Thanks Barb!
Balaamsass2
JoinedPosts by Balaamsass2
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16
The case from Denmark - setttled in The European Court
by AndersonsInfo inbeninu andersen.
denmark.
i am not aware of how many of you are familiar with the danish case of a jehovah's witness who was hospitalized after a tragic accident where he fell several floors from a scaffolding where he was working.. the patient was admitted to the intensive care unit and was conscious (albeit somewhat confused) for the first three weeks.
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Netflix Live Boxing Event
by moomanchu inwhen i was in the org it seemed most brothers were very much into football and other sports.
which looking back makes no sense and makes me wonder why?
it felt like an overcompensating to be masculine.. shouldn't football be deemed unchristian?
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Balaamsass2
Lol. I seem to remember some Watchtowers about competition and violence in sports and TV in the 1980s. I ignored them. Wife #1 the "pioneer" didn't forget and accused me on being "a man of violence" while I was watching the 49ers in a football play-off one weekend, caped with an old John Wayne movie! She stomped out of the house. Evidently, it was to complain to an elder neighbor 2 blocks away. When she got there, the entire family and another elder were watching the same things! lol. ( the family recounted the story to me years later). :)
Church Lady on Football: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgMkBNWuquo&list=PLuiwnTWuEF8P4sjlF94Ip9ZkXeYHpW4Nd&index=3
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2024 year Highlights: JWs hit 9 million Publishers
by Sanchy inwatchtower put out some highlights for the 2024 service year:.
average publishers: 8,828,124. peak publishers: 9,043,460. a 43.2 percent increase in "those who returned to jehovah", meaning 65,816 were reinstated.
baptized: 296,267. memorial attendance: 21,119,442. missing stat: number of partakers .. womp womp.
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Balaamsass2
Watchtower lies about dates and "prophecy". They lie about Child and senior abuse. They lie about financial statements at conventions. They lie on their tax returns. They lie in court. It is considered "Theocratic strategy". Why should anyone believe their membership numbers?
A "new" congregation in the third world can mean 30 people set up benches under a tree, and follow whatever the only local semi-literate male tells them.
Religion is a snare and a racket.
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121
PRESIDENTIAL predictions...let the prognosticators have their say!
by Terry inmy only prowess in making predictions stems from my 77-years of life in the united statesgrowing up under president truman, eisenhower, kennedy, nixon, .....etc.
etc.i was a widdle kid sitting in front of a tiny black and white tv set when the very first broadcastsof political conventions, deal-making, debates (nixon vs kennedy), assassinations (jfk, rfk, martin luther king, etc.
) i grew up with duck and cover under my elementary schooldesk, the cold war, the iron curtain, the korean war, the vietnam war and i went to federal prisonas a jw conscientious objector while hippies, flower children, political activists protested and universitystudents were fired up on by troops.i grew up reading newspapers (2 of them).
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Balaamsass2
I expected the election to be a coin toss. I am surprised that such flawed candidates are chosen out of hundreds of millions of people. The propensity of humans to need "cults", gurus, sky daddies, and strong men astounds and worries me.
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PRESIDENTIAL predictions...let the prognosticators have their say!
by Terry inmy only prowess in making predictions stems from my 77-years of life in the united statesgrowing up under president truman, eisenhower, kennedy, nixon, .....etc.
etc.i was a widdle kid sitting in front of a tiny black and white tv set when the very first broadcastsof political conventions, deal-making, debates (nixon vs kennedy), assassinations (jfk, rfk, martin luther king, etc.
) i grew up with duck and cover under my elementary schooldesk, the cold war, the iron curtain, the korean war, the vietnam war and i went to federal prisonas a jw conscientious objector while hippies, flower children, political activists protested and universitystudents were fired up on by troops.i grew up reading newspapers (2 of them).
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Balaamsass2
I am a bit surprised by the sweeping results in most National and State results.
However if you are a working class family that hasn't had a major pay raise in the last 4 years, paying 28% more for your weekly groceries may explain the results. Working class people without college degrees are the majority in the USA.
One lady interviewed leaving the polling station said "I like Beyonce, but she doesn't pay for my groceries".
