Sarah Palin & Those who laugh last!

100% agreement

Censorship versus restriction.  I'm absolutely for one and not the other. 

Irregardless of whether Palin actually imposed a ban or not, the mere fact that she requested feedback on whether or not she would be supported if she DID request one scares the shit out of me.  It's steps towards imposing martial and moral law.  Imposing RESTRICTIONS is easy enough... establishing RIGHTS was a hard fought battle... let's not move backwards! 

Unfortunately I have to agree about the values... I doubt my son could tell you the last book he read.  But he definitely knows all the computer games.

ps... I THOUGHT I recognized you at that Pink Floyd concert...:-0

PS IRANdokht

I just flagged your comment as offensive, since I'm not allowed to respond to the false charges you make against me in teh way that I'd like to. We'll see how fair the moderators here are.

Trying again

American Wife has an Iranian husband. Rosie said she started reading this website afetr she started dating an Iranian guy. I don't know who Nadia is, but possibly she is also using this website for social networking rather than to engage in poiltical debates? In any case, how objective are they? You would take their views as "typical" of Americans in general? lol.

we have non-Iranians like you and Rosie and Nadia who are genuinely concerned about Iranians and interested in our culture, always
supportive and friendly

Should they be "always supportive"? Should they be always supportive of the Islamic Republic? Should they be always supportive of some of the dirtbags on this website who promote a foreign government that is on the verge of open warfare with thei own country? A government that is responsible for the murder of hundreds of Americans, and that has taken hundreds more Americans hostage? Is that what you think "good" Americans do?

AW

We agree on the library's purpose.

I don't advocate censorship, but there has to be some guidelines. For example, I believe there should be restricted access to books on sexuality.

No, I don't think parents are sufficiently informed, and that's part of a the greater problem. Parents are increasingly ignoring their responsibilities in raising their children. This is why more and more children are developing their value systems from what they get out on the street as opposed to what parents should be teaching. You have to admit, values in this country have gone to sh*t. Instead of books, we have TV and video games. Teen pregnancy rates, high school dropout rates, all on the rise because parents are letting the street raise their kids. I say this from personal experience on the matter.

Of course kids don't want to have a sit down with Mom and Dad about the birds and the bees. But who's in charge? Us or them?

As adults in this world with supposedly sound minds, when we engage in the sometimes alcohol-fueled act of coitus in the back seat of a Paykan or Pinto that results in the conception, gestation and birth of a human being, we are morally and solely responsible for the health, education, and well-being of that child and ensuring that their overall development results in he or she becoming a productive member of society. This simple, yet tremendous responsibility is being passed off like a joint at a Pink Floyd concert, wouldn't you agree?

I'd be perfectly alright with library cards being required, not just to check books out of the library, but to access them inside the library as well. The cards for children should indicate any restrictions Mom or Dad place on what they can read. This way nothing is being censored, while personal values are respected.

public library

By definition public libraries serve to educate the public and provide information to the community.  By eliminating certain subjects, you deny the public the opportunity to educate themselves and their children... which seems to be your personal concern.   Do you really think the average parent is sufficiently informed to discuss certain subjects with their children without research?  For sure most parents would LIKE to discuss sex or homosexuality or alternate lifestyles with their kids but I'm sure you'd agree that kids today really aren't interested in a sit-down discussion on the birds and the bees with Mom or Dad.  I'd like to think there was material available for my child on ANY subject.  I think that because most parents DON'T take the time to discuss things with their kids that the public library MUST be as expansive and liberal as possible.

As far as TV is concerned... I've always been of the mind that I'd rather see my son watching implied sex than slash n' gash movies.  Sex is normal... senseless violence and gore is NOT.

There's A Lot Of Hype

surrounding the issue. Palin may have asked, and probably did ask about having certain books removed. but even if she was successful, it would have been short-lived. Any ban would be overturned on constitutional grounds without hesitation from any judge.

Having said that, I also believe that personally, I don't know if I'd want to have a "Heather Has Two Mommies" in the public library, for example. I don't have an issue with the subject matter, but something like that is best discussed at home, rather than having my child come across it in the children's section at the library.

