The lobbyist and spin doctors against the working American have launched all sorts of anti-union websites, one of their newest is using the "stop unions" phrase. So here's a nice little spot on Blogger where I can test some nice widgets for my own site Joe's Union Review
Rep. Vito J. Fossella (R-N.Y.) was arrested overnight in Alexandria and charged with driving while intoxicated, court records showed today.
Fossella is scheduled to appear in Alexandria General District Court on May 12 for an advisement hearing, the records said.
No other details were immediately available.
[...]
Fossella was elected to Congress in a special election to represent the 13th Congressional District of New York in November 1997, according to a biography on his Web site. The district includes Staten Island and the Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and the Bensonhurst and Gravesend neighborhoods of Brooklyn.
Being arrested for a DUI isn't necessarily a political death-knell for an incumbent -- but neither is it terribly good news, particularly when that incumbent is potentially vulnerable. Fossella won reelection in 2006 with about 57 percent of the vote, so he isn't necessarily in terrible shape coming into this election cycle. However, New York's 13th congressional district, which he represents, tends to lean about 1 point more Democratic than the nation as a whole in presidential elections, so this year being a presidential election year doesn't augur particularly well for Fossella's hopes. Throw in a DUI and this race may now be on the map.
At this point, there are a couple of Democrats looking at this race: 2006 nominee Steve Harrison and Brooklyn City Commissioner Domenic Recchia. Recchia, in particular, looks like a formidable candidate, having raised more than $350,000 to this point. In fact, Recchia has more in the bank than Fossella as of the last filing period. So definitely chalk this up as one to keep an eye on...
E-Activism can make a difference, nothing shows that more than the campaign by FreePress Action Network to overturn the recent FCC ruling to allow more media consolidation.
For a recap of the ruling, here's an excerpt of an article I wrote on Dec.18th. 2007, entitled Stop Big Media NOW!
The FCC's Republican Chairman Kevin Martin has effectively handed a sweetheart deal to Big Media, by overturning a 32-year-old rule that prevents a newspaper owner from also owning a radio or television station in the same city. Democratic commissioner Johnathan S. Adelstein called the new rule
"a monumental mistake" and, with Copps, called it a gift to media companies that will enable consolidation and restrict the diversity of voices on the airwaves."
When the idea of more media consolidation was put before Americans - during a series of public hearings and requests for public comment - more than 99 percent said bigger media were bad for them, bad for their communities and bad for our democracy.
Can you remember the last time 99 percent of Americans agreed on anything?
The CWA and AFTRA had called for a 90-day comment period after publication of the proposal in the Federal Register and also ask for an "open process" to address localism and diversity, that was not done and both unions have released statements expressing their disappointment.(continued)
How bad is it to labor, my opinion is below, in the first article I wrote at FreepressActionNetwork on Dec.19th. 2007
Now Big Media can hurt workers better
Hello, my name is Joe, I am a rank and file union member and on staff at the independent labor movement website UnionReview.
While we are primarily a labor news site, we also monitors news items that tie directly to the communication of the modern labor movement, such as Network Neutrality, the squelching of free speech and the spin doctoring of main stream media.
This ruling is a tremendous blow to the American working citizen. Information is power, the gathering of ideas based on different points of view is critical. When so very little can brainwash so many, what hope do we have.
Stand up people. Stand up for places such as Workers Independent News and Brain Labor Report, who continuously report on the airwaves about the struggles of the common working man and social injustices that never make it to the main stream.
Labor hardly got any attention in the main stream media before this was passed, and any if broadcast or published almost always portrays union workers as lazy, greedy and enemies of the public. A good case in point is an article I entitled NY Post spin-doctoring and the IATSE Stagehands, in which I retort the Rupert Murdoch News Corp.owned NY Post's so-called editorial about those greedy stagehands that closed down Broadway Thanksgiving week.
Does News Corp., Viacom, Disney, etc. have a stake in portraying unions as bad to the public? Absolutely, they have to negotiate with them at every step of their business, they are the employer, directly and indirectly of writers, screen writers, engineers, truckers, service employees, construction workers, screen actors, communication workers, stagehands, make-up artists and a host of other labor groups. It suits them well that there is a growing majority of ignorant people in this country that believe that unions are bad for them personally. They have the power to repeat in every media form their message and use the theory that if you continuously lie over and over the masses will believe it to be truth.
That suits Big Media and their corporations fine, by leveling the public against workers, by speaking generally without a fact basis, they perpetrate half-truths and outright lies that get embeded into the heart and mind of the public. By instilling hopelessness and fear they divide us into more and more fractions of smaller groups, pitting each against one another, dividing and conquering, making working people feel as if they are lucky to have a job, and that they must accept the final offer by employer.