This morning's WSJ take: " The education gap grew. Those without a college degree moved rightward, according to the data. Harris won college-educated voters by 16 percentage points on Tuesday, while Trump won those without a college degree by nine points, according to VoteCast. That is a difference of 25 percentage points. Back in 2020, Biden won college-educated voters by 16 points—the same as Harris—but Trump won those without a degree by only 4 points—for a difference of 20 points.
The nation’s political divide around educational attainment has been growing for years and these results suggest it isn’t likely to stop soon.
The GOP also made big gains with nonwhite voters. Among Black voters, Trump saw his share of the vote grow to 15%, compared with 8% in 2020, according to AP VoteCast. There was a similar jump with Hispanics. On Tuesday, Trump won 41% of the Hispanic vote, 6 points higher than in 2020.
The biggest increase came from Black people who didn’t have a college degree.
In addition, Trump yet again rallied more rural white voters, helping him run up margins in a number of states. In 2016 and 2020, critics were skeptical that Trump could find enough voters in rural counties to compete with all the votes coming out of big urban centers, but he did it again on Tuesday." https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/election-results-2024-takeaways-7fbd81f1?st=mKfEXg&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
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121
PRESIDENTIAL predictions...let the prognosticators have their say!
by Terry inmy only prowess in making predictions stems from my 77-years of life in the united statesgrowing up under president truman, eisenhower, kennedy, nixon, .....etc.
etc.i was a widdle kid sitting in front of a tiny black and white tv set when the very first broadcastsof political conventions, deal-making, debates (nixon vs kennedy), assassinations (jfk, rfk, martin luther king, etc.
) i grew up with duck and cover under my elementary schooldesk, the cold war, the iron curtain, the korean war, the vietnam war and i went to federal prisonas a jw conscientious objector while hippies, flower children, political activists protested and universitystudents were fired up on by troops.i grew up reading newspapers (2 of them).
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Balaamsass2
As an "independent"(like 30% of the USA) I am unimpressed by most candidates on the ballot. The Presidential race is very tight tonight. The independent voters, especially women will probably decide the winner in the key states.
VERY few political signs out in my town tonight. This California County voted Trump in two past elections. There has been political violence and lots of threats in the past elections. A number of local poll workers and county election workers have quit this year due to threats. The local Militias have invited the "Proud Boys" from other areas here in the past, and I imagine they will again this week. Interesting read in the Journal today (unlocked below).. https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/the-proud-boys-have-regrouped-and-are-signaling-election-plans-de7a1f45?st=VHrLeT&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
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121
PRESIDENTIAL predictions...let the prognosticators have their say!
by Terry inmy only prowess in making predictions stems from my 77-years of life in the united statesgrowing up under president truman, eisenhower, kennedy, nixon, .....etc.
etc.i was a widdle kid sitting in front of a tiny black and white tv set when the very first broadcastsof political conventions, deal-making, debates (nixon vs kennedy), assassinations (jfk, rfk, martin luther king, etc.
) i grew up with duck and cover under my elementary schooldesk, the cold war, the iron curtain, the korean war, the vietnam war and i went to federal prisonas a jw conscientious objector while hippies, flower children, political activists protested and universitystudents were fired up on by troops.i grew up reading newspapers (2 of them).
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Balaamsass2
It is a coin toss.
We are still rebuilding after giving 50+ years of our lives to a cult. I now can see many different types of cults all around us, and people eager to do obeisance to religions, imaginary "sky daddies", ideologies, and politicians.
In the last few weeks I watched Ridley Scott's "Napoleon", and documentaries about the 100 year wars, the English Civil War, and1930s Germany. Sadly, history just keeps repeating itself. :(
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10/31 New York Times, "They’re Giving Scammers All Their Money. The Kids Can’t Stop Them." Has Watchtower scammed your family?
by Balaamsass2 inthe seniors in our family were scammed by watchtower, for over 7 figures.
an interesting read today to give some insight.. one of the most egregious con-artists is watchtower bible and tract society the “legal” entity for jehovah’s witnesses.
many retired jehovah’s witnesses have been targeted over the years to “loan” money for various “special projects” to further the “preaching work”, only to find they are never to be repaid.
