Look, I'm only going to say this once: censorship undertaken out of motives of niceness, out of the emotional tenor of the moment, or out of simple stupidity, is still censorship. Here's a story about how Clear Channel, who own over 1000 US Radio Stations, created a ridiculous list of songs to avoid in the wake of September 11, then made a lame attempt to weasel out of taking responsibility.



"It's the End of the World as Clear Channel Knows It by Eliza Truitt Large stretches of the list reveal a grisly perspective on the part of the authors: Boston's "Smokin," Springsteen's "I'm on Fire," Blue Oyster Cult's "Burnin' for You," Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire," Judas Priest's "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll," and the Dave Clark Five's "Bits and Pieces." Several pro-peace songs made it onto the list: Cat Stevens' "Morning Has Broken" and "Peace Train," presumably because Stevens is now Muslim and goes by the name Yusuf Islam. The oddest inclusion has to be John Lennon's explicitly pacifist anthem "Imagine," unless Clear Channel is pushing a pro-war agenda."

And it's also an arguement against the consolidation of the airwaves.