shepherdless

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Posts by shepherdless

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  22

  I have a theory related to the cult spectrum

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  translating jwfacts into spanish has made me critically analyze pretty much everything paul has written.

  i would say paul is right 90%+ of the time.

  some things are just things that are outdated, on other occasions, things are partially right and just need to be tweaked.anyhow... one of the articles is "where else would i go"?since i am an atheist, ideally, for me, the answer would be "become at least agnostic, if not atheist, and lead an evidence-based life".

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  shepherdless

  Seems a reasonable theory to me.
• 
  46

  The real reason Chelmsford hasn't been stopped

  by Saltheart Foamfollower in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i haven't seen this mentioned yet.

  last year in the uk, shortly after the money grab that everyone had, we had a video and letter (both probably still available from atlantis) appealing for money for the new bethel and slips were handed out etc.

  this means that most uk congregations are sending a regular donation specifically for the chelmsford build.

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  shepherdless

  This Chelmsford projects seems to be quite a drain on the Borg's UK finances. The recently released IBSA 2016 accounts contain:

  
  

  and

  
  

  So they have spent £12,775,126 last year (no mention of costs in preceding years that I can find), and are expecting to spend a further £94 million in the future. That is quite a bit more than I would have thought.
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  18

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

  by darkspilver in

  1. jw
  2. 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).

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  shepherdless

  Have you checked the 'Documents' tab on the Charity Commission's website? Are they the documents you mean? Or, are there others?

  No, I missed that. These appear to be identical to the ones I have. I see it has the 2016 accounts as well. I will have a read, when I get the chance.
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  18

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

  by darkspilver in

  1. jw
  2. 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).

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  shepherdless

  Each UK JW donates £14.59 (US $18.85) EVERY week to the WT

  Darkspilver, the websites you link to are summaries of WTBTS and IBSA financials. I downloaded pdfs of the actual financials last year. (I tried to attach the pdf's; I don't seem able to.)

  In the original accounts, there is no separation out of what was donated from surpluses held by congregations, vs what was donated by individuals. There is a massive increase in cash coming in from 2013 to 2015, and I just don't believe there has been a massive increase in individual donations over that time.

  I should point out that you can't just add WTBTS and IBSA donations together as you did in your calc, as a significant proportion of that money is in the form of "grants", possibly to each other.

  If you just look at cash donations, then WTBTS received £41 million (up from £30 million in 2014 and £8 million in 2013), and IBSA received £14.5 million, (up from £10.6 million in 2014; I don't have 2013 figure).
  

  (41 + 14.5) million / 138,261 / 52 = £7.72 per week.

  However, the figure may be lower, for reasons stated earlier.

  I downloaded the all the UK 2015 accounts from a link Barbara Anderson put up in around August last year. I don't know if it is still available.
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  18

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

  by darkspilver in

  1. jw
  2. 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).

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  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.
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  12

  Looking for an original copy of The Finished Mystery 1918

  by dogon in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

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

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  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.
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  18

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

  by darkspilver in

  1. jw
  2. 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).

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  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.
  
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  13

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

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. 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 .

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  shepherdless

  Thanks Blondie
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  3

  Watchtower in Australia - Number of Corporations

  by Onager in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  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!.

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  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.
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  25

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

  by Witness 007 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  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.

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  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.