Some Surprises From a Glimpse Into a Texas "Bookless Library"

Bexar County, Texas officials
announcing in January, 2013 plans
to build a "bookless library"
(Image: bexarlibrary.org)

An Associated Press story picked up in today's Mercury News reported on a "bookless" library in Bexar County, Texas and its principal city, San Antonio. What's meant by "bookless" isn't the same as "contentless." It's all about digital delivery and the presumed window into a library's not-so-distant future, brought to a presumably grateful population by high tech and its enablers. The Texas library staff's ironic aping of Apple employee outfits and assumed "helpful" behavior was not lost on the AP reporter. Neither was the opening of a "bookless" library in a downscale neighborhood where few people can afford Silicon Valley's "must have" gadgets and for-pay content.

What went unobserved was the quality of the library's collection, the "content" patrons wanted, and the materials unavailable at the "bookless" facility. Intriguingly, the removal of shelves was discussed as something of a positive feature. The AP story notes that a "bookless" library is cheaper to build and maintain than its Carnegie predecessors. And there would be no more silly fines, disfigured books, or wait times for an item.

The AP writer did not explore a print book's still-potent ability to elude control. A print book lacks traceable keystrokes, trackable "friends," searchable history. A printed book can be passed to others without a record of its antecedent readers. Those qualities make a printed book potentially "disruptive" and politically destabilizing. Far from being "old school," printed materials encourage independent, even revolutionary perspectives in tune with today's yearning for liberty.

Yes, "content yearns to be free" -- just not in the form tech's high priests envisioned. There's some pleasure to be taken from that ironic outcome and, more importantly, action undertaken with a printed book's advantages in mind.

Message in Bottle Gets Reply Two Decades Later

Twenty-three years ago, a 10-year-old British girl put a message in a bottle. She tossed her hope into the North Sea and presumably didn't think too hard about it. Much to her surprise, the now 33-year-old  woman received a reply, along with her original message. The BBC report on this event notes that the bottle washed up on a Netherlands beach. The Dutch couple who found the bottle wrote to the British message writer.

I suppose the moral of the story is patience. Waiting more than two decades for an answer is a long time. Even Ulysses didn't have to wait that long to return to Ithaka.

First Days and First Ideas

I experienced today what many people know when they intend to create something. Call it "the blank slate" syndrome. Essentially, the phrase alludes to facing an empty computer screen, a pure canvas, a score without notes. Suddenly, nothing happens. Ideas wander around one's mind like so many sparrows around an unfortunate tree. What's the first word? What's the initial idea? What are those first strokes, lead sounds, or initial framing?

When nothing happens, it's rarely a good feeling. I'm typically a counterpuncher in the world of ideas, and the absence of a motivating concept often leaves me unable to sensibly act. That realization struck me hard today, and called for a reconsideration of how to proceed. I know some writers who reach into the well of their memoirs, but that approach always seemed limited to the extent of the writer's experience and awareness.

Magnifying this sense is New Year's Day, a time of well-intentioned resolutions and splendid illusions. I shy away from New Year's promises; I do harbor plenty of illusions, but I do try to manage them. Still, today is as good a day as any to change from counterpunching to leading.

A.J. Liebling
(Image: nytimes.com)

I suppose the boxing metaphors are on my mind, as I recently finished reading A.J. Liebling's The Sweet Science. The late New Yorker writer wrote a splendid collection of stories in which his journalistic skill, wonderful voice, and enthusiasm for boxing shine. Sometimes, reading a strong book makes facing a blank page worth pursuing on first days, and days thereafter.

Obama Administration Lobbies Against NYC School Boss Candidate

Joshua Starr
(Image: montgomeryschoolsmd.org)

According to a report in today's Washington Post, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan actively spoke against a candidate being considered for New York City's education chancellor. Duncan's target was Joshua Starr, currently serving as school superintendent in the affluent DC suburbs of Montgomery County, Maryland.

Starr's offense was to dare criticize aspects of the Obama-Duncan education agenda, notably the use of standardized tests to evaluate an instructor's "value." He also called for a three-year break from high-stakes standardized exams. This moratorium strikes at the heart of the data-driven agenda Duncan and Obama have believed essential to so-called "education reform."

