Posts by OrphanCrow

24

If they go bankrupt, so what?

by maksutov in

it seems likely that the watchtower is worried about its finances, given the downsizing, property schemes, and money-grabs we have been seeing over the last few years.

perhaps they suffered badly from the financial crisis.

for sure, there will be more expenses to come from child abuse payouts.

OrphanCrow

I didn't do it, Vidiot!

Not me.... ;p

Lol!

9

the decision to allow fair use of copyrighted material could have an impact on the wts' attempts to use copyright laws to pull content that is critical of them.it is ironic that this ruling was made in response to one of prince's songs.. (this article was posted on exjwreddit)demand that mother remove home video from youtube backfires.

a music companys demand that youtube take down a 29-second home video of two children dancing to a song by prince backfired monday when a federal appeals court used the case to make it harder for copyright-holders to act against brief, non-commercial uses of their material.recording companies, motion picture studios and other copyright owners issue numerous takedown notices each day, targeting everything from home videos to campaign ads that include segments of songs or newscasts.

when a copyright-holder tells a website like youtube that one of its postings violates the holders exclusive rights to license the material, federal law requires that the posting be removed immediately.but the ninth u.s. circuit court of appeals in san francisco said the copyright-holder must first consider whether such a video amounts to fair use of the work, making it eligible to be legally posted.

OrphanCrow

I have always thought that the WTS whining about copyright violations didn't really have much legal substance. They have been able to just simply make requests for removal and have not been challenged for requesting removal in the first place. It is good to see that "The law “requires copyright-holders to consider fair use before sending a takedown notification,” and those that fail to do so can be held liable for damages".

Maybe the WTS will think twice about their whining over fair use of copyrighted malterial if it could cost them some money.

6

Mandrakes, what are they?

by purrpurr in

i decided to do about of research about mandrakes.

remember the ones found by dan and purchased from leah by rachel?.

now i don't remember seeing any indepth explanation of what mandrakes are in the wt.

OrphanCrow

purrpurr:So it would appear that Rachel wanted these mandrakes to: practice magic with, to get high or to bring their magical powers into the home to help her get pregnant?

Not neccessarily. Mandrake has been used medicinally for centuries for far more than the purposes that you have mentioned.

https://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/mandra10.html

Medicinal Action and Uses---The leaves are quite harmless and cooling, and have been used for ointments and other external application. Boiled in milk and used as a poultice, they were employed by Boerhaave as an application to indolent ulcers.
The fresh root operates very powerfully as an emetic and purgative. The dried bark of the root was used also as a rough emetic.
Mandrake was much used by the Ancients, who considered it an anodyne and soporific. In large doses it is said to excite delirium and madness. They used it for procuring rest and sleep in continued pain, also in melancholy, convulsions, rheumatic pains and scrofulous tumours. They mostly employed the bark of the root, either expressing the juice or infusing it in wine or water. The root finely scraped into a pulp and mixed with brandy was said to be efficacious in chronic rheumatism.
Mandrake was used in Pliny's days as an anaesthetic for operations, a piece of the root being given to the patient to chew before undergoing the operation. In small doses it was employed by the Ancients in maniacal cases.

54

WHEN people leave a cult...MAN landed on the moon? Or critical thinking......

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

i believe anyone who has voluntarily left a cult has shown they can adapt to new solutions, and have used " critical thinking" skills otherwise most would not have left.. yet i believe a safe place for support is still needed and this safe place i believe is searched for.. now i may not measure up to much in ways of education, but for me personally " critical thinking skills" = " new" a " new" way of thinking, that takes time for me the individual to be visual and to contemplate.

and the more i read about " critical thinking," the more convinced i am that i can live with the ridicule of those that claim i do not possess it.

furthermore i would say those that criticise others " critical thinking skills," often luck the sensibility and thoughts to snore, spit, and fart....nor would they understand a room full of tobacco smoke and cheap booze...where " critical thinking " can often be found in its most profound, in the most sensitive poems and "pictures" that were ever drawn.

