Billy the Ex-Bethelite

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Posts by Billy the Ex-Bethelite

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  48

  Evidence based folks: what is your stance on GMO's and why?

  by cappytan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so, the anti-gmo movement scored another victory today.

  chipotle has opted to only use non-gmo food items.. hooray for them.

  i'm pretty neutral on the subject, mostly because, other than questionable treatment of farmers, i have seen no evidence to avoid gmo's for health reasons.. basically, my neutrality boils down to the stance that i'll buy non-gmo, so long as the price is reasonable.

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  VI: There are natural alternatives to chemical pesticides such as lady bugs and certain bacteria.

  There are some natural alternatives for only some problems. And just because something is "natural" doesn't mean that it's good for you. Aflatoxin naturally occurs in organic fertilizer, is toxic, and goes through the food chain.
  

  And beware that one solution doesn't create a new problem. The native lady bugs that were around when I was a kid were useful in eating aphids, however the ladybugs didn't populate fast enough or find the aphid infestations. Asian ladybugs were introduced to America because they were better at getting the aphids. Unfortunately, in our farm area they are now an invasive pest. They love to come indoors and they stink like something awful. If you have the native ladybugs that don't stink, good for you. I haven't seen one in the wild in years.

  That's mostly because organic foods are not mass produced at the same level as non-organic

  Perhaps a "mass produced" solution would be for everyone in the city to urinate and defecate in buckets along with collecting their compost, then drive it out to the farms. Frankly, it still wouldn't be enough organic fertilizer. My relatives wouldn't be able to organic farm if they weren't collecting the natural residue from the surrounding non-organic farms.
  

  ...but I still don't think these are a sign of the Last Days!
  

  But I should clarify, I think we need more alternatives regardless of whether they are labeled "natural" or not. Although we have a better and more diverse diet than our ancestors, I think we rely on too few crops as primary staples. Particularly when native African crops, for example, are ignored in favor of European/American/Asian crops.
  
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  48

  Evidence based folks: what is your stance on GMO's and why?

  by cappytan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so, the anti-gmo movement scored another victory today.

  chipotle has opted to only use non-gmo food items.. hooray for them.

  i'm pretty neutral on the subject, mostly because, other than questionable treatment of farmers, i have seen no evidence to avoid gmo's for health reasons.. basically, my neutrality boils down to the stance that i'll buy non-gmo, so long as the price is reasonable.

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  I'll try to keep my POV brief. I grew up in an area where "RoundUp ready" soybeans, and Bt-corn.

  The good:

  • Bt-corn contains a protein that is toxic to insects. Before Bt, if you turned on an outside light out in the country during summertime, swarms of corn borer moths would appear. Using insecticides was expensive and ineffective. After Bt, the same area sees very few of the moths, no insecticide chemicals required. Before anyone panics that this will kill humans, the way it was explained to me, the protein binds in their tiny insect stomachs causing them to starve. I've eaten A LOT of Bt-corn for many years now and I certainly haven't starved.
  • "RoundUp ready" soybeans have a gene which allows the plants to be sprayed with RoundUp and not be killed. RoundUp is effective at killing weeds. Before this GMO, farmers would always be experimenting with a variety of herbicides to get the weeds and save the beens. After GMO, RoundUp can be used without killing the crop. While I wouldn't call RoundUp "healthy", I believe I've been around many more toxic herbicides on the farm.

  The bad:

  • Ah, evolution! Weeds are now beginning to appear that are resistant to RoundUp. So, "RoundUp ready" soybeans will lose their value. For Bt-corn, they also grow non-Bt-corn in an effort to prevent strains of Bt tolerant insects from breeding/evolving. So far, Bt-corn is very effective at keeping borer populations way down.
  • Plants have become corporate property. Throughout history, farmers would keep some of their seeds from last years harvest to plant the next year. That became less common when hybridization appeared around the "Green Revolution". Purchased seeds were specially developed to produce better than farmers would get from their own heirloom seeds. Lots and lots of seed companies grew up and improved yields. Still, many farmers would keep soybeans from good yielding areas of the farm to replant next year. But when GMO came along, they were patented. If a farmer bought any GMO seed, he better not replant anything harvested from it, or he'll get sued. That's patent infringement. So rather than corn really being a commodity, you can't just buy some farmer's corn and go plant it in your field. If it's GMO, it's property of a corporation regardless of who buys it. So when companies say "GMO corn is the same as non-GMO corn", that isn't a legal statement. Because of patents, they are NOT the same.
    
  • Similarly, but worthy of it's own paragraph, with the rise of GMOs the selection of seed companies has narrowed down to very few that have the patents or licenses to use the patented genes or specialize in non-GMO. Consequently, those seeds have become much more expensive. While it's considered to be worth the price, I'm not so sure when I hear the yield stats.
    

  Okay, I really tried to keep it brief.

  To summarize, I don't have many concerns about GMO safety in the food supply, but I understand those who are concerned and would prefer caution. I'm more concerned about the legal issues and the fact that here in the US in corn country, it's now hard to find good non-GMO seed. As far as labeling in the USA, you might as well conclude that a product contains GMO corn unless otherwise labeled as non-GMO.
  

  Organic is great. I'd encourage anyone to choose that... particularly because I have non-JW relatives in the business. But honestly, the world's population is too large to suggest that everything should be switched to non-GMO and organic. People want cheap food, and organic isn't cheap. When this subject has come up in my conversations with people that don't have any kind of farming background and they start ragging on farmers for using chemicals, etc., I tell them, "So, raise your own food!" Then they look at me with shock and horror. Even still, much of what I eat was harvested by my own hand.
  