As the Post story noted, a Cabinet-level official very rarely intervenes in a local school district matter. However, a characteristic of the Obama and Duncan regimes is their thin skins when facing criticism. Their arrogant belief is that they are the smartest people in the room. As a consequence, they typically ignore contrary opinions and simply do what they want. (Obama's inability to touch voters' hearts is connected to this behavioral outlook.) Duncan's presumed torpedo sank Starr's chances, even though New York City mayor DiBlasio shares some of Starr's profound reservations about the education "reformers'" questionable assertions.

As Anthony Hopkins, playing Richard Nixon in the eponymous film, said: "Presidents don't threaten. They don't have to."

France Contemplates Smartphone Tax to Subsidize Gallic Culture

Image: tech2.in.com

European nations have historically subsidized their arts institutions. In the modern era, those funds typically come from tax revenues. That scenario includes the French film industry, currently under siege from America's stunningly successful export of Hollywood entertainment. The French government believes its homegrown cultural talent needs additional sources of revenue to maintain its artistic independence, Gallic identity, and, presumably, highbrow quality.

To that end, the Hollande administration is considering placing a one-percent tax on smartphones and other electronic gadgets "capable of accessing movies, music, and other content," according to a story in Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Tech companies such as Google have opposed the proposed tax scheme. One suspects that warming up in high tech's legal/PR bullpen is the argument frequently appearing in the United States: taxation would "stifle innovation." Of course, high tech's thin, unsubstantiated perspective pivots on the notion that the forces creating the alleged innovation should not be interrupted from doing God's work.

What goes unstated is that France's suggested one-percent skimming of gadget transaction prices means high tech firms won't see that money. Hey, doesn't Paris understand that God's work is expensive?

Wall Street's Entry Into Residential Rental Market "Might Not End Well"

When the Great Recession struck the nation with full fury, the residential housing market suffered some serious blows. The most significant damage was done in the low-end residential segment, where strung out owners found themselves staring at foreclosure. At the time, the reigning thought was that foreclosures would depress housing prices. That event did not happen, with certain exceptions. What stemmed the foreclosure tsunami was Wall Street intervention. No, this was not done for the benefit of the Republic. Rather, sharp-eyed financiers saw an opportunity to buy low and, presumably, sell high at some point down the road. In the meantime, Wall Street firms such as Blackstone became landlords. The irony, as Prashant Gopal points out in a thoughtful Bloomberg opinion piece, is that the foreclosed owners have often become rent paying tenants.

Image: daytondailynews.com

The deal for Wall Street is a sweet one, as firms such as Blackstone have access to Federal Reserve funds at a rate roughly half of what mere mortals pay for a routine home mortgage. The chutzpah does not end there. Another Bloomberg article notes how Magnetar Capital, an Illinois-based alternative asset manager that's a new player in the foreclosed residential rental world, demanded a tax rollback on the foreclosed properties it recently purchased in Huber Heights, Ohio. Magnetar real estate representatives promised the money would be used to spruce up the acquired properties. Of course, unstated was that the "improvements" would benefit Magnetar rather than Huber Heights' neediest citizens.

Placing much faith in the promises of indifferent, Olympian financial firms does not seem a way for a community to survive, never mind thrive. Should one trust Magnetar's promises? The Bloomberg report on Dayton noted that

In 2006 and 2007, Magnetar helped banks create complex securities backed by risky mortgages. At the same time, the hedge fund [Magnetar] made bets that would profit if the homeowners defaulted. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigated the deals after housing imploded and has fined some of the banks involved. The government hasn't filed a complaint against Magnetar.

The notion that one should trust the lofty sentiments of a hedge fund that created dodgy mortgage-backed securities and bet against them seems downright stupid. The reality is that the Huber Heights tenants' financial assets are essentially being strip mined. Meanwhile, this dark scenario is being played out against a steady drumbeat of  economic "recovery" assertions from East Coast major media players, DC politicians, and Wall Street spokespeople. A glance at Huber Heights' new tenant class strongly argues otherwise.

American Sailors Involved in Fukushima Cleanup May Have Cancer

Fish caught near Fukushima
post-tsunami
(Photo: LA Times)

Remember Fukushima? The nuclear meltdown had a number of disastrous consequences for the Japanese population and the area near the disaster. According to a lawsuit recently filed in San Diego, the radiation may have impacted American midshipmen and sailors involved in humanitarian efforts in the Fukushima area. The financial blog zerohedge.com cobbled together a number of stories related to the litigation.

