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January 22, 2004
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There are three odd things about this entry:
1) It has almost nothing whatsoever to do with libraries.*
2) I'm not a big reader of the SF Chronicle. Its Calendar/Lifestyle section does not send me to the moon. (It has a great news library where I would LOVE to work ... ahem)
3) I'm one of those freaks who seem to be congentially unable to use swear words properly and naturally. Too many years as a Sunday school teacher (yes, really), I suspect. I've tried. I've failed. My mother uses saltier language than I do. **
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There's currently a bill in Congress, drafted by a CA legislator, that would make certain words illegal to air on broacast TV. Mind you, the FCC has long-established precedent in assessing penalties on stations that air Carlin's 7 dirty words (and a few others), but that was semi-overturned when the Commission ruled late last year that Bono's expletive that wasn't bleeped by NBC didn't violate FCC rules because he used the term as an adjective without any sexual connotations.
Tim Goodman, the SF Chronicle's TV reviewer, has a brilliantly funny take on the bill, the situation that provoked it, and where Michael Powell can place it and his visions of media deregulation -- hint: the sun doesn't shine there, and it's not the dark side of the moon.
* Thanks to Chris Zammarelli for the links. And as pointed out by a denizen of LibraryUnderground ... would libraries that get the E-rate (and thus must use Internet filters on all machines) be able to access the bill itself online?
** In case you think I'm a total priss, among the comedian(nes) that I adore are: Robin Williams, Lewis Black, George Carlin (early stuff), Eddie Izzard and Margaret Cho. And I can watch Kevin Smith movies all day long ...
Posted by misseli at January 22, 2004 01:27 PM