Posts by 88JM

40

2014 Yearbook Stats - 7 Countries account for > 50% growth

by Westenddave in

i thought i'd share the 2014 yearbook stats.

i converted the file to excel format & sorted the increase in publisher's column from largest to smallest.

as i suspected, the growth is limited to a very few # of "lands.

88JM

Mind if I give it a go myself?

Just a slightly different take on it, without the cumulative values:

Country or Territory	Population	Ratio, 1 Publisher to	2012 Av. Pubs.	2011 Av. Pubs.	Increase	% of World Inc.
Mexico (G-31)	122,456,000	152	777,429	749,585	27,844	17
United States of America (E-32) incl. Hawaii and Alaska	320,050,716	262	1,167,723	1,156,150	11,573	7
Congo, Dem. Republic of (M-6) (Was Zaire pre 1997)	67,419,000	357	174,687	163,349	11,338	7
Brazil (L-37)	201,032,714	262	748,940	737,951	10,989	7
Nigeria (L-4)	159,708,000	455	320,589	312,251	8,338	5
Angola (N-6)	19,082,000	192	94,182	86,802	7,380	5
Philippines (K-18)	97,701,745	517	185,387	178,467	6,920	4
Colombia (J-35)	48,165,000	299	157,395	152,280	5,115	3
Venezuela 0-36)	29,525,000	221	129,284	124,670	4,614	3
Ghana (L-3)	26,267,516	222	113,392	109,085	4,307	3
Peru (L-35)	30,613,000	252	114,153	110,651	3,502	2
Zambia (N-7)	14,371,301	84	160,211	156,898	3,313	2
Ecuador (K-34)	15,738,000	193	79,566	76,587	3,901	2
Guatemala (H-33)	15,500,000	418	35,598	33,017	2,581	2
Malawi (N-8)	15,014,000	174	80,175	78,225	1,950	1
Italy (G-5)	61,229,000	246	247,259	245,326	1,933	1
India (J-12)	1,248,772,000	32,938	36,869	34,995	1,874	1
Mozambique (O-7)	24,096,669	455	49,765	47,906	1,859	1
Madagascar (O-9)	22,599,698	792	27,591	25,779	1,812	1
Rwanda (M-7)	12,012,589	504	22,152	20,604	1,548	1
Nicaragua (H-33)	6,088,000	233	24,984	23,453	1,531	1
Russia (C-l 5)	143,930,000	856	164,187	162,748	1,439	1
Zimbabwe (O-7)	13,103,546	318	39,999	38,637	1,362	1
Chile (M-35)	17,556,815	233	73,658	72,420	1,238	1
Dominican Republic (O-29)	10,404,000	286	35,331	34,132	1,199	1
Argentina (N-36)	41,660,417	286	143,620	142,435	1,185	1
Costa Rica (J-34)	4,878,000	167	28,316	27,172	1,144	1
France (F-4)	63,703,000	511	122,456	121,331	1,125	1
Bolivia (M-36)	10,157,000	424	23,014	21,957	1,057	1
Honduras (H-33)	8,111,000	367	21,165	20,122	1,043	1
El Salvador (H-33)	6,344,000	160	38,643	37,721	922	1
Britain (E-3)	62,125,409	453	132,515	131,629	886	1
Cuba (G-34)	11,163,934	116	95,656	94,810	846	1
Haiti (O-28)	9,993,000	518	18,236	17,403	833	1

25

Peace In The Middle East - It's a comin'

by scotoma in

jw
friends

from the un news centre (with breaking news from the un news service).

un officials hope observance of international year will lead to israeli-palestinian peace16 january 2014 the united nations today launched the international year of solidarity with the palestinian people, with senior officials urging that the observance be used to redouble efforts to achieve a durable peace between israel and palestine.. the coming year will be crucial to achieving the two-state solution, deputy secretary-general jan eliasson said in his remarks to the un general assemblys committee on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the palestinian people.. mr. eliasson said israeli and palestinian negotiators are working hard towards a peaceful, comprehensive settlement of all permanent status issues.

that means a settlement that ends the occupation that started in 1967 and which would end the conflict.. it also means securing an independent, viable and sovereign state of palestine living alongside a secure state of israel, where each side recognizes the others legitimate rights, he added.. the secretary-general and i urge all in the international community to work together to translate the solidarity and desire for peace expressed on this occasion into positive action for security and for justice.. last november, the general assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming 2014 as the international year of solidarity with the palestinian people, and requested the committee to organize activities around the observance.. general assembly president john ashe told todays meeting that he hoped the year leads to robust support for the people of palestine.

88JM

Very surprising to see the UN inviting Iran to the table for the Syria discussions, at least at this stage. Syria doesn't seem happy about it though.

32

Sheparding Call

by DS211 in

jw
friends

at the meeting last night i was approached by an elder and he asked me what my schedule was like for the next week or so.

i told him im not sure ill have to tet back with him and i asked why and he said kindly but in an odd sort of way "for a visit".

my wife and i have not gone out in field service and have been missing meeting left and right mostly due to sickness and family.

88JM

If you do need an excuse for something, just say you're stressed or finding it hard to keep up with everything

15

Into Darkness - Jehovah's witnesses history

by Dis-Member in

another video on jehovah's witnesses / watchtower's history.. .

