Hasta La Gadget!

When he was coming out in college, Martin Garnar found solace in his campus library, where he read affirming stories about and by LGBTQ people.

“I knew I wasn’t alone,” he told The Huffington Post in an interview. “Everyone wants to see themselves reflected in their library, and the library should represent all members of its community.”

Today, he looks back on his own positive experience with libraries, which influences the choices he makes as the dean of the library at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and as president of the Freedom to Read Foundation.

In the 20 years he’s spent working as a librarian, he says his goal has always been the same: “to help people change their lives through access to timely, relevant information.”

But the day-to-day of that goal is in constant flux, for Garnar and others. For some libraries, serving the community means hiring a social worker who can assist the homeless population; for others, providing internet access to visitors who wouldn’t have it otherwise is key. And, since Donald Trump was elected president, issues such as the distribution and validation of fake news have grown in importance for librarians, who are uniquely poised to combat it.

We feel it’s important to model the kind of civil dialogue we wish we saw more of in our larger society.
Martin Garnar, Freedom to Read Foundation President

In his role at the Freedom to Read Foundation, Garnar supports legal cases in which the First Amendment is being challenged ― be it by liberals or conservatives.

“The current administration’s early stances on civil liberties are troubling,” he said. “There are indications that they would support changes that could curtail free expression, whether it’s ending net neutrality or changing libel laws to make it easier to sue someone for saying unpleasant but true things about you.”

Battling this means more than providing amicus briefs for First Amendment cases. The organization also aims to offer educational materials about free expression, through webinars and scholarships.

Garnar counts fostering a welcoming space for trans library visitors as another one of his chief responsibilities.

“For the trans community, it’s important to find that same kind of welcoming experience,” he said. “This not only includes having books and other materials representing the breadth of the trans experience, but offering the full range of library services to this community. It can be as simple as putting your preferred pronouns on your name tag or in your email signature.”

To this end, he hosts a series at his college called Just Talk, where students are invited to openly discuss equity and diversity.

“Libraries have long been known as a place where everyone is welcome and where no topic should be off limits for researchers, so we feel that the library is the perfect place to host discussions on topics that can be difficult to broach,” Garnar said. “We also feel it’s important to model the kind of civil dialogue we wish we saw more of in our larger society, and we think students need opportunities to learn how to engage with people with whom they disagree so that they can begin to find common ground to address today’s issues.”

Garnar isn’t alone in feeling that his job as a librarian puts him in a position to create a space where disenfranchised groups are welcome, and where topics related to contemporary political issues can be discussed openly and truthfully.

The President of the American Librarian Association, Julie Todaro, spoke with The Huffington Post about reorganizing her priorities since November’s presidential election, and everything that has transpired since, especially regarding the issues of fake news and inclusivity. She says that offering library signage to reflect that the spaces are safe ones for LGBTQ visitors as well as immigrants is among her chief concerns. She’s also compiled educational materials to help young readers spot fake news.

Her mission echoes that of librarians nationwide.

Peter Coyl, who serves on the ALA’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Round Table, works to promote the resources that the organization has to offer, not only to librarians but to library-goers. Starting in June, he’ll serve as a member of  the ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee, too.

Coyl told HuffPost that his responsibilities as a librarian haven’t changed significantly since November ― he’s always considered it his job to connect people with information ― but he has seen a shift in how that information is provided, and in how libraries are perceived by the general public.

“Our role as the community center has become more recognized in recent years and the fact that many libraries offer GED, ESL, citizenship and other classes has been something that has been rediscovered,” Coyl said.

There’s been a cultural lack of communication which has fostered misunderstandings and hard feelings. Librarians are sensing this and responding to it.
Samantha Lee, co-organizer of the Connecticut Library Consortium Social Justice Roundtable

Samantha Lee, who works at the Enfield Public Library in Connecticut, feels similarly. While she says her role as a librarian hasn’t changed since November, she’s picked up on a general want her fellow librarians share, a want to make use of their abilities.

“What’s become more obvious, is how fractured the country is,” Lee told HuffPost. “There’s been a cultural lack of communication which has fostered misunderstandings and hard feelings. Librarians are sensing this and responding to it. We’re reaffirming libraries as community spaces ― welcoming and safe spaces. We celebrate diversity, intellectual freedom, and democracy.”

