Mindchild

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Posts by Mindchild

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  47

  The Case For God

  by Farkel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a caterpillar.

  although there are many more examples in nature for wonderment, the caterpillar is spectacularly unique.

  imagine one animal changing into an entirely different species in just a few months;from a multi-legged ugly grub into a stunningly beautiful winged insect.

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  Mindchild

  I used to be a hardcore Deist.

  Then I saw that all the things I used to believe as evidence for the existence of God, was merely magical thinking.

  Once upon a time, people used to think that angels told each flower to open and close during the day. Now that we understand botany we can see how ridiculous such a belief is. People used to believe that the stars were angels holding torches, then one day man discovered the sciences of astronomy and astrophysics.

  I can appreciate that many people, even smart people, don?t believe in atheism. They don?t understand rather simple elements self-organize to form more intelligent, more adaptive higher-level behavior. This process is called ?Emergence? and it is a bottom up model of how things happen and work, rather than the head Deist being the master planner and engineering everything.

  Even without the science of emergent systems if you use the Deist model, you have to factor in that either this Deist is rather dumb or rather cruel or both. There are already several mentions of this in the thread so no point in repeating them here.

  Skipper
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  100

  Would You Vote For Arnold Schwarzenegger, If You Could?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with all the publicity in california, if you were able to vote in the governor's race, would arnold be your man??

  ?

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  Mindchild

  I would be glad to vote for Arnold if he would switch roles and become the Terminator and just take out politicians on the left and the right.

  Skipper (no use for professional criminals class)
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  Authentic Happiness for Ex-dubs Revisited

  by Mindchild in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, several weeks ago i promised to get back with the results of my research on authentic happiness and how to apply it specifically for people who have left the borg.

  it has been a rather more surprising and complex study than i expected.

  i think one of the first surprises is that the pursuit of happiness is now becoming an academic discipline because of its importance in our lives.

• 

  Mindchild

  Well, several weeks ago I promised to get back with the results of my research on authentic happiness and how to apply it specifically for people who have left the Borg. It has been a rather more surprising and complex study than I expected. I think one of the first surprises is that the pursuit of happiness is now becoming an academic discipline because of its importance in our lives.

  There are a lot of choices we can make to make ourselves happier, but regardless of what strategy we use decide to use, you will be a lot better off in either Puerto Rico or Denmark. No, I?m not kidding. The global analysis from country to country shows that ?satisfied? people tend to live in Latin America, Western Europe and North America. As far as ranking goes, the USA is the 16 th for overall satisfaction, Australia is 20 th , and Britain 24 th .

  This means that happiness sure isn?t about how much money you make. Once you can afford to house, clothe, and feed yourself, each extra dollar you earn makes less and less difference. Money does matter some, but not as much as you would think. For example, there are more happiness benefits from having a job than the actual income earned. A lot of people make the mistake that having an extra thousand dollars or so will make them happier, but actually it is often the status that makes them better off. Dollars buy status, but you can get status in other ways, like scientists and actors have status but often low paying jobs.

  Another important lesson in learning to be happier is to desire less. Studies show that people who have aspirations, not just for money, but more of everything created an aspiration gap for themselves where they wouldn?t allow themselves to feel happy until they reached their goals, but as soon as they achieved them, they set new goals for more stuff. The good life always stays out of reach when you play this game.

  Your genes account for between 44% to 55% of your happiness levels. It seems that we all have a set point for our happiness, much like the infamous weight thermostat we have. There is good news and bad news in this. The good news is that automatically, eventually we will get back to our normal happiness levels. The bad news is that changing the happiness thermostat in the long term is difficult at best. Becoming more extroverted for example has an effect on making people happier. Hanging with friends more frequently gives you more positive socialization that increases your happiness levels.

  Here is something else that is important?stop comparing your looks with others. Good-looking people really are happier .You can cash in on this by believing you look great. This is harder though than it sounds, but you can improve your looks by working out and having a good diet. As ex-dubs, almost all of us had low self-esteem. Learning to appreciate how beautiful we are is one way to increase our happiness.

  Your relationships with others are very important in making for long-term life satisfaction. Having good friends, even online friends are a step in the right direction. Most people have heard though that to be even happier, you need to be married. The big question though is does marriage make you happy, or are happy people simply more likely to get married. Both seem to be true.

  The marriage effect begins before the marriage (when the couples fall in love) and lasts about a year afterwards, and then happiness levels return to their baseline. This doesn?t mean that there is no longer any further benefits and most researchers think that a good marriage increases life happiness. However a bad marriage brings you way down in the pits. Well that is pretty self-evident isn?t it?

