Unsafe for Democracy: World War I and the U.S. Justice Department’s Covert C...

 

 

 

 

Unsafe for Democracy: World War I and the U.S. Justice Department’s Covert Campaign to Suppress Dissent

via Feminist Review by Feminist Review on 11/2/09

By William H. Thomas Jr.
The University of Wisconsin Press

Even the preface to Unsafe for Democracy makes William H. Thomas Jr.'s political stances abundantly clear, but impressively, his political leanings have no negative effect on either his literary voice or his scholarship. Unsafe for Democracy is a straightforward historical tract, delineating the disturbing specifics of a very specific time in history. Thomas uses only the preface to tie the events of the early twentieth century to the problems America faced in subsequent eras, from the actions of COINTELPRO, the FBI's secretive, legally questionable "counterintelligence program" to spy on, disrupt and often destroy dissident political organizations in the mid-twentieth century, to those of the Bush Administration; the body of the book allows the reader to draw her own conclusions, a model of thorough research and admirable self-restraint.

Using the Espionage Act of 1917 as its legal base and the general paranoid wartime climate as its ethical base, the United States Justice Department committed innumerable violations of the civil rights of German-Americans, members of the Socialist Party, and many other American citizens under the umbrella of protecting American safety and security during World War I. Thomas skillfully depicts the anger and frustration present in the social climate at that time, and uses it to draw us into stories of the Justice Department's behavior, each more shocking than the last, and the behavior it inspired in ordinary American citizens. The book ends with the startling chapter "Vigilantism," describing many shocking incidents not commonly known and the Justice Department's notable lack of focused response. The details of the book are fascinating and often terrifying.

More than many historical tracts, Unsafe for Democracy demonstrates the value of straightforward storytelling. Thomas makes no attempt to shock his readers or to beat them over the head with parallels to other periods of history or contemporary government. Rather, he tells us what happened, offers his compelling evidence that this was, indeed, the way it happened, and leaves us to frame the value of the story as we see fit. Even if the stories in Unsafe for Democracy were not so chilling, this skill would make the book worthwhile, and the stories themselves are stories that every American should understand in as much depth as possible.

Review by Gemma Cooper-Novack

Check out more reviews at http://www.feministreview.org

 

 

 

 

free speech / news roundup

 

 

free speech / news roundup

via Zine World by admin on 11/12/09

The US Justice Department sent a subpoena to Indymedia.us ordering it to provide a list of all visitors to the website on a certain day; the Justice Department wanted information on all IP traffic to and from the site, including IP addresses and other identifying information including e-mail addresses, physical addresses, registered accounts, and bank [...]

 

 

Judge orders woman to keep her SubGenius books under lock and key

 

 

Sent to you by Jack via Google Reader:

 

 

Judge orders woman to keep her SubGenius books under lock and key

via Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder on 10/9/09

Here's an update to story I've been following since 2006 about a woman who was denied custody of her 10-year-old son after a judge saw photos of her participating in a SubGenius holiday (an adult-rated parody of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ).

The good news is that Rachel Bevilacqua (AKA Rev. Magdalen) regained custody of her son. The weird news is that, according to Modemac of the High Weirdness Project, Bevilacqua is "still the only SubGenius officially banned from keeping SubGenius materials in her home, where her innocent son might accidentally come across them and become corrupted into the corrupt, obscene, decadent SubGenius cult that got his Mom into trouble in the first place."

After nearly four years and $140,000 in legal costs, the SubGenius child custody case of Rachel Bevilacqua (Reverend Magdalen) has been dismissed. The end result is an anticlimax: She has custody of her son at last, and the status quo is maintained -- except that she is officially forbidden from keeping SubGenius materials in her home, in order to protect her son from J.R. "Bob" Dobbs.

No, really.  When the initial order in Rachel's favor was handed down by Judge Adams (not Judge Punch) in January of 2007, it specified that she was allowed to keep SubGenius materials only in a special "office" area of her home, so as to prevent her son from having access to it.  This order was never rescinded or nullified, and it has remained in effect throughout the various legal wranglings that took place thereafter.  According to Rachel, the order remains in effect even now, and is included in the final judge's decision, which she will be making available online shortly.

Some might say that because only one person (Reverend Magdalen) is forbidden from keeping the Book of the SubGenius in her home, that doesn't make it a banned book.  The idea of censorship is to use force to keep others from expressing ideas and beliefs, and exposing so-called "innocent children" to those beliefs.  As such, this means that not only is Magdalen being censored -- so is her son.  And so is everyone in the Church who supports her.

(Disclosure: I have been a card-carrying SubGenius reverend for 25 years and have contributed to Rachel's legal fund.)

