IMO, you have a great eye for what constitutes a great photograph. Wonderful composition. Kyoto looks beautiful. Raise a glass of sake for JWD.
Posts by Quotes
-
34SNG in Kyoto: Picture collection!
by seattleniceguy inhey gang!.
sng here, reporting live in japan.
i've just returned from a three-day trip to kyoto, which must surely be one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
-
-
-
1093
THE NEWS IS BIGGER THAN DATELINE, BBC, CBC, ETC.
by AndersonsInfo inif i told you that something bigger is on the horizon than dateline, bbc, cbc, sunday (australia), and all other tv programs which exposed the sexual child abuse cover-up by watchtower in 2002-2003, would you believe me?
have i ever misled you?
i'll answer that--no!
-
-
Quotes
My guesses, the only things big enough to be as big as Barb is suggesting:
(1) WTS is eliminating the Blood transfusion prohibition. They have been working on it for years, working toward it for years, slowly and quietly reducing the restrictions, allowing more fractions, with internal memos stating that the "new understanding" is correct, but it can't be revealed in order to avoid "confusing" the brethren. Meanwhile, even though they know the policy is channging, they still enforce the old policy, and people died simply because the new policy had not yet been fully and completely announced. Internal memos debating whether they should let ShunnedFather's daughter die, and ultimately deciding that it is OK to sacrifice her, because it is way too soon to release the new policy.
...or...
(2) Something *BIG* with money, something criminally big, something big enough to get the attention of the I.R.S., something with clear and irrefutable proof.
...or...
(3) The Worldly rulers, having destroyed Babylon the Great, are now turning their attention toward God's Organization. Armageddon is finally here. Fear Not!
OK, just kidding about the last one! :) -
1093
THE NEWS IS BIGGER THAN DATELINE, BBC, CBC, ETC.
by AndersonsInfo inif i told you that something bigger is on the horizon than dateline, bbc, cbc, sunday (australia), and all other tv programs which exposed the sexual child abuse cover-up by watchtower in 2002-2003, would you believe me?
have i ever misled you?
i'll answer that--no!
-
-
Quotes
Like most, I am intrigued and look forward to this announcement. However, remember that WTS has survived numerous scandals in the past.
- WTS was wrong about: 1914, 1925, 1975 would mark the start of the New System (tm).
- luxurious mansions in California and upsate New York for the exclusive use of the cult's leader (Rutherford)
- pyriamidology was once a key belief; it is now considered occult and pagan. IOW, their religion is based on paganism; but there is no contradiction.
- vacinnations were once "a violation of God's law"; now they are OK
- organ transplants were once cannibalism; now they are OK
- Russell said that if they ever had to pass a hat asking for money, it would be a sign they don't have Divine Blessing; JWs now *ROUTINELY* subjected to lenghty talks (i.e. indoctrination programs) where they are pestered for money and presented with novel ways to give their estate to WTS
- African JWs were allowed to be slaughtered for refusing a "political party card"; meanwhile Mexican JWs were given explicit permission to use illegal bribes to purchase a "Military Service Card/Cartilla"
- after years of study, the French gov't removes tax-free status from dozens and dozens of "religions" which it has determined are "cults". WTS judged to owe back-taxes. Instead of "paying Ceasar's things to Ceasar" (hey, that is a catchy phrase!! Who said that???), they simply move out of the country, bills unpaid. They then try and pretend they were forced out due to Catholic backed government persecution. (I assume their business model can not survive being taxed like every other normal publishing business). BTW, suggesting that the Catholic influences the strongly Secular French gov't is like suggesting that Catholics run the WTS -- there is no way it could happen in a million years.
- United Nations is the Wild Beast(tm); but WTS obtained approved association with that Beast(tm); meanwhile you could be DF'd for working out at the YMCA because on the grounds you are associating with God's enemies. There is no contradiction.
- WTS clear and explicit written policy is grossly slanted in such a way to neglect child victims of sexual abuse and prevent sexual predators from being brought to justice or investigated by trained, competent experts. As a result, there is mountains of documented evidence of longtime repeat offenders preying for years with impunity and hiding within the safe confines of the JW community.
Don't get me wrong, it would be GREAT to add to this list. Every one of these "Revelations" has helped free some people from the stifling grip of Watchtowerism. I'm just a little too jaded to get my hopes about the potential impact any new revelaions could have.
Although there is that story about the straw that broke the camel's back. -
26
Anyone ever go on one of those bus trips to bethel?
by limbogirl inback in the late eighties while still in high school instead of doing something fun for spring break i got an all expense paid trip to bethel.
on a bus no less with about 75 other jws headed to the promised land.
somewhere i still have a photo album filled with snapshots of the printing presses and all of the "cadets" happily churning out literature -- and of course all of the female cadets happily scrubbing toilets and doing laundry.
