Planes owned by the Watchtower http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/11/60166/1.ashx Credit Gerard
The Watchtower's luxurious aircraft was damaged the first time in 1995: http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20001207X03587&ntsbno=ANC95LA077&akey=1 ANC95LA077 "On June 12, 1995, at 1530 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna 402B airplane, N710WS, registered to and operated by the Watchtower Bible Organization and Tract Society, collapsed its nose gear while taxiing back after landing. The business flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, departed Good News, Alaska, and the destination was Tuntutuliak, Alaska. No flight plan was filed and visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The airline transport certificated pilot and the three passengers were not injured and the airplane was substantially damaged. The destination of the WT's President was Tuntutuliak, Alaska, a well know salmon-fishing Inuit village. Second incident report was filed on June 09, 2003 - Telida, AK http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20030702X01003&key=1 NTSB Identification: ANC03LA065The flight left from Minchumina, Alaska, a small native village north of mount McKinley which has only one hotel ...a FISHING LODGE: http://denaliwest.com/summer.html "Historically a Native area, this is the location of an airfield, a small Indian village, a lodge and store. A post office was established in 1930. The school was closed for the 1999-2000 year due to insufficient students." Telida, Alaska has a total of 8 housing units, 6 are abandoned, total population of only 2 Natives. Telida is located on the south side of the Swift Fork (McKinley Fork) of the Kuskokwim River, through which whitefish run through. Why are they spending money on fishing lodges and flying in a private luxurious $250,000 aircraft bought with your contributions? Missionary trips?...my A$$!
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| IP: Wd6PBnFeC4TuPP7h | 10-Oct-03 13:17 by Gerard: Correct formatting | |
****************************************************************************** Credit Randy http://www.randytv.com/randcam.htm Watchtower Owns Warfare Technology
Watchtower Owns 50% stock in Rand Cam
(from http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/922330/000106299302000371/form10k.txt) backup file
In years past the Watchtower would have distanced itself from any company or entity engaged in supplying warfare technology. Not so today! Note the following excerpts from the SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION in Washington, D.C. involving a company that, among its products, is an engine used in "smart bombs":
We were organized under the laws of the State of Oregon on July 27, 1992 as Sky Technologies, Inc. On August 1, 1994, our name was officially changed by a vote of a majority of our shareholders to REGI U.S., Inc. We are controlled by Rand Energy Group Inc., a privately held British Columbia corporation ("RAND"), which, in turn, is controlled 51% by Reg Technologies Inc., a publicly held British Columbia corporation ("Reg Tech").
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Rand Cam Engine Corp. is a privately held company whose stock is reportedly owned 50% by The Watchtower Society, a religious organization, 34% by James McCann and the balance by several other shareholders. Mr. McCann has indicated that he donated the shares held by The Watchtower Society to that organization but has retained a voting proxy for those shares. Accordingly, in Notes (3) and (4) above, beneficial ownership of the 5,073,200 shares registered in the name of Rand Energy Group Inc. has been attributed to The Watchtower Society and Mr. McCann. We believe it would be misleading and not provide clear disclosure to list as beneficial owners in the table the other entities and persons discussed in this paragraph, although a strict reading of Rule 13d-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 might require each such entity and person to be listed in the beneficial ownership table.
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Ceramic Rand Cam TM Engine On December 6, 2001 we announced that a U.S. Navy contract (SBIR No1-144) has been awarded to Advanced Ceramics Research (prime contractor) and REGI U.S., Inc. to build and test a Naval 0.5 horsepower ceramic engine. The proposed engine is a four stroke Rand Cam engine utilizing continuous injection and combustion in a single combustion chamber. The engine will be of all ceramic construction to permit high temperature operation, without cooling, to effectively burn heavy oil. This new motor will be developed for powering the U.S. Navy's new Smart War-fighter Array of Re-configurable Modules (SWARM) low cost unmanned aerial vehicle. On April 4, 2002 we announced that we signed an agreement to grant a license to Advanced Ceramics Research, Inc. ("ACR") for the Rand Cam based motors for 10 H.P. or less for the SBIR No 1-144 Navy Contract for the remote piloted applications. We agreed that a 5 year contract will also be granted to ACR for the Rand Cam concept motors for the commercial and military rights for the applications developed under the Navy contract for 10 H.P or less.
