Posts by under the radar

18

Time Magazine Article: Now’s the Time To End Tax Exemptions for Religious Institutions

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

http://time.com/3939143/nows-the-time-to-end-tax-exemptions-for-religious-institutions/?xid=newsletter-brief.

june 28, 2015 .

nows the time to end tax exemptions for religious institutions.

under the radar

I could not agree more. I have long felt that giving religious organizations tax exemptions violates the Establishment Clause. No religious property of any kind should be exempt. This should alleviate the huge burden born by local communities when conglomerates, operating under the guise of "religion," gobble up sometimes huge parcels of land and take it off the tax rolls. That is simply not right. It has the effect of government "establishing" the religion by giving it special consideration and forces the local populace to underwrite its activities, even though some may vehemently object to them.

While we're at it, I believe that no charity should have a tax exemption greater than the amount they actually spend on charitable activities, plus maybe 10% for administrative costs. And non-cash gifts and services received and redistributed as charity should not count towards that amount. If charities had to prove they gave out at least 90% of what they took in, it would cut back a lot on the number of scams masquerading as charities.

34

camping information.

by James Brown in

jw
friends

my wife and i are planning on taking a year off and taking a jeep and a camper through all the 48 contiguous states and alaska and some of canada.. living in florida, i have always had guns and a concealed carry permit.

but researching for our upcoming retirement vacation, it seems to me that i might not be able to legally carry firearms on my upcoming expedition.. it seems every state has different laws and licenses.

what does a camper from florida do when he goes to new york or california?

under the radar

There is an iOS app called Legal Heat that gives you the basic gun laws and carry requirements in all 50 states. It's updated as necessary. I'm sure there are plenty of others. And of course, there are lots of web sites with the same information.

Many states issue non-resident permits, but requirements and costs vary significantly. For example, a Utah non-resident permit is honored in 31 states. There probably is some combination of state non-resident permits that would cover almost all states, but there are some states that only honor permits issued to their own residents. Be very careful in those states.

Bottom line: know before you go. In states where you aren't covered by a valid permit, just keep the gun(s) secured in accordance with the federal transport laws until you leave that state.

Even in states where your permit is valid, there may be certain places where carrying your gun would still be prohibited, like schools and colleges, churches, bars, etc. Each state has its own rules about "prohibited places." For example, some states allow you to carry while in a restaurant where alcohol is served as long as you yourself are not drinking. Others do not. Some states are very strict about "concealed means concealed," and consider it a violation if your gun is even inadvertently revealed, such as by the outline being visible under your clothes. And federal law always prohibits guns in post offices, federal courts, and several other places.

Again, know before you go. It will take time and money to acquire the optimum number of state permits. Then you will need to plan your route carefully to know when you have to keep the gun locked up and when you don't.

A local gun club or shooting range would be a good place to start your research and planning. Here in New Hampshire, a local gun dealer regularly offers courses that qualify you for specific state non-resident permits. The Utah non-resident permit course is particularly popular.

Be careful out there...

31

Crisis Of Conscience In Audio Format?

by dubstepped in

i'm just wondering if the book is available to be listened to in any format?

i know that it can be found online and read freely, and i've been through some of it, but i just wondered if it was available in any other way.

i guess it would be lacking some of the copies of articles and such that were in the original book, but it would still be interesting.

under the radar

Thanks for your efforts. I was opening the zip file on my MacBook Pro with Archive Utility. The Dropbox files seems to be ok, but I haven't listened to every one of them yet.

Again, I appreciate your taking the time to make the files available.

31

Crisis Of Conscience In Audio Format?

by dubstepped in

i'm just wondering if the book is available to be listened to in any format?

i know that it can be found online and read freely, and i've been through some of it, but i just wondered if it was available in any other way.

i guess it would be lacking some of the copies of articles and such that were in the original book, but it would still be interesting.

under the radar

Thanks, GodZoo, for uploading that file. I downloaded it as a zip several times, but every time I tried to unzip it, it failed and said a certain directory does not exist. Am I doing something wrong, or could the upload be corrupted?

Thanks for looking into this when you have time. I'm looking forward to putting this high quality narration on my iPhone.

Radar

18

Changes for Volunteers at Conventions and Assemblies in Spain

by RayPublisher in

someone sent me this from jwtalk.

a guy on there just posted this regarding changes to the way the jws volunteer at conventions in spain and the changes seem fairly major:.

we had a special meeting today called a training session for volunteers.

under the radar

There may be several reasons, but I can think of at least two. One, the liability involved when a volunteer is injured or injures someone else while "on duty." Two, it may a way to gouge even more contributions from the "brothers."

I can just hear them whining about how high the expenses are now, and that they should be grateful that the Governing Body has lovingly relieved them of all this hard work that would have prevented them from enjoying every morsel of fresh steaming Spiritual Food©, and that they know the brothers will respond with an open hand to cover these expenses. Blah, blah, blah...

One things for certain: the changes will benefit the Society in some way, either through more contributions extracted from the masses or through reduced liability and insurance costs, maybe both. I doubt the effect on individual members was even a factor.

