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District pulls video showing same-sex couples from curriculum
Press of Atlantic City ^
Posted on 02/10/2007 10:42:12 AM PST by Sub-Driver
District pulls video showing same-sex couples from curriculum
The Associated Press (Published: February 10, 2007)
EVESHAM, N.J. (AP) - A video showing same-sex parents that was used as part of the third-grade curriculum in this Burlington County town has been pulled after parents protested.
School officials Friday decided to stop using the documentary titled "That's a Family" while a committee decides whether to use the video in future classes, the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill reported for Saturday's newspapers.
The video, produced by a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization called Women's Educational Media, shows children discussing the different types of families they come from including homes led by single parents, adoptive parents and same-sex couples.
The documentary was only shown once at an elementary school before it raised concerns among many parents.
At an emotionally-charged meeting last month that drew more than 200 people, many parents said the film violated their religious beliefs and that the students were too young to see this type of material.
Supporters of the video say it helps children learn tolerance and respect for others.
"It's sad that they're caving in," Lisa Hellerman, a lesbian who has a third-grader in the district, told the newspaper. "All this film did was show what it means to be a family."
(Excerpt) Read more at pressofatlanticcity.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: New Jersey
KEYWORDS: culturewars; feminism; feminists; homosexualagenda; newjersey; perverts; publiceducation; publicschools
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To: pandoraou812
41
posted on
02/10/2007 8:53:04 PM PST
by
Calpernia
(Breederville.com)
To: Calpernia
I have a big smile on my face. Thanks for all your links and help. You are terrific! ~~Pandora~~
42
posted on
02/10/2007 8:56:41 PM PST
by
pandoraou812
( zero tolerance to the will of Allah ...... dilligaf? with an efg.....)
To: pandoraou812
We are all terrific!
Bump to caring parents!
43
posted on
02/10/2007 9:00:28 PM PST
by
Calpernia
(Breederville.com)
To: plan2succeed.org
but I do not know why it does so.
To strip them of their innocence.
Cultural Marxism is the name of the game.
Once striping them of their innocence so they can
use their guilt to turn them into sociopaths.
Antisocial personality disorder- Wikipedia (A must read)
Why turn them into sociopaths?
Because it is hard if not impossible to enslave intelligent
thinking hard working independent people who have the support of a
family that supplies them with a heritage and culture.
The Marxists then intend to overthrow our current form
of government and constitution and seize power.
Our values and culture emanate from our Judeo - Christian beliefs.
To become a Marxist you must remove those beliefs because they are in direct conflict with the Marxist dialect,
ie.
1. A one world government.
2. Sexual and self worship.
3. Replacing the church with or control of the church by government.
4. The state deciding who lives and who dies.
5. The government empowered raising themselves up as gods. (little "g").
6. (the most important) To eliminate guilt, remorse and conscience from man (Jewish law / Christian sin).
The end result is slavery and what Communists call paradise.
(I guess they would think that if they were in power and not the slaves.)
Read Gramsci for your answers.
Here is the architect's complete set of plans.
![](http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0814727018.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIlitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg)
He planed all this to overthrow the government and usher in
a Marxixist society.
He knew that the cultural and religious beliefs would
never allow it to happen no matter how many governments he
overthrew.
Read Fred Hayek's the road to serfdom.
Capitalism is truly an individualistic free man system
with it's roots in Judeo Cristian beliefs.
(Guess that explains why the left attacks the Jews and
Christians and why Stalin outlawed religion.)
where as communism / fascism (and most ism's) is a collectivist slave system.
44
posted on
02/10/2007 10:23:16 PM PST
by
DaveTesla
(You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
To: plan2succeed.org
http://www.discoverthenetwork.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6348
www.DiscoverTheNetwork.org Date: 2/11/2007 1:39:02 AM
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION (ALA)
50 E. Huron
Chicago, IL
60611
Phone :1-800-545-2433
URL :http://www.ala.org/
Opposes the Patriot Act
Characterizes anti-terrorism measures as assaults on civil liberties
Is pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel
Founded in 1876 in Philadelphia and chartered three years later in Massachusetts, the American Library Association (ALA) is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 64,000 members. Its mission is "to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all."
In recent years, the ALA has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's War on Terror and, most particularly, Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act. Section 215 reworks Title V of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, and states that if the FBI believes a library's computers are being used by terrorists to plan or carry out their activities, the Bureau may make an application to a judge who can grant an order for the production of a suspected patron's records. ALA members condemn Section 215, vowing that they will not break the "sacred" trust that exists between a patron and a librarian.