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Watchtower letter contradicts their own SEC filing!
http://www.geocities.com/wtgreed/article.htm
| Watchtower’s Investments in Warfare Technology "The first casualty of war is The Truth." Purpose The purpose of this review article is to determine whether the Watchtower Society (WT) owns shares of common stocks of armament-related industry and if positive, determine if they perform business transactions with the U.S. Department of Defense.Background The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. (WT) portrays itself as a pacifist, neutral, non-profit religious organization and a "direct channel to God". As a sign of respect to God, Watchtower’s members – the Jehovah’s Witnesses – must not accept blood transfusions, take part in any political, governmental or military organization and can not perform business transactions with such institutions. Under some prophetic speculation, the WT teaches its members that the United Nations is the embodiment of "The Beast" spoken of in the Bible's book of Revelation and that Earth is "Satan’s kingdom". The WT claims that the only safe group to be, grow and reach salvation is the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. The WT demands from its members high moral, social and "Christian" standards while condemning immorality and materialism. Once the new recruits accept the idea that the Watchtower is a "direct channel" of communication to God, they are told to accept every word coming from the headquarters located in Brooklin, NY. Questioning the doctrine or breaking any of its rules is equated to doubting the word of God himself and it is often severely punished by disfellowshiping (expulsion), which means this person must be shunned and ostracized by his/her own relatives and friends. Preventing independent thinking trough fear and guilt is a very effective thought-stoping process which allows the indoctrination process to implant more phobias and further the individual's need to belong and seek "shelter" under the mother organization, the Watchtower. Main Information Sources (Accessible trough enclosed hyperlinks, some of which are repeated as a reference to the cited statements. Note: In some cases the referred documents are extensive so electronic word searches are recommended.).
SEC filings by REGI US Inc. reveal partial ownership by the Watchtower Society of at least three related companies: |
| Partnership relations between these companies are so tight they have called themselves "Sister Companies". Rand Cam Engine Corp. is a privately-held company and not much data was available. Reg Technologies Inc. is a Canadian investor’s group that since 1986 has financed most of the research done on the Rand Cam™ engine. Rand Energy Group Inc. was created in October 1986 and it is controlled by both Rand Cam Engine Corp.; Rand Energy Group Inc. controls Regi U.S. Inc., which is ultimately controlled by its main investor: Reg Technologies Inc. Both the private and common stocks held by the Watchtower Society on the "Sister Companies" were donated. The focal point of this group is to market a new engine technology called Rand Cam ™ (RC™). Finances REGI U.S., Inc. was incorporated in the State of Oregon, USA on July 27, 1992. The basic research and development work done on the RC™ engine and other products is being coordinated and funded by Reg Tech.REGI US Inc. was created in 1986 and it does not own properties. They currently utilize office space leased by Reg Tech in a commercial business park building located in British Columbia, Canada. REGI’s only assets are their intangible assets, being patents and intellectual property rights. They do not have employees other than a Marketing Corporate Director and a design engineer. The majority of prototype construction and testing costs continues to be borne by potential licensees and manufacturers. REGI owns 5,073,200 shares and plans to sell shares as needed to meet their ongoing funding requirements if traditional equity sources of financing prove to be insufficient. REGI US Inc. has not generated any revenues nor profitable operations since inception and has a severe working capital deficit as of April 30 th 2002, of $5,308,000. In September 21 st 1994, Reg Technologies Inc. announced that REGI US Inc. (its subsidiary) had started trading on the OTC Bulletin board (Symbol RGUS) but the actual SEC registration is dated 06/06/1996 (REGISTRATION STATEMENT NO. 33-96974). Insiders of REGI now currently hold 6,017,850 common shares, representing control of approximately 53.31% of the total voting power. Accordingly, the present insiders continue to elect all of their own directors and generally control their affairs. Patents, Rights & Agreements
Some of REGI’s patented products derived from the RC™ Technology are: A compressor, a pump, the Cold Turbine Engine Generator and the Rotary Diesel Engine prototypes. Following are some agreements made public:
