This February will go down in history as the month in which the Bush administration got House approval for a bill that raises the maximum FCC fine to half a million dollars. Saying fuck or shit on radio or TV is now going to cost a pretty penny (actually, fifty million pennies.)
Rolling Stone puts it neatly into perspective:
"If the bill passes the Senate, Bono saying "fucking brilliant" on the air would carry the exact same penalty as illegally testing pesticides on human subjects. And for the price of Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl, you could cause the wrongful death of an elderly patient in a nursing home and still have enough money left to create dangerous mishaps at two nuclear reactors. (Actually, you might be able to afford four "nuke malfunctions": The biggest fine levied by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last year was only $60,000.)"
Insane! Do they provide an exhaustive list of words which may NOT be used? And if yes, how can they publish this list without falling under the same law?
Honestly, do these people have no other worries in their life? What exactly makes a woman's breasts such a horrible offense? More than half of humanity is born with breasts and sees them every day. We all (or almost all) owe our lifes to breasts and have probably seen one in the first part of our lifes. Are they disgusting to look at?
Those who have voted the bill seem to have lost their senses. How about going one step further and asking women to conceal their hair under a scarf, their eyes under a burka ....
Posted by: | Saturday, November 05, 2005 at 06:18 PM