Southern Mississippi library system bans Jon Stewart's best-selling book

[Kadie]

Southern Mississippi library system bans Jon Stewart's best-selling book

Sunday, January 9, 2005

(01-09) 18:47 PST GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) --

Library officials in two southern Mississippi counties have banned Jon Stewart's best-selling "America (The Book)" over the satirical textbook's nude depictions of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices.

"I've been a librarian for 40 years and this is the only book I've objected to so strongly that I wouldn't allow it to circulate," said Robert Willits, director of the Jackson-George Regional Library System of eight libraries in Jackson and George counties.

"We're not an adult bookstore. Our entire collection is open to the entire public," Willits said. "If they had published the book without that one picture, that one page, we'd have the book."

Wal-Mart has declined to stock the book because of the page, which features the faces of the nine Supreme Court justices superimposed over naked bodies. The facing page has cutouts of the justices' robes, complete with a caption asking readers to "restore their dignity by matching each justice with his or her respective robe."

more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/01/09/national2147EST0581.DTL

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. Woo hooo!!!!

My nephew gave it to me for Christmas, but I haven't started it yet.

Sounds even better now.

:evilgrin:

[Lugnut]

13. Mine was a Christmas present

It's a hoot. :thumbsup:

[ElectroPrincess]

46. I just started reading this ...

So far it's great fun ... accurate enough foundation with and "off the wall" comedic twist that only Jon Stewart's daily show can provide. Yes, I'm looking forward to reading more this evening.

[Skittles]

2. I ordered it from Buzzflash as a Christmas present to myself

it's a fun book!

[DownNotOut]

3. My library stocks

Penthouse and Hustler. For its educational value of course..,


DownNotOut

[amazona]

5. i'm guessing your library is not in mississippi

Why give them this excuse, Jon, why? Sigh.

On edit -- of course, the library is just lying too, they could just razor it out if it was just the one page. That is what our libraries in St. Tammay Parish, Louisiana -- home of we will razor out pictures of our "national" mushroom -- do.

[DemBones DemBones]

10. Do they still cut pages out of books? I haven't seen

that since the early sixties, when I was reading a biography of Marie Antoinette checked out from my high school library. When I got to the part about her wedding, then came a paragraph or so leading up to the wedding night. . . and several pages had been removed! Knowing how explicit books were then (not!), I always wondered why they bothered. Was it really risque?

[MountainLaurel]

22. Cut pages out of books

Hide books about homosexuality and "the occult" in the bathroom above the ceiling tiles, paste little underpants on naked illustrated characters in Maurice Sendak's books, and so on into infinity.

[montana_hazeleyes]

45. They better not

be pasting our very own underpants on anything, I'll tell ya.

[amazona]

80. yes they do but not the "dirty" stuff the "drug" stuff

Our parish is where people in the Greater New Orleans area used to go (before it became too urban for cows) to find our good friend Stropharia cubensis. Other mushrooms also grow here, such as Amanita muscaria but this is not so safe as S. cubensis. The part of the book that was razored out was the picture and identifying information for S. cubensis. The information for the more hazardous 'shroom was left in full. How sick is that?

In fairness I found the razored book in the 1990s. I haven't checked lately to see if they have a proper guide that hasn't been censored.

I have not discovered any books with explicit sex scenes razored out.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[carolinayellowdog]

90. 1000-1 odds you're blaming the wrong party

Hey,

More like 1000-0. I've been a librarian for 30 years. The number of books I've discovered to have been defaced by patrons over the years, usually pages removed BECAUSE THE PATRON WANTED TO STEAL THEM, hundreds and hundreds. Times I've known of library staff deliberately razoring out pages due to content, zero.
Can't you see that someone wanted that page about the shroom, and was too lazy or cheap to photocopy it? That kind of thing happens many times every day in America. Pages razored out by librarians-- a huge breach of professional ethics that would be considered outrageous universally.

