Good question, Jan. Due to the California energy crisis, I'm seriously considering taking my home off the grid (at least partially if the estimates are too costly for 100% solar). I'm amazed at the technology. In order to provide some power (light, fan, laptop computer, television and coffee maker), I keep a deep cycle marine battery fully charged at all times, and keep a top of the line quality 120 watt solar panel available to recharge the battery in an extended outage. Fortunately the outages have been limited to less than an hour (knock on wood!) but it seems like a matter of time before the outages last longer. Lots of people on my block have solar panels on their rooftops to run all critical systems (such as refridge, lights with new bright incandescent bulbs that emit 75 watts or more of brightness but use only 30 watts or less of power from manufacturers such as Lights of America, computer, television and miscellaneous appliances) in the event of an outage. These systems often reduce their year-round energy consumption by a certain percentage so that the system is paid over time. ALSO, the energy company PG&E gives generous rebates for solar installations to reduce capital expenditures by each homeowner. Going completely off the grid is very expensive I'm told, and after the estimates come in for various configurations I might decide a partial solution that will shutdown the house air-conditioning system (and if necessary ventilation/filtration systems). Just a few years ago I never would have considered going this route considering the cost! I cannot stress the benefit of everyone purchasing a standby battery and solar panel to recharge the battery. I bought mine from a local solar dealer but have seen excellent buys on the Internet for similar backup systems that cost under a thousand dollars. Of course the war is going to really aggravate the problem at least I'm told this will happen in California where I live. (If this is all lumped together like my last post it's because something isn't working and the line feeds are getting dropped.) Derrick
Derrick
JoinedPosts by Derrick
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29
How long could you live without electricity?
by JH ini lived through the ice storm of january 97 in quebec.
i spent 1 complete day without electricity.
it was about 25f (-5c) outside, and i had no heating.
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New Order Mormons Forum - JWs Can Learn From LDS Mistakes!
by Derrick incan jws learn from the latter-day saints mistakes?
i recently ran across a forum for mormons (http://www.aimoo.com/forum/freeboard.cfm?id=319220) that brings back memories of the jw forum hourglass2 outpost (h2o) when it started in the year 1996 (and believe it or not still exists at http://www.geocities.com/hourglass2.geo/).
this new mormon forum is named appropriately "new order mormons" (http://www.aimoo.com/forum/freeboard.cfm?id=319220) and is on the same isp forum site as the h2o forums.
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Derrick
Can JWs learn from the Latter-Day Saints mistakes? Sure we can! I recently ran across a forum for Mormons (http://www.aimoo.com/forum/freeboard.cfm?id=319220) that brings back memories of the JW forum Hourglass2 Outpost (H2O) when it started in the year 1996 (and believe it or not still exists at http://www.geocities.com/hourglass2.geo/). This new Mormon forum is named appropriately "New Order Mormons" (http://www.aimoo.com/forum/freeboard.cfm?id=319220) and is on the same ISP forum site as the H2O forums. It really is worth checking out and lurking there if you want a blast from the past. I find the LDS and JWs similar in many subtle ways. I think the Watchtower Society can learn from them, and would do well to develop a choir from brothers and sisters whose talents are in musical instruments and vocals. Hey, I even recall -- and I'm sure a few of you 'old timers' remember this well -- an x-file conspiracy theorist on who once posted on H2O that the Mormon church actually owns and controls the Watchtower corporations of Pennsylvania and New York! Now isn't that funny at least in an oddball sort of a way? ;) Check it out: New Order Mormons forum - http://www.aimoo.com/forum/freeboard.cfm?id=319220 Derrick
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Disfellowshippees Go Public w/Photos! Courageous Testimonials Online
by Derrick inthe human rights abuses of our spiritual brothers and sisters by elders shepherding the flock, leading to countless ruined families and suicides, cries clear to heaven:.
http://www.disfellowshipped.org/testimonies_page_3.htm.
i recall the unforgettable claim by an elder that "each elder on every judicial committee has no moral responsibility for suicides after they disfellowship wrongdoers in the christian congregation and bears no burden of conscience for disfellowshippees or their families.
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Derrick
Hi Brummie,
I'm glad you benefitted from the URL. I sincerely hope many more disfellowshipees will surface to tell their experiences on the global Internet for the benefit of our brothers and sisters everywhere.
Derrick
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Disfellowshippees Go Public w/Photos! Courageous Testimonials Online
by Derrick inthe human rights abuses of our spiritual brothers and sisters by elders shepherding the flock, leading to countless ruined families and suicides, cries clear to heaven:.
http://www.disfellowshipped.org/testimonies_page_3.htm.
i recall the unforgettable claim by an elder that "each elder on every judicial committee has no moral responsibility for suicides after they disfellowship wrongdoers in the christian congregation and bears no burden of conscience for disfellowshippees or their families.
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Derrick
Hello James,
Thanks for the information regarding Fred W. Franz's views on disfellowshipping in the late 1950's. I just wonder specifically how his views have changed between that address you quoted and the Society's stance today? Also, I wonder what were the substantive differences between Fred Franz's viewpoint on disfellowshipping near his death decades after that address and Ray Franz's viewpoint on the practice today?