A Brief Description of Silver Fox (SWARM) The basic concept was developed at the Naval Surface Warfare Center . The SWARM are low cost, expendable, unmanned air vehicles, operating in a swarm as a cooperative group, replacing individual losses by re-configuration of the remaining units to complete the mission. Careful consideration went into the decision to make the the SWARM an expendable vehicle. The primary reason it will be expendable is that the major cost for any system is maintenance, not acquisition. This means the SWARM will incur no maintenance costs; Design incorporates self destruction of electronics upon engine stoppage. Now in its functional stage, and subsequent debut in Operation Iraqi Freedom, this UAV has been renamed The Silver Fox. The SWARM project was actually launched by ACR in June 2000 with a $70,000 US Navy contract for a small UAV originally designed to locate and mitigate whales near Navy ships. Each "module" is a 4-foot-long, 20-pound plane with a 4-foot wingspan and a 4-pound payload-enough capacity for any type of camera, microphones for eavesdropping, mini chemical and biological detectors, or even, potentially, a small weapon; The Silver Fox is scalable for up to a 40 lb. payload. The small aircraft bearing the engine in question, will be primarily used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance roles, but payloads, the sensors and the packages can be tailored to the mission. The US Navy officials who evaluated the prototype’s performance did not only approved it, but SWARM concept was quickly expanded far beyond whale-watching and into developing UAVs that can be easily reconfigured to accommodate a multitude of payload and mission requirements over hostile territory, and recently it was renamed Silver Fox for its debut in the Gulf War II. One new concept on board the Silver Fox is the "Global Positioning System (GPS) Jamming Situational Awareness" for Naval Surface Fire Support (NSFS); This information is then passed to the GPS-guided weapon prior to launch. The Silver Fox then provides data directly to the projectile in flight (NAVSYS CORP.) to support this back-up navigation mode. As an example, imagine that a swarm of Silver Fox planes is patrolling and one is shot down by a hidden missile launcher. A second plane, recognizing the absence, searches the area and finds a suspicious building. A third spots the hot afterglow of the missile launch with its infrared camera, confirming the sighting. Next, the two planes transmit their data to a fourth Silver Fox plane equipped with a transceiver, which broadcasts all images to central command for analysis. If officers agree that the planes have identified an enemy surface-to-air missile launcher, they can instruct a fifth Silver Fox plane to "paint" the target with laser light that will guide the smart bombs sent to attack it. These are just two of the numerous Defense awards available to develop the use of Silver Fox (SWARM) for surface to air missile (SAM) site continuous monitoring. An important feature of the "swarm" concept is that one operator will be able to operate 10 or more drones as compared to current technology, which requires 10 to 20 operators to operate one drone. The Silver Fox was deployed in April to aid marine corps in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Observers said the drones for the most part performed well on field duty. "We sent an ONR team into the theater to deploy the Silver Fox following its transition from the original design," said Captain John Hobday, a naval reservist and director of Tech Solutions. Regarding its current mission, Rear Admiral Cohen said: "It's now being tasked to help our Marines on the ground." It isn't the only tactical UAV slated for testing during the second Gulf War. But the Fox has capabilities the other drones in its class lack. That task may change yet again, as more Silver Foxes are built. "If you could design a little weapon that weighs half a pound," the Office of Naval Research's Mittleman mused, the drone could become more than a mere observer. "The Silver Fox could become a robotic fighter, dealing pain from 500 feet."Discovery Channel reports that eight Silver Foxes currently are receiving heavy use on the battlefield, and none has been shot down yet. While Senator John McCain (Arizona)" stated that "ninety Silver Fox systems were deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom with great success." [Click HERE for videos on the most recent Silver Fox (SWARM) flight tests in Arizona.] Discussion REGI’s first press release dated May 11, 1994 opens up with enthusiasm to have a product with which they can tap into an annual $20 Billion market and plans to align the U.S. Department of Defense as their firstcustomer:
"We believe that Mr. X’s extensive expertise in government relations and advanced technologies marketing will be a valuable asset to marketing the Rand Cam™ projects and raising substantial funds for REGI U.S., Inc." "We are currently making presentations to the U.S. military which could result in additional government funding if the diesel engine prototype meets with its approval." Now lets consider some of the products REGI's experienced military contract negotiator handle and their targeted markets: Machine Vision Technology (MVT). The "Sister Companies" own the Canadian rights to MVT. This system is currently under development by the Carnegie Mellon University (experts in artificial intelligence). The MVT device records images by their spectral "signature" and is used in various industrial and medical applications. Examples include: electronic component analysis, signature identification, optical character recognition, handwriting recognition, object recognition, pattern