Saintbertholdt

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Posts by Saintbertholdt

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  475

  What is the alternative to JW?

  by Formerbrother in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i mean this with all due respect, i would like to hear from genuine people who think jw have it wrong and then what is the truth?.

  im not talking about silly little quibbles here and there.. is jehovah real?

  the the bible is word?

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  Saintbertholdt

  Holy crap!

  
  
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  291

  Evolution is a Fact #1 - Protein Functional Redundancy

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i intend for this to be one of a series of bite-sized ops on the evidence for evolution.. introduction to dna genes are sequences of dna made up of words (codons) each of which are three letters (bases) long.

  there are only four letters in the genetic alphabet (acg&t) each word or codon is the recipe for one amino acid.

  there are 20 different amino acids in living organisms.

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  Saintbertholdt

  Hi there Island Man,

  But scientific observations show that what takes place at the quantum scale is very counter-intuitive.

  Footnote: The events of particles coming into existence out of seemingly nothing (I'm assuming that is what you are referring to) are always causal which means there are tangible observable events that precede these counter-intuitive events.
• 
  475

  What is the alternative to JW?

  by Formerbrother in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i mean this with all due respect, i would like to hear from genuine people who think jw have it wrong and then what is the truth?.

  im not talking about silly little quibbles here and there.. is jehovah real?

  the the bible is word?

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  Saintbertholdt

  Hi Giordano,

  ... the chronologies of Miller with a bunch of Adventurism thrown into the mix.

  Adventurism or Adventism?

  If its Adventurism, what like Allan Quatermain, Indiana Jones or dodging dogs during field service? :)
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  291

  Evolution is a Fact #1 - Protein Functional Redundancy

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i intend for this to be one of a series of bite-sized ops on the evidence for evolution.. introduction to dna genes are sequences of dna made up of words (codons) each of which are three letters (bases) long.

  there are only four letters in the genetic alphabet (acg&t) each word or codon is the recipe for one amino acid.

  there are 20 different amino acids in living organisms.

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  Saintbertholdt

  Clambake you wrote:

  I really don’t think people should take copy and paste evolutionary biologists with much seriousness. Their interest in science really doesn’t go beyond arguing with theists.

  Copypasta is delicious. I usually have it with a nice tomato cream sauce.

  Now the article Cofty wrote does not seem like copypasta because he's writing in a conversational style. So its from what he has read and researched and he's opinion is just as valid as the theist threads that pop up on here from time to time.
• 
  291

  Evolution is a Fact #1 - Protein Functional Redundancy

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i intend for this to be one of a series of bite-sized ops on the evidence for evolution.. introduction to dna genes are sequences of dna made up of words (codons) each of which are three letters (bases) long.

  there are only four letters in the genetic alphabet (acg&t) each word or codon is the recipe for one amino acid.

  there are 20 different amino acids in living organisms.

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  Saintbertholdt

  Nice article Cofty thanks. My only gripe is that I thought that there was 21 protein amino acids found in the Eukaryote domain.

  Oh and why didn't you mention Abraxas? He is the lord and master of the universe after all.
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  61

  David Bowie

  by smiddy in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i just heard the news david bowie has died ,so sad .

  rip d,b, .

  smiddy .

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  Saintbertholdt

  His new album was just released recently ? He must have known the end was near. , so sad.

  The last three tracks are pretty great: Girl loves me, Dollar days and I can't give everything away

  
  
• 
  61

  David Bowie

  by smiddy in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i just heard the news david bowie has died ,so sad .

  rip d,b, .

  smiddy .

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  Saintbertholdt

  Holy Shit!

  I just listened to his new album Black Star last night...So that's why he made the album.

  You bastard. Now I'm going to be mentally f**ked for the next week.

  R.I.P. Ziggy
• 
  23

  Why the Governing Body caught a frightful fright

  by Saintbertholdt in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  it has been extensively reported on the forum that there has been a marked increase in effort over the past two years by the governing body of jehovah's witnesses to encourage an increase in monetary donations.

  this has also been accompanied by the stripping of financial capital from the local congregations.

  as has also been reported on this forum, this has in all probability been done to facilitate the financing of the vast new hq building project as well as the financing of the shift from a publishing company to becoming an internet based charismatic multimedia company which produces lame pixar/disney animation knock offs while simultaneously parading the governing body's ever expanding waistlines, blingy accoutrements and stupid grins.. meanwhile the financials of the organization remains as murky as ever.

