by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Mary Lyon

The woman stammered. She obviously knew she was still on the air and had to maintain her composure. But it was clear to anyone's ear that she was having a difficult time. Her voice clouded with emotion as she struggled to tell the talk show host and his audience of her story, as a mom whose son was in Afghanistan near the Pakistani border. She hadn't heard from him in weeks. She had just written him an email - "Son, I haven't heard from you in a long time. Are you okay?" And amazingly, she was able to get through that recounting without crying.

I had a harder time. And hey, I have no horse in this race. I AM a mom, however, so in one respect, I have thousands of horses and other beloveds in it. Almost four thousand of them returning to me in long neatly-wrapped, patriotically-covered boxes (because, as we all know but still aren't allowed to see) the wrapping paper on these boxes is always an American flag. We do know that the wrapping paper eventually gets folded up in the finest military precision and handed to the grieving survivor - usually a widow or a mother - as a consolation prize. A party favor to take away from the big event. A lovely parting gift. I'm sure the frantic mom on the radio was terrified at the prospect of being one of those graveside mourners. My heart could only sob for her in her nightmarish uncertainty.

by Pam Hoye [courtesy of Blog for America]

From: Alicia Sacks

Subject: Urgent-FCC to further media consolidation

This is very urgent. Dec. 11 is the deadline to contact FCC. Let's inundate them with contacts to stop this madness; it worked last time with Powell. There's a new, even more arrogant Chairman, but if enough of us contact him...

Please pass this on.

Peace, Alicia

There Is Movement In Congress To Restrain The Runaway F.C.C. If We Will Support It Yes, we know there is a holiday coming up fast. But despite mounting and unanimous public opposition, FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin is trying to rush through essentially the same further media consolidation into the hands of fewer and fewer giant corporations, which was overturned by public pressure in 2003.