Posts by fulltimestudent

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Encounter with JWs on Literature Cart , strange happening -maybe ?

by jhine in

yesterday i had a conversation with a man and lady who were with a literature cart in our local town centre .

among other things discussed was the accuracy of the nwt , which i said wasn't very accurate.. the man , of course , led the discussion from the jw perspective and looked up on his phone some quotes from "experts " endorsing the translation .

he asked the lady to make note of the names , at my request, so that i could check these quotes later .

fulltimestudent

Spirit guided doodling - smile!

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DC Drama stirs up drama of it's own!!!

by DATA-DOG in

remember the drama about persecution,suffering, that a modern-day job experiences?

the jw's under ban in a " landmark ruling", our faithful brother conversing with job in the new world, it' all too wonderful!

especially job wearing pants and a tunic style shirt!

fulltimestudent

DATA-DOG: So a letter was sent ( e-mail I guess ) to all Brothers in charge of dramas. ABSOLUTELY, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, ARE JOB AND HIS WIFE TO EXPRESS AFFECTION FOR EACHOTHER IN THE DRAMA!! NO HOLDING OF HANDS!!

hehe-hoho!!!! The drama within a drama, eh? A friend got into the same problematical area in one drama. Forget who the Bible characters were... But it involved fathers helping their sons grow to Christian maturity, with an ancient example and then the same characters playing contemporary JWs.

All cool and wonderful, as scripted.

But what happens when the script calls for a 5 y.o., boy who in two scenes (ancient and modern) is supposed to sit on his father's knee and have a hug, and there is no suitable 5 y.o. boy available and some brainy guy substitutes a 13 y.o. boy. Worse, the 13. y.o, in addition to the frowns when an adult male hugs a 13 y.o boy sitting on his knee, it descended further into farce, when, I suppose in a bout of over-acting, at the Assembly, the 'son' literally took a running jump to leap into the arms of his supposed father.

Less ideologically driven writers may have foreseen the problem, but not the Yahweh inspired bunch.

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The Russian Spy set Free by the USA - just look at her now!

by fulltimestudent in

anna chapman was a russian spy in the usa.

she was 'caught' by the fbi in 2010, and soon afterward returned to russia in a 'spyswap.'.

tank girl!

fulltimestudent

Anna Chapman was a Russian Spy in the USA. She was 'caught' by the FBI in 2010, and soon afterward returned to Russia in a 'spyswap.'

Look at her now:

Tank girl! Chapman atop a T80 of the Kantemirovskaya division - which Ukraine said was recently spotted entering the disputed territories in support of rebels

Tank girl! Chapman atop a T80 of the Kantemirovskaya division - which Ukraine said was recently spotted entering the disputed territories in support of rebels.

Special: 'I am very lucky to be at the heart of my motherland's army. It's a very special day for me,' she said

Special: 'I am very lucky to be at the heart of my motherland's army. It's a very special day for me,' she said Dear Leader: The programme pointed out the huge boost in funding Putin had given to Russia's armed forces

Knife through the heart: Chapman showed off the techniques she had been taught at the base

Knife through the heart: Chapman showed off the techniques she had been taught at the base.

Proud: Chapman brandished a Kalashnikov, pointing out how it was the most reliable rifle ever made

Well fed: The former spy boasted of the food choices the Russian soldiers had - and sniped at how the US army is having to fight obesity among its servicemen

Flame-haired Chapman has made a fortune in Moscow since being unmasked by the FBI in 2010 as part of an undercover espionage network inside America. She and other 'illegal spies' were sent back home in a Cold War-style spy swap.

After her exposure as a Russian agent she was also stripped of her British passport, but since returning to Moscow she has carved out a lucrative new career as a TV presenter and owner of a fashion brand soon to open its second outlet in Moscow.

During the broadcast - first aired in March at the height of the tensions with Ukraine but only unearthed today - she also told viewers she was surprised to learn that 'a Russian private gets almost 4,500 calories a day. This is twice more than a woman should eat to keep fit.
It's almost 6 am and 3,000 handsome men are still sleeping. I am very lucky to be at the heart of my motherland's army. It's a very special day for me
'By the way, it is more than in German, French or American army, where the daily intake shouldn't exceed 3,600 calories. Our soldiers are better fed.

