A brief chronological Compendium of a Few Banned or Challenged Works, and Censorship and Anti-Censorship Efforts 01 Jan - 30 Jun 2005

Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music. --George Carlin; paraphrasing Friedrich Nietzche

Join the Blue Ribbon Online Free Speech Campaign!

2005, January 01: Report on racial profiling as "anti-terror" tool

By Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection bureau. Over the weekend of Dec. 24-26, 2004, a weekend Islamic conference was held in Toronto, Ontario, which was attended by more than 10,000 Muslims. The conference was on peace, unity and understanding among Muslims and non-Muslims.

A group of thirty-four Muslims was singled out for questioning and fingerprinting by US Customs and Border Protection at a bridge crossing near Niagara Falls, N.Y. The members of the group were detained until they agreed to allow themselves to be fingerprinted. Kristie Clemens, spokeswoman for the Customs and Border Protection bureau, said agents detained anyone who said they attended the three-day convention, saying that such gatherings could be a means for terrorists to promote their cause, and justified the action by saying, "As the front-line border agency, it is our duty to verify the identity of individuals - including US citizens - and one way of doing that is fingerprinting."

Hamza Yusuf, a keynote speaker at the conference, is quoted, "They asked me about the religion of my family and wanted to make photocopies of my notebook and other material without being able to tell me what I was accused for. When I said I have rights as an American citizen, they said they don't apply at the border. If anyone is to blame, it is those who are giving orders, not the people following them."

Nihad Awad, executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations, commented, "The image of a room full of American Muslim citizens apparently being held solely because of their faith and the fact that they attended an Islamic conference is one that should be disturbing to all Americans who value religious freedom. This incident must be investigated to determine what the policy on fingerprinting American Muslim citizens is and who is behind it."

[Addendum (27 May 2005:) On 24 May, there was an article posted to the Wiretap section at Alternet.org about a law suit launched as a result of this kind of profiling-based harassment at a border crossing. The litigants were also at the convention and indications are that they were specifically singled out for being Muslims. --MN]

By Saudi Arabia. The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) of the Kingdom threatened punishments for "immoral use" as it officially handed over the first 3G license to mobile phone operator Ettihad Etisalat. Third generation mobile phones can access the Internet, which is strictly controlled in Saudi Arabia, and receive high quality video clips from adult sites. CITC Information Technology General Manager Ahmed Sindi commented, "The challenge is that this technology is commensurate with our moral values. There will be laws and procedures that govern the use of the technology and people will be punished for its misuse."

Newspapers have reported that fights have been triggered at weddings and girls' schools after camera phones were used to take and distribute pictures of unveiled women. A ban on the import and sale of mobile camera phones was recently overturned. The Kingdom imports some six million mobile phones a year, with 70 percent of consumers regularly changing their phones.
(see 10 Jan 2005)

By Richard Lewis. After selling only six copies of a five hundred copy print run. The self-published work went on sale briefly -- and exclusively -- in the village of Nunney, near Frome, Somerset, Unfortunately for the author, his characters bore strong resemblances to real residents. When the eighty-two year old retired teacher was confronted by one villager telling him he was despicable, he withdrew the remaining copies of his novel from sale. In an interview on this day he commented, "It was written with malice towards none as a highly satirical book attacking pretension -- I certainly did not intend to be critical of anyone. I fear people have read too much into it, but as soon as I received a complaint I withdrew the book from sale. I'm now keeping a low profile. It seems that the most likely outcome will be that I will be asked to sell a lot of books which I do not want to sell." The incident strongly illustrates the force of the chilling effect; Mr. Lewis reportedly turned away one prospective buyer at the door during the interview.

The few copies that were sold are reported as being passed around among the 700 villagers who are anxious to know if they can identify themselves or their neighbours. One person is quoted: "It's certainly caused a bit of a stir. There are some who think it's hilarious, but some of the better sort -- the Nunney notables -- think it's an absolute outrage." One female resident supposedly angered by the the novel commented: "I have no comment to make at all."

By Jenna Jameson. Houston, Texas, city Councilwoman Pam Holm demanded that the Robinson-Westchase Library branch in her west Houston district remove the book from its best-seller display at the front of the library. The book contains the lurid confessions of porn queen Jenna Jameson, as well as some of her nude photos. Ms. Holm, who said she has not read the book, is quoted, "It's a fine line with a best seller and what is considered pornography. I'm not a supporter of pornography, nor do I want it anywhere accessible to children." Sandra Fernandez, spokeswoman for the Houston Library System, said the branch has no current plans to remove the book from the display, but that a review process is under way.

["Children" in this case, being any young adult old enough to have an interest in sexuality but not old enough to exercise a franchise. Real children, the prepubescent, wouldn't look at this kind of book in the first place. And, of course, this reactionary dufus hasn't considered for one nanosecond that by removing the book it would also be rendered inaccessible to adults who might want to read it. Although I will allow that there are mixed signals in the report. It says that Holm only wants it removed from the best-seller display, but Holm then goes on to intimate that it shouldn't be in a public library at all. --MN]
(see 26 Jan 2005; 11 Feb 2005)

By Alex Sanchez. This book was challenged by some citizens including some parents with no children in district schools, in the district of Owen-Withee, Marshfield, Wisconsin[?]. "Rainbow Boys" is about teen-age boys who are facing changes in their lives, and two issues addressed in the book are homosexuality and how gay men fit into their community. Some fifteen people made the removal request to the board. After the school received the challenge, a committee of teachers was formed to read and respond to the book; which review board rejected the request. James Friesen looked over the reviews and recommended that students in grades seven through nine get parental permission to check out the book, but that high school students have unrestricted access.

One parent, Ms. Holly Strickland, who home-schooled her children and who said she hadn't read the book, commented on the refusal, "A whole bunch of people went to the School Board to ask them to remove it, and they wouldn't remove it. To us, it's a homosexual recruiting tool. We're going to try and bring it up again. We're going to try and reason it out of there on the vulgarity issue."

["Vulgarity" my ass. This is just more of the "homosexual agenda" line of crap. The keyword in her comment being: "recruiting tool". A clear indication to me that she is one of these people who think homosexuals are out to "recruit" the young and impressionable into the "lifestyle". --MN]

By Lois Lowry. A group of parents has asked the Blue Springs, Missouri, school board to remove the award-winning book from student reading lists on the grounds it contains "negative" themes.

• Cerise Ivey: "This book is negative. I read it. I don't see the academic value in it. Everything presented to the kids should be positive or historical, not negative."

• Eileen Casper: "To me, it is all about death. The lady writes well, but when it comes to the ideas in that book, they have no place in my kid's head."

The complainants cite violence, sexual explicitness, euthanasia, and infanticide. Ms. Ivey is one of a group of five parents who have been trying to have the book removed from student reading lists since 2003. The book is on the list for eighth grade (13-15 yr old) students. School board members are employing a review process.

[For my money, The Giver is a story affirming life, but it is also an exposé on the kind of society that ultra-conservatives would ultimately construct; one in which even hills had been bulldozed flat and valleys filled in. Not to mention that the people of that society are forbidden to think independently. I'll give the last word on this incident to a progressive religionist. --MN]
(see 14 Mar 2005)

I am strongly in favor of censorship, but I read this book [The Giver] and then I handed it to my 12-year-old daughter and told her to read it. This book does not paint a picture of encouragement for murder. If you hold this stuff to its context, you will have no problem with this book.
--Rev. Bo Hammock, pastor of Providence Village Baptist Church

By Robin Cody. Some two hundred or so people attended a review process hearing on this day at Alder Creek Middle School, in the North Clackamas School Board, Milwaukee, Oregon. Teachers from Rex Putnam and Clackamas high schools defended their inclusion of the work in the curriculum, saying the book's characters, its plot, and the themes draw in students who sometimes lack motivation to read. The book is set in the 1960s in a fictional Oregon logging town modeled after Estacada, and educators say the environmentalism, Native Americanism, and other themes in the book make it a good teaching tool. Students say they like the book because they can relate to the issues facing the main characters, three teenagers, and can recognize local landmarks. The book was challenged by Tom and Keri Jackson, parents of two Clackamas High students. They object to profanity and sex in the book and said that it sends a mixed message to students to allow them to read about behavior and language that is oth erwise not allowed in school.

The district review panel recommended that teachers be allowed to continue to assign the book if parents give permission. The recommendation proved contentious in itself, however. Nancy Utterback, a 10th-grade English teacher at Clackamas High, commented, "Restrictions on the book would be tantamount to censoring it," and recommended ask teachers to send home a syllabus with all the books students will read, so parents can discuss any concerns with the teacher. The Jacksons appealed the recommendation on the grounds that requiring parental permission was not enough; they think the book doesn't belong in the curriculum at all.

[And that makes this incident a clear and present attempt at censorship in my books. This point moves this incident beyond parenting of one's own children and into the realm of attempting to parent other peoples' children. I don't agree with a point Ms. Utterback was reported to have made: "Permission slips are hard to collect, and books that require them would have a label." It would not be necessary to label the books with a physical tag, although I surmise she meant that the books would be stigmatized as "unclean". This is a valid concern, but it could probably be chalked up as a necessary ramification to a reasonable time, place, or manner restriction. However, the permission requirement itself is almost certainly not the best restriction for the case at hand. I would tend to say Utterback's recommendation is the best course of action to follow. If nothing else, it would offer parents an opportunity to participate in their children's education that would not be there with permission slips. --MN]

[Addendum (25 Jan 2005:) On 21 Jan an article in The Oregonian reported that before the book is read in class, teachers will have to notify parents and provide students with an alternate assignment if a parent objects to Richochet River. Of course, for the parent to find it objectionable, that parent will have to read the book first. --MN]

By the Bush administration. See the Lackey Journalists Affair page. While this case does not constitute censorship, it is certainly a matter of using the corporate press as a propaganda tool and is a clear violation of free press principles.

By American Atheists. See the entry on the Church/State Entanglement page.

By Ed Rampell. This examination of the folly of McCarthyism was posted to AlterNet.org. It is a rousing condemnation via exposé of the hysteria of the times, and an oblique warning concerning the Bush administration hysteria upon which is based the "War on Terror". The piece stems from a book review of The Gordon File, by screenwriter Bernard Gordon, who was a victim of McCarthyism. He was kept under investigation for twenty-five years and never charged with anything.

By Paul K. McMasters, First Amendment Center ombudsman. An interesting commentary on the movement by constitutional scholar Bruce Fein to criminalize "terrorist" speech; it was posted to First Amendment Center on this day.

[Seems to me that any real terrorist speech should already fall under the "fighting words" provisions of reasonable time, place, or manner restrictions. --MN]

By the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In a move that returns the responsibility for problems arising from the misue of camera-phones to individuals, the Kingdom has lifted the ban on the sale of camera equipped cell phones. Although some restrictions on where such cameras will be allowed will remain in place. See the source article for more background about the abuse of such phones and the consequences thereof.
(see 02 Jan 2005)

The state of Missouri failed to get Supreme Court review of its appeal over its decision to bar a Ku Klux Klan group from a highway litter-cleanup program. This rejection of the case means that the KKK chapter must be allowed into Missouri's Adopt-A-Highway program. Vermont is the only state that does not have such a program, and states supporting Missouri in the appeal argued that the Supreme Court needed to intervene so that states unwilling to partner with the Klan would not decide to abolish their programs.
(See 20 Jul 2001; 10 Sep 2003)

By Jon Stewart. This editor is unable to determine exactly what happened in this incident, however. It was reported by Donna Harris in The Mississippi Press, that the Jackson-George Regional Library System reversed its decision to ban the book on this day. Board chairman David Ables was reported as saying that the library had received "a lot of calls and e-mails" on the subject and that the majority were opposed to the ban. The board met on this day to discuss the matter, and a majority vote from the seven-member board led to, "returning the work to each of the eight branches."

About this time, it was reported in a Texas (Lufkin/Nacogdoches) media outlet that eight public libraries in the state of Mississippi had banned the book; refusing to stock it because of what they consider questionable material on its pages; specifically: the book's nude depiction of the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. Since this is almost certainly a matter of content discrimination, it would be chalked up as censorship, although some of the library officials who were interviewed tried to make it out as a case of selection; the source article did not contain any compelling evidence to support their contentions, however, even though it reported some general facts about budgetary constraints and the selection process.

The problem is that reporting on the incident is vague. the Associated Press article on the incident (reprinted at CommonDreams.org) intimates that the book was simply passed over for purchase whereas other articles imply very strongly that the book was pulled from the shelves.

By the electoral group headed by Iyad Allawi. On 10 Jan, Mr Allawi's campaign alliance handed out cash to journalists to ensure coverage of its press conferences ahead of parliamentary elections slated for 30 Jan; the move is a throwback to Ba'athist-era patronage. After a meeting held by the group, reporters, most of whom were from the Arabic-language press, were invited "upstairs", and each was offered a "gift" of a $100 bill - about equivalent to two weeks wages for a starting reporter at an Iraqi newspaper. Many of the journalists accepted the cash and one jokingly recalled how Saddam Hussein's regime had also lavished perks on favoured reporters. Giving gifts to journalists is common in many of the Middle East's authoritarian regimes, although reporters at the conference said the practice was not yet widespread in postwar Iraq.

[I'd allude to the Lackey Journalists Affair and make a snide remark about the puppet emulating the puppet master, but that would be conspiracy theory and misrepresentative. It would be more accurate, since this sort of thing is the norm in the Middle East, to point out that it is America, most prosperous state in the world and last remaining superpower, that is lowering its standards to that of the third world. I will also say that bribing the press flies in the face of the American principles of democracy which are supposed to be being exported to Iraq. --MN]

By the ACLU on behalf of Dwight Wesley Miller. Mr. Miller is the owner of the art gallery in Pilot Point, Texas, who was coerced by the police to censor a mural of Eve in the Garden. Because Eve is bare-breasted in the mural, the Police Department repeatedly threatened in writing to prosecute Miller under a criminal statute aimed at those who would victimize children by selling or displaying to them hard-core pornography. The ACLU filed the suit on 06 Jan. Will Harrell, ACLU of Texas Executive Director, commented, "It is unconstitutional for government officials to censor a work of art because it might offend a small group of people. It is also a misuse of resources to have our law enforcement officials act as art critics." See the entry on the Child Porn/Harmful to Minors page.

By Louise Rennison. The full title of this book is: On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson. It is a fictitious diary of a fourteen year old girl who has a crush on a seventeen year old, whom she styles as a Sex God. The Bozeman School District's Learning Materials Review Committee (Bozeman, Montana), was scheduled to meet before the public on this day to answer a challenge to the book. According to the source article, the rationale for this challenge is:

Parent Pius Ruby, 46, a yoga instructor, said Thursday that as the father of a 12-year-old girl, he is concerned because not all sex offenders are locked up in jail. He said someone who is psychologically unstable might see a student reading the book, think the child was sexually permissive and follow her. "I just couldn't let it go," Ruby said. "My primary concern is just to protect the children."

He said he read the book and the content seemed OK, though there's a constant reference to a character called the Sex God, which tends to make sex seem casual.

"I could see that in the hands of an adult or as a title for a pornographic film," Ruby said. "The sad thing is, a librarian suggested it" as reading material.

[Sex offenders, like bullies, don't need an excuse. As for Ruby's rationale, the chance of such a thing happening are so low as to be beyond consideration in the first place. Molesters don't molest because a child is or is not reading any particular book; at bottom, they molest because they see a victim. And at twelve, his daughter is probably too well developed to attract the attention of a preferential (pedophiliac) child molester. --MN]

[Addendum (17 Jan 2005:) The materials review committee voted unanimously to retain the book. At the meeting, Mr. Ruby argued that the title was "misleading, degrading, and harmful to the minds and possibly the safety" of girls. --MN]

By Greg Palast. In which he blows the whistle on CBS participating in what is essentially a government intervention of the free press.

By U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper. On this day, Judge Cooper ruled that disclaimers in science textbooks proclaiming the falsity of evolution were an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. The disclaimers in this case had been inserted in the books by school officials in suburban Cobb County in 2002. He wrote in his decision: "Adopted by the school board, funded by the money of taxpayers, and inserted by school personnel, the sticker conveys an impermissible message of endorsement and tells some citizens that they are political outsiders while telling others they are political insiders." Six parents of students and the American Civil Liberties Union had challenged the stickers in court, arguing they violated the constitutional separation of church and state. Michael Manely, who represented the parents who had brought the suit, commented, "This is a great day for Cobb County students. They're going to be permitted to learn science unadulterated by religious dogma."
(see 26 Sep 2002; 13 Jan 2005; 12 Jan 2007)

See the entry on the Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By Indian River Community College (IRCC), Florida. The college is engaged in a movement against the Christian Student Fellowship (CSF). The timeline for this affair is:

• 15 Nov 2004: IRCC administrators first rejected fliers advertising the club's screening of The Passion of the Christ and then cancelled the event altogether. CSF reported that one administrator, Lori LaCivita, stated that the reason for these actions was that the film was R-rated.

• Early Dec 2004: After CSF wrote to the Dean of Student Affairs, Johnny Moore, and President Massey in an effort to restore its rights, CSF President Preslin Isaac and Vice President Sydney Franklin were pulled out of class by Ms. LaCivita and other administrators; the officials demanded that the students write letters of apology to Dean Moore and President Massey for having addressed the college's "higher authority" without first getting permission from that authority.

  When appealing to the college administration proved fruitless, CSF then contacted Foundation for Individual Rights in Education for assistance.

  (One CSF student reported that during this period an administrator and security guard interrupted a private discussion being held between her and a fellow student; the officials had demanded to know what the students were doing.)

• 16 Dec 2004: FIRE wrote to IRCC, explaining that its actions against CSF were unconstitutional and a violation of the college's own policies; which policies emphasize that at IRCC "students are treated as mature adults" FIRE also protested IRCC's remarkably intrusive and reprehensible requirement that government representatives, in the form of faculty advisors, be present at all student organization meetings.

• 22 Dec 2004: IRCC's attorney claimed that the college maintained a blanket ban on R-rated movies, arguing that because the college contains some dual-enrollment high school students, it would be "inappropriate” to risk having these students "wander into R-rated movies that they would not normally be able to see" This attorney further demonstrated IRCC's mistrust of liberty by stating that if the college allowed constitutionally protected free speech on its campus, "[one] could only imagine the bizarre clubs and activities that would be formed". Despite the blanket ban, the Wynne Black Box Theatre's project called No Shame Theatre has hosted skits that would earn an R-rating in any movie house. One such skit, F**cking [sic] for Jesus, involved a character simulating sex with and masturbating to an image of Jesus.

• Jan 2005: College spokesperson Mary Locke contacted FIRE and defended the policy against R-rated movies. She also told FIRE that allowing the No Shame Theatre skit was a breakdown of procedure and would not happen again. Even though FIRE had made it clear that both the film and the play should be permitted on a public college campus.

On this day, FIRE issued a press release condemning the college for its various actions.

[You did notice, I hope, how the IRCC administration basically requires that its critics get its permission beforehand to criticize them? --MN]

[Addendum (07 Feb 2005:) On 01 Feb, Indian River Community College (IRCC) overturned its prohibition on a student-organized screening of The Passion of the Christ. IRCC's statement confirmed that the college had not enforced its policies on public expression consistently and according to constitutional guidelines. --MN]

By various principals. See the entry on the Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By Sasha Mushegian. This 15 year old Blue Valley North High School student, in Kansas, wrote a marvelously articulate and heartfelt refutation of the rationales behind a mass challenge by a group called Citizens for Literary Standards in Schools. This group has questioned the presence of fourteen books in the curriculum:

All the Pretty Horses Animal Dreams The Awakening * The Bean Trees * Beloved * Black Boy * Fallen Angels *

The Hot Zone * I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings * Lords of Discipline * One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest * Song of Solomon Stotan * This Boy's Life

The group insists on its web site that this not about censorship; that they don't want the books "removed" from anything, but merely "replaced". This movement, however, is based on their idea of what "morals" should be, and the books are being challenged on the usual specious grounds for every attempt to have them censored. (The ten of the fourteen which are marked with asterisks have already been subjected to numerous challenges; but that is irrelevant to this movement.) The web site, and this mass challenge, also seem to be in response to the failure of the school board to kowtow to previous demands; the group appears to be unhappy with the results of due process.

ClassKC.org describes itself thusly:

The people behind classKC.org are avid book-reading, book-loving Blue Valley parents and patrons. We have nothing to personally gain by doing this. We simply feel that many of the required reading assignments are far from the common sense standards of decency that most Blue Valley parents want for their children, and expect from their school. Why WOULDN'T we ask for the highest quality literature choices for our children??

If this description is at all true, they seem to be going about promoting higher quality in the very worst possible way. And Ms. Mushegian put it most elequently when she wrote:

The parents (Citizens for Literary Standards in Schools) are charging the disputed books with not meeting district policy 4600A's requirement that required books be free of "vulgar language, sexual explicitness, or violent imagery that is gratuitously employed." The argument really comes down to what is "gratuitous" and what is not, since we can agree that the works of everyone from Shakespeare on contained at least some of those aspects. ("I bite my thumb at you," anyone?)

"Gratuitous" is defined as "unnecessary" or "unwarranted." Both are subjective terms. However, I have enough faith in the professionalism and expertise of my English teachers - people who have devoted their lives to instilling an appreciation of literature into students - to trust them to choose books from authors who have enough pride in their work not to use sex, violence or vulgarity purely for shock value.

