Thoughts on Unite the Right in Charlottesville

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

‘Apologize!’: Trump hits ‘Hamilton’ cast for confronting Pence

Tonight, VP-Elect Mike Pence attended #HamiltonBway. After the show, @BrandonVDixon delivered the following statement on behalf of the show. pic.twitter.com/Jsg9Q1pMZs

— Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) November 19, 2016

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday criticized the cast of “Hamilton” for confronting the incoming vice president the night before.

The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016

https://www.yahoo.com/news/apologize-trump-hits-hamilton-cast-for-confronting-pence-141103529.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=fb

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

OPERATION; STREET PREACHERS

Amazon defends 'Pedophile's Guide'

Another book protested in 2002 for advocating adult-child sex is still available on the site

NEW YORK — Amazon is selling a self-published book defending pedophiles, sparking discussions about the retailer's obligation to vet items before they are sold in its online stores, and threats of boycott from Amazon customers if the book is not removed.

The book, " The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct" by Philip R. Greaves II, offers advice to pedophiles afraid of becoming the center of retaliation. It is an electronic book available for Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle e-reader.

The author's description (misspellings included) reads:

"This is my attempt to make pedophile situations safer for those juveniles that find themselves involved in them, by establishing certian rules for these adults to follow. I hope to achieve this by appealing to the better nature of pedosexuals, with hope that their doing so will result in less hatred and perhaps liter sentences should they ever be caught."

Amazon issued a statement that will no doubt fuel the outraged comments multiplying on the "Pedophile's Guide" Amazon page. "Amazon believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable," it reads. "Amazon does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts, however, we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions."

As a private company, Amazon has the right to sell whatever it wants as long as it's legal, and as such, offers books that cater to Holocaust deniers and other hate groups, as well as graphic dog fighting and cock fighting videos. Adult (legal) pornography, while available in book and magazine form, is not permitted in the Kindle e-reader store. This is possibly because of its iTunes partnership with the notoriously porn-free Apple which removed both "Ulysses" and the "Kama Sutra" from its own book store.

A customer review on the "Pedophile's Guide" Amazon page written by "Outraged Mother" reads, "The line of immorality is at best a zone with ill defined boundaries. Whatever. This crosses into the unsavory and shameful side of the zone. Take it down."

"There is a point when, even though a company has a no-censorship policy, that selling certain books is simply wrong," reads "Disgusting Abomination," another customer review. "Not censoring is one thing, and I commend that, but choosing to sell this book on a site that accessed by millions of people (including children) daily is reprehensible. This is a disgusting choice you have made, Amazon. Whatever money you are making off this book can't be worth the ire you are receiving for selling it."

In an unexplained turn of events, more than 103 customer reviews populated the "Pedophile's Guide" page earlier today, when news first broke about the book's availability, but dropped down to less than 30 by late afternoon. The number of reviews has since grown to over 60.

As news and outrage about the book spread, the first (presumed) Internet jokester chimed in with "A fantastic guide," the first five star review:

"I can't thank Amazon enough for keeping this great work of literature up for those of us with 'special tastes.' The instructions and images in the guide were extremely insightful and led to a wonderful experience for both myself and my partner. Thank you for protecting free speech, Amazon!"

In 2002, Amazon.com cited the First Amendment as justification for offering another book that advocates adult-child sex, "Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers," by David L. Riegel. Further, the paperback book is still available on the site.

At that time, Amazon stated, "Our goal is to support freedom of expression and to provide customers with the broadest selection possible so they can find, discover, and buy any title they might be seeking."

An Amazon employee emphasized that "Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers" was "not a 'how-to' manual for molesting children. The author simply expresses his point of view about what he feels are misunderstood."

"Pedophile's Guide" has also triggered mounting outrage on Twitter and beyond. A chorus of Twitter users is calling for Amazon to pull the book, and a campaign to push the hashtag #BoycottAmazon into Twitter's top trends is underway.

A keyword search for "Amazon" on the microblogging network reveals a growing number of retweets featuring Amazon's contact info and urges to keep calling and e-mailing "until the book is removed."

Father sues schools over reading about slavery

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. — 

The father of a black student has sued a school district in Macomb County claiming that his daughter was racially harassed by a fifth-grade teacher's reading aloud from a book about slavery. 

The Macomb Daily reports the suit claims Jala Petree's teacher at Margaret Black Elementary School in Sterling Heights read excerpts from "From Slave Ship to Freedom Road" that contain racial epithets and racist characterizations. 

The suit against Warren Consolidated Schools was filed Nov. 3 in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens by Jala's father, Jamey Petree. It seeks more than $50,000 in damages.

District spokesman Bob Freehan says Wednesday the district hasn't been served with the suit, but plans a vigorous defense. He says the reading was from supplemental material provided by a textbook company. 

Bachmann's Censorship of Free Speech

Thank you for endorsing Michele Bachmann. You are in good company! All endorsements are appreciated and will be reviewed for placement on the website. Check back to see new endorsements.

This is the actual response to posting an endorsement.

Thank you for endorsing Michele Bachmann. You are in good company! All endorsements are appreciated and will be reviewed for placement on the website. Check back to see new endorsements.

Talk about censorship! No free speech over here!