not block content based on the viewpoints expressed by the website.
    ....
    “The court correctly recognized the constitutional rights of all students to viewpoint-neutral access to information,” said Joshua Block, staff attorney with the ACLU LGBT Project. “It is absolutely possible to protect children from sexually explicit content while also protecting their First Amendment rights. Like thousands of other school districts across the country, Camdenton R-III will now begin using a filtering system that blocks pornography without discriminating against LGBT-related content.”
In a case ALA cites to counter my statement in the Chicago Tribune that no library has ever been sued for blocking porn, ACLU LGBT Project's attorney said, "It is absolutely possible to protect children from sexually explicit content while also protecting their First Amendment rights."  The exact opposite of what ALA falsely argues.  As the ACLU put it, "Like thousands of other school districts across the country, Camdenton R-III will now begin using a filtering system that blocks pornography without discriminating against LGBT-related content."  So in a case ALA cites to say blocking pornography resulted in a legal suit, the ACLU attorney says blocking pornography is perfectly acceptable as long as non-pornographic LGBT-related content is not blocked.

Camdenton does not support the ALA's argument that I was wrong and that libraries have been sued for blocking porn.  Rather, it is the opposite.  It evidences the accurate information I provided that no library has been sued for blocking porn nor is it likely to.  Such suits are extremely unlikely given legal precedent and common sense.


If Inapposite Camdenton Is ALA's Only Case to Show For Its Lawsuit Claim, Then It Has Tacitly Admitted No Library Has Yet Been Sued For Blocking Pornography

So if Camdenton is the only evidence ALA can produce to try to support its false claim that libraries might be sued for blocking porn, and if it supports that assertion by deceptively rewriting history including its own, then it has just tacitly admitted no library had yet been sued for blocking porn.  So let's say loud and proud what ALA does not want people to know, namely, LIBRARIES HAVE NEVER BEEN SUED FOR BLOCKING PORN.  BLOCK PORN AND HISTORY SHOWS YOU WILL NEVER BE SUED DESPITE ALA OR ACLU CLAIMS OR THREATS OTHERWISE.


Effect of ALA Propaganda on Local Libraries

The effect of ALA propaganda is evident in the damage it is causing in local libraries and resultant harm being done in local communities.  Take Orland Park Public Library [OPPL], for example, right in the shadow of Chicago-based ALA.  As revealed by Megan Fox and Kevin DuJan, the library refuses to block porn claiming there's a First Amendment right to view porn on library computers, as if US v. ALA didn't exist.

And, right in line with Deborah Caldwell-Stone trying to counteract what I said in the Chicago Tribune with her newly made up and knowingly false legal analysis of the Camdenton decision, the library believed it would be sued if it blocked porn with filters.

"She said that they could get sued like other libraries that had been sued in the past and lost."  Who said that?  Let's look at one OPPL employee/whistleblower's statement and detailed description of the unfettered porn in the OPPL, the false claim that the library would be sued if it blocked porn, and her own investigation finding out that was completely false.  Here's just her realization she's been lied to about lawsuits for blocking porn, but take the time to read her entire post–it is sadly enlightening:
  • "Liars and Tigers and Porn... Oh My!," by Linda Zec, Life According to Linda, 9 November 2013, emphasis and hyperlink in original:
    The next time I was there early enough I went in to talk to Director Wsol, and I remember sitting in her office.  I told her about what I had seen, she told me there was nothing that could be done.  Regardless of our thoughts of these individuals, Freedom of Speech prevails.  I told her they should put a filter on the computers in the Adult area, but she explained they could not.  She said that they could get sued like other libraries that had been sued in the past and lost.  She was nice about it, but said that that was how it was going to have to stay...unfiltered.  If I felt uncomfortable, my only other option was to quit, but she said it nicely.  I was dumbfounded, but walked out believing her about the legality of porn in the library.  (Now to this day, I am unsure if Director Wsol actually believed that there were actual cases of libraries being sued, or just used that line to shut me up and make me go away.)

    This is from one of the Birmingham Public Library
    librarian sexual harassment cases but it's similar
    to what is being revealed about OPPL.
    I went home and began to internet research about porn and the legality of it on the library computers.  Keeping in mind that this online research was almost 10 yrs. ago, I found no lawsuits regarding freedom of speech and not allowing a patron to watch porn on the library premises.  Granted, the internet was not as filled with information as it is now, but still after all of my online hunting I found nothing online that said libraries had been sued.  I went to talk to Mary Weimar (whom I tried so hard to be friendly with, but I was told by other co-workers "watch your back, Linda").

    I appealed to Mary about what I had seen and told her that I found nothing on the internet about libraries being sued.  She said the same as Sharon (I am convinced that the two had talked about this and me possibly being a problem), and she assured me it was out there, and if I was uncomfortable with it, I could leave my position. (She did not tell me to quit directly, but nicely suggested that there would not be any hard feelings, and don't let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya, basically.)  I told her that I did not think that taxpayers were aware of what they were paying for, that the public had no idea and that they should know.  She "in her nice way" basically told me to leave it alone.  I got up and returned to the computer area once again feeling defeated.  But if libraries had been sued as she and Sharon told me, then it MUST be true??  (According to Safelibraries.org, I found out with this current media fodder that NO library has ever been sued, period.  Never.  Not once.  So now I think: Was I intentionally lied to by Director Sharon Wsol and Asst Director Mary Weimar to just shut me up and make me (and the porn issued) go away??)


