Posts by shepherdless

18

UK JWs go up 72 places in latest 2017 Charity 250 Index (2nd highest climbers)

by darkspilver in

jw
friends

i'm not really sure what this charity 250 index is trying to do.

partly because i'd expect a few big household name charities to be on it at the top.

i've copied the table below - see positions 19 (up from 70) and 130 (up from 202).

shepherdless

Also, while not a donation but a non-secured loan, Watchtower Australia has run its operations into the red by passing millions onto Watchtower Britain.

Yes. Here is the entry in IBSA's (UK) accounts that proves the point jwleaks is making:

So it is an interest free loan of over A$5 million, unsecured and non-refundable for at least 5 years. I am sure we would all like one of those.

Keep in mind that donations from Watchtower branches all over Europe and Africa make their way to Watchtower Britain.

I am not so sure of that. It seems to me that a lot of cash goes out to Jehovaz Zeugen, Germany, which then gets sent onto Watchtower Bible Tract Society of New York, Inc, although trying to interpret what is going on, is not easy.

I am actually surprised there aren't more people here interested in trying to work out what is going on with Watchtower finances. The next set of UK accounts should be available in around 3 months, and it will probably reveal a better picture of the financial position, at least in UK, as the effects of the once off money grab should have washed through by then.

12

Looking for an original copy of The Finished Mystery 1918

by dogon in

if anyone has a original copy of the finished mystery 1918 they would sell contact me at [email protected].

shepherdless

I did see an original on eBay not that long ago. Pricey.

I somehow downloaded a soft copy for free, some time ago. The quality of the scan was not great, and the book seems to be gobbledygook nonsense, one of the most poorly written books I have ever tried to read, so I gave up reading it about a quarter of the way through.

My copy had the "offending part", pages 247 to 253 separated out but attached at the end. (I think from memory, it was only a small section from those pages that led to the prosecution.) Frankly, I am a little surprised anyone managed to keep reading it to page 247, to find the seditious paragraphs.

18

UK JWs go up 72 places in latest 2017 Charity 250 Index (2nd highest climbers)

by darkspilver in

jw
friends

i'm not really sure what this charity 250 index is trying to do.

partly because i'd expect a few big household name charities to be on it at the top.

i've copied the table below - see positions 19 (up from 70) and 130 (up from 202).

shepherdless

The rankings are almost certainly based upon WTBTS of Britain accounts for the year ended Aug 2015, and the IBSA accounts for the same date.

i was going to do a separate post on these accounts (and the Kingdom Hall Trust), but it is a big task, and I didn't have the time. The accounts are complicated, and opaque.

Nevertheless, the mystery here is easily solved.

"Voluntary income" for WTBTS increased from £35,525,338 to £61,030,638. Hence the increase from 70th to 19th.

"Voluntary income" for IBSA increased from £22,500,616 to £32,289,275. Hence the increase from 202nd to 130th.

In both cases, my interpretation of the accounts is that the increase is the result of the "new arrangements" under which all the congregations willingly donated their accumulated funds above a certain amount. The accounts don't breakdown what proportion of the voluntary income comes from this ~~snatch and run~~ "new arrangement", but given "Voluntary income" in the "Restricted fund" category actually decreased over the same period (from £1,606,031 to £390,051), I would guess that actual donations from the drones have been on the decrease, perhaps a significant decrease.

If I am right, the "increase" is nothing more than the Borg using up its internal savings, at a considerable rate, but this is not immediately apparent, because the accounts for WTBTS and IBSA are separate from the accounts of each individual congregation.

I did see the Aust accounts at one stage, and it did look like the increase could be similarly explained.

13

Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 4-23-2017 WT Study (LEAD)

by blondie in

jw
friends

blondie’s comments you will not hear at the april 23, 2017 wt study (february 2017) (leads).

excellent general website: www.jwfacts.com .

bible translations www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible .

shepherdless

Thanks Blondie

3

Watchtower in Australia - Number of Corporations

by Onager in

can anyone link me the thread where the number of watchtower companies in australia was compared to other religions?

my search-fu is weak this morning.

cheers!.

shepherdless

If you are just after names, you can try:

https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/RegistrySearch/faces/landing/bn/SearchBnRegisters.jspx?_adf.ctrl-state=ymtz9877k_39

Try searching using "Jehovah", "Kingdom", and "Watchtower". Most will be state registered "business names", not ASIC companies, because charities are usually just state registered "incorporated associations", not federally registered Pty Ltd companies.

25

Solar power rip off! Aussie government destroyed free electricity. Scum!

by Witness 007 in

so my friends have had free power for years thanks to solar panels and a great contract with power company.

they even get credits for having 20 panels on thier roof!

i put 18 solar panels on my roof cost $9900 dollars.

shepherdless

Hydro is the best, but there are no new locations with the right topography in Australia to build them. In fact, there aren't that many new places in the Western world left where they could be built. (Still a lot that could be built elsewhere.)

