Romney VP pick Ryan’s main mission: Cut the budget

http://m.yahoo.com/w/legobpengine/news/blogs/paul-ryan-063300661.html?.b=index&.ts=1344687775&.intl=US&.lang=en

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Paul Ryan to be named Romney's running mate

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/08/romney-vp-saturday/1

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After long fight, opening day for Tenn. mosque - seattlepi.com

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/After-long-fight-opening-day-for-Tenn-mosque-3777644.php

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GI Details Harsh Treatment in WikiLeaks Case - ABC News

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/gi-claims-harsh-treatment-wikileaks-case-16980722

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Skandal dokter dan farmasi

sumber : http://healindonesia.wordpress.com/2...-anda-ketahui/

Mengakhiri 'selingkuh' dokter dan industri farmasi

Kalau akhirnya Anda terpaksa harus pergi ke dokter, tanyakanlah berapa
banyak pasien yang dia sarankan penanganan penyakitnya harus lewat meja
operasi. Itu perlu ditanyakan karena akan menjadi dasar bagi Anda untuk
mengambil keputusan apakah tetap dirawat olehnya atau berpaling ke
dokter lain.

Bila dalam setahun hanya 10% dari jumlah pasien yang ditanganinya harus
menjalani operasi, maka dokter tersebut pantas mendapatkan kepercayaan
Anda. Tapi apabila 25% hingga 50% dari jumlah pasiennya harus ditangani
di ruang operasi, maka itu bisa menjadi indikasi bahwa ada kredit yang
tengah 'dilunasi' si dokter untuk 'mengejar setoran'. Nah, bila
persentasenya mencapai 80%, dokter itu layak mendapat julukan dangerous
doctor, dan segeralah cari dokter lain.

Itu adalah guyonan yang disampaikan Anggota Komisi IX DPR Hakim Sorimuda
Pohan dalam acara diskusi mengenai kelangkaan dan mahalnya harga obat
beberapa waktu lalu. Guyonan yang disambut tawa semua orang yang hadir
di acara itu.

Seperti kentut, praktik-praktik 'haram' dunia kedokteran memang
tercium tak sedap tapi tidak kelihatan. Hal paling sederhana dan paling
banyak dibahas dalam beberapa waktu terakhir adalah independensi dokter
dalam menuliskan resep untuk pasiennya. 'Selingkuh' antara pabrik obat
dan dokter-yang sudah pasti merugikan pasien--belakangan mendapatkan
sorotan tajam.

Poin-poin etika promosi obat antara GP Farmasi Indonesia dan Ikatan Dokter Indonesia (IDI):

1. Dokter dilarang menjuruskan
pasien membeli obat tertentu karena dokter bersangutan telah menerima
komisi dari perusahaan farmasi tertentu.

2. Dukungan perusahaan farmasi pada pertemuan ilmiah dokter tidak boleh dikaitkan dengan kewajiban mempromosikan atau meresepkan suatu produk.

3. Dukungan kepada dokter secara individual dalam rangka pendidikan
berkelanjutan terbatas pada biaya registrasi, akomodasi, dan
transportasi.

4. Perusahaan farmasi dilarang memberikan honorarium atau uang saku
kepada dokter yang menghadiri pendidikan berkelanjutan, kecuali sebagai
pembicara atau moderator.

5. Donasi pada profesi kedokteran tidak boleh dikaitkan dengan penulisan resep atau penggunaan produk perusahaan tertentu.
6. Pemberian donasi dari perusahaan farmasi hanya diperolehkan untuk organisasi profesi kedokteran, bukan untuk dokter individual.
7. IDI harus memverifikasi berbagai kegiatan resmi organisasi, terkait dengan sponsorship dari anggota GP Farmasi Indonesia.
Sumber : GP Farmasi

Promosi obat industri farmasi yang tidak etis telah membuat pasien
semakin tersakiti. Hadiah untuk sang dokter, harus dibayar is pasien
lewat harga obat yang mencekik leher. Pasien tidak punya pilihan karena
dokternya sudah terikat 'kontrak' tidak resmi dengan produsen obat.

