It's beginning to look a lot like Grimace...

I woke up this a.m. and realized that Christmas is only a week away!
Things have been funky at the workstead as of late. I'm a public librarian and our funding was endangered. Long story short, some of it was restored but not all resulting in an 11% staffing reduction. A lot of people at my location were either let go or reduced to part-time with benefits in hopes of retirements creating openings for those on the callback list. I feel very badly for these people. I was fortunate enough to keep my job but next year looks equally glum for library service. The public system has 52 libraries now but I guarantee there will be fewer in 2006. There are a number of people who are against consolidation. I hate to say it but these folks have a mentality that rhymes with light rash. They don't understand that economically, the System as it exists cannot survive. Their position is based on emotion and nostalgia with no research to back themselves up. In these trying economic times, feelings are easily crushed in favor of reality.

Anyway, with the up and down rollercoaster I've been riding, Christmas shopping was done cautiously as I feared the unenjoyment line. I guess now I can get to my regularly scheduled programming.

Much to my dismay, I found out that the ACLU is having privacy issues. The New York Times reports that the organization charged with defending civil liberties plans on using data mining to get a read on its membership's financial wealth. I'm deeply disappointed. Earlier this year, the ACLU registered for a federal charity drive that required it to certify that it would not knowingly employ people whose names were on government terrorism watch lists. Later they withdrew from this effort and joined other non-profits in a suit to contest the watch list agreement.

Pay for access programming is ubiquitous for television and now for radio courtesy of satellite radio but there are still some good freebies online. Check out
Air America for shows from Mike Molloy who is very entertaining. He's living in dangerous times being a southern based liberal who espouses some interesting conspiracy theories.