Following ALA policy, more than 225 libraries across the United States have chosen to defy the mandates of Section 215. For instance, the Santa Cruz, California library has chosen to shred all records of its patrons' book use on a daily basis. Anne M. Turner, Director of that city's library system, explained, "The basic strategy now is to keep as little historical information as possible."
In January 2003 the ALA passed a resolution calling Section 215 a present danger to the constitutional rights and privacy rights of library users. The organization's website featured a prominent display of lawsuits filed against the federal government in an effort to thwart the implementation of the Patriot Act. In a link titled "FBI in Your Library," the ALA website described a scenario where "A couple of suited thugs take the library patron away." The website also provided a link to a Village Voice article titled "Things we lost in the fire," depicting America's alleged transformation into a fascist state. "Looking for terrorists in a public library is just part of an overall strategy to diminish the civil liberties of American citizens," said ALA President Mitch (Maurice) Freedman.
The ALA has a long history of objecting to government interference or scrutiny. In 1953, at the height of the Cold War, the organization issued its "Freedom to Read" statement, resisting federal calls to loyalty. In 1984 the ALA passed a resolution condemning the United States for withdrawing from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO. (That withdrawal had been made to protest UNESCO's growing politicization; anti-Western bias; budgetary mismanagement; anti-free market policies; and advocacy of a new world information order through which the organization sought to institute the licensing of journalists and increased government control over the media.)
In 1998 the ALA's Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) voiced its opposition to the U.S. bombing of Iraq. The self-proclaimed "conscience of the ALA," the SRRT believes that "libraries and librarians must recognize and help solve social problems and inequities in order to carry out their mandate to work for the common good and bolster democracy."
In June 2002 the ALA, under the auspices of its SRRT section, condemned Israel for its alleged oppression of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The ALA demanded that the United States and other nations do all they could to "prevent further destruction of libraries and cultural resources" in Palestinian territories by Israel. When confronted with the fact that any destruction at the time had taken place during a war (the Palestinian Intifada against Israel), ALA President Mitch Freedman responded: "ALA policy does not differentiate between deliberate or unintentional destruction. Whether it is intentional or unintentional, justified or unjustified, the destruction of libraries, library collections, and property [is deplored by the ALA]."
At a January 2003 ALA meeting in Philadelphia, Freedman screened a documentary about the bitterly anti-American, anti-Israel professor Noam Chomsky, and a videotaped speech by Amy Goodman, the host of the Democracy Now! radio program.
Two months later, the ALA argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) -- which states that libraries should filter Internet access to eliminate "visual depictions that are obscene, contain child pornography or are harmful to minors" -- was an infringement on freedom of expression. The ALA spent more than $1.7 million on court battles to fight the implementation of CIPA.
In 2003, when news outlets reported that Iraqi libraries had been vandalized and looted during the conflict, the ALA website blamed the United States.
The ALA website features a section titled "Alternative Resources on the U.S. 'War Against Terrorism," which contains links to Antiwar.com, MichaelMoore.com, StopTheWar.com, WarResistersLeague.com, and a series of petitions opposing America's War on Terrorism. The SRRT portion of the ALA website directs readers to links that explore "Cuban Library Tours and Conferences" where they can "find out for [themselves] the real Cuba." There are also links to the "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgendered Round Table," and to numerous websites beginning with the word "progressive."
The ALA was a signatory to a March 17, 2003 letter exhorting members of the U.S. Congress to oppose Patriot Act II on grounds that it "would severely dilute, if not undermine, many basic constitutional rights." In addition, the ALA has given its organizational endorsement to the Community Resolution to Protect Civil Liberties campaign, which tries to influence city councils to pass resolutions of noncompliance with the Patriot Act.
The ALA is a member organization of the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE), a coalition of groups that believe the American workplace is rife with sexism and discrimination against women.
The ALA has received funding from: the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Verizon Foundation, and others.
