darkspilver

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Posts by darkspilver

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  22

  Chairman of the St Petersburg-based Administrative Centre of JWs issues press release - Forum 18

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  according to the latest forum 18 article, this is what happened in russia on march 15:.

  http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2265.

  with immediate effect, a 15 march suspension order forbids the administrative centre and all its local religious organisations from "using state and municipal news media, organising and conducting assemblies, rallies, demonstrations, processions, picketing, and other mass actions or public events, and using bank deposits, with the exception of use for making payments connected with their economic activity, compensating for losses (damages) caused by their actions, and paying taxes, fees, or fines, and making payments based on labour contracts" .

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  darkspilver

  heehee...you are so cute.

  thanks
  

  I did wonder about the amount of postage and stepped back to see the bigger picture... and it's a massive picture.... and I think the WT is perhaps getting too much credit.
  

  For some context....
  

  If you say US JWs alone send 6 million letters in total spread over seven days?

  But the US Postal Service says it actually processes and delivers 500 MILLION pieces of mail EACH day

  6 million of (500 million x 7 days) = is that less than 0.25% of all post that would be WT generated? - yes?

  In delivery logistics, the most time consuming part is the so-called 'last-mile' - that's not a big issue for the WT letters, because they're really all going to the same place (ok, six places, but not 6 million different places)
  

  https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-facts/one-day-by-the-numbers.htm

  In the UK, competitors to the UK's Royal Mail fall down with the logisitics of the 'last-mile' - that's the final part of the route to the actual door of the address (ie the door-to-door postal deliveries).

  I'm not saying there will be a bit of congestion, but not on the scale some seem to be talking up, not on the above numbers.

  I suspect also for political reasons (?) the Russian Post will publically minimise any perceived problems they might be having.
  

  I don't have time, but for those interested also check out the Universal Postal Union - it deals with international post - and deals with 'terminal dues' - the amount of money the Russian Post will take from the postage being paid worldwide.

  http://www.upu.int/en/activities/terminal-dues-and-transit-charges/about-terminal-dues-and-transit-charges.html
  
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  17

  How much $$$$ will have been spent on the letter writing campaign to Russia?

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been following the jw chatter online about the letter writing that has been furiously undertaken by the jws around the world.

  a global effort done on the command of the gb in ny.. several jws have mentioned the cost of mailing letters (and packages of letters, where allowed) to russia and the cost is substantial.

  some jws have mailed dozens of letters.. the jw boast is that the russian postal system will be overwhelmed with letters.

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  darkspilver

  Oh boy, I've completely screwed up - mea culpa - suppose I can only blame it on being a Friday afternoon of a busy week
  

  1 million publishers x 6 letters at $1.15 each = US $6.9 million

  sorry 'bout that
  
  

  sparky1: dig a little deeper into the USPS site. Richard Oliver is correct about the cost of sending a basic first class letter,as far as I can determine.
  

  Cool, thanks - have done:

  https://postcalc.usps.com/Calculator/MailServices?country=10369&ccode=RU&omil=False&dmil=False&mdt=3%2F31%2F2017&m=1&dvi=0&o=.2
  
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  17

  How much $$$$ will have been spent on the letter writing campaign to Russia?

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been following the jw chatter online about the letter writing that has been furiously undertaken by the jws around the world.

  a global effort done on the command of the gb in ny.. several jws have mentioned the cost of mailing letters (and packages of letters, where allowed) to russia and the cost is substantial.

  some jws have mailed dozens of letters.. the jw boast is that the russian postal system will be overwhelmed with letters.

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  darkspilver

  Richard Oliver: If sending from the US a letter to Russia costs $1.15.
  

  That seems cheap. Can you please recheck that postage cost?

  The USPS website indicates that $1.15 would be for a 6" x 4-1/4" POSTCARD only - ie NOT an evelope / letter

  https://postcalc.usps.com/Calculator/Postcard?country=10369&ccode=RU&omil=False&dmil=False&mdt=3%2F31%2F2017&m=8&dvi=0

  Richard Olivier: So if you figure 4 million people will actually send letters to all 6 officials that is 24 million letters

  That seems high, compared to previous data - but maybe the newly available online peer-to-peer encouragement has helped this time?
  

  https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/4823778158706688/_post/5688437753511936
  
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  17

  How much $$$$ will have been spent on the letter writing campaign to Russia?

