mamochan13

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Posts by mamochan13

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  71

  How Science has advanced since the Victorian Era...

  by ziddina in

  1. social
  2. current

  buttonhooks, steam-run horseless carriages, corsets, steamships, gaslight streetlights, wax candles..... these things were considered the 'latest' in "modern conveniences" during the victorian era.. the victorian era also ushered in some exciting new scientific discoveries and inventions - uranium, x-rays, electric telegraphs, bicycles, and a good part of the industrial revolution.. of course, nowadays we wouldn't dream of using buttonhooks to 'button up' our shoes, nor would we even consider having a steam-powered "horseless carriage" in our garage.. we wouldn't allow a dentist to work on us using 19th-century tools or techniques, nor would we trust a psychologist who insisted on using "phrenology" to determine why we have mood swings or depressions....

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  mamochan13

  One of the most amazing trips of my life was to the original dig site in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. One of the early digs is left in situ as an exhibit. The dinosaur skeleton is laying in the ground, almost perfect, but it is missing its head. It really gives you a sense of what it was like for these early paleontologists, and what a guessing game it was at times to reconstruct what they were finding.

  AS NC says, science is amazing that way. The puzzle of finding little bits and pieces and testing them to see where they fit. Sometimes a piece seems perfect, yet along the way something else comes along and you realize the fit was incorrect. Science is a constant readjusting process, which is why even things we accept as truth are still called theory.
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  20

  Golden Eagle tries to snatch a toddler

  by mamochan13 in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://www.theprovince.com/technology/video+golden+eagle+tries+snatch+toddler+montreal+park/7717792/story.html.

  quite an amazing video of an eagle who apparently wants to snack on a toddler.

  (sorry, insert link won't work for me).

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  mamochan13

  Heh. I posted this then went off to work. Didn't get back online till just a little while ago. Yes, it's been proven fake. But that doesnt' negate the effect of the video. Birds of prey can, and have, attacked people and animals. It's not outside the boundary of possibility.

  I think this video also illustrates how dificult it is to know what is real and not real out here in INternet land. Last week we were treated to photos of a baby monkey lost and wandering through IKEA in his fancy winter jacket. Apparently that's a real story and his owners are trying to regain custody. We also hear so many crazy spins on the news of the day. How do we know which is right?

  The makers of this video did a great job preying (no pun intended) on people's tendency to believe that an eagle is a mighty animal capable of great things. Which it is.

  But I find it so frustrating trying to wade through the media reports and figure out which is valid and which is construct.
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  61

  Westboro Baptists to Picket Sandy Hook - This is why I hate religion

  by cantleave in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.examiner.com/article/westboro-church-plans-to-picket-at-sandy-hook-elementary-school-praising-god.

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  mamochan13

  Low-Key - I think you bring up an interesting perspective. I'm curious if it can be substantiated. I've watched several documentaries on this group and I'm really puzzled. On one hand they sound like JWs taken to the extreme. But I don't get the picketing part. However, the fact that they are all lawyers does make me suspicious. Have you any evidence?
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  8

  Volunteering in your community

  by noni1974 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  how do you feel about it after the jw's??

  personally, i was never much of a fan of volunteering for anything.

  i just didn't understand what people got out of it.

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  mamochan13

  absolutely agree, Noni. I started volunteering at university, too. It was a new experience (and I started university in my 40s), but I loved it. Got involved in all kinds of interesting university committees, helping students, etc. It was awesome.

  Then I joined my local mental health association and served on the board for many years. It was profoundly fullfilling. It is so satisfying to be part of a group of people who are trying to actually make a difference in a real way. Unlike when I was part of JWs, where our version of "making a difference" was to go door to door and preach death and destruction.

  I should add, though, that I volunteered even while a JW. I just kept it low-key. But I got into trouble. My mom was livid at the time I spent in a local cultural organization. But my husband, my daughters and I loved doing it and I didn't care what anyone thought. Perhaps I was already moving out.
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  57

  Mouthy needs a hug

  by carla in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi grace,.

  i'm sorry about your family not being around (seeloubelles christmas plann thread) so i thought we could give you hugs here!

  not the same but..... a merry christmas to you!

