Posts by JeffT

23

Pinker on Terrorism .... Self-Defeating

by jgnat in

http://chronicle.com/article/era-in-ideas-terrorism/128490/.

his conclusion, .

"even when they are not rooted out by states, terrorist groups carry the seeds of their own destruction.

JeffT

A lot of people did not take Hitler and the Nazis seriously in the early 1930's. I can't find the quote just now but I've read some political leaders at the time who said that they expected Hitler to moderate his policies once he had power consolidated.

ISIS seems different from other terrorist groups in that they are seizing and controling territory (or attempting to). Their stated goal is to reestablish the Caliphate as an actual government over the captured land. They may be gone someday, but we don't know what its going to take to do that.

63

Kennedy assassination....

by new hope and happiness in

to me its a great example of a totalitarian government's ability to manage information and keep us in the dark; .

all right it was a long time ago.

should we just forget about it?.

JeffT

Finkelstein beat me to it. Also Garvilo Princip got Franz Joseph's route the same way, except that he got into the "right place at the right time" only because the driver didn't know the correct route.

20

jehovahswitnessesexperts website

by love2Bworldly in

jw
friends

are most people aware of this website?

they have a video that is pretty interesting.

it was too long though and i didn't have time to listen to the whole thing.

JeffT

Actually, the rhetorical tone is a little over-the-top for professional legal counsel.

I don't believe its run by a lawyer. Looks like whoever runs it is one of those "experts" that testify for one side or the other in court. Some are more expert than others, which is why I put that in quotes.

32

Well it look like AG Eric Holder is finally stepping down.

by tootired2care in

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/09/25/351363171/eric-holder-to-step-down-as-attorney-general.

happy day - our incompetent race baiting ag who refuses to actually do his job, and prosecute high crimes right under his down in the irs is finally stepping down.

good riddance!.

JeffT

Couldn't the same ignorant drivel be said of the founding fathers of this country by merely replacing Black Panther with Ku Klux Klan?

Only if you're ignorant of history. The country was created between 1775 and 1787, the KKK didn't come into existence until 1865. Several "founding fathers" (Benjamin Franklin, John Adams for example) were anti-slavery.

47

Watchtower/Telecom Ownership Agreement!

by Atlantis in

watchtower-qcstelecom ownership agreement.. .

re: petition to transfer ownership of qcstelecom, inc., to watchtower bible and tract society.

http://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/common/viewdoc.aspx?docrefid=%7b57614a3f-7101-408a-8b25-b3499530db5a%7d.

JeffT

I think on its face, there's nothing too out of the ordinary about this. They either set up the company through a shell arrangement or picked it up cheap from the brother who did.

The fun starts with future possibilites: a means to monitor and control every JW's internet access by having them routed through the WTBS' system. While they're at it, they can get every JW to pay them $ xx every month for the privilege.

23

Minor Update to circuit accounting scam

by Justnowout in

many outside are now aware of the scam.... the brother announces a "deficit" at the assemblies.

what they dont announce is that the so called expenses include a predetermined donation to the branch.

meaning, the assembly hall is paid for so the basic expenses should be utilities, maybe some speaker expenses and a 52nd share of property taxes and the like.... however the "deficit" always seems to run into the thousands with "expenses incured" totaling 7-10k.

JeffT

What expenses would they have? Water, electricity & HVAC for 7 hours. Maybe an occasional refill of cleaning supplies & paper products.

I'm about to eat dinner. Later I'll try to look up some old budget numbers and I could give you a good estimate of the actual numbers.

10

best blonde joke ever

by JeffT in

my wife (a blonde) told this one to our son and i yesterday, knowing we'd find it really funny.. .

a blonde woman was speeding down the road in her little red sports car and was pulled over by a woman police officer who was also a blonde.

the blonde cop asked to see the blonde driver's license.

JeffT

My wife (a blonde) told this one to our son and I yesterday, knowing we'd find it really funny.

A blonde woman was speeding down the road in her little red sports car and was pulled over by a woman police officer who was also a blonde. The blonde cop asked to see the blonde driver's license. She dug through her purse and was getting progressively more agitated. 'What does it look like?' she finally asked.

The policewoman replied, 'It's square and it has your picture on it.'

The driver finally found a square mirror in her purse, looked at it and handed it to the policewoman.

'Here it is,' she said.

The blonde officer looked at the mirror, then handed it back saying, 'Okay, you can go. I didn't realize you were a cop too.'

48

Posters do you know of any cases where a devout JW was DF'd for Lesbianism?

by booker-t in

i think this is a hush hush topic among jws but i remember years ago at an assembly i saw two sisters(i am only assuming they were jws they could have been studies or relatives of jws) walking arm and arm like a married couple.

some of the jws looked at them like they had horns.

some of the jws moms were covering their small children's eyes and those two women were stared at like they had the plague.

JeffT

Years ago my first congregation had a large group of young singles, we'd all hang out together. There were two women (one a regular pioneer) who hung out together a lot. If we were all watching TV or something they'd sit together with their arms around each other. There was a little buzz about it around the hall, but I don't think they were ever questioned in the back room or anything. Pioneer eventually married a Bethel boy, not sure what happened to the other one.

4

Watchtower Real Estate Holdings

by JeffT in

jw
friends

i'm restarting my blog.

my article on watchtower real estate is here.

http://pathologicallyintellectual.blogspot.com/.

JeffT

I'm restarting my blog. My article on Watchtower real estate is here. http://pathologicallyintellectual.blogspot.com/

I think I've uncovered some things you might find interesting.

109

Topics Ive Been Pondering On

by JWINQUESTION in

this is my first post on here so bear with me.

currently i am still an active jw with serious questions about the jw org.

i was hesitant signing up but really need as much input from the people on this forum to get a clear understanding on things.

JeffT

I still consider myself a Christian, although I do not attend any church or adhere to any particular subset of Christianity.

regarding morality: there are lots of moral people in the world, including many agnostics and atheists. Witnesses talk about how moral they are compared to everybody else. All I can say is words are cheap and most Witnesses haven't been around enough non-witnesses to know better.

Regarding homosexuality: I've decided that issuing judgements about what other people do is above my paygrade. To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, it doesn't cost me anything or impinge on anything I want to do.

I left the Watchtower because I realized the net effect on life was negative not positive. The position on higher education (my children were getting close ot high school) really brought it all into focus for me.