Librarians on the frontline; MV Times, July 31, 2025

Abby Remer, MV Times; Librarians on the frontline

"Kim A. Snyder’s “The Librarians,” screening at the Grange Hall on August 1, is part of the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival’s 25th anniversary Summer Celebration Series.

The powerful, deeply chilling documentary exposes the complexities surrounding the rising tide of book bans in libraries over the past five years, and the courageous heroes who battle against them. 

Snyder, an Oscar-nominated and Peabody-winning director, opens the documentary with Ray Bradbury’s unsettling words from “Fahrenheit 451”: “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a specific pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.”

She goes on to weave together tense school board meetings with intimate interviews of librarians on the frontlines who have been fired, harassed, and stalked as they defend books about race and LGBTQ topics. Snyder enhances current real-life events with clips from old movies that rail against librarians and endorse book-burning, reflecting how scarily close reality has come to art. 

The first voice we hear is that of a distressed librarian who is backlit to remain anonymous. “I never imagined that what’s happening now could ever happen. It didn’t dawn on us that we’d come under attack. We never imagined we’d be at the forefront … We’re stewards of the space, of the resources. We’re stewards for the people … Now we’ve moved into the vanguard.”

Throughout the film, we meet librarians in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida as they face fierce opponents — including politicians, the right-wing organization Moms for Liberty, and conservative school boards — while defending access to books that reflect students’ lives. Although their passion is evident, it is even more powerful to watch clips of students testifying or sharing informal moments about their experiences, as they are the ones harmed by the removal of books that speak to their truth. One teenage student at a school board meeting stands at a podium, confronting the members: “The job of the superintendent and school board is not only to protect students in this district, but to make them feel like they have a place in this community. I have got to tell you, from what I’m seeing so far, you are failing at your job … Stop the censorship in our district. Wake up to the reality that we are all different, and we should embrace each other with love and not blatant hate.”...

At the film’s end, the anonymous librarian comes forth on camera, leaving us with her words, “I can’t stay in the shadows anymore … I won’t be censored, just like we can’t let them keep censoring the stories in our books. What I do know is that our story is still being written. But now it’s everyone’s story.”"

ALI VELSHI BANNED BOOK CLUB WITH THE MOST BANNED AUTHOR IN THE COUNTRY; The Philadelphia Citizen, July 28, 2025

 ALI VELSHI, The Philadelphia Citizen; ALI VELSHI BANNED BOOK CLUB WITH THE MOST BANNED AUTHOR IN THE COUNTRY

"While book bans have fallen out of the news cycle, the assault on information and the freedom to read continues to be deployed against our libraries, schools, and the general public. Ali Velshi points out that since January 2025, 133 bills have been introduced in 33 states that would negatively affect libraries, librarians, and access to literature. 

This legislation seeks to cut funding, restrict literary content, and even criminalize school librarians, all with the ultimate goal of censorship.

Fortunately, particularly in red states, citizens are standing up for their rights and successfully fighting these efforts. Coalitions of libraries, publishers, families, nonprofits, and other activists are organizing, protesting, testifying, putting pressure on elected officials, and filing lawsuits.

Velshi Banned Book Club’s very first member, George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren’t Blue and Flamboyants, returned to discuss state and school district book bans, legislation, and the lawsuits challenging them. “The lawsuits are helping in a myriad of ways,” says Johnson. “You have to go through the discovery process, that’s when you really start to realize what the true motives are.”"

Long Beach will open up its e-book library so teens from other states can read banned books; Long Beach Post, July 31, 2025

Natalie Canalis, Long Beach Post ; Long Beach will open up its e-book library so teens from other states can read banned books

"Free digital Long Beach Public Library cards will soon be available to teens across the nation in an effort to offset bookbanning in other parts of the country, thanks to a new partnership between Long Beach and the Brooklyn Public Library.

While book-banning attempts are rare in Long Beach, with the most recent challenge at the library failing in 2016, the practice is not uncommon. In 2024, the American Library Association recorded challenges to 2,452 different books across the country. The association said the majority of those challenges came from organized movements, many targeting sexual or LGBTQ+ content.

Books Unbanned, a program started by the Brooklyn Public Library in 2022, provides access to that library’s — as well as the Boston, LA County, San Diego and Seattle Public Libraries’ — online catalog to United States teens and young adults aged 13 to 21."