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  mamochan13

  Grace - you would be most welcome at my home this xmas. And at the homes of so many others here. So join us virtually. We will be thinking of you.
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  42

  Looking Back, Did You Notice Many JWs Had Drinking, Drug or Mental Issues?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as an elder, i saw many people that were affected by booze, drugs and mental health issues.

  a lot of witnesses fought depression and turned to other things when they realized they couldn't keep up the pace and find inner happiness with what they did do..

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  mamochan13

  oh, yeah. I dated a hotel manager who, when he found out I was a JW, asked me if JWs were all alcoholics, because all the hotels in his city used to double their orders during convention time.

  At the very least, it's a coping mechanism, a way to fill the gap and replace all the things you cannot do as a JW. As others have pointed out, though, it's also a psychological escape on a very profound level. The religion is extremely negative, with every outlook focused on what is bad. That alone can drive you to drink.

  JWs are not allowed to access healthy counselling, but they think it must be okay to take pills. So you can be on Prozac but you can't see a worldly psychiatrist.
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  20

  Golden Eagle tries to snatch a toddler

  by mamochan13 in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://www.theprovince.com/technology/video+golden+eagle+tries+snatch+toddler+montreal+park/7717792/story.html.

  quite an amazing video of an eagle who apparently wants to snack on a toddler.

  (sorry, insert link won't work for me).

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  mamochan13

  http://www.theprovince.com/technology/Video+Golden+eagle+tries+snatch+toddler+Montreal+park/7717792/story.html

  Quite an amazing video of an eagle who apparently wants to snack on a toddler. (sorry, insert link won't work for me)
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  30

  Christmas Plans

  by LouBelle in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so what are your plans for christmas.. this year i am not spending it with my entire family.

  some of them are doing their own thing/have their own plans, which i don't mind as sometimes those paticular family members can be straining.. so it will be spent with my mum, brother, father, some family friends and a couple of "strays" (people that don't have family to spend christmas with so we invite them over).

  there will be a light breakfast shared and gifts opened in the morning.. i'm cooking up a feast:.

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  mamochan13

  Chicken curry sounds yummy! I'll have to test your recipe, Lou.

  I always make paella on Christmas Eve. I also make tabouli, hummous, nachinka, and pumpkin pie - very eclectic. We eat late - usually well after 10 pm, then we open gifts. Since paella is equally delicious the second day, everyone usually comes by for leftovers, although xmas day is usually when my kids and grandkids go to spend time with the ex's or their partners' family.

  We have no extended family (mostly all JWs) so it's just my daughters and their partners and the grandkids.

  Re: family members who are "straining" - I can sympathize, LouBelle. I think most families can. My daughters and I still bear profound JW scars, and some years there has been acting out and bad behaviour at xmas. My oldest daughter would always pretend she didn't celebrate because she was putting on a show for her grandmother. It can be tough. But I think it's worth trying to build a family tradition. Traditions help define who we are, and they can keep family members bonded.
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  21

  Link for the Bethel Dwelling Manual

  by greenhornet in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i guess this is what the new system will be like.

  enjoy the link every one.

  and buy the way it is my birthday today.

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  mamochan13

  CAn you imagine living by those rules every day in the new system? What paradise!

  Happy birthday GH.
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  112

  JW.org reports on the Sandy Hook shooting...

  by cedars in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  from the official jw website.... .

  school shooting in connecticutdecember 17, 2012 | united states.

  on friday, december 14, 2012, a shooting took place at an elementary school in newtown, connecticut.

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  mamochan13

  Two thoughts. First "Jehovah's witnesses in the area" - why didn't they say "JWs around the world" are offering assistance...

  The other...think how it would appear if a Catholic website stated, "Initial reports say that two Catholic children were at the school, but thankfully not injured". One of the sweet little boys was Jewish. What would we think if a Jewish website reported something in the line of what JWs have posted?

  We've becomed accustomed to the JW response, almost inured to it. In any disaster it's always, "our brothers are okay, and we are helping them out." It's never "we help regardless of your religion"