We are the most liberal, most Democratic, most committed to the First Amendment, profession in this country. That's why Ashcroft calls us a bunch of hysterics, and why we donated to Kerry 233 times as often as to Bush.

And yet, all too often liberal Democrats are willing to make the most insulting assumptions and accusations about us without a shred of evidence. That a bizarre outlier like Willits is actually providing fodder for such assumptions and accusations is infuriating.

Glad I'm retiring soon,

CYD

[Lisa]

91. it was the librarians who got Michael Moore's book released

They forced the publishing company, which wanted to censor his criticisms of the Bush administration, to distribute it without changes.

Michael hasn't forgotten that, and mentions the librarians every chance he gets, in his public appearances.

One of my librarian friends noted that it's ironic how the public stereotypes librarians as humorless prudes, yet carries on as if they're a bunch of porn-distributing libertines if there's a book in the collection which someone calls "objectionable".

Agree with you that defacement of the collection is totally against the profession's ethics. The librarians I know, even if they don't particularly approve of material (on the grounds of exploitation, rather than prudishness), are very careful to separate their personal preferences from their jobs. Damaging or hiding a book just wouldn't fit. I suspect a patron of having done the razoring, as well.

The library will miss you, CYD!

[carolinayellowdog]

100. Zero problems locally, but state and national scene worrisome

Hey Lisa,

Thanks for reminding folks of the Moore situation. Public libraries find themselves more and more the target of rightwing attacks. I don't know if folks remember when Dr. Laura tried to rally her listeners to demand that their local governments cut all funding to public libraries because she was angry at ALA's opposition to mandatory filtering legislation. In other words, her agenda was to close all public libraries in the US to punish a professional organization. Here's a story about that:

http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/05/27/dr_laura/

Conservative organizations distribute propaganda accusing public libraries of wanting to forcefeed pornography to minors. Rich Lowry urges "let's kill all the librarians" in an column about critics of the Patriot Act:

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/richlowry/rl20030922.shtml

to which an interesting response appeared in a librarian's blog:

http://www.bookslut.com/library_rakehell/2004_05_002047.php

It's a great profession, rewarding in many ways, and I have yet to experience any local ramifications of the culture wars. But unless the current direction of American society changes, the future of public libraries is in jeopardy.

CYD

[FredScuttle]

37. Why?

Because it's fucking hilarious, that's why. And it wouldn't have been half as funny if they depicted the Justices with asexual Ken and Barbie bodies.

[sonicx]

4. More press for the book

Jon Stewart sends them thanks. :)

[Art_from_Ark]

17. Banned in Southern Mississippi!

The 21st century equivalent of "Banned in Boston"!

[dflprincess]

6. My niece gave me the book for Christmas

I admit I almost did :puke: when I came to the picture of the naked Supreme Court. I was reading it right before bedtime - try to go to sleep with the image of a naked Rehnquist in your head.

[patdem]

9. That's too funny,...naked Rehnquist...sugar plum fairies...

naked Rhenquist...sugar plum fairies...No wonder you could not sleep... :hug:

[Lisa]

92. at least you had some privacy -- I was in a busy restaurant ...

I was browsing through my newly-purchased copy when the guy at the next table exclaimed, "Oh, is that the new Jon Stewart book?", just as I coincidentally turned to the naked Supreme Court page. A bunch of people wanted to look at it -- all I could do was brazen it out (although I'd lost my appetite for lunch).

[atommom]

7. But it will make for a good Daily Show segment, won't it?

:)

[sportndandy]

8. That is good free advertising.

[TacticalPeek]

11. I guess Willits insists on having his fifteen minutes of hooting derision.

Former English teacher Tara Skelton of Ocean Springs said the libraries shouldn't decide what is in poor taste.

"It just really seemed kind of silly to me," she said. "I don't think the Supreme Court justices have filed any defamation of character or libel suits. It's humor."


Tell 'em, Tara.

[Maddy McCall]

12. I live in Mississippi and I have NEVER heard of anything like this.

I live in south Mississippi and I visit libraries at colleges and in towns around the state. I've never heard of ANYTHING like this being done.

