Censorship Rears It’s Ugly Head Again

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Censorship, Citrus County Florida

The Citrus County, Florida Commissioners who refused a request by local libraries to fund digital subscriptions to the New York Times. Starting on the left, their names are: Jeff Kinnard, Brian Coleman, Scott Carnahan, Ronald Kitchen and Jimmy Smith.

On October 24th, all five members of the Citrus County Commissioners rejected a request from their local library to fund digital subscriptions to the New York Times which would cost $2,700 annually. Did they do this because the funds aren’t available? No. Here’s how the discussion went.

County Commissioner Ron Kitchen: Do we really need to subscribe to the New York Times?

Scott Carnahan: I was actually going to say that. Fake news. I agree with President Trump.

Carnahan continues: I don’t want the New York Times in this county. I don’t agree with it. I don’t like ‘em, it’s fake news and I’m voting no. They can take that money and do something else with it. I support Donald Trump.

The rest of the commissioners agreed, making a point to say their refusal wasn’t due to a lack of resources and that the 70,000 library card holders who reside in Citrus County can simply get home delivery.

You all know by now how I feel regarding censorship particularly in public libraries. Politics should NEVER play a role in what materials are approved to be funded. While the esteemed commissioners may not be fans of the New York Times, there are library users who are. Many of who are on a fixed income and can’t afford a yearly subscription. Sandy Price who is the advisory board chairman for the county’s libraries said in an interview with The Citrus County Chronicle: Someone’s personal political view does not have a place in deciding what library resources are available for the entire county. Libraries have to ensure all points of view are represented.

It’s worth noting that the Chronicle also reported that the four commissioners who agreed to be interviewed stated they do not read the Times. And that is their right. However, they don’t have the right to deny library users access to material they personally don’t agree with. Only one commissioner told the paper they would be willing to revisit this decision, despite heavy backlash from constituents.

 

Words To Remember

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Fuad Alakbarov, Whistleblowers, Words To Remember

Every country needs its whistleblowers. They are crucial to a healthy society. The employee, who in the public interest, has the independence of judgement and the personal courage to challenge malpractice or illegality is a kind of public hero.

~ Fuad Alakbarov ~

*Update* 11/06 – Donald Trump Jr. has retweeted a Breitbart article naming the whistleblower whose report prompted the Ukraine inquiry. This reaffirms what a POS chip off of Daddy Dearest’s block junior is. 

 

The God Game, by Danny Tobey ~ 5.0 Stars

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Contemporary Fiction, Physical Abuse, Politics, Social Issues, Substance Abuse, Techno-Thrillers, Theology, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: January 7th, 2020

496 Pages

Synopsis:

You are invited!

Come inside and play with G.O.D.

Bring your friends!

It’s fun!

But remember the rules. Win and ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE. Lose, you die!

With those words, Charlie and his friends enter the G.O.D. Game, a video game run by underground hackers and controlled by a mysterious AI that believes it’s God. Through their phone screens and high-tech glasses, the teens’ realities blur with a virtual world of creeping vines, smoldering torches, runes, glyphs, gods, and mythical creatures. When they accomplish a mission the game rewards them with expensive tech, revenge on high-school tormentors, and cash flowing from ATMs. Slaying a hydra and drawing a bloody pentagram as payment to a Greek god seems fun at first. Harmless even.

But then the threatening messages start. “Worship me. Obey me.” Complete a mission, however cruel, or the game reveals their secrets and crushes their dreams. Tasks that seemed harmless at first take on deadly consequences. Mysterious packages show up at their homes. Shadowy figures start following them, appearing around corners, attacking them in parking garages. Who else is playing this game and how far will they go to win?

And what of the game’s first promise: win, win big, lose, you die. Dying in a virtual world doesn’t mean you die in real life—does it?

As Charlie and his friends try to find a way out of the game, they realize they’ve been manipulated into a bigger web they can’t escape: an AI that learned its cruelty from watching us. God is always watching, and He says when the game is done.

The God Game, first caught my eye because of many early reviews comparing it to Stranger Things and Ready Player One. I personally think it bears more a resemblance to the latter rather than the former, but comparisons don’t really matter because what this IS, is a high octane crazy thrill ride that I found impossible to put down. I’m not exaggerating. I started this after supper Sunday night and wound up staying awake until almost 3:00 a.m. I kept telling myself “just one more chapter,” but nope. That didn’t work out.

Often times with books that have so much action, character development falls by the wayside. Not here though. There are quite a few characters in this story and you get almost all of their perspectives. This makes it so much easier to become emotionally invested in them. Every single one of them have things going on in their lives that will draw on your empathy, even the bullies. There are quite a few social themes that could be triggers for some readers. These include: death of a parent, death of a sibling, physical abuse, substance abuse, and bullying. There are scenes that are very dark, but they’re not overwhelming. Instead it made me understand how a “game” like this could appeal to so many.

The plot is creative and despite previous books like Ready Player One, manages to stand completely on its own. As I said, the pacing is just NUTS, and if you get this when it comes out in January, good luck putting it down once you’ve started reading!

The God Game is an intriguing and frightening look at the proliferation of AI in our society. It also explores theology, sociology, and politics as seen through the eyes of teenagers. It has so many anxiety-inducing twists that the only thing I could be sure of is to expect the unexpected, especially at the end. There are a couple of things that aren’t fully explained, but these are so minor (plus, given the lateness of the hour, I might have just missed them), that I’m not taking any points off. With the advances in AI technology, I’m not even going to say this is science fiction. Rather, it falls under the sub-genre of techno-thriller, so if you’re a fan of that, I highly recommend this. And, although this technically falls under the heading of YA, don’t let that stop you. Some of the perspectives are told from the adults in the story, so I can see this having wide appeal for teens and adults. Now who do I talk to about making this into a movie?