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L.A.C.K. & Censoround
June 30, 2004
"Well the door opened at last and I showed you the title of book six."
J.K. Rowling has announced that the title for the next Harry Potter book will be Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, not the rumored and, according to Rowling, laughable title Harry Potter and the Pillar of Storge.
[TT] Fox News via LISNews.com
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
1:30:00 PM
June 29, 2004
"This is shocking and objectionable."
The Bengali film Hothath Neerar Jonyo, about an extra-marital affair, has been referred to India's national Censor Board from a regional officer for review.
[TT] NewKerala via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
11:28:56 AM
"Obviously you have something on your mind."
Evie's Bane Nicholson Baker has written a novella in which the characters discuss assassinating President Bush. The book comes out the day before the Republican National Convention.
[TT] Washington Post
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
10:25:00 AM
June 28, 2004
"Still, having about one in three Americans say they have too much freedom is a disturbing figure."
First Amendment Center has published its latest State of the First Amendment survey. The organization has found that support for First Amendment freedoms have returned to pre-September 11 attack levels.
[TT] First Amendment Center
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
2:13:10 PM
"... when they opened the closet, they found shoes, not skeletons."
Imelda Marcos has done what Citizens United could not: successfully blocked the release of an unflattering movie. The widow of former Phillipines ruler Ferdinand Marcos was able to get a temporary restraining order against the documentary Imelda upon the accusations that filmmaker Ramona Diaz had invaded her privacy and portrayed her with "malice, inaccuracies and innuendoes."
[TT] Washington Post via Wake-Up Call!
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
12:47:00 PM
"...to save the younger generation from ... a serious moral disaster."
Bangladesh's Information Minister M. Shamsul Islam has asked the Censor Board to more strictly enforce the country's anti-obsenity laws. Having a flair for the dramatic, Islam equated obsenity with drugs and terrorism.
[TT] Asia Media via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
12:15:54 PM
"It goes into all the details..."
British PM Tony Blair is trying to get former chief economics adviser Derek Scott to remove portions of potentionally embarassing sections from the latter's forthcoming book. Cabinet Secretary Sir Andrew Turnbull said the portions could violate the Official Secrets Act.
[TT] The Scotsman via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
12:10:38 PM
"If they saw a book by Marx in your hand, they would arrest you."
The ouster of Saddam Hussein has meant that books banned under the Iraqi dictator's regime are now readily available, which has proven to be a boon to Shia Muslims, whose religion was oppressed during Saddam's rule.
[TT] Channel NewsAsia via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
12:03:18 PM
"Without diversity and the freedom of speech that underlies it, you cannot have true education."
Hillcrest High School in Midvale, UT has banned anti-war t-shirts out of fear that pro-war students will beat up their wearers.
[TT] Salt Lake Tribune via FARK.com
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
9:10:47 AM
June 25, 2004
"I plan on sending them a nice holiday card this year."
The lengths Citizens United are going to attack Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 reached a "would be hilarious if it weren't kinda scary" apex when they began petitioning the Federal Election Commission to bar television ads for the movie because they violate election laws. Pointing out much attention the conservative group has garned for his film, Moore said, "I am deeply concerned about whether or not the FEC will think I paid Citizens United to raise these issues."
[TT] Studio Briefing
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
2:50:07 PM
Free Speech Zone
The Brooklyn (NY) Public Library is displaying Nora Ligorano's and Marshall Reese's Free Speech Zone, a exhibition about book censorship in the US, through tomorrow. If you're in New York, be sure to check this out.
[TT] New York Times via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
9:04:11 AM
June 24, 2004
"... he was a little unsure of the policies of all libraries."
Like his peer in South Carolina, Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter has vetted the CDs sent to public libraries as part of a class action settlement to remove anything that might be objectionable. Among the artists he rejected: Blink 182, TLC, Everclear, and Jennifer Lopez. Yes, Jennifer Lopez. Apparently, he misunderstood what she meant about "the rocks that I got."
[TT] Journal Gazette via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
9:53:00 AM
"God is Enough."
A Lake George, NY man was arrested for criminal mischief after the Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls received complaints from patrons of damage to around 373 books. 79 year old Raymond Barber allegedly had been editing out words, substituting biblical phrases, and writing "God is Enough" in the margins.