45
posted on
02/10/2007 10:40:52 PM PST
by
DaveTesla
(You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
To: plan2succeed.org
Gee... you don't think the ALA is being by communists do you?.....
http://www.discoverthenetwork.org/printindividualProfile.asp?indid=990
www.DiscoverTheNetwork.org Date: 2/11/2007 1:41:16 AM
MITCH (MAURICE) FREEDMAN
Former president of the American Library Association
Opposed the Patriot Act provision which grants access to a persons library records if they are believed to be involved in terrorist activities
Critic of the Childrens Internet Protection Act
Critical of Israel for not protecting libraries during the Palestinian-led Intifada
Critical of the U.S. for the looting that Iraqis did to their own libraries during the War in Iraq
Mitch (Maurice) Freedman was President of the American Library Association (ALA) from 2002-2003. Under his leadership, the ALA became hostile toward federal law-enforcement agencies trying to enforce provisions of the Patriot Act. Section 215 of the Patriot Act allows judges to grant a court order for a persons library records if the FBI believes he or she may be involved in terrorist activities. As reported in a FrontPageMagazine.com article by Paul Walfield, Freedman called the Act a product of the vast right-wing conspiracy, even though it passed the U.S., Senate by a vote of 99-1. Looking for terrorists in a public library, said Freedman, is just part of an overall strategy to diminish civil liberties of American citizens.
In a speech he gave to the West Virginia Library Association on October 29, 2001, Freedman said, I fear that the attack on the World Trade Center is now resulting in attacks on basic American values of liberty, privacy, and fairness. Unfortunately, he added, there is little the ALA can do to protect citizens of foreign nationalities, cab drivers, and others in the U.S. from being beaten up or worse simply because of their national origin or ethnicity. As librarians you can play a role by making available information and scheduling programs that teach about Islam, liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and, in general, counsel tolerance and understanding.
Freedman also complained that the Childrens Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which requires libraries to filter Internet terminals for inappropriate material such as pornography, violates the ideals of intellectual freedom and keeps adults and library staff from viewing such material as well. He said the ALA had committed more than $1 million to fight CIPA.
In June of 2002, the ALA took sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, condemning Israel and demanding that the United States and other nations do all they could to prevent further destruction of libraries and cultural resources in Palestinian territories by Israel. When confronted with the fact that any destruction at the time took place during a war (the so-called intifada by the Palestinians against Israel), Freedman responded by saying, ALA policy does not differentiate between deliberate or unintentional destruction. Whether it is intentional or unintentional, justified or unjustified, the destruction of libraries, library collections, and property [is deplored by the ALA]. No condemnation of terrorists was made by the ALA, just a condemnation of Israels defensive measures. To underscore his anti-Israeli views, President Freedman screened a documentary about Noam Chomsky and a speech by Amy Goodman, the far-left hostess of the Democracy Now radio show, at a January 2003 ALA meeting.
Regarding the 2003 war against Iraq, Freedman and the ALA blamed America for the vandalism and looting that Iraqis did to their libraries in the midst of that conflict. The ALA website declared, The National Library and Archives of Iraq and the principal Islamic library were destroyed last week by looters and arsonists. Reports indicated that the libraries were unguarded at the time of their destruction. Freedman said, The American Library Association grieves for and deplores the catastrophic losses to Iraqs cultural heritage that have already occurred with the destruction of the National Library Archives and the Islamic library. Cultural heritage is as important as oil. Libraries are a cornerstone of democracy and are vital resources in the re-establishment of a civil society. We urge the administration to ensure that in the future the necessary resources will be made available to prevent further catastrophes.
For Freedman and the ALA, not risking American lives to protect Iraqs libraries during the war was unconscionable.
46
posted on
02/10/2007 10:45:02 PM PST
by
DaveTesla
(You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
To: plan2succeed.org
Librarians to sever ties with Scouts?
Effort underway cites discrimination against atheists, 'gays'
ALA Director has ties with Communist party.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49860
Posted: April 22, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Walter Skold
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
A renewed effort by several members of the American Library Association's governing council would sever all ties with the Boy Scouts of America until the youth organization stops "discriminating" against avowed atheists and homosexuals.
In 1998, the council of the ALA, the world's largest library organization, condemned the Boy Scouts over its policies, but a WorldNetDaily investigation reveals activists quietly are planning to take action at the association's annual convention in June.
The renewed effort is led by Mark Rosenzweig, formerly an official archivist with the U.S. Communist Party and a chief defender of Fidel Castro in the ALA controversy over the communist regime's repression of the independent library movement in Cuba, reported by WorldNetDaily .
"It is scary that an organization which purports to believe in free speech and intellectual freedom would take this kind of action," said BSA spokesman Bob Bork. "It is a Soviet-style effort to make us a non-person."
Rosenzweig unveiled his proposal April 9 on the ALA council e-mail list, declaring, "I am tired of seeing Council pass resolutions which like the previous one on the BSA are never monitored or reported back upon and for which no one takes responsibility."
