Posts by Oroborus21

From what I gather from the statement, all he is really saying is that he is going to be attending meetings ("limited basis" = infrequently or perhaps Sundays only) again. Big whoop!

Please note that nothing is said about him being "welcomed" by the WT; or if he is DF'd or DA'd (I don't know his status) that he is actually seeking reinstatement. In fact, if he is DF'd or DA'd, he doesn't say explicitly that he will be seeking reinstatement but is deliberately ambiguous about both his intentions and his stance regarding the WTBTS/JWs.

So it isn't quite like he is actually "returning" to the WTBTS (and besides, frankly I am not sure that they would have him back. :-)

To Greg I would say....

Ok, Good for you Greg. Enjoy your occassional meeting. Keep doing whatever you are doing and let the negativity slide off your back. Whatever ulterior motives you may or may not have, I give you kudos for doing SOMETHING whether with your writing, your books, your website or whatever you do. I have the feeling you are going to "revisit" some of that anti-JW material and issues again someday -- and that's alright.

-Eduardo

28

BANNED FROM COLD CALLING in SCOTLAND

by DannyHaszard in

knock, knock, who's there?

no jehovah's witnesses or double ...

comment box.

Oroborus21

It will be interesting to see what the Witness response will be.

In the 30s and 40s in the US and elsewhere, the friends suffered beatings and imprisonment and tested their rights in the court system for the sake of the Good News.

Today's Witnesses or rather the Society doesn't seem to have the same resolve. They will probably engage in telephone or letter writing instead and simply try to press the matter in the court system.

Having said that, such a law would be likely unconstitutional in the U.S. and is, in any case, a travesty against the notion of freedom of speech because it allows the government to prefer one form of speech (political speech) over others.

Very undemocratic of Scotland and something more like the Taliban and a host of other lands where freedom is lacking.

-Eduardo

4

ATTENTION SIMON and other webmasters similarly situated

by Oroborus21 in

jw
friends

howdy guys: .

this post should be of special interest to webmasters and website owners that use "jehovah's witnesses" or any similar term as part of their identity.

background: .

Oroborus21

Howdy guys:

This post should be of special interest to webmasters and website owners that use "Jehovah's Witnesses" or any similar term as part of their identity.
Background:

Late last year when the WTS was successful in coercing Peter Mosier (Quotes website) into entering into a settlement agreement in lieu of costly litigation, I became concerned about the following clause contained in that agreement:
5. Mosier agrees and undertakes that as of the Effective Date he shall not, directly or indirectly, use, register or control any other domain name that includes or comprises, or that is a variant of, or is confusingly similar to, the WATCH TOWER, WATCHTOWER, AWAKE, and JEHOVAH'S WlTNESSES trade marks, or any othertrade mark, trade name or domain name owned by Watch Tower from time to time.

As an owner of at least one website that uses the term "Jehovah's Witnesses" as part of the main URL/Domain name, I was especially concerned about the WTS's claim to trademark "Jehovah's Witnesses" which I believed to be a generic and purely descriptive term. My major concern was that having recognized some success in this tactic against Peter in Canada, that the WTS might turn its attention to other websites that contain the term Jehovah's Witnesses or any near variation and assert a trademark claim in other jurisdictions.
My experiment:

After verifying that no such trademark was held here in the U.S. for "Jehovah's Witnesses," I opened up a claim of my own. You can find it here: www.uspto.gov (go to Trademark search and do a search for "Jehovah's Witnesses" and it will pull up my filing.) (PS: You can ignore that it says I own it :-)

Today, as I expected I would, I received a (preliminary) denial of the application, with the examiner giving among the reasons the fact that the term is considered under U.S. law as merely descriptive. (Technically, I can appeal the determination but my point is proven so I don't intend to press the claim.)

Result/Upshot:

The bottom line of my experiment is that it is my opinion and apparently the case that all websites which are using the term "Jehovah's Witnesses" as a domain name or within their sites have nothing to fear regarding a trademark infringement claim by the WTS despite what is stated in the Mosier Settlement.

It is now a certainty, to me and apparently the USPTO by virtue of what is stated to me in the preliminary denial, that the term "Jehovah's Witnesses" is not a valid mark and is a purely descriptive term.

Of course, PLEASE NOTE, the Quotes website did have significant copyright infringement (including commercial exploitation of copyrighted materials) and any websites (owners) that are not acting within the doctrines of fair use or fair comment or whatever similar exceptions apply in their land may be subject to valid copyright and trademark infringement claims. (So play within the rules guys and you should be fine.)