36

Small details...

by Garrett in

jw
friends

a witness friend wanted to meet up recently and talk.

since this person was a close friend and who i thought had a level head, i'd go ahead and speak with him.

our conversation actually helped me figure a few things out not only for myself but also about the witnesses.. so we're talking and i'm telling him my experience and the doctrines that i disagreed with as well as the scandals that made me disgusted with the organization.

under the radar

By golly, I guess you could say it really is the same bicycle or hatchet or whatever under the "overlapping parts" doctrine. Hmmm...

31

and Moses came down the mountain on his....DUCATI

by snare&racket in

jw
friends

worst day in the last ten years, was the day i hit 0.00 with one and a half years of university to go.

nobody to turn to, nobody to ask for help.

i was 32 and as an ex jw had two family members in contact with me.

under the radar

Congratulations, Snare! Maybe not so much for getting another bike, but for persevering with your education in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. My hat's off to you, Sir!

7

Question for non-jw spouses

by FreeGirl2006 in

a dub i know was recently reinstated.

she was dfd for leaving her hubby for another man.

she married the other man and then began the process of being reinstated.

under the radar

In some cases, the people involved as just as vulnerable to the pie-in-the-sky promises of the Truth™ as anyone else. Some may be seeking to assuage their "guilt" over past "sins."

I left the organization back in 2000, though I have never been officially DA'd or DF'd. But I digress. Back in the 90's, there was a new Circuit Overseer appointed and everyone was abuzz about him and his wife. Turned out she did not like being asked about how she "came into the Truth™." When cornered, she would admit that she was picked up in a bar by a JW who was "on his way out." Though I doubt he was actually "witnessing" to her at the time, she was intrigued by some of things he told her about the JW's. She stopped seeing him and eventually "studied" with the JW's, and the rest is history.

Genuinely good people can sometimes do things that they are later ashamed of, perhaps deeply regret. That can make them susceptible to tales of a Sky Daddy who will forgive their "sins" and bestow blessings galore upon them. Maybe it's a way of distancing themselves from their past.

8

SIMPLE and easy way to prove Jehovah's Witnesses are a dishonest organization

by Watchtower-Free in

simple and easy way to prove jehovah's witnesses are a dishonest organizationmost jehovah's witnesses do not realize that their elders secret manual instructs the elders to deny people their rights to record their own conversations and interactions with the elders.

this includes judicial meetings and so-called shepherding calls.elders have even been warned at their elder training classes that if they allow themselves to be recorded the watchtower society will not defend him in court if they are sued.elders fear being recorded because they do not want to be held accountable and responsible for their words and actions.

no elder has ever given me a cogent reason for refusing people their rights to record interactions with elders.what this creates is a unfair power balance between the elders and anyone they are talking to or judicially dealing with.

under the radar

I think the main reason the Society doesn't want certain meetings and especially judicial committee meetings recorded is deniability. In case some elder says or reveals something the Society wishes they hadn't, they can always say someone misunderstood or took it out of context. A recording reveals exactly what was said and is not so easily dismissed as someone's personal memory or even written notes.

The Society can be very duplicitous when it needs to, and is always more concerned with protecting its own power and financial interests than anything else. They can play hardball themselves, but scream first and scream loud when their "rights" are infringed upon.

10

Fresno man facing murder charge after shooting a Jehovah’s Witness who refused blood transfusion

by Tenacious in

a fresno man is facing murder charges in court this week for the shooting death of a jehovahs witness who later died after refusing a blood transfusion.. according to police, quevedo and silva argued over over gang membership with quevedo returning later in the evening to shoot silva through the security door at his home.. silva reportedly told a fresno police officer jehovah, jehovah, im dying, im dying, as he was taken to a hospital where he died during surgery after refusing a blood transfusion because he was a jehovahs witness.. it is the belief of many jehovahs witnesses that it is against gods will to have a blood transfusion.. according to defense attorney antonio alvarez, quevedo should not have been charged with murder because silva refused a transfusion that could have saved his life.. prosecutor gabriel brickey disagrees and will call fresno county pathologist michael chambliss to testify that, even if silva had received the transfusion, he would have died because one bullet hit a a major vein.. quevedo has already served time in prison for felony battery and theft and was on supervised release when he was arrested for shooting silva.. if convicted of murder he would face life in prison.. original story with suspect picture can be found here: fresno shooting.

under the radar

I'm certainly no lawyer, but I have long heard about the legal principle of "You take your victim as you find him."

That means that whatever happens to someone as a result of an accident you cause or action you take, you are responsible for those injuries and/or losses even if another person would not have been affected to such a degree. For example, say you carelessly rear-end a car. An elderly person might have serious injuries and even die, whereas a younger and healthier person might not have been injured at all. You have to deal with the consequences of what actually happened due to your actions, not what might or might not have happened under different circumstances.

Another legal principle I've heard about is "Intent follows the bullet." If you shoot at one person but hit another, even entirely by mistake, you are just as guilty of attempted murder or murder itself as if you had hit your intended victim.

In this case, absent being shot in the first place, the victim would not have needed a blood transfusion. And no one can say for certain a blood transfusion would have saved this particular victim. Either way, the proximate cause of death may have been exsanguination, but the manner of death was homicide.