Make Some Noise!

Today is Zazou's birthday (thank you, thank you) and Zazou has a wish list to pass on:


* Banned Book week starts today. Consider the following:

"Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us."—Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

(design by Camden Forgia)

In honor of Banned Book Week, consider reading one of the following:

* “It's Perfectly Normal” for homosexuality, nudity, sex education, religious viewpoint, abortion and being unsuited to age group;
* “Forever” by Judy Blume for sexual content and offensive language;
* “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger for sexual content, offensive language and being unsuited to age group;
* “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier for sexual content and offensive language;
* “Whale Talk” by Chris Crutcher for racism and offensive language;
* “Detour for Emmy” by Marilyn Reynolds for sexual content;
* “What My Mother Doesn't Know” by Sonya Sones for sexual content and being unsuited to age group;
* Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey for anti-family content, being unsuited to age group and violence;
* “Crazy Lady!” by Jane Leslie Conly for offensive language; and
* “It's So Amazing! A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families” by Robie H. Harris for sex education and sexual content.

Off the list this year, but on for several years past, are the Alice series of books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain.

For more information on book challenges and censorship, please visit www.ala.org/bbooks.

And that's just in the US.

Amnesty International has another list for you:

The freedom within us is larger than the jails that we're in . . . Syrian poet Faraj Birqdar, a former prisoner of conscience

Aloys Kabura (m)
detained
journalist
BURUNDI
On trial for exercising his right to freedom of expression.

Shi Tao (m)
prisoner of conscience
poet, journalist
CHINA
Sentenced to ten years in prison for e-mailing text abroad.

Serkalem Fasil (f)
prisoner of conscience
publisher
ETHIOPIA
She is among journalists and opposition leaders on trial for alleged treason.

Arzhang Davoodi (m)
prisoner of conscience
poet, documentary maker
IRAN
He has been arrested, tortured, and sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

Stanislav Dmitrievskii (m)
on probation
editor
RUSSIA
Harassed for publishing articles calling for peaceful resolution of the Chechen conflict.

Mohammed Abbou (m)
prisoner of conscience
internet writer
TUNISIA
Imprisoned, after an unfair trial, for critical articles denouncing torture.

Drop me a line and let me know what you read and what you thought of it.

Also, today is the first day of Ramadan and the day of Rosh Hoshana, both observations that include contemplation and conenction with community. Take a moment to wish your fellow Moslem and Jewish community members Ramadan karim and Shana Tovah.
I would like to suggest that you take five minutes to contemplate your connection to your community and the little things that we all can do to imrpove our local and global communities for our brothers and sisters and our children that come after. In keeping with the spirit of "eyes on the prize," I would hope that we look to a community in which faith respects faith, people respect people and that situations such as the starvation of the West Bank, the bombing of Lebanon, the denial of the Holocaust and the destruction of churches, mosques and synagogues are repudiated by all- that this is the "prize" to which we aspire.

And, then, my favorite, as a blogger against torture- please take a few minutes to contemplate how torture done in the name of national security demeans us all. It is a horror that sucks in the innocent, the guilty and those who believe they are committing a lesser evil to prevent a greater one. To paraphrase Shakespeare:


No one survives unscathed, unblemish, or untouched.

If you are American, tell Bush and his Administration that you will not tolerate torture committed in your name.
If you are from somewhere else, if you can, tell your government that you will not tolerate collusion with the Americans on extraordinary rendition, black ops sites maintained on your national soil and torture committed by your government.

Other than that, have a great day!
I, Zazou, least of all, am not exempt from the mudane, and so am off to committ laundry before I raise the roof where we are going this evening.

As I say, You May Not Start The Revolution Without Me!

These are mighty times, people, mighty times.
Time To Make Some Noise!