Posts by Tom Cabeen

JW,

Given the time frame you mention, you are doubtless correct. The 119 Columbia Heights Bldg wasn't built until the mid-1970s. I never visited them in that Brownstone apartment. I don't know how it was that they got from there to the 119 Bldg, but I'm sure there is a story there somewhere, although Ed was hightly respected right up until the spring of 1980, when Bethel had its own version of 9/11. Things were never the same at HQ after that.

In fact, I didn't get to know Ed & Betty very well until the late 1970s. We became much closer after we all left. They came out here to Connecticut to visit us in the 1980s, and Ed actually rebaptized me and several others as Christians in the backyard of an XJW couple. We were involved with a little support group at the time, and several of us decided to get rebaptized.

Tom

501

Warren Schroeder from Bethel on Freddy, Kline and the apostate books!

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

having problem pasting this...

Tom Cabeen

CoCo,

What congregations were you in? I started out in Queens Spanish (with Ray Franz and Rene Vazquez), then Greenpoint Spanish (with Gerry Vega), then Newark French (with John and Barb Bechtle, Vaughn & Sharon Buntain, Dave & Sally Giltinan, and briefly Leo Greenlees). After I became Pressroom Overseer, we moved back into Jackson Heights, with Fred & April Fredean and Joel & Mary Adams.

Tom

501

Warren Schroeder from Bethel on Freddy, Kline and the apostate books!

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

having problem pasting this...

Tom Cabeen

Hi Warren,

Don't spread it around, but I have it on pretty good authority that the WTS actually did produce a functional Universal Translator down in John Kurzen's office in the Carpenter Shop. However, they ended up selling the rights to make them to Gene Roddenberry, who made extensive use of them on the Enterprise. You probably didn't realize that all those guys on Star Trek were actually speaking their native tongues, which was then translated on the fly into English by the device they bought from the WTS. The Society had to sell it because, although it was quite good at translating Klingon, it tended to overheat badly when translating Watchtower articles. They briefly tried to use it to translate Bethel Office memos into Newboyspeak, but again it tended to overheat. The last straw was when one of the UTs blew up trying to translate John Booth's morning text comments into English. Since they couldn't use it themselves, the only thing left to do was to sell it to Gene. Too bad, after all the work Dean Songer put into it.

Guru Tom

501

Warren Schroeder from Bethel on Freddy, Kline and the apostate books!

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

having problem pasting this...

Tom Cabeen

Speaking of saltpeter and sexual hyperactivity, Randy, some quick research suggests that the whole "saltpeter causes impotence" thing is a myth. It is apparently not uncommon to hear the saltpeter rumor in the armed forces. One of the proven uses of potassium nitrate is that it is an necessary component in gunpowder. Maybe somebody at Bethel just reassigned the meaning of "discharge", from firearms to Bethelites. (Is that a zeugma?) Tom

501

Warren Schroeder from Bethel on Freddy, Kline and the apostate books!

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

having problem pasting this...

Tom Cabeen

Hey JW,

The only two brownstones the WTS had when I was there, to my knowledge, was 34 Orange and 86 Willow, (where Doc Dixon lived on one floor and some guys lived on another floor). I was in 86 Willow, but never got invited to Dixons' floor. I would not call these homes "luxury" from my current perspective, but nicer in important ways than a standard Bethel room, which was more like a cheap but clean hotel room, (like a Motel 6 in Indiana, for example). These brownstones had a real kitchen, not just a sink, and some even had window air conditioners (but no central air). They also had nice finished wood trim, hardwood floors, and the like. Standard Bethel rooms had metal door frames and metal casement windows. No frills, if you get the idea.

Ed and Betty lived at 119 Columbia Heights, in a nice room there. We visited Ed and Betty in their room, but it was not like a regular apartment, (no kitchen) just a nice room with a private bath. Not much character (read no hardwood), but new and clean.

Tom

501

Warren Schroeder from Bethel on Freddy, Kline and the apostate books!

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

having problem pasting this...

Tom Cabeen

CoCo,

"Zeugma" What a great word! From the Greek "to yoke".

Thanks!