[TT] Capital News 9 via LISNews.com
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
9:35:33 AM
June 23, 2004
Janet Jackson's breasts could not be reached for comment
The Senate passed in a 99-1 vote a measure fining broadcasters $3 million a day for broadcasting indecent material, but not the performers. The House has already passed a version of the bill.
[TT] Studio Briefing
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
2:27:05 PM
"We have the legal right to overthrow this government."
Reporters Without Borders has released its annual Internet Under Surveillance survey. China is specially noted for its crackdown on dissents with websites, but the United States is also chided for its use USA PATRIOT Act to violate civil liberties. Cuba is also particularly awful, with the general populace denied access to anything but government approved websites.
[TT] Wired via GigaLaw
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
10:58:17 AM
June 22, 2004
"It's an outrage."
The US Senate voted 54-39 to uphold the Pentagon's ban on photographing coffins of deceased soldiers.
[TT] First Amendment Center
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
3:49:00 PM
June 21, 2004
"They didn't realize they were going to be dealing with people who had some idea of what they were talking about."
The administration of Manatee Community College has disbanded its student newspaper after it published an article critical of the school without the faculty advisor's permission.
[TT] First Amendment Center
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
3:36:12 PM
"... not a requirement to vet the titles, but we took it upon ourselves."
South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster has taken it upon himself to keep certain CDs off the shelves of his state's libraries. The CDs, received as part of a class action settlement with the recording industry, included titles that were "not appropriate for minors to have access to."
[TT] First Amendment Center via LISNews.com
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
3:30:12 PM
"Since these are already crimes that can be prosecuted ... what is the added significance of branding them 'hate crimes?'"
Brigitte Bardot was fined recently under France's hate crimes law "for portraying Muslims in a negative light" in her book A Cry in the Silence, and Accuracy in Media's Cliff Kincaid wonders if a new Senate hate crime bill may lead to similar rulings in the US.
[TT] Washington Dispatch via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
2:38:02 PM
"100 percent censorship by the powerful."
After getting the cover art banned, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has now been able to get the assassination fantasy The End of the Chancellor: Shooting in Self-Defence banned outright.
[TT] Expatica via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
2:35:00 PM
"...on a First Amendment issue, it blew his mind."
According to Miramax' Harvey Weinstein, Fox News head Roger Ailes has been one of the biggest supporters of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. Said Weinstein, "A movie in his mind that couldn't be distributed or had to fight for distribution, just was un-American. He'd rather say, 'Bring it on, we'll deal with that, but you have a right to show it.'"
On the other side of the coin, one of the biggest critics of the film is Ray Bradbury, although he's just upset that the movie's title mirrors the name of his classic novel Fahrenheit 451.
[TT] Washington Post via CableNewser
[TT] Yahoo! News via Librarian's Rant
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
2:00:27 PM
June 17, 2004
"I am my children's censor. I am not your child's censor."
Twin Bridges, MT school board members voted to keep E. R. Frank's America, the story of an abused teenager, in the school library. Teacher Mark Weber asked to remove the book because of its explicitness, but the board found, "Abuse cannot be painted with a pretty picture."
[TT] First Amendment Center via LISNews.com
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
10:36:00 AM
June 11, 2004
Search terms
This isn't going to become a regular feature or anything, but I'm puzzled by the following search term:
"lack teachers fucking"
Without actually doing the search myself (because I'm at work), I'm trying to figure out what on earth this person was looking for. Did one mistype the word "funding"? Is one suffering from educator pornography deficiency?
The other search term that caught my eye is less confusing:
"is mtv corrupting our kids today?"
I'm proud to be the number two hit on that term in Google.
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
5:19:31 PM
And all of them by Brent Bozell
The FCC received 146,268 complaints of indecency on TV and radio during the fourth quarter of last year.
[TT] FCC via Studio Briefing
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
3:05:35 PM
"I blame Janet Jackson."
Fox... FOX... has ordered producer Mark Burnett to tone down the sex in his new series The Casino. Says Burnett, "It's the political climate right now. There's nothing acrimonious between me and Fox on this. I'm just not used to pages and pages of broadcast standards notes." He also notes that the Canadian and Australian networks carrying the show asked for the uncensored version.
[TT] Variety via Studio Briefing
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
3:01:31 PM
"You don't have a right to say things that are detrimental ..."
