Moriel Ministries Be Alert! has added this Blog as a resource for further information, links and research to help keep you above the global deception blinding the world and most of the church in these last days. Jesus our Messiah is indeed coming soon and this should only be cause for joy unless you have not surrendered to Him. Today is the day for salvation! For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, - Psalms 95:7
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
“Playing God” -Scientists in Final Stage of Creating Man-made Life
As in the days of Noah
Genesis 6:12
God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
Ed. Note: Man is working on synthetic lifeforms and bio tech. We know that demons can possess both man and beast so my question is - just how much biological material is needed in an artificial creation of man before what man has made can be possessed by a demonic spirit?
Revelation 13:15
And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
THE DAILY GALAXY NETWORK - By Rebecca Sato - June 21, 2007
Dr Craig Venter, who has led the private sector effort to sequence the human genome, has been working for years to create a man-made organism. He says his company Synthetic Genomics Inc, has nearly completed the journey to create the world’s first free-living artificial organism. According to Venter, it will only be a few more weeks before manmade life is unveiled in his very own laboratory. “It will be one of the bright milestones in human history, changing our conceptual view of life.” Said Venter.
Others have a less “bright” view of Venter’s work—they say it could be potentially dangerous. It has been suggested that this type of technology could turn out to be the scary side of “playing God”, since it invariably suggests the chance that dangerous organisms could be inadvertently (or purposefully) unleashed on a world unprepared to deal with the consequences. Because there is no precedence, scientists don’t know for sure what kind of negative impact is possible.
While control measures have been suggested, such as using software to spot purchases of DNA sequences that could be used as weapons, there is no comprehensive regulation in the field of synthetic life. Watchdogs say we’re taking a big gamble that the science will stay a step ahead of nefarious uses.
Even if artificial biology could be kept under control and appropriately monitored—something many say is near impossible—activists and researchers are concerned that the technology may be exclusively locked up for commercial gain.
Synthetic Genomics Inc, has filed controversial patents on synthetic bugs that would make fuels such as ethanol or hydrogen, and likely make a lot of money for those involved, as well. It has also filed an international application at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) which names more than 100 countries where the institute may seek monopoly patents.
The J Craig Venter Institute's US patent application claims exclusive ownership of a set of essential genes and a synthetic "free-living organism that can grow and replicate" made using those particular genes.
In early June, the ETC Group, a watchdog organization based in Canada, which monitors developments in biotechnology, launched a campaign against Venter’s patent application. They called on patent offices to reject applications on life forms. ETC’s Jim Thomas says that Venter’s company is poised to become the “Microbesoft” of synthetic biology.
The company announced a deal June 13 with energy giant BPPLC to identify and modify naturally occurring microbes with the capability to turn coal or oil below the earth’s surface into cleaner fuel. Microorganisms “have the potential to provide all the transportation fuel we need in the U.S.,” says Venter. “I joke that I’m going from the gene king to the oil king.” The thing is, no one really thinks he’s joking.
Venter says he's been expecting attacks on his work. "Patents are a hot word, and people are afraid of synthetic organisms." He says this research is merely the "tip if the iceberg", and future possibilities include bugs that clean up pollution, or signal when they detect explosives.
Indeed, the technology may end up providing beneficial solutions to some of the planet's biggest problems, and Venter has won kudos for bringing together a panel of bioethicists, religious leaders, and biowarfare experts to study the issues. The consensus for that particular group was that the research shouldn't be stopped, but that synthetic organisms must be controlled and contained.
According to Venter, Environmental groups shouldn’t be fighting his work, but rather be “ecstatic about what we are doing, since we provide one of the clear alternatives to burning oil and coal.”
Very few would argue that there are no potential goods coming out of this type of work, but experts strongly caution that the potential negative consequences cannot be ignored.
“While creating new life may not be playing God,” says Arthur L. Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, “it has revolutionary implications for how we see ourselves. When we can synthesize life, it makes the notion of a living being less special.” And there’s a perception that synthetic biologists may be “manipulating nature without knowing where they are going.” he says. “There are arrogant scientists, and our friend Venter may be one of them.”
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/06/playing-god-sci.html#more
FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Rick Warren OK With Harry Potter
The Falling Away
Ephesians 5:11
Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them
LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS PUBLISHING - June 21, 2007
According to the June 21st issue of Rick Warren's weekly newsletter, the headline above is accurate. This week's Ministry Toolbox, which is Warren's way of communicating with pastors and church leaders around the world, has a link titled "Recommended Reading List." While the list is actually that of contemplative promoter James Emery White, (a contributor to Warren's newsletter), it ended up on Warren's own newsletter as recommended reading.
