{"id":31706,"date":"2022-10-01T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-01T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/?p=31706"},"modified":"2022-09-28T06:39:45","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T13:39:45","slug":"you-cant-read-that-109","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/?p=31706","title":{"rendered":"You Can’t Read That!"},"content":{"rendered":"

You Can’t Read That! is a periodic post about book banning. YCRT! features news and opinion roundups, personal observations, and reviews.<\/p>\n

\"vagina<\/a>
School board protestor makes slam dunk case for banning Gender Queer (photo: uncredited)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
YCRT! News & Opinion Roundup<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The \u2018Dangerous\u2019 Books Too Powerful to Read<\/a> <\/strong>(BBC)<\/p>\n

Books carry knowledge, and knowledge is power, which makes books a threat to authorities \u2013 governments and self-appointed leaders alike \u2013 who want to have a monopoly on knowledge and to control what their citizens think. And the most efficient way to exert this power over books is to ban them.<\/p>\n

The Disinformation Playbook Targeting Our Public Schools and Elections<\/strong><\/a> (True North Research)<\/p>\n

Since early 2021, a wave of right-wing organizations\u2013funded by ultra wealthy donors they keep secret from the public\u2013have sought to take political advantage of the challenges families have faced in their childrens\u2019 education due to the Covid-19 epidemic.\u00a0By design, we often don\u2019t know the identities of these groups\u2019 major funders, but they have significant ties to major school privatization proponents, such as billionaires Charles Koch and Betsy DeVos. Many of these dark money anti-public school groups and their affiliated Political Action Committees (PACs) also have close ties to GOP operatives.<\/p>\n

Why Did a Pennsylvania School District Ban ‘Girls Who Code’ Books?<\/a><\/strong> (Wonkette)<\/p>\n

Last week, at the start of Banned Books Week, PEN America<\/a> released its annual list of books banned in schools across the United States. As usual, there were more than a few selections that defy any explanation at all \u2014 chief among them being a series of books about the adventures of girls who belong to a coding club at their school.\u00a0Saturday, Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani was awakened by an alert on her phone letting her know that the “Girls Who Code” book series had been banned from classrooms in the Central York School District in Pennsylvania. On Twitter, she attributed the ban to the Moms for Liberty group that has notoriously been going around pushing book bans in schools across the nation.<\/p>\n

California Man Pleads Guilty to Threatening Merriam-Webster with Anti-LGBTQ Violence<\/a><\/strong> (US Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts)<\/p>\n

Merriam-Webster actually closed its main office in Springfield, Massachusetts, and another in New York City for five business days in response to this gentleman’s threats. \u2014 Paul<\/em><\/p>\n

“You headquarters should be shot up and bombed. It is sickening that you have caved to the cultural Marxist, anti-science tranny agenda and altered the definition of \u2018female\u2019 as part of the Left\u2019s efforts to corrupt and degrade the English language and deny reality. You evil Marxists should all be killed. It would be poetic justice to have someone storm your offices and shoot up the place, leaving none of you commies alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parents Blame Conservative Cell Phone Company for School Book Bans<\/a><\/strong> (The Advocate)<\/p>\n

Even though many of the titles passed the district’s book challenge process, a school district in north Texas pulled dozens of books from its library shelves one day before the school year began. In response, concerned parents and educators are bringing attention to the conservative playbook implemented in Texas, which includes a cell phone company’s mission to take over school boards.<\/p>\n

Related (from Twitter):<\/em><\/p>\n

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There is a Facebook group in my community scouring teacher\/librarian amazon wishlists looking for \u201cbad books\u201d and working w\/ our extremist school board to get these teachers\/librarians fired. @PENamerica<\/a> @Mike_Hixenbaugh<\/a> @cjtackett<\/a> @FReadomFighters<\/a> @andimJULIE<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/oHFwGMMild<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Laney Hawes (@LaneyHawes) August 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n