Friday, January 26, 2007

Freedom of speech

For a country with "freedom of speech" guaranteed right there at the top of the Constitutional Amendments, there sure are a lot of people who don't like it when other people talk.

A few recent examples:
  • Rhode Island school bans talking at lunch. School officials claim that if the kids are quiet during lunch, they can hear if anyone is choking. Maybe they should just ban eating at lunch; that would lower the chances of anyone choking.
  • Texas mayor wants the word "nigger" outlawed. Say the n-word, get fined $500. "It's not a particular problem in Brazoria," mayor Ken Corley said, "but it's a national problem." There's a loophole written into the proposed ordinance: It's okay for it to be used by blacks because they use it as a "term of endearment."
  • North Carolina wants to pre-approve scripts of movies shot in their state. This brilliant idea cropped up overnight because some politician read about the controversy surrounding the new Dakota Fanning movie and decided that N.C., which gives huge incentives for movie companies to film there, shouldn't let movies that might offend N.C. citizens enjoy those same incentives. "Why should North Carolina taxpayers pay for something they find objectionable?" said state senator Phil Berger, who is having proposed legislation drafted.


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1 comment:

  1. RichFriday, January 26, 2007 2:23:00 PM

    All of these are rather interesting. The last one is just plain stupid - you might as well not have incentives if you're going to put restrictions on them. Maybe they should create a "Ministry of Politically Correct Culture and Artisic Perception" and they can wear cute little arm bands or ribbons... that'd be cool.

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