Posts by sammielee24

229

Ferguson Shooting (Is my thinking on this all wrong.......)

by out4good3 in

i think everyone here can agree that walking down the street, even in the middle of the street, is not cause for having a clip emptied in your ass......... i can understand how the black community would be outraged by the injustice of seeing another black man dead in the street at the hands of the police under mysterious circumstances....... i hope that i'm not succumbing to the attempts to assinate the already well impuned character of the dead man...... however.

i can't help but think that this could all have been avoided by exercising the proper discretion with fore-knowledge of the disadvantages people of color have when they are dealing with law enforcement in the united states.

it is not as if this disadvantage has only since recently came to light.

sammielee24

Why on earth would this be under child abuse?

10

If there were no shunning ...

by bemused in

a lot of members of this forum are still notionally active jws, in many cases because of worries about the loss of contact with family and friends if they were to leave.

i was never in so it's hard for me to judge, but it seems to me that if the watchtower org were to announce tomorrow that shunning is wrong and jws should keep contact with family and friends who leave then the effect would be devasting for congregation numbers.

if so then obviously such an announcement is highly unlikely, but is my view correct?

sammielee24

I think if there were no shunning - and even better if they stopped the door to door service - people would drift back. Many religions are not only about what is taught - it is about the fellowship and sense of community you get from it. There is a social aspect to any religion that plays heavily into many people as it builds traditions and cohesion and a great many people enjoy it and feel they need it. For that reason, I think many people would return as it becomes less about punishment and more about inclusion. sw

83

Do You Support Illegal Aliens Coming Into The USA As They Have This Past Year?

by minimus in

i think it's hurting the country..

sammielee24

. Labeling them based on where they come from is ridiculous.

--

I think that's pretty ridiculous - why wouldn't we put a definition on somewhere based on their tribe? Where they came from? That includes traditions that come with that 'tribal' name. A german is part of a tribe. So is a Celt. You get my point.

As for the illegal alien, sorry you consider yourself the offspring of such. Kind of like you regret who you are - maybe not but ?

There has never been ownership of land, there has always been occupancy. This is how cultures and societies have changed and grown and prospered or dwindled out. Even what we call the indigenous population of the N Americans has been confirmed by DNA to be linked at bare minimum of 90% to Siberia as it is believed they travelled over the land bridge. Don't you think they might have waged war or wiped out people they came across along the way. If they were illegal who did they invade to take land from? It's a circle. Humans have forever been in transit and when peace did not work, when assimilation did not work, when religion changed or leadership changed - people change and adapt.

The world runs on money. I might not like that - I might wish it ran on humanity, but it doesn't. Money drives politics - even in past tribal socieites when the powerful benefitted from the best place to lay their head or the gift of food. As such, people working for the collective community they live in have every right to determine what kind of society they live in - that's how humans have survived. Any species will fight to stay alive - even if the fight takes place in different forms.

I am not a global citizen - I appreciate the cultures around the world - I have ancestors that arrived in N America from the 1600's - before that some were sold into slavery, wiped out by disease, killed by war - no different than anyone else. That is an acceptance of the world as it has been and as it is. You are only here because one of your ancestors was strong enough to withstand all of that and continue your line. Think about it. THEY created the strength you have - hoping the progeny they left behind would prosper and get stronger. Anyone who feels that they wish to live as a global citizen has a right to that feeling - fulfillment could as easily come to them when they apply to volunteer around the world in countries where they believe they can help. They have that right.

When the world stops moving on money - we will revert back to land ownership or religion or some other form of collective society with all the laws and demands that brings with it - I strongly believe that if people do not see borders or see any point in retaining culture or making laws, that they should volunteer in places where there is always a need to help others and truly be a global citizen, raising others up in their country - encouraging change from within and saving families and cultures for the next generation. sw

83

Do You Support Illegal Aliens Coming Into The USA As They Have This Past Year?

by minimus in

i think it's hurting the country..

sammielee24

According to reports the payout to a trafficker for getting a person from south american to the USA is between $5-8,000.00. The Chinese apparently are paying $50,000 to get in through Ecuador and up into the USA.

A report run just a year ago states that 50% of Americans have less than $500.00 in savings - and believe they have little chance of saving more.

If poverty is the issue - how are people getting the thousands to pay the traffickers in the first place?

I think there are a lot more politics involved here than anyone understands - sw

83

Do You Support Illegal Aliens Coming Into The USA As They Have This Past Year?

by minimus in

i think it's hurting the country..

sammielee24

Because we're America? That's just stupid.

