shepherdless

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Posts by shepherdless

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  45

  Britain Branch to Cease Printing Sooner Than Expected

  by The Searcher in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've received the following news from a reliable and trusted source: .

  the demise of printing literature in the u.k. is being brought forward by one year - to march 2018. graphic design and printing support will go too.

  large numbers of "disposable" bethelites will now have to make their own way in the world, when their "mother" abandons them.

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  shepherdless

  sbf and darkspilver have already said more eloquently what I would have said.

  Watchtower lost the practical ability to charge a fixed price for its magazines in 1990, which damaged the business model. In the last decade the business model was destroyed when people started to refuse to pay anything for magazines. Shortening the magazines, consolidating the printing presses, and offering them in electronic format only stems the losses. They are in decline, and haven't found a solution as yet.

  As sbf says, Chelmsford was conceived and planned before the collapse in the business model became apparent. As darkspilver points out, the Borg has shrunk the project in response. Now the Borg has to make the decision of whether to shut it down and wear the loss, or waste further funds building a big white elephant. I have a low opinion of the Borg's management ability, and my guess is that they will fall for "sunk cost fallacy" and actually build the white elephant.

  One final point; a lot of people here think the Borg is morphing into a real estate business. Maybe that is the plan, but a lot of real estate companies with better management go broke. Let them try. It will probably hasten the demise.
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  22

  Reunited With My Brother

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my little brother on the left exited the cult after 29 years.. me in the middle.. my older brother on the right stopped his bible study after discovering ttatton youtube videos.. never lose hope guys!.

  .

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  shepherdless

  I see a picture of a man who is articulate, decent, probably charismatic, and is pulling his family members one by one and others that he can, out of the clutches of the Borg; bookended by his brothers in that photo. Strangely, he looks just like I imagined, apart from hair colour.

  Pale emperor, I salute you (but not your fashion sense; tracksuit!). Please keep up the good fight.
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  65

  My Younger Brother Has Left The Witnesses!! :-D

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  absolutely thrilled to give you the news that my younger brother, a zealous full-time pioneer has left the witnesses!!.

  i haven't seen or spoke to him in a year.

  i'd lost all contact with him, no facebook, no mobile number, i didn't even know his address because he'd moved house.

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  shepherdless

  Awesome! Congratulations!
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  48

  US Republican congressman, others injured by shooter in Washington DC

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  tragic occurrence:.

  http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/steve-scalise-shot-in-virginia-aide-also-hit/ar-bbcfakv?li=bbnb7kz.

  i saw another report indicating that the gunman may have targetting gop members.

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  shepherdless

  Personally, I don't think the problem is so much with the second amendment itself, but in the way it has been recently interpreted. I just can not accept that the founding fathers intended a "well regulated militia" to include every lone nutter who wanted to own an assault rifle. What does the word "regulated" mean?

  i might as well chuck in a few stats at this point. I am sure everyone knows them and most of you ignore them:

  USA: 89 guns per 100 people,

  Canada: 31 guns per 100 people

  NZ: 23 guns per 100 people

  Aust: 15 guns per 100 people

  Homicide rate per 100,000 population (guns only):

  USA: 2.97

  Canada: 0.51

  NZ: 0.16

  Aust: 0.14

  So broadly, more guns in circulation mean more gun homicides, but that does not explain the ridiculously high number of gun homicides in USA. I suspect it mainly relates to the type of guns available in USA, gaps in regulation, and a madcap notion by some gun owners that they are self appointed guardians against government tyranny.

  You don't have to eliminate guns to eliminate most gun homicide. Eg Australia has one twentieth of the homicide rate from guns that USA has. In Australia, you can still own as many guns as you like. However, if you want to own a gun, you have to go through a lengthy process to get a licence, including explaining why you want one. You can't just get one because you feel like it, but anyone with a genuine need (farmers, sports shooters, hunters etc) has little trouble. Most, if not all, police carry guns when in uniform.
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  66

  Do you think the general public cares about former Jehovah's witnesses?

  by Christian Gutierrez in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was wondering if you guys think if the general public cares about our stories or if they even care what the watchtower does to people??

