Posts by Simon

117

Lloyd’s new book

by jwfacts in

i see there has already been discussion over lloyd’s new book how to leave the jehovah's witnesses.

this includes discussion around his personality, motives and financial gains.

i have written a foreword for this book, because it is an important topic that has not been covered in such a complete format before.

Simon

Forevermore, June 18th will be 'Tell Simon what you think of him day'

Ha ha, I haven't noticed that ever really being a problem for people, I obviously don't threaten enough litigation.

Having a thick hide (and thick skull) comes with the territory if you do anything public and meaningful online - you can't take every criticism so personally that you obsess over it and need to hunt people down because of it.

The flip side is that you should not hand your critics ammunition on a plate - don't do things that make you a laughing stock and subject for ridicule.

And if you take money off people, I think you owe a degree of accountability and transparency for what you do with that money, especially if it goes beyond covering a specific cost. If you live your life publicly, for profit, expect one consequence of that to be less privacy and more attention for what you do.

Ultimately, if you're a decent person and paying your own way in life, it's pretty clear if someone is inventing something about you. I'm never going to be caught in any hooker scandal and not just because I'm too much of a germaphobe, loathe going out, and hate spending money ... I love my wife and family way more than I could ever want some momentary jollies to justify doing that to them.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

Simon

US courts don't recognize foreign judgements that don't uphold the same freedom of speech.

Heck, even the UK doesn't qualify ... a shit-hole of corruption like Croatia is going to be laughed at.

The laws Lloyd thinks he can use are really only ever applied by the politicians in that country to silence journalists (Croatia ranks high in use of SLAPP cases). They are not going to let some foreign libel tourist start milking their cow.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/4102

That's the US, but most other countries are similar - apart from things that there are specific international agreements and treaties over (like war crimes) it comes down to jurisdiction. Croatian law applies in Croatia (who knew?!).

If this were not the case, I'm pretty sure everyone would have been sued for not respecting Islam or other such BS. Even the dumbest laws in the shittiest countries only reach so far, usually to their border and not beyond.

117

Lloyd’s new book

by jwfacts in

i see there has already been discussion over lloyd’s new book how to leave the jehovah's witnesses.

this includes discussion around his personality, motives and financial gains.

i have written a foreword for this book, because it is an important topic that has not been covered in such a complete format before.

Simon

Listen I think privately Paul probably sees the conflict of interest, but I know he's a genuinely nice guy and so is probably concerned about a pile -on and mental health. However I've come to see that sometimes being only kind, does not always benefit human beings in ALL situations.

I don't think it's ever healthy to treat people, especially those with some authority, as beyond criticism.

It's part of the reason we have this issue in the exJW community.

Prominent voices should never be beyond being questioned or criticized.

117

Lloyd’s new book

by jwfacts in

i see there has already been discussion over lloyd’s new book how to leave the jehovah's witnesses.

this includes discussion around his personality, motives and financial gains.

i have written a foreword for this book, because it is an important topic that has not been covered in such a complete format before.

Simon

Don't forget, before he was kicked out he was accused of only going to the meetings in order to use local members for his translation business.

Many JW related business outright rely on "affinity fraud" or take advantage of the good will of local KH members, so his company profitability may have relied on not paying the going rate and getting cheap labor. Once he was shown the door, that source of cheap labor would be removed.

What job can he do in Croatia? He can't translate, he clearly can't speak the language (lazy cunt) and he has no skills or experience beyond JW related matters. Even his YouTube channel relies on knowledge of JWism, same for his books (he's really not a great writer, and lacks expertise in other fields).

About the only thing he can do is wait tables for English speaking tourists. Maybe why he's located where he has?

112

Are You Concerned About Inflation?

by Simon in

i saw a statistic the other day that something like 25% of all the debt that the us has incurred since 1776 was created in the last 12 months.

that's because they have printed so much currency and instead of letting that stop them, they are going to continue printing more to go on a spending spree on crazy green-new-deal schemes and union handouts.. does anyone think that this can be anything other than inflationary?

they are effectively stealing the wealth of everyone to then hand money out to people.

Simon

What's happened is that profit has been privatized and losses socialized. A few elites get ultra wealthy while the majority, who don't have their connections, get poorer. The rich live off the debt they force the rest into.

The "market" doesn't even work to price things as the heavy finger of government is on one side of the scale ... heck, they've practically sat on it.