By Paul von Hippel, Gadflyer. This time the propaganda is about Republican Party involvement in the Civil Rights movement. In his piece, reprinted at Alternet.org, Mr. Hippel details the distortions and misrepresentations of the 2005 Republican Freedom Calendar. He points out:

Two weeks into the new year, conservative outlets continue to promote the 2005 Republican Freedom Calendar, a 12-month wall calendar "celebrating a century and a half of civil rights achievements by the party of Lincoln." The stated purpose of the Republican Freedom Calendar is to promote the story, "as remarkable as it is untold," of "the many important Republican achievements in advancing civil rights." But actually the calendar does a good deal more than that. Not only does the calendar ignore the civil rights achievements of Democrats, it paints the Democratic Party as a perennial enemy of civil rights. The calendar also omits the embarrassing chapters in Republican history.

One-sided history would be expected, I suppose, if the Republican Freedom Calendar were a campaign flyer. But the calendar is a government publication prepared by the Policy Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

By Robert Fisk. As much a media criticism as anything, Hotel Journalism Gives American Troops a Free Hand was reprinted at AlterNet.org. In it, Mr. Fisk illustrates the complete lack of reliability inherent in the "news" reported from Iraq as well how the difficulties now inherent in reporting from the war zone degrade any ability to hold the American occupation forces accountable for the majority of its actions.

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson. Actually a review of the PBS documentary Unforgiveable Blackness this work, which was reprinted at AlterNet.org, shows the close parallels between the discrimination against inter "racial" couples in the early twentieth century and the discrimination against homosexuals today in the United States.

By Berkmar High School students. This high school newspaper had two editorials summarily pulled from the December 2004 issue by Principal Kendall Johnson, because he felt the pieces would disturb students during exam time. The two opinion pieces were about the newly established school Gay, Lesbian and Straight Society, and whether it should meet on school grounds. Gwinnett County school officials defended the censorship and the vague and ill defined fears upon which it was based. Gwinnett Schools spokeswoman Sloan Roach was quoted as saying, "Mr. Johnson was not going to allow there to be distractions from what they are about teaching and learning. The point-counterpoint was inflammatory in nature and could be disruptive." Liberty editor L'Anita Weiler, 18, said that the newspaper had also written a news article about the formation of the club which had been edited by school administrators.

By Shawn Byrne. See the entry on the Vanity Plates page.

By Washington D.C. Councilwoman Kathy Patterson. City Council signed the First Amendment Rights and Police Standard Act of 2004 on 07 Jan. The city council had approved the law on 20 Dec 2004, and it must now go to Mayor Anthony Williams and Congress to be signed into law. Washington D.C. garnered negative national attention in Sept 2002 when police detained and arrested more than 400 nonviolent protesters, bystanders, and journalists covering a meeting of the International Monetary Fund/World Bank. The city later admitted that police acted "improperly". Four lawsuits against the city resulted from the arrests.

Although the primary focus of the bill is on police handling of demonstrations and protesters, it includes a section on police-media relations; requiring the chief of police to establish a written policy on issuing police passes to media personnel, as well as to allow media representatives "reasonable access to promote public knowledge" of any gatherings or demonstrations. Some journalism advocates say the bill is a step in the right direction, but falls short of giving journalists unfettered access to cover these events.

[Addendum (02 Feb 2005:) On 28 Jan, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams declined to sign the bill. His spokeswoman said the move was meant, "to put on record the mayor's opposition to elements of the bill that he would like fixed." Although Mayor Williams did not sign the bill, he also did not veto it; this means the bill now goes to Congress for thirty days of review. If no member of Congress objects to the bill it will become law. See the source article for more background. --MN]

By Anonymous. On 17 Jan, Ypsilanti District Library held a re-enactment program featuring local actor Steve Dixon delivering some of King's speeches. During the program, two fliers that denounced the library were found on the premises. Both were destroyed on the spot, and mention of the fliers was made after the program was completed. A couple of comments about the material are:

• Jill Morey, library executive director: It was unfortunate and inappropriate. But we are focusing on the positive things that we are doing to honor Dr. King.

• Donna DeButts, community relations coordinator: "It is vicious material, attacking the character of Dr. King. It's hateful. Here you are preparing to offer a program to celebrate a leader in our time frame - we're not talking about George Washington - but someone who lived in our lifetime. To see these things that are character-slashing, things that are chipping away at Dr. King's reputation, it's poison."

[Chalk this up to a case of left-wing censorship, and I have to wonder if either of them could explain what made the fliers so dangerous that they had to be destroyed if the content was so completely wrong, and if their justifications would stand up to scrutiny by a civil rights leader. --MN]

By Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville. In what appears to be a series of blatant refutation of the principle that justice must be seen to be done, Judge Melville has consistently imposed extensive secrecy provisions in Michael Jackson's child-molestation case. Many of the precautions have proved useless because of equally extensive information leaks. Judge Melville sealed the entire grand jury transcript in the case, only to have it leaked to an Internet Web site and a TV network during the week of 16-22 Jan, and in the redacted motion released on this day, it was easy to decipher the contents by reading the decisions cited in the motion. See the source article for more background.

For The Life of Jesus. Mr. Haderer was sentenced to six months imprisonment by a Greek court. Publisher Fritz Panzer commented on the decision: "After all, Greece is a member of the European Union and, so you would think, not a religious state, in which an artist's freedom of expression is kicked to the ground." Mr. Haderer's lawyers have appealed against the sentence which can only be imposed if Haderer travels to Greece, but comic book, which was seized in Feb 2003, cannot be sold in Greek shops until legal proceedings have been completed.
(see 28 Feb 2003; 13 Apr 2005)

By Paul K. McMasters. A commentary of his on a person's right to be offended was posted at First Amendment Center. Aside from examining the friction between free speech and the easily offended, he details several incidents of censorship, including one in which Citadel Broadcasting Corporation yanked the Howard Stern show from some of its stations after he repeatedly uttered two words found deeply offensive by the land based broadcaster; to whit: satellite radio.

By Clearwater, Florida. In Dec 2004, an outdoor concert called Next Big Thing IV was held at Coachman Park. It was attended by some 12,500 fans of alternative rock who enjoyed 10 different bands. Five people in the surrounding neighborhoods complained to police about the vulgar language and obscenities, and now the city plans on implementing a prior restraint policy for future acts. Robyn E. Blumner, St. Petersburg Times Perspective Columnist, wrote of this affair:

Kevin Dunbar, the city's director of Parks and Recreation, after being pushed to address the "problem" by the mayor and City Council, says that the city will be more particular about who is booked to perform. "(The city will) look to bring in the kind of groups that are more mainstream so we are not offending the people who live in the outlying areas," Dunbar says.

Maybe the next concert should be called the Next Banal Thing. This is censorship just as if the city passed an ordinance flatly prohibiting profanity by musicians in the park. Just because it occurs behind the scenes doesn't make it any more palatable.

It is also a sadly predictable response.

[This is clearly an ironic example of the double standard applied to community standards; in this case, the standards of 12,500 community members are being subverted to the standards of 5 community members; some 0.04 percent of the sample. From this, one would tend to conclude that obviously, unpopular speech is not subject to the principle of: majority rules. And yet, these double-thinking fools will pretend that what they are doing is democratic. Pfah! --MN]

By South Carolina. See the appendix on vanity plates.

By the American corporate press. Matt Taibbi of the New York Press had a piece reprinted at AlterNet.org on this day, in which he calls to task the corporate press for its complete lack of coverage of the abandoment of a major Bush administration propaganda; to whit: the admission made by the White House that it had given up pretending to search for NBC weapons in Iraq. Mr Taibbi excoriated the press:

It is unrealistic to expect anything different. In the run-up to the war, every major daily and television network in the country parroted the White House's asinine WMD claims for months on end, all but throwing their panties on stage the instant Colin Powell showed what appeared to be a grainy aerial picture of a pick-up truck to the U.N. Security Council. Justice would seem to demand that a roughly equivalent amount of coverage be given to the truth, now that we know it (and we can officially call it the truth now, because even Bush admits it; previously the truth was just a gigantic, unendorsed pile of plainly obvious evidence). But that isn't the way things work in America. We only cover things around the clock every day for four or five straight months when it's fun.

O.J. was fun. Monica Lewinsky was fun. "America's New War" was fun -- there was a war at the end of that rainbow. But "We All Totally Fucked Up" is not fun. You can't make a whole new set of TV graphics for "We All Totally Fucked Up."

[Said propaganda having served its purpose, and yet, the elected parasites who so quickly sought to impeach Bill Clinton for getting blow jobs has remained silent about Bush's crimes against humanity. --MN]

By U.S. District Judge Gary L. Lancaster. See the entry on the Bush censorship page.

By Judge Virginia Bell of the New South Wales Supreme Court, Australia. Judge Bell called for the internet to be purged of any material likely to prejudice a trial, to prevent jurors from conducting their own investigations into cases on which they are sitting. Fortunately, she at least had the sense to restrict this measure solely to Australian ISPs. She told a conference of Supreme and Federal court judges from across the country that the ready availability of archived press reports on the internet could jeopardise the trial of an accused person, and recommended that Crown prosecutors in any pending case should: "carry out searches on the internet and, in the event that prejudicial material is identified ... request any Australian-based website to remove it until the trial is completed."

A NSW study which examined 41 trials held between 1997 and 2000 found that in three cases jurors admitted to having carried out internet searches despite being instructed not to by judges. Justice Bell said that the publication of material with a real and definite tendency to prejudice a trial amounted to contempt of court, and is further quoted: "The difficulty arises with material published on the internet by individuals and interest groups who may be difficult to trace or, in widely publicised cases, by the publication of prejudicial material on the internet by persons outside the jurisdiction." Australian Courts can already compel Australian ISPs to remove material from websites in Australia, but as Peter Coroneos, chief executive of the Internet Industry Association, said, "The problem is much more difficult if someone puts up a website in Argentina." Christopher Warren, federal secretary of Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, called it an attempt at censorship which highlighted a "disturbing trend" in judges' decisions, and further said, "It's silly and it's unworkable, we've already seen in the Gutnick case how dangerous that can be for Australia."

By George Bush. See the entry on the Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By Jenna Jameson. Houston city Mayor Bill White ordered the library to remove its dozen of copies from open shelves. In making this decision, Mayor White completely sidestepped the review process. According to mayoral spokesman Frank Michel his rationale for doing so is: "We're trying to take action quickly, and we didn't see a need to go through a long bureaucratic process." Mayor White decreed that the books, which were with the best seller displays at the central library and 11 branches, are to be locked in the closed stacks of Houston's central library downtown, and patrons will have to ask to view or check out the book.
(see 05 Jan 2005; 11 Feb 2005)

By WGBH-TV Boston. See the entry on the Bush censorship page.

By Vermillion Public Library of Vermillion, South Dakota. Nat Hentoff reported on this day that the Vermillion Public Library Board of Trustees voted to sponsor the Dulce Maria Loynaz Library in Havana, Cuba, on 18 Nov 2004. The South Dakota library will be sending books to its sister library in Cuba, paid solely by private contributions. The Dulce Maria Loynaz Library was among those raided by Castro's enforcers, in a crackdown on seventy-five libraries, but Independent Librarian Gisela Delgado was not imprisoned. Mark Wetmore, Board of Trustees vice president, is quoted: "It diminishes all our libraries a little if we know that there are people being persecuted for trying to operate free, uncensored ones and we don't at least try to do something about it."

By the Bush administration. This latest contretemps deals with Michael McManus. See the entry on the Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By Georgia state Representative Ben Bridges. In the latest attempt to circumvent the teaching of evolution in schools on behalf of religious fanaticism, Rep. Bridges has introduced legislation requiring that only "scientific fact" be taught in public schools. Democrats in the Legislature blasted the proposal, particularly the use of the word "theory" to suggest evolution is an unproven assumption. This action could be in response to the District Court ruling striking down the use of anti-evolution disclaimers in school books in Cobb County, but in any event, it almost certainly flies in the face of the Edwards v: Aguillard ruling by the U.S Supreme Court.

[This one is based partly on misinterpretation and partly on ignorance of scientific principles. Generally, in science, there is no such thing as a "fact". What we hold to be facts are, in science, merely generally agreed to models of reality that are subject to change in light of further experiment and information. Mind you, some models hold up much more rigorously than others; the "Theory" of Relativity or the Law of Universal Gravitational Attraction, for instance. The misinterpretation is that "theory" means an idea or unproven assumption. In physics, "theory" means a meta-law to which other laws of physics are subordinate and which can be described using the meta-law, whereas the lesser laws cannot be used to describe the meta-law. The Theory of Relativity is the best example of that. For more on the issue of scientific creationism and creationism vs: evolution, see the Stephen J. Gould, Niles Eldredge, Isaac Asimov, and Susan Harding quotations. --MN]
(see 13 Jan 2005)

By Yves Engler. In a piece published at rabble.ca, he alleges that the mainstream media seems almost totally unwilling to highlight Canada's connection to the Haitian coup and the aftermath of violent political repression. He wrote in part:

The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper, finally decided to report on Canadian operations in Haiti. Recently, reporter Marina Jimenez wrote about Canada's ongoing role in the hemisphere's poorest nation.

But did Jimenez look into the veracity of Paul Martin's claim that there are no political prisoners in Haiti? Did she discuss why Canada has released aid - and demanded other governments do likewise - to a regime with absolutely no democratic legitimacy? (This only two years after refusing aid to Haiti's democratic government based on claims of electoral irregularities in seven of 7000 elected positions.)

. . . and went on to detail the lack of reporting about murders by police forces and wholesale human rights abuses; in which the Goverment of Canada seems to be complicit.
(see 28 Feb 2005)

By Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting. The media watchdog group issued an Action Alert criticizing PBS chief operating officer Wayne Godwin for defending the censorship of the Sugartime episode of Postcards From Buster.

By Stephen Moldow. The Appellate Division of New Jersey Superior Court ruled on this day that Stephen Moldow, whose "Eye on Emerson" Web site contained information on local government activities and included a discussion forum, was immune from liability under a provision of federal communications law; affirming the decision that was being appealed. This protects the principle that web site operators are not liable for messages posted by anonymous visitors, even if such postings are intentionally malicious or potentially libelous. Gina Calogero, one of two Emerson council members who sued Moldow, commented: "We accomplished what we needed to accomplish -- to purge the town of this Web site." It is not know when the site was taken down as Mr. Moldow's lawyer had not returned the call from Associated Press by the time the source article went to press.

[See the source article for more background. The plaintiffs levied some rather wild and obviously baseless charges against Moldow. --MN]
(See 07 Aug 2001; 02 Jan 2002; 03 Jul 2003)

By Nicholas Turse, Tomdispatch.com. A long look at a number of different incidents by the Bush Adminstration that show the U.S. government trending toward a police state. It was reprinted at AlterNet.org on this day.

[Binary thinkers are likely to consider this to be conspiracy theory, and Turse does make some heavy allegations without offering supporting evidence, but the piece is coherent and cogent enough to merit serious consideration despite his skirting the edge. --MN]

By Alabama State Representative Gerald Allen (R-Cottondale). On this day he introduced his bill to prohibit public libraries, schools, and universities from purchasing books or other materials that promote gay culture or feature gay characters. The bill asserts that it is not a "prior restraint of the First Amendment protected speech" in that it applies only to public institutions, "in the use of public funds and public facilities." It also makes its provisions severable, so that if any part of the law is declared invalid or unconstitutional, other parts would not be affected.

[A law forbidding speech about homosexuals that declares itself to be First Amendment friendly. Now there's a trick. As for targeting only the gay culture or gay characters, everything can be misconstrued to be homosexual. Pop icon SpongeBob SquarePants was recently vilified by raving-at-the-brain religious lunatics as a closet gay. This was because he was seen holding hands with his friend the starfish in a music video. The context is that they were in a group sing-a-long. Barney the Dinosaur was slammed for homosexuality for being in that video. I'll give the last word on this one to LibraryLaw Blog which asked:

Who would evaluate the materials? How would ever-changing databases be screened? What would the standards be for determining what would be promoting homosexuality? Would all materials on homosexuality be banned, since even materials condemning homosexuality recognize its existence? Would this new mandate become the full-time occupation for library staffs?

Aye, there's the rub. --MN]
(see 20 Apr 2005)

By Representatives Mike Pence, R-Ind., and Rick Boucher, D-Va. The Free Flow of Information Act would write into law guidelines adopted by the U.S. Justice Department in 1973 for issuing subpoenas to journalists. These standards state that prosecutors or courts must exhaust all efforts to obtain information from alternative sources before they can compel reporters to testify; any information sought from reporters must also be essential to the case and be of substantial importance.

By Michael Hermesh. The statue in the Baggage Handler is the centerpiece of the work, which comprises the statue and twenty-four pieces of colorful luggage scattered around the statue. The luggage represents emotional baggage, and the statue is a full-nude figure of a middle-aged and paunchy male. Difficulties arose from two factors. One: the work was installed in the middle of the traffic roundabout in Penticton, which generated a number of complaints about it's being a distraction; two: it's a nude figure, so, of course, it generated heated controversy on it's being out where the public could see it. Mayor David Perry and several citizens had demanded it be taken down, shortly after it was unveiled on 11 Jan. Curtis Collins, director of the Art Gallery of the South Okanagan, had convinced Hermesh to obscure the genitalia with a square steel plate, but the plate drew more attention to the figure's midsection and made the work look ridiculous, so the covering was removed. On 30 Jan, vandals who knocked over suitcases, ripped out lights, and lopped off the end of the figure's penis.

Mr. Collins is planning on how to repair the statue with Mr. Hermesh. It is slated to remain on display until Sep 2005. Mr. Hermesh said the controversy was never about sex, and is quoted: "What's upsetting people is that someone would have the audacity to be free and create something without listening to other people. What is the next artist supposed to do now? Put a block of concrete in, make sure it doesn't offend people, put fence around it and hire security guards?"

[The funny thing is, this might not be a case of censorship. The statue might just have been vandalized by a pack of adolescents who were high on testosterone and decided to test the limits by doing something that would shock the grown ups. Since the statue has generated so much publicity, it would have stood out as a prime target of opportunity. --MN]

By Rudolfo Anaya. Superintendent of schools Bob Conder, in Norwood, Colorado, unilaterally turned over more than twenty-four copies of Bless Me, Ultima to a parent so that person could destroy the books. The teacher who ordered the books for the curriculum was made to apologize in a letter to parents. Mr. Conder, who hadn't read the entire book, took this action because one parent had complained about the book. He defended his action by saying, "It's less a matter of censorship than a matter of sponsorship. That's not the kind of garbage I want to sponsor at this high school." Mr. Anaya replied: "My suggestion is: Read the book. The language is not gratuitous. It fits with the scenes. I have hundreds of letters from students from all over the country who have been moved by this book. I would love to go to Norwood with my box full of letters."
(see 04 Feb 2005)

By Fargo, North Dakota, McCarthyites. See the anti-Bush sentiment suppression timeline.

By Charlie Savage and Alan Wirzbicki The Boston Globe. See the entry on The Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By Rudolfo Ananya. Norwood Schools Superintendent Bob Conder apologized to students, parents, staff and residents for his act of censorship, but fifteen to twenty students still staged an all-day sit-in in the school gymnasium and took turns reading from the book. Freshman Skyler Hollinbech, age fifteen, commented, "We stayed all day to prove the point and say it won't happen again. It was a violation of our rights." This action had begun about two weeks previous to this when two parents, John and Rhonda Oliver, complained about profanity in the book. They were given all the copies for the ninth-grade class, and which they threw in the garbage. Mr. Conder also offered to pay for the replacement copies.
(see 03 Feb 2005)

By Frank Rich. Touchdown for the Indecency Police examines some of the fall out from the Justin Timberlake wardrobe malfunction. See my commentary on that particular issue.

By GoDaddy.com Inc. An advertisement for this vendor of Web site names was pulled at the last minute from a second showing during the Super Bowl telecast, although it had been initially approved by Fox executives. The ad featured a buxom woman who appeared before a "broadcast censorship" hearing to make her case for being in a commercial. During her testimony a strap on her skimpy top breaks. One of the elderly committee members reaches for an oxygen mask, and a woman on the panel suggests the supplicant put on a turtleneck. The logo of the fake news channel was "G-Spin," and to further satirize, the hearings were supposedly being held in Salem, Mass.; the town famous for its witch trials. Fox had already exercised prior restraint against a second ad from GoDaddy.com before the broadcast.

By FAIR. On this day the watchdog group issued an Action Alert accusing U.S.A. Today of distorting Bush Administration spin to make Bush's misrepresntations about Social Security into more accurate representations of reality.

By Christian fundamentalists. An Associated Press article posted at the First Amendment Center web site examines how Kansan ultra-conservatives who are riding the tide of misohomonist sentiment vis-a-vis the anti-gay marriage movement are also planning to expand into anti-intellectualism by fiat.

[See the quotations file about "scientific creationism" for more background about anti-evolution movements, and the Isaac Asimov quotations file for his examination of the Book of Genesis. --MN]

By Harvey Kash and Carl Lanzisera. Founders of Americans for Legal Reform, a group that uses confrontational tactics to urge greater public access to the courts, these two elderly wise guys have stood outside courthouses on Long Island and mocked lawyers for years. Recently, one lawyer standing in a line with them took exception to their banter and had them arrested. On this day the grand jury considered the evidence in the case and voted to dismiss the disorderly conduct charges. It had been alleged the two men had been abusive and caused a disturbance.