He was referring to a 1999 ALA resolution, which read: "That the American Library Association urges the Boy Scouts of America to reconsider their policy of discrimination in the areas of sexual orientation and religious belief and demonstrate a commitment to human rights, inclusiveness, and mutual respect."
The BSA's Bork responded: "How could they show such utter disregard to the First Amendment rights of any organization? We have the same rights of freedom of association as the ALA and it is disgusting to think they would disrespect those rights."
Michael Golrick, an ALA council member and city librarian for Bridgeport, Ct., told WND he believes the resolution "will accomplish exactly what the last one did: No changes in BSA policies, and irritated librarians who hold views not shared by the radical left."
Golrick was one of the few council members to publicly object to the 1999 resolution. He wore his Scout uniform to the meeting, prompting ridicule from John Berry III, editor of Library Journal, who called it "silly."
"This resolution plays into the hands of critics who take ALA to task for being too liberal," Golrick warned. "If anything, this will turn off many librarians who might otherwise join the organization since it positions ALA in such a left-wing position."
The announcement of the new proposal touched off a flurry of policy questions and debate on the ALA council e-mail list in which members from various committees looked into old records to see what is meant by phrases such as "affiliate," "liaison" and "official."
In response to apparent uncertainty about the outcome of the previous resolution, Stephen L. Matthews, a councilor-at-large, said "We still need to hear from ALSC about what is really happening today."
"Whether there is anything happening or not," he added, "it is important to reiterate our concern to BSA about the destructive nature of their so-called 'moral modeling' policy."
Matthews said, with little response from fellow councilors, "I wholeheartedly support additional communication with BSA challenging their policy of intolerance and its encouragement of hate and contempt as part of their organizational commitment to 'moral education.'"
The volume and intensity of the response on weblogs, e-mail lists and e-mails to WND shows the issue has struck a chord.
Among the opinions received by WND after querying three library e-mail lists are these:
We should be open to working with the Boy Scouts or any organization which does so much to help boys in so many ways. If ALA wants to help the Scouts become more inclusive, they certainly won't do it by severing all contact and shutting them out of our organization. Carol Simmons, director, Daly City Library, Calif.
I am so sick of the ALA speaking for ALL librarians when I believe that they are only speaking for a MINORITY of librarians. I was a Boy Scout leader for 10 years. Boys Scouts is a great organization. The ALA needs to concentrate on library issues and leave the Boy Scouts ALONE!!!!! Sharon Beever, Maine.
"This could turn into a bigger brouhaha than Dr. Laura started, and even teach the Scouts themselves how uptight we are about being liberal another side of bigotry," wrote a retired California librarian who wished to remain anonymous. "Young people deserve better."
"Couldn't ALA show the bigger heart and merely proclaim itself disapproving of the BSA stance and continue to help the Scouts in the reading and librarianship business?" she wondered.
"I absolutely believe the ALA should take this action, as should all organizations committed to fairness. With its goal of being "a leader in recruiting and developing a highly qualified and diverse library work force," the organization must take actions like the proposed resolution to improve the profession's relationship to diversity." Liberty Smith.
"Because the Boy Scouts choose to discriminate within their organization, my family does not support any of their local or national efforts. I would truly appreciate the gesture of ALA breaking all ties with them as well." Katie O'Dell, reading promotions coordinator, Multnomah County Library, Portland, Ore.
"We would be undermining another value that of inclusivity that many people love about libraries and by extension ALA. On the other hand our relationships say something about our values, and not making some sort of statement puts us in murky ethical territory kind of like not divesting in the Sudan or wherever. I wonder if there is some middle ground that preserves the value of inclusivity." University of California librarian.
"BSA will not change its policies but ALA can and should." "Big grandma"
Officially, leaders of the ALA and its divisions appear to be taking a cautious approach.
Asked the president's opinion and if the executive board had discussed the issue, ALA spokeswoman Larra Clark said, "The ALA executive board is not discussing the BSA matter at this time, but I can let you know if action is taken in the future."
Officials at the Association of Library Services to Children, which has had the most contact with the BSA and which was criticized most on the council list did not reply to WND by press time.
Beth Yoke, executive director of the Young Adult Library Services Association, or YALSA, told WND that if an official resolution "regarding any issue is put before ALA's council, YALSA's board of directors, when it next meets, will discuss the proposed resolution with the intent of coming to a consensus on what direction to provide YALSA's Councilor on how to vote on the resolution."