-
-
Quotes
Yup, did one with my (now ex-) wife. Two busloads of plebes in total. My wife and I were privleged to sit next to the toilet on the way down; which promptly broke. The rear of the bus (i.e. our section) stank of human waste and chemicals for most of the 12 hour trip. Yum.
Oh, and someone died in our group on about the 2nd or 3rd day. She was a married mother of two, and suffered from Lupus. Intersting results from that death:
(1) the trip continued... after a prayer was said on the bus, of course. We then headed out for our next stop on the tour. I guess we can't let something like untimely death cut short a tour of a printing factory now, can we! Nope, those are JEHOVAH'S high speed presses out there boy! And look at how clean the floors are, too!
(2) We took a collection to help the grieving family with their expenses. Brother Elder-In-Charge asked me to announce and pass the hat on my bus. I (a married young man just starting out and trying to make ends meet) started the pot with $20. Forty-five people later, the collection came back to me to count: $75. I couldn't decide who I was more angry at: the others for being so cheap, or myself for being uniquely over generous. I quicly realized that there was no reason in being angry with myself.
~Quotes -
38
Mention of Jehovah's Witnesses in popular entertainment
by enderby ini don't know if this thread has been done before, but can anybody think of times that jehovah's witnesses were made mention of or joked about in music, tv, or movies?
for example,there are a couple of simpsons episodes, one were marge alludes to being so desperate for company that jehovah's witnesses ran away when she went to get them more lemonade.
another time, two jw's approach the simpsons' house and one turns to the other just before ringing the doorbell and asks "ruby, do you ever think we should get real jobs?".
-
-
Quotes
The opening clip from the very, very first "Family Guy" TV Show.
Peter Griffin (the father) is talking about how dangerous the neighborhood was on the TV show "Brady Bunch".
Just then there is a knock at the door, and you can see through the front window a woman looking very much like the famous "Aunt Jamima" from the pancake brand of the same name, asking if Peter Griffin wants any pancakes.
After politely refusing, Peter says "In this neighborhood, all we have to worry about is Jamima's Witnesses!" -
126
Let's play a game - Follow the WTS $$ trail
by watch the tower ina huge question that i have in the back of my mind regarding the wts is where all of the money ends up.
no one really has a conclusive answer to that.
i think it would reveal a lot if we were able to find out.. i know there have been various threads in the past where it revealed a clue here and a clue there.
-
-
Quotes
Adding: life is very, very good for Mr. McCabe, Esq.
Take a look around the Discovery Bay address. Golf courses, inland waterways for yachts, Country Clubs. Very nice indeed.
As Mel Brooks would say, "It's good to be the king". -
126
Let's play a game - Follow the WTS $$ trail
by watch the tower ina huge question that i have in the back of my mind regarding the wts is where all of the money ends up.
no one really has a conclusive answer to that.
i think it would reveal a lot if we were able to find out.. i know there have been various threads in the past where it revealed a clue here and a clue there.
-
-
Quotes
Life if good for JAMES M MCCABE. His office is just a few blocks fromt the pier in San Diego: Satellite image of Jame's office neighborhood
I wonder how a vinyard at 11680 BYRON HWY, BYRON CA, is associated with Mr. McCabe, Esq? That vinyard is 459 miles away from his office, and is actually much closer to San Sanfransico that it is to San Diego. Certainly doesn't sound like your usually real estate transaction.
The Byron address certainly appears to be agricultural, from a sattellite imgage. You can also see that the Vinyard's Byron Hwy address is only about 5.8 minutes from the 2442 PINEHURST CT, DISCOVERY BAY, CA which is the address listed fro Mr. McCabe, Esq, on the deed for the vinyard. Satellite image of this neighborhood.
So, we have a San Diego attorny that specializes in (inter alia) Wealth Transfer strategies, who is listed as the mailing address recipient on an agricultural property located way, way up in Contra Costa County (over 450 miles away), but the mailing address for this magical lawyer that can transcend time and space is yet another propery (residential) 10 minutes away from the vinyard. -
126
Let's play a game - Follow the WTS $$ trail
by watch the tower ina huge question that i have in the back of my mind regarding the wts is where all of the money ends up.
no one really has a conclusive answer to that.
i think it would reveal a lot if we were able to find out.. i know there have been various threads in the past where it revealed a clue here and a clue there.
-
-
Quotes
Atlantis: good work.
A question of "provenance": from where did you get all that information?
~Q -
126
Let's play a game - Follow the WTS $$ trail
by watch the tower ina huge question that i have in the back of my mind regarding the wts is where all of the money ends up.
no one really has a conclusive answer to that.
i think it would reveal a lot if we were able to find out.. i know there have been various threads in the past where it revealed a clue here and a clue there.
