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L.A.C.K. & Censoround
January 26, 2004
I'm tired of all this sex on magazine racks. I mean, I keep falling off!
A bill in the Colorado legislature that would send store owners and librarians to jail for displaying materials deemed inappropriate to children was changed so that they would only be jailed if they sell/lend said inappropriate materials to children.
[TT] Denver Post via NewPages Weblog
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
1:26:07 PM
January 22, 2004
"... CBS simply defers to those it fears or from whom it wants favors."
CBS has declined to run during the Super Bowl an anti-George W. Bush ad by the winner of a MoveOn.org contest because, as a company spokesperson said, "We do not run contentious messages that are clearly devisive." Free Press' Robert McChesney pointed out they are airing a White House anti-drug PSA similar to the "using drugs supports terrorists" ads.
[TT] Adweek via Free Press via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
4:43:32 PM
"And, in midair, mankind's 'thought' vanishes up his own backside!"
Oregon's Mt. Hood Community College will stage Fahrenheit 451 to coincide with Multnomah County Library's selection of Ray Bradbury's novel as part of its Everybody Reads program.
[TT] The Oregonian via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
1:54:00 PM
January 21, 2004
"Welcome to censorship's long and twisted hall of mirrors."
Steve Winn outlines the history of censorship in this San Francisco Chronicle essay:
[George] Carlin's list, for the record, matches [Doug] Ose's with one exception. The comedian had "tits" on his list where the congressman settled on "[asshole]." Make what you will of that cultural evolution.
[TT] SFGate.com via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
4:10:00 PM
January 20, 2004
"We must continue to work to insure the community standard and values of morals and decency that have been established here are not compromised."
Books-A-Million pulled issues of Playboy and Playgirl magazines off the shelf of its Cullman, AL, store after being warned that the magazines violated the county obscene materials regulations. Despite company president Sandra Cochran saying it was a mistake, district attorney Len Brooks will continue his investigation into how the magazines made their way onto the shelves. (The headline is way longer than I prefer, but it was too good to skip.)
[TT] Cullman Times via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
4:00:46 PM
"The more ideas you have out, the better."
Some Grand Canyon staffers are upset that Grand Canyon: a Different View (the view being the canyon was formed by the Great Flood chronicled in the Bible) is being sold in the Grand Canyon Bookstore. In response to their complaints, the book has been moved from the store's natural science section to its inspirational reading section.
[TT] Los Angeles Times via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
3:42:00 PM
January 19, 2004
"Young children should not be led to believe that this is the norm."
New York state senator Martin Golden wants the New York State Education Department to ban the book This Is My House because it depicts a family that lives in its car.
[TT] New York Post via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
5:15:00 PM
Finally, someone thinks of the children!
Backed by a pro-life coalition, a patron has checked out and refuses to return seven books in the Marple Township library that he feels should be banned. John Woriski was concerned that sex how-to books were readily available to young readers because the library doesn't have a children's section.
[TT] WPVI.com via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
5:04:15 PM
"...there were street agitation demanding ban on the publications."
The government of Bangladesh has banned books by Ahmadiyya Muslim sect due to concerns of religious bigotry.
[TT] Asia Media via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
4:56:46 PM
"No one will tolerate an insult to Shivaji."
Shivaji: A Hindu King in Islamic India has been banned in the Maharashtra region of India, drawing ire from a number of people, including Indian PM A.B. Vajpayee.
[TT] Times of India & Pune Newsline via Google News
[TT] Indian Express via Google News
[EDITOR'S NOTE] Maharashtra officials want to jail the book's author, James W. Laine, although because the author is a US citizen, it will be difficult to carry through with the arrest.
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
4:45:00 PM
"And why are our politicians watching awards shows, anyway?"
Congressman Doug Ose (R-CA), on behalf of himself and Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX), introduced in December HR 3687, which explictly defines profanity for FCC regulation purposes:
"...As used in this section, the term 'profane', used with respect to language, includes the words 'shit', 'piss', 'fuck', 'cunt', 'asshole', and the phrases 'cock sucker', 'mother fucker', and 'ass hole', compound use (including hyphenated compounds) of such words and phrases with each other or with other words or phrases, and other grammatical forms of such words and phrases (including 3 verb, adjective, gerund, participle, and infinitive forms)."
Tim Goodman, the always insightful San Francisco Chronicle television writer, weighs in.
[TT] SFGate.com
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
1:45:04 PM
January 14, 2004
What a chucklefuck!
FCC chair Michael Powell wants the word "fuck" to be banned from radio and television broadcasts, regardless of context. His proposal is in reaction to an FCC ruling that U2 singer Bono's use of the phrase "fucking brilliant" during last year's Golden Globe Awards was accidental, not sexual in nature, and therefore not indecent.
[TT] Reuters via Metafilter
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
3:14:44 PM
"This law threatens the freedom to browse freely."
Great Lakes Booksellers Association and American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression are among those who are challenging the constitutionality a new Michigan law that prohibits minors from viewing materials that are deemed "sexually explicit." The lawsuit claims the law is too vague and therefore too open to interpretation.
[TT] Bookselling This Week via NewPages Weblog
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
2:02:58 PM
"I believe in freedom of speech but this is not a spoof."
US District Court Judge Lewis Babcock ordered police to return a seized computer to the editor of The Howling Pig, a satiric newspaper about the University of North Colorado. The computer was confiscated after finance professor Junius Peake complained to the campus administration that the paper is "a vicious attack on the university and its staff."
[TT] TheDenverChannel.com via NewPages Weblog
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
1:54:03 PM
January 9, 2004
"...many of you were uncomfortable with it..."
The Cincinnati Enquirer decided to cancel Boondocks because, as Sara Pearce explains it, they frequently had to censor it for content unbefitting of a "family newspaper."
[TT] Cincinnati Enquirer via Blog of a Bookslut
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
1:15:30 PM
January 7, 2004
"Sales have picked up in the past couple of months."
Despite complaints about its violent and sexual content, Luis Rodriguez' Always Running - La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. will not be removed from reading lists at Modesto, CA, high schools. Since the controversy began, local bookstores have noticed an increase in purchases of the ex-gang member's memoir, while nine of the Johansen high school library's 10 copies have gone missing.
[TT] Modesto Bee via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
12:54:00 PM
January 6, 2004
Moving on...
I wasn't able to confirm if Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye ever did get banned in Bakersfield as requested. I'll assume it didn't since there didn't seem to be a follow-up story. That's a pretty rash assumption.
[TT] SFGate.com via MobyLives
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
4:30:00 PM
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