Indian Larry

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Posts by Indian Larry

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  47

  Prescott Arizona

  by ducatijoe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was an elder in prescott for many years... anyone now out from there?

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  Indian Larry

  ADCMS said: " I can call myself LamborghiniFred and claim I live in Dallas...but just because I say it doesn't mean a word of it is true."

  I can vouch for that. I do ride a motorcycle but it is not an Indian, and my name is not Larry. : )
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  47

  Prescott Arizona

  by ducatijoe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was an elder in prescott for many years... anyone now out from there?

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  Indian Larry

  ADCMS may have a point especially considering the ongoing kerfuffle in that area. (see this thread:http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/scandals/280349/1/Verde-Valley-Elders-Is-this-Ethical )

  I agree that some may be concerned that the OP is possibly a current elder fishing for "troublemakers", Shirly they would never do that though.
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  25

  Do you think US Dollar will collapse on July 1st?

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you do not know what i am talking about, google about it.

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  Indian Larry

  This year, longtime bear and well-known economic forecaster, Gary Shilling, recently made a splash in the financial community by turning positive on the U.S. economy and dollar. Given the lingering amount of pessimism by many investors after two major stock market crashes and the fear of another repeat event, there’s at least one thing that Shilling makes clear that investors SHOULDN’T be worried about happening anytime soon: a collapse of the U.S. dollar.

  Given that a currency reflects the strength of the nation that issues it, it's important to consider the following six reasons why Gary believes the U.S. dollar will maintain its strength as the global reserve currency for many years to come. The following are taken from his exhaustive study of dominant world currencies going back to ancient Rome along with comments made in his recent interview with Financial Sense.

  1. Economic Productivity

  Among developed nations the U.S. has had the strongest productivity over the last decade. For example, the U.S. averaged 2.2%, Japan 1.6%, U.K. 1.2%, Germany 0.9%, Canada 0.9%, France 0.8%, and Italy flat. When you consider the deflationary trends now at work in emerging markets and other developed nations, Gary believes that U.S. productivity will continue to outperform and help keep the dollar strong.

  2. The World’s Largest Economy

  The dominant currency is typically found in the world’s largest economy and the U.S. is head-and-shoulders above the rest. As Gary points out, in 2012 U.S. GDP was $15.7 trillion. The second closest, China, was nearly half the size at $8.2 trillion. If you think China is about to overtake the U.S. in terms of size, Gary says “China would have to grow 12% a year for 20 years to catch up…it’s now down at about 7.5% growth and as the Chinese economy shifts away from being driven by exports…away from infrastructure, away from heavy borrowing, and so on, their growth is going to grow even more slowly.”

  3. Deep and Broad Financial Markets

  Here, Gary writes, “Internationally, money—especially today when it can be transferred anywhere in a split second—wants to be where the action is. That requires not only a powerful and large economy but also deep and broad markets in which to invest. Today, the U.S. Treasury market trumps all others in size and, in the eyes of investors…, in safety as witnessed by the mad rush into Treasury bonds in times of recent global trouble."

  Similarly, he states, “American stock market capitalization is four times that of China, Japan or the U.K. and is over three times the Eurozone's…Almost 50% of Treasuries are held by foreigners but only 9.1% of Japan's government net debt is owned by non-Japanese. According to the IMF, 62% of the world's currency reserves are in dollars. The 24% in euros is down from 29% four years ago. Foreigners so love investing in the U.S. that at the end of 2012, it exceeded U.S. investment abroad by $4.4 trillion, up from $4 trillion a year earlier.”

  4. Free and Open Financial Markets and Economy

  “Investors want to go where it’s free and open; they don’t like China. China periodically freezes their currency. They did that for example during the Great Recession. They had let it float up but then they froze it when they got worried. They’re now letting it float a bit, but they turn it on, they turn it off. Other currencies are much less free to people moving out. They typically manipulate currencies in a lot of places. The Swiss, for example…froze their currency 1.2 to the Euro when everybody wanted to be in the Swiss Franc because they worried that a strong currency would kill their exports to the Eurozone, which is their major trading partner.”

  5. Lack of Substitutes

  “Things can change over time but one statistic that I think is very important is global forex trading. Now, there’s two sides to this so the numbers add up to 200%, not 100%, because for every sale there’s a buy. But if you look at the trading, in 2001, the U.S. dollar accounted for 90% of all the daily trading in currencies. In 2013, it’s down from 90% to 87%. But if you think of all that’s happened in that time, the euro currency had come in, China has gotten stronger, etc. But it still has only declined 3 percentage points and it’s way ahead of anything else. The second one today is the euro at 33% versus [the USD at] 87%, the yen 23%, sterling 12%—in other words, this is the currency that people transact.”