-
-
Quotes
jgnat said:
=======
There MAY NOT be anybody in charge. The machine runs itself.
=======
That has been my opinion for quite some time. Most personalisty cults die out when their leader dies, in the same way that sole proprietorship businesses end when the owner dies.
But C.T.Russell was a businessman first, and he set up a corporation. Corporations are entities under the law, and survive the death of any employee or director or board member. When Russell died, Rutherford (illegally) seized power, and improved the efficiency of the little machine that Russell had built.
Following the money: IMO, a huge amount of it is utterly wasted as a result of poor decisions made by incompetent "managers". Get a roomful of ex-bethelites together and ask them about stupid projects that waste resources. You'll have an evening of conversation and still only scratch the surface. Only one example: the constant need to buy ever newer, ever faster, ever more expensive printing presses, despite the fact the exisiting ones are adequate.
Here is an equation for you:
Unneccesary purchases (i.e. poor business case to justify them)
*PLUS* disastrous implementation/project management
*EQUALS* money wasted on a huge white elephant that eventually gets written off.
For all you lurkers that are thinking "yeah, but the fact they've survived so long proves they have divine support", remember this: WTS pays zero taxes, and almost no wages. The little machine that Russell/Rutherford built would never have survived if it had to deal with the business realities that normal, regular businesses deal with everyday.
Or put another way: A deaf, dumb, and blind animal is quickly slaughtered in the wild, but if you put it in a zoo where it is protected it can exist for years. The WTS is a deaf, dumb, and blind animal that only survives by virtue of the fact that it is in a "zoo" called "Non-Profiti, zero tax". And the animal called WTS has not only survived, but managed to get quite fat in the process.
Oh, one more thing. When you or I invest in a mutual fund, they state (both in prospectus and in annual report) exactly what industries and industry segments your money is going to be invested in. Mutual funds are basically just like a private investment, except that the Fund Managaer pools everyone's money and invests it (in the case of a private fund like the Henrietta fund, all the money comes from just one investor).
Ssssooooo..... I think it is reasonable to conclude that at least the *creator* of the trust account (Henrietta) knows about the holdings, and where the money is invested. As merely a beneficiary, WTS might not automatically have access to that information (and certainly has zero control over direction of investments), but they could (should!) ask. And assuming that the fund creator (Henrietta) is a JW (why else would she give a trust to WTS???), she should be doing "due dilligence" to ensure her funds are invested according to her ethical requirements -- as established by WTS recommendations. It shold be as simple as looking at the quarterly reports from her Trust Fund Manager.
It is interesting that JWs are told (quote provided by others above) to not invest in certain companies, but when it is their own cash flow they either "turn a blind eye" or expect Henrietta to ignore their rules on ethics.
~Quotes, of the "business analyst" class -
30
Did the JW religion add stress to your life?
by JH ini was very stressed when i was an active jw.
i hated going to meetings, knocking at doors, preparing meetings and so on.. i hated talking in front of a group.
there was too much to read and to prepare, and never felt like i was good enough.. last night i took a walk and passed in front of the book study where i was just a few months ago.
-
-
Quotes
defd said:
====
I can imagine that is what alot of people said about Noah and his family. "I am glad I am not inside with them and all those stinky animals!"
====
And I can imagine this is what many people said about Sodommites: "I am glad I am not inside with those pederasts, awaiting destruction by God the Almighty for their sins, their arrogance, their duplicity."
defd, If you want to use a stupid "Bumper Sticker Christian" analogy, be prepared to receive, as well as give.
BTW, you should be careful you don't get into trouble with the Society: you are confirming the secret that Watchtower does NOT want anyone to know: they (JWs) are an elitist group that thinks that they alone, like Noah and his family, will survive armageddon. It's a secret because, if you go to the jw-media.org website, and look at the F.A.Q., they soft-peddle and back-peddle their exclusivity stance, and imply that they have a much more open belief. Of course, if anyone trained in WTS DoubleSpeak reads the F.A.Q., they will see that nothing has changed and the WTS still thinks that everyone in the world that is not a JW is DoublePlusUnGood and will be destroyed (just like everyone outside the Ark, to use your own above-posted analogy).
So, in order to prevent yourself from getting in trouble by WTS, don't go around telling the world the truth about The Truth. Like many other groups (Scientologist, Branch Davidians, Mormons, Hare Krishnas, etc immediately spring to mind) Doctrine must be taught to new members in a controlled environment, otherwise it will "confuse newly interested persons". Your post above, by factually and correctly relating JW doctrine, is potentially "confusing newly interested persons" because they are not ready to understand that JWs are an exclusivist group. Shame on you. Based on my experiences in doing pretty much the same thing, expect a letter from WTS legal shortly.