PrimateDave

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Posts by PrimateDave

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  62

  How do you like your coffee?

  by LouBelle in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  same way i like me women.....sweet and strong with lots of milk.......

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  PrimateDave

  Black with a teaspoon of sugar.
  
  Edited to add that I don't use a coffee maker. I just boil enough water and add ground coffee to it the moment it starts boiling. I immediately turn it off and stir it for a minute. Then I pour it through a fine strainer, no filter, into my cup and add a teaspoon of sugar.
  
  Dave
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  4

  Banks earmark Billions from Bailout for year end Bonuses

  by PrimateDave in

  1. social
  2. current

  according to msn money:.

  $50 billion of bailout going to employee bonuses.

  dave

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  PrimateDave

  According to MSN Money:
  
  $50 billion of bailout going to employee bonuses
  
  Dave
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  21

  DA on Sunday, Announced on Tuesday

  by passwordprotected in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  as you may be aware, my wife and i dad ourselves on sunday afternoon.

  it was announced to our old congregation last night (tuesday).

  it will apparently be announced to their sister congregation tomorrow (thursday).. .

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  PrimateDave

  Congratulations! You are out. You got what you wanted. Why does it matter when or if they make an announcement? When I DA'd (verbally, I never bothered to write anything "official") over two years ago, at that point I couldn't have cared less whether they made any announcement. I was free!
  
  Dave
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  19

  When were the Earliest Bible books composed?

  by gaiagirl in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  according to the table in the back of the nwt, genesis and exodus were composed around 1300 bce, by moses (who also wrote in exodus about his own death, nice feat).

  however, the oldest existing copies or fragments of genesis are only from around 200 bce.. .

  additionally, comparison of genesis with sumerian and babylonian creation accounts reveal many, many similarities, and the sumerians and babylonians had there stories long before 1300 bce...so it appears that someone copied someone else merely changing a few names to suit a different audience.

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  PrimateDave

  From the documentary:
  
  "Gaaad said it; that settles it; I believe it!" says the minister, Dr. Richard Land, who is an adviser to President Bush and has the presidential cuff links to prove it.
  
  This same Southern Baptist minister also went on to say, "Biblical truth is truth with a capital T."
  
  Dr. Robert Beckford, the narrator of the documentary, concludes with the words, "Ask questions and never have the wool pulled over your eyes."
  
  Dave
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  19

  When were the Earliest Bible books composed?

  by gaiagirl in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  according to the table in the back of the nwt, genesis and exodus were composed around 1300 bce, by moses (who also wrote in exodus about his own death, nice feat).

  however, the oldest existing copies or fragments of genesis are only from around 200 bce.. .

  additionally, comparison of genesis with sumerian and babylonian creation accounts reveal many, many similarities, and the sumerians and babylonians had there stories long before 1300 bce...so it appears that someone copied someone else merely changing a few names to suit a different audience.

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  PrimateDave

  And who wrote what "Jesus" said? How can you know you haven't been deceived by tradition unless you do some research?
  
  Dave
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  19

  When were the Earliest Bible books composed?

  by gaiagirl in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  according to the table in the back of the nwt, genesis and exodus were composed around 1300 bce, by moses (who also wrote in exodus about his own death, nice feat).

  however, the oldest existing copies or fragments of genesis are only from around 200 bce.. .

  additionally, comparison of genesis with sumerian and babylonian creation accounts reveal many, many similarities, and the sumerians and babylonians had there stories long before 1300 bce...so it appears that someone copied someone else merely changing a few names to suit a different audience.

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  PrimateDave

  Here is a good documentary on this topic and its sociopolitical implications for today:
  
  Who Wrote the Bible? Documentary
  
  Dave
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  2

  Kogi Documentary, Older Brothers Warning to Younger Brothers

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i thoughts some might find this very interesting.. http://www.onlinedocumentaries4u.com/2008/05/kogi-from-heart-of-world-elder-brothers.html.

  the kogi are an indigenous people living in the sierra nevada de santa marta mountains of northern colombia, in south america.

  they are the only civilisation to have survived the spanish conquests and to have kept their individuality.

