When i converted I trashed a lot of really classic Rock vinyl on the advice of a JW roommate. Got rid of Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Doors, and King Crimson. I've replaced most of it on CD now, but the King Crimson is hard to find.
Posts by JeffT
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87Did you get " Counseled " about the Music you Listened to While you were a JW ?
by flipper infrom the time i was a small boy - i loved rock n' roll music.
beatles, rolling stones, led zeppelin, hendrix.
i started getting slighted for the music i listened to as i lay in my bedroom listening on headphones to led zeppelin's song " black dog " at age 14 with my elder dad looking suspiciously at me as i'm rocking out .
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Is a circle round?
by slimboyfat in"christ, not this again!
there's a serious point to be made here however.
somebody published a study in the journal of personality and social psychology showing that disagreements about what constitutes a circle depend on your political perspective.
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JeffT
I don't like the (in my opinion false) dichotomy between the two sets of political positions.
I support government aid for the homeless and unemployed, to an extent, I don't think it should be a life style. I support same sex marriage. I think drugs should be legalized and addiction treated as a medical problem.
I also think business owners have rights that need to be protected. We need a strong military. Prostitution should also be legalized for adults.
Where does that put me? BTW I think the object shown is a circle of sorts, but then I think that if you're driving on it, a figure eight is also a kind of circle.
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Time Machine
by HB incaveat 1: those who believe jesus is truly the son of god may wish to avoid this post.
although my thoughts are only proposed for mild amusement and interest and in no way intended to offend, for some, the concept behind the idea may be an affront to preciously held beliefs.
if that’s likely to be the case, kindly just don’t read.
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JeffT
The merchants know what real gemstones look and feel like. They'd probably run you out of town on a rail. Modern beer wouldn't look like much more than water to anybody. I doubt they would recognized gummy treats as even edible. Somewhere I've seen a science fiction story along these lines. -
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A Thought Experiment
by InjusticeSystem ini am hoping some of you may be up for participating in a little creative thought experiment .
the question i would like to pose (and if it has already been asked i apologize, for some reason i cannot search for topics on my mobile) is this: what would the evidence show if the jehovah's witness' literal reading of genesis was true?
i realize that is a fairly broad question, but for example a more pointed question could be: if the vapor canopy hypothesis is correct (i have confirmed with my elder father that this is still a currently accepted understanding), what evidence in our genome or that of other creatures or on earth would we expect to see?
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JeffT
Not sure if your question includes Noah's Ark, but the JW explanation regarding "kinds" of animals is entirely inconsistent with their anti-evolution stance. We could not possibly have the numbers of species we have if the Earth was only a few thousand years old.
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Did you KNOW Ray and Cynthia or the legal copyright holder? Only a few maybe had limited contact.
by blondie ini have known all of them over the last 15 years, talked at length with them, and knew what their wishes were, the copyright holder and spouse spent even more time with them socially and helping them set up their arrangements for when ray and cynthia passed.
i don't believe that anyone else on this board or others was a confidant.
there is no need to prove it to anyone but the copyright office which is satisfied with this.
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JeffT
Good grief, it's a book. Some of you sound like its a plot to take food away from babies. If you think they information is that vital, write your own book. You can cite CofC as a source. All the information is out there if you need it.
This debate about ignoring the law and the copy holder's rights will probably convince more JW's to stay in, than reading the book will convince to get out.
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Revealing Watchtower tax returns
by Nambo inplease excuse if this has already been posted:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysyqish-l_e.
under the freedom of information act, this guy has tax returns showing where your money goes, where it is invested, companies like northrop gruman, monsanto, cigarette and porn peddlers, and we thought we where giving money to god!
i am quite sickened to discover i was giving money to the watchtower to invest in arms manufacturers..
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JeffT
Thanks Blondie. On reading through that my first thought was to wonder who the target audience is. For starters there are not a lot of Witnesses with enough money to worry about setting up trusts. And most people who have that kind of money have lawyers and accountants to explain tax law to them. They don't need the WTBS to write up a simplified brochure for them. Are they trying to impress the sheeple that they have big support somewhere?
I'm continuing some research on those 990's. As of the most recent year (2014) the trust no longer owns any Phillip Morris stock, it does have a little bit of money in a couple of defense related companies, but not much. Most of the trusts money is held in blue chip stocks and bonds, which would be consistent with a requirement to invest low risk assets.
