★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
September 23, 2013

★~ Today’s Quote: I loved autumn, the one season of the year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it. ~Lee Maynard

★~ Banned Book Week:

Banned Books Week is the national book community’s annual celebration of the freedom to read. Hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. The 2013 celebration of Banned Books Week will be held from September 22-28. Read Good to know (below) for more information)

★~ Checker’s Day:

Senator Richard Nixon had to give the biggest speech of his political career on this date in 1952.  Nixon’s role as Dwight Eisenhower’s running mate in the presidential election was in jeopardy, because of questions about a fund used to help him pay campaign expenses.  In a live, televised address, Nixon claimed that he would keep just one gift to his family:  a dog named “Checkers.” The speech saved his spot on the Republican ticket.

Nixon speech quickly became known as the “Checkers” speech, and went on to be one considered one of best speeches in American political history. One might argue President Clinton topped him a time or two.

★~Dogs in Politics Day:

After “Checkers” the dog was included in Nixon’s “Checkers” speech, Prominent dogs in  American politics were recognized.: Abraham Lincoln’s dog, Fido; Franklin D. Roosevelt’s much-traveled terrier, Fala; Harry S. Truman’s dogs, Mike and Feller; Dwight D. Eisenhower’s dog, Heidi; Lyndon Johnson’s beagles, Him and Her; Ronald Reagan’s dogs, Lucky and Rex; George H.W. Bush’s dog, Millie; Bill Clinton’s dog, Buddy; and George Bush’s scottie, Barney. President Obama’s Portuguese Waterdog, Bo.

★~ White Chocolate Day:

White chocolate was invented by the Nestlé company in Switzerland. The first white chocolate bar debuted in 1930. Despite its long history, for many years the confection we know as “white chocolate” was not officially chocolate at all. White chocolate does not contain cocoa solids—one of the main ingredients in traditional chocolate. In 2004, ten years after chocolate manufacturers filed the first petition, the FDA finally relaxed its definition of “chocolate” and accepted white chocolate into the family.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1846 – Planet Neptune was discovered by German astronomer Johann Galle.

♥~ 1848 – John Curtis produced the first commercially available chewing gum, which he called ‘State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum’.

♥~ 1967 – The Box Tops from Memphis hit #1 with The Letter. The song was #1 for four weeks and remained on the charts for 13 weeks.

♥~1969 – Nixon went on to be elected president in 1968, the year that protesters rioted outside the Democratic Convention in Chicago. Eight organizers of the protests went on trial, starting on September 23rd, 1969.  When the judge ordered a separate trial for defendant Bobby Seale, the protesters became known as the “Chicago 7.”

♥~ 1971 – The Honey Cone scored their second gold record with Stick-Up on the Hot Wax label. It was a follow-up to their #1 smash, Want Ads(June 12, 1971).

♥~ 1983 –  Bobby Seale’s (Chicago 7 ^)  name was used in a punchline in the college-reunion movie “The Big Chill,” which opened the New York Film Festival on September 23rd, 1983.  That was the 36th birthday of “Big Chill” cast member Mary Kay Place, also known for her role as a country singer on ”Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.”

★~Famous Birthdays:

♥~ 1800 – William Holmes McGuffy educator, author: McGuffy Readers [122 million copies sold as of 1999]; 4th president of Ohio University; died May 4, 1873

♥~ 1930 – Ray Charles (Robinson) ‘The Genius’: Grammy Award-winning singer: Georgia on My Mind [1960], Let the Good Times Roll [1960], Genius of Ray Charles [1960], Hit the Road Jack [1961], I Can’t Stop Loving You [1962], Busted [1963], Crying Time [1966], Living for the City [1975], Lifetime Achievement Award of 1986, I’ll be Good to You [w/Chaka Khan – 1990]; What’d I Say, One Mint Julep, Take These Chains from My Heart, You Don’t Know Me; actor: The Blues Brothers, Ballad in Blue, Limit Up; died June 10, 2004

♥~ 1943 – Julio Iglesias singer: To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before [w/Willie Nelson]; Guinness Book of Records: sales of more than 100 million copies of 60 LPs in five languages; soccer: professional goalie [Spain]

♥~ 1949 – Bruce Springsteen ‘The Boss’: singer: group: E-Street Band: Born in the U.S.A., Born to Run, Hungry Heart, Dancing in the Dark, Cover Me, I’m on Fire, Glory Days, My Hometown, War; songwriter: Blinded by the Light [Manfred Mann’s Earth Band], Fire [The Pointer Sisters]; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [3-15-99]

★~ Good to Know: 

Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982. For more information on Banned Books Week, click here. According to the American Library Association, there were 464 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2012, and many more go unreported.

The 10 most challenged titles of 2012 were:

Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group
Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James.
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.
Reasons: Homosexuality, unsuited for age group
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.
Reasons: Homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
Looking for Alaska, by John Green.
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
Reasons: Unsuited for age group, violence
The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Reasons: Sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence

The New York Times has a list of ways to celebrate our right to read.

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People who want to censor other peoples reading. Interesting, isn’t it? Who are these people? I have a wildly diverse group of friends and I have never heard one of them suggest banning a book outside of their own family. It always amazes me that someone would have the nerve to stand up and insist a book be removed from a library based on their opinion. I would like to imagine they were laughed out of the room, but I guess not. And who knew, there was an Office of Intellectual Freedom?

Odd Loves Company!

Wishing everyone a Merry Monday!