Aussie Opposition MPs Object to State-Subsidized Obscenity
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 6:38 PM

It seems that the Australian state of Queensland is in the habit of providing grants to recording companies. Apparently, some of the songs are not exactly "God Save the Queen."

Opposition MP Howard Hobbs says a publicly funded recording company has used a Government grant to produce a vulgar song.

Mr Hobbs has asked Development Minister Tony McGrady to explain.

"Minister, I refer to a $140,510 grant from your department to a Gold Coast recording company. Their first production is a song entitled 'My Dad is a F...... Porn Star'.

"Minister, is this an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars?"

Many Queensland taxpayers queried seemed to think that "Mum" would have been more appropriate than "Dad," especially with Father's Day just around the corner.

As an obscenity regulation bonus, Pakistan is cracking down on stage productions that purvey obscenity: some of them even use "words with dual meaning during shows." Now if they can only find this William Shakespeare fellow and put him in the pokey...

And finally, speaking of putting people in the pokey, don't go selling sex toys in Knox County, Kentucky. (At least the charges are only misdemeanors, so potential jail time probably caps out at one year.) In the linked story, those who want to see the business closed cite lowered property values and the possibility of bringing 'bad elements' into the community. (Possible amicus brief from Walmarts and McDonalds?) The defendants' lawyer seems to think that Lawrence v. Texas will aid his cause, but that seems like a stretch to me -- though I am not a lawyer, and he is.

Labels: obscenity, sex, Shakespeare