Reefton Jack

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Posts by Reefton Jack

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  37

  Gas prices soon to pass $4.00 mark

  by free2beme in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i remember last year, a lot of blame against the republican congress for doing nothing to stop big oil companies from raising prices.

  democrats are in office now, and no one seems to be saying anything.

  why are the democrats not being the night and shinning armor about gas prices?.

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  Reefton Jack

  In this discussion about gasoline / petrol prices per "gallon", posters from the USA will no doubt be talking about US gallons (i.e. 3.78 litres).
  What about those making a comparison from the UK and Europe?
  
  Are the "gallons" mentioned there US gallons, or Imperial gallons (i.e. 4.54 litres)?
  
  Just curious.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Trust someone who has worked 11 out the last 18 years in Industrial Measurements to come up with a question like that!
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  47

  Why does being right = being arrogant?

  by AlmostAtheist in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what is it about a person's believing they are "right" that leads them to being arrogant?

  you've surely noticed that the more sure a person is that he's right, the more likely he is to treat those that disagree with him with disrespect.

  it's hard to see how a person can disagree with something that you know is right.

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  Reefton Jack

  My experience (learned at the University of Hard Knocks!) is that arrogance can indeed be a respose to insecurity.
  
  Two different Electrical Engineers come to mind:
  
  - One was extremely capable (very close to being brilliant), yet he still related well to everybody else in what was a multi-disciplined crew.
  
  - The other,however, was very ordinary to say the least!
  Yet, he appeared to try to cover for his mediocrity by being arrogant.
  His mediocrity did little enough to help the project along
  (I actually had to do most of his work - assisted by the Electrician in charge).
  However, added to that; his arrogance did little to build up the teamwork that was so necessary in that kind of a project.
  
  It could well be that most don't exactly enjoy being wrong (although that may have a lot to do with how much emotional investment they have made in being right!).
  Whatever, though, the distress caused by being proven wrong:
  - arrogant behaviour is ALWAYS resented, only adds to that distress.
  
  
  Jack.
• 
  31

  Book: The Inside Story of Jehovah's Witnesses, Stevenson, 1968

  by betterdaze in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the inside story of jehovah's witnesses .

  stevenson, william charles, 1936- .

  publisher: hart pub.

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  Reefton Jack

  The years of the mid-1980s were one of the few times when the increase in publishers per year equalled (or even exceeded) the number baptised.
  
  This was no accident:
  - during those years (starting 1982)there was a concerted effort made to re-establish contact with people who had either gone "inactive";or who had even once "studied" with the JWs.
  (In other words, "Lovebombing Revisited.").
  
  This approach did bring success for a few years.
  However, with many (maybe even most) re-activated "publishers," their interest didn't last much longer then the Lovebombing phase.
  
  At least, that is how it appeared to go in our part of the world!
  
  
  Jack.
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  7

  Banning Guns

  by Descender in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was wondering about this article that i was reading.

  http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/shared/readmore.asp?snav=nr&id=570 is it real?

  does it come from a reliable source.

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  Reefton Jack

  If I may clarify a point here:
  
  Australia has not "Banned" guns.
  Rather, in 1996, Australia introduced strict Gun Control Laws throughout all its States and Territories)
  (just like, at a similar time in this country, the existing Gun Control legislation was made more stringent).
  
  Such controls in Australia have not, though, at any time, gone as far as totally outlawing all firearms:
  - Practically outlawing certain types of firearms, yes.
  - Severely restricting access to all types of firearms, definitely!
  - But outright prohibiting anything that goes "Bang", and sends a projectile from the muzzle - NO!
  
  
  Jack.
• 
  39

  Happy Friday 13th! Are you superstitious about anything?

  by Crumpet in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a friend kindly pointed out it was friday 13th!!!

  now i am not normally superstitious about anything, but i try and avoid going out on a full moon and am not overly keen on friday 13th.

  i know its irrational but hey - i'm female (sorry that was a bad joke)!.

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  Reefton Jack

  With what happened here on last Friday, it is (almost) enough to make you superstitious!
  
  I won't go into every graphic detail - but suffice to say, there was one fatality involved; and
  as of 1810 hrs on Monday evening (local time), I am still trying to pick up the pieces.
  
  
  Jack.
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  31

  If most men decided to wear a beard today, would the JW's follow?

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the jw's will say that in jesus time, it was ok to have a beard because it was their custom back then, and today jw's should not have a beard because it's not our custom to have one today.. since the world is ever changing, it will continue changing, and beards might come back and be popular once more.. it's only a cheap excuse on their part, because they will never accept beards, even if every man wore one today..

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  Reefton Jack

  For several years, I lived in a country where most men are bearded.
  That, however, made no difference to the dubs stand about beards - the local brothers were not permitted to
  follow the local custom on this matter.
  
  So based on that, I would say no!
  
