Rob

Critical Thinker

[Crow @crrow777]

Rife, Rockefeller Medicine, and Suppressed Frequencies https://t.co/gGHzhQWmB4

[Crow @crrow777]

We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force. ~ Ayn Rand

There was a time when entertainment had redeeming value at some level. This is no longer the case. I submit that the cinematic downfall is intentional and part of social engineering while facilitating a separation from reality and the dumbing-down of society. I further submit that old films depicting aspects of a better world than we currently experience will be removed or replaced as time goes on. I suspect this is one of the reasons we see so many films using titles from older films. Quite often, newer films reuse an older title and then the entire plot is changed. Oddly, character names and other elements may remain in place…
The power of entertainment, specifically film, should be obvious on the face of it. Human beings emulate. We learn and copy what we see others doing. Film is one way to provide the example. Take films like Robinhood and Dracula, as examples. These films are constantly remade, and quite often using the same characters and elements in the story-line. Clearly these stories are remembering something that is important to those who control what gets made. These stories are not important to “We the People”. And yet, they now remain as a part of culture due to the constant remaking and publishing of such tales.

The vast majority of modern film has lost its creative magic and is bereft of nearly all redeeming quality. It is increasingly artificial, and detached from reality. The look and feel no longer holds the charm that was once projected on the silver screen. Film is increasingly ugly, violent and without any redeeming quality en masse. Cleaver meaning and wholesome ideas are nearly extinct in modern film. It was not always this way, nor does it have to remain as such.

The example film dialogue that follows is not meant to seek your agreement. It is meant to provide an example of what film once was, and it is a very limited example at that. It is meant to demonstrate that film can, and was, used to put forward ideas that matter. The film is drawn from a book written by Ayn Rand called “The Fountainhead”.

I first came across this book in Okinawa Japan on a 12-hour radio watch in a com unit. I had informed my father about the long shifts I would be on for the next weeks and he sent me three books by Ayn Rand, one of which was “Fountainhead”. What follows is the courtroom dialogue that ends the film. It is a feel-good ending and may feel out of place compared to what we endure now from film. But, when all is said and done the film was made with care, and puts forward ideas worth thinking about. To cue it up, the main character Roark is on trial for blowing up a new building complex which he admits to doing. The building was built under contract with the agreement the plans would not be altered. The plans were then altered without his consent and he dynamited the entire complex while openly admitting as much.

Judge: The defense may proceed.

Roark: Your Honor, I shall call no witnesses. This will be my testimony and my summation.

Judge: Take the oath.

Court Clerk: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Roark: I do.

Architect Howard Roark (Gary Cooper) made a closing summation (of author-screenwriter Ayn Rand’s treatise on Objectivism) to a jury, defending his destruction of housing project buildings that had perverted his original design plans – his words were so powerful that the jury found him not-guilty:

Howard Roark’s closing Speech to the jury and courtroom observers.

Howard Roark’s Monologue: Thousands of years ago, the first man discovered how to make fire. He was probably burned at the stake he had taught his brothers to light, but he left them a gift they had not conceived and he lifted darkness off the earth. Throughout the centuries, there were men who took first steps down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision. The great creators, the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors, stood alone against the men of their time. Every new thought was opposed. Every new invention was denounced. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid, but they won. No creator was prompted by a desire to please his brothers. His brothers hated the gift he offered. His truth was his only motive. His work was his only goal. His work, not those who used it. His creation, not the benefits others derived from it. The creation which gave form to his truth. He held his truth above all things and against all men. He went ahead whether others agreed with him or not, with his integrity as his only banner. He served nothing and no one. He lived for himself. And only by living for himself was he able to achieve the things which are the glory of mankind. Such is the nature of achievement.

