Woman In Doghouse for JW Sign

LONDON (Reuters) - A British woman has been ordered by police to take down a sign on her garden gate which read "Our dogs are fed on Jehovah's Witnesses."

Janet Grove, who owns a terrier puppy called Rabbit, insisted the sign was a gentle joke to discourage callers at her front door.

Her late husband put the sign up more than 30 years ago when members of the church called at their house on Christmas Day.

But police were forced to act after receiving a complaint.

"We were informed by a member of the public who found the sign to be distressing, offensive and inappropriate," a police spokesman said. "Officers attended the address and the sign was voluntarily taken down."

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OMG . .it's been there for 30 . . .THIRTY years and someone just got annoyed now. Hell, I would have cried and said it reminded me of my late husband and if they took it down I don't know what I would. ::sob::

Baptist group ex-leaders guilty of fraud

By CHRIS KAHN, Associated Press Writer

PHOENIX (AP) -- Two former executives of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, which collapsed in what has been called the largest nonprofit bankruptcy filing in the nation's history, have been convicted of fraud.

Prosecutors estimated 11,000 investors, most of them elderly, were defrauded in the 1980s and 1990s.

A jury on Monday found former foundation president William Crotts guilty of three counts of fraud and one count of illegally conducting an enterprise, according to the Arizona Attorney General's Office, which prosecuted the case. Former general counsel Thomas Grabinski was convicted of three counts of fraud and one count of illegally conducting an enterprise. They were acquitted of 23 counts of theft.

"These verdicts are a victory for thousands of victims who believed the promises made by the defendants," Attorney General Terry Goddard said in a statement. "They had their faith shattered and faced the possible loss of all their retirement investments."

Five other defendants pleaded guilty to fraud or other charges and agreed to pay fines, Goddard said.

The foundation was created in 1948 by the Southern Baptist Convention to administer endowments to the church. It eventually grew into an independent nonprofit organization that sold individual retirement accounts and other investments.

Prosecutors said investors were promised high returns and a safe investment for using their money to build churches and retirement homes, but their combined losses totaled more than a half-billion dollars.

"I just hope they realize they defied (God's) word by mishandling money that people entrusted to them," said Virginia Branch, 77, of Prescott, who lost $400,000 she said would have helped her grandchildren pay for college.

Crotts and Grabinski could face six to 23 years for each count. Sentencing was set for Sept. 29.

Defense lawyers said they plan to ask Judge Kenneth Fields to dismiss the charges, and plan to appeal if he doesn't.

A lawyer for Crotts, Michael Piccarreta, said all the foundation's investors would have been paid back if the state hadn't shut it down in 1999 for what the Arizona Corporation Commission said were faulty financial statements.

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Flier Offers NIS 20,000 for Killing Gays

(IsraelNN.com) A leaflet distributed in several neighborhoods in Jerusalem offered NIS 20,000 to anyone who kills participants in the International Gay Pride Parade scheduled to take place in Jerusalem next month.

The flier also suggested that fire bombs be used to kill the participants and gave instructions on how to construct them.

The parade has generated much opposition from many religious groups in the city who are opposed to the holding of such a parade in Jerusalem. Public opinion polls show that the vast majority of Jerusalem residents are against the parade.

Later this week, a police report is expected to be issued as to whether the parade is considered a security risk. If the report determines that it is, the parade may be cancelled.

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