[merh]

25. Hey Maddy,

This is Jackson/George County - they are a little whacked, you know they have busts of trent in public places (which are always stolen and dumped in the river). Remember, there was the justice court judge that made derogatory comments about gays, I think he was fined for his comments. Eastern Jackson County is often very extreme, they believe trent and bush were sent from god to protect them and their little shipyard. West Jackson County, where you can find Ocean Springs, is a liberal community, filled with artists and folks with open minds.

Jon Stewart will have fun with it, but I think our state deserves the ridicule given who our gov is.

[Devlzown]

66. The library here in Gulfport sucks, too.

They do have a section where they sell old magazines (lots of National Geographic, by the way) and old paperbacks for a little bit of nothing. That's the only reason I ever go to that library. There were so many winos in there the last time I visited, I thought I was in a homeless shelter. If I ever get down on my luck and have to live in that library, I hope they get a better selection!

[merh]

68. LOL

Hey, at least Gulfport's A/C works. Biloxi's is always breaking down and the humidity can screw with the books

[jobycom]

77. Is it still in that old building

where you can walk across the little bridge by the door and watch the goldfish? I used to love those fish!

[jobycom]

41. Really? Have you lived their long?

I remember as a kid not being able to see "Oh, God" and "The Life of Brian," and a few other films I've forgotten. Book banning was done more quietly, and could usually be justified by low library budgets. I remember "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Of Mice and Men" being forbidden for literature class. The most controversial thing I remember being allowed to read in high school was Huckleberry Finn.

My mother still lives there, and had to come to Austin to see Fahrenheit 9/11. I heard that they finally began showing it, when it opened so strongly.

Mississippi has produced some of the greatest in all fields, from writing to music to football, but the state does everything it can to prevent that. They want mediocre farmers more than great thinkers.

[NYC]

60. Why was The Grapes of Wrath banned?

Do you know why?

[jobycom]

73. Well, they wouldn't tell us lowly students

I'd guess it was either the sex or the anti-authoritarian stance. The preacher defends his sexuality and even criticizes organized religion-- too liberal an idea for a teenager. And of course in general the book takes a dim viewpoint of elitist authoritarianism, and private property. Again, not nice for an agrarian state like Mississippi.

In high school I never read Faulkner, Hemmingway, Williams or Joyce, I read very little Welty, one of my teachers smuggled in a copy of "A Good Man is Hard to Find" the way the Resistance smuggled in subversive material during WWII, our Shakespeare was abridged to take out such lines as "Thou will fall backwards when thou has more sense..." etc. And I lived on the Coast, which was the most progressive part of the state.

I have a theory that Mississippi has produced so many great writers and musicians because the creative spirit is stifled so completely in that state that once the shackles are removed minds soar higher than, higher than... Oh I don't know, Ashcroft's eagle, I guess.

[NYC]

75. Thank you.

You're right about what happens when shackles are removed.

[signmike]

14. When did Mississippi get BOOKS?

:shrug:

(other than The Babble)

[QC]

23. Quite a few people there have actually *written* books!

Ever heard of William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Eudora Welty, Margaret Walker, Richard Wright, Walker Percy, Barry Hannah, Richard Ford, Willie Morris, or Larry Brown?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

24. (Shhhh... People don't like to remember that many of the best American

Authors are from the South)

They have a few from over the Mason Dixon line, but so few with heart...

Where did Hemingway make his home? Oh, yeah. Florida.

(I've got 1st's of Brown's Dirty Work and Joe. Wish I had gotten them signed.)

[QC]

26. Brown was a true original. So sorry that he died.

I used to run into him around town a lot when I lived in Oxford, and taught a class one semester in the room next to his. He was as absolutely genuine and unpretentious as anyone ever could be, and generous with his time. A truly good man, and a brilliant writer. One of the few to treat the poor and working classes with the respect they deserve.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

28. He'd been there and knew them.

You could tell by his writing. I would have liked to have met him.