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Balaamsass2
D O C Yes, Watchtower's only fulfilled "prophecy". The Truth about the Truth. :)
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10/31 New York Times, "They’re Giving Scammers All Their Money. The Kids Can’t Stop Them." Has Watchtower scammed your family?
by Balaamsass2 inthe seniors in our family were scammed by watchtower, for over 7 figures.
an interesting read today to give some insight.. one of the most egregious con-artists is watchtower bible and tract society the “legal” entity for jehovah’s witnesses.
many retired jehovah’s witnesses have been targeted over the years to “loan” money for various “special projects” to further the “preaching work”, only to find they are never to be repaid.
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Balaamsass2
SBF "Too many people think they’re entitled to their parents’ money, and get very annoyed if they start spending it instead".
Having a punk kid from Bethel tell me to "Put her on Welfare" is what was "annoying" to me. I did remind HQ "the bible commands followers over 70 times to care for widows and orphans".
In this widows' case, after being the recipient of more than a million dollars, Watchtower left her PENYLESS, and unable to afford basic dental care. She moved in with us for some time and we paid her expenses. Eventually we had to take out an equity line to pay her increasing expenses.
I have seen this occur to other families.
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10/31 New York Times, "They’re Giving Scammers All Their Money. The Kids Can’t Stop Them." Has Watchtower scammed your family?
by Balaamsass2 inthe seniors in our family were scammed by watchtower, for over 7 figures.
an interesting read today to give some insight.. one of the most egregious con-artists is watchtower bible and tract society the “legal” entity for jehovah’s witnesses.
many retired jehovah’s witnesses have been targeted over the years to “loan” money for various “special projects” to further the “preaching work”, only to find they are never to be repaid.
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Balaamsass2
The seniors in our family were scammed by Watchtower, for over 7 figures. How about yours? An interesting read today to give some insight.
One of the most egregious con-artists is Watchtower Bible and Tract Society the “legal” entity for Jehovah’s Witnesses. Many retired Jehovah’s Witnesses have been targeted over the years to “LOAN” money for various “special projects” to further the “preaching work”, only to find they are never to be repaid. Once potential targets are identified, Watchtower sends experienced JW financial salesmen to "Close" the "sale". Eventual requests for repayment are ignored repeatedly. Letters go unanswered. Phone calls are never returned. Eventually, certified letters implying legal action get VERBALLY answered claiming: “The loan was forgiven verbally by the senior, in a private conversation with the local Circuit Overseer”-(despite the senior JW suffering from cognitive decline). Of course, requestors are reminded of the consequences of involving court action against “the brothers”.
In our personal situation, after consulting with two law firms, our attorneys explained the multiple hurdles in pursuing Watchtower, even though the injured senior was cognitively impaired, AT THE TIME and had already given her child power of attorney. The professional legal opinion? Statute of limitation issues, out of state representation against a billion dollar corporation, and need to put an impaired Senior on the witness stand, made recovery expensive and unlikely, since Watchtower had already showed zero compassion or conscience for the elderly JW widow in question. What was Watchtowers official verbal phone response? : "Put her on Welfare".
Why would an aged Jehovah’s Witness “loan” Watchtower their retirement Next Egg? The NYT story explains: Quote: “For many people, what is going on is they are looking to fulfill an unmet need for companionship, an unmet need for financial security, an unmet need for a purpose,” said Marti DeLiema, an interdisciplinary gerontologist and assistant professor at the University of Minnesota’s School of Social Work, who researches financial fraud and exploitation.
Victims are often caught up in fantasies created by perpetrators, isolating them from their real-life existence and families.”…… .” Older people may also be more susceptible to the mind games that scammers are so adept at playing — using fear, creating a sense of urgency or even stirring up excitement over the prospects of a new romance or investment opportunity.( Or Paradise earth?)
The goal is to tip victims into a heightened state of emotion where they are no longer thinking rationally but reacting to those appeals, researchers at the Stanford Center on Longevity, the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and the AARP Fraud Watch Network found.
“They are looking for the victim’s emotional Achilles’ heel,” said Doug Shadel, managing director for Fraud Prevention Strategies, a consulting firm in Seattle, and a former state director for AARP Washington.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/31/business/scam-con-artist-family-savings.html?unlocked_article_code=1.WU4.Sq1h.9M2qaeO0jK-T&smid=url-share