Thanks akromo for the details. Looking forward to the next episode. If I lived in the UK, I'd sure attend the next hearing.
Barbara
AndersonsInfo
JoinedPosts by AndersonsInfo
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UK: Would anyone like to attend Frank Otuo's next hearing against the Watchtower? Or send him your support?
by defender of truth inwww.standard.co.uk/news/jehovahs-witness-sues-for-150000-after-church-snubbed-him-over-fraud-claims-9750062.htmlfrank otuo is suing the watchtower for disfellowshipping him and causing the loss of his family and his friends, after being disfellowshipped based on a false accusation of fraud.on friday may 13th 2016, a hearing will take place to decide whether the watchtower's defence will be thrown out.otuo is confident that it will be.
;)would anyone like to be there on the day, to see what happens and maybe even report back and tell us what you saw?.
otuo would like it if some people could be there to cheer him on, as it were.
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JWs mentioned in NYTimes article about Remote Ecuador Towns Hit by Quake, Contact Was Cut Off for Days
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/20/world/americas/in-remote-ecuador-towns-hit-by-quake-contact-was-cut-off-for-days.html?_r=1.
in remote ecuador towns hit by quake, contact was cut off for days.
by nicholas casey and maggy ayala april 19, 2016 .
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In Remote Ecuador Towns Hit by Quake, Contact Was Cut Off for Days
By NICHOLAS CASEY and MAGGY AYALA APRIL 19, 2016
EL MATAL, Ecuador — The narrow, six-mile road that connected this fishing village to the main highway disintegrated from the earth’s violent heaves, severing it from all outside contact.
It would be days before anyone arrived.
Residents took to the rubble with shovels and sticks, to little avail. Some used their hands to push away debris from a sandy cliff that had collapsed, smothering all the homes below.
There was no water, no electricity. And with all phone lines severed, there would be no calling for help.
On Tuesday, a military helicopter made the 40-minute flight from the provincial capital, Portoviejo, ferrying supplies and a New York Times reporter and photographer.
“You ask what buildings fell? The question is what building didn’t fall,” said Eduardo Alciva Domínguez, 59, a fisherman who had been heading out to cast nets when the 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck on Saturday evening.
The earthquake, the largest to hit Ecuador in decades, has killed over 500 people, the attorney general’s office said late Tuesday.If confirmed, that means the total number of deaths could multiply in the days ahead as rescuers reach remote fishing villages like this one.
The quake basically split the northern plains of this impoverished Andean nation in two.
On one side are towns like Portoviejo that are connected by the main highway. While these towns are battered and broken, emergency workers have descended from around the world to rescue survivors and bury the dead, which have numbered more than 100.
On the other side are dozens of towns and villages where roads were blocked or obliterated by the quake and where no rescue workers initially came. Fewer may be trapped there, but fewer are believed to have survived.
In El Matal, where firefighters arrived on Monday, only two of the missing have been found so far, and both were dead. No one has an overall figure for the missing. READ MORE
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Ivanka Trump’s hubby, Jared Kushner, reportedly buying Jehovah’s Witnesses headquarters
by DavidG inwhats your thoughts on this one?
who will have anthony morris iii's room?
http://www.jta.org/2016/04/13/news-opinion/united-states/ivanka-trumps-hubby-jared-kushner-reportedly-buying-jehovahs-witnesses-headquarters.
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AndersonsInfo
There are 7 comments and are they ever interesting.
I’m very excited to see the re-development of this site. This development has an amazing location just a few blocks west of the Brooklyn Bridge and steps from Brooklyn Bridge Park. With its location, views and size, this would be a tech company’s dream!
Posted April 13, 2016 | 11:26 AMSo much for the $1 Billion price tag they were expecting. JW is a joke of an organization and I will never deal with them again. There is a reason why they had to swallow their pride and hire Cushman to do this deal because they were way in over their heads (keep in mind, JW is notorious for their dislike of outside brokers because their "volunteers" do all the work for free).
In the end, they probably left a sour taste at some of the biggest development firms, the borough of Brooklyn and the many brokers who’ve had bad experiences dealing with them. All I can say is, good riddance and enjoy your stay Upstate.
Posted April 13, 2016 | 2:00 PMIt seems odd that Jared et al were the winning bidders for these properties as well. It almost seems as though they had insider assistance but who knows. Yes, it is great that these propreties are back on the tax rolls though I hope the MTA and city are prepared for the future increase of service needs in the area (food services, electric, sewer, transport etc etc).
Posted 23 hours agoIt’s not odd at all that Kushner won the deal – I heard from other sources that the other bidders were displeased with JW and the way they conduct business.
Jared Kushner most likely went through hell dealing with them the first time so why not dance with the devil you already know?
Here is something to think about: all the big firms that made a bid (like Vornado) were all capable of making bids bigger than $700m so money wasn’t the biggest issue. It’s likely they all dropped out because of JW and their antics.
Posted 17 hours agoExciting deal. Will be interesting to see how much work the Jay Street site needs before building starts; neighborhood lore holds it’s a highly toxic brownfield.