[QC]

32. Oh yeah, he definitely wrote what he knew.

Did you know his father was a sharecropper? That's why there's a pretty strong element of class tension in so much of his work.

I think it's a wonderful irony that some of the most class-conscious writers in this country are poor white Southerners--I'm thinking particularly of Brown, Dorothy Allison, and Harry Crews--precisely the sort of people whom nice, comfortable bourgeois liberals hold in the highest contempt (as we see in the sophomoric, smugly dismissive post I was originally replying to). These people came by their class-consciousness the old fashioned way--through hard experience--not because they had a Marxist literary theory professor at their $40,000-a-year private college.

My dad grew up like Brown did (except his family were miners), so I know from experience that working class people are well aware that the system takes care of the fatcats at everyone else's expense and they don't like it a bit. If the Left in this country ever rediscovers class, it could be a powerful force.

[southlandshari]

53. Well said, QC!

n/t

[Ripley]

54. So true!

If the Left in this country ever rediscovers class, it could be a powerful force.

I just can't understand why they are so weak when it comes to the South and they let the repubs frame the debate and make it a racial issue. The majority of Southerners are quite aware the real divide is along class lines. Blacks and whites work side by side in the service industry, manufacturing and blue collar jobs. I really had hope when John Edwards started using the "two Americas" theme in his speeches. Too bad he and Kerry chose to not give those speeches in the South where it would have made quite an impression.

[XemaSab]

64. What's the matter with Kansas?

n/t

[AverageJoe]

39. I used to see Larry around Oxford, too

He was a great guy. The closest thing I ever had to a real conversation with him happened one night at the City Grocery. We were both sitting at the bar and we were both drunk. I was more than a little bit in awe of the man, but he was so damned genuine that I just figured to hell with that. I leaned over and asked him if writing got any easier the more you did it. He sighed and said, "No, it just gets harder." Turns out he was in the middle of writing *Father and Son* just then.

Oh, lord. A toast to Larry Brown.

By the way, QC--I was at Ole Miss, too, in grad school in English. I bet we knew some of the same folks.

[QC]

52. Wow! When were you there?

I've run into one or two more former Oxonians here.

[AverageJoe]

67. I was there in the early 90's

Oxford is the best little town I've ever lived in--the best I've ever seen.

You a City Grocery person? Proud Larry's? Irelands? The Beacon? Were you around for Taylor Catfish? Mmmmmm. Good times.

[QC]

69. '94-2000 here, plus last year.

We've probably crossed paths.

[AverageJoe]

72. Indeed

You in the English Dept?

[QC]

76. Yep.

Living in Florida now, finishing up a dissertation. Like I said, pvt. me and let's see if we crossed paths.

[Dinger]

61. You Don't Say?

Do they read too?

[livinginphotographs]

49. Regardless of what other posters may have said

I live in the South, and I thought that was funny.

[Ripley]

50. Not that I don't have a sense of humor, but...

It's funny how whenever someone (usually from CA or NY) posts a thread about some ridiculous action in a southern state...there is always a pile-on about how dumb and backwards the South is.

Yet, when there is a thread posted about Wisconsin putting a 10 commandments monument on courthouse lawn - no jokes about how STOOPID they are. Or when Ohio writes the most bigotted anti-Gay legislation and introduces one of the most sweeping introductions of ID into science classes we don't see pile-on posts about how STOOPID Ohioans are.

BTW, signmike, do Californians read? It seems like they must only go to movies since they keep electing dumb movie stars to office. :hi:

[signmike]

58. We'uns used ta...until

some o' them thar Hollywood types closed up all our liberries. Now we got not much choice but to set around on the front stoop laffin at Jeff Foxworthy on the electric TV.
Hey -- do y'all fellas know Tennessee Ernie Ford and Andy Griffith?
B-)

[XemaSab]

65. As a Californian,

I am personally all-too-aware of the fact that there are many, many parts of the state that were settled by people who were kicked out of other states for being too backwards.