'I'm starving. However, in the American army they fight obesity. The Kantemirovskaya division fighters don't have this problem. Everyone here looks as is they were hand-picked.'

She trumpets the high quality food available to soldiers after the budget for the army was significantly boosted by Putin.

'As the saying goes, you can postpone a war but never a lunch,' she said. 'To be honest, after everything I heard about the army, I was expecting to see barley porridge and not so much choice: two different sorts of soup, cutlets or goulash.'

She was 'all but dizzy from the multitude of salads. They even have olives.'

Approvingly, she added: 'Hold on - a choice between three courses, a salad bar, it's not a canteen, it's a restaurant. I have forgotten I'm in the army.'

Chapman - who had been deployed by Russian foreign intelligence in the US - was sent on 'tactical training' with the tank division, part of the former Red Army, she revealed

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North Korea - Is 'Reform' on the Agenda Again.

by fulltimestudent in

andrei lankov and leonid petrov are both considered to be knowledgeable on the subject of north korea.

and they are disagreeing as to what is happening in nk.

both are likely to be in a better position to understand what's going on in nk, than most so-called western 'experts,' who these days are more likely to distort their judgement with ideology, than are asian commentators.. llankov claims that nk is at last starting to institute chinese style reforms.

fulltimestudent

If no one else is interested, the Russians are. South Korea has commenced buying coal from a Russian owned, Siberian mine, and is using a North Korean Port is said to be cutting the cost by 10%.

Link: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2014/12/116_169046.html

Russia matters to make new trade route viable

Siberian bituminous coal is loaded onto a Chinese cargo ship in the North Korean port of Rajin, in this photo taken Thursday. The ship carrying 40,500 tons of coal arrived in South Korea's port city of Pohang Saturday.
/ Yonhap
Unloading of Siberian coal to begin todayBy Kang Hyun-kyung How do we know that a new trade route established to aid the export of Russia's natural resources to South Korea and China via a North Korean port won't undergo the same fate of the Gaesong Industrial Park? Since it was established in 2004, the industrial complex intended to create economic synergy by teaming up South Korean capital with cheap North Korean labor has been under constant threat of closure whenever things have gone badly because of the standoff over North Korea's nuclear program.
In South Korea, there is optimism regarding the cost-effective trade route which completed a test run last week by successfully shipping 40,500 tons of Siberian bituminous coal to the South via North Korea's Rajin Port.

Due to North Korea, analysts warn, risks lurk on the new trade route which consists of a 54-kilometer land route between Russia's Khasan and North Korea's Rajin and a sea route between the North Korean port to South Korea's coastal cities.

But they say there is a role that Russia can play to reduce such risks because the country is serious about exporting its resources overseas and using the trilateral partnership to revitalize the poverty-stricken Russian Far East.

Choi Kyung-soo, a director at the North Korean Resources Institute in Seoul, says that a trilateral partnership tends to be less risky than a bilateral project such as the Gaesong Industrial Complex.

"There is a possibility that the North may try to use the trade route as a means to put pressure on the South when things go badly for them. But I think Russia won't sit idle if its economic interests are affected," he said.

Because there is a role that a third party can play, Choi says, the shipment of Siberian coal to South Korea via the North Korean port will be less risky than the Gaesong Project.

Choi said that North Korea will benefit a lot if the new trade route involving the three countries is widely used because the cash-strapped country will be able to earn money from those who use the port or its facilities.

"Plus, jobs will be created as the loading of coal and other resources would require workers."

On Thursday night, a Chinese cargo ship carrying the Siberian coal departed Rajin and arrived in waters off the South Korean coastal city of Pohang early Saturday morning.

Optimism

It was the first shipment of Siberian coal to South Korea via North Korea, signaling the beginning of tripartite trade.

Optimism is running high in the South.

A South Korean consortium of POSCO, Hyundai Merchant Marine and KORAIL, which are involved in the import of the Russian coal, expects nearly a 10 to 15 percent logistics costs cut through the new trade route, compared with the traditional ones.