  ?.

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  shepherdless

  Most people I have spoken to know absolutely nothing about JW's, apart from them being annoying door knockers. They know nothing about shunning or it being a high control group. Some know they are against blood transfusions and think they are nutters for that reason.

  As a result, extremely few people know that there is an ex JW community. Some people are gobsmacked or plan don't believe me when I tell them about it.

  i think though that Watchtower is just one of many high control groups that most people know nothing about. They differ from the others in that they are one of the largest, and have left a larger paper trail than most. Thankfully the general public seems to be coming more aware of high control groups and the dangers associated with them.
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  48

  US Republican congressman, others injured by shooter in Washington DC

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  tragic occurrence:.

  http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/steve-scalise-shot-in-virginia-aide-also-hit/ar-bbcfakv?li=bbnb7kz.

  i saw another report indicating that the gunman may have targetting gop members.

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  shepherdless

  An actual REAL tyrannical government would disarm the people first, doesn't that make more sense???

  To me, that mindset is at the core of the problem. Most Western democracies operate fine, with the population disarmed. They are not tyrannys.

  When you have a mentality that the second amendment:

  (a) means that any individual nutter should be permitted to own an assault rifle; and

  (b) is for the purpose of keeping the government in check,

  it is inevitable there are going to be incidents like this. I am surprised they do not occur more often.

  I should add that I don't know what type of rifle was used in this case, and I am not someone who advocates a complete ban on all guns. I do think that gun laws in USA are absurd, the current interpretation of the second amendment is absurd, and both combined cause tens of thousands of deaths; deaths that shouldn't occur in a wealthy modern democracy.
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  48

  US Republican congressman, others injured by shooter in Washington DC

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  tragic occurrence:.

  http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/steve-scalise-shot-in-virginia-aide-also-hit/ar-bbcfakv?li=bbnb7kz.

  i saw another report indicating that the gunman may have targetting gop members.

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  shepherdless

  Wasn't the gunman just exercising his second amendment right as a ciitizen (as argued by Republicans and decided by Republican Supreme Court judges), to keep the government in check?

  i guess those Republicans should be glad the gunman didn't exercise his constitutional right to use an assault rifle (a weapon the Republicans made legal in USA but with no practical use apart from killing lots of people quickly).
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  24

  Could we have a topic subject on just watchtower organization news?

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  for kingdom hall and branch closings, leaked documents and videos, number of baptisms at assemblies, news articles on child abuse and other.

  etc.

  thank you.

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  shepherdless

  Here is something that might interest for nowwhat:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDFs5b-aNT4

  It seems someone hacked into the sound system at a KH during a meeting, and inserted recordings from the Aust Royal Commission, etc. I suspect some here might not approve of this sort of activism, but I couldn't help but see the funny side of it.
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  6

  Did Watchtower get any money from the Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation?

  by jwfacts in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  the holocaust victim assets litigation (swiss banks) cv-96-4849 is a fund to compensate people suffering from the holocaust.

  as stated at swissbankclaims.com/index.asp (3 mar 2006);.

  "this is the official information website for the holocaust victim assets litigation against swiss banks and other swiss entities.

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  shepherdless

  I can't find the report I referred to in my earlier post. It was an attachment to a post on the JW Recovery site, which no longer exists.
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  44

  I appreciate "our" free speech.

  by The Rebel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i had given serious consideration too leaving the board.

  i rationalised my views on " muslims" we're not held by the majority so i should leave.

  but this would have been wrong thinking, instead i should appreciate the platform i was given to debate with free speech.

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  shepherdless

  Hi Rebel,

  I would be disappointed if you or anyone else left because they felt their opinion was in the minority. Further, I think these pages would be pretty boring if they were merely an echo chamber of one viewpoint.