Sensing that her fellow librarians wanted a place where they could embrace and discuss their skill sets, Lee started a Social Justice Roundtable, as part of the Connecticut Library Consortium. The first meeting in February yielded some productive conversations and ideas. Librarians decided to do book talks about titles dealing with social justice issues, and to lead community forums on the opiate crisis.

“We also wanted to make sure these other librarians knew that they weren’t working in a vacuum and that they had support from their peers,” Lee said.

So, while the stereotype of a librarian may still be an image of an isolated academic with her nose in a book, these roles are populated by civically engaged individuals. It’s a good thing, then, that a recent ALA report suggests that library funding may finally be looking up, after a five-year downslide. In an age of fake news and political discrimination, these welcoming community centers are vital as ever.

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Police are investigating the vicious assault Monday of a Muslim woman in Milwaukee in what the local community is calling a hate crime. 

The 58-year-old woman, who does not want to be identified, told Fox6Now a man armed with a knife attacked her while she was walking home from her mosque early Monday. She said a car pulled up alongside her and he hopped out, demanding that she remove her hijab. 

“I tried to fight him,” she told the local news channel. “‘Don’t take my hijab,’ you know? So he threw me on the floor then he beat me like an animal.”

“Before he hurt me, I said ‘today I gonna die,” she recounted to WISN. “I gonna die.’” 

The council of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, where the woman attends mosque, described the assault in a letter to its members this week: 

He then grabbed her head and removed her hijab and began to attack her. She is a petite woman in her late 50s.  She tried to resist.  Her nose began to bleed from the hits she suffered.  Besides punching and kicking our sister in the head and back while she was on the ground, he also had a knife.  The jacket she was wearing has a long vertical cut in the back and also a cut on the arm of the jacket.  Our sister suffered a cut on her arm that, alhamdulillah [praise God], was not serious. As expected, she was terrified.  The attacker did not ask for money nor did he take her phone.  The attacker then returned to his car and sped off.  

The woman managed to walk home, where she then suffered a seizure, her lawyer, Munjed Ahmad, told The Huffington Post. Ahmad said the woman is epileptic and the attack likely induced the seizure.

A friend later arrived at the woman’s home and called 911. She was transported to a local hospital where she was sedated and released the following day. 

Ahmad told HuffPost the woman suffered a bloody nose, a laceration on her arm, a bloodied face, a black eye, and bruising on her face. Her hijab and a copy of the Quran she was carrying were both bloodied during the attack. 

The woman showed WISN her blood-stained hijab and rips in her jacket from the man’s knife. 

Ahmad said the attack “has all the markings” of a hate crime. The woman, he said, did not know her attacker.

“She did not know why he would do this,” he added. 

Another “clear indicator” that this was a hate crime, Ahmad said, was that the man “grabbed the headscarf immediately.” 

Sgt. Timothy Gauerke, a spokesman for the Milwaukee Police Department, confirmed that police are still searching for the suspect. 

“Based on the victim’s statement,” Gauerke said, “this is not believed to be a hate crime.” 

“None of us want this to be a hate crime,” Ahmad told HuffPost, because that would mean Muslims are “being targeted.” 

Still, he said, he and many others in the Milwaukee Muslim community believe it’s the only logical explanation. 

“We consider this to be a hate crime and an attack against our entire community,” the Islamic Society wrote in its letter. 

The Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition called the attack a “vicious hate crime on an innocent individual” in a press release Wednesday. 

“Unfortunately, the recent attack on a scarved Muslim woman this week fits into a larger pattern of hate in Milwaukee and around the country,” MMWC President Janan Najeeb said in a statement. “Hate crimes do not happen in a vacuum, they are part of a wider culture of hateful rhetoric coming from the top levels of government.

“This shameful rhetoric has normalized bigotry and empowered those that engage in violent hate,” she added. “There must be accountability!” 

There has been a slew of anti-Muslim hate incidents across the United States in recent months.

On Saturday, a woman in Los Angeles said a man repeatedly punched her and her dog in the street because she was wearing a hijab, telling her to go back to her country. 

