Come holiday season, there’s a lot of hubbub about joy and all that jazz.  But here at Columbia the first two weeks of December are decidedly unjoyous times.  With visions of forthcoming finals dancing in our heads, at this point in the year, many of us have had it with academia. 

But today, Bwog brings you a reason to be thankful for the very scholarly stuff that has gotten you down lately.  Today, December 6th, 2008 marks the 75th anniversary of the court ruling that James Joyce’s Ulysses is not obscene.  And who was responsible for this admirable endorsement of the First Amendment and freedom of press? Why none other than Judge John M. Woolsey of Columbia Law School class of 1900.  Leave it to one of our own to champion the liberation, legality and love of literature — well done, Woolsey!

So as you slog through your annotated Ulysses tome today in Butler (Bwog’s completely dreading Kitcher‘s final too), remember and relish the liberation of this fine text!