I want to also make clear that I'm not opposed to the practice in extreme circumstances where proven criminal wrongdoing is involved, or where an individual disrupts meetings thereby denying the religious freedom of worship of attendees, and so forth. Other religious organizations throughout Christendom seem to have in place the judicial process for excommunications, albeit rare occurrences for the most part, for extreme situations without turning the congregation into a police state. I think it's imperative for the Watchtower Society to reform its practices accordingly to avoid stumbling innocent family and friends of anyone accused of extreme "wrongdoing" and avoid the appearance of operating a controlling and manipulating cult before the general public. The Apostles surely would have reproved the present-day Governing Body for trying to legislate matters that are best left to personal consciences before God based on their general counsel in the scriptures on conscience matters.
Derrick
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Disfellowshippees Go Public w/Photos! Courageous Testimonials Online
by Derrick inthe human rights abuses of our spiritual brothers and sisters by elders shepherding the flock, leading to countless ruined families and suicides, cries clear to heaven:.
http://www.disfellowshipped.org/testimonies_page_3.htm.
i recall the unforgettable claim by an elder that "each elder on every judicial committee has no moral responsibility for suicides after they disfellowship wrongdoers in the christian congregation and bears no burden of conscience for disfellowshippees or their families.
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Derrick
The human rights abuses of our spiritual brothers and sisters by elders shepherding the flock, leading to countless ruined families and suicides, cries clear to heaven:
http://www.disfellowshipped.org/Testimonies_page_3.htm
I recall the unforgettable claim by an elder that "Each elder on every judicial committee has no moral responsibility for suicides after they disfellowship wrongdoers in the Christian congregation AND bears no burden of conscience for disfellowshippees or their families. Disfellowshipping of wrongdoers is taught by the Bible and required by the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York. I find it tragically ironic that those who succumb to suicide due to post-disfellowship depression could very likely have a better chance at resurrections than those who are outside Jehovah's organization when the fast approaching great tribulation starts."
Disfellowshipping is obviously a practice that causes great social and psychological harm to its victims. It seems hypocritical to justify this practice based on various comments by the Apostles when these servants of Christ would have never endorsed a practice resulting in spiritual harm to not only the alleged "wrongdoer" but their innocent family members and friends whose lives are often destroyed. The abuse of human rights from misinterpretation of various Bible passages has obviously affected the conscience of this elder in a manner best described in 1 Timothy 4:2.
Do not be afraid to speak out against this form of spiritual violence in your community. Get your local newspaper to publish accounts of local disfellowshippings to raise public awareness in your field service territories. Those who commit suicide after being disfellowshipped or seeing a beloved family member expelled, like it or not, have died as a direct consequence of gross negligence on the part of a religious organization and its practitioners who have not taken the trouble to delve deeply enough into the Bible. Ask yourself a difficult question. How can disfellowshipping be "scriptural" when it often results in DEATH thus leading to the elders breaking the most critical of the ten basic Commandments given by God to Moses? Not only does disfellowshipping result in ruined lives of family and friends not even involved in the original "wrongdoing" but in the deaths of some disfellowshippees whom the elders have taken it upon themselves to judge.
Derrick
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Commentary/Survey: The Necessity for God to Destroy Evil Individuals
by Derrick init's time to wake up and smell the coffee.
the world trade center and other acts of terrorism highlight the necessity for god to exterminate not only those behind these mass murders such as members of the al quaida network but all evil individuals worldwide engaging in crime.
forget the watchtower society's pet pieves about who is evil and who qualifies for destruction.
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Derrick
It's time to wake up and smell the coffee. The World Trade Center and other acts of terrorism highlight the necessity for God to exterminate not only those behind these mass murders such as members of the Al Quaida Network but all evil individuals worldwide engaging in crime. Forget the Watchtower Society's pet pieves about who is evil and who qualifies for destruction. We know that if they had it their way only baptized Jehovah's Witnesses in good standing would survive. It is easy to get side-tracked on this issue by focusing on the false belief that only Jehovah's Witnesses will be spared in the coming apocalypse. Why not instead acknowledge the simple fact that humanity is doomed to extinction without the intervention of a Higher Power to cleanse this planet of all vestiges of evil? That means that if an Advanced Intelligence who finds mankind worth saving does not exist then intelligent life on this planet will likely go the way of the dinosaur.
What do YOU think about my comments? Do you believe that civilization can continue on this course without supernatural intervention by an Advanced Intelligence from deep space or beyond? Are you ready to accept the changes in your life that would have to occur if such an Intelligence saved humanity by exterminating evil individuals that are ruining life on Earth?
I would like to know what you really think.
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The Watchtower Joins The Catholic Church
by Voyager injolene chu is a holocaust researcher, and book writer for the watchtower bible and tract society.
jolene has joined and sits on the american research committee, at st. joseph's university.
this is a roman catholic interfaith private university.