  6. Credibility

  “The sixth characteristic is credibility. And that’s the only one where you can say there’s been any questioning of the dollar. And it is true that last year that Standard & Poor’s did downgrade the U.S. from triple AAA to AA+, but that hasn’t really hurt. You might remember that when they did that, Treasuries actually rallied…and it has not changed the willingness of foreigners to put money into dollar denominated assets. So, the credibility issue is the only one that is not absolutely triple-A, but it hasn’t had any decided effects so far.”
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  25

  Do you think US Dollar will collapse on July 1st?

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you do not know what i am talking about, google about it.

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  Indian Larry

  I don't know about everyone else here, but as a witness I got a pure belly full of predictions of gloom and doom. I don't want to hear about any armageddon, whether it is biblical, fincancial, the climate, disease, pollution or otherwise.

  Whatever will happen will happen but worrying about it won't change it. I think John Mellencamp put it best in this song when he spoke about the "prophets of doom that won't leave us alone". To me that goes for the society and 99% of the news channels who all live by the motto "if it bleeds it leads". Is the economy in trouble? Maybe, but is there misinformation out there being manipulated by those that want you to invest in their stock/gold/supplies etc. Absolutely. The best thing each of us can do is be responsible with our own money. Stay out of debt and ignore the prophets off doom, and don't spend all our days sowing seeds of despair.

  Another Sunny Day 12/25 - John Mellencamp

  We see it on TV, we get calls on the phone
  By the prophets of doom, they won't leave us alone.
  The planet is dying and there's no time to spare.
  They spend all our days sowing seeds of despair.
  We get enough bad news to harden our hearts.
  This fear that we feed on is what's keeping us apart.
  To say that we're doomed is just an obvious remark.
  And it don't make you right, it just keeps you in the dark.
  
  I don't want to live angry, I don't want to live scared.
  I don't need no more prophets crying "brother beware."
  Just put some work in my hands and give me a dollar to spare.
  And don't let me sow those seeds of despair.
  
  Well, this earth is a graveyard, it will swallow our bones.
  It was here long before us, It will be here when we're gone.
  And it's a vain generation that looks for a sign.
  Don't you think we could make better use of our time.
  Yeah, the air could be cleaner and the water could too.
  But what we do to each other are the worst things that we do.
  And we can treasure our freedom behind our locked doors.
  But God speed the day when we're lonely no more.
  
  I don't want to live angry, I don't want to live scared.
  I don't need no more prophets crying "brother beware."
  Just put some work in my hands and give me a dollar to spare.
  And don't let me sow those seeds of despair.
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  13

  Anti JW Internet Banner Ad Campaign

  by kneehighmiah in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i would be willing to donate if some of the big anti watchtower activist worked together to create an anti-jw internet banner ad campaign.

  one click could change lives.

  for example the material on jwfacts could irreversibly damage the faith of even the strongest jw in under an hour.

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  Indian Larry

  " Absolutely no sensationalism" +1 to that. JWFact.org would be a excellent site to guide to.
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  84

  One thing about this site that bothers me

  by keyser soze in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the constant references to 'window washers' as something derogatory.. i understand the context of it-that most jws are uneducated, and unqualified to do much more.

  but sometimes the references seem snobbish, almost mean-spirited.

  one poster, on another thread, essentially referred to window washers as 'losers'.

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  Indian Larry

  +1 to the original poster
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  5

  LEOLAIA -does anybody know if she is okay?

  by hamsterbait in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not a squeak from our dear leo - she has put up so many excellent threads but she never posts now.

  some of these should be archived for reference.. hope she's okay...... hb.

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  Indian Larry

  I miss her posts as well. Not a bunch of hate and name calling just good research and effective valid arguments.
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  64

  First Post - Emotionally Torn

  by scaredtospeak in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i haven't been on here long but i found this site a couple days ago and quickly realised it had a lot of posts by people going through similar experiences as me.

  i read some of the answers and it helped relieve some inner anguish i've been carrying since everything i came clean to my parents about everything i've been reading about.. .

  i just have been going through a rough patch right now; that might be an under or overstatement depending on your own personal experiences with this kind of stuff.

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  Indian Larry

  You are just on the first step of a very painful journey. I too made the same journey. I too found JWFacts and like you, I double checked everything. Then I read Crisis on Conscience and In Search of Christian Freedom by Raymond Franz. At that point I was so mad at the WT it was crazy. I also looked at the facts that show there was no global flood, and that caused problems. I just about lost all faith completely.

  However as time has passed I have regained some of my faith. I do not believe the WT is the truth. I do not believe any other religion is the truth either. However after listening to people like Proffessor John Lennox of Oxford, William Lane Craig and often listening to both sides of the evolution/creation debate on the "Unbelievable" podcast, I have come to the point where I do believe there is a God. That for me was the first step. I truly believe that whether you choose athiesm or intellegent design there is a certain amount of faith required to believe either viewpoint.

  I have listened to Dawkins several time, and I have listened with an open mind to the athiests, and anti-theists on the Unbelievable Podcast. I read quite a bit as well of all types of books with a wide variety of viewpoints. To me I just can not believe that the universe, the earth and all the life on it was an accident.