Two San Jose, CA, city employees were filmed by a local news crew removing pages from a public "book of rememberance" for Ronald Reagan that were critical of the late president. San Jose administrators are launching an investigation.
[TT] San Jose Mercury News via Yahoo! News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
11:20:46 AM
June 9, 2004
"You have got to be very careful of banning."
The latest issue of Bookslut is online, and with it comes a pretty sweet redesign. My Banned Bookslut column, "Faith Is Best Expressed in Story," is about A Wrinkle in Time author Madeleine L'Engle. Also, there's now an archive of my previous columns.
[TT] Bookslut
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
12:32:00 PM
"Guess we'll have to settle for the Venus transit."
MTV will edit out D12's mooning of the audience during the MTV Movie Awards when the show is rebroadcast about a thousand times over the next couple of weeks. They had originally planned to blur the offending buttocks, two of which belong to Eminem, but apparently decided that this was still too suggestive in the brave no-nude world.
[TT] Movie Poop Shoot
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
9:42:23 AM
June 7, 2004
"Censorship is healthy for any society..."
I missed this choice article about Pat Boone back in April, so forgive me for going back in time. In it, Boone argues in favor of censorship: "I don't think censorship is a bad word, but it has become a bad word because everybody associates it with some kind of restriction on liberty."
[TT] Washington Times via Taboo News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
3:58:20 PM
"It ... presents a great danger for free speech."
In response to the controversy over The Fall of the Imam, the Egyptian government has given Al-Azar, an Islamic religious institute, the power to seize any materials that are seen as being against the teachings of Islam. Al-Azar began raiding bookstores three days after being granted the ability to do so.
[TT] Borneo Bulletin via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
11:06:00 AM
June 4, 2004
Newcity Chicago's Lit 50
Bookslut editor Jessa Crispin is number 31 on Newcity Chicago's Lit 50 list of the most influential people in Chicago's literature scene. Congratulations, Jessa! A new issue, incidently, should be out next week, with a new Banned Bookslut column.
[TT] Newcity Chicago via Blog of a Bookslut
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
1:35:17 PM
"...demonstrably contrary to the teachings of the Bible."
A high school student is suing Poway (CA) Unified School District for suspending him when he wore a "Homosexuality is Shameful" t-shirt on April 21's Day of Silence, in which students remain silent to show support for gay, bi and transgendered classmates. Said the student's lawyer, "When are public school officials going to learn they are not allowed to silence constitutionally protected student speech just because they disagree with the student?"
[TT] CNN.com via Law.com
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
8:38:14 AM
June 3, 2004
June 2, 2004
"Access Denied (content_filter_denied)"
The Memory Hole, which sparked controversy earlier this year by publishing pictures of soldiers' coffins, apparently is being blocked on military computers in Iraq.
[TT] Boing Boing via Lost Remote
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
5:03:45 PM
"Online games with content threatening state security ... will also be prohibited."
The Chinese government has created a committee to monitor online video games that "threaten national unity." The new censorship board came into being after Chinese officials banned a game that presented Manchuria, Tibet and Xinjiang as independent from China.
[TT] BBC News via GigaLaw
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
11:16:29 AM
June 1, 2004
"I feel strongly that these stories be told."
First Amendment Project recently sponsored a reading of violent passages from famous works as "a protest against youth censorship that celebrates the vital role violence has played in our literary heritage."
[TT] SFGate.com via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
2:46:21 PM
"I don't understand what they mean by that."
A Muslim theological institute is urging the government of Egypt to ban Nawal el-Saadawi's The Fall of the Imam because it "contains ideas inclined to defame Islam, its teachings, basics."
[TT] Ottawa Citizen via Google News
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
2:40:00 PM
"This is all too scary for me."
A San Francisco art gallery was closed by its owner after she was assaulted for displaying a painting based on the Abu Ghraib prison torture photos. A rally was held to convince her to keep the gallery open, to which she responded, "I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm going to try and absorb this."
[TT] SFGate.com via War Room '04
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
1:53:07 PM
"'Can' has multiple connotations."
The California Supreme Court is considering whether or not to uphold a high school student's conviction of making a criminal threat stemming from the violent nature of a poem he wrote.
[TT] The Recorder via Law.com
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
8:59:38 AM
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