Sunday, October 12, 2014

Teri Lesesne as Professor Nana, the Censor of Sam Houston State University

Photo credit: ALAN
The censor of Sam Houston State University's Department of Library Science is none other than Dr. Teri Lesesne ("rhymes with insane"), aka Professor Nana who teaches censorship.  She is illustrative of how censors work and how they hide and excuse their censorship.

She holds herself out as a professor who teaches school librarians to oppose censorship using, for example, slideshows where the first thing she teaches is "Let children read whatever they want...." See:


But when it comes to things she does not want people to hear, that she censors out.  Children should read absolutely anything, she teaches school librarians, but adults should not hear what she wants to be censored.

She wrote something false, mean, and intentionally misleading about me on her blog:
I responded to her attack in a comment, but it got marked as spam.  I sent her a message about this.  She published my response in a second piece she wrote about me, but only in her own self-interest, and again she cast me in a negative light:
  • "Here Ya Go!," by Teri Lesesne (Professor Nana), The Goddess of YA Literature, 9 October 2014.
I responded to that attack as well, and again it got marked as spam.  Again I informed her of this and asked her to take it out of spam.

Again she did not.  Instead, she launched yet a third attack on me, this time going out of her way to be as downright nasty, unprofessional, and flat out false as she could possibly be:
  • "Guess Who Is Back?," by Teri Lesesne (Professor Nana)The Goddess of YA Literature, 11 October 2014.
My comments simply do not appear on her blog called The Goddess of YA Literature.  (At least as of this time slice.)  When she added one it was in another blog post of her own, hence out of context; it was couched in yet more negative language, and she still did not approve my original comment on her first hit piece on me.  And she never responds to substantive issues.  My comments I post are simply blocked from her site.  Invisible.  Censored out.  By a professor teaching censorship.  At a public institution.  At Sam Houston State University.

Professor Nana feigns innocence, but I have asked her to publish my comments and she has refused, responding instead with the nastiest of new posts.  And this censorship-loving professor actually teaches school librarians not to censor anything from children.  The first page of her training linked above quotes the American Library Association as saying, "Censorship by librarians of constitutionally protected speech, whether for protection or any other reason, violates the First Amendment."  Setting aside that that's legally false, Professor Nana does not even practice what she preaches.  She actually gets paid a publicly-funded salary to teach one thing and do the exact opposite in real life from her public school perch.  She's a paid government censor.

Let me be very clear.  I asked Professor Nana to mark my comment as not spam and publish my comment and she has refused.  She leaves my comments marked as spam.  That not only censors out my comments, but it tells her blog platform that comments from me are considered spam, at least by her.  That makes it harder for me to make other comments on any blog on her blog's platform, in this case LiveJournal, not just on her blog.

It is a means of using the spam filter to censor out speech you hate.  All from a professor in a profession that supposedly opposes censorship and whose leading organization holds itself out as the nation's self-arrogated censorship police.  When I get library mail in my spam folder that I do not like because I disagree with it, I actively click the not spam button.  I play fair.  Professor Nana does not.  I may disagree with it, but it is not spam, and I know leaving it marked as spam will make it harder for the sender to get any message through to anyone else.

By asking Teri Lesesne to publish my comment, I did exactly what I was directed to do by her blog's platform, hyperlinks omitted, emphasis mine:
Due to the variety of anti-spam features that LiveJournal employs there is always a possibility that your legitimate entries or comments will be mis-identified as spam.  If your entries or comments have been incorrectly mis-identified as spam, please open up a Support request....  In addition to contacting Support, you can also contact the journal owner or community owner/maintainers and ask them to mark your comment or entry as not-spam.
But in her third attack piece, Professor Nana, the Goddess of YA Literature, the censorship professor at the Department of Library Science at Sam Houston State University, wrote, "I replied (yes, I should know better) that I had not blocked comments on the blog.  I checked the comment page on my blog and there is nothing there for me to 'mark' and publish. .... This is the end of you, sir.  ....  He accused me then of blocking his comments (and, once again, I did NOT)."  And yet my comments to this day are still not on any of her blog posts about me.

Notice she puts the word "mark" in single quotes to indicate she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about or I am even incapable of speaking intelligently.  It is passive-aggressive bullying.  Yet that is exactly what LiveJournal says to do, "ask them to mark your comment or entry as not-spam."  In the tweet shown above you can see I did exactly what LiveJournal instructed me to do.  Professor Nana is in no position to make it appear I asked for the impossible.

