Posts by JeffT

there have been a few posts in the past about watchtower inc. at 100 henry street, but i do not see the answer i'm hoping for.. can anyone confirm or provide details linking watchtower inc. to the wbts?

they are across the street, and one can easily assume that they are connected, but i don't see any definite links.. the closest i have come is this link: http://www.insideview.com/directory/watchtower-inc which lists watchtower.org as the website.

this could have been posted like this in error however.. according to 2014 sec filings watchtower inc. has a ceo named sholom drizin ( a man worth possibly 2 billion.).

JeffT

What cofty said. If you're the WTBS and you want to hide money someplace, you call the company "Moe's Investments" or some such that has no apparent connection to the WTBS.

39

A few International Conv instructions (more ways to control)

by doinmypart in

jw
friends

a few official instructions jw delegates are being told leading up to the international conventions.

congregation secretaries are holding conference calls and then relating the instructions to the congregation.. atlanta - do not drive to convention, parking will not be available.

take public transportation; attendants will be on all public transit and able to assist.. dallas - attendants will be on site at all hotels to make sure delegates leave the hotel at their assigned times and take their assigned route.

JeffT

attendants will be on all public transit and able to assist

I would love to be a fly on the wall when some 19-year old attendent on a power trip mistakes a guy in a suit on his way to work, for a brother and starts telling him what to do.

32

Watchtower Inc. 100 Henry Street Links to MANY other Suspect Companies

by objectivetruth in

there have been a few posts in the past about watchtower inc. at 100 henry street, but i do not see the answer i'm hoping for.. can anyone confirm or provide details linking watchtower inc. to the wbts?

they are across the street, and one can easily assume that they are connected, but i don't see any definite links.. the closest i have come is this link: http://www.insideview.com/directory/watchtower-inc which lists watchtower.org as the website.

this could have been posted like this in error however.. according to 2014 sec filings watchtower inc. has a ceo named sholom drizin ( a man worth possibly 2 billion.).

JeffT

The NY Secretary of State's website says the address of "Watchtower, Inc" is 410 Park Avenue. The CEO is Yisrael Guttfrevad. There are a couple of associated companies (Watchtower Foundation and Watchtower Investigations) at least one of which is no longer operating. I tend to think this has nothing to do with the WTBS; or, for all we know, its anti-Watchtower.

4

A useful comment on free speech from XKCD

by JeffT in

jw
friends

.

JeffT

9

Portland, OR water officials confirm diagnosis of stupidity

by JeffT in

they did this once before a couple of years ago.

do they think the ducks get out of the water to go to the bathroom?.

ps: i think the kid is an idiot, but he's nineteen.. .

JeffT

They did this once before a couple of years ago. Do they think the ducks get out of the water to go to the bathroom?

PS: I think the kid is an idiot, but he's nineteen.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/04/portland_will_flush_38_million.html

Update: Portland Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversees the Water Bureau, says dumping 38 million gallons of water is the "conservative but correct" decision. Read more.

Portland administrators will flush 38 million gallons of water from Mt. Tabor Reservoir 5 after a 19-year-old man urinated in the city’s drinking supply.

“Even though there is very minimal public health risk, the bottom line is that our commitment is to serve water that’s clean, cold and constant,” said Water Bureau administrator David Shaff. “That doesn’t include pee. Not from people, at least.”

The Portland Water Bureau has made public the video that prompted a security officer to call police Wednesday morning. Watch it here.

Surveillance video of man urinating in Mt. Tabor Reservoir in SE Portland
Around 1 a.m. Wednesday, April 15, 2014, the security officer who monitors video cameras at Mt. Tabor Reservoir complex in SE Portland spotted a man leaning against the iron fence at Reservoir 5, and, after a moment or two, hitching up his pants and pulling away from the bars.
Around 1 a.m. Wednesday, the security officer who monitors video cameras at the reservoir complex spotted five people with skateboards “hanging out near the gatehouse,” Shaff said.

Three of the men headed toward Reservoir 5, the kidney-shaped landmark on the western flank of Mt. Tabor.

The camera caught one man as he stopped, leaned against the iron fence and, after a moment or two, hitched up his pants and pulled away from the bars, Shaff said.

“When you see the video, he’s leaning right up because he has to get his little wee wee right up to the iron bars. There’s really no doubt what he’s doing,” Shaff said.

“It’s stupid. You can see the sign that says: ‘This is your drinking water. Don’t spit, throw, toss anything in it.’ He’s four feet away from that sign. Unless he’s from North Dakota and just moved here, he’s got to know that’s our drinking water.”

