Posts by VM44
-
-
-
-
25
If you told anyone what the AGM was about before it was screened in their cong, you could DIE!
by Julia Orwell inamong the inane fb comments i've come across about the agm, this one stood out as more inane than the most enthusiastic jw slobbering:.
"before we start taking about what happened at the agm we must be absolutely certain that all the meetings are over.
make sure that we are obedient in the small things ago that we will be obedient in the big things.
-
-
VM44
Defintion o fslander (noun).
1. Law Oral communication of false statements injurious to a person's reputation.
2. A false and malicious statement or report about someone.
Many JWs do not understad the meaning of the word.
They think ANY negative statement about a person is slander even if it is true.
-
33
Not Forsaking Christian Gatherings
by StephaneLaliberte inat the meeting this week, there was a part about placing our trust in jehovah and not worrying about food and shelter (mat 6:33).
the part was based on the 2013 yearbook p138 and 139 where there were two examples:.
a family went to their convention leaving their chickens unattended for a number of days, worried about if they would survive.
-
-
VM44
Anthony Morris told this chicken story at a convention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1UKZ5M-yO4
Apparently Anthony Morris enjoys telling anecdotal stories that sound like they could have come from the "Weekly World News."
-
33
Not Forsaking Christian Gatherings
by StephaneLaliberte inat the meeting this week, there was a part about placing our trust in jehovah and not worrying about food and shelter (mat 6:33).
the part was based on the 2013 yearbook p138 and 139 where there were two examples:.
a family went to their convention leaving their chickens unattended for a number of days, worried about if they would survive.
-
-
VM44
"turns out 19 were missing when they came back"?
Missing?Is it being implied that the 19 chickens had vanished and could not be found?
Perhaps the 19 chickens simply evaporated?
The experience should have been written like this:
"A family went to their convention leaving their chickens unattended for a number of days, worried about if they would survive. Turns out 19 were found dead they came back."
But that would have change the tone of the story.
Proverbs 12:10 is appropriate here.
"The righteous one is caring for the soul of his domestic animal, but the mercies of the wicked ones are cruel."
So those JWs that left their animals to die so they could attend a convention, did they care for the souls of their domestic animals?Were they righteous, or were they wicked and cruel?
-
132
NEW video on Youtube MUST SEE! the elder's meeting is ridiculous!
by Newly Enlightened inbrother of the hawk, newly enlightened & gojira, recorded an elder's meeting on 5/7/03.
both does a great job of defending me and making the elders look foolish!.
thank you raypublisher/jj and jwstruggle for the awesome job you did on it.. follow up story was not recorded but we will post it here hopefully over the weekend.. enjoy, it's pretty hilarious how they try to control us and come after me on a work of fiction!.
-
-
VM44
Now the video is being taken down because someone complained to Youtube!
http://youtube.com/v/B7Zw1N0R50s
The JW elders really don't want people to know how they behave!
-
25
If you told anyone what the AGM was about before it was screened in their cong, you could DIE!
by Julia Orwell inamong the inane fb comments i've come across about the agm, this one stood out as more inane than the most enthusiastic jw slobbering:.
"before we start taking about what happened at the agm we must be absolutely certain that all the meetings are over.
make sure that we are obedient in the small things ago that we will be obedient in the big things.
-
-
VM44
what was this "negativity" that this JW says she saw?
-
7
P.A.M Dirac quotation, do the writers actually read the articles from which they quote?
by VM44 inthe awake magazine quoted the physicist p.a.m dirac while discussing how the periodic law of the elements gives evidence for the existence of a designer.. g00 8/22 pp.
5-9 peering into the unseenwhat is revealed?.
a close study of the elements and how they fit together to form everything in the universe caused famous physicist p.a.m. dirac, who was a professor of mathematics at cambridge university, to say: one could perhaps describe the situation by saying that god is a mathematician of a very high order, and he used very advanced mathematics in constructing the universe.. the quotation originally appeared in the may 1963 issue of scientific american in an article entitled "the evolution of the physicists picture of nature," and may be read online at this address:.
