This anomaly was explained to me by a high-level tech within the bowels of the cable provider's (a big one) service department. He had nothing to sell me, as he was pure tech, helping me to resolve another issue. So he had nothing to lose by revealing the facts. I had pointed out to him that the advertisement stated that I could have any speed I needed, at the time it was needed ("Speeds up to___ on demand!"). Yet, they offered to sell packages at varying speeds, for varying dollar amounts, monthly. Of course, I chose the cheaper option, since I was promised any speed I needed, whenever I needed it. This seemed to me to be a bit odd, but what the heck. He chuckled a bit, then explained that everyone gets the max speed when they first log into a service or website, such as Netflix. But then, after about ten minutes or so, you get throttled back to the speed you pay for. Or less. Suddenly, I understood why Netflix would quickly come on at high-def for about the first ten minutes of a movie, then suddenly paused, and stated that it was 'renegotiating speed', after which 1080p became 720p. Noticeably, every time.

"Common Core says your students need to have certain skills." Any educator who entered the profession, unaware of this primary and definitive objective, has demonstrated the root of the problem, as educator (assumedly qualified) focus on the administration, rather than the students, continues to devolve. This isn't a 'Common Core' issue; it's a Common Sense concern. That anyone writing policy, thinks that this needs to be stated as the prime directive from any agency (Federal, State, Employment)... that believes this is the 'important' message that the states need to learn, as if they were not already aware.... is clearly the biggest problem that the states educators are facing: idiotic fools at the helm. Though, admittedly, some states are more idiotic than others. The more 'common sense' is ignored, the more common the senselessness of it all becomes. What an enormous waste of taxpayer resources, though not unexpected. (See other agencies and their performance, the latest debacle notwithstanding) It appears that the more the Federal government gets involved in education, the more the US slides down in international ranking, now having descended to #17 among developed countries since the inception of the DOE in DC.

As I recall, the initial Amazon removal was of a title which instructed 'how to' and 'in support of' pedophilia, a criminal act in the US. Contrastingly, the nasty stories of ancient writings in the Bible, referenced in your post, were listed as the things *not* to do, things which will get you, even as a king, excluded by God. Given the polar opposition in contexts on common ground subject matter, it would appear that it is the motivation and relative attitude which is being banned, not the subject matter itself. And as long as Amazon remains a retailer and not a government or religious entity, I'm not sure 'censorship' is the correct term. If we were discussing a grocery chain's unwillingness to carry organic produce, I don’t think we would say that they 'censored' chemical-free veggies; rather, that they chose not to offer them to their customers for reasons of market share and profitabilty over 'prohet ability'. As a retailer, such choices are made to allow a brand to have the greatest appeal to the greatest number of paying customers; not to set altruistic standards for the community as much as to recognize that such standards exist and that to honor those standards would be the best business model assuring a profitable future. And King David might have been better advised had he, too, followed those retailing guidelines of 'popular appeal' over 'I do it because I can'. As for your pastor’s recommended rating for the Bible, he might be onto something. I seem to recall that ‘The Passion of The Christ’ was not rated G either, though the evil of ‘murdering the innocent’ portrayed in the film was not put in an exalting light of encouragement to do the same, but rather was presented as the basis of reflection and condemnation of society’s sometimes willingness to kill that which is inherently good simply because it feels threatened by the standards that such goodness establishes in the sensibilities of that society and its necessary fabric of unity. It would appear that Amazon simply chose the path of least resistance and greater market share for reasons of profit; a good business model for a company that has corporate growth, not social reinvention at its core.