G
Guest
Guest
Most interesting for me is learning that the head of the FCC is Colin Powell's son! I've put in bold my fave bits. I'd vote with him too. - Perdita
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Enough with the (bleep)ing word games - Tim Goodman, SF Chronicle
I have used the seven words that are not allowed on television. I have used them while watching and reviewing shows on television. I have used some of them in conversation with people who actually make shows for television. I have used some, but not all of them, when talking with the people at the TV networks who have the power to reject shows made for television that, in turn, make me use soon-to-be-illegal language. And I have used them, all of them, when discussing the spectacular sense of lameness that surrounds the Federal Communications Commission, whose job it is to monitor the use of these words.
If you haven't checked in with this whole ridiculous affair, the story surrounds one very angry protector of the people, Rep. Doug Ose (R-Sacramento), who believes the FCC has been too lax in enforcing the penalty for use of the seven words. He has introduced legislation, HR 3687, that would get the broadcast networks -- whose airwaves are federally owned -- into a lot of trouble if they let these words into the ether.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but having watched a whole lot of "The West Wing," I'm under the assumption that Republicans favor smaller government. No? Isn't adding a law on top of in-place regulations from a federal organization just making government, well, more complicated?
Not that Ose is wrong. While I like to say some of these words -- and not always in anger -- I'm not in favor of hearing them on, say, "Dora the Explorer." I think that might be a bad thing for my 3-year-old daughter. Far better for her to watch me drop something on my thumb and reel off four or five of them than, say, catch Barney turning all purple with rage as he spews that filth.
Just kidding. I would never let my kid watch "Barney."
This all caught fire because Bono of U2 dropped the f-bomb on the Golden Globes and NBC didn't bleep it out. Now, even if my daughter was, say, 12, she wouldn't be watching the Golden Globes. Because I would have told her it was a murky organization of foreign "journalists" who may or may not number 30 or 40 in legion and that sucking up to the entertainment establishment is a bad thing. Granted, by 12, she'd know I'm prone to ranting, sometimes with no clear point, and she'd simply tune me out and watch anyway.
Wait, there was a point here. Oh, yes, it's this: I'm for protecting innocent ears. Not for big government. Not for overreacting politicians. And why are our politicians watching awards shows, anyway?
But it also seems to me that Ose has missed the bigger objection to the FCC than its inability to do anything at all in this world. The FCC, under the leadership of Colin Powell's kid Michael, has taken the teeth out of every former measure meant to stop media conglomerates from taking over the airwaves and the world.
Now that's more scary than having that hootchie Nicole Richie say "s -- " and "f -- " on "The Billboard Awards," which wasn't bleeped out by Fox, even though the network had a five-second delay in place. Let's also make it clear right here that no daughter or son of mine, no matter how old, will ever in their lifetimes be allowed to watch "The Billboard Awards." Not on my watch. "Kids, this show celebrates mediocrity and cash, not artistry. Now go back to your rooms and listen to daddy's old Pixies albums."
This isn't necessarily an anti-censorship rant. Ose's legislation -- which is impressive in its briefness and surprisingly flexible sense of word usage -- says this: "As used in this section, the term 'profane,' used with respect to language, includes the words 's -- ,' 'p -- ,' 'f -- ,' 'c -- ,' 'a -- h -- ,' and the phrases 'c -- s -- ,' 'm -- f -- ,' and 'a -- h -- ,' compound use (including hyphenated compounds) of such words and phrases with each other or with other words or phrases, and other grammatical forms of such words and phrases (including verb, adjective, gerund, participle, and infinitive forms)."
I join Ose in not wanting my kids to hear these words on TV. I'd rather say them myself and then say, "Daddy was wrong to yell all those things at the TV." At least if they hear it from me, then it won't be such a surprise when they pop up on the playgrounds of our lousy American school system. I'm just saying.
I also join Ose in being against gerunds.
Yet I'm against his legislation for several reasons, the primary one being that if it passes, one day I may have to explain "infinitive forms," which I cannot, and "participle," which I kind of, sort of understand, but not really.
As this nonsense gets more and more attention (election year anyone?), it's pretty clear that we don't need the House of Representatives weighing in on censorship or making redundant the rules of another federal agency. What we need is for Ose to say what he really needs to say: Michael Powell needs to go, the FCC needs to be overhauled and yes, very late to the game though it is, the idea of raising the penalty fees is a good one. For Bono's comment, NBC could have been fined up to $27,500. Let me tell you something -- there isn't an NBC executive on either coast who doesn't have that money falling out of his or her own wallet. That's Monopoly money. Make it hurt.
Now that Powell has been woken to action, he's proposing this increase, which is logical, if late. He is also saying that the FCC made a mistake in not fining NBC in the first place. The agency, in one gloriously inane moment that pretty much sums up its effectiveness, said it wouldn't nick NBC because Bono used the word as an adjective, not in a sexual context.
Yeah, I'll remember that next time I blurt it out in the presence of young, impressionable ears. "It's an adjective, kids. It's OK. Go ahead and copy that usage at the dinner table tonight. I've got your backs -- have your parents call me for clarification."
Instead of adding more nonsensical legislation (remember -- smaller government!), how about a bill that says, in part: "The FCC will no longer be allowed to let gigantic media companies monopolize the airwaves. If they do, we will take their m -- f -- a -- out to the woodshed and beat the f -- s --
out of them for p -- away their obligation to protect the average citizen from corporate c -- s -- ."
I'd vote for that.