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been following the jw chatter online about the letter writing that has been furiously undertaken by the jws around the world.

  a global effort done on the command of the gb in ny.. several jws have mentioned the cost of mailing letters (and packages of letters, where allowed) to russia and the cost is substantial.

  some jws have mailed dozens of letters.. the jw boast is that the russian postal system will be overwhelmed with letters.

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  darkspilver

  As always, your posts remind us that we don't all have the time to devote to scroll through and scan and every one of the threads as you do. Your commitment and devotion is much appreciated.

  Thank you, but I don't spend time - I just remember previous forum discussions that I've had - and then use the forum's ability to click/pick out individual member's posts - quite easy and quick, but I do realise other's are not so computer proficient / familiar
  
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  17

  How much $$$$ will have been spent on the letter writing campaign to Russia?

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been following the jw chatter online about the letter writing that has been furiously undertaken by the jws around the world.

  a global effort done on the command of the gb in ny.. several jws have mentioned the cost of mailing letters (and packages of letters, where allowed) to russia and the cost is substantial.

  some jws have mailed dozens of letters.. the jw boast is that the russian postal system will be overwhelmed with letters.

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  darkspilver

  Thank you for your interesting monetary observation regarding the letter writing campaign to Russia

  Using data that I've already previously posted on one of your other previous threads regarding the letter writing to campaign from a couple of days ago...
  

  https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/4823778158706688/_post/5688437753511936
  

  A calculated estimated guess is: 70 MILLION US DOLLARS
  

  
  UK £1.57 to post a letter weighing up to 60 grams, with max length of 24cm, max width of 16.5cm and max thickness of 0.5cm - equivalent US/imperial: $1.97 to post a letter weighing up to 2.1oz, with max length of 9.4inches, max width of 6.5inches and max thickness of 0.2inches
  
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  4

  24-year-old son MURDERS his JW father in broad daylight

  by darkspilver in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  friday 31 march 2017. a 24-year old man is accused of having killed his father in steinkjer thursday afternoon.. the murder happened in broad daylight in a quiet residential area of ​​steinkjer.

  several people witnessed what took place.

  his father died shortly after he was beaten with a blunt object.. according to the newspaper the deceased belonged to the steinkjer congregation of jehovah's witnesses, where he had been matron (an elder?).

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  darkspilver

  Friday 31 March 2017
  

  A 24-year old man is accused of having killed his father in Steinkjer Thursday afternoon.

  The murder happened in broad daylight in a quiet residential area of ​​Steinkjer. Several people witnessed what took place. His father died shortly after he was beaten with a blunt object.

  According to the newspaper the deceased belonged to the Steinkjer congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, where he had been matron (an elder?).
  

  Seems that, so far, only one source mentions JWs....
  

  Following are Google Translated (into English) links:
  

  http://www.framtidinord.no/ntb/innenriks/2017/03/31/Drapssiktet-fremstilles-for-varetekt-i-Steinkjer-14528768.ece

  http://www.innherred.no/nyheter/2017/03/30/Far-i-60-%C3%A5rene-d%C3%B8de-i-Steinkjer-14529836.ece

  http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/krim/steinkjer-drapet-drapssiktet-soenn-paagrepet-i-naboens-hage/a/23963572/

  http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/mann-24-siktet-for-a-ha-drept-faren-sin-i-steinkjer/67445413
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  17

  Are congregations in Spain suffering an increase in banking fees since Watchtower 'seized' their bank savings?

  by jwleaks in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  remember a few years ago watchtower literally 'siezed' all individual congregation bank savings around the world above what was needed to cover basic kingdom hall monthly expenses?

  a new march 30, 2017, boe letter has just gone out to congregations in spain, which, more or less, explains that congregations bank account funds no longer entitle congregations to reduced banking fees.

  (see copy of actual paragraph below.).

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  darkspilver

  Hecce; Odd that this letter was sent in English.
  

  As requested... here you go...
  

  30 de marzo de 2017 A LOS CUERPOS DE ANCIANOS, SUPERINTENDENTES DE CIRCUITO Y SIERVOS DE SALONES DE ASAMBLEAS QUE TIENEN CUENTA EN EL BBVA Asunto: Nuevo convenio con el BBVA para 2017

  with thanks to wifibandit
  
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  17

  Are congregations in Spain suffering an increase in banking fees since Watchtower 'seized' their bank savings?

  by jwleaks in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  remember a few years ago watchtower literally 'siezed' all individual congregation bank savings around the world above what was needed to cover basic kingdom hall monthly expenses?

  a new march 30, 2017, boe letter has just gone out to congregations in spain, which, more or less, explains that congregations bank account funds no longer entitle congregations to reduced banking fees.

