SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT . . .

Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh

Alabama Representative Gerald Allen (R-Cottondale) proposed legislation that would prohibit the use of public funds for the "purchase of textbooks or library materials that recognize or promote homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle." The bill also proposed that novels with gay protagonists and college textbooks that suggest homosexuality is natural would have to be removed from library shelves and destroyed.  The bill would impact all Alabama school, public, and university libraries. While it would ban books like Heather Has Two Mommies, it could also include classic and popular novels with gay characters such as Brideshead Revisited, The Color Purple or The Picture of Dorian Gray (2005).


Animal Farm, by George Orwell

A Wisconsin survey revealed in 1963 that the John Birch Society had challenged the novel's use; it objected tot he words "masses will revolt." In 1968, the New York State English Council's Committee on Defense Against Censorship conducted a comparable study in New York State English classrooms. Its findings identified the novel on its list of "problem books"; the reason cited was that "Orwell was a communist." A survey of censorship challenges in the schools, conducted in DeKalb County for the period of 1979 to 1982, revealed that the novel had been objected to for its political theories. Banned from Bay County's four middle schools and three high schools in Panama City, FL by the Bay County school superintendent in 1987. After 44 parents filed a suit against the district claiming that its instructional aids policy denies constitutional rights, the Bay County School Board reinstated the book, along with sixty-four others banned.

 - ALA

I SAW THE BEST MINDS OF MY GENERATION DESTROYED BY madness, starving hysterical naked,

 

Fifty years ago, on October 3, Judge Clayton Horn ruled that Allen Ginsberg's  great epic Beat-era poem HOWL was not obscene but instead, a work of literary and social merit.

Fifty years later, with draconian FCC fines for language infractions, you still can't hear HOWL on the radio.

- Pacifica.org

You can, however, see it below and read the full text of HOWL here.
Go ahead, read along with the clips.

from ROGER EBERT'S Twitter

(until Disney takes it down)

IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF TIME . . .

from:  iPrufrock

And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would have been worth while
After the LOLcats and the macros and the youtube clips,
After the spambots, after the blog space, after LiveJournal trailing on the floor --
And Digg, and so much more? --
It is impossible to type just what I mean!
But as if a new .avi threw the nerves in patterns on the screen:
Would it have been worth while
If one, texting or throwing back Red Bull,
And turning towards the PC, should say,
"That is not what I typed at all.
That is not it. OH LOL."

THIS STORY TITLE READS LIKE SOMETHING FROM A JOHN GRISHAM NOVEL

Pentagon destroys war memoir,
releases 

censored 
version

Shaffer said he worked with the Army to ensure the information in the book was in line with the required procedures. He said he was careful to ensure the information in the book would not endanger US troops. During the process over the past two years he did remove items from the book when asked by the Army. Shaffer described the whole process as “collaborative”.

 - RT.

* Pentagon buys, destroys memoir 
* Publisher destroys first edition of US spy memoir
* Government muzzles officer, censors key information about terror attacks 

* Pentagon destroys thousands of copies of Army officer's memoir

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT . . .

Top ten most frequently challenged books of 2009

Out of 460 challenges

as reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom. - ALA.

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: drugs, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

2. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: homosexuality

3. The Perks of Being A Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: anti-family, drugs, homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited to age group

4. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Reasons: offensive language, racism, unsuited to age group

5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

6. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

7. My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
Reasons: homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence

8. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

9. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

10. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
Reasons: nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

QUOTES OF THE DAY

CONTROVERSIAL

& BANNED 

BOOKS

"We believe attempts to censor ideas to which we have access--whether in books, magazines, plays, works of art, television, movies or song--are not simply isolated instances of harassment by diverse special-interest groups. Rather they are part of a growing pattern of increasing intolerance which is changing the fabric of America. . .
 
"Censorship cannot eliminate evil. It can only kill freedom. We believe Americns have the right to buy, stores have the right to sell, authors have the right to write and publishers have the right to publish Constitutionally-protected material. Period."

 

Excerpt from a letter to 28 newspapers, signed by Ed Morrow, president, American Booksellers Assn. and Harry Hoffman, president, Walden Book Co., Inc. (1990).

*   *   *

Some Censors and Bookbanners in the United States:

      Anti-Defamation League
      Barnes and Noble, bookseller, San Diego, California
      Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
      Christian Voters League
      Columbus Metropolitan Library
      Concerned Women for America - Beverly LaHay, president
      Drake, North Dakota - school board
      Educational Research Analysts - Mel & Norma Gabler, founders
      Graves County, Kentucky school board
      Lake Lanier Regional Library system in Gwinnett County, Georgia
      Marion High School, Foxworth, Missippi
      McCarthy, Joseph R. - U.S. Senator
      Meese Commission
      National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored Peole (NAACP)
      National Assn. of Christian Educators (Robert Simonds, founder)
      National Federation of Decency (Rev. Donald Wildmon, exec. dir.)
      National Security Agency (NSA)
      New England Watch and Ward Society
      Olathe, Kansas - school system
      Parade Magazine - national magazine
      Rafferty, Max - CA superintendent of public instruction (1963)
      Rib Lake, Wisconsin - school board
      Roberts, Cokie - ABC News Commentator
      Roman Catholic Church - Index of Prohibited Books
      Sixty Minutes, CBS News Program Feature Story on Internet
      Stahl, Leslie - 60 Minutes News Commentator
      Talmadge, Eugene - governor of Georgia (1941)
      U.S. Bureau of Customs
      U.S. Food and Drug Administration
      U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
      U.S. Information Agency (USIA)
      U.S. Justice Department
      U.S. Postal Service
      U.S. Treasury Department
      West Marion High School in Foxworth, Mississippi by School Superintendent

*   *   *

 "I work at a library, and librarians are not fans of banning books," he said. "We believe in letting people read what they want. It is part of what makes us great as a nation."

    Bolin said when books become controversial or banned, people want to read them more.

    "When a book is banned, people think there might be something to it, especially if others hate it," he said. "It makes the book edgy and becomes even more popular."

    Bolin said it is a personal choice if parents do not want their children to read a book, but government should never get involved.

- The News . org