News & Events - LibGuides at Big Sandy Community and Technical College

Drafting the Declaration - A Day in History

07/04/2025

Robyn Williams

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We tend to think that the Declaration was made with a unified front, from established men, with one purpose. Here, in one of our Films on Demand documentaries, we understand the complexities of the Declaration, and how the atmosphere was much more disjointed and controversial in real life. Happy Independence Day!

History, Celebrations and Holidays, Political Science

Freedom of Information Day

03/16/2025

Robyn Williams

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National Freedom of Information Day is an annual event on or near March 16, the birthday of James Madison, who is widely regarded as the Father of the Constitution and the foremost advocate for openness in government.

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.

—Madison to William Taylor Barry, August 4, 1822

Frank Heindel launched a citizen’s investigation on electronic voting machines in South Carolina. Using publicly available Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, he asked for a copy of the paper trail and received a CD in 2016.

The Truth in Our Times by David McCraw

ISBN: 9781250184429

In October 2016, when Donald Trump's lawyer demanded that The New York Times retract an article focused on two women that accused Trump of touching them inappropriately, David McCraw's scathing letter of refusal went viral and he became a hero of press freedom everywhere. But as you'll see in Truth in Our Times, for the top newsroom lawyer at the paper of record, it was just another day at the office.McCraw has worked at the Times since 2002, leading the paper's fight for freedom of information, defending it against libel suits, and providing legal counsel to the reporters breaking the biggest stories of the year. In short: if you've read a controversial story in the paper since the Bush administration, it went across his desk first. From Chelsea Manning's leaks to Trump's tax returns, McCraw is at the center of the paper's decisions about what news is fit to print.In Truth in Our Times, McCraw recounts the hard legal decisions behind the most impactful stories of the last decade with candor and style. The book is simultaneously a rare peek behind the curtain of the celebrated organization, a love letter to freedom of the press, and a decisive rebuttal of Trump's fake news slur through a series of hard cases. It is an absolute must-have for any dedicated reader of The New York Times.

Democracy in the Dark by Frederick A. O. Schwarz Jr.

ISBN: 9781620970515

"A timely and provocative book exploring the origins of the national security state and the urgent challenge of reining it in" (The Washington Post). From Dick Cheney's man-sized safe to the National Security Agency's massive intelligence gathering, secrecy has too often captured the American government's modus operandi better than the ideals of the Constitution. In this important book, Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr., who was chief counsel to the US Church Committee on Intelligence--which uncovered the FBI's effort to push Martin Luther King Jr. to commit suicide; the CIA's enlistment of the Mafia to try to kill Fidel Castro; and the NSA's thirty-year program to get copies of all telegrams leaving the United States--uses examples ranging from the dropping of the first atomic bomb and the Cuban Missile Crisis to Iran-Contra and 9/11 to illuminate this central question: How much secrecy does good governance require? Schwarz argues that while some control of information is necessary, governments tend to fall prey to a culture of secrecy that is ultimately not just hazardous to democracy but antithetical to it. This history provides the essential context to recent cases from Chelsea Manning to Edward Snowden. Democracy in the Dark is a natural companion to Schwarz's Unchecked and Unbalanced, cowritten with Aziz Huq, which plumbed the power of the executive branch--a power that often depends on and derives from the use of secrecy. "[An] important new book . . . Carefully researched, engagingly written stories of government secrecy gone amiss." --The American Prospect

The Darkening Web by Alexander Klimburg

ISBN: 9781594206665

Publication Date: 2017-07-11

In its earliest days, the Internet seemed to all of us to be an unqualified good- It was a way to share information, increase productivity, and experience new freedoms and diversions. Alexander Klimburg was a member of the idealistic generation that came of age with the Internet. Two decades later, he-and all of us-have been forced to confront the reality that an invention that was once a utopian symbol of connection has evolved into an unprecedented weapon and means of domination. a Klimburg is a leading voice in the international dialogue on the implications of this dangerous shift, and in The Darkening Web, he presents the urgent reality that we are vastly underestimating the consequences of states' aspirations to project power in cyberspace. Cyberspace, Klimburg contends, is facilitating the emergence of a new dimension of political conflict. This world is marked by the rise of not only cyber warfare and hacking in its many forms, but also information warfare-propaganda and covert influencing. At risk is not only our personal data or electrical grid, but the Internet as we know it today-and with it the very existence of democratic societies. With a skillful blend of anecdote and argument, Klimburg brings us face-to-face with the range of threats the struggle for cyberspace presents, from an apocalyptic scenario of debilitated civilian infrastructure to a 1984-like erosion of privacy and freedom of expression. Focusing on different approaches to cyber-conflict in the US, Russia and China, Klimburg reveals the extent to which the battle for control in this new conflict is as complex and perilous as the one surrounding nuclear weapons during the Cold War-and quite possibly as dangerous for humanity as a whole. Authoritative, thought-provoking, and compellingly argued, The Darkening Webmakes clear that the debate about our different aspirations for cyberspace is nothing short of a war over our global values.