recognition, materials inspection, currency inspection and medical image analysis. But they have an ongoing project to adapt it for warfare purposes: When on board an airborne vehicle, it allows for highly selective discrimination among objects or targets of nearly identical spatial or even spectral signatures. Its inventors call it "Intelligent Transportation System". The system is far more complex than GPS-guided missile technology and it reportedly holds great promise for military applications because it can discern between nearby friendly and enemy vehicles even when camouflaged. A simulated battlefield scene was set where they placed tanks of the same color, but their armor had different spectral signatures. A background consisting of other tanks, vegetation, sand and water was used in testing the device. The suppression algorithm was able to tell the difference between tanks and therefore, identify enemy tanks. It is beyond question that the WT's "Sister Companies" own a limited sublicense to market and distribute Machine Vision Technology in Canada and, although this system is being tested for the military, it was NOT evident to this researcher whether this technology has been sold and/or used for "smart bombs" manufacture by any nation. Nevertheless, REGI's original plan was well specified, as their firstnews release in May 1994 declared: "U.S. Reg Technologies, Inc. plans to license Hercules, Inc. for Department of Defense applications in consideration for the development and commercialization of the Rand Cam™ Diesel Engine, and other benefits to Reg Technologies, Inc." Note that this accord with Hercules was not a partnership but an agreement. Then in 1995, Hercules Aerospace Company merged with Alliant TechSystems Inc. Alliant completed the drawings on the Diesel Engine under a contract signed with REGI US Inc. The designs and drawings were paid and no royalties are to be to be paid to Alliant. It is remarkable that Watchtower’s "Sister Companies" have signed several agreements with various companies focused on warfare technology confirming once again REGI's targeted market; Just consider some of REGI’s manufacturing clients:
Two of his accepted requests are: SWARM UAV Program: $5 million above the president’s request for these lightweight, low cost and expendable UAVs for ship perimeter defense, marine mammal detection, submarine detection, and tactical support for ground troops and special operations forces developed at Advanced Ceramics Research in Tucson. UAV Facility: Accelerates from 2005 to 2003 this valuable Ft. Huachuca project to construct buildings for instruction, flight operations, and maintenance of UAVs, valued at $10.4 million.Other political suporters of the Silver Fox are Senator John McCain (Arizona) who during a press release on May 23, 2003 estated that "90 Silver Fox systems were deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom with great success." and that "Additional resources should be afforded to the unmanned aerial vehicle programs." Also in May 9th 2003, Senator John Warner (Virginia), Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, declared that his subcomitee authorized a 25% increase in unmanned systems and added $135.0 million to rapidly accelerate the development and acquisition of unmanned systems including $8.0 million annually for the Silver Fox. Royalties This is the escense of the contract signed between REGI and Advanced Ceramics (ACR): "We agreed that a 5 year contract will also be granted to ACR for the Rand Cam concept motors for the commercial and military rights for the applications developed under the Navy contract for 10 H.P or less. [...] We will receive a royalty fee of 5% of the purchase price for the commercial and Navy applications".How much money does this mean? Lets see: "The $500,000 SBIR grant funding the local UAV project will pay off for the Navy, as well as for Advanced Ceramics. "Orders booked in the first quarter are nearly $8 million," Mulligan said. "In less than a year it has really grown to be quite a business." "In its current prototype phase the handcrafted fiberglass and foam Silver Fox units run about $20,000 each. With injection-molded components and ramped-up production, the price should drop to about $ 5,000 by 2003, and fall to below $2,000 by 2004. Starting in 2004, 10,000 Silver Fox (SWARM) planes will be produced annually." This means sales totaling about $20 million dollars annually for warfare royalty payments of $1,000,000 to REGI U.S. and to the Watchtower. And this is in addition to the royalty payments from military manufacturer RADIAN: "Radian will pay Reg a six (6) percent royalty on the sales of engines, parts and service utilizing Rand Cam Technology used in UAV's, including 6% of all funding received from the Government and Military sources to develop and manufacture the Rand Cam technology." The WT Society may not have asked for its donated shares, but has retained ownership nonetheless, and while the Donor retains voting privileges, the WT Society gets the direct financial benefit (and probably, tax exemptions as a religious organization). In the following scanned letter, the WT declines ownership of the Sister Companies and state that "The Watchtower Society was erroneously listed as a stockholder..." (The introductory paragraph was removed in order to protect the recipient's identity).
