another site
Dr. Allen Hunt and George Lower will head up the special guests at the “Passion and Purpose for Marriage” seminar at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Peachtree City Saturday, March 8, from 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
“This is a life-changing event that will help you see your marriage, your life, your faith, and the world in a whole new way,” a spokesperson said. “It’s not your typical church marriage event!”
via The Citizen http://ift.tt/1fTzQnw
Judy Kirby and Ann Warnock (shown L-R) were commissioned Stephen Ministers at Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church in Peachtree City on Feb. 16. After they completed 50 hours of training at Dogwood Church, they committed the balance of two years to caring for a person in crisis in weekly one-to-one sessions. They join some 20 Stephen Ministers and six leaders at Christ Our Shepherd. Photo/Special.
via The Citizen http://ift.tt/OCs1fT
St Christopher Hellenic Orthodox Church in Peachtree City is having its annual Greek Pastry Spring Sale April 11 and 12.
Featured items include handmade Tiropita (cheese filo triangles) for $10 per dozen, Spanakopita (spinach, onion, cheese filo triangles) also $10 per dozen, Tsoureki (braided Easter bread) for $10 per loaf, and Koulouria (twisted cookies with or without sesame) for $8 per dozen.
All proceeds benefit St Christopher Hellenic Orthodox Philoptochos Society’s local and national charities. (Philoptochos means “Friends of the Poor.”)
via The Citizen http://ift.tt/1fTzPQj
Contrary to public speculation, Bitcoin CEO Mark Karpeles will have you know that after halting virtual transactions on his “Magic: The Gathering Online Exchange” for the second, and likely final time, that he has in fact not run away with any all too real money that may still be found at the now defunct exchange of virtual stuff.
From this guy:
Dear MtGox Customers,
As there is a lot of speculation regarding MtGox and its future, I would like to use this opportunity to reassure everyone that I am still in Japan, and working very hard with the support of different parties to find a solution to our recent issues.
Furthermore I would like to kindly ask that people refrain from asking questions to our staff: they have been instructed not to give any response or information. Please visit this page for further announcements and updates.
Sincerely,
Mark Karpeles
This is happening as the Japan police is finally stepping in:
Japanese authorities are looking into the abrupt closure of Mt. Gox, the top government spokesman said on Wednesday in Tokyo’s first official reaction to the turmoil at what was the world’s biggest exchange for bitcoin virtual currency.
“At this stage the relevant financial authorities, the police, the Finance Ministry and others are gathering information on the case,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular news conference when asked about Tuesday’s shutdown of the Tokyo-based exchange.
Speaking shortly after The Wall Street Journal reported that Mt. Gox had received a subpoena from federal prosecutors in New York, Suga declined further comment.
Japan’s Financial Services Agency and Finance Ministry told Reuters on Tuesday that they do not have jurisdiction over Mt. Gox after the exchange’s website went down and efforts to reach company officials failed. The Bank of Japan said it had nothing to add to a comment by Governor Haruhiko Kuroda that the central bank was “very interested” in bitcoin.
Interested because Kuroda too would love to apply to the Yen the same devaluation that Bitcoin trading on MtGox has experienced.
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1ekfCH7 Tyler Durden
Follow Reason and Reason 24/7 on
Twitter, and like us on Facebook. You
can also get the top stories mailed to you–sign up
here
from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/1c7PQaa
via IFTTT
“DEA Agent Joins Marijuana Industry,” is the latest from Reason
TV. Watch above or click on the link below for video, full text,
supporting links, downloadable versions, and more Reason TV
clips.
from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/1horisl
via IFTTT
Last July, researchers at UCLA
reported that the brains of people diagnosed as “hypersexual” do
not display distinctive responses to sexual images. The study’s
authors interpreted their findings as evidence that hypersexuality,
defined as a harmful and distressing preoccupation with sex, is not
a true addiction or mental disorder. Stanton Peele says the debate
about the nature of hypersexuality exemplifies a broader cultural
confusion about addiction, a concept that has been medicalized to
the point that people think it means both less and more than it
really does.
from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/1horgR3
via IFTTT
February 26, 2014
Medellin, Colombia
Pop quiz: When really nasty criminals and dictators want to hide their illicit gains, which country do they go to?
