Posts by tetrapod.sapien

32

Are "orbs" in photographs spirits?

by LovesDubs in

jw
friends

as weird as i may be perceived, i do believe you can catch spirit entities on film.

and the more you believe in them the more you get on your pictures.

they are attracted to frovility, laughing, children, parties, families...and i take pictures at every function i go to and they arent always there.

tetrapod.sapien

here's what wiki says about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbs

lovesdubs, i must say that those patterned orbs you found are really interesting. i'm not really sure what to think about these orbs yet, though i am leaning towards the naturalistic camp for reasons of pure parsimony. however, the patterns that your orbs have are remarkably close to patterns that i see while on lsd occasionally, among other ones. and that makes me even more interested. thanks for posting those. i have never seen orbs like that before.

TS

39

A Case FOR Evolution?

by pmouse in

.

and the official wts response?

new light, silence, imperfect man or imperfect bird?.

tetrapod.sapien

Some are advanced creatures while others are still dinosaurs.

:)

and the evolved ones among us laughed, along with the silence of animals.

This is a great point, and reminds me of an interesting thought experiment for theist/deists:
'God' is presumed by believers to exist outside of the known universe. God created the universe. In order to create the universe, there must be space to create it in, at a minimum there needs to be as many dimensions as we have in our universe, in order for our universe to be created in this space. And in order to enact the act of creation there must be the potential for change, i.e. time. God needs time in which to create the universe. The question is, who created the space and time, the universe, in which God exists. According to the logic of God-believers, it must be another god. If it's another god, outside of this god's space-time, the same applies again. Ad infinitum.

cool man... ts

32

If condemned to lie on a beach until the sun went down this evening, who

by Crumpet in

jw
friends

.

would you choose to be next to?.

and why?.

tetrapod.sapien

hmmm..... i already answered this question back in febuary. it was great too.

my other choice right now would be tim leary.

ts

27

Is America one big cult?

by barry in

jw
friends

dont get me wrong im not a yanky basher like some we know but when visiting my dad the other day got me thinking when he played a dvd he had.. the dvd was of a concert of religious music by the assembly of god and the sdas most of the program was very good with excellent prerformers and uplifting music.

i thought the sdas in the states looked like they were being influenced by the more charasmatic a of g people because many were raising there hands like the aof g do.. there was nothing too unusual until about two thirds through when some marines marched in with the yanky flag with a marine either side complete with rifle .

the remainder of the concert was dedicated to nationalistic hyms of which i cant recall the titles.

tetrapod.sapien

all religions start as apostate cults, and all countries start as rebels.

'this land is my land from California to New York

lol! and i bet it blows right over their head that woody guthrie was a communist........ freakin morons man.... (and yes, lots o morons in canada too, starting with our new PM, the george dubya clone)

ts

11

How would the Governing Body treat Jesus if he were on earth today?

by unbrainwashed in

.

they would criticize him for "independent thinking" and eventually disfellowship him for apostasy for not going along with their religious system and doctrines, don't you think?.

oh wait...that's kind of like what the sanhedrin did to him 2,000 years ago..

tetrapod.sapien

yes, this jesus character is one of the great apostates of all time. in the abrahamic faiths, i would say second only to satan, the so-called deciever. of course, to some xians jesus is supposed to be the same god as that old yhwh guy, which makes him also satan according to some secular scholars who contend that until a certain point in the jewish rigamarole, yhwh and satan were one and the same. but no one ever wants to talk about that.

interestingly, i contend that if modern xians were really to follow the example of this christ that they worship, there would be no xianity as they would all be apostates and freethinkers................ you know ............. like jesus was. lol. .....oh well. cie la vie...

TS

39

A Case FOR Evolution?

by pmouse in

.

and the official wts response?

new light, silence, imperfect man or imperfect bird?.

tetrapod.sapien

skeptic2
Can you define this word for us?
"species"
Is it that hard?

and this is the problem with creationists: they don't think that hard. DD, perhaps someone wanted a definition of species because the word itself is an abstraction to help us understand our manifestly real world. genetically, there is no such thing as a pure species of anything, because when you approach the edges of what makes an organism similar to other organisms, the lines become grey. and that's because evolution (and speciation) does not occur on an individual basis. it occurs in populations of organisms that have been geographically or otherwise sepparated from their cousins. so mutations that take place in that population, over time, contribute to the genetic differences that would ultimately lead a biologist to say that a certain organism from population A is significantly different from cousin over in population B, and can now be called a different species. but there is nothing in the genome that explicitly says they are diferent species. just that they can no longer interbreed etc. they may even look the same though. but we need the systems of abstraction to help us organise the biological knowledge we have acrued over the last couple hundred years. and this is where the word: "species" comes from. it's an abstraction for organizational purposes that you creationists have latched onto because it's obviously simple enough for you to tear apart, without of course understanfing it's purposes, or analyzing any of YOUR implicit assumptions about the universe and our world. but genetically, we know that the difference betwen species is not as simple as ABC, 123, i see a dog and a chimpanzee! it's why the closest living relative, genetically, to the: human: chimpanzee: elephant: alt is the rock hyrax: represents that counts. so stop playing dumb. TS

33

Disassociate or "Fade"

by done4good in

jw
friends

i know this has probably been discussed before, but i would like to take a poll of your thoughts as to what you personally would do, disassociate yourself or just fade over time.

i've been in the process of "fading" myself since november of last year, (last meeting in january, and never going back).

i have been considering making it official though by formal letter of da.

