Press release from jw-media.org

Official Media Web Site
For Immediate Release
April 14, 2011
(Russian)
One of Jehovah’s Witnesses declared
innocent in historic criminal case in Russia
GORNO-ALTAYSK, Russia—The Gorno-Altaysk City
Court just concluded a trial with profound
implications for freedom of expression and
religious belief in Russia. Judge Marina
Sokolovskaya has issued a not-guilty verdict in
the criminal case against Aleksandr Kalistratov,
who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The case was the first of its kind
in Russia. Mr. Kalistratov was
charged with inciting religious
hatred or enmity; however, not
one of the 71 witnesses in the
case could testify that Kalistratov
was guilty. Additionally, no
evidence was produced during
the six-month trial that
substantiated the charge. Viktor
Zhenkov, one of Mr. Kalistratov’s defense
attorneys, stated: “It is unmistakably clear that
Aleksandr Kalistratov committed no crime.
Today’s ruling proves that the charges against
Kalistratov and other Jehovah’s Witnesses in
Gorno-Altaysk are totally without proper basis.
These charges are really a misapplication of the
extremist law.”
When asked for his reaction to the verdict, Mr.
Kalistratov responded:“I am grateful for the
courageous stand that the judge took in issuing
such a decision. I just hope that the ruling will be
helpful to many of my fellow believers who
continue to be prosecuted in Russia. It would be
sad for other innocent Russian citizens to be
subjected to illegal surveillance merely out of
religious intolerance.”
More than 7,500,000 of Jehovah’s Witnesses in
over 230 lands have been watching the
developments in this case with keen interest.
“Our fellow worshippers around the world and
other observers of this case are rejoicing that the
court confirmed that Kalistratov is innocent,”
states Vasily Kalin, Chairman of the
Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in
Russia. “This victory is a major step forward in
the protection of freedom of worship.”
Today’s verdict is in harmony with the unanimous
judgment of the European Court of Human Rights
on June 10, 2010, which noted that Russian
courts had clearly violated the rights of the
Moscow Community of Jehovah’s Witnesses. That
judgment states that the Russian government
“has a legal obligation . . . to put an end to the
violation found by the Court and to redress as far
as possible the effects.”
Contacts:
In Russia: Grigory Martynov, tel.:
+7 812 702 2691
In Belgium: The European Association of
Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses, tel.:
+32 2 782 0015
In USA: J. R. Brown, tel.: +1 718 560 5600

Well that was useless.

The one thing I use IE for (putting in my time at work) doesn't support IE9. So its back to 8, and ignoring it and using Chrome and Opera for 99.9% of the time anyway.

Lizardgirl

How he knew. Now how did it get in her file?

http://www.thinkwithportals.com/comic/#9

page 9

01010100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100011 01100001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01101001  01110011 00100000 01100001 00100000 01101100 01101001 01100101 00101110

The cake is a lie.

they look snappy paired up with an orange jumpsuit

from http://jw-media.org/rus/20110401.htm

from jw-media.org 

 

 

Verdict in significant Russian criminal trial to be announced April 14, 2011

Public defender: “Not guilty—not before the law, not before man, not before God!”

GORNO-ALTAYSK, Russia—On April 14, 2011, the Gorno-Altaysk City Court will announce the verdict in the criminal case against Aleksandr Kalistratov, who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He is being accused of inciting religious hatred and enmity under Article 282(1) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code.

During the six-month trial, not one of the 71 witnesses who were questioned could confirm that Kalistratov was guilty of inciting religious hatred or enmity. Additionally, Professor Aleksey Nagovitsyn, who spoke in court, declared that the 48 publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses that served as the grounds for the bill of indictment in this criminal case neither in whole nor in part “contained an intent aimed at fomenting hatred or enmity, or the degradation of human dignity on the basis of religious orientation or affiliation with any social group.”

Since no crime was committed in the case, and the charge lacks proper grounds, Kalistratov’s attorneys have every basis for insisting on a verdict of not guilty. One of the defense attorneys, Viktor Shipilov, illustrated this point the following way: “If a triangle has no sides, then that geometrical figure itself does not exist, or, in our case—the crime [does not exist].” Mikhail Odintsov, Kalistratov’s public defender, summed up the essence of the case: “Aleksandr Kalistratov is not guilty—not before the law, not before man, not before God!”

Despite the absence of evidence of a crime, the prosecuting attorney demanded that Kalistratov be sentenced to 160 hours of community service. Viktor Zhenkov, another of Kalistratov’s defense attorneys, stated: “Any guilty verdict in this case, will result in not simply mandatory community service for Kalistratov; but will label all Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia as criminals.”

The verdict will be announced on April 14 at 9:00 a.m. Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, numbering more than 162,000, as well as their fellow believers worldwide await the outcome of one of the most significant criminal cases in Russia’s modern day.

Contacts:
In Russia: Grigory Martynov, tel. +7 812 702 2691
In Belgium: The European Association of Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses, tel. +32 2 782 0015
In USA: J. R. Brown, tel. +1 718 560 5600

Theres a new horror movie coming out. Its "Reality"

There's not a line that goes here that rhymes with anything

High fives all around

Sydney and Bailey both learned to ride two wheel bicycles last week. Bryson was joining in riding in the driveway on his trike shouting excitedly 'I'm doing it!'