If something should be banned, let's start with programming on TV. Last week, on the 1st episode of this new version of "90210", there's a scene that gives the blatant implication that a guy is getting a BJ from a girl in the school parking lot. On BET, MTV and on mainstream radio, we have so-called "music" that glorifies every single thing that's wrong in this world.

Samsam jan

are you saying this is not true?

According to the official minutes of the Library Board, the above is a list of books that Sarah Palin tried to have banned from the Wasilla Public Library. When she was unsuccessful at having these books banned, she tried to have the Librarian fired.

//www.bostonherald.com/news/2008/view.bg?articleid=1117009

IRANdokht

The dumbing of America by the neocons

McBush claims he stands for “change” ??????? lol, what a joke.

1. John McCain: “There will be more wars”
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZCISY40qns&feature...

2. McCain = Wars
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=voIqY7dZo0o&feature...

Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” – Hermann Goering

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie.” - Joseph Goebbels

Agha Samsam I saw it too.

Agha Samsam
I saw it too. Let me point out that I wrote "wanted banned". I'm sure if gotten her way she would have. I know this list was probably a hoax. I got it from a source at Esquire mag. He had said this was circulating and most likely a hoax which is why they weren't going to run with it. You've got it admit this is probably on her wish list of things to do. My girlfriend who is a member of a local Pentacostal church much like her Wasilla church had said that this is the abbreviated version of a list that she and her parishioners want removed from our schools and local libraries. Mind you my girlfriend also speaks in tongues and thinks Walt Disney is the anti-christ. I do believe however that if Palin, who is a member of a similar church wanted to see these books removed that main stream Alaska and America would fight her on it.
Good job calling me on it. Quick too. Damn:)

Dear Skatermom!..why spreading lies ?

Did You see Anderson Cooper 360 last night exposing this very same hoax on library ban and interview with library trustee who denied it? and the interview with  bloggers who admitted they made up the hoax on creationist agenda & other items .  CNN(which is Obama country btw)  exposed the lies on "Keeping them honest" section!! If You don,t believe me watch the program on //ac360.blogs.cnn.com/ 09/09/08 ..now coming up with a made up list by some bloggers eventhough it,s a big lie is pretty naive at best. ..It,s Your right to oppose her views but associating her with made up hoax with no source & proof is not becoming of a fair person whom I assume You are...cheers!

a few of my favorites in that list...:-(

Better run out and get them while I can.

Side bar... The Bastard series by John Jakes... great books.  Everything you want to know about the South and didn't know you wanted to know...lol

Pat Conroy... from my little ole Southern town of Beaufort, South Carolina.  Never liked the man but love his books. He's extremely self-righteous and a fat little man (see theMrs.. I can be critical too...lol).  He was at the Citadel way before my twin bro but most people have never forgiven him for supporting El Cid going co-ed.  He's most critical and depreciating of all we hold dear.  God forbid that I open up a new can of worms but I believe some things should remain traditional.  I went to a girl's school... excuse me, a "a bastion of higher matriculation for women" and it went co-ed my junior year.  Totally SUCKED that we had to start wearing bra's to class. And the SOB's got the high rise dorm I spent years living in a dump to finally be eligible for.  Oh well, there were some advantages...:-)

Dear Skatermom

To avoid such long comments, maybe you could just list the books that she'll allow.  

I mean c'mon: catcher in the rye, to kill a mocking bird, the grapes of wrath...  maybe she is holding a grudge against her middle school teacher. Oops I just saw Huckleberry finn, I guess the grudge is even deeper than that!

Thanks for the post! I just showed it to my son too, we had a good laugh. Then I told him how one of the first things IRI did was to ban books... even he's scared now!

