Syrian State TV

It is not true that Syrian state TV is ignoring the protests (as this ill-informed guy from Freedom House says in the NYT today:  "In Syria, state television operates as if growing protests and a government crackdown are not taking place".  But then again, what does Freedom House know about the Middle East?  In the Cold War, it served as an anti-Communist propaganda tool, and now it serves as a pro-Bush propaganda tool).  They are now talking about it but only as crimes by a criminal gang that is killing security forces.  The reportage is focused on funerals of security people and soldiers as if more than 100 Syrian civilians were not killed by security forces yesterday.  And it occurred to me: the new Syrian Demonstration Law, talks about the ban on carrying any sharp objects or even tools that could endanger the public during demonstrations.  I need to ask an expert on the Syrian demonstration law: does that include shoes?  Would shoes be permitted during legal demonstrations in Syrian Ba`thist republic?   And another really annoying feature of state TV: there is a huge delay between the picture on the screen and the audio: you see a man on TV being interviewed, while the audio is a woman being interviewed.  I kid you not.  The TV is playing up the resignation of Ghassan Bin Jiddu.  Oh, and my colleague Joshua Landis of University of Oklahoma and well-known blogger, is featured prominently in all Syrian regime media (I don't think that he should be blamed if the regime wants to use or misuse his writings).   Oh, I am now watching a Russian language news brief on Syrian TV.  Why? I don't know.