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  16

  Do you think you should have the right to decline business on Personal or Religious grounds?

  by PokerPlayerPhil in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  should individual businesses have the right to pick and chose who they serve?

  if a muslim decides he won't bake the cake of a radical zionist that says "reclaim the temple in jerusalem" should the government be allowed to punish the muslim baker?

  maybe you can help me understand the issues more clearly because were becoming hyper-sensitive and soon your going to need a handbook what's the proper thing to say.

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  I heard the argument of some KKK member going to a bakery run by a Black man, the Black is shocked once he hear's the Klan member want's him to write some evil celebration phrase and declines serving this Klan member.

  There are laws against hate speech. This example is bad since a business would never be "required" to do something illegal.

  Personally, I had a business and made it a practice to make everyone feel equally welcome... EXCEPT on a singular rare occasion when a jerk of a customer was behaving inappropriately toward my female customers. Otherwise, my customers included clergymen, people of all religions, policemen, people with criminal records and restraining orders against them, and politicians. It was because of a situation where I provided service to a person of one of those categories that I was removed as an elder. So as far as I'm concerned, I found it liberating to serve anyone and everyone who walked through the door. It peeled away much of the prejudice that WT had tried to indoctrinate.

  Oh, and I had customers who happened to be gay. I wasn't catering weddings or anything like that. And it's not like I made it a point to ever ask or even be curious. Usually I figured it out when they said they didn't feel welcome over at my competitors.

  Personally, I couldn't imagine running my business in such a way that I would turn someone away, even when I was a JW. After all, how would I feel if suddenly I was refused service somewhere because I was a JW. As far as a scriptural example, god makes it rain on everyone, righteous and unrighteous.
  
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  118

  "In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth . ."

  by nicolaou in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so where did god exist before he created the heavens?

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  He floated in the dark, empty void planning the physical creation to come. But no sooner was it created and a naked lady and talking snake derailed the whole thing.
  
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  16

  LOL -

  by Bloody Hotdogs! in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  tee hee hee.

  .

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  This needs a caption:

  
  

  "I'm a snow princess and this is my magic book of spells!"
  
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  23

  Today's WT

  by OneFingerSalute in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  so today's wt seems to put out the idea that during early christian times it was god's hand that made the romans build roads, have strong laws, etc.

  to make the preaching easier.. anyone else notice that?

  some here really banged on about how great it was that god did that, just for them.

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  A few years ago, JWs accused Satan of creating the Internet because of the porn and apostates on the web.

  Now they can credit jehovah for creating the Internet for the sake of the JW website.
  
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  69

  "Your bad attitude is evident, because you don't bring a meeting bag to the meetings anymore!"

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  yes friends.....this is the comment said to me by an elder!.

  "your bad attitude is evident because you don't bring your meeting bag anymore!".

  i calmly replied: "but everything i need is on the tablet now......".

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  Ok i have read through this. What is wrong with blue hi-lighters? I had to ask.

  rebel8, you missed the most important one:

  • Blue highlighter gets its color from Smurf juice. Using the blue highlighter invites the evil powers of the Smurfs into the KH.

  
  
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  17

  "They 'thought' themselves out of the truth, and clearly they are living an unhappy life now!"

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  yep, these gems and comments were used in the talk today:.

  speaking of ones who "failed to show appreciation for all the rich spiritual food we get from the f&ds", the speaker said this:.

  "many have even failed to keep up with everything we are lovingly provided by christ's brothers, and rather than keeping their faith strong, they have become complacent and even critical ofjehovah's provisions!

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  Oub, I love this response!

  Whenever I meet up with a JW that still attends and they ask me how I am I always say, "My life is fantastic! The ONLY part of it that isn't good is the lack of relationship with my children." [The ones that are still Kool-Aid Drinking JWs].

  It's always very telling to see the look on their faces as my statement doesn't compute because of their beliefs.

  Sometimes I ask if they'd like to help with a reconciliation. They always say, "No." Always.

  I'll change it to reference a couple of cousins who are still 'in' and unhappy for a variety of reasons.
  
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  47

  Governing Body Public Address - today!

  by diamondblue1974 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  any ideas what this is about?

  - apparently a three hour public address through each kingdumb hell from the gb.

  anyone heard anything about this?.

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  Oh, and Jehovah can measure the universe in the span of his hand.

  Yet his plans can easily be derailed by a naked lady and a talking snake!
  
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  14

  Talked to a couple from the Hall that I haven't seen in a while

  by Captain Schmideo2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we were waiting for my mother in law to come out of surgery.not much was talked about on "spiritual" matters (since i haven't been to a meeting in years).however, i got to hear about :government conspiracies to shut down alternative energy.. gmos are bad.

  gmos are bad.

  gmo's are bad!!!

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  How are the elderly JWs coping with all this, I have been wondering.

  My parents are trying, but are basically left behind. Dad has been struggling just to use email for years. A couple of sisters helped Mom figure out how to use their website on a tablet. They live out where there isn't broadband, so they have a cellular contract. Mom was very unhappy when the monthly bill was so high above the contract rate because she had been watching the videos and been going way over the data limit. For the older ones like them, the congregation plays the monthly indoctrination message at the KH on a Saturday afternoon. My parents usually fall asleep during the showing.