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To: Stoctrash who wrote (36037)	9/17/1998 4:25:00 PM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 50808

FredE, please forward those pics to me. I want to see this woman!

To: Stoctrash who wrote (36037)	9/17/1998 4:28:00 PM
From: C. Niebucc	Respond to of 50808

Hey Freddy boy, those pics were for private viewing only... Oh my gosh! if like, they show up on the web, I'll be freakin' BTW: Thanks for the cigar!

To: Stoctrash who wrote (36037)	9/17/1998 7:02:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Kuwait may censor this thread! They already have their sights on Clinton and Viagra......................... cnnfn.news-real.com He cited as examples female broadcasters joking about the sexual allegations surrounding President Clinton and reports on the anti-impotence drug Viagra. Analysis: Kuwait considers curbs on satellite TV BBC Monitoring Media An official committee in Kuwait has proposed the launching of a cable TV network which would cut out material regarded as "un- Islamic". Given the popularity of direct-to-home satellite TV in Kuwait, and in most of the Gulf states, the initiative is unlikely to stem an irreversible tide. But pan-Arab satellite TV channels may need in the future to accommodate the concerns about Islamic social and cultural values that are being increasingly voiced by viewers as well as by governments. The following is an editorial analysis by Peter Feuilherade of BBC Monitoring's Foreign Media Unit: An official committee in Kuwait has proposed the launching of a cable TV network which would cut out material regarded as "un- Islamic". The Kuwaiti newspaper 'Arab Times'on 12th September quoted Adil al-Falah, deputy chairman of an advisory committee set up to implement Islamic law, as saying that the service would carry many international satellite channels. "Channels that are unsuitable for our values and traditions will be rejected," and individual programmes could also be vetted before retransmission, he added. The proposal, in the form of a draft law, has now been submitted to the Emir of Kuwait for approval. Currently, Kuwaitis with satellite dishes can now receive international TV channels freely, and these broadcasts are not censored. A recent survey by Zenith Media, quoted in the Financial Times Media publication 'TV Express', shows the percentage of TV homes with satellite in Kuwait at 55 per cent; double the figure for Qatar (28 per cent), but less than Saudi Arabia (64 per cent), Oman (72 per cent) and the UAE (75 per cent). In Bahrain, the sixth member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, residents have the choice of some 30 channels through a microwave (MMDS) network, as an alternative to direct-to-home satellite TV. Viewers in most of the Gulf states can watch more than a dozen satellite TV channels. In addition to BBC World, CNN and Canal France International, they include pan-Arab channels like the UK-based MBC and Arab News Network (ANN), pay-TV services from Orbit and Arab Radio & Television (ART), the Lebanese channels LBC and Future TV, and Al-Jazeera, a channel from Qatar whose news and current affairs programmes have been at the centre of several controversies since its launch in 1996. Channels such as ART and LBC offer a programming mix dominated by game shows, music and fashion programmes (punsters sometimes jocularly refer to LBC as "ilbisi", the feminine imperative in Arabic meaning "Get dressed!" ). US-style "infomercials" and home-shopping programmes, many of them produced in Egypt or Lebanon, are also on the increase in programming targeted to the Gulf and the Middle East in general. In recent months, critics of this kind of entertainment have become more vocal in two of the more conservative Gulf states, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. In June, a member of the Saudi Consultative Council, Dr Ahmad Bin Muhammad al-Dhabib, criticized Arab satellite TV channels for covering issues which he described as alien to Islamic culture. He cited as examples female broadcasters joking about the sexual allegations surrounding President Clinton and reports on the anti-impotence drug Viagra. And this month the Jiddah newspaper 'Al-Bilad' attacked Lebanon's satellite TV channels for showing scenes of "nudity and blasphemy". The paper suggested that advertisers in the Arab world should withdraw their custom from LBC and Future TV until those stations complied with "moral standards that are in harmony with our Arab ethics and principles". The Qatar channel Al-Jazeera, meanwhile, has attracted criticism for some of its current affairs programmes which, in the station's own words, "offer a platform for divergent viewpoints and analyses". The Egyptian magazine 'Rose al-Yusuf' this month accused Al-Jazeera of "attacking most Arab governments, criticizing domestic situations and highlighting negative aspects... while Qatar, of course, and some other Arab countries, are excluded from attack". Given the popularity of direct-to-home satellite TV in most of the Gulf states, the initiative in Kuwait to introduce an element of government regulation is unlikely to stem an irreversible tide. But pan-Arab satellite TV channels may need to strike a balance in the future between generating the advertising revenues they need, and accommodating the concerns about Islamic social and cultural values that are being increasingly voiced by viewers as well as by governments. (Copyright 1998)