She also confirmed her group has not received any complaints from ALA members or the public about the informal contacts the ALA maintains with the Scouts.
Librarian and ALA council candidate Greg McClay says the lack of public outcry over the BSA-ALA relationship shows there is "no professional reasoning behind any of this, as libraries serve everyone."
"This is strictly personal politics," he charged, pointing out comments posted on the weblog of ALA councilor K. R. Roberto, who said "Personally, I am rather uncomfortable with the concept of ALA having close ties with an organization that finds me morally unfit."
"And yet this person engages in a discussion to decide if the Boy Scouts are morally fit enough for ALA to have close ties with?" said McClay, a Massachusetts librarian.
While no scientific opinion polls have been take, this week the ALA's American Libraries Direct online magazine asked the question, "Should the Boy Scouts of America's policy of excluding agnostics, atheists, and gays prohibit libraries from cooperating with the organization in joint programs?"
Forty-Seven percent voted yes while a majority, 53 percent, vote no.
There is a difference, however, between this poll and an informal one by WND. The WND question asked only about a resolution that would cut off relations with the BSA; it didn't mention particular libraries.
Even supporters of the resolution within the ALA have not gone as far as to say individual libraries should not cooperate with Scouts and Scout troops.
As Rosenzweig wrote to the council list: "Serving the needs of members of the Boy Scouts is one thing, supporting the BSA, Inc. organizationally linking to them is QUITE another."
The AL Direct poll seems to indicate many members are not familiar with the Library Bill of Rights, which forbids viewpoint with respect to collection policy and public use.
"Who are we to tell the Boy Scouts that their philosophies are wrong? Have the Boy Scouts told ALA that they disagree with our stand on certain issues?" asked Evelyn Bell, administrative secretary at the Moreno, Calif., Valley Public Library. "While I don't agree with BSA's stand on atheists and homosexuals, I'm not interested in alienating, as a group, an organization who works at creating good citizens."
In support of her argument against the resolution, Bell cited a policy on tolerance from the BSA website:
"A core value of the BSA is respect. Scouting respects those with ideas and customs that are different from our own and expects the same respect from those who may disagree with Scouting's position. Tolerance for a diversity of values and ideals does not require abdication of one's own values."
"If human rights are the issue let us remove the mask of deception," wrote Nanette Overholt a library associate at the Solano, Calif., County Library.
"There is no persecution against the right to be gay that comes from the Boy Scouts of America, but there does seem to be a constant harassment and bullying from the gay community for the Boy Scouts to conform to their beliefs," she complained. "The gay community seems to want to abolish the right and freedom to think differently than themselves."
"Let me leave you with this question: Who is tolerant here?" she ended.
Anthony E. Lee, a professor and librarian at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, agreed in a telephone interview that, "This would be going against their very own principles of liberal openness" not to tolerate the Scouts.
Lee, a longtime BSA and ALA member who has degrees from Seton Hall, Columbia University and Princeton, told WND, "The Boy Scouts of America, ever since I was in scouting in the 1960s, has maintained a stance that is unchanged by the winds of caprice."
"Meaning they are who they have always been very straight-laced," he added, "And I, being an Eagle Scout and a member of the Order of the Arrow have always backed Scouting in that stance."
"Look, if you don't subscribe to ALA rules you don't have to join," agreed Bork. "There is no 'right' to membership."
But Bork agreed that if discrimination is seen from the standpoint of ALA policies, one could conclude the association has the right, as a private organization, to choose not to associate with the BSA.
"It is a private, non-profit group and it has rights for membership standards," said Bork, "But we would find it insulting if the ALA removed all mention of Scouts from their websites."
The renewed debate over the Boy Scout resolution will come to a head at the ALA annual convention this June in New Orleans when the council can decide to table the resolution, accept or modify it, or recommend that the matter be given further consideration by a relevant committee.
"There will be, if necessary, a floor fight," the resolution sponsor Rosenzweig already has told his fellow council members.
"And this time I hope the majority is not bullied by special interests connected to the BSA," he said.
Golrick warned those same council members: "As a public library director, I know how critical it is to have support throughout the community. The youth of today are the voters of tomorrow. How can [libraries] expect support in the future, if we do not support the youth today."
47
posted on
02/10/2007 11:08:53 PM PST
by
DaveTesla
(You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
To: plan2succeed.org
Cuban plea for help
spiked by librarians
Question legitimacy of book lenders
imprisoned in crackdown by Castro
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33228
Posted: June 24, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Art Moore
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
The co-founder of a movement that put George Orwell's anti-totalitarian classic "Animal Farm" in the hands of Cubans says the American Library Association is ignoring the plight of 14 colleagues imprisoned in a March crackdown by the Castro regime.
Fidel Castro
Ramon Colas, who launched the Independent Library Project of Cuba with his wife in 1998, came to the ALA's annual conference in Toronto last weekend in search of "solidarity" but went away disappointed, he told WorldNetDaily.
"The behavior of the ALA in Toronto showed the level of its complicity with the Havana regime," said Colas, who left Cuba in December 2001 with his wife, Berta Mexidor, and now lives in Miami.
Colas brought to Toronto an official request from the executive director of the library project, Gisela Delgado Sablon, asking the ALA to demand that Castro release independent librarians imprisoned for up to 26 years.
An ALA subcommittee, however, is prepared to submit a resolution to the broader council that only expresses "concern" for recent arrests, without specifying the targets.
The influence of a delegation of five officials sent from Cuba's state-run libraries has much to do with that, said Colas, who spoke through an interpreter.
Eliades Acosta, Cuba's national libraries director, accuses the independent book lenders of being tools of the United States to topple Havana's communist government.
"The independent libraries have ... demonstrated they are receiving money to subvert the institutional order of Cuba," Acosta said in a speech Saturday at a book convention in Toronto, according to the Associated Press.
Colas insists his peaceful movement has no weapons or plans to overtake military bases, but focuses on opening the minds of "people so they can choose the culture they want."
"The one who is subverting the cultural order of Cuba is Fidel Castro," he said. "While Castro is imprisoning civilians, the librarians are opening their homes to allow Cubans to read things they wouldn't be allowed to see otherwise."
Titles barred by the regime include biographies of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document Cuba has signed.
Fidel's discourse
Colas said it was clear the official librarians were acting in the Cuban dictator's interest in Toronto, noting he was to be part of a debate that was called off at the last minute.
Ramon Colas with children and wife, Berta Mexidor
"I heard from them Fidel Castro's discourse, not their individual thinking," he said.
But similar sentiments were heard from ALA members, including an influential policy-maker on the international relations committee, which will decide on a resolution today.
"This is not, and never has been, an issue of intellectual freedom, books or libraries," said Ann Sparanese, an ALA board member who also belongs to the Venceremos Brigade, a U.S. group that has supported Castro's revolution for three decades.
"The people who were arrested were not arrested because they had books, or because they are 'librarians,' 'library workers' or 'journalists,'" she said in an e-mail to an ALA colleague, "but because they broke the kinds of law against serving as an agent of a foreign power, for which the U.S. also imposes harsh prison time."
Sparanese noted under the Torricelli and Helms-Burton acts, millions of dollars have been poured into Cuba in an effort to change the government.
She wrote: "Unless you believe and promote the idea that no country has the right to protect its sovereignty including our own and that every country is required to allow the free infusion of foreign funds to corrupt its political processes including our own then you need to categorically reject the argument that this is an intellectual freedom issue."
That approach is an "outrage" to Robert Kent, a New York City librarian who supports the independent book lenders with a group called Friends of Cuban Libraries.
"For several years the ALA has ignored, covered up, or denied the fact that Cuba is the only country in the world which imprisons people for the alleged crime of opening uncensored libraries," he told WND.
The ALA, with 64,000 members, is run by an elected board of 175 councilors.
Kent insists ALA's rules require that requests of the kind made by the independent librarians be heard.
"The statutes have a provision that when foreign nationals complain about human rights violations, the international relations office of the ALA is required to bring it to the attention of the ALA council," said Kent, who notes Amnesty International has declared the librarians and the other 61 people arrested in March "prisoners of conscience."
Delgado's request, addressed to Michael Dowling, director of the ALA international relations office, said the project was founded "due to four decades of literary censorship to which our nation has been subjected."
The movement has established 103 libraries in homes throughout the country, she said, in addition to about 100 independent libraries founded by other groups.
She wrote to Dowling:
Since March 18th of this year numerous Cubans were detained, including about a dozen librarians and dozens of human rights defenders, independent journalists and dissidents. This was accompanied by raids on the homes of these persons and the seizure of books, typewriters, cameras, radios, computers, etc. These raids have impacted more than thirty libraries, and other librarians were taken to detention centers by the political police and warned that if they if they continued their work to promote independent cultural activities they would be imprisoned.