OrphanCrow

Viv: Depends on how he meant it, Orphan,...

Actually, how he meant it has nothing to do with it.

I only read exactly what he wrote. I didn't interpret it - I just followed sentence structure rules.

27

Instructions from the Old Elder's Book

by John Aquila in

last night i was looking over the notes on my old elders book and one of the instructors told us to write this down.

"when you want to get the friends to believe and obey anything, just keep saying it over and over and over and eventually they will believe it and follow whatever they are being told.

when i went back to school, i learned this quote in one of my world history classes..

OrphanCrow

John: "I've never been in a bar"

What??

Well then...methinks it is time someone introduced you to the worldly pleasures of drinking beer and playing pool.

:)

54

WHEN people leave a cult...MAN landed on the moon? Or critical thinking......

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

i believe anyone who has voluntarily left a cult has shown they can adapt to new solutions, and have used " critical thinking" skills otherwise most would not have left.. yet i believe a safe place for support is still needed and this safe place i believe is searched for.. now i may not measure up to much in ways of education, but for me personally " critical thinking skills" = " new" a " new" way of thinking, that takes time for me the individual to be visual and to contemplate.

and the more i read about " critical thinking," the more convinced i am that i can live with the ridicule of those that claim i do not possess it.

furthermore i would say those that criticise others " critical thinking skills," often luck the sensibility and thoughts to snore, spit, and fart....nor would they understand a room full of tobacco smoke and cheap booze...where " critical thinking " can often be found in its most profound, in the most sensitive poems and "pictures" that were ever drawn.

OrphanCrow

Viv, you make some excellent points. However, this statement needs a bit of work:

"Every dinner my wife makes is special and such does not render the previous dinners un-special or any equal to the others. Despite the fact that sometimes the menu repeats itself."
All that tells me is that you don't know what "special" means.

"Special", in the context of the sentence structure that was used does, indeed. reveal that the person knows quite well what "special" means. If the sentence had been "Every dinner is special.." then you have a point. However, that is not what the sentence says. It says "Every dinner that my wife makes..." which identifies those dinners as being special. Special in this case describes the meals made by his wife as opposed to all other dinners made by other people.

27

Instructions from the Old Elder's Book

by John Aquila in

last night i was looking over the notes on my old elders book and one of the instructors told us to write this down.

"when you want to get the friends to believe and obey anything, just keep saying it over and over and over and eventually they will believe it and follow whatever they are being told.

when i went back to school, i learned this quote in one of my world history classes..

OrphanCrow

John: ....a worldly bar...

Lol! Is there any other kind?

We even had a judicial hearing with a sister whose husband went to a worldly bar and had a girl dancer - dance on his lap. We judged it as fornication because the dancer's genitals touched his lap and we gave her permission to divorce him scriptural. Can you believe a bunch of elders in their 20s giving an older woman permission to divorce her husband.

"a bunch of elders in their 20s". Isn't that an oxymoron?

That is astounding on so many levels. Hang on while I pick myself up from the floor.................................Lemme guess. All those 20 somethings had parents who wouldn't let them take sex education in school.

Eh...so....this is what happens when "government minds its own business and keeps its nose out of marriage".

9

"Fair Use" copyright ruling

by OrphanCrow in

jw
friends

the decision to allow fair use of copyrighted material could have an impact on the wts' attempts to use copyright laws to pull content that is critical of them.it is ironic that this ruling was made in response to one of prince's songs.. (this article was posted on exjwreddit)demand that mother remove home video from youtube backfires.

a music companys demand that youtube take down a 29-second home video of two children dancing to a song by prince backfired monday when a federal appeals court used the case to make it harder for copyright-holders to act against brief, non-commercial uses of their material.recording companies, motion picture studios and other copyright owners issue numerous takedown notices each day, targeting everything from home videos to campaign ads that include segments of songs or newscasts.

when a copyright-holder tells a website like youtube that one of its postings violates the holders exclusive rights to license the material, federal law requires that the posting be removed immediately.but the ninth u.s. circuit court of appeals in san francisco said the copyright-holder must first consider whether such a video amounts to fair use of the work, making it eligible to be legally posted.

