Posts by shepherdless

44

Covid lung damage worse than from heavy smoking

by FatFreek 2005 in

we've probably all heard it, "i wish i could get the covid and that way it would be behind me", as if it were some annoying rite of passage.

"sure, i'll lose my senses of smell and taste for awhile, i'll lose my strength for awhile", etc.. what else could be the reasoning for ignoring the social distancing to attend maskless parties and similar large group gatherings?.

however, looking at the following xray images of certain lungs may help impress some folks into thinking that there are more serious happenings in the attack progression of this virus.

shepherdless

Going back a page in this thread (been out and about):

me:

My understanding is that, as a result, neither Pfizer nor BioNTech received any “Warp Speed” funding. About the only thing the Trump administration can take credit for, is getting both vaccines approved quickly.

S:

They received a $2bn purchase order in advance of the vaccine being developed. Stop pretending there was no involvement.

According to Wikipedia, Operation Warp Speed delivered $10 billion to 6 companies or JVs, from 15 April to 11 August 2020, to develop a vaccine. Neither BioNTech nor Pfizer on the list. Details are here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Warp_Speed

Note the quote:

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said that the company decided against taking Warp Speed funding for the development of the vaccine out of a desire "to liberate our scientists [from] any bureaucracy that comes with having to give reports and agree how we are going to spend the money in parallel or together

The government did however buy 100 million doses from Pfizer, at $19.95 each. 100 million x 19.95 = $1.95 billion. I presume this is the origin of the $2 billion figure. Here is a link to a news article on the purchase:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/us/politics/pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine.html

44

Covid lung damage worse than from heavy smoking

by FatFreek 2005 in

we've probably all heard it, "i wish i could get the covid and that way it would be behind me", as if it were some annoying rite of passage.

"sure, i'll lose my senses of smell and taste for awhile, i'll lose my strength for awhile", etc.. what else could be the reasoning for ignoring the social distancing to attend maskless parties and similar large group gatherings?.

however, looking at the following xray images of certain lungs may help impress some folks into thinking that there are more serious happenings in the attack progression of this virus.

shepherdless

According to the CDC only 2 vaccines are approved and authorised for use in the U.S., Moderna (U.K.) and Pfizer(German).

Just to clarify; Pfizer is an American multinational, However, Pfizer did not develop the “Pfizer vaccine”. It was developed by BioNTech, a German company, and Pfizer has distribution and marketing rights.

My understanding is that, as a result, neither Pfizer nor BioNTech received any “Warp Speed” funding. About the only thing the Trump administration can take credit for, is getting both vaccines approved quickly.

20

Stay Trump Stay

by Vanderhoven7 in

trump has his supporters.

https://youtube.com/shorts/uflc5szrrgo.

shepherdless

When that video of Melanie Trump was shown here, the camera was panned back, so you could see the teleprompters.

Perhaps that was unfair, but it gave the speech quite a different vibe. She would look straight at one teleprompter and read for a bit, then turn to look straight at another teleprompter and read a bit more, etc.

30

Thoughts on JW funerals

by Syme in

i recently had the sad opportunity to attend 2 jw funerals.

the first was a few months ago and the second today.

the first was my grandfather's and the second of an old friend back from my jw days.

shepherdless

I have only been to one JW funeral.

There was a sprinkling of non-JWs in attendance; neighbours of the deceased etc. They were easy to spot because they came dressed “smart casual” whereas JWs came dressed like that were attending the board meeting. I felt the urge to try to tell some of them, that I was one of them, but the opportunity didn’t arise. (I’ve never been a JW, but I was also dressed like it was a board meeting.)

The talk was by an elder who knew the deceased, and did talk a little about the deceased, including a few antidotes that I knew to be true. But of course Borg theology had to come into it.

During the talk, I could not help but wonder what the non-JWs would be thinking. The whole thing was rather formal and unemotional; which is weird for a funeral, especially as the deceased was not that old. Outsiders would not have realised that the person giving the talk was an elder.

The elder brought some biblical quotes into a funeral talk, which is not unusual in itself. The quote snippets he used flipping back and forth might have seen odd to someone paying attention. He emphasised Ephesians 9:5 (I think it was that one) which is an odd one to mention at a funeral, about the dead knowing nothing. I know how it fits with JW theology, but it wasn’t explained, and an outsider probably would have thought the speaker had lost his place and accidentally left something out.

Then late in the talk, the elder said something like, “and [the deceased’s] biggest regret would have been that he did not see Armageddon.” I think at that very instant, all non-JWs in the audience would have realised they were surrounded by a bunch of crazies.

9

Oh What Is That Sound?

by Simon in

jw
friends

o what is that sound which so thrills the eardown in the valley drumming, drumming?only the scarlet soldiers, dear,the soldiers coming.o what is that light i see flashing so clearover the distance brightly, brightly?only the sun on their weapons, dear,as they step lightly.o what are they doing with all that gear,what are they doing this morning, morning?only their usual manoeuvres, dear,or perhaps a warning.o why have they left the road down there,why are they suddenly wheeling, wheeling?perhaps a change in their orders, dear,why are you kneeling?o haven't they stopped for the doctor's care,haven't they reined their horses, horses?why, they are none of them wounded, dear,none of these forces.o is it the parson they want, with white hair,is it the parson, is it, is it?no, they are passing his gateway, dear,without a visit.o it must be the farmer that lives so near.it must be the farmer so cunning, so cunning?they have passed the farmyard already, dear,and now they are running.o where are you going?

stay with me here!were the vows you swore deceiving, deceiving?no, i promised to love you, dear,but i must be leaving.o it's broken the lock and splintered the door,o it's the gate where they're turning, turning;their boots are heavy on the floorand their eyes are burning.. - w.h.auden.

shepherdless

The soldiers are not any old mob, they represent the government or anyone the government allows to attack people or deny rights to.

