On the road again

As I prepare to leave for the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, I'm taking a moment to share some interesting tidbits from various news sources.

A couple of items from this week's issue of American Libraries Direct:

A professor of philosophy at the University of California at Riverside has concluded that ethics books are more likely to be stolen than non-ethics books from a library's philosophy collection. In other words, "it seems indeed that ethicists do steal more books!"

And the gay rights movement has set its sights on a lofty new goal: the right to be issued library cards. (Spoiler alert: from The Onion)

On a more serious note, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that the society has moved its atomic clock two minutes closer to midnight, "It is now 5 minutes to midnight. Reflecting global failures to solve the problems posed by nuclear weapons and the climate crisis, the decision by the BAS Board of Directors was made in consultation with the Bulletin's Board of Sponsors, which includes 18 Nobel Laureates." This is a big deal. The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to indicate how close humanity is to nuclear war, and has been adjusted only 17 times prior to today's announcement. The last time was in February 2002 after the events of 9/11. Wow.