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Ever since its launch in 1970, Gary Trudeaus Doonesbury comic strip has pushed the envelope with frank, daring and funny examinations of contemporary issues.

A couple of weeks ago Doonesbury pushed the envelope a little too far for a lot of newspapers, including The Oregonian and Bends only daily, The Bulletin.

The offending strips focused on a batshit-crazy Texas law that requires women seeking an abortion to see ultrasound images of the fetus. In some cases obtaining such images requires inserting a probe-like instrument (called a shaming wand in the Doonesbury strip) into the womans vagina.

The Doonesbury strips contained some blunt language words like transvaginal and genitals but no words or images that were obscene. Nevertheless, the editors at The Bulletin and The Oregonian and at about 60 other American newspapers decided they were too hot to handle. They chose instead to publish old alternative strips provided by Trudeaus syndicate.

In a column last Sunday, Bulletin Editor John Costa tried to explain the decision. It wasnt that The Bulletin had any problem with the political position Trudeau was taking, Costa assured his readers. The Texas law, he wrote, is one that The Bulletin, a pro-choice newspaper, would vehemently oppose editorially if it were proposed in Oregon. (Thats comforting, and we intend to hold Mr. Costa to his word if the Oregon Legislature ever becomes loony enough to consider such a bill.)

No, Costa went on to say: The reason Doonesbury couldnt taint the sanctified pages of The Bulletin was that elements of it were not suitable for the predictable readership of the comics page. I didn't think it appropriate that the image of a doctor displaying the instrument he was about to insert in a woman was appropriate for the many youngsters who read the comics pages.

The Oregonian offered a similar line: The strip went over the line of good taste and humor [by] using graphic language and images inappropriate for a comics page.

The were-doing-it-to-protect-the-kiddies excuse is lame for a couple of reasons. One is that the days when the funny pages were populated by characters like Little Orphan Annie and Donald Duck are long gone; most of the strips that appear today clearly are written for adult, or at least teenage, readers. Also its hard to picture young children being mature and sophisticated enough to be devotees of Doonesbury and if they are, theyre probably not strangers to words like vagina and genitals.

We strongly suspect the real reason The Bulletin and The Oregonian decided to yank Doonesbury was fear of catching flak from their more prudish readers. And no doubt they would have.

But so what? A newspaper that doesnt ever take heat from its readers isnt doing its job. If being universally popular is an editors aim in life he should quit and become a game show host.

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Censorship Isn't Funny

(CBS News) Even though social media sites are taking a strong stance against websites that promote eating disorders, the pages don't seem to be going anywhere.

On one blog covered with pro-ana tags found on a popular site, a woman gives a play-by-play of a three day fast she's partaking in. During one of the days, the blogger wrote she consumed only tea, vitamins, and a gallon of water.

Eating disorders: 9 mistakes parents make Anorexia sufferers five times more likely to die sooner

"I'm super psyched to weigh in," the blogger wrote. "If I can make it til noon Friday I may extend it through the weekend!" Other followers offered support and said they'd join in the weight loss attempt.

While the activity of fasting alone isn't a major cause for alarm, the fact that her messages are posted in conjunction of images of frail women (known as "thinspiration"), positive mantras promoting weight loss and other self-loathing notes about being "pathetic" and having no friends, the blog quickly becomes an online snapshot of a person dealing with an eating disorder.

"A lot of times people with eating disorders use these sites as a means of seeking support," Vazzana tells HeathPop.

While the idea of online websites promoting pro-ana, pro-mia and thinspiration is not a new, the popularity of online blogging sites like Tumblr and Pinterest has made it easier for those with the ED to organize online. Simply tag your post with one of the hashtags on Tumblr, and you automatically get linked to other men and women who feel the same way. Create a board on Pinterest of weight loss tips and images of skinny models, and you have a one-stop site to share with others with your same issues.

In February, Tumblr wrote on their blog that they were adopting a no "self-harm" policy, meaning they would shut down sites that promoted eating disorders. Pinterest soon followed suit on March 27 by updating its terms of services to include banning material that "creates a risk of harm, emotional distress, death disability, disfigurement or physical or mental illness to any person." But a quick online search for these terms shows that these sites exist, either because they were created recently and have yet to be taken down or because the banned user created a different account that has yet to be found by the authorities.

"They are still finding a way with all these regulations," Vazzana says. "Even with all the regulations, Tumblr and Pinterest may try, but they'll get the sites back running under a different ISP."