And we haven't seen a new episode (or even repeats) for months now

Last weekend we all went to Kmart after meeting to get a couple of bike tubes for Bailey's bike. We were in the bike section and Bailey and Bryson started playing with a bike pump that had a big base and stood on its own. Bryson lifted the handle of the pump to its highest extent of travel, loudly and boldly proclaimed 'FIRE IN THE HOLE,' and pushed the handled all the way down. Does it mean that 2 year old boys are included in the 'Mythbusters' target demo? Yeah, well I admit, that's an obvious one.

If you haven't done it yet. . .

I would highly recommend it. I took apart our 360 in order to clean our dvd lens, and while it was apart, cleaned it out of dust and crap, and cleaned off the gpu and cpu and applied some arctic silver. Now not only does the dvd read discs again, but its super cool and about 6000 times quieter. Its very much nicer.

Thanks Sydney!

For correctly thinking, suggesting, and being right that I would like "Dan Vs.". FUNNY and awesome.

Things to do in Alabama when you're hungry.

updated/more info on the not spending a U.S. five cent piece . . .

http://www.survivalblog.com/2011/03/two_letters_re_nickels_as_an_i_1.html

quote:

Presently nickels are in odd and always short-lived situation for a circulating coin: Their base metal value exceeds their face value. But for now, they are still freely available at their face value. Gresham's Law dictates that they will soon be driven from circulation. Mark my words: Once the base metal value surpasses 10 cents for the 75/25 composition Nickels, they will almost magically disappear from circulation. Poof! They will be gone.




Something very similar happened to silver Dimes, Quarters, Half Dollars in the mid-1960s. In 1964 they were still found in everyone's pocket change, but by the end of 1965 they had nearly all been wisely gathered in Mason jars at home and put under lock and key. This is explained by the Coinage Act of 1965, that introduced debased coins (copper slugs that were just flashed with silver), that started circulating side-by-side with the genuine 1964 and earlier silver coins. Gresham's Law dictated that the new, debased "bad" money would drive the older genuine "good' money out of circulation. Just a few years later, most of the the 90% silver coins that were deem non-numismatic (derisively called "junk" silver by collectable coin dealers) had been gathered into $500 and and $1,000 face value bags, and traded as a commodity. We need to learn from history. It doesn't repeat, but it often rhymes.



The same thing will happen to nickels, when the U.S. Treasury inevitably introduces a debased nickel. Coin experts predict that the new five cent piece will either be a stainless steel slug, or a zinc slug that is flashed with nickel or silver. Either way, a "nickel" will no longer contain any appreciable amount of nickel. But being sheeple, folks will probably still call them "nickels".

The last cake I made I decorated with the single word "Cake"

awesome

I opted not to go with an SSD at this point, in the assumption that the size/feature set is about to explode/get cheaper.

Our old setup was 3.4, so I'm good with it.

And so it begins

Received my processor and heat sink-awaiting motherboard and ram

Smallville

Ok, lets get this out of the way.  I watch Smallville.  This is not to say I particularly enjoy Smallville.  I'm a huge Superman fan ever since the film in 78 when I was 5 years old.  I remember the exact moment I started to more than moderately dislike this characterization of Clark/pre-Superman though, it was season 3 episode 8 "Shattered."  In this episode the lex character is drugged and controlled by the lionel character, desperate for help, begging for help from his "friend" Clark, who is, even at this early stage, a tool.  Clark is too afraid of who he is to do the right thing and help out this person in need, and jets.  At that point, that characterization of the person who would become Superman was a bust.


I know.  Its a teen drama on the WB(CW) based on a comic.  I am aware.  But I kept watching it because it was fun to watch with my wife and buddy Cherry, who I am assuming enjoy the "Attractive People in Distress" meme/trope.


Last week, while reading an io9 recap of an episode I haven't seen yet, I stumbled upon the most awesome thing possible.  Weekly reviews of each episode of this, the final season, by two comics guys who haven't previously watched the show.  Full of spoilers, but full of awesome.

This weeks review includes the line:

Chris: It's like they came up with the idea of Superman needing to watch YouTube videos about himself in order to feel like he should go be a hero, and then had a meeting where they brainstormed to figure out how to make that idea EVEN WORSE.

Their comments, while coming from a background far more familiar with all the in-DC universe  references, are very much in line with my own feelings on the show.


To conclude:


Chris: At this point, I don't care if we ever get to the point where Lex Luthor acts like Lex Luthor; I just want Superman to act like Superman. I mean, broken record time, but in this episode, Ollie's busting up bank robberies in disguise, Lois is out going door-to-door to drum up support for repealing the VRA, and even Martha Kent -- MA FRIGGIN' KENT! -- is giving speeches! Clark is doing NOTHING.


and:


Chris: I think one of the reasons I didn't make the connection was that I was too busy watching a show about Superman where Clark Kent stands there watching his mom get shot on TV. The Blur, everybody: Noticeably Slower Than a Speeding Bullet™.

David: What's amazing about that is that even Lex Luthor assumes Clark doesn't suck that much. I'm jumping ahead a bit, but I just want to touch on this: I think Lex Luthor's overall plan here is actually kind of clever. It's a good idea. Shooting someone Clark loves with Kryptonite bullets so that when he throws himself in front of them he gets messed up, that's a solid Superman-busting plan. I dig that.

Chris: Except that Alexander, having never watched Smallville before, doesn't realize that this would require Clark to actually, you know, DO SOMETHING, thus dooming his plan to failure before it even starts.


its GOLD.

Open mic

The sky
The dull winter sky like my eyes like my brain feels
Cold and dark and dead
With birds