Kalau memang praktik serupa ini tidak pernah ada, tidak mungkin
Gabungan Perusahaan (GP) Farmasi Indonesia dan Ikatan Dokter Indonesia
(IDI) sampai merasa perlu untuk melakukan penandatanganan kesepakatan
bersama etika promosi obat pada 12 Juni lalu.

Dalam kesepakatan itu dokter dilarang menjuruskan pasien membeli obat
tertentu karena dokter bersangkutan telah menerima komisi dari
perusahaan farmasi tertentu. Masih ada sejumlah poin lainnya yang
intinya ingin menegakkan independensi dokter dalam menjalankan tugasnya.

"Kami memang tidak memiliki data mengenai pelanggaran kode etik itu,
namun saya yakin pelanggaran itu sangat mungkin terjadi. Jadi
kesepakatan ini untuk penegasan," kata Ketua Umum GP Farmasi Indonesia
Anthony Ch Sunarjo.

Menepis bias

Pertengahan Maret lalu, organisasi perusahaan farmasi internasional di
Indonesia (IPMG) juga memperketat aturan promosi dan pemasaran obat oleh
para anggotanya, lewat revisi terbaru kode etik organisasi itu.

Ketua IPMG Ahmet Genel mengatakan revisi kode etik IPMG itu diadopsi
dari revisi terbaru International Federation Pharmaceutical
Manufacturers & Association (IFPMA).

Namun, Genel membantah bahwa pengetatan aturan mengenai promosi dan
pemasaran obat tersebut didasarkan pada adanya dugaan praktik promosi
yang tidak sehat antara perusahaan farmasi dan dokter.

"Ini [kode etik] dibuat bukan atas adanya dugaan telah terjadi praktik
tidak sehat antara produsen obat dan dokter. Kami ingin obat-obat yang
diproduksi dipasarkan secara etis dan dokter dapat membuat keputusan
tanpa bias," ujarnya berupaya meyakinkan.

Perusahaan farmasi yang tergabung dalam IPMG hanya diperbolehkan
memberikan hadiah kepada profesi kesehatan dalam rangka acara nasional,
budaya, atau keagamaan yang penting, dengan nilai maksimal Rp500.000,
tidak boleh lebih.

Sebelumnya, perusahaan farmasi diperkenankan untuk memberikan hadiah
senilai Rp500.000 untuk ulang tahun dan hadiah senilai hingga Rp2 juta
untuk hadiah pernikahan. Tapi kini, hadiah untuk perayaan ulang tahun
dan pernikahan telah diharamkan.

Batasan rupiah untuk membuat pekerjaan dokter tidak berbias juga
ditetapkan oleh GP Farmasi, misalnya, lewat suvenir promosi yang harus
bernilai wajar yaitu maksimum US$20 dan honorarium pembicara seminar
yang tidak boleh melebihi US$300.

Sayangnya, tidak ada batasan rupiah yang ditetapkan apabila perusahaan
farmasi ingin memberikan hadiah untuk perayaan tertentu, seperti hari
besar keagamaan, kepada dokter.

Masalah independensi pastinya bukan hanya monopoli dokter dan industri
farmasi. Dalam Pedoman Perilaku Hakim, seorang hakim juga disebutkan
hanya boleh menerima hadiah yang nilainya tidak lebih dari Rp500.000.

Nilai itu disebut-sebut jauh lebih rendah dari standar kode etik hakim
internasional yang memperbolehkan hakim menerima hadiah dengan nilai
maksimal US$200 atau setara dengan Rp1,8 juta.

Bagaimanapun, upaya menciptakan transparansi kerja berbagai profesi
memang layak dihargai. Semoga saja kode etik tadi tidak sekadar disimpan
dalam laci meja yang kemudian dilupakan di saat tidak ada yang
mengawasi.