It's useful to remember that, prior to the Fukushima incident, the nuclear power industry had become something of a darling among "alternative energy" advocates. That perspective suddenly changed after the Japanese nuclear disaster. One doesn't read optimistic pieces about nuclear energy's "potential". However, many nuke plants remain quite active throughout the world, notably in France. Each operating facility is essentially playing poker with random events and unperceived engineering miscalculations. That's not a game, and certainly not a bet, I want to play.

A Look Ahead to 2014's Surveillance Politics

Tech's high priests and their financial enablers continue to squirm under the harsh light the Snowden surveillance revelations cast on their activities. Naturally, Silicon Valley, which has viewed the developed world as its experimental animal, has decided to publicly stand tall against the alleged bad actors at the NSA.

A few caveats should make one pause in that convenient posture. Peter Thiel, Pay Pal principal and leading libertarian light in the Valley, happens to be a major investor in a firm called Palantir. This company was characterized in a recent Financial Times piece as "a secretive data-mining company that made its name working for the CIA..." Jeff Bezos' Amazon, which has been quiet in the entire NSA-Valley imbroglio, has a cloud computing contract with the Central Intelligence Agency. As for other tech firms, do you want to guess how many have federal contracts?

Peter Thiel

Meanwhile, the usual hypocritical "rule of law" arguments high tech trots out to defend its global interests and ruthless invasion of personal privacy have notably not emerged to protest the NSA's own data "extraction" efforts. After all, the NSA is a federal agency with broad mandates to protect and serve the nation. And that's the law, too.

A recent article in Wired suggests that diminished expectations for "business development" is a significant reason the Valley was shocked to discover gambling in its data collection and exploitation casino. Chris Finan's opinion piece -- "What To Expect From Surveillance Politics in 2014 (Hint: It's Not Reform)" -- asserts high tech's public outrage partly stems from anticipated international business losses as a consequence of the Snowden expose. Finan contends

it’s safe to say that American tech executives are angry. And they have good reason to be: U.S. companies’ association — via cooperation, coercion, or simply unwitting victimization — with government surveillance programs have cost them huge shares of the IT services market internationally.Forrester Research has projected that the overall impact to the U.S. cloud computing industry could be as high as $180 billion, or 25% of IT service provider revenues over three years. While many companies will try to convince policymakers of the the significant costs of intrusive surveillance and the need for reform — as a group of tech execs tried to do this week in a meeting with President Obama — expect companies to take matters into their own hands.

What's fascinating is the Valley's relentless determination to transform the world into a global data colony which these firms are free to exploit as they please. An essential piece of that initiative is the evisceration and degradation of personal privacy. Anyone who has received unwanted "targeted" advertising on their phones, tablets, or computers can grasp this concept. Why does the Valley insist it qualifies for an exemption from criticism over its arrogant, anti-privacy activities? The NSA, in this case, is a convenient pinata for actions high tech has developed, exploited, and tried to wink and nod its way through legal action and protest.

One wishes the Valley, in its collective sense, had a conscience that went beyond IPO "success" and an unwavering faith in "progress" (as defined by improved data mining and consumer gadgets). Those sentiments are rarely displayed. At least the NSA has a mission to guard our nation. The Valley's primary mission is to guard its own interests, its own egos, its own financial opportunities. Who do you trust, baby?

Library of Congress Adds 25 Films to National Film Registry

Librarian of Congress
James H. Billington
(Image: loc.gov)

The Library of Congress announced its 2013 additions to the National Film Registry (NFR). According to a Washington Post story on the NFR, the movie selections are made by a committee of one: the Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. His goal is to choose movies that somehow represent the American cultural zeitgeist, at least as depicted on celluloid or digital capture. To that end, the NFR is not a "best of" collection, as those critically anointed films don't always tell an insightful story about the culture that spawned them.

On the other hand, Billington chose some films that very few people have seen. Some are clearly generated by the art world and its chosen few. Some come from the silent era (any effort in that area deserves praise and respect). Some contemporary movies slip into the mix, although choices such as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf strike me as an older generation's fascination.

For all its flaws, the NFR serves a useful purpose. Films are notorious for disappearing or surviving in some disfigured way. The latter issue is no joke. A stunning number of post-World War II movies are visually diminished, a consequence of film stock being a poor preservation medium. To save our nation's legacy, the NFR works hard to preserve the powerful, lyrical, or just plain silly films that reflect American myths and the reality underpinning them. The preservation of our heritage is one reason to pay federal taxes -- and smile.