Man cannot survive except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon. But the mind is an attribute of the individual. There is no such thing as a collective brain. The man who thinks must think and act on his own. The reasoning mind cannot work under any form of compulsion. It cannot be subordinated to the needs, opinions, or wishes of others. It is not an object of sacrifice. The creator stands on his own judgment – the parasite follows the opinions of others. The creator thinks – the parasite copies. The creator produces – the parasite loots. The creator’s concern is the conquest of nature the parasite’s concern is the conquest of men. The creator requires independence. He neither serves nor rules. He deals with men by free exchange and voluntary choice. The parasite seeks power. He wants to bind all men together in common action and common slavery. He claims that man is only a tool for the use of others, that he must think as they think, act as they act, and live in selfless, joyless servitude to any need but his own.

Look at history. Everything we have, every great achievement has come from the independent work of some independent mind. Every horror and destruction came from attempts to force men into a herd of brainless, soulless robots, without personal rights, without person ambition, without will, hope, or dignity. It is an ancient conflict. It has another name – ‘The individual against the collective.’ Our country, the noblest country in the history of men, was based on the principle of individualism, the principle of man’s ‘inalienable rights.’ It was a country where a man was free to seek his own happiness, to gain and produce, not to give up and renounce. To prosper, not to starve. To achieve, not to plunder. To hold as his highest possession a sense of his personal value, and as his highest virtue his self-respect. Look at the results. That is what the collectivists are now asking you to destroy, as much of the earth has been destroyed.

I am an architect. I know what is to come by the principle on which it is built. We are approaching a world in which I cannot permit myself to live. My ideas are my property. They were taken from me by force, by breach of contract. No appeal was left to me. It was believed that my work belonged to others, to do with as they pleased. They had a claim upon me without my consent, that it was my duty to serve them without choice or reward. Now you know why I dynamited Courtland. I designed Courtland. I made it possible. I destroyed it. I agreed to design it for the purpose of seeing it built as I wished. That was the price I set for my work. I was not paid. My building was disfigured at the whim of others who took all the benefits of my work and gave me nothing in return.

I came here to say that I do not recognize anyone’s right to one minute of my life, nor to any part of my energy, nor to any achievement of mine, no matter who makes the claim! It had to be said – The world is perishing from an orgy of self-sacrificing. I came here to be heard in the name of every man of independence still left in the world. I wanted to state my terms. I do not care to work or live on any others. My terms are – A man’s right to exist for his own sake.

The jury was then sent to deliberate and was tasked with the very ideas put forward as important by Roark – they find him not guilty.

Film ends

I submit that films like this have a value that goes beyond entertainment. As a bonus they deliver a look and feel often referred to as magic. By the way there are shadows in this film, which seem to be missing from most modern movies… but shadows are not missing in Nature where all truth resides. Is there any reason we should continue to tolerate the artificial, soulless tripe currently being peddled to the world as cinema while openly delivering social engineering, and the dumbing down of all who participate? For my part the answer is no thank you. I will no longer take part in modern film unless pleasant anomalies emerge. The same goes for social media content.

It is my point of view, based on everything I have researched and covered, that this year will see an all-time high in AI produced content. From video to images to chat interactions – all of it. As I have said so many times: AI is stealing the entirety of human creations and thought to train in order to replace us. And in doing so it is building dossiers on all who participate in order to “imperceptibly” socially engineer society and culture to facilitate “their” ends. And their ends do not include your best interest, or even your rights and freedom.

Yes, there are two paths you can go down, but in the long run, there’s still time to change the road you’re on – to close with yet another line from the dark-side well programmed into the world mind. Just ignore the title of the song from which this line was lifted… as with nearly all modern entertainment and media, it isn’t true.

Read All Crow Blogs Here (Free):
https://t.co/7vUmlLsA4V
I would like to wish you all a happy, healthy and higher-minded new era.

[Crow @crrow777]

The Mind is a Terrible thing to Waste

“Don’t cry, don’t raise your eye – It’s only teenage wasteland. So it was… so it is.” - Crow

Do you realize how few mega-corporations control all media—print, streaming, film, and music? Some say six… others say two. The last number is closer to the truth when you consider that all the high-ups are in the same private clubs.