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  Saintbertholdt

  NewYork44M
  where this this data come from? can you provide a link?

  Hi there, you can look at the data at the site citizenaudit.org. Search for: Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.

  JeffT,
  I'm sorry, I'm an accountant and this graph is meaningless. It shows twenty-two years, and only has actual numbers for eight of them.

  Hi there JeffT, as you know this is through no fault of my own as the balance sheets of the various Watchtower corporations have never been voluntarily disclosed and information is sparse. Now looking at the data and the inferred data between 1995 and 2015, what does this mean?

  
  The 1995 to 2014 data as a whole just indicates that the assets of the Pennsylvania corporation have significantly increased over time, or in other words the perceived value and/or quantity of the assets have increased (well according to the Watchtower anyway). I think that it is good to show an illustration/graph of what many on the forum point to frequently. Beyond that the 95 to 2010 data only serves my need to produce rather attractive graphs, even if I say so myself. Did you notice the beautiful colors and shading? Breathtaking.
  

  HOWEVER...
  

  The 2011 to 2014 WTBTS of Pennsylvania asset statistics are quite insightful and here's why: You wrote that you are an accountant, so I'm going to assume that you have at least some basic background knowledge of the related field of economics.
  
  

  As you probably are well aware in macro and micro economics there are many relative measures which give good indications of the economic health of different economic things. These include measures like the basket of common goods (which helps to measure inflationary direction), another one is the Big Mac index and there are other things like the unemployment rate. These are all relative measures and each measure has its own fundamental problems. For example the basket of common goods was originally set up for the nuclear family, but family demographics have changed over time and consumer spending has also changed over the course of time. Another example is the US unemployment rate which assumes that if an unemployed individual no longer actively seeks employment, they are no longer viewed as unemployed. So these are not absolute measures, but relative measures which give an indication of whether inflation or things like unemployment are going up or down.

  
  What is important with relative measures is that the what and the how of the measurement always remains the same (or changes very slowly over time and is then adjusted for). For example, if the people compiling the Big Mac index suddenly started measuring the price of Quarter Pounders instead; or if the basket constituents of the consumer index of a developing country was suddenly and radically changed and the government of that country then declared that the inflation rate miraculously went down, one could reasonably assume that whoever changed these measures were up to the devils business and the result would be that these relative measures would lose their value.

  
  

  So what I am getting at is that without having access to the Pennsylvania corporations balance sheets, the total asset value can be viewed as a relative measure. In other words its an indicator of whether the corporations wealth is expanding or contracting but it is NOT a real measure of the absolute asset value. So how could we know that the measurement is at least consistent? Well my answer is Gerald F. Simons. He is the chief accountant that has signed off on the accounting of the Watchtower corporations for at least the last eight years. I have made some assumptions about Mr. Simons. I have assumed he is reasonable, responsible, prudent and that however he chooses to do the accounting, that he is at least consistent. I make these assumptions based on his length of tenure, his chosen profession and its methodical shift over more than a decade and a half to GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles).
  

  So whats insightful about the 2011 to 2014 statistic? The 15% decline in 2014 that has coincided with the new building projects as well as the increased request for contributions, indicates that the suspicion that the Watchtower is in fact in a financial pickle is not unfounded. The 2014 decrease also bucks the previously available seven years data trend (which includes 1995 to 1998) which shows consistent asset increases. I would argue that it confirms many on the forums long held suspicions .
  
  

  Footnotes:

  1. You wrote: "It also does not include assets held by other corporations, notably all the local Kingdom Halls."

  Yes, for example the NY corporation holds over half a billion in assets but information is even more scarce.
  

  2. When Mr. Simons includes the asset value of the new buildings (which is projected to be finished this year I believe), I think my 2016 projected increase will probably turn out to be a rather large underestimation.

  
  And that's that, said the cat in the hat.

  
  
  
• 
  44

  Fishing and JW's???

  by lurkernomore in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so i was just reading a thread and came across a completely new jw 'rule', that of not being allowed to go fishing!..

  at least it's new to me as i always enjoyed fishing as did others in my old congregation.

  anyone else heard of this or had this imposed on them in they're jw lives?.