tetrapod.sapien

welcome to the board,

I know this has probably been discussed before, but I would like to take a poll of your thoughts as to what you personally would do, disassociate yourself or just fade over time. I've been in the process of "fading" myself since November of last year, (last meeting in January, and NEVER going back). I have been considering making it official though by formal letter of DA. I have a few JW family members, of which the only one's opinion that I would concern myself with being my sister. She knows my recent position, but perhaps just not how absolute it is. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

like i tell people i know who are in this very predicament:

it's your choice. there is no right or wrong way to do this. one thing is certain, (in the big picture if you will).... and that's that you (and your family members) will experience the same amount of pain regardless of the decision you make. it's like tearing the bandaid off, slowly, or quickly. but ultimately you end up at the same place. and that would be where you are no longer a witness, and everyone knows it. if you DA, everyone and yourself will be under a boatload of duress for a while. but it does go away. and if you fade, then everyone and yourself will be under little bits of duress at different times over the years. you dig?

anyways, i DA'd myself because i didn't want to spend the next X number of years essentially lying to the people i loved about how i viewed the universe. there's this thing called intellectual freedom that, unfortunately, i hold more dear more than the feelings of the people i love. and that's because it is MY mind, and MY life. and i could not fathom doing the fade thing, and then in the end them still be hurt and confused and in that freaking cult. and actually, it has worked out well for me. several of my good friends are out now. they say it may have taken them much longer if i hadn't dropped a bomb like that last year.

but that is just my opinion and experience.

best wishes to you, and happy trails,

TS

113

Goodbye and Swansongs

by LittleToe in

jw
friends

what's with the recent spate of folks saying goodbye, or giving swansongs?.

this is a webboard.

people come and people go.

tetrapod.sapien

hey LT bro, long time no talk,

ya, i agree. as long as simon has this server up, my account will be here. so even if i say "bye bye", i am still a member. but that is not really the point. the point is that i don't have to say bye, i can just be. whether i post much or not is beside the point.

plus, i generally like this board because it seems to have some good content, and it seems to be one of the places online where the lurkers finally comeout of the closet on. and that is always entertaining. **PLUS** you're here, aren't you? ;)

jolly-up old sport! cheerio then!

TS

7

what are you up to this summer?

by lovelylil in

jw
friends

i have not posted in a long while!

hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far.

i have the kids home so i have been very busy.

tetrapod.sapien

sounds like a nice time lil!

i have already been to croatia and back this summer. that was a super chill vacation. i just did the riviera type thing and hung out on the beach and tanned and picked up norwegian babes. i went for two weeks. it was pretty fun!

then, on august 5 i set out from calgary on my road bike, and 4 saddlebags containing everything that i own (yes, throwing the rest away), and riding to this big outdoor "burning man" type festival we have here in canada called Shambala. it's close to nelson BC. and then after that, i keep riding for the coast, turning south at vancouver and heading down the west coast of of the states to LA. then from there i plan on heading across to the desert for the winter, hopefully. we'll see, but that's the plan right now. if that doesn't work, then i will head back up to vancouver, or vancouver island for the winter.

hope all is well!

TS

69

Whats your fav quote from a movie

by Es in

jw
friends

what are some of your fav quotes from movies???.

i love the line in face off "oh eve i hate to see you go but i love to watch you leave".

and the one in the rock " you want me to stick this in my heart are you f#$%ing nuts".

tetrapod.sapien

from The Devil's Rejects by Rob Zombie:

Adam Banjo: Please, mister. This is insane.
Otis B. Driftwood: Boy, the next word that comes out of your mouth better be some brilliant fuckin' Mark Twain shit. 'Cause it's definitely getting chiseled on your tombstone.

Captain J.T. Spaulding: I'm gonna have to be taking your car today. See I have some top secret clown business that supersedes any plans that you might have for this here vehicle.
[mutual laughter]
Susan: What's that about clown business?
[laughs nervously]
Captain J.T. Spaulding: [pause] Do I stutter, bitch?

Sheriff John Wydell: From delusion lead me to truth, from darkness lead me to light, from death lead me to eternal life. Hallelujah! Are you feeling it brother?

from Dead Man with johnny depp:

Big George: I don't give a shit who saw what, and who did what, or who did who.

Nobody: That weapon will replace your tongue. You will learn to speak through it. And your poetry will now be written with blood.

Big George: What's a philistine?
Sally: Well, it's just a real dirty person.

Nobody: The vision of Christ that thou does see, is my vision's greatest enemy.

William Blake: Do you still have my eyeglasses?
Nobody: No, I traded them. Do you have any tobacco?
William Blake: No, I traded it.
Nobody: For what?
William Blake: I'm not telling.
Nobody: Liar.
William Blake: Thief.

from apocolypse now:

Kurtz: I've seen horrors... horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that... but you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face... and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies. I remember when I was with Special Forces. Seems a thousand centuries ago. We went into a camp to inoculate the children. We left the camp after we had inoculated the children for Polio, and this old man came running after us and he was crying. He couldn't see. We went back there and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile. A pile of little arms. And I remember... I... I... I cried. I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want to forget. And then I realized... like I was shot... like I was shot with a diamond... a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought: My God... the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we. Because they could stand that these were not monsters. These were men... trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love... but they had the strength... the strength... to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment. Because it's judgment that defeats us.

Kilgore: You either surf or you fight.
Willard: Are you crazy God damnit? Don't you think its a little risky for some R&R?
Kilgore: If I say its safe to surf this beach Captain, then its safe to surf this beach. I mean I'm not afraid to surf this place, I'll surf this whole fucking place!
Kilgore: Charlie don't surf!

TS