Posts by JeffT

12

Prediction: jw.org sign up with monthly subscription fee

by bohm in

jw
friends

the wtbs is changing media from print to online.

if we look at other companies doing the same the obvious buissness model is subscription with a monthly fee people can choose themselves.

the wtbs can continue to offer everything for free, however subscribers might earn a button for social media or somesuch ("wtbs donor").

JeffT

At the time they went to the donation arrangement, I thought they were making a big mistake. The advantage they had, and gave away, was that the R&F paid for the mags up front. What they did with them (place them for free, place them for cost, pile them up in the closet) didn't matter to the WTBS. They would have been money ahead to pay the taxes and be done with it.

I think part of the decision was that they didn't think the locals could handle figuring out all the taxes. A subscription service maintained at HQ would be relatively easy to administer, as all the money would come into one place and the staff their could handle it.

32

No Soliciting signage and JW Policy

by Oubliette in

does anyone have a copy of the boe letter directing publishers to not go into apartment complexes and/or condominium complexes with no soliciting signs?

i ask because yesterday and buttheaded jw (that obviously had no idea who i am or my past) was knocking on doors in our condo complex.

he would have had to drive past a sign which clearly states "no solicitation or material distribution.".

JeffT

Oubliette, I actually thought of doing this once or twice.

Does your condo project have a common area like a cabana? You might rent it for a night and pass the word you're having a seminar on how to talk to JW's when they're at the door. You could give them a few good talking points to bring up and tell them that if the JW's ask where they get their information, they can say that somebody that lives there is an xjw, and runs a class on them.

With a bit of luck, you may be able to get the whole project put on a "don't go here" list.

5

How much is a Billion bucks to the Borg

by Ignoranceisbliss in

in recent news articles it's been suggested that properties currently up for sale in brooklyn will fetch around $1,000,000,000.

just how significant is this kind of money to the wtbts?

my estimation is that would be the equivalent to 3 years worth of donations from every us witness.

JeffT

Consider this: a billion dollars properly invested should yield about forty million dollars a year in income, and will do so forever. With structured settlements, I would expect them to be able to pay off lawsuits AND keep running.

32

No Soliciting signage and JW Policy

by Oubliette in

does anyone have a copy of the boe letter directing publishers to not go into apartment complexes and/or condominium complexes with no soliciting signs?

i ask because yesterday and buttheaded jw (that obviously had no idea who i am or my past) was knocking on doors in our condo complex.

he would have had to drive past a sign which clearly states "no solicitation or material distribution.".

JeffT

A friend of mine, who lives in Alaska, has a sign at the front of his property that reads:

"No Trespassing.

Violators will be shot.

Survivors will be shot again."

He says no one has been to the house uninvited since he put it up.

32

Peer presure to use Ipad

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

earlier this season i advised my retired father to ignore the use of a tablet during his kingdom hall congregational visits.

his response was hopefull, but between the lines i could hear he had no choice.. yesterday he showed me his new 600 euro 64 gb ipad air 2. he had no clue what he has to do with it, he told me one of the elders will install the jw.org apps.. so, i feel he had to deal with presure to buy this ipad and i think he is not the only one.. do you recognize this?.

gorby.

JeffT

It's my understanding that all the music is on CD now, and that all the KH's have TV's on on the wall. Why not send every congregation a DVD with the music and the lyrics and tell them to play it on the TV?

19

Disassociation letter

by BeautifulMind in

jw
friends

good evening.

i have a question about where to send my disassociation letter.

do i give a copy to the overseer of the cong i was in and the branch?

JeffT

You could take a page from Martin Luther's book and nail it to the door of the Kingdom Hall, although you may get a bill for a new door.

7

Warwick project "ahead of schedule?"

by stillin in

this is what a brother said at the meeting today.

he has been working there as a volunteer.

but my impression was that the toxic waste debacle set the project back seriously.

JeffT

About twenty years ago I was in a conference to set goals for all our projects for the coming year. One big apartment development had been giving us serious trouble all year. So when we got to that project manager he said (very emphatically) "I'm going to bring in 'xxx-apts' on time and on budget." The company VP looked at him and said "Well, considering we no longer have either a timeline or a budget, that shouldn't be difficult."

I suspect Warwick is in about the same state of completion.

18

Can't Understand Why This Is Allowed

by mariet in

i moved to roseburg, oregon.

the jehovah's witnesses are allowed to set up a display and man it right outside of the local library, and they are there every day and hour the library is open.

i am [redacted], the director of the douglas county library system and wanted to respond to your website email of december 11, 2015. i have consulted with the county attorneys office about your concern about jehovahs witnesses use of the front porch of the library building in roseburg, and my understanding of the law is as follows.. .

JeffT

I think you got your answer in the response from the library. In this country everybody, including Witnesses have freedom of speech. The library is a public space and they can't kick people off the property for exercising their free speech rights. Here in Washington they also have the freedom to set up in other types of public areas, such as the sidewalk at the mall, so long as they are out of the way.

125

Watchtower purchases CoC copyright for undisclosed amount!

by the girl next door in

now what is your stance?

JeffT

Downloading a pirated copy of CoC is exactly as egregious as downloading a pirated copy of the KS10.

No it isn't.

KS10 has no monetary value, downloading a copy does not take any money from anybody.

The WTBS is a tax exempt organization. I'm paying for their right to publish crap and annoy people in an effort to sell it.

The WTBS is secretive. It destroys people's lives without any transparency in the process. As I said above, if they don't like what gets done to them, they can stop doing it to their membership.

I regard breaking the law to shed light on the corruption of the WTBS as an act of civil disobedience, like eating at lunch counters that won't serve you. Back in the day, I blocked streets to protest the war in Vietnam, its the same idea.

125

Watchtower purchases CoC copyright for undisclosed amount!

by the girl next door in

now what is your stance?

JeffT

OK, I modification to my rant.

The purpose of copyright is to protect the author's right to collect compensation for the work they did in producing the work, and control how its used. If the WTBS purchased the rights to CoC, would be to protect its ass, not the copyrighted work.

If the WTBS doesn't want its ass to be a target, it can stop treating people the way it does.