Sulit memang. Sebab perselingkuhan memang mencurigakan, tapi sulit dibuktikan. (yeni.simanjuntak@...)

bisnis.com

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MailOnline::Shanghai officials say they're winning the war on the quirky Chinglish signs embarrassing their city (and which we all can't help finding funny)

http://bit.ly/PHa886 Shanghai officials say they're winning the war on the quirky Chinglish signs embarrassing their city ... #MailOnline

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Iranian Bobak Ferdowsi ‘Mohawk Guy’ Becomes Star of NASA Mars Landing

Bobak Ferdowsi,
and he reportedly changes his look
for each mission.
http://m.yahoo.com/w/legobpengine/news/blogs/trending-now/mohawk-guy-becomes-star-nasa-mars-landing-173507110.html?.b=index&.ts=1344286379&.intl=US&.lang=en&.ysid=z5aySyyJID_ZFYc786bYxE2S

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Wade Michael Page named as temple shooter as FBI examines far-right links

Wade Michael Page named as temple shooter as FBI examines far-right links

http://gu.com/p/39ha2

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Honest People Are Healthier And Happier, Says Study

http://m.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/time-to-come-clean-little-white-lies-found...

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Honest People Are Healthier And Happier, Says Study

http://m.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/time-to-come-clean-little-white-lies-found-to-be-a-health-hazard-20120805-23o0t.html

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kolesterol

Kadar kolesterol total yang baik bagi tubuh manusia berada di bawah 200 mg/dl, HDL lebih dari 35 mg/dl, LDL kurang dari 130 mg/dl, dan trigliserida kurang dari 250 mg/dl.

a large percentage of internet and national network ad revenue is sourced in the psycho/pharma industry

http://take2la.newsvine.com/_news/2012/07/31/13055068-dr-lynne-fenton-the-batman-killer-psychopharma-and-the-drug-money

The thing that is overlooked in this whole event and a leading contributor to the event in and of itself is the FACT that a large percentage of internet and national network ad revenue is sourced in the psycho/pharma industry...this is why the fact (documented) that SSRI, anti-depressants, and psycho-tropic drugs are linked to violent events in certain individuals never gets linked and co-related in articles and TV news segments and doesn't get the wide attention that it demands.  The questions never get asked because IF the questions were asked...

"  If doctors prescribe it ( SSRI, anti-depressants, and psycho-tropic drugs ) to patients, the patients say, "Hey, wasn't this the drug that nutcase took before he killed all those people in the theater?"  "

The public then wouldn't take the product, the psycho/pharma industry wouldn't buy the ads and the networks wouldn't be as profitable.

The owners of network news don't want to risk losing 35-50+ % of their meal ticket.

Chinese are rejected in Senegal

NGAYE MEKHE, Senegal (AP) — It has taken generations for cobblers in this village to perfect the pointy-toed slippers once favored by local kings, and now considered an indispensable fashion accessory of well-dressed Senegalese men.

It only took months for the Chinese to copy and mass produce the local design, making them out of plastic instead of leather and selling them for a quarter of the price.

The Senegalese government has so far not regulated the import of Chinese-made replicas of local crafts, so the most prominent shoemakers of Ngaye Mekhe have come up with their own retaliation: They are refusing to sell their slippers to Chinese visitors.

"If I see a Chinese person, I put my hand up like this," said Mactar Gueye, his palm open, in the universal gesture for stop. "It's not that I'm afraid of them. I just won't sell to them."

In a veiled swipe at China's role in Africa, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told a university audience in Senegal on Wednesday that the U.S. will tie investment to human rights and sustainable development. Though she did not mention China by name, it's clear that Africans are being asked to ponder their relationship with China, which recently became the continent's main trading partner.

Trade between the two sides hit a record $166 billion last year, a threefold increase since 2006, while direct investment is $14.7 billion, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said earlier this month. In almost every nation on the continent, China has undertaken major public works projects from the presidential palace in Guinea, to a $100 million hydroelectric dam in Gabon, to paving close to 140 miles (220 kilometers) of roads in Congo.

But the investment usually comes with strings attached, with infrastructure traded for access to Africa's vast mineral wealth as well as its marketplaces.

It's been an especially raw deal for the continent's dwindling artisans — not just its slipper makers but also the weavers of Ghana's ceremonial kente cloth, as well as the dyers of the vibrant wax prints worn by West African women, which have been copied and sold for less by China.

