rural

Relief efforts are underway in response to the violent outbreak of tornadoes that devastated swaths of the South last week, killing more than 350 people with hundreds of others still missing. However, those efforts are proving a challenge in some poor and rural communities devastated by the storms.

Reports are emerging that some hard-hit areas are being left out of needed assistance due to their isolation and the fact that their plight is not being reported in the media. While news coverage has focused largely on the destruction in urban areas including the Alabama cities of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, the storms also impacted many small rural communities in Alabama's Black Belt.

The Local Community Radio Act would effectively end decades of radio domination by Big Media and their mouthpieces.

35 45 Members of Congress have co-sponsored HR 1147, Larry Kissell is not one of them.

• Text of Legislation
• Contact for CD 8 Congressman, Larry Kissell

This post was inspired by a diary by Kirk. Its a good one, please go read it. Although I initially started this talking about farms, its obvious that so much more is involved. This is a long and slightly meandering post and only begins to scratch the surface of the crisis that faces our farmers, and rural America. I hope you enjoy.

[Cross posted at Scru Hoo]

No surprise here. According to the Associated Press, the poorest, most rural parts of America are footing an unfair share of the war's human costs.

Many of the hometowns of the war dead aren't just small, they're poor. The AP analysis found that nearly three quarters of those killed in Iraq came from towns where the per capita income was below the national average. More than half came from towns where the percentage of people living in poverty topped the national average.

If you want to see how it affects Cleveland County, NC, go below the fold to watch the one-minute clip of 18-year-old Chris Nalley. He was videotaped last month (for his support of Senator John Edwards.) He has no relatives overseas, yet he understands the price his schoolmates are paying.