Neat poster about the effects of trash on our water systems.  Click the picture to see a larger version.

“All of us can think of a book… that we hope none of our children or any other children have taken off the shelf. But if I have the right to remove that book from the shelf - that work I abhor - then you also have exactly the same right and so does everyone else. And then we have no books left on the shelf for any of us.”

~ Katherine Paterson, American author of children’s books

Banning books isn’t something that was done centuries or decades ago. It isn’t something that happens in foriegn countries with fascist regimes.  It happens nearly every week somewhere in the United States. More than a book a day faces expulsion from free and open public access in U.S. schools and libraries every year.   You can find a list of banned/challenged books at The Fordbidden Library.

Here are some of the dangerous books I have read from the list. 

• 1984 by George Orwell - Challenged in the Jackson County, Fla. (1981) because the novel is “pro-communist and contained explicit sexual matter.”

• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain - Removed from the seventh grade curriculum in the West Chester, Pa. schools (1994) after parents complained that it is too full of racially charged language.

• Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank - Challenged in Wise County, Va. (1982) due to “sexually offensive” passages. Four members of the Alabama State Textbook Committee (1983) called for the rejection of this book because it is a “real downer.”

• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - Removed from classroom in Miller, Mo. (1980). Challenged at the Yukon, Okla. High School (1988); challenged as required reading in the Corona-Norco, Calif. Unified School District (1993) because the book “centered around negative activity.”

• Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer - Removed from a senior college preparatory literature course at the Eureka, Ill. High School (1995) for sexual content.

• Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger -  A 1992 study by the People for the American Way found that this novel was among those most likely to be censored based on the fact that it is “anti-Christian.” Challenged by Concerned Citizens of Florida who wanted the book removed from a high school library (1991) in Leesburg, Florida due to “profanity, reference to suicide, vulgarity, disrespect, and anti-Christian sentiments.” They were unsucessful: a review committee voted unanimously to retain the book.
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl - Removed from a locked reference collection at the Boulder, Colo. Public Library (1988), where it had been placed because the librarian thought the book espoused a poor philosophy of life.
• The Color Purple by Alice Walker - Challenged as appropriate reading material for an Oakland, Calif. High School honors class (1984) due to the work’s “sexual and social explicitness” and its “troubling ideas about race relations, man’s relationship to God, African history, and human sexuality.” This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was finally approved for use by the Oakland Board of Education after nine months of debate. Banned in the Souderton, Pa. Area School District (1992) as appropriate reading for tenth graders because it is “smut.”Removed from the Jackson County, W.Va. school libraries (1997) along with sixteen other titles.
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - late 1998, this book was removed from the required reading list of the West Marion High School in Foxworth, Mississippi. A parent complained of the use of the words “God damn” in the book. Subsequently, the superintendent instructed the the teacher to remove the book from the required reading list. Ironically, students at the Venado Middle School in Irvine, Calif. received copies of the book with scores of words–mostly “hells” and “damns”–blacked out. The novel is about book burning and censorship. Thankfully, after receiving complaints from parents and being contacted by reporters, school officials said the censored copies would no longer be used (1992).
• Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - This Pulitzer Prize winning novel was banned from the Anaheim, Calif. Union High School District English classrooms (1978). The novel was challenged in the Waukegan, Ill. School District (1984) because it uses the word “nigger.”
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou - This book gets challenged quite often, due to the poet’s descriptions of being raped as a young girl.
• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl - Challenged at the Deep Creek Elementary School in Charlotte Harbor, Fla. (1991) because it is “not appropriate reading material for young children.” Challenged at the Pederson Elementary School in Altoona, Wis. (1991) and at the Morton Elementary School library in Brooksville, Fla. (1992) because the book contains the word “ass” and “promotes” the use of drugs (tobacco, snuff) and whiskey. Removed from classrooms in Stafford County, Va. Schools (1995) and placed in restricted access in the library because the story contains crude language and encourages children to disobey their parents and other adults.
• Le Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory - Challenged as required reading at the Pulaski County High School in Somerset, Ky. (1997) because it is “junk.”
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis  - Challenged in the Howard County, Md. school system (1990) because it depicts “graphic violence, mysticism, and gore.”
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe - Challenged in the Waukegan, Ill. School District (1984) because the novel contains the word “nigger.”
• Where’s Waldo?  by Martin Handford - Challenged at the Public Libraries of Saginaw, Mich. (1989), Removed from the Springs Public School library in East Hampton, N.Y. (1993) because there is a tiny drawing of a woman lying on the beach wearing a bikini bottom but no top.
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - The word “nigger,” which appears many times in the novel, was the cause for the removal of this classic from an eighth-grade reading list. In 1984, the book was removed from a public high school reading list in Waukegan, Illinois, because a black alderman found the book’s language offensive.    

And that doesn’t even include the whole Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling or the numerous Judy Blume books I’ve read.  So, what banned books are in your collection?

JobMob has a funny collection of resume blunders from various websites.  Here are some of my favorites.

• Candidate included a letter from his mother.
• “Skills: Strong Work Ethic, Attention to Detail, Team Player, Self Motivated, Attention to Detail”
• Woman who sent her résumé and cover letter without deleting someone else’s editing, including such comments as “I don’t think you want to say this about yourself here”
• Other Interests: “Playing with my two dogs (They actually belong to my wife but I love the dogs more than my wife)”.
• Hobbies: “getting drunk everynight down by the water, playing my guitar and smoking pot”
• Under “job related skills” - for a web designer - “can function without additional oxygen at 24,000 feet”.
• Experience: “Stalking, shipping & receiving”
• A candidate listed her e-mail address as pornstardelight@*****.com
• One candidate’s electronic resume included links to her homepage, where the pictures were of her in the nude.
• One applicant for a nursing position noted that she didn’t like dealing with blood or needles.
• Achievements: “Nominated for prom queen”
• One resume that came across my desk stated how the individual had won a contest for building toothpick bridges in middle school.
• Candidate’s hobbies included sitting on the levee at night watching alligators.
• Candidate included family medical history.
• “Able to say the ABCs backward in under five seconds.”
• “Finished eighth in my class of ten.”
• “It’s best for employers that I not work with people.”
• “Let’s meet, so you can ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ over my experience.”
• “Marital status: often. Children: various.”
• Interests: “Gossiping.”
• Reason for leaving: “I thought the world was coming to an end.”
• Objective: “So one of the main things for me is, as the movie ‘Jerry McGuire’ puts it, ‘Show me the money!’”
• Objective: “I need money because I have bills to pay and I would like to have a life, go out partying, please my young wife with gifts, and have a menu entrée consisting of more than soup.”
• Qualifications: “Twin sister has accounting degree.”
• Experience: “Have not yet been abducted by aliens.”
• References: “Bill, Tom, Eric. But I don’t know their phone numbers.”
• Application: Why should an employer hire you? “I bring doughnuts on Friday.”
• Reason for leaving: “Pushed aside so the vice president’s girlfriend could steal my job.”
• Reason for leaving: “Terminated after saying, ‘It would be a blessing to be fired.’”
• Application: How large was the department you worked in with your last company? “A: 3 stories.”
• Background: “28 dog years of experience in sales (four human).”
• In the section that read “Emergency Contact Number” she wrote “911.”

 I wonder if some of these people were really looking for a job or just trying to entertain themselves.  You can see the original article at 150 Funniest Resume Mistakes, Bloopers and Blunders Ever.