Hi Under,
Yes, I check up on Kunstler's site from time to time. I read his book The Long Emergency last year. Some of it is good stuff, but he tends to go off the deep end predicting the breakup of the United States. He does make a good point about the USA not having a decent rail network.
Dave
PrimateDave
JoinedPosts by PrimateDave
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16
peak oil?
by PrimateDave ini know we have some intelligent people here, so i thought i might ask what you think about 'peak oil'.
i became familiar with the concept after watching a video a year and a half ago called "the end of suburbia".
it was strange at the time because i remembered reading a 2003 awake!
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PrimateDave
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16
peak oil?
by PrimateDave ini know we have some intelligent people here, so i thought i might ask what you think about 'peak oil'.
i became familiar with the concept after watching a video a year and a half ago called "the end of suburbia".
it was strange at the time because i remembered reading a 2003 awake!
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PrimateDave
Hi Warlock,
Yes, I'm pretty familiar with many of the Peak Oil web sites like Global Public Media and From the Wilderness. I try to stay objective and take everyone's view with a grain of salt. They cite much scientific evidence, but I am wary of their timelines. Once bitten, twice shy?
Learning about peak oil led me to look further into where mankind might be headed. I began to think about what a sustainable human society might be like and read some books on Permaculture (Permanent Agriculture). There is so much to learn about.
On a side note, the permaculture movement is critical of 'industrial' landscapes such as manicured lawns. I remember seeing a photo of one of the WTS new facilities this past year with its great expanses of flat green grass. Truly an ecological wasteland. It struck me how the Society was so far out of the loop. Industrial Religion(TM).
Dave -
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HOW to CONVERT a JW from their wacky ways
by Terry inhello friend!
you and i have something in common.
you and i are both faithful jehovah's witnesses.
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PrimateDave
Hey, now! Lawrence Welk wasn't all that bad!
Hehe, the congregation I'm with now can't carry a tune if its life depended on it.
If it wasn't for my parents being hardcore JWs, I would take that retirement package today!
Dave -
16
peak oil?
by PrimateDave ini know we have some intelligent people here, so i thought i might ask what you think about 'peak oil'.
i became familiar with the concept after watching a video a year and a half ago called "the end of suburbia".
it was strange at the time because i remembered reading a 2003 awake!
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PrimateDave
I know we have some intelligent people here, so I thought I might ask what you think about 'peak oil'.
I became familiar with the concept after watching a video a year and a half ago called "The End of Suburbia".
It was strange at the time because I remembered reading a 2003 Awake! article on oil:
*** g03 11/8 p. 6 Oil—How Do We Get It? ***
HOW DID PETROLEUM FORM?
The opinion that has prevailed among most scientists since the 1870’s is called the biogenic theory. This “holds that biological debris buried in sediments decays into oil and natural gas in the long course of time and that this petroleum then becomes concentrated in the pore space of sedimentary rocks in the uppermost layers of the [Earth’s] crust.” This process then produces petroleum, whose main components are hydrocarbons—that is, hydrogen and carbon. However, since the 1970’s this theory has at times been challenged by some scientists....
“The abiogenic theory holds that hydrocarbons were a component of the material that formed the earth, through accretion of solids, some 4.5 billion years ago.” According to this theory, the elements of petroleum have been deep in the earth since the earth’s formation.
[Footnote]
Awake! does not take a position on differing theories. It merely reports them.
There are some web sites and books out there that paint a pretty grim picture for the 21st century based on the concept of 'peak oil'.
On one extreme there is the 'dieoff' crowd that basically says that the human race is in the process of overshoot due to overpopulation and natural resouce depletion. According to them, technology and loads of cheap energy (petroleum) has allowed humanity to exceed the natural carrying capacity of the planet. Once the supplies of cheap energy go past the maximum sustainable level (peak) and begin to decline, then the die off begins until population stabilizes at a lower level.
The other extreme is the 'cornucopist' crowd. They say that there is more than enough petroleum to meet the world's energy needs well into the future. They say that technology will continue to advance to enable continued economic growth and prosperity.
Any thoughts?
Dave -
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Yet another "Crisis of Conscience" Thread
by XBEHERE inso after over 4 yrs i finally read the book...i had a lot of my suspicions confirmed especially with all the doctrinal matters such as 1914, this generation, alternative service, etc.
the fact that the gb actually considered all of these things and almost voted for change on some of them but ultimately did not because of not having 2/3 majority is disgusting!
the malawi/mexico hypocrisy is appalling to say the least.
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PrimateDave
I just finished the book myself a week ago. I bought it used from Amazon. I got the 1999 edition. It is nice how he kept adding to the book over the years.
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Snotty
by KW13 inwhat really gets on my nerves is the snotty dubs, the ones that think nothing is above them and that everyone somehow is in debt to them.. example 1) i was whispering to a friend, she said (40 year old this was lol) "you can't have secrets in the kingdom hall, what were you whispering about please" - i said to my friend lets go outside, then she starting giving us dirty looks ?!?!?!
example 2) a kingdom ministry item said, move around the hall and sit with different people.
spend time to get to know each other, so i did!