Do you suppose these organizations—hellbent on control—are simply delivering information and entertainment for our benefit? It’s not hard to demonstrate that we’ve all been programmed by the very systems meant to “inform” and “entertain.”
Finish these lines: “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? / Caught in a landslide, no… ______.”

The majority of people reading this could finish that lyric instantly.

What does that tell you?

Open your eyes—and look up to the skies and see.

Have you noticed there haven’t been any real “decades” since around the year 2000? Gone are the distinct cultural signatures of each era. Music, fashion, and language have been flattened. The homogenization of time has arrived. When was the last time you pulled into a parking lot and saw more than five car colors? Even the vehicles look the same—SUVs across brands now mimic each other’s shape, tone, and feel. It wasn’t always this way, and there’s a reason.

Variety is the enemy of control. And in case you haven’t noticed, the digital era is about control. Do you think a handful of corporations gained control of everything by chance—or is it part of a long-standing, premeditated effort to homogenize humanity and strip away natural diversity so the masses are easier to manage?

In Episode 628, we trace the long and disturbing evolution of mind control—from early hypnotic experiments to military black ops, mass media manipulation, and the engineering of modern culture itself. What begins with Mesmer and “animal magnetism” transforms into Pavlov’s conditioned reflexes, Freud’s psychoanalysis, and ultimately the horrors of MKUltra and beyond.

Governments have always justified these tactics through fear. But whether it was the OSS drugging prisoners during WWII, the CIA dosing civilians with LSD, or the psychological unraveling of soldiers at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, the pattern is always the same: human dignity discarded in the pursuit of control. When humiliation becomes policy and torture turns into theater, something has gone terribly wrong. (And if you think those Abu Ghraib images didn’t function as mind control themselves, think again.)

From Edward Bernays to Jonestown, from Orson Welles to the Unification Church, this episode makes the case that what we call culture is often the aftermath of psychological warfare. Trauma, repetition, isolation, and artificial environments have been used not just to influence individuals—but to steer entire civilizations.

Programs like MKUltra didn’t exist in isolation. They grew out of earlier covert operations like Project Artichoke, Operation Mockingbird, and the CIA’s partnership with psychiatrist Donald Ewen Cameron, whose experiments on unwitting patients laid the blueprint for modern behavioral manipulation. These projects weren’t rumors—they are part of the declassified record.

The majority of the online population now function as RC cars—remotely controlled. The introduction of the “nudge” (a term from behavioral economics) is a clear example of how this works. Rolled out as standard practice, machines now prompt you to act—and we know it works, because people follow the prompt. A much older and more insidious example of population mind control is the “feed.” Gone are the days when people searched for content they wanted. Now, a machine lines up the majority of what is viewed. It doesn’t just cause you to surrender your freedom of choice—it replaces it.

The feed acts as your news, your music, your entertainment. But remember: what you see has been preapproved, ranked, and pushed to millions—homogenizing what is consumed and quietly eliminating variety. When all is said and done, the digital world doesn’t expand freedom—it enforces its opposite. It stands in direct contrast to nature, where all truth is found.

What does real mind science look like?

There’s a fork in the road. One path uses the spirit as its foundation.

The other treats you like a system to be hacked.

I would like to wish you all a happy, healthy, and higher-minded new era. - Crow

[Crow @crrow777]

Tomorrow we release Episode 627 with Michael Hoffman. He returns to address the installation of the first American pope, Leo XIV, and the layers of hidden history surrounding the Vatican’s true role in global affairs. From the occult theology of the Renaissance Church to the ongoing child abuse scandals and financial collapse under Pope Francis, Hoffman draws a sharp line from the past to the present. We also dive into the concept of Revelation of the Method — how the ruling class flaunts its crimes once the public is too demoralized to react. I hope to see you all over at https://t.co/dkUAMuxCsH - Cheers

[Crow @crrow777]

Military Industrial Complex = Ungovernable – Automated – Endless Conflict Machine – Nearing Extinction
Crrow777 Radio Episode 613 with Jason Lindgren on the Military Industrial Complex has been released!
FREE SHOW - No login required: https://t.co/0aejF1uzDb
BECOME A MEMBER:
https://t.co/NBPEx8oznj
FULL SHOW - Posted for Members:
https://t.co/eZLbddgR7A

“We are nearing a world where aircraft carriers have less value than drones”
~Crow~

In my lifetime, I have known true freedom. Up until about my fifteenth year living in the countryside, I experienced absolute freedom. This was, of course, made possible by others who had less freedom than I did… my mother and father. They provided food, a roof over my head, and the other things needed to live a life free of hardship and struggle. They were able to provide this for me by following the expected “path” of an American at that time.

