tdaxp

This news from the Senate is just the latest in a long line of stories with one moral: no matter how bad you think the Republican Congress was, the Democrat Congress is worse.

(And I thought the GOP was bad for banning horsedogs!)

"LPS mulls best Native books," by Margaret Reist, Lincoln Journal Star, 3 October 2006, http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/10/03/top_story/doc4521bf0c8a4b7965832929.txt.

Recently, my blog friend Adam of The Metropolis Times highlighted Banned Book Weeks. Ironically, the day after Banned Books Weeks Ended, Lincoln Public Schools set to work banning some more

And in addition to seeking out the best Native literature it could find -- 128 new recommended books -- it took the unusual step of recommending school libraries remove 12 books from their shelves.

Here is a list of the books:

• “The Indian in the Cupboard” (1980) and the sequel “The Return of the Indian” (1986) by Lynne Reid Banks

Writes Doris Seale, co-editor of “Through Indian Eyes: The Native Experience in Books for Children”

• "Indian School: Teaching the White Man’s Way” (1999) by Michael L. Cooper


• "The Courage of Sarah Noble” (1954) by Alice Dalgliesh


• "The Matchlock Gun” (1941) by Walter D. Edmonds, illustrated by Paul Lantz


• "Brother Eagle, Sister Sky” (1991) by Susan Jeffers


• "Sitting Bull and His World” (2000) by Albert Marrin


• "The Place at the Edge of the Earth” (2002) by Bebe Faas Rice


• "My Heart Is On the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, A Sioux Girl, Carlisle Indian School, Pennsylvania, 1880” (1999) by Ann Rinaldi (from Scholatics “Dear America” series)


• "Millie Cooper’s Ride: A True Story from History” (2002) by Marc Simmons, illustrated by Ronald Kil


• "The Sign of the Beaver” (1983) by Elizabeth George Speare


• "The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl, New Mexico, 1864” (1999) by Ann Turner


• "Wounded Knee” (2001) by Neil Waldman, illustrated by the author

The best justifications are those that are explicitly racist, such as

Misrepresents Lakota spiritual beliefs and cultural practices. Relies too heavily on research by non-Natives.

for Sitting Bull and His World and

Misunderstanding of Navajos’ strong oral storytelling traditions (no child would take notes while an elder told a story). Pathetic attempts at Native humor. “Whitewashing” of Native experiences.

for The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl, New Mexico, 1864

"Books to avoid" about Thanksgiving from the same group that inspired this censorship list -- Oyate -- are available below the fold. A shorter version is also available.

This may be the bravest post I have ever written

After profiling the work of Amir Normandi, a photographer and a blogger, I received some constructive feedback:

fuck you all you fucking bastard on this website.. you want to spoil the reputation of islam by hiring those shit face girls....... your the shit and the most fucking and idiot assholes

and, also kindly

israel fuck you bastared

Clearly, some readers are concerned with subtle anti-Islamic messages in visual representations of Muslim women. Perhaps the reason thousands of Muslims throughout the Gap riot, kill, and leave hurtful comments is a rational, universal, human reaction to cartoons and such. Adam of The Metropolis Times and I responded to the Muhammed cartoon controversy by running holocaust cartoons. (Strangely, no Jews threatened to kill either of us, but presumably the Isaacian horde is approaching as we speak.) We try always to be fair.

Now I see that this was not sufficient, and photos of beautiful Muslim girls must be balanced by exploitative imagery of Jews, Israelis, and Zionists.

With a heavy heart, and expecting a IDF air strike at any moment, I accept this heavy burden.



I thank the somber folks at Jewlicious for pointing me to a fine example of Yisraeli carnal reparations, The Israeli Celebrity Source.

"On Campus, Only Some Free Speech Protected, by Wendy McElroy, iFeminists, 28 July 2005, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163705,00.html (from Brendan of I Hate Linux).

Free speech in the modern Academy:

The public notice (in full, with original formatting, from pdf original):

From: ANNOUNCEMENT
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2005 3:37 PM
Subject: women's studies Department - Women's History Month
Expires: Saturday, March 19, 2005 5:00 PM

Please do not hit reply, click here. MAILTO:ScalaA@wpunj.edu
Women's History Month
Film & Discussion: Ruth and Connie: Every Room in the House, a lesbian relationship story
Date: March 9, 2005
Time: 7-9 PM
Place: Library Auditorium
Sponsor: Women's Studies Department

Contact person: Dr. Arlene Holpp Scala x3405
Dr. Arlene Holpp, Chair
William Paterson University
Department of Women's Study's

The private reply, to the requested email address:

From: Daniel, Jihad
Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2005 6:59 AM
To: Scala, Arlene
Subject: Homosexuality

Do not send me any mail about “Connie and Sally” and “Adam and Steve”. These are perversions. The absence of God in higher education brings on confusion. That is why in these classes the Creator of the heavens and the earth is never mentioned.

The debate of ideas in the modern University

On March 10, Scala filed a complaint with the university claiming Daniel's message sounded "threatening."

"I don't want to feel threatened at my place of work," she explained.

On June 15, university President Arnold Speert issued a letter of reprimand, to be placed in Daniel's permanent employment file.

"Still Giving Orders," by Andrew Stuttaford, The Corner, http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/05_01_09_corner-archive.asp#050310, 15 January 2005.

Andrew Stuttaford has quotes a piece from Haaretz on the Nazi armband (this one's for you, Joh)

“German politicians have called for a Europe-wide ban on Nazi insignia after Britain's Prince Harry caused outrage by wearing a swastika armband and Nazi regalia at a fancy dress party… Markus Soeder, general secretary of Germany's Christian Socialist Union opposition conservative party told the paper: "In a Europe grounded in peace and freedom there should be no place for Nazi symbols. They should be banned throughout Europe, as they are with good reason in Germany." Soeder also urged the German government to push for a more balanced history program in British schools.”

No word yet on whether those German politicians, who seem to have a thing or two to learn about free speech, would support a Europe-wide ban on Communist insignia.

I wonder why not.

Old Europe: Anti-Speech? Of course. Anti-Jew? Typically. Anti-Communist?

"Le Pen irks French government with Nazi remarks," Netscape News with CNN, http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?id=2005011213480002132325&dt=20050112134800&w=RTR&coview=, 12 January 2005.

I must become better at recognizing French perfidy. I don't particularly trust that dying nation, and I realize that they were the most pro-Nazi or any "occupied" state, but I wish I saw this one coming.

PARIS, Jan 12 (Reuters) - France threatened on Wednesday to take legal action against far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen for saying the Nazi occupation of France during World War Two had not been "particularly inhumane."

The government, anti-racism organisations and Jewish groups sharply condemned Le Pen's latest controversial comments, made in an interview with right-wing weekly magazine Rivarol.

"It's not only the European Union and globalisation we have to free our country of. It's also the lies about its history, lies that are protected by exceptional measures," Le Pen said in comments published in Rivarol's Jan. 7 edition.

"In France, at least, the German occupation was not particularly inhumane, although there were some blunders, inevitable in a country of 550,000 sq km."

*sigh*