Censorship Sucks

Those of you who know me know that I come from a family of librarians. My grandmother was one and so was my father. One of the things that they faced throughout their careers was the call for censorship. It comes with the job I guess. If you are the person giving people access to information, someone is going to get pissed about the information you are providing. This particularly true when it comes to sex.

I remember as a kid, a very public fight between my father and some local bible thumpers over sex education books being made available at the library. My Dad believed that young adults should have access to the ins and outs (sorry about that) of sex. That was what a library is for, to look up stuff you want to know, and frankly, young adults want to know the truth about sex. They NEED to know the truth. Just ask Bristol Palin.

The worst part was, that as soon as the book banners started squawking, the loonies came out of the woodwork. It was a living example of the slippery slope. As soon as the story ran in the paper, little old ladies with bung holes tighter than the buns on their heads started showing up at the front desk with stacks of books they thought were obscene and in need of being pulled. The funny part was, most of the books involved lesbians. What do little old ladies in Iowa have against lesbians I wonder? And how did they know those books contained stories about lesbians? Doth thou protest too much?

Any way, Mr. Art Weeks, the library director in Ames, Iowa stood up to the purveyors of sexual ignorance and won a battle to keep a magazine called Sex, Etc. available to teens. The magazine is written by and for teens under the oversight of Answer, a national sexuality organization at Rutgers University. It addresses teen sexuality issues, substance abuse and eating disorders.

I mention all of this merely on the chance that Mr. Weeks will Google himself one of these days and come across this post where I call him a hero, a champion of enlightenment and a defender of the marketplace of ideas.

From those of us who understand the importance of access to information, from those of us who believe that sex education is the key to sound decision-making, from those of us who have seen the slippery slope first hand, I just want to say:

Well done Mr. Weeks, well done.

Teen Sex Magazine to Stay on Shelves at Iowa Library

Racist Pig Swim Pool - Part Three

I just can't let this story go...remember the swim club that sold access to the pool to a day camp only to rescind the sale when they discovered that the kids weren't white?  Well, they are trying to declare bankruptcy.

But before we all start thinking, "Good! You racist pigs." I think there is something fishy going on in their cement pond. According to the article they have liabilities of $100,000 to $500,000 and assets of anywhere from 1 to ten million dollars.
For the sake of argument, let's take the middle of both ranges.  That would mean debt of $300,000 and assets of 5 million dollars.

I don't know about you, but I'll take that balance sheet any day.

I think these bastards are trying to make themselves judgment proof.  They are in the mother of all legal stalls while trying to protect their assets so when they lose they have to pay little or nothing for telling the kids of color that they weren't good enough to swim in their pool. 

Personally, I hope the government and the justice system see right through this and dry hump these guys for every dime they can. 

Honkies Only Pool Declares Bankruptcy

Oh...and that bit at the end of the story is bullshit. Not enough life guards? When they first got caught, the club president said the reason they kicked the kids to the curb was because:
"There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion .....and the atmosphere of the club."

They are liars and they deserve the long arm of the law doing a very complete, very aggressive proctology exam for which they should be billed top dollar.

Republican Funded Abortions (and a bit about Levi Johnston's man bits)

No More D and Cs for the RNC

For the last 18 years, the young women who worked for the Republican National Committee (RNC) had some very comprehensive health insurance. It even covered abortions.

That's right kids, if a RNC campaign muffin found herself with a bun in the oven unexpectedly (Remember, they only teach abstinence, not sex-ed,  at the Nancy Reagan Preparatory School and Country Club!) all she had to do was head down to the local abortionist and be done with it.  And these abortions were made possible by Republican donors of America.

Sweet huh?  Those same people who have spouted hateful things about the reproductive rights of women in order to get fat cat Republicans to whip out their wallets and write even fatter checks have been spending some of those dollars they raised to ensure that their female employees can get abortions on demand.

Oh...and the best part?  The only reason that they quit is because they got caught.  They are trying to use the abortion issue as a way to trip up health care reform and some snoopy reporter types found out that the RNC insurance plan was providing the actual services that the Republican's were trying to strip out of the public option insurance being proposed on the hill.

You know...that part of the health care reform bill intended to cover those who are currently falling through the cracks. People like the poor, the un- or underemployed, the under-educated,  -- in other words -- the kinds of people who are the least likely to ever work at the RNC.

Well, they may have been trying to strip it out, but the main purpose of the whole thing was to use the abortion issue as they have been for years and years, to drive a wedge between conservative Democrats and liberal ones.

I think some on the Religious Right actually care about abortion.

(I also think they are self-righteous hypocrites who think they've been saved by Jesus but miss the point completely when it comes to tolerance and forgiveness.  But that is for another day.)

But deep in the dark bowels of the RNC, where the Republican political hacks cultivate their strategies based not on belief or credo, but on an unfailing desire to gain and maintain power, the abortion issue is just an old, favorite tool.  It is a tool they use whenever they need to divide the voters or the Congress, to distract them from the true goal of the Republican efforts, to keep the rich rich and the poor poor and the government out of the way of those with the most money and power.

This isn't about abortion.  This is about the insurance companies getting what they want: little or no public option and a mandate that everyone buy insurance.  If they can get that without too many more government regulations -- like you have to cover anyone, regardless of their pre-existing conditions -- then the Republican hacks have done their job.

The abortion issue is just their way of distracting the voters from their true goal, to protect those insurance companies that have given billions of dollars over the years to Congressmen and Senators for the sole purpose of ensuring that those elected officials protect the insurance industry's corporate interests ahead of ours, the voters.

We Democrats have to learn to quit jumping at the abortion bone whenever the Republican dark wizards wave it under our noses.  Passing this health reform is too important for us to be distracted by this same, tired old tactic.  Give up the abortion funding and concentrate on the overall game, getting meaningful health care reform that includes a robust public option.

That is a fight we must fight. That is a fight we can win.  Give me the side of the public over the side of corporate greed any day. That is a story I can sell. We can't allow them to frame the debate with a distraction!  The choice here isn't about "choice" or "right to life"; it's between the wealthy insurance companies who have been fucking the consumer for profit for much too long and the voters who deserve access to quality health care.

Republican Abortion Coverage

He's Been to Bristol

At just about the same time as Sarah Palin's book is coming out, her daughter's baby daddy is getting ready to show the world his man junk in Playgirl magazine.

First, I didn't know Playgirl still existed, who knew?  Gay men I guess.

Second, if the future of the Republican Party is going to be filled with Milfy moron ex-governors and the nude models that impregnate their daughters, I think the Dems will be just fine thank you.

Can't you just see all those country club ladies standing around at a fund raiser thinking to themselves, "Yeah, that Sarah Palin, she represents everything we believe in. You know, babies out of wedlock, male soft core porn, hunting...it's like she's one of us!"

Or not...

(You notice how I completely avoided all the hockey stick jokes? It was very difficult, believe me.)
Playgirl Photo Shoot "Fantastic" Involves Hockey Stick