Here ya' go... http://meteorshowersonline.com/quadrantids.html. They provide a viewing chart. Let's hope the weather cooperates!
~Sue
betterdaze
JoinedPosts by betterdaze
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RED ALERT!! RED ALERT!! Meteorite shower tomorrow night!!!
by ziddina in[blast!
can't make the title 'red'...].
from sky and telescope, online version: "this year the moon will be nearly new when the geminids peak on the night of december 13-14. the shower's radiant, the point in the sky from which they all seem to originate, is near castor and pollux.
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betterdaze
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Legally prevent minor chidren being baptized? Anybody done it? can it be done?
by Aussie Oz ini am about to go into mediation with the ex to negotiate new child access arangements.
i was wondering about being able to negotiate this.
i may also end up going to court so it would be good to know if this ever been done.
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betterdaze
Here's a recent case in the news. Good luck.
~Sue
Dec 11, 2009 7:57 pm US/EasternDad Barred From Taking His Jewish Baby To Church
Wife Says Taking Daughter To Christian Service Will Confuse Child
CHICAGO (CBS) ? A father has been hit with an unusual restraining order: Keep his daughter away from any religion that is not Jewish. After the girl's parents split up, the father went to a Catholic church and had the girl baptized, CBS station WBBM-TV reports.
Joseph Reyes, 35, had his daughter baptized and sent his ex-wife a picture of the ceremony.
Rebecca Reyes says she only learned of her daughter's Baptism when Joseph sent her the picture, and that he sent it out of malice. Joseph Reyes denies this.
"I sent it because Rebecca asked me for pictures," he said.
Rebecca Reyes says she wants her daughter raised Jewish, and that her husband pledged to do so, even going so far as to convert to Judaism himself.
"That's not accurate," he responded. "I'm not going to call her a liar, but … at the very least she's mistaken regarding that conversation."
But Rebecca Reyes says it's her estranged husband who made the mistake when he had their daughter baptized. In her petition, she argues that if he's allowed to raise the child in any faith other than Judaism, he will cause their daughter irreparable harm.
"I wouldn't harm my daughter simply to somehow spite my soon (soon)to-be ex-wife," Joseph Reyes said. "That's silly and ridiculous."
Reyes' divorce attorney, Joel Brodsky, said when he first saw the petition for a temporary restraining order against his client, he couldn't believe what he was reading.
"I almost fell off my chair," he said. "I thought maybe we were in Afghanistan and this was the Taliban. This is America. We have a First Amendment right of freedom of religion."
The restraining order asks the judge to bar Joseph from taking his daughter to church. According to the petition, failure to restrain him will "continue to the emotional detriment of the child."
Rebecca and her attorneys declined to go on camera but they did release the following statement: "We stand by our petition. We feel the judge will do whatever is best for the child."
The attorney for Joseph Reyes says he will appeal Friday's order. -
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Does Watchtower Participate in Interfaith Movements?
by cameo-d inquote:.
"... parliament of the world's religions brings together religious and civic leaders from dozens of countries.
the fifth such parliament convened in december in melbourne, australia, and brought together 10,000 "people of faith, spirit and goodwill" from 220 different faiths and 80 countries.
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betterdaze
No part of this world? Watchtower lawyer an interfaith delegate. Alan Gallina, a Human Rights Specialist with the Office of General Counsel for Jehovah's Witnesses.
College of St. Elizabeth, a Catholic institution. Jolene Chu (Secretary/Director, Jehovah's Witness Holocaust-Era Survivors Fund).
~Sue -
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RED ALERT!! RED ALERT!! Meteorite shower tomorrow night!!!
by ziddina in[blast!
can't make the title 'red'...].
from sky and telescope, online version: "this year the moon will be nearly new when the geminids peak on the night of december 13-14. the shower's radiant, the point in the sky from which they all seem to originate, is near castor and pollux.
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betterdaze
Thanks for posting this, Ziddina! I missed it because of the cloudiness, too. But there's always more...
December 21 - The Winter Solstice occurs in the northern hemisphere at 17:47 UT. The Sun is at its lowest point in the sky and it will be the shortest day of the year. This is also the first day of winter.
December 31 - Full Moon & Partial Lunar Eclipse. The eclipse will be visible throughout most of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. NASA site.January 3, 4 - Quadrantids Meteor Shower. The Quadrantids are an above average shower, with up to 40 meteors per hour at their peak. The shower usually peaks on January 3 & 4, but some meteors can be visible from January 1 - 5. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Look for meteors radiating from the constellation Bootes.
Astronomy Calendar of Celestial Events - 2010 from Sea and Sky.
Eclipses During 2010
In 2010, there are two solar and two lunar eclipses:
• 2010 Jan 15: Annular Solar Eclipse
• 2010 Jun 26: Partial Lunar Eclipse
• 2010 Jul 11: Total Solar Eclipse
• 2010 Dec 21: Total Lunar Eclipse
~Sue -
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Respected Jehovah's Witness groomed and molested young girls over years
by betterdaze inrespected jehovah's witness groomed and molested young girls over yearspublished date: 15 december 2009. by olwen dudgeon.
a respected jehovah's witness who served as an elder betrayed the trust placed in him by abusing young girls.. james michael o'brien followed one schoolgirl into a kitchen when she was alone away from adults making tea at meetings he was hosting.. .
he pulled her towards him, sexually assaulted her and began to kiss her.. .
