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To send this to a friend, or to read more dispatches, go to tomdispatch.com Tomgram: Nick Turse, The Pentagon Befriends MySpace.com Congressman Mark Foley (R. Florida), who co-chaired the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children and billed himself as an enemy of pedophiles and online predators everywhere, just resigned over emails and instant messages sent to underage male congressional pages who "said the congressman, under the AOL Instant Messenger screen name Maf54, made repeated references to sexual organs and acts." Moreover, the Washington Post and the New York Times Sunday report that this information was known to the Republican leadership in late 2005 and widely available to top Republicans by last Spring. It's already clear that they were far more eager to retain Foley's House seat than do a thing about his gross dereliction of duty. They didn't even bother to remove him from his caucus on children. In fact, they were so eager to keep the matter under wraps that they didn't even inform Michigan's Rep. Dale E. Kildee, the sole Democrat on the House Page Board, set up to protect the congressional pages from just such advances, about the matter (though Republicans on the Board were informed). It's a remarkable, still-unfolding little tale of political hypocrisy that might even endanger House Majority Leader Dennis Hastert on the eve of the mid-term elections. In recent times, Congress, while not policing its own, has put much energy into the matter of the possible cyberspace stalking of the young by sexual predators at sites like MySpace.com, home to a zillion young "friends" and "friends of friends." As it turns out, these days there are predators of all sorts roaming the Internet looking to lure young bodies their way. In the case of the Pentagon, which, Nick Turse reports, has only recently made its "friendly" debut at the wildly popular MySpace website, the interest in those bodies isn't sexual, but -- given the state of George Bush's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- the phrase "e-cannon fodder" certainly comes to mind. If you want to know more, check out Turse's latest below and then consider the deeper recruitment desperation of the Pentagon and the way it's transforming our military in his previous Tomdispatch piece, "Dirty Dozen, The Pentagon's 12-Step Program to Create a Military of Misfits." Tom With Friends Like These. The Militarization of MySpace By Nick Turse Those young years can be hard ones. The acne, the awkwardness, the angst. That may be one reason why, if you're between your early teens and your mid-twenties, you may already be making "friends" in the cozy cyber-confines of MySpace.com, the social networking website which bills itself as "an online community that lets you meet your friends' friends." At MySpace, each user can create a customized webpage or "profile," upload photos (only from your best angle and then photo-shopped to the hilt), blog around the clock, and -- most important of all -- court those "friends." In an eerie reflection of the very world many MySpace scenesters undoubtedly plunge into cyberspace to avoid, the measure of success at the site is how much you can increase your page's popularity. You do this by posting attention-grabbing content, breathlessly soliciting other users, putting up provocative pictures to attract attention, sending out "bulletins" to your existing "friends," and asking them to "whore" you out to their list of friends. With its multimillions of "friends" to garner, the site is wildly popular -- and not just for insecure teens either. MySpace has become a magnet for those that want, for one reason or another, to draw young eyeballs (and often young pocketbooks). Colleges, corporate products like Toyota's Yaris and the Honda Element, even fictional characters like Ricky Bobby. from the movie Talladega Nights or fast-food outlet Wendy's minimalist cartoon pitchman Smart have already gotten into the MySpace act. Click here to read more of this dispatch. *** From: Andrew Garsten To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, October 01, 2006 10:15 PM Subject: Broad-based Coalition Mobilizes for FCC Hearings in Los Angeles One of our neighboring neighborhood councils sent this to me. They also sent information that they took an official position recommending that our new Los Angeles cable monopoly (Time Warner) should continue its public access channel, update equipment and facilities (from ancient analog to newer, cheaper and easier digital), and specifically dedicate public access to NCs for both NC meeting coverage and also committee and event schedules. It sounds like a good idea. We (GEPENC) will not have time to take a position for these hearings. Hopefully some of you will be able to attend and lend a voice to this cause. andrew Andrew Garsten wrote: Broad-based Coalition Mobilizes for FCC Hearings in Los Angeles Oct. 3 Events Are First Chance for Public to Testify on Media Consolidation LOS ANGELES - On Oct. 3 in Los Angeles , all five Federal Communications Commissioners will meet face-to-face with the public to discuss sweeping changes to the nation's media ownership rules. "These hearings are a long overdue opportunity for the public to weigh in on the crucial decisions that shape our media," said Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press , which is helping to mobilize public participation in the hearings. "It's about time that Chairman Kevin Martin and the other FCC Commissioners got outside of the Beltway and actually listened to everyday people about how the media are serving their communities." The FCC public hearing will take place in two parts at two separate locations: Tuesday, October 3 Part 1 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. University of Southern California Davidson Conference Center Embassy Room 3415 South Figueroa Street Los Angeles Part 2 6:30 p.m. - 10 p.m. El Segundo High School 640 Main Street El Segundo All five FCC Commissioners are expected to attend the hearings. Both events will feature an "open microphone" session for the public to offer testimony on a first-come, first-served basis. A broad-based coalition of local and national groups is urging their members to attend the hearings and testify about the impacts of media consolidation. They include the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, California NOW, CALPIRG, Free Press , Media Alliance, MoveOn.org Civic Action, National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-CWA, National Hispanic Media Coalition, Newspaper Guild-CWA, Prometheus Radio Project, local churches and many others. "It's imperative that as many people as possible turn out for these hearings," said John Clark, president of NABET-CWA. "Important decisions will be made as a result of these sessions, decisions that will determine the future direction and diversity of our country's media forever." "The change in media rules will impact every household in this country," added Alex Nogales, President and CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition. "The FCC needs to ensure diverse participation in the audience and that every Angeleno who wants to be heard on this issue gets the opportunity to voice his or her concerns." On July 24, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin issued a Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making (FNPRM) that mentions no specific rule changes. But Martin has previously expressed his support for eliminating two key protections. One is the longstanding prohibition on "newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership," which prevents companies from owning a television or radio station and the major daily newspaper in most markets. The other is the local ownership cap that limits a company from owning more than one television station in most markets, or two in larger markets. "What's at stake is the future of local news and information," said Linda Foley, president of the Newspaper Guild-CWA. "With the quality and diversity of local news already threatened by the domination of media conglomerates, giving these media moguls more latitude to combine local newspapers and local broadcast stations will result in less exchange of viewpoints, less local news, less public discourse and more civic apathy." In 2003, Martin joined then-Chairman Michael Powell in voting to eliminate these very rules. In response, millions of people contacted the FCC and Congress to oppose the changes. The Senate voted to overturn the rules, which were later tossed out in federal court -- sending the FCC back to the drawing board. "Last time around, churches, schools, and community groups fought the giveaway of our airwaves tooth and nail," said Hannah Sassaman of the Prometheus Radio Project, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit that rejected the new rules. "They told the FCC to limit media consolidation, because the more opportunities corporate media have to buy up more radio stations, the fewer spaces there are for us to use our own airwaves." The Los Angeles events are the first -- and so far the only -- public hearings scheduled, but Chairman Martin has pledged to hold "half a dozen" similar events nationwide "in diverse locations around the country to fully involve the American people." Unofficial hearings, attended by Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, have been held this year in Norfolk , Va. ; Asheville , N.C. ; Los Angeles ; Milwaukee ; and Austin , Texas . "When media owners control too many outlets, local, diverse news coverage declines and our democracy suffers," said Emily Rusch, consumer advocate for CALPIRG. "In 2003, millions of Americans urged the FCC to prevent monopolies in media ownership, and now, three years later, the public still strongly opposes media consolidation." This year, more than 100,000 public comments have been filed with the FCC about the media ownership rules. The final deadline for comments is Dec. 21. Local residents who can't attend a public hearing can file their comments to the FCC via the agency's Web site or at www.stopbigmedia.com "My family has totally given up watching the broadcast channels for news," said Jean Thomson of Los Angeles , who is encouraging her neighbors to attend the FCC hearing. "Now the newspapers are consolidating for greater profits. With the large conglomerates taking over all outlets in the area, the news is no longer news -- it is just the spin of the owner's philosophy. We see the same information in the newspaper, television, radio -- word for word. If we don't speak up now, we will not longer have a chance to be heard." 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