i've seen the insulting obituary and like all of you, i'm blown away.. i've also seen several threads of individuals crying out for an opportunity to meet with others on this board.
maybe it's time to recognize the need for an assembly (if you will) to foster a familial relationship for those on this board!.
what if a memorial were planned, in eric's honor of course, for a weekend next september in north carolina?
Wannabefree, the newspaper FAQ says it can only print one version of the obituary (including "freebie" obituaries like this one) and only accept the order from one family member.
So that's it, it looks like. Friends, however, may print an "In Memoriam" ad, which runs alongside or near the obits, I believe.
our friend, oompa, has passed away.
just recieved the news a couple of hours ago, and have almost no details.
it happened today or yesterday, he took his own life.
I looked at the site again and although only the family can publish an obituary (they chose the "freebie" version, which is just the announcement, and chose not to add the guestbook option for condolences), friends may publish an "In Memoriam" ad and include the guestbook:
http://www.news-record.com/help/obituariesfaq
As someone said above, obviously someone who knew him well should do this (I thought about it last night but do not want to be presumptuous as I didn't know him personally), but it would be fitting for his family (and the JWs) to see how many lives he touched, and how many people loved him unconditionally.
our friend, oompa, has passed away.
just recieved the news a couple of hours ago, and have almost no details.
it happened today or yesterday, he took his own life.
After looking at the newspaper site, it looks like they do offer guestbooks as an option on obituaries, but one was not purchased or added as an option for Eric. There are options here to either set up a Facebook memorial page or a memorial website:
I think it's so sad that he got a two-line obituary and they didn't include a space for condolences for him. I think his loved ones should be able to see how many people are mourning him and how many lives he touched.
our friend, oompa, has passed away.
just recieved the news a couple of hours ago, and have almost no details.
it happened today or yesterday, he took his own life.
He deserved a far better obituary than this:
http://obituaries.news-record.com/obituaries/news-record/obituary.aspx?n=eric-reeder&pid=160175067#fbLoggedOut
I don't know if it's possible to leave comments on there, but if it is, I'm sure it would be flooded with the kind of outpouring of grief I've seen here :(
our friend, oompa, has passed away.
just recieved the news a couple of hours ago, and have almost no details.
it happened today or yesterday, he took his own life.
Oh my god! Oompa and I never talked, but I've been reading his posts for years and he seemed like the sweetest man. This is so unbelievably tragic.
if i write a book(scratch) about my life as a deaf jw since birth and ex jw, i would like to criticize few dubbies but i would not name them at all.
would i be free from libel lawsuit if i do not name them?
there are many details that i have never told you.
I wrote a memoir that's done rather decently, as memoirs go. I changed my JW family's names, as well as the names/identifying details of anyone else I either wasn't in contact with in order to get permission to use their real names, who was portrayed negatively, or whom I thought might wish to retain their privacy for whatever reason. I asked all of my friends who were portrayed in the book whether they would prefer for me to use their real name or an alias (all of them said that their real names were fine). This is standard when you write a memoir; actually, my publisher actively encouraged it.
Also, publishers these days can be really paranoid about memoirs due to the James Frey stigma...so they will likely put you through the wringer and require documentation of or witnesses to EVERYTHING you write, especially anything that might be considered controversial or seems wildly farfetched (as JW stuff, for example, can often seem). Lie-detector tests aren't offered as an option, haha. My publishers definitely put me through the wringer as far as verification goes. They and an attorney went through the entire book, page by page, with a fine-toothed comb and asked me to prove EVERYTHING. They called childhood friends of the family, former co-workers, former neighbors, they wanted my school records, paper documentation, emails, tweets...anything and everything that backed up what I wrote. It was exhausting, but I understand why it was necessary (yet still, to this day, I often get emails/Amazon reviews accusing me of making my story up because it seems too crazy. These people have no idea the lengths publishers go to these days to avoid a "Million Little Pieces"-type scenario.)
My family has never commented, but one person who believed that he was an anonymous acquaintance mentioned briefly on one page of the book, and didn't like the characterization, threatened to sue. However, my publishers basically laughed him off (I had already handed them mounds of proof for everything I wrote prior to publication, including the scoop on this guy), and not a single attorney would touch him, because I had changed the person's name and identifying details, so he had no recourse or claim, or even any proof that he was the person I was referring to.
So yes, definitely change names and also change identifying details (i.e., physical descriptions, workplaces/job titles) if the person is too easily recognizable even with the name change.
the anonymous hacker group has proven themselves effective in the past.
lets wait and see if they pull it off again with the wts.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyl4waps2o.
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Also, the public pastebin is standard for when they do their Ops. As far as I understand, they use something encrypted called IRC to communicate privately among themselves (I don't understand anything about it; techy-jargon again that's Greek to my ears).
Like I said, I'm not Anon and wouldn't get involved in such a thing, seeing as I like staying out of jail and also have a hard time reconciling myself with the idea of vigilante justice. But I do have a really close, long, long, looooongtime trusted friend who's into that stuff. This person knows that I don't condone it, and I've turned down this person's offers to teach me stuff about getting involved. I'm more like, "Don't tell me what you do with/for Anon; I don't want to know". This person has confirmed for me that this is a for-real thing. I don't know anything else about it other than what's in the pastebin, though, and don't wish to know anything not already available to the public, other than the confirmation that they are involved.
I don't know if/when they'll be able to decrypt it. It'd be nice, but I'm not going to get my hopes up or hold my breath, because who knows?
the anonymous hacker group has proven themselves effective in the past.
lets wait and see if they pull it off again with the wts.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyl4waps2o.
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There's a public pastebin on the Op here. And the vid was posted from one of their official channels. From the pastebin, it looks like they're putting a lot of work into it and have been for almost two weeks now.
From what I understand, hacking and decrypting are sort of two different type of specialties. They're saying that the files will be decrypted, but it will take a while, it's just a matter of time. In the pastebin they explain that they're looking for some sort of key or passcode that's needed, and they're calling for as many decrypty people as possible to pitch in and help.
Seeing as I know nothing about either hacking or decrypting and would never be capable of it in a million years, I'm willing to accept that it is a lot of work and could take some time.
the anonymous hacker group has proven themselves effective in the past.
lets wait and see if they pull it off again with the wts.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyl4waps2o.
.
They actually claim that they have it already. Here is where they have posted the hacked files for download:
http://depositfiles.com/files/bikrvuk60
Files are 2GB (so HUGE). Problem is that they’re encrypted, so it’s taking longer than they thought to decrypt, because that’s not really their bag. Apparently they’re looking for decrypting-expert-type people to help.
I'm not Anon, I don't advocate illegal behavior/hacking...but not gonna lie, I'm sort of hoping they succeed (same way I was rooting for them when they took on Scientology). There's a few names from my past I suspect would be on that list.
i just thought you should know that mrs cedars has finally taken the plunge and joined the forum.
she was able to log on for the first time yesterday.. though we both "awakened" at different stages, mrs cedars was very supportive and non-judgmental when i first began exploring my beliefs from a critical standpoint.
she is currently in the process of reading crisis of conscience and aquainting herself with some of the facts of witness history that were hitherto unknown.
You needn't worry, Mrs. Cedars, your spelling and grammar are flawless! I would have had no idea that English isn't your first language
