Wikipedia Protests SOPA / PIPA

On January 18, 2012, the Wikipedia community is blacking out millions of articles of content in the English version for 24 hours to protest pending US legislation: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). The decision to withdraw content was made by the global community of Wikipedia editors and is supported by the Wikimedia Foundation, which is the non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia and numerous related projects.

Wikipedia is urging US constituents to contact their elected representatives and voice their opposition to the two acts now under consideration in the House of Representatives and Senate. Wikipedia states further that:

SOPA and PIPA cripple the free and open internet. They put the onus on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the blocking of entire sites, even if the links are not to infringing material. Small sites will not have the sufficient resources to mount a legal challenge. Without opposition, large media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for small competing foreign sites, even if big media are wrong. Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won't show up in major search engines.

In a post SOPA/PIPA world, Wikipedia --and many other useful informational sites-- cannot survive in a world where politicians regulate the Internet based on the influence of big money in Washington. It represents a framework for future restrictions and suppression. Congress says it's trying to protect the rights of copyright owners, but the "cure" that SOPA and PIPA represent is much more destructive than the disease they are trying to fix.

To learn more about SOPA/PIPA, click here.

North Carolina Eugenics Task Force Recommends $50,000 Reparations for Survivors

In North Carolina over 7,600 people were sterilized between 1929 and 1974 under the state’s Eugenics Sterilization Program. Indiana was the first state to implement such a program, and eventually over 30 states followed suit, including North Carolina in 1929. The Eugenics Board of North Carolina reviewed petitions for sterilizations and authorized sterilizations in over 90% of cases. Of those sterilized, approximately 38% were black and 84% were female; moreover, 71% were classified as “feebleminded.” While most states’ sterilization programs diminished in scope after World War II, almost 80% of North Carolina’s cases occurred after 1945. By the late 1960’s over 60% of those sterilized in North Carolina were black and 99% were female.

In 1972 the Eugenics Board became the Eugenics Commission, and was finally abolished in 1977. In 2002, the state of North Carolina formally apologized to the victims of sterilization, and in 2003 the General Assembly repealed the law that authorized involuntary sterilization.

On March 8, 2011, Governor Beverly Perdue issued Executive Order 83 to create the Governor's Task Force to Determine the Method of Compensation for Victims of North Carolina's Eugenics Board, which functions with the support of the North Carolina Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation. After months of investigation and public hearings, the Task Force issued a preliminary report on August 1, 2011 and three additional reports on December 6, 2011.

At its most recent meeting on January 10, 2012, the Task Force voted on its final recommendations, which included the recommendation that the state pay $50,000 to each surviving victim. In response, Governor Perdue issued the following statement:

Thank you to the devoted members of this task force for months of diligent, careful and thoughtful work to address one of the most difficult and emotionally wrenching issues in our state’s history.

While no amount of money will ever make up for the fact that government officials deprived North Carolinians, mostly women, of the possibility of having children—and officials did so, in most cases, without the victims’ consent or against their will—we must do something. I support the task force’s compensation proposal. I also agree that we should establish a permanent exhibit so that this shameful period is never forgotten. I look forward to reviewing the details of the task force’s recommendations.

Although it is unknown at present how many survivors there are, it is estimated that there may be as many as 1500 to 2000. The North Carolina Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation strongly encourages anyone believing he or she was sterilized under the authority of the Eugenics Board of North Carolina to contact them for assistance in documenting a potential claim.

Readers interested in learning more about the historical background of eugenics can check out Eugenics in North Carolina at the State Library of North Carolina web site, as well as the Winston-Salem Journal's project, Against Their Will: North Carolina’s Sterilization Program.

In addition, the North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection, a grant project initiated and directed by the Common Curator, contains all volumes of the Biennial Report of the Eugenics Board of North Carolina [1934-1966], and the survey report, Eugenical Sterilization in North Carolina [1935].

Of related interest are an archival finding aid for Eugenics Commission documents and previous Common Curator posts: North Carolina Dedicates Eugenics Historical Marker and The History of Eugenics in North Carolina.

