Ah teel,
Really easy - if you're in the uk - check out the site:
Just be aware that they will send you info through the post which is clearly labelled blood donation.
MMXIV
Posts by MMXIV
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42Do YOU donate blood?
by Quillsky inif you do, what are your motivations?.
if you don't, why not?.
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42
Do YOU donate blood?
by Quillsky inif you do, what are your motivations?.
if you don't, why not?.
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MMXIV
Yes. Could save someone's life. Doesn't cost anything. Side benefit of getting a regular health check too (they notify you if they find anything during screening). I'm healthy, clean living and know that my blood is good so why not.
Also I'm a donor. My Aunt died needing a transplant. If I die and my organs can be used to keep someone else alive - I would like to help. I think it's a really important issue - but understand if people don't want to.
MMXIV
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70
Is Richard Dawkins an ostentatious acrimonious supercilious pusillanimous calumnious censorious vituperative querulous embittered obsessive and bombastic bully?
by slimboyfat inrichard dawkins closes down his free-thinking/free-thought site (www.richarddawkins.net) for 30 days to reconfigure it 'because too many morons were contributing drivel' (he doesn't put it quite like that!
) he is then surprised because those self-same contributors call him everything under the sun (i won't repeat the names flung at him on our ultra -refined boards).
he now wants the site more or less 'peer-reviewed' (by analogy with papers to learned/scientific journals having to be vetted by vips).
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MMXIV
To a neutral party (whoever that could be) he can come across just as fanatical as the religious extremists he's trying to counter which isn't the most effective way of getting his point accross - indeed may be alienating many as a result. He must be so frustrated at ignorant and illogical beliefs but at times he does verge on forcing his own ideas on others. A bully? Passionate and up for a heated debate I would say. I think of a bully as one that takes your money, inflicts misery and threatens your health - see where I'm going with this :-)
MMXIV
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6
Ex-gratia payment to estate of Ada White
by MMXIV inwts britain accounts ye 31 aug 08 included the following note (9):.
"in the estate of ada white deceased, the trustees requested approval in extended correspondence with the charity commission to make an ex-gratia payment of 10,000, and this was approved in a sealed order from the commission dated december 3, 2007".
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/scannedaccounts/ends61/0001077961_ac_20080831_e_c.pdf.
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MMXIV
Gut feel is that the payment wasn't in line with the WTS "objectives & activities" and as such permission was required from the charities commission. But the auditors clearly had an issue with it or it wouldn't have been detailed seperately in the notes to the accounts.
Also £10m loans made by the UK to IBSA without interest? Generous. My understanding was that cong's give their money to WTS to get the best interest. hmmm
And the IBSA makes a monthly service & maintenance charge to the UK - that's just helping themselves to UK cash. Still not much of my money went there is non of my business really.
MMXIV
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6
Ex-gratia payment to estate of Ada White
by MMXIV inwts britain accounts ye 31 aug 08 included the following note (9):.
"in the estate of ada white deceased, the trustees requested approval in extended correspondence with the charity commission to make an ex-gratia payment of 10,000, and this was approved in a sealed order from the commission dated december 3, 2007".
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/scannedaccounts/ends61/0001077961_ac_20080831_e_c.pdf.
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MMXIV
Done - thanks Blondie
MMXIV
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6
Ex-gratia payment to estate of Ada White
by MMXIV inwts britain accounts ye 31 aug 08 included the following note (9):.
"in the estate of ada white deceased, the trustees requested approval in extended correspondence with the charity commission to make an ex-gratia payment of 10,000, and this was approved in a sealed order from the commission dated december 3, 2007".
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/scannedaccounts/ends61/0001077961_ac_20080831_e_c.pdf.
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MMXIV
WTS Britain Accounts YE 31 Aug 08 included the following note (9):
"In the estate of Ada White deceased, the trustees requested approval in extended correspondence with the Charity Commission to make an ex-gratia payment of £10,000, and this was approved in a sealed Order from the Commission dated December 3, 2007"
Who is Ada White - or the estate thereof? Previously on JWN an Ada Lang White (niece of CT Russell) has been mentioned - are they one and the same and why is the UK branch making a £10k payoff to her estate???
MMXIV
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62
How the WTS hides its cash.....you may find this interesting
by God_Delusion inlet me explain a little about what i do each day...... i work for a company that arranges trusts in the cook islands, turks & caicos, panama, etc.
i know that blondie is against what i am about to say, but i do not just believe that the wts have a variety of trusts in various jurisdictions around the world......i am absolutely positive they do.. .
i personally look after 14 trusts.
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MMXIV
V interesting thread C Scienza. I agree that the WTS will try and protect themselves from possible threats and therefore use trust mechanisms to do so. Of course they will also use every means possible to reduce their tax liabilities which adds weight to this. The process to move funds between companies via invoicing is such standard practice too - tax avoidance a strong reason or shifting profits around.
Just because an organisation is non-profit making or a charity does not mean they aren't creaming off significant sums via simple invoicing to other companies - not necessarily WTS related. The people who will know this are the admin staff - has anyone worked in the interco accounting or billing sections of WTS? Anyone dealt with processing invoices with generic descriptions like "management or consulting fees"? Also what governance is in place - who signs these off?
In terms of the WTS being run like a business - get real - clearly it has to and would have folded half a century ago if not. I don't dispute there is a conflict with telling members the end of the world is nigh and then making long term strategic & financial plans for WTS - but history will have told them that you have to plan for the future. (ok ok I know that sounds opposite to every PT... store treasures in heaven and forget your pension). How could you manage printing & distribution of so many books/mags without detailed long term cashflow forecasts. I imagine their more recent strategies of KH consolidation (that I've read on this site) are a result of their long term planning and an effort to squeeze significant efficiencies to offset a potential drop in contributions.
The sale of Brooklyn is in my humble opinion going to be the big series of transactions to watch. How will they spread the risk of these proceeds - who decides what goes where and who signs it off.
As for the WTS being a money making tree - I would be interested to understand your model in more detail C Scienza. At a high level it has been fairly successful albeit they've gone about it in a rubbish way especially in terms of maximising wealth (gets it's members give up their source of income and also gives away free literature).
There have been plenty of local money scandals in congregations - I recall one elder in a neighbouring cong took nearly £50k from the KH fund to "keep his wife happy" (although no-one could ever make that miserable cow happy) - but have there been any huge misappropriations of funds from the WTS - not necessarily by the top brass - but people who have access to it? Don't think there'll be criminal cases as I doubt if the WTS would have pressed for charges due to bad publicity - both in bringing Jah's name into it and don't want to send message to rank & file that their contributions aren't being protected.
MMXIV
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33
do jws cheat on their taxes?
by rockmehardplace ini was on the phone complaining to my wife how much i owe in taxes this year.
no refund.
she started in about how sister soandso is a pioneer, and since she considers this her career, she claims things like shoes, gas, clothes, and even if she has a part on a circuit or district, she claims the expenses for hotels and such.
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MMXIV
Lots of tax fiddlers no doubt, given how generally tight jw’s can be.
My Q is… What is the tax footprint of theorg?
Whilst Charity status does minimise tax, the org will still contribute a fair amount. However weigh this against the 7million+ members, many of whom are of the poorer segments of society who may well be on more benefits than they pay back in tax.
Clearly pioneers have always been encouraged to milk the system at a local level – work minimum hours to claim maximum government benefits. Many argue they pay their own way and feel proud of doing so. But do they actually contribute to the average cost of society? e.g. Dub A pays £2000 in tax/NIC/VAT pa but the average cost of everyone in the UK is over £10,000 (£631bn government spend in 2009 divided by 61m population ) http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/
Thinking about your own/ex cong – do it’s 100 publishers contribute £1m in tax (do need to include council tax, VAT, their respective employers NIC & share of profits etc).
If every publisher in the UK only funds 50% (generous estimation) of the average cost to society (for education, health, welfare etc) then that would leave a £650m burden on society and I don’t think the org makes up this shortfall in tax…
If one could do the calculation then my money is on JW’s sponging off society – which is a bit of an insult when they turn up at your door on a well earned weekend preaching that you are materialistic for basically paying for a roof over their heads (housing benefits) or at least subsidising their use of the NHS or education system.
2014
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107
Remember when assemblies were fun?
by Aphrodite ini just remembered when i was a kid and we would go to the assembly, it was fun because we got to buy new clothes and put extra effort into looking good.
when we would get there you could save your seats and even save some for your friends, then go off looking for them.. i used to love our circuit assembly because of the food.
it was at the assembly hall and there was a big kitchen, some of my favourite brothers worked in that kitchen, sometimes i was allowed to go in and help.
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MMXIV
There were the good moments - bacon baps, ice cream, the closing song. My more vivid memories include the uncomfortable benches at Twickes -designed for strictly 80mins of rugby only, the gentle british breeze chilling one to the core and making it hard to look up scriptures, wondering if the temporary interruptions from the passing planes were factored into the timing of the talks - that always seemed to run overtime.
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Mill Hill Disfellowshippings
by BorgHater ina few months ago there was a thread about a couple of elders at the mill hill bethel being disfellowshipped because they disagreed with some wt doctrine (i can't recall exactly what it was) and that several other betheliteswere under 'investigation'.
i haven't heard anything since, does anyone know anything more about this?.
borghater xx.
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MMXIV
These are now off the topic but...
Aligot ripounsous, RE: Chelsea cong. £62k income
Fulham, Walham & Sign language congs all still meet at Pond place (Chelsea) and contribute to it's upkeep. The cash is building up in the bank for a rainy day (old kh - will need major refurb at some point in future). There used to be a few pretty wealthy bro's & sis's there (goes with the territory) so doesn't surprise me income is very high.
Boyzone, RE: P & F Harris in Northwood cong.
They are still there - pretty much the rock that has held that place together.
First post - think you guy's & gals are doing a great job.
MMXIV