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Derrick
These associations are shocking beyond belief. After seeing the organization sliding down that slippery slope for the past 12 years, your commentary made me realize that (a) I'm reaching the point of saturation and "overload" in trying to internally process the implications of these kind of reports about the Society; and (b) where I think I see a "bottom" to this slippery slope is starting to look more and more like the overhang to a seemingly bottomless canyon. I have a sinking feeling we are going to soar over that overhang like they did in that raft scene from Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom. I just hope we land in the rapids face-up and survive the waterfall down river if you catch my drift...
Derrick
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Saddam Hussein Starts Bible Study
by SYN insaddam hussein starts bible study .
baghdad - at the eve of what is more and more likely to become all-out war with the united states, it seems that the prime ruler of iraq, saddam hussein, elected last year in a landslide election where he got 100% of all votes, has undertaken a major mission of his own: to increase his religious knowledge.
he has done so by starting a bible study with a rather bewildered publisher from his local, secret baghdad congregation of jehovah's witnesses.. "we always used to meet in mohammed's camel shed, but now we hold the book study at the palace of the great leader!
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Derrick
Hey Syn. Once he becomes baptized, isn't there a concern he would appoint himself supreme Presiding Overseer for life !
I think a greater concern would be that he might start partaking of the emblems at Memorials, get accepted into Bethel and move to Patterson, become a membern of the Governing Body, and be appointed the Watchtower Society's next President, and institute more sweeping changes in the organization than Judge Rutherford did...
NY TIMES HEADLINES over a period of years in the not too distant future might go something like this:
- EXILED FORMER IRAQI PRESIDENT SADAM HUSSEIN FOUND IN NEW YORK IN WATCHTOWER SOCIETY
Associated Press - Forced to flee the Palace during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq former Iraqi President Sadam Hussein went into exile in an undisclosed location and country. Rumors persisted that he converted to Christianity through the efforts of Bible missionaries representing the Watchtower Society but were dismissed as ridiculous. That is until the White House just announced today the shocking disclosure that Hussein has been traced to the city of Patterson, New York, where he is living in a location many consider least likely... - IRAQI EX-PRESIDENT SADAM HUSSEIN TO HEAD MULTI-NATIONAL RELIGIOUS CORPORATION
Associated Press - Sadam Hussein's conversion from murderous dictator of Iraq to governing body member of the multi-national Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York has taken another turn with his appointment as the Watchtower's new President... - FROM JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES TO MOHAMMED'S WITNESSES?
San Francisco Chronicle, News of the Bizaar - Shockwaves reverberated through over 100,000 church congregations worldwide at the announcement that they were witnessing to the wrong God all these years, when former Iraqi President and current Watchtower Society President Sadam Hussein dropped a bombshell at the 2014 International Conventions of Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide...
Da Judge would be turning over in his grave.
Derrick
- EXILED FORMER IRAQI PRESIDENT SADAM HUSSEIN FOUND IN NEW YORK IN WATCHTOWER SOCIETY
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Frightening news brings Armageddon blues
by Derrick ingeorge bush's administration and the government is at it again, warning americans to buy among other things sheets of plastic and duct tape, select a panic room in the home, and seal every orifice to prevent biological, chemical or radioactive agents from seeping through any cracks.
nevermind that those successful enough to seal a room completely air-tight will suffocate long before they become deceased from airborne agents of warfare.
how many of you are concerned the ugly turn of events worldwide portends the great tribulation leading to armageddon?
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Derrick
Hello startingover, thanks for sharing this excellent disseration by SFC Red Thomas (Ret), Armor Master Gunner out of Mesa, AZ, and thanks to him for sharing this information. It's absolutely remarkable how this kind of information that dispells myths about biological, chemical and atomic warfare can liberate your irrational fears. I had no idea that much of the hoopla about these agents of warefare is false information intended to manipulate large populations of people and herd them like massive flocks of fearsome sheep. It also makes sense considering that the enemy who dispatches these methods of warfare are often the greatest cowards of all when it comes to tolerating real pain and suffering; thus, the terrorists are very careful not to unleash weapons that will boomerang on them.
There was mention about 1975 being the start of the Great Tribulation. Coincidentally, I have heard some of the elders and a Circuit Overseer claim the Society holds an unpublished view that 1975, and not 1914, is the start of the GT. (Originally they believed 1914 was the start of the GT and that 1975 would usher in the millennium under Christ's rulership after Armageddon; now they have dropped 1914 and bumped up the GT to 1975 even though the official stance is still that the GT will occur sometime in the near future.) The long and short of it is that there seems to be a lot of confusion as some have pointed out as to how the current chain of events coincides with the "harlot" getting stripped naked and essentially gang raped by the nations and Jehovah's Witnesses facing the final test of faith in vindication of Jehovah's universal sovereignty. I've been "in the truth" since my baptism in the mid-1970's and never believed the time would come when the Watchtower Society became an NGO member of the United Nations (circa 1990) and would eventually reform.
Derrick
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My grandmother died
by joelbear inmy mother's mother who was 97 died yesterday.
i had not seen her in probably close to 20 years.
she lived an odd existence.
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Derrick
Feeling especially emotional due to the loss of my own father in recent months, it is sad to hear about your loss and I send my condolences to you and yours.
Derrick