port-au-prince (reuters) - a major earthquake hit the impoverished country of haiti on tuesday, collapsing buildings in the capital port-au-prince and burying residents under rubble, a reuters reporter in the city said.. he said he saw dozens of dead and injured people in the rubble, which blocked streets in the city.. the epicenter of the quake was located inland, only 10 miles from the capital port-au-prince and was very shallow at a depth of only 6.2 miles.. it prompted a tsunami watch for parts the caribbean, the pacific tsunami warning center said on tuesday.. "everything started shaking, people were screaming, houses started collapsing ... it's total chaos," reuters reporter joseph guyler delva said.
"i saw people under the rubble, and people killed," he added.. a local employee for the u.s. charity food for the poor reported seeing a five-storey building collapse in port-au-prince, a spokeswoman for the group, kathy skipper, told reuters.. another food for the poor employee said there were more houses destroyed than standing in delmas road, a major thoroughfare in the city.. panic-stricken residents filled the streets desperately trying to dig people from rubble or seeking missing relatives as dark fell shortly after the quake.. "people were screaming 'jesus, jesus' and running in all directions," delva said.. a major earthquake, of magnitude 7 or higher, is capable of causing widespread and heavy damage.
there was no immediate report of damage or casualties.. the tsunami center said the watch was in effect for haiti, the neighboring dominican republic, with which it shares the island of hispaniola, cuba and the bahamas.. "a destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data," the center said.
RR - I hope your family is well. Strength to you & your family.
The pictures are almost overwhelming and I heard on the radio some reports that the death toll could push 500,000. This is a terrible combination of a powerful natural force hitting a very crowded area with poor construction. Let's hope that the relief efforts can help save some of the folks still trapped.
imagine the best case scenario.
the watchtower society implodes from within even making final printed admissions that it is voluntarily dismantling it's mission and legally dissolving the corporations.
oh happy day!
First, I don't see that happening so suddenly. But, if it did, I could see some local elders who would seize the opportunity and start a spin-off JW religion. In time, it would pick up a percentage of former JWs that would refuse to believe the WTS was wrong. It would be spun into some sort of prophetic fulfillment and a new cult would be born.
he should move over and allow room for michael vick.. did anyone see vick's touchdown pass against dallas in the playoff?.
awesome!.
a little something from vick's bio: .
babygirl30 - at least they made the playoffs! My skins were dreadful this year.
matthew 6:1: "take good care not to practice your righteousness in front of men in order to be observed by them; otherwise you will have no reward with your father who is in the heavens.".
"now we'd like to call to the platform brother so-and-so, a [let's face it, capital letters should be used] regular pioneer and elder in the blah-blah-blah congregation.
brother so-and-so, what helped you to put kingdom interests first?".
Exactly except what was left out of the experience is that what actually happened was the employer approached all employees and told them that everyone's hours were going to be cut to part-time to avoid having to do layoffs. Or that Brother So & So is still working part time at that employer but also has another part time position to make ends meet.
Those experiences in additon to being highly scripted are also "enhanced" shall we say. The worst example I've ever seen was a brother who had a "high stress" job and no time for field service. So he prayed to be able to study with someone and "bring them into the truth". The next year, his student got baptized. He repeated the request 2 more times and each time the student got baptized. The rest of the story I found out later because I was talking to him (Both of us worked in administration) was that the students in question were actually HIS CHILDREN! I was floored and told him I thought they were folks he met in fs since that was the implication. He was embarrased because he thought it was misleading but that's what the DO wanted so that's how he told it.
he should move over and allow room for michael vick.. did anyone see vick's touchdown pass against dallas in the playoff?.
awesome!.
a little something from vick's bio: .
I'd take McNabb over Vick anyday, its really not even close. The Eagles would be insane to get rid of McNabb unless they plan on doing major rebuilding and I don't think they need to do that.
If I were the Eagles, I trade Vick to some sucker for a midround draft pick. I'm sure the Skins would jump on that although Shanny I'm sure would try to block it.
Campbell is an adequate QB but I still think he has trouble quickly reading defenses and needs to speed up his release. If he's on a team where he doesn't have to carry the load, he ok. Otherwise (see this year). he's in trouble. I really wanted him to succeed since the Skins traded up in the 1st round to get him but at this point, I don't think he was worth it. They need to draft some o-linemen and then pick up a qb next year.
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does one elder saying it to another in an argument count?
i have not noticed the witnesses referring to themselves in the literature as a christian denomination before: is this a new development?
the february 1st wt says on page 22:.
"a high-school textbook, world religions in denmark, published in 2007, described jehovah's witnesses as a christian minority who follow the bible closely.
Public edition, right? There's your answer, marketing.
per a letter sent to all special pioneers in the us:.
previously the society reimbursed the special pioneers at a flat rate of x cents per mile, to cover the cost of gasoline and maintenance on their cars.
if i recall correctly, it may even have been the standard irs allowable deduction, something like 40-50 cents per mile.. beginning in 2010, the society will reimburse for mileage only, and strictly follow a mathematical formula, using:.
Right and I don't think the WTS is getting the bang for their buck with SPs anymore. They're really no more useful than a RP but cost more. The MTS grads are probably more useful to the WTS since they are 1) not paid and 2) fulfill an administrative role which what the society really wants. I can easily see the program dwindling down to just a few old timers and being phased out completely over time. It's really just a waste of money.
i have expressed in this forum that sometimes im confused as to what will be my ultimate decision.
at this point in my life there is too much at stake.
first, my own emotional estate, ill hate to bitterly regret the years expend taking unnecessary emotional abuse and theocratic bulling.
I’ve learned that I’m not stupid, but that I was duped.
Exactly! It took me awhile to get to that stage, but once there, it makes things much easier! Thanks for sharing. It's important for lurkers and newbies to see these stories so they can appreciate that they're NOT alone, nor are they the problem. The problem lies with the WTS.
as stated in part 1 the latter part of the 1980s and 1990s were very good for my wife and i. we are doing well spiritually and both had good jobs.
our increasing income allowed us to move at a relatively young age to a nice area.
we wanted to stay in our old congregation but i was told as an appointed man i should support the congregation in my new territory.. this new congregation had a completely different feel about it to our old one.
cantleave - your description of congregation politics is repeated in JW congregations all over the world. I recall learning that the first elders meeting I attended prior to a CO visit. I was under the impression that the elders would read the qualifications from the scriptures, pray for direction and then discuss each brother in the hall. What I saw was lobbying prior to the meeting for a person's pet candidate, measurements being used that had no basis in scripture (is he getting the national average and commenting at every meeting? is his wife getting enough time and does she comment?) and the discussion was generally whether the guys in the room liked the person or not. If not, someone would come up with something to block the appointment.
Being an elder lead me down the path of not believing in the WTS anymore because once you see behind the curtain, you really can't honestly say holy spirit has anything to do with it.
Look forward to part 3