Brothers Mactar and Moussa Gueye, whose grandfather made the slippers worn by the kings of the local Cayor kingdom, said their first encounter with China was at a trade fair in Senegal's capital, Dakar, in 1998. A Chinese trader approached their stand and admired their shoes, returning several times to look though never buying anything, said Mactar Gueye.

Not long after, a group of Chinese buyers traveled to Ngaye Mekhe. The town, with a population of 25,000, is often called Senegal's "shoe capital" because the shoemakers here display their slippers on racks on either side of National Highway No. 1.

"They told me they were interested in buying our product. They lied. By the end of the year, the market was flooded with my design — only made in plastic by the Chinese," said 46-year-old Mactar Gueye.

If the slippers made in this Senegalese town sell for no less than $20, the Chinese replicas sell for $4. And if it takes a master craftsman here around a day to sew one of his creations, the Chinese can make them by the thousands in factories in Asia, sending them in containers to Senegal's port.

"Our government should have protected us," says the eldest of the three brothers, 53-year-old Moussa Gueye. "The knockoffs, they come in through the port, right? So why don't our authorities control what comes in?

"What bothers me is these are people who never buy anything here, they only come to sell," he says. Then he adds: "I take that back. They never buy anything that is above ground," he said. "Only what is under our soil."

In a speech on relations with Africa earlier this month, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun hit back at critics of China's growing influence in Africa and denied that China is practicing a new form of colonialism, saying China's economic backing is giving African countries options they never had under a Western-led world order.

During her speech in Dakar, Clinton never mentioned China by name, saying the United States is committed to "a model of sustainable partnership that adds value, rather than extracts it" from Africa, language that many interpret as a jab at China's infrastructure-for-minerals model of investment. For the continent's craftsmen, China's ever-growing footprint has been hard to battle.

At the HLM market in Dakar, women weave through the stalls displaying the latest African prints — except that almost none of them is made in Africa anymore.

Oumar Thiam, the accountant of a bustling store, has a Yahoo inbox dotted with emails from vendors whose names appear in Mandarin characters. His shop has only ever sold Chinese knockoffs of African waxprint fabrics.

"They are very similar to the original. If there's a difference, it's in the quality, but it's so much cheaper," he said.

Africa expert Peter Pham says that just in northern Nigeria, a quarter-of-a-million jobs have been lost in the textile industry.

"Certainly these cheaper products make it affordable for more people, but at the same time, it has eviscerated the manufacturing sector in Africa," says Pham, who is the director of the Africa Center at the Washington-based Atlantic Council. "They can't beat the price of the Chinese knockoffs."

Back in Ngaye Mekhe, the workshop of the Gueye brothers is still operating at full tilt, despite the onslaught of fake slippers. The brothers made their first slippers at the age of 10, learning from their grandfather.

Since then, their shoes have been worn by a Senegalese president and their client list reads like a Who's Who of the country's ruling elite. They have managed to stay in business, because the upper crust of Senegalese society appreciates the difference in quality, and is willing to spend extra for their double-lined, soft-leather shoes, mounted on high-end rubber and ranging in color from cherry red to sable gray.

The pointy-toed slippers are typically worn by Senegalese men on special occasions, like baptisms or weddings. They are also the footwear of choice on Fridays, when men don flowing robes and head to the mosque, leaving the slippers in long rows on the curb outside.

The toll on the roughly 1,500 other shoemakers here has been hard to weather, and many artisans say they are struggling to pass on the craft to their sons, who no longer see a future in it. Besides slippers, they have diversified and are now also making sandals as well as loafers. The shoemakers sit on the side of National Highway No. 1, next to their pearly-white and ruby-red creations that grace their outdoor racks.

Besides not selling to the Chinese, the Gueye brothers have another tactic. The copied shoes have soles that come off after a few months.

"The best part is people then bring me these shoes, the Chinese shoes! And ask me to fix them," scoffs Mactar Gueye. "My rule is I don't let the Chinese buy my shoes. And I won't fix any Chinese babooshes," he says, using the local word for slippers. "This is about our survival."

