News of the Week for October 4th, 2015
- Obama Scandals
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Obama Scandals
Top Secret Service official wanted information about Chaffetz made public
The Secret Service’s assistant director urged that unflattering information the agency had in its files about a congressman critical of the service should be made public, according to a government watchdog report released Wednesday.
The Obama Administration Refuses The Win-Win Religious Liberty Solution
The U.S. Supreme Court returns from recess next week, and has an opportunity to authorize an abortifacient and contraceptive arrangement that works for everyone.
Secret Service Broke Privacy Laws In An Attempt To Smear Congressional Critic
A blockbuster report from the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) inspector general released today reveals how Secret Service agents illegally accessed the confidential personnel files of a congressman investigating the agency in an attempt to publicly smear him.
Gun Rights
Former US Marshal: Oregon Gunman Chose “Gun Free Facility” with Umpqua Community College
During an October 1 appearance on CNN’s Newroom, former US Marshal Art Roderick said the gunman at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College probably chose his target by knowing it was as gun free-zone and therefore “an easy target.”
Clinton at private fundraiser: SCOTUS is “wrong about the Second Amendment”
At a small private fundraiser in New York, Hillary Clinton slammed the Supreme Court and the National Rifle Association on Second Amendment issues, even going so far as to say that the Court is “wrong” regarding this provision in our bill of rights. Stephen Gutowski and Alanna Goodman at the Washington Free Beacon obtained the audio of this event
An Opinion on Gun Control, repost
Everything I need to say about mass shootings has already been said in this post from December 2012.
Five reasons that the benefits that flow from guns far outweigh the risks inherent in guns
With the shooting at Umpqua Community College having reanimated the Progressives’ demands that we withdraw guns from citizens’ hands and leave them solely in the hands of government operatives (a strange demand from the BLM-supporting crowd if you think about it), it’s time for me to rehash my five-point argument explaining why, the risks of guns notwithstanding, we are much safer with guns than without them.
The Truth About Gun Ownership in America Isn’t What Liberals Think
The truth? The number of guns in the United States has increased by 62% since 1994 but gun violence has decreased by 49% since 1993
Hide the Decline
Environment &
“Green Energy”
Almost All US Temperature Data Used In Global Warming Models Is Estimated or Altered
We have written many times about the fact that the temperature data used in the alarmists’ global warming models are not original data as measured by thermometers. Rather, they are “adjusted” numbers, consistently changed to make the past look cooler and the present warmer, so that more billions of dollars will flow from the world’s governments to the climate alarmists who serve government’s cause. This is, in my opinion, the greatest scandal in the history of science.
Approximately 92% (or 99%) of USHCN surface temperature data consists of estimated values
An analysis of the U.S. Historical Climatological Network (USHCN) shows that only about 8%-1% (depending on the stage of processing) of the data survives in the climate record as unaltered/estimated data.
Before Global Warming There Was The Oil Panic
According to this story from 1970s experts, right now we’ve run out of oil.
Shelly Moore Capito grills EPA official on jacking up energy costs to the poor
Most of the media attention on the hill yesterday was focused on the big Planned Parenthood debacle, but regular business was taking place in other committees as well. One such case was a hearing held by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works where EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation Janet McCabe was invited to sit down and explain some aspects of new regulations for power plant emissions.
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
Trump’s Health Plan, Revealed On “60 Minutes,” Sounds Like Obamacare
Billionaire Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump told 60 Minutes he would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act with a private plan that would “cover everybody” and “the government’s gonna pay for it.”
Obamacare’s Nonprofit Insurers Are Failing, Predictably
Remember health care co-ops? No, of course you don’t, because unlike some people I could name, you did not spend most of 2009 and 2010 reading white papers, scouring newspapers and attending panels to keep up with the exciting minute-to-minute details of Obamacare’s evolution.
War & Terror
Why Our Commanders Look The Other Way During Child Rape
Aging equipment is nothing compared to the incompetence and moral cowardice of our military’s senior leaders.
Taliban fighters storm northern Afghan city
Hundreds of Taliban fighters launched an early morning attack Monday on a strategic northern city, storming it from several directions, Afghan officials said.