Community Gardening Cornucopia

"Growing It Here, Growing It Now," the recent Common Curator documentary about community gardening in Carrboro, North Carolina, will be having additional showings this week on several local television stations:

Channels 4 (Carrboro) and 8 (Chapel Hill)
– Mon., January 9 – 4pm
– Tues., January 10 – 11:30am
– Fri., January 13 – 11:30am
– Sat., January 14 – 3:30am (i.e., late Friday night) + 8pm

Channel 18 (Durham)
– Tues., January 10 – 8:30am
– Wed., January 11 – 3:30am (i.e., late Tuesday night)
– Sun., January 15 – 12:30pm

The documentary was directed and produced by Daniel Smith; for a description, check out the announcement in a previous Common Curator post. The film is available on DVD for $10 postpaid, and can be ordered by emailing the Common Curator.

"Occupy" Voted Word of the Year by American Dialect Society

The American Dialect Society, during its annual conference on January 6, 2012, voted "occupy" as its Word of the Year for 2011. Founded in 1889, the organization is devoted to the study of the English language--and of other languages and dialects influencing English--in North America. It counts among its members "linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, authors, editors, professors, university students, and independent scholars." Membership is open to anyone.

The Society began voting on Words of the Year in 1990, although it does not regard its selections as conferring any official status on lexical items. Rather it seeks to emphasize that language change is a normal, ongoing process; indeed, earlier winners such as "Y2K" and "chad" are examples of words that have fallen into relative disuse.

In addition to Word of the Year, additional categories are voted on; below are listed all the winners for 2011:

Word of the Year
occupy -- verb, noun, and combining form referring to the Occupy protest movement.

Most Useful
humblebrag -- expression of false humility, especially by celebrities on Twitter.

Most Creative
Mellencamp -- a woman who has aged out of being a “cougar” (after John Cougar Mellencamp).

Most Unnecessary
bi-winning -- term used by Charlie Sheen to describe himself pridefully, dismissing accusations of being bipolar.

Most Outrageous
assholocracy -- rule by obnoxious multi-millionaires.

Most Euphemistic
job creator -- a member of the top one-percent of moneymakers.

Most Likely to Succeed
cloud -- online space for the large-scale processing and storage of data.

Least Likely to Succeed
brony -- adult male fan of the “My Little Pony” cartoon franchise.

Occupy Words (new category)
the 99%, 99 percenters -- those held to be at a financial or political disadvantage to the top moneymakers, the one-percenters.

In commenting on this year's Word of the Year, Ben Zimmer, chair of the Society's New Words Committee, observed: “It’s a very old word, but over the course of just a few months it took on another life and moved in new and unexpected directions, thanks to a national and global movement. The movement itself was powered by the word.”

Visit the American Dialect Society's website to learn more about this year's contest and past winners. In a related vote, the American Name Society chose "Arab Spring" as its Name of the Year for 2011.

Note: The pervasiveness of "Occupy" is evidenced even by its presence as part of Bill Griffith's Zippy cartoon for January 8, 2012.

Hydrofracking: An Integrative Workshop at Duke

On January 9, 2012, Duke University will be holding a one-day workshop: Environmental and Social Implications of Hydraulic Fracturing and Gas Drilling in the United States: An Integrative Workshop for the Evaluation of the State of Science and Policy. Sponsored by the Nicholas School of the Environment and the School of Law, the event is open to the public, but seating is limited and registration is required. The workshop will bring together industry representatives, scientists, governmental regulatory agencies, and environmentalists, and will feature sessions on the Environmental Protection Agency, major scientific findings, and the legal and socio-economic aspects of hydrofracking.

To learn more about the workshop and to register, visit the workshop website. An overview of Duke researchers' work on hydrofracking is also available online, as well as key policy papers and recommendations.Update: Video of the three public sessions at the workshop is now available online.



Note: The video and graphic above are from ProPublica, which has investigated environmental issues related to hydrofracking around the country.