I’ll make this easy for you– multiple choice:
a) Switzerland
b) British Virgin Islands
c) Hong Kong
With all the drama, history, and stigma surrounding Switzerland, most people would choose (A).
Yet over the last few years, Switzerland has worked hard to shed this reputation, even going so far as to propose laws making it easier for them to freeze dictators’ funds.
But in reality, the correct answer to the question is (D), none of the above. It’s the United States of America.
Despite being at the forefront for every other country in the world to eradicate banking privacy, the US government has hardly done a thing about the huge cracks in its own banking system… at least when it comes to foreigners.
Many states ranging from Delaware to New Mexico boast corporate entities that can be completely private, especially for foreign shareholders.
Not to mention, attorney-client privilege laws in the US mean that a lawyer can be inserted between a foreigner and their Delaware bank account, making the funds virtually untraceable back to the original shareholder overseas.
Last– the US banking system is so large with hundreds of billions of dollars of inflows and outflows, it’s quite easy for several hundred million to slip right past the radar.
So if you’re a villainous dictator who has plundered your citizens’ wealth, you’d be a fool to stash that cash away in Switzerland. Wall Street banks are waiting with open arms, and Saul Goodman is just a phone call away.
None of this, by the way, is any wild conspiracy theory. It’s all fact… validated by the US government itself.
You see, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), an agency of the US Treasury Department, sent out a rather frantic email blast to banks across the United States yesterday about former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
Mr. Yanukovych recently fled his home country and is on the run from mass murder charges. And as you can imagine, he has spent years plundering the wealth of Ukraine.
FinCEN recognizes that Yanukovych has substantial assets stashed away in the Land of the Free… and they’re keen to avoid yet another embarrasing public scandal in which the US banking system is caught financing a fugitive dictator.
So their email yesterday was a not-so-subtle suggestion to banks across the country that they should sound the alarm bells with respect to “suspicious movements of assets related to Viktor Yanukovych. . . and other senior officials resigning from their positions or departing Kyiv.”
It certainly begs the question– why would FinCEN send out such an admonishment to US banks?
Simple. Because while ordinary citizens are treated like dairy cows and medieval serfs, FinCEN knows that the United States is the #1 financial safe haven in the world for foreign criminals and dictators.
from SOVEREIGN MAN http://ift.tt/1hSHmWs
via IFTTT
A
Maryland videographer captured Baltimore County police making
arrests outside a bar in Towson, Maryland. In the video, the camera
seems to be at a safe distance from the action, and in no danger of
interfering with the arrest. Nevertheless, in usual style, officers
took exception to being recorded. A couple of super-sized keepers
of the peace came over to verbally abuse the videographer for
“diverting my attention,” to physically abuse the
videographer (you can see the camera shake and blur as a police
sergeant grabs him), and to threaten arrest if he doesn’t
leave.
We’re not fucking around. Do you understand? Do not, do not
disrespect us. And do not not listen to us. Now walk away and shut
your fucking mouth or you’re going to jail.
Replies the videographer, “I thought I had freedom of
speech.”
“You don’t, says the sergeant. You just lost it.”
H/T
Photography Is Not a Crime
Baltimore County cops doing
their thing at the Towson bars. from Gootz on Vimeo.
from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/1hfBofB
via IFTTT
Following yesterday’s admission by the new head of Ukraine’s central bank of the considerable bank runs in recent days and the rapid dwindling of central bank reserves, Sergiy Kruglik – the director of international affairs for the bank – announced this morning that Ukraine has adandoned the dollar peg and will adopt a flexible exchange rate. The Hyrvnia collapsed through 10.00 on the news and is now trading 10.40 at record lows against the USD.
As The Economist notes, on February 7th the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU, the central bank) finally devalued the official rate of the hryvnya, to HRN8.7:US$1.
The policy was then to set the peg to the dollar roughly in line with trading on the interbank exchange. At the same time, the authorities introduced more foreign-exchange controls.
This has now changed and the currency is in free-fall. One cannot but think this is a desperate attempt to force the hands of a bailer-out to move before total chaos ensues (and of course, as the UAH plummets so import costs of energy will soar).
Charts: Bloomberg
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1kg5lfi Tyler Durden