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No. Because as Americans you allowed your government to write laws that allow for blatant abuse of the immigration system.

In 2008, Bush signed a law that allowed for any 'child' ie under 18, that arrives at the border from specific South American countries, free entry - they cannot be detained and must be accepted by the border guards. It's the law. The law is clear in that should a Canadian or a Mexican 'child' try to gain entry in the same way, they would be denied and returned to their country immediately.

This law is being exploited by coyotes and people who traffick in humans. A great many of those coming in with their mothers, are coming in to live with their spouses who are already in the USA illegally. The majority of these 'children' are not toddlers but teens.

In Chicago there were 68 people shot on one weekend - the water in Detroit is shut off for hundreds of poor people - there are hundreds of homes still being foreclosed on throughout the country every single week and children and women being evicted, living in cars and in run down motels.

This is a political issue and one everybody knew was coming - Obama made it clear that immigration was high on his agenda and he was going to find a way to legalize the 20 million or so already in the country and this is just a way to further the vote and get the job done.

The clear solution is to work with countries to solve their problems so their people can remain at home as productive citizens.

It was obvious where this was going when the definition of the illegal migrants flooding the border suddenly switched to refugee in the main stream news.

52

I FINALLY found a car I like & brought it home tonight = )

by FlyingHighNow in

jw
friends

after nearly seven months of bus rides and asking for rides, i have purchased a car.. for all of you who made helpful suggestions & contributions to my car buying thread, especially zed is dead, thank you so much.. my thread asking for advice on car buying:.

suggestions for car buying23.

i bought a 2009, pontiac g 6. my reasons for choosing a g 6: this car gets great miles per gallon.

sammielee24

"The fact that you think getting less than 30mpg is 'great' is scary and a huge problem with the USA"

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Sigh....now, couldn't you have just been happy for someone who just managed to finally get a car after doing without for almost a year? Really??

The gas mileage for that car ain't all that horrendous and I say kudo's for saving up the cash to buy it, finding what works for you and congratulations!

The car looks great! Enjoy!

Sammieswife

52

Who knows when Native Americans was granted citizenship?? Very strange.

by jam in

jw
friends

how can one not be a citizen of their own land??.

yes the act of 1924 granted u.s citizenship to those native .

americans who were not already u.s. citizens.. prior to the passage of the indian citizens act of 1924, nearly .

sammielee24

The article on Chief Louie is not about race - it is about leadership. He has accomplished a great deal - and it is his positive message that should be held up as an example of what can be - part of the solution - not the problem. His message is not always approved of when he speaks at events because even on reserve, those who benefit from the status quo don't want change.

sw

52

Who knows when Native Americans was granted citizenship?? Very strange.

by jam in

jw
friends

how can one not be a citizen of their own land??.

yes the act of 1924 granted u.s citizenship to those native .

americans who were not already u.s. citizens.. prior to the passage of the indian citizens act of 1924, nearly .

sammielee24

Consider this: the aboriginal population in Canada is roughly 4.3% of the overall population, guess what percentage of land we have to live on and create an economy with?

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You also have a choice - you can live anywhere you wish in Canada. Traditions move with you - Canadians every day are told to get off their collective asses and move to find a job, leave your family, your church, your community behind - there is no sympathy for anyone who complains. Let me point out Chief Clarence Louie - respected and admired for the thriving, motivated community he leads. This is what can be -sw

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Speaking to a large aboriginal conference and some of the attendees, including a few who hold high office, have straggled in.

'I can't stand people who are late, he says into the microphone. Indian Time doesn't cut it. '
Some giggle, but no one is quite sure how far he is going to go. Just sit back and listen:

'My first rule for success is Show up on time.'
'My No. 2 rule for success is follow Rule No. 1.'
'If your life sucks, it's because you suck.'
'Quit your sniffling.'
'Join the real world. Go to school, or get a job.'
'Get off of welfare. Get off your butt.'

He pauses, seeming to gauge whether he dare, then does.
'People often say to me, How you doin'? Geez I'm working with Indians what do you think?'
Now they are openly laughing ... applauding. Clarence Louie is everything that was advertised and more.

'Our ancestors worked for a living, he says. So should you.'

He is, fortunately, aboriginal himself. If someone else stood up and said these things - the white columnist standing there with his mouth open, for example - you'd be seen as a racist. Instead, Chief Clarence Louie is seen, increasingly, as one of the most interesting and innovative native leaders in the country even though he avoids national politics.

