CENSORSHIP! Right here in my home town...GRRRRRRR!

LIBRARIANS AND OTHER FREEDOM PROTECTING CITIZENS - U N I T E ! ! !

read the article below. it speaks volumes for itself. i personally find any type of censorship very unsettling. first one book, then another, then a hundred more, then a thousand, until the only books left to read are the bible and "how to be a good citizen of a dictatorship". write the Louisiana congressmen about this issue, even if you're from out of state. this is yet another case of one person or one faction of people attempting to force their personal morals onto the rest of us. this must stop.

if you wish to take some action, click this Contacting the Congress link to find out who you should write to. just click on the state of Louisiana on the map to get a list of all our legislators.

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The following text is the article, verbatim, from The Advocate website. I'm putting the entire article here in case the newspaper link goes dead.

Lawmaker wants libraries to remove some children's books
By BRETT TROXLER
2theadvocate.com staff
From a report by WBRZ's Marvin McGraw marvin@wbrz.com

A state lawmaker has filed a resolution calling for the removal of books with "age inappropriate" material from the children's section of libraries.

The move by Rep. A.G. Crowe was prompted by a children's picture book, 'King and King,' which is a story about a queen mother who tries to introduce her son to potential princesses, but the prince instead prefers one of the women's brothers.

"It only goes through to the two kings meeting, and they get married. Then it ends," said Pabby Arnold of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library.

The book was pulled from the shelves when a parent complained. That complaint also prompted Crowe's resolution, which has drawn fire from the ACLU.

"Every library in the country has a due process procedure about which a citizen can complain about a book, about the placement of a book," said Al Shapiro of the ACLU.

A spokesman for EBR libraries defended the book, saying it's the libraries responsibility to have children's books that reflect all lifestyles and points of view.

As reported May 20 on WBRZ's 6 p.m. broadcast. If you have information or comments related to this story, e-mail them to news@wbrz.com.

Click here to return to story: http://2theadvocate.com/stories/052005/new_books001.shtml

Dummocrats.com - Texas won't name road after Willie Nelson

Dummocrats.com - Texas won't name road after Willie Nelson: "Texas won't name road after Willie Nelson
A state legislator had proposed naming a 49-mile stretch of Texas Highway 130 being built around Austin in Nelson's honor.

But two Republican senators, Steve Odgen of Bryan and Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio, said they didn't want Nelson's name on the road that crosses their districts, citing the musician's fondness for drinking and smoking, and active campaigning for Democratic candidates. "

well, well....a little research revealed that willie doesn't want the road named after him anyway. "In a letter to Barrientos dated April 13, Joel Katz, a lawyer for Nelson, said the singer was honored by Barrientos' initiative. "However, Willie simply does not feel that the naming of a toll road in his honor comports with his world view on either a personal or an artistic level."

even though this is the case, this really bugs me. whether it's willie nelson or someone else is irrelevant. it's a fucking road. it's not like they wanted to name a church after him or make him a saint. i find myself constantly feeling like other people's personal morals/ethics/values/religion is being pushed onto me on many different levels, including a national level, from several directions at once. that makes me very uncomfortable -- makes me feel like my personal freedoms are being stepped on. i'm all for everyone having their own way of life and philosophies and personal beliefs, but i do not subscribe to trying to force those things on others.

another thing that bothers me about it is that they wanted to stop the road naming because he has a history of alcohol and drug use. for the republican front to be so openly and expressively religious, they sure don't seem very forgiving or understanding of others. they completely judge the man, which is not even their place to begin with, on the negative aspects of his life. perhaps it is just what i was taught when i was involved with the methodist church and other religions differ, but it was my understanding that the new testament of the bible depicts a god and son of god who were forgiving beings that understood that people are people. what about all of the good things that willie nelson has done or been a part of. his musical talent aside, mr. nelson has been quite a philanthropist over the years, especially through his efforts with Farm Aid. aren't there a lot of republican farmers? isn't the republican protest of naming a road after one of farming's greatest philanthropists a bit like stepping on the toes of a portion of the republican constituency? sometimes, those republican politicians just don't make much sense to me.

anyway...now that i have that off my chest...i hope you have a great weekend!

drolar out.

Drolar's WebHome

Drolar's WebHome is my new personal website. It is up now, still under construction, but up. Check it out, if for no other reason that to take a look at the "Total War" Games wallpapers I made last week.

I am completely addicted to Medieval: Total War. I've had to force myself to take a break from it in order to throw the this blog and the website together. Now that it's up, even though I still have about half of it to do, I can juggle back and forth between the two. There's nothing like topping off the evening by conquering some east European province in the 11 or 12 hundreds!

check out the site! signing off for now....
dro

Kingdom of Heaven

dom and i went to see kingdom of heaven sat night with shayne and kendra. yet another AWESOME film from ridley scott! not only did i enjoy the movie but listening to dom and shayne's related historical conversations at dinner afterwards was quite educational.

the movie and those two guys gave me a better appreciation for playing a muslim faction in medieval total war. after seeing the movie, i started the game over and took a whole different approach to world domination.

one of the things i found most interesting about the film was how it takes an ordinary guy, thrusts him into the middle of war and politics which he knows little to nothing of, and grows him into an incredible leader of men whose honor and integrity are worth nearly any price. yes...the seemingly overnite growth from blacksmith to brilliant tactician was a bit of a stretch, but it is a movie, afterall, designed specifically to entertain -- not to be historically accurate (not a documentary) and not to be ridley scott's dissertation on anything political. it was a good story that was mostly believable and had fantastic costumes.

i have read many reviews by both muslims and christians who just blast this movie for every penny they spent on it -- ranting about "too political" or "historical inaccuracies" or other such things that really, imho, miss the entire point of it being a movie. the KoH website says it best in the "Epic >> Synopsis" section which states, "Using historical events as a backdrop for an intimate human drama, Scott, ..., puts flesh on the age-old mystique of the knight errant [Balian] and brings to vivid life the titanic struggle between Muslims and Christians over the Holy Land that took place a millennium ago, and echoes into the present." ...and that's all it is. anyone who reads anything more into it simply has a difficult time separating his/her personal beliefs from fabricated drama and should perhaps not venture to films or writings which fall so close to home.

it is just a movie made to entertain the public - nothing more. it really gets under my skin when people begin to presume they know the motivations behind someone else's artistic creation. be it poetry, art, films or whatever, neither you nor i nor anyone else knows what was in the creator's head unless he/she tells us. we should take art for what they mean to us and call it such, not call it as what the artist intended.

anyway, bottom line on kingdom of heaven: somewhat historically inaccurate which is ok since the history of it provides a great setting for an interesting drama that unfolds while entertaining with great battle scenes; beautiful forest, desert and french countryside landscapes; and a cast of intriguing characters based on actual people of the period. imho, a very entertaining film. if you like epics or history (and can get over the fact that it's not a documentary) should enjoy the film.

signing off...dro