The video also shows two men trying to climb the fence. One made it and may have stepped in the water -- “If so, he discovered that it’s really, uncomfortably cold,” Shaff said. Then the men spent some time taking cell phone pictures of themselves.

While the group was documenting its visit to the reservoir, a Water Bureau security officer and Portland Police officers headed in their direction. Police stopped a car on Southeast 69th Avenue near the east entrance to the park and cited three men on accusations of trespassing; one was also given a citation accusing him of public urination. Police have not released the names of those cited and have not decided whether to charge anyone with additional crimes.

The Water Bureau used to keep security guards on duty at the Mt. Tabor and Washington Park reservoirs around the clock. But those posts were cut several years ago in an attempt to limit rate increases.

Now the bureau has guards patrol all Water Bureau property, including the reservoirs, and officers who monitor reservoir security cameras from the city’s Emergency Operations Center in east Portland. Shaff said he does not believe having a security guard posted at Mt. Tabor would have sped the response Wednesday morning.

Water Bureau officials turned off the pipes that carry water to and from Reservoir 5 immediately. They expect test results on the water to come back Thursday, and to show no contamination or health risk.

Still, crews will flush the reservoir -- and give it a second spring cleaning on top of the one it received about a month ago -- over the next four to six days just to be safe and to reassure consumers.

Strange things end up in Portland’s water supply all the time, with minimal risk or impact to users. And this is not the first time human beings have attempted to interfere with the stuff that comes out of Stumptown taps: In 2008, a man and a woman caught skinny dipping in Mt. Tabor were sentenced to 16 hours of community service each.

Three years ago, the city flushed 8 million gallons of water after a 21-year-old Molalla man peed in Mt. Tabor Reservoir 1.

City officials estimated that flushing the water and cleaning up after that episode cost $35,000. Shaff said he wasn’t sure what this effort will cost. The current shutdown at Mt. Tabor won’t impact Portland water users, he said.

“Right now we’ve got 100-plus million gallons of day free flowing down the river because the Bull Run reservoirs are as full as they can be,” he said. “I’ve got tons of water available that doesn’t have human pee in it, so I’m going to replace this.”

The federal government has ordered Portland and other cities with open-air reservoirs to cover them. City leaders are waiting on results of a May ballot measure that could shift control of the Water Bureau from the City Council to a new independently elected board to decide how to proceed.

-- Anna Griffin

29

CANDACE CONTI & THE NEW CONTRIBUTION DEMAND

by The Searcher in

when the org lost the candace conti case, the court ordered (pending the appeal) that the org would have to deposit several million$ as security.

the puzzling thing is, the org got a bond company to put up the millions, thereby incurring heavy interest charges.

i've always wondered, 'why?????????'.

JeffT

I doubt the WTBS has a huge amount of available cash. If they are smart everything beyond immediate need is invested in something. Using a bond company doesn't require a huge amount of cash, so they don't have to sell their investments to have it sit in the court's account doing nothing.

Back when I was in (OK I'm dating myself here) when the Watchtower and Awake sold for .25 each they moved about 10-12 million copies of each issue. They didn't care if they were placed or not because they got the money from the publishers when we picked up our magazines. Thats two to three million dollars four times a month. That's a cash cow no matter what business you're in. Since they went to the donation arrangement I imagine they've been more strapped for available cash.

Absent financial transparency there is no way to judge their financial status. They're showing signs of financial strain. Going to a pledge contribution might help make up for the loss of revenue from the publishing arm.

29

CANDACE CONTI & THE NEW CONTRIBUTION DEMAND

by The Searcher in

when the org lost the candace conti case, the court ordered (pending the appeal) that the org would have to deposit several million$ as security.

the puzzling thing is, the org got a bond company to put up the millions, thereby incurring heavy interest charges.

i've always wondered, 'why?????????'.

JeffT

YES! I don't know why I didn't think about this. I'm familiar with some aspects of funing non-profits. Banks are very wary of them because the income stream is uncertain (as opposed to a business that can produce sales records, or better yet solid documents like contracts or leases. Pledges are not quite as solid as contracts, but they are better than just donations, because there is a written document noting future payments.

75

HOME SCHOOL and the upcoming generation of scientifically illiterate kids

by Terry in

jw
friends

when i worked for a book store i became familiar with beka text books for home school.. i spoke with the mothers who came looking for them.

i realized something didn't smell right.. then, i realized there are a couple of generations of fundamentalist kids who have had no exposure.

to the scientific method, science facts or any conversancy with physics or biology or history as a result of beka textbooks.. in a nutshell here is the situation:.

JeffT

Nobody is censoring you. I guess you like living in ignorance of possibilites you have no experience with. I'll stop bothering you with alternatives ways of thinking.