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  PrimateDave

  Thank you for the link. My take: I find it difficult to relate to the Kogi culture. The presentation feels rather canned and heavy handed. I'm not sure whether that is because the culture itself is in decline from within or the documentary crew had an agenda and used these people to further that agenda. Maybe it is a combination of both.
  
  Anyway, there are indigenous cultures throughout the world that still retain a strong connection to natural ecosystems. You might enjoy watching the movie "Ten Canoes" which provides a glimpse of Australian aboriginal culture.
  
  In the past year I read Jared Diamond's "Collapse." What it showed me is that even humans who live in pre-industrial cultures have experienced societal collapse due to environmental causes. Modern industrial civilization will be no different in the long run. I personally would love to see how things work out by 2100.
  
  Dave
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  21

  Interesting explanation of the tax system

  by purplesofa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  interesting explanation of the tax system from a economics professor.. .

  suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten.

  if they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like.

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  PrimateDave

  Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100.
  
  This is supposed to make it appeal to the blue collar voters. Joe Six Pack.
  
  If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: the first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
  
  Naturally, you are supposed to think about people on welfare, having babies, getting food stamps, living in public housing. This is a fallacy. Most poor people work. Poor people pay taxes every time they buy gasoline, food, clothing, etc. A lot of hard working poor people pay a significant portion of their income in taxes. The notion that 40% of the population gets something for nothing is wrong.
  
  The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18.
  
  So, the middle and upper middle class pay higher percentages of their income in taxes. Well, heck, they ARE making a more money than the working poor. The only problem is that the middle class is under pressure from stagnant wages and inflation.
  
  The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59. So, that's what they decided to do.
  
  So, what is the assumption here? The wealthiest 10% pay 59% of the taxes? Well, who do you think the government works for? That same government makes it possible for that wealthiest 10% to get even richer. The system works for them! Corporate welfare anyone?
  
  The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. Since you are all such good customers, he said, I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
  
  This reads like a fairy tale. Since when has the cost of running the government gone down?
  
  The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
  
  The truth of the matter is that real tax reform is complicated. The current problems are systemic, and they will not get better.
  
  And so: The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% Savings).The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings). The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings). The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
  
  LOL! So now the rich guy pays 61.25% of the bill! And still the assumption is that everyone gets served equally.
  
  Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. 'I only got a dollar out of the $20,' declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, 'but he got $10!' 'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!' 'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!' 'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!' The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
  
  Right. So, 90% of the population decides to "beat up" the richest 10%? Huh? How is that supposed to happen? Do you actually think your vote means anything? The only candidate for president (Edwards) who called for corporate accountability was put out of the running real fast. Neither Obama nor McCain is going to "beat up" rich people. They have been bought and paid for by the wealthiest people in the world.
  
  The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill! (The 10th man was originally paying $59 of $100, then $49 of $80).
  
  This is so full of shit. Like another poster said, the rich man OWNS the bar.
  
  And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
  
  "Boys and girls"? Why is this person talking down to us? Why should rich people get a tax reduction at the same time that the government is increasingly in debt? Just where are the uncontrolled mobs "attacking" rich people?
  
  No, I think that real wealthy people don't pay attention to this kind of drivel. This is Neocon political babble. It's the same kind of crap they have been spewing since the '80s to turn the middle class against the working poor, all the while stealing from both.
  
  Dave
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  11

  Okay - how to translate the AWFUL greek of Revelation.

  by hamsterbait in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been thinking about leos post on revelation.. the early church fathers could see how bad the greek was.

  unfortunately modern translations iron everything out and make it sound perfectly cogent.

  by correcting the grammar en route to the target language, the scholars are actually hiding the real text, and so prevent us from realising that it could have been written by a wing nut.. are there any places where the use of the language is so bad, that if we translated honestly we might get:.

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  PrimateDave

  For Greendawn, that link you requested:
  
  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/166855/3090715/post.ashx#3090715
  
  Dave
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  21

  Interesting explanation of the tax system

  by purplesofa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  interesting explanation of the tax system from a economics professor.. .

  suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten.

  if they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like.

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  PrimateDave

  http://www.snopes.com/business/taxes/howtaxes.asp
  
  Apparently, nobody knows who really wrote this piece.
  
  Dave
  
  Edit: Oops, beksbks beat me to the punch!