Let God's Kingdom Come.

from jw-media.org

Jehovah’s Witnesses blocked from holding two conventions in St. Petersburg due to official interference

Evidence of pressure on facility management from FSB and local authorities

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia—The management of the Yubileyny Sports Palace has rescinded a contract with Jehovah’s Witnesses, effectively canceling the two district conventions that the Witnesses were planning to hold there.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have been inviting the public to attend their 2011 “Let God’s Kingdom Come!” conventions throughout the world. Two of these conventions were to be held at the Yubileyny Sports Palace, with an expected combined attendance of 13,000 from St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, after the Witnesses finalized a contract with the facility’s management on April 15, 2011.

However, FSB representatives visited the management of the sports complex in late May 2011 and demanded that the contract documents be handed over to them. Shortly thereafter, a letter dated June 2, 2011, and signed by Konstantin Zheludkov, the Head of the Petrogradsky District Administration of St. Petersburg, was sent to the management of the Yubileyny Sports Palace. The letter included arguments against accommodating the conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses and statements directing the facility’s management to rescind the contract with the Witnesses.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have a right to hold peaceful religious services and make use of various venues—including sports complexes—for this purpose, in harmony with the Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations and the Federal Law on Physical Culture and Sports in the Russian Federation. However, the management of the Yubileyny Sports Complex sent a letter on June 2, 2011, to the Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses, informing them that the complex will not be available for their conventions, alleging “maintenance” concerns.

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

bitcoin

6870 :  260 Mhash/s
5770:  170 Mhash/s

fyi

mtgox.com, while (previously?) the largest, is only one of many bitcoin exchanges, and is not synonymous with bitcoin itself

that is all

good day to you.

Overheard, no other details desired:

"No it ain't, it's pudding."

Please keep this in mind if you go to a convention. If you are on this planet, this could happen to you too.

from jw-media.org

Pressure on facility owner forces cancellation of Witnesses’ convention in Armenia

VANADZOR, Armenia—Just a few hours before the start of their “Let God’s Kingdom Come!” District Convention at a rented auditorium in Vanadzor, Armenia, Jehovah’s Witnesses were forced to leave the facility because the owner refused to honor the contract, effectively canceling the Witnesses’ convention.

Approximately 600 Witnesses planned to attend the three-day convention scheduled for June 10-12, 2011. When the Witnesses arrived for the program, the entrance to the auditorium was locked. The owner claimed that he had received a telephone call from someone threatening to bomb the facility if it was used by Jehovah’s Witnesses. The owner also told representatives of Jehovah’s Witnesses that he was willing to allow the convention to take place only if he received approval from the Armenian authorities. Despite appeals to the police and regional authorities by representatives of the legally registered community of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Republic of Armenia, the convention was canceled.

In a meeting with representatives of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the mayor of the Lori District (which includes the city of Vanadzor) confirmed that he had called the owner of the convention facility on June 9, 2011, and told the owner to “consider the consequences” of renting the facility to Jehovah’s Witnesses. The mayor then stated that his comments to the owner were not meant as a threat, but rather a statement that violence against Jehovah’s Witnesses from members of a youth group could break out at the facility. The mayor agreed to notify the owner on the evening of Friday, June 10, 2011, that the mayor’s office had no objection to the convention being held the following two days. However, the owner chose not to provide the facility to the Witnesses for the convention.

The cancellation of this convention follows a pattern of harassment and denial of religious freedom that occurred during the summer of 2010 when owners of convention sites in Vanadzor, Gyumri and Yerevan were pressured into canceling venue contracts made with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Most owners were too fearful to reveal the source of the pressure, but some described visits by representatives of the authorities who were said to be carrying out orders from higher governmental authorities. On October 8, 2010, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Armenia wrote to President Serge Sargsyan, respectfully requesting his assistance so that the Witnesses can exercise their right to hold peaceful, annual religious conventions without interference. The Witnesses also requested that the President intervene on their behalf with local authorities to protect their right to assemble, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Contacts:
Armenia: Tigran Harutyunyan, Tel. +374 93 900 482
Europe: European Association of Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses, Tel. +44 20 8906 2211; Tel. +32 2 782 0015
United States: David Semonian, Office of Public Information Tel. +1 718 560 5600

