Categorical Aperitif

Interesting detail from Harry Shearer on today's Democracy Now!:

ANJALI KAMAT: Harry Shearer, talk about the distribution of your film [The Big Uneasy, about the governmental and engineering failures involved in Katrina's destructiveness]. And your...recent post on Huffington Post [here] talks about "NPR—The Initials Stand for Nothing." Explain what you mean.

HARRY SHEARER: Well, NPR announced recently that they’re no longer National Public Radio, that the initials stand for, NPR. After I found out that they were not going to do a story about this film on either All Things Considered or Morning Edition, I decided to buy some time—you know, those enhanced underwriting announcements at the end of each half-hour. And NPR legal told me this language was unacceptable, quote, "documentary about why New Orleans flooded." The only language that they found acceptable was "documentary about New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina." And when I told them it’s not about a hurricane, that was the end of the conversation.

NPR: where even the underwriting is sanitized...for your protection.