That’s President slimy, cheapish deafening toadeater to you, mister

“The U.S. Department of Education is declaring about 200 television programs inappropriate for closed-captioning and denying federal grant requests to make them accessible to the hearing-impaired.” In other words, deaf people are also too stupid or something to choose their own tv viewing. Programs censored include I Dream of Jeannie and The Simpsons.

Sadly, I missed Purity Day, which was, naturally, Friday the 13th, evidently to ward off the danger of young people celebrating Valentine’s Day by, for instance, fucking. “The conservative US Christian group Liberty Counsel, which organised the day, said US teenagers should make a "public demonstration" of purity.” A public demonstration of purity? Like what, letting everyone look at your intact hymen? Yelling, “Hey everybody! Look at me not having sex! Look at all the sex I’m not having right now!” I’m sorry, there are some things that should take place behind closed doors, and lack of sex is one of them. BBC link.

Haitian death squad leaders are returning from exile in the Dominican Republic to participate in the attempt to overthrow Aristide. That’s probably not a good thing.

Somebody put Bush’s 2004 campaign slogan, “Steady Leadership in a Time of Change,” through an anagram program:

I'm a hypertense, death-dealing fiasco

I am a deathless deafening hypocrite

I am a tone-deaf, highly-paid erectness

I'm the fanatic, grandiose sleepyhead.

Oafishly indecent pig's ear meathead

Slimy, cheapish deafening toadeater

IS OUR CANDIDATES LEARNING? Edwards is challenging Shrub in the illiteracy stakes. He says in his latest ad: “Keeping our jobs right here in this country -- where it belongs -- that's what this campaign is about.”

You’ll remember the Toledo Blade series last October, picked up by pretty much no one, on a mass-killing spree by a US unit in Vietnam in 1967. The military just announced plans to investigate. Dennis Kucinich has been pushing for an investigation. Rumsfeld was also secretary of defense in 1975, when the last investigation was closed with no prosecutions, but claims not to remember anything about it.