WH Auden lived in Berlin in the late 1920s and that poem was published in 1934. My interpretation would be that he was describing the “Brownshirts”. Of course, each person to their own interpretation.

9

Oh What Is That Sound?

by Simon in

jw
friends

o what is that sound which so thrills the eardown in the valley drumming, drumming?only the scarlet soldiers, dear,the soldiers coming.o what is that light i see flashing so clearover the distance brightly, brightly?only the sun on their weapons, dear,as they step lightly.o what are they doing with all that gear,what are they doing this morning, morning?only their usual manoeuvres, dear,or perhaps a warning.o why have they left the road down there,why are they suddenly wheeling, wheeling?perhaps a change in their orders, dear,why are you kneeling?o haven't they stopped for the doctor's care,haven't they reined their horses, horses?why, they are none of them wounded, dear,none of these forces.o is it the parson they want, with white hair,is it the parson, is it, is it?no, they are passing his gateway, dear,without a visit.o it must be the farmer that lives so near.it must be the farmer so cunning, so cunning?they have passed the farmyard already, dear,and now they are running.o where are you going?

stay with me here!were the vows you swore deceiving, deceiving?no, i promised to love you, dear,but i must be leaving.o it's broken the lock and splintered the door,o it's the gate where they're turning, turning;their boots are heavy on the floorand their eyes are burning.. - w.h.auden.

shepherdless

Centuries ago, people were regularly convicted and executed (via various brutal means) for witchcraft.

if you look up the crime, you pretty quickly realise that it is basically an impossible crime to commit.

Convictions stopped, when Courts developed rules of evidence; in particular the hearsay rule. Essentially, rumours, gossip, and in this day and age, what an anonymous person spouts on the internet is not admissible evidence in Court, because of the hearsay rule.

Thankfully, in this day and age, if someone wants to make allegations (say hypothetically to take a current example) that someone witnessed voter fraud (just a hypothetical example as it appears to be a current topic), a Court would require testimony from the person who claimed to witness it, not second hand or third hand accounts from people who hear a rumour in the local town market place, or read it on the internet. This was a game changer, in terms of the conviction of witches, in the past.

The obvious problem with hearsay is that it can not be verified. The more subtle problem with hearsay is that it can not be verified by more and more hearsay. Larger and larger groups in the town market place repeating each other’s stories do not make those stories more true. Also, larger and larger internet circles repeating the same conspiracies in an echo chamber do not make the conspiracies more true.

Further, some of the vocal participants may have an agenda. To take another hypothetical example, a bad actor may spread stories that he or she has hundreds of affidavits confirming (for example hypothetically an election fraud) but never show them to anyone, even sympathetic media such as Fox News. Perhaps the bad actor has a hidden agenda, such as raising large amounts of money from the gullible? Perhaps we can detect the bad actor when he or she not only does not produce copies of such affidavits to the Courts, but does not produce such copies of the affidavits to the public either.

In this day and age, I am not concerned about the Courts or any modern country being fooled by such behaviour. What does concern me is that out in the community, where hearsay is still valid evidence, and there is someone with a loud enough megaphone with malicious intent, we are all at risk of the mob attack described by WH Audin, as Simon quotes above.

13

Australia Update

by Pants of Righteousness in

jw
friends

article .

shepherdless

Blues Brother, in answer to your questions:

Providing that their understanding is correct and the Governor General confirms it...

The GG will approve it. Essentially, under the Constitution, the GG approves whatever the Prime Minister tells the GG to approve. (There are exceptions in extreme circumstances, such as “the Dismissal” in 1975.)

[Edit.. why does the Queen's representative have to get involved? It ought to be down to the Aus. Government ]

There is a legal fiction that Australia is still ruled by Queen (or King) of England. Under the Constitution, the Queen appoints (or fires) the GG. In practice, the Aust Prime Minister appoints the GG, but the GG is often referred to as the “Queen’s representative.” The GG exercises the same powers in Aust, that the Queen exercises in UK. Just as the Queen stamps whatever law the UK Parliament sends to her, the GG stamps whatever law the Aust Parliament sends to him/her.

In other words, loss of charity status is a “done deal”. Just a formality from here.

34

Was Jesus Born on December 25th?

by Sea Breeze in

we were told by watchtower that no way jesus was born on dec. 25th.

.

what do you think now?.

shepherdless

Come on... everyone is told these days That December 25th is not really the birth date of Jesus. You can read that in lots of books, see it in tv documentaries....... the date is no longer an issue

Totally agree. My parents were staunch Roman Catholics and I went to Catholic schools, and as kids we were taught that:

Jesus was born some time between 7 BC and 4 BC, probably during a winter.
Early Christians used to mask their celebration by putting it on the same date as a celebration of a Roman god.

Not saying that that is 100% correct, or the full story, of course.

62

-0:6 negative growth 2020 service year

by Fadeaway1962 in

phttps://www.jw.org/finder?wtlocale=e&pub=syr20&srcid=share .

plus another increase in memorial partakes number etc .

shepherdless

Thanks road to nowhere.

62

-0:6 negative growth 2020 service year

by Fadeaway1962 in

phttps://www.jw.org/finder?wtlocale=e&pub=syr20&srcid=share .

plus another increase in memorial partakes number etc .

shepherdless

Just a question; how does Watchtower define an active publisher at the moment? I had thought publishers are not required to report their hours at the moment.