Friday, 20 November 2009

• EU has president; Dangers of journalism

   
  I'm behind on a news posts. Just a two quick topics.
  
  First, one for prayer warriors and government watchers. The European Union has named its president: Herman van Rompuy, the prime minister of Belgium.
  
  The last obstacle to the reorganizing of the EU government fell Tuesday when the president of the Czech Republic signed the Lisbon Treaty while still stating his objections.
  
  Coverage is a bit quiet. Here in the UK, people had been paying some attention because former prime minister Tony Blair was gunning for the job. There were no elections. The heads of the 27 member-nations chose in what some called "a series of backroom cabals worthy of a Soviet politburo at its worst. There are no hustings, no candidates' manifestos. No public confirmation hearings are planned."
  
  In response to such criticism, the new EU president said the selection was made by leaders "who were all democratically chosen. I was chosen on the basis of a treaty. The treaty stipulates the procedure. The treaty was democratically approved by 27 member states."
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

  Covering Mexico's cartel wars puts journalists in the line of fire
  

  Source: www.cnn.com

  Lucio Soria is a recorder of the dead in Ciudad Juarez's drug cartel war. "El Sorias," as he is called by his colleagues, is a photojournalist for the Mexican city's two main daily newspapers, El Diario and El PM. For the last 10 years, his job has been to photograph the bodies and crime scenes left behind after cartel hit men completed their work.

  
  Some people think I'm crazy because I am called to work in Israel as a journalist. I know I am safe as long as I'm in the Lord's will. Also, it seems it's safer in the Middle East than in the city across the river from my hometown. These quotes fascinated me:
  
  

  "The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists reports that 26 journalists have been killed since 2005 in Mexico -- most of them while covering the crime or corruption beats. By comparison, 10 journalists were killed in the same time period while covering the war in Afghanistan."
  
  "Tim Crockett, head of the security firm Pioneer Consulting and security adviser for CNN, described Ciudad Juarez as 'probably more dangerous for journalists than the Middle East.'"
  

  
  

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