Sam Houston State University
"Now you are just simply baiting me and falsely accusing me of being a censor," she protests.  No, I'm not baiting or deliberately taunting her; she has said false and mean things about me repeatedly and is blocking my responses repeatedly.

No, I'm not falsely accusing her of being a censor.  Instead, I am reporting that she is a censor.  My evidence includes 1) my comments as posted by me do not appear on her blog posts despite my efforts to have them posted per LiveJournal instructions by requesting her to publish them, 2) her comments about me are false and misleading and evidence an intention to censor, not an intention to act professionally by identifying and resolving any technical issue blocking my ability to comment, if any, and 3) her blog is promoted by Sam Houston State University, a public university, where she is employed to teach library science, meaning her actions are not only hypocritical but also represent official government censorship, in this case by a public institution of learning.

"Paint me and anyone who dare object to your form of censorship however you like," she says.  And exactly what form of "censorship" is that?  I oppose censorship in all its forms.  Keeping inappropriate material from children is a serious matter but it is not censorship.  Besides, the last book banned in the USA was Fanny Hill, and that was in 1963, over 50 years ago.  For context, a Banned Books Week cosponsor recently wrote that it was censorship to keep middle school children from reading in school about explicit adult content, so I published an extensive excerpt so people can see exactly what type of material Professor Nana and others like her are protecting.

This is how the censor works.  Censors make false and misleading claims about people who they want to smear so others will not pay attention to them.  They mark legitimate responses as spam or leave them marked as spam so computers can spread the censorship further.  They continue to attack since those censored have no platform on which to respond.  They modify your words then attack you for something you did not say.  The icing on the cake is doing this in a profession that opposes censorship and as a professor who teaches school librarians to oppose censorship.

Think about it.  The censor of Sam Houston State University is the professor teaching censorship.

I should write a letter to Sam Houston State University to see if Professor Censor is really the best match for teaching school librarians about censorship.  There are so many wonderful librarians who can teach.  Actively employing an active censor, and a mean one at that, might not be a good fit for a respected public university, "one of the oldest purpose-built institutions for the instruction of teachers west of the Mississippi River and the first such institution of its type in Texas."

For those wishing to see the material being censored, I published it on my SafeLibraries Publications page here.


NOTE ADDED 20 OCTOBER 2014:

Look how supposedly professional librarians, prompted by Professor Censor, pile on to make a mockery of their professional ethics and values, egged on by Walt Crawford:

URL of this page: safelibraries.blogspot.com/2014/10/professor-nana.html

On Twitter: @ProfessorNana @SamHoustonState @SHSULIBSCI #censorship


Friday, October 3, 2014

American Values are 'Deeply Problematic' for the National Coalition Against Censorship; NCAC Prefers the Ghostwritten Advanced Placement US History Framework for Schools

American values are "deeply problematic" for the National Coalition Against Censorship [NCAC].  It prefers the Advanced Placement US History [APUSH] framework for schools and sends misleading emails to push its view and the framework.  Below is an excerpt from that NCAC letter, my response revealing details about NCAC, then information about the APUSH framework having been politicized and ghostwritten.


NCAC Email to Jefferson County Public Schools:
We are particularly concerned about two aspects of the current proposals. The first has to do with identifying materials in the revised framework that “may reasonably be deemed” to be “objectionable.”  The second is the proposal to consider whether instructional materials “promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free enterprise system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights” and whether they “encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law.” 
Both proposals are deeply problematic.

My Response to Jefferson County Public Schools:
BY ELECTRONIC MAIL

October 2, 2014

Ken Witt, President
Members of the Board of Education
Jefferson County Public Schools
1829 Denver W Dr.
Lakewood, CO 80401

Dear President Witt and Members of the Board,

I have learned that the National Coalition Against Censorship [NCAC] has written to you yesterday regarding the curriculum framework for Advanced Placement U. S. History. ( http://ncac.org/incident/jefferson-county-school-board-to-review-history-curriculum/ )  It provided a warning against promoting citizenship, patriotism, the free enterprise system, and respect for authority and individual rights, calling such efforts “deeply problematic.”  It then provided legal argument it wants you to think is accurate and accurately presented.  It was signed by a number of people, principally Joan Bertin, NCAC’s Executive Director.