What we are asking, sir, is that your association show solidarity with our project and with the innocent persons who are now in prison. We would like you to ask the Cuban authorities to immediately release these detained persons.
Attempts to reach Dowling yesterday for comment were unsuccessful.
Walter Skold, a library science graduate student from Brunswick, Maine, has drafted an alternative resolution that he believes fulfills Delgado's plea.
The key paragraph in his document reads:
The American Library Association joins with library colleagues around the world, Amnesty International, various non-governmental organizations, and numerous individual writers and human rights activists from all walks of life in deploring these actions, and we call on the government of Cuba to immediately release all [14] of the independent librarians who have been jailed for exercising their rights to free expression, and to return all books which have been confiscated from the book collections.
Skold said the ALA is reluctant to simply add to its resolution: "We call on the government to release the librarians."
"The rest of the resolution is fine," he told WND.
He believes the ALA is putting itself in a unique situation.
"What other professional group has failed to come to the aid of colleagues who are jailed?"
Final stage?
Colas believes a strong statement by the ALA can help hasten democratic change in the island nation.
"In Cuba today, already there is a transition taking place and the Castro regime is in the process of collapse and agony," he said. "This is the final stage."
He cites the fact that Castro has been forced to acknowledge the existence of an opposition movement within Cuba as evidence he is losing his grip.
Even Castro's inner circle sees the collapse coming and wants change, he said, but they are still under the dictator's power.
"That's precisely why it's important for the rest of the world to support the opposition movement," he said. "The vast majority of Cubans don't want the transition to be prolonged.
Meanwhile, Cuba's high court has upheld tough sentences handed to the 75 dissidents in April. Among them are Delgado's husband, economist Hector Palacio, who is serving a 25-year term.
Colas said Delgado, who has a young daughter, is periodically visited by state security agents who threaten that if she continues in her opposition, they will bar her from visiting her husband in prison and will jail her also.
In Cuba, prisoners depend on their relatives for food and clothing.
"The interesting thing is she is not conceding at all and continues denouncing what the government is doing and fighting for the rights of those in prison," Colas said. "It's because of people like Gisela and what they stand for that this opposition will succeed."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36583
48
posted on
02/10/2007 11:20:01 PM PST
by
DaveTesla
(You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
To: plan2succeed.org
U.S. Castro backers squelch prisoners' plea
American librarians in battle over colleagues jailed in crackdown
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36583
Posted: January 14, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
American librarians sympathetic to Fidel Castro's communist regime are battling to prevent their national organization from responding to a plea from independent librarians imprisoned in Cuba for up to 26 years.
Fidel Castro
As WorldNetDaily reported, 14 members of Cuba's Independent Library project were swept up in a crackdown last March on charges that included making available the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and books such as George Orwell's "Animal Farm."
Meeting in San Diego this week, the American Library Association is scheduled to vote on a resolution today to demand Castro release the prisoners.
ALA leaders fought hard to prevent the resolution from ever coming to a vote. It is based on a plea from Cuban independent library leader Gisela Delgado Sablon, whose husband is among the prisoners.
One of the ALA leaders opposed to the resolution is Ann Sparanese, a member of the policy-making council who maintains the Cubans are not "professional librarians."
Sparanese, who also belongs to the Venceremos Brigade, a U.S. group that has supported Castro's revolution for three decades, wrote in a Dec. 9 letter to a colleague:
"Despite the fact that we as librarians prize them highly, political rights for instance, intellectual freedom is only one of a constellation of human rights, some of which Cuba respects in greater measure than the United States."
One of those rights she said, is "free education."
The issue arose last June when Ramon Colas, a founder of the Independent Library Project of Cuba, came to the ALA's conference in Toronto with Gablon's request, searching for "solidarity," but went away disappointed.
Colas said a delegation of five officials sent from Cuba's state-run libraries swayed ALA members.
"The behavior of the ALA in Toronto showed the level of its complicity with the Havana regime," said Colas, who left Cuba in December 2001 with his wife, Berta Mexidor, and now lives in Miami.
The ALA decided to pass off the issue to a task force that would prepare a report for the San Diego conference. But the panel's report ignored the Cuban prisoners' plea, according to a U.S.-based group called Friends of Cuban Libraries.
A member of that group who attended the task force meeting, however, managed to ensure the issue is included in the report.
Last year, Eliades Acosta, Cuba's national libraries director, accused the independent book lenders of being tools of the United States to topple Havana's communist government.