On Saturday, KORAIL official Ji Yong-tae said that North Korean officials were very cooperative and that port infrastructure was much better than it was previously thought to be.

Ji, along with several other officials from the South Korean consortium, returned to Seoul Saturday after wrapping up their field trip to Rajin to take a first-hand look at the port facilities.

It remains to be seen whether the first successful test run will lead to an official contract with Russia and North Korea.

Some experts raised the possibility that the North may use trilateral trade as a bargaining chip in the event of a political standoff, as it has previously done so.

Last year, the reclusive state banned cross-border trips of South Korean workers to the Gaesong Industrial Complex for weeks, following its third nuclear test despite international protests.

South Korean investors, mostly small-and medium-sized companies, suffered from business losses as a result of the suspension of business operations in the North.

In a conversation with a South Korean journalist weeks ago, a country manger of a multinational company based in Seoul said that he would never consider doing business with North Korea under any circumstances.

Operating a business in a country like North Korea is simply too risky for any businesses because the regime is unpredictable and no one can rule out the possibility of business closure or production suspension against the investors' wishes, he said, asking for anonymity.

"Why would I invest in a country like North Korea?" he asked.

1

North Korea - Is 'Reform' on the Agenda Again.

by fulltimestudent in

andrei lankov and leonid petrov are both considered to be knowledgeable on the subject of north korea.

and they are disagreeing as to what is happening in nk.

both are likely to be in a better position to understand what's going on in nk, than most so-called western 'experts,' who these days are more likely to distort their judgement with ideology, than are asian commentators.. llankov claims that nk is at last starting to institute chinese style reforms.

fulltimestudent

Andrei Lankov and Leonid Petrov are both considered to be knowledgeable on the subject of North Korea. And they are disagreeing as to what is happening in NK. Both are likely to be in a better position to understand what's going on in NK, than most so-called western 'experts,' who these days are more likely to distort their judgement with ideology, than are Asian commentators.

Llankov claims that NK is at last starting to institute Chinese style reforms. Petrov believes Lankov's claim is unsubstantiated, and that in any case, North Korea will continue to spend large sums on defence, until a long delayed peace treaty (to the Korean war) is concluded. I think Petrov has a point there. The USA is culpable in refusing to negotiate an official end to the Korean war. Petrov also feels that a key aspect of any reform has to be FDI, but cannot see that happening until there is an official end to that war.

I will also suggest that in comparison to China, one key aspect IS missing. China approached chaos in the Cultural Revolution, even Mao who started the CR saw that and attempted to get the Red Guards (aka, Occupy China) to disband. However, even though Mao could hang onto power, in his last years, he had apparently lost the support of the majority within the CPC. As soon as Mao died the majority acted - Deng was installed and the process of genuine modernisation commenced and continued until today.

I do not think that we cannot see anything like that happening in North Korea at the moment. But still, it is doubtfull that anyone in the west knows the detailed story of all the factions in the CPC in China, so maybe, just maybe, KJU has been slowly re-organising the Korean Worker's party and now has complete control and will spring another 'opening up' surprise.

We can only hope so ...

Anyway, here's Lankov's article for Aljazeera:

Link: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/11/reforming-north-korea-20141117121917871925.html

Reforming North Korea

It seems that, at long last, North Korea has decided to begin Chinese-style reforms.

Andrei Lankov: Last updated: 30 Nov 2014 12:16

There are good reasons to believe that the new system will deliver impressive results, writes Lankov [Reuters]

There is big news coming from North Korea recently, though it has gone largely unnoticed. Indeed, when North Korea is mentioned in the international media, it is usually because of the unending saga of the nuclear crisis or because of some (unsubstantiated) rumours pertaining to the apex of power in Pyongyang. Such news may sell papers and/or increase page views, but it is usually forgotten quickly with little - if any - consequences.

At the same time, news about North Korean society and its economy seldom make headlines. It is simply not sexy enough to talk about some new decision by the cabinet of ministers. However, such decisions are likely to have more impact on the future of the country than all the bellicose remarks that are North Korean diplomats' stock and trade.

This time, the big news is indeed a decision, the so-called "May 30th Measures", jointly issued early this year by the North Korean cabinet of ministers and the Central Committee of the Korean Worker's Party. This decision was initially classified, but because it was supposed to be read by so many people, its contents have become public knowledge.

