Challenged Books

The American Library Association has released its annual list of most frequently challenged books—their euphemism for books someone wants banned in some way. The list includes Jaycee Dugard’s memoir “A Stolen Life”. The reason is sexual content although as a reader may remember she was abducted and sexually abused for years. The list also contains Sherman Alexie “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis” and Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” for it too is said to be objectionable Continue reading “Challenged Books”

Calls From Prisons

Calls to and from prison inmates are big business. It is now a $1.2 billion-a-year industry dominated by very few companies. In fact it is so lucrative it has caught the interest of private equity firms which now own several of these firms. The private companies which run these phone systems receive commissions, often sizable, from the sheriff’s departments that run Continue reading “Calls From Prisons”