other kinds of blackouts

I am totally swamped with administrative work.
Last week I had dinner with a friend whose son-in-law is a US soldier in Iraq. It was depressing to learn that there are long periods of blackouts in communication with him. When a US soldier dies in that division, the soldiers are not permitted to call home to their families in the US for a period of weeks. Dreadful.
Come Holy Spirit and comfort us.
am