Thank you guys, I was scared as hell to start posting here. But now there's no turning back :)
You were right to be scared... but now you're in... too late... expect bolts of lightning to strike around you any moment...
Cheers, Max
just wanted to tell everyone how much i love this forum but never had balls to join in.
now that i'm officially dfd i can do whatever i like.
how about that?
Thank you guys, I was scared as hell to start posting here. But now there's no turning back :)
You were right to be scared... but now you're in... too late... expect bolts of lightning to strike around you any moment...
Cheers, Max
it's been a while since we shared our wine tasting notes.
perhaps this weekend is just the right time!
our good navy friends have been keeping in touch from all parts of the globe while i was in hospital, phoning from this or that terminal.
Well, we did the honours over a 1992 Leeuwin Prelude Cab Sav we got about 1995 for $22 - a lot for a wine back then! The storage had been very poor, but the cork had stayed sealed and the wine was in reasonable condition. It was rich with a lot of flavour, but it would have been vinigar soon I think - it wasn't a perfect bottle by any means.
There's an annual concert at the winery in Margaret River that's worth going to - Sting played this year.
my mom isnt a big fan of guns, but after being mugged once, she appreciates the value of a well placed firearm.
she doesn't mind that i hunt and go to the shooting range regularly with my father.
about 6 months ago, i was out in field service with my mother and an elder's 2 daughters.
Gun ownership is sometimes argued on the basis of rights or freedoms... if there's a correlation between general freedom, freedom to own a gun, and the number of people killed by guns... then we should see the most free countries on earth having the highest gun death rates... Let's pick an arbitary 5 deaths per 100,000 as a stick in the mud...
Here are gun-related deaths per 100,000 people in the world's 36 richest countries in 1994:
>5 deaths per 100,000
United States 14.24; Brazil 12.95; Mexico 12.69; Estonia 12.26; Argentina 8.93; Northern Ireland 6.63; Finland 6.46; Switzerland 5.31; France 5.15;
<5 deaths per 100,000
Canada 4.31; Norway 3.82; Austria 3.70; Portugal 3.20; Israel 2.91; Belgium 2.90; Australia 2.65; Slovenia 2.60; Italy 2.44; New Zealand 2.38; Denmark 2.09; Sweden 1.92; Kuwait 1.84; Greece 1.29; Germany 1.24; Hungary 1.11; Republic of Ireland 0.97; Spain 0.78; Netherlands 0.70; Scotland 0.54; England and Wales 0.41; Taiwan 0.37; Singapore 0.21; Mauritius 0.19; Hong Kong 0.14; South Korea 0.12; Japan 0.05.
I suppose each person's milage may vary, but having been to over half the countries on the list I reckon the average level of civil freedom is at least as great or greater in the second group of countries than in the first group.
Personaly, I don't think civil liberty/freedom is a good argument in favor of widespread, loosley controlled gun ownership. In the US it's probably more a historic thing that's hard to change. That's about as far as the argument can go.
Cheers, Max - a gun lover who shoots regularly with a licenced, safely stored target firearm in a country in the second list
my mom isnt a big fan of guns, but after being mugged once, she appreciates the value of a well placed firearm.
she doesn't mind that i hunt and go to the shooting range regularly with my father.
about 6 months ago, i was out in field service with my mother and an elder's 2 daughters.
... the occassional accidental shooting (cleaning a gun, kid finds improperly stored firearm, shoots brother, hunting accident because Bubba Joe is drunk, etc.).
These aren't accidents. These are killings. These are reckless, careless choices people make.
my mom isnt a big fan of guns, but after being mugged once, she appreciates the value of a well placed firearm.
she doesn't mind that i hunt and go to the shooting range regularly with my father.
about 6 months ago, i was out in field service with my mother and an elder's 2 daughters.
Imagine going to a Judicial Committee armed!
How about field service with a 9mm in the book bag?
Could you work an old flintlock rifle in to a student talk as a prop? Maybe compare the firepower to David's ass bone?
A Glock each would add interest to an elder's meeting!!
i watched sunday this morning, then was on my way out 30 minutes later but guess who was at my doorstep?
smooth jw elder and a little boy!
i was very controlled, and had the choice of letting my identity as "an opposed person" or whatever be known, or to retain my cover as an ordinary member of the public!
My word he was.... where was Viv? This John guy was hung out to dry. Their silly letter and refusal to speak spoke volumes...
well, what a week!
health problems have been our overriding concern but, as the song says, "i'm still standing!
how's things been with you?
iThere were just better thinks to be doing... eating, drinkng, sleeping, JWDing, just sitting, watching Sunday, walking the dog, going to Macca's, making mad passionate love, howling at the moon... all sorts of things....
i watched sunday this morning, then was on my way out 30 minutes later but guess who was at my doorstep?
smooth jw elder and a little boy!
i was very controlled, and had the choice of letting my identity as "an opposed person" or whatever be known, or to retain my cover as an ordinary member of the public!
Hi OP!! My word!! They'll be hearing all about it!
Cheers, Max!
i watched sunday this morning, then was on my way out 30 minutes later but guess who was at my doorstep?
smooth jw elder and a little boy!
i was very controlled, and had the choice of letting my identity as "an opposed person" or whatever be known, or to retain my cover as an ordinary member of the public!
I watched Sunday this morning, then was on my way out 30 minutes later but guess who was at my doorstep? Smooth JW elder and a little boy!
I was very controlled, and had the choice of letting my identity as "an opposed person" or whatever be known, or to retain my cover as an ordinary member of the public! J
I decided to retain my anonymity for another day, but I said I'd just watched an interesting show about his organisation on TV, "What was it about" he asked? "Children" was my reply... "Ah..." was his response.
It was a good show: bethal at Ingleburn looked appropriatly sinister, and the conventon crowds decicidly odd-ball.A lot of focus went on one elder who, at face value, was in an invidious postiton, 'meat in the sandwich' in a way. I noticed all but one of the ex-JW men had facial hair that they wouldn't have as JW's. Interesting. (some how half this para was lost in my cut & paste!)
Flindersgirl came up really well! Congrats!
.
it will be repeated at 1:15pm today( about 3 hours from now) on the sky news channel, if you have or can get access to pay tv.. .
great show, btw, makes the 'tower org look like a bunch of evil prats.
Great show. I think the WTS putting that elder out there to dry was poor form (doubtless he's accountable for his actions though). Where was Viv? Gward... hearing that bloody accent of his again was cringe making... and hearing them singing that song... can't remember which one, but we sang it all the time.
But what's happened to dress standards in the JW's? :-) They looked badly turned out...