Nathan Natas

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Posts by Nathan Natas

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  18

  "Who, then, is the faithful and wise servant...?" - NEW ARTICLE

  by EdenOne in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  just wanting to let you know that i've published a new article on my website.. it's called "who, then, is the faithful and wise servant...?".

  given the recent controversy about the "new light" of the wts / jw's about the subject, i decided to look deeper into it and came up with a surprising (even for me) conclusion.. i hope you enjoy.. eden.

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  Nathan Natas

  Have you had a chance to read Leolaia's meditation on this subject?

  Its at http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/67457/1/Who-is-the-Faithful-and-Wise-Servant-Its-JOSEPH-of-course
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  30

  Flood insurance and cover for overland flooding

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with the huge floods in alberta the news now is starting to cover the issue of property damange and insurance.. we've never really thought a lot about insurance cover for flooding because it became a big issue in the uk about 5-10 years ago with limited land availability leading to building on flood plains and the eventual inevitable consequences and so when we bought over here we didn't buy anywhere that was a possible flood risk.

  our choice seems to have worked out as we've been completely untouched by the recent issues but tragically, others have been less fortunate and apparently few people are covered for 'overland flooding' which is where water enters your house through doors and windows.. it's hard to really know what is fair.

  i understand the reason why insurers don't cover it and the arguments on both sides.. one one hand, we included the flood risk when puchasing a home.

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  Nathan Natas

  " In other industries the insurance companies wag the dog. In other words, if a costly trend begins, the insurance companies will usually make it so expensive to modify behavior, such as where people build their homes."

  Sometimes people talk as though Insurance Companies were the big bad fat cat capitalists who were profiting from disasters.

  If that is how a person feels about insurance, the advice I would give is "Fine; don't buy insurance."

  Insurance is a business, and profit is the objective of a business. Anyone should know that they are free to start their own non-profit insurance charity if they wish.

  Typical Insurance companies collect premiums from a lot of people knowing that the probability that they will have to pay everybody at the same time is low. The people who work for insurance companies get no pay. Wait, that was a joke! Of course everybody expects to get paid for their work and rightly so. Some of the premiums people pay pay salaries and other operating expenses, some money is paid to the investors who bankrolled the insurance company. Most of the money collected in premiuns is invested with the goal of growing that bankroll, because every insurance compny President knows that someday it is going to rain and the company's customers will have to be made whole to the limits of their policy.

  The history of insurance is enlightening. A major player during the years of the worldwide British Empire was Lloyd's of London. See the movie (1936, Tyrone Power) here:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=pPrTrVe6XlU
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  30

  Flood insurance and cover for overland flooding

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with the huge floods in alberta the news now is starting to cover the issue of property damange and insurance.. we've never really thought a lot about insurance cover for flooding because it became a big issue in the uk about 5-10 years ago with limited land availability leading to building on flood plains and the eventual inevitable consequences and so when we bought over here we didn't buy anywhere that was a possible flood risk.

  our choice seems to have worked out as we've been completely untouched by the recent issues but tragically, others have been less fortunate and apparently few people are covered for 'overland flooding' which is where water enters your house through doors and windows.. it's hard to really know what is fair.

  i understand the reason why insurers don't cover it and the arguments on both sides.. one one hand, we included the flood risk when puchasing a home.

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  Nathan Natas

  " The flood insurance is put into escrow, so it is factored into your monthly P&I. I'm not sure what happens once you pay off your mortgage. I assume you could drop the flood insurance. Not sure why you would want to though."

  My experience was that once I had 20% equity in my house I was allowed by the bank to cancel my mortgage insurance, which as I understand it was in place to protect the bank in case I was abducted by aliens and stopped making my mortgage payment. The housing market drove up the value of my equity faster than my monthly payments did, and as soon as I hit that 20% mark I asked the bank to stop taking payments for mortgage insurance. They did; they are REQUIRED TO, but only if you ASK. Otherwise the bank will happily collect that "insurance" for the entire term of the mortgage, in my case 30 years.

  But that was not flood or disaster insurance, it was only "mortgage insurance." As the purchaser of the property, it was up to me to decide how much protection I wanted to have.

  At that time in my life I was happy to save the few extra bucks that the mortgage insurance cost; looking back I would have been wiser to apply even that small amount to paying down the principal of the loan, the house would have been paid for even earlier than it was (but I still did it in less than 30 years, saving thousands of dollars in interest by doing so.)
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  30

  Flood insurance and cover for overland flooding

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with the huge floods in alberta the news now is starting to cover the issue of property damange and insurance.. we've never really thought a lot about insurance cover for flooding because it became a big issue in the uk about 5-10 years ago with limited land availability leading to building on flood plains and the eventual inevitable consequences and so when we bought over here we didn't buy anywhere that was a possible flood risk.

  our choice seems to have worked out as we've been completely untouched by the recent issues but tragically, others have been less fortunate and apparently few people are covered for 'overland flooding' which is where water enters your house through doors and windows.. it's hard to really know what is fair.

  i understand the reason why insurers don't cover it and the arguments on both sides.. one one hand, we included the flood risk when puchasing a home.

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  Nathan Natas

  " I have no idea but can people in Tornado or Hurricane prone areas get insurance for those?"