Posted 22 hours agoNow would be an especially mischievous time to landmark the Watchtower sign (if it isn’t landmarked already, that is).
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Live in the U.S.? Tune into Dateline Friday evening, April 15th, to see a report about the Colorado Candelario murder trial (he's a JW).
by AndersonsInfo inralph and pam candelario were active jws in colorado.
ralph murdered pam.
professor jim penton was invited to appear at the trial last month by the prosecution as an expert witness to answer questions about jws.
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AndersonsInfo
Ralph and Pam Candelario were active JWs in Colorado. Ralph murdered Pam. Professor Jim Penton was invited to appear at the trial last month by the prosecution as an expert witness to answer questions about JWs. From what I was told, he did fantastically. Tomorrow, Friday, Dateline will air a program about the trial. I have no idea if Jim's name will be included in the Dateline report. Click on the link for details.
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msn.com: Losing my religion: life after extreme belief - EXPERIENCES OF 3 YOUNG PEOPLE
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/losing-my-religion-life-after-extreme-belief/ar-bbrzkjy?li=aaggnb9.
megan phelps-roper, 30, a former member of the westboro baptist church.
my first memories are of picketing ex-servicemen’s funerals and telling their families they were going to burn in hell.
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AndersonsInfo
Megan Phelps-Roper, 30, a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church
My first memories are of picketing ex-servicemen’s funerals and telling their families they were going to burn in hell. For us, it was a celebration. My gramps was the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church, so it wasn’t just our religion – it was our whole life. I don’t remember much before the picketing. I was allowed to mix with other kids early on, but over time my world shrank.
We believed it was a Good vs Evil situation: that the WBC was right and everybody else was wrong, so there was no questioning. It was a very public war we were waging against the “sinners”. I asked a lot of questions as I got older, but there’s a big difference in asking for clarification and actually questioning the beliefs you’re taught. READ MORE
Deborah Feldman, 29, ex-Satmar Hasidic Jew
Imad Iddine Habib, 26, ex-Salafi Muslim
READ MORE ABOUT THE EXPERIENCES OF ALL THREE OF THESE YOUNG PEOPLE:
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Article from Jamaica: Jehovah's Witnesses' properties for sale - Rising costs force religious group to go small
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20160410/jehovahs-witnesses-properties-sale-rising-costs-force-religious-group-go-small jehovah's witnesses' properties for sale - rising costs force religious group to go small.
sunday | april 10, 2016 | 12:00 am by erica virtue.
norman grindley.
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AndersonsInfo
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20160410/jehovahs-witnesses-properties-sale-rising-costs-force-religious-group-go-smallJehovah's Witnesses' properties for sale - Rising costs force religious group to go small
Sunday | April 10, 2016 | 12:00 AM by Erica VirtueA cash crunch is forcing the Jehovah's Witnesses Church in Jamaica to join its colleagues around the world in offloading some of its real estate as part of cost-saving measures.
The church is selling some of its larger temples and other buildings, as it tries to operate from smaller, less expensive, and easier to maintain facilities.
One large temple, located on Cowper Drive, close to Washington Boulevard in St Andrew, is among the properties on sale, and sources say the religious group is asking $45 million for the property.
Four other auditoriums, on Elletson Road and Giltress Street in east Kingston, one in Waterhouse, and one in August Town, St Andrew, are also up for sale.
A local Witness, who asked not to be named as he is not an official spokesperson for the religious group, told The Sunday Gleaner that some local properties have already been sold while others are on offer to the highest bidder.
HIGH OVERHEADS
According to the Witness, high overheads forced the religious body to take the action.
"Maintenance and electricity costs are killers. And the improvements in technology have made it easier for communication between individuals, and so staffing for the temples became redundant," said the Witness.
When our news team contacted the headquarters of the Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States, a representative said he was not an official spokesperson for the religious group and could not speak on the record.
"All the answers you are seeking can be found on our website. With respect to Jamaica, go to the website and use the search facility, enter yearbook, branch consolidation and you should get an answer," said the representative.
But no information specific to the sale of the properties in Jamaica was found.
The religious group had previously announced that as of September 2012, the oversight of more than 20 of its branch offices would be closed and transferred to larger branches.
"In recent years, improvements in communications and printing technology have reduced the need for personnel in some branches. With fewer people working at larger branches, room became available that could be used for housing some who were working in smaller branches in other countries," said the Witness who spoke with our news team.
According to the organisation's website, "Because of the mergers, qualified ministers who had been serving in small branches can now concentrate on preaching the good news."
The group, whose members are well known for their door-to-door preaching and distribution of the Watchtower and Awake magazines, has also seen a scaling down of this activity, particularly in the Corporate Area, in recent times.
Younger Witnesses are "studying and securing jobs for themselves and their families, so the large numbers are not there anymore. But we still have Witnesses," said one local member of the church.
At the last check, in 2011, Jamaica recorded 50,849 Jehovah's Witnesses, up from 44,203 10 years earlier.
