brojo

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Posts by brojo

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  40

  U.S. Life Expectancy Hits All-Time High

  by leavingwt in

  1. social
  2. current

  some good news.

  life expectancy at all time high; death rates reach new low, new report showsu.s.

  life expectancy reached nearly 78 years (77.9), and the age-adjusted death rate dropped to 760.3 deaths per 100,000 population, both records, according to the latest mortality statistics from the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc).. the report, deaths: preliminary data for 2007, was issued today by cdcs national center for health statistics.

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  brojo

  If you factor out deaths from accidents and murder, US life expectancy is close to the top. Our health care system is the best in the world.

  brojo
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  95

  Most Annoying "Kingdom song?"

  by doodle-v in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  what's a kingdom song you can remember singing that gives you the creeps now?

  mine is "move ahead" i think that was the title, anyway it has so much rhetoric... but the tune is so darn catchy.... darn.... in my opinion, those songs are the perfect example of mind control.

  move ahead.. move ahead ... blah blah blah blah blah .

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  brojo

  The worst thing you could do at the KH meetings.....the most embarrassing, was pass gas. Remember how you had to hold it back. Whenever we would sing the song. "Tell it out among the nations", I remember my buddy and I would sing, "LET it out among the nations.........Let it out, let it out".

  Joe
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  95

  Most Annoying "Kingdom song?"

  by doodle-v in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  what's a kingdom song you can remember singing that gives you the creeps now?

  mine is "move ahead" i think that was the title, anyway it has so much rhetoric... but the tune is so darn catchy.... darn.... in my opinion, those songs are the perfect example of mind control.

  move ahead.. move ahead ... blah blah blah blah blah .

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  brojo

  This is the most hilarious thread I've ever come across, especially the earlier postings!

  Joe
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  3

  Ex-JW Pianoman (HUNK) to Play in Waterbury

  by skeeter1 in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  best is yet to come at seven angels: crooner to sing sinatra hits by tracey o'shaughnessy | republican-american tony desare.

  contributed tony desare is the kind of dark-haired, smooth-singing, mellifluous crooner over whom woman were once prone to swoon.

  crooning and swooning are a bit passe these days, and while desare tilts to the american songbook, few would describe him as creaky.

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  brojo

  Great! I live in Waterbury! And I'm a Sinatra fan. I'll try to check it out.

  Joe
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  45

  Greater Boston Meetup? Anyone up for one?

  by coffee_black in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  thought i'd throw this out there... anyone interested?

  i'm thinking maybe mid november?.

  coffee .

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  brojo

  Its a possibility with me depending on time and place. I live in CT.

  Joe
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  8

  Romans 11 : 26 - all Israel will be saved - Which one, and When ?

  by aligot ripounsous in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the question of readers article in june jws only wt magazine (the one which is studied in august) deals with romans 11 : 26 where paul writes that "all israel will be saved".

  as we know, if ct russell believed that this statement was to be understood literally and he expected the jews to convert to christianity as a sign of christ's return, the current position of the wts, as explained in this qfr article, is that "spiritual" israel and not fleshly israel is what it is about in rom.

  chapter 11 and christ's return will be marked by the completion of the whole number of the 144 000 anointed.

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  brojo

  I left the WT in 1990. Since the 70s whenever I read Roman 11 it seemed clear to me that it referred to fleshly Israel, not spiritual Israel as taught by the WT. In the early 80s, I was assigned to give the summary of the WT at the circuit assembly. Since I had trouble accepting the WT position, I wrote the WT for clarification. As they usually do, they encouraged me to read what they had published dating back to the 1940s on the subject. It was somewhat helpful in enabling me to at least go ahead and present the material in the then current WT at the circuit assembly. However, I still had trouble accepting their viewpoint. In the early 80s, I began reading some of Russell's writings at the urging of a co-worker whose aunt happened to be a "Bible Student" (Russellite). I was literally shocked to find out that the WT for over 50 years had taught that Rom 11 referred to natural Israel. One of CT Russells books had over 60 pages on the restoration of Israel. I wrote the Society again, this time mentioning Russell's viewpoint and some of the scriptural arguments he used in support of his position.

  Included in their reply, they encouraged me to consider the context of Romans 11. I decided to read the entire book of Romans with a completely open mind in an effort to see what conclusion I would come to on this subject. It was this unbiased reading of Romans that ultimately enabled me to see that the WT position was unsupportable not only on Israel, but more importantly their whole teaching on two classes of Christians. Romans chapter 8, more than any other chapter in the Bible is what ultimately led to my separation from the WT org. I was aware that the big shakeup in Brooklyn had something to do with who should partake of the memorial emblems. I now wondered if others had seen what I was seeing in Romans 8. I found out from a Newsweek article that covered a protest demonstration at Bethel and the dismissal of Ray Franz from Bethel, that Ray had written a book, Crisis of Conscience. I came across the book in a book store but could not bring myself to purchase it, not wanting to contribute to "apostates". I eventually borrowed it from a library. After reading it, I knew my days as a JW were numbered.

