JeffT

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Posts by JeffT

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  22

  WTBTS investments

  by enoughisenough in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i found this article, how be it from about 10 years ago.

  https://clarencesisk.com/watchtower-investments/ i didn't even go to the end of the article, but assuming the writer knew of which he wrote, wt had/has?

  stock in bot j&j and pfizer.

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  JeffT

  Thanks for the information Atlantis. That is a more tangled than I thought.
  
• 
  22

  WTBTS investments

  by enoughisenough in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i found this article, how be it from about 10 years ago.

  https://clarencesisk.com/watchtower-investments/ i didn't even go to the end of the article, but assuming the writer knew of which he wrote, wt had/has?

  stock in bot j&j and pfizer.

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  JeffT

  Retied accountant here.

  This is not a tax return for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. It is a form 990, the form used for non-profit entities. In this case, the Henrietta M. Riley Foundation. It is either a private foundation, or a trust treated like a Foundation. The Watchtower is a beneficiary of the trust, meaning it gets the income generated by the trust.

  Irrevocable trusts are commonly used to pass on estates to children, or causes the grantor considers worth doing. I assume that MS Riley was some rich JW that got talked into creating this trust. One of the fun facts about this type of trust, is that the beneficiary has no control over how the funds are invested or managed, so long as the trustee is following instructions.

  I suspect that in this case Ms Riley's trust document says something like "make money and give it the WTBS," and failed to specify that the trust not deal in things like the military or tobacco. From my recollection of the last time this came up there was more of that sort of thing listed. It is possible that the trustee divested some problem stocks without violating the trust agreement.
  

  I may not be able to get any more information, but I'm going to try next week, just because I'm curious.

  I have no doubt that the WTBS has engaged in some questionable practices. I don't think this is one of them.
  
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  11530

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  JeffT

  "You're" not your.

  Did he actually write this or did somebody transcribe it from a recording? Still, lack of professionalism. He should have had a handout of some sort with his bio and the song lyrics.
  
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  11530

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  JeffT

  Just my opinion, but this is one more bit of proof that he isn't even trying to be professional about any of this. He's got an important gig tomorrow -- important because it's the first one in the attempt to rebrand himself as a singer/songwriter.
  

  You only get one first gig, and you need to have it run perfectly. He's scheduled to go tomorrow and he's just now picking up the guitar for "the first time in ages?" Not how the pros do it Lloyd.
  
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  43

  Sunday January 15 is my 76th birthday. I answer some of your questions.

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  happy birthday 2 me!!.

  sunday is my 76th birthday and i know that you want to know how it "feels" to have outlived my usefulness, to have lost my natural beauty (being reduced to wrinkles and flab), and constantly walking into a room not knowing why i'm there.

  you also are curious as to how i can continue to find a reason to live since none of my kids think my opinions have any possible value, most of my facebooks friends i wouldn't recognize if i tripped over them on my way into starbucks, and my monthly expenditure on bird treats exceeds u.s. spending on the military.

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  JeffT

  Happy birthday.

  I know the feeling, I'll be 72 in April. My kids are tired of hearing all my jokes. Again. At least my daughter appreciates the same music I do (Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones - you get the ideas). Family is everything for me.

  Like you, Terry, I live for artistic exploration, in my case, novels. I presently have five for sale on Amazon and I'm writing number six.

  I have lots of advice for everyone. The first piece: don't just believe what others tell you to believe, even me.
  
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  42

  Have you ever been on a congregation picnic?

  by LostintheFog1999 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  were you ever on a congregation picnic?

  i was on several occasions.. the arrangements were often announced from the platform after the closing song and prayer by the last elder up on the platform.. sometimes it was included in the service meeting announcements as "on saturday we're meeting at 10.00am at the kingdom hall for field service, and after field service for anyone who wishes, especially for the younger ones, we will be having a congregation picnic meeting at the beach carpark on seaview road.".

  well, according to the new elders manual you won't be hearing those words again.

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  JeffT

  I'm a convert not born in, the fun social stuff in the seventies was a major factor in the conversion. The congregation (Pullman, WA) was relatively small and very close knit. We had parties and picnics frequently. We left Pullman in 1982 and I don't remember going to any social events at the two congregations we attended after that. Had my introduction to the JW's been at one of those later congregations I probably would not have converted.
  
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  4

  Unbaptised Publishers

  by Giles Gray in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  does anyone know which year the organisation first counted unbaptised publishers as jehovah's witnesses?.

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  JeffT

  I began turning in time slips in about September of 1973 and was baptized in November. I don't know what, if anything, happened to those reports. At the time I thought they were included in the congregation reports, but I can't remember if that was stated explicitly.
  
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  11530

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  JeffT

  What did he need an initial print of 100 copies for? You get it all set up on Amazon and people order it, there is no upfront cost. Ditto the cover. Amazon has templates already set up, you up load an image to it, adjust some margins and the like and you have a cover that is at least as good as the one he has.

  Also, I don't know why he needed to order ISBN's in advance. Amazon puts one on the book for free when you publish it. It isn't like you need them to be in order or something, the only people that care are the ones stocking Barnes and Noble or whatever.
  
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  17

  Hour Requirement for Regular Pioneers

  by iloowy.goowy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  elders to meet with meet with regular pioneers asap and review their progress.

  announcement.

  december 12, 2022. for elders.

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  JeffT

  Hourly requirement being reinstated = decrease in regular pioneers

  + increase in hours falsely reported.

  Fixed it for you
  
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  11530

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  JeffT

  I don't know about the UK, in the US you can record (or film) anything you want in a public place. There is NO expectation of privacy when you're in public. If some loon with a microphone jumps you and asks questions, your only options are talking to them or not talking to them. If you talk, you've given them consent to record you.