Growing It in the New Year

"Growing It Here, Growing It Now," the recent Common Curator documentary about community gardening in Carrboro, North Carolina, will be having its first showings of the new year on several local television stations:

Channels 4 (Carrboro) and 8 (Chapel Hill)
– Sat., January 7 – 11am + 8pm

Channel 18 (Durham)
– Wed., January 4 – 7pm
– Sun., January 8 – 3pm

The documentary was directed and produced by Daniel Smith; for a description, check out the announcement in a previous Common Curator post. The film is available on DVD for $10 postpaid, and can be ordered by emailing the Common Curator.

The Iowa Caucuses

Occupy Iowa Caucus has committed to "Uncommitted" for both the Republican & Democratic slates at the Iowa caucuses to be held on January 3, 2012. To learn more, visit the OIC website.

Occupy 2012: Social Justice

Screen-printed design by the Common Curator, 2011.

Kickstarting "Take This Book: The People's Library at Occupy Wall Street"

"Take This Book: The People's Library at Occupy Wall Street" is a Kickstarter project to document the eventful history of the library, which evolved quickly in the early days of the Occupy Wall Street movement in NYC (see earlier Common Curator posts: The Occupy Wall Street Library and The Destruction of the People's Library).

Author Melissa Gira Grant describes the project as follows:

This is one story of the People's Library at Occupy Wall Street, as told to me by many of the librarians behind it: how the library began, what happened after the November 15 raid on Zuccotti Park, and why they're rebuilding. It's a story about books, danger, and freedom.

Take This Book is an extended essay -- just over 10,000 words -- based on the stories of the librarians and the library's patrons. (Maybe you were one of them.) It can't be the whole story, because it's still happening.

If successful in reaching her fundraising goal, Grant intends to publish both an ebook and print version of her essay. For further details, or to contribute, visit the Kickstarter website.

Note: The poster shown here was designed by the artist Molly Crabapple, and is being offered as a premium for supporters of the project.

The Peace Corps at 50

Founded in 1961, the Peace Corps marked its fiftieth anniversary this year. The idea for the organization was first expressed by then-Senator John F. Kennedy during an early morning speech on October 14, 1960 at the University of Michigan while campaigning for the presidency. On March 1, 1961, shortly after his inauguration, Kennedy officially established the Peace Corps on a temporary pilot basis through Executive Order 10924.

The Peace Corps has as its mission three goals:

1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women;
2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served;
3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

In June 1961, Peace Corps Director Sargent Shriver announced that the agency had received around 11,000 completed applications, and on August 30, 1961, the first group of 51 Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) arrived in Ghana to serve as teachers. Since then over 200,000 Volunteers have served in 139 countries, and currently over 9,000 Volunteers are at work in 76 different countries. Major project areas are education, health and HIV/AIDS, business development, the environment, youth development, and agriculture. The average age of Volunteers is 28, although 7% are over 50.

To learn more about the Peace Corps, an interactive timeline features important dates, events, and videos from 1961 to the present. The Peace Corps Digital Library also contains many historical documents contributed by current and returned Volunteers and Staff. In the summer of 2011, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival commemorated the Peace Corps with a special festival program.

For those considering volunteering, visit the Peace Corps website for information on the application process.

National Film Registry Adds 25 Films for 2011

Established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, the National Film Preservation Board is an advisory body for the Librarian of Congress. The Board helps shape national film preservation planning policy, and also recommends films for the National Film Registry, including 25 additional films just named for 2011. Chosen for their cultural, historic, or aesthetic significance, this year's selections cover a wide gamut of genres and time periods, from The Cry of the Children and A Cure for Pokeritis in 1912 to Forrest Gump in 1994.

The public is encouraged to make nominations for selections to the 2012 National Film Registry.