  Getting back to the subject of Israel, a group of us including some former JWs will be getting together for several discussions of this subject. As you all may know, among Christians, there are those who have differing viewpoints on Romans 11. Many hold that Israel here refers to the Church as the "new Israel", and natural Israel has no more place in God's purpose. And there are those, myself included who see Romans as pointing to natural Israel's restoration based on His covenant with Abraham.

  Joe
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  37

  boycott Ebay due to their bad policies

  by reneef in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i don't know if anyone else here buys or sells on ebay.

  i'm thiking some do.

  ebay has announced dramatic new policy changes to begin in may 2008 which spell disaster for many honest and ethical sellers and buyers such as myself who have given their blood, sweat and tears to make ebay what it is today.

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  brojo

  I sell on ebay. Actually this new policy applies only to sellers who have less than ideal feedback and/or sell high risk merchandise. I agree with you that ebay is making it more difficult for sellers, especially new sellers. I also agree that the new policy which disallows sellers from giving feedback to buyers is unfair. And without question, they are instituting policies designed to make more profits for themselves at the expense of sellers. However, they are currently still the best game in town for both buyers and sellers. The course of wisdom is to begin planning some alternate means of selling. As for boycotting, I don't agree with this approach. In any free market society, natural forces will ultimately determine how ebay fares. There is growing competition and as you say, many sellers are increasingly disenchanted. If they begin moving or cutting back on their listings, ebay will be forced to make some changes. Already they were forces to retract some fee increases for a certain segment of sellers.

  Joe
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  22

  Pedophile Elder Case in Warrensburg, NY 1982 - Nicholson

  by Seeker4 in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  i just came across a thread from 2002, (i'll link it here in the next post), about congregations in upstate ny, many that were with a vt circuit i was in for many years.

  in there i wrote the following about a infamous pedophile case involving an elder, don nicholson.

  here was part of one of my posts on that thread.

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  brojo

  Ironically, Don Nicholson came to mind just a few days ago. I remember him well. I and another brother, Lowie Roscoe, used to vacation with our families at Lake George. We used to attend the Warrensburg cong while on vacation. We both gave public talks there when we would visit. I remember a picnic we had. Don Nicholson was the center of attention. The kids all loved him. This was in the late 70s or early 80s. Later on I heard that he had been arrested for child molestation. Apparently it really rocked the congregation.

  I remember hearing the name Dave Tennent. Lowie Roscoe had met him but I never did. My family did stay with someone who, if I remember correctly, was a single gal who had a colonial house on a main road and we stayed upstairs. I seem to remember that she had some connection with the Tennents I'm but not sure. I remember the policeman, Lee Steele. Another brother I liked was Jack Ashenbach an elder. I have wondered what happened to him. I have often wondered if he was still a JW. He had just built or was in the process of building a beautiful home. That seemed to be his world.

  Actually those vacations were somewhat of an eye opener for me. Us black brothers were being obedient to the society in refraining from materialistic pursuits while the more affluent white brothers in the rurals and suburbs were building beautiful new homes, quietly sending their kids off to college, etc.

  Do you remember a sister named Carol Kruger? She had a sister named Jennie who was married to Bob Grew who used to live here in CT. I have often wondered about him.

  Joe
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  20

  Golden Moments In Jazz Music - It gets no better than this!

  by hillary_step in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  miles davis and john coltrane together.

  looks like jimmy garrison on bass and mccoy tyner on peeanno.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4fakrpucyy&mode=related&search=.

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  brojo

  Awesome! Never saw that before. The original was from the album was "Kinda Blue", regarded by many maybe the greatest jazz album ever. Almost every year it continues to be among the best selling recordings. Improvisation by Miles, Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly was maybe the greatest ever on So What and All Blues.

  One of my golden moments is John Coltrane with singer Johnny Hartman. Those were the days. Sadly, an era pretty much past.

  Joe
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  9

  Question: Who Owns the Kingdom Halls and land?

  by brojo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have a question.

  who actually owns the kingdom halls in the us?

  the local congregation (which has paid or is paying the mortgage) or the wt society?

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  brojo

  Hi all. I have a question. Who actually owns the Kingdom Halls in the US? The local congregation (which has paid or is paying the mortgage) or the WT Society? How about the land on which the hall is built? An article on Freeminds.org says that the Society owns the land even though the local congregation may be paying the mortgage. Does anyone have knowledge of how this all works?

  Joe