Posts by JeffT

551

Officer Wilson not indicted in killing of Michael Brown

by Simon in

after a thorough investigation and weighing of the evidence the grand jury has decided not to indict the officer.. the reaction so far seems as predicted - people refuse to accept that the result represents justice despite claims that is what they wanted.. there is now violence and vandalism, including gunshots.

let's hope the police contain the troublemakers.. .

JeffT

Local elections are where things start.

Nobody studies basic civics in this country anymore. The town/city and county councils have far more impact on our day to day lives than people in Washington DC. Looking at election turnouts and voting patterns it seems that people don't understand that. I heard a lot of lamentation about voter turnout in off year elections, and how the Democrats have trouble getting the base to turn out. They need to educate their base if that's true.

This attitude has a direct effect on the lack of viable third parties. Everybody's idea of getting a third party going seems to be to run somebody for President, who promptly loses because nobody's heard of him/her. This needs to start at the local level and cook for ten or twenty years before it can become a national movement.

2

50136 words in 29 days

by JeffT in

jw
friends

just finished a science fiction piece for this years nanowrimo.

i'm tired..

JeffT

Yeah, its a heavy time commitment. But I'm retired, the closest thing to a job is watching over my mother's caregivers. When I get my brain cleared out a little (maybe tomorrow) I'll post a little more about the book.

2

50136 words in 29 days

by JeffT in

jw
friends

just finished a science fiction piece for this years nanowrimo.

i'm tired..

JeffT

Just finished a science fiction piece for this years NaNoWriMo. I'm tired.

3

Greatest College Football Day

by DisArmed in

i don't read too much about sports on the forum.

one of the great things about being out of wally world is enjoying sports without judgement.

i love college football and this, to me is the greatest college football day!

JeffT

Washington State vs Washington is tonight. Great cross-state rivalry, additional fuel on the fire provided by the fact that I went to WSU and two of my three children have degrees from UW, and the third is probably going there next year.

24

do other religions change doctrines like the wt society does?

by sowhatnow in

i just wondered.

i mean ok, the catholic church seems to make 'adjustments' more or less , by accepting previously held prejudices.

against certain things, like gays, or birth control, or rather tolerate it more, but is that a genuine change of doctrine?.

JeffT

Most of those 40K denominations do not disagree on doctrinal matters. The biggest differences concern church governance and style of worship service. It is not uncommon these days for people to switch churches. Doing so does not involve learning new doctrine, mostly people make the decision based on the location of the church and whether or not they like the lead pastor and music.

24

do other religions change doctrines like the wt society does?

by sowhatnow in

i just wondered.

i mean ok, the catholic church seems to make 'adjustments' more or less , by accepting previously held prejudices.

against certain things, like gays, or birth control, or rather tolerate it more, but is that a genuine change of doctrine?.

JeffT

One thing to keep in mind is the difference between doctrine, personal belief, and tradition. The mainstream churches I've attended or studied make clear distinctions between these things.

Doctrine defines really important matters; the nature of God and Christ, salvation, etc. The church I attended for the longest time had cards set out for newcomers to take home with contact numbers and the beliefs to the church on it. The whole thing was the size of a post card.

Mainstream churches generally allow a lot of lattitude for personal beliefs, and recognize that a lot of things they do are "tradition" which is a big word for "we like to do it this way."

The problem JW's have is that their hierarchial system does not allow any room for anything not handed down from on high. Everybody has to think the same way about everything, whether its the nature of God or when its OK to get up and go to the bathroom. They are also incapable of admitting that they made a mistake, which means that everything has to be "new light." Combine that with an organizational structure that encourages elders to throw their weight around and you have constantly changing beliefs, all of which are strictly enforced.

59

At This Point In Time Would You Ever Subject Yourself To A Judicial Committee?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i certainly wouldn't.

and if the elders wanted to have a meeting with me, i would respectfully decline.

if the elders wanted to deal with you, would you talk with them?.

JeffT

I might, just for the fun of it. When accepting I'd tell them that I'd be willing to talk to them, but that I don't recognize them as having any authority over me. I'd have a TV news crew and a lawyer with me when I showed up. I know, they wouldn't talk to me under those circumstances, but would look good on the seven o'clock news.

164

Was justice served fairly in the Micheal Brown tragedy, whats your opinion ?

by Finkelstein in

the michael brown tragedy has garnered a lot of attention in the media recently highlighted.

by the recent county court decision to not indict the lone officer who did the shooting which caused the death of micheal brown.. .. now after more information of the event has been released openly to the public, we can evaluate upon are self.

in are own opinion toward was the law handed out in this particular event proportionately fair or to a professional standard ?.

JeffT

"Justice" is a process, not a result. The process led at least 9 of 12 people to conclude that Wilson should not be charged with a crime.

551

Officer Wilson not indicted in killing of Michael Brown

by Simon in

after a thorough investigation and weighing of the evidence the grand jury has decided not to indict the officer.. the reaction so far seems as predicted - people refuse to accept that the result represents justice despite claims that is what they wanted.. there is now violence and vandalism, including gunshots.

let's hope the police contain the troublemakers.. .

JeffT

When we're stopped we know to be respectful and polite to the police because it's common sense, nothing to do with race.

Some of us were taught to be polite and respectful to everybody.

31

Wal-Mart Workers Plan Huge Protest on Black Friday

by talesin in

wal-mart, which pays a top wage of $12.00+ to its full-time employees, is under attack, once again, by its employees and those who would like to unionize them.. i can't speak to the usa, but here in canada, most wal-mart employees are not full time.

it is mostly a part-time employer, so zero benefits.

in my opinion, that makes the $12.00+ look a lot smaller when you envision the actual paycheque.

JeffT

I went to Walmart once, I won't go back.

That said,

So a lot of 'adults' (ie, not students, for example) live on a Wal-Mart wage.

So how many people survive by shopping at Walmart. Yes, a lot of what they sell is junk that wears out three times faster, but for people going paycheck to paycheck its all they can afford. And no, I don't think making the paychecks bigger by legislative fiat is the answer, because the price of everything will also go up.

Let's see all the people belly aching about Walmart start their own department store so they can show us how easy it is.