Tim Blair

It must be my fault -- I seethe with hatred. Sorry Tim!

More like - blocked by those who hate free speech.

Has Croydon Library blocked the ABC? Reason: intellectual mediocrity

Maybe they're only blocking Australians. Reason: mate speech.

By the way there is an article about Poltical Correctness in British libraries here:
http://www.city-journal.org/html/eon_5_06_03td.html

It's by Theodore Dalrymple so it is worth reading. You've always been one of my favourite hatemongers anyway.

"Maybe they're only blocking Australians. Reason: mate speech."

...or perhaps it's a timezone problem. Reason: Late speech.

Could be something to do with how fantastic I am. Reason: great speech

The Croydon library is full of displays every bit as politically correct as the Theodore Dalrymple article suggests, although this doesn't prevent it from functioning quite well as a library. It contains a very good collection of books, a lot of public access internet terminals, and staff who are genuinely helpful.

As for the internet filtering software, this is stupid, however. There is a policy that anyone accessing pornographic or violent material will be asked to leave on the basis that other patrons of the library might find it offensive, which is fine. However, the filtering software is excessive and arbitrary, blocks sites belonging to people doing nothing but exercising their rights to free speech (Virginia Postrel is also blocked, so Tim is in good company). As to why the same librarians who would generally object strongly to censorship if it took the form of banning books from the library are perfectly happy to go along with banning large portions of the internet, I don't know.

I'll bet you could access sites like "Electronic Intafada".

It wouldn't look good is they said: "Reason: conservative". So they say it's because of hate speech instead.

As a librarian, I'll step up and defend my profession... The odds are that the decision was not made by the librarians, but somebody upstairs. I'm not personally familiar with the library associations in Britain, but the American Library Association has come out against filtering software. (For its troubles, it gets labeled a left-wing group that hates America, but we're used to it.) Whoever decided to put the filters on, I'm pretty sure that the actual decision to block Tim was made by the software provider (probably one person complained) and not the library.

I'll point out that at one time the college I work for had put filtering software up. (They were less worried about content than bandwidth and were using it to keep students from downloading MP3s.) The software blocked several blogs for "guns" and Samizdata for hate speech.

I remember the Croydon library fondly from my time there in 1994 (I'm an American). It is a very, very nice library, with a good staff. I do remember the over-the-top politically correct displays, which were very depressing, so I have to say the story doesn't suprise me. The left-wing domination of public services is most depressing and, I think, conservatism's biggest challenge.

And, Max (above), the American Library Association gets labelled a left-wing group that hates America because....because...well, because it's a left-wing group that hates America.

Tim, Tim, Tim. What do you have against speech? What did it ever do to you? Why do you hate it so much, you naughty boy?!

He is secretly working for the Trilats!

Sounds just like something the POMS would do- block a site because it uses naughty words and isn't served with a spot of tea.
Bloody joke- no wonder I live here.

They probably know you are trying to piss them off. reason: bait speech!

Or Fish blogging = bait speech?

They have opposable thumbs and electricity in Croydon? Wonders will never cease... next you'll be telling us they have reliable supplies of soap and hot water.

Or after we ate the fish ... Reason: plate speech

The reason for the left's domination of public services is mostly because the right refuses to accord them any legitimacy. If the right wants to keep the opinion of the people on their side, they'd better wake up and realize that people don't respect politicians for their big cars and ivory towers, they respect them for the things they do for the people. As long as the people have an outside threat to worry about, the right will be favored, but if either the right fails to keep them safe, or there no longer seems to be a threat (i.e., the right keeps them safe long enough), public opinion will turn back to the side that gave them better domestic policies, and it looks like that's going to be the left.

Typical of labor party controlled councils. To amuse, Spectator carried reports of such councils throwing out truckloads of councils' libraries copies of the canon of English literature and other first rate works. Why: because they discriminated against minorities.
Margaret Thatcher was overthrown too too soon. Another term and she would have ahd those havens for communistos thoroughly gutted. Come to that, quite a few councils in Australia are in need of a good gutting.