Friday, May 6, 2011

half-life

Haven't much time to blog today but I wanted to tell a tale of a giant's decline, illustrate a small portion of the map of a once-great city's road to ruin...all paved with good intentions and government intervention.
But, if you'll excuse me now, I must get back to work here at the reference desk - a young lady just requested the newest literary work by someone named "Snooki", the gentleman calling on line 4 wants some DVD about a time-traveling hot tub, and a very loud woman has started to complain that her Farmville game keeps making the computer crash.

18 comments:

Mike W. said...

Don't worry, they just need to Do it again only HARDER.

Clearly there are two issues in Detroit.

1. They simply haven't spent enough. The solution is simple you see, more government involvement and more taxpayer money.

2. The money is being spent poorly by the wrong people. If they can just elect "the right people" magical government unicorns will rain down musical farts teaching the poor children of Detroit their ABC's.

I'm joking of course, but plenty of people (see liberals) view the above as actual, viable solutions and keep trying them over and over. That is what turns such cities into shitholes. It's insanity.

Jay G said...

Bread, circuses, nothing to see here...

Bubblehead Les. said...

So, Ms. Breda, as a Preeminent Reference Librarian, just what ARE the signs of a Declining Civilization? Or should I just take a half-hour drive into Cleveland and see for myself? Or stroll down the streets of Pittsburgh at night?

Wait a minute, I've just did those things in the last week. Never mind.

Frackin' Politicians and their Votes for Welfare.

Cemetery's Gun Blob said...

Detroit just needs to see more tax dollars.

That will fix the issue, ask any Liberal.....they'll tell ya.

Borepatch said...

But don't forget, the people who set these programs up are smarter than we are. Nicer, too.

ajdshootist said...

A few to many overpaid community organiser's maybe!

Ponyexpress said...

@Cemetery-You're exactly right. In one of the articles someone blames declining tax revenues not that they are spending too much.

John A said...

A time-travelling hot tub?

JB Miller said...

Ever see the movie Idiocracy?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/

Anonymous said...

If it would make you feel any better, I read about 500-1000 (mass market paperback size) pages a month, depending on season.

This can range from fiction (most recently the whole Harry Potter series), nonfiction (up next: The Cuckoo's Egg), and gaming books (I'll likely pick up the Shadowrun or Eclipse phase books, which I had put down about a year ago).

PPPP said...

I especially liked the part about spending $200,000 on a fundraising plan to raise $20 million.

They got less than $100.

They should all be fired.

At a minimum.

Anonymous said...

Everyone, you seem to forget that results and consequences don't matter so long as you have good intentions.

At least the young lady looking for the Snooki book knows how to read, right?

@John A
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1231587/

@PPPP
Some young friends of mine did something similar, but thankfully on a much smaller scale. Spent $100 to raise $70, and oddly enough they felt proud of themselves.

Glenn B said...

"Spent $100 to raise $70, and oddly enough they felt proud of themselves."

I got your point but let me point out that raising $70 by spending $100 is an impossibilty. Nothing was raised or gained, there was only something lost. They lost $30 plain and simple. Maybe if someone who understood the folly of their way had educated them to that fact they would not have felt so good about themselves and tried harder next time.

The same holds true within our educational system. Maybe kids would learn a bit better if teachers became what they once were - authoritarians of the three R's (instead of wussie far left liberals with agendas other than children learning). The old type teachers would correct us when wrong and whoop us when consistently wrong or when we were being less than attentive students. Of course, that would mean parent's would have to back teachers up. That also was the way it was when parents were also authoritarian figures instead of the feel good, spoil their kids rotten types that it seems most have become in our lifetimes. (Well, in our lifetimes if you are as old as me.)

All the best,
GB

Glenn B said...

Forgot to mention:

Having 2 folks, out of 3, come to you and ask for reading material may be indicative that at least they can read even if they only read trash. Your community's education system may be doing something right or at least better than Detroit's.

Dave said...

I looked at the title and immediately thought of the dystopian hell hole of City 17, from the video game Half Life 2.

Well, Detroit could probably fill in for it pretty easily...

Sabra said...

San Antonio has recently opened two new branch libraries. The optimism I'd usually feel has been mitigated by the hatchet job at the Central Library. The children's floor to my knowledge remains the same, but the other three floors' worth of books are now all on the same floor, which leads me to believe the extant inventory was shuffled around among the expanded building-count, rather than there being any net gain.

But hey, they lengthened the River Walk.

Jenny said...

So Breda - you'd know this.

Has the proportion of trash-media always been so high? Or has it increased over the years?

What goes into those purchasing decisions - who decides how much..well... crap you buy on the taxpayer's dime, and why?

breda said...

It all has to do with circulation stats. The more "business" (or circulation) a library gets, the more funding money that library will receive. Therefore, if crap circulates well, then the library will buy more crap. It goes a long way toward explaining why most libraries have become free DVD rental places, doesn't it?