On the Recommended Book list is the following description of the upcoming Harry Potter release:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. Though the seventh and final installment is yet to be released (July 21, to be exact), when it does, it will be well-worth reading. Though some would disagree, I am one to put Rowling's work in the camp of fantasy literature, along with Lewis and Tolkien, with her use of magic more mechanical than occultic. I found her earlier six volumes instant classics of the genre, and the final book will undoubtedly cement this series as among the best written.
Clearly, Rick Warren is OK with Harry Potter or this would not be promoted on his website as well as in his e-newsletter.
While many people think Harry Potter is harmless (even many Christians), facts should not be ignored. Some of those facts are presented by research analyst Ray Yungen. He explains what he has discovered about Harry Potter:
There are probably very few people in the western world who haven't heard of the Harry Potter book series phenomenon. Not just millions, but tens of millions of adults, adolescents, and children have read these books or seen the movie versions of them. Going by the numbers of the books that have been purchased, few under 25 have not been influenced to some degree by the adventures of this boy wizard. And many ask, what is wrong with that?
The Potter series, though fiction in the technical sense, does make a very real connection to the realm of metaphysics in one spot specifically. In the book called Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, one of the main characters, a professor, tells her class that they will learn divination or see into the future. It's at this point that the book departs from the world of make believe, and enters into the actual teachings of Wicca (witchcraft). The teacher informs the students:
Crystal gazing is a particularly refined art. We shall start by practicing relaxing the conscious mind and external eyes, ... so as to clear the Inner Eye and the superconscious.
All one has to do is type in the word "superconscious" on Google on the Internet and see just how highly promoted that term is. It comes up nearly 130,000 times! Keep in mind, this term is used specifically within the context of metaphysics, and is never used in a non-metaphysical sense. What this means is that any impressionable young person who reads this term, could become more open and comfortable with the mystical realm in real life.
This is what you would be taught if you attended a real school of witchcraft. Relaxing the conscious mind is, of course, meditation, and the Inner Eye is an occult term used for the Third eye chakra from which all psychic powers, such as divination, spring. But the absolute clincher is the term "superconscious." If you were to ask any New Age teacher, guru, or practitioner what the "superconscious" is, you would get the same answer--it's the New Age concept of God. In fact, Buckland's Complete Book Of Witchcraft actually uses the term "Superconsciousness" in reference to what or to whom witches tune into during meditation.
There is another more subtle, yet perhaps more far-reaching aspect to the Potter books. In the series, those people who are "non-magical" or ordinary are called "muggles." They are portrayed as dull, backward, and lacking in personality. It is inferred that if you are a "muggle," you are living an inferior and unsatisfying life. Now if there were no such thing as "muggles" this comparison would be meaningless. How can you feel bad about being something that doesn't exist? But, as I have already shown, The Prisoner of Azkaban presents real witchcraft. So then, not to have access to the "superconscious" makes one a "muggle," (i.e., a non-mystic). This means that the spiritual beliefs of potentially millions of young people, many of them from conservative homes too, may be altered if they pick up this outlook, even subconsciously; thus the Harry Potter books may be a highly effective tool in giving the New Age movement a boost that is unimaginable. It will implant in the minds of multitudes that to fail to embrace mysticism makes you, well, muggle-like. (from For Many Shall Come in My Name, 2nd ed., pp. 94-95)
The fact that Rick Warren has given the green light this week to Harry Potter through his recommendation of James Emery White's reading list could have disastrous effects on the spiritual lives of countless people, potentially 400,000 pastors (the number who have done the Purpose Driven Life program) and the millions of congregants who sit under the teachings of these pastors.
Rick Warren's continuous promotion of the New Age (e.g., emerging spirituality, contemplative (mysticism), spiritual formation, ecumenism, etc.) has drawn virtually no response by most of today's Christian leaders. Either they have wholeheartedly supported Rick Warren's teachings or have perhaps, and just as detrimental, said nothing at all. This week's uplifting of Harry Potter is just another Purpose Driven step away from biblical truth and a closer view of the occult.
Interestingly, five and a half years ago in 2001, Rick Warren ran a story on his website that spoke up against Harry Potter (http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/?ID=28&artid=1274&expand=1). That article made a clear statement that Harry Potter was dangerous for kids because of its witchcraft element. All we can say to that is, "You've come along way Rick Warren!"