Judge Bars Trump Administration From Punishing 2 Law Professors for I.C.C. Work; The New York Times, July 30, 2025

 Zach Montague, The New York Times; Judge Bars Trump Administration From Punishing 2 Law Professors for I.C.C. Work

"A federal judge on Wednesday permanently barred the Trump administration from imposing penalties on two law professors over their involvement with the International Criminal Court, finding that the threat violated their First Amendment rights...

Judge Furman’s ruling mirrored the conclusions of another judge during President Trump’s first term, who found in January 2021 that a similar executive order Mr. Trump had signed likely forced Mr. Rona and three other professors to abandon or reconsider speech and legal advocacy out of fear that the order could be enforced against them."

Trump’s Ex-Copyright Chief Loses Bid to Regain Her Old Job; Bloomberg Law, July 30, 2025

 Quinn Wilson, Bloomberg Law; Trump’s Ex-Copyright Chief Loses Bid to Regain Her Old Job

"Former Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter couldn’t convince a district court to reinstate her to her post.

Perlmutter failed to show Timothy J. Kelly that she or Library of Congress or the Copyright Office faces irreparable harm as a result of her firing, according to a memorandum opinion issued Wednesday. Kelly denied her motion for a preliminary injunction in the US District Court for the District of Columbia."

‘Robo-Bunnies’ Are the Newest Weapon in the Fight Against Invasive Burmese Pythons in Florida; Smithsonian Magazine, July 21, 2025

Sarah Kuta  , Smithsonian Magazine; ‘Robo-Bunnies’ Are the Newest Weapon in the Fight Against Invasive Burmese Pythons in Florida

"Wildlife biologists in Florida are doing everything they can to eradicate invasive Burmese pythons, from hosting public hunting challenges and hiring bounty hunters to affixing tracking devices to male “scout” snakes that can lead them to large, reproductive females.

Now, they’ve come up with an innovative new tool to help battle the destructive snakes: robotic rabbits.

Scientists at the University of Florida are deploying the so-called “robo-bunnies” throughout South Florida in hopes of drawing Burmese pythons out of their hiding places so they can be euthanized, reports Kimberly Miller for the Palm Beach Post. By luring the pythons to the rabbit look-alikes, biologists can save time that might otherwise be spent searching through the swamp for the snakes."

Tech giant Palantir helps the US government monitor its citizens. Its CEO wants Silicon Valley to find its moral compass; The Conversation, July 28, 2025

Noel Castree Professor of Society & Environment, University of Technology Sydney , The Conversation; Tech giant Palantir helps the US government monitor its citizens. Its CEO wants Silicon Valley to find its moral compass

"Critics of those who misuse power tend to be outsiders. So, it’s striking that Alexander Karp, co-founder and CEO of data analytics giant Palantir Technologies, has written a book, with Palantir’s head of corporate affairs Nicholas Zamiska, calling on Silicon Valley to find its moral compass...

Karp has described Palantir’s work as “the finding of hidden things”. The New York Times described its work as sifting “through mountains of data to perceive patterns, including patterns of suspicious or aberrant behavior”.

Palantir has worked closely with United States armed forces and intelligence agencies across Democratic and Republican governments for 14 years. It has been criticised for enabling heightened government surveillance and loss of privacy among US citizens."

Emil Bove Is a Sign of the Times; The Atlantic, July 30, 2025

 Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic; Emil Bove Is a Sign of the Times

"Whatever approach Bove takes from here, his path so far has demonstrated that total sycophancy to the president can be a fantastic career move for ambitious lawyers—especially those for whom other avenues of success might not be forthcoming."

We are witnessing the silencing of American media; The Guardian, July 30, 2025

Robert Reich, The Guardian; We are witnessing the silencing of American media

"It’s the same with American universities, whose professors have often criticized Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional actions and whose research has often yielded conclusions that contradict Trump’s lies (such as that climate change is a “hoax”).

Columbia University and a handful of others have gone out of their way to “cooperate” with the Trump regime in order to avoid Trump’s wrath.

What does “cooperation” entail? Silencing Trump’s potential critics.

Columbia has just agreed to allow the regime to review its admissions and hiring practices in order to receive the federal research grants that the regime had held back.

Friends, this is how democracy dies.

The silencing is happening across America because Trump cannot stand criticism, because he’s vindictive as hell, and because he’s willing and able to use every department and agency of the federal government to punish any media corporations or universities that allow criticism of him.

Shame on any media outlet or university that allows Trump to silence it.

Trump is a dangerous despot. America needs its Eduardo Porters, Stephen Colberts, and all others in the media and in academia who have helped the nation understand just how truly dangerous Trump is."