[jobycom]

78. Thank you

I thought the post was funny, too, but well said. Being a former Mississippian and a current Texan, I have to smile graciously more often than I like to around here, at times.

[Andromeda]

89. I try not to judge or criticize

anyone on the basis of where they live, their financial status or how much education they have because I was brought up to believe it was rude to do that -- but that's just me.

It's obvious that it doesn't bother you at all to make obtuse statements about Californians.

Don't paint us all with the same brush and for your information, I didn't vote for Ahhhnold and I don't know anybody who did.

[jpgray]

15. No fine art books, I suppose? They'll take Ulysses to court again

:crazy:

[NashVegas]

16. "The Name of the Rose"

Humor is not allowed here. Too subversive.

[Dr Fate]

18. Jon can expect to sell more copies thanks to these idiots.

Forbidden fruit always sells like hot-cakes!!

[Sandpiper]

19. I believe it was Rage Against the Machine who Said

"They don't gotta burn the books they just remove 'em."

Fight censorship! Read a banned book today!

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

20. I guess that means that he was fine with Ellis's American Psycho?

He probably didn't, it didn't have pictures.

And what kind of adult book stores has this guy been to that carries pictures of a bunch of septagenarians in the buff doing nothing but standing there?

[MountainLaurel]

21. Ewwww

FWIW, not everyone there is so close-minded and plain ol' dumb. My BF's aunt used to be director of this very library system, and would have laughed her liberal ass off at this book.

[kskiska]

27. I've got news for the prissy wingnuts who want books removed

from libraries because of nudity. I just checked out a new biography of a writer of a very popular series of children's books in the 50s. The book inludes nude photos of the author/photographer which she took herself. There are loads of books like this in the library, but since the wingnuts don't read books in general, only those that get their dander up, loads of nekkid pictures go unnoticed. I'll never tell.

[hyphenate]

29. When I got a couple of B&N gift cards

for Christmas, I kept wondering whether I would spend them on such fare as Thomas Paine, Noam Chomsky or some other political author, in order to expand my already decent political knowledge, but then, I kept thinking I wanted something fun to read that I'd enjoy--perhaps something in SF or fantasy. Well, after careful consideration, I chose the main purchase to be this book. The B&N I went to said they had sold out over Christmas, but had some returns from people who were doubly blessed--a present to themselves, and one from family members or friends. So I lucked out.

For crying out loud, the book is a bestseller! Don't these idiots know that Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waldenbooks, B.Daltons and others maintain a cyber store as well as a brick and mortar establishment? Don't they realize that buying the book is so damned simple, that their outcry will quickly be the impetus to more and more people buying it, just because it's on their hit list?

I really am amazed at the mentality of some people. Their dog-in-a-manger attitude is clearly something which needs to be banished. The only way that will happen is when others see them for the hypocrites that they really are. They need to stop sticking their heads in the mud of their righteous indignation, and begin to realize everyone has the same rights they do. It's only when we fight fire with a good dampening that we'll show them for the pompous poseurs they really are.

[Hailtothechimp]

30. Please. The page in question has nothing to do with it.

In the minds of Wal-Mart and the rest of my misguided American bretheren, Jon Stewart and the others are just too subversive. Like with the Onion, it's funny as hell, but only if you're in on the joke. And they aren't in on the joke.

Pick a page, any page, and try to imagine some good ol' boy reading it and laughing. I can't do it. Can you?

Wal-Mart would have loved to torpedo this book. Let's all be grateful that they couldn't do it.

[Straight Shooter]

31. "I've been a librarian for 40 years and had my head up my butt for 39."

Willits, get a life. You should meet the librarian in our town and find out what being a librarian is all about. She's smart, she's political, she knows you don't censor a book because of a silly "nude" photo.

I think you and Ashcroft have something in common, Willits. Maybe you should give him a call, have lunch sometime, eh?

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[PurityOfEssence]

34. Killin' be fine, but that nudity stuff's the devil's hobby

Obviously, a handy technicality can flush the whole thing.

