] News Stories Try to Downplay Outrage over TV Indecency
] Even While FCC Complaints Soar
]
] On Monday of this week, MediaWeek ran a story that stated
] that 99.8% of all indecency complaints filed in 2003 were
] filed by the PTC, and 99.9% of complaints with the FCC
] (aside from the complaints about Janet Jackson's breast
] exposure during the Super Bowl) were filed by the PTC and
] its members.

Okay as many of you are well aware the parents television council is responsible for 99.9% of all complaints to the FCC this year. Just how can one group make so much noise? Well the answer is simple they have a website that will generate form letters to all of your local media outlets. Check out the link on this story and put in your zip code and see who it finds for you. If you think it is harmless enough put in some fake info and have it generate out a complaint for you. I am truely disturbed by what I found on this groups' website. For more info on their other doings check out http://www.parentstv.org/ and give a look to their "Action Center" or the large "File an FCC Complaint" button on the main page.

Parents Television Council Action Center

] In a little-noticed submission to the Federal Register,
] the FCC made clear its intention of levying astronomical
] fines against publications that use dashes or other
] characters in place of letters to print profanity.
]
] "They think they're getting away with it, but I still
] know what they're writing," said FCC Chairman Michael
] Powell, at a press conference attended by two homeless
] men and our reporter, who had been looking for the
] building's exit and felt guilty about leaving once he'd
] entered the room.
]
] Powell continued: "Recently, Entertainment Weekly quoted
] Tom Hanks - the saintly Tom Hanks! - using the word
] 'C-dash-dash-dash-sucker.' That's how they printed it,
] but they put the whole word in my head. They put it in my
] head."

I love his closing sentence there... 'They put it in my head'. Well here is one for your head, Michael Powell. F--K YOU, A--HOLE!

DeadBrain - FCC's New Indecency Target: Dashes in Magazines, Newspapers

] So what does the 66-year-old Carlin think of the current
] handwringing over what is indecent, profane, obscene,
] immoral, lewd or insulting?
]
] "More of the same, more of the same. What are we,
] surprised?" Carlin told The Associated Press on Friday
]
] He blamed it on religious moralism, media commercialism
] and election-year politics.
]

That last comment is what this all boils down to. Election year politics. Gah.

Alameda Times-Star Online - Bay Area Living

] On Wednesday, Daniel Robbins' stuck by his decision to
] take responsibility for nearly killing jogger Patty
] Emanuel and pleaded guilty to attempted deliberate
] homicide to avoid the pain of a trial.
]
] With his parents and little sister looking sadly on --
] and his victim sitting quietly in the row behind the
] prosecution -- the tall, husky 17-year-old with a deep,
] quiet voice took the stand and acknowledged not only his
] desire, but also his competency, to make that decision.

WTF is wrong with some people. Good lord!

Teen pleads guilty to trying to kill jogger - greatfallstribune.com

w00t! Too bad it's in the final days of this version of the Patriot Act. Maybe this will carry momentum while they think of drawing up another version.

CNN.com - Federal judge rules part of Patriot Act unconstitutional - Jan. 26, 2004

] Criminals are turning the tables on police by making
] crude versions of road spikes and hurling them in the
] path of pursuit cars.
]
] And, according to the letter of the law, there is little
] police can do about it.

This isn't a US news story but I thought it was interesting all the same.

DIY spikes: police face a new kind of stick-up - www.smh.com.au

] The 11th edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate
] Dictionary, published in June, defines a "McJob" as "a
] low-paying job that requires little skill and provides
] little opportunity for advancement."

CNN.com - Merriam-Webster: 'McJob' is here to stay - Nov. 11, 2003

] CONCORD, N.H. - If a married woman has sex with another
] woman, is that adultery? The New Hampshire Supreme Court,
] ruling in a divorce case, says no.
]
] The court was asked to review a case in which a husband
] accused his wife of adultery after she had a sexual
] relationship with another woman. Robin Mayer of
] Brownsville, Vt., was named in the divorce proceedings of
] David and Sian Blanchflower of Hanover.
]
] A Family Court judge decided Mayer and Sian
] Blanchflower's relationship did constitute adultery, but
] Mayer appealed to the state's Supreme Court, arguing that
] gay sex is not adultery under New Hampshire divorce law.

Court: Lesbian sex cannot be adultery - billingsgazette.com

] Clear Channel is a product of the deregulation of radio
] in the United States through the Telecommunication Act of
] 1996, which overturned the rule limiting to forty the
] number of radio stations around the country that a single
] company could own.
]
] Today Clear Channel owns over 1,200 stations, or roughly
] one in every ten in the country, over 776,000 outdoor
] advertising displays, such as billboards and street
] benches, as well as 200 major concert halls across the
] nation. The company represents the biggest and most
] profitable bands and stars in the business, ranging from
] N'Sync, Tina Turner and Pearl Jam to sports legends like
] Michael Jordan and Andre Agassi.

If you aren't very familiar with the corporate machine that Clear Channel Communications is, please read. Many of our local stations in this area have banded together to keep Clear Channel's presence in this market to a minimum. Clear Channel needs to have their level of power cut back severely.

CorpWatch.org - Issues - Utility Deregulation - Articles - Clear Channel Rewrites Rules of Radio Broadcasting

] Sept. 30, 2003 | JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- A
] 2-year-old girl survived on ketchup, mustard and dried
] pasta for nearly three weeks after she was left home
] alone while her mother served time in jail.

] The little girl had been left alone since her mother
] was jailed Sept. 10 for aggravated assault and petty
] theft. The mother was charged Monday with child abuse,
] and was being held Tuesday on $20,000 bond.

Salon.com News | Toddler recovering after 2 1/2 weeks alone