Religion in politics (2257 - the other shoe dropped)

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Posted by Henry Butz on July 18, 2005 at 07:50:12:

The expression, "Waiting for the other shoe to drop," probably comes from a man in a downstairs apartment waiting to go to sleep. Every night before he falls asleep, he hears his upstairs neighbor take off his shoes, one at a time, and drop them to the floor. He hears a 'thunk' (a several seconds pause) then 'thunk again. One night, the man downstairs hears the first 'thunk' but then... silence. He cannot get to sleep, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Many photographers have been "waiting for the other shoe to drop" after the Attorney General Alberto Gonzales made some clever changes in the child pornography record keeping laws, otherwise known as Title 18 § 2257. With a stroke of a pen, he accomplished five things: 1) Turned every producer of erotic material into a felon within thirty days, 2) Eliminated the right to privacy for anyone involved in the production (models as well as the photographer), 3) Empowered the Justice Department to conduct random search and seizures of the photographer's home or place of business without a warrant, 4) Changed the basic concept of "Innocent until proven guilty" into "Guilty unless proven innocent", and 5) Chilled free speech and artistic expression throughout the country. Not bad for a new guy.

Be wary of politicians touting the words "Protect the Children!" Every time we are censored, oppressed, or striped of some basic human rights, there is usually some guy telling us that we have to protect our children. Dr. Jerry Kirk, founder and chairman of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families, and Rick Schatz, president and CEO of the organization, met with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on July 13 (courtesy http://www.usnewswire.com/). On their agenda was:

The development of a strong task force focusing on obscenity with experienced prosecutors and an adequate number of lawyers and support staff;

A broad-based effort to prosecute pornographers who are distributing obscene materials over the Internet, satellite and cable TV and in hotels;

A commitment to prosecute all illegal pornography;

The development of systems that will help protect those under the age of 18 from receiving pornographic material over all distribution mediums; and

The development of a team of experts to regulate new technologies such as PDAs, iPods and cell phones used to distribute pornographic materials.

For those of us "waiting for the other shoe to drop," I think I just heard a big 'thunk'.

Henry

http://www.hbutz.com/

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The War on Pornography comes to hbutz.com Henry Butz 08:26:28 09/29/05 (0)

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: The expression, "Waiting for the other shoe to drop," probably comes from a man in a downstairs apartment waiting to go to sleep. Every night before he falls asleep, he hears his upstairs neighbor take off his shoes, one at a time, and drop them to the floor. He hears a 'thunk' (a several seconds pause) then 'thunk again. One night, the man downstairs hears the first 'thunk' but then... silence. He cannot get to sleep, waiting for the other shoe to drop. : Many photographers have been "waiting for the other shoe to drop" after the Attorney General Alberto Gonzales made some clever changes in the child pornography record keeping laws, otherwise known as Title 18 § 2257. With a stroke of a pen, he accomplished five things: 1) Turned every producer of erotic material into a felon within thirty days, 2) Eliminated the right to privacy for anyone involved in the production (models as well as the photographer), 3) Empowered the Justice Department to conduct random search and seizures of the photographer's home or place of business without a warrant, 4) Changed the basic concept of "Innocent until proven guilty" into "Guilty unless proven innocent", and 5) Chilled free speech and artistic expression throughout the country. Not bad for a new guy. : Be wary of politicians touting the words "Protect the Children!" Every time we are censored, oppressed, or striped of some basic human rights, there is usually some guy telling us that we have to protect our children. Dr. Jerry Kirk, founder and chairman of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families, and Rick Schatz, president and CEO of the organization, met with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on July 13 <font size=-2>(courtesy http://www.usnewswire.com/).</font> On their agenda was: : <ul> : <li>The development of a strong task force focusing on obscenity with experienced prosecutors and an adequate number of lawyers and support staff;</li> : <li>A broad-based effort to prosecute pornographers who are distributing obscene materials over the Internet, satellite and cable TV and in hotels;</li> : <li>A commitment to prosecute all illegal pornography;</li> : <li>The development of systems that will help protect those under the age of 18 from receiving pornographic material over all distribution mediums; and</li> : <li>The development of a team of experts to regulate new technologies such as PDAs, iPods and cell phones used to distribute pornographic materials.</li> : </ul> : For those of us "waiting for the other shoe to drop," I think I just heard a big 'thunk'. : Henry

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