Rivergang

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Posts by Rivergang

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  112

  Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.

  more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.

  will the taliban behave differently this time ?

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  Rivergang

  South Vietnam revisited!

  FTS, in three of those cases you mention (i.e. Afghanistan, South Vietnam and China), US-backed forces were certainly given the capability to resist. What they lost - or perhaps never had in the first place - was the will to fight.

  To quote the observations of a recognised military genius, Napoleon Bonaparte:

  "In war, moral power is to the physical as three parts out of four."

  The real challenge, it would seem, is not in throwing money, materiel and manpower at the problem - it is in somehow inspiring people to fight; a much more subtle challenge.
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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

  no one has a good record involving themselves in Afgan business, period!!!

  When that involvement takes the form of a military "solution", this is all too true!

  During their time in India, the British certainly learned that the hard way.

  Even after a rare bit of military success in the Second Afghan War - achieved when Lord Roberts force-marched a 9,000 man relief column from Kabul to lift the siege of Kandahar and to then subsequently rout a rebel army - they soon completely withdrew. Thereafter, Britain used more subtle means to advance its interests in Afghanistan.

  For a detailed account of these matters, the following link provides an informative read.
  

  LORD ROBERTS AND THE MARCH FROM KABUL TO KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN, 1879–80 | Weapons and Warfare
  
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  13

  ''Deliverance at Hand''. Now 15 years on &....

  by Beth Sarim in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ....and still no big 'a'.

  armageddon.. it was 15 years ago dubland was in lala dream-like almost trance-like state hanging on the notion the big 'a' was imminent.. it was ironic.

  ironic at that time was when.... i was starting my long waking-up process.

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  Rivergang

  Dubs everywhere were more than convinced it was the last ''convention ever'', ''dont even bother making plans'' or vacations for the next year or so.

  They said exactly the same about their "Peace on Earth" international assemblies in 1969!

  
  
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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!
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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

  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).