See link below for more related information
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/index.php?p=703&more=1&c=1
FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
How media pervert Mideast reality
A case study in what's wrong with 'fair and balanced' reporting
*The following is an excerpt from WND founder Joseph Farah's latest book, "Stop The Presses! The Inside Story of the New Media Revolution."
WORLDNETDAILY - By Joseph Farah - May 3, 2007
Let me ask you this: Do you think the world's news media give Israel a fair shake?
I'll prove to you they do not.
The largest, most powerful and influential news-gathering organization in the world is the Associated Press. I've mentioned its importance earlier. It is a cooperative of the newspaper industry and has become even more pervasive in the last twenty years as private, full-service news services like United Press International have shrunk in size and scope, becoming virtually irrelevant - and leaving in their wake one gigantic media monopoly.
In November 2003, AP put together a list of "recent terror attacks around the world." Here is that list in its entirety:
August 5, 2003: A suicide bomber kills 12 people, injures 150 - Jakarta, Indonesia - Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian group linked to al-Qaida.
May 16, 2003: Bomb attacks in Morocco kills 28 people injures 100+ - "international terrorism," and local militant groups linked to al-Qaida.
May 12, 2003: Four explosions rock Riyadh, the Saudi capital, eight Americans are among those killed. In all, the attack kills 35 people, including 9 attackers.
May 11, 2003: A bomb in southern Philippine city, killing at least 9 people and wounding 41 - Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
December 30, 2002: A gunman kills 3 American missionaries at a Southern Baptist hospital in Yemen - gunman, belonged to an al-Qaida cell.
November 28, 2002: Suicide bombers kill 12 people at an Israeli-owned beach hotel in Kenya and two missiles narrowly miss an airliner carrying Israelis.
October 12, 2002: Nearly 200 people, including 7 Americans, are killed in bombings in a nightclub district of the Indonesian island of Bali. Authorities blame Jemaah Islamiyah.
October 6, 2002: A small boat crashes into a French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen and explodes, killing one crewman.
October 2, 2002: Abu Sayyaf guerrillas detonate bomb in a market in Zamboanga, Philippines, killing 4 people - Four more bomb attacks in October blamed on Abu Sayyaf, linked to al-Qaida, kill 16 people.
June 14, 2002: Bomber blows up truck at the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 14 Pakistanis - Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen, linked to al-Qaida.
April 11, 2002: A suicide bombing with a gas truck at a historic Tunisian synagogue on the resort island of Djerba kills 21 people, mostly German tourists.
September 11, 2001: Hijackers slam jetliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and a fourth hijacked jet crashes in a Pennsylvania field, killing nearly 3,000 people.
December 30, 2000: Explosions in Manila strike a train, a bus, the airport, a park near the U.S. Embassy, and a gas station, killing 22 people - attack linked to Jemaah Islamiyah.
October 12, 2000: Suicide attackers on an explosives-laden boat ram the destroyer USS Cole off Yemen, killing 17 American sailors.
August 7, 1998: Nearly simultaneous car bombings hit the U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, killing 231 people, including 12 Americans.
Do you notice anything strange about this list? It notes Islamic terrorism all over the world since 1998, but completely disregards all such terrorism directed at the citizens of one country and one country only - Israel.
Worse yet, AP's worldview generally reflects the thinking - if you want to call it that - of the mainstream, establishment Western media.
That's why hundreds of newspapers actually published this list without blinking an eye, registering a protest, or asking any questions.
This was not the first time such a list was prepared and circulated by AP. The news organization published a similar list May 19, 2003 - again, no attacks on Israel were included.
At the time this list was published, more than a thousand Israeli civilians had been killed by Islamic terrorists since the fall of 2000. Many thousands more had been injured. But none of this counts, according to AP.
Let me give you some more evidence of this bias and how it manifests itself in the news coverage you read and watch.
In 2002, following the 9/11 attacks, I was stunned to realize the New York Times no longer accepted as historical fact that a Jewish Temple once stood upon the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Beginning at that point, news stories began referring to "the Temple Mount, which Israel claims to have been the site of the First and Second Temples." - - - -
*Emphasis Added Read Full Report http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55495
FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.Media: Hollywood's "Giants" Make a Mockery of Truth
Propagandistically Speaking
Proverbs 16:25
There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
Ed. Note: Typically covering anything to do with Hollywood or the entertainment industry is not the fair of Be Alert!, however in this case the violence being waged against truth by these so-called "enlightened" entertainers is too outrageous to not sound an alarm. These people are sadly deceived into blatent stupidity and only the mercy of and gospel of Christ can deliver them.
