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Rod P.
Posts by Rod P
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57
How Does the Governing Body Extend its Control Over the Many Organizations?
by frankiespeakin inhow does the governing body extend its control over the many organizations that they made back in the year 2000 ?.
i think they have some type of by-laws in these corparations where they are to be in subjection to the wishes of the gb.. also thier may be some stipulations that the controlling members of each seperate corperation must be in good standing and can not function in any capacity if they are disfellowshipped.
thus the gb can alway use thier unlimited power to df to bring members in line or remove them if the gb feel threated.. i would think that the by-laws of these seperate entities are somewhat similar to the by-laws that form the congregation corperations in order for the congregation to be a legal corperation that can own property, where the by-laws state that they must remain in subjection to the gb.
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Rod P
Thanks Blondie,
That clarifies a lot of things around the Share thing. You are right, it is about corporations and taxes, whereas non-profit organizations are exempt from being subject to income taxes. Of course there cannot be dividends issued, since that represents a distribution of profits- which is contrary to the objectives of a non-profit organization. They can and do, however, use the donations and returns on investments as resources to further the aims of the entity, to pay overhead and operating costs (including staff salaries and benefits and payroll taxes), and any monies left over can be used to acquire assets.
With respect to the US WT companies, I would still like to find out about what shares are issued to who, given that they cannot be issued to any officers or directors of a given non-profit corporation. There is still the legal side of the question of effective control of these entities here. Knowing this can tell quite a story.
Rod P.
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40
Do You Like To Fly?
by Englishman ini love it!.
love the take off, love the in-flight meal -yum!
- love the landing.
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Rod P
Depends if a long or short trip.
First time in a jumbo jet scared the hell out of me. Afterwards, became pretty tolerable, even enjoyable if get a window seat. Loved flying over the Grand Canyon to and from Disneyland, California. Trip to Bermuda was great.
If the trip is short, like Vancouver to Victoria or Calgary to Lethbridge then you get stuck in one of those flying lawn mowers. Guy in front of me got sick and had to use a barf bag as we were shot up and down on the air currents. Almost got me sick too! Not a good experience.
Tried a helicopter off a mountain once. Whooeee! Last time I do that!!! How in hell do those guys fly off a cliff hanging on to a pole and gliding around 1500 feet off the ground. Makes my stomache flip just thinking about it. I can hardly stand sitting on a ski hill chair lift, especially coming down. My hands stick like glue to the safety bar, and my knuckles are very white. My wife sat beside me, looking around at the panoramic view. She was telling me to look at this and look at that. I told her "Don't bother me, I'm concentrating!"
Rod P.
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57
How Does the Governing Body Extend its Control Over the Many Organizations?
by frankiespeakin inhow does the governing body extend its control over the many organizations that they made back in the year 2000 ?.
i think they have some type of by-laws in these corparations where they are to be in subjection to the wishes of the gb.. also thier may be some stipulations that the controlling members of each seperate corperation must be in good standing and can not function in any capacity if they are disfellowshipped.
thus the gb can alway use thier unlimited power to df to bring members in line or remove them if the gb feel threated.. i would think that the by-laws of these seperate entities are somewhat similar to the by-laws that form the congregation corperations in order for the congregation to be a legal corperation that can own property, where the by-laws state that they must remain in subjection to the gb.
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Rod P
JT,Thank you very much for enlightening us all by putting the human dynamic on this corporate structure with its "carrot and stick" modus operandi. This is the missing piece of the puzzle that I was wrestling with. It sounds like you were privy to a lot of insider info that you were privy to that the rest of us peons were not.
I understand clearly now the motivations and structural relationships of the men in position that would remain loyal to the death, while being at peril if any one of them became disloyal.
Do you know if these men also have shares in any of these corps. and if they did apostasize or die, how they could be bought out or settled vis-a-vis their estates? It's the legal mechanisms and structures that especially interests me now, in light of what you have shared on the human motivation level. I am trying to penetrate and get behind the corporate veil(s).
