roybatty

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Posts by roybatty

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  99

  Sign Governors' petition to President Bush to lower gas prices!

  by FlyingHighNow in

  1. social
  2. current

  our governer, jennifer granholm and other governors have come up with a petition to cap oil company profits and bring the price of gas down.

  please read about it.

  please sign it and encourage everyone you know to sign it.

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  roybatty

  Do I think celebrities are overpaid? You betcha! By a long shot! Sports heroes? Models? Dang right! I think it's ridiculous simply because I don't understand the need to acquire so much in the way of money and things. Kind of like a 50,000 sq foot house for 5 people - I don't see the point of it all. But that's me...and to each their own.

  
  

  
  There is a difference between someone like Lebron James being paid millions of dollars a year to dribble a basketball and the CEO of Mobil-Exxon making millions of dollars a year in salary, stock options and bonus.

  After haggling a contract is formed and Lebron James is paid my the owner of a team. The owner knows that there aren't a lot of people who can play like Lebron James, simple supply and demand. The owner also knows that if he produces a winning team (which is why he needs an individual like Lebron James) people will pay big bucks to by his product. It's a winning situation for everyone. Lebron makes big bucks for showing off his rare talent, the owner makes money on his investment and the people who CAN afford to buy the expensive tickets do so.

  On the other had, things in the world of big business (esp. big oil) have gone out of control. Instead of having a board of directors that looks out for the interests of the shareholders (and to a certain extent the public trust) you have CEO's, like the one for Exxon-Mobil, who control the board of directors. They vote themsevles HUGE, unearned bonuses, ridiculous salaries and don't have any interest in being a "good citizen."

  It doesn't come out of my pocket when Tom Cruise or Lebron James make millions of dollars a year for their talents. If I can't afford to see them, I won't buy a ticket. One the other had, when the CEO of Exxon-Mobil votes HIMSELF a $40 million bonus, it has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is higher gas prices, which affects the working class more then it affects the rich. I don't know what the government can do to stop this but it sure could have done more to stop America's addiction to oil. The again, each one of us could have to. How many of us bought an SUV or regular sedan instead of a Honda Insight or Toyota Prusis?
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  99

  Sign Governors' petition to President Bush to lower gas prices!

  by FlyingHighNow in

  1. social
  2. current

  our governer, jennifer granholm and other governors have come up with a petition to cap oil company profits and bring the price of gas down.

  please read about it.

  please sign it and encourage everyone you know to sign it.

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  roybatty

  It's so easy for the "have nots" to criticize the "haves"......they earned it fair and square. Your opinion of whether it's too much is really irrelevant...and I think you know that...and that's what really bugs you.

  I'm all for making whatever you can from your product or service. If you have some new software that people are dying for or the next "pet rock" and can make millions, go for it! However, what I'm starting to wonder is has big oil played a part in keeping America dependent on oil? We've seen this coming for almost 40 years yet no one in the government has put together any type of energy policy. Hell, Gore was Mr. Enviroment and he didn't do shi* when he had the power to do so. Has the oil lobby contributed to this major crisis? I'd like to know.

  Also, I don't fault Bush's oil background but I do have to wonder if he has the vision to get America off of this addition. I mean, common, the Japanese spit out super high milege cars and our guys in Detroit can only kick out bigger and bigger SUV's? Where's the vision?
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  62

  Has anyone else here heard about May 1st and what do you think about it?

  by WildHorses in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i heard about this on the hispanic channel the other night and looked it up just now and found this link.

  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1609256/posts.

  they plan a one day boycott in which they will not spend one cent on that day.

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  roybatty

  Because the big corporations contribute a lot of money to campaigns and they want the cheap labor.

  BINGO! The vast majority of Americans don't want to give amnesty to illegals. Plan and simple. But why isn't any politician on either side of the isle coming up with a plan that excludes amnesty? Can you say L-O-B-B-I-S-T-S.?
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  190

  UPDATE 2: Since Freedom is Free, Why is it Taxed?

  by RichieRich in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  yesterday after school i had to go work on a project with friends.

  mom said be home by 5, but there was a huge accident a mile from where i live, and i sat on the road for like 10 - 12 minutes, and was 5 minutes late getting home.

  mom was there (didn't go to work- guess why) and she was pissed.