  Having a belief system of some type makes people happier. There have been dozens of studies that have linked religion to happiness with a positive result. We know that believing in God or an afterlife give people meaning and purpose and reduce their feeling of being alone in the world. You can also add in the social support network that religion brings to the table and people get a lot of satisfaction out of helping others.

  None of this means that you need to become an evangelical Christian to be happier. Being involved in your community, helping out others in times of need, and altruistic behavior in general increase happiness levels.

  There is a lot of other useful information on the topic of adapting your life to become happier. I suggest these resources to learn more:

  Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman

  http://www.authentichappiness.org/perl/My_Home.pl

  Hopefully something here was of value,

  Skipper
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  331

  E-Man and HL are coming to the USA!!!!

  by Joyzabel in

  1. forum
  2. announcements

  englishman and her ladyship will be visiting the usa and we are happy to announce a bbq for them at our place.

  so mark your calanders!!.

  saturday, november 1, 2003 2 pm = ?

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  Mindchild

  Noidea asked:

  So what's on the agenda for Sunday morning?

  Silly girl...don't you know that everyone is partying hard Saturday night as the Society scheduled Armaggedon for Sunday morning?

  I seriously doubt you will be able to get any apostate up and sober before noon. hehe

  Skipper
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  6

  Public Service job for male Canadian ex-dubs (hard to beat this one guys)

  by Mindchild in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  caught this on the news.... http://www.canada.com/ottawa/story.asp?id=67624748-558b-4bc3-b0cb-13fe3e5742c4.

  storycanada could face sperm shortagenew bill would ban payment to donors dennis bueckertcanadian press.

  sunday, october 05, 2003. ottawa (cp) -- canada could face a serious shortage of sperm for artificial insemination because of legislation that would ban payment to donors, critics say.

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  Mindchild

  Perry,

  Too bad I didn't know they paid up to $100 a shot three times a wee when I was a dub. Why I could have supported myself in style while pioneering!

  Skipper
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  6

  Public Service job for male Canadian ex-dubs (hard to beat this one guys)

  by Mindchild in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  caught this on the news.... http://www.canada.com/ottawa/story.asp?id=67624748-558b-4bc3-b0cb-13fe3e5742c4.

  storycanada could face sperm shortagenew bill would ban payment to donors dennis bueckertcanadian press.

  sunday, october 05, 2003. ottawa (cp) -- canada could face a serious shortage of sperm for artificial insemination because of legislation that would ban payment to donors, critics say.

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  Mindchild

  Caught this on the news...

  http://www.canada.com/ottawa/story.asp?id=67624748-558B-4BC3-B0CB-13FE3E5742C4

  Canada could face sperm shortage New bill would ban payment to donors DENNIS BUECKERT Canadian Press Sunday, October 05, 2003 OTTAWA (CP) -- Canada could face a serious shortage of sperm for artificial insemination because of legislation that would ban payment to donors, critics say. Infertile couples who hope to have a baby through donor insemination could be thwarted by the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, now nearing third reading in the Commons, some say. Canada already depends on sperm from the United States to meet most of its needs, and the main U.S. supplier says the bill's ban on payment could threaten its Canadian operation. "It would definitely force us to re-evaluate the program," said Jason Schlegel of Xytex Inc., based in Augusta, Ga. "It's difficult to recruit donors as it is. I think it would be really hard to meet demand if that (a ban on payment) were the case." The legislation, which has been in the works for more than 10 years, is based on the philosophy that the materials of human life should not be treated like commodities. Sperm donors could be compensated for expenses only. Currently, donors can earn up to $100 for a donation, and can donate up to three times a week. Many donors are university students looking for spending money. Francine Manseau of Health Canada said the department is looking at how Canada can be shifted toward an altruistic sperm donation system. She said other jurisdictions, including France, New Zealand and some Australian states, have long banned payment for sperm donations, and yet have adequate supply. "In some cases they're not even reimbursing for expenses," she said. "What we're trying to do is implement strategies, to look at how they implement such programs, to try to develop such programs for Canada." Some studies have shown that altruistic sperm donors are less likely to be infected with disease than those who are paid. "When you move to a more altruistic system, you find another kind of donor, who maybe already has children, who realizes the impact of the donation." The government hopes the new legislation will be passed before Parliament adjourns this fall, but new regulations would likely take some time to develop. Irene Ryll of Edmonton-based Infertility Connection, a support group for infertile couples, said she strongly supports the shift to altruistic donation. She said donors should be recruited in the same way as blood donors. "There needs to be a whole educational component for sure because right now sperm donation is in the closet. I mean, the men masturbate in a cup, we pay them $50 and forget about it. "That's not the way creating life should be viewed. Blood donors do it because they want to help people, maybe sperm donors want to help someone." She hopes the new legislation will also lead to a much better system for tracking sperm donors and donor-insemination children. Currently, if such a child turns out to have a hereditary disorder, there's no way to communicate that information to the donor or to others who have been born with the use of his sperm. Canada has been dependent on imported semen in 1999, when a woman became infected with chlamydia through donated sperm. Until that time, the sperm banking business was self-regulating, with standards set by fertility doctors through the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society, which also opposes the payment ban. After the infection raised warning flags, Health Canada discovered that some clinics were violating the voluntary standards, and stepped in with binding regulations. Many clinics found the new standards so onerous they dropped out of sperm collection, turning to U.S. suppliers, mainly Xytex. Fertility doctors have expressed concern that much of Canada is dependent on a single company with a relatively small pool of donors. Schlegel said the pool of donors fluctuates from 100 to 150, but not all of those meet Canadian requirements. Another 30 to 40 donors have been recruited in the Toronto area. There are no statistics on the sale and use of sperm, or on how many babies are born through donor insemination. According to one estimate, 16,000 Canadians have been born as a result of donor insemination.
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  14

