Hi. Here's stuff I mostly didn't know; like the first item telling us that "Slain ambassador Chris Stevens was a member of Oregon's Chinook Native American Tribe, or like the last item telling us that the 10th most banned book in the US this year is (gasp) To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. Reasons: offensive language; racism. If you're like me, read on. Hey, it's our country. Some furriner stuff, too. Ed
From: Portside Moderator [mailto:modera...@portside.org] Dispatches From the Culture Wars - `Banned Books' Edition September 18, 2012 Published by Portside # # # Slain ambassador Stevens was member of local Chinook Tribe The Daily Astorian Chinook Observer September 13, 2012 http://www.dailyastorian.com/free/slain-ambassador-was-member-of-local-chino ok-tribe/article_7ec80cf9-19fc-56a3-88db-628bc49c45fa.html Slain U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and his family are members of the Chinook Indian Tribe, the historic Oregon people who met Lewis and Clark at the mouth of the Columbia River, and the Tribal Chairman has put out a call asking for prayers on their behalf. Stevens' mother Mary Commanday, well known in the tribe, received a call from President Obama to express his condolences. # # # Black Hills Auction: The Auction of the Sacred by Winona LaDuke, Anishinaabekwe (Ojibwe) Indian Country Today Media Network August 16, 2012 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/ict_sbc/black-hills-auction-the-au ction-of-the-sacred Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota is named for the cave itself, called Washun Niya, or the Breathing Hole of Mother Earth by the Lakota People. Nearby cave Pe'Sla -- the "Center of the Heart of Everything that is..." -- is one of the Lakota's most sacred sites. On private property, it is scheduled for auction, destined to be diced into a set of 300 acre tracts, proposed for ranchettes. Debra White Plume from Manderson tells me," We heard nothing about it until we saw the auction announcement". Meetings are being held in most of the Lakota nation this week, with hopes to protect Pe'Sla from the auction block. # # # Update: Pe'Sla Owners Accept $9M Offer from Tribes By Vincent Schilling Indian Country Today Media Network September 12, 2012 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/09/12/pe-sla-owners-accept-9m -offer-from-tribes-133746 In a historic victory for American Indian tribes, the owners of the sacred site Pe'Sla have agreed to an offer of $9 million to purchase 1,900 acres of land also known as Reynolds Prairie. The cost will be shared among all the Lakota tribes in the region, including Cheyenne River, Rosebud, Oglala, Standing Rock, Yankton Dakota and others. # # # CUNY Administration Declares War On Rebel English Department By Angus Johnson StudentActivism.net September 15, 2012 http://studentactivism.net/2012/09/15/cuny-administration-declares-war-on-re bel-faculty/ On Wednesday the English department at Queensborough Community College voted not to adopt a policy of the City University of New York to reduce composition course credits from four to three. In so doing, they rejected the CUNY Pathways initiative, a proposal for streamlining and centralizing CUNY curricula which many faculty regard as antithetical to students' needs. Administrators didn't like this. And in fact they disliked it so much that Queensborough announced two days later that they're dismantling the QCC English department in retaliation. # # # Republicans' #areyoubetteroff Hashtag Backfires when Twitter Responds `Yes' By Elizabeth Mitchell MediaBistro.com September 7, 2012 http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/areyoubetteroff-twitter-hashtag-backfire s_b44570 In an effort to use Twitter to promote Romney, the GOP purchased the hashtag #areyoubetteroff, and is paying $120,000 per day for the privilege. The republicans expected people to answer, "No! We are not better off! Romney for president!" But the Twitterverse had an overwhelmingly different response. Instead, #areyoubetteroff was combined with the word "yes" more than 1,800 times in its first 24 hours, while paired with "no" only 600 times. Since then, the yes/no ratio has been an embarrassing 5 to 1 and has spawned rebuttal hashtags like #iambetteroff and #betteroff. # # # Players' Support of Gay Marriage Alters N.F.L. Image By Adam Himmelsbach New York Times September 8, 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/sports/football/players-support-of-gay-mar riage-alters-nfl-image.html Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo has been an outspoken supporter of legalizing same-sex marriage, which caught the attention of Emmett C. Burns Jr., a Maryland state delegate who opposes it. Burns sent a letter to Steve Bisciotti, the Ravens' owner, urging him to "inhibit such expressions from your employee and that he be ordered to cease and desist such injurious actions." Infuriated, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe sent his own blistering response to Burns. The N.F.L. has long fought the stigma of a homophobic culture, but now, two pro football players have powerfully lent their support for same-sex marriage, taking a political figure to task in the process. The support