MONEY WOES SLAM TOP CHRISTIAN BROADCASTER (SALEM COMMUNICATIONS); CRISIS THREATENS RELIGIOUS WEBSITES AND RADIO STATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Salem Communications, a Christian publishing and radio giant that owns nearly 100 radio stations nationwide and calls itself the No. 1 Internet provider of Christian content, has been branded a "bottom rung" company by Moody's Investors Service for struggling under the weight of $320 million in debt.
"People tend to reach out more to God and to Christian media during these times," commented Tom Scott, president of fellow Christian radio provider Sky Angel, to the Pacific Coast Business Times. "But economically, they just don't have their pocket book behind it. Not because they don't want to, but because it's just not feasible."
Salem, which operates well-known websites OnePlace.com, Crosswalk.com and Christianity.com, boasts 3 million unique users hitting their websites with 40 million page views per month.
But neither the company's strong web presence nor its publishing branch could overcome heavy losses affecting the radio industry nationwide.
According to the Radio Advertising Bureau, broadcast revenue was down about 10 percent across the board in 2008. And even though Salem was able to hold its drop to only about 6 percent, its balance sheet plunged from an $8.2 million profit in 2007 to a $30 million net loss in 2008, reports the Business Times. Salem's stock dropped from trading above $4 to around 50 cents per share.
Now, according to the Radio Business Report, Salem may have difficulty paying off $320 million of debt that matures in 2010, prompting a downgrade in the company's credit rating and a "negative outlook" assessment from Moody's.
"The negative outlook reflects uncertainty regarding the company's ability to address its looming debt maturities," Moody's said. "It also continues to incorporate concerns that Salem could face challenge complying with its financial covenants."

The California-based Salem was founded in 1986 and branched out into several media arenas, including publishing CCM, a top magazine covering the booming Christian music industry, and acquiring Xulon Press, a popular self-publishing company for Christian authors.
Salem also owns and operates nearly 100 radio stations in 23 of the nation's top 25 markets and syndicates talk, news and music programming to approximately 2,000 affiliates in more than 300 markets in the U.S.
The company's nearly 1,500 employees nationwide have been among the first to feel the company's financial woes.
Salem has responded to projections of additional losses in the first quarter of 2009 by cutting expenses 10-12 percent. The company is laying off 13 percent of its workforce, has stopped matching payments to 401(k) funds, and is adopting a 5 percent pay cut for all employees and a 10 percent salary cut for most management level employees.
Salem has also tried to counter the earnings slide by opening up new revenue streams, expanding into Spanish language radio and conservative talk radio, which some believe may experience a boon with a new, Democrat president in office.
"It's a little bit early to say whether it's going to move the needle in terms of listeners or revenue," Evan Masyr, Salem's chief financial officer, told the Business Times. "But I can tell you that Rush Limbaugh has been quoted saying he does better when there's a Democrat in office. We are doing events around the country in response to the change in administration."
Masyr told the Business Times, however, that despite optimism for the future, the company is focusing on cutting costs to balance the radio industry's loss in revenues.
"It's a challenging time for broadcasters," Masyr said. "We're doing everything we can to confront the challenges of radio and our capital structure."
WND attempted to contact Masyr for comment but received no response.

OBAMA SEEKS MUSLIMS FOR THE WHITE HOUSE POSTS; MORE THAN 600 GOVERMENT OFFICIALS SUBMITTED FOR CONSIDERATION

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama is conducting his own affirmative action program to get more Muslims in the White House.
The move began with Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn, who took his oath of office with a hand on the Quran, to solicit the resume of what he considered to be the nation's most qualified adherents of Islam.
According to the Denver Post, when White House officials heard about the program, it was put on overdrive.
So far, 45 Ivy League grads, Fortune 500 executives and government officials have been submitted for consideration.

J. Saleh Williams, program coordinator for the Congressional Muslim Staffers Association, sifted through more than 300 names as part of the search.
"It was mostly under the radar," Williams said. "We thought it would put (the president) in a precarious position. We didn't know how closely he wanted to appear to be working with the Muslim American community."
Ellison is serious about his faith. He made the pilgrimage to Mecca with the sponsorship of the Muslim American Society, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.
In 1991, Mohamed Akram wrote a memo for the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood that explained its work in America as "a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions."