General: Military “Degraded” by Obama
Barbara Hollingsworth at CNS News reports
ISIS planning “nuclear tsunami”
Nuclear annihilation across the globe. This is what a German reporter who successfully embedded with the Islamic State says the terror group is planning.
Green Beret who beat Afghan child rapist speaks out
We recently learned that Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland had his appeal denied by the Army as he seeks to prevent his forced discharge from the service. The chain of events stems from his participation in the beating of a pedophile Afghan local police official who had chained a local boy to his bed and repeatedly raped him.
Meet the American Vigilantes Who Are Fighting ISIS
A ragtag group of fighters from America and Europe have joined the fight against extremists in Syria. But with little training and no clear leadership, do they know what they’re doing?
Russia conducts first airstrike in Syria
Russia has conducted its first airstrike against ISIS in Syria, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said Wednesday.
CIA pulled officers from Beijing after OPM hacking of personnel records
The CIA pulled a number of officers from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing as a precautionary measure in the wake of the massive cybertheft of the personal data of federal employees, current and former U.S. officials said.
U.S. Army Patch For Soldiers Who Served In Fight Against ISIS Based On Muslim Brotherhood’s Logo?
A combat patch worn by U.S. soldiers who served in Iraq on the mission against Islamic State is drawing flak from service members and veterans who say the patch – with its palm wreath, stars and crossed scimitars – looks like something the enemy would wear.
Chilling: Netanyahu Glares at UN Delegates for 45 Seconds for Their “Deafening Silence” on Iran Deal
At the United Nations General Assembly Thursday in New York City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed his warning about Iran’s path to a nuclear bomb. Considering the recent passage of the nuclear agreement with Iran, the prime minister’s comments were especially powerful.
Russian Airstrike in Syria Targeted CIA-Backed Rebels, U.S. Officials Say
One area hit was location primarily held by rebels receiving funding, arms, training from CIA and allies
Social Justice Warriors corrupt military training
On August 17, the US Army began what might very well be an inexorable slide into the status of a Third World Army. That would not be because of a lack of money or manpower but because the Army senior leadership has become so politically corrupt that it will do whatever it is told, no matter the outcome on some far flung battlefield.
The Coming Defeat of NATO
Column: How Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama will break the Atlantic alliance
U.S. Navy Prepares Confrontation in the South China Sea
The United States is preparing to maneuver naval warships and aircraft close to China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea, in what would be the Obama Administration’s toughest response yet to Beijing.
National
5 Supreme Court cases to watch
The U.S. Supreme Court’s justices return to the bench next week to hear a slate of new cases with sweeping implications on race, the criminal justice system, public sector unions and, many experts expect, another rendezvous with ObamaCare.
Roskam: Republicans Gather Enough Votes For Special Conference To Slow Down Speakership Election
Republicans in the House of Representatives have banded together to ensure a cooperative debate on strategy and party disagreements before House GOP conference chairwoman Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers can try to help House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy take Rep. John Boehner’s soon-to-be-vacated job as House Speaker, and instead force a special extended conference meeting that can now happen without McMorris Rodgers’ approval.
Hillary Clinton Drags Down Democrats in NH
A new poll of New Hampshire likely voters is more bad news for Hillary Clinton. The survey indicates Clinton is the weakest Democrat candidate for next fall’s presidential election.
Boehner says he’ll get lots done in last month as speaker
Speaker John Boehner says he’s determined to clean up some of the mess of a politically gridlocked Congress in his final month before his successor takes over.
Hundreds Of Women Try Unsuccessfully To Schedule A Mammogram At Planned Parenthood
Hundreds of women called their local Planned Parenthood clinics Monday to schedule a mammogram, but none were able to successfully secure an appointment. That’s because the nation’s largest abortion provider doesn’t actually offer them.
Frustrated Dad Shows Why Common Core Math Is Awful
A frustrated dad recently posted a photo of a check he wrote out to his son’s school using Common Core-like math. Though Doug Hermann’s check was a joke, he has a point about Common Core math: it’s driving a wedge between parents and kids.
Why Does an Army Ranger Use a GoPro Camera to Defend Himself against Domestic Abuse?