By Californians. Hundreds of students walked out of class at Colton High high school, east of Los Angeles, to protest a dress code banning drooping pants for boys and bare midriffs for girls. The students gathered in a quad area for a peaceful demonstration. All the school's more than 3,300 students were sent home late in the morning after administrators failed to persuade the protesters to return to class. Michael Townsend, a school district spokesman commented, "The vast majority walked out because it's a good excuse for them to get out of class." Police were called to the campus, but no one was injured, arrested or suspended.
(see 23 Apr 2004; 10 Feb 2005)

By the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). See the entry on the Bush censorship page.

By the Strong Communities Campaign, London, Ontario, Canada. In a widening of the cultural divide between religious America and tolerant Canada, the Strong Communities Campaign was launched on this day. This group is raising $35,000 to buy books promoting tolerance of different sexual orientations with the aim of getting the books into libraries at each of the Thames Valley District's 156 elementary and 30 secondary schools. The district school board was mired in controversy in Spring 2004 when it decided to expand its safe schools policy to include gays and lesbians; this was supposed to make gay and lesbian students more safe and comfortable in school. A board committee that directed those changes recommended the board spend $200 a school so libraries could update their collections, but this recommendation was not approved. The Strong Communities Campaign is an effort to fill that gap.

By Virginians. On a unanimous voice vote the Senate Courts of Justice Committee killed Algie T. Howell's bill that called for a $50 fine for anyone who displayed skivvies in "a lewd or indecent manner." The senators canned the legislation saying international news reports about the bill have embarrassed the state. State Sen. Thomas K. Norment said he could have found humor in the bill had news reports not given the impression that Virginia lawmakers were preoccupied with droopy drawers, and is quoted, "I find that an indignation which dampens my humor." The state's House of Delegates had passed the bill on 08 Feb; although Delegate Lionell Spruill Sr., a Democrat who opposed the bill, had pleaded with his colleagues to remember their own youthful fashion follies. The measure was approved 60-34.

[Pity they killed it because they were embarrassed by it instead of for recognizing it as utter stupidity. --MN]
(see 23 Apr 2004; 09 Feb 2005)

By the law abiding youth of Sioux Fall, South Dakota. Hopping in your wheels and cruising has been made illegal in a number of communities across the U.S. This report on the situation was posted to WireTap; the youth-wing of AlterNet.org. It alleges that in some communities there is a strong racial component to such laws.

[For my money, these bylaws are just more attempts by power-tripping control-freak, grown-ups to oppress the non-franchised. The philosophy of people like that is: Rules for the sake of having rules. --MN]

By American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. This year marks the first time in five years that the Harry Potter series does not top the list or appear on it. Also missing from this year's list are: the Alice series of books by Phylis Reynolds Naylor; "Go Ask Alice" by Anonymous; "It's Perfectly Normal" by Robie Harris; "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain. Which only means they weren't challenged as often as before. ALS defines a challenge as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.

• The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier: sexual content, offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, violence

• Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers: racism, offensive language, violence

• Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture, by Michael A. Bellesiles: inaccuracy, political viewpoint

• Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey: offensive language, modeling bad behavior

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky: homosexuality, sexual content, offensive language

• What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones: homosexuality, sexual content, offensive language

• In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak: nudity, offensive language

• King & King, by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland: homosexuality

• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou: racism, homosexuality, sexual content, offensive language, unsuited to age group

• Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck: racism, offensive language, violence

By Jenna Jameson. On this day it was reported that a library review board decided the Jameson book should be located in the library's fine arts and recreation section. Since the knee-jerk reaction by the Mayor, it was being kept behind the circulation desk; creating a condition where patrons basically had to ask permission to see it. This incident had also attracted the attention of the ACLU, although that body does not seem to have become involved. Nonetheless, attorney Randall Callinen commented, "Well, the ACLU was highly disturbed by the reports it got from many people in the community that Mayor Bill White had just waved his arm and taken a book from the general circulation and taken it out of public view."
(see 05 Jan 2005; 26 Jan 2005)

By Chris Crutcher. The book was banned (temporarily, so far) from Grand Rapids Public Schools due to the short story Telephone Man. The story deals with learning about intolerance and contains a number of racial slurs. The teacher who had read the story in class and generated this action was punished by being reassigned. This story is more about how the censorship has rebounded, however. All of the forty-four copies in the eight-county book-sharing network covered by the Lakeland Library Cooperative were spoken for on 12 Feb, with other names on the waiting lists, and the few copies in various bookstores in the area quickly sold out and new copies had to be ordered commensurate with the sudden demand.

By AccessNorthwest at Washington State University. The survey of 185 school districts revealed that in the past two school years there were thirty-four challenges by parents or community members. Of these, ten resulted in restrictions and six books were banned from schools. The titles, authors, and districts are:

BANNED: Do You Hear Me?: Betsy Franc-Feeney, Northport Paint Me Like I Am: WritersCorps, Northport Things I Have To Tell You: Betsy Franco-Feeney, Northport No title available, Davenport Collection of Books: Bill Myers, Anacortes Fallen Angels: Walter Dean Meyers, Eastmont RESTRICTED: Snow Falling on Cedars: David Guterson, Peninsula Prayer for Owen Meany: John Irving, Peninsula Grendel: John Gardner, Peninsula Brain Gym: Paul E. Dennison & Gail E. Dennison, Tekoa Balzac & the Little Chinese Seamstress: Dai Sijie, Federal Way The Face on the Milk Carton: Caroline B. Cooney, Federal Way The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Mark Twain, Tacoma Of Mice and Men: John Steinbeck, Lake Washington Crazy Horse Electric Game: Chris Crutcher, Woodland What Do You Say Dear?: Sesvle Joslin, Spokane

FAILED CHALLENGES: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Maya Angelou, Mary Walker Give a Boy a Gun: Todd Strasser, Oak Harbor It's Perfectly Normal: Robbie H. Harris, Quincy Biology Text, Quincy The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Mark Twain, Eastmont The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Mark Twain, Renton The Beach: Alex Garland, Wenatchee The Inferno: Dante Alighieri, Tukwila When I was Puerto Rican: Esmeralda Santiago, North Thurston Reading Mastery: level 1: SRA, Orchard Prairie The Natural: Bernard Malamud, Central Valley The Mandala Project: Bailey Cunningham, Anacortes Nightjohn: Gary Paulson, Bethel Harry Potter series: JK Rowling, Bethel EMC Literature Series, None, Bethel Magic Eye: A New Way of Looking at the World: N.E. Thing Enterprises, Spokane My Very Own Book About Me: Lutheran Social Service of Washington, Spokane Our City Spokane: Marcia O'Neill and Nancy Gale Compau, Spokane

By Charles Lewis, of The Center for Public Integrity, and Robert Scheer, respectively. See the entry on the Bush censorship page.

By Ali Al-Dumaini, Matruk Al-Faleh and Abdullah Al-Hamed. These three academics were arrested in Mar 2004 and charged with causing instability, collecting signatures for a petition, and exploiting the Saudi Arabian Kingdom's battle with Al-Qaeda terrorists for political gain. Nine others were arrested and charged with them, but were released after signing undertakings that they would refrain from publicly criticizing the government. These three reformists have refused to submit a defense in protest of their court sessions being held mostly in private. As a result, a panel of three judges in Riyadh warned them that the court could issue a verdict at the next hearing if they continue to refuse to submit a defense. The lawyer for the defense, Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, was also arrested last November and remains imprisoned in the Al-Hair jail. Apparently he was too outspoken. See the source article for more background.

By Representative Bernard Sanders. See the floor statement by Rep. Bernard Sanders in opposition to The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act 2005. This is the act which would raise FCC fines for indecency during broadcasts.
(see 02 Mar 2005)

Starring Keanu Reeves. An apocalyptic thriller that depicts demonic possession, visions of hell, and a renegade angel, the movie was deemed unsuitable for public viewing by the Brunei government's Censor Board. The film is steeped in Roman Catholic mythology and features Reeves as a chain-smoking exorcist who dispatches demons back to the underworld in hopes of erasing a mortal sin he once committed. It opened the week of 06-12 Feb in Malaysia, where censors edited out several curse words and rated the movie as having "non-excessive violent and horrifying scenes". They did not object to the religious material however. Brunei, which shares a border with Malayasia, has some of South-East Asia's most strict censorship guidelines for movies and songs, especially for material that might be considered offensive to Islam.

By Abeer Mishkhas. An examination of the media situation in and surrounding Iraq, Mr. Mishkhas asks: How much of what is happening to journalists is real, and how much is conspiracy theory or persecution complex? This piece derives from the recent "resignation" of CNN boss Eason Jordan because of statements he made about journalists being deliberately targeted for execution by U.S. forces. One of questions Mr. Mishkhas addresses is: Did Jordan jump or was he pushed?

By Patrick O'Connor. He wrote from Ma'asiyahu prison in Ramle, Israel, where he had been held for two weeks as of this writing on charges of "illegal demonstrations." His piece originally appeared in Haaretz, and was reprinted at AlterNet.org on this day. He wrote in part:

Apparently, it is forbidden for Palestinians to use the tactics of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. to try to save their land and their communities from destruction. Apparently, Israeli authorities believe that it is legal for Israeli soldiers to club Palestinian men, women and children, to use tear gas on them, shoot rubber bullets and live ammunition at them and arrest them for peacefully protesting. This use of violence against peaceful protesters is "legal" even though the ICJ declared the construction of the wall on Palestinian land illegal. The Israeli government explains the soldiers' violence as "Palestinian clashes with security forces," even though the Israeli military invariably initiates the violence and young Palestinian men only occasionally respond with rocks.

By the Justice Department. See the entry on the Bush censorship page.

At the Yorktown Battlefield, Virginia. Citing the First Amendment, the National Park Service granted The National Socialist Movement permission to hold a rally at this national monument to democracy. Mike Litterst, Park Service spokesman commented, "Because this is a First Amendment issue, it cannot be turned down." The group is unlikely to be given permission to rally on the site specifically asked for however: Surrender Field. This is where the British army surrendered to General George Washington to end the Revolutionary War. Mr. Litterst said no group had ever been permitted to use that field. The Klan rally is ostentibly to honour George Washington.

[Astounding, incredible, and implausible. A Bush regime official upholding Free Speech rights? Whoever made the decision must be a holdover from the Clinton years. --MN]
(see 25 Jun 2005)

See this web site about celebrating and promoting the right to read in Canada. The site appears to have undergone a significant renovation for this year.

By Paul K. McMasters, First Amendment Center ombudsman. He had a piece published at First Amendment Center that examines the interplay between censorial actions and the free marketplace of ideas. It is a well balanced work that looks at the demographics of video game players. It reports that although most "violent" games are purchased by minors, the majority of game players are thirty years old, and parents are involved in the purchases of such games by minors eighty-three percent of the time. This editor counts that last point as a strong argument against legislating parental perogatives to the government.

By a private publishing company but bought in bulk by the government of Mexico. School libraries are stocking a book that includes the lyrics of "narcocorridos"; folk songs that glorify drug traffickers. According to experts, the corrido is Mexico's national song form. It was born along with the country's independence in the 1820s and reached its peak during the 1910-1917 Revolution. Narcocorridos didn't start becoming popular until the 1970s and 80s. Opposition activists are livid that the administration of President Vicente Fox, which has declared a "war on all fronts" against drug gangs, is allowing tens of thousands of copies of the book into grade-school libraries, and legislators who say the books have no place in Mexican schools have scheduled hearings. The sheer bulk of candidate books for libraries -- More than 13,000 titles were submitted by local book distributors as candidates for a plan to put as many as 30 million books in school libraries across the country -- and the fact that narcocorridos account for only a few of the corridos in the book, apparently allowed the narcotics issue to be overlooked. The books were vetted by three non-governmental civic groups at the national level and then were evaluated by committees of parents, teachers and local officials in Mexico's 31 states and the capital. All but one of those states -- whose committees had access to the full text -- picked 100 Corridos as a top choice for local libraries. The other state listed it as a second choice. None rejected it.

Baja California state radio stations agreed to ban narcocorridos in 2002 and decided to play only songs that promote positive messages. Mexico federal Senator Jesus Ortega commented, "I certainly recognize that corridos are part of our cultural values, but they should be corridos, not these songs that glorify crime."

[Censorship or a reasonble restriction? Too early to tell. The current non-opinion I have on this issue is that early corridos celebrated opposition to blind authority -- like a ballad about Robin Hood would -- and were about outlawry and rebellion in the cause of justice. Narcocorridos seem to glorify violence, brutality, misogynism, and outright lawlessness. --MN]

By FAIR. The watchdog group issued a media advisory on media omissions in examining John Negroponte's record as ambassador to Honduras.

By Lois Lowry. A Spook Hill Elementary School media committee, in Lake Wales, Florida, voted 7-4 to remove this book from the school library because of some of the subject matter. Kristi Hardee, a parent of a student at the school, had asked for the removal of six books. In Anastasia Again!, Anastasia Krupnik is forced to deal with the decision of her parents' to move to the suburbs from their apartment in the city. Ms. Hardee complained that the book's references to beer, Playboy magazine, and Anastasia making light of wanting to kill herself, were inappropriate for children. Out of the six titles, the committee voted to ban only Anastasia Again!. Ms. Hardee had wanted the books removed from every elementary school in Polk County.

By U.S. District Judge Jimm Larry Hendren. He ruled on 18 Feb that the Greenwood High School administration (Principal Jerry Efurd and Assistant Principal Jim Garvey), and the school's district had violated the First Amendment rights of Justin Neal, and Ryan Kuhl when they were suspended for three days for content on their internet sites. The Web sites were created on the students' home computers, and drew the protest of a parent because of the way they depicted athletes and band members; also at issue were language and "hateful comments" on the sites. The district had said the postings by the students were inappropriate. Judge Hendren:

• ordered that no record of the suspensions linger in the students' records;
• ordered administrators to never mention that the pair had once been wrongly suspended;
• ordered Efurd to not punish Neal and Kuhl for the content of their Web sites on or before Jan. 5;
• that the students cannot be punished for any other Web content that is not disruptive or threatening.

[Looks to me as if Efrud and Garvey had tried to extend Hazelwood beyond the school gates because of speech about the school. Very stupid of them, eh, wot? Not only could students be censored for what they said in school, but for speech at any time or place where it could be seen or heard by the school. --MN]

By CSI. The Parents Television Council, a religio-conservative watchdog group, announced that it would file an indecency complaint with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission about the content of the 17 Feb episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. This episode focused on infantilism and the paraphilia involved with the phenomenon. The victim had a nursery hidden in his house with oversized pacifiers and baby toys. The Council says that the episode made references to "perverse and graphic" sexual acts.

[I must have missed something. Weird, strange, and largely incomprehensible, maybe, but there wasn't anything sexual that I could see in the practice. Mind you, the PTC might have a bug in its britches because it was briefly assumed that the dead victim was a sodomite. That would be enough to set off the reactionaries. --MN]

By Stephen Spielberg. The five member committee of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission ruled that this film was not indecent. This is the second time the FCC has had to say so, the first time being in 2002. U.S. indecency guidelines refer specifically to reproductive or excretory functions of which none are shown in the film, although some of the language used by the soldiers constitutes profanity and vulgarities. The Committee ruled that the language was completely in context and commented: "In light of the overall context in which this material is presented, the commission determined it was not indecent or profane." Sixteen thousand complaints against the film had been filed by American Family Association supporters according to a claim on its web site.

In separate rulings, the FCC also denied indecency complaints against the NBC comedy "Will and Grace" and the Fox comedy "Arrested Development", which complaints had been filed by a group called Parents Television Council.

[One wonders if they had even watched the film to know what they were complaining about, and if they had how it is they did not stop watching it if they found it offensive. In either case, they are hardly in any position to decide that other people should not be permitted to view it. --MN]

By Haitian supporters of Aristides. An article by Bill Quigley, posted at CommonDreams.org, reports that a large number of Aristide supporters were marching to mark the first anniversary of Aristide being forced from office -- ostentibly by foreign interests -- when they were suddenly fired on by the local police without any provocation. Even though there were UN Peacekeepers walking with the marchers. Two men were killed and several were injured when the march was four blocks away from the National Palace.
(see 20 Jan 2005)

By Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. A Schwarzenegger administration video promoting regulations that give workers the choice of taking a meal break or going home early was packaged as a television news story. Labor leaders and legislator are criticizing this action, which mimics actions undertaken by the Bush administration, while the governor's office is defending the move. A few comments pro and con are:

• Rick Rice, administration spokesman: [the video is] "just a news release"; [television stations are] "free to use it however they want. They're journalists so I am assuming they would do what journalists do, which is look at both sides of the story.

  "We don't think this is political ... nor is it propaganda. It's just a news release on an issue the labor unions are completely opposed to. They're looking to anything they can to detract from the true issue, which is their opposition to our regulations."

• Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood: "It's a blatant attempt to manipulate the media. If a television station is lazy enough just to take this video (and run it), it completely manipulates and skews the story."

At issue appears to be that the video provided favorable viewpoints, but there was no comment in the video from anyone opposed to the regulations. The piece aired on five television stations. Assemblyman Koretz suggested the video violated a ban on spending tax money to produce propaganda and said he would ask the attorney general's office to investigate.

By Lex18.com. This news site reported that William Poole, a junior at George Rogers Clark High School, Clark County, Kentucky, was arrested on a second-degree felony terrorist-threatening charge for writing a fictitious story about evil doings at a high school. The site quotes the author:

"My story is based on fiction. It's a fake story. I made it up. I've been working on one of my short stories, (and) the short story they found was about zombies. Yes, it did say a high school. It was about a high school over ran by zombies."

[...]

"It didn't mention nobody who lives in Clark County, didn't mention (George Rogers Clark High School), didn't mention no principal or cops, nothing."

The site also reported that the police say the nature of the story makes it a felony, and Winchester Police detective Steven Caudill defended the arrest, saying, "Anytime you make any threat or possess matter involving a school or function it's a felony in the state of Kentucky." And further related that on 03 Mar, Poole's bond was raised from one thousand to five thousand dollars at the request of prosecutors, who cited the seriousness of the charge.

What Lex18.com did not report were the other facts of this story, which were reported by the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier Online. The police had acted on a tip from Poole's grandparents, and Detective Berl Perdue stated that Poole was attempting to "recruit a gang to take over the school." This last point was reportedly indicated in personal writings recovered by the police. There is a properly written and balanced story about this case at Student Press Law Center; it was posted on 04 Mar.

[Damn, damn, damn! I had read about this incident and had originally presented it prima facie as a combination of post-Columbine and anti-terrorism hysteria; complete with the following editorial comment:

As of this date the Bush Regime had still not gotten one reliable conviction on a charge of terrorism, so I guess the state of Kentucky thought it could do better by charging high school students for doing their homework.

I don't know what kind of chuckleheaded idiot wrote that article for Lex18.com but he, she, or it is no kind of ethical journalist in my books. --MN]

By Douglas Kern. Mr. Kern's piece, calling for more speech codes at institutes of higher learning, was published at Tech Central Station. His point is that all institutions have certain intrinsic biases, and that properly written speech codes can identify them. This would, among other things, allow the consumers of the free marketplace of ideas to make better informed choices about what schools they might want to attend. It is well worth the read.

By John Nichols, of The Nation. On 28 Feb he had a piece published that was reprinted at AlterNet.org on this day. In the piece, entitled Down with the First Amendment, he examines the lack of will in the Democratic party to oppose the censorial Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, which would raise fines high enough to bankrupt small broadcasters.
(see 16 Feb 2005)

By the Utah Senate. See the entry on the Child Porn/Harmful to Minors page.

By E. R. Frank. Assistant Superintendent RoseMary Duran, Merced (Calif.) City School District, took a complaint over the phone from a single parent, on 28 Feb, and ordered the book removed from the shelves of the Tenaya and Rivera middle-school libraries. Necola Adams, whose attention was brought to the book by her 12-year-old daughter Hailey, objected to what she characterized as an "X-rated" passage describing the first experience with sexual intercourse by two teens. Life Is Funny recounts seven years, through a series of vignettes, in the intertwined lives of eleven Brooklyn teens who deal with such issues as abuse, drug addiction, promiscuity, and pregnancy.

[I am willing to concede sight unseen that the book probably does not belong in middle schools, but it was not subjected to a review process, it was simply removed on the order of one crypto-fascist. And I doubt seriously that Adams has any qualifications whatever to rate anything. She and her husband were described in the source article as screening what their daughter is exposed to, and that is their right and duty as parents, but in this action they have taken it upon themselves to screen what every other parents' children are exposed to. --MN]

By the Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service for the Blind. In what seems to be as good an example of the chilling effect as anything, Buffalo television station WKBW-TV recently stopped broadcasting the reading service's audio signal after a listener complained about an offensive word apparently contained in the Tom Wolfe novel I Am Charlotte Simmons. Reading-service director Bob Sikorski attributes the television station's response to the indecency storm that has gathered steam since Jackson's breast exposure during the 2004 Super Bowl. The reading service uses volunteers for its around-the-clock reading of newspapers, magazines, obituaries, movie listings and books, reaching thousands of visually impaired listeners via the WKBW SAP channel or specially equipped radio receivers. After weeks of talks, the television station has agreed to put the service back on the air, but will not carry it overnight during the safe harbour period when material containing adult content might be read, so as to avoid FCC attention. See the source article for more background.

