done4good

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Posts by done4good

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  16

  priveledges an extra layer of protection

  by aintenoughwiskey in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have noticed when an elder or ms gets in serious trouble, many times it's simply a demotion.

  local example.

  well liked ms son of a prominent elder/pioneer gets caught doing the dance with no pants with his fiancee.

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  done4good

  ^And what Punk said.

  To clarify my statement, the loophole will be invoked, depending on what Punk mentions above.

  d4g
  
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  16

  priveledges an extra layer of protection

  by aintenoughwiskey in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have noticed when an elder or ms gets in serious trouble, many times it's simply a demotion.

  local example.

  well liked ms son of a prominent elder/pioneer gets caught doing the dance with no pants with his fiancee.

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  done4good

  Yep. A little known loophole exists for elders/MS, (that only gets used if you are of the "in" crowd with the BoE), that essentially lets those with these privileges off the hook as long as they keep quiet about it.

  I am sure someone here can find the publication where this is alluded to.
  

  d4g
  
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  52

  Bethel Meeting at Regional Convention

  by MrTheocratic in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i decided to go to the bethel recruiting meeting yesterday to test out my theory that the organization is in decline.

  i assumed that if there is a general feeling of apathy by many in the org, then certainly it would be shown up by the lack of enthusiasm or zeal by many to sign up for bethel service.

  well let me say that based on what i observed, this organization is not going anywhere.

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  done4good

  As others have said, this means nothing, politics aside even...

  Much of the formalisms and rituals, (such as the Bethel rah-rah meeting), are designed to do just that, serve the purpose as nothing more than a pep rally. Any energy realized from this is short lived.

  The younger ones that are seriously pursuing such a career are only doing so because they have no other viable options. No education, no career, so they think they may want to try to go to Bethel, (not much unlike many who join the military as enlisted for the same reason).

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  75

  Guns. Well said Mr President, if only your countrymen had the same courage to consider changing course.

  by nicolaou in

  1. social
  2. current

  ive had to make statements like this too many times.

  communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times.

  once again, communities [were harmed] because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no problem getting their hands on a gun.. lets be clear: at some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.

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  done4good

  Most legal gun owners that I know are VERY responsible and want safety first for themselves, their families, their neighbors et al.

  True.

  Also true is the much repeated, "guns don't kill people, people kill people".

  However, probability theory dictates that the greater the concentration of guns in the populace in aggregate, the greater the potential for some of those guns to be misused. This is the mathematics of the issue. Only people who outright deny math and science could believe otherwise.

  Any wonder the religious right are also almost always pro gun?

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  10

  This is what leadership looks like

  by Pistoff in

  1. social
  2. current

  since the day pope francis told catholics to stop obsessing about abortion and gay marriage, and get to the business of helping the poor, i have been afraid for his life.. in one statement, he pierced 2 sacred cows of catholic and evangelical thought, and he has not stopped.. he has lectured the world on real evils, mentioning capitalism in particular as a system that has left billions in desperate poverty.. he has now said that global warming threatens the world, particularly the poor, and is calling on the world to change it's lifestyle to save the planet.. i can't remember ever, in my entire life, when someone in as powerful a position as the pope, actually speaks out loud and in public the actual truth of the world's environment and calling the world to action, without regard for the consequences.. hard line catholics don't like him; fox news hates him, one pundit telling him to leave science to the scientists (of course, fox news doesn't leave global warming to the scientists) and today this from greg gutfield, fox news:.

  "the most dangerous person on the planet is someone who is seeking strange new respect from their adversaries.

  and that is what the pope is doing, said gutfeld, implying that the recognition of the existence of man-made climate change is fundamentally at odds with catholicism.

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  done4good

  "The most dangerous person on the planet is someone who is seeking strange new respect from their adversaries. And that is what the Pope is doing,” said Gutfeld, implying that the recognition of the existence of man-made climate change is fundamentally at odds with Catholicism. “He doesn’t want to be your grandfather’s pope, he wants to be a modern pope. All he needs is dreadlocks and a dog with a bandana and he could be on Occupy Wall Street.”

  Typical ad hominem from Fox. Unfortunately, their viewers are mostly way too uneducated to even know what an ad hominem is, let alone spot one when they see it. The plutocrats that control that network, are not so uneducated and know exactly what they are doing.

  Btw, even as an atheist I like this pope. He is a human being.
  

  d4g
  
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  17

  WATCHTOWER AND BULLSHIT VIEWS ON SCIENCE (THE WATCHTOWER JUNE 2015)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the watchtower june 2015 (bullshit).

  the latest watchtower (online at j-dub dot argh!