SF Chron
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Enough with the (bleep)ing word games - Tim Goodman, SF Chronicle
I have used the seven words that are not allowed on television. I have used them while watching and reviewing shows on television. I have used some of them in conversation with people who actually make shows for television. I have used some, but not all of them, when talking with the people at the TV networks who have the power to reject shows made for television that, in turn, make me use soon-to-be-illegal language. And I have used them, all of them, when discussing the spectacular sense of lameness that surrounds the Federal Communications Commission, whose job it is to monitor the use of these words.
If you haven't checked in with this whole ridiculous affair, the story surrounds one very angry protector of the people, Rep. Doug Ose (R-Sacramento), who believes the FCC has been too lax in enforcing the penalty for use of the seven words. He has introduced legislation, HR 3687, that would get the broadcast networks -- whose airwaves are federally owned -- into a lot of trouble if they let these words into the ether.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but having watched a whole lot of "The West Wing," I'm under the assumption that Republicans favor smaller government. No? Isn't adding a law on top of in-place regulations from a federal organization just making government, well, more complicated?
Not that Ose is wrong. While I like to say some of these words -- and not always in anger -- I'm not in favor of hearing them on, say, "Dora the Explorer." I think that might be a bad thing for my 3-year-old daughter. Far better for her to watch me drop something on my thumb and reel off four or five of them than, say, catch Barney turning all purple with rage as he spews that filth.
Just kidding. I would never let my kid watch "Barney."
This all caught fire because Bono of U2 dropped the f-bomb on the Golden Globes and NBC didn't bleep it out. Now, even if my daughter was, say, 12, she wouldn't be watching the Golden Globes. Because I would have told her it was a murky organization of foreign "journalists" who may or may not number 30 or 40 in legion and that sucking up to the entertainment establishment is a bad thing. Granted, by 12, she'd know I'm prone to ranting, sometimes with no clear point, and she'd simply tune me out and watch anyway.
Wait, there was a point here. Oh, yes, it's this: I'm for protecting innocent ears. Not for big government. Not for overreacting politicians. And why are our politicians watching awards shows, anyway?
But it also seems to me that Ose has missed the bigger objection to the FCC than its inability to do anything at all in this world. The FCC, under the leadership of Colin Powell's kid Michael, has taken the teeth out of every former measure meant to stop media conglomerates from taking over the airwaves and the world.
Now that's more scary than having that hootchie Nicole Richie say "s -- " and "f -- " on "The Billboard Awards," which wasn't bleeped out by Fox, even though the network had a five-second delay in place. Let's also make it clear right here that no daughter or son of mine, no matter how old, will ever in their lifetimes be allowed to watch "The Billboard Awards." Not on my watch. "Kids, this show celebrates mediocrity and cash, not artistry. Now go back to your rooms and listen to daddy's old Pixies albums."
This isn't necessarily an anti-censorship rant. Ose's legislation -- which is impressive in its briefness and surprisingly flexible sense of word usage -- says this: "As used in this section, the term 'profane,' used with respect to language, includes the words 's -- ,' 'p -- ,' 'f -- ,' 'c -- ,' 'a -- h -- ,' and the phrases 'c -- s -- ,' 'm -- f -- ,' and 'a -- h -- ,' compound use (including hyphenated compounds) of such words and phrases with each other or with other words or phrases, and other grammatical forms of such words and phrases (including verb, adjective, gerund, participle, and infinitive forms)."
I join Ose in not wanting my kids to hear these words on TV. I'd rather say them myself and then say, "Daddy was wrong to yell all those things at the TV." At least if they hear it from me, then it won't be such a surprise when they pop up on the playgrounds of our lousy American school system. I'm just saying.
I also join Ose in being against gerunds.
Yet I'm against his legislation for several reasons, the primary one being that if it passes, one day I may have to explain "infinitive forms," which I cannot, and "participle," which I kind of, sort of understand, but not really.
As this nonsense gets more and more attention (election year anyone?), it's pretty clear that we don't need the House of Representatives weighing in on censorship or making redundant the rules of another federal agency. What we need is for Ose to say what he really needs to say: Michael Powell needs to go, the FCC needs to be overhauled and yes, very late to the game though it is, the idea of raising the penalty fees is a good one. For Bono's comment, NBC could have been fined up to $27,500. Let me tell you something -- there isn't an NBC executive on either coast who doesn't have that money falling out of his or her own wallet. That's Monopoly money. Make it hurt.
Now that Powell has been woken to action, he's proposing this increase, which is logical, if late. He is also saying that the FCC made a mistake in not fining NBC in the first place. The agency, in one gloriously inane moment that pretty much sums up its effectiveness, said it wouldn't nick NBC because Bono used the word as an adjective, not in a sexual context.
Yeah, I'll remember that next time I blurt it out in the presence of young, impressionable ears. "It's an adjective, kids. It's OK. Go ahead and copy that usage at the dinner table tonight. I've got your backs -- have your parents call me for clarification."
Instead of adding more nonsensical legislation (remember -- smaller government!), how about a bill that says, in part: "The FCC will no longer be allowed to let gigantic media companies monopolize the airwaves. If they do, we will take their m -- f -- a -- out to the woodshed and beat the f -- s --
out of them for p -- away their obligation to protect the average citizen from corporate c -- s -- ."
I'd vote for that.
SF Chron
I love it. 
No. The new age of children knows way too much about sex and swearing, and censoring it is BS because they've already been exposed. Think I don't know what I'm talking about? I volunteered at an elementary school over the summer and I heard this kid, probably going into 5th grade, talking about cyber sex. Now thats innocence that needs to be protected.
