DU is an "Adult Only" website on the Biloxi, MS public library computers.

[intheflow]

:wow:

I typed in the url www.democraticunderground.com, and the front page opened but a box popped up asking for an administrative username and password. I asked the reference librarian if political web sites were blocked, and he said no. I told him I was trying to get onto a political discussion web site, and he said, "Oh, I know what that's about." He walked over to the computer I was using and typed the required info in, and the username was something like "AdultUse." There were no recriminating looks, no questions asked of me by the librarian, but...

:wtf: Minors aren't permitted to engage in free political speech in Mississippi? Why am I not surprised?

*On edit, two points:

1) This totally surprised me because there are no such restrictions on accessing DU on my home library system in Denver.

2) This post is not meant to disparage librarians! It is meant to disparage library's that filter political speech. I know that the librarians all too often do not have much voice over a library's board's decisions of what should or should not be viewed by minors.

[novalib]

1. Just Who The FUCK

do those librarians think they are???!!!

[patdem]

5. I arrest my case (thank you bob borderlang) n/t

[ptolle]

14. where

I'm going to go to bat for librarians everywhere. You'll remember they were some of the few willing to take on the chimperor's regime on section 215 of the patriot act.Here I'd suppose they've got a board and probably an inhouse administration;director, etc. composed of wingnutters and really have little say in policy other than at the risk of their job.

[intheflow]

18. That's what I think, too.

I didn't mean to imply the librarians were at fault! :blush:

[novalib]

27. Fuck! I Fucked Up! I'm Fucking Sorry!

I'm Sorry.

I, too, did not mean to impugn the hard-working librarians in Biloxi.

There probably is some constipated administrator in the Biloxi library (no doubt a Refuckingpublican) who has some issue with some of the words we use on this board.

Sorry I fucked up.

[intheflow]

38. No fucking problem!

Thank fucking God for free speech!! :hi:

[MountainLaurel]

19. Don't blame the librarians, blame federal law

Under the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), in order for public libraries to receive ANY federal funding, they MUST use a filter on any computers that might be accessed by people under age 18. I'm going to guess that a public library in Biloxi could not survive without federal funds. And, because the majority of these filter products are owned by conservative companies, often sites like DU will be blocked, as will information about homosexuality or "occult" religions but won't block hate sites. The library community has been trying for years in court to force these companies to produce the list of blocked terms as well as the algorithms used to block sites, but so far unsuccessfully, because the companies have prevented this action on the basis of trade secrets. The fact that one can have the librarian un-block a legitimate site is considered by the courts to mean that one's First Amendment rights are not being violated.

State laws are often even more restrictive. For instance, at the community college where I used to work, we had such filters on our e-mail accounts. So, when I sent a message to my husband to mention that I was in an accident because the facilities workers hadn't salted the road, he never received the message.

Here's what the ALA has been doing about the filter issue:

http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=ifissues&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=77636

The association has spent the past 10 years in court and has spent probably a million dollars fighting these laws. So don't give me that shit about "who do these librarians think they are?" If you don't like it, contact your Congressional representatives. It's their legislation.

[intheflow]

22. I didn't blame the librarians.

I blamed the library. I know the difference. :)

And I've never had any problem accessing DU in the Denver Public Library system, so it struck me as something regional, not based on federal guidelines.

[MountainLaurel]

24. I was replying to someone else n/t

[intheflow]

26. Oh, ok.

My bad. :hi:

[JuniperLea]

28. It could merely be a foul language issue...

I'm just saying... I fucking swear damn near as much as anyone else around here:)

[novalib]

35. Shit, Juniperx,.....

you fucking think that might be it?

Who the fuck knew?

[JuniperLea]

41. I don't think anyone could have fucking anticipated.... n/t

[TahitiNut]

37. Cluck, cluck. Gobble, gobble.

So much for fowl language. :shrug:

[JuniperLea]

39. Bwahahahhaa!

Good one, ya TahitiNut!

:rofl:

[RebelOne]

46. I think that could be part of it. The F word is used too much here.

[Strong Atheist]

Don't forget all the racy/suggestive threads in the Lounge. nt.

[JuniperLea]

49. Argh!

I rarely go there... usually only by accident.

If I wanted to flirt and be racy, there is plenty of cyberspace ELSEWHERE for that...

