Posts by no one

9

KM announcement - register with US Selective Service

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

about twice a year, the kingdom ministry features an announcement about registering with the us selective service system.. in the march km, the announcement reads like this.... u.s. selective service regulations require that all men register at the post office within 30 days after reaching 18 years of age.

a male noncitizen under the age of 26 who takes up residency in the united states must also register with the selective service within 30 days of becoming a resident.

from the time he registers until the year he turns 26, a brother must notify selective service of any change of address within ten days of the change.

no one

both these "draft" bills are protest bills to the President's current war policies and they have no shot of passing.

I merely stated what bills were pending in relation to the draft to illustrate that the situation that happened to Farkel and others in the 60s/70s may be about to occur again. And I agree with the following statement by you up to a point:

I sympathize with what they're trying to accomplish, but I disagree with the principle of mandatory military service unless it is absolutely necessary.

It should never be absolutely mandantory that someone should have to serve, regardless of your country of origin, beliefs, etc. Just because a government wiggle-worms itself thru subversive actions into a dangerous situation without consulting me (and giving me the right to vote is NOT consulting me) gives them no right to expect me to help bail them out when such decisions go awry.

However, Shrub (aka Bush) is losing popular support for US troops being in Iraq and for the decisions for this war in general. As the maimed and dead mount from this war, fewer volunteers will result. As peers with missing limbs and thousands of family members and relatives spread the negativity of war due to their own personal losses, mandantory service is a definite possibility.

As a Vietnam veteran (and I was drafted), I witnessed the visual and emotional effectiveness of loss of life/limbs on those who had yet to serve; among friends, family, and finally the nation as the death toll rose. Iraq is still a young war and, like Vietnam, this one ain't WWII either. For the most part, this nation is no longer capable of making the sacrifices that were made in the 40s. We have become too selfish. Although it's a nice catch-phrase, it's no longer 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one'.

Forgive me for turning this political. Political threads suck. I've served my time. I've killed the enemy of my country; an enemy I personally had no grievance with. If you've done the same, you'll understand my resistance to pursue this thread further.

Edited to add: apologies to heathen. It was not my intention to imply that the 'Khan' phrase was from the 40s. One other note - the word "draft" is never used in the 'bills' mentioned. Sorry if I misled.

9

KM announcement - register with US Selective Service

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

about twice a year, the kingdom ministry features an announcement about registering with the us selective service system.. in the march km, the announcement reads like this.... u.s. selective service regulations require that all men register at the post office within 30 days after reaching 18 years of age.

a male noncitizen under the age of 26 who takes up residency in the united states must also register with the selective service within 30 days of becoming a resident.

from the time he registers until the year he turns 26, a brother must notify selective service of any change of address within ten days of the change.

no one

There are 2 bills now pending to bring back the draft: HR163 and S89. Info here:

http://thomas.loc.gov

Universal National Service Act of 2003 (Introduced in House)

HR 163 IH

108th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 163

To provide for the common defense by requiring that all young persons in the United States, including women, perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 7, 2003

Mr. RANGEL (for himself, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. STARK, and Mr. ABERCROMBIE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

Universal National Service Act of 2003 (Introduced in Senate)

S 89 IS

108th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 89

To provide for the common defense by requiring that all young persons in the United States, including women, perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

January 7, 2003

Mr. HOLLINGS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services

18

Prince Streetwitnessing?

by Gadget in

my line manager from work got back from holiday in hollywood on sunday, and all day at work yesterday he was telling us all about it.

on his tour of beverley hills he had princes mansion pointed out, but was told that the singer didn't live there anymore, but had bought a bar on sunset boulavard instead and could be found outside it everyday giving out religious leaflets.

and sure enough, when he went down there, prince was standing on the street talking to people and giving them religious leaflets.

no one

From "Purple Rain" to "Pamphlet Pain", eh? Guess he can put that word 'slave' back on his face.

