Chaserious

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Posts by Chaserious

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  75

  Media request to record/broadcast oral argument; from ABC News New York

  by Londo111 in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=1&doc_id=2025979&doc_no=a136641.

  see last item:.

  "media request to record/broadcast oral argument; from abc news new york".

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  Chaserious

  I don't think they will just drop the appeal after so much time and expense just because the news will be there. It wouldn't surprise me if they tried to settle now though.  What do they owe, around 11 million?  It wouldn't surprise me if they may have tried to offer to drop the appeal now if she will take less. Maybe $4 or 5 million?
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  29

  A possible way for the Watch Tower to generate revenue via their website.

  by adjusted knowledge in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  earlier in the week someone posted the potential value of the jw website based on visits and if they used advertisements.

  many stated they would never do that but i propose they could.. besides their real estate profit making business model, they have the conventions as cash generating machines.

  they give directions to their members to which hotels/motels to use.

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  Chaserious

  I will be surprised if they ever allow advertising on their website, no matter how money hungry they are. It will come across as just too crass, and not for very much money in the grand scheme.  Even large companies, whose purpose is to earn profit, rarely advertise on their own sites (except for their own products), as it's not very tasteful. Web traffic money is nothing compared to what they could have earned for advertising on their high visibility Brooklyn buildings over the years.
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  15

  Rivercrest Luxury Apartments

  by tezrichmond in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i was totally p***d off about watchtower teaching u should keep your life simple and not investing in treasures in the earth etc while they are buying luxury apartments and forcing its residents out on the street including children.

  so i got on with an email and sent it as follows.

  if any from uk want to launch a complaint go to http://www.frsb.org.uk/donors/.

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  Chaserious

  It's not like they are frittering money away.  Real estate is historically a fairly profitable investment vehicle.  They've sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of property in Brooklyn over the past few years.  Aren't they entitled to reinvest some of that money in property elsewhere to essentially serve the same purpose as the Brooklyn property?

  Complain about this if you feel strongly about it, but it seems like there are so many other things more worth griping over. 
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  6

  How do you post an added post to someone else's thread????!!!!!

  by blondie2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have signed on with a new username and can start topics but cannot find where to add....this has not been a happy experience....could someone start a thread that gives specific concrete help and answer questions (for those who can post ha)

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  Chaserious

  This issue is probably specific to you or your browser.  My posting box just shows up at the bottom. Have you tried downloading Chrome? It tends to have less of these types of issues. But hopefully Simon can get it resolved in any event.
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  14

  WTBT$/JW's = AMWAY/MLM Schemes

  by Darth Fader The Sequel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  all of the wts tactics and procedures are based off of your most basic mlm (multi-level marketing) schemes.

  take your pick of amway, or any of the other vitamin or financial mlm's.

  they all work the exact same way.

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  Chaserious

  The head of Melaleuca is a devout Mormon.. for whatever that is worth. 
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  68

  If Your JW Parent Died Would YOU Go To The Kingdom Hall For The Talk?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i would like your thoughts, please..

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  Chaserious

  I haven't decided yet, and have put it off until I'm forced to choose, I suppose. My parents take their shunning very seriously; I am not welcome to see or speak to them at all. The only time I expect to ever see them both together again is if my (non-JW) grandfather gets sick or if he passes. After that, I fully expect the next opportunity to see either of them is when the first of them passes away.

  Right now I think I would go, but it will be hard to stomach for sure seeing all these institutional shunners and being treated like a pariah at the funeral of a parent. I'm surprised to see that some were treated reasonably respectfully at a parent's funeral. I know my wife would go to her parents' funerals, and I would go with her for support. Their situation is a little different; she speaks to her mother on the phone a few times a year.
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  6

  Thanks Mom and Dad - oh, and thanks Mother

  by berrygerry in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  http://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2013/2013bcsc2099/2013bcsc2099.html?searchurlhash=aaaaaqahamvob3zhaaaaaaab.

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  Chaserious

  I wonder how much of the recent money grabs and suspected dwindling of donations relates to the disappearance of JWs like these. I would guess this is a bigger factor than the effect of litigation. Back in the 50's and 60's it seemed rather common for them to attract new members through door-to-door visits with middle class housewives, who probably were bored and welcomed visitors, had no internet to research the visitors, and liked the ready-made social network and even unconventional doctrines about paradise and pandas.

