Just a couple of comments I've heard on things I've heard on MPB: Yesterday there was a woman who was talking about the fact that Mississippi has the highest rate of unwed teen pregnancies in the US. Incredibly, birth control wasn't mentioned--instead, the same old worthless
"just say no" and "wait for marriage" crap was trotted out.

Teens obviously aren't waiting for marriage and saying no to sexual activity, so early birth control must be started if teen pregnancies are gonna be stopped. I remember reading about some sewer rat, a black guy (in NY I believe), who had fathered 17 children with 11 different women, had no job and couldn't pay child support. Rats like that should by law be castrated and John Bobbit-ed--terminal birth control for rats like him, since he and the women he impregnate are all idiots.

On the same show was a black woman, a Mississippi legislator no less, who said (in bad, old, colloquial black English) in effect "Girls be getting pregnant because of poverty, minimum wage be so low. And that because wealth need to be redistributed." What?? Well, that explains a lot. The inmates are running the asylum in state and federal government.

Then this morning heard the state librarian talking about people wanting certain books to be banned. Any person can ask any library to ban any book they deem offensive. It goes up through a commitee who decides on banning or not but the librarian rightly pointed out that the first thing dictators do is to close libraries to prevent access to information and institute censorship, so public libraries take banning seriously. And she said just because one person may find a book offensive, doesn't mean everyone else should be denied access to read it.

Asked what books Mississippian's have found offensive over the years, she named among others the Harry Potter books, Judy Blum, Henry Miller (ho-hum) and Vonnegut (!!) seems to be a lightning rod for offense. The only thing I've ever read that I would happily have burned was written by the Marquis de Sade. It was excrement, gut churning, vile, disgusting beyond belief. I didn't want it in my house but before I could get rid of it a friend asked for it and if she still has it, that's her problem. That's one book that if in the public domain, should be under lock and key.

susil