14

More news from mars!

by Elsewhere in

jw
friends

nasa has announced that they will hold a press conference to announce another significant discovery.

the last time they did this they announced that they confirmed the past existence of large amounts of water.

i can't wait to see what the new announcement is about!.

no one

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=505454

Methane find on Mars may be sign of life
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
27 March 2004

A strong signal of life on Mars has been detected by scientists at the US National Aeronautics and Space Admin- istration (Nasa) and the European Space Agency.

Each group has independently discovered tantalising evidence of methane in the Martian atmosphere. Methane, a waste product of living organisms on Earth, could also be a by-product of alien microbes living under the surface of the Red Planet.

The detection of methane has been the holy grail of scientists studying the Martian atmosphere, as its presence could provide unequivocal proof that there is life beyond Earth.

Neither Nasa nor the European Space Agency (ESA) has publicly announced the findings, but specialists who have seen the data believe the discovery is genuine - although they are unsure what it means in terms of confirming the presence of life.

The discovery comes weeks after Nasa and ESA announced new findings relating to the presence of huge bodies of water on Mars which could have supported life.

The European effort is led by Vittorio Formisano, of the Institute of Physics and Interplanetary Science in Rome, who operates the methane-detecting spectrometer on board the Mars Express spacecraft orbiting the planet. "We can identify the presence of methane in the Martian atmosphere and we´ve been able to evaluate how much of it there would be," Professor Formisano said. "Globally, if I average all the data I have, I can find something of the order of 10 or 10.5 parts per billion. It´s detectable, but only if I average a lot of data."

Methane is destroyed by the intense ultraviolet radiation on Mars because the gas has a relatively short photochemical lifetime of about 300 years, so if it is present there must be something producing it continually, Professor Formisano said. "[Its presence] is significant and very important. If it is present you need a source," he added.

The second group to detect signals of methane in the Martian atmosphere is led by Michael Mumma of Nasa´s Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, who used powerful spectroscopic telescopes based on Earth.

This team is even believed to have detected variations in the concentrations of methane, with a peak coming from the ancient Martian seabed of Meridiani Planum, which is being explored by a Nasa rover.

This could indicate a subterranean source of methane which is pumping out the gas, either due to some residual geological activity or because of the presence of living organisms producing it as a waste gas.

Asked whether the continual production of methane is strong evidence of a biological origin of the gas, Dr Mumma said: "I think it is, myself personally."

He added: "It´s difficult to imagine that primordial methane [from geological activity] would continue outgassing for four billion years [the age of Mars]. This looks very intriguing."

Both teams of scientists are now busy validating their results before their respective organisations are prepared to go public on the implications

Probably Martian cows.

11

Why do people get mad at the person who answers when they dial a wrong # ?

by somebodylovesme in

jw
friends

just venting for a minute.

most commonly, they say, "well, if you're not the newspaper, then what's the newspaper's number?

" 'cause i can't remember which digit is different.

no one

Phone: Ring, ring!!!

Me: Hello?

Caller: Is Sarah there?

Me: Sorry, you have the wrong number.

Caller: Are you sure?

Me: Have I ever lied to you before? (Hangs up)

78

Circuit overseer seminar

by IT Support in

all the circuit overseers in the uk have been called into bethel for a two-month-long seminar.

no doubt the us has already had theirs: has anything started leaking out yet?

ken

no one

Xena:

I wouldn't mind going back sometime though and browsing the lovely scottish lads...

Body surfing in Scotland!!! Who'd a thought?

78

Circuit overseer seminar

by IT Support in

all the circuit overseers in the uk have been called into bethel for a two-month-long seminar.

no doubt the us has already had theirs: has anything started leaking out yet?

ken

no one

No one is being deleted.

Dammit, Simon!! I wasn't even involved.

33

Tree of life

by BluesBrother in

lets face it, the bible does not say and so any explanation is little more than speculation.

those of us here that believe the bible has value can only reason on it as we see fit.

personally, i do accept the scripures but i do not see the need to take all of genesis quite as literally as the wt does.

no one

Schizm,

No it doesn't, because God himself created the tree and gave it to them for the purpose of keeping them alive. The tree just didn't happen to sprout on its own you know, it came from "God's hands".