Over the course of one week in March, a Virginia Muslim family returned to their home to find their copy of the Quran destroyed and “FUCK MUSLIMS” written on a wall; Colorado police arrested a man for throwing a Bible and rocks through the glass doors of a mosque; and in Minnesota, a man allegedly told police his hatred of Muslims drove him to stab a Somali man. 

Meanwhile, mosques have been targeted with threats or acts of vandalism or destruction at least 35 times this year, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations. In one seven-week span this year, authorities determined arsonists caused fires that targeted at least three mosques.

“Although the ISM has a security system and security procedures in place at the Islamic Center, this incident reminds us all that we must be very careful wherever we are, especially if we are in areas where there are no people or when it is dark,” it read. 

America does not do a good job of tracking incidents of hate and bias. We need your help to create a database of such incidents across the country, so we all know what’s going on. Tell us your story.

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“Sesame Street” is known for its good-natured parodies of famous people, even featuring a Donald Trump-esque character called Ronald Grump. 

Since the current administration seems to love “Sesame Street” and PBS so much, HuffPost Comedy decided to give members of Trump’s Cabinet a “Sesame Street” makeover.

Sean the Spice Bottle

Sean is a clumsy spice bottle from the spice rack. He desperately wants to make things taste better so they’re easier to swallow, but Sean the spice bottle can’t seem to keep a lid on it, and usually ends up making a mess.

Steve Bananan

Steve is a banana, and incredibly proud to be a banana. In fact, he usually can’t wait to peel away the layers and show everyone just how white he is. Nothing says “potassium, potassium, potassium!” like Steve Bananan!

Chaired Cushioner

Chaired is a cushion who loves to make people feel comfortable. So comfortable that they trust him with the most important jobs and secrets, even if he’s not even remotely qualified to have access to them.

Ryan 3 Bus

No matter what terrible things might be going on, Ryan the No. 3 bus believes everything is wonderful. His driver couldn’t be doing a better job! People he swerves past on the streets yell encouraging things! Climate change? Bah, nonsense! No need to get that carbon emissions test! 

Kellyanne One Way

Kellyanne is a one way sign! She’s here to teach you that there is only one right way to go. Unless she switches sides or gets turned around, then that’s the one way.

Bed Carson

Shhhh, Bed Carson is sleeping! And he’s also very good at helping you sleep! There’s nothing bad underneath, don’t worry about that, just sleeeeeeeeep!

Ike Fence

Ike is a white picket fence with small town values, and he keeps unwanted people away from his neighborhoods and bakeries and bathrooms. He looks after the house while his owner is away at the golf course, on vacation, or at the golf course while on vacation.

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There’s no better way to get the “Fox & Friends” crew going after breakfast than playing some good ol’ fashion freedom music and watching a video of an American payload snuffing out the lives of our enemies.

The show kicked off its Friday-morning segment with black and white footage of the “Mother of All Bombs” killing as many as 36 alleged Islamic State militants in Afghanistan on Thursday, with a celebratory backdrop of Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.”

As the footage plays and the “Fox & Friends” crew cackles, host Ainsley Earhardt crows, “That is what freedom looks like.”

If that forced patriotism wasn’t enough to make you gag, Geraldo Rivera joined the segment to note that watching bombs drop is one of his favorite things about working for Fox News.

“One of my favorite things in my 16 years I’ve been here at Fox News is watching bombs drop on bad guys,” he said.

It’s the latest in a cringe-worthy series of segments by several news stations hailing President Donald Trump’s newfound penchant for lobbing bombs as “presidential.”

Legendary anchor Dan Rather lashed out at the likes of CNN, MSNBC and The Washington Post for treating Trump’s airstrike in Syria last week as “a public relations operation.”

“The number of members of the press who have lauded the actions last night as ‘presidential’ is concerning,” Rather wrote in a Facebook post last Friday. “War must never be considered a public relations operation. It is not a way for an Administration to gain a narrative. It is a step into a dangerous unknown and its full impact is impossible to predict, especially in the immediate wake of the first strike.”

But we can’t put it any better than Toby Keith does:

“And it feels like the whole wide world is raining down on you/
Brought to you Courtesy of the Red White and Blue.”

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Facebook has incorporated some technical changes to its website that make it easier to address one of its biggest problems: spam accounts. According to a blog post by Protect and Care Team manager Shabnam Shaik, the social network can now detect fake…