OrphanCrow

The decision to allow fair use of copyrighted material could have an impact on the WTS' attempts to use copyright laws to pull content that is critical of them.
It is ironic that this ruling was made in response to one of Prince's songs.

(this article was posted on exjwreddit)

Demand that mother remove home video from YouTube backfires

A music company’s demand that YouTube take down a 29-second home video of two children dancing to a song by Prince backfired Monday when a federal appeals court used the case to make it harder for copyright-holders to act against brief, non-commercial uses of their material.
Recording companies, motion picture studios and other copyright owners issue numerous takedown notices each day, targeting everything from home videos to campaign ads that include segments of songs or newscasts. When a copyright-holder tells a website like YouTube that one of its postings violates the holder’s exclusive rights to license the material, federal law requires that the posting be removed immediately.
But the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the copyright-holder must first consider whether such a video amounts to “fair use” of the work, making it eligible to be legally posted. Fair use includes journalistic accounts and criticism, educational uses for teaching or research, and brief, private postings that don’t damage the commercial market for the work.
The law “requires copyright-holders to consider fair use before sending a takedown notification,” and those that fail to do so can be held liable for damages, said Judge Richard Tallman in the 3-0 ruling, the first on the issue by any appeals court.
The court upheld a decision by a federal judge in San Jose allowing Stephanie Lenz, who posted the video of her children, to go to trial against Universal Music Corp., which was hired to enforce Prince’s copyrights. The company’s takedown order kept Lenz’s video off YouTube for about six weeks in 2007.
The ruling “sends a strong message that copyright law does not authorize thoughtless censorship of lawful speech,” said Lenz’s lawyer, Corynne McSherry of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco.
“Congress gave copyright-holders extraordinary power to send an e-mail and take content offline,” McSherry said. “With that kind of power comes responsibility to consider whether the posting was authorized.”
Representatives of Universal Music Corp. could not be immediately reached for comment. Music and motion picture industry groups filed arguments supporting the company.

32

Washington Post in US: Jehovah's Witnesses Face Child Sex Abuse Investigation in Australia

by cultBgone in

it's finally hit mainstream media in the us!

let's hope some savvy investigative journalists see a pulitzer for opening up this story to cover the us and worldwide cases.. jehovahs-witnesses-face-child-sex-abuse-investigation-in-australia/2015/08/14/.

everyone who is able should hurry up and post comments on their website as the pro-jw forces have rallied and are trying to squash this as libel.

OrphanCrow

Vidiot: You mean "when"...
...or do you a betting girl?

Lol! I am trying to be nice. It's a skill that I have been told I lack at times and I need a little practice in diplomacy.

Nope. I'm not gonna bet. I don't like the odds. ;p

32

Washington Post in US: Jehovah's Witnesses Face Child Sex Abuse Investigation in Australia

by cultBgone in

it's finally hit mainstream media in the us!

let's hope some savvy investigative journalists see a pulitzer for opening up this story to cover the us and worldwide cases.. jehovahs-witnesses-face-child-sex-abuse-investigation-in-australia/2015/08/14/.

everyone who is able should hurry up and post comments on their website as the pro-jw forces have rallied and are trying to squash this as libel.

OrphanCrow

vidiot: From the WT? Are you f**king kidding me???
They're gonna fight this tooth and nail.

True enough. I was making the statement in general, refering to all the institutions that took part in the Commission, not just the JWs.

Huh. If the WTS digs in their heels and the rest of the other institutions step up to the plate in giving redress, it will look very bad for the WTS.