Though I had worked on the water since age ten, a small commercial fishing boat (quahog/clams), in the summers, it was by choice, completely free, clear, fun and exciting. At age fifteen I began to unknowingly leave freedom behind. I began to ask for permission. I asked for permission and was granted a driver’s license. I also asked for and received a social security number (SSN). Like so many, I followed the expected path by trading rights for services and benefits. And it is all connected to the Military Industrial Complex (M.I.C.), as well as the world-wide situation we are all dealing with now. We have been pawns in the long game.
Though driving is a rite of passage in America, in 40 states, 4 territories and the District of Columbia, young men are automatically registered into the Selective Services. This is also known as “The Draft”. Again, this happens automatically when young men apply for a driver’s license. There is no current way to claim conscientious objector status or, one who chooses to play no role in the war machine. The only current method of circumvention is to avoid getting a driver’s license until age 26. Automatic draft registration applies only to males, ages 18-26.

The draft, as it was known during the Vietnam conflict, was mandatory. This supposedly changed in 1973 due to the massive backlash from Americans drafted into military service at that time. Ironically Vietnam was not a war. War has not been declared by America since WWII, which means our government has ignored the Constitution where war powers are firmly placed in the hands of Congress.

In 1973 the country was told that the mandatory draft had ended. The country would now rely on “volunteer-only” military service. The following excerpt was published in 1977: “The United States returned to its traditional peacetime practice when, on 27 January 1973, Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird announced that the armed forces henceforth would depend exclusively on volunteer soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines.” And yet, you are automatically enrolled into potential service for the war machine (in most states) when young men take the necessary steps to legally drive a car in this country. How is this voluntary… one might ask?

In many ways the same game is played with social security numbers. The first thing you should know is that like taxes, getting an SSN is voluntary. There are many court cases that prove this to be true. But what is also true is that the very system we live in ensures that if you choose not to have one, it will be VERY difficult, if not impossible, to do many basic things. What things you ask? Driver’s license, banking, Post Office usage, Universities attendance, Airlines usage, housing purchase or rentals, and utilities, are just a few that can be named. Most of these places have no legal right to demand an SSN, but most are said to have the right to deny services if an SSN is not provided. That is, unless someone uses the court system to push back – which is convenient and inexpensive – right? Wrong.

The slow creep of embedding a “long-game” tactic is evident in the saga of the SSN. Up to about the late 1990s (if my memory serves me) people protected their SSN and did not give that information out – and were regularly directed to protect it and keep it secret. Back then we carried SSN cards because nobody actually remembered their SSN due to infrequent usage. And this was a time when every phone number you used was committed to memory. The first time I was asked to provide my SSN to a non-government system was when I purchased my first cell phone in 1999. I declined and was not allowed to buy the phone. It was in this decade that regular businesses began to demand your private SSN to do business. Keep in mind that the M.I.C. helped pave the way when it switched from “service numbers” to SSNs, between July 1969 and January 1972.

Another piece of the long-game strategy attached to the slowly creeping SSN (and by extension the M.I.C.) is credit scores and credit rating. Like taxes, credit rating was originally aimed at lenders and merchants exclusively, or only the business side of the world. It is claimed that Equifax began in 1899. But as we can see, these cleverly implemented, and slowly creeping control systems rest firmly on the so-called people they are now designed for. They remain locked to our lives via the SSN. Credit scores are designed to fit hand-in-glove with the digital control systems now taking a run at world domination.