  
  
  
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  68

  ANOTHER 200 Scientists Document Global Climate Change - Yo Deniers!

  by Seeker4 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/07/science/earth/07climate.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin.

  another international slate of scientists have released their findings regarding global climate change and human's effect on that (see the above link).. after the last major study released by several hundred scientists a few months ago, it does seem there is a serious concensus here among the leading thinkers and scientists on this issue.

  i know i've banged heads with a few who disagree with this, but it does seem as though that handful of folks who disagree with the science are looking more and more like deniers, as in holocaust deniers, moon landing deniers, etc.. in other words, out there on the lunatic fringe.. so, do you folks think it might be time to reconsider?.

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  Reefton Jack

  This is further to Uninformed's comments about "Average" temperatures.
  Although I am not a meteorologist, I have always had a keen interest in the subject.
  Also, for many decades, one of my father's jobs was that of a Weather Observer for the then Dominion Weather Office (Now known as the "Met Service").
  
  A locality's "average" weather - temperatures, rainfall, snowfall, frosts ect. - is calculated from daily weather readings that are collected over a thirty year period.
  
  This allows for usual ups and downs that occur between one year and another.
  
  
  Just as importantly,though, it establishes a standard in measurement by which one set of results can be compared with another.
  
  
  What this means is before you can say that "average" temperatures are now higher / lower / or the same as "average" temperatures of previously; you first have to calculate what the average has been from the daily temperatures of the previous thirty years.
  - Otherwise you are not comparing "Apples with Apples", as the saying goes!
  
  (Incidentally, Meteorology is by no means the only discipline to establish standards by which test data is collected.
  Those of us who have been involved in Industrial Measurements - such as I have been for 11 out of the last 18 years - will know that there are rigid standards spelled out for the measurement of just about everything.
  These standards are necessary for that very same reason
  - i.e. so that one set of test results can be compared with another.
  To do otherwise is - at best, untrustworthy - and at the worst, meaningless).
  
  
  Sorry, Uninformed, if I have bored you
  - It is just that your remarks about whether a " 10 or 20 year period" is significant sparked this!
  
  Seriously, though:
  - to determine by how much the average temperature has changed,it would be first necessary to establish what the "average" temperature now is.
  -Furthermore, so that this current "average" can be compared with what was previously the "average", it would have to be calculated in the same mannner.
  
  i.e. From the average of the daily temperature readings taken over the last 30 years (1977 - 2007).
  
  With all the dialogue that is going on currently about the matter of climate change, I have not seen anywhere yet a comprehensive study of how the "average temperature" - as measured by the accepted procedures - has altered.
  (Such data should now be dead simple to come by - with automated weather stations, that can be accessed remotely from someone's computer.Unlike in my father's time, when sombody had to go around and painstakingly read the data, and record it by hand).
  
  Perhaps someone can direct me to such a study?
  
  
  Jack.
• 
  13

  Atheists For Jesus - Richard Dawkins

  by mavie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://richarddawkins.net/article,20,atheists-for-jesus,richard-dawkins.

  rather enjoyable, especially the picture of dawkins in the "atheists for jesus" t-shirt..

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  Reefton Jack

  At the risk of being accused of trying to "bump" this thread, I would go along with those that maintain that nobody would want to mistake religion for ethics:
  - The two things are quite different!.
  
  It is possible (quite possible, in fact) to be ethical, at the same time as being non-religious.
  
  The flip side of that is also true:
  - namely, all too often we see people who are super religious,but who are at the same time rather deficient in the ethics department
  (this happens both inside and outside the Borg).
  
  To know if something is right or wrong, you only have to imagine a world either without it
  - or where everyone practised it.
  
  Jack.
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  52

  How many here have actually read the bible............all of it?????

  by vitty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was in the org for 20 years and never actually read the bible from beginning to end.

  then i bought a living bible and found even the most difficult parts easy to read.

  but i still couldnt find time.

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  Reefton Jack

  I read the whole thing cover to cover once, using the New English version
  (only because its layout seemed easier to follow;to me, anyway).
  
  If reading the bible is supposed to enlighten a person - well, it didn't work to well in my case!
  
  
  Jack.
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  46

  How did you dispose of your JW books? (Or did you?)

  by exwitless in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  little drummer boy and i have a small house and we do not have room for the wasted space all of these books are creating.

  here's a brief rundown of what we have:.

  several nwt hardcover bibles, chinese bibles (lots of chinese students in our town), insight on the scriptures, concordances, a few bound volumes, song books, km books, reasoning books, the entire bible on audio tape, and more.

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  Reefton Jack

  Rather swiftly - with a liberal supply of kerosene, plus a couple of matches.
  
  In some ways now, it might be useful to still have some of those books on hand.
  However, it felt bloody good at the time to put the lot to the torch:
  - you could almost say that it was therapeutic!
  
  Jack.