This is not acceptable for my country, I thank the work of all those who contribute here, I regret that I have found this late, after seeing this at the AFL-CIO WebBlog, I couldn't help but get involved, firstly by writing a story on my new site Joe's Union Review the Anti-Union BlogSpot (theres reasons for the name), porting the story to UnionReview and MySpace, and by posting the links to our site and the AFL-CIO's story globally onto Labourstart, the global newfeed which reaches thousands of labor sites worldwide.
If we do not stop consolidation of the corporate main stream media and we give those same corporations complete control of the internet, our sources for free independent and diversified news and information will dry up.
Sites, such as freepress and UnionReview, that exercise our freedom of speech, that communicate important social matters and move people to take action may no longer be viewable or in the worst case scenario, have nothing to write about.
Thank you for putting this together, please contact me if anything I write at the site is erroneous, or if theres any other way I can help.
I leave you with this
"Such a small percentage try to make the world a better place, leaving the work to a scarce few. If those that did next to nothing did just a tiny bit, the world could be a better place for all." - me 7/7/07"
New Action to take via E-Mail
Dear Joseph,
Congress can overturn the FCC's bad rules to further consolidate local media.
Now's your best chance to stop media consolidation in New York.
The Senate introduced legislation earlier this week that would reverse the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to let the nation's largest media companies swallow up more local and independent news outlets.
Congress has just 60 legislative days to pass this bill. By acting now, you can help make it happen:
We have Big Media to blame for local news that's steeped in celebrity gossip, corporate hype and sensationalism. If the FCC gets its way, you'll see your local news get even worse.
The FCC's decision further consolidates local media markets, taking away the independence and diversity that comes from local ownership. Simply put, this is a sweetheart deal for a handful of companies that have been breaking media ownership rules for years with impunity.
In December, 200,000 people called on their senators to take action against the FCC. The Senate has responded with a “resolution of disapproval,” (SJ Res. 28) a type of congressional veto that would throw out the new rules. Now we need to get another 50,000 citizens on the record supporting the Senate’s action.
Companies like News Corp. and Sinclair already have shown their willingness to abuse the public trust for political ends. During this election year, when diverse, quality and unbiased information is essential for voters, we cannot allow Big Media to silence even more independent voices.
It’s our turn to use our collective grassroots power to stop Big Media and make sure that our airwaves are used to better serve the public.
After writing "Now Big Media can hurt workers better" and spreading it as far across the net as I possibly could, I took further action via E-Activist e-mail against the FCC's Dec.18th. vote to overturn the 32 year old rule which declared that one entity cannot own both a print and broadcast outlet in the same media market. It was the Freepress form e-mail that can be found here, please send it if you haven't already done so. Well I got a response from my Congressman Vito J. Fossella(R-NY), I guess send a form e-mail get one back is to be expected. But I thought that maybe we can get him to consider the consequences to the side to which he has chosen to stand. Please understand I don't agree with everything he stands for, as with most if not all politicians.
But this is really important, what might get him to actually read my e-mail, and think his position out further? Mr.Fossella has been working hard in my hometown fighting to keep my closest emergency room open. Why haven't you all heard about the public hospital in the New York City's most populated county? I can't answer that, but I'm sure most of America can tell you when American Idol is about to start. But thats neither here nor there, I actually have wanted to get involved in the hospital crisis, especially for the fact that I personally have been treated there and have known local people who have worked there. The next Emergency Room is miles away and in a city that timing can be life or death. So I wrote an e-mail offering my help and begging him to reconsider his stance on this media consolidation issue. Whatever the outcome I would like to get involved.
Hopefully it will get read, the issues addressed will be thought over and I will wind up with a truly great story about the congressman who reconsidered his stance against the FCC ruling and the tools I need to help in the mission to rescue our local hospital's ER. Am I an optimist, you betcha. On the day after the New Hampshire Republican Party announced Saturday that it was withdrawing as a partner of Sunday’s primary debate on FOX because of the exclusion of Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter, thus solidifying that everyone is agreeing that Big Media is overstepping it's boundaries. I am energized that we have found a common ground and believe this to be a stepping stone for all American's to grow on. Go hit that link people and tell them how important a message that sends. Not to mention yesterdays announcement by the Screen Actors Guild of the "unanimous agreement" to not cross the striking writers picket lines at the Golden Globe Awards in a tremendous show of solidarity, I feel we the people can reverse the medias separation of our people and together we can change the world. Read the entire Blog Post and all e-mails here at FreePress
Take action on this important campaign at: