Rock Church Pastor Dou ordered to serve time for ‘illegal religious activities’

HENAN, CHINA (ANS) — A Chinese House Church pastor and his wife have been sentenced to one year of re-education through labor for “engaging in illegal religious activities,” according to ChinaAid.

Pastor Dou and Feng Lu are being represented by attorney Li Dunyong, who has traveled to Zhengzhou city to make an appeal, according to ChinaAid, which is a Christian human rights ministry.

In a media release ChinaAid stated:

“While Pastor Dou Shaowen is imprisoned at the labor camp, officials released Feng Lu on the evening of June 25. Authorities have permitted Feng Lu to serve her sentence at home, in order to care for their 12- year-old daughter. She is required to report to the Public Security Bureau regularly, and could be sent to labor camp again if she is found ‘engaging in illegal religious activities’ again.”

Pastor Dou Shaowen and his wife Feng Lu were arrested on June 14, when several dozen officials from Zhengzhou Municipal Bureau of Religion and Zhengzhou Municipal Bureau of State broke into the church’s Sunday worship service, according to ChinaAid.

The media release continues:

“Officials forcibly photographed and videotaped the more than 100 Christians present, cut off the electricity and forced the Christians to leave. Finally, the authorities posted sealing tape from the Bureau of Religion, sealing off all the worship areas of Rock Church. Five other Christians, Li Zhemin, Wei Jianhua, Zhang Julin, Ma Jianbo and Li Cuiying were arrested with Pastor Dou and Feng Lu. Each of the five were sentenced to 15 days of administrative detention and were forced to pay a 800-900 yuan fine.”

Those concerned about this sentence are being asked to contact Zhengzhou city authorities to ask for the immediate release of Pastor Dou Shaowen and Feng Lu, and the five Christians sentenced to administrative detention.

Zhengzhou Mayor Tel +86-371-12345 Mayor’s E-mail: mayor(@)zhengzhou.gov.cn
Zhengzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau office to report phone +86-371-66228710
Zhengzhou City, People’s Procuratorate +86-371- 68985078
Zhengzhou Intermediate People’s Court reported Phone +86-371-68983950
Jin-shui County Government +86-371-3526200
Henan People’s Radio Station +86-371-65723998
Zhengzhou People’s Broadcasting Station +86-371- 68982487
Henan TV +86-371-65723657
Zhengzhou television +86-371-68982886

Please contact: Katherine(@)ChinaAid.org with questions or requests for further information.

Article originally published by ASSIST News Service. Reported by Michael Ireland.
Chief Correspondent,

Censorship or just a matter of “brand removal?”

LA Church & State Examiner: PBS decides now is the time to ban new religious programming

After reviewing a “never enforced” policy, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has banned member stations from carrying new religious TV programs; the few existing ones can continue, it was announced this week…

FULL STORY

It’s not often we can point at somebody’s faults and not feel guilty about doing so. Such is the case when talking about former Laker Mark Madsen’s victory parade moment when he not only gave validation to the claim that “white men can’t dance,” but gave a shout out to the Hispanic community in screaching style.

Yesterday, as the Lakers and Los Angeles celebrated the franchise’s 15th NBA Championship, EVERYONE was waiting for that “Mark Madsen moment.” As near as I can tell, it never came. The moment is preserved in historic nerd perspective and the loveable Madsen lives to write about it…as he did in today’s guest column in the LA Times.

Just as awkward as his parade moment…but good and funny!

Madsen writes…

I started getting nervous because that wasn’t what I’d planned for. But Shaq’s so funny. He was always coming up with stuff, sayings, like, “L.A. is the new capital of California, not Sacramento.” It was awesome.

And there was support from the Latino community and we wanted to acknowledge that. I saw our broadcasters and thought, “Hey, I know how to say a few things in Spanish. So why not?”

Mark Madsen’s Speech At 2001 Lakers Championship Parade

Be sure to catch the rest of the Times’ Mark Madsen’s Lakers parade memories are just a dance away.

