It’s that time of year again! The last Monday in September begins the annual American Library Association’s Banned Books Week:

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, this annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. This year, 2007, marks BBW’s 26th anniversary (September 29 through October 6).

BBW celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.

We often hear about someone not being happy that their precious child might happen to see something that the parent doesn’t want them to see when they go to the library. PROTECT TEH CHILDREN!!! is very often the reason given for a book being challenged or taken off the shelves. (Sally Kern is noted for wanting to decide what we can and can’t read, for instance. Those evil gays…) Thankfully though, we have some kick ass librarians who don’t like being told what people can and can’t read.

So in honor of BBW, check out the list of 2006’s most challenged books, and read one you haven’t read yet. Or at least help spread the word, and if possible check out some of the BBW events! I do have to give a big SHAME ON YOU Oklahoma City Metro Libraries though. The only library listed as having any BBW Events is the Muskogee Public Library. (However, if any fellow Okies know of a OKC or other library that does have something going on, please correct me.)

Technorati tags: banned books week, censorship, american library association, freedom to read

G4 has us addicted to the show Ninja Warrior, which I’ve talked about before, so when they started showing Unbeatable Banzuke, we had to check it out.

Now, an example of a few of the different courses people compete on are Like a Pierrot, an obstacle course where competitors ride a unicycle, and Neko de Drive, an obstacle course involving a man transporting a woman on a wheelbarrow that looks like a cat. There’s a whole big list of different contests, and with those being just two examples, you can see why we tune in.

Anyway, that’s not the focus of this post…more of background info. This is about one specific course, dubbed “Strong Mama”.

It’s designed specifically for women, with special challenges. What makes it “for women”? It starts out generic enough, like the other courses, with some obstacles to maneuver around. But then it gets…well…”the ladies” grab a shopping cart and hold onto it while it goes down a very steep hill. Then they must walk across a very narrow beam with a purse in one hand and a very heavy shopping bag in another, while water is coming down to simulate rain. Then it’s time to hop onto a bike and peddle as fast as you can, since the bike has been altered to only travel inches at a time on a conveyor belt. (That part isn’t too bad though, since most people travel by bike around town.) After that, it’s back to the generic obstacles. But the sexist stereotypes don’t stop though! For the final test, they have to climb a large tower. A layered tower. That tower is named a “wedding cake”.

Let’s let that all sink in. The contest called Strong Mama uses sexist stereotypes like pushing a shopping cart and carrying a purse and groceries, only to have the final test and winner declared after she climbs on top of a giant wedding cake. Hello, Japan? Yeah, I just wanted you to know that your show Strong Mama is NOT COOL!

(I really wanted to point you to a video of it to show how bad it looks, but my Google-fu wasn’t strong. If anyone does find one, please give a shout out in the comments.)

Guess they must have gotten some complaints though, as the very next competition changed the shopping cart and changed the purse and groceries into weights. It still looked like there was a huge wedding cake, but no one made it past the other obstacles for us to find out.

When I saw the show I was just speechless. It was so terribly sexist I couldn’t even comprehend. I’m still a bit stunned, really. Although after I finished watching it the first time I did say that why didn’t they just make the contestants wear a pregnancy suit, carry an infant, and drag a toddler along while doing the course. All while barefoot of course. Unless that’s their follow up course, for after “the ladies” win and climb atop the wedding cake, hence showing they qualify to be a “strong mama”. Ugh…

Technorati tags: strong mama, unbeatable banzuke, japanese, sexist

On a previous Full of Fun Fridays! I talked about my girl crush on Mur Lafferty and that she wrote a superhero book called Playing For Keeps. I didn’t get into the details about what her book is about, but it relates to todays post.

It tells the story of Keepsie Branson, a bar owner in the shining metropolis of Seventh City: birthplace of super powers. Keepsie and her friends live among egotistical heroes and manipulative villains, and manage to fall directly in the middle as people with powers, but who just aren’t strong enough to make a difference. Or that’s what they’ve been told. As the city begins to melt down, it’s hard to tell who are the good guys and who are the bad.