[Keep in mind that signal carriers would be completely protected from FCC disapproval during the safe harbour period. --MN]

By Magnolia, Mississippi. Aldermen in this town adopted an ordinance to ban the sale of sexually explicit material citywide after receiving complaints from ministers and others offended by what those people said were pornographic magazines being displayed at some area stores. Mayor Jim Storer said on March 2 that he did not see the ordinance as being in conflict with free-speech rights. This editor begs to differ and will point out that the First Amendment allows for the distribution and receipt of information, and that pornography is protected speech.

[The mere possession of pornography has not been outlawed, only selling it, but where are you going to buy it if no one will carry it? The answer, of course, is out of town, which means that porn sales won't drop off overall, but local stores that sell it will either pay through fines or loss of income. Hurting your economic base this way seems like a stupid way to run a railroad to me. --MN]

By John Nicols. See the entry on the Bush censorship page.

By Hamburg Area High School students. The school, in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, is due to hold a talent show in April, and adminisrators had threatened to bar student rock bands from the show because of the potential for injuries by moshing; a form of dancing in which participants slam into each other. Enter Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, now a disc jockey with Philadelphia rock station WMMR-FM. When he heard about the controversy he ranted on air about it and school officials eventually backed down, and Snider helped arrange for a security company to work the show. Snider, who testified at a 1985 Senate hearing on whether albums should carry warning labels, commented on this day: "For me, it was like freakin' 'Footloose.' We're banning dancing? I'd done my time in Washington 20 years ago defending free speech, and it struck a chord with me." Snider also announced that he will be at the talent show and might event take a turn on stage with one band that plans on doing We're Not Gonna Take It.

By Christopher Crutcher. This book is about a 17-year-old boy confronting his multicultural heritage while creating a swim team at a high school that has no pool, and it contains the kind of language commonly used by such young adults. A parent had complained about the book in February, and on or about this day, the Limestone County school board voted 4-3 to ban it from the Ardmore High School library. This, despite a countywide committee of teachers, parents, and administrators having reviewed the book and recommending that it remain on the shelves. According to a memo, the committee recommended keeping it for several reasons, among them that it highlights the importance of forgiveness over revenge, and it provides a realistic view of life and the "consequences of prejudice, outspoken and malicious people."

[The Most Asinine Comment Award goes to James Shannon, who is quoted: "We can't allow students go down our halls and say those words, and we shouldn't let them read it. That book's got a lot of bad, bad words in it." I've got five bucks that says the majority of students at Ardmore already know those words, they just don't use them all that much in the school corridors. The Most Perpiscacious Comment Award goes to board member John Wayne King: "I'm not saying I approve of everything in the book. But there are a lot of things in life that you can't hide from kids. The language is not the whole idea of what the books says. Censoring a book is pretty extreme, and it needs a lot of thought put into it." --MN]

[Addendum (03 May 2005:) According to a follow up report on this banning, the book was banned from Limestone County School libraries, not from Ardmore alone. Also according to this report, on 02 May, the librarians, represented by Creekside Librarian Janet Saczawa issued a challenge to members of the school board to read the book in its entirety. Said Ms. Saczawa in delivering the challenge:

"It is obvious to many of us that some of the board members have not read the book in its entirety. In doing so, you have violated your own board policy, IFA, which states that you will read the material being challenged in its entirety, not just Xeroxed copies of the offending passages."

[...]

"As in all of his novels, Crutcher, a family therapist who has first-hand experience with teens in these situations, portrays his subject in real and unflinching terms. In a time when some students feel compelled to resort to violence in response to racists and bullies, I feel that learning how to deal with these problems without resorting to violence is much more important than shielding them from a few words they've already heard."

[...]

"'Whale Talk' is a disturbing book. What is even more disturbing is that it is based on actual cases that Mr. Crutcher has encountered in his practice. Some of our students face similar situations every day. You do these students a disservice if you remove this book and others like it from our schools, thereby telling them that you are offended by their stories, their situations, their pain, and ultimately, by them."

The board members did not immediately respond to the plea that they read the book, consider its message, and reconsider the ban. --MN]

By Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. In yet another display of how Republicans just don't get free speech rights and Supreme Court rulings, this newly elected senator announced that he, Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and others would introduce a new flag amendment soon, and that it has bipartisan sponsorship. Two flag amendments were introduced in the U.S. House in Jan 2005. Supporters point out that the House has passed a flag amendment five times with well over the required two-thirds majority but that the Senate has not gotten the two-thirds vote necessary to send it to the states for ratification. The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that flag burning is protected speech.

By Fleming Island High School principal Sam Ward and Clay County [Florida] School District administrators. In Sep 2004, at the start of the school year, 18-year-old, admitted lesbian Kelli Davis went to photographed for her yearbook picture for her graduation year. At the photographers, students had a choice between a black drape or a tuxedo top. She opted for the tuxedo top in a decision to emulate Sharon Stone and Sigourney Weaver.

As early as Oct she was hearing rumors around school that her photo wasn't going to appear in the yearbook because of her gender-bending choice to cross-dress. Scott Boggs, a neurosurgeon, and fiance to Ms. Cindi Davis, Kelly's mom, called Mr. Ward and find out what was going on, but Ward, who was congenial, said he couldn't discuss the matter with him because Boggs wasn't Davis' legal guardian. Instead, Ward promised to get back to Ms. Davis quickly with a solution. It was another month before Cindi Davis heard back from the school, and when she did, the word was that her daughter would indeed be excluded from the Fleming Island yearbook because her picture was not "uniform." Ms. Davis says she questioned Mr. Ward about his decision, suspecting it had more to do with misohomonism than "uniformity" but wouldn't budge from his position, and when she took the matter to the superintendent and school board, those bodies supported Mr. Ward's decision despite the fact that there is no written rule in the Clay County school district guiding dress code for senior yearbook photos.

Ms. Davis managed to get around the ban by taking out an ad in the yearbook, at a cost of three hundred fifty dollars, but still had to get the school lawyers to agree to let the ad run.

[See the source article for more background. I consider this to be a vile and disgusting display of spinelessness on the part of the superintendent and the school district. Although it is much more likely that they merely seized upon the specious rationales they cited as a handy way to excuse their bigotry. --MN]

By Representative Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, et al. On this day Mr. Sanders was joined by members of organizations representing librarians, booksellers, publishers, and writers, for a news conference where he announced that he will reintroduce this Act, which would exempt libraries and booksellers from Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.

By the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. In a fine example of the chilling effect and the heckler's veto, the French National Library airbrushed Jean-Paul Sartre's trademark cigarette out of a poster. It did it avoid prosecution under an anti-tobacco law, as well as to avoid frighten away potential sponsors for an exhibition to mark the hundredth anniversary of Sartre's birth. The exhibit opened on 09 Mar.

The philosopher's love of tobacco is well documented: he reportedly smoked two packs of cigarettes and several pipes a day; all the best-known photographs of him, such as his portrait by Henri Cartier-Bresson on the Pont des Arts in Paris, depict him with a cigarette or pipe in hand. So organisers homed in on a photo taken by the artist Lipnitzki in 1946, from which the cigarette could easily be removed. The doctoring of the photo was first spotted by Liberation; the Left-wing newspaper Sartre founded.

By Reporters Without Borders. On 27 Jan 2004, a court in Ontario province, Canada, agreed that former United Nations official Cheickh Bangoura, who now resides in Canada as an immigrant, could sue the Washington Post for libel before that court. The newspaper had reported allegations by his colleagues that he was guilty of serious improprieties. On 08 Mar 2005, the newspaper appealed that ruling, and on this day, Reporters Without Borders wrote to the Canadian justice minister, Irwin Cotler, stating its opposition to a movement that would allow extra-jurisdiction libel suits. A measure that is sure to be exploited by unscrupulous, press-hostile tyrants around the world.

By Paul Weinberg. In an Inter Press Service article reprinted at rabble.ca, Mr. Weinberg writes that the Anti-Terrorism Act is being abused by some RCMP offices to is being used to intimidate citizens and immigrants of Muslim origin. He wrote in part:

The Act, which amends 12 federal laws, amounts to an expansion of investigative powers for Canada's national policing and security agencies.

"Although its anti-terror provisions have not technically been invoked, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are using their expanded powers to threaten to detain people without charge or force them to give testimony," says Raja Khouri, a policy advisor and former president of the Canadian Arab Federation.

Khouri told IPS that members of the Arab community had been told: "I can lock you up; I don't need a reason," by RCMP officers.

The Canadian minister of public safety, Anne McLellan, told a Senate committee during March, that the Anti-Terrorism Act strikes a right balance between protecting national security and preserving civil liberties, and denied that any of Canada's law enforcement officers, national security investigators, prison officers or border guards had singled out any minorities in their investigations. Senator Mobina Jaffer -- also a member of the ruling Liberal party -- countered that Canadian police and security officials do racially profile. And Canadian courts have so ruled.

By David Barstow and Robin Stein of The New York Times. See the entry on the Bush censorship page.

By David E. Kelley and Robert Greenwald, respectively. As reported in a Rory O'Connor article at AlterNet.org.

The episode of Boston Legal scheduled to be aired on this day was subjected to prior restraint by the ABC network. AlterNet had acquired both the original and the revised script for this episode from an anonymous source. Not only were all references to Fox News and it's personalities deleted, but in one case at least the nuance of the dialogue was altered to present Fox News favorably. AlterNet states that the script was thoroughly scrubbed on orders from top network executives, and that no one will speak about the incident, including Mr. Kelley.

The same article reports that ABC refused to sell advertising time during Boston Legal for Mr. Greenwald's documentary Outfoxed. Distributor Gary Baddeley reportedly commented that Joel Resnicow, a representative of the Broadcast Standards and Practices Department at ABC: would not accept the ad, "although he was reluctant to come out and say so directly, I suspect for political reasons. I really pushed him hard to say what we would have to do to edit the ad to make it acceptable and he said he 'can't think of anything.' He also said that 'it seems like there are insurmountable issues,' and [he] 'wouldn't want us to invest time' in re-editing. So although he wouldn't actually say 'we will not approve an ad for this film no matter what' - that is the practical effect of what he is saying. The door has been closed in our face."

By Lois Lowry. The Blue Springs Board of Education unanimously voted to keep "The Giver" on the district's approved reading list.A group of parents had challenged the book in December, alleging that it was "twisted, lewd and in every way inappropriate." Some of the comments from the review meeting are:

• Dale Walkup, a board member who was absent due to having had surgery, was quoted as commenting on the matter: "After taking time to reread the book and discuss it with patrons of the district, I feel this is a good book for our students to read. The last chapter of the book shows Jonas fighting to break the cycle, and showing that it is wrong. The message is not about suicide or euthanasia, but about demonstrating to students that the government can't control us."

• Cerise Ivey: "The book may be well written in the grammatical sense, but it holds no virtue. To say that a book is OK because violence is out there is a warped sense of logic. This is not censorship. We just want it out of the classrooms, not the library."

• Mark Kover: "Sometimes when I watch a scary movie, I hide my eyes behind a pillow. But when we are watching a real-life dilemma, hiding our eyes won't work. This is a thought-provoking book, and we want our kids to be able to think."

  And:

  "All parents have the right to choose for their children an alternate book selection. But that wasn't good enough for the parents who opposed 'The Giver'. How cruel to strip these children of the tools needed to be successful citizens."

• Eileen Casper, in opposition, commented: "Reading lists should be analyzed for educational value. Every family has its own morals and values. Reading lists next year should be mailed to each parent's home, so that we can be better informed before school starts. Let's work together to create decency in the schools."

Ms. Casper seems to have a valid point, but it wasn't reported what her standards of "decency" are, or whether students would be allowed to select an alternate title if their parents objected to a title on the list, of if such titles would have to be removed from the list. If the latter, it would allow for a heckler's veto.

[lewd /lu:d/ adj. 1 lustul, lecherous, wanton. 2 indecent, obscene. lewdly adv, lewdness n. To claim that The Giver is any of these thing is utter nonsense, even if speaking metaphorically; although it has been challenged on sexual grounds due to the scene where Jonas has dreams that indicate his awakening sexuality. Ivey's rationale is the usual "But We're Not Censors" argument. Those opposing the book do not have a valid reason upon which to base their challenge. --MN]
(see 06 Jan 2005)

By San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer. He vindicated the attempt by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to promote marriage rights for homosexuals by ruling that California's twenty-eight-year-old law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman is arbitrary and unfair. He cited as precedent the state Supreme Court's 1948 decision striking down California's law against interracial marriage; which ruling established not merely that mixed-race couples could marry, but that "one can choose who to marry" and that the state cannot interfere without a legitimate reason, such as co-sanguinuity.

By Nicollette Sheridan and Terrell Owens. This segment, that aired in Nov 2004, showed Ms. Sheridan, who plays a promiscuous divorcee on Desperate Housewives, in a locker room trying to seduce the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver. She wore only a towel, and dropped that to entice her victim, and when he agreed to have sex with her she leapt joyfully into his arms, wrapping her legs around his hips. She was shown in the classic depiction meant to suggest nudity, from the knees down in the front, and from the waist up from the back. No foul language was used during the segment, and the scene was no racier than what's routinely shown on soap operas. The network, Owens, and the Eagles all grovelled abjectly before the outcry of snivelling by the reactionaries, and the Federal Communications Commission opened an investigation after receiving "many complaints". Most of which were almost certainly a single complaint photocopied ad nauseum. On this day the five-member panel unanimously ruled: "Although the scene apparently is intended to be titillating, it simply is not graphic or explicit enough to be indecent under our standard." Chairman Michael Copp still slammed ABC, however, for airing the segment outside the Safe Harbour.

By Jane Doe. See the anti-Bush sentiment suppression timeline.

By David Rossie. See the entry on The Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By the Illinois House. See the entry on the Child Porn/Harmful to Minors page.

Representative Sanders announced the introduction of legislation that would prevent the government from censoring popular cable T.V. shows and Internet websites. This proposal is in response to recently approved House legislation: The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act. This legislation clarifies that the FCC's power to regulate indecency applies only to material broadcast over public airwaves. He commented, "There is a growing culture of censorship in this country that needs to be ended. First they went after broadcast television and radio and now they want to censor cable, satellite and the Internet. The bottom line is that government commissars should not be the arbiters of what Americans see and hear, especially over cable, satellite and the Internet -- all of which people have to pay for in order to receive." And: "We don't need the FCC bleeping Tony Soprano or Jon Stewart. Allowing the FCC to regulate these venues would, in affect, permit the government to control what content people can purchase. That offends basic American principles of freedom and liberty that are the foundation of our democracy."

By the Bush administration. See the anti-Bush sentiment suppression timeline.

By news organizations and other groups pressing for government access to public records. The week of 13 Mar was declared Sunshine Week by news and watchdog groups who contend that information is being withheld more often by officials who cite security concerns in post-WTC America.

This first part of a two-part series examines the use of the Freedom of Information Act by U.S. citizens, and the government's willingness to make its records available. The second part of the series can be found here. Both illustrate how the so-called "War on Terror" is actually creating a climate of hightened risk to We The People. Paul K. McMasters, First Amendment Center ombudsman, also commented on this state of affairs on 13 Mar.
(see 18 Apr 2002; 28 Dec 2002; 11 Sep 2003; 21 Aug 2004)

By ultra-conservative consumers. IMAX films have suddenly found themselves catapulted into controversy, thanks to the word evolution. In several US states, IMAX cinemas - including some at science museums - are refusing to show movies that mention evolution or suggest that Earth's origins do not conform with biblical descriptions. Which films include:

• Aliens of the Deep;
• Cosmic Voyage, an animated journey through the universe;
• Galapagos, a documentary about the islands where Darwin made some of his most important observations;
• Volcanoes of the Deep Sea, an underwater epic about the bizarre creatures that flourish near ocean vents.

Theater officials found that recent test screenings of several films triggered accusations from viewers that the films were blasphemous. Carol Murray, marketing director of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History in Texas, said audience members who had watched Volcanoes had commented "I really hate it when the theory of evolution is presented as fact", or "I don't agree with their presentation of human existence." So the science museum decided not to screen the film. Ms. Murray commented on the decision: "If it is not going to draw a crowd and it is going to create controversy, from a marketing point of view, I cannot make a recommendation." What the report, reprinted at CommonDreams.org, did not say was what proportion of what sized sampling objected to the scientifically correct information.

[Addendum (04 Apr 2005:) On 02 Apr an examination of this incident, The Dinosaurs Fear of Evolution by Christopher Brauchli, was posted at CommonDreams.org. --MN]

By Dr. Ali Al-Mizeini and Abdullah Al-Bikheit, respectively.

Dr. Ali Al-Mizeini is an Arabic language professor at King Saud University. He was being accused of being "corrupt" by members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, and was charged by the commission with allegedly questioning the religious institution's abilities and knowledge in an article written by him in Al-Watan newspaper. Judge Suleiman Al-Fantooh of the Shariah court, in violation of Royal Decree No. 37 of the publication law in Saudi Arabia, issued in Nov 2000, sentenced him to a four-month jail term and 275 lashes. The Ministry of Culture and Information intervened on 20 Mar and the case was returned to it. Dr. Al-Mizeini's article angered many Islamists when he said that the method used by the Supreme Judiciary Council to determine the beginning of Ramadan and Eid was "primitive"; this method still relies on the naked eye's vision of the moon at a time where the crescent can be determined by telescopes as well by Saudi astronomers who are experts in the field.

Abdullah Al-Bikheit published many articles in the daily Al-Jazirah criticizing the approach of the people who work for the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. He was also required to appear before a religious court in violation of Royal Decree No. 37. He argued that matter was outside the court's jurisdiction, but a hearing was scheduled for 12 Apr anyway. See the source article for more background on both cases.

[Addendum (28 Mar 2005:) In an article at ArabNews.com on 27 Mar, it was reported that the court was overruled:

It is the second victory in the past five years for Saudi writers and the Saudi media in general. In a fair, bold and honorable decision by Crown Prince Abdullah, the sentence imposed on Saudi writer Dr. Hamza Al-Mizeini was annulled. Besides putting the writer in jail for four months, Al-Mizeini's sentence would have banned him from writing in the media and given him two hundred lashes. The crown prince, however, set aside the sentence handed down by the judge in the Shariah Court on the grounds that it ran counter to a royal decree which directs that all matters concerning publications or the media must be dealt with through the Ministry of Information. As Dr. Al-Mizeini himself said, had it not been for the royal decree, "Harm would have come to many Saudi writers and intellectuals."

One problem for journalists in Saudi Arabia is that there are no shield laws whatever. --MN]

By Rachel L. Riffee. A death-penalty opponent, she had sent two e-mails laced with "obscenities" [read: vulgarities] and references to Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden to a pro-death-penalty Web site. She also made three postings to the site, run by Frederick A. Romano, the brother of a murder victim. They were traced back to her, and she was charged by the police with misdemeanor electronic harassment. On this day she was acquitted by Circuit Judge J. Barry Hughes who ruled that Maryland state law protects political speech, the web site invited discussion, and a few e-mails do not constitute a pattern of harassment.

Featuring Steven Gerner and an unidentified thirteen-year-old. See the anti-Bush sentiment suppression timeline.

By Florida state Representative Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala. Actually another conservatist attack on academic freedom, this supposed "Bill of Rights" would squelch academic freedom by allowing spoiled brats to sue teachers who make them think and learn. It passed in the Florida House Choice and Innovation Committee by a partisan vote of eight republicans to two democrats, despite the opposition by the two democrats. Mr. Baxley himself specifically cited the doctrine of "intelligent design" -- a creationist dogma -- as an example which could generate a lawsuit if a professor failed to teach it. Representative Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, warned of lawsuits from students enrolled in Holocaust history courses who believe the Holocaust never happened; that similar suits could be filed by students who don't believe astronauts landed on the moon; or who believe teaching birth control is a sin; or even by Shands medical students who refuse to perform blood transfusions and believe prayer is the only way to heal the body.

He commented, "This is a horrible step. Universities will have to hire lawyers so our curricula can be decided by judges in courtrooms. Professors might have to pay court costs - even if they win - from their own pockets. This is not an innocent piece of legislation."

[Baxley brushed off Gelber's concerns, saying: "Freedom is a dangerous thing, and you might be exposed to things you don't want to hear. Being a businessman, I found out you can be sued for anything. Besides, if students are being persecuted and ridiculed for their beliefs, I think they should be given standing to sue." Yes, freedom is a dangerous thing, because it prevents reactionaries like him from enslaving the rest of us. And students already have a right to petition their government for a redress of a grievance. They can file complaints with the school administration, and if they get no satisfaction there they can take their complaint to the courts. This bill is just another anti-intellectualism movement. --MN]

[Addendum (30 Mar 2005:) Also see this commentary by Jacqueline Marcus, at CommonDreams.org, in which she shows deductively how lazy, binary-thinking, conservative-minded students will be able to sue teachers for making them question their own basic assumptions; i.e. for making them learn. --MN]

By Tony Mauro. He reported on how the oral arguments went in Tory v. Cochran. "Cochran" is famed lawyer Johnny Cochran, and "Tory" is dissatisified client Ulysses Tory who had taken to picketing Cochran's office with unflattering comments such as liar, cheat, and worse. Cochran sought an injunction against Tory instead of suing for defamation on the grounds that Tory had nothing worth suing for. However, the injuction is overbroad, covering not just Tory himself, but anyone who might represent him as well. Which point was obliquely covered by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. She pointed out to Tory's counsel, Erwin Chemerinsky, that he was basically in contempt of court for talking about Cochran in his arguments. To this editor, this point illustrates more than anything why this injunction should be ruled thoroughly unconstitutional: it violates Tory's Miranda right to counsel before the court, but taken even further it violates his right to petition the government for a redress of a grievance by forbidding any counsel of his to talk to the court about his opponent. Mr. Chemerinsky's defence focuses on the prior restraint aspect of the injunction. There are also other legal issues bound up in the circumstances.