If we can just lay out all of the pieces of the puzzle, then we can figure out how this 3-dimensional chess game works. I think we're half-way there now.
Rod P.
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57
How Does the Governing Body Extend its Control Over the Many Organizations?
by frankiespeakin inhow does the governing body extend its control over the many organizations that they made back in the year 2000 ?.
i think they have some type of by-laws in these corparations where they are to be in subjection to the wishes of the gb.. also thier may be some stipulations that the controlling members of each seperate corperation must be in good standing and can not function in any capacity if they are disfellowshipped.
thus the gb can alway use thier unlimited power to df to bring members in line or remove them if the gb feel threated.. i would think that the by-laws of these seperate entities are somewhat similar to the by-laws that form the congregation corperations in order for the congregation to be a legal corperation that can own property, where the by-laws state that they must remain in subjection to the gb.
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Rod P
frankiespeaking,
I looked up the site www.freeminds.org as provided by garybus.
The first thing I noticed was that none of the 10 Governing Body members are Directors or Officers of any of those corporations listed. So, on the face of things, there does not appear to be a direct connection between the GB and the other corporations. Given the different directors and officers in each company, they may actually be dealing at arm's length from each other, which ensures a high level of autonomy for each entity. However, what we do not see is the Share Structure, which will tell the real story about ownership and control. For example, does one corporation own the shares of another corporation here, thus creating a Parent-Subsidiary relationship, which means the Parent would have certain power and control over its subsidiary (depending on a number of things).
Now Blondie has pointed out an important distinction, and that is about Non-Profit entities. I do not have knowledge as to whether these entities are registered as Non-Profit Organizations or Charities. I can tell you in Canada that any non-profit entities must be incorporated under a Provinical Society's Act, which is a different set of laws than a Province's Company Act.
So I am not sure if you can have a company incorporated under company law in the USA that is also registered as a non-profit entity, or whether it is formed under different laws like in Canada.
I am quite dubious about the NGBM forming an alliance against the aging GB successfully. No-one from one corporation can go around pouncing on members of another company. You can be sure they have some pretty smart lawyers behind all this who have set up the necessary safeguards, checks and balances, so that each entity can rise or fall on its own without necessarily endangering the others. One of the reasons for having so many companies has to do with the protection of assets. Also, some states require you to have a company set up in that state in order to do "business" in that state. (I have some Canadian clients, for instance, who tried to register to do business in California. We were told it was mandatory to have a California company for us to do business in that state, and hence we complied.)
Companies are separate "persons" in law. One company cannot just tell another one what to do. A Director or CEO of Company A has no jurisdiction over Company B. In other words, the hostile takeover and/or control of a company has to basically come from inside the company, not outside. On the other hand, if there are certain agreements in place, setting out various terms, conditions, parameters, covenants, obligations, etc. these can be enforced by and between Companies, but only in terms of the Agreement.
I am quite curious as to what legal instruments or mechanisms the GB may or may not have with all of these Watchtower corporations. If anyone from any of the other corporations were to try some sort of power play on the GB, what could the GB do in defence or retaliation? I am pretty sure the GB have the necessary mechanisms in place to protect themselves and their positions.
Rod P.
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28
How Many Writers Needed To Write For The WT, Awake, & Other Publications?
by frankiespeakin ini see how the wt & awake, km, and other publications are really dumbing down, and never really relay any useful information above a second grade school level.
i wonder just how many writers are needed to write this crapola?
i mean think of how easy it is to research information on the world wide web, and then think of the shitty dumbed down articles that you find in the wt society's periodicals
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Rod P
frankiespeaking,
I am curious about what happened to the writers/researchers at the time of the Aid book and the 1980's shake-up. I left the JW's in 1966, so have missed a lot since then. Shake-up? What shake-up?
Rod P.