For those of you who are fans of PFK, I’ve got the perfect book series for you. George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards series.

Into a world hungry for peace, comes a spaceship ferrying chaos…

An alien bomb is detonated above the planet, shedding an indiscriminate gene virus on an Earth barely recovered from the horrors of World War ll. The result: Wild Cards. ACES blessed with superhuman powers and JOKERS cursed with bizarre physical and mental disfigurements.

This is their story.

And so began a series of shared-world anthologies that would bring the metahuman into the real world - our world. Everything up until 1946 is how we remember it. After that watershed year, many things will have changed.

In addition, there are people like the Second Wave main characters in PFK. Deuces were infected by the Wild Card virus and gained a useless or trivial ability, like the power to levitate a penny, grow body hair at will, or the ability to turn into a puddle of water.

Everyone has their favorite Ace. Hubby likes Fortunato, a pimp with telepathic and telekinetic powers, derived from his use of tantric sex, while I’m partial to The Sleeper, who wakes up with a different power after every time he falls asleep. He never knows if he’ll wake up as an Ace, Deuce, or even a Joker. Both of us have a strong fondness for The Great and Powerful Turtle, the world’s strongest telekinetic.

It’s really hard to get into more specifics on the characters without giving away plot spoilers. Wiki and the above official site are chocked full of them, so if you go wandering around, be warned.

I *love* this series, if you can’t tell. Our house has the first 15 books on our shelves, and I’m in the process of getting 16 and 17. Yeah, there are a lot of books out already! But don’t let that discourage you from giving it a try. There are new books coming out, with no need to read the first 17. Published earlier this year, Inside Straight brings a new batch of Aces and Jokers. The trade is coming out in November, just in time before the next book, Busted Flush comes out in December.

But if you’re interested in the series, definitely try to get some of the earlier books. At least look at the graphic novel that was adapted from some of the anthologies, due out in collected form next year. Or if you can’t wait, track down the 6 issues of the comic mini-series.

If you’re a fan, or if I’ve created one, definitely let me know!

Technorati tags: full of fun fridays, wild cards, superhero novels

Even though I’ve been a long time user of an iPod (my first had a click wheel, with a monochrome screen), I didn’t run out and get an iPhone. Oh, I was tempted, but there were a few reasons why I didn’t. One is just the basic rule of new gadgets; you never buy first generation stuff, no matter how cool it looks. Wait for a bit, and let them iron out the kinks and add new features that were missing the first time around. Plus the price usually comes down some as a side effect.

The big, major reason was the exclusivity of the iPhone with AT&T. It’s not that I don’t like their coverage or their pricing. It’s because they are evil. “Cooperating with the Bush administration with warrantless wiretapping, building a secret room for the NSA, and conducting major privacy violations” evil.

Last month though, a seed was planted. Joel Johnson over at BoingBoing made a compromise.

When I bought my first iPhone a year ago, I made a donation to the Electronic Frontier Foundation as a sort of sin tax. An indulgence for an indulgence. An attempt to counteract giving money to a company that has colluded illegally with the U.S. government to spy on its own citizens, has plans to try to filter the entire internet for copyright violations, and has generally shown itself to be an enemy to personal liberty and privacy.

…

I’m mentioning it as a challenge to other AT&T subscribers. If you can afford it, please consider making some sort of donation to the EFF. Even a one-time donation will help bolster an organization that has a long history of fighting for our rights online against attacks from profit-addled interests. By giving companies like AT&T our money we’re funding in part a fight against ourselves; a donation to the EFF tips the odds back towards even.

I kept thinking about that. Sure it would be hypocritical of me, on the one hand bashing AT&T but also using their service. But I kept coming back to it. T-Mobile is my current cell phone provider, but that doesn’t mean I can’t avoid AT&T entirely (or that they’re any less evil). All but one person among my friends & family use AT&T. Work cell phones are AT&T. My internet at home is Cox, but just like phones can, I’m sure they use the same lines, or buy bandwidth from AT&T. So I’d still be subject to wiretapping no matter what (it’s been said that all telcos but Quest participated in warrantless wiretapping anyway, and now that FISA passed and is law, it’s not even illegal now).