Ethics Panel Rebukes Congressman for Wife’s Stock Trade in Firm He Helped; The New York Times, July 25, 2025

Carl Hulse , The New York Times; Ethics Panel Rebukes Congressman for Wife’s Stock Trade in Firm He Helped

"The House Ethics Committee on Friday rebuked a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania and urged him and his wife to sell their holdings in a steel company in his district after a four-year investigation into a stock trade found that he had violated the House’s official code of conduct.

In its report, the committee cited Representative Mike Kelly, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, for a “lack of candor” in its inquiry into 2020 trades by his wife, Victoria, involving a local steel company that was seeking government intervention to prevent layoffs or the closure of its plant in Butler, Pa., in Mr. Kelly’s district.

Mr. Kelly was actively lobbying the Trump administration for trade protections for the plant, newly purchased by the company Cleveland-Cliffs, and learned that the Commerce Department was going to intervene in favor of the firm. The next day — five days before the Commerce action was made public — his wife purchased 5,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock. She later sold the stock at a nearly $65,000 profit, a roughly 285-percent gain.

Members of Congress are prohibited from using confidential information for financial benefit and must disclose transactions by them or close family members valued at more than $1,000, but efforts to tighten those rules or bar lawmakers from trading stocks altogether have so far been unsuccessful. That has created an environment rife with potential conflicts of interest, in which many lawmakers who are active in the stock market have unique insight into or influence over companies whose shares they are buying and selling."

European Creators Slam AI Act Implementation, Warn Copyright Protections Are Failing; The Hollywood Reporter; July 30, 2025

  Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter; European Creators Slam AI Act Implementation, Warn Copyright Protections Are Failing

"The coalition is asking for the European Commission to revisit its implementation of the AI Act to ensure the law ” lives up to its promise to safeguard European intellectual property rights in the age of generative AI.”

E-books are on the line as Congress considers future of library funding; USA TODAY, July 29, 2025

 Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY ; E-books are on the line as Congress considers future of library funding

[Kip Currier: Why is it okay for Trump and members of the GOP to secretly fund nearly a billion dollars to retrofit a Qatari plane, but it's not okay with them for public libraries to continue to receive IMLS grants that provide access to books, summer reading programs, and services that promote literacy and educated work forces? 

There's something fundamentally unethical -- and adverse to the common good -- about supporting measures that give billionaires more and more money, while cutting funds to museums and libraries that improve the lives of millions of Americans every day.

If you care about reading, education, libraries, and museums, let your legislators know NOW!]

[Excerpt]

"States' libraries to lose as much as half their funding

The Institute for Museum and Library Services, a tiny, little-known federal agency, provides grants to states that account for 30% to 50% of state library budgets, according to the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies.

For decades it has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars in congressionally approved funds through grants to state libraries in all 50 states and Washington, DC, and to library, museum and archives programs. It serves 35,000 museums and 123,000 libraries across the country, according to its website.

The impact of losing the money will be different in each state because each spends its portion of the funding differently.

Some will have to fire staff and end tutoring and summer reading programs. Others will cut access to electronic databases, end intra-library loans or reduce access to books for the deaf and blind. Many will have to stop providing internet service for rural libraries or e-book access statewide.

With the expectation that Congress won't buck Trump and fund the museum and library services institute, the future of these backbone "compassionate" library services is now under discussion across the nation, said John Chrastka, founder of EveryLibrary, a nonprofit that organizes grassroot campaigns for library funding and blocking book bans."

How an M&M Sparked the Search for the Next Perfect Peanut; The New York Times, July 24, 2025

 Kim Severson , The New York Times; How an M&M Sparked the Search for the Next Perfect Peanut

"As one of the largest privately held companies in the United States, Mars approaches agricultural research differently than many corporations. Like open-source software, the information its research produces is available for anyone to use or share with no patents or intellectual property rights standing in the way. The company has invested in similar research in cacao and mint, two other crops Mars cannot survive without.

It’s the way Forrest Mars, Sr., the billionaire who invented M&Ms, would have wanted it, Mars scientists say. In 1947 he declared mutuality — the idea that Mars’s success should also benefit others — as one of the company’s five core principles. It still guides the company, which had nearly $50 billion in sales in 2024. And it’s why they are all in on the Wild Peanut Lab."

