“Oh Great Spirit who made all races. Look kindly upon the whole human family and take away the arrogance and hatred which separate us from our brothers.”
Cherokee Prayer
Category Archives: News
No, we can’t make you wear a mask or get a vaccine shot. Here are some other things we can’t make you do…
From fellow writer and blogger Art Browne, my brother in cosmic lunacy.
Take showers or baths.
Wipe your butt after you poop.
Open your eyes while driving on the freeway.
Not stick your head into a hornet nest.
Not set your house on fire.
Put on a parachute before jumping out of an airplane.
Not drink bleach or shoot horse de-wormer up your rear end.
Think.
Have empathy.
Have common courtesy.
Be a good person.
Do real research on vaccines, not just find internet groups that support your bias.
Pay attention to the vast majority of scientists and medical experts.
Filed under News
Banned Books Week 2021
This week begins the annual “Banned Books Week” which lasts through October 2. The yearly event is sponsored by the American Library Association and promotes literacy, free speech and a free press. It’s the regular battle against the self-styled, self-appointed overlords of what is supposedly proper and improper for everyone to see and read. I’ve always believed this should be a year-long event, as free speech and free press are under constant threat – not just in, but in totalitarian regimes, like North Korea, but even in open societies, such as the United States.
Keep writing and keep fighting!
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 156 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services in 2020. A total of 273 books were targeted for removal, but here is a list of the most challenged, along with the reasons cited for censoring the books. Some are familiar classics, while others are new arrivals.
George by Alex Gino
Reasons: Challenged, banned, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, conflicting with a religious viewpoint, and not reflecting “the values of our community”
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
Reasons: Banned and challenged because of author’s public statements, and because of claims that the book contains “selective storytelling incidents” and does not encompass racism against all people
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, drug use, and alcoholism, and because it was thought to promote anti-police views, contain divisive topics, and be “too much of a sensitive matter right now”
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted because it was thought to contain a political viewpoint and it was claimed to be biased against male students, and for the novel’s inclusion of rape and profanity
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references, and allegations of sexual misconduct by the author
Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard, illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin
Reasons: Challenged for “divisive language” and because it was thought to promote anti-police views
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Reasons: Banned and challenged for racial slurs and their negative effect on students, featuring a “white savior” character, and its perception of the Black experience
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Reasons: Banned and challenged for racial slurs and racist stereotypes, and their negative effect on students
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and depicts child sexual abuse
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Reasons: Challenged for profanity, and it was thought to promote an anti-police message
Filed under News
In Remembrance: September 11, 2001
“They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind.”
Native American Proverb
Filed under News
Labor Day 2021
“Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.”
Image: Modern Toss, New Scientist
Filed under News
Word of the Week – June 26, 2021
Inosculate
Verb
Latin, 17th century
Join by intertwining or fitting closely together.
Example: I often inosculate my dreams with my passion for writing to create unusual tales.
Funniest Quote of the Week – June 26, 2021
“To be fair, Gaetz – the same Matt Gaetz who faces sexual trafficking charges he denies – did also tweet today to Free Britney Spears, which kind of makes him a freedom fighter.”
Brian Williams, responding to Gaetz’s criticism of Gen. Mark Milley’s June 23 testimony
Chief Writing Wolf 