Chaserious

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Posts by Chaserious

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  62

  The Lawsuit Landslide: Irwin Zalkin representing ELEVEN child abuse victims against Watchtower

  by cedars in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  many of you will be interested to know that irwin zalkin now has 11 lawsuits against watchtower at various stages.. these can be summarized as follows.... j.l.

  shocked by the lack of action, the victims mother immediately left the congregation with her son.

  by this stage campos was a known predator with complaints having been made to the elders at linda vista spanish, playa pacifica spanish and the watchtower dating back to 1982.elizabeth mcfarland ohio a former ministerial servant named scott silvasy sexually molested elizabeth when she was a child through her early teens.

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  Chaserious

  How many $30mil upheld verdicts do you need to make the bean counters very uncomfortable...

  As encouraging as it is to see victims come forward, I don't see this as a "death blow" either. The Conti verdict has been reduced to about $10 million, so that's the worst case scenario for the WTS if they lose their appeal, plus maybe a couple million in interest and legal costs. There is no reason to believe that every case is going to cost nearly that much. Jury verdicts are wildly unpredictable. The Economist reported that abuse cases cost the Catholic Church over $1 mil each. I don't see any reason to think comparable cases will cost the WTS ten times (or 30 times) as much). On one hand, juries might be less sympathetic to the WTS because it's viewed as a fringe religion/cult. But on the other hand, the lawyers have an easier case to make against the Catholic Church in that the priest abusers were paid employees of the church, which isn't the case with any of these WTS cases.

  The larger positive that might come out of these awful instances of abuse is public awareness, and maybe more internal awareness, about the failings of the WT organization to protect its children.
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  7

  At what age did you begin retirement planning

  by Zoos in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am 46. i just started a 401k three months ago.. .

  not long ago, while i was still "in", the topic of 401s came up between me and a coworker.

  he asked if i was plugged in and i said, "no.

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  Chaserious

  I started my 401k when I was 22 and still in. It just seemed like giving away free money not to contribute when my employer at the time would match what I put in. Still, 46 is better than never. There are still a lot of people who rely on just SS & medicare.
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  14

  we haven't heard from 3 members

  by gma-tired2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i havent read any posts from gojira, newly enlightened, and brother of hawk.

  i hope they are well just know they have been unusually quiet..

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  Chaserious

  Their activity seems to have dropped off right after Brother of the Hawk started his last thread, which wasn't received very well here. Maybe it has something to do with that. I believe they are all family, right?
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  31

  Justitia passes bar!!!

  by crmsicl in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  yay...my awesome friend justitia just found out last night she passed the bar exam.

  regardless of how you may feel about her you gotta admit that is an accomplishment..

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  Chaserious

  Congrats
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  19

  What is new about the Candace Conti trial

  by smiddy in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  whats new in the latest developments.

  smiddy.

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  Chaserious

  Smiddy, it's true there are a lot of things that are fair to criticize about the U.S. legal system. But one thing that I think it's important to remember is that the U.S. system is far more friendly to private tort plaintiffs seeking money damages than just about anywhere else. I think it's safe to say that if these facts were replicated in any other major country, Ms. Conti would have never been awarded a judgment of millions of dollars against the WTS in the first place. One of the tradeoffs that plaintiffs give up in exchange for broad rights to sue is that defendants also have broad rights to appeal.
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  19

  What is new about the Candace Conti trial

  by smiddy in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  whats new in the latest developments.

  smiddy.

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  Chaserious

  There will probably be an opinion released by the California appeals court sometime in the Spring. That may or may not be a conclusion. It is possible that the losing party could appeal to be heard by the CA Supreme Court, who may or may not agree to hear the case. It's also possible that the appeals court could order a new trial, which could take some time to occur, and then THAT trial could be subject to appeal. Or the decision of this appeals court could be the last word. No one really knows right now.
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  29

  Candace Conti case updated

  by gingerbread in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just received an email notification from the california appellate court hearing the wt appeal of the conti case:.

  the case has been fully briefed.. the case is on the conference list.. the oral argument waiver notice has been sent.. .

  i'm not well versed in the process or these terms.

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  Chaserious

  The chances are essentially zero that this case ever gets to SCOTUS. State Supreme Courts decide thousands and thousands of cases every year, almost all of which are important in some way and costly to litigate. Out of the thousands of losing parties, most of whom would want SCOTUS to hear their cases if possible, the number that SCOTUS takes is in the neighborhood of 15 per year. Most of the cases SCOTUS takes come up through the federal courts, not the state courts. The state cases that do get accepted tend to be important constitutional issues that state supreme courts have disagreed on.
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  29

  Candace Conti case updated

  by gingerbread in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just received an email notification from the california appellate court hearing the wt appeal of the conti case:.

  the case has been fully briefed.. the case is on the conference list.. the oral argument waiver notice has been sent.. .

  i'm not well versed in the process or these terms.

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  Chaserious

  Fully briefed means that all of the written arguments that are allowed have now been submitted by both sides. It's a total of three briefs - the defendants filed an opening brief, Conti's lawyers filed an answer brief, and then the defendants filed a reply brief. Oral argument waiver just means the parties can voluntarily forego in-person argument before the appeals panel. It's not uncommon for parties in some cases to let the judges decide "on the papers" and have the court make a decision without oral argument, so the court tries to get parties to waive to lighten their argument calendar. The parties probably won't waive in this case.
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  27

  Education Double Standard

  by Tech49 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is the kind of thing that really burns me.. .

  wtbts holds out an extreme double standard in regards to education.

  most, if not all, of you know how they feel about obtaining an education past high school (in the u.s.).

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  Chaserious

  Definitely a big double standard. There was a brother in my congregation years ago who actually had an engineering degree and became a JW when he was in his early-mid 20's not long after graduating college. He got married and he and his wife got recruited to move to Bethel. I got the sense they didn't really like it that much and Bethel really kissed their asses to get them to stay. He got appointed as a Bethel elder very quickly, they got a nice room with a great view, he got a corner office with a view of Manhattan, and the wife got taken off her cleaning job after a short time and got assigned to an easy office job. There has to be a real shortage of people with that kind of education thanks to their double standard. But this couple left after a few years anyway. I can't imagine how the rank and file Bethelites felt who didn't get all the amenities because they followed the WT counsel on education while the educated ones get the preferred treatment. You have to really be indocrinated to be able to swallow or ignore the double standard.

  I gave up a full scholarship to stay in the WT as well. Of course, I wasn't allowed to move away to the school that offered it to me. Probably should have cut ties right then. As it turned out, I had to take night classes well into my mid-20s that I mostly paid for myself to get my BA. Even so, I count myself as happy and fortunate to have gotten out relatively early.
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  10

  What is the stand/view of the JWs regarding the Illuminati and conspiracy theory?

  by UBM101 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i mean.... are the dubs pretty much supporters of the conspiracy theory (watching videos, researching etc) or do they avoid such materials/topics?

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  Chaserious

  If there is an illuminati conspiracy, why didn't Ray Franz out it? Wouldn't governing body members know about this alleged secret control? Or was his exit and expose all part of the conspiracy?