[Addendum (01 Jun 2005:) On 31 May the Supreme Court lifted the injunction in light of Cochran's death shortly after the oral arguments, but did not address the broad free-speech questions raised by the appeal. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas said that Cochran's death made it unnecessary for the Court to rule. A stupid viewpoint in my not so humble opinion since it now leaves these issues unresolved and open to implementation in the future. Resolving the issues now would save someone else from having to go through all this crap. See the source article for more background. --MN]

By Dr. Mohammed T. Al-Rasheed. His editorial for this day was critical of the recently renamed "Ministry of Information". He points out that this body is horrifically inefficient and nonsensical in its function as public censor and suggests how it might be improved as a bureaucracy; although in the end he simply calls for it to be abolished entirely.

By Fordyce High School officials, Arkansas, and Wellington High School in Palm Beach County, Florida, respectively.

In this article published at Student Press Law Center about Fordyce High School officials, it was reported that said officials announced at a school board meeting on 14 Mar that they plan to fire Jennifer Baker, the teacher who advises the student newspaper, who in her turn claims a recently instituted policy - which requires that principal Bobby Brown review articles before publication - is a violation of the Arkansas Student Publications Act. Ms. Baker opposes the policy, which Mr. Brown introduced on Jan. 27 after objecting to material in two issues of the newspaper;

• an article that was critical of the school's test schedule;
• a student's quote regarding her Valentine's Day plans to, "Cook for [my boyfriend] and watch a few love videos. Maybe a little later on something special will go down." The administration perceived the quote as sexual and inappropriate. See the source article for more background.

The second case, also reported at SPLC, centers around a column about virginity. Wellington High Principal Cheryl Alligood informed the Wave staff on 17 Feb that Amanda Escamilla's column about virginity would have to be removed because it was "distracting" and "inappropriate." The column presented two opposing viewpoints about teen sex, and the last line of the column read: "Make sure, when the time comes, you truly want to swipe your v-card, because this purchase is non-refundable." Ms. Alligood ordered the staff to stuff all 3,000 copies of the paper with four new pages to replace Escamilla's column. In protest, members of the Wave staff distributed copies of the original edition mixed with the new. But school officials ordered teachers to confiscate the newspapers. Ms. Escamilla relates this inquisition as: "Janitors came in with carts and they piled every newspaper ever printed - last month's, a year ago's issues -- and garbage bags full of my article and threw them all in the dumpster. I started crying. All our work - they just threw it in the dumpster." School officials have since instituted a prior restraint policy. See the source article for more background.

By Sam Kimery. This Tulsa, Oklahoma resident developed a small channel blocker that is dedicated to blocking the Fox News channel alone. The device screws onto the back of the television set. Mr. Kimery has reportedly gotten thousands of e-mails, both angry and complimentary, as well as a few death threats. He is quoted as saying about these last: "Apparently the making of terroristic threats against those who don't share your views is a high art form among a certain core audience." Mr. Kimery is a former registered Republican and precinct captain who became an independent in the 1990s when, he said, the state party stopped taking input from its everyday members. He now contends that the top-level management at Fox News: dictates a conservative journalistic bias; that inaccuracies are never retracted; and what winds up on the air is more opinion than news.

He further commented, "I might as well be reading tabloids out of the grocery store. Anything to get a rise out of the viewer and to reinforce certain retrograde notions." He admits that viewers don't need the blocker, they can simply switch channels, but he likens the device to burning a draft card. See the source article for more background.

[How like rethuglicans to utter death threats in the face of ideas they don't like for which they would condemn liberals and democrats for making. Death threats against a small business man for doing business? Pfah! --MN]

By China and North Korea. These two countries condemned the revisionism in Japanese texts on World War Two. They said they were "deeply hurt" by the "twisted history" in the school books. There is a movement underway to subject the books to a review and approval process by international bodies.

[Why is it that slavemongers and snivelling cowards are always so quick to bitch and whine about the repressive practices of other people and never pay attention to their own? What, for instance, is China trying to hide by locking up internet web site operators and surfers {63 out of 74 reported, jailed cyberdissidents worldwide as of this writing} and refusing to recognize the atrocity of Tianenmen Square? --MN]
(see 02 Apr 200 1)

By International Action Center. In July 2001, the City of New York very quietly -- one might say surreptiously -- passed an ordinance forbidding new parades from taking place on 5th Avenue; the venue of choice for parades in New York. This law was passed so quietly that even proponents of it didn't know that it had been passed. This regulation surfaced in a lawsuit filed against the city by International Action Center, a group of antiwar demonstrators, on 16 Mar. The group argues the ban violates its First Amendment right to be heard and seen along the same venerable route that over the years has accommodated abolitionists, suffragettes and Vietnam War protesters. The city says the law was passed because 5th Avenue had reached the saturation point for parades, and any new parades will have to use an alternate route. There is no reported effort to forbid parades, however. See the source article for more background.

[I'm willing to give NYC the benefit of the doubt, although I would really like to know why this ordinance wasn't publicized. --MN]

By Mike Vasilinda. See the entry on The Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals. This animal rights group has accused J.Lo (AKA Jennifer Lopez) and her publicist, Nanci Ryder, of asserting pressure on Billboard magazine to remove an advertisement criticizing the singer's penchant for fur. The full page spread addressed J.Lo directly and contained a gruesome picture of a skinned animal. In the letter, they attack Ms. Lopez for the "sadistic slaughter" of rabbits, minks, foxes, and chinchillas for the Sweetface clothing range, which she recently launched. Ms. Ryder admitted: "I'm doing my job, which is protecting my client."

By the Secret Service. See the anti-Bush sentiment suppression timeline.

By Holland. This Dutch war memorial is a giant copper obelisk that extends and retracts depending on the level of sunlight, and can spurt flames out of the top during important festivals. It was due to go on show in the village of Wageningen, where the German capitulation was signed at the end of the Second World War 60 years ago, in May but village councillors say it should either be scrapped or radically redesigned. The problem they have with the device is its resemblance to a penis. A spokesman is quoted as saying, "Any association with a phallus is undesirable, whether justified or unjustified, and is to be avoided at all costs."

[This is like saying that the Viet Nam War Memorial in Washington D.C., The Wall, should be torn down because black is the color of slaves and subhuman animals. --MN]

By David L. Hudson Jr., First Amendment Center research attorney. On this day, he had a full and complete appraisal of the Adam Porter affair posted to First Amendment Center. It is a rousing condemnation of "zero tolerance" policies and knee-jerk reactionism which serve only to victimize, but do nothing to actually protect anyone.

By Bush-Social-Security-reform opponents. Franklin D. Roosevelt (New York State) library director Cynthia Koch, informed the Older Women's League that its planned forum on Social Security reform, scheduled for 09 Apr, could not be held at the library. Ms. Koch's rationale for denying use of the facilities was that the event would not have a speaker to "give a presentation on the features and merits of President Bush's proposed changes to Social Security", and said in her letter that the law bars the use of federal facilities for partisan events, and that the program for the event would not be balanced.

Representative Maurice Hinchey, a Democrat who had planned to speak at the forum, called the move an attempt to stifle opposing views, and is quoted: "These are nonpartisan women's groups, and what better place to discuss Social Security than the FDR library?" He further commented: "This move is the latest in a series of things by this administration attempting to control the information that gets out to the public. They just can't face up to an open discussion on the facts, particularly on this issue."

[Two republican representatives had been invited, but had declined. As for Koch's intimation that she would allow the event if the organizing group allows a Bush sycophant to present Bush's lies about Social Security, who is going to pressure Bush into reciprocating and allowing opposing viewpoints to his plans to screw over the elderly? Bush has a bully pulpit, that puts the overwhelming advantage in his court; even without a lackey press to disseminate his disinformation. Not to mention that only Bush loyalists are allowed into the "Town Hall Meetings", so-called, where he presents his propaganda {sometimes on private property instead of public propery}. --MN]

By U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler. Ryan Dwyer launched a web site in April 2003 that greeted users with the legend: "Welcome to the Anti-Maple Place -- Your Friendly Environment", and said: "This page is dedicated to showing students why their school isn't what it's cracked up to be. You may be shocked at what you find on this site." He had a feature allowing comments by participants, and the feature included a disclaimer prohibiting threats and vulgarities. Some rather critical comments were posted. When school officials found out about the site, they ordered him to take it down and then suspended him for a week, barred him from playing on the basketball team for a month, and banned him from a class field trip to Philadelphia. Ryan and his parents had filed a federal lawsuit in December 2003. On 31 March 2005, Judge Chesler ruled that the officials, "presented no evidence that the material Ryan put on his Web site was intended to threaten anyone, did actually threaten any one, or manifested any violent tendencies whatsoever", and: that the defendants "could only have lawfully disciplined Ryan for statements and other content created and provided by him, and not for any comments made by other individuals in his guest book."
(see 09 Nov 2005)

By Student Press Law Center and the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law. Both organizations filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in the case of Mink v. Buck in which they asked that all criminal libel laws be declared unconstitutional. All fifty of the U.S. states have civil libel laws that allow victims of allegedly defamatory statements to seek compensation from speakers; criminal libel laws, extent in seventeen states, are different in that they allow the state to fine or imprison speakers of defamatory statements. See the source article for more background.
(see 08 Jan 2005; 14 Jan 2006)

By Kansas State. Kansans were scheduled to vote on this day on whether or not to amend the state constitution to discriminate against same-sex couples. However, this so-called "marriage amendment" is reportedly so far-reaching that it would also deny unmarried heterosexual couples any of the benefits and protections of marriage.

By the goverment of China. Ambiguity's Neighborhood and Iron and Plough, both by author Yu Jie, were pulled from shelves in China for undisclosed reasons, after selling about 50,000 copies apiece. The books disappeared from major bookstores in late December after four months of normal circulation, and in the runup to the annual National People's Congress plenary session that began 05 Mar, independent booksellers were also told to stop selling it. Mr. Yu said each of his books sold 50,000 legitimate copies and about 200,000 more pirated copies, and received a good reader response, especially from university students. On 14 Dec 2004, Mr. Yu was detained for 12 hours by Beijing police because of one hundred articles he had had published overseas. He said the police emptied his computer of documents totaling 2 million words. He believes the pulling of the books might stem from that incident. Both books are about past and current Sino-Japanese relations.

By Japan. Japan's Education Ministry has again been criticised for rewriting a history of war, but this time the revisionism focuses on the Invasion of Iraq. In its latest screening of junior high school textbooks, the Ministry has ordered publishers:

• not to state that weapons of mass destruction were not found in Iraq;

• that the word "unilaterally" be removed from a paragraph which said the United States and it allies had unilaterally attacked Iraq and overthrown the government of Saddam Hussein;

• that text saying Japanese troops had been deployed to the Iraq battlefield read instead that they had been deployed to a non-combat area in Iraq.

[There were no NBCW stockpiles in Iraq, the U.S. invaded without approval of the United Nations, and there is no non-combat area in Iraq. --MN]

By Uitgeverij Noer, publisher. Amsterdam prosecutors announced that they would ban this book, published by an Islamic-interest publisher, because it contained anti-Jewish passages that violate Dutch law. This is one of three books that drew complaints in the wake of the killing of a Dutch filmmaker in November, allegedly by an Islamic radical. Two other books, Fatwas for Muslim Women and Way of the Muslim were found to not violate hate laws despite passages promoting female circumcision and punishing homosexual acts with death. Apparently those passages were properly within context.

By Amy Goodman and David Goodman. See the entry on The Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By Columbia College art gallery. See the anti-Bush sentiment suppression timeline.

By the graduating class of Natrona County High School. Students wanting to attend their prom have to sign a pledge stating that they will not consume alcohol or illegal drugs before or during the dance and that, "freak dancing, lap dancing, bumping, grinding, thrusting, dirty dancing and any dancing that involves excessive physical contact" is prohibited. The pledge stipulates that violators will be thrown out of the prom and will not receive a refund for their tickets. Principal Byron Moore says that dancing has become increasingly suggestive, eliciting complaints from students, teachers and parents, and that the new policy was necessary to protect the school from potential litigation. He is quoted: "We, as a district, have a clear sexual harassment policy that speaks to this. We could have students or faculty file sexual harassment suits after the fact because of behavior at the dance. As a school principal, I have to be concerned about the health and safety of students."

Some students decided to organize an alternative prom, and this alternative appears to be drawing a bigger crowd. Fliers advertising the alternative prom say it will be a formal event complete with hors d'oeuvres, professional photos, and security, and that tickets will be cheaper than the school's prom. The source article for this entry also reported on a few past and current similar incidents.

[As usual, the specious rationales of the power-tripping control freaks are based on vague and ill-defined fears. --MN]

By Judy Blume. Pasadena Independent School District superintendent Dr. Rick Schneider banned the book from the libraries within the district. The challenge underwent a due process, but the book was banned for the wrong reasons anyway. District spokesperson Kirk Lewis is quoted, "It is never an easy decision to pull a book from the shelves. The superintendent has the responsibility to put materials in the system that are educationally suitable and appropriate. In this particular case, after reading the book, he felt that, though the theme is not unsuitable certain passages are and decided to remove the book."

[Which makes this a clear and present case of content discrimination as far as I'm concerned. The district has basically admitted that the book is not inappropriate, but banned it because it didn't like the "sexually explicit content." For a separate but related commentary about the development of the Young Adult genre and censorship of it, see New Adventures in Censorship by Emma Pearse of Women's eNews, which was posted to AlterNet.org on 11 Apr. --MN]

By the American Civil Liberties Movement. The ACLU emitted an e-mail calling on citizens to exercise their right to watch whatever they please without government interference. They wrote in part:

Washington's self-appointed arbiters of morality are targeting cable TV -- home to some of America's most popular and cutting-edge programming -- with new federal laws and FCC rules that jeopardize our most basic personal and creative freedoms. According to them, adults can't choose for ourselves what we or our children see; the government must serve as our chaperone, art critic and censor.

If we are going to stop this paternalistic censorship, we must make our voices heard now, before Congress passes legislation, or the FCC issues regulations, expanding "indecency" fines and other forms of suppression to cable TV and the Internet.

This week, you can help keep your favorite shows safe from the morality police, just by sitting on your couch and watching TV with a friend or two.

What can you do? On Sunday, April 10, we're asking friends and members across the country to hold "Couch Parties." Use the link below to invite friends over and watch your favorite cable shows. While you're there, take a minute to print and sign a letter to Congress. Tell your representative that you don't want anyone censoring your favorite programs!

See the ACLU web site for more information.

By Paul K. McMasters. This examination of the progression of censorship via the chilling effect in the U.S. was posted to First Amendment Center on this day. In particular, he illustrates how one person complaining about something personally offensive can cost thousands of consumers an invaluable service.

[Simply because that sniveller is too stupid to turn off the radio or television or to switch stations. --MN]

By Nicolas Abu Samah. The Heya (Arabic for "she") satellite television station, broadcasts to an estimated daily audience of 15 million women, from illiterate denizens of remote villages in Egypt to Prada-clothed fashionistas in Beirut. During the day and you'll find shows on fashion, cooking, or home decoration, but the station, on the digital Nile Satellite television channel, is bent on more than just entertainment. Quothe Nicolas Abu Samah, Heya's founder: "Our goal is to empower women. We want to question taboos and provoke controversy." Mr. Abu Samah says his station does not make political statements or take stances on religious matters, it simply raises tough questions. The station's potential audience is 100 million women across the Middle East, nearly 70 percent of the region's TV viewers. Illiteracy is high among women in the region, and Mr. Abu Samah says satellite TV is an important way of reaching them. The goal of the station is basically to educate women as to what rights they should have as human beings in the face of an oppressive and abusive patriarchal society. See the source article for more background.

By the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. Announced on or about the anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birthday, the 2005 recipients are:

• The Federal Communications Commission
• Both the Democratic and Republican National Parties
• School officials at:
  • Poway (CA) High School,
  • Climax (MN) Public School District,
  • Russell (KY) High School
• The (Motion Picture) Classification and Rating Administration
• High School of Legal Studies in Brooklyn (NY)
• The National Stock Car Racing Commission (NASCAR)
• The U.S. Marshals Service
• The U.S. Departments of:
  • State,
  • Homeland Security
• The Virginia House of Delegates
• Alabama State Representative Gerald Allen
• Georgia State Representative Ben Bridges
• Berkmar High School (GA) Principal Kendall Johnson

Also on this day, First Amendment Center research attorney David L. Hudson Jr. had a piece posted at First Amendment Center examining the Muzzle recipients in general and the high rate of incidence of censorship in public schools in particular.

By Marsha Rosenbaum. See the entry on the Bush censorship page.

By protesters. Explains Josh Lamont, a spokesperson for the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network: "The goal of the Day of Silence is to raise awareness of the type of discrimination and harassment that affects and silences all students, gay and straight alike. Silence is used as a tool to represent the silencing of LGBT people." Founded in 1996 by students at the University of Virginia, the Day of Silence has since grown to include thousands of participants from across the country; in 2004 it drew nearly 300,000 students from more than 3,000 schools. Throughout the day, demonstrators will not speak.

For The Life of Jesus. An Athens appeals court ruled this book was not "blasphemous" and overturned Haderer's conviction for "malicious public blasphemy". Maria Marazioti, Mr. Haderer's lawyer, commented, "We have won. The book is no longer banned, Haderer is free and the book can now go on sale legally. "This is a wonderful decision."
(see 28 Feb 2003; 22 Jan 2005)

By Louisiana. See the entry on the vanity plates page.

By the Bush administration. See the entry on the Church/State Entanglement page.

By broadcasters. See the entry on The Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By MEELAL. On 13 Apr some 20 persons -- misrepresented in some reports as "protesters" -- stormed into Central Library of the State of Manipur in Imphal, India, poured kerosene on the bookshelves, and set the building ablaze. Not only had they not cleared the building before igniting the fire, but they locked employees into offices. The staffers were able to escape, however, and the only injuries reported were two patrons who suffered burns as they rushed out of the building. Destroyed were an estimated 145,000 books, journals, and manuscripts, including local newspapers published since 1958, and books written by British officials based in Manipur from 1891 to 1947.

Chief Librarian H. Devendra Singh told the Indo-Asian News Service, "Manipur's knowledge bank has gone up in smoke, and with it we have lost our state heritage." The arsonists belong to the MEELAL group that wants to abolish the Bengali alphabet, used for the past 300 years, and replace it with Manipur's ancient Meetei Mayek script. The group began an increasingly militant campaign in February, threatening to attack newspapers and publishing houses if they did not change scripts, and in claiming responsibility for the arson, a MEELAL spokesman said, "The books in the library were all written in Bengali script and so we set the building on fire."

[This is not only a clear and present case of fanatic bookburning, it is also a clear and present case of attempted mass murder. I should hope that the principles of this MEELAL and the bloody-handed lunatics who stormed the library are hunted down, shot dead in the streets, and pissed on. --MN]
(see 31 May 1981; 26 Aug 1992; 14 Feb 2003)

By Yan Lianke. This new novel by the award-winning author is the first work of fiction to be banned by the state in some years. Although China has loosened up in its attacks on fiction in the past two decades, sex is still a taboo subject and the combination of sex and politics was bound to be explosive. Censors found the plot, in which a peasant soldier provides sexual services to his commander's young widow, insulting to the late Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong motto: Serve the People. Of particular note is that the soldier and paramour enjoyed sex more after smashing statues of Mao -- a crime punishable by death during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, and viewed even today as subversive by some.

China's 500-odd publishing houses, all owned by the state, have been warned against printing the new novel, and magazines, newspapers, and portals have been told not to carry excerpts, not to review, and not to write news reports on the novel. Nor can it be adapted into a movie or TV series. One of China's top four literary magazines, the bi-monthly Hua Cheng, (Flower City), published excerpts of Serve the People in January, and was ordered to recall the issue. It has a circulation of 40,000.
(see 28 May 2005)

By Karen Cushman. The Peru School Board, Indiana, voted to allow third- and fourth-graders to keep reading these books. Based in the medieval times, the language in the books is true to the times, and some members and residents said the language and sexual references were unsuitable for that age level. The books are about the problems two girls face in growing up during the medieval period. A parent asked the board to review the books after a seven-member committee of parents and teachers recommended they remain part of Anne Kreutzer's third/fourth-grade LIFT class at Blair Pointe Elementary. Parents choose for their children to be in the special class, and those who are uncomfortable with the books can request their child read something else.

By the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island. It released a report on this day about the overbroad effects of censorware use in Rhode Island libraries. The report calls the findings "troubling," and urges libraries to reassess the policies and practices they have implemented. The report is available online in PDF format at http://www.riaclu.org/friendly/documents/2005libraryinternetreport.pdf .

By U.S. Congress. The House of Representatives moved to protect trademarks from being sullied by "imitators" with legislation deriving from the court battle between Victoria's Secret and the Victor's Little Secret adult-novelty store. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Moseley d/b/a Victor's Little Secret v. V Secret Catalogue Inc. that trademark law required the owner of a famous trademark to prove actual dilution, or harm, rather than the likelihood of injury. Represntative Lamar Smith, R- Texas, sponsor of the measure is quoted: "This is contrary to what Congress intended when it passed the dilution statute and is at odds with the concept of dilution. Diluting needs to be stopped at the outset because actual damage can only be proven over time, after which the good will of a mark cannot be restored." Injunctive relief is only available when the defendant willfully intends to trade on the famous trademark's recognition or reputation. As First Amendment protection, the bill exempts from liability all forms of news reporting and commentary, parodies, fair use in comparative commercial ads, and noncommercial use of trademarks.

