Let's ban "Sally, Dick, And Jane" too! It's evil! It's a demonic book that will send your kids to hell! Burn all books! Turn all schools into "Christian" madrassas! There's no useful knowledge except the Bible! "Book Of Mormon?" Why do you need that? It's not the Bible! So what if Jesus showed up to see the Aztecs! Our book is better than your book! We'll burn the Koran too! We're in charge, we run the show, and we say what gets burned! Ya Na Nah Yah Na Nah... /s


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/28/arthurs-birthday-childrens-book-ban-florida

A title in the Arthur children’s book series is facing a potential ban after a conservative activist claimed that it “damaged souls”.

On 12 July, Bruce Friedman, a member of the Clay county school district community in Florida, filed a challenge to Arthur’s Birthday, a 1989 children’s book by Marc Brown about a fictional brown aardvark whose birthday falls on the same day as another party of a different classmate.

At one point in the book, Arthur receives a glass bottle from Francine the monkey as a birthday present. The bottle has the words “Francine’s Spin the Bottle Game” printed on it.

According to the challenge, which the Daily Beast website published, the reason for Friedman’s ban request is to “protect children”.

“It is not appropriate to discuss ‘spin the bottle’ with elementary school children,” he wrote in all capital letters. “This book is found in all/almost all [district schools]!”

“‘Spin the bottle’ not okay for K-5 kids,” Friedman added, still using all capital letters. In response to a question about what he believes might be the result of a student using the material, he wrote, “Damaged souls.”

In a statement to the Daily Beast, a district spokesperson, Terri Dennis, said the book was among 45 titles currently “pending oversight committee review”.

Friedman is the Florida chapter president of No Left Turn in Education, a rightwing group that campaigns against critical race theory. The group seeks to “use all forms of media to expose the radical indoctrination in K-12 education, its perpetrators, the resources and methods employed and the resulting harm it inflicts”, according to its website.

In a Facebook post in September 2020, the group compared public schools to “Pol Pot’s Cambodia”, referring to the former leader of Cambodia who perpetrated the mass genocide of over 2 million people.

Last December, Friedman said that he had compiled “a list of over 3,600 titles that I believe have concerning content [including] porn, critical race theory, social-emotional learning, [and] fluid gender,” Popular Information reported.

He told the outlet that he identified the titles by “scouring the internet” for books that have been challenged in other parts of the country.


https://www.thedailybeast.com/arthur-book-facing-ban-in-florida-over-this-one-wacko-complaint


A lone parent filed a complaint to a Florida school district that a book in the Arthur series—yes, the same Arthur from the beloved PBS animated show—contained references to Spin the Bottle, and now it’s possibly on the district’s chopping block.

A member of the Clay County School District community, based in Green Cove Springs, filed the challenge on July 12 to Marc Brown’s Arthur’s Birthday, a children’s book geared towards students in kindergarten to sixth grade. District spokesperson Terri Dennis told The Daily Beast that it was among 45 challenged titles now “pending oversight committee review.”

On Wednesday, the district provided The Daily Beast with the stack of challenge forms the school district had received for July. At least eight book challenges filed that month were submitted by a local conservative activist named Bruce Friedman.

Arthur’s Birthday details the title character’s upcoming birthday and how it falls on the same day as another party for a classmate, who happens to be a girl. Arthur wants all of his friends to show up, and figures out a plan to combine the parties together. At the end, Arthur receives a “Spin the Bottle” present from one of the girls.


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iP1nVObzc_x1LgOUTEwf7w_t9Q7j4zRXan_mTL_6k0I/edit?pli=1#gid=369888666