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  roybatty

  She went on not being able to trust me, blah blah blah.

  Irony of growing up a JW. If you're "true to yourself" and leave the JW mindset, one's parents claim they can't trust - even thought you did the honest thing. Instead, they'd rather have you "lie" and pretend to be a good, little JW.

  If only they could think clearing for one moment and realize that jr. is becoming a man (or woman) and you should celibrate his decision to think for himself.
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  62

  Has anyone else here heard about May 1st and what do you think about it?

  by WildHorses in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i heard about this on the hispanic channel the other night and looked it up just now and found this link.

  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1609256/posts.

  they plan a one day boycott in which they will not spend one cent on that day.

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  roybatty

  we can't kick out 12 million people"....umm....why not?

  The cost alone would would quadruple the debt to try and find every illegal that is in the country and that doesn't make sense. From an ethical standpoint, the law has allowed the children of illegals to be citizens of the country so what do you do with all the parents? Send them home and leave the kids where? Unless the businesses are penalized for hiring them, the hiring won't stop. Unless the border is reinforced and employment halted, it won't stopped. Disease, social assistance, education, taxes, language are all valid concerns with the issue and should have been dealt with years ago. They weren't and now there is another mess. Apparently 30% of all criminals being housed in the system are illegal - send those back to whereever they come from...as for the rest - it would cost less to simply grant them amnesty and reinforce the border. That way, sooner or later, the businesses that used them for cheap labour will find out that they too need to earn a half decent wage and be forced to pay them a fair rate. They will have the opportunity to join unions, pay income taxes, vote etc. sammieswife.

  1. Allow police officers to ask suspects if they are here illegally (it is now against the law to do so). 2. Change the law so that kids that are born here by illegals aren't automatically citizens. This is one of the dumbest laws I've ever heard of. For those that are here with kids that are citizens, an exception can be made. HOWEVER, if this particular group wants to become citizens, I would have a program were they can work their way towards it, similar to FDR's program during the Great Depression were millions of unemployed men worked building parks and such. Have these people work as payment to the U.S. 3. Yes, fine companies that hire willfully illegals HOWEVER change the laws and allow companies to investigate if someone is illegal. Right now if a person states to a company that they are here legally and provides some type of weak documentation but a company questions it, them can be sued. Regarding the cost of kicking out illegals, well, what is the price you pay for having secure boarders and laws. Besides, I'm not saying that we need to create yet ANOTHER government agentcy, just allow law enforcement to do their job.
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  62

  Has anyone else here heard about May 1st and what do you think about it?

  by WildHorses in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i heard about this on the hispanic channel the other night and looked it up just now and found this link.

  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1609256/posts.

  they plan a one day boycott in which they will not spend one cent on that day.

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  roybatty

  I'm so sick of this "we can't kick out 12 million people"....umm....why not? Let's instead REWARD them for breaking OUR laws??? WTF??? Through a lot of hard work and patience, my parents immigrated here legally. Is it really too much to ask others to do so???

  I use to think that illegals only took the jobs "that Americans don't want." A discussion with my neighbor changed my mind...

  I was chatting with my next door neighbor about the trouble of owning a small business these days. I own a small manufacturing company and was bitching to him about competition from China and commented that, as an owner of a drywall company, he should be glad that he doesn't have to worry about that. He started to laugh and said that he has to deal with the same situation but with cheap labor here in the States. See, he has a dozen guys working for him, making decent money ($10.00 - $18.00 an hour). While his competition hires illegals, pays them much less, and undercuts his pricing. Now here's the kicker. He says that after a couple of years, these illegals learn the trade, quit working for the company that taught them the trade and start their own company. I've seen the same thing with many other trades. I've even heard people "laugh" about how much money they saved hiring an illegal alien to paint their home, do electrical work, pour a sidewalk, build a brick patio, etc...