The last reason I haven’t got an iPhone yet may be lifted. Storage space. I currently have a 30GB iPod video, and use about 20GB currently. There’s a rumor that a 32GB iPhone will be out soon, possibly before Xmas. I’d then be able to have just one device in my purse instead of two. Plus the OH LOOK SHINY aspect of an iPhone.

If a 32GB version does come out soon…well, I may be throwing my morals out the door. I know, very disappointing. But to counter that, I will be making a monthly donation to EFF. They still have legal cases against both the NSA and AT&T, and I want them to win. I want them to make AT&T and all the other telcos change how they do business with the government with regards to wiretapping, and to make them protect our privacy. I don’t want to give up civil liberties for the illusion of privacy. We’ve had to do that enough over the past 8+ years.

Technorati tags: eff, iphone, att

Today, back in 1787, the U.S. Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution, and to celebrate, September 17th is celebrated as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. Today will “commemorate the formation and signing on September 17, 1787, of the Constitution and recognize all who, by coming of age or by naturalization, have become citizens.” Very patriotic!

This year, the ACLU is launching a campaign called “I am a Constitution Voter” to bring the issues of civil liberties, freedoms, and rights that the Constitution guarantees us to the forefront of the Presidential race.

For the past eight years, Americans have watched the Bush administration take a virtual shredder to the Constitution; they’ve flouted the rule of the land, and we have to show that we won’t stand for it. It’s time give back, time for us to stand up and fight for the Constitution. The fundamental rights of Americans need to be a front-and-center issue in this election. Not flag pins, not lipstick and not pit bulls.

If you sign up on their site as a Constitution voter, they will send you a free bumper sticker! Click the picture below to get there.

Thanks to Peace Arena for the post and info!!!!

It’s no secret that I’m vehemently against anything that goes against my or anyone else’s civil liberties. It is a huge issue for me when it comes to politics. But I think we’ve got to be careful about promoting just the Constitution. There are people who interpret it as a way to promote some of the things that the ACLU is fighting against. Just take an interview with Justice Scalia back in April. For anyone who follows Supreme Court decisions, you know his name as being the most conservative judge on the court. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a decision he’s made that I agree with. But if I were to guess, he’d probably be fine with calling himself a “Constitution Voter”. Take a look at what he believes:

At 72, Justice Scalia is still a maverick, championing a philosophy known as “orginalism,” which means interpreting the Constitution based on what it originally meant to the people who ratified it over 200 years ago.

Scalia has no patience with so-called activist judges, who create rights not in the Constitution - like a right to abortion - by interpreting the Constitution as a “living document” that adapts to changing values.

Luckily we have Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who sees the Constitution differently:

To Ginsburg, the Constitution evolves and should reflect changes in society; that going back to what was meant originally when they wrote, for instance, “We the People,” makes little sense.

“Who were ‘We the People’ in 1787? You would not be among ‘We the People.’ African Americans would not be among the people,” Ginsburg tells Stahl.

Indeed.

Now, I do agree with the ACLU, and think it’s great that they are attempting to get important issues at the front of the election. I just think we need to be careful about throwing around the term “Constitution Voter” without explaining what we’re talking about.

Technorati tags: constitution day, aclu, civil liberties

I’ve got another post brewing on the game Spore itself, but today brings you a creationist site dedicated to declaring Spore to be against God and pro-evolution:

Yesterday I found out about a new game called Spore when my son asked me to buy it for him. It looked innocent enough at first and has “E for Everyone” ESRB rating. But don’t be mislead, apparently “everyone” means everyone they want to teach evolution to.

This entire game is propaganda aimed directly at our children to teach them evolution instead of creationism, or “intelligent design”

…

I decided that Electronic Arts needs to hear from concerned people such as myself that this sort of game is not acceptable, and created this blog to find support and share information and progress with anyone who feels the same as I do.