  That being said I still am 100% sure the society is wrong about so many things. I can tell you this for sure though, it is very very very very hard to change the mind of a witness. You can not get them to see the truth about the organization even if you prove the org wrong using the bible and/or the orgs own literature. They truly are brainwashed to a certain extent and trying to go against that is like beating your head against a wall.

  Still, I love my wife and daughter with all my heart. I don't want to lose them. So, I quietly faded. I used some mistakes the elders made as an excuse to stop going to the hall, but I have kept all my friends and family. For me that was the way to go. Others prefer to go out with a bang and burn bridges on the way. I came very close to doing that but now I am so glad that I did not.

  Anyway as you go on your journey always look for the truth. That does not mean a religion, it means go for what you believe is true and right. Be true to yourself. However to know the truth you have to look at all sides of an issue. So please don't give up on God just because of the Watchtower. Just because they are deceptive and wrong does not mean God is. So many witnesses have a problem seperating the organization from God, and when they find out the organization is false they figure God is too.

  To give both sides a fair listen try looking on itunes for John Lennox or William Lane Craig. Listen so some of their debates. Listen to the Veritas forum. Also, while I don't agree with everything he has to say I found Ravi Zacharias to be very interesting to listen to.

  Either way, for me personally I stress how much I love my parents, and family and I don't rub their faces in what I believe (because it just doesn't work) instead I just try to live my life the best I can under the circumstances.
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  24

  Angry Health Care Rant

  by ctrwtf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for those of you who live in truly first world countries (uk, australia, canada, etc etc) you can skip this.

  for those of us stuck in the usa, not a first world country at all, please feel free to read on.. i've done my best to be fiscally responsible my whole life.

  i bought my first house at age 25. and because of having a little loot to protect and not wanting to end up in some overcrowded emergency room waiting hours to be seen by doogie howser, i purchased health insurance.

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  Indian Larry

  I am in early 50's

  I have had health insurance for my whole life until 4 years ago. At the time I was paying $1300 for a family of 3. I had to let it go for a year for economic reasons. When I tried to get insurance again they would not allow me to get insurance due to a health problem I have. It is a problem that is genetic and has never required treatment. It is a very very very slow moving problem that in all likelyhood will never affect my health. I never maid a claim on that issue ever.

  Still they denied me coverage. So I (self employed) have to risk everything going without coverage. Along comes Obamacare. Now I can get coverage again, my deductable is high ($5500) but at least I do have coverage and because my income is under $70,000 it only cost about $380 per month.

  The thing is all the years I did have coverage I paid in well over $200,000 in premiums and never had a hospital stay at all. I did however have kidney stones once. I was in the emergency room in severe pain. The hospital was taking other (who I am pretty sure were not insured) and left me out there for 2 hours. I finally left and did without.

  The thing is that I was still paying for those without insurance to have healthcare. The reason my premiums were so high was because the hospital has to charge $12 per asprin for the people who have insurance to cover the ones that don't.

  I know I am rambling but bottom line is this. I do not have a problem at all with Obamacare. The high deductables will keep people from running to the doctor to get antibiotics every time they get the sniffles and the insurance companies will still make money, you can be sure of that. As far as the republicans whining about it . . . get over it. It kind of reminds me of all these guys with the rebel flags in their windows. You lost move on. This country is a democracy, the majority of our elected representatives passed the affordable health care act, that is the way it is. Get over it.

  The act never would have passed if the health care system wasnt so royally screwed up in the first place with insurance companies and hospitals battleing to see who could screw you over the most.
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  23

  Comstock Sign Systems!

  by Atlantis in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  comstock sign systems .

  http://www.comstocksigns.com/files/kingdom-hall-signs.pdf .

  .. petra.

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  Indian Larry

  Very interesting. I have intimate knowledge of the sign business and I can tell you these prices are no deal. The 6"x24" Coroplast signs they are selling for $12.00 EACH are available online at www.signs365.com at a price of 32 signs for $50 INCLUDING DELIVERY. That means a "worldly company" is charging an average of $1.56 for 6" x 24" coro sign riders and the "witness" company is sticking it to the congregations for $12.00 each plus shipping.

  That is almost 800% mark up over what the "worldy" company will do it for. Plus you have to keep in mind that the Signs365.com is making a fair profit at $1.56 each. Kind of makes you wonder if anyone is getting a kick back. Any RBC buyers that use this company either don't care how the publishers funds are spent or are not qualified to make purchases. Either way the publisher gets the short end of it.

  Note: In full disclosure. The way Signs365 works is they print a full 4x8 sheet so you have to order 32 signs at a time. They do not all have to say the same thing. You can get 15 of one 5 of another and so on, but you do need to order 32 signs. Their price is $40 to print a 4x8 sheet of coroplast (full color is free) and $10 shipping. Any sign shop would be happy to stock these signs and sell them for $6 a pop all day long.

  That is just ONE example in that catalog there are dozens.