___

Associated Press writers Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal; Saleh Mwanamilongo in Kinshasa, Congo; and Yves Laurent Goma in Libreville, Gabon contributed this report.

Chinese are rejected in Senegal

NGAYE MEKHE, Senegal (AP) — It has taken generations for cobblers in this village to perfect the pointy-toed slippers once favored by local kings, and now considered an indispensable fashion accessory of well-dressed Senegalese men.

It only took months for the Chinese to copy and mass produce the local design, making them out of plastic instead of leather and selling them for a quarter of the price.

The Senegalese government has so far not regulated the import of Chinese-made replicas of local crafts, so the most prominent shoemakers of Ngaye Mekhe have come up with their own retaliation: They are refusing to sell their slippers to Chinese visitors.

"If I see a Chinese person, I put my hand up like this," said Mactar Gueye, his palm open, in the universal gesture for stop. "It's not that I'm afraid of them. I just won't sell to them."

In a veiled swipe at China's role in Africa, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told a university audience in Senegal on Wednesday that the U.S. will tie investment to human rights and sustainable development. Though she did not mention China by name, it's clear that Africans are being asked to ponder their relationship with China, which recently became the continent's main trading partner.

Trade between the two sides hit a record $166 billion last year, a threefold increase since 2006, while direct investment is $14.7 billion, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said earlier this month. In almost every nation on the continent, China has undertaken major public works projects from the presidential palace in Guinea, to a $100 million hydroelectric dam in Gabon, to paving close to 140 miles (220 kilometers) of roads in Congo.

But the investment usually comes with strings attached, with infrastructure traded for access to Africa's vast mineral wealth as well as its marketplaces.

It's been an especially raw deal for the continent's dwindling artisans — not just its slipper makers but also the weavers of Ghana's ceremonial kente cloth, as well as the dyers of the vibrant wax prints worn by West African women, which have been copied and sold for less by China.

Brothers Mactar and Moussa Gueye, whose grandfather made the slippers worn by the kings of the local Cayor kingdom, said their first encounter with China was at a trade fair in Senegal's capital, Dakar, in 1998. A Chinese trader approached their stand and admired their shoes, returning several times to look though never buying anything, said Mactar Gueye.

Not long after, a group of Chinese buyers traveled to Ngaye Mekhe. The town, with a population of 25,000, is often called Senegal's "shoe capital" because the shoemakers here display their slippers on racks on either side of National Highway No. 1.

"They told me they were interested in buying our product. They lied. By the end of the year, the market was flooded with my design — only made in plastic by the Chinese," said 46-year-old Mactar Gueye.

If the slippers made in this Senegalese town sell for no less than $20, the Chinese replicas sell for $4. And if it takes a master craftsman here around a day to sew one of his creations, the Chinese can make them by the thousands in factories in Asia, sending them in containers to Senegal's port.

"Our government should have protected us," says the eldest of the three brothers, 53-year-old Moussa Gueye. "The knockoffs, they come in through the port, right? So why don't our authorities control what comes in?

"What bothers me is these are people who never buy anything here, they only come to sell," he says. Then he adds: "I take that back. They never buy anything that is above ground," he said. "Only what is under our soil."

In a speech on relations with Africa earlier this month, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun hit back at critics of China's growing influence in Africa and denied that China is practicing a new form of colonialism, saying China's economic backing is giving African countries options they never had under a Western-led world order.

During her speech in Dakar, Clinton never mentioned China by name, saying the United States is committed to "a model of sustainable partnership that adds value, rather than extracts it" from Africa, language that many interpret as a jab at China's infrastructure-for-minerals model of investment. For the continent's craftsmen, China's ever-growing footprint has been hard to battle.

At the HLM market in Dakar, women weave through the stalls displaying the latest African prints — except that almost none of them is made in Africa anymore.

Oumar Thiam, the accountant of a bustling store, has a Yahoo inbox dotted with emails from vendors whose names appear in Mandarin characters. His shop has only ever sold Chinese knockoffs of African waxprint fabrics.

