TresSugar

Was This Banned Ad Too Naughty For TV?

GiggleSugar — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:00:00 -0700

The following commercial for the Chrysler Concorde was banned from TV a few years ago. The Chrysler folks did away with the standard car-commercial spiel, amped up the sex appeal, and offended a few consumers in the process. While some didn't see the harm in a backseat sex joke, others found it completely inappropriate to use off-color humor to market a spacious family sedan. Four years later, with the rise of print ads like this and raunch reality all over TV, are we still offended by this kind of advertising ploy?

Censored: Books Banned For Sexual Content

colleenb — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

It's Banned Books Week and time to honor some of the most reviled books in America. While book-banning may sound like a throwback to Victorian times, censoring books continues to flourish in 21st-century schools. What's most surprising is a book can be removed from a curriculum, reading list, or school library with the complaint of just one parent. Violence, racial themes, and the occult are commonly cited reasons, but an even more popular one is sexual content. Check out these nine books that have been removed from schools in the last two years, and tell us if you think there's ever a good reason to ban a book.

Source: Flickr User wheelo50411

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The Banned Book Club: What Books Have Joined?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:00:00 -0700

Though most book-ban inquiries remain hush hush, 9,600 requests to censor have been logged since 1990. With the help of news and librarian reports, the American Library Association tracks what tawdry titles threaten to jump off bookshelves into children’s knapsacks. And now USA Today has made a fancy chart, sortable by title, author, reasons for challenge, location, and final decision.

Sexual content was the most oft-cited reason - 144 out of the 272 times - while the racially themed, vulgarly worded, and violently depicted were other chart toppers. Someone even tried to remove the dictionary!

So what aren't we reading? To see some of the most well-known titles and why they were banned, read more.

Removed Books

The Bluest Eye: A Toni Morrison novel - and Oprah Book Club selection - was removed from a Colorado school for sexual and violent content.
Clifford the Big Red Dog: The bilingual edition was removed from a California school for unspecified reasons. Que?
Girl Interrupted: Removed from a Maine school for language.
The Lovely Bones: Moved to the faculty section of library after concerns that it was too frightening for students. So, violence?
Huck Finn: Removed from multiple schools for racial themes.
Harry Potter series: A Catholic school removed them because of inappropriate religious content.
Beloved: Removed from an AP English class's reading list because of sex and racial themes.
Prep: A Novel: Removed from a school after a parent complained it was pornographic.

Any here shock you? Was a book ever banned from your library or school?

Front Page: Ban Ki-Moon in Myanmar, Oil Spikes Three Days, Farm Bill and Tax Package

CitizenSugar — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:00:48 -0700

Ban Ki-Moon in Myanmar: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has begun his tour the devastated Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar. He is set to meet with military ruler Gen Than Shwe hoping to persuade the government to accept more aid for cyclone victims. So far the government has blocked large-scale international assistance, and foreign agencies say they are able to deliver just 30 percent of what they would like. The death toll from Cyclone Nargis is currently 78,000 dead, with another 56,000 missing. The UN says that fewer than a 25 percent of the 2.4 million people affected have received aid.

Oil Spikes Three Days: Oil cost attained a new record for highest price for a third straight day, topping $135 a barrel. OPEC producer Saudi Arabia last week said it had raised production by 300,000 barrels per day, but the news had minimal impact on the market.
Farm Bill and Tax Package: The House voted 316-to-108 to override President Bush's veto of the Farm Bill. The vote was well over the two-thirds needed. Bush said in his veto announcement, “for a year and a half, I have consistently asked that the Congress pass a good farm bill that I can sign. Regrettably, the Congress has failed to do so. At a time of high food prices and record farm income, this bill lacks program reform and fiscal discipline.” The House also passed a $54 billion tax package. The measure renews tax breaks that have expired or will expire soon and provides new tax relief in the form of child tax-credits and breaks for renewable energy.

