Abracadabra! Orthodoxy

Staff / Truthdig Apr 3, 2009 An obvious Photoshop job in Israel has hilariously tried to make Israel's inaugural Cabinet a bit more Orthodox. In one ultra-Orthodox Jewish newspaper, two female Cabinet members were cropped out of an official picture and replaced with two non-Cabinet men. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Police Pounce on Pakistani Protests

Staff / Truthdig Mar 13, 2009 Anti-government demonstrations in Pakistan were thwarted by police Thursday, as opposition leaders were arrested and protesters were stopped after the government claimed that such public gatherings could be sites for terrorist attacks. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Tales From the Palin

Staff / Truthdig Oct 23, 2008 The ghoulish comic "Tales From the Crypt" is taking a spooky look at the possibility of a Sarah Palin presidency. An editorial by Gathy Gaines Mifsud, daughter of publisher William Gaines -- a target of a ghastly 1950s Senate investigation on censorship -- rails against Palin and her reported McCarthy-esque book-banning stunts while mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

McCain Camp Assails Book-Banning Report as a ‘Smear’

Staff / Truthdig Sep 9, 2008 Team McCain has rejected the "vicious smear" that as mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin wanted to ban books from the local library, but the campaign's 1,615-word memo on the subject indirectly supports the accusation. As Palin's mayoral predecessor recalls, "She asked the library how she could go about banning books." According to the Anchorage Daily News, she also fired the library director "without warning" for "not fully supporting her efforts to govern." Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

China Under Fire for Olympic Crackdowns

Staff / Truthdig Jul 29, 2008 When Beijing was chosen to host the Olympics, the Chinese government pledged to make human rights improvements, but Amnesty International says the situation has actually gotten worse because of the coming games: "Specifically we've seen crackdowns on domestic human rights activists, media censorship and increased use of re-education through labor as a means to clean up Beijing and surrounding areas." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

George Carlin on Words, War and Power

Staff / Truthdig Jun 24, 2008 While YouTube teems with clips from the extensive career of the late, great George Carlin, it would be impossible to capture the full scope of his comic genius. Having said that, here are a few highlights. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Dixie Chicking’: Post-9/11 Blacklisting in the Entertainment Industry

Ed Rampell Oct 25, 2007 As a follow-up to his "Hollywood 10" retrospective essay, and in honor of Friday's 60th-anniversary commemoration of 1947's "Hollywood Fights Back!" radio program, author Ed Rampell shows how history has (unfortunately) repeated itself of late in America's entertainment and news media. Dig deeper ( 16 Min. Read )

White House ‘Eviscerated’ Climate Report

Staff / Truthdig Oct 24, 2007 When Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control, went before Congress to testify on the effects of global warming on Americans' health, she was about 10 pages lighter than planned. According to a source within the CDC, the White House "eviscerated" Gerberding's prepared remarks, slashing 10 of the original 14 pages. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Your Handy Guide to Emmy Censorship

Staff / Truthdig Sep 18, 2007 Sally Field worked her Emmy acceptance speech into an (unfortunately) incoherent anti-war crescendo during Sunday night's telecast, which, like the other two muted moments showcased in this video montage by the always-hilarious Defamer team, was awkwardly squelched by hypervigilant editors at Fox. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

China’s Virtual Thought Police

Staff / Truthdig Aug 29, 2007 Web users in Beijing will soon have to deal with a new annoyance as part of China's endless effort to control the Internet. By the end of the year, all websites registered with the government will feature animated Internet cops that will warn users to avoid forbidden content and offer friendly (if obnoxious) Internet security tips. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

War and Censorship at Wilton High

Amy Goodman / Truthdig Jun 13, 2007 Students at Wilton High School in Connecticut weren't allowed to discuss the war, unless it was with a military recruiter, so they wrote a play about it. "Voices in Conflict," which was quickly banned by the school, has made it to New York where it brought the audience to tears. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Court Rules Against FCC Censorship

Staff / Truthdig Jun 5, 2007 In a landmark ruling, a federal appeals court has sided with broadcasters against the Federal Communications Commission on the issue of indecency, saying the regulatory body has not adequately explained how the Constitution could permit the censorship of "indecent" language. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )