Free Talk Live

Among the several changes that are currently taking place in Egypt after the January 25 revolution and the subsequent ouster of the regime is the release of several books previously banned during the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak. Thousands of books that were banned during the time of Mubarak for their criticism of the regime are currently available, said Essam, a bookstore owner.

Books such as JD Salinger's Catcher in the Rye and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird will be replaced by "informational texts" approved by the Common Core State Standards. Suggested non-fiction texts include Recommended Levels of Insulation by the the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Invasive Plant Inventory, by California's Invasive Plant Council.

We live in a world where the answer to everything -- from oil, to overdue student loans, to past-due library books -- is to send men with guns. Jeeezus help us.

Aldous Huxley, social critic and author of Brave New World, talks to Wallace about threats to freedom in the United States, overpopulation, bureaucracy, propaganda, drugs, advertising, and television.

BOLDFACE CENSORSHIP:After the suspension of the Tucson Unified School District's Mexican American studies department, TUSD has confiscated and continues to confiscate MAS teaching materials. Besides artwork and posters etc, that includes books, many written by American born latino writers...

When it really matters to them, Congressmembers can come together -- with a panache and wry wit you didn't know they had. As banned books week gets underway, and President Obama admonishes oppressive regimes for their censorship of the Internet, a group of powerful Senators -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- have signed onto a bill that would vastly expand the government's power to censor the Internet.

Harry Potter is now the most banned book in America, according to the American Library Association. It is undeniable that themes of death and resurrection abound in the stories, as well as detailed depictions of potions and other hocus pocus. But while there are Christians who decry the celebration of witchcraft, there are other Christians who consider Harry’s journey an edifying allegory for Jesus Christ. That is another problem with banning books: it obscures the diversity of viewpoints within its potential readership.

Overdue library books................Read more here:

Biological Weapons-[Banned 1975], Chemical Weapons-[Banned 1997], Land Mines- [Banned 1999], Cluster Bombs-[Banned 2010], Nuclear Weapons-[Still Legal Since 1945]