Why did this Army Ranger feel the need to use a body camera to defend himself against physical abuse by his ex-wife? He’s an Army Ranger, after all. Presumably he is capable of defending himself in a way that most female victims cannot, by overpowering his attacker. Alas, as many male victims of domestic abuse learn, if they fully defend themselves, then they are arrested for domestic abuse.
Planned Parenthood Paid Protestors Who Threw Condoms at Carly Fiorina
Planned Parenthood paid some of its supporters who threw condoms at GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina and at her supporters during an Iowa Hawkeye tailgate on Saturday.
U.S. plan for Internet may be unconstitutional
President Obama’s plan to “internationalize” the Internet may be unconstitutional, key members of Congress are claiming.
Newark archbishop calls for more to be done to aid Christian refugees in Iraq and Syria
The Archbishop of Newark called on Monday for the international community to do more to protect besieged Christians in Iraq and Syria who have been fleeing violence and extremism at home, endangering some of the oldest Christian communities in the world.
Group gets judge’s OK to parade nude in S.F.
It’s illegal to go naked in public in San Francisco, unless you’re part of an event with a city permit, like a parade. And that’s what 50 to 100 nudists plan to do on city streets Saturday, with an assist from a federal judge.
HuffPo Writer Upset That She’d Have to “Feel Unsafe” If She Didn’t Shave Because of Racism
And it’s only gotten worse since 9/11.
Confederate Battle Flag at School Leads to Lockdown
A trio of students has been suspended from school after one of them brought a Confederate battle flag to campus.
Elizabeth Warren just gave the speech that Black Lives Matter activists have been waiting for
In a Sunday speech on racial inequality, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called for broad policing reform — including de-escalation training and body cameras for all police officers — and likened the current Black Lives Matter movement to the civil rights movement that won black Americans the right to vote in the 1960s.
Midwives Can’t Say “Pregnant Women”, Must Say “Birthing Individuals” To Avoid Offend Breastfeeding Trans Dad
Last year, the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) conducted a politically correct purge of their guidelines, removing any reference to fact that mothers are women, for fear of offending the transgendered. But now, an alliance of midwifes, mothers and experts have began to fight back, insisting that it is “dangerous” and “harmful” to deny the “biological reality” of motherhood.
Teamsters’ wariness of Hillary could spell trouble for her and her party
Fox News reports that the Teamsters union has decided not to endorse Hillary Clinton for president at this time. According to James Rosen, the union’s 26-member board decided unanimously to withhold endorsing Clinton.
Arthur Chu’s Grand Vision of Repressive Tolerance
There’s a rather silly piece in TechCrunch by a person best known for being a game show participant about his desire to silence those whose words and behavior he does not like via lawfare. In it, he argues that the federal government should open up basically every website with a comments section and every social media platform to endless waves of lawsuits.
New York City Council honors Ethel Rosenberg for “great bravery”
Ethel Rosenberg, who was executed with her husband for treason in 1953, was honored Monday by the City Council on what would have been her 100th birthday.
Former Jet Michel Faulkner to announce run for mayor
Former Jets player Michel Faulkner is ready to tackle City Hall, telling The Post he’ll formally announce his run for mayor on Monday.
Woman who dreamed about being blind had DRAIN CLEANER poured in her eyes by a sympathetic psychologist to fulfil her lifelong wish – and now she’s never been happier
Jewel Shuping said her fascination with blindness started in childhood
Grotesque: Media Cheers Mom Giving 14-Year-Old Son Female Hormones…
…and society hits another new low.
Up to 13 killed by shooter at Ore. community college
As many as 13 people were killed and 20 injured Thursday when a 20-year-old shooter opened fire in a classroom at a community college in southern Oregon, according to Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenbaum.
Killer Posted Warning On 4chan Hours Before Umpqua College Massacre
A spokesperson for the Douglas County Sheriff’s office states an emergency call came in about a shooting on the campus at 10:48 a.m. PT. Multiple police units have responded to the scene and are still at the campus. Umpqua Community College Mainstream Newspaper posted on Facebook that UCC staff and students are in lockdown.
How Just One Woman Defrauded Food Stamps For $3.6 Million
Convenience store owner Vida Ofori Causey out of Worcester, Mass. was charged in federal court Monday after pleading guilty to $3.6 million worth of food stamp fraud.