Just MHO...

[peacebaby3]

52. That's exactly what the fuck it is because when I have the net nanny on

for the kids, it blocks DU because of all of you sorry ass cursing bastards! :evilgrin:

[rman]

43. Librarians don't make the policy by which they have to act

Kindof like how journalists don't decide what does and what doesn't get published.

[OneAngryDemocrat]

2. What about...

RedState.org, or the ProtestWarrior website?

Please check out to see if the PUBLIC library is biased, or not, so DU'ers can RAISE HELL.

[intheflow]

25. I waited until I was home to post this thread, but

I think I'll go back tomorrow and check out the sites you've mentioned. Just to see...

[patdem]

3. type in freerepublic.com also..see if they require adult permission

cause we DO use cuss words even in subject lines?

[Dinger]

7. Yeah, I'd Like To Know What Happens When Those Sites Are The Ones People

go on to.

[bunkerbuster1]

15. Doesn't Freak Republic bleep out the curse words?

I rarely go there, but IIRC they think that swearing makes the Baby Jesus cry or somethin'.

[JuniperLea]

30. Good call! n/t

[merh]

4. May I see your ID young lady?

I don't think you are old enough to be having political thoughts, let alone understand them. :sarcasm:

Hell, the librarian probably caught one of matcom's or DS1's sex threads before it was locked.

Quit basing Mississippi, especially when we are so down! :(

Our state motto is "First at being last" :blush:

:hug:

[intheflow]

20. Sure, blame it all on Matcom and DS1!

:rofl:

I also don't assume it's all of Mississippi, which is why I specifically mentioned Biloxi. I think some of the other responders have it right on, here: probably some fundie freak on the local library board takes exception to progressive politics--or the term Fitzmas!
(Damn pagan lib'ruls! :rofl: )

[merh]

33. If matcom would stop posting those glittery

pics of Kelly Brock, I bet there wouldn't be a problem. :freak:

We have some real cook fundies around here, gambling is a sin, but we will sell our church property to casinos to make a fortune for the congregation and to build our superdome of prayer off the interstate. The ends justify the means, you know ;)

Good to see you are keeping up with your reading while here, sweetie. :hug:

[xultar]

6. Fuckin sons o bitches muthafuckas asshats!

[Mr_Spock]

10. I can always count on you for a chuckle

You are funny :rofl:

[Dora]

8. There are topics of adult-only interest that occur with frequency here.

There are a wide range of topics that some people would prefer to shield their children from, ranging from discussions on the drug war to cheesecake pin-ups in the Lounge.

I think a library can justifiably make access to DU "adults-only" without making it a partisan issue.

Added on edit: Wow! I can see that I am alone... :donflamesuit:

[Mr_Spock]

12. I minimize or shield the screen when I'm on DU

This is a grown-up place and I want to keep my kids naive about some things for now...

[electron_blue]

23. No, you're not alone

I agree - I have seen numerous "adult" content threads here. I think the site is "adult only" for that content and not the free speech access.

[jschurchin]

9. It's the language.

We all know and appreciate the free thought and exchange of ideas on DU, but there is some colorful language from time to time. This is probably why your library restricts access.

I highly doubt Politics has anything to do with it.

On Edit: No Dora you are not!!!

[RethugAssKicker]

13. AS LONG AS THEY DO THE SAME... for freerepublic.com !

[movie_girl99]

11. It's not the Librarians

more than likely as in our district it's computer services/technology. We have two different levels of security on our district computers. Administrators & Students. Student computers here are blocked from just about anything that resembles a message board.

[intheflow]

16. I didn't mean to suggest the librarians were at fault.

Librarians, by and large, are beacons of freedom-fighters. I figure it's some Town or Library Board imposing restrictions.

[movie_girl99]

42. oh sorry. I get a bit defensive. yes typically librarians

are fighters for freedom. I work with 37 of them daily. They are a rare breed indeed :)

[Jose Diablo]

17. It's all this fucking cussin'

thats why the Biluxi mothers have banished us to the 'adult only' section.

If we were but a little more decorous and modest in our speech. Oh well, screw-it.

You know, when I was younger I only wanted to read what was read by the adults. I was curious about what they were hiding from me.

Edit: Lets have a vote now, a poll, shall we ban all cussing here at DU and fuck free speech to make the Biluxi mothers happy. Or do we tell the Biluxi mothers where the bear took a crap.