Comply to Fly? How Airport Travelers Experience TSA’s Facial Recognition Experiment; Algorithmic Justice League, July 29, 2025

Algorithmic Justice League; Comply to Fly? How Airport Travelers Experience TSA’s Facial Recognition Experiment

"TSA is expanding its facial recognition program to airports across the United States, yet little information is known about how travelers are experiencing the program. The Algorithmic Justice League launched the TSA Scorecard to conduct the first comprehensive study based on travelers' experiences with airport face scans, and the results are ready to share!

“Comply to Fly? How Airport Travelers Experience TSA’s Facial Recognition Experiment” by Dr. Joy Buolamwini, Sushma Raman, and Andrea Dean gives the traveling public, policymakers, and agency officials missing insights on the real-world impact of facial recognition technologies in US airports. Two years of real traveler feedback on TSA’s facial recognition experiment revealed concerning gaps in the program’s transparency, travelers’ ability to consent, and the treatment of travelers by TSA agents. Key takeaways: 🔍 Many travelers across 91 US airports experience the TSA Facial Recognition Program as mandatory, even though it’s presented by agency officials as voluntary. 🔍 Informed Consent is not consistently achieved by the TSA Facial Recognition Program - many travelers are not informed they can opt out and/or given the opportunity to do so. 🔍 Some travelers face verbal abuse, hostile body language, increased scrutiny, and other injuries to dignity and respect when attempting to opt out. Download the full report to learn more ➡️ www.ajl.org/flyreport "

Gold Dust; The Hastings Center for Bioethics, July 28, 2025

Arthur Caplan, The Hastings Center for Bioethics ; Gold Dust

"There has been a good deal of discussion about President Trump’s executive order calling for gold standard science to be the governing standard for the federal funding of American science. His director of the Office of Science and Technology, Michael Kratsios, a businessman with no substantive training or experience in science or engineering, issued a memorandum to all federal agencies providing guidance as to how to implement the order. 

He wrote: “Gold Standard Science represents a commitment to the highest standards of scientific integrity, defined by nine core tenets: reproducible; transparent; communicative of error and uncertainty; collaborative and interdisciplinary; skeptical of its findings and assumptions; structured for falsifiability of hypotheses; subject to unbiased peer review; accepting of negative results as positive outcomes; and without conflicts of interest. These tenets ensure that federally-supported research, and research used in Federal decision-making, is transparent, rigorous, and impactful, enabling Federal decisions to be informed by the most credible, reliable, and impartial scientific evidence available.”

He gave the agencies until August 22 to submit to OSTP and post on their websites reports outlining how they plan to implement gold standard science. 

There are many matters to debate about the content of this memorandum, including how to determine reproducibility, what is meant by being skeptical of findings and assumptions, what constitutes unbiased peer review, and insuring a lack of conflicts of interest. But amid this vast number of trees is a forest that can’t be ignored. Trump’s executive order empowers his political appointees to ultimately validate research outcomes. Instead of independent expert reviews of research, a Trump functionary can look at any peer-reviewed work and declare it to be in violation of the President’s gold standard due to bias, some imagined conflict of interest, skepticism, or simply uncertainty.The United States has never had a situation in which political and ideological nonscientists got the last word about what is credible science. The direct political oversight of science represented in the gold standard currency is not sound. Moving determinations of what scientific evidence is to nonscientists is stepping directly toward the terrible results prior autocratic regimes produced using politically vetted science...

Politics has a role to play in determining what research budgets will be and ultimately whether sound science will be used to drive public policy. But the standards of valid science ought not be subject to political litmus tests."

Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin says "Supes and I are old friends" as he praises James Gunn's DC movie: "This new Superman reminds me of the version I used to read about"; Games Radar, July 26, 2025

Molly Edwards , Games Radar; Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin says "Supes and I are old friends" as he praises James Gunn's DC movie: "This new Superman reminds me of the version I used to read about"

"Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin has shared his verdict on James Gunn's Superman – and it's very positive.

"Supes and I are old friends, and this is one of the best Superman movies in a long time… maybe ever," Martin shared on his Not a Blog page. "This new Superman reminds me of the version I used to read about when I was a kid, the strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. (And yes, an innocent, of course, he's always been an immigrant. And an illegal immigrant, when you stop to think of it)."

James Gunn Says ‘Superman’ Is An “Immigrant” Story About “Basic Human Kindness”; Deadline, July 6, 2025

Natalie Oganesyan , Deadline; James Gunn Says ‘Superman’ Is An “Immigrant” Story About “Basic Human Kindness”

"Long established as an allegory for the immigrant experience, especially when viewed through the personal histories of Superman‘s comic book co-creators — second-generation Jewish immigrants Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster — DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn said his forthcoming film entry of Kal-El keeps in tune with the original 1938-created vision.