Great book, by the way...

[Elwood P Dowd]

35. Did their cable companies ban Fahrenheit 451? (eom)

:(

[lakeguy]

36. great book by stewart...

too bad a pic of 9 humans without clothes on is the reason why this person feels it is inappropriate. i'm guessing if the nudity wasn't in it that he would have found some other reason to ban it.

[daleo]

38. That's it exactly

The nudity was just an excuse.

[Lorien]

40. So I guess they don't carry art books, or anatomy books

or books about the Holocaust, or indigenous tribes in the amazon....really, there are plenty of times that nudity isn't at all sexual, and one of those times is in "America, the book".

[henslee]

42. Ahh, just the publicity bump Jon needs to keep the book at #1. Thanx Miss!

[bklyncowgirl]

43. Please don't judge all librarians by Robert Willits

I'm a librarian. We bought the book. I was the second person to read it. I loved it. So far we have not received any complaints about it.

Anyone who confuses the pictures of the flabby aging bodies of Stewarts Supreme Court Justices with the offerings of an adult book store is, frankly, ready to pack it in.

[LostinVA]

47. I Second That

I'm a librarian, too -- and most librarians are the opposite of Freepers -- even little old ladies wearing twin sets. Michael Moore thinks we are true subversives, you know....

[saltpoint]

44. How can Mississippi lay claim to William Faulkner --

-- on one hand and sanction such narrowmindedness as this on the other?

I really don't think an image of the Supreme Court justices naked will appeal to the prurient interest of all that many people.

If people want porn, they should rent some GOOD porn.

[QC]

71. How can America lay claim to both Lincoln and Bush?

How can Britain have produced both Cromwell and Orwell? How can China have given the world wonderful art and ideas and also the Great Leap Forward?

Societies are made up of many millions of individuals who live over many years and do not all think or act alike.

[saltpoint]

84. Yep.

You're right. I'll have to take the bitter with the sweet.

[southlandshari]

86. And again, QC.

Thanks for pointing out the obvious that is too often overlooked!

=)

[llmart]

48. The library where I work.......

is in a little ultra-conservative community, but all the librarians are liberal Dems. We bought the book as soon as it was available. We sat at the front desk one night when it first came in and laughed our heads off over the picture!

Do they really think banning a book from a library is going to keep people from standing in the bookstore thumbing through the pages to find this?

On the other hand, what percentage of those in Mississippi can read?

[QC]

56. "On the other hand, what percentage of those in Mississippi can read?"

Well, a few of us can read, but it's so much more fun to fuck our sisters out in the hogwaller that hardly anyone ever gets around to it. :eyes:

Sorry, but genuine liberals don't trade in stereotypes. And it's precisely this kind of snide condescension toward "flyover country" from so many "liberals" and "progressives" that has enabled Republicans to portray themselves as the friends of the litle guy. If I had a dollar for every person who has told me that he or she knows the Republicans favor the rich but won't vote for the Democrats because "they look down on people like me," I'd be sitting on a nice little pile of cash right now.

[southlandshari]

85. Had no brothers, but cousins and uncles were jes' fine wi me

sarcasm off....

sigh...

Good God in heaven above. QC, you are like a beacon in the darkness. I'm just coming back from a few weeks hiatus here, and it sucks to find some of the same blind South-bashing still going on. But every time I have felt my blood pressure rising while reading a thread in the past couple of days, there you've been with a strong and thoughtful response!

Thanks. I don't feel so alone - and I am motivated to stay on DU - with people like you, Bridget_Burke, and autorank and (many, many) others who refuse to be pansy-assed apologists for the far right-wingers who've given our region such a bad name!

[QC]

95. Thanks! n/t

[AverageJoe]

70. Are you really a librarian?

If you are, then I urge you to re-think your willingness to disparage the good people of Mississippi.

[leesa]

51. These people really hate the human body. Wonder why?

[DFWJock]

55. This just in...

Sales of the book double in Mississippi.

"Woo hoo, we gonna see us some nekid boobies."