[novalib]

29. What the FUCK are you talking about?

Cussin'???!!

What cussing?

[riona]

47. What "adults"??

[Minnesota Libra]

21. Well, between neocons/fundies/military we have to keep all our............

....young people in the dark you know.:spank: Can't have tomorrow's leaders thinking for themselves.:banghead:

[existentialist]

31. maybe we can play this up to get the interest of youngsters

After all when adolescents are told that cigarettes and whiskey (and wild wild women) are "for adults" it has, in their eyes, a tendency to enhance the value of things that are forbidden them. This goes back to Eden I think.

[Sinti]

48. Great idea.

There is a great deal of "anti-nationalism/anti-fascism" in the 16-20 crowd already. If only it could be considered as cool to be politically aware and involved as it is to hit the beer bong and dance naked. :think:

[Lerkfish]

32. Is Drudge also blocked? try it and see.

[quispquake]

34. What do they use for filtering software?

I'm the network admin at a small company, and we USED to use SonicWall's content filtering...they also had DU blocked (FR was allowed though!). Being the network admin, I was able to create a rule to bypass this...

I think any site that had the word "Fuck" in it somewhere was blocked...

[Avalux]

36. As a former moderator here - I am laughing my ass off.

If any of the 'librarians' had bothered to read the DU rules they'd know this site is PG. I'd say it's been labeled Adult Only for reasons other than the typical. :hi:

[intheflow]

40. Hi Darlin'!

Yes, I'm a-feared it's ideological in nature. I'm going back tomorrow to see if they'll let me check some other web sites I know that are a) progressive; b) regressive/repukeish; and c) swear. :hi:

[Avalux]

45. Hi there! lol - this is YOUR post!

Didn't get that when I responded. :hug:

Yes - do some research, then raise some hell if you have to. It's just not right.

[Goblinmonger]

44. I teach at a public school in Wisconsin

we have to have our computers filtered due to federal law (NCLB). Even MY computer which is at MY desk solely for MY use has to be filtered. Our filter is for shit. I can't search for Moby Dick (I mean, if I type that into a google search, it blocks the results) because it has the word Dick in it. I am an English teacher. Can't search for Salem Witch Trials either. We just had a huge list of sites added to the blocked list. I have a subscription to the UPI cartoons (the ones that run in newspapers) and that site is now blocked. There are several cartoons every day that have literary allusions that I use on tests, etc. Now I have to save them at home and bring them on my flash drive to school.

I wrote a poem about it. I'm going to send it out to some political mags and see if I can get it published (comments welcome). And honest to god our filter DOES filter out godhatesshrimp.com and allows godhatesfags.com. :wtf: :

This is my letter to the President

thanking him for
saving me from myself

Left to my own devices
I would have read about
the following on the Internet
in a misguided attempt
to be a better English teacher:

Moby Dick
Outcasts of Poker Flat
Salem Witch Trials

Bless the NCLB filter
for saving me from these
Evils

and for saving my students
from the wickedness of satire at
www.godhatesshrimp.com
while allowing them to
experience the love
that emanates from
www.godhatesfags.com

Amen

[intheflow]

50. I love your letter to the president!

How can shrimp be profane and fags be ok? :crazy:

[Catherine Vincent]

51. It was probably Laura Bush's doing.

She was a librarian ya know. :-)

[Lars39]

53. I'd put my money on Lynne Cheney.

She realllly likes censorship.

[intheflow]

55. She was obviously a librarian anomaly.

But you notice she hasn't been one for a long time. She likes to read whatever she darn well wishes. But there should be limitations placed on what the unwashed masses should have access to. :sarcasm:

[JanMichael]

54. Why wouldn't it be what with all of the Rape threads and the defenders of

rick boy fuckhead Dukies?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

56. On my ninth birthday?

:banghead:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

57. Probably The Filter Software, And Probably NADA To Do With Politics.

It may very well be for the same reason I can't get on DU at work. DU is under a message board/chat board type category, and many filters block out use of a public message board type area. That's what my work filters do anyway. I'm wondering if this is simply just a case of that. Try BabyCenter.com or something, cause that one gets blocked at my work too. Now, my theory may be completely wrong, but I just wanted to throw it out there anyway.