[I just have to wonder: how much of his campaign contributions are from major corporations, and how many of those lobbied him to sponsor this. Maybe I should plaintively bleat about legislative activists who bring down bad laws in an effort to circumvent judicial oversight of corporate profitmongers. --MN]

By Alabama. A bill was due to be considered by the Alabama Legislature on this day that could ban "certain" books from all public facilities. The bill would prohibit public funds and facilities such as schools and libraries from promoting a homosexual lifestyle. Middle school English teacher Matt Rittenberry cited works by Walt Whitman and William Shakespeare as examples of literature that he is concerned could be banned by the bill. Human Rights Campaign held a town-hall meeting over the bill, and HRC President Joe Solmonese said he has the same concerns. The founder of the Sanctity of Life Ministries, Jim Pinto, argued that HRC is going to the extremes and said the state is protecting taxpayer money by not promoting a deviant lifestyle.

[Addendum (27 Apr 2005:) A report at CBS dated 26 Apr said that Gerald Allen introduced this bill because he finds homosexuality is an unacceptable lifestyle. Not only would books with homosexual characters be prohibited, but also books by homosexuals. Some of the cited works and artists include: Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Gore Vidal, Alice Walker's novel "The Color Purple" which has lesbian characters, and the story of Matthew Sheppard, a student beaten to death because he was gay. Originally, some of the works of Shakespeare were also included, but the bill was amended to exempt "classics", even though Allen cannot define what a classic is. The amendment also exempted Alabama's public and college libraries. Allen justified his this piece of stupidity by saying: "I don't look at it as censorship. I look at it as protecting the hearts and souls and minds of our children." He was further quoted: "It's not healthy for America, it doesn't fit what we stand for. And they will do whatever it takes to reach their goal." Funny. Ultra-right reactionaries are doing whatever it takes destroy democratic American society and replace it with a fanatic, religious police state, and he's whining about homosexuals doing whatever it takes to ensure respect for their human dignity and rights as individuals. To find out what else might be banned under this bill, do a keyword search for "homosexual" on each page of this chronology. --MN]

[Addendum (13 May 2005:) On 10 May this iniative failed when not enough legislators showed up for the vote on it. I have to wonder if this was deliberate and those who didn't want to be seen as "soft on perverts" by openly voting against it quietly boycotted the vote to kill the measure or if it just worked out that way. --MN]
(see 01 Feb 2005)

By FAIR and Brian Montopoli of CJR Daily, respectively. See the entry on The Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa. He introduced a bill on 14 Apr that would prohibit federal meteorologists from competing with companies such as AccuWeather and The Weather Channel, which offer their own forecasts through paid services and free ad-supported Web sites. Critics say the bill's wording is so vague they can't tell exactly what it would ban. Scott Bradner, a technical consultant at Harvard University says that as he reads the bill, a vast amount of federal weather data would be forced offline, and is quoted "The National Weather Service Web site would have to go away. What would be permitted under this bill is not clear -- it doesn't say. Even including hurricanes." Barry Myers, AccuWeather's executive vice president, said the bill would improve public safety by making the weather service devote its efforts to hurricanes, tsunamis and other dangers, rather than duplicating products already available from the private sector.

[I see a publicly owned service being shoved aside so an ass-kissing, campaign contributor can make a buck at public expense and safety. Myers is quoted: "The National Weather Service has not focused on what its core mission should be, which is protecting other people's lives and property. It spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year, every day, producing forecasts of 'warm and sunny.'" I don't believe that simplistic, sententious crap from some profitmonger for one nanosecond. Given the fact that most Clear Channel stations can't carry emergency broadcasts because most of them don't even have people in residence. What's really got a bug in his britches, in my not so humble opinion, is that over the last year the National Weather Service has updated its site to make the information so accessible, commercial parasites are no longer competitive and it would hurt the bottom line too much to meet the new market condition. The last word on this one goes back to Brander: "I believe I've paid for that data once. ... I don't want to have to pay for it again." --MN]

By Channel 15, Akron, Ohio. On Christmas morning, 2004, pornography containing full-frontal nudity and explicit sex scenes was accidentally aired on the cable-access channel. The storm of indignation that generated was seized upon by officials to crackdown on the transmitter. For years, the city officials had been hearing from residents who hated that the channel that showed school programming by day, aired a mix of sermons, sexually suggestive music shows, and homemade skinflicks by night. Public access stations usually air low-budget community announcements, educational programming, and local government meetings, and some show amateur music videos and local political commentary. Nationwide, rules vary on what can be aired.

By April, Time Warner Cable had implemented stricter rules on who may use the channel, and that generated opposition with preachers and porn producers on the same side. People who want a show on Channel 15 must now pay twenty-five dollars, show a driver's license that proves they live in Akron or selected suburbs, and promise to produce shows that feature only residents. Time Warner spokesman Bill Jasso said the rules are intended to save money and rein in a channel that had become too busy to properly manage. Those who produce the programs say the stations give them unrestricted access to a public they believe too often sees filtered programming on commercial stations. Rose Wilcher has taken Time Warner and city leaders to federal court, claiming the rule changes amount to censorship. The new rules technically target residency rather than content, but the rules have the effect of getting controversial shows off the air because many of those tapes were produced by out-of-towners or include non-local content. See the source article for more background.

By Johnson County, Kansas. The chief proponent of this action contends it was simply a housekeeping matter, while others see it as a threat to intellectual freedom. Barton Cohen, a lawyer from Leawood, has objected to the second provision of the Library Bill of Rights since at least 2002, and has also objected to the fifth; that libraries should be open to everyone regardless of their age or lack thereof. Cohen and three other board members who voted to delete the bill-of-rights references (in a 4-3 majority) contended that they pushed for the change to make the board's policies more consistent. The action was based on the specious rationale that "We Must Protect The Children". As usual, "pornography" was cited as the evil from which children must be protected, although back in 2002 Mr. Cohen cited alluded to political viewpoints in arguing: "If you have to have all points of view, you're saying we need to have information on acts of terrorism. I think you have muddied up our ability to develop a collection-development policy by using the Library Bill of Rights in forming the policy."
(see 26 May 2005)

By John T. Molloy. Mr. Molloy and his book came under attack because of what appears to be an implicit acknowledgement of prejudicial stereotyping in society. His book gives wardrobe advice about what is best-suited for the business world based on his research, and offers clothing and grooming tips to minority employees who call on white clients. Shawn Brooks, however, a black, former Philadelphia radio account executive, took offense at some of the advice: blacks in business never should wear purple, jewelry, or Afro haircuts.

In February, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission ruled that his boss had created a hostile work environment by suggesting that he follow the tips in the book, and awarded him $614,262. Viacom is appealing the decision. Commission Chairman Stephen A. Glassman is quoted: "It is one thing to advise people how to dress successfully, but another to stereotype. It is unreasonable to lump all African-Americans in one group and evaluate them. Individuals should be evaluated as unique people in the workplace." He is further quoted: "This is the most egregious case of published documentation on stereotyping and bias toward race, gender and religion in the workplace the commissioners have seen in a long time." What makes this ruling so flawed is that the presumption is of guilt instead of innocence. Mr. Glassman admitted that he didn't know how Mr. Molloy had done his research or if it could be "disproved". There is, therefore, no basis for the belief that Mr. Molloy was promoting bigoted stereotypes.

[My call on this is that Glassman got it exactly backwards. Although I haven't read the book, I would guess Molloy's advice was on how not to trigger bigoted responses to racial stereotypes that are already extent in society. The advice about the colour purple is probably just good fashion sense, since some colours (including the wide range of skin tones) complement each other, and other combinations clash. It is probably just not a good idea to wear purple at all, never mind if you are dark complected. Too much jewelry creates a negative impression in any event, but if you are a Jew, you are more likely to be seen as "flashy", and if you are a black, to be seen as a pimp. Having your hair in an Afro is likely to result in your being seen as a hippy left-over who needs to get a haircut and a job; just somewhere else. Tips like those will probably be excised from future editions of the book. --MN]

By Freedom House. This organization's report on the global status of press freedoms was released on this day. There were marginal gains in the middle East, with losses in the Americas. See the source article for more background.

By Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). Dmitry Frolov, spokesman for the FSB information security center, was speaking at the Federation Council, said that special services need an extension of their authority to control communication networks. He said the agency suggested developing new rules for internet providers that would prevent the spread of extremist ideas on the Internet, to introduce obligatory registration of all mobile phone users. He called the Internet a "serious instrument to form public opinion". He is quoted: "The undetermined legal relationship on the Internet leads to the threat of spreading inauthentic and biased information, disclosure of secrets, illegal copying of confidential information, as well as the violation of authors' rights."

[Sounds a lot like fairly typical Stalinist paranoia. --MN]

By Saudi Arabia. Three months after the government stopped issuing or renewing licenses for Internet cafes because of security concerns, entrepeneurs and already established cafes have been forced into financial hardship. Small businessmen trying to open new cafes have lost ten of thousands of Rialls in investments when they were unable to get a license to operate.

"I submitted a request to open up an Internet café and received the conditions," said businessman Obeidallah. "I rented a place in the Sharafiah district at SR45,000 and prepared the location with equipment that cost me more than SR100,000. When I went to the municipality after finishing everything I was surprised to find that they'd stopped issuing licenses for Internet cafes."

Licensing was stopped abruptly by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs until new safeguards could be put in place to prevent misuse of the information superhighway. See the source article for more background.

By the U.S. military. Under pressure from open-government advocates, the Pentagon released hundreds of images of flag-draped coffins of American soldiers. Be it noted, however, that each individual photograph had been censored; the faces and ranks of the soldiers handling the coffins had been blacked out. The Pentagon still insists that it is enforcing a policy installed in 1991 to respect the privacy of families of dead soldiers. The photographs were released in response to a Freedom of Information request and lawsuit by Ralph Begleiter. Jim Turner, a Pentagon spokesman, said the photos were taken for historical or training purposes; he also said that Military photographers are now taking pictures at such ceremonies less frequently.

[However, this editor has not yet heard of or seen any plausible rationale for this policy consider that all one can see in the photographs is the flag draping the coffins, and the soldiers handling the coffins are quite obviously not dead. A Pentagon spokesman said the pictures were "edited" also out of privacy concerns. It seems much more likely to me that the Bush regime continues to be frightened of the propaganda impact of images of long lines of flag draped coffins. See the Tami Silicio photograph to get some idea of that. The redacting done in the photographs almost invariable creates an ugly image that distracts the viewer and derogates from the propaganda value. Faces and insignia could just as easily be discreetly pixilated. --MN]
(see 21 Apr 2004; 21 Jun 2004; 04 Oct 2004)

By Alice McCabe and Christine Nelson. See the anti-Bush sentiment suppression timeline.

By the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago. the Trinidad and Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association denounced this measure in a statement reading in part: a statement, the TTPBA said: "The Code is unacceptable as it infringes on every citizen's right to freedom of thought, expression and freedom of the press. These are rights that are protected by the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago." The statement went on to state that the public is being told that they will be protected from violence, sexual content, from being insulted or offended with regard to religion, race, national background, and other characteristics, but that this protection comes at a cost:

"It means that as a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, your right to a different view, one that someone else may not agree with and your right to express that view, to express yourself, is taken away.

"The question we need to ask ourselves is are we prepared to have that right to freedom of thought and expression taken away.

"When that is taken away, what you are left with is propaganda because differing views will not be allowed, controversial discussion will not be allowed, because you are sure to offend someone so only one view will be allowed."

By Ralph Nader. See the entry on The Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By Danny Schechter. See the entry on The Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By the College Republicans at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. College administrators across the U.S. have been enthusiastic supporters Eve Ensler's play The Vagina Monologues. In response to the now annual V-Day (Vagina Day), the College Republicans inaugurated Penis Day and staged a satire called The Penis Monologues. Admiminstrators at Roger Williams University totally freaked. Monique Stuart and Andy Mainiero, two participating students, received sharp letters of reprimand and were placed on probation by the Office of Judicial Affairs. The costume of the Penis Day "mascot" -- a friendly looking penis named Testaclese, was confiscated and placed under lock and key in the office of John King, the assistant dean of student affairs. This is diametrically contrary to the administration's laizzer faire approach to the "anything goes" promotional style of Vagina Day and the requisite presentation of The Vagina Monologues. As is typical of such knee-jerk reactions, there are indications that the suppression is fueling support, and that the movement for a Penis Day will be taken up on other campuses by next year.

[See the source article for more background; if you don't mind crude and vulgar allusions. --MN]

By Rory O'Connor. See my commentary about this issue.

By press-freedom advocates. Such advocates came together around the world today at a difficult time for journalists and journalism. In Arlington, Va., the Freedom Forum's Journalists Memorial was rededicated -- as it is each year -- with the the names of the seventy-eight journalists killed last year. Said CNN's Judy Woodruff at the Journalists Memorial ceremony:

The fact that seventy-eight journalists were killed in 2004 is shocking and deeply disturbing. At a time when the vast majority of the planet is at peace, it is a harsh reminder that journalism can be a dangerous profession, and that journalists still represent a threat to the forces of tyranny and lawlessness, everywhere. For all the celebration of democracy's spread, this reminds us how far the world has yet to go. There is no freedom, unless the press can tell the truth, and survive while telling it.

Advocacy groups have decried false arrest, imprisonment, beatings, intimidation and the use of press or emergency laws among the tools used to prevent journalists from getting out the news. See the source article for more background.

By Free Speakers. Two Winona, Minnesota, high school students were suspended on 03 May after breaking a week-old rule against wearing T-shirts inspired by the Vagina Monologues play. Carrie Rethlefsen, age 18, touched off a high-profile free-speech debate at the Winona high school in February when she continued to wear a button that read I (heart) my vagina; despite the threats of school officials who called it offensive. Students rallied to her cause, and on 03 May, about 45 of them gathered in front of the school before class. Several women wore I (heart) my vagina shirts while male students wore a version that said, "I support your vagina." School administrators said the week of the 25 Apr - 01 May that students could wear the shirts and buttons outside the school, but would be asked to turn their T-shirts inside-out or remove the buttons before going to class, and those who didn't would get a one-day suspension. Ms. Rethlefsen told reporters she knew she would be suspended but wore her shirt inside the school anyway to support the issues of female sexuality and sexual violence against women discussed in the play. She said she planned to spend her day off from school appearing on talk-radio shows. Another student, Katelyn Delvaux, also refused to conceal her T-shirt and was sent home.

[NB: "Vagina" is the correct, latinate terminology for the birth canal. How any rectal orifice can say that the proper, non-vulgar, non-slang word for a body part is offensive is beyond me. Or maybe it's the idea that someone would express toward reproductive organs and one's own body a sentiment other than revulsion. --MN]

By law abiding citizens. See the entry on the Bush censorship page.

By Montgomery County, Maryland, schools. On this day U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams issued a temporary restraining order preventing the use of a pilot program in six schools. The pilot was set to begin 09 May, and the order will be in effect for ten days; at which time Judge Williams will review whether or not to make it permanent. This new health curriculum includes discussions of homosexuality and demonstrations on how to use condoms. Judge Williams agreed with the two groups that had filed a lawsuit over the issue. The groups said the curriculum's discussion of homosexuality amounted to preference of one religion over the other because it juxtaposes faiths that support full rights for gays and lesbianism such as Quakers and Unitariansm with groups such as Baptists who are painted as "intolerant and Biblically misguided". The judge wrote in his opinion, "The court is extremely troubled by the willingness of the defendants to venture, or perhaps more correctly, bound, into the crossroads of controversy where religion, morality and homosexuality converge." Conservative groups hailed the decision, saying Williams is one of the few judges to back their belief that many sex-education programs favor the liberal views of particular faiths.

[Hellfire and damnation. Looks as if somebody went a little overboard. Idiots. I am not at all surprised that Christo-fanatics are crying so piteously that a secular view that does not conform to their hate-mongering beliefs constitutes a religious view. While tolerance can be a religious view, it can also be a secular view. Just as much as intolerance can also be either. The whole purpose of this, of course, is to keep sexuality education of the schools and to keep knowledge out of the minds of the of-child-bearing-age young adults. See the source article for more background. --MN]

By Metropolitan Library System's Public Services Committee. Petitions presented at the 24 Mar and 21 Apr meetings of the Metropolitan Library Commission. The petitions asked that "books having homosexual and other inappropriate age-related sexual content" be moved from the children's section to the libraries' adult sections. Four titles were singled out: King & King, Daddy's Roommate, The Duke Who Outlawed Jelly Beans, and Heather Has Two Mommies. Many of the twenty speakers said children's books showing family situations different from traditional [heterosexual] marriage are "pornography." The committee opted to let the system's policies stand. The committee's report will probably be presented at the library commission's next meeting on 19 May. The commission could choose to keep current policies, change the policy, or return the issue to the committee.

In Boston, Massachusetts. Some two dozen supporters of an Arkansas-based White Revolution had to rally in the rain in a Somerville parking lot on 06 May, to prepare to stage a demonstration outside a Holocaust memorial in downtown Boston on 07 May. White Revolution chairman Billy Roper said to a reporter that the group arrived at the Somerville Public Library but was barred from entering the building by local police. This action seems to have stemmed from the group misrepresenting itself as the Immigration Reform Party. Somerville Police Chief Robert R. Bradley commented, "There was no way we could ensure the safety of the patrons in the library. For security reasons, we decided just to close the library down. We did give them an alternate location in the parking lot." The decision appears very much to have been based on a vague and ill defined fear. The source article contained no information about what kind of hazard might have ensued from allowing the supremacists inside the building that a few police officers wouldn't have been able to handle, or how such hazards would not have developed outside.

By Ajai Raj. Ms. Coulter lectured the LBJ Library at the University of Texas on 03 May. After her talk, Mr Raj quizzed her about her definition of marriage; he used profanity and then made obscene gestures while walking away from a microphone; Moments later, university police were inside the library's auditorium, handcuffing him. A few comments about the incident pro and con:

• Ajai Raj, a 19-year-old English major: "That's the scary part of it ... I asked them what for? I kind of recoiled a little bit. They said they didn't know actually. They were just following orders from I don't know who. They were just following orders."

• UT Police Department interim Chief Terry McMahan: "That's what this college is all about, being able to have that freedom of speech. But when it goes beyond an issue of speech, and it meets the elements of a criminal law violation, we step in."

• UT journalism professor Robert Jensen: "If the sole basis for the charge is that he used profanity and used gestures people found offensive, then there's no charge. Because cussing in public is not a criminal offense. His speech may have been juvenile, and I think it was ... but at least from what I can tell, nothing rose to the level of criminal offense."

By South Carolina. See the entry on the Child Porn/Harmful to Minors page.

By William Rivers Pitt. See the entry on The Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By Islami Jamiat Talaba. Punjab University authorities prohibited the IJT from holding its book fair, which had been scheduled to start on this day and to run to 12 May. The prohibition was announced on Saturday, 07 May. Dr Muhammad Naeem Khan, the university registrar, told the press that student activities would be allowed only under the umbrella of the university, and not any other organisation. IJT rejected this offer, having held the book fair independently in the past. The extended tenure of the vice chancellor is ending in September 2005, and he has frequently been warned by President Pervez Musharraf and the Punjab government to put an end to political activities on the campus. He is now determined to take a stand on the issue, but there are concerns that this confrontation will lead to tensions on campus. The university vice-chancellor, Lt Gen (r) Arshad Mahmood, had decided in mid-April to form a committee to look after student activities, which was formed a week later with nineteen members, and which was to ensure that no political activities were carried out on the campus by any political party or its student wing. This editor wonders how efficacious it was, however, given that twelve of the members were IJT sympathizers, although Professor Dr. Akram Chaudhry, The head of the committee, resigned rather than take any steps to curb political elements on the campus. The IJT not only held the book fair on the campus, but also announced a three-day extension "to give people more chance to attend it". The fair was attended by some of the university's professors, who even spoke at the event, encouraging the students.

By Christopher Lee, Washington Post Staff Writer. See the entry on The Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By Lisa Westberg Peters. Ms. Peters was due to make classroom appearances on 12 - 13 May, at a Monticello, Minnesota, elementary school, but educators backed out. The reason is that Our Family Tree focuses on evolution. Monticello's assistant superintendent, Jim Johnson, reportedly said that school officials made a reasonable request that she talk about writing but leave the discussion about evolution to teachers; when she refused, the visit was cancelled. Brad Sanderson, principal at Pinewood Elementary commented to the press, "It's a cute book. There's nothing wrong with it. We just don't need that kind of debate."

[It is not reasonable to ask a person to censor themselves; nor to punish them for not doing so. As for Sanderson's statement, it illustrates a clear and present example of the Chilling Effect in action. See the source article for more background. --MN]

By the Kelowna, British Columbia, city public-art committee. Vancouver-based videographer Jayce Salloum unleashed calls of censorship after this body refused to screen his thirty minute movie Temporal Transmissions; the film is about First Nations cultural trauma. It was one of several contributions for the Alternator Gallery's celebration of the Kelowna centennial. The public-art committee decided against screening the film as part of the celebrations. Mr. Salloum commented: "The film acknowledges residential schools. People talk sensitively about personal stories, intermarriage, pre-contact history, trading women, issues of colonizer/colonized, and the fact that 98 percent of them were decimated by disease. The city keeps saying the film isn't celebratory enough. If you can't celebrate survival for 500 years, what can you celebrate?"

