KERRY'S FIRST 100 DAYS:

FCC to broadcasters: F-word is out of bounds (JONATHAN D. SALANT, 3/19/2003, AP)

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday overruled its staff and declared that an expletive uttered by rock star Bono on NBC last year was both indecent and profane. The agency made it clear that virtually any use of the F-word was inappropriate for over-the-air radio and television.

"The 'F-word' is one of the most vulgar, graphic and explicit descriptions of sexual activity in the English language," the commission said Thursday. "The fact that the use of this word may have been unintentional is irrelevant; it still has the same effect of exposing children to indecent language."

Senator Kerry's list of Executive Orders to issue in the first 100 in office just got longer.