Funny Article. But credit your source man! http://www.theonion.com/onion3910/smurf_collections.html
That's exactly what I was thinking when I was reading it: "This sounds like an Onion article".
Posts by jws
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8Antique Dealer Sick of Appraising Smurf Collections
by Jourles induluth, mnmilton jarry, an antique dealer with 29 years of experience buying and selling rare collectibles and furnishings, announced monday that he is sick of estimating the value of smurf collections and other "piles of pop-culture detritus.
"if one more person brings in a 'rare' figurine of smurfette in a jogging suit, i'm going to set it on fire," said jarry, owner of the finer things, a cortland avenue antique shop.
"that goes double for brainy smurf ceramic piggy banks.
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jws
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Finally, a person from Hollywood worth listening to.
by Adam inthese stars telling us how we should think and feel about the iraqi situation have really gotten my goat.
are they so out of touch with reality that they think, because they are rich and have pretty faces, they can speak with any authority whatsoever about world politics and national security?
the following link is a bit long but worth the read.
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jws
I think the thing that makes Bush either stupid or arrogant is that he tries to pass off lies and exagerations to the American people. Either he is too stupid to think that people can't discover his lies or is too arrogant and thinks that by saying these things, he makes them true.
As a couple of examples, CIA worker bees have said that his statements about the threat of Iraq to America have been greatly exagerated. These are the people who obtain the info he makes these decisions from.
Despite evidence showing aluminum tubes are for permissible missle systems, he claims they are for the purpose of developing weapons-grade plutonium. Despite the fact that they were declared for missle use, fit the missle specs, and would have to undergo major modifications to be put to nuclear uses.
Evidence of Saddam trying to obtain nuclear weapons seems to be a hoax too. Supposed Iraqi officials didn't even exist or weren't in those posts at that time.
And no link to 9/11 or al Queda has been proven.
So how can we be expected to pre-emptively strike somebody who does not pose a threat to us?
I sometimes think Bush is an idiot, but then I realize that either he or those that surround him are much smarter than that. They had a plan and are executing it perfectly. That requires intelligence. Since taking office, his administration has managed to strip away our constitutional rights, find a way to kick-start blank-check military spending, destroy legislature designed to save our environment, remove funding to pro-choice groups, hold secret energy strategy meetings, submit tax plans which benefit the wealthy, and is now stirring up enough trouble to keep military spending high and govt. contractors nice and rich for years to come.
No. They're not dumb. Clever like a fox.
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What TV station were you watching when the first plane struck?
by Pleasuredome inthis picture was famously portrayed in the media as 'the moment bush knew', as the media around the world told us, from white house statements, that bush heard of the twin tower attacks when his chief of staff, andrew card, spoke in his ear in the classroom as he addressed the children.. on december 4th 2001, cnn were broadcasting live coverage of a "town meeting" at the orange county convention center in orlando, florida, where president bush was answering non-challenging questions from a sycophantic audience.
then bush made a startling statement about september 11th: -.
the president: thank you, jordan.
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jws
I don't remember too many TVs in the Orange County Convention center, except some TVs that showed ads for local tourist attractions. I definately don't remember CNN being broadcast on any of them.
I'm no fan of GW, but to give him the benefit of the doubt, the statement could be essentially true without seeing actual footage. I might say the same thing about seeing the announcement or news coverage of it.
It is interesting to see what goes through this idiot's mind though. His first thought is, well, that's one lousy pilot. Not, what a tragedy, how many lives were lost, or things along those lines.
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Shredded Men
by Francois ini don't know if this is a "legal" post, but here it is:.
see men shredded, then say you don't back war.
by ann clwyd.
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jws
Because China or dozens of other countries are not threatening the world with the release of small pox, anthrax, VX nerve agent, Sarin, and dispersion of dirty radioactive materials - in addition to grinding up people alive, gassing their own people with mustard gas, and other oh so cute activities. And these other countries have not to our knowledge developed special relationships with Osama bin Laden and his worldwide troupe of merry men dedicated to the proposition that the entire earth should be converted to Islam by main force.
Many of these claims have not been proven. The analysts (outside of right-wing American/British ones) say that Iraq is not a big threat outside his region. Iraqi defectors have said the sanctions have had a much more detrimental effect than we know. Reports of Iraq trying to obtain nuclear materials have been shown to be hoaxes. Aluminum tubes were for missles and fit the specs of missles, not for nuclear uses, as claimed. And Reagan/Rumsfield never cared about Saddam killing his own people. No, they tried to get more chummy with him and help him out. And no link between Al Queda and Iraq has been proven either. If there's real proof, I wish they'd lay it out on the table instead of the flimsy stuff they have.
