White House Pets: The Book Thing

""WE AGREE NOT TO FEED RANGER. WE WILL NOT GIVE HIM BISCUITS. WE WILL NOT GIVE HIM FOOD OF ANY KIND," the pledge read.
George H. W. Bush ends his memo saying, "I will, of course, report on Ranger's fight against obesity. Right now he looks like a blimp, a nice friendly appealing blimp, but a blimp."
That memo, along with countless anecdotes and more than 200 pictures are featured in Dallas author Jennifer Boswell Pickens' new book, "Pets at the White House," which gives readers a glimpse of what life is like at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for pets, and what those pets have meant to their famous owners."

I cannot lie, I'm really curious about this book.  See, most people know the numerous dogs and cats throughout the White House's career (like Socks and Buddy, the Clinton's animals), but I wonder if this book is going to cover the more interesting animals.

See, the White House has seen some crazy critters in its day.  According to this article from Mental Floss, Coolidge had a hippo, Hoover had alligators, Harrison had possums, and Abigail Adams had a dog named Satan.  Then there is the menagerie that Teddy Roosevelt brought around, including a frickin badger.  That's just scratching the surface and not even mentioning the farm animals.

I want to know how the staff handled these animals.  I do not know about you, but if this book does not have a chapter devoted to that badger... Let's just say that's like covering Kennedy and not mentioning how he left office.

New book features White House pets - Detroit Free Press:

New book features White House pets Detroit Free Press That memo, along with countless anecdotes and more than 200 pictures are featured in Dallas author Jennifer Boswell Pickens' new book, "Pets at the White House," which gives readers a glimpse of what life is like at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for pets, and ... and more »

Stephenie Meyer Gives Hope To TwiHards

While Meyer didn't confirm that she would write more Twilight books, she didn't rule out the idea, either. She said she's even got the plots of "a couple more books" in her head. Those books would apparently pick up where Breaking Dawn left off and focus more on Jake, the hunky werewolf, and Renesmee, the half-vampire daughter of Bella and Edward. "There are other characters who I think would have a lot of voice in those coming stories," she said.

Just when I think I am out, they pull me back in.  The new movie, Breaking Dawn: Part Deux, is almost out and I was thinking about dropping all my open dislike for this franchise and letting it be.  Then, Ms. Meyer decides to take the gloves off and say, "You think you can write more awesome Harry Potter, Rowling?  Well, I got a crap load more shitty vampire tales left in me!"

Here we go again.  More chaste non-love between immortal beings that hate themselves and the audience.  What can we compare Jake and Renesesame's love to this time, Meyer?  Surly not Romeo and Juliet, that was Bella and Edward's thing to crap on the idea of forbidden and unhealthy love.  How about Wuthering Heights?  Let's throw some shit at the moors and see what frothy vampire/werewolf hell gets dumped out?  It would not be a staggering leap to drop Heathcliff into the werewolf camp, Native American him up and then crap all over that story, too.  Food for thought.

More 'Twilight' Books? Stephenie Meyer Says 'Maybe' - Gather.com:

WorstPreviews.com

More 'Twilight' Books? Stephenie Meyer Says 'Maybe' Gather.com So, after a roller coaster ride filled with vampires, werewolves, and interspecies romance through a blockbuster series of books and movies, it all comes down to this: the long-awaited release of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2. That's all ... Stephenie Meyer says more 'Twilight' books a possibility, but not todayEntertainment Weekly (blog) Stephenie Meyer May Write More "Twilight" BooksWorstPreviews.com 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' Countdown Begins Today, New Clip of Newlyweds Bella ...Books & Review all 320 news articles »

South Dakota Looking Out for Visually Special Dakotians

“Imagine that every book about South Dakota was available to everyone except you,” Colleen Kirby said. “Stop and think about what if you couldn’t go to Barnes & Noble, what if you couldn’t go to your library. Everyone else is talking about the latest book about South Dakota, but you can’t read it.”

Well, fuck that.  I need my South Dakota updates and if anyone tries to take them from me I'll rip their ears off and add them to my ear collection. 

Wait... Wait...  Okay, I get it now.  Colleen Kirby is the assistant state librarian for South Dakota.  She is talking about the large number of South Dakotian literature that is not available to the visually special population.  See, blind people need to hear books or touch them with their mutant hands, and the items are on cassettes that can not be easily played by the sightless.  As we all found out during the great "steam train disaster" of 1952, the blind can only use current gen technology.  Kirby and the state library are looking to re-record much of the archived collection using local talent rather than just buy a converter on ebay for thirty bucks.  

We at the Banned Library hope the state's project succeeds and the visually special can soon get all that great South Dakota knowledge they have been missing.  Also, we hope we did not offend any blind people with our little jokes because, as we all know, the blind have special ninja powers and could defeat all of us given enough time without rearranging the furniture.

Library seeks voices for audio books - Sioux Falls Argus Leader:

Library seeks voices for audio books Sioux Falls Argus Leader More than 1,500 books now on cassette tapes need to be recorded in a digital format, said Colleen Kirby, assistant state librarian. “This is actually a very cool project,” said Mary Johnson, Siouxland Libraries director. “We were pretty thrilled when ...

Steal a Library Card to Vote in Memphis

"Tennessee voters will be able to show Memphis library cards to cast ballots in the upcoming November election.  A Tennessee appeals court ruled on Thursday that a state requirement that voters must show photo identification is valid, but said the library cards are acceptable."

