Richard_I

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Posts by Richard_I

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  8

  What has happened to the District Overseers in the UK

  by usualusername in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  is dave algar in bethel?.

  has michael purbrick become a pioneer again?.

  just what are these guys doing now?.

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  Richard_I

  In Canada, DO's have been reassigned as COs if they are under 70. If they are over 70, they are sent to a congregation (I think around Toronto) as special pioneers (on the infirm list so hours don't matter but they keep the fancy title), so they are still supported by bethel. I don't know if some were assigned to Bethel though. It's one or the other.
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  18

  2014 Annual Meeting not being streamed worldwide?

  by Richard_I in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i haven't heard a peep about the 2014 annual meeting being shown worldwide (or at least across north america) like it was last year.

  they made a big deal with the am last year, congs had to get the projectors and screens for the showing, and we were told in advance of the time and location to attend.

  but i have heard absolutely nothing this year, at least here in canada.

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  Richard_I

  I haven't heard a peep about the 2014 Annual Meeting being shown worldwide (or at least across North America) like it was last year. They made a big deal with the AM last year, congs had to get the projectors and screens for the showing, and we were told in advance of the time and location to attend. But I have heard absolutely nothing this year, at least here in Canada. Maybe there's nothing new being announced this year?

  To those still attending, has your cong been invited to a stream or something? It just seems odd that that last year was such a big deal and this year... Nothing.
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  12

  Current circuit visit

  by Saltheart Foamfollower in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  as we are into the third week of the new circuit visit arrangement, i was wondering if any had experienced it yet and whether there are any changes.

  what is done with the spare evening?

  anyone tried to get an appointment through with the c/o doing the appointing?

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  Richard_I

  I can confirm there's no change at all, its just your typical CO visit with one less meeting, which is kind of odd since the Friday meeting focused on the congregation and was supposed to be the CO "encouraging" (aka scolding) the congregation. Now its just a generic Tuesday talk, public talk and then concluding talk about how "wonderful" the organization is. Just a bunch of BS. Also I guess the Friday evening is supposed to be Family Worship instead.
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  11

  JW.ORG AND THE GB HAVE BEEN SHAKEN!!!

  by ADJUSTMENTS in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with the recent post on the jw website of a use of terms disclaimer it seems their so called "greatest campaign in history" may be back firing!!!.

  for them to come out so blatantly strong and threatening, basically fear mongering, they have been shaken by something or someone.. hopefully it's us collectively the "great apostate army"... lol.

  if your "religion" (cult) was supposedly chosen and run directly by god himself why do you need lawyers and scare tactics???

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  Richard_I

  they probably just want to let all the visitors know that though their publications are free, they are still copyrighted and are not in the public domain. (and as LostGeneration mentioned, all sites have a Terms of Use, even this site). this makes me think back to how a few years ago they added the text "this publication is not for sale" alongside the copyright info to the bible teach book, which i assume the WT added due to non-JWs receiving the book for free in poor lands and then selling them to make a buck.
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  144

  Have you ever read the review of Steven Hassan's books on Cult news.com?

  by Enzo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hi, to everyone my username is enzo, .

  recently a saw a video presented by john cedar presenting steve hassan as a cult expert.. .

  but read this reviews presented on cult news about steve hassan's books, and it's up to you make your own opinion about the video.

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  Richard_I

  I went to the site but can't find reviews on his stuff, though this long article seems kind of interesting. Anyway, there is lots of criticism against Steve Hassan, Wikipedia even has a section on it, though this isn't necessarily unique in these kinds of fields.
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  9

  Update to Linguistics Publications Software Build

  by objectivetruth in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a few weeks ago, i mentioned a new tool that i started building which will track wording changes and find trends highlighting propoganda techniques in the wt publications... this is an update.. 1. a fellow jwn member has joined the project, (more like he recruited me to join his already existing project).. 2. we have made some great progress.

  the most exciting news is that we now have a complete text catalog of all watchtower publications from the 1870's to 2014.. 3. we are building an online tool which will be "invite only" (the site will be free, but certain areas will only be accessible to approved individuals) .

  this tool will be similar to wol.jw.org , with 1 main difference.. there will be no "newspeak" tactics employed on this site.