As Randall Watters once wrote: "The Watchtower Society seems unique in that it denounces investments in the old system and its journal Awake! for many years claimed that it was 'free' to publish 'truth' because of being "unfettered" by commercial interests. In times past, the Society has even forced branches to divest interests in various profit-making investments. After which, they even held Conventions where they read a resolution apologizing to Jehovah for their 'sin' and publicly repented of this 'unclean' act before all onlookers. Now let’s think about this for a minute: 5,371,000 shares valued at $0.437 per share equals $2,347,127 in stock ownership. This is just one company we know about. But, the interesting situation is that the Watchtower Society owns 50% in the US corporation as reported, even if not a 'majority' interest. Is this not a clear powerful position to influence company policy? Even if the British Columbia company holds the major role, would not a powerful voting block such as this, at least help 'influence' the actions of what the company builds and sells? And even though the voting is by proxy, it is done by the person who donated the stock to the Society. Therefore, would not his votes reflect sympathy and loyalty to the Watchtower Society teachings, policies, and beliefs unique to Jehovah's Witnesses?" It is pathetic that the WT leaders reserve themselves the right to seek profit in this manner and at the same time they hold to being "conscientious objectors". Clearly, the WT’s risk of being involved in warfare technology transactions has been superseded by the greed of tapping in the reportedly $20 billion in annual sales market. This previously secret WT’s economic venture exhibits a rawness of ambition, optimism, overconfidence and greed unlike anything imagined by its unsuspecting members. How could the Governing Body justify - even to themselves - profits from such stock dividends? Patriotism aside, during this times of war, the WT Society held stocks on the "Sister Companies" and, while they are still not a huge success within the Department of Defense, it is a clear double standard and fits in with being grossly hypocritical with its own doctrine and its honest members. That is the issue. The first casualty of war is The Truth. |
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Credit watchtowerinformationservice.
http://www.watchtowerinformationservice.org/?p=165&cp=4
End of the World Near? Watchtower Builds Luxury Properties
June 24th, 2005 | Posted in: , Watchtower & Money | Keywords: Jehovah , Watchtower Society , Bethel | 97 Comments
Jehovah Witnesses Live in a Conflicting Environment
(I-Newswire) - For over 125 years the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society has been proclaiming the end of the world is nigh. It is to be replaced with a New Order where only those espousing their beliefs will live.
Yet the Watchtower Society continued to build in Brooklyn, expanding their smaller headquarters to contain several large properties in the exclusive Brooklyn Heights section next to the Brooklyn Bridge. In spite of several failed prophecies for the end of the world, the last disappointment being the year 1975, the Watchtower is a multi-billion dollar landowner all over the world. Income from their New York City corporation ( one of many they own ) is one of the top 40 in New York City, with just under $1 billion per year.
Not content with owning large blocks of properties and a 30-story residential building in Brooklyn, the Watchtower Society is planning to build a large 20+ story complex in DUMBO ( Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass ), a trendy neighborhood that is not happy with their plans.
A watchdog organization called 85 Jay Street.org was formed to oppose this major influx of non-taxpaying residents, who want the project scaled down and altered to at least reflect part of the local community instead of having another huge religious dormitory like the large factory and residential buildings already dominating Brooklyn Heights.
Why So Much Construction When the End is Near?
Currently Jehovah’s Witnesses are attending summer conventions all over the world, and part of the scripted assembly program is focused on this “time of the end” we are living in. One play drama focuses on not worrying so much about getting a higher education because the “end is near.”
Why are so many buildings being erected when the numbers are down and Witnesses are apathetic about pressure to do more?
It could be an advance move to make sure their are enough funds to cover the ongoing litigation over child abuse scandals now mounting.
The large payouts the Catholic Church has made in the last few years over pedophile priests and those who cover them up has Watchtower attorneys worried for similar reasons. This is largely due to a “biblical dictate” that says in order to take action against any allegations of sexual misconduct or pedophilia there must be “two witnesses” to the alleged crime. Since that is rarely the case in the real world with pedophiles, large numbers of them have been left unpunished and go unreported, even though the elders and the leaders of the Watchtower Society often have knowledge of such allegations, and in fact have covered over many confessions of sex abusers - not wanting adverse publicity on their organization. This “ecclesiastical privilege” means that the Witness coming to your door to talk about the Bible may in fact be a known pedophile among his elders but has never been prosecuted by the sect OR the law, and they are out there talking to your children.
The law firm of Love and Norris is currently seeking prosecution for several such cases among the Witnesses, hoping to build a class-action suit that will force the Watchtower to change its policies ( they are still holding to the “two witnesses” rule ). The Watchtower Society is building all of their new properties to be easily converted into luxury apartments should the need arise. They already have several large properties up for sale in this multimillion dollar neighborhood. Buy low and sell high! But if the end is near, Why?
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Stealing From The Collection Plate
http://www.watchtowernews.org/tacoma.jpg
Nevada-