How We Became Post-Liberal by Russell Blackford

ISBN: 9781350322936

Liberalism is in trouble. As a set of ideas, it has lost much of its historical authority in guiding public policy and personal behaviour. In this post-liberal climate, Russell Blackford asks whether liberalism is truly over. How We Became Post-Liberal examines how Western liberal democracies became nations where traditional liberal principles of toleration (religious and otherwise), individual liberty and freedom of speech are frequently dismissed as outdated or twisted to support conservative policies. Blackford traces the lineage of liberalism from problems of toleration that emerged when Christianity triumphed in the late centuries of classical antiquity, with comparison to non-Western civilizations. The political and philosophical story culminates in the recent development - over the past 30 to 50 years - of post-liberal ideologies in the West. At each stage, Blackford discusses arguments for and against liberal principles, identifying why no argument to date has been totally successful in convincing opponents, while maintaining that liberalism's ideas and language are still worth saving. From campus wars over academic freedom to the Charlie Hebdo attack and the murder of Samuel Paty, this is an indispensable guide for anyone wanting to understand the why, what and how of the post-liberal world.

Political Science

MLK and the Power of Resistance

01/15/2025

Robyn Williams

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The library and campus will be closed on Monday January 20, 2025, to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His leadership and oratory skills were grounded in a heritage of resistance to powerful economic and political forces. Here are just a few recollections from leaders of their time. Each quote is from a video. Search by keyword Martin Luther King within the Films on Demand library for more content like this.

Infobase: Films on Demand

Throughout the collection you will find: step-by-step training videos; scholarly commentary; vivid animation; full-length investigative documentaries; and hundreds of short-form videos. Films on Demand offers search by topical category, such as monthly exhibitions or in-the-news ideas, or search by content producer, such as BBC. It divides each film into succinct clips which can be used in class or projects. The entire catalog is keyword searchable and transcripts are provided for searching by ideas.

"There's a great deal of difference between non-resistance to evil and non-violent resistance. Non-resistance leaves you in a state of stagnant passivity and deadening complacency, wherein non-violent resistance means that you do resist in a very strong and determined manner." - The WPA Film Library

“Each time that he was doing something important, there was an effort to discredit him.” - Testimony before the Church Committee Details FBI Plans to Intimidate Martin Luther King Jr. ca. 1975

"Well, I don't think that Mr. Helms or the extreme right really speaks for the American people. Probably really speaks for the Republican Party on this issue. I believe that the filibuster will be broken and that we will commemorative Martin Luther King's birthday as it should be." – Edward Kennedy, Opposition to a Holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr.

“And we will be able to rise from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope, and this will be a great America. We will be the participants in making it so.” – Last Speech at the Washington Cathedral, March 31 1968

History, Cultural Studies, Celebrations and Holidays, Political Science

Voter Registration Day

09/24/2024

Robyn Williams

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A week ago, it was Constitution Day and Voter Registration Day.

You can check your status to vote at Vote.gov

Kentucky votes on Tuesday, November 5.

https://elect.ky.gov

Final day for election registration is October 7.

Political Science

Are You With the Banned?

09/22/2024

Robyn Williams

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It's Banned Books Week!

ALA documented 4,240 unique book titles targeted for censorship in 2023—a 65% surge over 2022 numbers—as well as 1,247 demands to censor library books, materials, and resources. More information is available in your libraries and here online: https://bigsandy.libguides.com/bannedbooksweek

Mayo and Prestonsburg libraries are hosting a word search contest for Banned Books week. Pikeville is hosting a reading and a backpack giveaway. Stop by your library today to see what's there for censorship and challenged materials!

Sociology, Library Events, Political Science

Women on the Supreme Court

06/30/2022

Robyn Williams

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As the sixth female justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, takes her place on the Supreme Court, let's take a look at the first woman appointed -- Sandra Day O'Connor. For 191 years the U.S. Supreme Court was populated only by men. When Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor as the first female justice in 1981, the announcement dominated the news. A pioneer who both reflected and shaped an era, in her 25 years as justice she was the swing vote in cases about some of the 20th century’s most controversial issues—including race, gender and reproductive rights. Sandra Day O'Connor: The First is a documentary about the challenges faced in nominating and seating her in an all-male court, as well as the legacy of her work there with Chief Rehnquist, in what would become known as "the queen's court."

Criminal Justice, Political Science