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betterdaze
Respected Jehovah's Witness groomed and molested young girls over years
Published Date: 15 December 2009
By Olwen Dudgeon
A RESPECTED Jehovah's Witness who served as an elder betrayed the trust placed in him by abusing young girls.James Michael O'Brien followed one schoolgirl into a kitchen when she was alone away from adults making tea at meetings he was hosting.
He pulled her towards him, sexually assaulted her and began to kiss her.
On another occasion he conducted a further sexual assault, Richard Wright prosecuting told Leeds Crown Court yesterday.
She felt very angry about what was happening because adult worshippers in the Kingdom Hall "had a significant amount of trust placed in them", he said.
A second girl said when she was aged between 10 and 11, O'Brien touched her many times over her clothing when they were together for religious activities.
She described how she too was helping in the kitchen on one occasion when it happened, while on others they were out in Pontefract making calls door to door.
She said he sexually assaulted her in a lift, while travelling in a car and while looking at a computer together.
The court heard he also admitted offences against three other girls when they visited him or when he was helping to look after them unconnected to his role as an elder.
He told an 11-year-old he would teach her to kiss properly and proceeded to kiss her. He also told her to close her eyes when he kissed her to "make it sexier."
With his final victim he also touched her regularly, with the incidents becoming more serious, and on occasions getting her to touch him.
O'Brien, 60, of School Road, Chequerfield, Pontefract, who the court was told is no longer associated with Kingdom Hall, was jailed for six years with an extended four years further on licence.
He admitted 13 charges of indecent assault, one of engaging in sexual activity with a child, one of sexual assault and a further sexual offence.
Sentencing him, the Recorder of Leeds, Judge Peter Collier QC said he considered O'Brien posed a risk of further offending since the charges covered more than 30 years "which is more than half of your life".
He said O'Brien had developed a "pattern of grooming" which evolved, increasing his sexual activity in seriousness as he moved on to different girls.
He used the "cloak of religious activities" to abuse some of the girls, in doing so betraying the responsibility placed in him as an elder in the community.
John Nixon representing O'Brien told the court he was ashamed and remorseful.
As a result "his marriage has disappeared and he has been stripped of many possessions, being made bankrupt". -
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Letter from Michael Moore to Pres. Obama, and Pres. Obama's response
by glenster inhttp://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2009/11/michael-moore-exchanges-letters-with-obama.html.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/30/809109/-an-open-letter-to-president-obama-from-michael-moore.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/30/809130/-an-open-letter-to-michael-moore-from-president-obama.
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betterdaze
What parody beks? Here's the source of the letter from Michael Moore's own site.
~Sue -
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Any Freelancers here willing to show the way?
by AK - Jeff ini have felt a drive inside, for a while now, to write.
to write something.
yet i have no idea where to start.
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betterdaze
Some online venues for freelancers:
Elance.com
Guru.com
... and examiner.com specifically for writers. (I personally don't care for, or recommend Examiner, but just throwing it out there anyway.)
mediabistro is a fabulous resource. True, it is rather NYC-centric and pricey for classes. The jobs offered are geared toward full-time pros. But they do offer online courses and a supportive environment that could help you get started, especially in the fine art of "pitching" stories to editors.
At minimum, you can review the offerings there so as to map out what the current market is like, how you can fit in, and eventually grow your own niche.
mediabistro Courses
mediabistro JobsThe Watchtower Corporation did it's level best to keep us as mindless drones. Hats off to AK-Jeff and ALL here who seek to develop their unique creative gifts... and of course get paid for such, too!
~Sue
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Law shields religious charities from scrutiny
by betterdaze injust posting for future reference.... law shields religious charities from scrutinysunday, july 26, 2009. by harvy lipman.
the record.
staff writer.
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betterdaze
And again.
Alleged Ponzi scheme ensnares Kars4Kids
By Ted Sherman/The Star-Ledger
December 12, 2009, 9:38PM
Kars4Kids has a punchy radio jingle that drives some people crazy.
But the Lakewood-based nonprofit organization — which solicits car donations for disadvantaged children — is now one of dozens of charities embroiled in a federal court fight involving allegations of a massive, international Ponzi scheme.
At issue are millions in payments to Kars4Kids and more than 60 other registered charities, some of which appear to have quickly kicked the donations back to the donors, often in the space of days, according to court papers.
The allegations don’t involve money that’s generated when cars are donated to the charity. Instead, the court papers suggest the man at the center of everything, 34-year-old Eliyahu Weinstein, made multimillion-dollar payments to Kars4Kids and other charities as a way to hide assets.
Weinstein, a member of Lakewood’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, and a former used car salesman, is being sued by former partners across two continents who say he duped many of them — most of whom are also members of Orthodox Jewish communities — promising to invest their money in projects that did not exist.