  Is the WTS hiding cash in plain sight? If so, why?

  by Mindchild in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i came across something recently that i'm not supposed to know.

  before i go further, i should state that what i'm saying here is purely speculation based on minimal evidence and i'm not saying that the wts is using this "privacy" vehicle to hide some of their considerable millions.

  i further cannot give you the name of the source of the person who shared this information with me.

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  Mindchild

  That could be true Prisca. I really only brought this information to light to see if it fit in with something that someone else knew about. You never know when one and one will add up. It could be just a routine way the WTS does confidential business or have nothing to do with them at all.

  Skipper
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  14

  Is the WTS hiding cash in plain sight? If so, why?

  by Mindchild in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i came across something recently that i'm not supposed to know.

  before i go further, i should state that what i'm saying here is purely speculation based on minimal evidence and i'm not saying that the wts is using this "privacy" vehicle to hide some of their considerable millions.

  i further cannot give you the name of the source of the person who shared this information with me.

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  Mindchild

  I was just thinking about something else regarding the use of the ATM cards. They can of course be used ANYWHERE in the world. So, putting things in perspective, if someone came to this country and opened up a US bank account, their home country wouldn't be notified of the account unless they were laundering money or were involved with terrorists, etc. The bank account owner, could then return to their own country, use the VISA card to make purchases or to remove cash from an ATM machine, without any paper trail in their home country.

  This implies to me that if this was set up for privacy, that the real use of the funds would be back in the UK or maybe another country. Considering also that there are limits to the amount of cash you can carry into another country (reporting requirements) having a VISA debit card could allow you to go anywhere and have access to that cash without leaving any paper trails in the country of use. I would think that uses for such cash could include bribes (very common in many foreign countries) or for funding projects that you don't want authorities to know about (such as work in lands where open ministry is banned.) Again, nothing but speculation.

  Skipper
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  14

  Is the WTS hiding cash in plain sight? If so, why?

  by Mindchild in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i came across something recently that i'm not supposed to know.

  before i go further, i should state that what i'm saying here is purely speculation based on minimal evidence and i'm not saying that the wts is using this "privacy" vehicle to hide some of their considerable millions.

  i further cannot give you the name of the source of the person who shared this information with me.

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  Mindchild

  SixofNine I would consider that a reasonable thing to be skeptical of but evidently this is the case. Here is some information I pulled about the topic from a Google search:

  http://www.expatworld.org/article6.htm

  OFFSHORE TAX SHELTERS, OFFSHORE BANKING AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL ASSET PROTECTION STRATEGIES - In general, files and information maintained outside the country you live in aren't part of, nor subject to, the scrutiny of the government agencies of your country of residence. Most governments under normal circumstances only gain knowledge about your Offshore activities if YOU tell them about it -or - if you are involved in some form of criminal activity in your home country and their investigation in this country reveals to them evidence of your Offshore activities. Today the red-herrings for these type of investigations fall under the headings of drug dealing and money laundering.
  It's the prying eyes of the Government, your nosy neighbors, business competitors, ex-spouses, and other snoopy people, who may well attempt to keep track of your financial activities for their own purposes. With or without the use of a private detective agency, it is quite easy for almost anyone to gain access to your most personal records if they are kept in the country you eat, sleep, reside and make love in. However, records and files on your activities outside the your "home" country are next to impossible for these snoops to get their hands or eyes on. Banking offshore and maintaining your financial records and files outside the USA (or your home country) allows you the maximum personal and financial privacy available.

  http://www.assetprotectioncorp.com/foreignbankaccounts.html

  A foreign bank account is a useful addition to many asset protection plans; although, protected funds often remain in the United States. The creator of the account must recognize that there are two ways any judgment creditor can discover an offshore account (and remember, an account must be discovered before it can be attacked). The main two ways are review of the client's financial statement and the client's tax returns (both of which are often open to discovery in litigation). Care should be taken to structure the offshore account so that the assets are not included on the balance sheet of the protected client.