Battery farms might become more viable if the price continues to drop. That would be a game changer for both solar and wind energy. In Aust, there are already household battery storage units being sold to compliment solar units, but that says more about the exorbitant electricity prices from the grid, than whether batteries are economically viable. A more traditional alternative to battery storage would be something like the Dinorwig pumped storage scheme, but there are probably no suitable sites. Even without storage, solar is a part of the solution, and each state now has a significant proportion of its electricity from solar.

Personally, I think the long term answers are nuclear (reliable base load power), and biofuels (for transport). Both are obviously controversial.

25

Solar power rip off! Aussie government destroyed free electricity. Scum!

by Witness 007 in

so my friends have had free power for years thanks to solar panels and a great contract with power company.

they even get credits for having 20 panels on thier roof!

i put 18 solar panels on my roof cost $9900 dollars.

shepherdless

I think it would be helpful to give some background.

Some years ago, various Australian state governments (there are 6 Australian states) offered substantial incentives to homeowners to install solar panels on their rooftops. The scheme varied from state to state, but generally it was along the lines that, there were subsidies for the instal, and a contract to sell excess electricity back to the grid at the same rate electricity companies sell power.

The scheme was far more successful than expected, to the point it became a problem. State governments responded in stages by first reducing then eliminating subsidies, and the buy back rate of electricity was reduced substantially.

There is no doubt that those who got in early got a good deal. Those deals are long gone. An offsetting factor is that the cost of such systems has fallen dramatically over time. The 18 panel system referred to by the OP is probably a 3.6kW system. I have recently received an ad from the people who installed mine, for a 6kW system for only A$3000. (I got a reasonable deal on a small system, but nothing like the deal some of the first people got.)

I suspect that the OP was caught in an intermediate stage where state govts were trying to reduce the subsidies. A few years ago, my state govt tried to do something underhand in that regard, but did not get away with it.

For me, a far bigger issue in Australia is why over a 20 year period, Australia went from having the cheapest electricity in the Western world to the most expensive. Some people blame privatization, but look at WA where the entire system is still 100% govt owned. The reason is complicated, but at its core is a major government failure.

16

I Await the Call

by compound complex in

jw
friends

my day's long and arduous journey winds down.. infinite night gracefully descends and takes me into her.

welcomed embrace.. i have no reason to fear the inevitable,.

that transition into a higher and.

shepherdless

This not normally my style, but I will give it a go:

Night may have fallen but tomorrow is a new day

What might I face next; who can say

Will my future be short or long; I do not know

What will I do? Where will I go?

I am bound to face trials and tragedies along the way

I might get knocked down, but I won't fade away

I am going to use my time; so much more to do and see

Whatever happens, my ethics and pride will always remain within me.

63

Evolution is a Fact #27 - Monkeys, Typewriters, Shakespeare, 747s etc.

by cofty in

most creationist arguments can be summarised as "complexity, complexity, complexity - therefore god".

we have all heard the illustrations about the odds of (insert favourite example) evolving, being less than 10,000 monkeys typing macbeth by pure chance.

evolution is not like that.

shepherdless

Hooberus, thanks for the link. Now I see where you get your ideas from. You are quoting from an online textbook (must be over 1000 pages) by Professor Mark Ridley. It looks like a fantastic resource. Each chapter finishes with a summary, and a quiz, to see if you have understood.

You seem to have not understood the issue though. Your quote is from the "A-Z Browser" which is the definition section for all of the various terms used. You should read "Chapter 7: Natural Selection and Random Drift in Molecular Evolution". This is a long chapter dealing with the issue of what proportion of changes in proteins and DNA are due to "natural selection" vs "random drift". Here is a link to the summary page at the end of that chapter:

https://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ridley/tutorials/Molecular_evolution_and_neutral_theory_Summary.asp

A more succinct summary would be, to quote Richard Dawkins:

"It is becoming increasingly clear that most molecular evolution is due to natural drift."

The important point is that, although the issue has been a matter of considerable debate in the scientific world, it does not in any way undermine the theory of evolution.

86

Susan Rice Sought Names of Trump Associates in Intel?

by freemindfade in

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-03/top-obama-adviser-sought-names-of-trump-associates-in-intel.

what can we make of this?

rice is on record being a racist and lying about benghazi, now this?

shepherdless

freemindfade - it is a potentially huge constitutional issue. If it could be proven that she used national security secrets for partisan politics it's a felony and she will go to prison.

Well, I suppose if the info was being used for partisan politics, that would be serious, although I wonder whether exposing a Russian spy in the Trump team (to take a hypothetical example) would be a legitimate matter to bring to the public. However, judging from the reports, she asked for the names after the election, so there wouldn't have been any point from a partisan political viewpoint, so doesn't seem to be a possible motive. What am I missing?

Further, if she was aware there may be a potential spy or traitor in the Trump team, as National Security Advisor, wouldn't it be her duty to find out who?

By the way, I don't watch any US tv news, so I can't comment on any of them, and don't want to be dragged into that discussion either.