TWO YOUNG IRANIAN CHRISTIAN WOMEN HELD IN NOTORIOUS PRISON ( ELVIN PRISON ) WITHOUT CHARGE ; PRAY & MAKE A DIFFERENCE...

Two young Iranian Christian women have been held for weeks now in the notorious Elvin Prison without charge.

Roommates Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, 30, and Maryam Rustampoor, 27, were arrested March 5 by Iranian security forces who accused them of being “anti-government activists,” reported Farsi Christian News Network (FCNN), which recently received news about their detainment.
All their personal belongings were confiscated during the arrest, and they were hand-cuffed and taken first to a police station in Gysha, west of Tehran for interrogation. They were later taken to Vozara Detention Center, then to a National Security Section of the Revolutionary Court.
After several sessions of interrogation, they appeared in the Revolutionary Court on March 18, after which they were sent to Elvin Prison where they are being held without charge.
According to reports received by FCNN, the two young women are innocent and their only “crime” is being practicing Christians. The incident highlights the Iranian government’s growing hostility towards followers of Jesus Christ.
Last year, there were more than 50 known cases of arrests and imprisonment of Christians in Iran. There were also some known cases of torture.
Each day, the women are allowed only a one-minute phone call to their immediate families.
During their last call on March 28, Esmaeilabad said she is suffering from an infection and high fever, according to FCNN's March 29 report.
She also said, "I am dying."
Both women are sick and need urgent medical attention, according to reports.
The Iranian court has ruled that the women could be freed on a bail of $400,000, but the “excessive” bail is unrealistic and is designed to make the release impossible, noted that Christian news network.
Moreover, the women’s families have been repeatedly told the judge is not available to discuss their case.
“Iranian Christian leaders from around the world are calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Marzieh and Maryam,” FCNN stated. “We ask world governments to put pressure on Iran to ensure freedom of religion.”
Prayers are also being requested for the two young Christian women’s safe release.

SWEDEN BECAME THE 7TH COUNTRY TO ALLOW SAME SEX MARRIAGE;PRAY AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Sweden has adopted a law that legalizes same-sex marriage, making it the seventh country in the world to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed in either a religious or civil ceremony.

After hours of debate, the Swedish parliament voted 261 to 22, with 66 abstaining or absent, on Wednesday to approve a gender-neutral law on marriage.
Christian Democrats opposed the legislation.
The new legislation repeals a 1987 law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Sweden now joins the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa and Norway in allowing same-sex marriage. In the United States, homosexual marriage is legal in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
The new law takes effect May 1 and allows individual pastors the freedom to opt out of marrying same-sex couples.
The Lutheran Church of Sweden has already expressed support for the new law, according to Agence France-Presse.
Since 2007, the Church – which 74 percent of Swedes are members of – has blessed civil unions for gay and lesbian couples but stopped short of blessing gay marriages.
The Lutheran Church synod is scheduled to decide in October whether or not to perform same-sex marriages, according to AFP.
Polls indicate that a majority of Swedes approve of homosexual marriage. The northern European country has recognized civil unions for homosexual couples since 1995.

A ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST GETS 50 YEARS IN PRISON FOR RAPE OF A CHILD IN NORTH TEXAS

EASTLAND — Jurors have sentenced a Roman Catholic priest convicted of child sex abuse to 50 years in prison, a term double the original sentence he received during his first trial for the crime.
The Rev. Thomas Teczar had been sentenced to 25 years by a judge in 2007 for raping and molesting an 11-year-old boy. But his convictions on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child were overturned on appeal last fall because of testimony from a witness.
During his retrial, an Eastland County jury took less than an hour to find Teczar guilty of the same charges. On Friday, his 68th birthday, jurors settled on his sentence.
Authorities say the abuse happened in the early 1990s in Ranger, where Teczar was a parish priest.
Teczar took the stand during the punishment phase Friday and testified he was innocent and didn’t even know the accuser. But he also admitted to being sexually attracted to teenage boys.
Teczar is in the process of being defrocked at the request of the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese, where he served as a priest from 1988-93 in several parishes.
The diocese has settled with six of Teczar’s accusers, including two in 2005 who received $4.15 million.
Teczar was a priest in the Worcester, Mass., diocese until he was kicked out in 1986 for misconduct with boys. He returned to Massachusetts after the abuse allegations surfaced in Texas, diocese officials have said