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5jnngqqyvc.

88JM

Quite informative but concise too.

I didn't know that Russel was into phrenology (though not surprising), and also the "inch for a year" rule he made for the pyramid measurements. Why would he think the ancient Egyptians would be using inches?

36

Does anyone know the curent understanding on Chess for JWs?

by BU2B in

jw
friends

i seem to remember chess was frowned upon by some jws.

is this like the oral/anal sex policy?

just ignore it and hope it goes away...

88JM

I know lots of JW's that play chess and would (brazenly!) have a nice ornate chess board in their living room.

If you became a JW after those articles were published then I don't think people know about the older JW's view of chess.

It just goes to show what happens when you start to make rules for every little thing.

23

The Gall & Hypocrisy!!

by Simon Morley in

just got a call from my daughter that she got word that the jw honeywagon (literature stand) has set up in the university she teaches at.

one (and there are many) of the reasons we left was due to the stance on higher education, she was persecuted by the elders for attending the very university they are now set up in.

my daughter eventually got a masters degree overseas and now teaches at the same unversity, is self sufficent and will not have to eke out some pittance of a living while fighting a very delbilitating health condition.

88JM

I feel a post by Outlaw coming...

JW's discourage Higher Education for their members

[INSERT PHOTO]

While members recruit outside universities

14

Quote of the day, RE: YB 2014

by pixel in

"your web site is one of the best gifts that jehovah has given to people like me.n.f., sri lanka.. so, jehovah waited how many years until he could come out with a website as a gift?.

"caleb, the little boy in the jw.org video series become jehovahs friend, is now known all over the world".

maybe he is more famous than mickey mouse?.

88JM

I didn't know Jay-Hoover knew HTML

"Markup from above"

34

Immoral sleeping arrangement?

by hoser in

jw
friends

i'm reading through the watchtower rule book right now and i came to the chapter clarification and guidelines on handling certain matters.

there is a part about scriptural divorce and even if adultery is not proved if your ex stayed all night or is involved in an immoral sleeping arrangement you can get scriptural grounds to remarry.. .

they make a rule, then they have to make a rule for the rule, make another rule for the rule for the rule.

88JM

While we're on the subject of JW rules and sleeping arrangements, this reminds me of a recent event in the congregation here...

There is sister who has a few older children - some of who aren't JW's (I guess they were smart). Well, one of her sons who isn't a JW apparently has been "sowing his wild oats" and his girlfriend (not wife) had a baby. They live in another country, but made the trip over with their new baby to visit the JW mum and stay with her. So, of course her son and his GF with the baby have to sleep in separate rooms, despite having a child together. In a way I find it sort of funny and sad at the same time applying rules in that way. I mean, does it really matter how many times they break the rules once they're broken? (Actually with having a baby, that's probably put a stop to the rule breaking for now I guess!)

Also thinking about it, are the BF and GF not even allowed to be left alone together, even though they have a baby together? (Does the baby being there count as not being "alone" together?) What about the dad's responsibilty to care for the child - does that override the rule about being alone with the GF? What a crazy situation the JW rules must create with things like this!

Has anyone else come across this sort of story?

23

Some vs Many

by Londo111 in

it is interesting how the watchtower uses these two words.

for instance, the word some is often used to minimize, and many used to maximize.

and yet, it is so unspecific that some might be a greater quantity than many, yet the mind doesnt process these words this way.. for instance, if it is a failed prediction or a changed teaching, they might say, some believed... when it fact some means most or all, because this was food at the proper time coming from gods channel through the watchtower.

88JM

The WTBTS is not the only organization guilty of this. The BBC Radio 4 programme "More or Less" is an excellent discussion on the statistics behind headlines and news stories which use such subjective language.

62

25 YEARS of compiled yearbook statistics

by 88JM in

jw
friends

hello again folks - as promised in my last thread here, i've been working on turning yearbook statistics into excel spreadsheets.. coincidentally, today is my 25th birthday (spare a thought for a fader).. i've now updated the spreadsheet with yearbook data all the way back to 1988 (the year i was born), therefore it now contains 25 years of statistics.. there were a lot of countries changing around and for some it was possible to create a continuation of data.

some are a simple change of name like south-west africa to namibia.

others, for example - in 1993 with czechoslovakia splitting into two countries (czech republic and slovakia) i have added an extra row that provides a continuation of the data, combining czech republic and slovakia back together as if they were still one country.

88JM

LisaRose:

For the "leavers" statistics, how did you calculate that? Is it the number baptized minus increased number of publishers? Does it take deaths rates into consideration?

I didn't calculate leavers?

I didn't attempt to do that as there is a bit of debate on how to produce an "accurate" figure, and I doubt I would be able to get accurate reliable historic mortality rates for each individual country.

All I'm trying to do is just collate the data really and get it into a useable format so other people can then go and make those sorts of calculations.

From the data however, you can produce still interesting and reliable statistics to show things like there are now far less hours spent per publisher and that there are far more hours spent to gain 1 baptism candidate, though you do still have to remember adjustments like being able to now count time studying with unbaptized children.