Libertarian Librarian

Okay, I suppose I better do the “this is what you can likely find here” post. My first post was necessarily about Girl Scout Cookies, because nothing could possibly beat Thin Mints, but the second post will have to be the introduction. Hmm… let’s see, I’m a librarian and a libertarian—but a mainstream sort of libertarian. Old school, baybee—smaller government, lower taxes, government out of the schools and the churches and, especially, people’s houses and bedrooms. Fiscal conservative, social liberal. Pretty darn hawkish when it comes to the war on terror. That’s me in a very, very concise nutshell. The details of which will likely expose themselves over time as I post. At least, that’s the plan.

Topics you’ll find here (in no particular order):

• Oh THAT Ivory Tower: Posts on the ridiculous liberal imbalance in academia today.
• Energy concerns: My fear is that much of the world economy is built on a house of cards supported by oil—so what happens when we start to run out?
• Politics: Gotta have politics.
• Football: Not a lot going on now, but I will be posting about my beloved Packers from time to time. Fantasy football as well, mayhap.
• Family: My awesome wife, my two awesome kids (one girl, one boy).
• Librarianship and archival administration: In particular, the trend in libraries to follow the same worrisome PC line we are seeing overwhelmingly in academia these days.
• Fiction: Could be something Iowahawkish. Could be something completely original. Could be crap. You never know.

That’s me. My shadow will be Jack Montaq—an actual person (not me) I assure you, whom I know very well. We see eye-to-eye on some things, but not so much on most of them. We’ve been debating many of these things via email and in person for the last month or so—I hope that the exchange will continue, and if it does, I plan to post some of the exchanges here, for whatever its worth. Jack’s position’s are thoughtful, informed, and non-confrontational (most of the time). Hopefully so are mine. The goal is to have a rational debate about important topics without resorting to ad hominem and wild-eyed blather. Hopefully, neither of us will ever say, ‘So’s your mama!’ or the like.

The last few weeks of February are always hard-- football is over, the weather here in Wisconsin generally bites, and cabin fever is starting to really set in. Fortunately, the Girl Scouts, in their benificent wisdom, choose the end of this short, dreary month to send out their mana-- thin mints! This year, my daughter is old enough to be a Brownie, and for the very first time in my life, I have first crack at the goods. Sometimes, quite often in fact, it is good to be the Dad.

As an added bonus, it's the last day of February, and March Madness is only 16 days away!

Okay, okay, not really much a librarian or libertarian post, but hey-- you have to have priorities.