Speed Dating With a Literary Twist as Libraries Offer Love
By Constant Brand, The Independent
Where in the world is there a welcoming place for well-read singles to mingle and talk literature? In Antwerp, Belgium, look no further than the Dutch-language Permeke library. Two librarians there started a fad they are calling "bib-dating," after the Dutch word for library, bibliotheek. The new form of speed dating draws would-be couples to libraries for quick get-to-know you sessions that focus on participants' literary leanings. It's been so successful they've trained librarians from more than 300 libraries to host similar events. Maybe this is what libraries need in order to diffuse the stereotype that they're old-fashioned and boring. -- Beth Petsan
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article345084.ece

The "Read the Bills Act"
By Staff, DownsizeDC.org
The idea is simple: Congress should require legislators to actually read every bill and every amendment before they pass it. DownsizeDC.org, an internet-based political advocacy group, wants members of Congress to sign an affidavit testifying that he or she has "attentively either personally read, or heard read, the complete bill to be voted on." The action is meant to slow down the government, and, by extension, government growth, and make lawmakers think long and hard about the bills they're passing. (Thanks, Dispatches from the Culture Wars.) -- Bennett Gordon
http://www.downsizedc.org/read_the_laws.shtml

Of Crafts and Causes
By Phoebe Connelly, In These Times
What do you get when you take "the best of Martha Stewart, then add a dash of your dumpster-diving, protest-attending college roommate"? You get the DIY revolution. Crafters have been making a buzz lately with books like Bazaar Bizarre: Not Your Granny's Crafts! and ReadyMade: How to Make (Almost) Everything. In These Times gives a brief history of the movement and ponders the political implications of taking the creation process out of the hands of businesses. -- Bennett Gordon
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2482/