Chinese-style reforms

The contents are revolutionary. It seems that, at long last, North Korea has decided to begin Chinese-style reforms. Marshal Kim Jong-un is obviously inclined to do what his late father, Generalissimo Kim Jong Il, was too afraid to, that is, to attempt to transform his country into a developmental dictatorship, largely similar to present-day Vietnam or China.

North Korea's 'successful face' of agriculture
This decision did not come out of the blue. Indeed, it agrees very well with what Kim Jong Un and his advisers have quietly been doing over the last three years - albeit the slow-motion transformation of the country has attracted little attention from outside world.

The first significant step was the introduction of the so-called "June 28th Measures". These measures were introduced in 2012, but only became fully into force in 2013. While on paper, they did not look that ground-breaking, they represent a sweeping reform of agricultural management in the North.

The "June 28th Measures" allowed North Korean farmers to create their own production teams of five or six people. It was not explicitly stated, but it was a signal that individual households should register as "production teams". Such teams were given a plot of land, the assumption being that they would toil the same area for several consecutive years. The land technically remained under the jurisdiction of the state-owned and state-managed "collective farm", but the produce would henceforth be split 70:30 between the state and the production team (ie the family). Up until then, North Korean production teams had been much larger, and all produce had to be submitted to the state in exchange for a fixed daily grain ration that was allocated to every farmer.

In essence, this reform marked a seismic shift: It marked the first step towards the reprivatisation of agriculture.

Best harvest

The "June 28th Measures" have worked out even better than North Korea's leaders might have expected. The year 2013 (the first year that the reforms were fully in force) brought the best harvest that North Korea has seen in decades. The world media, predictably enough, missed the entire story, but in 2013, North Korea, for the first time since the late 1980s, produced almost enough food to feed itself. Even though there was a severe drought this year, the new system has seemingly proved its resilience, and initial reports about the harvest are also quite positive.

Recent changes in agriculture seemingly demonstrate that Kim Jong Un means business.
Given the precedent in agriculture, the "May 30th Measures" are not quite as surprising as they may first appear, though they are indeed truly radical by the standards of North Korea before 2013.

According to these measures, from 2015, North Korean farming households (for ideological purposes still branded "production teams") will be allocated not 30 percent but 60 percent of the total harvest.

Additionally, farming households will be given large plots of land - some 3,300sq m - to act as their kitchen gardens. Until now, North Korea, unlike nearly all other communist states, never tolerated private agriculture to any significant degree, and thus, for decades, kitchen gardens were limited to a meagre 100sq m.

The measures did not stop there, though. This time the North Korean leadership has set its sights on reforming the moribund and hollowed out state industrial sector. According to the reforms, directors of state factories will find themselves covered by a new "director responsibility system". This system makes a director, hitherto state-appointed and carefully supervised representative of the party and state, into the approximate equivalent of a private businessman (factory managers in North Korea are almost always men). Under the new system, factory directors will have the freedom to decide how, when and where they purchase technologies, raw materials and spare parts necessary for their enterprises. They will also be allowed to decide who to sell to. They are also given the right to hire and fire workers, as well as to decide how much to pay for a particular job.

Under the new system, there is a tacit assumption that directors will be able to reward themselves generously for their own work - a feature that makes them virtually indistinguishable from private entrepreneurs in market economies. As a matter of fact, a few foreign delegations that recently visited North Korea were privately briefed about coming changes.

Bad track record

Of course, these are just plans and they have not yet been implemented. Nevertheless, recent changes in agriculture seemingly demonstrate that Kim Jong Un means business. There are serious problems that the North Korean economy will have to overcome in the future, above all, the severe shortage of foreign investment. Due to the remarkably bad track record of North Korean companies in dealing with foreign investors, international sanctions, and the country's dubious reputation, foreign investors will be wary. Without foreign investment, we should not expect a dramatic take-off. Let us not forget that the North Korean economy has many bottlenecks, some of which can be fixed only with large investments from outside - the sorry state of North Korea's electricity network, railways and roads are just a few examples.