"They are very similar to the original. If there's a difference, it's in the quality, but it's so much cheaper," he said.

Africa expert Peter Pham says that just in northern Nigeria, a quarter-of-a-million jobs have been lost in the textile industry.

"Certainly these cheaper products make it affordable for more people, but at the same time, it has eviscerated the manufacturing sector in Africa," says Pham, who is the director of the Africa Center at the Washington-based Atlantic Council. "They can't beat the price of the Chinese knockoffs."

Back in Ngaye Mekhe, the workshop of the Gueye brothers is still operating at full tilt, despite the onslaught of fake slippers. The brothers made their first slippers at the age of 10, learning from their grandfather.

Since then, their shoes have been worn by a Senegalese president and their client list reads like a Who's Who of the country's ruling elite. They have managed to stay in business, because the upper crust of Senegalese society appreciates the difference in quality, and is willing to spend extra for their double-lined, soft-leather shoes, mounted on high-end rubber and ranging in color from cherry red to sable gray.

The pointy-toed slippers are typically worn by Senegalese men on special occasions, like baptisms or weddings. They are also the footwear of choice on Fridays, when men don flowing robes and head to the mosque, leaving the slippers in long rows on the curb outside.

The toll on the roughly 1,500 other shoemakers here has been hard to weather, and many artisans say they are struggling to pass on the craft to their sons, who no longer see a future in it. Besides slippers, they have diversified and are now also making sandals as well as loafers. The shoemakers sit on the side of National Highway No. 1, next to their pearly-white and ruby-red creations that grace their outdoor racks.

Besides not selling to the Chinese, the Gueye brothers have another tactic. The copied shoes have soles that come off after a few months.

"The best part is people then bring me these shoes, the Chinese shoes! And ask me to fix them," scoffs Mactar Gueye. "My rule is I don't let the Chinese buy my shoes. And I won't fix any Chinese babooshes," he says, using the local word for slippers. "This is about our survival."

___

Associated Press writers Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal; Saleh Mwanamilongo in Kinshasa, Congo; and Yves Laurent Goma in Libreville, Gabon contributed this report.

Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera, the two Gulf-based channels that dominate the Arabic news business, have moved to counter Syrian regime propaganda

more: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/02/breaking_the_arab_news

While civil war rages on the Syrian battlefield between regime loyalists and myriad rebel factions, another battle is taking place in the media world. Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera, the two Gulf-based channels that dominate the Arabic news business, have moved to counter Syrian regime propaganda, but have ended up distorting the news almost as badly as their opponents. In their bid to support the Syrian rebels' cause, these media giants have lowered their journalistic standards, abandoned rudimentary fact-checks, and relied on anonymous callers and unverified videos in place of solid reporting.

Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya were founded by members of the Qatari and Saudi royal families, respectively, and their coverage of Syria faithfully reflects the political positions of their backers. There's big money behind both stations: Al Jazeera was created with a $150 million grant from the emir of Qatar in 1996, and annual expenditure on the network's multiple channels reached nearly $650 million by 2010, according to market research firm Ipsos. The story is similar with Al Arabiya, which was launched in 2003 with an initial investment of $300 million by a group of Lebanese and Gulf investors led by Saudi businessman Waleed al-Ibrahim, the brother-in-law of the late Saudi King Fahd. Hard numbers on the annual operating budgets of these channels aren't known, but they're likely to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. The much smaller, U.S.-government financed Alhurra, by way of comparison, costs around $90 million annually to run.

Coverage of the Syrian uprising has drained these channels' resources. Prime-time advertisements have been reduced or canceled altogether, thereby decreasing revenues. In place of carefully reported segments, some newscasts rely almost exclusively on citizen journalist "eyewitness" accounts and uploaded media footage readily found on YouTube. For the non-Arabic-speaking viewer, news coverage of Syria on these channels is akin to CNN's iReport -- the monthly interactive half-hour citizen journalism show -- but for several hours a day. It is not uncommon to tune in to either channel and find that the first 20 minutes of a newscast consists of Syrian activists -- some with shady backgrounds -- based either outside or inside Syria reporting via Skype on events that took place hundreds or thousands of miles away.

When Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera do comment directly on Syrian affairs, they tend to paper over the rebels' flaws and emphasize the conflict's religious fault lines. Perhaps the low point of both channels' Syrian uprising coverage was when they gave a platform to extremist Sunni cleric Adnan al-Arour, who once said of Syria's Alawite minority that Sunnis "shall mince them in meat grinders and feed their flesh to the dogs" for their support of President Bashar al-Assad. While Al Arabiya referred to "the sheikh" as a "symbol of the revolution," Al Jazeera introduced him as the "biggest nonviolent instigator against the Syrian regime."

These Arabic-language stations have done their worst work when the political stakes of their coverage are the highest. In early July, Brig. Gen. Manaf Tlass, a close friend of the Assad family and son of a former Syrian defense minister, fled to France. Several weeks later, he broke his silence via Saudi media and embarked on a religious pilgrimage to the kingdom, offering himself as a unifying figure to lead Syria's dysfunctional exile opposition. Only within the realm of fantasy would Syrians -- who have paid with the blood of thousands to bring down the Baathist dictatorship -- agree to allow a former regime insider to succeed Assad.

But that seems to be the scenario that Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya are not only taking seriously, but perhaps supporting. Both channels initially covered Tlass's defection extensively, but after Tlass chose to make his statements exclusively to Saudi media -- including Al Arabiya and the newspaper Asharq al-Awsat -- Al Jazeera shunned him. Al Arabiya described the defection of Tlass -- who held no power whatsoever at the time of his departure -- as a "severe blow" to Syrian military power. It also recounted how several of his family members oppose the regime, but failed to mention his uncle Talal, who currently serves as deputy defense minister.

To be sure, reporting from inside Syria is perilous. The country is, in fact, the most dangerous place in the world for reporters, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Bloggers and journalists have been repeatedly detained by the regime since the conflict began, and at least 18 journalists have lost their lives in the country since November. Furthermore, government minders continuously accompany reporters who are allowed into the country.

But the networks use the very real challenges of reporting from inside Syria as an excuse to avoid stories that challenge their preferred narrative. Elsewhere, for instance, articles have raised questions about the credibility of the widely quoted Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based Syrian opposition outlet -- but Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya haven't touched the story. Newspapers around the world have also focused on the presence of terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, among the anti-regime fighters -- but such a possibility is rarely, if ever, entertained on the main Arabic stations.

Both channels also suffer from a "Yasir Arafat" dichotomy -- a reference to the late Palestinian leader, who had a habit of tailoring his message depending on his audience. The stations' rhetoric differs greatly depending on the language they broadcast in. For instance, Al Jazeera English and Al Arabiya's English-language website have broached the topic of al Qaeda fighters in Syria, even as it goes unmentioned on their vastly more influential Arabic-language counterparts. Instead, the Arabic-language channels continually host guests who refute any suggestions of the sort.

Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya are not unique in compromising their journalistic standards in Syria. Western media organizations such as the Guardian were fooled by an author claiming to be a gay girl in Damascus -- and who turned out to be an American man living in Scotland. The BBC World News editor also criticized the sensationalism of initial reports of a massacre in the town of Houla, writing, "it's more important than ever that we report what we don't know, not merely what we do."

Of course, the other side has been just as bad. Iranian propaganda outlets recently stepped up their defense of Iran's Baathist ally, publishing a series of articles that accuse Qatar of financing terrorism and colluding with Israel. Such Iranian media attacks had commonly targeted the Saudi government but are a new phenomenon with regard to Qatar, with which it shares the world's largest gas field. Russia Today, in both Arabic and English, has mirrored Iranian state media outlets in it coverage, referring to any anti-regime protesters as terrorists or militants, while turning a blind eye to the regime atrocities. Like Iran, Russia Today has also targeted Qatar, accusing it of "playing in tune with Washington's policies in the region."

