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BERKELEY, Calif.First Amendment advocates have accused Berkeley's police chief of intimidation and censorship after he sent an officer to a newspaper reporter's home in the middle of the night to insist on changes to a story.

Sgt. Mary Kusmiss knocked on Bay Area News Group reporter Doug Oakley's door around 12:45 a.m. Friday on Chief Michael Meehan's orders, the Oakland Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/AlRYtG).

Meehan apparently thought Oakley misreported what he said during a public meeting about the police department's response in the case of a local resident who was beaten to death last month.

But Jim Ewert, general counsel of the California Newspaper Publisher's Association, said if Meehan had a problem with the story, he should have called the newspaper the next day or written a letter to the editor.

"It's the most intimidating type of (censorship) possible because the person trying to exercise it carries a gun," he said.

Oakley said he was shaken by Kusmiss's visit to his Berkeley home. He and his wife thought that a relative may have died.

Meehan has since apologized, calling his actions "overzealous." He said he didn't think Oakley would be intimidated or upset since Kusmiss regularly deals with the media.

"I did not mean to upset (Oakley) or his family last night," Meehan told the Tribune. "It was late, (I was) tired too. I don't dispute that it could be perceived badly."

Oakley had covered a community meeting on Thursday about the beating death of 67-year-old Peter Cukor on Feb. 18. Cukor had called the department on its nonemergency line to report the suspect in his beating, Daniel Jordan DeWitt, about 15 minutes before his wife dialed 911 to report that DeWitt was attacking her husband. But police did not immediately respond to that first call.

Oakley wrote that Meehan apologized to the community at Thursday's meeting for the department's slow response. But Meehan said he apologized only for not informing the public sooner about why the response was slow.

Read more here:
Police chief sends officer to reporter's house

Syrias army is too large and too well equipped, and recent defections not nearly important enough to slow the growing crisis there, US intelligence experts told The Washington Post today.

Diplomatic pressure on President Bashar al-Assad is having little effect, the officials said, and the only hope for a quick resolution to the bloodshed is economic sanctions.

That leadership is going to fight very hard, one official said in The Post. The odds are against them, but they are going to fight very hard.

In the most comprehensive, telling comments since the Syrian uprising began a year ago, three senior US intelligence experts said those closest to Assad are remaining steadfast.

More from GlobalPost: Syria: Kofi Annan's call for talks rejected

The experts said the Syrian army has increased its attacks on civilian sites such as mosques, hospitals and schools to kill Free Syrian Army forces they believe are hiding there.

Restraint has been lifted, one official said, according to The Post.

CNN said recent defections from Assads government and military are having little effect, and there are reports Al Qaeda is complicating the situation by infiltrating opposition forces.

US experts dont know the extent of Al Qaedas presence, CNN said, and arent sure the terrorist organization is even welcomed in Syria.

Poor organization is hampering the uprising, the officials said, and poor communications make it difficult to mount a sustained attack.

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Assad regime in control, US intelligence says

By Michele Dargan

Daily News Staff Writer

Updated: 7:56p.m.Saturday,March10,2012

Posted: 5:52p.m.Saturday,March10,2012

When Renee Boger attended a seminar on social networking for churches two years ago, she came away with one clear message.

In todays culture, making our presence (known) online is do or die if we hope to grow beyond our church walls, said Boger, communications coordinator for The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea. Its come to a point now that if you dont have a presence online, no ones going to know about you. Youre competing for people. If youre just a building, its not good enough anymore.

But having a website is now the bare minimum for any house of worship.

Island churches and synagogues are using social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Meetup.com to interact with congregants and draw new people to their house of worship.

Boger said her job has changed dramatically from when she started designing and putting out the church newsletter six years ago. The Sunday leaflet, weekly Bethesda Happenings and the monthly Bethesda Bulletin are distributed electronically and on Bethesdas website.

My job has taken on this other side of social networking, with a good portion of my time spent updating our website, Facebook and Twitter, Boger said.

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Houses of worship tap social media to help build congregations, faith

By Michele Dargan

Daily News Staff Writer

Updated: 7:56p.m.Saturday,March10,2012

Posted: 5:52p.m.Saturday,March10,2012

When Renee Boger attended a seminar on social networking for churches two years ago, she came away with one clear message.

In todays culture, making our presence (known) online is do or die if we hope to grow beyond our church walls, said Boger, communications coordinator for The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea. Its come to a point now that if you dont have a presence online, no ones going to know about you. Youre competing for people. If youre just a building, its not good enough anymore.

But having a website is now the bare minimum for any house of worship.

Island churches and synagogues are using social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Meetup.com to interact with congregants and draw new people to their house of worship.

Boger said her job has changed dramatically from when she started designing and putting out the church newsletter six years ago. The Sunday leaflet, weekly Bethesda Happenings and the monthly Bethesda Bulletin are distributed electronically and on Bethesdas website.

My job has taken on this other side of social networking, with a good portion of my time spent updating our website, Facebook and Twitter, Boger said.

See the rest here:
Palm Beach houses of worship find social media a blessing

10-03-2012 16:37 http://www.facebook.com Dr. Dot interviewing Movie & TV stars at the Berlin Film fest part 5

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Dr. Dot interviewing Movie