Oregon college gunman asked victims to state their religion before shooting
The shooter asked people if they were Christian. “If they said yes, then they were shot in the head… If they said no, or didn’t answer, they were shot in the legs.”
Bakery Owners Refuse to Pay Damages in Gay Wedding Cake Case
The owners of a Portland-area bakery are refusing to pay $135,000 in state-ordered damages to a same-sex couple who were refused service.
Oregon gunman singled out Christians during rampage
A 26-year-old gunman singled out Christians for slaughter during a rampage at an Oregon community college Thursday, leaving at least 9 people dead and many more wounded, survivors and authorities said.
“He wasn’t going to stand and watch something horrific happen”: The hero Army veteran who was shot seven times as he “charged at Oregon college shooter”
Chris Mintz, 30, was taken to hospital following the college shooting
October Surprise: Rep. Jason Chaffetz Preparing Run for House Speaker, Sources Say
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) is laying the groundwork to launch a campaign for House speaker, Politico reports, citing “multiple sources.”
Farming In Fear
Earlier this week, I attended an event in Michigan that included a screening of a brand-new documentary called Farming In Fear. The film, just 28 minutes long, tells the story of Martha Boneta, who bought a small farm in Virginia and tried to make a go of it by selling produce and so on. She was viciously harassed by a variety of government agencies and environmental groups who evidently intended to drive her out of business.
Homeowner Fined for Flying American Flag
Looks like Barack Obama truly has transformed America.
Trump still leads GOP field — but Rubio’s now in second
Apart from one stray Rasmussen poll in early August that had Rubio tied with Jeb Bush at 10 percent, this is the first poll since the start of Trumpmania in June that’s placed him as high as second. And that Rasmussen one seems to have been an outlier in hindsight: It also had Trump at 17 percent, the only poll taken in the last two months in which he hasn’t cracked 20 percent.
House Republicans in solid shape for 2016 elections
For liberals hoping to see Democrats retake the House will be sadly disappointed next year, as House Republicans look pretty solid going into 2016. In January, Stuart Rothenberg had this to say about the chances Democrats might take back the lower chamber
At Colorado college, a ban on the words “God,” “Jesus,” and “Lord”
The Colorado School of Mines has taken speech codes to a nonsensical level. More than that, they are making it up as they go along.
Muslim family are driven from their home… after they converted to Christianity
Neighbours vandalise car and call them “blasphemers”
Illegal Immigrants Could Elect Hillary
How noncitizens decrease Republican chances of winning the White House next year.
Cornell President Says Government Should Regulate Speech to “Serve a Compelling State Interest”
When Cornell President Elizabeth Garrett uttered these words in her inauguration speech last Friday, Cornell students and faculty rejoiced and Cornell’s PR machine, including all of its social media accounts and the Cornell Daily Sun, had a field day.
Mad scientists beat back the politically correct “police”
Even nerds aren’t exempt from the PC police — as the kids at Claremont/Harvey Mudd College learned from being slapped as insensitive toward the mentally ill for throwing a “mad scientist”-themed dorm party.
Abortion, birth control, race top Supreme Court’s agenda
Abortion, birth control and race are among the most divisive issues the Supreme Court will confront over the next nine months, amid a presidential election campaign in which some candidates are talking pointedly about the justices and the prospect of replacing some of them in the next few years.
New Education Secretary a Big Supporter of Common Core
John King, former education commissioner for the state of New York, has been tapped by President Obama to head up the Department of Education. King replaces Arne Duncan, who is resigning to go back to Chicago.
CNN Alters Photo of Umpqua Killer Chris Harper-Mercer to Make Him Look White
CNN photoshops the photo of Oregon killer Chris Harper-Mercer to make him look white.
Economy & Taxes
China’s Planned City Bubble Is About to Pop—and Even You’ll Feel It
Seven years after the last housing debacle devastated the world economy, we may be on the verge of another, albeit different, bubble. If the last real estate collapse was created due to insanely easy lending policies aimed at the middle and working classes, the current one has its roots largely in a regime of cheap money married to policies of planners who believe that they can shape the urban future from above.