BE/\LERT!
Cameron's bag raises a few eyebrows
UK PRESS ASSOCIATION - June 23, 2007
Actress Cameron Diaz appears to have committed a major fashion crime in Peru.
The voice of Princess Fiona in the animated Shrek films may have inadvertently offended Peruvians.
They suffered decades of violence from a Maoist guerrilla insurgency by touring there on Friday with a bag emblazoned with one of Mao Zedong's favourite political slogans.
While she explored the Inca city of Machu Picchu high in Peru's Andes, Diaz wore over her shoulder an olive green messenger bag emblazoned with a red star and the words 'Serve the People' printed in Chinese on the flap, perhaps Chinese Communist leader Mao's most famous political slogan.
While the bags are marketed as trendy fashion accessories in some world capitals, the phrase has particular resonance in Peru.
The Maoist Shining Path insurgency took Peru to the edge of chaos in the 1980s and early 1990s with a campaign of massacres, assassinations and bombings.
Nearly 70,000 people were killed during the insurgency. - - - -
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=paDiazsat08diazbag&show_article=1
Angelina Jolie's Freedom of Press, on Her Terms
FOX NEWS - By Roger Friedman - June 14, 2007
Angelina Jolie's true colors came out Wednesday as she promoted a film about freedom of the press and then tried to censor all her interviews.
Jolie is touting press freedom these days, playing the widow of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in a new movie called "A Mighty Heart."
But Jolie turns out to be a mighty hypocrite when it comes to her own freedom of the press. Her lawyer required all journalists to sign a contract before talking to her, and Jolie instructed publicists at first to ban FOX News from the red carpet of her premiere. - - - -
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,282173,00.html
History's worst mass killer gets Hollywood makeover
Man who slew 100 million people to have $60 million glam treatment
WORLDNETDAILY - June 4, 2007
A man who is believed to have killed up to 100 million people in his life is to be the subject of a positive $60 million biographical film portrait, if a Hollywood producer gets his way.
"Challenging Heaven" by Steven North will tell the story of the founding of Communist China with Mao Zedong in the role of George Washington.
North is currently trying to romance Beijing into offering support for the project.
"This is a very positive portrayal of Mao, and we are hoping that once the script clears the approval process, China will come forward with services and support," he said. - - -
Though Mao, like fellow dictator Fidel Castro, is still romanticized to a degree in the West, most historians would agree he ranks at or very near the top of the worst mass murderers.
About 70 million Chinese were killed or died as a result of his brutal reign. That figure does not include millions of Tibetans, Koreans and members of other ethnic groups and nationalities.
In fact, the name of the Mao movie is significant. Mao once described himself as "without law and without heaven."
Mao wrote: "I do not agree with the view that to be moral, the motive of one's actions has to be benefiting others. Morality does not have to be defined in relation to others. --- People like me want to --- satisfy our hearts to the full, and in doing so we automatically have the most valuable moral codes. Of course there are people and objects in the world, but they are all there only for me. --- People like me only have a duty to ourselves; we have no duty to other people."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56011
FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Media: Distortion, Propaganda, Bias and Attacks on Freedom
Propagandistically Speaking
Nahum 1:9
Whatever you devise against the LORD,
He will make a complete end of it.
Distress will not rise up twice.
Reporters Give Money To Dems Over Republicans 9 To 1
The list: Journalists who wrote political checks
MSNBC - By Bill Dedman - June 22, 2007
The following 143 journalists made campaign contributions from 2004 through the first quarter of 2007, according to Federal Election Commission records studied by MSNBC.com.
Key:
(D) contributed to Democrats or liberal causes.
(R) to Republicans and conservative causes.
Click on "details" next to each name to see the amounts and what the journalists have to say. - - - -
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19113455
BBC network admits it: We're biased toward left
WORLDNETDAILY - June 17, 2007
The BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation, has acknowledged the network is biased toward the left, following a report commissioned by the company.
A yearlong probe revealed the corporation especially partial in its treatment of single-issue politics such as climate change, poverty, race and religion, according to the London Times.
"It concludes that the bias has extended across drama, comedy and entertainment, with the corporation pandering to politically motivated celebrities and trendy causes," the paper said.
The report cites the danger of BBC programs being undermined by the liberal culture of its staff, who need to challenge their own assumptions more.
"There is a tendency to 'group think' with too many staff inhabiting a shared space and comfort zone," says the report.
It notes staff tend to mimic each other's common left-leaning values.