offered by Kluwe and Ayanbadejo is timely, because Minnesota and Maryland are among four states that will have same-sex marriage votes this November. # # # "In The Life," television's first LGBT newsmag, ending in December By Dru Sefton Current.org September 6, 2012 http://www.current.org/2012/09/in-the-life-televisions-first-lgbt-newsmag-en ding-in-december/ In The Life, the first and only nationally broadcast lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) newsmagazine, is going off the air from public television in December, after 20 years. ITLM has entered into conversations with other organizations to create a web-based, open-source repository of their video archive documenting the LGBT movement. They promised "additional details soon." # # # Faced with a Five-Page Limit, Lawyer Files Cartoon Amicus Brief with Proper Font Size By Debra Cassens Weiss ABA Journal (American Bar Association) September 5, 2012 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/faced_with_a_five-page_limit_lawyer_f iles_cartoon_amicus_brief_with_proper_/ A lawyer who opposes the Justice Department's proposed antitrust settlement with three publishers of e-books has filed an amicus brief in the form of a comic strip. Bob Kohn said he opted for the unusual format after U.S. District Judge Denise Cote of Manhattan limited his brief to five pages. He calls the cartoon a "graphic novelette" and says it complies with court rules requiring 12-point or larger type and one- inch margins. Publishers Weekly suggests Kohn's comic strip is intended to reach beyond the courtroom. "His rendering is brilliant, and as a comic strip, the brief will be widely digestible for the general public who may not have the gumption to plow through a typical legal brief." # # # The Israeli Left Archive now Housed in Amsterdam http://israeli-left-archive.org/cgi-bin/library The website of the Israeli Left Archive is now hosted by the distinguished International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Israeli Left Archive is devoted to the radical left and the women's peace movement in Israel during the sixties, seventies and the eighties. Collections include Women in Black; SHASI (Israel Socialist Left); Dai L'Kibbush; Yesh Gvul; Black Panthers (Israel); and many other groups. To assist readers who do not know Hebrew, there is a special collection of documents in English. There is also a special collection of posters and periodicals. The materials in this archive were collected by Dafna and Reuven Kaminer and the website was built by their granddaughter, Carmel. # # # "I'm Dreaming of a White President": Randy Newman on His New Song By Ben Yagoda Slate.com September 18, 2012 http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/09/18/_i_m_dreaming_of_a_white_pres ident_randy_newman_talks_about_his_new_song_.html Today, Randy Newman weighs in on the racial subtext of our presidential politics. His new song, "I'm Dreaming," which is available as a free download - is sung in the voice of a narrator who's not just unreliable but...well, here's the refrain: "I'm dreaming of a white President / Just like the ones we've always had." (In case we miss the reference to Irving Berlin's "White Christmas, Newman throws in a der Bingle-esque "buh buh buh" toward the end of the number.) He was inspired to write the song because "there are a lot of people who don't want a black person in the White House and they want him out." Although "I'm Dreaming" is released free of charge, Newman is encouraging listeners to donate to the United Negro College Fund. # # # BANNED BOOKS WEEK Sept 30- October 6, 2 012 http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/ During the last week of September every year, hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship. The 2012 celebration of Banned Books Week will be held from September 30 through October 6. The 10 most challenged titles of 2011 were: 1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle Reasons: offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group 2. The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group 3. The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins Reasons: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence 4. My Mom's Having A Baby! A Kid's Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group 5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie Reasons: offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group 6. Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Reasons: nudity; offensive language; religious viewpoint 7. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley Reasons: insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit 8. What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones Reasons: nudity; offensive language; sexually explicit 9. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar Reasons: drugs; offensive language; sexually explicit 10. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee Reasons: offensive language; racism # # # ___________________________________________ Portside aims to provide material of interest to people on the left that will help them to interpret the world and to change it. 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