China’s Coming Great Depression
China is steering down the same course that took the United States into its Great Depression.
Icahn warns of potential looming catastrophe
Danger ahead—that’s the warning from Carl Icahn in a video coming Tuesday.
An ailing global economy starts to weigh on US job market
A sagging global economy has finally caught up with the United States.
Record 94,610,000 Americans Not in Labor Force
The number of Americans not in the labor force exceeded 94 million for the second time in a row last month hitting a new record high, according to new government data released Friday morning.
Labor Force Participation Rate Lowest in 38 Years
A record 94,610,000 Americans were not in the American labor force last month — an increase of 579,000 from August — and the labor force participation rate reached its lowest point in 38 years, with 62.4 percent of the U.S. population either holding a job or actively seeking one.
International
Pro-Independence
The Junts pel Si (Together for Yes) coalition promoted by Catalan President Artur Mas secured 64 seats out of 135 in the regional parliament, according to the exit poll data.
Voters in Catalonia move region closer to independence from Spain
Separatists have won a clear majority of seats in Catalonia’s parliament, according an exit poll after an election that could set the region on a collision course with Spain’s central government over independence.
Catalan independence gets an election boost
Centre-Right Ciudadanos also gains, meaning PM Rajoy faces a double threat.
Karl Marx is “back in fashion”, key ally of Britain’s Labour leader says
The hard-left finance spokesman for Britain’s opposition Labour Party said on Monday that Karl Marx, co-author of “The Communist Manifesto”, is back in fashion because his ideas offer a definitive way to analyse the capitalist foundations of the modern Western economy.
Saudi Arabia: The Middle East’s Real Apartheid State
A country whose black population is deprived of civil rights. Where are the boycotts?
Nigel Farage on migrants, EU and the Syria crisis
On the eve of Ukip’s annual party conference, Kirsty Wark spoke to their leader Nigel Farage. She began by asking what he thinks about about the Prime Minister’s new commitment of aid for refugees. This is the FULL version of their interview
University student union bans free Tex-Mex sombreros for being “racist”
University of East Anglia student union officials orders Tex-Mex restaurant to stop handing out free sombreros to students
Unfriending a colleague on Facebook amounts to bullying, rules court
Can trimming out someone from your Facebook friends’ list land you in the dock? In Tasmania it did, where a tribunal has ruled that “unfriending” someone on Facebook amounts to workplace bullying.
Muslim father kills daughter caught shoplifting condoms
A Muslim father has admitted to strangling his 19-year-old daughter to death after she was caught shoplifting condoms to use with a man she had been forbidden from dating.
More than just undies: The smallest details are the most important for parents of transgender kids
EVERY day, 11-year-old Jake* runs to the letterbox to check if the postman has been. For four weeks he’s been waiting for a parcel that seems as if it will never come.
Austria Changes Constitution to Take In More Migrants
Officials in Germany, Sweden, consider seizing property to house new migrants
Last Laughs in Europe
Under a giant portrait of Mohammed, Mark Steyn speaks to a capacity crowd at the Landsting Hall at the Danish Parliament. We doubt either the US Congress or the UK Parliament would have hosted such an event.
Second German woman evicted from her home to make way for refugees
Towns and cities across Germany are struggling to find accommodation for the tens of thousands of refugees streaming into the country
Germany took in more than 200,000 migrants last month
Germany took in more than 200,000 migrants in September, politicians said on Thursday, a new record which is likely to fuel the debate about how many newcomers Europe’s most populous country can absorb.
Oxford University Student Union bans free speech magazine because it is “offensive”
The prestigious university’s Student’s Union was not impressed by the magazine, which is called “No Offence”
Opinion
Abortion, Suicide, And Same-Sex Weddings Are Now Your Job
The Left’s ultimate objective is not merely to legalize abortion, assisted suicide, or same-sex marriage. It is to weaponize government to force your participation.
Yugoslavia’s Warning to America
That America is in trouble, and headed for more of it, is becoming received wisdom across the political aisle. For many on the Right, the Obama presidency heralds a new political age which they don’t like, just as many on the Left believed that the presidency of George W. Bush indicated that the end of the American experiment was nigh.
