Puritanism rears its ugly head

Q. What's the difference between Michael Powell (chairman of the US FCC) and Janet Jackson's breast?
A. One is a big boob, and the other appeared on the halftime show of the Super Bowl.
;-)

I find the U.S. government's crackdown on "indecency" in the broadcast media to be as patently offensive, if not more so, than anything that could be said on the radio or shown on television that would run afoul of these new-found Puritans' blue noses. I think the move to fine individual stations large sums of money for airing program content not under their direct control is overbearing and comes uncomfortably close to shredding the First Amendment rights we all so rightly cherish.

'Nuff said.

Stop me if you've heard this one...

A while back on a far-off Pacific island, the locals received a visitor, a rich merchant from a land very far away. They took the visitor to see their king. Now in those days everyone lived in grass huts, even the king, although his grass hut was of course a bit larger than the rest.

The visitor, used to the sight of his own king and queen on their gilded thrones, was shocked to find the king of this particular island seated upon what looked like nothing more than a sand dune, and determined then and there that upon his return home, he should send this great king a proper throne to sit on.

So it came to pass that a great ship came to rest outside the local harbor, and a large boat came ashore bearing a great gilded throne, compliments of this merchant. Now the people were astounded at this marvelous piece of furniture, and they decided their king deserved something better to house this magnificent throne than a mere grass hut.

But where would they stow it while they built the new palace? Some argued one place, and some argued another, and before anyone could stop him, one enterprising young man discovered it would just fit upon the roof of the current royal residence. So they lifted the throne to the top of the roof, not realizing that the construction of the grass hut would not support its weight. The whole building came crashing down, and the king was crushed under the great gilded throne.

( And the moral of the story is... )

;-)