117

Lloyd’s new book

by jwfacts in

i see there has already been discussion over lloyd’s new book how to leave the jehovah's witnesses.

this includes discussion around his personality, motives and financial gains.

i have written a foreword for this book, because it is an important topic that has not been covered in such a complete format before.

Simon

But this has not aged well.

Yeah, like milk left out in Miami

not on this forum, as far as I'm aware ...

I'm not aware of any comment being made, anywhere.

From the OP:

Lloyd is earning far less from his JW activism than he could working full time in his business as a translator.

Think about this. How would he know? It signifies either a complete guess or intimate knowledge of his finances (and so a close relationship).

112

Are You Concerned About Inflation?

by Simon in

i saw a statistic the other day that something like 25% of all the debt that the us has incurred since 1776 was created in the last 12 months.

that's because they have printed so much currency and instead of letting that stop them, they are going to continue printing more to go on a spending spree on crazy green-new-deal schemes and union handouts.. does anyone think that this can be anything other than inflationary?

they are effectively stealing the wealth of everyone to then hand money out to people.

Simon

Now we have to pay for the decades of easy money and irresponsible spending.

Exactly. Thanks to the Cantillon effect those closest to the money printers got money very cheap, or for free, and were able to buy assets. The rest of us get the bill, and our savings stolen.

Do you think a hike to 10/15/20% is possible? No. If the interest rate were raised to 10%, the US couldn't service its debt (by taking out new debt).

They can't deal with it. Not only would they crash everything, they wouldn't be able to afford their own debt. It also puts a future out of reach of many young people who will be unable to buy a home even if rates are 10% without a massive market crash of prices. The trouble is, politicians aren't going to take the pain - they don't want to answer to the boomers who got rich by indebting the future generations.

The only solution is a default, a war, or both.

Japan is trying to prop up its currency by printing and buying its own bonds. The whole thing is breaking.

112

Are You Concerned About Inflation?

by Simon in

i saw a statistic the other day that something like 25% of all the debt that the us has incurred since 1776 was created in the last 12 months.

that's because they have printed so much currency and instead of letting that stop them, they are going to continue printing more to go on a spending spree on crazy green-new-deal schemes and union handouts.. does anyone think that this can be anything other than inflationary?

they are effectively stealing the wealth of everyone to then hand money out to people.

Simon

The US just made the largest interest rate rise in 30 years, going up 75 basis points instead of the 50 they said, and say there are more on the way.

It feels like they've sat ignoring things while the runaway train picked up speed and now they need more dramatic pulls at the brake lever to achieve anything ... but there's no guarantee it's not going to just come off in their hand or the train crash completely off the rails.

Also, the train is on fire.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

Simon

Reading that Mayo Clinic page, it's like someone's done a summary of him:

Signs and symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder and the severity of symptoms vary. People with the disorder can:

Have an exaggerated sense of self-importance
Have a sense of entitlement and require constant, excessive admiration
Expect to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it
Exaggerate achievements and talents
Be preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate
Believe they are superior and can only associate with equally special people
Monopolize conversations and belittle or look down on people they perceive as inferior
Expect special favors and unquestioning compliance with their expectations
Take advantage of others to get what they want
Have an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others
Be envious of others and believe others envy them
Behave in an arrogant or haughty manner, coming across as conceited, boastful and pretentious
Insist on having the best of everything — for instance, the best car or office

At the same time, people with narcissistic personality disorder have trouble handling anything they perceive as criticism, and they can:

Become impatient or angry when they don't receive special treatment
Have significant interpersonal problems and easily feel slighted
React with rage or contempt and try to belittle the other person to make themselves appear superior
Have difficulty regulating emotions and behavior
Experience major problems dealing with stress and adapting to change
Feel depressed and moody because they fall short of perfection
Have secret feelings of insecurity, shame, vulnerability and humiliation

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

Simon

He was known to freestyle on his acoustic guitar to Kingdom songs. Don't know about a band.

It never crossed my mind that anyone would ever want to "jam" to Kingdom Songs. Anytime I've picked up a guitar or sat at a piano, it's the last choice of music on my mind.

Somewhere in his book he mentions that he brought along his guitar his mum's service and performed his version of "Life Without End At Last"

Every time I hear this I have visions of the scene from The Office (the proper, UK one), where David Brent goes home to get his guitar (and derails the training course):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEtQj9wuqhs