  ) features a hilarious article.

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  done4good

  Thank you, Terry. I read Stenger's book when it came out in 2007, (and Dawkins' book in '06). Nothing is more frustrating to me than the level of intellectual dishonesty this organization continuously participates in with respect to quoting sources out of context.

  Any wonder they are so anti-higher ed? They would be expelled from any university in one semester for their brazen level of academic misrepresentation.
  

  They. Never. Stop.

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  75

  Guns. Well said Mr President, if only your countrymen had the same courage to consider changing course.

  by nicolaou in

  1. social
  2. current

  ive had to make statements like this too many times.

  communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times.

  once again, communities [were harmed] because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no problem getting their hands on a gun.. lets be clear: at some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.

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  done4good

  Simon - Yes, if you are American it seems everyone is coming to get you. OoooOOoooh, bogey men !!!

  Simon, with all due respect, please stop painting all of us with that broad of a brush. That doesn't reflect well on your site. And for what it's worth, while I may disagree with many of my fellow Americans on this issue, I do respect their reasons for disagreement. The gun lobby in this country is just another facet of a much bigger problem that cannot be solved by itself. The misinformation campaign in this country is largely controlled by a small plutocracy that is as old as at least the robber-baron era of the late 19th century. It will not be fixed by a discussion about guns in a vacuum.

  Until Americans take back their government from the money loving bastards that own it, nothing will change.
  

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  75

  Guns. Well said Mr President, if only your countrymen had the same courage to consider changing course.

  by nicolaou in

  1. social
  2. current

  ive had to make statements like this too many times.

  communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times.

  once again, communities [were harmed] because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no problem getting their hands on a gun.. lets be clear: at some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.

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  done4good

  England ruled the Americas with an iron fist. "Taxation without representation", etc, etc. They wanted the colonies to cough up all of their guns... in a fucking country (North America) comprised almost entirely of wilderness. The British required the colonists to house their soldiers in people's homes, effectively displacing the families. They ate their respective larders and did not replace in any way whatsoever, saying it was their 'duty' to put up and feed the British men they involuntarily were housing.

  It wasn't all quaint between the colonists and their rulers, and all "oh pardon us, but we'd rather have this place as our own country, thanks anyway". The colonies were a resource and a cash cow, with little regard as to what it actually took to survive. Let alone housing scads of extra people in your home, who broke your shit, ate all your stores, and walked away whilst effectively flipping you the bird as to how you and yours were to survive the dreadful winters here. It's not like walmart and mega-sized grocery/hardware stores existed back then.

  You just proved my point. Thank you very much.

  d4g
  
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  75

  Guns. Well said Mr President, if only your countrymen had the same courage to consider changing course.

  by nicolaou in

  1. social
  2. current

  ive had to make statements like this too many times.

  communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times.

  once again, communities [were harmed] because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no problem getting their hands on a gun.. lets be clear: at some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.

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  done4good

  Half Banana - Isn't the real issue the mass availability of weaponry permitting the reckless to massacre the innocent?

  If you understand probability theory, (many people do not), then the answer is yes.

  d4g
  
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  75

  Guns. Well said Mr President, if only your countrymen had the same courage to consider changing course.

  by nicolaou in

  1. social
  2. current

  ive had to make statements like this too many times.

  communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times.

  once again, communities [were harmed] because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no problem getting their hands on a gun.. lets be clear: at some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.

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  done4good

  TD - Would you disagree that in a general sense, other rights were originally predicated on virtually the same fear? --Including but not limited to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, right to peaceable assembly, right to privacy, right to due process, protection from illegal search and seizure, etc., etc., etc.?

  In the general sense, I would not disagree with your assertions. Within the context of 18th century early America, a fragile new democratic government and both internal and external threats to the country's existence, the USA likely required a constitutional amendment as such. Much existential fear existed during that era.
  

  Having said that, the government we are discussing was intended to be a government "by the people, for the people". Of course, that sounds a bit naive in modern context, however it is not naive on the basis of the government somehow being tyrannical. Many other issues that are quite complex, but mostly related to the plutocracy in the country have largely corrupted our government, (think Citizen's United). That plutocracy to this very day is quite adept at creating straw men, such as "look at the big bad federal government and how they want to take away all of your rights". Those assertions do not hold up under scrutiny.

  The fact that most of the western, and a good part of the eastern world is largely democratic today, without the same level of constitutional protection of gun rights, (granted this is only a correlation), strongly provides at least anecdotal evidence that such an amendment is likely not necessary in modern society.

  One really needs to believe that America is somehow exceptional to believe otherwise.

  d4g