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PrimateDave
OMFG!!! That brings back a memory! I went to Japan in 1991. While I was there I went to visit Ebina Bethel (the branch office) one day, and some local brothers took me and an elderly white brother from the branch office with them to the meeting at an English congregation nearby. At the time I didn't pay much attention to the other passenger except to note his New Zealand/Australian accent.
Well, a month or so later I was back in the states, and I went to the District Convention. One of the speakers at the convention was Lloyd Barry from the GB. Frankly, I had never paid much attention to who the members of the GB were beyond knowing that Fred Franz was the president. Anyway, Lloyd Barry started to speak, and I almost could swear that it was the same brother who rode with me in the car in Japan just a month earlier.
So, after that final talk, my father and I went down to the stage to see if I could speak for a moment with him, at least to thank him for his visit and his talk. I waited patiently for a few minutes and finally had a moment to introduce my father and myself. He seemed a bit cool and distant. Not really interested at all in who we were or what congregation we were from.
I know I am just writing from a memory of fifteen years ago, but I do remember feeling surprised at the abrupt and short nature of the encounter. Snotty? Not really, but hardly friendly either.
Dave -
16
Anyone like me....
by Keepitsane innot feeling like there life's been affected that negatively by their involvement with jw's?.
i ask because while i do believe being raised a jehovahs witness has probably done me some considerable emotional damage, i still can't imagaine it hurt me anymore (and in a lot of cases i'm sure it did far less damage) than the average non jw upbringing.
i had no debilitating diseases, no broken family, kind and loving parents etc...you get my point though?.
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PrimateDave
Yes. I think I am like you in that I don't blame being raised a JW for any major problems in my life. However, there is really no way for me to know how my life would have been different (better or worse) if I had not been a JW.
In fact, if I may go so far as to say this, if my parents had not been JWs, I wouldn't exist. My mother moved to where the 'need was greater' back in the '60s, and there she met my father. My father's mother learned the 'truth' back in the '50s. She had considered suicide because she was married to an abusive husband (my father's father, who never became a witness) and prayed to God to help her, and the Witnesses knocked on her door. I'm pretty sure that was just a coincidence (crosses fingers), but apparently what the organization taught her helped her to cope somehow, and my grandfather gradually mellowed out over the years before he passed away.
My parents seem to be quite happy to be Witnesses. My mom is helping in some unassigned territory this week. My dad is an elder, and I know in my heart that he is a good man, possibly a far better man than I may ever be. I love them both very much. They try to stay in touch with my brother and his family. My brother (lucky bastard
drifted away years ago. Not DF'd or DA'd. He is a good man. My parents did their best to raise us well.
An aunt and uncle of mine were baptised in their later years having know 'the truth' for most of their lives. It must be what they need or want. They seem content enough.
However, this is a forum that provides its members with a degree of anonymity. That protection allows many of us to VENT. Forgive us. We don't have a voice in the organization of JWs. The feelings get pent-up inside us after a while, and they tend to explode. That may indeed seem very off-putting to someone casually browsing the forum, but keep in mind that for some of us this may be our only outlet.
Anyway, welcome to the forum.
Dave (still a primate, but I don't need no thought control) -
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PrimateDave
yes, because i don't have a home internet connection, and i use the library, so i can't be online 24/7 like most people.
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You Libs keep 'dancing around the issue'
by Shining One insince so many of you keep avoiding the primary issue in two other threads, chew on this one!
terry said this: .
>life is at the basis of reality for humans.
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PrimateDave
(Psalm 137:9) 9 Happy will he be that grabs ahold and does dash to pieces Your children against the crag.
Does this scripture represent a liberal or conservative view?
Dave (still a primate, but I don't need no education) -
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Is there a doctrinal change afoot in the WTBTS?
by Gill inis the wtbts preparing the r and f for a large doctrinal change?.
the july 15th watchtower is dealing with murmuring?.
subheadings 'an evil assembly murmurs against jehovah'.
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PrimateDave
"Then let us not be impatient. The'faithful slave' may eventually publish something that answers our questions and clears up our doubts."
*** w81 12/1 p. 27 par. 2 The Path of the Righteous Does Keep Getting Brighter ***
2 However, it may have seemed to some as though that path has not always gone straight forward. At times explanations given by Jehovah’s visible organization have shown adjustments, seemingly to previous points of view. But this has not actually been the case. This might be compared to what is known in navigational circles as “tacking.” By maneuvering the sails the sailors can cause a ship to go from right to left, back and forth, but all the time making progress toward their destination in spite of contrary winds. And that goal in view for Jehovah’s servants is the “new heavens and a new earth” of God’s promise.—2 Pet. 3:13.
Yes, the organization is just tacking. Sometimes it tacks right back to the starting point! Isn't that just another way of going nowhere?
Dave (still a primate, but I don't need no education)