In defiance of the city's decision, the Alternator Gallery went ahead and screened the films as scheduled on 04 May, to a 200 member audience; including three local chiefs and representatives from each of the First Nations in the Okanagan Valley. David Graham, City of Kelowna's director of parks and leisure programs, claims that the first time the public-art committee was able to view the films was 02 May -- just two days before the films were supposed to be screened. An review process was integrated into the original contract with enough time for the filmmakers to make changes as requested by the committee. Mr. Graham reported that when the committee viewed the compilation, "they were not comfortable with all the films." By his interpretation, the seven DVD set is not a finished product because the films did not go through the agreed-upon approval process. He also said the screening has not been cancelled and the films were not censored; the screening was postponed. The city has raised issues over the nature of the work produced and whether or not the pieces constitute independent art or commissioned public art; it has also complained that the contributions were tardy, and on those two grounds, is refusing to pay the gallery for the works.

By academics Ali Al-Dumaini, Abdullah Al-Hamed, and Matruk Al-Faleh. The Riyadh Higher Court sentenced these three reformists to jail:

• Ali Al-Dumaini: nine years
• Al-Hamed: seven years
• Matruk Al-Faleh: six years

. . . for sowing dissent and disobeying the ruler; citing the use of Western terminology by the men. Three judges issued the verdict after a nine-month trial which was conducted almost entirely behind closed doors. The academics had already been imprisoned for more than a year after being arrested in March 2004. Al-Dumaini reportedly got the harshest sentence because of his criticism of the Saudi educational system. According to Defense lawyer Aly Gothaimi, the panel of judges found that the men had overstepped the bounds by speaking to the foreign media, that they intended to incite people against the government, and they defamed officials. The judges also accused the trio of challenging the independence of the judiciary. Al-Ukala denied these charges.

By Francesca Lia Block. On 02 May, the school board for Mascenic High School in New Ipswhich, New Hampshire, held a public hearing for a challenge to this book. Some twenty people attended, with two parents other than Ms. Manning being in favor of a banning, and two students speaking against a ban. The decision was deferred until this day. The points of this challenge, and which make it a censorship effort in this editor's opinion, are as follows:

• Teacher Penny Culliton assigned the book to her grade ten class,
• Vicki Manning said she did not want her child to read the book,
• her daughter was removed from the class and provided with an alternative text,
• Ms. Manning agreed that was done promptly, but maintained that the book was not appropriate for any 10th-grader; she appealed to Principal Craig Mueller, as provided in school policy,
• Principal Mueller appointed a committee of three to consider the book: himself, Kevin Corriveau, head of the English Department, who approved all use of materials, and librarian Diane Kangas,
• the committee recommended that the book be used only with parental permission,
• Superintendent Francine Fullam agreed with them,
• Ms. Manning was not satisfied with this solution and restated her position in this hearing before the school board,
• she also said she felt the system for reviewing controversial materials should be changed,
• she intimated that Kevin Corriveau was in conflict of interest.

The school board will meet with its attorney and then deliberate before making the decision.

[This is censorship because she cannot decide for any other parent what that parent's child will read, but that's what she's trying to do. --MN]

By Stephen Laffey. U.S. District Judge Mary Lisi refused to allow Mr. Laffey, the Republican mayor of Cranston, to resume hosting his radio talk show, dismissing his argument that the state elections board violated his free-speech rights by ordering him off the air. Judge Lisi did not dismiss his case, but said his argument had "little likelihood for success in general" on free-speech grounds, and his case might not belong in federal court. Raymond Marcaccio, who represented the elections board, said the board had believed it could legally order Laffey from the talk show. Mr. Laffey began hosting the Friday morning call-in show on WPRO-AM on Feb. 25, but his opponents, Democrats, complained that The Steve Laffey Show was akin to free political advertising. The elections board voted unanimously last month to order Laffey off the air. He sued the elections board last week, accusing it of mounting "a direct assault on freedom of speech and of the press," and sought a temporary restraining order that would allow him to return to his show. He commented on the ruling, "I was censored before the judge's ruling, and I'm being censored after."

[I don't call this censorship, I call it an effort to determine whether or not a reasonable time, place, or manner restriction has been breached. In my books, Laffey is just being pissy because he isn't getting his way. He is obviously getting due process, but that still isn't good enough for him. --MN]

By the Illinois House. See the entry on the Child Porn/Harmful to Minors page.

By East Bakersfield High School journalists. The ACLU filed a suit on their behalf on this day in Kern County Superior Court. The suit requests an emergency order to allow the paper to publish articles on homosexuality in The Kernal's year-end May 27 issue. Students also want school administrators to take steps to reduce misohomonism and anti-gay attitudes. Principal John Gibson said he blocked publication because he was worried about violence on campus. The Kernal editor in chief, Joel Paramo, said in reply to that: "No incident in the past led us to believe that those students, who are already open about their sexual orientation, had anything to worry about."

[Chalk this one up to a vague and overbroad fear being used as a specious excuse to exercise unauthorized political control over free people. --MN]

[Addendum (27 May 2005:) On 25 May, Kern County Superior Court Judge Arthur E. Wallace declined to immediately overrule the principal's decision, saying the issue deserved a full review. See the source article for more background. I still say that the school officious are basing their censorship on a vague and ill defined fear, as well, now, as the delusion that they can stamp out a kind of human behavior by fiat. --MN]

By Catlettsburg, Ky., citizens. In 1952, the city of Catlettsburg, Kentucky, passed the following ordinance:

"It shall be unlawful for any person to place or deposit or in any manner to affix or cause to be placed or deposited or affixed to any automobile or other vehicle or other automotive vehicle, any handbill, sign, poster, advertisement, or notice of any kind whatsoever, unless he be the owner thereof, or without first having secured in writing the consent of the owner thereof."

Leonard Jobe, the head of the local American Legion post, was apparently unaware of the law when he placed leaflets on car windshields on a public street in 2002. He was fined and paid the $500 fine, but he also challenged the law in federal court, arguing it violated the First Amendment by banning a time-honored method of communication (leafleting) on public property. He contended that leafleting cannot constitutionally be barred on public streets. The city countered that the law was a legitimate time, place, or manner restriction on free speech that was also content-neutral. The city also contended that a parked car is not a public forum (an area where First Amendment protections are heightened). A federal district court upheld the ordinance as a valid time, place and manner restriction on speech, and on 06 May, a three judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court affirmed the lower court and upheld the law. However, the ruling conflicts with the 1999 8th Circuit decision Krantz v. City of Fort Smith, and it could be left to the U.S. Supreme Court to sort things out. See the source article for more background.

By four Chinese authors. The general administration of Pressand Publication of China banned the publication and sale of the 19 books because they contain "false information". The press reported: "The books are mainly about business management and marketing and violate relevant national publication laws and regulations, according to an anonymous official with the administration." This is the first batch of publications banned by China in its nationwide campaign of disciplining the publication industry; the crackdown began in Feb 2005."

By Watchdog Corporation. A software company, it describes itself as founded on Christian principles and supports religious organisations. In 2004, New Zealand Education Minister Trevor Mallard approved the comany's CampusNet filtering software as part of a $9.5 million package to help schools screen out hackers and "objectionable material". But the software -- used in some 500 schools -- has been called "subversive censorship" after it barred access to a number of alternative-themed websites, including a political forum and a (at least partially homosexuality themed) current affairs portal which contains articles on HIV/Aids. Another user reported being barred from Happy Clapping Homos, a satirical site which mocks fundamentalist Christians, after the software classified it as gay porn. Supporters of the software, ignoring the intolerance of ultra-conservatism, stand by the software, saying that some sites will be blocked inappropriately by accident, and that schools have the flexibility to unblock sites if they wanted to access them. An IT specialist with Watchdog Corporation said non-pornographic gay content would not be blocked unless manually added to the list.

[See my commentary on the issue of filtering, my commentary on Harmful To Minors nonsense, and my commentary on how prior restraint is disrespectful of human dignity. --MN]

By New York City Transit. A proposal to forbid photography, videotaping, and filming in subway stations to prevent terrorism has been dropped by police and transit officials. The move comes a year after city transit officials came up with the idea. The proposal had been criticized as too far-reaching by civil libertarians, photographers, and some city officials. New Jersey already has such a ban in place.
(see 24 May 2005)

By U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler. Judge Chesler decided on 20 May that he would not rule on "a complex constitutional issue at the 11th hour." At issue was a suit by Olivia Turton's mother charging that Frenchtown Elementary School officials had violated the second-grader's First Amendment rights by barring her from performing Awesome God. One verse of the rap song has religious connotations, and school officials claimed the performance would be inappropriate at a school event. While the judge rejected the girl's request for a restraining order against the school, he did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit. Demetrios K. Stratis, lawyer for Ms. Turton, commented, "I don't see it as being that complex. But he was just not ready to do it today."

[There is nothing complex about this at all, in my not so humble opinion. As Jeremy D. Tedesco of the Alliance Defense Fund reportedly wrote in a letter to the school board, "Olivia's act, as with all other acts performed at the talent show, is private expression, not the expression of the school, and must be permitted." Chalk this up to a bunch of ignoramuses who don't know or understand that children are permitted to pray in school at their sole discretion. --MN]

By Norma Simon. This book about diverse families refers to a girl who has two mothers, and it will stay on the library shelves of elementary schools in Minnesota, in the Sauk Rapids-Rice school district. A four-person committee took public testimony on the issue on 17 May; in its recommendation to the board the committee said the book is age appropriate and supports the district's mission to embrace all children. Board members unanimously accepted that recommendation on this day. The complaint was filed by David and Amy Petersen of St. Cloud, whose child attends Mississippi Heights Elementary School, and they had asked that the book be removed from circulation and limited for use with the supervision of teachers.

By British Petroleum and Morgan Stanley. In April, General Motors pulled all its corporate ads from the Los Angeles Times to protest an 06 Apr column by auto writer Dan Neil in which he blamed GM's troubles on its management and called for them to be fired. Ad Age reported on this day that BP has informed print publications that its ads must be removed from any edition containing "objectionable editorial coverage." It follows a similar decision from the week of 15-21 May by beleaguered financial services provider Morgan Stanley, which said it will pull ads if negative stories about it are set to appear. The decisions of BP and Morgan Stanley are more brazen than GM's, which acted after the objectionable column was published; as it has every right to. BP and Morgan Stanley are using the threat of withdrawn ads (and withdrawn ad revenue) as thinly-veiled efforts to dictate editorial content in advance. Wall Street Journal publisher Karen Elliott House told Ad Age that these pre-emptive threats won't work, saying, "It would not be a practical condition at The Wall Street Journal. The ad department has no knowledge of what stories are running in the next morning's newspaper." Unfortunately, less financially secure publications might not be able to maintain such a stance. See the source article for more background.

By American law enforcement officials. Susan Llewelyn Leach, had a piece pubished by Christian Science Monitor, entitled Is Photography Becoming Illegal?, and which is reprinted at Alternet.org. . In it, she illustrates the increasing encroachment on the activities of private citizens in public places.

[This encroachment does not stem solely from the residual panic and hysteria following the WTC attack, however. There are other factors involved, but the phenomenon as a whole is most troubling. --MN]
(see 22 May 2005)

By the U.S. State Department. See the entry on the Bush censorship page.

By Louisiana Committee on Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs. House Concurrent Resolution 119 by Rep. A.G. Crowe, R-Slidell, was rejected by 4-3 vote. This nonbinding resolution calling on libraries to keep "age-inappropriate books" (read homosexually-themed) out of the hands of children by reshelving them in the adult sections. Critics called the measure "book-banning" and censorship. Crowe filed the resolution last week after a constituent complained that his 4-year-old daughter checked out "King and King."

[When the girl's mother started reading the book to the child, she discovered the content and stopped. Crowe very ironically commented about the issue: "I am not asking for censorship. But a child should not be exposed to this without parental guidance." Okay. So a child was clearly and presently exposed to this under parental guidance, and Crowe is still asking to restrict access anyway? This is definitely censorship. See my commentary on the U.S. misohomonism movement. --MN]

By Johnson County, Kansas, Library Board. During the week of 15-21 May, the library board voted 5-1 to reinstate references to the Library Bill of Rights to the Collection Development Policy Appendix. Jenifer Lathrup voted against the rescision, maintaining her position on the April vote. She said she did not have a problem with most of the Library Bill of Rights but objected that a person's right to use the library is not abridged because of age. She commented, "We need to have a little bit of protection for our children. I sent my son in and he was able to check out the R-rated films, 'Dawn of the Dead' and 'Blood Simple,' without comment (from the librarian). Children have complete, unrestricted access. I don't want censorship, I just want children protected. I asked 30 to 40 people what they thought of my 8-year-old being able to check out two R-rated films and they were outraged."

[It is the responsibility of every parent to be aware of what their children are doing. This attempt to control access to ideas by children is an attempt to abdicate that responsibility. Lathrup further asserted: "We can still protect children without becoming censors." This move, however, is exactly the wrong way to protect children without becoming censors. The way to protect children is to teach them media literacy, which requires exposure to ideas and materials we might not agree with. --MN]
(see 23 Apr 2005)

By U.M. Indianapolis police responding to a report of youths spray-painting graffiti on a garage found two teens in the back seat of a car. One officer ordered them to hold up their hands, but one of the youths did not keep his hands up, and U.M, then yelled a profanity at the officer and told him that his companion could not lift his hands because his arms hurt. When the officers removed them from the car, U.M. continued yelling profanities and accused police of racism. He was convicted of disorderly conduct in Marion Superior Court, but on this day a three-judge panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals voted unanimously, albeit reluctantly, to overturn the conviction, ruling that U.M.'s comments in reaction to the officer's treatment of his companion were protected political speech, because it was criticism of a government official and protected under the Indiana Constitution's free-speech provision, which is modeled on the First Amendment. The state had argued that U.M. abused his right of free speech, but the court said his comments only annoyed police and did not cause real harm.

By El Camino Real High School Principal Kenny Lee. A poster of President George W. Bush done up sporting Groucho Marx's dark eyebrows, mustache, and trademark cigar, was supposed to promote a high school play. One student complained, however, and school officials ordered a hundred of the posters ripped from the Woodland Hills campus on grounds they promoted smoking and political preference. Because the jacket of the original play, The Complete History of America (Abridged), depicts George Washington with a Groucho treatment, students thought their production promo deserved a fresh look. All went well until a senior and Bush supporter wrote a letter of complaint to the administration about the way the president was depicted. The complaining student added that Bush was also made to look "like an Israeli." Principal Lee commented, "We had one student who was very upset. So much turmoil within himself, he was distraught. The older generation understood the message. I don't think the younger one did. If something is bothering a student on campus, we're going to address it. We're not going to sweep it under the table." See the source article for a copy of the banned image and for more background.

[So the political ideology of tolerance and humour which are held by the majority are being subverted to the political ideology of humourlessness, censorship, and racism of the one. --MN]

By Chinese literati. There was an article in The Standard, of the Sing Tao Newspaper Group and Global China Group, about how China's efforts to suppress "salacious" writings as porn simply increased public awareness of and interest in the works and booseted sales on the black market and talk about the works over the internet. The recent banning of Serve the People was specifically cited and examined. Central Propaganda Bureau ruled on this work: "[it] slanders Mao Zedong, the army, and is overflowing with sex. Do not distribute, pass around, comment on, excerpt from or report on it," but there seems to have been a strong political component to the ban. The article is a marvelous illustration of the interplay between manifest and latent functions.
(see 17 Apr 2005)

By Illinois. See the entry on the Child Porn/Harmful to Minors page.

By Donald P. Russo. Published by the Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and reprinted at CommonDreams.org, Fluff Stories Crowd Out News the Nation Needs examines three major current events which are underreported, and a fourth story by proxy.

• Pat Tillman's family has spoken out harshly against the Army, alleging that its investigation into Tillman's friendly-fire death in Afghanistan was a sham and that the effort to maintain the cover up makes it difficult to cope with the loss.

• A Senate committee led by Senator Norm Coleman falsely accused George Galloway, a member of the British Parliament, of improprieties in the U.N. Oil-for-Food program. Galloway roared into Washington and proceeded to make a fool out of the unctuous Senator.

• The "Downing Street Memo", which nearly cost Tony Blair his government and proved more mendacity on the part of the Bush administration.

• The fourth story, still unwritten, should examine exactly what has happened to the U.S. media in which many events of vital interest now receive such little coverage.

By the church. See the entry on the Church/State Entanglement page.

By China. With an estimated 13.8 million people taking part in online games, the state-controlled media have expressed concern that more and more young people are becoming addicted, which is taking a heavy toll on their studies. Chinese online gamers spent $240 million during 2004, but most of the cash is going to foreign online game companies, particularly from South Korean, which accounted for 70 percent of those sales. Xinhua news agency said without elaborating that new industry standards would require developers to amend games that can cause addiction, and that a group of quality games would be recommended. A censorship of online games prgram began in April 2005 and is slated to last until September, purportedly to target pornography, gambling, violence and games "threatening state security", although China banned a British computer sports game, "Soccer Manager 2005", in Dec 2004 for classifying occupied Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Tibet as separate countries instead of as Chinese states.

[Naturally this has nothing to do with economics or politics. After all, a repressive government wouldn't lie about something like that, would it? --MN]

By Bob Nichols, Project Censored Award Winner. See the entry on The Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By Dan Brown. Ramsay Short, a Daily Star staff writer, reported on this day that the book has been banned in all its translations in Lebanon since last Sep 2004. The banning is less than effective, however, as the book remains freely available in neighbouring countries, and can be widely seen in the hands of sunbathers on the beaches at Byblos.

Mr. Short also reports that producers of the upcoming movie were banned from filming in Westminster Abbey because church officials denounced the book as "theologically unsound." A statement from the Abbey reads in part: "Although a real page turner, 'The Da Vinci code' is theologically unsound and we cannot commend or endorse the contentious and wayward religious and historic suggestions made in the book - nor its views of Christianity and the New Testament. It would therefore be inappropriate to film scenes from the book here." The point of contention to religionists is that The Da Vinci Code postulates that Jesus Christ married Mary Magadelen and sired children. All contentions and controversies arising over the book ignore the fact that Brown makes a point of identifying it as fiction.

By the City of Seattle. A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed 2-1 in Menotti v. Seattle that the city had a right to create the no-protest zone, partially overturning a 2001 decision by U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein. The decision means that some demonstrators may pursue a class-action claim that the city violated their constitutional rights. In Nov 1999 some 50,000 people swarmed downtown Seattle to protest a WTO summit. Some rioters smashed storefronts and overwhelmed police, who responded with tear gas and mass arrests. Part of the city's response was to impose a curfew and declare a no-protest zone around the downtown core. Several protesters sued in federal court, arguing that the city had no right to suppress lawful speech in response to the actions of a few bad apples, but Judge Rothstein threw out their claims, saying the city had imposed a proper time, place or manner restriction to ensure public safety. The Appeals Court, however, said in its 109-page opinion that the way the zone was enforced -- by arresting anti-WTO protesters alone -- raised serious questions about discrimination, and the effect of the city's actions may have been to target only speech of a certain viewpoint. See the source article for more background.

By Yves Engler. In a piece entitled Media ignores Canada's role in Haiti, printed at rabble.ca, Mr. Engler illustrates how Canada continues to be complicit in crimes against humanity in Haiti, and how the Canadian press is also complicit through a tacit conspiracy of silence. The situation in Haiti appears to be developing much along the lines of the tacit media support in the U.S. for the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.

By Dallas Observer; an alternative weekly newspaper. The Supreme Court declined to consider this case. Without comment, the justices let stand the Texas Supreme Court ruling that had reasoned the Dallas Observer article was clearly satire.
(see 21 Nov 2002; 25 Sep 2003; 23 Dec 2003; 03 Sep 2004; 06 Jun 2005)

By a municipal library in the Montreal borough of Cote Saint-Luc. An exhibition of 23 black-and-white photos Ms. Kazemi took during her travels in countries like Israel, Iran and Afghanistan opened the week before this one, but one patron complained that several of the photos depict scenes of the intefadeh, the Palestinian uprising in Israel, and of Palestinian refugee camps, so gallery officials decided to remove five images. Stephan Hachemi, her son, gave the borough an ultimatum: either disp lay all the photos or none of them. He commented to Radio-Canada on Monday, 06 Jun, "To me, this is truly a violation of the spirit of my mother's work." Cote Saint-Luc Mayor Robert Libman caved into the forces of censorship and cancelled the exhibit. He is quoted: "It's a very complicated conflict, and to create an impression where the Palestinian cause is being martyred by oppression by the Israeli government, we don't consider that to be a fair portrait," and told CBC News on Tuesday that the library's gallery isn't there to provoke controversy. On 10 Jun, Reporters Without Borders published a letter of complaint to Mayor Libmam.

[Seems like a very simple and straight forward issue to me: Israel is oppressing Palestine, and admitting this is merely stating an accurate reflection of reality. Amazing. She's been dead for two years and "they" are still afraid of her. See the Zahra Kazemi Murder Timeline. --MN]

[Addendum (17 Jun 2005:) Following this incident, a commentary on this censorship was written by Naomi Klein and Aaron Maté; see Censoring the Dead at CommonDreams.org. --MN]

By Denver West High School Principal Angie Bodenhamer. Ninety percent of the student population at this school is Hispanic, and the yearbook for 2005 reflected that with a Spanish-language cover. The books were delivered on 05 May, and on 17 May, local radio talk-show host Peter Boyles discussed the yearbook's Spanish text on his morning show. The front cover reads: "¿Quienes somos en verdad?", with the English, "Who are we really?" on the back cover. Yearbook adviser Jerry Clayton commented about the opposition, "The discussion that was going on in the community about the issue of the yearbook really had very little to do with the yearbook at all. It was a discussion of immigration issues, Spanish-language issues and other agendas that people had. It's a student publication written by students for students. I don't think that was the perspective of the people who had issues with it."