The SSN now serves as key and anchor for the long planned digital police state. From tracking to enforcement, no one would have believed what has become of that humble SSN card once held secret, and protected from prying eyes, in every wallet.

In the late 1980s I graduated from USMC boot camp, combat training and Military Occupational Specialty school, called MOS. At this time, the last remnants of the so-called “Old Corps” were becoming extinct. When asked what is meant by the “Old Corps”, I relate that it was a time when manly men were not only the norm, but the expectation, because what was required demanded nothing less. In the Old Corps a “good butt-kicking” was simply a part of training, as well as the cost for insubordination or failure. No nonsense codes of conduct were the backbone of reality back then, and reflected by the well-deserved reputation held in the title “Marine”. It was there that I came to comprehend what we call the M.I.C. It stands at odds with the hard working and honorable Marines I came to know, depend on, and work with.

The sheer size, power and reach of the M.I.C. is beyond my ability to comprehend. And this statement is based on what is perceptible, which may be the tip of the iceberg. This Leviathan now exists above, and is intertwined with every facet of our lives with few exceptions. Again, the M.I.C. seems at odds with the era we are entering now. We are entering an era grounded in rising consciousness, breaking the status quo, growing focus on community, and a trajectory with momentum that departs from materialism and mindlessness. This is not an era that will accept rigid hierarchies, which is currently part and parcel of the M.I.C.

We are about to witness the biggest, best funded, most powerful organization in the world come to terms with a future where it has no place. A world where an aircraft carrier has less value than a drone. A world that will emerge in spite of the fact that the M.I.C. has its tentacles in every operational portion of civilization. Something has to give. Something has to go. And according to the M.I.C. that something is the population, once verified by the Deagel Report and other documents now hidden away. It is hard to imagine there are those in this world that would even consider such crimes. It is even harder to imagine that plans like this may not even be attributed to “people”. However, this is the world we must now address… where every bridge seems to be a bridge too far. None-the-less, we will approach, conquer, and cross that bridge – be it feasible, or not.

[Crow @crrow777]

~~ PSA ~~

The definition of Smart when used with a device:
"Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology."

Are you afraid to fly yet? No worries, 15 minute cities... or, S.M.A.R.T. cities will not require planes because you need more than 15 minutes to fly anywhere.

In short, there is no reason to be afraid, unless you watch news. But, this too is by design.

This PSA brought to you by free speech

[Michael Hoffman @HoffmanMichaelA]

@elonmusk Please don’t omit the close relationship between then Prince Charles and Jimmy Savile. Please don’t omit the fact that Margaret Thatcher covered up the documentation proving Savile’s sex crimes. . Connect all the dots and spare no malefactor.

[Crow @crrow777]

Attack of the killer drones - Made for TV. In a real world there are answers, or common sense observations that do not require round the clock coverage that drags minds North-East-West-South.

The sky is falling... wait did someone already say that?

[Crow @crrow777]

MasterPeace Responds with Legal Action to Misinformation & Malice - The modern era has seen a troubling rise in coordinated misinformation, often wielded as a weapon to silence truth and innovation. This episode confronts one such campaign targeting a breakthrough detoxification product. Baseless accusations, unqualified claims, and outright fabrications have flooded the public arena, spreading doubt where none should exist.

In response, legal action is being taken—a $200 million lawsuit against those responsible for propagating falsehoods. This episode carefully examines the accusations, dismantling them with evidence and reason. Misinterpretations of science, misuse of microscopy, and deceptive narratives are exposed for what they are: attempts to undermine a product that challenges entrenched systems of control.

This is not just about a single product; it is about the broader battle for transparency and the right to access natural health solutions. As rights and freedoms face erosion, the importance of discernment and standing firm in truth has never been more critical. It has been said that when you are over the target you take flack, but what has happened here borders on the absurd, with an added measure of malice aforethought.
FREE SHOW - No Login Required: https://t.co/Bc487e6YkF

BUY MASTERPEACE: https://t.co/7i4PJbiX8Q

[Crow @crrow777]

America’s food supply is increasingly dominated by corporations that control every aspect of production, from seed to sale. But what happens when profit takes priority over nutrition and health? There is a growing concern about the quality and safety of U.S. food products. There are skyrocketing food recalls and troubling ingredient lists that too often escape public scrutiny.