1990s
Forrest Gump (1994)
El Mariachi (1992)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

1980s
Stand and Deliver (1988)
Fake Fruit Factory (1986)

1970s
Norma Rae (1979)
I, an Actress (1977)
Hester Street (1975)
A Computer Animated Hand (1972)
Growing Up Female (1971)

1960s
Faces (1968)
Crisis: Behind A Presidential Commitment (1963)
Allures (1961)

1950s
Porgy and Bess (1959)
The Big Heat (1953)
War of the Worlds (1953)

1940s
The Lost Weekend (1945)
The Negro Soldier (1944)
Bambi (1942)

1930s
Nicholas Brothers Family Home Movies (1930s-40s)
Twentieth Century (1934)

1920s
The Iron Horse (1924)
The Kid (1921)

1910s
The Cry of the Children (1912)
A Cure for Pokeritis (1912)

Further information on the Registry as well as the films themselves can be found on the Library of Congress' web site. All 500+ films selected for the Registry since 1989 can also be browsed online.

In other news about the registry, These Amazing Shadows, a documentary about the National Film Registry and its cultural significance since its inception, will air nationally on the PBS series "Independent Lens" on Thursday, Dec. 29, at 10 p.m (check local listings).

Newest Wapsipinicon Almanac Hot Off the Press

The latest annual installment of the eclectic Wapsipinicon Almanac is now available. Published and letterpress printed since 1988 by Timothy Fay of Route 3 Press, the present issue, as with previous numbers, features an engaging mix of essays, reviews, fiction, poetry, art, wit and wisdom. For those in the vicinity, Fay will be giving readings from the almanac in Iowa City, Cedar Falls, and Dubuque during January 2012.

Number 18 can be purchased directly by writing the publisher at Wapsipinicon Almanac, 19948 Shooting Star Road, Anamosa, Iowa 52205. Single copies are $8, plus $2.50 for postage; Iowa residents should also include 56-cents for sales tax.

The cover shown here is based on an drawing by Anamosa artist Dolores Chadwell. Previous covers and contents pages, as well as a brief history of the Almanac, can be viewed at the Almanac's website.

North Carolina Master Gardener License Plates

On June 30, 2011, North Carolina Governor Perdue signed House Bill 289 which authorizes the production of a special Master Gardener license plate. The Department of Motor Vehicles requires a minimum of 300 paid applications before it will begin manufacture of the new plate. As of November 17, the North Carolina Master Gardener Volunteer Association (NCMGVA) reports that 131 orders have been received.

The plates cost $20 more per year than regular plates, $10 of which will be donated to the North Carolina Master Gardener Endowment maintained by NCSU's North Carolina Agricultural Foundation. For an additional $30 annually (for a total of $50 per year), the special plates can be personalized. Visit the NCMGVA website to download an application form.

2012 Seed Savers Exchange Catalog

Founded in 1975 by Diane Ott Whealy and Kent Whealy, Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) is now the largest non-governmental seed bank of its kind in the United States. With over 13,000 members, SSE conserves and maintains heirloom seeds for thousands of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers. Its mission is:

. . . to save North America's diverse, but endangered, garden heritage for future generations by building a network of people committed to collecting, conserving and sharing heirloom seeds and plants, while educating people about the value of genetic and cultural diversity.

Located on the 890-acre Heritage Farm in Decorah, Iowa, SSE is open to visitors from April to October, and sponsors special events such as seed starting, grafting, and gardening workshops. It also hosts an annual conference and campout. To learn more about Seed Savers Exchange and the benefits of membership, visit its website.

The mesmerizing 2012 Catalog can be viewed online, downloaded as a PDF, or a free copy in print can be requested. Also of interest is the recently published book by co-founder Diane Ott Whealy, Gathering: Memoir of a Seed Saver.

World AIDS Day 2011: Getting to Zero

World AIDS Day has been observed annually on December 1st since 1988 and has served to increase international awareness in the campaign against HIV and AIDS. More than 25 million people are estimated to have died from AIDS from 1981 to 2007, with an estimated 34 million infected with HIV at the end of 2010, an increase of 17% from 2001.

Two important organizations working to prevent and treat AIDS and HIV infection are UNAIDS (the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

To date, the Global Fund has committed $22.6 billion in 150 countries for large scale programs to combat all three diseases. At the end of 2010, UNAIDS launched its 2011-2015 Strategy: Getting to Zero, which is available for download. The World AIDS Day Report 2011 is also available online.