Are the GB Members Rich? (page 2)

AlanF

I hear tell that Albert Schroeder is loaded. Likely Jaracz is too, since he hobnobs mostly with very wealthy JWs.

AlanF

I'd agree with posters who said that when you can live for free, travel the world on someone else's money, and have people fawn all over you, you are in a sense rich, and maybe even better than rich - you are powerful,

Gerard

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.

According to the Director of the Watchtower Bible Organization, who was also a passenger on the airplane, they were taxiing back to the ramp after landing. The runway had just been graded and a small depression in the runway's surface was filled with soft material. The airplane's nose gear rolled into the depression and the nose gear collapsed.

The Director of the Watchtower Bible Organization stated that the soft area on the runway had been marked with yellow cones. He stated that the runway maintenance person told them the cones were removed so the runway surface could be graded. The cones had not been replaced.

There were no NOTAMS (Notice to Airmen) issued. The Alaska Supplement, however, states that runway conditions are not monitored and that a visual inspection is recommended. The supplement states that there are dips and ruts to 4 inches deep."

Cruise Speed: 210 kts Fuel Capacity: 102.00 gal Range: 1180 nautical miles.

Cessna 402B ( "B" stands for Business comfort & Luxury).

Tuntutuliak, Alaska is located 440 miles west of Anchorage with one well known activity: Salmon fishing.

Think of them having fun with their luxurious airplanes - bought with your time and contributions- next time you go out on the field.

Gamaliel

sandy,

The private jet in the post above speaks volumes.

It aggravated many brothers under Rutherford that he was so fussy about his own accommodations (he had several houses around the country, including a "small mansion" in San Diego). He also had the most expensive of cars for his use, the best liquor even during Prohibition, bodyguards, etc. I remember assemblies like Pasadena, 1963 where we actually saw people fainting and being taken to the infirmary in 110 degree heat. It reminds me now that Rutherford in the 30s and 40s was accused of staying in comfort and not even bothering to come out to give a scheduled talk if it was too hot (except for the main talk, which he always gave).

If I recall correctly, an "apostate" named Kent (for him you can do without the "quotes"), made a lot of noise over the fact that Milton Henschel stayed in luxury accommodations during one of his European Assembly tours.

Over the years, men like Suiter and Schroeder and Sydlik and Henschel and Jaracz have given the appearance of wanting to live a more luxurious life, but it wouldn't be fair to generalize the GB. It seems that over the years they have become more comfortable with luxuries offered to them, but there was a time when Booth and Swingle and Gangas and R.Franz and F.Franz and a few others never seemed the least bit interested in money or even in getting the best rooms at Bethel.

(Suiter brought in his own money I understand, and at least one other millionaire (non-GB) was working there in the 70's.)

Some of the treatment would come naturally out of JW appreciation, but there was strong evidence that people like Sydlik (just one example) chose his weekend travel-speaking assignments from among the highest bidders only. There was a lot of demand for them. I don't know this for sure about even Sydlik, but I mention his name because I heard him joke about it.

For a while, based on my having several years "pioneering+Bethel" seniority I was able to snag a corner suite of the Towers Hotel in Brooklyn, but had to share it with 3 other brothers. When the Hotel was completely refinished, the rest of the GB and other senior people moved us out and I think Lloyd Barry moved in with his wife. The room was large enough to have roomed 6 based on the standard room size at 124 Columbia Heights, the "Home Office".

I knew of one scandalous money story that I learned at Bethel, and I will tell it only because after Bethel I met an exJW, William Cetnar, who verified all the details, and had already written most of the story in his "apostate" book. In short, a very rich brother (multi-millionaire real estate agent) had pi**ed off some people in the Society, and he offered Knorr a brand new luxury car for an honorable position among the JWs, and threatened to work for the Dawn/Bible Students (the original Evil Slave according to Rutherford) if he wasn't given the position. Knorr accepted and this man's life experience was later printed in the Watchtower. (but without the shady parts.) I don't have any proof that Knorr accepted the car, but I can vouch for the fact that his life experience is in the Wt.

Gamaliel

Pork Chop

Dude, first of all it's not a jet, you might get your facts right. You obviously know nothing about Alaska, private planes are about as common for organizations of any size as private cars because of the enormous distances involved. The business about the "luxury" hotel in Malta is just a lot of populist nonsense. Find a real issue, there are plenty.

OUTLAW

Fried "pork chop"..LOL!..Quit pickin on the GB luxurious life style,"find a real issue"....Like What?.. How about a dumbass,who wants to argue whether the GB flys around in a luxurious jet or a luxurious plane?..Dimwit!..LOL!...OUTLAW

Room 215

Based on what I personally witnessed during the Knorr-F.Franz era, I would say that garybuss,farkel, rocketman and gamaliel have it about right. There are perks aplenty available to GB members and other prominent, senior Bethel staffers, and people like Henschel, Couch, Suiter, Sydlik and even Knorr to considerable extent, were particularly adept at gathering them in. In fairness, Freddie, despite his prestige, was oblivious to such blandishments.

Gamaliel

Pork chop, OUTLAW,

Actually, I should have been more careful. I should have looked more carefully at the picture to see it wasn't a jet. I also agree with the assessment that organizations can find planes to be more useful than cars in parts of Alaska. Whether this particular trip included fishing or not, I don't know. I do know absolutely that at least one GB member loved to go fishing in Canada, but what they do for their own pleasure and in their own leisure time should be of no concern to me. It was wrong of me to say it "speaks volumes." It would have been OK for me to say "I think" it speaks volumes, but I no longer even think that. As you (porkchop) implied, I let my knowledge of big problems at the WTS cloud my judgment of what I should have considered smaller matter.

Gamaliel

OUTLAW

Hey Gamaliel,you were spot on the fist time.You can get around Alaska with a vehicle just fine..All the WBTS talk about materialism,and these guys fly around in luxury planes on other peoples money? They`d roast anybody else over an open flame.. Let the bastards take a bus..Maybe pork chop can sit behind JR Brown and polish his head,LOL!.....OUTLAW

gcc2k

Sandy, you raise a good issue. A parallel issue which I raised in my other thread on the UN is "ok, so if they are crooks, where's the money going?" I don't think that the WT leadership can easily possess wealth, such as cars, planes, houses, etc, and if they are travelling someone somewhere must know.

I can tell you that it bothers me that a circuit assembly hall or KH is built using volunteer labor and donations, and when it becomes too small or outdated, is sold (at a large profit) and a new hall is built, using volunteer labor and donations. Add to this that (correct me if I am wrong) the Society self-finances the mortgage on the property, charging the brothers interest. I'm not sure if they hold title to the land or not. In the case of an assembly hall, I just read yesterday that the circuit is charged a fee per head for use of the hall. If anyone has hard proof of this I would like to see it.

Personally, since I have donated to the worldwide work, I don't see any reason, scriptural or otherwise, that I should not be able to walk into Brooklyn and ask to see their financial records for the last 10 years. Has anyone actually tried this?

Are the GB Members Rich?

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