SubGenius Reverend officially banned from keeping SubGenius materials in her home

Previously:

• Reverend Magdalen still hasn't gotten her son back
• SubGenius custody case update
• Complete transcript of Bevilacqua custody hearing

 

 

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to Boing Boing using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

 

 

http://bookstove.com/classics/10-dirty-books-you-should-read/

10 Dirty Books You Should Read

Published by Sharazad Moore, September 29, 2009

Yay! It's Banned Book Week!

Banned book week began in 1982 as a way of encouraging people to read books that have been (or are) banned, censored or challenged.

Some such books were targeted by governments, public schools and libraries because they are "dirty". The issue was either profanity or sexuality and people were discouraged or prevented from reading the book because of its foulness.

Unfortunately, some of these "dirty" books are very important to literature and the history of mankind as a whole. They also happen to be really, really good reading.

1. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

   Written in the 14th or 15th century, The Canterbury Tales is one of the oldest works in the English language. The work contains some of the oldest know uses of "ar*e", "sh*t", "pi*s" and "c*nt" (spelled "queynte"by Chaucer). Under the 1873 Comstock law in the United States, this book could not be sent through the mail. As recently as 1995, the book was banned from a Senior High preparatory course in Illinois for obscenity.

2. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

   Read more in Classics

   « Ernest Hemingway Dreams of James Joyce: Belgium, September, 1944

   Comedies of Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing »

   Individual works of Shakespeare have been banned from schools throughout history. Some have been pulled from libraries. The most infamous muzzling of the Bard however, came from a man named Thomas Bowdler, who infamously created a "family friendly" version of Shakespeare's works. His editing cut the works to about 10% of what they were and made mincemeat of some of the finest prose in the English language. Since then, "bowdlerizing" has been synonymous with censorship.

3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

   This novel was banned way back in 1885 by the Concord Public Library. They weren't the only ones to refer to this classic- considered to be the Great American Novel- as "trash suitable only for the slums". The Brooklyn Public Library would ban the book from its stacks in 1902 saying that Huckleberry said "sweat" when he should have said "perspiration."

   It's use of slang and in modern times, it's frank use of the "n word" by characters in the book have made The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn one of the most challenged book in America, according to the America Library Association. Others have wanted to ban the book because, apparently, it makes racists look bad.

4. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

   This is the second most frequently challenged book in the US. It is Angelou's autobiography and it's use of profanity is not the only reason people oppose it. Angelou was sexually assaulted by her mother's boyfriend as a child. She also became pregnant as a teenager. Her honest depiction of these events has led some to dismiss the autobiography as "inappropriate".

   Which begs the question: are the censors saying it's inappropriate for a child to be raped (I agree with you & so does the author) or are they saying it's inappropriate to talk about it?

5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

   Banned from some schools because of troubling ideas about God, race relations, sexuality, nature etc. This novel won the Pulitzer prize in 1983 and became an award-winning film directed by Steven Spielberg. The novel is written in epistolary form, capturing the uneducated voice  of Celie, a black woman in the Deep South in the early 20th century. She endures sexual abuse, child abuse, spousal abuse and racial discrimination in her journey to find a sense of her own value- and her family.

6. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

   Published in 1857, this classic French work about a woman with too much energy and ambition for her own good was the subject of a sensational obscenity trial. The trial resulted in acquittal & the novel became a bestseller.

7. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

   Walt Whitman, the "Father of Free Verse", was America's poet. He wrote about the issues that the fledgling nation faced in a voice that was distinct and clear. His was among the first American works of literature that was distinctly American, not merely imitating Europe. Leaves of Grass was published in 1855. It has been repeatedly censored & banned over the years, with many of his most sexual poems omitted. It was banned in Boston in 1881.

8. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H Lawrence

   This classic story of an adulterous affair has been banned in the US (1929), banned in Ireland (1932), Poland (1932), Australia (1959), Japan (1959), Canada (1960-1962) and China (1987).

   So, you know it's good.

9. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

   France (1959), Argentina (1959),  New Zealand (1960) and South Africa, not to mention countless public schools and libraries in the US, Lolita is about a man who takes complete control of a little girls life. The man is Humbert Humbert and the story is told from his point of view.

10. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

    This novel is about a dystopian future where all books are banned by a totalitarian government. Guy Montag is the protagonist and he helps to burn the books- he is a fireman. Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which books burn.

    The irony of censoring such a book has been lost on some. In Irvine, California, all of the "hells" & "damns" were blotted out with black ink. When parents complained, the teachers passed out new, uncensored copies.

More Banned Book Resources:

The American Library Association
The Dangerous Pages Review
Banned Books Online
Banned Books

Open Rights Group forum on proposal to cut British households off from the n...