Is Saddam really a threat to us? I don't think so. The idea that he's an out-of-control madman is mostly from the demonising of him as part of a propaganda campaign. How mad can he be to stay in power for so long without a takeover? And if he was so bad, why was Reagan anxious to do business with him? Like Simon says, he's probably not a very nice guy and is certainly guilty of many distasteful acts. But when is it our job to decide we need to go around invading every country to bring about a regime change just because we don't like their leader?
And by the way, exactly what is coming out of China right now? Chinese chemical warfare testing? On civilians? There's about as much proof of that as there is that Iraq has WOMD. Why not go invade China? Because we'd either get our asses kicked or fight to a stalemate. It's a war we can't win and will cost many human lives. We are the bullies here beating up the crippled kid. Iraq is weak and our motivations are political, not heroic.
If you want me to agree with the war, you're going to have to prove Saddam is a threat. You can't manipulate me by waving a flag or by saying I'm unpatriotic to not follow the president or by bringing up 9/11. That's irrelevant. You can't sway me by making Saddam out to be Hitler and demonising him. Stick to the facts relevant to war, not character assassinations. Is there proof of WOMD? If so, then why not tell the weapons inspectors where, so they can go discover them? Why have other nations, despite having access to intellegence information, why have they not jumped on the bandwagon?
Give me facts and proof as to why it is best that we attack before being attacked and why that will help us. Right now, there's too much heresay and hoaxes and exagerations, that no lawyer could win a conviction with.
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Who read the WHOLE bible at least once?
by JH in.
how often did they tell us that we should at least once read the whole bible from cover to cover.. i never did that, why, because i was overloaded with meetings and field service, and my job.. did you??
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jws
I've never read it from cover-to-cover or even the majority of it. But in the past couple of years, I have gone through and read a book here and there. I'm a slow reader, so reading the entire thing would be major.
The amazing thing to me is just reading it and seeing how different it sound from what I was taught as a JW. When I read the New Testament, I see Christian concepts such as Grace and the simple message to believe that Christ was raised from the dead. The fact that people were receiving Holy Spirit and being baptised the same day as hearing the message, with seemingly little knowledge but a belief in Christ. It all comes through clear, even though I don't attend a church and only have knowledge of Grace and other concepts "by contact", not something I was taught.
I have to wonder what I would have thought reading this as a JW. There was supposed to be recommended reading that would have JWs reading it cover-to-cover over a period of time. There's things I run across and go, man, I never heard that before as a JW. Where did that come from, why didn't I see it? And sometimes I'll even look it up in the JW bible and it's not even worded that differently. But in the context of their wording and with JW blinders on, it probably would have come out as exactly what they teach. The JW bible throws in all these phrases that make it awkward and convolute the meaning. Maybe that's why, as a whole, JW readers aren't questioning, even when they do read the Bible.
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Shredded Men
by Francois ini don't know if this is a "legal" post, but here it is:.
see men shredded, then say you don't back war.
by ann clwyd.
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jws
So, we're going to invade Iraq over humanitarian concerns? Why not start with China or dozens of other countries that are way behind on basic human rights? While these things may be true (or maybe not), that's never really been a big concern for right-wingers before. When Amensty International or other liberal groups make these things known, they don't care. Now that these disturbing details can be used as a handy excuse to drum up propaganda for a war, they all come out. And next time you hear these sorts of things about some other country, it'll be dismissed as a bunch of bleeding-heart liberal garbage.
Remember, it was Donald Rumsfield as special envoy from Reagan who went to Iraq to get all chummy with him during the Iran-Iraq war. Back then his chemical warfare against the Kurds was known, but Rumsfield said nothing. The Reagan administration didn't care. So why do we care now?
Because it makes Saddam look like a bad guy. And that's how war propaganda manipulates people. Turn out every bad detail about the enemy, even though nobody cared before. It all makes the public hate them. Maybe after my JW days, I'm more aware of manipulation tactics.
Again, weapons inspectors have not found any WOMD. The administration has blown discoveries out of proportion. Solid evidence does not need exageration. Saddam may or may not have any WOMD. If he doesn't or doesn't have them anymore, then he cannot turn over what he does not have.