  (see copy of actual paragraph below.).

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  darkspilver

  congregations keep a bigger balance

  but isn't 5,000 to 7,000 euros ALREADY a fairly big running cash balance to have in a non-interest bearing current account?
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  17

  Are congregations in Spain suffering an increase in banking fees since Watchtower 'seized' their bank savings?

  by jwleaks in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  remember a few years ago watchtower literally 'siezed' all individual congregation bank savings around the world above what was needed to cover basic kingdom hall monthly expenses?

  a new march 30, 2017, boe letter has just gone out to congregations in spain, which, more or less, explains that congregations bank account funds no longer entitle congregations to reduced banking fees.

  (see copy of actual paragraph below.).

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  darkspilver

  It looks interesting - but I'm not familiar with banking in Spain and it depends with what you are comparing it with.
  

  But a basic sniff around throws up the following which seems to be a TYPICAL observation:

  Bank charges in Spain are quite high and free banking is very rare. It's quite common to be charged for everything, including withdrawing money from ATMs. When using ATMs you need to check what the charges are as they vary between systems.

  http://www.idealspain.com/pages/finances/banks.htm

  Congregation accounts should still be running with a regular balance of around 5,000 to 7,000 Euros - which isn't bad - it is also unlikely they will 'default' and go overdrawn - they also probably have a lot less transactions going on than a typical personal account?
  

  So the next question is what do the congregations have to pay for - and how many payments do they make.
  

  I note that you have not included a copy of the attached banking agreement showing the costs (and ideally the previous agreement showing the previous costs)
  

  BTW there is also the following paragraph in the letter:

  A favorable aspect of the new agreement is that all the conditions included are centrally registered for all of our accounts. Until now, some of the conditions had to be recorded manually at one location and another. When this was not done, commissions were often charged outside the terms of the agreement, and then it was necessary to request the manual refunding of these. In many cases the refund was not possible or was only attained with great efforts. This same situation recurred again and again, until the conditions were registered permanently at all those locations. Now, as we indicate, the bank has confirmed that all the conditions of the agreement have been recorded in a centralized way for all our accounts. We believe that this technical advancement will avoid the greater part of the incidents.

  It seems that the individual banking branches are much more 'independently' run, even within the same company, than what might be expected in other countries.

  There is zero costs for transfering monies between WT entities - ie between congregations (for example to a KH Operating Account when a KH is shared) or sending contributions etc etc to Bethel.

  If there is a cost in paying bills (such as utility bills) then, if the congregation has funds, what is to stop them paying anually rather than quarterly?
  

  Also - as long as there is a robust audit trial (with two signatures on everything), what about using donated cash to pay bills - though the US S-27 says you shouldn't.

  Bank charges are interesting - Spain is one of the PIGS? -surely high bank charges ENCOURAGES residents to use a cash-based system? And a cash-based system is much more open to tax-avoidance issues - and I believe the BIG issue in Greece at the moment - to help stop tax avoidance - is the requirement that bank payments be made for paying wages, NOT cash.
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  5

  INNOCENT!! - JW walks free after 20 YEARS in jail

  by darkspilver in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after spending 20 years in jail for attempted murder in a compton shooting - this week marco contreras was declared factually innocent and released.. for now, he said, he was looking forward to two things: good mexican food and april 11. he’s a jehovah’s witness, and that’s the day his denomination will remember the anniversary of jesus’ death.. .

  question: how many witnesses to the crime where there?.

  contreras’ attorneys say an eyewitness inaccurately identified him as the gunman, although he’d been at home sleeping at the time.

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  darkspilver

  The forensic evidence which freed him would be of absolutely no use if he had been disfellowshipped.
  

  Can you explain what forensic evidence helped to free him please??

  I'm not familiar with this case - but the LA Times article makes NO reference to any forensic evidence - simply the piecing together of eye-witness testimony?

  There is no mention of 'forensic' blood matching, DNA testing, fragments of clothing, hair, shoe prints etc or any other forensic testing etc of material evidence found at the crime scene etc etc.