Author: jessamyn

USAPA in the field

Posted on by jessamyn

The Justice Department has just released a report [pdf] that gives over 30 examples of how the USA PATRIOT Act has been used so far to fight terrorism. The ACLU responds.

The report also sidesteps any mention of the Patriot Act’s use against innocent Americans whose records have been turned over to the FBI, and fails to mention the frequency of intrusive investigations that did not result in prosecutions.

are advertiser-supported search engines really giving us the answers we need?

Posted on by jessamyn

Search Engines: Clogged with Commerce and Begging for an Upgrade asks whether our search engine results are being clogged with for-profit sites at the expense of solid information. For commerce sites can afford good design, placement and Googleability. Can your local community-based center?

“The consensus opinion across all these sources is that families should seek local, community-based programs that treat the whole family, not just the teen. And luckily, plenty of community-based programs are available…. I was stunned to discover that none of this information appeared when I searched on the phrase ‘troubled teen’ at Google and Yahoo, even when I waded through 100 search results at each site. Instead, I was confronted with a staggering number of listings all pointing to one commercial option: coercive residential treatment centers (RTCs) that include boot camps, wilderness programs or behavior modification programs.”

hi – 13jul

Posted on by jessamyn

Hi. I’ve started a DNC blog that is different from this one because I’m sure not all my readers care about the DNC. It’s linked over on the left with its own RSS feeds and slightly different look and function. If something particularly librarianish happens there, I’ll cross post.

Posted in hi