  You might of course be aware that there is a crackdown of the US banking industry with the infamous Patriot Act. However, when you read things carefully, you see the provisions of the law it applies to drug and money laundering. I'm really not sure if there was any interest raised by the cash transaction for two foreign nationals from the UK. My friend never gave me any additional information other than what I reported here. Perhaps the bank manager did report the transaction but my friend working as a teller was not told about it. In any case, the country of origin for the funds was on paper anyway (from what I figure) the UK. As such, if there was no connection with known terrorist groups or drug cartels, the funds would be anonymous to anyone in the UK. Does that make sense?

  Skipper
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  14

  Is the WTS hiding cash in plain sight? If so, why?

  by Mindchild in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i came across something recently that i'm not supposed to know.

  before i go further, i should state that what i'm saying here is purely speculation based on minimal evidence and i'm not saying that the wts is using this "privacy" vehicle to hide some of their considerable millions.

  i further cannot give you the name of the source of the person who shared this information with me.

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  Mindchild

  I came across something recently that I'm not supposed to know. Before I go further, I should state that what I'm saying here is purely speculation based on minimal evidence and I'm not saying that the WTS is using this "privacy" vehicle to hide some of their considerable millions. I further cannot give you the name of the source of the person who shared this information with me. Having said all of this, please allow me to proceed with what I do know.
  

  An ex-JW friend of mine, working as a teller in a U.S. bank recently noticed something interesting that happened in the bank they worked at. Two middle aged gentlemen conservatively dressed in suits came into the bank to open an account. Each had an attache case full of cash. There was approximately $70,000 in USD between the two attache cases. Both of the men were British citizens, on a trip over to the USA. They each wanted to open up a VISA debit card account that allowed access to the funds from any ATM machine.

  As per routine, the new account manager asked them the source of the funds, and they replied that it was from a private corporation and that as foreign nationals, that US banking regulations, including the $10,000 IRS notification regulations did not apply to them. In this they were absolutely right (few people know that this is a practical way for the rich to hide their money in the USA without any reporting obligations and make interest off it.) The new accounts manager had them fill out the banking forms and told them both that two pieces of ID would need to be photocopied and kept on record at the bank. My friend the teller, was motioned over to the new accounts table to do the task of the photocopying. My friend got the passports from both, and when they opened up their wallets to get the UK driver's license, he/she noticed one of them had a NO BLOOD TRANSFUSION card in his "purse" (I guess he/she meant wallet.) He/She copied the ID, and brought it back to the table and asked them if they were enjoying their stay in America. They replied that they had only been here a few days, but were looking forward to visiting friends over here.

  He/She really wanted to ask them if they were both Witnesses but the new account manager would not have approved, so he/she walked away. After they both left, he/she asked the account manager if she thought it was strange that two UK tourists would have two briefcases full of cash that was wrapped up in bundles and in different amounts. She said she did think it a bit odd, especially as it was not in UK currency, but in American dollars. Still, there was nothing outside of that and she told my friend it was probably just a business transaction that someone wanted to keep private.

  SPECULATION

  Okay, when I heard all this, I was asking myself why would at least one Witness from the UK be depositing funds in their own name in an American bank? I know there are some wealthy dubs but why would two different people be opening two different accounts? Would a dub really be involved with a "worldly" person like this? It suggests to me that they were both Witnesses. What could someone possibly gain by the actions taken by these two people unless they were hiding money from someone, or wanted a private way to get cash to someone without any records being made to American authorities? Where and how did they get their hands on so much cash? If they had only been in the country a few days, it is hard to round up that much cash from a bank. I know that for a fact. This suggests to me that someone over here had the cash waiting for them. Could that someone be the WTS?

  The WTS is a tax exempt organization. It would not need to hide money from the IRS. Why would they have an interest in hiding money? The only thing that comes to my mind is that they may have had the intention of doing a private cash payoff to someone. Maybe I'm being too negative, and it is really all innocent.

  What do you think?

  (Please do not ask me for any details of the Bank, it's location, ...all of that is confidential)

  Skipper