Should we burn those books or just ban them?

I stumbled on a bit of news this morning that I really couldn't stop thinking about. It sounds like some upset parents in Chicago are pushing to get a book banned because of what they refer to as "inappropriate content".

The book in question is "The Chocolate War", written by Robert Cormier. I've never read it so I can only assume they made it mandatory reading AFTER I got out of the wonderful Chicago Public School system. (All my limbs were still attached, thank God!!!)

According to the article on the Chicago Tribune's web site, this book comes under scrutiny EVERY year by parents who don't want their kids reading it. I wonder... How many of these parents have read the book? Do they know what exactly it is they are pissed off about?

I guess it's a little like my aversion to Tom Cruise movies. Can't stand the guy...

"Hey, we need a REALLY bland performance for this role... nothing over the top... oh, and he will do a lot of running... Tom Cruise is available??? SHEEEIT!!! Sign that boy up!!!"

I think that conversation has happened with EVERY Tom Cruise movie... I just can't stomach them. The boy can't act... oh yeah, and midgets should NOT be sex symbols...

My point is, I may be missing some damn good movies! Maybe there is some benefit to his films... ok, I doubt it, but MAYBE! So, I think what I'm going to do is go down to the local Borders and get me a copy of "The Chocolate War" and I'm going to see for myself what all the damn Hoopla is about. Now, according to the article the themes touched on in this book are "swearing, masturbation, and violence"...

Maybe these parents forget what it's like to be in 7th grade... Hell, I can tell you I did a LOT of swearing as I ran from school all the way home to avoid getting my ass kicked by the Gangster Disciples. That was not a fun time... And for that matter, how many 7th graders aren't already finding out about masturbation on their own?

Sounds to me like this book is PERFECT for 7th grade kids to be reading... BUT, I will reserve judgment until AFTER I read the book. I'll let you know how that goes...

On another note, I am making myself a challenge for the rest of this year. There is a cute little endangered species (well, I think they are endangered... maybe just NEARLY endangered... I'll check on that..) called the "Sherman Fox Squirrel". I've seen a few of these on golf courses in the Tampa area and have decided that it's going to be my new ambition to get some photos of these guys.

Apparently, they are pretty rare, which is why I am surprised to have seen about 6 of them so far in the past year or so. Hell, I've lived in Tampa 4 years now and I've only seen TWO alligators!!! And it sounds like those guys are everywhere!!! So, I am going to start carrying my digital camera with me everywhere I go... not just for the wildlife photo ops, but you just never know what you will see as you are driving along.

With a little luck and good timing, I should be able to come up with a cool photo per week that is worthy of some digital words. :-)

Wish me luck!
Peace out...

Heitz