According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders Inc., it is estimated that 24 million Americans have an eating disorder, but only one out of 10 will receive treatment. Currently, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental disorder. One in 200 U.S. women suffers from anorexia, and two to three out of 100 women will have bulimia, the South Carolina Department of Mental Health reported.

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Despite social media bans of "pro-ana" websites, pages persist

Burnt buildings in the aftermath of London riots at Lavender Hill, Clapham

The Riots Communities and Victims Panel was announced by the deputy prime minister in 2011, and tasked with looking into a number of issues, including, "why the riots happened in some areas and not others" and "what could have been done differently to prevent or manage the riots".

It also investigated "what motivated local people to come together to resist riots in their area or to clean up after riots had taken place", with its findings following visits to 21 areas and listening to the "views of communities and victims".

In its interim report, officially published today, one aspect addressed by the panel was media coverage of the riots and the use of social media.

The panel reported that "images of police being seen to back off' in Tottenham and their rapid circulation across social media and broadcast news services conveyed a loss of control of the streets".

In an executive summary the panel added that "this combined with a febrile rumour environment created a unprecedented explosive cocktail".

"It began to build a perception (and ultimate reality) that the street was no longer defended or defensible once resources were split."

The panel reports that some respondents "felt broadcasts showing scenes of one riot while reporting on another was misleading, especially as images sometimes depicted riots that had already been dealt with and had stopped".

"People felt this served to make rioting a self-fulfilling prophecy, attracting looters to areas they believed were already seeing significant rioting".

The panel added: "It seems clear that the spread of rioting was helped both by televised images of police watching people cause damage and looting at will, and by the ability of social media to bring together determined people to act collectively."

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Report: 'Spread of rioting helped by TV images of police'

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/556b1c35/benchmarking_consu) has announced the addition of the "Benchmarking Consumer Social Networks and Their Applications in Taiwan and China" report to their offering.

Chinese QQ and weibo.com have caught the spotlight in the global consumer social networking market owing to their considerable growth and rapid user base increase in China. Many vendors are eyeing social networking development in the Taiwan market as well. This report offers insight into the applications and service preferences of Taiwanese and Chinese consumer social networks for branded and social networking vendors outlining their future development plans.

List of Topics

- Touching on Internet penetration and social networking market development in Taiwan and China

- Social networking platform preferences of Taiwanese and Chinese consumers, including discussion forums, social utility sites, multimedia-sharing sites, and microblogs

- Different preferences for application activities between Taiwanese and Chinese consumers

- Social platform application usage levels of Taiwanese and Chinese consumers in terms of social networking and information application digital capabilities

- Consumer preferences towards platforms, activities, and applications analyses, it is found that Taiwan consumers focus more on social utility sites and discussion forums, while integrated mobile applications satisfy consumer demand for self-expression in China

Key Topics Covered:

1. China's Internet User Base 30 Times Larger than Taiwan's; Social Networking Market Expected to See Strong Growth

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Research and Markets: Benchmarking Consumer Social Networks and Their Applications in Taiwan and China Report Offers ...

A new era ... NSW schools are set to become more relaxed after students accessing social networking sites.

THE ban on students accessing social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter at school could be relaxed as the NSW Education Department reviews its internet filtering policy.

Social media sites are at present blocked, but with its internet filtering contract due to expire, the department is surveying schools to ensure the next version of the software meets their needs.

Schools ''have been asked to complete a survey designed to identify the features they believe are required in the future'', a department spokesman said. ''Part of this process has included the question of student access to sites under the social networking category.''

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The department's director of public schools, Dianne Marshall, told an education forum this week she believed that social networking would play a major role in education.

Lila Mularczyk, the deputy president of the NSW Secondary Principals Council - which reviews internet filtering categories as part of a schools web-filtering control group - said there had been varied responses towards social networking.

But through ongoing consultation with the Digital Education Revolution program, the council was aware of websites that could be useful for students to access at school and was looking forward to the survey results, she said.

A spokeswoman for the NSW Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations, Rachael Sowden, said parents would welcome supervision of students accessing social networking sites at school.

''Kids are actually accessing it at school anyway on their mobile phones. It's better to help support our students rather than put our heads in the sand and hope they don't access it by blocking it. We'd much rather have policies in place that support its safe usage.''

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NSW schools may lift social networking ban