  If the tornado or hurricane has already hit, the usual answer is "NO". Not all insurance companies offer every kind of insurance. What insurance companies charge for similar coverage can vary, sometimes widely. It usually pays to shop for coverage.
• 
  30

  Flood insurance and cover for overland flooding

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with the huge floods in alberta the news now is starting to cover the issue of property damange and insurance.. we've never really thought a lot about insurance cover for flooding because it became a big issue in the uk about 5-10 years ago with limited land availability leading to building on flood plains and the eventual inevitable consequences and so when we bought over here we didn't buy anywhere that was a possible flood risk.

  our choice seems to have worked out as we've been completely untouched by the recent issues but tragically, others have been less fortunate and apparently few people are covered for 'overland flooding' which is where water enters your house through doors and windows.. it's hard to really know what is fair.

  i understand the reason why insurers don't cover it and the arguments on both sides.. one one hand, we included the flood risk when puchasing a home.

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  Nathan Natas

  " I guess that volume then should reduce the premiums slightly by spreading the risk more."

  I think that in the USA at least, gov't finally realized they could not afford to keep giving handouts to people who lost their homes every year and refused to move off of the flood plain.

  ...and if your Bank requires that you have flood insurance while you have a mortgage with them, what do they know about the odds that you don't know? Would it be smart to drop your mandatory flood insurance as soon as you can? The Bank was protecting THEIR interest, shouldn't you protect YOURS?
• 
  30

  Flood insurance and cover for overland flooding

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with the huge floods in alberta the news now is starting to cover the issue of property damange and insurance.. we've never really thought a lot about insurance cover for flooding because it became a big issue in the uk about 5-10 years ago with limited land availability leading to building on flood plains and the eventual inevitable consequences and so when we bought over here we didn't buy anywhere that was a possible flood risk.

  our choice seems to have worked out as we've been completely untouched by the recent issues but tragically, others have been less fortunate and apparently few people are covered for 'overland flooding' which is where water enters your house through doors and windows.. it's hard to really know what is fair.

  i understand the reason why insurers don't cover it and the arguments on both sides.. one one hand, we included the flood risk when puchasing a home.

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  Nathan Natas

  Insurance is a game of risk and should not be played emotionally. The first rule of avoiding a disaster is to not be where the disaster is. You made a wise and informed decision not to be too close to the water. Others may have thought the flood would never come to their house. They lost the bet they made.

  I do not have flood insurance. My home is about 200 feet above sea level and is not near any river, creek or stream. I DO have earthquake insurance (for replacement value rather than for original cost) because I live in Seattle and I figure that before I die (~30 years or less) it is likely that Seattle will experience a SERIOUS earthquake. MY neighbors and I have undergone disaster preparedness training so that we will be able to get along okay with about a week's disruption in water, electricity, gas and supermarket access.

  In my opinion, the only person who can say they "cannot afford" insurance are those who have sufficiently large personal resources that they can be "self-insured." I ain't that guy. Is it possible that I will pay lots of money for insurance that will never pay off? Sure, but the way earthquake is becoming more difficult to find and more expensive when you do find it tells me the insurance statistitians and underwriters are less willing to take this bet.

  This is another important topic in the series of "lessons from real life" that you have started, Simon.

  Dubs have been dipped in the "free-lunch" mentality that teaches them that they don't need to do anything other than stand on a corner holding magazines in the air ("sacred service").
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  29

  Couple other interesting DC tidbits...

  by goatshapeddemon in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  1) they're going to stop producing the wt publications index "because its hard to maintain and translate".

  so they're going to create a digital-only research tool on jw.org .

  it's like, how convenient and smart.

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  Nathan Natas

  I find this especially interesting:

  2) they told people in the morning announcements to bring your lunch from home so as to not to leave the convention site and thus avoid supporting the worldy outside vendors

  When the Watchtower is negotiating the rental they have to pay for convention facilities, they always make a big point of the economic boon their presence will bring to the immediate area. The stuff in item #2 needs to be documented and publicized.
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  40

  What about the OUIJA board? anyone played it?

  by Monsieur in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the ouija board is suppose to be a straight shot to interacting with 'demons'.. has anyone here played it?

  what happened?

  are the claims true regarding the floating pieces an such?.

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  Nathan Natas

  Cantleave asked, " I wonder how much my soul is worth to Satan?"

  I got a happy meal for mine...
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  40

  What about the OUIJA board? anyone played it?

  by Monsieur in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the ouija board is suppose to be a straight shot to interacting with 'demons'.. has anyone here played it?

  what happened?

  are the claims true regarding the floating pieces an such?.

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  Nathan Natas

  I own one, but everytime I try to use it a chicken appears from out of nowhere and then explodes!

  Really!

  I guess it a good thing I like Ka-Pow! chicken.
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  9

  Found photocopied pages of a book on Jesus, given to me by a householder years ago

  by cedars in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  hi folks.

  i was going through some old things recently and came across photocopied pages i had forgotten existed.

  they are scans of selected pages from the book who was jesus?, by don cupitt, published in the 70s.

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  Nathan Natas

  Fourteen copis reported here:

  http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=cupitt&sts=t&tn=Who+was+jesus