07/06/2023 21 Proms David Leviathan 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 37 Things I Love Kekla Magoon 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 A Perfect Blank Rye Duran 7-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Apt Pupil Stephen King 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stink-a-Lot Dav Pilkey K-8 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Carrie Stephen King 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Counterfeit Son Elain Marie Alphin 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Elevation Stephen King 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Every Heart a Doorway Seanan McGuire 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards Jen Hatmaker 7-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Girl Mans Up M-E Girard 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Guilty Pleasures Laurell Hamilton 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Guts (#3) Raina Telgemeier K-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 How I paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater Marc Acito 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 I Am a Taxi Deborah Ellis 7-8 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 It Stephen King 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles Anthony Swofford 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Love & Other Natural Disasters Misa Sugiura 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Perfect Chemistry Simone Elkeles 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora Saraciea J. Fennell 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Unicorn on a Roll Dana Simpson K-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Who Was Dr. Seuss Janet B Pascal K-8 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 The Midwife's Apprentice Karen Cushman K-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 The Kingdom of Little Wounds Susan Cokal 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/06/2023 Tell Me How You Really Feel Aminah Mae Safi 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 120 Banned Books Nicholas J Karolides 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 A Curse of Roses Diana Pinguicha 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 A Yellow Raft in Blue Water Michael Dorris 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 Always Running Luis J. Rodriguez 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 American Street Ibi Zoboi 7-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 Anya's Ghost (Graphic Novel) Vera Brosgol 7-8 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 Arthur's Birthday Marc Brown K-6 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 Blood Promise (Vampire Academy #4) Richelle Mead 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 Five, Six, Seven, Nate Time Federle K-6 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 Hatchet Gary Paulsen K-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 Last Sacrifice: Vampire Academy #6 Richelle Mead 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 Picture Perfect Jodi Picoult 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 Sophie's Choice William Styron 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy #5) Richelle Mead 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 Spy School Secret Service Stuart Gibbs K-6 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 Summer of Salt Katrina Leno 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 Telling Marilyn Reynolds 7-8 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 The Clan of the Cave Bear: A Novel Jean M. Auel 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 The Lover's Dictionary David Leviathan 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review
07/12/2023 You Know You Love Me (Gossip Girl #2) Cecily von Ziegesar 9-12 Pending Oversight Committee Review

I'm sure glad American conservatives are opposed to "cancel culture!"

Is there a group, society, fraternity, sorority, organization, union, caucus, rumpus, or bumpus opposed to opposing, or any other possible form of opposition?

And if I refused to join, would I be allowed to say I refused to join, even though that might be considered a form of opposition?

Sweet little Arthur? They've lost their minds.

In related news, the Houston (Texas) Independent School District, which was subject to state takeover last spring, has eliminated librarian positions in 28 schools. If you ban books, who needs a librarian?

> If you ban books, who needs a librarian?

All you need is a furnace capable of reaching 451 degrees Fahrenheit.

Please excuse my appalling ignorance but what is the negative significance of spin the bottle?

No preacher has ever warned me that glass is demonic.

I'm drinking out of one right now.

So far all seems well...

"Spin the bottle" is a kissing game typically played by older children. You sit in a circle, spin the bottle, and kiss the person the bottle points to. Pretty harmless. But the fundies are getting worked up over it.

Kids in mixed groups like playing Twister as well for obvious reasons.

Las Vegas 2nd Ward had a MIAmaids teacher who had a party at her house, and the Teachers were invited (without an adult male!), and Sister Bunker had us play spin the bottle.  It wasn't my first kiss, but close to...

I have a hazy recollection of my first kiss, on a doorstep on Ninth St., a half block from the chapel, and she puckered up, so it was like kissing an older family member. I don't remember her name; she didn't live in the Ward for long. I also don't recall how old I was.

I remember a hay ride on a Mutual night over Christmas Break held up at Mt. Charleston, where some tame smooching was happening...

I remember my first official date!  I asked Judy C. to a movie at the Huntridge Theatre, and my mom drove us there. She said to call her for a ride home, but we walked home. It was a bit chilly, and we held hands but put the clasped hands in her coat pocket. I think I gave her a chaste kiss on her doorstep and then walked the four blocks home...

Towards the end of that same freshman year, I fell "in love" with a Senior I met in early morning Seminary.

I also remember in 7th grade when Shawna Anderson developed breasts!  She was hunched over her school desk, with her new breasts resting on the desktop. I was 11, and puberty hadn't yet hit, so it was just an observation of no hormonal importance.

What a weird thing the human brain is!

I think I read too much as a kid...

You kissed your family members? And the bishop still let you date his daughter??

And it gets worse; the libraries in those Houston schools are apparently being converted into "disciplinary centers." Does the far-right have *any* policies other than "maximize cruelty and stupidity?"