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14
Assembly in Salt Lake City
by I quit! inmy wife is going to the assembly in salt lake city over the 4th of july weekend.
anyone here condemned to that one?
i heard they are going to have huge fireworks display to celebrate the 4th and.........well, maybe i didn't hear that.
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Rod P
That doesn't make sense to me. The JW's I'm pretty sure do not celebrate the 4th of July.
This has to do with Nationalism/Patriotism, and they are opposed to all earthly governments and rulers. So why would they celebrate?
Rod P.
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32
For me it's light bulbs --- and for you?
by Panda inwhat is your daily household irritation?
for me one of the household daily irritations is dead light bulbs.
i often day dream about having every light socket , indoors and out with new light bulbs.
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Rod P
I hate all those scatter rugs around the house you put over your carpet to keep the carpet clean.
Those damn things have a mind of their own, alway creeping across the floor. There isn't a day goes by when I don't have to go around the house and straighten them all up again. Sigh!
Rod P.
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15
Saw 'The Exorcist' first time last night. You'll NEVER guess what happened!
by nicolaou innothing.. ten years ago i'd have chosen to have a limb amputated rather than let 'satan' into my head by watching such a 'demonic' movie.
well i watched it right through and i thought it was a good movie - if a little dated.
it finished just after midnight and i went straight to bed having turned all the lights out (and brushed my teeth .
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Rod P
I went to that movie when it first came out. Absolutely scared the Hell out of me. I never really had nightmares, but after that one, I had them for weeks.
I thought the cure would be to watch the movie a second time, this time looking for special effects and movie making techniques. Instead, it etched deeper into my psyche. The nightmares continued for about a month.
A few years later the movie showed up on TV, so I watched it again. I can't say there is no God or Satan or demons, but at the same time my notions about them all had been dramatically altered, so that I was not in that JW fearful state of mind. Anyway, the movie had no effect on me. None!
I think it makes a difference when you see it in your home on a TV, where the screen is smaller, and you don't get that big theater Sound Surround. (Of course, today's home theater systems now rival the movie theaters, but they weren't around when the Exorcist first aired on TV)
About a month ago this movie showed up on TV again. I watched it once more. I can't believe how much more the movie seems so dated and in some respects even phony. I should mention that I have been doing accounting work for a movie production company for the last seven years. As a result, I have become aware, at a rather intimate level, many of the set designs and special effects they utilize to create realism, especially computer graphics and animation. In the case of the Exorcists I am aware that they used coloured contact lenses to make Linda Blaire look possessed.
It would be an interesting study if someone researched the evolution of the sophistication of movie viewers from the time when they first came out, thru the black and white era, on to colour movies, then advanced Dolby sound, and on to today's powerful special effects, etc. The act of watching movies over a long period of time actually changes us and how we interact with movies. For one thing, we do become desensitized to horror and death and killing, even torture.
Rod P.
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20
Could the Spirit world have helped your exit from the religion?
by free2beme inboy, this might be that can of worms i meant to keep closed!.
i was thinking about something though and wondered what your thoughts might be.
if you believe in angels, the spirit realm, spirit guides or spirits of loved ones that have crossed.
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Rod P
Zen,
Well, I also happen to believe there are things like poltergeists or ghosts, and there are a number of cases I have seriously looked at regarding a "spirit world" and "other dimensions" and find them compelling. Accepting or believing this, however, is a matter of individual decision, and for that reason I would be willing to share what I have discovered or read, but would not try to "convert you". Many atheists, agnostics and skeptics just consider this sort of thing as pure nonsense. (Actually, I agree that it is "Non-Sense" )
There really are a lot of supernatural things going on in the world. Yet we must be cautious, even suspicious, and not be too hasty to jump to conclusions because many of them do turn out to have plausible natural explanations, while others have been staged by hoaxsters praying on the gullible. Having said that, there are still many things that defy explanation from a naturalistic or scientific point of view.
Rod P.