Posts by OrphanCrow

8

DUMBO property and the secret of the Margaret Hotel

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

i just received this letter from a former bethel worker who saw my post on the dumbo property plans of the watchtower.

don't tell me they aren't doing this dumbo project just the same as the margaret hotel and who knows how many others?

letter dated 12/18/03 from anonymous .

OrphanCrow

crazyguy: What happened to that hotel was it flipped later for luxury condos and sold off?

The site of the old Margaret Hotel is one of the Watchtower properties not yet put up for sale.

The Brooklyn Eagle has a three part series of articles on the properties that the WT still owns that are not on the chopping block...yet.

Part three lists the property in question.

Part One - Properties Jehovah's Witnesses Haven't Sold Yet.

Part Two

Part Three

* 97 Columbia Heights: A historic hotel where Betty Smith wrote “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.” A five-alarm fire on an Arctic-cold night. Fights with the neighbors over the height of the building that would rise from the ashes of the site.
The residential tower at 97 Columbia Heights has a dramatic back story, to say the least.
Originally, the Hotel Margaret stood there, an 1880s-vintage Romanesque Revival stunner built by coffee mogul John Arbuckle that was Brooklyn's tallest building for many years.
The conflagration that destroyed this Brooklyn Heights Historic District architectural jewel took place in February 1980. At that time, the building was being converted into co-op apartments by developer Bruce Eichner.
It was so cold that night that firefighters were covered in icicles by the time they quelled the blaze.
In spring 1986, after legal battles over his proposed project's height, Eichner began excavation for a new 11-story apartment building on the site on the corner of Orange Street. In November 1986, the Watchtower purchased the property from H-M Associates, whose managing general partner was Eichner, Finance Department records show.
The Watchtower's building has 135 residential units, Buildings Department records indicate.

22

God Made Eve From Adam’s Penis, Not His Rib, Academic Claims

by OrphanCrow in

there are days that i drop to the ground and kiss the earth in gratitude that i was born a woman.

at least women didn't have anything to do with writing the bibble.

and women don't come up with this nonsense.

OrphanCrow

NN: Is THAT why we call it a "boner"?

Probably. And that is how women are evaluated - on their ability to put the bone back inside the penis.

Now all those pictures of Adam have to be re-made. He should have a penis that sticks out all the time. How convenient would that be? God must have been drunk...

Adam: "sorry...I didn't mean to hit you with this...it is always in the way. And...how am I supposed to make clothes to cover this thing sticking out? And, you know, I wouldn't mind sleeping on my stomach once in a while."

God: "Well, let's fix that. Here...I will take that bone away from you. Sorry about that...I didn't know what I was thinking. Eh...might as well make something else with it...let's see what I can do."

God takes another sip....

22

God Made Eve From Adam’s Penis, Not His Rib, Academic Claims

by OrphanCrow in

there are days that i drop to the ground and kiss the earth in gratitude that i was born a woman.

at least women didn't have anything to do with writing the bibble.

and women don't come up with this nonsense.

OrphanCrow

There are days that I drop to the ground and kiss the earth in gratitude that I was born a woman.

At least women didn't have anything to do with writing the Bibble. And women don't come up with this nonsense. Yay for women! Thank gawd we weren't allowed to write Bibble drivel - how embarrassing.

God Made Eve From Adam’s Penis, Not His Rib, Academic Claims

It’s certainly a shake-up for the book of Genesis - but a Biblical scholar has argued that Eve was made from Adam’s penis, not his rib.
Biblical scholar Professor Ziony Zevit suggests that Eve was made from Adam’s ‘baculum’ or penis bone - and that’s why Man doesn’t have one.
Professor Zevit, of the American Jewish University in Maryland said the Hebrew word ‘tsela’, doesn’t actually translate as 'rib’ and instead 'refers to limbs sticking out sideways from an upright human body.’
Hence Eve’s surprising origins from below Adam’s belt.
The word ‘tzela’ or ‘tsela’ is used in several different senses in the Old Testament - and Professor Zevit claims that this has confused translators.
He says that it refers to any protruding part of the anatomy, including feet, arms and penis.
Zevit says, ‘'Of these appendages, the only one lacking a bone is the penis.’
Other Biblical scholars are less convinced, with some pointing out that the word ‘tzela’ means rib in post-Biblical Hebrew.

26

De muslim rebels are try to enforce Islam on my family and de village.

by Ogwambi-Odoki in

jw
friends

my name is ogwambi odoki, but my friends dey call me og.

i live in a village in rural uganda near the city of gulu.

my family has been jehovah witnesses for two genorations since de first missionaries came to de village many moons ago.

OrphanCrow

Hey Ogwambi, are you this guy?

http://forums.ufcfightclub.com/topic/147921-i-have-conquered-my-home-land/

11

The Gates Ajar and Charles Taze Russell

by slimboyfat in

i was listening to beyond belief yesterday, a radio 4 programme that treats religious ideas as worthy of consideration and discussion.

yesterday they were talking about belief in the afterlife.

they mentioned something i'd never heard of before.