“I mean, Superman is the story of America,” the Superman helmer told The Times U.K. in a new profile. “An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.”"

Under Siege From Trump and Musk, a Top Liberal Group Falls Into Crisis; New York Times, July 25, 2025

Kenneth P. Vogel Kate Conger and Ryan Mac, New York Times;  Under Siege From Trump and Musk, a Top Liberal Group Falls Into Crisis

"Even as the battle continues, Media Matters stands as an example of how legal warfare waged by powerful ideological opponents can squelch influential voices and stifle political dissent. The group says it has dialed back its criticism of Mr. Musk and the Trump F.T.C. Media Matters has also been frozen out by some allies. And it has faced plummeting staff morale, rising infighting and security concerns.

All that has proved quite a change in fortune for the influential group.

Media Matters raised nearly $250 million in the two decades between its creation in 2003 and the end of 2023, establishing itself as a force in Democratic politics by effectively undermining major right-wing media figures and politicians.

The bleak outlook now facing the group underscores the serious harms that can be inflicted when the Trump administration and its allies train the vast resources of government or billionaire bank accounts on perceived enemies.

It leaves targets facing a tricky choice: whether to spend heavily and fight back, or negotiate settlements that risk backlash for abandoning their convictions."

Meta pirated and seeded porn for years to train AI, lawsuit says; Ars Technica, July 28, 2025

ASHLEY BELANGER  , Ars Technica; Meta pirated and seeded porn for years to train AI, lawsuit says

"Porn sites may have blown up Meta's key defense in a copyright fight with book authors who earlier this year said that Meta torrented "at least 81.7 terabytes of data across multiple shadow libraries" to train its AI models.

Meta has defeated most of the authors' claims and claimed there is no proof that Meta ever uploaded pirated data through seeding or leeching on the BitTorrent network used to download training data. But authors still have a chance to prove that Meta may have profited off its massive piracy, and a new lawsuit filed by adult sites last week appears to contain evidence that could help authors win their fight, TorrentFreak reported.

The new lawsuit was filed last Friday in a US district court in California by Strike 3 Holdings—which says it attracts "over 25 million monthly visitors" to sites that serve as "ethical sources" for adult videos that "are famous for redefining adult content with Hollywood style and quality."

After authors revealed Meta's torrenting, Strike 3 Holdings checked its proprietary BitTorrent-tracking tools designed to detect infringement of its videos and alleged that the company found evidence that Meta has been torrenting and seeding its copyrighted content for years—since at least 2018. Some of the IP addresses were clearly registered to Meta, while others appeared to be "hidden," and at least one was linked to a Meta employee, the filing said."

'AI models in Vogue?' Guess ad sparks uproar; USA TODAY, July 28, 2025

Taijuan Moorman,USA TODAY; 'AI models in Vogue?' Guess ad sparks uproar

 "Vogue and Guess are under fire for the label's use of an AI model in an advert within the magazine's latest issue.

In Vogue's latest issue, a two-page Guess ad features a model sitting at a table while wearing a pale blue romper detailed with creme floral mesh appliqué, and the same model leaning against a wall in a black-and-white chevron-patterned maxi dress, with a coordinating handbag. In fine print in the corner of the ad reads: "Produced by Seraphinne Vallora on AI."

Reactions to the use of an artificial intelligence-generated model has been swift. Social media commentary have been harsh, especially toward Vogue, with calls to discontinue support for the magazine."

Tariffs on Medicines From Europe Stand to Cost Drugmakers Billions; The New York Times, July 28, 2025

 Rebecca Robbins, The New York Times; Tariffs on Medicines From Europe Stand to Cost Drugmakers Billions

"The trade deal reached between the United States and the European Union on Sunday will impose a 15 percent tariff on imported medicines from Europe. Drugmakers manufacture some of their biggest and best-known blockbusters there, including Botox, the cancer medication Keytruda and popular weight-loss drugs like Ozempic...

Pharmaceutical products are Europe’s No. 1 export to the United States...

Europe manufactures the active ingredients for 43 percent of the brand-name drugs consumed in the United States, according to U.S. Pharmacopeia, a nonprofit that tracks the drug supply chain. No other region produces a greater share.

Europe also makes active ingredients for 18 percent of the generic drugs taken in the United States, which have lower prices and account for a vast majority of Americans’ prescriptions."