this looks awesome

http://www.cherohala.org/index.html

we will let you know

Mobs in India attack Jehovah’s Witnesses with impunity-from jw-media.org

Mobs in India attack Jehovah’s Witnesses with impunity

BANGALORE, India—Incidents of mob attacks against Jehovah’s Witnesses have been reported with increasing frequency in some states in India. The attackers gather in gangs of 20 to 50 individuals to intimidate small groups of Witnesses engaging in the peaceful Christian ministry that they are well-known for. Some of the mobs threaten to murder and rape the Witnesses.
On March 26, 2011, in the southern state of Karnataka, a group of four Witnesses (three adult females and one adult male) had just finished enjoying several friendly conversations with people in a village near the town of Madikeri, when they were approached by a man who inquired about the purpose of their visit. The man began placing cell phone calls to individuals belonging to the groups Bajrang Dal (a militant Hindu organization) and Jagran Vedike. This led to a mob of 50 people surrounding the Witnesses, threatening the three women with rape, and attempting to tie the man to a tree, douse him with kerosene, and burn him alive. After several minutes of abuse, the police arrived and brought the Witnesses to the station for questioning. All four Witnesses were arrested and ordered to spend four days in jail before being released on bail. On April 1, 2011, a member of the Witnesses’ human rights legal staff, along with three of his associates (one of the associates being a non-Witness), traveled to the village where the mob activity occurred to obtain firsthand information. However, the four were ambushed by a mob on their way back. The Witnesses in the group were verbally abused, beaten with belts and sticks, stripped of their clothing, and then forced to walk in a half-naked state along a public road. The non-Witness was not assaulted. Thereafter, the mob called a few local television stations to come and film the incident. The Witnesses were then taken to the police station where they were criminally charged, based on the fabricated statements of the mob. They were released from jail six days later. A similar incident occurred on the same day in the state capital of Bangalore. Two Jehovah’s Witnesses were speaking to a man on the topic of raising children in today’s challenging society. Although the man was initially friendly toward the Witnesses, they noticed the man making a phone call urging a friend to come to his apartment while the Witnesses were still there. The Witnesses also observed that the friend, upon arrival at the apartment, began calling several others. Sensing what was happening, the two Witnesses tried to leave peacefully, but were prevented from doing so by a growing mob. The mob began beating the two Witnesses along with two other Witnesses who were also present in the area. Finally, the attackers dragged the four Witnesses to the police station and contacted a local news station. One of the attackers inside the police station tore his own shirt, and then went outside claiming that the Witnesses had assaulted him and tore his shirt when he refused to convert. The man was interviewed by a reporter and his fabricated statement was later publicized in the local news coverage of the incident. All four Witnesses spent one night in jail and were released the following day on a cash bail of 10,000 INR ($226 US) each.
Criminal complaints have been filed in all three incidents, requesting the police to investigate and prosecute the violent actions of those responsible for the mob attacks. These attacks are a clear violation of constitutional rights protecting freedom of religion in India.

Contacts:
Belgium: European Association of Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses, tel. +32 2 782 0015; mobile +32 475 58 10 36
Britain: European Association of Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses, tel. +44 208 906 2211
United States: J. R. Brown, tel. +1 718 560 5600

Last updated 07 June 2011 17:37:58 GMT

sigh

FDA finally admits chicken meat contains cancer-causing arsenic (but keep eating it, yo!)

bitcoin continuing update

if you remember, on 6/04/11 at around 8 pm I wrote:
so, obviously, im not giving financial advice, and you would be very foolish to listen to me if i were, but if you went out after reading my post yesterday and put $100 "us dollars" into bitcoins when they were around $13 per, and sold them now when i post this follow up when they are $18.99 per, then you would be +$46.08 (minus fees for various exchanges)

obviously, past performance is no guarantee of future gains, but theres that.

i accept donations in bitcoin
send to 15Q4A2b8iRFXfFpvMGzJhe7tiTzFkyJknJ




just to update, the mtgox.com bitcoin exchange now lists 1bitcoin=$31.00, so using the same example, please note:

initial investment:		$100.00
		06/03/11		06/04/11		06/08/11
cost of 1 bitcoin		$13.00		$18.99		$31.00
$100 bought		7.6923	bitcoins on 06/03/2011
	initial investment of $100 now worth:			$146.08		$238.46

Fluoride

bitcoin

if you are interested in helping me out a (very) small amount, open up piratesarecool.com on your chrome browser and leave it running forever.  theres a very very very slow javascript bitcoin miner embedded in the page, and i will update here if it ever produces even a fraction of a bitcoin.

as always, i accept bitcoin gifts too, send to  15Q4A2b8iRFXfFpvMGzJhe7tiTzFkyJknJ

thanks!

update on bitcoin

so, obviously, im not giving financial advice, and you would be very foolish to listen to me if i were, but if you went out after reading my post yesterday and put $100 "us dollars" into bitcoins when they were around $13 per, and sold them now when i post this follow up when they are $18.99 per, then you would be +$46.08 (minus fees for various exchanges)

obviously, past performance is no guarantee of future gains, but theres that.

i accept donations in bitcoin
send to 15Q4A2b8iRFXfFpvMGzJhe7tiTzFkyJknJ

Yum

a follow up

an article at smartmoney.com about bitcoins

bitcoin

ok, welcome to the next thing thats completely awesome that I wish I had picked up on 6 months ago.  its bitcoin, open source money.  

if you want to send me any, please feel free.  I accept any fraction of a full coin, with my thanks.

send to 15Q4A2b8iRFXfFpvMGzJhe7tiTzFkyJknJ

fyi, 1 bitcoin was worth <$1 usd in April, is now trading on one exchange for >$13usd per bitcoin

memo to myself, if i have a seizure at a national monument, make sure i dont have headphones on

Theme song for today: 'Masters of War' by bob dylan

All I'm saying is. . .

On pawn stars when the forensic handwriting expert determines the signature originated from an auto pen, the value drops to zero quite quickly. The value-add of the signature drops to zero that is. If somebody auto penned a famous name onto a bar of sunken treasure gold, you still get the value of the gold, just the fact that its signed by Shakespeare becomes irrelevant. So you're left I guess asking yourself what the value of the signed item is intrinsically. So there's that. Which civilization is credited with the concept of zero, can we reference that?

So. . .

Does that mean if I'm incarcerated because of violations to the Patriot Act extension I can have my xbox live avatar serve the prison time?