Stephanus

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Posts by Stephanus

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  15

  One of the greatest problems for the mankind...

  by Erich in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  one of the greatest problems for the future of our economy is only known by few "insiders".

  even wts do not know this matter.

  since i'm a patent-expert, it's perhaps my own business to talk about it.

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  Stephanus

  It's all crap, of course. Patents are a brilliant invention whereby innovation can be rewarded. In order to have an invention or innovation protected by a patent, the plans must be lodged with the patenting authorities; those plans are then available for scrutiny by others. Anyone can get round a patent by further improving upon an invention. Patents are also not a long term restriction, they tend to decay after about 10 - 15 years. The patent for Prozac just ran out, after around 10 years. A patent is not a licence to print money - the only way to keep making money on an invention is to keep improving upon it. There is a myth (perpetuated by the anti-GE crowd) that seeds can be patented - it's totally false, of course!

  "You've got the brain of a four-year-old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it."
  - Groucho Marx
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  5

  Curiosity killed the cat

  by ballistic in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is to fred hall.. you inspire curiosity as to who you are and what your story is.

  what do you gain from your visits here?

  you normally give us half a sentence posts, but how about writing a paragraph or two on your life (any of the nine will do)?

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  Stephanus

  Yeah, Fred, how about some stuff which won't give you away but will tell us a little about the real "Fred Hall". Such as your age, gender, what your current connection with the Dubs really is, even your job would be interesting without giving too much away.

  "You've got the brain of a four-year-old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it."
  - Groucho Marx
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  50

  Your best (one sentence) description of the WT

  by moman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here iz mine:.

  #1) "a cancer of the soul".

  #2) "a fools paradise".

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  Stephanus

  "A confluence of bastardries"

  "You've got the brain of a four-year-old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it."
  - Groucho Marx
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  17

  The dubs are in the neighborhood

  by OUTLAW in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  yep,its them alright.i can see them from my computer desk right now.doin the dub shuffle down the street with their suits and breif cases.they work this street 2-4times a month and they avoid my house like the plague.ha-ha-ha must be from the times i chewed on them!and there they go,past my house twice,and didn`t even stop in to get chewed.i haven`t had roast dub for lunch in years.maybe next time..no i doubt it.i guess i`ll stay on my dub free diet(lol)...outlaw

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  Stephanus

  You might say that, Outlaw. When I could be bothered combatting Fred's crap, I used to have to get up at 5:00am my time to be there for when he usually started posting - not that it mattered that much, I tend to be a morning person; I find my energy levels drop rapidly around midday.

  "You've got the brain of a four-year-old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it."
  - Groucho Marx
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  17

  The dubs are in the neighborhood

  by OUTLAW in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  yep,its them alright.i can see them from my computer desk right now.doin the dub shuffle down the street with their suits and breif cases.they work this street 2-4times a month and they avoid my house like the plague.ha-ha-ha must be from the times i chewed on them!and there they go,past my house twice,and didn`t even stop in to get chewed.i haven`t had roast dub for lunch in years.maybe next time..no i doubt it.i guess i`ll stay on my dub free diet(lol)...outlaw

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  Stephanus

  Outlaw, it's Saturday morning here, the time they used to always come by, and no sign of them yet:

  "You've got the brain of a four-year-old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it."
  - Groucho Marx
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  50

  Your best (one sentence) description of the WT

  by moman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here iz mine:.

  #1) "a cancer of the soul".

  #2) "a fools paradise".

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  Stephanus

  "A religion in search of a doctrine"

  "You've got the brain of a four-year-old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it."
  - Groucho Marx
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  17

  Terry Pratchett's "Small Gods"

  by Seeker4 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been reading terry pratchett's "small gods" and finding myself either laughing outloud or reading protions outloud to anyone within earshot.

  what a great, funny, truthful indictment of religion and the messes it gets us all into.

  go out and buy a copy, you won't regret it.. i keep thinking i should post some passages on this board.

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  Stephanus

  That's part of what makes Small Gods so good. Here the god Om is in the midst of his worshippers, and can only find one real believer. The rest worship the religion.

  And predictably, the one true believer ends up on death row for being a heretic!

  "You've got the brain of a four-year-old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it."
  - Groucho Marx
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  37

  Things I Would Like To See Before I Die.....

  by hillary_step in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  jan haugland and you know in a two man bob-sleigh team.. prisca and kent deeply in love.. alanf in a clerical collar.. stephanus breast-feeding fred hall.. farkel emptying his swear box.. joelbear in a turkish prison.

  the oldhippie a happy hippy.. josephus having afternoon tea and crumpets with ian paisley.. englishman with hepatitis.. theo jaracz in a see-through pink negligee with matching slippers.. uuhh...skip the last one..... .

  lets see - who have i missed....... hs

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  Stephanus

  Cygnus, Rachel Hunter's a New Zealander, and any NZer would tell you that in no uncertain terms! LOL

  UB, it's a long, long, long time since I've played Aussie Rules

  HS, Fred's a f***wit, and I gave up breast-feeding f***wits a long time ago (you needn't apply either, Logical!)

  "You've got the brain of a four-year-old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it."
  - Groucho Marx
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  17

  Terry Pratchett's "Small Gods"

  by Seeker4 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been reading terry pratchett's "small gods" and finding myself either laughing outloud or reading protions outloud to anyone within earshot.

  what a great, funny, truthful indictment of religion and the messes it gets us all into.

  go out and buy a copy, you won't regret it.. i keep thinking i should post some passages on this board.

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  Stephanus

  SS, Pratchett spends a large part of the book building up the image of "Om" and the Mosaic religion he supposedly inspired. The plot of the book is that when Om tries to manifest for a "smiting", he can only manage tortoise form and finds there is only one true believer left, a brother named Brutha. Without Brutha he'd be back to elemental form, so to speak. The start is quite funny, where the god talks to Brutha in tortoise form, Brutha assumes it is a demon and goes running to a senior monk, a dirty old man who's experience with demonic seduction is somewhat more seductive than a tortoise, for advice on how to handle it...

  The man at the top of the Omnian religion is a senior Bethelite JC kind of guy, who like Rutherford turns the rules of the org around to help himself to the position of head honcho.

  "You've got the brain of a four-year-old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it."
  - Groucho Marx
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  17

  Terry Pratchett's "Small Gods"

  by Seeker4 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been reading terry pratchett's "small gods" and finding myself either laughing outloud or reading protions outloud to anyone within earshot.

  what a great, funny, truthful indictment of religion and the messes it gets us all into.

  go out and buy a copy, you won't regret it.. i keep thinking i should post some passages on this board.

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  Stephanus

  Hey S4, I was going to post about this book - I've been meaning to for months!

  I like the very nature of Small Gods, as told by Pratchett. The god gets some minor victory in getting someone to believe in him, then is buoyed by the growing belief of further followers. He becomes a great and powerful god until suddenly, the belief which gave him shape and substance is transferred to the structure of the worship built around him - the Church itself, and the small god goes back to being a shadow in the desert. Reminded me very much of my old church - I realised that at some stage of their development they'd gone from being worshippers of God seeking new followers, to being property managers.

  "You've got the brain of a four-year-old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it."
  - Groucho Marx