The Investigation Of Martin May Continue…

Wednesday, December, 10, 2008 by Mel Phillips.

A report in Broadcasting & Cable this morning states that the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s subcommittee has recommended further investigation into FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s agency activities.  Allegations that the FCC held up the merger of Liberty Media and DirecTV until the White House got “certain local television programming” as part of its satellite service, will be investigated.  That was one of the allegations outlined in yesterday’s release of the long-awaited report on FCC process and practices.  But there was more, much more…

The report, “Deception and Distrust: The Federal Communications Commission Under Chairman Kevin J. Martin” left nothing to the imagination.  Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak (D-MI) said “the sooner Chairman Martin leaves the FCC, the better” and Energy and Commerce Chairman John D. Dingell (D-MI) found Martin suppressed information and manipulated data to serve the agency.  Dingell added, “the findings suggest that in recent years, the FCC has operated in a dysfunctional manner and Commission business has suffered as a result.  It is my hope that the new FCC chairman will find this report instructive and that it will prove useful in helping the Commission avoid making the same mistake.”…

An FCC spokesman says “we are reviewing the report.”  There weren’t any comments from Kevin Martin but there were reports that he was headed for the airport with luggage… 

10 Timeline Memories: 

1. 1896] His honor: Swedish chemist Alfred Bernhard Nobel, who invented dynamite, dies in Italy. The Nobel Prize was instituted in his honor…
2. 1939] Hitting the million mark: The NFL’s attendance exceeds 1 million in a season for the first time…
3. 1953] Published on this date: Hugh Hefner publishes the first Playboy (featuring a photo of Marilyn Monroe) with an initial investment of $7,600…
4. 1958] The first commercial jet: 111 passengers fly from New York to Miami on a National Airlines Boeing 707…
5. 1962] Cover boy: Frank Gifford of the New York Giants is featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated…
6. 1967] “Happy Trails“: 26-year old Otis Redding is killed along with most of the Bar-Kays in a small plane crash in Wisconsin…1996] Country music star Faron Young dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 64…1999] Rick Danko of The Band dies in his sleep at 56…2005] Richard Pryor dies from cardiac arrest at 65…2005] Former Senator Eugene McCarthy passes away from natural causes at 89…
7. 1971] Worst baseball trade: That’s what Joseph (N.Y.Times) Durso calls it. The Mets send Nolan Ryan to the Angels for Jim Fregosi. Ryan pitches his way into the Baseball Hall of Fame with 7 no-hitters and the strikeout record while Fregosi hits .232 in his brief career with Mets…
8. 1983] Jetting away: The Steelers beat the Jets 34-7 in the last NFL game played at Shea Stadium. The final baseball game was played by the Mets at the end of the 2008 season. The Mets will open the 2009 season at Citi Field…
9. 1991] The end of a radio era: WNEW-AM signs off at 1130 on the dial, becoming Bloomberg business radio WBBR. Knowing this is coming, WQXR earlier adapts a similar WNEW style format as WQEW on December 2, 1991…
10. 1998] Up, Up and Away: Six astronauts open the doors to the new international space station 250 miles above the Earth’s surface…

Music Memories:

• 1949] Recorded on this date: “The Fat Man” - Fats Domino…
• 1963] Debuted on this date: At the age of 6, Donny Osmond makes his debut with the Osmonds on “The Andy Williams Show”…1965] The Grateful Dead play their first concert at the Fillmore in San Francisco.  This is from their appearance there in 1969,..
• 1976] Released on this date: “Wings Over America” LP - Paul McCartney & Wings…1984] “Do They Know It’s Christmas” - Band-Aid. A benefit song (famine relief) still being played almost a quarter of a century later…

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday“:

Bobby Flay (44), Nia Peeples (47), Kenneth Branagh (48), Sportswriter/reporter Tim Kurkjian (52), Susan Dey (56), Ralph Tavares (60) and Chad (Chad & Jeremy) Stuart (67)…

Timeline Countdown: 11 days until winter, 12 nights until Hanukah, 15 shopping days until Christmas, 21 nights until New Year’s Eve and 24 days until the NFL Wild Card Playoffs…

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