Congratulations, Marilyn en famille! He sounds a pretty good size for a preemie. What a precious thing a newborn is!
I love his name too.
Pat
patio34
JoinedPosts by patio34
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38
Mulan has a new grandson!
by Princess inmy brother's wife gave birth this afternoon to a 5lb 7oz baby boy.
he was five weeks early (we knew he would be a preemie) and both mom and baby are well.
it's quite a relief really.
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37
I've been on the board 3 years today
by ballistic ini've been on the board 3 years today.
well, 3 years have gone, that's one hell of a lot of lurking, not to mention posting fluff.
even worse posting inane dribble while having drunk too much like last night.
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patio34
A toast to you Ballistic!
Blondie asked YOU, but I'd like to answer too as these are thought-provoking questions:
When you first posted, did you see yourself here 3 years later?
Yes, I did. I felt as if I were on the right road and was eager to put more time and distance between me and JWs!
Do you remember how you felt when you first posted?
The 1st "apostate" sites I looked at, I felt as if I were eating the "forbidden fruit"!! But on this site, it felt really comfortable.
How long did you lurk before you took the plunge?
I don't think I lurked at all as I'm very outgoing and "chatty," lol.
Thanks Blondie!
Pat
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Meeting Family after many years
by Thirdson innext week the thirdson family is traveling to thirdson's country of birth.
we will be attending the wedding of a nephew and will meet nearly all the family at the event.
this includes two jw siblings and their families who i have not seen in almost 10 years.
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patio34
Hi Thirdson!
I hope your vacation goes great! It's nice to hear from you again too!
Pat
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Why do X-Witnesses have a higher divorce rate?
by Joker10 insome time ago i asked how many of you have divorced to get the idea if x-jws posters have a higher or a lower divorce rate than the general population.
of those who responded 86% have been divorced.
studies show inactive and x- witnesses, not only have a considerable higher rate of divorce than current members, but even higher than of the general population.
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patio34
Some time ago i asked how many of you have divorced to get the idea if X-JWs posters have a higher or a lower divorce rate than the general population. Of those who responded 86% have been divorced. (6 out of 7)
I missed the question originally. Did you qualify that as ones who had gotten divorced while an active JW? Just because an ex-JW is divorced doesn't mean they divored after leaving the JWs.
Pat
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I'm thinking about attending a Unitarian Universalist service this Sunday
by DanTheMan inthoughts?
opinions?
experiences?
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patio34
Some of my workmates go to the local UU church. These are also politically activists on the left side mostly. I went about 5-6 times last summer. Here's what it was like at the local one.
Out of the four-five Sunday mornings that I went, only one person who was the speaker mentioned "God" and she apologized to the atheists (most of the audience).
The tenets of the local group seem to be
- Belief in god is optional
- There are no doctrines
- It's an educational, philosophical group with a lot of activities and very friendly
- It's concerned with activism and I heard a speaker from an African country talking about the political conditions there
- I heard a speaker one evening from the ACLU and the head local librarian talk against the Patriot Act
- They helped their local members much more than the JWs EVER did
- They welcomed gay couples and celebrated anniversaries, etc. with them
- They had a local Buddhist meditation group that met during the week, lol
- On Friday nights last summer they had "movie" night with thoughtful popular normal movies (some rated "R") and then a discussion afterwards. They had lots of popcorn, & snacks. It was really fun. An older couple said one evening "I just can't get over them saying f**k in the movies nowadays!" I replied that I couldn't believe I was hearing the word f**k in a church, lol!
All in all it was a pretty lively group. It's just that Sunday morning isn't a time I'm looking to fill with activity, lol. Besides, I didn't like running into my boss all the time!! But all in all, it was a very enjoyable group with a lot of social and educational opportunities. More like a philosphy society than a religion though!
Pat
P. S. I think I've talked myself into going back!
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patio34
I'm glad this poem was restored.
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Which America Hating Minority Are You?
by SixofNine in.
take the test: http://robertandtim.topcities.com/quiz/minority/minorityquiz.html.
i'm european (musta been something in the water watour) .
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patio34
Fun quiz, Six! I was "an intellectual." How flattering.
But for the record, we don't hate America--we love it! But as Kerry says "We can do better!!" "Help is on the way!"
Pat
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patio34
HS,
Your posts should be offered as a tutorial example for all of us! They're masterful and thanks for your mature observations.
Pat
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patio34
Oh, Lewis, I think that's a very deeply moving poem that brings home the horrors of all wars. Thanks for posting it.
Pat
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Does religion play a big part in world politics?
by sleepy innoting that britain?s prime minister and americas?
president are both supposed to be actively religious i wonder how big apart there religious outlook plays in the decisions they make.
being non-religious myself i would be keen to see, no influence at all, but the only countries that have put that into practise are the communist ones, and we know what happened there.
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patio34
I still can't believe that the USA is so willing to be a patsy of Israel and used so much. Maybe it's just the rest-of-the-world that sees it but from where we're standing, you are getting used and I cannot see what America get's out of it. You have people in high office who are not working for the US interests, that's for sure. --Simon
A friend of mine is very pro-Israel. I asked her once if she was Jewish, she said no, but she had read Leon Uris's Exodus and saw the movie as a teen. She was so affected by this that she wanted to live in a kibbutz and then married a Jewish man. Another friend said, "well if you had read a moving novel about Palestinians instead, would you have felt the same way about them instead of Jews?" She said, probably.
But I don't think that the US isn't getting anything out of supporting Israel. It would seem that they have a very valuable ally in the Middle East that mostly is decidedly unfriendly to the US. That's a lot of oil over there to have only enemies in control of, it would seem. Plus, Israel could be an "on-site" enforcer of what the US wants done.
Really, probably nothing is done completely altruistically between nations.
Blondie, thanks for the information about the Balfour Declaration. I had read that in my Dummies' Guide to the Middle East Conflict, but didn't connect it.
Pat