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At the library

I’ve been writing about Elisabeth Shoemaker for the past few weeks. She was the librarian during World War Two who helped and led the local Victory Book Campaign, providing reading materials for the troops. I’ve listed Edward Cole as the “first” librarian in 1802 but Miss Shoemaker was “the first.” Originally from Waynesboro, Miss Shoemaker graduated from Juniata College and then from Columbia University School of Library Science. She worked at the Huntingdon County Library before taking the director position at the newly formed Mifflin County Library. A little bit ...

Two library stereotypes that may not always be true

Important note: we have resumed accepting interlibrary loan requests. Recently, two library stereotypes have been brought up a lot here. I’ve been hearing mentions of things related to the library that may have been true at one time but are not anymore. It’s easy to perpetuate stereotypes. We repeat them enough that they can seem to be true. The library has changed a lot in recent years. Here are two library stereotypes and how they stand up to the conditions of a modern library. Libraries are quiet: I still encounter patrons who, at checkout, whisper to their kids or shoosh ...

Deterioration has started in U.S. First, the moral collapse …

The United States is fraying at the seams. Perhaps because I am an attorney, what stands out for me is the erosion of standards of lawful behavior. It has become commonplace to see videos of people violently assaulting total strangers. Mobs of teens in Chicago riot, loot and set cars on fire, and the mayor makes excuses. Individuals walk into drugstores, department stores, even luxury boutiques and leave with armfuls of stolen items. The thefts are done with impunity, as if the thieves know that employees and owners who try to stop them or defend themselves face a greater likelihood of ...

Greed creates fake climate consensus

We are told climate change is a crisis, and that there is an “overwhelming scientific consensus.” “It’s a manufactured consensus,” says climate scientist Judith Curry in my new video. She says scientists have an incentive to exaggerate risk to pursue “fame and fortune.” She knows about that because she once spread alarm about climate change. Media loved her when she published a study that seemed to show a dramatic increase in hurricane intensity. “We found that the percent of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes had doubled,” says Curry. “This was picked up by the ...

Barack Obama’s self-made myths still stand

The media deification of Barack Obama has really never ended. His election to the presidency in 2008 was treated as a milestone, like man landing on the moon. Allegedly objective journalists lined up in every studio and on every front page to do him homage. It wasn’t journalism. It was more like idolatry. It was like Bryant Gumbel harshly replying in 1989 to new information about Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s adultery. He said, “When the truth collides with a legend, print the legend.” This line came to mind in reading a recent Tablet magazine interview with liberal historian ...

A case for Trump to not debate

With Mike Pence now qualifying for the Republican debate in Milwaukee on Aug. 23, there are now eight candidates qualified to participate. However, one of those eight is former President Donald Trump, who suggests that he is not inclined to show up. “When you have a big lead, you don’t do it,” noted Trump. “Am I going to stand up there by guys with zero, one, two, three percent -- maybe four -- and have them ask me hostile questions?” He now says he’ll poll supporters. Fox News, the network carrying the event, RNC Chairperson Ronna McDaniel, and some of the other ...