Low Earth Orbit

Worlds in collision

[source]

A year ago the Minneapolis Public Library found itself at the center of a very public maelstrom, after employees complained that patrons were using computer terminals in the downtown branch to surf the Internet for pornography.[…] But by the time the measures [against Internet porn] went into effect, a dozen employees had filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging that the library's failure to regulate access to sexually offensive material had created a hostile work environment. [more background] Late last month the EEOC issued a preliminary ruling siding with the plaintiffs--going so far as to recommend that the library pay each of the so-called Minneapolis 12 a financial settlement of $75,000 to compensate them for their suffering.

Oooh, it hurts when two liberal pieties collide! As the ??Wall Street Journal?? noted (subscription required), it's simply not true that librarians don't exercise editorial control over library contents - otherwise, where are the bound volumes of ??Penthouse???.

Why we hate them

[source]

Arnold Schwarzenegger's massive rally on the south side of the state Capitol, the climax of his four-day bus tour of California, provided just what the Los Angeles Times editorial board must fear. It was a dramatic demonstration of how a powerful celebrity can channel populist anger, creating a political experience unmediated by elites. While Schwarzenegger for the most part struck a positive, upbeat tone Sunday afternoon, declining to attack his principal antagonists -- Gray Davis, Cruz Bustamante, and the Times -- the disdain for the political class underlying his message was palpable. There was no torch-lit Nuremberg-style parade, of course…

Is it just not possible for the media elite to _not_ use a Nazi reference? Is that all they have left?

Is the Big Media tide turning on Iraq?

A "good roundup":http://www.instapundit.com/archives/011834.php of stories of the real situation in Iraq, which is hardly perfect but looking good.