-
-
VM44
I vaguely remember scene in a film produced by the Watchotwer showing some Bethelites clipping articles from newspapers and magazines for the writing deparment.
Anyone else remember seeing that?
-
7
P.A.M Dirac quotation, do the writers actually read the articles from which they quote?
by VM44 inthe awake magazine quoted the physicist p.a.m dirac while discussing how the periodic law of the elements gives evidence for the existence of a designer.. g00 8/22 pp.
5-9 peering into the unseenwhat is revealed?.
a close study of the elements and how they fit together to form everything in the universe caused famous physicist p.a.m. dirac, who was a professor of mathematics at cambridge university, to say: one could perhaps describe the situation by saying that god is a mathematician of a very high order, and he used very advanced mathematics in constructing the universe.. the quotation originally appeared in the may 1963 issue of scientific american in an article entitled "the evolution of the physicists picture of nature," and may be read online at this address:.
-
-
VM44
Concerning the Awake! article in which the writer wrongly stated that P.A.M. studied the periodic table of the elements before being led to the conclusion that "God is a Mathematician," I am going to venture that the Awake writers have a collection of quotations made by various people on various topics, and when they are writing an article, they simply refer to this collection and copy the quotations they need from it.
So the Awake! writer does not need to read the original article from where the quote was taken, he just takes what he needs from the quotation folder.
However, this opens the door for mistakes to be made, as the writer does not know the original context, and might make up their own context for it in order to make the quote fit with what they are writing, as this particular instance shows.
-
7
P.A.M Dirac quotation, do the writers actually read the articles from which they quote?
by VM44 inthe awake magazine quoted the physicist p.a.m dirac while discussing how the periodic law of the elements gives evidence for the existence of a designer.. g00 8/22 pp.
5-9 peering into the unseenwhat is revealed?.
a close study of the elements and how they fit together to form everything in the universe caused famous physicist p.a.m. dirac, who was a professor of mathematics at cambridge university, to say: one could perhaps describe the situation by saying that god is a mathematician of a very high order, and he used very advanced mathematics in constructing the universe.. the quotation originally appeared in the may 1963 issue of scientific american in an article entitled "the evolution of the physicists picture of nature," and may be read online at this address:.
-
-
VM44
Here is a well written biography of the scientist P.A.M. Dirac.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Strangest-Man-Hidden-Mystic/dp/0465022103
Among other accomplishments, he predicted the existence of Anti-Matter before it was discovered experimentally.
-
37
Alameda County Administrator makes $423,664 a year!
by VM44 inalameda county administrator's premium pay end hearst/article/premium_article_tools_480.tpl end premium_story_header.tpl article/types/premium_story.tpl hearst/common/author_name.tpl by matier & ross.
e hearst/common/author_name.tpl article_timestamp.tpl march 25, 2013. alameda county supervisors have really taken to heart the adage that government should run like a business, rewarding county administrator susan muranishi with the wall street-like wage of $423,664 a year.. for the rest of her life.. according to county pay records, in addition to her $301,000 base salary, muranishi receives:-- $24,000, plus change, in "equity pay" to guarantee that she makes at least 10 percent more than anyone else in the county.. -- about $54,000 a year in "longevity" pay for having stayed with the county for more than 30 years.. -- an annual performance bonus of $24,000.. -- and an additional $9,000 a year for serving on the county's three-member surplus property authority, an ad hoc committee of the board of supervisors that oversees the sale of excess land.. like other county executives, muranishi also gets an $8,292-a-year car allowance.. muranishi has been with the county for 38 years, and she's 63. when retirement day comes, she'll be getting a lot more than a gold watch.. that's because, according to the county auditor's office, muranishi's annual pension will be equal to the dollar total of her entire yearly package - $413,000.
she also has a separate executive private pension plan, for which the county chips in $46,500 a year.. "and she's worth every dime," said supervisor scott haggerty, who was on the board when it promoted muranishi to county administrator in 1995, voted for her and joined in approving her base pay and perks.. "we're lucky to have her," haggerty said.. he likens the job of running the county administration to being ceo of a $2.4 billion corporation, with 9,000 employees.. granted, the $2.4 billion is taxpayer money, and the county isn't set up to turn a profit.