It would also be naive to expect a reforming North Korea to become either significantly more liberal or to jettison its nuclear programme. The North Korean government is only too aware that their people face a highly attractive alternative that is South Korea, right next door. The government is not enthusiastic about an East German-style revolution. Hence, they are likely to remain highly repressive in their domestic policy, and they are also likely to maintain their nuclear potential in order to ward off possibility of humanitarian intervention.

Nonetheless, there are good reasons to believe that the new system will deliver impressive results. North Korean agriculture, partially freed of statist irrationality, is already doing better than ever. One should expect that industry will start to catch up once capitalist (or if you prefer, "market") system is introduced formally into the state sector. At the end of the day, this is good news for everybody in and outside North Korea, though one should not expect an overnight transformation.

Andrei Lankov is professor of Korean Studies at Kookmin University, Seoul. He is the author of "The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia".

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

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WT application of James 1:27 - looking after widows and orphans

by EndofMysteries in

since the bible is clear on helping widows and orphans, needy, poor, etc, it's interesting to see how the wt twists these scriptures to make their followers feel they are following it when they really aren't.

because it costs money to really help those and the wt wants the money themselves.. here are some wt quotes directly on fulfilling this obligation of james 1:27 -.

help elderly get to the meetings -.

fulltimestudent

Question: How did James, as the leader of the Jerusalem Christian community, support himself?

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Schooling The World, Documentary Film

by designs in

schooling the world.

the film looks at colonialism and its effects on indigenous peoples and also looks at the colonizers and their progeny.. http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/schooling_the_world_2010/.

do you know the people whose land you live on.. the payomkawichun people lived in the valleys i call home.

fulltimestudent

By chance, I spent some time this past semester, looking at 19th century Ladakh a border region of Tibet under British control, as a contrast to the eastern border regions which had been incorporated into the Chinese province of Sichuan for a considerable time.

I find the presentation (in the film) of Tibetan people in Ladakh interesting (starts about 4:50). We are not told (or, at least, I did not 'see' it) who the group of women discussing modern education are. They are however, well-dressed, so I can imagine them as members of an elite group, which could be an older aristocracy. We can be reasonably sure that most people in ethnic Tibetan lands did not dress well, likely only having the clothes they wore. And they may well talk of how good it was when everyone lived by Buddhist principles. But investigation does not show that such a state ever existed.

I believe that there is a lot wrong with the concept of modernity, but I do not have an answer as to how whatever is wrong can be fixed (a rightly vague comment) simply because I cannot describe perfection. (been there, attempted that).

So yeah! I finish up in the same place as Love Uni Hate Exams.

The only issue I would take is the view promoted by the sandal-wearing, fairtrade coffee-sipping Western professors in the video that other forms of education are equal to Western higher education.

Western Higher education has things wrong also, but there is no consensus as to what is wrong, or how to fix it.

7

Schooling The World, Documentary Film

by designs in

schooling the world.

the film looks at colonialism and its effects on indigenous peoples and also looks at the colonizers and their progeny.. http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/schooling_the_world_2010/.

do you know the people whose land you live on.. the payomkawichun people lived in the valleys i call home.

fulltimestudent

Is it ever different with the west?

This cartoon is from the Detroit Free Press circa 1900, is an ironic comment on Rudyard Kipling's White Supremacist poem, The White Man's Burden. The cartoonist had a problem though, he had (apparently) never seen a Filipino, so portrayed one as a sort of African. Roosevelt's excuse for the invasion, and the nasty war that followed, was that the Filipinos needed to be taught how to live like white men. In the verse Kipling licks Roosevelt's rear parts:

Take up the White Man's burden--
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.

The poem was written to support Theodore Roosevelt's attempts (which have succeeded) to build an American Empire, which these cartoonistssaw clearly.

In the Philippines war, the American army used the same tactics that they had used in their Indian wars - Exterminate, Exterminate.

The result was however, quite different to what Roosevelt thought he would get, as the USA's attempt to control Asia led eventually to the Communist victory in China in 1949, despite the USA's support for Jiang Jiesi (Chiang Kaishek), in fact the USA has not won a war in Asia since the WW2 victory in 1945.

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