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  Saintbertholdt

  *** w07 12/1 p. 31 Questions From Readers ***

  
  Questions From ReadersHow should a Christian view hunting and fishing?The Bible does not condemn hunting or fishing. (Deuteronomy 14:4, 5, 9, 20; Matthew 17:27; John 21:6) Still, Christians who hunt or fish need to consider several Scriptural principles. God permitted Noah and his descendants to kill and eat animals, provided they bled the animals before eating them. (Genesis 9:3, 4) This directive emphasized that animal life should be respected as having originated with God. Thus, Christians do not kill animals merely for sport or for fun and with wanton disregard for life.—Proverbs 12:10.

  
  

  There is an additional aspect involving our attitude. The apostles who were fishermen were likely gratified by a good catch. Yet, there is no indication that they bragged about their prowess at fishing or hunting or that they went fishing or hunting to compete with others, to prove their manhood, or to have the thrill of the chase, the fight, or the kill.—Psalm 11:5; Galatians 5:26.

  [Except for Samson and the Lion and killing Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey :) ]

  Thus, we might ask ourselves: ‘Am I an example in showing respect for Jehovah’s view of life? Does hunting or fishing dominate my thinking and conversation? Does my way of life reflect the hunting culture, or does it show that I am a minister of God? Does hunting or fishing put me in close association with unbelievers or cause me to neglect my family?’—Luke 6:45.
  
  Some who hunt or fish for food may feel justified in putting aside spiritual matters during hunting and fishing seasons. However, we show faith and trust in God when we do not let anything take priority over his interests. (Matthew 6:33) Furthermore, Christians obey all of “Caesar’s” laws regarding hunting and fishing, whether the authorities enforce them or not.—Matthew 22:21; Romans 13:1.
  

  To conform to Jehovah’s view of hunting and fishing, some may need to adjust their thinking with regard to his standards. (Ephesians 4:22-24) On the other hand, we need to respect the conscientious decisions of others. Appropriate in this case is the apostle Paul’s counsel: “Let us not be judging one another any longer, but rather make this your decision, not to put before a brother a stumbling block.” (Romans 14:13) Showing such unselfish love and respect makes for peace in the congregation and pleases our Maker, the Source of all life.—1 Corinthians 8:13

  .[Footnote]See also “Questions From Readers” in the May 15, 1990, issue of The Watchtower.

  ---

  So just eat what you kill, or give it to someone who will, oh and don't brag.
  
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  25

  I predicted a lottery number from a pattern, is the lottery NOT random or is random held to a universal force?

  by EndofMysteries in

  1. social
  2. current

  i've studied and observed several lottery patterns.

  this one is now gone so nothing lost by revealing it.

  i had a certain history search and noticed that almost each week the past few months a list of numbers not used recently were being used 1 per week.

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  Saintbertholdt

  Hi 2+2=5,

  You wrote:

  Spew away

  Weeeeeeeell ok then, this information may be old hat to you and I apologize in advance. If you asked a mathematician, scientist, engineer or man child (me) about randomicity and stochastic systems, the first question they should ask is: What is the probability distribution of the outcomes, which reduces to the problem of the probability that a particular event will occur.

  For example say you have a fair six sided die. What is the probability of getting the number four?

  Well that's sort of obvious, its 1 chance in a possibility of 6 outcomes or to put in simple mathematical terms: P=1/6 (16.667%)

  What if you added a second die? Well you can get at minimum the number 2 (two ones) and the maximum of the number 12 (two sixes). So the probability of a particular outcome is 1 in 11. Right? Well actually no. The moment you have multiple events which are summed, the probability is different for each possible outcome.

  How does this work?

  To get a two, you need a 1 and a 1.

  To get a three you need to throw a 1 and a 2 or you could throw a 2 and a 1.

  To get a four you could throw a 1 and a 3, a 3 and a 1, or a 2 and a 2.

  So there are 36 possible combinations that you can throw with a set of 2 dice, which affects the probability as follows:

  
  

  So with a pair of dice, you're most lightly to throw the number 7 at 17% probability and the lowest is 2 or 12 at 3%. The more dice you add, the more the Probability distribution will start looking like a bell curve. This is famously the normal or Gaussian distribution, which can be discrete or continuous:

  

  Sooooo... what if you had a set of 5 dice, with 45 sides each and you threw them all together and viewed the outcome as a summed event (as was done with the set of 2 dice)?

  Continue?