Thank you, Mad Dog, for the memory. You have our hearts!

The more depressed the real estate market gets, the more the “promoters” come out from under the woodwork…out from under their rocks…or wherever they have been hiding.

They come out to pitch their expensive (and unrealistic) plans and programs about how to get rich in real estate through foreclosures.

GUEST BLOGGER POST

Right now, the residential real estate market is softening, which sadly means that more families are losing their homes due to foreclosure.

In a strong real estate market and in a strong economy there may only be a couple of foreclosures in a neighborhood at any given time. Right now, when the real estate market is sorting itself out from the sub-prime debacle, foreclosures abound.

A lot of people have the idea that one man’s loss is another man’s gain. But when it comes to foreclosures, one man’s loss may be the next man’s loss, too.

Why buy foreclosed properties? When you buy a house that’s been foreclosed upon, you’re buying a house that didn’t sell. The owner of the house couldn’t sell it and the bank couldn’t sell it. They’re just hoping that a sucker — I mean an “investor” — like you will come along, ready to take that white elephant off their hands.

Let’s first consider the question: “What is a foreclosure?” Very simply, it’s when an individual who owns a house, has taken out a mortgage and can no longer make the payments. They couldn’t sell the house for a price that would allow them to pay off the mortgage so the bank stepped in to recoup as much as it could of what turned out to be a very bad investment all around. If you buy it, you own it, and need to pay the mortgage on an empty house that likely hasn’t been maintained.

How long can you afford to do that?

More often than not, investments in foreclosed property turn out not to be like winning a lottery, but a path to bankruptcy! You might be willing to offer more than the other speculators, but what does that tell you? It means that all the other real estate investors in your neck of the woods were not willing to put down as much money on that property as you…in your infinite wisdom!

It’s too bad they already made a TV show called “The Biggest Loser,” because that’s how I would describe anybody unfortunate enough to offer the most money, out of all the speculators, to the owner of a foreclosure property.

Once again, you’ve got to ask yourself whether you’re smarter than all the other investors looking at foreclosures, and all the home buyers who passed up the opportunity to buy the house from a realtor or directly from the owner, and the bank or government entity currently in possession of the house.

If this sounds harsh, I’d rather you learn from me that foreclosures don’t work than learning the hard way. I don’t want you to learn the hard and painful way, by going through the time, trouble, and expense of a property that costs you more in money and heartache than you could ever make… even if things really worked the way the foreclosure hucksters would like you to believe.

I can offer you the stories of countless people with sad experiences who thought they could make money in real estate through foreclosures. By and large, they didn’t. But a new generation of hopeful investors arises every day, and the people with those full-page ads for seminars on how to make money in these fields continue to prey on them.

Can you still make a fortune in real estate?

You bet! Do it the right way, and you’ll be very satisfied with your results. It’s a turnkey approach that is disciplined but very effective.

It is truly the #1 way to invest in the # 1 investment in America — which truly is real estate!

Chuck Salisbury outlines the safest, most conservative way to invest in real estate in “The Incredible Investment Book.” For more investment advice and a free newsletter go to www.TenPercentDown.com.

CNN Breaking News on Twitter, @cnnbrk, tweeted this morning at 6:38 Pacific that “Iran bans foreign media from covering rallies on streets of Tehran following last week’s disputed presidential vote.”

There’s much buzz over the fact that real news about the post-election reaction in Iran is being covered best by those on Twitter messaging in and out of Iran. The site’s “Trending Topics” sidebar has featured #iranelection at the top spot for more than 2 days.

Links to real time photos and videos, as well as active inside Iran Twitter member usernames are posted regularly.

Many members (Tweeps) have changed their user photos (avatars) to green, and/or included images from Iran, such as green paint dipped fingers making the peace sign. Green is traditionally considered a symbolic color of Islam, but has also come to represent the movement against Iran’s election results.