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  Richard_I

  if this project is ever hosted online publicly, it will be taken down by WT's lawyers. doubt they'll appreciate all their copyrighted stuff being hosted somewhere other than their holy website
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  16

  KM Online Now

  by konceptual99 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  even more of what you don't want to read is online.

  the km are now online under wol.

  http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/lv/r1/lp-e/0/20397

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  Richard_I

  thnaks for posting this. i've been in congregations that were super strict with KMs, but really the amount they get is determined by publishers + unbaptized publishers, so they are limited. but they've never been available publicly like this before, only authorized jw.org accounts could download them (often just MS/elders)

  goes back to 2010 http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/lv/r1/lp-e/0/20283

  EDIT

  wow they're freely available on the website now as PDFs too http://www.jw.org/en/publications/kingdom-ministry/ , this is a big change in policy.
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  12

  Does the President of the WT have any power?

  by BU2B in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i thought about this after reading incognito's thread.

  i was wondering if anyone here has any idea what the president of the wt actually does or if he truly has any real power, or if he is merely the gb puppet..

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  Richard_I

  Don Adams is approaching 90, but yes I assume he has some power, at least administratively. He signed & stamped some government-related forms for me that I had to show to government agencies, was kind of surprising to see his signature along with the title "President of the Watchtower and Bible Tract Society of Pennsylvania" on a piece of paper.
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  4

  1995 Outbreak of Ebola Virus in Zaire Traced to Jehovah's Witness Family

  by Kenneson in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the first case of ebola raised its ugly head in 1976 in zaire, africa.

  it remained dormant until 1995 when it struck again.

  this time the virus was traced to one family.

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  Richard_I

  Bumping this due to the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Here's an archive of Kenneson's first link: http://web.archive.org/web/20070814001700/http://www.pulitzer.org/year/1996/explanatory-journalism/works/ebola12.html

  I haven't heard anything about how the JWs are doing in Liberia, Seirra Leone, Nigeria, and Guinea over this outbreak. Do they go door-to-door with gloves & face masks? Are they even going door-to-door in these towns/villages?
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  12

  Ken Little

  by expatbrit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hello.. ken little is the canadian branch overseer.

  i have met him once (across the lunch table at a circuit assembly).

  my immediate reaction was that he is a complete company man, and fulfills his name perfectly.. i should like to know a little (har har) more about him, his background, business dealings, watchtower career, personality.

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  Richard_I

  I'm gonna bump this 11 year old thread because Ken Little's life story is in this month's study edition of the WT. You can read it all on JW.org here. In short:

  • Seems to be born in 1932 (so he's ~82 right now)
  • Arrived in Canada Bethel in 1952 (when he was ~20)
  • Became a "company servant" (coordinator of the body of elders) in 1955 (when he was ~23)
  • Married 1957 and became a CO in that same year (when he was ~25)
  • Doing "district work" in 1960 (when he was ~28)
  • Went to Gilead in 1961 (at ~29), where Knorr said he could go back to Canada Bethel to be a Kingdom Ministry School instructor, which he did a few months later
  • Went back to Gilead in 1965 (~33)
  • After graduating from Gilead, assigned by Knorr to Canada Bethel to be the branch overseer (Branch Commitee coordinator) at 34 years of age, which he still is

  AFAIK he does not consider himself "annointed". He's the "top guy" in JWs in Canada, he would know everything that goes on related to JWs in Canada. I spoke to him a few times, he seemed fairly normal but with that tract record he has to be a huge "company man" to move up the ladder that fast. He's probably the best known Canadian JW after Glen Howe (a JW lawyer, died in 2008 at 89 years of age). Ken was also the one who signed the "settlement agreement" to take watchtower.ca from Peter Mosier.