[Burma Jones]

57. I got the book (twice) for Christmas, and I have to tell you......

That the page with the nude Justices IS pretty disturbing. I do find it humorous that the authors decided that Clarence Thomas was the least endowed Justice, both denying the stereotype and accurately reflecting his stature on the Court. In fact, if you look closely enough, you can see Scalia holding something sorta sack-like..........

[Massachusetts]

59. Ignorance, but

great fodder for The Daily Show.

[Weezy]

62. Contact Info For Library

I sent Mr Willits e-mail objecting to his decision.
Robert Willits Director [email protected] 228 769-3099
Am betting the Daily Show will have a field day with this one!!

[Name removed]

63. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DrWeird]

74. Good for Mississippi.

Have you seen the books kids are reading these days? It's like dry humping on paper. You'd have to be a pervert to allow that.

[eek MD]

79. Can't wait...

bought this book a while back, and have been putting off reading it till next week to pass some time away on the plane..... :)...sounds like fun reading....hope i'm sitting next to a fundie.... :P

[Hosnon]

81. [email protected] - Send Mr. Willits a complaint. nt

[Hosnon]

82. I own the book and must say that the pictures are quite disturbing -

I love my body more and more each time I look at those humans. That said, censorship based on the naked body of an animal is ridiculous.

[SouthernDem2004]

83. On the news tonight in southern MS:

I live on the coast in MS and on the news tonight the library system stated the reason they banned it was due to nudity. Something about Supreme Court Justices heads on naked bodies. They are holding a public meeting tonight in Jackson County to discuss the issue.

[southlandshari]

87. Not so fast - Mississippi Library Board overturns local decision

Link to story here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2939604

[Sgent]

88. There is no such thing

as a Mississippi Library Board -- it doesn't exist. Every county establishes and funds its own libraries (or doesn't). In many cases counties will group together to save money.

The decision, apparently made by exec. director of this library, was overturned by his board.

[southlandshari]

93. Ouch!

You got me, there. Thanks for jumping in with your corrections just in case anyone else was confused by my subject line.

I was not asserting that such a thing as a statewide library board existed - I cut and pasted the article title from Common Dreams (an AP article), and it led with "Mississippi Library Board...."

Alas, I now realize that failing to switch the headline to "sentence format" rather than "title format" (in which all first letters are capitalized) in my subject line could have suggested to those with great attention to detail that the message referenced some almighty state library cabal.

Many moons ago I earned a magazine journalism degree at a major southern university with a pretty fine reputation in the field. Ever since, I've been pretty type-A about AP style rules. Sorry I slipped in the wee hours of the night on this one!

By the way, we are on the same side here. =)

Cheers,
Southlandshari
A recent resident of the Jackson-Hinds County, Mississippi public library jurisdiction.

[SouthernDem2004]

94. He is the actual story from our local paper:

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/local/10622783.htm


Blogs and websites are generally rather unreliable....

[southlandshari]

96. On the other hand, the Associated Press

is generally rather reliable as a news source, at least when it comes to mainstream media, or what passes for it stateside.

The story I posted was an AP story, linked via the Common Dreams site, and as far as I can tell, it wasn't inaccurate in fact or unfavorable towards Mississippi.

No harm done, but for what it is worth, the "blogs and websites are generally rather unreliable" jab was a little condescending.

You won't find me speaking ill of Mississippi. I lived there five years and they were some of the most interesting and rewarding of my life.

[SouthernDem2004]

98. My apologies...

I did not go to the link you gave...

[southlandshari]

101. No problem!

We Southern Dems have to stick together! =)

[Kadie]

102. LOL

I posted this story on Sunday, can't believe it is still hanging on. LOL

[inslee08]

97. PAGE NUMBER???

I have the book, it's a laugh a second. Anyway, I wouldn't mind judging for myself if it's "lewd" or not, so does anyone know the page # of the controversial pics? Thanks in advance...

[wicket]

99. Lemme check my copy...

Here we go, page 99.