OrphanCrow

diogenesister: I wonder if this book is available on project Gutenburg??

There are several copies listed at archive.org. This book is available in several formats.

https://archive.org/search.php?query=the%20gates%20ajar

Utopian literature of the late 19th century would have influenced Russell's writings, for sure. After all, Russell didn't set out to create a religion, he wanted to sell his books. The religion happened after his books were written, not before.

Here is another utopian book that was popular around the same time - it was written just prior to "Gates Ajar" and could have been on Russell's bookshelf as well.

"Gates Wide Open" by George Woods.

https://archive.org/details/gateswideopenors00wood

An edition of this work, entitled " Future Life ; or, Scenes in Another World," was published by Derby and Jackson in the fall of 1858. The firm failed in the spring of 1859, and the plates were resold to the author, and have remained in his possession unused until the present time, when the recent popular and attractive book of Miss Phelps, entitled " The Gates Ajar," suggested its republication and the change of title which is now made. The Author hopes his readers will be gratified witli this attempt to picture the Scenes and Society of Another World. Washington, May 1, 1869.

Russell was not a great prophet - he was a just a product of his culture who took advantage of the free capitalist market in America in the late 19th century. Utopian (and dystopian) literature was quite popular at the time.

*to add - Phelps published two sequels to Gates Ajar:

"Beyond the Gates"

https://archive.org/search.php?query=beyond%20the%20gates

"The Gates Between"

https://archive.org/details/thegatesbetween30540gut

125

Watchtower purchases CoC copyright for undisclosed amount!

by the girl next door in

now what is your stance?

OrphanCrow

I realize what you are saying, Simon. And yes, the "fair use" principle would have to be argued in a court of law. I don't believe it has been yet.

However, according to recent rulings, the onus is on the copyright holder to consider if the fair use applies first before making the request.

If the material is fair use (and I believe it is, based upon the brief I linked to and the circumstances of the case it related to), then the copyright holder is liable for damages.

From the article in this thread here:

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...

125

Watchtower purchases CoC copyright for undisclosed amount!

by the girl next door in

now what is your stance?

OrphanCrow

gnd...oh geez...you didn't read the brief, did you?

The brief is from a recent court case. (05/2015) It sets precedent. It is not a generalized document. Everything I have said, I have supported with documentation.

What more do you want???????

Just because nobody has successfully challenged the WTS copyright take down notices to date, doesn't mean that the notices cannot be successfully challenged. The brief I linked to proves that.

The law can continually be challenged. It is the nature of it.

Frankly, I don't think you understand the legal documents that I have linked to. Or the legal process at all.

125

Watchtower purchases CoC copyright for undisclosed amount!

by the girl next door in

now what is your stance?

OrphanCrow

Oh...and by the way, the brief that I linked to could be used to challenge the take down orders that YouTube is giving to people who post WT material for the purposes of criticism.

YouTube is responsible for ensuring that the takedown order is legitimate. The WT requests for takedown, based on some perceived copyright infringement, are not legitimate.

The copying and distribution of WTS material is not a violation of copyright laws if the intended purpose is for the criticism of the WT.

The pitting of the WT copyright against Ray Franz's book copyright is a non-sequitir debate.

125

Watchtower purchases CoC copyright for undisclosed amount!

by the girl next door in

now what is your stance?

OrphanCrow

Designer Stubble: If the WT were to buy the rights, illegal copies would go viral.

If the WTS bought the copyright for the purpose of suppressing it or altering it, I would be the first in line to flood the world with copies of Ray's book. And I wouldn't be at all concerned of the legal consequences of my actions.

For anyone who cares to pursue this, the following article deals with exactly that issue - the buying of a copyright for the purposes of censorship:

Copyright as censorship? Katz v. Chevaldina

And for a detailed brief explaining why someone cannot buy copyright for the purposes of suppression:

https://www.eff.org/document/amicus-brief-eff-katz-v-chevaldina

If the WTS chose to buy the copyright for Ray's book and use it in the same way that Ray intended - to publish and circulate his books in its original form and content, well...I would say...good, all the more power to them.

125

Watchtower purchases CoC copyright for undisclosed amount!

by the girl next door in

now what is your stance?

OrphanCrow

And another thing...while I am on my copyright soap box...

About the copyright extending past Ray's death. I have read many comments that reflect the attitude that the work should lose its protected status after the author is dead. Previously, I had made the argument that a copyright protection assures the right of inheritance to the heirs. But, that extension functions in a couple other ways, too.

Firstly, the extension gives assurance to the principle I discussed in my last post - that the creative process continues to develop within our culture.

Secondly, it gives some measure of protection to the creator of the work themselves - it assures them that someone can't come and knock them off just for the purpose of forcing their creative material into the common space. A 50 year span past death (different lengths for different cases) also is an insurance clause for the author of the work. So they don't get killed for their creativity.

So... for all of you who say "...the guy is dead now...I don't owe him anything." Well, yeah...but you owe society something - you owe "us" what the copyright principle of creative license was put in place for - the stimulation and development of creative works. The copyright act is there for everybody - for the good of all culture.

I'll sit down now.