What is really Babylon the great?

by Halcon in

for believers of god and christ, it seems that it should be obvious that babylon the great of revelation should be all religions and spiritual practices associated with the one true enemy of christ...the devil, satan, the snake etc.

essentially any group or individual practicing and promoting witchcraft, sorcery, devil worshipping etc.

all things practiced in ancient babylon (the nation presumably used as the model for the one in revelation).. or is this too simple of an explanation?.

Balaamsass2

A fever dream of an old man on a prison island. No second witness to any of his prophetic dreams. Per Watchtower..never happened.

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Trump Tariffs started today, Some Countries Caved in early morning.

by liam in

usa politicians in charge of the economy for the past 50 years were too stupid to understand how the economy works.

this just proves my theory, that an education on the top tier universities just sucks and means nothing in the real world, unless its in the stem education.

for 50 years usa had zero tariffs on other countries.

Balaamsass2

Looks like another predictably unpredictable week.

Gold has been reaching new highs. I have to chuckle when I think back to our old next-door neighbor, the cheerful garbage man. He got off work early afternoons everyday. He would change, put his metal detector over his shoulder, and take his two noisy mutts for a walk for a couple of hours. He always waved and had a big smile. He always lived below his means and slowly remodeled his mid-century modern house. Over a beer one afternoon he showed me the results of his dog walking.. a mason jar of gold nuggets worth thousands. The result of his methodical metal detecting every day while walking the dogs. lol No white knuckles, no brokerage fees, taxes, or management fees. :)

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Trump Tariffs started today, Some Countries Caved in early morning.

by liam in

usa politicians in charge of the economy for the past 50 years were too stupid to understand how the economy works.

this just proves my theory, that an education on the top tier universities just sucks and means nothing in the real world, unless its in the stem education.

for 50 years usa had zero tariffs on other countries.

Balaamsass2

4/11/25 lunch update.

"

Consumer Sentiment Plunges on Recession Fears; China Hits Back Again on Tariffs

Gold prices scale new highs, while Treasury selloff extends

Last Updated:

April 11, 2025 at 12:02 PM EDT

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-trump-tariffs-trade-war-04-11-25

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Trump Tariffs started today, Some Countries Caved in early morning.

by liam in

usa politicians in charge of the economy for the past 50 years were too stupid to understand how the economy works.

this just proves my theory, that an education on the top tier universities just sucks and means nothing in the real world, unless its in the stem education.

for 50 years usa had zero tariffs on other countries.

Balaamsass2

4/10/2025. Markets are swinging back and forth, hanging on Trump's every tweet and press release. Oh well, the WSJ has a story on Navarro that might give some insight into the decision-making process. : "

"Trump’s Tariff Man Peter Navarro Is Down but Not Out

Musk calls trade hawk a ‘moron,’ but president values his loyalty and hard-line stances"

"WASHINGTON—Wall Street loathes him. His policy prescriptions give Republican lawmakers heartburn. Elon Musk thinks he’s a moron.

And after President Trump paused many new tariffs on Wednesday, the man he calls “my Peter” may be down. But he’s not out.

Apart from Trump, no one is more associated with the tariffs rocking the globe than Peter Navarro, the scrappy trade hawk who helped design the much-maligned formula for Trump’s reciprocal levies. He has Trump’s ear and his loyalty: As the president privately reminded a group in the Oval Office recently, Navarro went to jail for him.

Navarro, 75 years old, has been an unflagging influence as markets convulse and recession fears grow, helping craft Trump’s tariff policy and protect it against moderating voices in the administration. A former college professor and California Democrat plucked from obscurity to advise the 2016 campaign on China, Navarro’s view has held sway with the president for years.

“Peter has endured because he believes the same things the president does—that America is a country worth saving, that the American worker is the finest in the world and that the globalists are both wrong and evil,” said Steve Bannon, the Trump ally and economic populist. Bannon called criticism of Navarro “really veiled attacks on President Trump.”

Navarro’s influence—and the limits of it—were on display in recent days. He had a central role in designing Trump’s reciprocal trade action, which hiked U.S. tariffs to levels not seen since before World War II, before being paused by Trump on Wednesday afternoon. That abrupt shift, effectively repudiating Navarro’s hard-line stance, sent stocks soaring and calmed nerves on Wall Street and in Washington."

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/peter-navarro-trump-tariffs-48dc0b74?st=YnAGEz&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

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Trump Tariffs started today, Some Countries Caved in early morning.

by liam in

usa politicians in charge of the economy for the past 50 years were too stupid to understand how the economy works.

this just proves my theory, that an education on the top tier universities just sucks and means nothing in the real world, unless its in the stem education.

for 50 years usa had zero tariffs on other countries.

Balaamsass2

Well, another day, another tweet. 4/8 4:00 pm EST. The market is UP. lol!