Still, if they could have gotten around God and to the tree, they wouldn't have needed him. That makes the tree the object of everlasting life, not God.

Spirit creatures (angels) aren't subject to sicknesses and dying like those of the human race. Whereas we wither and die due to not being able to take in the nutrition that was in the fruit of the tree of life, the longitivity of an angel is not sustained by food. Their lives continue on until it is forceably taken away from them, and until that happens they continue to persist in living.

Ain't it amazing how much we humans know about heaven and the spirit world? Source, please. Or is this opinion?

33

Tree of life

by BluesBrother in

lets face it, the bible does not say and so any explanation is little more than speculation.

those of us here that believe the bible has value can only reason on it as we see fit.

personally, i do accept the scripures but i do not see the need to take all of genesis quite as literally as the wt does.

no one

Schizm,

I have trouble with the tree itself possessing a life-giving nutrient since that would take the power of life out of God's hands. It begs the question of who/what can grant everlasting life.

Let's take it a bit further. What keeps the angels alive? Those that have sinned do not die. At least, if we are to believe the Bible account, they have yet to die, but are only exiled to the Earth. And this after 6000 years of dying humanity. Sin, by the Bible account, originated with the spirit realm with spirit creatures. What is keeping them alive? If anything needs to die, I would think the perpetrators of sin should go 1st. Instead, not one account of a dying angel. It would seem that in the case of angels, 'the wages of sin does not bring death'.

33

Tree of life

by BluesBrother in

lets face it, the bible does not say and so any explanation is little more than speculation.

those of us here that believe the bible has value can only reason on it as we see fit.

personally, i do accept the scripures but i do not see the need to take all of genesis quite as literally as the wt does.

no one

OK, Micheal. Although your thread title is about the 'tree of knowledge', you wound up talking about the 'tree of life'.

Please, if you would, take these questions back to the JW you remain in contact with:

This tree evidently had no intrinsic life-giving qualities in its fruit,

If this statement is so, then why did God make this statement:

"Now in order that he may not put his hand out and actually take fruit also from the tree of life and eat and live to time indefinite,-

Also, please notice that the Genesis account says that the cherubs and flaming sword guard the way to the 'tree'. Why guard a tree that is purely symbolic and has 'no intrinsic life-giving qualities'. This doen't mean I believe in the tree having 'magical properties'; it just makes the account harder to accept as something more than an allegory.

Let's assume for a sec that Adam gets to the tree and eats. God says as quoted above that if he does, then he(Adam) will live to time indefinite. If that happens, then God's statement where he said that Adam would die is a lie. But God cannot lie. Crazy paradox here. Why tell Adam that he will positively die if there is an escape clause (if he makes it to the 'tree of life', he won't die)? And if God's word is true and the sentence for eating from the 'tree of knowledge' is death, why bother with the cherubs and sword to guard the tree. Jeez. Let him eat. What good will it do? Who's to say he hadn't already eaten from it. He had permission and both trees were in the 'middle of the garden'.

undoubtedly Adam would have been permitted to eat this fruit after proving faithful to a point that God considered satisfactory and sufficient.

To this comment, Gen 2:16: "From every tree of the garden you may eat..." and then it forbids the eating of the 'tree of knowledge' only. So-- Adam had permission to eat from the 'tree of life' initially. Who's to say he hadn't already eaten from it. Both trees were in the 'middle of the garden'.

One more statement within this account that bothers me:

Gen. 3:22--"Here the man has become like one of us in knowing good and bad..." This statement is generally understood by JWs as God addressing Christ (pre-Messiah days). And the phrase 'knowing good and bad' as being able to decide for ourselves what is good and what is bad independently of God (please, someone correct me here if I have it wrong). So-how can this angel (who at this point in time is like any other angel; not immortal and has yet to prove himself thru an earthly test.) decide for himself what is 'good and what is bad' at this stage of his life. Why cannot other angels make this decision? I.E.-Satan.