Also note that it is of course possible that the WTS could make (likely invalid) claims with ICANN or whatever other bodies as far as a basic domain name dispute goes.

If you have any questions please feel free to pm me.

-Eduardo

24

Sgt. Peter Damon sues Michael Moore for $85 Million

by coffee_black in

jw
friends

seems michael moore was using some of the same tricks the watchtower uses (taking quotes entirely out of context).

interesting...makes you wonder what else was misrepresented in the film.. coffee injured vet sues michael moore for $85 million.

jon keller.

Oroborus21

the guy could win his suit but the amount sought seems very excessive for a false light claim. (for one thing only persons that actually know the guy would possibly change their opinion of his reputation and character and most of the "damage" is minimized just by his public explanation of the facts and circumstance of his comments. I see this one settling out of court for far less than what he is seeking.

As for the misuse, it doesn't seem to be extremely eggregious and not on par with some of the deliberate misleading engaged in my the WT so I would hardly compare the two.

Michael Moore is a patriot. We need dissenting voices in order to have a transparent society.

-Eduardo

23

Taylor Hicks Wins American Idol

by lovelylil in

jw
friends

i am glad!

i did not like kate.

Oroborus21

I liked taylor too but you got admit, it is kind of weird to have an American (Pop) Idol that is a dead-ringer for Sam the Eagle

-Eduardo

7

Da Vinci Disappointment?

by Oroborus21 in

jw
friends

so the news today is that the "critics" are panning the code.. screw em.

sometimes they are right, but a lot of time they are wrong too.

i am still planning on seeing it early friday.. the book was good (not great) but entertaining (frankly i liked angels & demons better) and it will be a shame if the movie doesn't turn out well.

Oroborus21

So the news today is that the "critics" are panning the Code.

Screw Em.

sometimes they are right, but a lot of time they are wrong too. we'll see how it goes. I am still planning on seeing it early Friday.

The book was good (not great) but entertaining (frankly I liked Angels & Demons better) and it will be a shame if the movie doesn't turn out well. Some of the comments are that it isn't as action-packed as the novel seems to be and is too talky - but I like talky movies to an extent.

I just wish all these Catholics and others could get over it - so tired of their nonsense - it's FICTION people!

Anyway, the only thing I found really disappointing about the book is that being a fan of Leonardo (not dicapprio) I thought that the title was terribly misleading after reading the book. I really wanted it to be about Leonardo DaVinci and involve all these points about him, but in actuality he doesn't really play any major part, there is only one thing or point made about his Last Supper and that is basically it. There really isn't much "code" in the "DaVinci Code" and even less "DaVinci" so the whole thing sucks big time as far as that goes.

I guess "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" was already taken as a title :-)

-Eduardo

PS: I say if you were planning on going to see the movie then go see it and don't let the critics dissuade you. and if you are the kind of person that won't let your kids watch Harry Potter and think that the DaVinci Code is somehow denigrating to Christ then thanks for staying home. I didn't want to listen to your Nacho munching, loud talking self anyway.

3

Scientology article

by Oroborus21 in

jw
friends

.

this is an interesting article from rolling stone about scientology:.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9363363/inside_scientologywhen asked what, if anything, posted by the apostates is true, mike rinder, the fifty-year-old director of the church of scientology international's legal and public-relations wing, known as the office of special affairs, says bluntly, "it's all bullshit, pretty much.".

Oroborus21

Another interesting paragraph of the article...

Excommunication is nothing new in organized religion. A number of sects have similar policies to Scientology's: the Amish, the Mormon Fundamentalists, the Jehovah's Witnesses. All have a rationale. Scientology's rationale is very simple: "We are protecting the good of the religion and all the parishioners," says Rinder.

3

Scientology article

by Oroborus21 in

jw
friends

.

this is an interesting article from rolling stone about scientology:.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9363363/inside_scientologywhen asked what, if anything, posted by the apostates is true, mike rinder, the fifty-year-old director of the church of scientology international's legal and public-relations wing, known as the office of special affairs, says bluntly, "it's all bullshit, pretty much.".

Oroborus21

This is an interesting article from Rolling Stone about Scientology:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9363363/inside_scientology

When asked what, if anything, posted by the apostates is true, Mike Rinder, the fifty-year-old director of the Church of Scientology International's legal and public-relations wing, known as the Office of Special Affairs, says bluntly, "It's all bullshit, pretty much."

-Eduardo