The action of banning the foreign media from covering the rallies may do little in preventing news from Tweeting out of Iran.

Yes, this is a Top 10 list, but to find the number one thing not to do after a Lakers championship win you’ll have to visit today’s Offbeat column at LA Church and State Examiner. Thanks for the additional click! Don’t worry, there are no strings attached…it’s just a way of support!

Top 10 Things Not To Do After a Lakers Championship Win

10. Set your hair on fire.

9. Rip off your Kobe jersey and go naked at your mother-in-law’s hosted Lakers party.

8. Call your friend in Orlando and say you are taking them off your “favorite five.”

7. Mistake a pack of eco-terrorists as Lakers fans and join them in a night of burning cars.

6. Bring marsh mellows to roast at your favorite street intersection bonfire.

5. Think rocking cars and flipping them over is the coolest thing since cow tipping.

4. Set your sister’s hair on fire.

3. Ask a cop in full riot gear to join you in a midnight game of HORSE.

2. Think the Second Amendment means it’s okay to shoot bullets into the air.

And the number one thing not to do after a Lakers Championship Win is…

Click here!

Whether it be tonight or another night that the Lakers win the trophy…be safe L.A.!

There’s something that’s unbreakable. — Lakers’ Kobe Bryant on his relationship with Derek Fisher

Be sure to catch Today’s Sunday message: Lakers’ Derek Fisher and actions!

Highlights from Andrew Breitbart’s ‘No more apologies from Sotomayor’ opinion piece

Andrew Brietbart’s opinion column published in the Washington Times, Monday, June 1st will be the most talked about, e-mailed about, blogged about, tweeted about post of the new millennium…or at least this week!

Here’s some highlights…if you will…

The lead

With Barack Obama, many Americans had hoped to get a post-racial president. With Mr. Obama’s pick of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace David H. Souter on the Supreme Court, it looks less and less like they got one.

Just plain silly

As for the outrage du jour, the call for Sotomayor to apologize for making a racist comment in a 2001 speech is silly. She said what she meant, and she meant what she said: “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”

Now class…now CLASS!

In today’s left-of-center culture, the “white male” – “the victim,” as it were – understands that what Judge Sotomayor said is the accepted liberal way of thinking. Identity politics (also known as political correctness, multiculturalism and cultural Marxism) is the foundation of the political left. It is the first, middle and last lesson taught today in Academia. It is the mainstream media’s rulebook.

Double standard

It is why Sotomayor and Obama are praiseworthy, and why Clarence Thomas, Condoleezza Rice, Alberto Gonzalez and Miguel Estrada are unacceptable members of their respective tribes.

Here come the judge!

Judge Sotomayor made the offending comment – yet now she is the victim. It’s amazing how effective political correctness can be.

Go to ‘No more apologies from Sotomayor‘ now! There’s many more from where these came from!

Washington Mall anyone?

Time has not healed all Katrina wounds

A FEMA trailer still sits in the front yard of a home in the Lakeview section of New Orleans. After repeated extensions, meant to give people more time to rebuild their storm-damaged homes or to find other more permanent places to stay, FEMA now appears ready to enforce its May 1 deadline. In notices to residents, the agency said it would seek Department of Justice help to repossess units that 2005 hurricane victims remain in after this weekend.
(AP Photo/Bill Haber)

Night and Day
Reaction to today’s California Supreme Court decision to uphold Proposition 8 was on both sides of the spectrum.

The Yes on 8 campaign released a statement that began: California voters won a major victory today as the California Supreme Court announced its decision to uphold Proposition 8 and leave the definition of traditional marriage in California’s constitution as decided by voters in the November, 2008 election.

However, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had a different take on today’s decision.

“This is a dark day, a dark day in California,” Villaraigosa said. “We are going to keep on working. We’re going to have a conversation in this state about restoring gay marriage.”

FULL STORY: LA CHURCH & STATE EXCLUSIVE