A couple of days ago I reported about new Wiesenthaler attempts to censor what grown-up people may buy and read. This time they went after the Barnes&Noble internet branch and Amazon.com, the two biggest on-line global book retailers.
The gall these people have never ceases to astound! Who do they think they are - to co-opt the brains of other people?
Naturally, my ZGram caused a flurry of letters to the Zundelsite, of which the two below are typical:
"What good can it do these silly people (the Wiesenthalers) in banning books in the Internet age - whether they ban them by preventing the books' publication or by banning their sale once printed? This is the Internet age where, at the FTP site of David Irving, one can download whole copies of his books on-line in a matter of minutes costing nothing to print on the part of the publisher, and very little on the part of the reader to acquire." <end>
And a letter to both the Amazon and Barnes&Noble brass, copied to the Zundelsite:
"Dear Presidents:
"Neither Amazon nor Barnes & Noble report to Bertelsmann's Thomas Middelhoff in the "modern" German "democracy."
"Neither Amazon nor Barnes & Noble report to stooges for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, wherever they are.
"Amazon & Barnes & Noble sell books to people who want them.
"Tell Thomas Middelhoff that. If Bertelsmann and German stooges want to burn books again, they should hang a few thousand yards of swastikas, get a burning permit from the Fire Protection Association, and bring out the cameras loaded with black-and-white film.
"I'm sure they could add the footage to the rest of the miles of propaganda they force-feed the German people, under the guise that they are '. . . doing it for their own protection.'" <end>
Amazingly and gratefully, it is acknowledged that not all is lost. Here is a reply from Amazon.com by a lady named Naomi Mercer to one of my ZGram readers who complained about this book burning business:
"Thank you for writing to us about this matter. This is probably the first email I have received where a customer is opposing us banning this book rather than asking us to ban it. Let me assure we have no intention of stopping the sales of any books at this time. We have great respect for your concerns and one of our goals as a retailer is to offer our customers access to every item in print, as well as to many out-of-print items. With 4.7 million books, videos, and CDs in our catalog, it is unfortunate but inevitable that a few titles may offend some of our customers.
"We have checked with our legal counsel both in the U.S. and in Germany, and determined that we are not violating any laws by selling these titles to customers in Germany. German laws against Nazi memorabilia prohibit the distribution of German-language editions of "Mein Kampf." The only editions of this title available from Amazon.com are in English.
"I'm glad to hear that you understand that our goal of universal access makes it impossible for us to remove items from our catalog--including of course any items which we as individuals dislike. I am also pleased to inform you that "Mein Kampf" will remain for sale at Amazon.com."
Nice, huh? How long will it last?
Meanwhile, here is a little newspaper clipping that I received from a military reporter, stationed in Europe, who is an avid fan of mine:
"July 7, 1999 Amsterdam, Netherlands.
"Police seized two copies of Adolf Hitler's manifesto, Mein Kampf at a book market after a local politician came across the copies and alerted authorities. The books, one copy in Dutch and the other in English, were on sale for $105 and $58 respectively when they were seized Sunday afternoon at a major book market in the Amsterdam suburb of Dordrecht, newspapers reported Tuesday.
"Mein Kampf is outlawed in the Netherlands, which endured a bitter Nazi occupation during World War II."
The lesson of today's ZGram will not be lost on savvy investors.
Ingrid
Thought for the Day:
"As far as "Jews for Jesus"--I can only think of two other historical figures whom Jews generally despise worse than Christ- Luther and Hitler."
(Letter to the Zundelsite)