Stephen Colbert Latches Onto One Disturbing Word in Trump’s Epstein Defense; The Daily Beast, July 28, 2025

Michael Boyle , The Daily Beast; Stephen Colbert Latches Onto One Disturbing Word in Trump’s Epstein Defense

"Stephen Colbert was baffled by Donald Trump’s attempts to downplay his former friendship with Jeffrey Epstein—especially the claim that the president had “never had the privilege” of going to Epstein’s island. 

Colbert played the clip of Trump saying this to his audience, who groaned at Trump’s choice of words. “I’m sorry,” Colbert said. “What? You never had the privilege of going to Epstein’s island?""

Proposed Pa. bill would prohibit law enforcement from wearing masks, would require identifiable uniforms; WFMZ, July 28, 2025

Jack Reinhard, WFMZ ; Proposed Pa. bill would prohibit law enforcement from wearing masks, would require identifiable uniforms

"State Rep. Joshua Siegel is co-signing a Pennsylvania bill that if passed, would prohibit law enforcement from wearing masks and require identifiable uniforms or clothing.

"We have a right to know who's in our community and what they're doing," said Siegel.

A memo for the bill said this comes following Homeland Security and U.S. Border Patrol allowing agents to conceal their faces."

Your employees may be leaking trade secrets into ChatGPT; Fast Company, July 24, 2025

KRIS NAGEL , Fast Company; Your employees may be leaking trade secrets into ChatGPT

"Every CEO I know wants their team to use AI more, and for good reason: it can supercharge almost every area of their business and make employees vastly more efficient. Employee use of AI is a business imperative, but as it becomes more common, how can companies avoid major security headaches? 

Sift’s latest data found that 31% of consumers admit to entering personal or sensitive information into GenAI tools like ChatGPT, and 14% of those individuals explicitly reported entering company trade secrets. Other types of information that people admit to sharing with AI chatbots include financial details, nonpublic facts, email addresses, phone numbers, and information about employers. At its core, it reveals that people are increasingly willing to trust AI with sensitive information."

Michigan Library Association launches petition to protect right to read; WKAR, July 28, 2025

Ed Coury , WKAR; Michigan Library Association launches petition to protect right to read

"The Patmos Library, located in the small western Michigan town, faced backlash over its inclusion of LGBTQ+-related material. Voters chose to withhold public funding for the library in 2022, effectively defunding it. Community members later raised nearly $100,000 to keep the library operational.

The association’s petition drive is supported by a statewide Epic-MRA poll conducted in June. Commissioned by the Michigan Library Association, the poll found that nearly 80% of voters approve of the work being done by libraries in the state, and 75% trust librarians to make decisions about which books should be available.

The Michigan Library Association says it hopes the petition will send a clear message to lawmakers about the value residents place on intellectual freedom and access to information."

Connie Chung Says ‘Shame On’ Shari Redstone and the Ellisons: ‘I Fear the End of CBS as I Knew It’ | Video; The Wrap, July 26, 2025

 Josh Dickey, The Wrap; Connie Chung Says ‘Shame On’ Shari Redstone and the Ellisons: ‘I Fear the End of CBS as I Knew It’ | Video

Former “CBS Evening News” anchor Connie Chung said the impending sale of Paramount and “60 Minutes” skirmish with Donald Trump represent “the end of CBS News” as she knew it, blaming Shari Redstone and the Ellisons for the demise of “unbiased, fact-based journalism.”

“CBS was always a standalone network,” Chung said in a CNN interview with Brianna Keilar on Saturday. “The news division was autonomous. It was always unencumbered by pressures from politicians – including presidents – and unencumbered by bean-counters. But now I can see that the days [of] honest, unbiased, fact-based journalism is being tainted.

Chung placed the blame squarely on Redstone, chair of Paramount Global, and “Larry Ellison, and his son David,” who “seem to only know greed, avarice. I worry about the CBS I used to know.”"

Joe Rogan urges progressive Texas Democrat to run for president, calling him a 'good person'; Fox News, July 20, 2025

 Lindsay Kornick, Fox News; Joe Rogan urges progressive Texas Democrat to run for president, calling him a 'good person'

"Podcast giant Joe Rogan suggested on his show Friday that his latest guest, Texas Democratic State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, run for president as Democrats scramble for a new leader.

"You need to run for president," Rogan told Talarico near the end of the nearly 3-hour conversation. "We need someone who's actually a good person.""