  Then, in turn some of them would convince their husbands to join as well and of course raise their kids as JWs. I can think of two couples from where I grew up with no children who fit that mold. Both of the men had college degrees before they joined the WTS and the rumors were that both couples were relatively well-off and were leaving all their money to "the society." These people would be well into their 80's now if still alive.

  I suspect that people like this (and like those involved in the court case, who may have even left family out of their estate planning) have accounted for a huge chunk of donations in years past. How many average Joe JWs dropping $20-$30 per month in the box does it take to equal one upper-middle class couple who leaves their entire estate to the WTS?

  Most of these people have died off - those who convert more recently tend to be the less educated who haven't done the research about what this group is about, and the born-ins are rarely able to save up a nest egg after listening to the warnings against higher education and not working overtime in order to go door-knocking on the weekends.
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  6

  Thanks Mom and Dad - oh, and thanks Mother

  by berrygerry in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  http://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2013/2013bcsc2099/2013bcsc2099.html?searchurlhash=aaaaaqahamvob3zhaaaaaaab.

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  Chaserious

  Its a shame they gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Watchtower, but they clearly intended for the WT to keep the money if they died without asking having asked for it back. Claiming that it doesnt count because of lack of compliance with the wills act was just a hope to find a legal loophole to invalidate the couple's true, however misguided intent. I have no problem with the result.
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  32

  What's with this "no windows in kingdom halls" thing?

  by Trapped in JW land in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i hear many people on this forum say that kh's don't have windows.

  but i have never been to one that didn't have windows.

  is this only in a certain area or something?.

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  Chaserious

  In the Kingdom Hall I grew up going to, it originally had windows, and then some time in the 90's they did a "remodel" and removed the windows and covered them with stucco like the rest of the building. The reason they gave is that on a couple of occasions, local children had thown rocks through the windows. After that on the inside they just kept the curtains closed where the windows used to be. It made it feel rather depressing inside.
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  11

  Just 2 questions regarding the U.S. law around sex abuse

  by joe134cd in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  i just have 2 questions regarding the u.s law around sex abuse.. (1) in this country it is quite common for the events of a sex abuse trial, to have suppression orders placed on it.

  one i can think of was when the offender was given name suppression because to identify the abuser would also mean identifying the victim, so hence both were given name suppression.

  now with regard to the out of court settlements and gag orders by the watchtower, and yes i do realise that the wt would have the most to benefit by doing this.

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  Chaserious

  Joe, what Zalkin is doing is important, because it exposes this organization's failure to protect its children. But he's not doing it just for the love of justice. His firm hopes to reap tens of millions of dollars in attorney's fees from these lawsuits. There's nothing wrong with that, and he'll deserve what he gets, but when he comes out with guns blazing, as you say, it's part of his litigation strategy; and not necessarily righteous indignation.

  He wants the WTS to fear him and his firm, and to know when they see a new lawsuit with his name on it, it should be taken seriously. It therefore is immediately perceived as having a higher dollar value than a similar suit by another attorney, and also is going to have bad press that comes with it. The reality is that even he does not want to take all of these cases to trial, whatever he might say to denounce the WTS for settling cases. His preference would probably be to take a case or two to trial if necessary, with a plaintiff who is prepared for that kind of fight. Then if he can demonstrate that he is the best at winning this particular type of case, it will drive up the value of out of court settlements in the rest.

  I doubt his firm has the resources to take 15+ of these cases to trial in the period of a couple of years, and even if they did, they are not paid by the hour. If he can get close to the same amount in a settlement as he expects to win at trial, I'm sure his concern for airing this out to the public would disappear quickly when he can save the weeks it may take to try a case, not to mention hundreds of hours of pretrial preparation and travel around the country taking depositions. And that doesn't even take into account the effect on the victim.

  One other thing - he is not necessarily to "blame" for any settlements his clients may enter into. Attorneys must communicate every settlement offer to their clients, and are required to settle if the client wants to, even if the attorney does not want to.

  Blondie - How absolutely awful. You are absolutely right about the victims.