Challenge to Debate ALA's Caldwell-Stone or Chmara

Any Chicago media want me to debate ALA's Deborah Caldwell-Stone or Theresa Chmara directly on live media?  I'm game.  And I'm the perfect person to do it–the CIPA author called me a "trusted source" on exposing ALA propaganda.  There's a lot of propaganda to expose.  I'll be writing many more posts about OPPL and ALA's recent false statements.  Please follow along on any of my social media sites for the latest revelations and follow Megan Fox @IntolerantFox.


NOTE ADDED 11 NOVEMBER 2013:

Minor update to account for recent name change by someone named in my post.


NOTE ADDED 12 NOVEMBER 2013:

Picture removed in respect of first comment.



On Twitter:  @ACLU @ACLULGBT @FTRF @IntolerantFox @Istook @LindaZec @OIF @OrlandPkLibrary @PFLAG @Porn_Harms @TaylorWAnderson

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Cert Denied: Vamos a Cuba; Cuban-Americans Lead Way for Districts to Back Parents Rights Against ALA/ACLU False Claims of Banning and Censorship

The US Supreme Court has just denied certiorari in the matter of ACLU of FL v. Miami-Dade County School Board 08-1564.  Here is the news:
  • "Supreme Court: Miami School Can Ban Book on Cuba," by Warren Richey, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 November 2009.
  • "Supreme Court Turns Down Cuban Book Case," by Kathleen McGrory, The Miami Herald, 16 November 2009.
  • "Supreme Court Will Not Hear Book Banning Case," by Jasmine Kripalani, WFOR-TV CBS4, 16 November 2009.

From The Christian Science Monitor:
School board members in Miami have won their battle to remove a children's book from the shelves of Miami-Dade school libraries because they said the book presented an inaccurate picture of life in Cuba.
On Monday, the US Supreme Court declined to take up the case of "Vamos a Cuba" – the little book that sparked a big controversy over alleged censorship in Miami.
The action lets stand a 2-1 ruling by the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals that the school board's decision to remove the book was not censorship in violation of the First Amendment. Instead, the Atlanta-based appeals court said the school board was seeking to remove the book because it contained substantial factual inaccuracies.

The ALA Opposes Local Communities

Who was fighting that "battle" with the local community?  The American Library Association [ALA], of course, besides the ACLU.  The ALA had submitted a brief in support of the ACLU's efforts to oppose the local community.  I wrote about this in "Humberto Fontova, the Media's 'Book Banning' Claims, and the ALA's Opposition to the 'Right to Apply Accuracy' in Public Schools," 17 February 2009.  It amazes me that the ALA, an organization devoted to libraries, would actually oppose local communities and oppose the "right to apply accuracy" in public schools, but it has and it does and it will in your community.


Effects of Freedom from ALA/ACLU Influence

Look how happy is the community that is freed from the influence of groups like and including the ALA—this from The Miami Herald:
Board member Perla Tabares Hantman, who supported removing the book from school libraries, said she was pleased by the news.

"We were right and we prevailed," Hantman said. "This is a great victory for the School Board and for Cuban-Americans."

Humberto Fontova said in a comment to "No 'Vamos a Cuba,'" by George Moneo, Babalú, 16 November 2009:
WHAT??????!!!!!

You mean Cuban-American parents have the same rights as all other American parents?!

To wit:

According to the American Library Association, over the past two decades, EVERY SINGLE YEAR sees between 400 and 600 such schoolbook protests in the U.S., much of it over material considered "racially insensitive," as when "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was yanked from an Illinois school library.

In brief, attempted "book bannings'" identical to the one in Miami-Dade, have occurred at a rate of over one a day for the last two and half decades, from sea to shining sea. In most of these incidents the ACLU and the mainstream media have been conspicuously mum.

more here:

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/7/10/171741.shtml

And this from "Court Won't Get Involved in Book Banning Case," by Laura Wides-Munoz and Jesse J. Holland, Florida AP, 16 November 2009:
Frank Bolanos, a former Miami-Dade school board chair who championed efforts to remove the book, said he was pleased.

"I support the author's right to publish the book as incomplete and defective as it may be," he said, "but we're simply not required to pay for it with taxpayers dollars," he said, although the district already spent money to buy the book. Bolanos said the case sets precedent for districts to back parents' rights in future cases.

ALA Threatened by Case that Sets Precedent for Parental Rights

And there is the biggest threat to the ALA: not only was there no book "banning" or "censorship," like the ALA constantly claims, but "the case sets precedent for districts to back parents' rights in future cases."

One more time, so communities can shake the ALA propaganda out of their heads:

"The case sets precedent for districts to back parents' rights in future cases."


Smell the Fear as the ACLU Senses Losing Censorship Propaganda War

Those opposing local control know this is a bad one for them.  Smell the fear from the CBS4 story:
The decision shocked the ACLU and its leaders.

"It is a sad day for free speech in our great nation," said JoNel Newman, ACLU of Florida Cooperating Counsel. "This is a dangerous precedent, and a huge leap backwards in the battle against censorship. The aftershocks may be felt in public school libraries across the country. "
"Dangerous"?  What, that local communities should control local libraries, not the ALA or the ACLU?  That ACLU lawsuits can be empty threats?  The US Supreme Court denied certiorari on an appellate case that found no censorship, and the ACLU is still crying out about the "battle against censorship"?  Maybe what's dangerous is still thinking the ALA/ACLU are authoritative.


Thank You, Cuban-Americans, for Leading the Way for Parents Rights

Cuban-Americans, you have led the way for districts to back parents against ALA/ACLU false claims of banning and censorship.  Thank you!  As Frank Bolanos said, "Censorship occurs when government refuses to allow people to purchase material, not when it refuses to provide that material at no charge."

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