These are heavy times in the ol's U.S. of A. We've got that Iraq mess that won't go away (shoo!), I'm getting like 0.000003% interest on my savings and my all-time No. 1 girl Alyssa Milano was seen "helping Florida Marlins pitcher Carl Pavano celebrate his team's victory" in the World Series over my No. 1 team, the 26-time world champion Yankees.
So what's our president up to? Signing a proclamation that declares Oct. 26 through Nov. 1, 2003 as Protection From Pornography Week. Think I got this link from The Onion? Nope. Try to official White House website.
The proclamation begins by stating, "Pornography can have debilitating effects on communities, marriages, families, and children." Somewhere in the middle it reads, "I call upon public officials, law enforcement officers, parents, and all the people of the United States to observe this week with appropriate programs and activities."
Before you get on Georgie for wanting to abolish images of the same act that allowed him to conceive twin daughters — I mean, he didn't have his eyes closed, right? And he couldn't have been unaffected by the view, right? — this appears to be more of an official condemnation of pornography that involves children, a political maneuver akin to supporting school funding. Who's gonna argue with that?
On the other hand, no politician in his right mind would take a stand against regular porn. Maybe Pat Buchanan, but his greatest electoral achievement occurred when elderly Floridians punched his name by accident.
Other News Links:
• Blogger Fired From Microsoft Over Embarrassing Post — Makes sense to me. Who wants someone on the payroll making fun of them publicly? Keep the jokes and criticism private, like everyone else in the company.
• Green River Killer to Avoid Execution — Gary Leon Ridgway will admit in a plea deal to murdering 42 women, yet the public will pay for his food and shelter for the rest of his life. Let the ethical debates rage.
• Simpsons Creator: Fox News Threatened To Sue Show — Matt Groening said on NPR that FOX News threatened to sue The Simpsons for its parody of the FNC scrawl with headlines that read "Study: 92 percent of Democrats are gay" and "JFK posthumously joins Republican Party." Groening was confident that Rupert Murdoch wouldn't support litigation of one of his companies against ... another of his companies.
• Critics Take Wary View of Shopping Web Link — Media ethicists who probably know dick about the web are criticizing Consumer Reports for placing links to BizRate on the same pages of its product reviews. Let's see, the link facilitates shopping by surveying the latest prices from a host of retailers, while disclosing user-appointed trust ratings when applicable. Unethical? No, just common sense, you stodgy asswipes.
Most pornography is legal in America for adults. We have something called the First Amendment here. Obviously Bush is not too concerned with protecting that.
Posted by Eddie at October 31, 2003 6:38 AM