Scratching my thinning gray hair...Who IS Trump listening to? It appears that College Professor Peter Navarro is that person, so I plan on reading more about him and watching his documentary about China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Navarro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMlmjXtnIXI

3

Our (JW) genetic mutation

by Jalisco in

the spiritual dna of our faith was "protestant" for over 100 years, until 1985, after which it changed to a catholic sense.

for example, for decades we were presented with the example of the bereans who "were more noble-minded than those of thessalonica" because they went to see in the scriptures if what paul preached to them was really like that.

and then a second to the bereans?

Balaamsass2

Ah...I remember the changes...too well. Bethel went on a witch hunt. Anyone who knew or spent any time with Ray Franz was under a microscope and subject to the inquisition...including myself. I had "shared meals" with Ray and Cynthia in their room! The baptism changes made me choke...they smacked of creature worship.

It was like a fever in California when the Time magazine story hit the news stands.

"

Religion: Witness Under Prosecution

6 minute read

Richard N. Ostling

February 22, 1982 12:00 AM EST

A secretive and apocalyptic sect shuns a former leader

For 40 years Raymond Franz devoted his whole being to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The religion responded by raising him to the very top, as a member of its worldwide Governing Body. But it was a difficult period for the leadership. In 1975 the sect faced a debacle: the present world did not vanish as Witness publications had all but guaranteed. In a faith in which doubt is not tolerated, questions inevitably arose in the minds of some believers. Gradually Franz began to question other teachings, and now, in a downfall as dramatic as an excommunication within the College of Cardinals, he has been ostracized, or as the Witnesses say, “disfellowshipped.” The result is that the former leader is being shunned by almost everyone he has ever worked with, cut off from all relatives except his wife, and denied any hope of eternal life.

Officials of the Watch Tower Society, as the religious organization of 2,257,000 followers is formally known, refused all comment on the unprecedented case. But Franz, 59, reluctantly agreed to break his silence and explain to TIME the accusations against him. In doing so, he provides a rare glimpse inside the secretive headquarters of the tightly organized faith.

Franz is a third-generation Witness. His uncle, Frederick W. Franz, 88, has been the religion’s top ideologue for decades and, since 1977, its head. Raymond Franz began full-time work for the sect as soon as he finished high school. He suffered penury during 20 years as a missionary in the Caribbean, became a trusted writer of official publications, and joined the 17-member Governing Body in 1971.

Known to outsiders for their persistent door-to-door proselytizing, Jehovah’s Witnesses exist within what Franz calls a “hermetically sealed” community; every doctrinal blip or scintilla of sin is closely monitored. Nowhere is this more true than at Bethel, the sect’s Brooklyn headquarters. By Franz’s account, reading or studying of the Bible is considered “evil” unless conducted in authorized discussions following Watch Tower doctrinal guides, lest staffers veer into error.

Because of his own work as an author of an official volume about the Bible and a growing feeling that Watch Tower discipline was too harsh, Franz privately concluded that the religion emphasized human organization rather than biblical teachings. Says he: “While producing people who were outwardly moral, they subverted the essential qualities of humility, compassion and mercy.”

Franz never hinted at his uncertainties as he delivered speeches in 50 nations through the 1970s. But to ease his internal strain, he took a leave of absence from his Bethel duties early in 1980. Meanwhile, the Governing Body had begun a secret investigation of heresy rumors, and it used star-chamber tactics. Initially there were no direct confrontations. Instead, staff members were allegedly threatened with disfellowshipping to get their testimony about doctrinal discussions with others. On May 21, Franz was summoned to Brooklyn for a fateful grilling by his Governing Body colleagues. Did he doubt that Jehovah had only one chosen organization? Did he question the official End-times chronology? Franz sought to avoid confrontation but could “only bend so far.” It was not enough. Opponents were unable to get a two-thirds majority for his disfellowshipping on the spot, but he was forced to resign from Bethel. In all, about a dozen officials were purged, almost certainly the worst doctrinal crisis Watch Tower headquarters has ever faced.

But the pursuit of Franz was not over. As a refugee from Bethel and his life’s work, he found himself with few marketable skills, a $10,000 settlement from headquarters and $600 in personal savings. He turned to an old friend in the faith, Peter Gregerson of Gadsden, Ala., who runs a regional supermarket chain. Gregerson loaned Franz and his wife a house trailer to live in and gave him work as a handyman. By 1981 Gregerson too had begun to question Watch Tower dogma and resigned from the faith.

Six months later, the official Watchtower newspaper announced that the policy of shunning disfellowshipped Witnesses included shunning those like Gregerson who were “disassociated.” Not long afterward, Franz was seen in a restaurant eating a meal with his benefactor Gregerson. That single sighting provided the technical infraction for which Franz was finally disfellowshipped by the Gadsden leaders two months ago. “By one stroke they eliminated all my years of service,” says Franz. “I frankly do not believe there is another organization more insistent on 100% conformity.”

From the leaders’ viewpoint, however, it was obviously imperative to strike at Franz and the others. The dissenters’ Luther-like emphasis upon “Scripture alone” rather than official interpretation was only one threat to the foundations of the religion. Many other central Watch Tower doctrines were also at stake.