Why Socialism Can’t Make a Sandwich
Last month I took note of the curious fact that many people find Friedrich Hayek’s classic 1945 essay “The Use of Knowledge in Society” difficult or opaque at first, including even economic geniuses like Thomas Sowell and Russ Roberts.
Immigration Is Remaking America. Is That What We Want?
This Pew Report quantifies the explosive impact that immigration, legal and illegal, is having on the United States. This year is the 50th anniversary of the Ted Kennedy-inspired Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.
Is Biden the Democrat’s best hope?
According to TIME, he is indeed!
Pat Condell: The Invasion of Europe
The EU is breaking the law to import rape and jihad.
Comedy Central Should Have Hired Daniel Tosh To Host “The Daily Show”
Daniel Tosh is an equal-opportunity comedian. Trevor Noah is not.
Likeability and the Lens
Hillary Clinton’s problem is that the camera doesn’t lie.
The GOP Is Overmatched
The only thing we learned from the Planned Parenthood hearing is that these Republicans aren’t serious.
A redcoat solution to government surveillance
Efforts to halt the government’s mass surveillance of ordinary citizens have taken two forms: urging Congress to do the right thing (something it rarely does anymore) or suing spy agencies under the 4th Amendment (which prohibits most warrantless searches and seizures). Neither strategy has been particularly effective.
Third Amendment Penumbras: Some Preliminary Observations
In the landmark case of Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court told us that the Third Amendment casts a penumbra. This Essay, part of a Tennessee Law Review symposium on the Third Amendment, looks at the Third Amendment, and its construction in such cases as Griswold and Engblom v. Carey, to conclude that the Third Amendment’s penumbral protections may extend to protect areas of domestic concern against state interference in the form of things like “affirmative consent” laws, regulation of childrearing practices, and invasions of electronic privacy. It concludes with some thoughts on how the Third Amendment should be read together with other protections contained within the Bill of Rights.
Our Summer of Omelas
We are being shown how our society has built itself around the suffering of children about whom no one cares.
Latte Town RevisitedShare article on Facebook
David Brooks was wrong.
The Mob Is Coming For You
The constitution of the Roman Republic was designed as a corrective to democracy. Specifically, it was hoping to protect against the excesses of Athenian-style direct democracy. About twice a month in Athens, citizens voted into law almost anything they wished. About six to seven thousand citizens would squeeze into a hillside amphitheater known as the Pnyx and were swayed by demagogues (“people leaders”) into voting for or against whatever the cause de jour was. Our term “democracy” comes from the Greek dêmos-kratos, which means “people-power.”
Fisking the New York Times’ Modern Man
More like modern pajama boy man-child. This New York Times article is so remarkably stupid that it has already been mocked across the entire internet. However, as a manly man of manliness, it is my responsibility to address this piece of fuckwittery. The same way that as a professional working writer I am compelled to respond to stupid writing advice that might otherwise screw up aspiring authors, I have to Fisk this.
Everyone hates SCOTUS but it’s not a problem you can “fix.” Or is it?
If you’re unhappy with the Supreme Court and you want to see the situation addressed I have two words for you: artificial intelligence.
Mass Immigration, Nationality and Supranationalism Share article on Facebook
I posted some comments yesterday on a Financial Times article by Martin Wolf, the son (as he points out) of immigrants himself, in which he knocked the (idiotic) idea that mass immigration was somehow the answer to the funding of ageing European welfare states.
A Harvard-Educated Feminist
Sarah Marian Seltzer (@sarahmseltzer) is a feminist and a fool, but I repeat myself. You never heard of her, and I hadn’t, either. Then one of her tweets — advocating “a human blockade around NRA headquarters” ‘ came to my attention, and I wondered, “Who is this idiot?”
The Intersectional Oppression Derby
Feminist Tumblr is home to strange people
Banned Books Week, Busted
Banned Books Week, the American Library Association’s annual self-advertisement, has now ended for this year. Bookstores will disassemble their earnest displays of “banned books,”and the semblance of normality will return to public libraries. And we will be left with the sobering thought that, in 21st-century America, there remain people who would ban the works of Harper Lee or J.D. Salinger or Judy Blume, to give some favorite examples.