I think the great state of Tennessee trusts its voters way more than they should.  I cannot say that I have ever seen a Memphis library card (Hell, for all I know it could have everything from your name to your permanent record your second grade teacher was always yelling about on it), but allowing the public to use the library card and only a library card is damn scary.  Just because you are in position of a library card does not mean you are in possession of your library card.  

Of course, this could be a sly message to the rest of the nation that Tennessee knows where it stands.  "We don't give a shit how you get a ballot," the Tennessee courts say, "Cause it don't make a fuck load of difference.  We're votin' Republican!  Red or dead, am I right, Mable?"

Then Mable shakes her head and goes back into the woods to mind the moonshine still and the ten children.

Memphis Library Cards Will Count as Valid ID at Polls - ABC News:

ABC News

Memphis Library Cards Will Count as Valid ID at Polls ABC News Tennessee voters will be able to show Memphis library cards to cast ballots in the upcoming November election. A Tennessee appeals court ruled on Thursday that a state requirement that voters must show photo identification is valid, but said the ... Tenn. appeals voter ID ruling over library cardSan Francisco Chronicle Tennessee: State Appeals Ruling on Library IDsNew York Times State officials appeal library card voter ID ruling to TN Supreme CourtThe Tennessean Shelbyville Times-Gazette -Memphis Commercial Appeal -Houston Chronicle all 249 news articles »

Penguin and Random House Merge To Create Penguin Random House.

Two publishing giants, Random House and Penguin, have announced plans to merge and focus their efforts on being "more adventurous" with ebooks.

Tale as old as time, Random House.  The little woman wants you to try new things, experiment more.  Then you wake up in Vegas forming synergy bonds with six dollar crack whores, there's a penguin in the bedroom that smells like your wife who you may or may not have sold into white slavery, and you need to start wondering how deep you have to dig so the coyotes won't find the body.  Here's all you need to know: Keep your head up, don't look it in the eyes and above all else wear a condom.  You do not know where that penguin has been.

Penguin and Random House merge, promise a brave new e-book future - Engadget:

The Guardian

Penguin and Random House merge, promise a brave new e-book future Engadget While the two are engaged in the usual corporatespeak of creating "synergies" (read: resource cuts), we're more interested in talk of the union being a springboard for digital efforts: Penguin Random House wants to be "more adventurous" with e-book ... Penguin Random House aims to attack digital, emerging ebooks marketspaidContent.org Penguin, Random House Merger Is OfficialGood E-Reader (blog) Penguin and Random House to merge and compete against Amazon and AppleITProPortal Expatica Germany -Economic Times all 481 news articles »

Article Dump: Building and Funding A Library

It takes a lot of money to make things free to the public.  Facilities, staff, programs, all these things cost cash to keep the great information ball a-rolling.  Here's several articles from this week about libraries trying to do just that:



Library CEO says $10 million in Vision2 funds critical to Central Library renovation
Am I the only one that sees the term "Library CEO" and cringes a little?  Seems wrong in some way, but let's hope that the project funding gets passed, especially since the Tulsa library system already has raised $15 Million in capital to match the city if it does.

Libraries, Austin Studios on the ballot as Proposition 18
A bill will pass that will grant around $8 million for library renovations and upgrades as well as expanding Austin Studios.  Very odd way to slide that in on the bill, but I get arts, entertainment and the library go hand in hand.  "Hey, we doing that production of 'Murder House III?'"  "Yeah, we just gotta wait on funds for the new children's department to go through first." "Cool."

Library managers seek restoration of funding, staff
I have nothing snarky to say on this one. I am just going to quote from the article and hope.
"The Nelson County library employs one full-time staffer and several part-timers whose average age is 62, said branch manager Tanith Knight. Cuts have the library operating at 42 hours a week, six shy of the suggested weekly hours for small branches in the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library system, she said."

Repairing Library Leak to Cost $720,913; Council Vote Expected Tuesday

I think every library roof is constructed by blind mice leaving ways for their brothers to get in after they were done.  True story: I once worked at a library where the contractor went on the roof, looked at the leak and shouted down "Somebody shot your roof.  With a gun."

Library starts construction on aquarium

We ain't talking no bowl for Goldie the goldfish either.  650 gallons of pure fish torture.  Throw some highlights down there and you've got my dentist office.  Least it's not a damn fountain.

Amazon Under Fire: Erasing Ebooks and Overcharging

Right out of the gate with have this story where Techdirt explains how one Kindle user had her account wiped and Kindle locked down with no reason whatsoever given.  This is the point where you have to step back and look at the awesomeness of having thousands of books at your fingertips versus the control companies now have over that awesomeness.  Imagine a Barnes and Noble representative coming to your house and taking all your physical copies away then issuing you a statement that you were barred from all their stores.  Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Now let's take a look at how Amazon is taking money from British people and how the government stopped them:

According to The Telegraph:
"Amazon is making British publishers pay 20 per cent VAT on ebook sales, despite their true VAT cost for UK ebook sales being closer to 3 per cent."

It seems after this news was let out, someone in the government noticed and took swift action:

From The Guardian:
"Amazon is to be stripped of its huge tax advantage on the sales of electronic books after the European commission ordered Luxembourg to close a VAT loophole."

So you get loophole abuse by getting a lower rate.  Sure, I can get behind that.  You are a large company and large companies do things to save money.  But not passing on savings, nay, charging fees that are non-existent to you?  That's just wrong on every level.

Shame on you Amazon.