 

 

Sent to you by Jack via Google Reader:

 

 

Open Rights Group forum on proposal to cut British households off from the net if one member is accused of illegal downloads

via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow on 9/18/09

The Open Rights Group is hosting a public forum in London on Oct 2 to discuss the new proposal to disconnect Brits from the Internet if anyone in their household is accused of violating copyright:

Peter Mandelson is convinced that disconnecting filesharers will help the music and film industries. He's plain wrong. This extreme option would trample on the rights of internet users - and the rights of their families - without earning a penny for musicians and film-makers. It is clear that Mandelson does not understand the extent to which an internet is now a basic household service, as important as electricity or gas, without which people are handicapped in their ability to work, function, and participate in society.

Open Rights Group, as part of our campaign against the policy of disconnection, is holding a debate on better approaches for public policy and the entertainment industry.

Gerd Leonhard (Media Futurist) will kick off with a presentation on the future of music, media and entertainment. Ben Goldacre (Guardian / Bad Science) will then join Gerd on a panel, chaired by our Executive Director, Jim Killock, to take questions from the audience.

(Thanks, Jim!)

 

 

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to Boing Boing using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

 

 

Moral Panics / Copyright Wars

Patry's MORAL PANICS AND THE COPYRIGHT WARS: elegant, calm, reasonable history of the copyfight

via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow on 9/14/09

Few people are as qualified to write a book about the copyright wars as William Patry: former copyright counsel to the US House of Reps, advisor the Register of Copyrights, Senior Copyright Counsel for Google, and author of the seven-volume Patry on Copyright, widely held to be the single most authoritative work on US copyright ever written.

And Patry has written a very fine book indeed: Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars is every bit as authoritative as Patry on Copyright (although much, much shorter) and is absolutely accessible to a lay audience.

There are many legal scholars who've written about the copyright wars, from Pam Samuelson to Larry Lessig to Jonathan Zittrain to James Boyle, and in this exalted company, Patry's Moral Panics stands out for the sheer, unadorned calm of his approach. Patry doesn't have a lot of rhetorical flourish or prose fireworks. Instead, he tells the story of copyright in plain, thoughtful words, with much rigor and grace. Reading Moral Panics is like watching a master brick layer gracefully and effortlessly build a solid wall: no wasted motion, no sweat, no missteps. Patry knows this subject better than anyone and can really explain it.

As the title implies, Patry places the copyright wars amid other moral panics -- think of witch-hunts (both the "Communist" and the old-fashioned "witch") -- and he devotes much of the book to the sociology of moral panic, the views of the Greeks on language and metaphor, and the weaponizing of language (and the especial use which the terms "theft" and "piracy" have in this regard) and the ways that historical figures like Jack Valenti used this rhetoric to shift the debate. Patry uses his immense knowledge of the law and history to show how publishers and entertainment companies have spent literally centuries arguing for "artist rights" when it comes to fighting technological innovation, but deriding those same rights in their dealings with actual artists.

Patry also shows how artists have stolen, borrowed and copied from one another for all of history, and how even the most "original" artists derive their works from those around and before them.

He shows how the debate has been skewed through the use of shoddy statistics (for example, the oft-touted $250 billion/750,000 jobs in annual US piracy losses, which turns out to be a decades-old, half-remembered, vastly inflated, and entirely unscientific extrapolation of a rough estimate of the losses due to fake tractor parts.

He reserves his greatest arguments for the US 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the attempts to expand its remarkable control into new realms -- the newspapers who want the right to stop you from quoting even five words from their stories, the movie studios who want to disconnect you from the Internet because they believe -- but can't prove -- that you're infringing copyright. This is the part of the debate that usually has me frothing at the chops, but Patry remains admirably calm as he carries this off, explaining in terms that anyone can understand the terrible violence that this kind of monopoly control does to our discourse, the arts, and competition and innovation.

Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars

 

Disconnect infringers from the net

Brits: sign petitition to kill proposal to disconnect accused infringers from the net!

via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow on 9/15/09

Glyn sez, "The UK government is now considering laws that would allow individuals to be cut off from the internet. If Lord Mandelson's plan becomes law, disconnection may start for alleged copyright infringement, with no guarantee it would not be extended for other things. If you want to hear more about the Governments plans. David Rowntree (Blur), Ben Goldacre (Guardian / Bad Science) and Gerd Leonhard (Media Futurist) are doing a benefit talk for the Open Rights Group on October 2 in London, entitled 'Stop Mandelson's disconnection plans'."

Open Rights Group | Stop Disconnection without trial (Thanks, Glyn!)