Reuters gives a good update on the problem:
and also the German DW News:
fulltimestudent
JoinedPosts by fulltimestudent
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28
China About to Screw Your Life Again
by Simon inchina's economy is wobbling as one of its largest companies, evergrande, is teetering on bankruptcy.. there's a good chance it's collapse will have a knock-on effect on other markets.. so more to thank them for than just the covid virus.. no one should have any dealing with china..
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China About to Screw Your Life Again
by Simon inchina's economy is wobbling as one of its largest companies, evergrande, is teetering on bankruptcy.. there's a good chance it's collapse will have a knock-on effect on other markets.. so more to thank them for than just the covid virus.. no one should have any dealing with china..
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fulltimestudent
Yup! its a serious situation.
Some estimates put EverGrande's debts at US$ 300 million, less than half the Lehman Bros debts in the 2008 financial crisis.
And, is this problem (as below) made even more serious by this - Quote:
What are the details?
In a letter to top lawmakers Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen characterized America's financial situation as teetering on the edge of catastrophe, noting that without intervention the U.S. government would run out of cash by next month.
"Based on our best and most recent information, the most likely outcome is that cash and extraordinary measures will be exhausted during the month of October," the secretary said.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/biden-admin-democrats-debt-limit-increase?utm_source=theblaze-dailyPM
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Anyone have an obvious gay or lesbian in the congregation?
by mickbobcat inwhen i was a kid we had a kh with a basement and this guy joe winestien lived in it.
he has passed away i believe.
he was about 24 and used to hang around the young boys.
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fulltimestudent
As I get older, I'm starting to forget as memories fade. But here's a few.
1. I was an inexperienced young guy when I got mixed up with yhwh's mob, But, being in a congregation that was very near to the then location of the Aussie bethel, I also got mixed up with the bethel mob. And, I once volunteered to help an older bethel bro. pick up a shipment of books from the docks. As we waited for our turn at the docks this older man turned the conversation to more personal aspects of life. It made me feel uneasy! The unease grew as he started to rub my leg. I don't know how I would've coped if his hand had got higher - but our turn came and the conversation and the leg feel-up passed.
2. Of course, some brothers may have been (or had) SSA (same sex attraction) before they became witnesses, and not necessarily be effeminate (as some of the above observations noted). I'm thinking of a guy who had been a missionary and a C/O in OZ. (He was quite manly - had fought in WW2, been captured by the Germans, escaped an survived in the hills for a long time, until taken off that island by a British submarine). His wife was in a gossip session in field service one day with several sisters, and she let slip a bit of gossip about her husband. Before they got converted she recalled, they were at a party with some of her husband's former friends, and she saw him involved in a long, deep kiss with another young man. So, was he SSA, or what we describe as 'bi' or what? I do know (he told me so himself) that he'd been involved in the Sydney arts scene, before he became a witness, as he'd been trained as an Opera singer by a leading member of that Arts scene. so maybe he was SSA, or just sharing in a common practise among guys in that scene.
3. And, that guy was involved in another interesting experience. A certain Gerald G, was a young circuit servant (as they were called then) who left the truth in non-discussable circumstances. But the bro, (in 2. above) told a group of us one day, that he'd been able to help the young ex-c/s to come back to the 'truth.' He'd heard somehow that bro G.G was working as a barman in a gay bar in inner Sydney, so he went into the bar, talked to GG and persuaded him to come back to the truth. Bro. GG did become a C/O again but the last time I heard of him, was that he'd died. Of what, I never heard.
4. In one congregation I was in a couple of women, one older, one young moved into our territory. Their circumstances caused gossip, so the Cong. Servant (still the old arrangement, at that time) spoke to them suggesting one should move out (He saw only one double bed in their small flat). That caused an almighty row with the older woman, but the younger woman did move out and later married a friend of mine. I never heard anything to say they had engaged in any sort of sexual misconduct, so maybe the older woman was in the right when she blew up and told the 'conservant off.
It's all intriguing, especially when we consider that Palestine in Jesus time was thoroughly Hellenised, and that in Hellenic culture, SSA was acceptable. Even their gods engaged in sex with other men. Zeus, Apollo and Dionysus spring to mind.
Human sexual attraction, (Aristophanes declared) was/is inspired by our attempts to recapture the personality wholeness humans had before Zeus bifurcated primal humanity. Or stated another way, Eros enables lovers to regain the 'lost paradise' of spiritual and physical completeness. So any person's decision to 'join' themselves to another human - is a decision based on their own (likely innate) need for completeness.
Living in a Hellenised Palestine would mean that most Jews likely knew the Greek stories and myths. Note that when (In Matt 8 and Luke 7) Jesus healed the 'Pais' of the Roman Centurion, it is entirely possible that he was healing the Centurion's young lover. So why, does Xtianity make such a bloody fuss about 2 people of the same sex loving each other and never give a shit when people learn to hate other people and when their nations go to war, despartely want to kill the others?
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The Jws have competition-the South Korean Shincheonji Church,
by fulltimestudent inthey are active, well organised and patient.. australia's national media group, the abc carries this story today:.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-08/accidentally-joining-south-korean-cult/100298774.
at first, as i read the article i thought it was my ex-brothers and sisters with a cunning new way to win converts, but no!
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fulltimestudent
More about the Shinjeonji church:
Also from the ABC - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-02/south-koreas-secretive-religious-sect/100101810
From the South Korean English language media group, Hankyoreh:
https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/929755.html
If you wanted a more serious discussion:
What are their slogans, etc:
Shincheonji USA - Healing All Nations - One Heart at a Time.
What kind of place is Shincheonji?
