Wow. They want to edit the racial slurs out of To Kill a Mockingbird. That will make it a really poignant book. Fortunately only a small fraction of the population of that state can read anyway. But that's not all.Some parents in Georgia want several pieces of classic literature removed from their local schools' reading list.
Parents with the group Crusaders for Christ recently told the Bartow County Board of Education that several books contain use of God's name in vain and racial slurs. Among the books being protested are To Kill a Mockingbird, The Martian Chronicles, A Raisin in the Sun, and Of Mice and Men.
Pastor Dwight Holcomb of Acworth says the district needs to provide cleaner, less-offensive versions of the books. Holcomb maintains the board members need to listen to the public on this matter.
"How come a board of ten or twelve committed people can determine that this stuff stays in our county school system when we have over 450 signatures of voting citizens ... who elected these people into office and who say that we don't want it?" he asks. "We don't want it." The pastor adds that the number of signatures is growing every day.
Holcomb explains he has no problem with the plots of the books or the stories they tell -- just the language that is used.
"I can tell these same stories and not use my Lord's name in vain and without using all these other words that are not permitted in public," he says. "If they're spoken in public, you will be arrested for the use of profanity."
County committees had deemed all of the contested books appropriate, but committee members will now consider whether to reverse their decision. Holcomb adds that other parents with children in a local middle school are protesting the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/ ... emale.html
The X-rated phenomenon of genital piercing came under stealth attack Wednesday when state representatives voted to make the practice illegal for women — but not men.
The ban was a last-minute add-on to a bill outlawing involuntary genital female mutilation, an ancient ritual practiced by some cultures.
Several senators pushed for the Senate bill that was amended in the House after hearing about a 2-year-old girl from Gwinnett County who was taken by her father to have the procedure done. But the bill passed Wednesday goes much further — ending the voluntary, decorative piercings that have been highlighted on HBO specials and in urban subculture.
"The original intent of the amendment was to make illegal the voluntary piercing of female genitalia for decorative purposes," said Rep. Bill Heath (R-Bremen).
Heath said that while some piercings do fall under the category of involuntary genital mutilation, he is fine with banning the voluntary procedures as well. "I just don't think it's appropriate," Heath said.
The bill only regulates female genital piercings. Heath said he doesn't support male genital piercings, but won't draft legislation to address the issue.
Sen. Nadine Thomas (D-Decatur), one of the key backers of the original Senate bill, was incensed about the amendment. She said a bill originally designed to protect women and girls now limits what women can do with their bodies.
"This is just another stone being thrown at women," Thomas said. "What he is doing is diminishing what we are trying to do to protect women and girls. It is gender discrimination."
Voro what is your government doing down there. They've just banned me from your state!
.
