Groups accuse United States of imposing international book ban

[Khephra]

NEW YORK (AP) _ A group of organizations representing publishers and authors sued the federal government Monday, saying it is blocking the works of authors in countries such as Cuba, Iran and Sudan from reaching the United States.

In the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the groups asked a federal judge to remove government restrictions that block the free exchange of information and ideas. Otherwise, it said, "Americans who want information from Cuba, Iran and Sudan are limited to reading what has already been written in those countries."

The lawsuit noted that authors in those countries already work under government restrictions and blamed the U.S. treasury department's Office of Foreign Assets Control for, in effect, extending "the force of foreign censorship to the United States."

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--bookban0927sep27,0,3615021.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

[ogradda]

1. man i can put up with a lot

but do not fuck with my books :mad:

[gatlingforme]

3. Right on !!!!!!! Sounds like Bush is a fascist to me OHHH I am sorry

He does not sound like one,,,,, HE is a FASCIST

[Carla in Ca]

6. This coming from an administration

with ads claiming Kerry will ban the Bible if elected!

[lovuian]

2. This is really Bad!!! No more Free Society

:argh:

[Trillo]

5. If true, why wouldn’t the U.S. government

disallow certain books authored by its own citizens?

[wtmusic]

4. What's to fear from Iranian literature?

do they think that some Americans might *agree* with them? Aren't they all *crazy* anyway?

[gatlingforme]

7. Kick, very important issue please keep on kicking.

[Judi Lynn]

8. This is simply sad. How could these imbeciles hijack the whole country?

My mother used to talk about the rightwingers in Kansas who were pitching fits about having "The Catcher in the Rye" removed from library shelves back in the 1970's. She was scared to death of their kind of influence in the world.

At that time, I tended to discount her words, thinking she might be seeing them as being a little more powerful than they actually were. I just saw them as a bunch of overfed, red-faced dimwits or pinched faced, shrewish busybodies with too much time on their hands.

She died in 1978, and I'm actually glad she won't have to see these fools in action. What a low point in our country's history.

[schultzee]

9. We never thought they could gain the amount of influence that they

have gained. Why did we not scream and calle our congress people when Reagan got rid of the Fairness Doctrine. I must have been asleep, but am awaken and depressed now. I am phone banking for Kerry in my rePIG district. Its depressing. Most who say they are voting for Bush, say they are because he is "a good christian, and I think he is doing a good job." What planet are these people living on?
I think the problem is the media. The protest needs to be against the pravada style media.

[coreystone]

10. Ray Bradbury and "Fahrenheit 451" seems to becoming a reality...

Bit by bit, people will see how unhappy they become when they read books. When do the Guy Montag's and the Captain Beatty's get trained. It seems that our society has already "brainwashed" enough of our citizenry to apply for the jobs.

Now! Let me see...which book would I like to memorize???

[Iceburg]

15. memorize Margaret Atwoods "The Handmaid's Tale"

And to think, in 1985 it was considered fiction ...
Required reading for any United States citizen who may be concerned about the direction our present administration is taking the government.

[gottaB]

11. a little more info

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/28/books/28publ.html

http://www.ncac.org/issues/ofacpress.htm

[OneBlueSky]

12. hey . . . if books go away, the ideas in them will go away . . .

and if sex education goes away, teen sex will go away . . . and if gay marriage goes away, homosexuality will go away . . . it's all very logical if you're a Republican . . . or mentally challenged . . . or maybe they're one in the same . . .

[NVMojo]

13. we are but sheep to them, horses to hook up to the plow,

slaves, less than housepets.

[gatlingforme]

16. yup, got that right .

[AmyDeLune]

14. Kick! n/t

[struggle4progress]

17. kick for Bushista enemies of freedom

:kick: