Posts by Alpaca

11

1919? 1914? 1975? None of these dates are going to matter in a few years...

by Alpaca in

jw
friends

for those of us who got burned by the borg's bogus bible chronology.... once a few more years go by (at least by 2020 or 2030), the borg will not be able to fit their supposed divinely arranged role into some kind of bible chronology unless they completely overhaul their explanations of the prophecies.

that leaves them in a catch-22.

if they got it wrong, what's to make them any more believable in the future?.

Alpaca

For those of us who got burned by the BORG's bogus Bible chronology...

Once a few more years go by (at least by 2020 or 2030), the BORG will not be able to fit their supposed divinely arranged role into some kind of Bible chronology unless they completely overhaul their explanations of the prophecies. That leaves them in a Catch-22. If they got it wrong, what's to make them any more believable in the future?

The charasmatic leadership of the past (Knorr, Franz, etc.), able to dupe the multitudes of Dubs, has not been replaced and the BORG will probably just fizzle out if there is not some kind of dynamic leadership. A recent news report stated that the Dubs have the lowest retention rate of any U.S. religious organization.

Cheers,

Alex

32

Falling Asleep at Assemblies

by LouBelle in

jw
friends

yes i have dozed off many times when i used to attend.

most of the time kept the shades on as we used to have outside assemblies.

the thing was not to slide off the chair, drop your head forward or snore.. i've seen some brothers/sister hitting a serious lean to the left or right as they slept and then they'd jerk awake, only to lean again.. some people had sneaky methods.

Alpaca

Ah, the old head jerk routine.

Oh my god, assemblies were better than any drug going for inducing sleep.

And, come to think of it, since I've been out I don't think I've ever attended anything as boring.

Cheers,

Alex

29

The United Nations warned yesterday that....

by Alpaca in

jw
friends

the united nations warned yesterday that it no longer has enough money to keep global malnutrition at bay..... http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/26/food.unitednations.

this is a changed world.

we are living in very historic times.

Alpaca

NGB,

The Bush Administration is doing it's best to relieve the problem in Iraq.
They hope to soon begin to thin out the Irani population as well.

Couldn't agree more!!!

Dan,

the tired statistic of us having 5% of the world's pop. and using more than our "share" of resources
The truth is that we are far from self-sufficient in the U.S. If we didn't have imported energy the lifestyles we are accusmtomed to would come to a screeching halt.

Additionally, the world has become a very small place and problems on the other side of the planet are going to eventually have repercussions here. I did not mean to start arguments on this thread, I merely wanted to point out that we are living through a time that will someday be viewed as a threshold time period in which world conditions changed dramatically.

Changling,

money spent on the current war alone could probably house, feed and educate most of the third world.

Absolutely...but then again, just below the skin, humans are animals and we often behave like animals.

Cheers to all,

Alex

29

The United Nations warned yesterday that....

by Alpaca in

jw
friends

the united nations warned yesterday that it no longer has enough money to keep global malnutrition at bay..... http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/26/food.unitednations.

this is a changed world.

we are living in very historic times.

Alpaca

We will probably pull through...but at what cost??? There are so many major threats to world stability coming down the pike all at once that our global society is probably going to be reeling from one hit after another for a long time to come.

What makes this generation so different from any other that has ever existed is the size of the earth's population. We are in totally uncharted waters and even the best and brightest thinkers can, at best, speculate about how the future will unfold with the population at the size it is.

Unfortunately, rather than confront the problems, the Fundies, including the Dubs, will start with their Apocalyptic babble rather than dealing with the real problems at hand.

Alex

29

The United Nations warned yesterday that....

by Alpaca in

jw
friends

the united nations warned yesterday that it no longer has enough money to keep global malnutrition at bay..... http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/26/food.unitednations.

this is a changed world.

we are living in very historic times.

Alpaca

SL,

Thanks for the comments. I agree with you that there are no good solutions to this problem.The core issue for the world is sustainability. Unfortunately, humans have not developed the collective forethought to practice restraint.

The days of cheap abundant petroleum, food, and water are behind us. The events that lie ahead, over the coming years, are going to momentous by anyone's standards.

Alex

29

The United Nations warned yesterday that....

by Alpaca in

jw
friends

the united nations warned yesterday that it no longer has enough money to keep global malnutrition at bay..... http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/26/food.unitednations.

this is a changed world.

we are living in very historic times.

Alpaca

Okay, Sacrificial Loon,

Let's talk about artificially propping up an unsustainable situation.

Here we are in the U.S., with 4 to 5 % of the earth's population and we use something like 60+ % of global energy resources. If aliens stopped by to take a look, we are not very good global neighbors, here in the U.S. Furthermore, food, energy, and water are inextricably linked and we are in for one helluva rough ride in the days ahead.

I am not trying to exonerate the responsibility that India and China, or the rest of the world, have to bear on this issue, but the bottom line is that we are facing a changed world (forever changed).

Alex

6

The 10 Deadliest Storms in History (msnbc.com)

by M.J. in

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24488385&gt1=43001.

the casualty figures are notoriously difficult to pin down, but here is the list:.

bhola cyclone, bangladesh (east pakistan), 1970. death toll estimated at 150,000 to 550,000. hooghly river cyclone, india and bangladesh, 1737. death toll: 350,000. haiphong typhoon, vietnam, 1881. death toll: 300,000. coringa cyclone, india, 1839. death toll: 300,000. backerganj cyclone, bangladesh, 1584. death toll: 200,000. great backerganj cyclone, bangladesh, 1876. death toll: 200,000. chittagong cyclone, bangladesh, 1897. death toll: 175,000. super typhoon nina, china, 1975. death toll: 171,000. cyclone 02b, bangladesh, 1991. death toll: 140,000. great bombay cyclone, india (from the arabian sea), 1882. death toll: 100,000.. this only goes back as far as our records indicate, i might add.. when taken as a % of the region's population, the earlier figures are staggering..

Alpaca

M.J.,

You know, it is this kind of stuff that makes me marvel that humans have survived as a species. There was a major climatic shift 100,000 years ago that nearly wiped us out -- quite interesting if you haven't investigated the info....

The fact that we are here at all is absolutely incredible.

Cheers,

Alex

29

The United Nations warned yesterday that....

by Alpaca in

jw
friends

the united nations warned yesterday that it no longer has enough money to keep global malnutrition at bay..... http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/26/food.unitednations.

this is a changed world.

we are living in very historic times.

Alpaca

The United Nations warned yesterday that it no longer has enough money to keep global malnutrition at bay....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/26/food.unitednations

This is a changed world. We are living in very historic times. We all need to slow down and pay attention to what is going on. If this is not sending a chill up your spine you need to sit up and pay attention.

Cheers (as cheery as that can be under the circumstances),

Alex

9

It´s me Philosopher

by philosopher in

jw
friends

thanks you all for the great info you posted for me yesterday.

it has been very helpful.

i will not talk to my parents right now.

Alpaca

Hi Philosopher,

I did not read all of the replies on your other thread so I don't know if someone suggested what I am going to suggest.

I am 51 and just finishing two advanced degrees (in fact studying for my last finals right now). The education I've undertaken over the last 9 years has been fantastic-- just wish I had done it earlier (when I was in my 20s and 30s the Dub prohibition on education was pretty intense). As soon as I bailed from the BORG I went back to school. Take full advantage of your youth and get as much education as you possibly can.

All the best and good luck,

Alex

27

Newbies wearing me out

by dinah in

jw
friends

oh lord (or whoever).

please help me pay attention to the newbies and concentrate on the ones who are genuine.

please in your infinite wisdom give me relief from add to pay attention to ip addresses and match up the ones who seem to piss me off with the poster who did such deed.. in the name of whatever is holy at the time,.

Alpaca

Aw come on Dinah .... you know you love it. Even the posters who piss us off are good for some fun!!!!

Cheers,

Alex