As a result of the primarily political knee-jerk reaction to the Spanish cover, Principal Bodenhamer said an English title on the cover is preferable, and announced plans to implement prior restraint for future yearbook editions. Mr. Clayton allowed that he is not concerned that this decision will affect the student's control of the yearbook.

By Greg Mitchell. See the entry on The Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By the journal Child Development. See the entry on the Child Porn/Harmful to Minors page.

By Utah. A group of fourteen bookstores, internet service providers, and free-speech groups, filed a challenge to the state's antiporn statute in U.S. District Court. The lead plaintiff in the suit is Betsy Burton, owner of the King's English online bookstore in Salt Lake City. Signed into law on 21 Mar, the statute establishes an Adult Content Registry which is to be compiled and maintained by the Utah Attorney General's Office. Internet users can request a service provider to either block these sites or offer filtering software. ISPs that do not comply would face criminal misdemeanor charges as well as a fine of up to $10,000 for every day the material is not blocked. Other states, such as New Mexico and New York, have attempted to target sexually explicit Web sites, but those efforts have been struck down on First Amendment grounds. Because this law regulates ISPs, rather than sex-themed sites, it is a different approach that could fare better; although a similar law in Pennsylvania was rebuffed in 2004. The Utah ACLU had written a letter to Republican Governor Jon Huntsman urging him to veto the bill: "because it is riddled with constitutional infirmities." Huntsman ratified the bill, and a representative said at the time that the governor was not concerned about any legal challenges.

[The biggest flaw in this law is the same as the Pennsylvania action; because Web sites are bunched on servers, ISPs would have to block all the sites on an individual server in order to stop access to one porn site; possibly eliminating access to thousands of innocent Web sites on that particular server. Which, in my books, makes this action overbroad and hostile toward protected speech. --MN]

By the U.S. Special Operations Command. In an article at CommonDreams.org entitled Bush's Psychological Warfare Effort to be Outsourced, James W Crawley details how the Bush administration has contracted with three firms to produce newspaper stories, television broadcasts, and Web sites that will ostentibly spread American propaganda overseas. The problem with this program, however, as Nancy Snow, a propaganda expert at California State University-Fullerton commented, is this: "If you plant false stories, how can you control where that story goes? You can't."

This means that the propaganda put forth by the Bush administration will, perforce, be aimed as much at the American people as any other; a clear and present violation of American law.

[Which will not bother the regime which has so exploited video news releases one whit. They will justify this by saying they are not releasing the propaganda in America and that it is not meant for American consumption. This is like saying that a fart released in public is not meant to be inhaled by others. Let's not forget what happened when the Bush regime "outsourced" torture, shall we? --MN]

By the Egyptian government. Authorities released one hundred sixty-three members of Muslim Brotherhood, a banned, reformist political party, on this day. In May 2005, the police arrested hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members in a crackdown on the opposition movement during protests for political reform, and then jailed hundreds more in later demonstrations calling for the release of those being held. Like other opposition groups, this party says recent political reforms by the government aim to secure power for the incumbents rather than allowing more competition. See the source article for more background.

By Iranian women. Massive crowds of women staged an unauthorized demonstration in Tehran to protest sex discrimination under Iran's Islamic leadership; this just days before the 17 June presidential election. This protest is the first public display of dissent by women since the 1979 revolution when the religious government enforced obligatory veiling. The protester chanted, "We are women, we are the children of this land, but we have no rights." More than two hundred fifty women marched outside Tehran University, and some two hundred others demonstrated two blocks away; the riot police had apparently prevented both groups from joining the main protest. In May 2005, The hard-line Guardian Council, dominated by six unelected clerics and six judges, rejected eighty-nine prospective candidates who had registered to run for president because they were women.

By Christo-fanatic ultra-conservatives. Doug Ireland of the LA Weekly, had a piece entitled The New Blacklist posted to AlterNet.org. In it, he details how the ultra-conservatives are mounting a well organized effort to impose a widespread chilling effect across the landscape of the American free market place of ideas. He also details how effective this campaign is.

By Voice Of America News. Microsoft, the service reported, is not allowing the Chinese version of its new Web portal to use words deemed politically sensitive by China's Communist Party. Reporters Without Borders has been able to check that, as reported by several news agencies, when a Chinese blogger attempts to post a message containing terms such as "democracy", "Dalai Lama", "Falungong", "4 June" (the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre), "China + corruption", or "human rights", a warning displays saying, "This message contains a banned expression, please delete this expression."

Reporters Without Borders has condemned Microsoft for bowing to Beijing's censors. Julien Pain, who directs the Internet Freedom Desk at RSF commented, "If these companies, I am talking about the American Internet giants, would all agree to respect some basic principles, ethical values, they could have an influence on the Chinese policy. They should stick to their values and refuse to collaborate with the Chinese censorship." Reporters Without Borders says at least sixty-three cyberdissidents are currently jailed in China for posting forbidden content.

By the ACLU. They filed a suit on this day against the Denver, Colorado, police department, to get records of the internal investigations which were prompted by complaints about illegally gathered and kept files on peaceful protesters. Assistant City Attorney Richard Stubbs wrote in a letter to the attorney representing ACLU on 10 Jun, "Disclosure of the files sought could have a chilling effect on the department's ability to obtain that information. In turn, the department's ability to properly discipline its employees could be damaged." Mark Silverstein, the ACLU legal director, said Police Chief Gerald Whitman had denied an open-records request for the documents on grounds that their release would be "contrary to the public interest."

[Oh, sure! But an East Germany style police force wouldn't be "contrary to the public interest", would it? --MN]
(See 22 Jul 2002; 10 Apr 2003; 17 Jun 2004)

By The Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia and the Anti-Defamation League. Both groups are opposed to a one book program selection by the Chester County Library. The work is Missing Heaven and opposition to it stems from the religious theme of the book; they say the book, and the questions posed in an accompanying discussion guide, have an inappropriately heavy focus on religion for a public library program. Margaret Downey, president of the atheist group Freethought Society, commented, "The book features religion in a manner that smacks of endorsement. The book may entangle [the county and the library] in a philosophical question that is best left in the family and the church." A rationale that is rather reminiscent of the specious arguments put forth by ultra-conservatives when they seek to prevent free access to materials. See the source article for more background.

By Hillsborough County, Florida. County commissioners adopted a policy that says the county will "abstain from acknowledging, promoting and participating" in Gay Pride recognition or events. The West Gate library's Gay Pride Month display display was removed hours before the vote, and two Gay Pride displays at the John F. Germany branch downtown were also removed on this day. According to the St. Petersburg Times, Ronda Storms presented the motion by saying: "I move that we adopt a policy that Hillsborough County government abstain from acknowledging, promoting or participating in gay pride recognition and events -- little g, little p." She then followed up with a second motion making protecting this motion by making it exempt from standard due process. The first motion passed by 5-1, and the second by 6-1, as a commissioner had been out of the room for the first motion.

[Addendum (18 Jul 2005:) The following is the list of books that were on display at the West Gate Library that spurred the Hillsborough County Commission

• My Father's Scar: Michael Cart
• Hello, I Lied: M.E. Kerr
• Weetzie Bat: Francesca Lia Block
• Girl Goddess #9: Francesca Lia Block
• Talk to Me: Stories and a Novella: Carol Dines
• Tomorrow Wendy: A Love Story: Shelley Stoehr
• Breaking Boxes: A.M. Jenkins
• My Heartbeat: Garret Freymann-Weyr
• Empress of the World: Sara Ryan
• Ironman: Chris Crutcher
• Athletic Shorts: Chris Crutcher
• The Shell House: Linda Newberry
• A Face in Every Window: Han Nolan
• Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence: Marion Diane Bauer
• Alice on the Outside: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
• True Believer: Virginia Euwer Wolff
• The Car: Gary Paulsen
• Postcards from No Man's Land: Aiden Chambers
• Razzle: Ellen Wittlinger
• Box Girl: Sarah Withrow
• Eight Seconds: Jean Ferris
  --MN]

By Russians. A survey conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Poll Center has revealed that 82 percent of Russians favor social censorship on the television. There is a belief that censorship is required above all for sex- and violence-filled scenes; fifty-seven percent of the respondents rejected open sexual scenes and forty-nine percent want no violence and cruelty on TV. Respondents note the necessity of restricting the advertising of doubtful commodities and services (30%) and goods for intimate use (24%) as well as movies popularizing the lifestyle of criminals (24%). Every seventh Russian citizen draws attention to the inadmissibility of using rude words on the television and to the immoral nature of "reality" programming.

By Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting. See the entry on The Lackey Journalists Affair page.

By ousted Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide. He was interviewed by indy media reporter Naomi Klein on this day for a forthcoming book she is working on. An edited excerpt of the interview was posted at rabble.ca on 23 Jun. In the interview, Aristide accused Canadian government officials of having the blood of Haitians on their hands. The Canadian corporate press, meanwhile, continues to remain silent on the issue of Canada's participation in the Haiti occupation. The article also contains accounts of the bloody-handed repression going there, and a sample of how Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew stonewalled efforts to get a straight answer about the matter.

By Hosty v. Carter. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against the civil liberties and human rights of adult students attending college. 7-4 ruling by the 7th Circuit reversed a 2003 ruling by a three-judge panel of the same court and dismissed the lawsuit against Dean Patricia Carter. The decision was based on Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that high school newspapers could be subject to restrictions.

[And which has now being used to widen the circle of People-Too-Stupid-To-Be-Trusted-With-Free-Speech-Rights to include any student, in any kind of school, throughout the U.S. I only hope the Supreme Court hears this case and rules that: "'High school' does not mean fucking college, man!" --MN]

By Zhang Lin. Reporters Without Borders reported on 16 Jun that Zhang Lin was to be tried on this day in a secret trial. The charge sheet says that the content of the some of Zhang's articles, including the words of a song by the Chinese punk group Pangu, which were posted to the internt, "opposed the basic principles of the Constitution, damaged national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity, spread falsehoods, disturbed social order and damaged social stability". Reporters Without Borders is very concerned about the state of his health and conditions in prison. Zhang has undertaken two hunger strikes to protest at the ill-treatment he has been suffering, and his lawyer, Mo Shaoping, has not been allowed to visit him. The court has also rejected his request a public trial.

By librarians. An Italian librarian who lent a legally published book to a minor of fourteen years was acquitted of charges under article 528 of the Italian Criminal Code on this day. The book, Scopami (Fuck me), by Virginie Despentes, appears on a list of books recommended for teenagers by the Italian Ministry of Work and Welfare as part of anti-drug campaign. However, the librarian was accused of distributing an obscene written document. The acquittal hinges on the judge's finding that the book does not, in fact, constitute an obscene document. On 10 Jun, International Federation of Library Associations reported about the case:

IFLA is deeply concerned about this attempt to incriminate the work of librarians and violate the right of library users to access relevant resources and services without any restrictions and any form of censorship in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UNESCO/IFLA Public Libraries Manifesto and the Glasgow Declaration on Libraries, Information Services and Intellectual Freedom.

[...]

The role of libraries and their staff is to uphold and promote the principles of intellectual freedom and to provide uninhibited access to information - without any restrictions and opposing any form of censorship. The selection and availability of library materials and services shall be governed by professional considerations and not by political, moral and religious views. Upholding these principles, libraries serve as gateways to knowledge offering essential support for independent decision-making.

In that earlier article, Professor Paul Sturges, Chair of the IFLA/FAIFE Committee, was reported as having commented:

In addition to upholding the principle of the right to know, IFLA is particularly concerned in this case that the charges seek to punish the librarian for doing her job of meeting the needs of clients and informing the community. The book in question has not only been published by a reputable publisher but also recommended by a governmental ministry as a resource for a campaign on the important issue of teenage drug use. Making it available responded to a social need. The librarian should not be penalised for this.

By the U.S. House of Representatives. Congress held a vote on this day that would basically consegrate and sanctify the American flag into a holy symbol. Moreover, these votes to amend free speech restriction into the Bill of Rights fly in face of the spirit of the Bill of Rights. This codification of human rights is designed to constrain government in its dealing with We, the People; rather than constraining the interactions of the people with their government. This measure would also criminalize speech that the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled is legal. It passed due in large part to the Republican majority, but also in part to a fear of seeming unpatriotic among some Democrats. On 23 Jun, an analysis of this most recent suppressive action, which indicated that the measure might not pass in the Senate, was posted to First Amendment Center.

[This measure, in this editor's not so humble opinion, would only render de jure what is already de facto for the ultra-conservatives and those who blindly support the Rethuglican Party. --MN]

By Laurie Taylor. A resident in the Fayetteville School District, Arkansas, she has e-mailed a complaint about the presence, in the high school libraries, of seventy books which she alleges are sexually explicit. Ms. Taylor said in an e-mail to district officials that she would like the identified books removed, that the school to conduct its own audit of library materials, and that the school district set up a parent review board to oversee future library purchases. Seven of the books she cited are:

• The Homo Handbook: Getting in Touch with Your Inner Homo: Judy Carter
• The Other Woman: Eric J. Dickey
• Rainbow Boys: Alex Sanchez
• Doing It: Melvin Burgess
• Choke: Chuck Palahniuk
• GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens: Kelly Huegel
• Forever: Judy Blume

The material to which Ms. Taylor objects, apparently in her own words, includes:

• threesomes,
• teenage sexual foreplay,
• detailed sexual escapades,
• explicit homosexual affairs,
• despicable language,
• dangerous instruction, and
• promotion of sexual behavior.

Of these seven books, only Forever is available in middle schools. This is Ms. Taylor's second censorship effort this year. Her child is in middle school.

[See my commentary on this issue. --MN]

By Eric Edelman, former American consulate to Turkey. In an article about the World Tribunal on Iraq, reposted to TruthOut.org, Dahr Jamail wrote about attempts to keep his writing out of the press:

The newspaper [Yeni Safak] has been translating various articles of mine into Turkish and running them, particularly those concerning the most recent Fallujah massacre. The report who was interviewing me today told me that the former American consulate here, Eric Edelman, asked the Prime Minister of Turkey to pressure his paper to not run so many of my stories.

"Why did he do this," I asked him.

"Edelman said it was the wrong news," he told me with a smile.

Turns out Edelman also asked that articles by Robert Fisk and Naomi Klein not be run so often in Yeni Safak either.

He smiled at me while he watched the wheels turning in my head before I smiled back and said, "That makes me very happy, it means I'm doing my job as a journalist."

We laughed heartily together at this, as did everyone else at the table.

[Robert Fisk in particular is respected by this editor for his penchant for speaking truth to power about ongoing matters inside Iraq. Ms. Klein is becoming very well known as an indy media journalist of equal weight in her own right. --MN]

By Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Paul Corts, the assistant attorney general for administration at the U.S. Department of Justice recommended the drapes be removed and AG Gonzales signed off on it. When Attorney General Alberto Gonzales took over at the DOJ he faced the question: Would the drapes remain or would they go? He regularly deflected the question, saying he had weightier issues before him.

[Those weightier issues probably involved figuring out ways to justify the use of torture and how to redefine the term so that what goes on in the Bush regime gulag won't be "real" torture. --MN]
(see 28 Jan 2002)

By Allstate. J. Matt Barber was a manager in Allstate's Corporate Security Division, as well as a heavy-weight boxer, a jazz drummer and a Web commentator. His columns have appeared on TheConservativeVoice.com, MensNewsDaily.com, and elsewhwere. In Dec 2004, he wrote a column that was critical of same-sex marriage and espousing his Christian beliefs, and which was posted to several websites. On 31 Jan, he was confronted by two human resource officials who questioned him about the article. He was subsequently suspended with pay, on the spot, and immediately escorted out of the building. On 03 Feb he was told over the phone that he was fired. Mr. Barber is quoted by WorldNetDaily, "I explained to Allstate that the article was a reflection of my personal Christian beliefs, and that I had every right to both write it and to have it published. I further explained that I had written the article while at home on my own time, that I never mentioned Allstate's name and that I neither directly nor indirectly suggested that Allstate shared my Christian beliefs or my views on same-sex marriage." Mr. Barber also claimed that he was told, "Here at Allstate we have a very diverse community." He is now suing Allstate in federal court.

[Not diverse enough to allow for containing viewpoints contrary to the party line, obviously. --MN]

At the Yorktown battelfield, Virginia. Some 150 klansmen and members of the National Socialist Movement waved flags bearing swastikas and shouted "Sieg heil" at a rally on this day. The rally was ostentibly to honour George Washington; they claim that he and other founding fathers held white separatist and anti-Jewish views. The group was outnumbered by the presence of some 500 counter-demonstrators who gathered approximately 250 meters away from the supremacists. U.S. Park Police said fifteen law-enforcement agencies were involved in maintaining security at the two-hour long event.
(see 18 Feb 2005)

By Saddam Hussein. Some critics judge it boring, but some consider it dangerous. On this day, Jordan banned the book, claiming it could damage regional relations. Reportedly finished by Saddam on the eve of the US-led invasion in March 2003, it is the story of an Arab warrior who vanquishes a foreign intruder. Approximately 10,000 copies had been printed for this week's launch, a literary and political event authorised by Saddam's daughter, Raghad, who is based in Jordan. Jordan initially approved publication, but censors changed their mind after a local newspaper flagged the imminent arrival of a novel whose title could be translated as "Damned one, get out of here".

By Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union. The US Justice Department has declined to reveal how many prisoners, identified as material witnesses, were jailed in its counterterrorism investigations, but the two groups said they had confirmed 70 such detentions after a year of research. The report says of these confirmed detentions:

• Sixty-four were of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent;
• seventeen were US citizens;
• all but one was Muslim;
• "The Justice Department relied on false, flimsy or irrelevant evidence to secure arrest warrants for the men," almost all of whom had cooperated with authorities prior to their detention;
• The men were typically taken at gunpoint, held in solitary confinement, harassed and in some cases physically abused;
• court documents were sealed;
• court proceedings held behind closed doors;
• the men were largely denied legal protection guaranteed by US law;
• one-third were held at least two months;
• some were held six months;
• one man spent more than a year behind bars;
• "Many were not informed of the reason for their arrest, allowed immediate access to a lawyer, nor permitted to see the evidence used against them."

Anjana Malhotra, a researcher, commented, "Muslim men were arrested for little more than attending the same mosque as a Sept. 11 hijacker or owning a box-cutter."

By the United States Supreme Court. This court intervened again in a long-running fight over protests outside abortion clinics. Justices said they would consider whether an anti-abortion group's campaign conducted outside clinics 20 years ago might have violated federal racketeering and extortion laws after all. The Court has already dealt with the same case several times; most recently when it ruled in 2003 that RICO laws were wrongly used against anti-abortion leader Joseph Scheidler and others. That ruling lifted a nationwide ban on protests that interfere with abortion-clinic business. An appeals court, however, questioned whether the ban should be renewed on other legal grounds.

By Ray Bradbury. After giving a keynote speech the American Library Association's annual convention, during the week of 26 Jun, the author of "Fahrenheit 451" joined a growing list of international writers and human rights activists in condemning the persecution of Cuba's Independent Library Project. The American Library Association has ignored a request by imprisoned Cuban counterparts to demand leader Fidel Castro release them, but Mr. Bradbury responded after viewing evidence of court-ordered book burning. He stated, "I stand against any library or any librarian anywhere in the world being imprisoned or punished in any way for the books they circulate. I plead with Castro and his government to immediately take their hands off the independent librarians and release all those librarians in prison, and to send them back into Cuban culture to inform the people." His statement was made after his appearance at the conference, to avoid becoming embroiled in internal politics.

By U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier. She blocked a South Dakota abortion bill from becoming law, tentatively ruling that the measure is an unconstitutional violation of free speech. The legislation would have required abortion doctors to inform women that abortion ends the lives of "human beings" and poses various medical and psychological risks. Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, had sued the state, and this decision implements an injunction against it the legislation. Judge Schreier's ruling is based on the law both compelling speech and forbidding speech; she wrote in her decision:

The South Dakota statute requires abortion doctors to enunciate the state's viewpoint on an unsettled medical, philosophical, theological and scientific issue -- that is, whether a fetus is a human being.

The informed consent provisions of the statute are unconstitutional compelled speech rather than reasonable regulations of the medical profession. The amendments to the South Dakota informed consent provisions go much further than ... other cases reviewing similar statutes, and force abortion doctors to inform women that abortion will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being."

The proposed law also discouraged doctors from expressing views contradictory to the message of the state. A hearing is scheduled for October to determine whether this injunction should be made permanent.

Appendix G1: Censorship by President GeeDubya and company
          1st Term:  2001-2004
          2nd Term: 2005-2008

Appendix G2: George Bush religious initiatives and cover-ups
          1st Term:  2001-2004
          2nd Term: 2005-2008

Appendix G3: Actions to shield George Bush from free speech
          1st Term:  2001-2004
          2nd Term: 2005-2008

Appendix G4: 21st Century COINTELPRO operations
          1st Term:  2001-2004
          2nd Term: 2005-2008

For information about the history of the flag       amendment and the veterans who oppose it       see the ACLU site: