Banned book rant!

Veruth · Post by **Veruth** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 5:55 pm

Petard wrote: I wouldn't be suprised if down the road the goverment comes up with a way to put the whole nation behind a firewall that blocks cearain websites like the one here at my school. You may say that it is impossible due to our rights, but it is amazing what things can get passed in the name of protecting the people, and the sheep that will blindly follow.

Dosen't China already have some sort of nationwide internet censorship thing in place? I think I read about that somewhere

Shadow Wulf · Post by **Shadow Wulf** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 5:55 pm

Some books that are a bit mature shouldnt be banned from the libary, I think by the time you reach 16 you should be mature enough to handle things. So I think its best to have more mature books instead of middle school or elementary stuff in a high school(goosebumps for examples

)

Figarou · Post by **Figarou** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 6:03 pm

Shaun wrote:
Petard wrote: I wouldn't be suprised if down the road the goverment comes up with a way to put the whole nation behind a firewall that blocks cearain websites like the one here at my school. You may say that it is impossible due to our rights, but it is amazing what things can get passed in the name of protecting the people, and the sheep that will blindly follow.
Dosen't China already have some sort of nationwide internet censorship thing in place? I think I read about that somewhere

They have ways around that.

https://w8.keepsilence.org/

Watch what happens when you click on this link.
https://w8.keepsilence.org/dmirror/http ... /index.php

Veruth · Post by **Veruth** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 6:26 pm

The first link didn't work for me, but the second is really cool, does the encryption just keep the program from recoginizing the site, or is there something more complex going on here?

Short Tail · Post by **Short Tail** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 8:13 pm

ooooooo! thats nice, however, I cannot get to the first link. is it something you must sign up for?

Figarou · Post by **Figarou** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 8:36 pm

Petard wrote:ooooooo! thats nice, however, I cannot get to the first link. is it something you must sign up for?

This is what it looks like when you click the on https://w8.keepsilence.org/

Lupin · Post by **Lupin** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 8:42 pm

Petard wrote: I wouldn't be suprised if down the road the goverment comes up with a way to put the whole nation behind a firewall that blocks cearain websites like the one here at my school.

Yeah, but getting around a firewall isn't exactly the hardest thing to do.

Terastas · Post by **Terastas** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 10:07 pm

I could understand it if it was the CIA taking a book about homemade explosives off of shelves, but when these religious nutcases petition to have books like Harry Potter banned outright because their "corrupting our children," my first impulse is usually to fly off the handle.

Yes, that's right Mrs. Prozac! Your kid is reading a book instead of listening to you talk about how your life is so miserable! Maybe if you'd actually payed attention to the kid instead of plopping him down in front of the TV and turning on Boobah while you go out to buy clothes and get liposuction, your kid wouldn't be more interested in a fictional character than he is in you.

You want him to stop reading Harry Potter? Trust me on this: It's easier to take him miniature golfing than it is to prove that J.K. Rowling is a servant to the devil. And please, read the Bible before you thump it.

Vilkacis · Post by **Vilkacis** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 12:24 am

First of all, I, personally, am in favor of all books, information, and ideas being available to everyone -- in an ideal world. Even material like the Anarchist Cookbook. Period.

But there are many practical reasons why such a distribution of material is not possible. Thankfully, the Internet makes it easier than ever before.

As for libraries in in this country, they should not be required to carry anything, and that's what I think the real point is here. Are you saying they must carry these books? They have to make them available to you if they can?

Them banning or choosing not to carry books may be annoying, inconvenient, or frustrating to you, but is it really proper for their right of free speech (choosing what they do and don't want to say) to be infringed upon?

Maybe it's rude or stupid or irrational of them -- you can get angry at them as much as you like -- but it's their decision. You shouldn't be able to force your will on them.

Maybe you're pissed, but justified or not: go somewhere else. And if you can't, c'est la vie. The best you can do is try to reason with them.

-- Vilkacis

Morkulv · Post by **Morkulv** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 4:06 am

Lupin wrote:
Morkulv wrote:They make a great fire when we're all out of log!

Log?
From Blammo!?

Scott Gardener · Post by **Scott Gardener** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 10:33 am

Harry Potter should NOT be banned from schools, just because parents object. The objection is purely based on religion. If their own religious system can't stand the scrutiny of standing next to a benevolent piece of fiction, then it's got problems anyway.

Veruth · Post by **Veruth** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 1:10 pm

Figarou wrote:
Shaun wrote:
Petard wrote: I wouldn't be suprised if down the road the goverment comes up with a way to put the whole nation behind a firewall that blocks cearain websites like the one here at my school. You may say that it is impossible due to our rights, but it is amazing what things can get passed in the name of protecting the people, and the sheep that will blindly follow.
Dosen't China already have some sort of nationwide internet censorship thing in place? I think I read about that somewhere

They have ways around that.

https://w8.keepsilence.org/

Watch what happens when you click on this link.
https://w8.keepsilence.org/dmirror/http ... /index.php

Wow, I got the page to load, but I can't figure out how to get it to work. I translated it using google, but it's still a little garbled. I want to try this out.

Terastas · Post by **Terastas** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 2:05 pm

Vilkacis wrote:As for libraries in in this country, they should not be required to carry anything, and that's what I think the real point is here. Are you saying they must carry these books? They have to make them available to you if they can?

Them banning or choosing not to carry books may be annoying, inconvenient, or frustrating to you, but is it really proper for their right of free speech (choosing what they do and don't want to say) to be infringed upon?

Good point. The only problem is that when a library does not carry a book, they usually brush it off as being the result of limited budget or shelf space. For it to be recognized as having been banned, it would had to have been in stock beforehand.

And Scott makes a good point. Harry Potter is just a work of fiction meant to be entertaining and nothing else. If whatever you're preaching can't hold up against that, it's time for some soul searching.

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Banned book rant!

do you think that people should ban sertain books from the library.