Wait! I can hear you saying. How is that site supposed to fit in with your Full of Fun Fridays? That doesn’t sound like fun at all! My answer is to say just keep reading…

Over at Game Politics, they were suspicious about the site, and said it may be a hoax. Turns out they were right! From the most recent entry yesterday, the author starts out with a long diatribe on her religious views:

I think part of the problem that is going on here is that the bulk of you are ignorant as to the word of God. I don’t have these beliefs just because I want to, I have them because they are the beliefs that I was raised in. I understand that everyone didn’t have the chance to be taught these things, and learn about God as my family did so if I am going to have this kind of attention I should use it to help teach others about the words of God that helped to shape me into the woman I am today.

Then she begins quoting Genesis:

But the Bible teaches us that God was not done with man. For we were His creation and He then spoke to Noah in Genesis 8:21-27 after the flood.
“21. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never gonna give you up. 22. “Never gonna let you down.” 23.”Never gonna run around and desert you.” 24. “Never gonna make you cry.” 25. “Never gonna say goodbye.” 26. “Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.” 27.”Never truly believe anything you read on the Internet. There will always be cases of Poe’s Law.”

Oh. Your. God. It was all a Rickroll!!!! That was genius. And so many people fell for it (with a lot who just didn’t get the joke). Note that the Wiki has already been updated, too. I’m still laughing!

Technorati tags: full of fun fridays, antispore, rickroll, poes law

I’ve talked about Fallout 3 a few times here, and each time has been a full-on geek fest. This time will include a rant. Just so you know.

Now, Australia has a very long history of banning and/or censoring controversial media, which has an impact on video games like Postal and Grand Theft Auto. Usually though, the game is edited only for the version that is released in Australia, while the rest of the world enjoys the full game as intended. Changes were required by the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification to give Fallout 3 a MA15+ rating and avoid banning entirely, and here’s what the report stated:

The game contains the option to take a variety of “chems” using a device which is connected to the character’s arm.

…

Corresponding with the list of various “chems” are small visual representation of the drugs, these include syringes, tablets, pill bottles, a crack-type pipe and blister packs. In the Board’s view these realistic visual representations of drugs and their delivery method bring the “science-fiction” drugs in line with “real-world” drugs.

One other reason cited was the use of the real-world drug name “Morphine”. Bethesda explains what they did in response:

Edge has been told by Bethesda vice president of PR and marketing Peter Hines that there will be no differences between the version that releases in Australia and the versions that will release in other territories, including Europe and the US.

Calling the idea of an Australia-specific version of the game a “misconception,” Hines told us, “We want to make sure folks understand that the Australian version of Fallout 3 is identical to both the UK and North American versions in every way, on every platform.”

He continued, “An issue was raised concerning references to real world, proscribed drugs in the game, and we subsequently removed those references and replaced them with fictional names. To avoid confusion among people in different territories, we decided to make those substitutions in all versions of the game, in all territories.”

Hines stated, “I didn’t want people continuing to assume the version in Australia was some altered version when it’s not.” Finally, he explained that, “There are no references to real world drugs in any version of Fallout 3.”

What really irks me, besides the obvious censorship, is that Bethesda is trying to spin this. I mean, from both a financial and business standpoint, I can totally understand wanting to keep just one version of the game for everyone. Less cost. But don’t say that it’s to “avoid confusion”, when gamers are already used to different versions of games depending on what country you live in. Dealing with different laws and regulations for ratings around the world has to be frustrating, but don’t decide for me that the censorship decided in a different country is what you will give me, just because it’s more convenient for you.

Technorati tags: fallout 3, censorship, australia

It’s been a while since I’ve updated regularly, I’ve even missed a few “Full of Fun Fridays!” posts. The only writing I’ve been able to keep up with, barely, is over at MINE. But as everyone can attest, life gets in the way sometimes. Hopefully though, I’m starting to get back into a place where I’ll have time to post and rant.

And oh boy are there a lot of things waiting for me! Granted some of them aren’t so timely anymore, like my thoughts on Dr. Horrible, but rest assured I want to get through as many as I can. There’s so much to talk about. I mean…this is an election year, and as people who read this blog could guess…I’m none too happy about McCain and his VP choice Palin.

So sit back, and get your bookmarks or RSS feeds ready to see some more from Middle Raged Punk!