Speed Read! Jon Stewart Takes on Rogue Warrior Sarah Palin

TresSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:30:58 -0800

Jon Stewart explains that his problem with Sarah Palin has nothing to do with her looks or her family. - Daily Show
Texas may have accidentally banned all marriage when it banned gay marriage in 2005. - The Frisky
Sexist man alive Jon Hamm is missing from People's Sexiest Men Alive list. - Best Week Ever
Conservatives are over Carrie Prejean thanks to her sex tapes. - The Daily Beast
Old law still bans women from wearing pants in Paris. Ouf! - Telegraph
John Kerry's daughter Alexandra was arrested on suspicion of DUI. - TMZ
Brush up on New Moon before you see the movie. - BuzzSugar
Literary Review's bad sex in fiction award. - Guardian
Computer nerds strip for charity. - Huffington Post

10 Worst Male Fashion Offenses

TresSugar — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:00:25 -0800

Sometimes a man's fashion sense can get in the way of his natural sexiness. And apparently, bad fashion can also cause violence. Last week we heard that a popular nightclub in Australia banned certain clothing (think Ed Hardy tops and popped collars) because that style of dress was causing bar fights. I asked all of you to share the styles you'd like to ban, and you guys reached a consensus that a variety of trends had to go. Based on your suggestions, I've rounded up the top-10 worst male fashion offenses.

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US Lifts HIV/AIDS Travel Ban

TresSugar — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:00:00 -0700

For the last 22 years, foreign citizens living with HIV or AIDS have been forbidden to legally enter the US. As of Monday, that ban will be a thing of the past. On Friday, President Obama announced the decision to overturn the policy he called "rooted in fear rather than fact." He said:

"We talk about reducing the stigma of this disease - yet we've treated a visitor living with it as a threat. We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic - yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people from HIV from entering our own country. If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it."

Before this decision, the US joined a less-than-impressive list of countries that banned HIV-positive outsiders. The list still includes: Armenia, Colombia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sudan, and Yemen. Considering there are already Americans living with HIV/AIDS, it served little purpose to "quarantine" the country. I'm happy to see that our HIV/AIDS prevention strategies will no longer include an ineffective and discriminatory ban.

Say What? Runner Caster Semenya on Her New Life

TresSugar — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:00:13 -0800

"I know who I am. I can't change what [people] say. . . I am a fighter. I never give up. And I knew I was going to get better."

- South African sprinter Caster Semenya has opened up to the media, after officials at the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) publicly called her sex into question this past August. The controversial sex test reportedly revealed that Caster is intersex, and next Friday the IAAF is set to rule on Caster's case. The organization could either ban Caster from competing, require her to undergo surgery, or allow her to compete as she is.

Do Tell: What Are the Worst Male Fashion Offenses?

TresSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:00:28 -0800

A popular nightclub in Australia has decided to ban "metrosexuals" in an attempt to curb violence. Apparently a certain style of dress is enough to start a bar fight.

On the list of forbidden clothing items you will find low-cut v-neck t-shirts, skinny jeans, pointy white shoes, popped collars, and Ed Hardy tops. I think many of us would be happy to go to a bar with this type of restrictive dress code.

When trying out fashion trends, men can come off as trying a little too hard. The power jeans trend - the tendency to pair expensive-looking jeans with a blazer for an "I'm hip!" vibe - is another example. Which male fashion fad would you like to ban?

The Last Decade in Less Than Seven Minutes

TresSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0800

Believe it or not, we're about to start a new decade in less than two months. That means we can all get ready for the barrage of recaps about the last 10 years, which have truly seen a lot of strange and sad events. This has been a decade dominated by terrorism, wars, Terri Schiavo, Hurricane Katrina, and gay marriage bans. But we've also witnessed the rise of YouTube, the Rick Roll, the iPod, Michael Phelps, and Barack Obama. Gearing up for the end of the year, Newsweek put together a seven-minute roundup of this decade's most memorable moments. I'm sure VH1 is taking notes for the inevitable upcoming show called something like "I Love the 2000s." What will we call this decade, anyway?