Posts by BlackSwan of Memphis

no. What I do feel is that very often people can hear your experience as one and not quite understand the gravity of the meaning when you say "I'm an ex-jw." And from there they lump it into the billion other religions that are out there, without much of an idea of how it affects the way you see life and relationships.

17

Today at the Watchtower..........

by oneairhead in

today at the watchtower on young ones, i wrote a note in the margin during the study.

it was on the paragraph that said something to the affect of, how sad it would be for young ones to loose out so close to the end.

" i wrote "the carrot.

BlackSwan of Memphis

Today at the watchtower on young ones, I wrote a note in the margin during the study. It was on the paragraph that said something to the affect of, how sad it would be for young ones to loose out so close to the end." I wrote "The carrot." My wife I am sure saw it and got up with her watchtower and bible and went to the bathroom until the end of the study. But has not said anything about it as of yet. Maybe she will. I am getting more forward but no where near the like of otwo who has discussions with his wife that he posts on here. My wife does not talk about things she just clams up and holds them inside until they just burst out in the form of emotion. I don't think she would turn me in because she would have already. I really think that events like these help her to think. One

Thank you for sharing this, this explains a recent event w/ someone that left my husband and myself scratching our heads.

I just do not understand how I once believed that whatever God is out there is so wrathful he would butcher innocent children.

12

Wost parents in the world - but humanity steps in and restores some faith

by Bumble Bee in

jw
friends

this poor kid, watch his face when he thinks he got the xbox and then watch is face when he realizes it's a joke.

kids don't understand 'you know we can't afford ....", he truly thought he was getting his wish.

i'd like to smack some sense into these parents - what they did was just wrong!

BlackSwan of Memphis

Not sure if ya'll looked at the actual You Tube site.

According to the info accompanying it, the kid DID get an Xbox and that the prank was played because he had been sneaking around the night before to see what he had gotten. My take is that he saw the box and the family found out (which isn't too hard to do) and decided to play the prank.

Not saying it's right or wrong, but just that according to the original poster of the video there was more to the story.

25

The automobile has destroyed our country.

by dawg in

jw
friends

ok, so maybe i'm waxing nostalgic, or maybe i'm trying to make up for the hugh hefner thread that got me blasted by many of you...lol!

but i've been thinking lately of the impact autos have had on our society; i mean my generation is really the first generation where everyone has a car, my grandparents used to talk about the old days and remembered the first cat they ever saw.

in fact, their honeymoon was spent walking down the railroad tracks and picking honeysuckles.

BlackSwan of Memphis

Hey dawg, ya know, I get what you mean.

Growing up, I loved all things Victorian. I loved the poufy dresses that were so elegant and romantic. I loved the stories of how women were ladies and men were gentlemen. I loved the frills and laces and big bows atop the heads of little girls with page boy haircuts. Life seemed so much more genteel and community based.

But ya know.

After a little (or a lot of) thought, I realized that them good ol' days were not so grand. Especially for women and minorties. Between what was "customary" and "proper" to the important issues of freedom and slavery and voting, life was not so great. Life was pretty damned hard back in them good ol days. Communities, were likely fraught with internal problems and issues that they did not have the information or experience to deal with. To begin to enumerate how far society has come, because of technology would take days.

That sense of community that many are missing does not need to be lost. A close friend of mine has developed an awesome neighborhood community just from simply talking to people and asking if they want to stop by for a beer on the porch later. We know most of the people in our neighborhood and do our best to be there for one another and watch out for each other.

It is possible to have that close knit community and even better we are doing it in an age where people are much more educated and less ignorant of what is going on around them and therefore opening the lines of communication in a way that is more important now, than quite possibly ever before.

71

ARE YOU PRO-UNION OR ANTI-UNION?

by Mary in

jw
friends

would you rather work in a unionized or non-unionized environment?

the place where i work recently voted 'no', we don't want a union in here (after being harassed by a very large union for the last 5 years).

there were some who voted 'yes', but the majority of us voted 'no' and those that were pro-union are quite pissed off that the rest of us 'fail to see the light'.

BlackSwan of Memphis

Not sure.

I see a lot of generalization going on in this thread.

Unions have and can serve a very useful purpose.

That doesn't mean that they always do.

I know stories of the laziest, most useless, spoiled workers in different sorts of shops get away with bar hopping during on the clock triple time wages. Add it up.
It runs a company into the ground.

Doesn't mean that all union worker guys are like that and that they don't appreciate their job and aren't willing to work damn hard for every penny they're being paid.

I really don't think union busting is the way to go. On the other hand, I understand very very very well the concerns that people have re them.

I honestly don't have a great answer.

I do think this:

I see companies paying crap for hard work. In many states $9-$10 hr is NOT enough for a family to live on. For a single guy working his way up, ok fine. For a man or woman looking to pay the mortgage, put food on the table and keep clothes on the backs of their kids, that is NOT enough. It would take two people working to make ends meet in many homes. That is NOT counting fun extra stuff. Two people working full time leaves how many parents at home during the day and after school?

So my suggestion to "Big Business" is this: Pay your workers an amount that allows them to live without worrying about making ends meet.
OwenFieldDreams made an excellent point:

nonunion auto workers still make union scale wages(25.00-30.00/hr, the last time i checked) and great benefits, without having to pay union dues and put up with the crap that you get with union representation.

We're currently dealing with a t shirt company (American Apparel) that is fighting to keep unions out. But they are ALSO working very hard at keeping their workers paid well and given good benefits. In the process, the unions in LA have kicked their butts to give AA a very bad name and skew the facts.

In the end, I see both sides of the coin.

34

Hello, Newbie here

by disillusionedandscared in

jw
friends

goodevening all.

i am new here and thought i would introduce myself.

this is my official first post on this board.

BlackSwan of Memphis

Pretty clear over here. Interesting to view. Wish my children were up as my youngest would truly enjoy it.

Welcome to the board...

53

TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE TONIGHT!

by Bourne in

jw
friends

BlackSwan of Memphis

Leo, in the words of Mr Swan, "I've never enjoyed getting mooned so much." :)

Beautiful pics that we are going to share with our daughter in the am. She was saying today she wants to be an astronaut. Of course, she also wants to be a mom, a surgeon etc :)

Truly, she loves the stars and the universe.

thx

11

Glass Art Gallery

by OpenFireGlass in

jw
friends

hey - haven't been around for a while - mike and i have set up a gallery at glassartists.org, and i wanted to link it here.. it's glassartists.org/mikewarren.

check it out.. hope you are all doing well.. peace,.

naomi and mike.

BlackSwan of Memphis

Okkkkkkay.

Uhm this is what I'm wondering.

Could he make a glass paper weight type thing in an I Love You hand sign and if so could ya'll pm me the details?

mwahh

11

Glass Art Gallery

by OpenFireGlass in

jw
friends

hey - haven't been around for a while - mike and i have set up a gallery at glassartists.org, and i wanted to link it here.. it's glassartists.org/mikewarren.

check it out.. hope you are all doing well.. peace,.

naomi and mike.

BlackSwan of Memphis

Mike (or Naomi )

Do you ever do any sort of custom made type things?