-
-
VM44
'Pension pickup': Bay Area taxpayers foot the bill for little-known perk
By Thomas Peele and Daniel Willis
Posted: 06/24/2013 06:25:07 AM PDT
To understand the hidden costs of one of California's sweetest public employee perks, feast your eyes on Exhibit A: Alameda County's top-paid public official, Susan Muranishi.
Not only did the county administrator rack up $462,000 in gross pay last year, and not only did taxpayers contribute an additional $118,000 to her retirement plan, they also picked up the bill for something Muranishi was supposed to pay: the $43,000 "employee" contribution to her pension.
It's called the "pension pickup" -- and like a rich uncle picking up the tab at a big family dinner, Bay Area taxpayers footed the bill for more than $221 million last year for the employee share of 63,000 public workers' pension contributions. The practice undermines retirement rules that were designed to force employees to share the burden for their pensions.
Muranishi was the Bay Area's biggest beneficiary of the little-known, lucrative benefit that most taxpayers don't know exists. But at least 28 other Bay Area public employees received pickups of more than $20,000 last year.
"Wow, that's real money," said Ralph Kanz, an Alameda County activist and former chairman of Oakland's Public Ethics Commission. "The system has gotten twisted up from what it was meant to be."
A new analysis of the Bay Area News Group's latest collection of government compensation data revealed that at least 117 public agencies from as far south as Gilroy to as far north as Cloverdale picked up a portion of their employees' retirement contributions in 2012 -- a growing concern as governments scramble to find ways to control runaway pension costs.
'Out of whack'
This often hush-hush benefit negotiated during rosier economic times can put thousands of extra dollars in public employees' paychecks by relieving them of costly payroll deductions. But the practice can get so expensive for local governments that last year state lawmakers banned agencies that belong to the giant California Public Employees Retirement System from offering pickups to anyone hired after Jan. 1, 2013. Reforms led by Gov. Jerry Brown are designed to get workers to pay a higher share of their retirement costs. The state retirement system for teachers has never allowed the practice.
That hasn't stopped agencies such as BART, the Association of Bay Area Governments and towns such as Portola Valley, Scotts Valley and Hollister from lavishing more than 99 percent of their employees with pension pickups of 100 percent. Last year, BART spent $17 million covering what employees were supposed to be contributing to their pensions.
"It's gotten out of whack," said BART's general manager, Grace Crunican, who is pushing in labor negotiations to halt all pickups, even though taxpayers last year picked up $17,500 of her pension costs. "It's called the 'employee share' for a reason."
The 3,373 BART workers who received pickups last year were among 63,713 government employees in the region who had at least part of their pension share paid on their behalf in 2012, according to the compensation data. That's in addition to what state law already requires governments to pay for each employee as a standard benefit.
The figures are revealed in this newspaper's annual survey of Bay Area public agencies and governments, compiled through the state's Public Records Act as part of an ongoing effort to show taxpayers how their money is spent. The newspaper collected salary and benefit costs for 279,017 public employees at 330 local agencies, accounting for more than $17.6 billion in government spending on personnel costs in 2012. Readers can search the database at www.mercurynews.com/salaries/bay-area.
A negotiated perk
California's pension systems require all public employees to pay roughly 8 to 10 percent of their gross pay toward their pensions through payroll deductions. Law enforcement officers pay more because they are able to collect full pensions as early as age 50 and receive more generous benefits than other workers.
