Posts by betterdaze

This is all very feel-goody nice-nice and fine. The Witnesses did what any "worldly people" would have to save a neighbor's drowning pet.

For this we should praise them?

How many pets are sorely neglected while Jehovah's Witnesses are out in their door-to-door work, or preparing for and attending five meetings a week?

How many languish in shelters because Jehovah's Witnesses, by and large, refuse to take in pets that would require time and money expended on their "ministry"?

WORSE: How many human children have died, sacrificed on the altar to the Watchtower Society, for lack of standard medical care like a blood transfusion?

Or even basic dental care, because "Armageddon is coming... soon"?

Again, for this we should praise them?

~Sue, a self-separated "goat-like one"

108

Say NO to a mosque at Ground Zero!!

by Scully in

.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjs0novt3x4&feature=digest.

betterdaze

betterdaze, didn't you say that Cordoba house will be situated more than a quarter of a mile away?

No I did not. 1/4 mile = 1320 feet. I said "about 600 feet."

Google maps has it at 0.1 mile, check the link I provided.

~Sue

108

Say NO to a mosque at Ground Zero!!

by Scully in

.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjs0novt3x4&feature=digest.

betterdaze

sounds like a good idea then, having already been tried and tested

On paper maybe. If these well-heeled residents can shell out $1 million for a 1br/1ba shoebox condo, then they are in a position to build their own community center, right?

No matter how "noble" Cordoba's intentions may be (and it's not entirely clear to me that they are), the effect of this location will be like a monumental F-U to the victims' families and all that participated in the investigations, cleanup, rebuilding.

It's the greed and insensitivity of Community Board 1 that really takes the cake — even the wealthiest Liberals have their paws out for "free stuff" at others' expense.

~Sue

108

Say NO to a mosque at Ground Zero!!

by Scully in

.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjs0novt3x4&feature=digest.

betterdaze

What is the upside of building this particular mosque? Is there anything positive that will result from it?

Good question. The Financial District is the fastest growing residential area in Manhattan. It used to be a ghost town nights and weekends when the office workers cleared out. New residents lack amenities like swimming pools, basketball courts, a performing arts center, libraries, even supermarkets. The Cordoba Initiative sold this idea to Community Board 1 on the basis that it would be operated like the (very successful) 92nd Street Y, a non-profit Jewish institution open to all faiths.

Special Reports produced by Community Board 1

For those who say the mosque is "two whole blocks away," bear in mind that Lower Manhattan does not have the same street grid system as the rest of the city. The proposed mosque/community center will be located about 600 feet from Ground Zero.

Burns: In case you haven't noticed, this is a discussion about building a mosque at Ground Zero. If you want to discuss conditions in Gaza, perhaps you could translate that foreign-language link and start a new topic? Thanks.

~Sue

14

Any news releases on Ray Franz yet?

by tenyearsafter in

i have been doing google searches on ray's passing and have not seen anything other than what has been posted on the ex-jw bulletin boards.

i thought i read a post by barbara andersen talking about an ap release to be sent out.

has anyone heard anything more...it would be a shame for ray's passing to go unnoticed outside of these forums..

betterdaze

Letters to the Editor

Please include your full name, address, and home telephone number, and contact us via email or U.S. mail. If published letters may be edited for purposes of clarity or space.

Email:	[email protected]
US Mail:	The Editor Time Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center New York, NY 10020-1393

77

Fell off the wagon today

by 5thGeneration in

jw
friends

one year sober.

got bombed today.

really upset at myself.

betterdaze

(((5thGen)))

~Sue

19

1966 Movie Heritage on Youtube, first 8 minutes, more to follow

by Wasanelder Once in

jw
friends

ok, you asked for it and here it is.

i'm going to try and embed the video but who knows?

just look under truthbookblues and it will be the video on the home page.. .

betterdaze

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzfU_vCwqSo

1

untitled

by betterdaze in

the irish times - tuesday, june 1, 2010. the stark choices that can mean life or deathmaurice neligan.

heart beat: patients wishes can make life more difficult for doctors.

and for these ends, to practise tolerance .

betterdaze

The Irish Times - Tuesday, June 1, 2010

The stark choices that can mean life or death

MAURICE NELIGAN

HEART BEAT: Patients’ wishes can make life more difficult for doctors

“And for these ends, to practise tolerance

and live together with one another in

peace and as good neighbours”

THESE INSPIRATIONAL words come from the United Nations Charter of 1945. A brief glance around you shows that we’re not quite there yet. It should be an easy concept to grasp and subscribe to, but it’s not.

