Running scared
The Senate late last Thursday slipped a bill through by unanimous consent that would increase indecency fines on broadcast radio and TV stations tenfold to $325,000; and keep in mind, it's no longer just station owners that can be fined, it's you and me. (A House bill to be reconciled with that measure is just as scary.) The Land of the Free has morphed into the Land of the 'Fraid, at least in Washington, and this has nothing to do with decency or the protection of sensitive eyes and ears. It has to do with protecting pockets of privilege and chilling dissent.The FCC, in one example, has ruled that the word "bullshit" is acceptable if it comes out of the mouths of white people in "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List," but the same word was ruled profane when it was uttered by a black blues musician on a Martin Scorsese PBS documentary. Critics of the current administration, such as Howard Stern, are collared like criminals over sex and fart jokes, but Bush bootlicker Sean Hannity can broadcast the audio of a beheading on his radio show. The encouraging part is that-- three years after Miss Jackson's nipple outing (Miss Jackson, because I'm nasty)-- mainstream public support has evaporated behind the movement to tighten broadcast standards. That's why politicos were forced to slide this bill through in the middle of the night.
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I believe internet freedom is one of the most important issues confronting us as global citizens. An information revolution is taking place that is allowing everyday people unprecedented access to education, their own public expression, and democratic participation. The telecommunications conglomerates are scared shitless. Seven hundred organizations from Moveon.org to Google to the Christian Coalition are backing a political alliance called Network Neutrality to combat any legal erosions of this freedom. Join the fight.
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Marty Short, last night on Letterman: During his brief tenure as a stand-up comedian, he faced an audience so hostile, they came dressed as his deceased parents. Rough crowd.
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Where are they now? The scout who signed Albert Pujols to the Cardinals is stocking shelves at a Wal-Mart in Arkansas.
posted by CM @ 8:10 PM
1 Comments:
Great tip. Another useful site for parents is www.screenit.com. It contains movie reviews with basic rundowns of material that might be found objectionable, but refrains from passing moral judgement over content.
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