lolipop’s Comments

• Jun 10th, 2011 @ 6:59pm

  "For the Safety of Our Customers and Staff"-- We keep the bookshelves and ceiling from falling on you

  on Surveillance Nation: Austin Library Won't Let You Wear Baseball Caps Because Cameras Can't ID You
  I lock my door when going to sleep for safety and pay attention to the road when driving for my own and others' safety; but I wear my hat, sunglasses, and hoodie because of the weather.
  
  Were someone to wear a hat, sunglasses, or hoodie to check-out library materials, the library, its customers, and its staff would be no more nor no less safe than wearing them to shop at the supermarket or Walmart, both of which have hundreds (thousands?) more customers than the library and have maintained a balance of order and freedom.
• Jun 10th, 2011 @ 6:00pm

  Re: Re: Why this rule?

  on Surveillance Nation: Austin Library Won't Let You Wear Baseball Caps Because Cameras Can't ID You
  the May 2009 election!
• Jun 10th, 2011 @ 5:57pm

  Re: Why this rule?

  on Surveillance Nation: Austin Library Won't Let You Wear Baseball Caps Because Cameras Can't ID You
  Who voted for the rule? 13.10 percent of Austin's population voted in the Nov 2009 city council elections for council members who voted in favor of requiring 100 percent of Austin's population to take off their hats.
  http://malford.ci.austin.tx.us/election/byrecord.cfm?eid=188
• Jun 10th, 2011 @ 5:21pm

  Why this rule?

  on Surveillance Nation: Austin Library Won't Let You Wear Baseball Caps Because Cameras Can't ID You
  1. Austin's branch libraries tend to be small cubes with few if any places to be surreptitiously mischievous. Why the cap/sunglasses/hoodie rule?
  
  2. The central library downtown is almost a police substation already and was recently renovated with improved surveillance photography. Why the rule?
  
  3. The wealthy residents downtown will be disdainful of abridgments to their personal freedom. Why the rule?
  
  4. The rule was voted on by the Austin City Council; but to find the info about the rule and the names of those who voted in favor of it is difficult. Why the rule?
  
  5. The terseness of the logo sign (don't library users read sentences?) omits several instances for exceptions, cited above by commenters (cancer, blind, glasses, Islamic dress...), and the turning the baseball cap backward is just plain silly. Why the rule?
  
  6. If the rule is unconstitutional, then it ought to be litigated. Why the rule?
  
  7. Who voted in the rule? Not the people. Why the rule?