Category Archives: Transhuman News

Anti-Censorship Group Scolds Massachusetts Over Arcade Game Removals
kotaku.com

By: Octaviou Rex

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Anti-Censorship Group Scolds Massachusetts Over Arcade Game Removals - Video

Kolkata, Jan 31 (IANS) Chinese author Murong Xuecun, known as a foremost critic of censorship in his country, Thursday termed the plight of authors there as "extremely frustrating and annoying".

"Writers do not enjoy freedom of expression in China. They are subjected to all sorts of scrutiny," said Murong, speaking via Skype at the second Kolkata Literary Meet here. The author could not make it to the KLM because of some visa issues.

Shedding light on the plight of authors in China, Murong said, through an interpreter: "Situation is extremely frustrating and annoying."

He alleged that there was rigorous editing of "sensitive works".

"Sometimes entre chapters are cut out and sensitive words edited."

Murong, whose real name is Hao Qun, but is more famous in his pen name which he uses in his works, grabbed the spotlight with his debut Chinese work "Leave Me Alone: A Novel of Chengdu" that made the long list for the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2008.

His writings centre mostly around social issues in contemporary Chine, with corruption, business-government relations being his pet themes.

He was awarded the 2010 People's Literature Prize for his Chinese work "China: In the Absence of a Remedy".

But Murong stole worldwide attention when in his acceptance speech for the prize, he criticized the editor he worked with for the book and also made critical references to the state of censorship in China.

An admirer of Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses", Murong felt it does not matter from which country or region he writes as long as he is allowed to do it.

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Chinese author lashes out against censorship in his country

The National Coalition Against Censorship has fired back at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for removing a string of "violent" games from rest stops earlier this month. The games--including Time Crisis and Beach Head 2000--were removed following complaints by parents and just a month after the deadly shooting in Connecticut.

Executive director Joan Bertin's letter to the Massachusetts D.O.T. points out that games are protected free speech under the First Amendment and therefore cannot be regulated or restricted by state officials. She specifically mentioned the 2011 high-profile Supreme Court ruling as evidence.

"The Department's action in removing certain games because some people object to their message or content is equally constitutionally problematic. There is no legitimate state interest that could be asserted to justify removing specific games to appease the sensibilities of certain motorists."

Bertin added that by removing the games from rest stops, the Department is treading a slippery slope that could lead to other complaints. She said it is no stretch to imagine a person demanding certain DVDs, magazines, or books be banned.

"It is no more acceptable for the Department to remove certain kinds of video games than it would be to selectively remove other materials in rest stops and concessions because some motorists find something in them objectionable," she said.

Bertin concluded her statement saying it is unfair to single out video games, noting that no one is forcing anyone to play the games at rest stops.

"Video games, like other forms of media and entertainment, do not appeal to every individual. What some may feel is perfectly fine may not be right for all," she said. "Those who do not wish to play video games at rest-stops do not have to, just as those who do not. wish to read a particular book or magazine do not have to."

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Anti-censorship group angered at MA's removal of games from rest stops

An exhibition of paintings showing cannibalism and dismemberment is stirring a debate on art censorship in Japan, the home of violent manga comics.

Aida Makotos work at Tokyos Mori Art Museum last night provoked protests from a Japanese organization called People Against Pornography and Sexual Violence.

The group wrote to museum director Nanjo Fumio demanding that the images be removed because the museum was showing sexual, misogynistic material.

Its not so bad compared to manga and anime on the Internet, Nanjo said in an interview. This artists vision is about our society, which is hidden and (which) often people dont look at. The disturbing works encourage the viewer to question violence in all its forms, not to celebrate it, he said.

Makotos Monument for Nothing career retrospective includes pictures of Japanese retirees playing croquet with severed heads, a suicide device designed to always fail, a giant blender full of naked women and a kamikaze attack on New York (painted before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001).

Hidden behind a black curtain is a section restricted to people of 18 years old or more, where Makoto, 47, shows images of dismembered women and of a multi headed monster having sex. The latter echoes a 19th-century print by Hokusai.

Unlike the easily recognizable output of Takashi Murakami or Yayoi Kusama, Makotos oeuvre contains so many different styles that its impossible to label him.

He draws inspiration from comic books, prostitution advertisements, the Marquis de Sade, and Yukio Mishima, the Japanese writer who committed ritual seppuku (suicide by disembowelment) in 1970.

One painting shows a farmer in traditional Japanese costume harvesting Louis Vuitton bags from a muddy field. A Bonsai sculpture has smiling heads in place of cherry blossoms, poking fun at the countrys Kawaii culture of cuteness.

A folding screen depicts crows, some with human remains in their beaks, perched on electric power poles positioned at dangerous angles -- a post-apocalyptic tableau recalling a 16th- century work by Hasegawa Tohaku.

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Manga Cannibalism Sparks Censorship Fury in Japan