He has come here to Fort McMurray because the aboriginal community needs, desperately, to start talking about economic development and what all this multibillion-dollar oil madness might mean,for good and for bad.

Clarence Louie is chief and CEO of the Osoyoos Band in British Columbia's South Okanagan. He is 44 years old, though he looks like he would have been an infant when he began his remarkable 20-year-run as chief. He took a band that had been declared bankrupt and taken over by Indian Affairs and he has turned in into an inspiration.

52

Who knows when Native Americans was granted citizenship?? Very strange.

by jam in

jw
friends

how can one not be a citizen of their own land??.

yes the act of 1924 granted u.s citizenship to those native .

americans who were not already u.s. citizens.. prior to the passage of the indian citizens act of 1924, nearly .

sammielee24

And I grow weary of being told that natives are shiftless tax-exempt drunks.

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As were the Irish and almost every other people under the sun and you know what? When they were shipped off their land, when they were starved out, when they were hunted and slaughtered and sold into slavery, when whole villages were wiped out, when children were forced to change their names and forced to adhere to religion, when they were poor and shipped from their mother country as 5 year olds, - they were told to get over it. They had no choice. It is the way of history - people move, they war, they occupy - and unless everyone works together, nobody wins. So when you grow 'weary', look at the other side of it - people who have fled, been forced to leave, shipped out, shackled and otherwise been subjected to horrors of thousands of years - sometimes their weariness may come from their own history, their suffering, the recognition that people lack of knowledge, understanding or unity for what they lost and the understanding that a country is not 'made' by one people alone. Just a few examples - of a great, great, many. Suffering has not and is not owned nor felt by only one people - history is full of such incidents around the world. sw

Bodies of 800 Babies Were Found in Sewer Tank in Ireland

| June 5, 2014 | ----------------------------------------------

Mass Grave of Dead Babies in Ireland Used as Guinea Pigs for Pharmaceutical Company

By Harriet Arkell, Neil Michael, The Daily Mail

08 June 14

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Irish Slaves - The Irish slave trade began when James II sold 30,000 Irish prisoners as slaves to the New World. His Proclamation of 1625 required Irish political prisoners be sent overseas and sold to English settlers in the West Indies. By the mid 1600s, the Irish were the main slaves sold to Antigua and Montserrat. At that time, 70% of the total population of Montserrat were Irish slaves.

Ireland quickly became the biggest source of human livestock for English merchants. The majority of the early slaves to the New World were actually white.

From 1641 to 1652, over 500,000 Irish were killed by the English and another 300,000 were sold as slaves. Ireland’s population fell from about 1,500,000 to 600,000 in one single decade. Families were ripped apart as the British did not allow Irish dads to take their wives and children with them across the Atlantic. This led to a helpless population of homeless women and children. Britain’s solution was to auction them off as well.

During the 1650s, over 100,000 Irish children between the ages of 10 and 14 were taken from their parents and sold as slaves in the West Indies, Virginia and New England. In this decade, 52,000 Irish (mostly women and children) were sold to Barbados and Virginia. Another 30,000 Irish men and women were also transported and sold to the highest bidder. In 1656, Cromwell ordered that 2000 Irish children be taken to Jamaica and sold as slaves to English settlers.

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There is a movie out made in Australia about the child trafficking that England was part of - excellent film -

In 200 years it is estimated that 150,000 British children were dumped around the globe. Between 1912 and 1970, about 7000 were shipped to Australia. The first big hurt for those children was the rejection. They couldn't understand what they had done that was so wrong that their own country didn't want them. They were promised that loving families were waiting to adopt them but they were delivered into institutionalised abuse. Very few were adopted or fostered.

The whole system was based on lies. The majority of the children had mothers who were alive: women who had been told that their child had been adopted in Britain or had died. Many had put their children into care until they got back on their feet.

34

Atheists lose latest legal fight 'In God WE TRUST".

by jam in

jw
friends

ok folks i'm an agnostic.

but to remove the motto from our.

currency is a little too much.

sammielee24

"In God we trust" was adopted as the official motto of the United States in 1956 as an alternative or replacement to the unofficial motto of E pluribus unum, which was adopted when the Great Seal of the United States was created and adopted in 1782. [1] [2]

"In God we trust" first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864 [3] and has appeared on paper currency since 1957. [4] Somesecularists object to its use. [5]

It is also the motto of the U.S. state of Florida. Its Spanish equivalent, En Dios Confiamos, is the motto of the Republic of Nicaragua. [6] wiki