The court filings say Weinstein diverted the funds as part of a complicated pyramid scheme, and also accuse him of trying to hide the money by funneling it through nonprofit organizations like Kars4Kids, as well as two religious charities now the focus of federal money laundering investigations in New Jersey and California.
Parking money in a charity would be like putting it in a secret Swiss bank account, keeping it hidden from creditors, angry investors, the government, or civil court judgments. It might then be redirected in any number of ways.
Attorney Ari Weisbrot of Hackensack, who is representing one of the investors, contends the paper trail of money had all the hallmarks of an elaborate scam."There may be potentially legitimate explanations for those transfers," he said. "But in my opinion, they carry the scent of money laundering."
Weinstein, through his attorneys, denied any wrongdoing. He has not been charged with any crime and has not been not mentioned in any of the documents connected with either criminal probe.
In a recent letter to the federal District Court judge in the case, he called the accusations against him "frivolous, scurrilous, baseless allegations of fraud" which he said "seek to tie me to money laundering by innuendo."
He said he had repaid many of his investors millions of dollars, in one case "arranging for repayment by transferring to plaintiffs ancient scrolls that experts have concluded are over 1,200 years old that he estimated at being worth between $8 million and $12 million. He said he repaid another by transferring rights to the purchase of certain properties in Israel.
Kars4Kids officials called the allegations "wildly speculative," and said the payments cited by Weisbrot were the result of the sale of real estate.
In the civil fraud complaints filed against him, Weinstein has been accused by former partners in North America and Europe of taking more than $470 million through complex real estate deals in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Great Britain and Israel. The deals, they allege, never materialized and the money disappeared. In at least two cases, former partners say he sold property he did not own.
Weisbrot, who represents Florida investor Harvey Wolinetz, believes the funds were used to repay other victims.
Bank records obtained in the course of the litigation show that Weinstein sent more than -
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Law shields religious charities from scrutiny
by betterdaze injust posting for future reference.... law shields religious charities from scrutinysunday, july 26, 2009. by harvy lipman.
the record.
staff writer.
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betterdaze
Again, just posting for future reference. Religious organizations laundering money through charitable donation kickbacks... "schools" and real estate Ponzi schemes... who knew?
Trouble for Dwek donors as IRS follows the money
By Ted Sherman/The Star-Ledger
December 05, 2009, 7:30PMIt was only a matter of time before the IRS began looking at the master informant behind a massive money laundering and corruption sting that led to the arrests of dozens of elected officials, rabbis and political operatives in July.
The tax inquiry, however, could also be a ticking bomb for anyone else who gave money and expected kickbacks from the religious institutions and schools at the focus of the ongoing criminal probe.
Solomon Dwek, 37, agreed to serve as an informant after authorities accused him of a $50 million bank fraud. He pleaded guilty in October to federal and state criminal charges. According to court filings, the Internal Revenue Service, in a civil proceeding, is now looking closely at the financial details behind Dwek’s fraudulent transactions — and also at the millions of dollars in contributions Dwek made to the Deal Yeshiva, a school where he once served as vice president.
The tax probe could have much further repercussions if others contributed money to the charities involved in the case and subsequently received kickbacks, as Dwek did as part of the sting.
There is precedent for thinking that, as intense as the focus has been on the politics side of the scandal, the effect on the religion side could become just as far-reaching.
In Los Angeles, more than 100 contributors to a Hasidic Jewish sect in Brooklyn are being investigated by the U.S Attorney for the Central District of California in connection with the same kind of kickbacks spelled out in the New Jersey cases.
While no one has yet been targeted in New Jersey, records from several institutions tied to the case have already been seized by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey. Officials would not say if the investigation is being expanded to look at contributors.
Dwek’s bankruptcy attorney did not return calls for comment, and IRS officials declined to discuss the matter. But in sworn statements, Dwek, a one-time real estate developer, acknowledged his individual tax returns for 2005 and 2006 were being audited in connection with two $25 million checks he wrote out of a closed PNC Bank account in an effort to cover a loan he had obtained fraudulently from HSBC Bank.
"I believe they came in talking about the PNC check wondering if the income — the money, let’s say the $20 million that went from PNC to pay HSBC — is taxable," stated Dwek.
Dwek had been involved in a far-reaching real estate Ponzi scheme, obtaining millions in loans and financing for dozens of properties that did not exist. The scheme collapsed after HSBC Bank belatedly conducted a title search and discovered it did not own the mortgages on properties it believed it was financing in Neptune on behalf of Dwek.
With HSBC demanding the money be repaid, Dwek went to the PNC bank in Eatontown and pulled to the drive-up window with a $25.2 million check drawn on another account that had no money in it, according to a federal complaint. The bank took the check and credited it. Dwek immediately moved out most of the money to repay HSBC, hoping to cover the check with money he anticipated after a property transfer to investors he had cheated. He then tried to cash a second $25 million check.
He filed for bankruptcy after he was charged.
LAWSUIT CITES YESHIVA MONEY
In sworn statements, Dwek said the I