A seminar on staff impartiality held last year is documented, with officials admitting they would broadcast images of the Bible being thrown away, but not the Koran for fear of offending Muslims.
The report also warns that celebrities must not be pandered to and allowed to hijack the BBC schedule, according to the London Telegraph.
It also offers 12 new principles for the corporation to adopt to safeguard objectivity, including:
"Impartiality is no excuse for insipid programming. It allows room for fair-minded, evidence-based judgments by senior journalists and documentary-makers, and for controversial, passionate and polemical arguments by contributors and writers."
A BBC spokeswoman said: "This report is about looking forward and how we are going to face the challenges of impartiality in the modern world."
As WND reported in October, an internal BBC memo revealed senior figures admitted the national news agency was guilty of promoting left-wing views and anti-Christian sentiment.
The admissions of bias were made at the impartiality summit. Most executives admitted the corporation's representation of homosexuals and ethnic minorities was unbalanced and disproportionate.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56228
British law threatening U.S. freedom of speech
Experts: Lawsuit by Saudi billionaire puts American journalists under foreign courts
WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - June 16, 2007
The author of a U.S.-published book that accused a former Saudi banking executive of funding terrorism is battling a precedent that experts say could give any foreign libel law priority over U.S. free press and speech guarantees.
The case involving Rachel Ehrenfeld is one of the "most important First Amendment cases of the past 25 years," and its potential for damaging the U.S. free press is "not yet readily recognized," 30-year American Civil Liberties Union board member Harvey Silverglate told her.
Ehrenfeld, who has posted information about her case on the website of the American Center for Democracy, which she directs in its research of Middle East-based terrorism, told WND the situation is very simple, and very scary.
In 2003, she documented and wrote, "Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It," that alleged Saudi Arabian billionaire Khalid Salim A. Bin Mahfouz helped in that pipeline of financing.
Mahfouz formerly was president of the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia and Forbes estimates his personal wealth at more than $3 billion. He says he condemns terrorism and never has assisted Osama Bin Laden or others.
Several of those books were purchased via the Internet by British buyers, and a short time later Mahfouz filed a libel action against Ehrenfeld within Great Britain, where antiquated libel laws put the burden of proof on the defendant. - - - -
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56207
Bush administration attacks 'shield' for bloggers
CNET News.com - By Anne Broache - June 15, 2007
WASHINGTON--The Bush administration on Thursday blasted a congressional proposal that would shield a broad swath of news gatherers, including some bloggers, from revealing their confidential sources.
The latest draft of the Free Flow of Information Act would pose a grave threat to national security and federal criminal investigations by protecting far too large a segment of the population, a U.S. Department of Justice official told Congress.
"The definition is just so broad that it really includes anyone who wants to post something to the Web," Rachel Brand, assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy, said at a House Judiciary Committee hearing here. She also argued it would protect "a terrorist operative who videotaped a message from a terrorist leader threatening attacks on Americans."
Justice Department opposition has bedeviled Congress throughout its numerous attempts in recent years to enact federal shield laws. Supporters say such legislation is needed in light of high-profile cases involving New York Times reporter Judith Miller and what free-press advocacy groups characterize as a sharp rise in subpoenas to reporters in recent years.
Laws recognizing some form of "reporter's privilege" already exist in 49 states and the District of Columbia--but, crucially, do not shield journalists from federal prosecutors. - - - -
http://networks.org/?src=cnet:2100-1028_3-6191053
New Concerns on Russia Media Freedom
ASSOCIATED PRESS - By Alex Nicholson - May 19, 2007
MOSCOW -- More than a half-dozen journalists with the Russian News Service, which produces reports that reach millions of radio listeners, resigned to protest the new pro-Kremlin management's policy that at least 50 percent of coverage must be positive, according to former correspondents.
The company that owns the service, Russian Media Group, said Saturday that no one was available to comment on the claims, which come amid growing concern about media freedom in Russia.
In another case highlighting the concerns, the Russian Union of Journalists is protesting an order that it vacate its offices that house state media operations, including the RIA-Novosti news agency and the Russia Today satellite television channel.
During Vladimir Putin's presidency, major Russian media have increasingly come under state control or influence. The media arm of the state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom took control of NTV television - once noted for its criticism of the Kremlin and independent reporting on the war in Chechnya - and the newspaper Izvestia.
Analytical programs on Russia's main TV channels are increasingly infrequent and less likely to express criticism of the Kremlin. - - - -
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/RUSSIA_MEDIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-05-19-07-33-46
FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
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