  So this whole argument that they don't take jobs away is a bunch of bs. Also, what kind of message does it send if we grant illegal aliens citizenship? Sure, sneak into America, stay a few years and we'll grant you citizenship. With millions of illegal people here, why do we even bother patrolling our boarders??? Our president, our congressmen, our Senators are all sellouts.

  And finally what burns my ass is that my kids attend an over crowded school but it's illegal for the school not admit an illegal alien. I know, I know, that in itself isn't a big issue but it's just the principle.
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  126

  Dan Sydlik dies, the last of the moderating forces.

  by SadElder in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  our good friend dan sydlik died today about 2 pm eastern time.

  he was the last of the moderating forces on the gb.

  lately he has had little influence among the ted (aka the boss) jaracz (head of the bethel cia - the service department) henchmen and loyalists.

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  roybatty

  I have yet to see someone forcibly immersed at a JW baptism.

  Checkout the recent thread entitled something like "at what age were you baptized." Kids - little kids - shi* might as while force them.
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  126

  Dan Sydlik dies, the last of the moderating forces.

  by SadElder in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  our good friend dan sydlik died today about 2 pm eastern time.

  he was the last of the moderating forces on the gb.

  lately he has had little influence among the ted (aka the boss) jaracz (head of the bethel cia - the service department) henchmen and loyalists.

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  roybatty

  They are all much of a muchness Sydlik hasn't changed anything and could have left like Franz did.

  Amen to that. Not really sure how ANY member of the GB can look themselves in the mirror.
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  19

  Attending the Funeral / Memorialof Your JW Parent

  by roybatty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm just wondering if any df'd or da'd here have gone to the kingdom hall to attend a memorial or funeral service for a jw parent or on the other hand decided not to attened.

  do you regret going / not going?

  how were you treated?.

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  roybatty

  Thanks for the replies. My siblings & mom have "played by the WT's rules" when it has come to my being da'd, unless, of course, they need something. When my non-JW father died a few years ago in a car accident, the service was at a funeral home. My family was devistated. My brother, sister and mom couldn't handle it so I took care of all the arrangements, including going through his destroyed car to recover some personal affects my mother wanted.

  Anyway, a couple of hours prior to his service I was at the funeral home with my family when I was shocked to see two elders there whom I had known since childhood. I approached them and asked them why they were here. They said that they were there to offer my family (but not me) their support. Very cold. Didn't even offer their condolenses. During the wake, plenty of my friends and non-JW family attended along with dozens of JWs. Thinking back, I believe only one or two JWs offered sympathies. It really shocked me that people I had grown up with didn't even say "boo" to me. I knew JWs can be cold but WOW that was a new low. And to top things off, when the minister from the church I occasionaly attend started her memorial service, all the JWs (including my JW family) got up and left. Was so weird seeing 30 to 40 people just get up and suddenly leave. My friends and non-family were like "WTF????".

  After going through that ordeal, I can't imagine going through it at a Kingdom Hall where less of my friends and family would attended.

  Thanks for the replies and advice!
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  19

  Attending the Funeral / Memorialof Your JW Parent

  by roybatty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm just wondering if any df'd or da'd here have gone to the kingdom hall to attend a memorial or funeral service for a jw parent or on the other hand decided not to attened.

  do you regret going / not going?

  how were you treated?.

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• 

  roybatty

  I'm just wondering if any df'd or da'd here have gone to the Kingdom Hall to attend a memorial or funeral service for a JW parent or on the other hand decided not to attened. Do you regret going / not going? How were you treated?

  My extremely active JW is getting up there in years and I'm just wondering what others have done when a JW parent has passed away. My siblings are all Jehovah'd out (elders, pioneers, etc.) so I'm sure they'll do something at the Hall (added to the fact that mom has been attending the same Hall for several decades).

  Anyway, just trying to figure out what to expect and it's not like I can call her and talk about it.