IN HAEC VERBA: SALE OF CURRENT MEDIA LLC TO Al-JAZEERA SHOULD BE STOPPED IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST -- NO FOREIGN GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF U.S. NEWS NETWORKS, PLEASE

The proposed sale of CURRENT MEDIA LLC to Al-Jazeera,  controlled by the government of Qatar, raises serious policy questions about foreign government control of U.S. medial properties.

To the Current TV Press Office
Good morning:
1. What FCC, SEC or other regulatory approval is required for the sale of Current TV to Al- Jazeera? 
2. May I please have Al Gore's E-mail address, or will you please forward this E-mail to him? 
3. I testified before then Rep. Al Gore's House Science and Technology Committee investigations subcommittee on July 11, 1983 re: Oak Ridge Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Plant mercury pollution (biggest mercury pollution event in world history, which was a classified national security secret made public after our Appalachian Observer newspaper requested that DOE declassify its documents on pollution).  At my request to Al's staffer (Steve Owens),  Al swore in all the witnesses: that was the first time that had ever occurred in the history of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex.   Thirty years of environmental cleanups followed in eleven states with DOE sites, at a cost of more than $200 billion, with completion projected by 2043 -- sixty (60) years after our FOIA requests and Al Gore's hearing first exposed pandemic pollution by our Nation's nuclear weapons plant contractors.  I was proud to be a part of it ab initio and to have been the "crowbar" (in the words of then-DOE Oak Ridge Manager Joe Ben LaGrone) -- the "crowbar" who persuaded DOE to release the truth about Oak Ridge mercury pollution.
4. Thus, Al Gore is one of my heroes.  Al Gore is a national treasure.  But I think the proposed Al= Jazeera sale is a big mistake and I would like to share my views with Al Gore directly.  Elihu Root said the best advice one can often give the officers of a corporation is "You're damned fools and you should stop."  Please stop this Al-Jazeera deal now.  
5. Qatar is a foreign power -- do we want U.S. journalistic properties being bought up by foreign governments and organizations that they fund or control, directly or indirectly?  I vote no.  Chinese and Russian government-funded news channels are looking for U.S. cable TV homes. I vote no.  
  6. Enough mindless corporate media greed has been seen in my lifetime -- please don't sell out!
7. Will you please ask Al Gore whether he has an open mind on the subject of foreign governmental control of our media?  Upon agonizing re-appraisal, does Al Gore believe this Al-Jazeera deal is in the best interests of the people of the United States of America?  Thank you.  
With kindest regards, I am,  
Sincerely yours,  
Ed
Ed Slavin www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com www.staugustgreen.com
Box 3084  
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084 904-377-4998