IRANdokht

Sorry I know it's long but

Sorry I know it's long but here's a list of books Ms. Palen, our next feminist VP wanted banned. American Politics and literature is now being hijacked by a woman who speaks in tongues.
This list is taken
from the official minutes of the Wasilla Library Board.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Blubber by Judy Blume
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Christine by Stephen King
Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Cujo by Stephen King
Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Decameron by Boccaccio
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John Cleland
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Forever by Judy Blume
Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Have to Go by Robert Munsch
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Impressions edited by Jack Booth
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
It's Okay if You Don't Love Me by Norma Klein
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman Little
Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Love is One of the Choices by Norma Klein
Lysistrata by Aristophanes
More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
My House by Nikki Giovanni
My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
Night Chills by Dean Koontz
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston
Women's Health Collective
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz
Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Separate Peace by John Knowles
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Bastard by John Jakes
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth
The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
The Living Bible by William C. Bower
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders
The Shining by Stephen King
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff
Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween
Symbols by Edna Barth

PR Craig, There You Again!

It is so funny that you think I support IRI or I'm writing from Iran. you are wrong again as usual! So you are the one who really care about this country and its politics? Congratulations! So you have the monopoly on free thinking and choice. Perhaps you should read the American constitution again. Yes I may not have been born here but it looks like that I care much more than you do about what is going in this country and what has been done to it in the cover with neo-con conservatism and fear and war mongering. If you have cared you would question the crap the have been going on for the 8 years and GOP control of this country for the last 20. You know that, you come across as someone who is just like who preach the same crap as the mullahs. And by the way mullahs and neo-con are closet-lovers and always in the same bed. PS. To make sure that you live here in the states and you are who you say you are I have a question for who won the game between Dallas and Chicago last Sunday and what was the score?

Khar

Do you know when to stop?

Yes I do. It is time to stop the Islamic Republic exists only in the history books.

Perhaps this is the perfect time to take 5 and watch the videos I posted below. 

Yeah. Right. I'm gonna head right over to your videos. I'll do it now. 

By the way, Khar, why are you even in this discussion? You do realize that everyone here knows you don't give a damn about American politics, don't you? It makes as much sense for you to be commenting here as it would if I started telling Iranians which factions they should support in Iran, even though I have no clue about what factions even exist, there. Oh, but that's sounds like a brilliant idea, doens't it? I thinkI'll try that. I do so much want to be just like you...

PR Craig, There You Go Again!

Do you know when to stop? Perhaps this is the perfect time to take 5 and watch the videos I posted below.

Red State Update:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W5IAPK0hbU

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVNiR2lw16M&feature=user

People please!

Let's all try and conduct ourselves in a civilized manner.

(You guys have no idea how hard it is to type that and not bust out laughing.)

AW

IRANdokht... looks like we're going to have to clean up AGAIN.  :-)

I think you know you aren't going to be able to clean up this mess. You're totally busted. My cat has better "feminist" credentials than you do. At least he doesn't discriminate based on gender! Which is more than you can say,"American Wife". I'd like to know more about your Iranian husband, now. Is he a feminist, like you? :P

IRANdokht

Just like the case of voting for US president, to speak my mind on this site, I have as much right as you do.

You seem to think you have MORE right to speak your mind than I do, since you've repeatedly told me to shut up and you've repeatedly accused me of attacking people, even though you can clearly read the abusive comments that your ally "American Wife" is making towards others. Can't you?

To address whoever I want to address, and to defend whomever and
whatever cause I feel like defending is my business too, and I sure
don't need you to tell me what I can or can't do on "IRANIAN.com" :0)

Yes, it's no secret that elitists such as yourself think they are the only ones who have rights. I'm not at all surprised you don't even notice how guilty you yourself are of the things you accuse others of doing.

You have an absolute right to be as hypocritical as you want to be. What you don't have a right to do is pretend you are the victim when people rub your nose in shit over it :P

but I feel really bad now, obviously you can't take a good advice when you hear one.

Yes, that's just what the world needs. Advice from hypocritical and intellectually dishonest Iranians. Complete with Farsi insults.

shame really... in iranian expressions we call it jahleh morakab.

Who cares? In English, we call it "you're full of shit".

so sad

Just like the case of voting for US president, to speak my mind on this site, I have as much right as you do.

To address whoever I want to address, and to defend whomever and whatever cause I feel like defending is my business too, and I sure don't need you to tell me what I can or can't do on "IRANIAN.com" :0)

but I feel really bad now, obviously you can't take a good advice when you hear one.

shame really... in iranian expressions we call it jahleh morakab.

so sad

IRANdokht

IRANdokht

Please educate yourself

About what?

before attacking American Wife or anyone else.

What is with you and your "thought police" routine? get off your high horse and stop trying to shut everyone else up.

And just so you know, It was American Wife who decided to start getting abusive. I still haven't responded in kind, up to now. 

You obviously didn't completely understand what the argument against
Palin was.

lol. I completely DO understand gender based discriminatoion when I see it. You are guilty, as charged. Your best bet is to go and delete all of your comments and pretend you didn't stick your foot quite so far into your mouth.

Sometimes it pays off to keep quiet and read a little:

Perhaps you should follow your own advice, before you lose whatever credibilty you still have with anyone who actually believes women have the same rights that men do. A position you and your crew clearly don't hold.

And by the way, I don't recall saying anything to you. Who appointed you as the defender of fake feminists on Iranian.com?

PC

Please educate yourself before attacking American Wife or anyone else.

You obviously didn't completely understand what the argument against Palin was. Sometimes it pays off to keep quiet and read a little:

//iranian.com/main/news/2008/09/09/wrong-...

IRANdokht

AW (and others)

I've butted my head against that brick wall so many times in the last few days, I have bruises!!!

It only seems that way because you have misunderstood your positioning in this discussion. You are the (stubborn) brick wall that won't admit that she is on the wrong side of this one :)

And, you are. You probably even know that you are. Attacking a woman just because she's a woman? And you try to call that feminism? You aren't going to sell taht in a million years, yet you keep trying. Right? 

Well, I'm tired of banging my head against the wall (which is you). Just wante dto point out that you've misunderstood the nature of teh problem you are having here. The people who are on your side are all the misogynists... you didn't notice that? Or you thought it was coincidence? lol.

Shaming the Party

Samsam you're excited for Palin and McCain but I cannot understand why.Shes Oil and He took a billion from Oil recently also.Obama is going to kick out electric cars across the country and solve this country's problems.McCain can't even respond and just calls his energy plan "stupid"...If you vote McCain/Palin we won't be driving a electric car's anytime soon becuase they will not save Detroit.Detroit needs the money to retool,Obama has already offered to do it,do you think McCain will spend it? Theres not much response from them about electric cars is there? Its time to get off Oil and get out of the Middle east,quit chasing down some old man in a apron who is supposedly a national threat.And Time to let Iraq stand alone.I think we have about kicked their behinds enough over there already,its getting pathetic.They don't know when to stop.I've left that party.

more of the same?

are you ready for more of the same? same kind of people running the country and the world down to the ground? same frauds, Enron, Bear, Freddie Mac? other corporations saved by tax money?

are you sure?
really sure?

then vote McBush/Pittbull
do not delay!

rumors about the candidates and taxes

There is an email going around claiming to compare the taxes that would result from the election of McCain and Obama.

It appears the person who prepared the information never took or perhaps never passed a statistic course. Or, maybe for whatever reason, they want to pass out misinformation in an attempt to get their candidate elected. Snopes says information is "erroneous or grossly misleading." You be the judge.

Taxes really matter to most of us. That being the case, all of you might find it interesting to go to this snopes site to find out what is true and what is false.

//www.snopescom/politics/obama/taxes.asp

As Associated Press reported when they looked at Sarah Palin's convention speech:

PALIN said: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS didn't matter during her speech. She wanted you to believe something so she said it. THE TRUTH: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Don't be lead by false information.

AW

I'll admit it...a couple of them were funny, but this one was better.

I give Maher this: He'll skewer anybody.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHP0iVQ0e8s&feature=related

come on... admit it...

you found it more than "mildly" amusing...LOL

It wasn't THAT funny

Some of it was mildly amusing, but most of it is tired old schtick with punchlines that have been used ad nauseum with different objects of their derision. Just change the names.

Bill Maher has definitely done better than this.

My dear NG

I LOVE YOU!!!!!! :0)

That was exactly what I needed! I am feeling better now. I kept thinking: ok this is what I will quote in my reply, and then he would come up with yet a smarter zinger.

LOVE IT!

thank you so much

IRANdokht

AW jan I hope you watched this

Dang it! I should definitely get that HBO beofre I forget again