Rivergang

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Posts by Rivergang

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  34

  “Well at least he doesn’t make mean tweets”

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i asked a tennis friend this morning what he thought about what’s going on in afghanistan and he said it was terrible.

  he was a military man and identifies as a middle of the road republican.

  he supported most of trump’s policies but voted for biden because he couldn’t take trump’s mean tweets.

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  Rivergang

  Just the geography alone of Afghanistan works heavily against any invader.

  For example, Alexander the Great lost more of his army in just crossing that country from south to north, than he ever lost in any single battle that he fought. By the time his Greco-Macedonian army had marched through the Hindu Kush mountains then crossed the desert areas to the north of those, it was in a very sorry state. This was further exacerbated when even more of his thirst-stricken men died after gorging themselves on water, once they had reached the Oxus River, on Afghanistan's northern border.

  As Winston Churchill once observed "Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it".
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  36

  Overweight Jehovah’s Witnesses

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what was your kingdom hall like when it came to overweight witnesses?

  i remember counseling some people on their drinking habits.

  a few snickered that if we were going to counsel them because they have had way too many at a wedding reception, what about very overweight witnesses that have a lifestyle of overindulgence?

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  Rivergang

  During my time with the JWs (1969-1994), obesity amongst them was not that common. Furthermore, the few that did have an issue with their weight tended to be those that had thyroid or similar problems.

  In the years since then, the only contact I have had with the Witnesses is when they have called at my door, or when I have seen them manning the Apathy Cart. On neither occasion have any stood out as noticeably overweight.
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  20

  Did You Think The Majority of Elders Were “Qualified “?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in my opinion, in a body of elders let’s say with 7 elders , 2 or 3 were pretty much on the ball.

  they were reasonable, intelligent and moderate.

  the others were either extremely extreme about everything or very liberal.. did you have qualified older men or were they all lousy to you?

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  Rivergang

  In this part of the world, at least, more than a few were even certified Pest Control Technicians!
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  8

  Did the Worst Ever Human Plague Cause Modernity-There's an argument that it did!

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  dr. andrew latham (a professor of political science at macalester college in saint paul, minnesota).

  argues that the effects of this plague (in europe) changed europe and created the conditions that led to modernity.. it's an interesting thought, as we wander through the current pandemic.. this article was shared from the medievalists.net website.

  https://www.medievalists.net/2021/08/the-black-death-and-the-great-transition/.

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  Rivergang

  The bubonic plague pandemic of the mid-14th Century also left in its wake religious changes - at least in Europe.

  It caused many to begin to have doubts about the until then all-powerful Catholic Church, thus helping sow the seeds of the Reformation.

  Religious Responses to the Black Death - World History Encyclopedia
  
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  8

  Did the Worst Ever Human Plague Cause Modernity-There's an argument that it did!

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  dr. andrew latham (a professor of political science at macalester college in saint paul, minnesota).

  argues that the effects of this plague (in europe) changed europe and created the conditions that led to modernity.. it's an interesting thought, as we wander through the current pandemic.. this article was shared from the medievalists.net website.

  https://www.medievalists.net/2021/08/the-black-death-and-the-great-transition/.

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  Rivergang

  Certainly working from home is here to stay for many people. The technology, of course, has been in place for sometime previously - but as the say about the relationship between necessity and invention!
• 
  18

  Catholicism and Orthodoxy- 2000 yrs of experience

  by Powermetal4ever in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  alright this has been in my brain lately: both catholic church and the orthodox church has been around for about 2000 years, shouldn't they know how to practice christendom correctly by now?

  jw hasn't even been around for 200 years and yet they say they do it right.

  so silly of them.

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  Rivergang

  there is in fact no truth at all.

  In the Cloud-Cuckoo Land that is religion, that situation is entirely possible!
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  42

  More lies from fake news.

  by mickbobcat in

  1. social
  2. current

  news is broadcasting that death valley is getting close to breaking a record.

  the highest air temp recorded is 134 but that was in 1913 way before the huge spike in co2.

  now its 130 and its the end of the world.

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  Rivergang

  Video: Antarctic Ice Mass Loss 2002-2020 – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet (nasa.gov)
  

  See the above link for more recent data about the loss of ice on the Antarctic continent.

  (This data also from NASA).
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  42

  More lies from fake news.

  by mickbobcat in

  1. social
  2. current

  news is broadcasting that death valley is getting close to breaking a record.

  the highest air temp recorded is 134 but that was in 1913 way before the huge spike in co2.

  now its 130 and its the end of the world.

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  Rivergang

  it only takes a couple of degree's to change the earth from being cold, to becoming an iceball. Or, going the other direction in temperature , a tolerance of a couple of degree's that drives extinction events.

  Joey, you have nailed it there!

  This marked retreat of the Tasman and other of New Zealand's glaciers has occurred in less than 20 years, during which the country's average temperature has increased by 0.3 degrees Celsius (when compared with the thirty year average temperatures 1961-1990).

  i.e. A temperature increase of not even one third of a degree Celsius has been enough to remove long lengths from what once were large glaciers, and leave in each place a terminal lake.

  (New Zealand's thirty year average temperature 1961 to 1990 was 12.47 deg.C. The country's average over the seventeen years 2000 to 2016 - while this rapid glacial retreat has taken place - is 12.77 deg.C)

  For anybody that is interested, this data can be found via the following link

  Temperature | Stats NZ
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  42

  More lies from fake news.

  by mickbobcat in

  1. social
  2. current

  news is broadcasting that death valley is getting close to breaking a record.

  the highest air temp recorded is 134 but that was in 1913 way before the huge spike in co2.

  now its 130 and its the end of the world.

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  Rivergang

  

  Climate change is not all just a construct of the MSM, Fake News or similar.

  The above photograph is of Lake Tasman, in New Zealand's Mt Cook National Park. As little as just 20 years ago, this was a glacier. Since then, the Tasman Glacier has greatly retreated to the point that it now has a sizeable terminal lake. Prior to that, the Tasman Glacier did advance and retreat over the decades, but never to the point that a terminal lake formed (not even close, in fact!).

  A similar situation has also developed on the opposite flank of Aoraki / Mt Cook, where the Hooker Glacier has likewise retreated so far that a large terminal lake has now formed where there was none before.
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  18

  Catholicism and Orthodoxy- 2000 yrs of experience

  by Powermetal4ever in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  alright this has been in my brain lately: both catholic church and the orthodox church has been around for about 2000 years, shouldn't they know how to practice christendom correctly by now?

  jw hasn't even been around for 200 years and yet they say they do it right.

  so silly of them.

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  Rivergang

  In the late 15th Century, when Catholic missionaries from Portugal arrived in India to convert the "heathen", they found a well-established Christian community already there. Local tradition had it that this had been founded by St Thomas the Apostle, possibly as early as 52 AD.

  Also, that term "Orthodox" is a rather general term which covers quite a spectrum of different churches, including the likes of the Egyptian Coptic Church and the Ethiopian Coptic Church. Established in Alexandria - and claiming the year in 33 AD as its founding date - the Egyptian Coptic Church is certainly one of the oldest Christian churches in the world. With such a diverse mix of churches under the general classification of "Orthodox", it almost goes without saying that they don't always agree with one another! Which shades further doubt on the idea that there ever was such a thing as a "Pure Church".