Farmers and food producers are also caught in the crosshairs, facing unreasonable corporate control mechanisms that threaten the very existence of private farms. Meanwhile, for the majority of Americans who rely on grocery stores for their calories, the statistics paint a grim picture: nearly half of food products marketed for infants and toddlers exceed sugar guidelines, one in five surpass sodium limits, and many fail to meet even basic nutritional standards.

There are cascading effects of these trends, from the cradle to the dinner table. What’s being sacrificed in the name of convenience and cost? Would the youngest among us fare better with the timeless benefits of breast milk? And how can individuals reclaim control over their food choices in a system that seems increasingly out of touch with human health? Who benefits from feeding humanity chemicals disguised as food? Why are critical truths about what we consume hidden in plain sight? From artificial formulas marketed as “better than breast milk” to the unregulated influx of banned substances permitted in U.S. products, we connect the dots between health crises, corporate greed, and a larger agenda that might not have humanity’s best interests at heart.

Could it be that America serves as a petri dish for the ruling elite—an experiment designed to condition and control? Are the additives, GMOs, and unpronounceable chemicals in our food more than just negligence? We break down why ingredient labels demand scrutiny, what they really mean, and how they reflect the deeper layers of a system intent on dumbing down the masses. This episode is a wake-up call to scrutinize what’s on your plate, understand the forces shaping our food supply, and take steps toward a healthier, more informed way of living. We uncover the disturbing reality behind the ingredients lurking in our food supply. From unpronounceable chemicals to substances banned in other countries, we ask the tough questions: What’s really in the products lining our grocery store shelves, and why aren’t we being told the truth? Join us as we break down the hidden dangers in processed foods, explore their impact on health, and discuss practical steps to reclaim control over what we consume. It’s time to wake up to the war on our plates.

There is a stark truth that must be faced in the modern era. The systems we cover so often are about convenience, most of the time. Convenience is why we use modern systems, and these systems make modern life possible. Unfortunately, the more you opt for modern systems of convenience, the more you sacrifice privacy, safety and security. This is as true for cell phones and GPS as it is for foods of convenience, that make up the majority of supermarket shelves. So, what is you want? Convenience or, privacy, safety and security? At this point in time, it will be a rare occasion when you can have it all.

Join us as we cover the insanity of what’s in your food, and why it matters that you educate yourself, take control of your choices, and step away from the systems that thrive on keeping you tracked, dumbed-down, and uninformed. Knowledge is power, and reclaiming what goes on your plate is a step toward sovereignty.

Crrow777 Radio Episode 606 with Jason Lindgren has been released!

FREE HOUR - No Login Required:
https://t.co/KBlS2vBiLs

BECOME A MEMBER:
https://t.co/NBPEx8oznj

FULL SHOW - Posted for Members:
https://t.co/bz9tnTrjez

[Crow @crrow777]

"Game of Drones" - playing on a news station near you!

[Crow @crrow777]

Join us Wednesday for episode 600.

[Crow @crrow777]

I would like to wish you all a happy, healthy and higher-minded new era. May those you interact with each day observe the Golden Rule.

[Concerned Citizen @BGatesIsaPyscho]

Pilot whistleblower explains clearly the difference between contrails & chemtrails.

[Rob @Robx1776]

Check out this Audiobook it is Eye opening #BlueprintsofMindControl

[Crow @crrow777]

Information and more information and...

[Michael Hoffman @HoffmanMichaelA]

Walk past any bookstore or library this week, and you are likely to find a sign exhorting you to “Read a Banned Book.” Which one, I always find myself wondering?...“The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” whose recent Italian publisher was sentenced in 2010 to six months in prison and fined $2,000? Ryan Anderson’s critique of the transgender movement, “When Harry Became Sally,” which is among the books prohibited from sale on Amazon, whose dominance of the book trade rivals that of most censorship regimes throughout history?