For some reason (what I'm looking at next) for the 2014 tax year the entity changed from an exempt trust to a personal foundation subject to taxes. I need to read some IRS docs to find out what's up with that. It paid about $12000 in taxes for 2014.
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Revealing Watchtower tax returns
by Nambo inplease excuse if this has already been posted:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysyqish-l_e.
under the freedom of information act, this guy has tax returns showing where your money goes, where it is invested, companies like northrop gruman, monsanto, cigarette and porn peddlers, and we thought we where giving money to god!
i am quite sickened to discover i was giving money to the watchtower to invest in arms manufacturers..
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JeffT
Sister O'Reilly is probably dead. One of the main reasons for setting up a trust like this is to avoid inheritance taxes. Older rich people set them up to make sure their money ends up with somebody they want to have it.
Some basics about trusts. A trust is its own legal entity, it has its own tax ID number and its own registrations with state and local agencies. There are three main people (or other legal entities) involved in it.
The Grantor (in this case Mrs. O'Reilly) has her lawyer write up the appropriate legal paperwork to establish the separate legal entity. Those documents designate a trustee to manage the affairs of the trust. That person cannot be the Grantor or the Beneficiary. The Beneficiary receives the income generated by the assets in the trust. All legal power to manage the affairs of the trust reside with the Trustee, the Beneficiary can't tell the Trustee to do. (Neither can the Grantor after the trust is set up and funded). There are sound legal and ethical reasons to do this. If your son is an addict you might write trust documents that tell the Trustee to make sure he has a place to live and food, but not to give him cash because he'll buy drugs with it.
The trustee has a legal duty to do what the trust documents tell him to do. I know the WTBS has a brochure about leaving your money to them, I'd love to see a copy of it if anybody (Blondie?) can tell me where to find it. I suspect that they have this all pretty well spelled out in their "suggestions."
In this case the trust documents probably tell the Trustee to do the best he can to maximize profits, and therefore income to the Beneficiary (the WTBS). Including details about how to invest money might well create a legal conflict for the Trustee, and would have been avoided by whoever wrote the trust documents. Assuming he knew what he was doing.
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Honeymoon over for the carts
by Deltawave inspeaking with inlaws i another congregation today who said exactly what is being said in our own hall.
the trolly work is long and boring and no one even notices they are there anymore but walk right on by.
jehovah really is speeding up the work lol.
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JeffT
They're going to have to build some kind of hot coffee dispenser off the back of those things.
If they tried that here (Seattle) they'd have a line formed in about three minutes. Of course they would all be looking for double tall lattes and the like, but it would generate some attention.
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Revealing Watchtower tax returns
by Nambo inplease excuse if this has already been posted:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysyqish-l_e.
under the freedom of information act, this guy has tax returns showing where your money goes, where it is invested, companies like northrop gruman, monsanto, cigarette and porn peddlers, and we thought we where giving money to god!
i am quite sickened to discover i was giving money to the watchtower to invest in arms manufacturers..
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JeffT
The "some one else" is Henrietta O'Rielly, whoever she was. It says that right at the top of the form this guy is reading from.
The beneficiary of a trust can refuse to accept it, if they do so in writing within nine months of the death of the person who established it. If they do so, the entire thing goes to the next person in line to receive it. Disclaiming the assets is an irrevocable act, so you don't have the opportunity to get the money back if you change your mind.
So no, the WTBS can't refuse to take money from one part of the trust, it's theirs, and they can't control what the trustee does with the investment, although they could change trustees, which might well cost a bunch of lawyer fees without fixing the problem.
The bottom line here: this is NOT proof of hypocrisy on the part of the WTBS. They are the ongoing beneficiaries of a gift over which they have no control. There are real issues to get pumped up over.
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Revealing Watchtower tax returns
by Nambo inplease excuse if this has already been posted:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysyqish-l_e.
under the freedom of information act, this guy has tax returns showing where your money goes, where it is invested, companies like northrop gruman, monsanto, cigarette and porn peddlers, and we thought we where giving money to god!
i am quite sickened to discover i was giving money to the watchtower to invest in arms manufacturers..
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JeffT
I wish I could drive a stake through this thing's heart so it would stay dead. These are not tax returns for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. They are tax returns for a charitable trust established by some one else for the benefit of the Watchtower. The WTBS has NO control over where the money is invested, that is how trust funds work.
In case anybody asks, I'm a retired accountant.