I am not entering philosophical debate here; one man’s tolerance constitutes an abomination for another. Most want to live in an evolving and progressive society with norms that the vast majority accept. Sometimes, this comfortably woolly concept assumes a hard shape and pins you to the wall, requiring decisions that you would rather not be forced to make.

During my surgical sojourn in England, my chief, Leon Abrams, had a large practice among Jehovah’s Witnesses. In those days, a lot of blood was used in open heart surgery. It was used to prime the capacity of the machine itself, and all the tubing connecting to the patient’s vessels. Blood was replaced as it was lost during surgery, and was given freely post operatively.

Nowadays, blood is used sparingly if at all, but is available if required. This is so in emergency cases and in trauma, as recently witnessed in the case of the young Irish footballer with the ruptured hepatic artery, dealt with so capably by my old friend and colleague, Gerry McEntee, in the Mater. There are many other surgical and obstetrical emergencies that require blood urgently. We have an excellent blood transfusion service in Ireland, serving the patients who need our unstinting donations.

One morning, faced with a difficult re-operation in a Jehovah’s Witness, the team discussed the problem with Abe. It quickly came down to the bottom line. Would he let the patient die, knowing that blood transfusion might well save them?

Abe, as he was known, looked thoughtfully at us all. By chance the team on that day comprised Jewish, Catholic and Muslim surgeons. “Gentlemen,” he said, “we are all members of minority religions here in Britain; we must all respect and tolerate each other’s beliefs.”

I am not sure how much we all agreed with his stance and, indeed, how it stood with our medical ethic, Primum non nocere , or “First, do no harm”, but in time I was to find out. Some of the patients became very pale after their surgery, but in my time with him, Abe never lost such a patient.
On my return to a consultant post in Ireland, I was asked to undertake surgery on a number of such patients. It was my turn to take responsibility and be other than a spear holder in the group photograph.

I had to explain to the patient and their family that their faith placed them in greater jeopardy than similar patients who did not share their beliefs. They always explained their stance to me and quoted the biblical references upon which it was based. I told them that as a doctor I respected their beliefs and would do my very best for them. It made life more difficult, but that was a consequence of agreeing to undertake the operation in the first place. In practice, I never had to face the unspoken stark choice in this moral and ethical minefield.

Adults have the right to exercise such choice we are told, but do they – and is it absolute? Would I have let the mother of three young children die?

Would I have let a child die because of the parent’s beliefs? I never found out, but the problem remains for surgeons who have to face up to such challenges and make a judgment that is personal and cannot be delegated to committee. It’s your call and, as Edmund Burke wrote, “Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.” Burke was referring to politicians and, indeed, it should apply to all public representatives. It applies equally to doctors. Medicine is not best practised by committee. Somebody has to make the decision regarding treatment, explain it and stand by it. “Doctor knows best” is regarded as paternalistic in these sophisticated times. If you feel, as is your right, that committee knows best, then good luck to you. There is no universal decision that will be right all the time. If patients approach their doctor with suspicion or distrust, the results may well be bad for both.

18

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES- HAVE The Truth, But They Can't TELL The Truth

by PublishingCult in

jw elder tells blatant lies on video cam in an impromptu interview at qualcom stadium yesterday during the lunch break at the dc.. .

betterdaze

Not to be mean-spirited, but… Do you think Brother Lyingsack O'Shit counted time for this fine Witness?

First thing he mentions is "five meetings a week." He's all too happy to state how many "ministers". Then he fudges the most basic points about joining the Witnesses, and his demeanor morphs with requests for more details.

Volume over quality. It's nothing but a numbers game. He gets this on some primitive level, in his gut or heart, if not his head yet.

Seems like a nice enough fellow, though. He's not comfortable fibbing for a living and it shows. It's the ones like this who can no longer explain or defend the Watchtower who start seeking "satisfying answers" beyond the Borg and eventually make a path out.

~Sue