No, this is not the contraband the bookstores and libraries have in mind.

Americans have found themselves subjected to the vague inducement to read a “banned” book since 1982, when the American Library Association and other groups began promoting Banned Books Week, a cloying festival of liberal self-aggrandizement annually celebrated (if that is the right verb) by publishers and booksellers. This year it runs from Oct. 1 through Oct. 7.

Banned Books Week is, or should be, eminently mockable. Its proponents trade on the moral currency of defiance (“See how brave we are, inviting people to read these daring books!”) but in practice they are doing the opposite — attempting to reify a consensus.

Take a look at the “most banned and challenged” books from 2010 to 2019, according to the American Library Association. Many are war horses of junior-high English, with millions of copies in print: “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Of Mice and Men,” “1984.” Others are best-selling fantasy novels like “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Hunger Games,” which have been made into wildly popular movies and TV shows. The list for 2022 is dominated by politically inflected, sexually explicit coming-of-age stories (“Gender Queer,” “Flamer”), often in comic-book form or otherwise aimed at young adults, many of which have made the New York Times best-seller list. These are hardly pariah texts.

In zero cases since the advent of Banned Books Week has a local or state ordinance been passed in this country that forbids the sale or general possession of any of the books in question. They have not been banned in the sense that, say, many of the works of the historian Frank Dikötter, the author of “Mao’s Great Famine,” are banned in mainland China.

What the American Library Association means when it implies that a book has been banned is that, having typically been purchased with public funds by a library or school, it has subsequently been “challenged” — a ludicrous term of art that can designate something as innocuous as being the subject of a single critical remark by a patron or a parent. If, after this challenge, a book is withdrawn from the library, or if access to it is restricted in some other way, or even if it remains in the collection, it now belongs to Banned Books Week.

This is, by any reckoning, an absurd definition of a ban. Regardless of whether administrators wish to acknowledge it, libraries are beholden to the communities they ostensibly serve (and on which they rely for funding) and their prevailing values. When “parents’ rights” groups object to the inclusion of sexually explicit books in public or school libraries — while often noting, correctly, that these books remain available in bookstores and online — they are engaged in fundamentally the same activity as their counterparts lobbying for the inclusion of such recent classics as “Worm Loves Worm.”

After all, making room on the shelf involves sacrificing something you value less. Libraries are restricted by considerations of physical space (as we are frequently reminded when they discard older books without regard for their literary merit). It is impossible for any public library to own every book, or even a majority of worthwhile ones. If the mere fact of a book’s being unavailable in a given library is tantamount to its banning, then virtually all of the many hundreds of thousands of books published in America each year have fallen afoul of a censorship regime.

Consider what gets left out of your standard anti-censorship success story. A few years ago, in Ruston, La., the Lincoln Parish Library removed several children’s books, including those with L.G.B.T.Q. themes, from general circulation. (These books became available to children only with permission from their parents.) A triumphant campaign in 2020 by the National Coalition Against Censorship led to the return of the books to general circulation.

In a statement endorsed by groups as varied as the American Library Association and the Unitarian Universalist Church, the coalition has claimed that such removals from libraries “not only violate the rights to freedom of expression and information of all community members, protected under the First Amendment, they endanger the well-being of the country’s most precious resource: its youth.”...

Excerpted from NY Times of Oct. 1. Read more online:
https://t.co/XEWvEGgF7z Matthew Walther (@matthewwalther) is editor of The Lamp, a Catholic literary journal, and a media fellow at the Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America.

[Crow @crrow777]

Anyone interested in writing at the highest levels should sub the newsletter from the URL in this image. The text is an example of why this man matters. He worked with James Shelby Downard. This image explains where we are in a single paragraph.

[Crow @crrow777]

I would like to wish you all a happy, healthy and higher-minded new era. May your days be joy-filled, and your TV be broken.

[Crow @crrow777]

Join us Sunday for episode 537