I don't know why we're really going to war. I know it isn't over humanitarian concerns and I've seen no convincing arguments that he has WOMD. Since the UN's "search-warrant" was deemed unacceptable, I guess we're going to storm in, where we will find WOMD whether they were there to begin with or not.
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Saddam will be given 48 hours to get out
by freedom96 inpresident bush will appear on tv tonight, and give saddam one last chance.
he can save his country from war, and also save his life, if he leaves iraq.. he will be given 48 hours, or suffer the consequences.
if he really cares for his family, his people, his life, he will leave.
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jws
So, saddam leaving would change nothing,"
Wrong, peacenik breathe! Maybe if Saddam was replace with someone, let's say, that was less of a brutal mass-murderer, these WMD could be dealt with easier.
C'mon. Think about that. Is that going to avert war. It's highly unlikely, but if Saddam does leave, it's not going to be a democratic vote to see who takes over. Saddam himself will hand over the controls to Uday or one of his generals. Which means what? Bush gives the new ruler a chance? Not very likely. He'll consider it the same regime and invade.
There is the possibility that there are no WOMD to be found. If there are none or none left, they cannot be given up no matter who's in power and the invasion will still come because Bush says they're there. If there are WOMD and Saddam is hiding them, no doubt any successor he would appoint would continue to do so. So, either way, we invade. No difference. It changes nothing.
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My Disfellowshipped Window Washer Is Going Back To Meetings Because Of The
by minimus inwar....he said bible prophecies are obviously being fulfilled and since war is imminent, it's time to get back into the "truth".
he went to his first meeting last sunday.
now, all he says he has to do is stop smoking, stop his pornography addiction, stop going out with prostitutes, start reading and researching more, and evidently, he has stopped engaging in homosexuality.
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jws
Why, oh why, oh why do some, that know the WTS to be a fraud, decide to go back to that fraud when they think the sky is about to fall?
Because, not every ex-JW out there is "apostate" and knows that the JWs are a fraud. Some people get disfellowshipped and don't leave by their own choice. And since this guy has a pretty good rap-sheet of DF sins, I'm going to assume that's the case. Many ex-JWs out there do believe that it is "the truth", but they just have a hard time following it. Many condemn themselves and feel unworthy and embarassed to go back and face people again and have to explain where they've been. They sit there knowing they will be destroyed at Armageddon, and maybe someday they will go back, but right now it's too much effort and besides, things don't look that bad - there's still time. Then something like 9/11 or a war happens and it's a wake-up call and back they go.
Although if he has to be reinstated, that may prove difficult. And if the world gets better again in the meantime, I don't give him much of a chance of staying in.
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My Disfellowshipped Window Washer Is Going Back To Meetings Because Of The
by minimus inwar....he said bible prophecies are obviously being fulfilled and since war is imminent, it's time to get back into the "truth".
he went to his first meeting last sunday.
now, all he says he has to do is stop smoking, stop his pornography addiction, stop going out with prostitutes, start reading and researching more, and evidently, he has stopped engaging in homosexuality.
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jws
What's he worrying about war for? I thought it was when people cried "Peace and Security" that death and destruction were immediately upon them!
I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone here, but I've heard it spun both ways:
- The earth seems peaceful and secure and people start to cry out that it is, bringing instant destruction.
- The earth is in conflict and people are crying out asking for peace and security.
Either way, it "fulfills" (gag) prophecy and scares people into staying in or coming back.
These people must think that God is a chump if they think they can fool Him by not living by his rules unless there's threat of death upon them. And when that threat surfaces then they whip themselves into a frenzy trying to make up for lost time, trying to impress God. I don't know of any PERSON that would fall for that, do they really think GOD would fall for it?
Person, no. But, a lot of Christian religions teach that it's never too late. Provided you are sincere and ask for forgiveness, God will forgive.
Guess I'd have to ask myself, if it were my children that turned against me, wouldn't I always take them back? I'd like to think so.
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Your prediction for when the bombs drop
by freedom96 inthe last war with iraq started the night of the last chance to comply.
when do you predict this one will start?
my guess?
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jws
More importantly, when do you think the next terrorist attack will be in retaliation to our imperialistic war?
Sure, maybe this war isn't about oil. Maybe it is about WOMD. That's what we had inspectors over there looking for. And if we invade and don't fnd anything, do we rebuild Iraq and give it back to Saddam since the whole premise of the invasion proven untrue?
Although I have no doubt that once we invade, we will find them. You'll just have a hard time convincing me that they didn't just arrive on US ships.