Shincheonji is the kingdom of God that God has created in order to fulfill today on earth as it is in heaven. It has been created as the result of God’s 6,000 years of work, and it is the holy temple where the priests and people who will receive salvation within the Lord belong to.
A basically, anti-Shinj(ch)eonji video from a group describing their site as 'community news' :
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The Jws have competition-the South Korean Shincheonji Church,
by fulltimestudent inthey are active, well organised and patient.. australia's national media group, the abc carries this story today:.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-08/accidentally-joining-south-korean-cult/100298774.
at first, as i read the article i thought it was my ex-brothers and sisters with a cunning new way to win converts, but no!
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fulltimestudent
They are active, well organised and patient.
Australia's National media group, the ABC carries this story today:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-08/accidentally-joining-south-korean-cult/100298774
At first, as I read the article I thought it was my ex-brothers and sisters with a cunning new way to win converts, but NO! - it was the Shinjeonji church showing the witnesses how to really make converts.
I've posted about this church before, likely at the start of the current pandemic.
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Does christianity induce insanity?
by fulltimestudent inthis is happening in western australian indigenous communities .... quote: "some american-based preachers are distributing emails and videos warning that covid-19 vaccines are evil and the work of satan, and the notion has infected some christian communities in the west australian outback.. veteran aboriginal health worker kathy watson said people spreading false information about the covid-19 vaccination and its links to the devil were "mad".".
see more at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-06/anti-vacc-church-speaks-out-against-misinformation/100430208.
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fulltimestudent
This is happening in Western Australian indigenous communities ...
Quote: "Some American-based preachers are distributing emails and videos warning that COVID-19 vaccines are evil and the work of Satan, and the notion has infected some Christian communities in the West Australian outback.
Veteran Aboriginal health worker Kathy Watson said people spreading false information about the COVID-19 vaccination and its links to the devil were "mad"."
See more at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-06/anti-vacc-church-speaks-out-against-misinformation/100430208
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Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter
by fulltimestudent inin a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.
more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.
will the taliban behave differently this time ?
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fulltimestudent
Diogenesister asked: "Hi Fulltimestudent I just wondered how do you this? Is it an App that you get a subscription to all the major papers? I've been looking for something like that."
Grin! The short answer is - It's difficult!
!. As the world moves from printed paper to digital, most newspapers have erected 'pay walls' to maintain a paywall. Though some allow a quota of a few 'reads' a month for free
2. We tend to think that English is the only language (that matters- haha). So a lot of news/opinions is also behind a 'language wall.'
So what to do:
1. Can't do much about the 2nd problem. But if the main road has a toll to pay, you may find a backstreet, that get's you around the problem.
2. Newspapers are not the only 'media.' There are also magazines, and increasingly video news - that's harder to quote, but useful in building an understanding of something.
3. A good library (State or University) may provide access to web based archives. Some (Uni of Sydney) are suspended right now, but they'll likely come back. The difficulty, of course, is always to arrive at an unbiased understanding of what's happening. Appreciating that National media, are most likely present a biased account is OK, but then forces a search for alternative viewpoints (so then, we have to be careful of our own tendency to be biased).
4. Google scholar, ( https://scholar.google.com/ ) allows you access to good high standard academic standard articles and research. And collections like the USA based History News Network are worth accessing as they may provide information on various topics.
5. Journals and magazines - Some are still offering free digital copies of articles, often they are better than newspapers because the authors have collected material from many sources, Again beware of the big B (bias).
Sometimes, its just a snippet of information that helps you see an avenue that you may not have explored,
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Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter
by fulltimestudent inin a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.
more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.
will the taliban behave differently this time ?
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fulltimestudent
Escape by flight from Afghanistan in 1928-9. Saved this image from a FB page called 'History Collection.'
The caption read. "British nationals prepare to board an aircraft at Sherpur aerodrome during the Kabul Airlift, amid the Afghan Civil War (winter of 1928-1929)."
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Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter
by fulltimestudent inin a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.
more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.
will the taliban behave differently this time ?
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fulltimestudent
Isis K may not be the only opposition group that the new Taliban dominated government may have to face.
The Vice-President of the just deposed government has declared himself President of Afghanistan and fled to the Panjshir Valley, his birthplace and a legendary source of resistance to invasion, and which seems to be developing into a refuge for those who want to continue resistance to the Taliban.
Australia's ABC discusses tis situation
Afghanistan's former vice-president Amrullah Saleh accuses US of blackmail over talks with Taliban.
Link to the article: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-26/amrullah-saleh-afghanistan-vice-president-accuses-us-of-blackmai/100405820?utm_campaign=news-article-share-2-control&utm_content=facebook&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web&fbclid=IwAR3vK5OmPZeL8IrH0_yf3vwFhVoP9iCZUb7T0NkHAYJGOvWAqJU0tfY1VQY
This alternative "President" also claims that the February 2020 agreement that the 'deal' the USA signed with the Taliban (setting a timetable for US withdrawal based on the Taliban meeting peace commitments, which included not harbouring Al Qaeda terrorists) was reached by the USA black mailing the then existing Afghani government.
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Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter
by fulltimestudent inin a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.
more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.
will the taliban behave differently this time ?
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fulltimestudent
Life may not be easy for any future new government in Afghanistan - as the two bomb attacks in Kabul demonstrate.
No doubt, the existence of IsisK has been known to western intelligence groups, but who are they and what relationship do the have with the the contemporary Taliban, which itself may be different to the Taliban of 20 years ago.
This Australian ABC report tries to describe Isis K:
Who is ISIS-K? Here's what we know about the Islamic State offshoot in Afghanistan accused of planning the Kabul airport bombing.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-27/islamic-state-isis-k-bombings-afghanistan-airport/100411756