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AndersonsInfo
https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/13713.2.0.0/religion/the-kremlin-cracks-down-on-religious-liberty
The Kremlin Cracks Down on Religious Liberty
April 7, 2016 • From theTrumpet.comThe Russian Orthodox Church has replaced the Communist Party as the ideological glue holding Vladimir Putin’s empire together.During the Soviet era, thousands of churches were destroyed and millions of Christians were persecuted. Communist textbooks called religion “the opium of the people” and Christianity “a perverse reflection on the world.” In the 24 years since the fall of the Soviet Union, however, Orthodox Christianity has made an astonishing recovery. While only a third of Russians identified as Orthodox in 1991, over two thirds now identify as Russian Orthodox Christians.
Yet the rise of the Orthodox Church hasn’t brought religious liberty to Russia. It has simply replaced the Communist Party as the ideological state apparatus used to forcibly unite Russians!
In a court case under way in southern Russia, Viktor Krasnov is facing up to a year in prison for writing “There is no God” on VKontakte (a Russian social media network similar to Facebook). The authorities became aware of this comment when an online user contacted them, claiming that Krasnov was offending Orthodox believers. Police raided Krasnov’s apartment and forced him to undergo a monthlong examination at a psychiatric ward. Once he was deemed fit for trial, he was charged under a Russian law that makes it illegal to insult the feelings of religious believers.
It isn’t just atheists who are no longer granted religious freedom in Russia. Alexey Koptev was arrested in 2011 after undercover police officers established that he belonged to the Jehovah’s Witnesses Christian denomination. In 2009, the city of Taganrog banned the Jehovah’s Witnesses denomination for propagating the exclusivity and supremacy of its religion. This denomination now shares the same legal status as the Islamic State and the National Socialist Society.
In 2002, Russia enacted an extremism law with a provision defining religious extremism as “incitement of religious discord” in connection with acts or threats of violence. Five years later, the law was amended to allow prosecution for inciting religious discord even in the absence of any threat or act of violence. Mormons, Scientologists and even Pentecostals are now coming under increasing government pressure.
In return for public support from Russian Orthodox clergy, President Vladimir Putin attends church services and portrays himself as a defender of “Christian values.” Like the Byzantine emperors and Russian czars before him, he is using a de facto state religion to unify his empire!
“The Orthodox revival gave Russians an identity after the years of uncertainty that followed the fall of the Soviet Union,” private intelligence company Stratfor wrote last month. “The Kremlin has used this to its advantage, so effectively portraying support for Putin’s government as a religious duty that the church is now seen as part of the state apparatus.”
Post-Soviet efforts to remake Moscow into a representative government are failing. Russia has embraced an authoritarian leader driven to vaunt his nation back to the great power status he feels it deserves. This development has dangerous implications for the world. Russia is swiftly becoming a nuclear-armed czarist empire!
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Boston Herald Article: Religious tax exemptions on the line in SJC case
by AndersonsInfo incomment by david a. reed on the fb page cult awareness network:.
every church and apologetics ministry should be aware that the same state high court that first imposed gay marriage a decade ago heard arguments yesterday on a case that could result in shutting down churches across massachusetts, by taxing their land and buildings--a move that could be followed by other states, just as in the case of gay marriage: .
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2016/04/religious_tax_exemptions_on_the_line_in_sjc_case.
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Steven Hassan's interview on a new fictional cult film, "The Path" Fact-Checked: The Ugly Truth Behind Real-Life Cults
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/the-path-cults.
the path fact-checked: the ugly truth behind real-life cults .
part of hassan's interview: "a lot of the older cults that have been around for a really long time, like the jehovah’s witnesses, for example, and even the mormons, are having a really hard time with young people growing up in the age of the internet, because they’ve been basically telling lies to their followers about their history, and now people can easily find out what’s true and not true, and look at their own literature and copies of their own literature.
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AndersonsInfo
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/the-path-cults
The Path Fact-Checked: The Ugly Truth Behind Real-Life Cults
Part of Hassan's interview: "A lot of the older cults that have been around for a really long time, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, and even the Mormons, are having a really hard time with young people growing up in the age of the Internet, because they’ve been basically telling lies to their followers about their history, and now people can easily find out what’s true and not true, and look at their own literature and copies of their own literature. It’s causing massive defections, which is very interesting for me."
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Steven Hassan's interview on a new fictional cult film, "The Path" Fact-Checked: The Ugly Truth Behind Real-Life Cults
by AndersonsInfo inthe path.
march 30, 2016 .
the path fact-checked: the ugly truth behind real-life cults .
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AndersonsInfo
THE PATH
March 30, 2016
The Path Fact-Checked: The Ugly Truth Behind Real-Life Cults
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/the-path-cults
"A lot of the older cults that have been around for a really long time, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, and even the Mormons, are having a really hard time with young people growing up in the age of the Internet, because they’ve been basically telling lies to their followers about their history, and now people can easily find out what’s true and not true, and look at their own literature and copies of their own literature. It’s causing massive defections, which is very interesting for me."