But the real loss here is for Al Jazeera, a channel that was followed by tens of millions of Arab viewers last year at the height of the Arab uprisings and is today a shadow of its former self. After I wrote about the station's bias in favor of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood last month, more than a dozen of the channel's employees confirmed the fact to me in emails.

Al Jazeera employs the same tactics in its coverage of the Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is a part of the domestic opposition movement, as it does with the Brotherhood's Egyptian counterpart. Arabic-language Al Jazeera had earlier assigned its Syria desk to Ahmed Ibrahim, the brother of Anas al-Abdah, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated Syrian National Council (SNC). Ibrahim goes by a different name in order to avoid being affiliated with his brother. As a result of this relationship, according to several Al Jazeera insiders, Brotherhood-friendly analysts are frequently invited to air their views. For instance, SNC member Mohammad Aloush, a familiar guest on Al Jazeera, published a long op-ed on the channel's website stating that the new Syrian Muslim Brotherhood covenant is a "message of assurance" to the Syrian people and that "nothing better has been presented."

Fortunately, criticism of Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya has increased along with its biased coverage. Fadi Salem, a Dubai-based Syrian researcher specializing in media, accused both channels of "pay[ing] handsome amounts of money to anonymous callers with information regarding Syria" and recycling YouTube videos as if they were from different parts of the country. "Many opposition figures [who are inside Syria] but do not see eye to eye with Saudi or Qatari foreign policy on Syria are 'banned' on both channels," Salem told me.

A large segment of Al Jazeera's and Al Arabiya's audiences, appalled by the Syrian regime's brutality, no doubt genuinely believes that this is strictly a battle of good versus evil. For the Saudi and Qatari governments, however, Syria's fate directly affects their political future -- they want to see the fall of the regime for either personal or strategic reasons. The looming end of Assad's Syria is yet another chapter in the transformation of the old Arab state order, which began with the fall of Saddam Hussein's Iraq and the end of Hosni Mubarak's Egypt. It is a story that is simply too important to be left in the hands of media outlets looking to advance their own narrow interests.

Happy Birthday Mr Obama

World peace? A new car? Nope. President Barack Obama joked Thursday that his birthday wish this year would be to win Florida.

"I'm going to be 51 on Saturday. Fifty-one. Michelle says I look 50. That's not bad," Obama told a cheering crowd of supporters at Rollins College in Orlando, Fla. In response, the crowd sang part of "Happy Birthday" to the president.

"If I'd known you guys were going to sing, we would have had a cake," Obama said. "And then I would have blown out the candles. I would have made a wish—that probably would have had to do with electoral votes. Winning Florida wouldn't be a bad birthday present."

The Sunshine State's 29 Electoral College votes would indeed be a nice haul on the road to the 270 needed to win. Florida is on the list of battleground states that Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are fighting for. The president enjoys a narrow 1.4 percentage point lead over the former Massachusetts governor in an average of polls by the Real Clear Politics website. But unemployment in Florida is 8.6 percent—higher than the national average of 8.2 percent—and the state has high foreclosure rates and other issues that may help Romney snuff out Obama's hopes.

Happy Birthday Mr Obama

World peace? A new car? Nope. President Barack Obama joked Thursday that his birthday wish this year would be to win Florida.

"I'm going to be 51 on Saturday. Fifty-one. Michelle says I look 50. That's not bad," Obama told a cheering crowd of supporters at Rollins College in Orlando, Fla. In response, the crowd sang part of "Happy Birthday" to the president.

"If I'd known you guys were going to sing, we would have had a cake," Obama said. "And then I would have blown out the candles. I would have made a wish—that probably would have had to do with electoral votes. Winning Florida wouldn't be a bad birthday present."

The Sunshine State's 29 Electoral College votes would indeed be a nice haul on the road to the 270 needed to win. Florida is on the list of battleground states that Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are fighting for. The president enjoys a narrow 1.4 percentage point lead over the former Massachusetts governor in an average of polls by the Real Clear Politics website. But unemployment in Florida is 8.6 percent—higher than the national average of 8.2 percent—and the state has high foreclosure rates and other issues that may help Romney snuff out Obama's hopes.

Frustrated Annan quits as Syria peace envoy

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