When considering the weight to be given such a letter, please consider that NCAC is a small pressure group that repeatedly writes to school boards to mislead them with false and misleading factual and legal information.  It is an organization that:
This past week was “Banned Books Week.”  Joan Bertin used the opportunity to call it “censorship” when a middle school removed a John Updike book after several preteens read graphic descriptions of anal s3x, s3xual urination, and ejaculating on a woman’s face, and to rail against Common Sense Media for providing information about the sexualized content of books ( http://boingboing.net/2014/09/21/another-school-year-just-start.html  http://www.vvng.com/preteen-brings-home-school-library-book-containing-sexual-content/ )
Now that same Joan Bertin that last week called it “censorship” to remove a p-rnographic book from a middle school stands before you offering factual and legal guidance for AP US History.  The guidance is intended to mislead you, as this is NCAC’s pattern, and not assist you.  The goal is to mislead you into thinking what NCAC wants you to think so you will do what NCAC wants you to do but does not otherwise have the power to force you to do.

And did you notice NCAC subtly implied teachers get to set the curriculum and not school boards?  That's false, but of course they do not inform you of that.  See:
and another community NCAC tried unsuccessfully to fool (and notice the comments have several authors of note):

Do consider what NCAC has to say, but keep in mind its past behaviors, methods, and interests so as to scrutinize its letter carefully and assign it weight accordingly.  Personally, I think promoting p-rnography in schools and the interests of a Hamas group in America is what’s “deeply problematic” while promoting American values in schools is what the American public wants and expects, what your community wants and expects.  I hope my information on NCAC helps you make the right decision for your community.

If you have any questions, or if I can be of assistance in resolving this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Dan Kleinman, Library Watchdog
SafeLibraries
641 Shunpike Rd #123
Chatham, NJ 07928


CC: Ken Witt, kewitt@jeffco.k12.co.us
Julie Williams, juwillia@jeffco.k12.co.us
Lesley Dahlkemper, ldahlkem@jeffco.k12.co.us
John Newkirk, jnewkirk@jeffco.k12.co.us
Jill Fellman, jcfellma@jeffco.k12.co.us

Notice the above tweet of mine was favorited by @JeffcoPTA.


AP US History Framework is Politicized and Ghostwritten:
Usually authors are proud to have their names recognized for influential pieces of work.  Not so for the Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. history curriculum guide, otherwise known as the Framework.  No one is claiming credit for the latest edition—a version of which has been accused of undermining American exceptionalism.  The Republican National Committee charged that it “reflects a radically revisionist view of American history that emphasizes negative aspects of our nation’s history while omitting or minimizing positive aspects.”  And while the Framework makes mention of Chief Little Turtle, the leftist Students for a Democratic Society and the Black Panthers, it fails to refer to the likes of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Benjamin Franklin and Martin Luther King Jr.

The Heartland Institute asked the College Board, who published the Framework, to reveal the authors of this “biased, poorly written, and ineptly organized document.” The College Board responded that Page v of the framework revealed the professors and teachers involved. However, on Page v, the only names listed are under the heading of “Acknowledgements.” Dr. Fred Anderson, one of the 19 educators listed on the page, lamented in a letter to the Colorado State Board of Education that he did not have “any hand in drafting this Part, so I can only guess at why the examples that appear were chosen.” “The Part” that Anderson was referring to is nearly 50 pages of course content.

This Framework will be applied to almost 500,000 students in more than 8,000 high schools across America this year.

Conclusion

American values are "deeply problematic" for the NCAC that promotes porn generally, inappropriate materials for school children, and some American Hamas group.  It prefers instead a politicized and ghostwritten Advanced Placement US History framework curriculum for schools and promotes its own values instead of "deeply problematic" American values like "citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free enterprise system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights."  Respect for such values like individual rights as expressed in the US Constitution is so out of style these days.

Should any schools receive pressure letters or emails from the NCAC about APUSH or anything else, please consider the above.


URL of this page: safelibraries.blogspot.com/2014/10/apush.html

On Twitter: @CollegeBoard, @CommonSense, @HeartlandInst, @JeffcoSchoolsCo, @JeffcoPTA, @NCACensorship, @NRO, @TheBlaze, #APUSH