"The independent libraries have ... demonstrated they are receiving money to subvert the institutional order of Cuba," Acosta said in a speech at a book convention in Toronto.
Colas insists his peaceful movement has no weapons or plans to overtake military bases, but focuses on opening the minds of "people so they can choose the culture they want."
"The one who is subverting the cultural order of Cuba is Fidel Castro," he said. "While Castro is imprisoning civilians, the librarians are opening their homes to allow Cubans to read things they wouldn't be allowed to see otherwise."
49
posted on
02/10/2007 11:21:18 PM PST
by
DaveTesla
(You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
To: DaveTesla
WOW! Thank you for all this. I'll read it after church. I've understood the principles of Hegel for a long time. Now if we could get everyone to understand what's going on.
To: plan2succeed.org
From your website:
"I am for socialism, disarmament, and ultimately for abolishing the state itself as an instrument of violence and compulsion. I seek social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and sole control by those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.
51
posted on
02/11/2007 10:01:24 PM PST
by
DaveTesla
(You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
To: Sub-Driver
Yes, 3rd graders. They want to get them while their young, just like Arturs Axmann did in the 1930's.
To: DaveTesla
From my web site? An impeccable source!
Listen. I'll need some time to ingest all that information you provided. And I'll see what applies. For example, the ALA on its own decided to make it "age" discrimination to keep inappropriate material from children, and it decided to keep doing it even after the US Supreme Court said otherwise in US v. ALA. And almost all of this is
Judith Krug's doing as the
de facto leader of the ALA -- and, what a coincidence, she was also concurrently for 3 years on the Illinois ACLU Board of Directors. I'd like to get specific information on her and the ALA's inclusion of "age" in its "Library Bill of Rights." Do you have anything like that?
Now you mentioned Jessamyn West. I've had my battles with her, and she's clearly different, shall we say, but she has made some statements that show she is not of Krug caliber. For example, she admitted the Banned Books Week rouse in a secret the librarians keep to themselves. In fact, on my group's
Good Librarians page, we say this:
Former ALA Councilor Admits ALA Hides Truth About "Banned Books Week"
"Banned Books Week" is a total propaganda effort by the ALA leadership to basically get people to think it is censorship to keep sexually inappropriate books away from children. A recent ALA Councilor, displaying a refreshing willingness to say something the ALA leadership would never admit, exposed the dirty little secret about this hoax that puts the 'shush' in librarians:
It also highlights the thing we know about Banned Books Week that we don't talk about much the bulk of these books are challenged by parents for being age-inappropriate for children. While I think this is still a formidable thing for librarians to deal with, it's totally different from people trying to block a book from being sold at all.
Banned Books Week is Next Week, by former ALA Councilor Jessamyn West.
To: plan2succeed.org
54
posted on
02/12/2007 10:56:03 AM PST
by
DaveTesla
(You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
To: plan2succeed.org
For this reason society requires that the education of
youth should be watched with the most scrupulous attention.
Education is a great measurer, forms the moral character of men and morals are the basis of government. Noah Webster, 1758-1843
55
posted on
02/12/2007 4:10:53 PM PST
by
DaveTesla
(You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
To: Sub-Driver
Previous:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1773471/posts
Some South Jersey Parents Upset About Award-Winning Diversity Video Being Shown In School
Update:
http://www.nj1015.com/absolutenm/templates/?a=5756&z=1
Parents Spar Over Diversity Video
Wednesday, February 14, 2007 - Millennium Radio New Jersey
A video that's being billed as a way to teach diversity to kids is dividing the Evesham school district. At last night's school board meeting, officials heard from parents for and against the film "That's a Family!," which shows same-sex couples raising their children.
Several parents say it's important that third graders learn about all the different kinds of people that live in New Jersey. "The school board was bullied by intolerant people to remove this video," said Louise Ribelo of Evesham. Another woman who raises two children with her life-partner told officials that she wants to make sure her kids are safe when they go to school.
But numerous parents say the school board went too far by approving the use of the video. "Don't use teaching tolerance as an opportunity to squeeze in specific lifestyles and issues," said Evesham resident Drew Vicitti. Another parent says there is no necessity to engage third graders in sexuality.
Proponents and opponents of the video were both greeted with cheers as they made their cases. The school board has temporarily suspended the use of the video as a panel discusses whether the film is appropriate for young students.
56
posted on
02/14/2007 9:38:03 AM PST
by
Calpernia
(Breederville.com)
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