For one, Witnesses believe that only 144,000 of the faithful (a number taken from Revelation 14: 1-3) will be “born again” and go to heaven. The faith’s rulers, among whom Raymond Franz was once numbered, come from this elite. The “other sheep” who are loyal to the Watch Tower are promised an earthly paradise. Jehovah will shortly annihilate the rest of the human race. The dissenters reject this class system. They contend that the figure of 144,000 is symbolic and that all believers since Christ’s day will go to heaven.

The Witnesses also teach that the Second Coming occurred secretly in 1914, a date reached by complex historical and biblical rationales; the end of the world system must occur during the present generation (an interpretation of Luke 21: 32: “This generation will not pass away till all has taken place”). The dissidents have come to believe that Christ’s kingdom and the “last days” were inaugurated at about A.D. 33, and that Christ’s Second Coming is a future event.

The dissenters, in other words, have moved toward conventional Christianity, except for continuing to reject Christ’s divinity. For his part, Franz has not become a bitter Watch Tower antagonist. “There is no life outside the organization” is all he will say about the pain of his shunning. But other ex-Witnesses have launched a barrage of protests, publications and lawsuits. These dissidents contend that roughly 1 million people have left the Watch Tower ranks over the past decade. The Witnesses report that they are still growing, thanks to nonstop recruiting. Still, that success may not go on for long. They have necessarily backed off the 1975 date, but the End must occur during the lifetime of people who still remember the earthly events of 1914. With the rapidly thinning ranks of such oldsters, the Witnesses confront an increasingly troublesome, self-imposed and absolute deadline. —By Richard N. Ostling. Reported by Anne Constable/Atlanta"

https://time.com/archive/6856641/religion-witness-under-prosecution/

14

Narcissist challenges culture ingrained with the concept of “saving face” to perform humiliating retreat

by slimboyfat in

oh yeah, this is going to end well.

hold on to your seats, folks, we’re on the front row of history for, as the chinese might say, “interesting times”.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8rgkkl7v8lo.

Balaamsass2

""Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

So since we have no control of world macro-economics, what can we do individually to prosper?

During prohibition my 2 grandfathers took took different paths...with different results.

My paternal grandfather, left the farm for a secure government job, and became a Nashville cop.

He retired to a small rural house and rode out the 1930s storm.

My other Grandfather built a still, and made a small fortune during prohibition on weekends. He paid cash for his home, and bought a rental for cash as well.

He wasted no time reading the news....he couldn't read. When prohibition ended, he rolled all profits into a farm outside of Stanford U. "kids got to eat". He lived very well from selling food, and chucks of farmland for the rest of his life.

In the little time left on this planet (for me) I am interested on how to profit from all the current turmoil. :)

Any ideas?

95

Trump Tariffs started today, Some Countries Caved in early morning.

by liam in

usa politicians in charge of the economy for the past 50 years were too stupid to understand how the economy works.

this just proves my theory, that an education on the top tier universities just sucks and means nothing in the real world, unless its in the stem education.

for 50 years usa had zero tariffs on other countries.

Balaamsass2

""Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - George Santayana. "

"The Tariff Act of 1930, also known as the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, was a protectionist trade measure signed into law in the United States by President Herbert Hoover on June 17, 1930. Named after its chief congressional sponsors, Senator Reed Smoot and Representative Willis C. Hawley, the act raised tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods in an effort to shield American industries from foreign competition during the onset of the Great Depression, which had started in October 1929.[1]

Hoover signed the bill against the advice of many senior economists, yielding to pressure from his party and business leaders. Intended to bolster domestic employment and manufacturing, the tariffs instead deepened the Depression because the U.S.'s trading partners retaliated with tariffs of their own, leading to U.S. exports and global trade plummeting. Economists and historians widely regard the act as a policy misstep, and it remains a cautionary example of protectionist policy in modern economic debates.[2] It was followed by more liberal trade agreements, such as the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot%E2%80%93Hawley_Tariff_Act

14

Narcissist challenges culture ingrained with the concept of “saving face” to perform humiliating retreat

by slimboyfat in

oh yeah, this is going to end well.

hold on to your seats, folks, we’re on the front row of history for, as the chinese might say, “interesting times”.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8rgkkl7v8lo.

Balaamsass2

The news has been a train wreck this year. I keep looking for historical parallels to get some insight, which is distressing. Ancient Rome and the first Ceasars? Nero? 1930s USA, isolationists, protectionisim and the rise of fascisim? It is perplexing.

A few minutes ago Trump announced South Korea was flying in to cut a deal and the Markets rebounded on just the chance of good news.

The one ray of hope is Trump's desire to be worshiped by his working class followers and be buddies with fellow billionaires and captains of industry. All these multi-millionaires understand business and markets and want to make MORE money...and will kiss butt if needed.

The Chinese? They have always had periods of revolt and revolution and eventually will need to bow to internal economic pressures. I simply hope they don't react to tariffs the way the Japanese did in the 1930s and start a war.

Fingers crossed, while tightening our belts.....

9