However, nothing stops unions and managers from negotiating to get the "employee share" of their pension costs picked up as an extra sweetener -- and many do.
"People may think the employees are paying 8 percent. Well, it turns out (some) are not," said Joe Nation, a public policy professor at Stanford University who studies California pensions. "They are paying a smaller amount."
Data show that nearly 6,000 police officers, sheriff's deputies and firefighters received pickups across the region last year, worth an average of about $5,200.
Still, the data show, some local governments are starting to eliminate the costly perk when contracts are renegotiated. Cash-strapped Oakland cut it last year, slashing $3.5 million from its personnel costs. Pinole, in Contra Costa County, made a similar move.
Pickups began "as a tumbleweed," said retired labor lawyer Chris Burdick of Marin County, who has written a legal textbook on California pension laws. Unionized employees realized nothing stopped governments from paying an employee's share of pension benefits and began negotiating for it, he said.
"As it began to tumble down the road, it got bigger and bigger," he said. "Everyone knows what everyone else is getting, and they want to get it, too. There's only one good reason to be a public employee, and that's to get the pension."
The number of government workers across the state who receive a pickup remains unknown. CalPERS doesn't track it, said Brad Pacheco, the pension agency's spokesman.
In exclusive company
Santa Clara County dwarfs the rest of the Bay Area in paying the "employee" share of its workers' pension contributions -- kicking in nearly $72 million last year -- but that comes with a twist: The employees reimbursed the county $57.5 million of that money. It's called a "reverse pension pickup," a trick that effectively bumps up the size of employees' future pensions without costing the county more in salary.
In Alameda County, less than 25 percent of county employees received the pickup benefit last year, data show. Muranishi's payment was more than five times higher than any other employee's. In fact, the $43,000 pension contribution topped the gross salaries of 1,861 Alameda County government employees last year, including janitors, clerks and secretaries. Muranishi didn't respond to requests for comment.
She was one of 29 people who received a pickup of more than $20,000 last year, data show. That list also included San Rafael City Manager Nancy Mackle, Gilroy police Chief Denise Turner and Hayward fire Chief Garrett Contreras.
Turner is just one of 16 people in Gilroy's government who received a pickup last year, a number that included six members of the City Council, who had 100 percent of their pensions paid for.
Mayor Don Gage, a former Santa Clara County supervisor who took office this year and declined city benefits because he is already drawing a government pension, said he was unaware of the perk in city government. "I don't pay too much attention to that," he said.
Gilroy was one of 68 cities in the region that offered a pickup to at least some employees last year. Of those, 17 paid it to all employees in the pension system. Those included Cupertino, Pleasanton and Oakley, which recently ended four years of employee furloughs.
Small agencies
Data show that pickups are more common at small agencies that receive little scrutiny.
Water agencies, sewer providers, irrigation and mosquito abatement districts, even public cemeteries and the Santa-Rosa based California Authority of Racing Fairs, which regulates betting on horse races at county fairs, offered the benefit last year, often at higher rates than at other kinds of agencies.
Of 34 special districts that paid a pickup for all their workers in the pension system, a third of them paid 100 percent of the employees portion, data show.
The West County Wastewater District in Richmond, which serves about 36,000 sewer customers and has a yearly budget of $20 million, even gave pickups last year of $1,276.29 each to three part-time elected directors, covering two-thirds of their pension costs.
The district's president, Alfred Granzella, 87, said the district began paying toward a pension, complete with a pickup of his share, when he was first elected 28 years ago, and he has never questioned it. "They provided it at the time and it carried on. I am entitled to it."
All of the district's 56 employees in the pension system receive a pickup ranging from 25 to 100 percent of their shares of pension costs.
All of those promised perks during fatter times now are coming back to haunt governments, which are struggling to cover millions of dollars in obligations for their employees' retirements. As some Bay Area officials are finding, few of the beneficiaries are willing to turn back the clock and pick up the tab themselves.
"Once you are in the club," Nation said, "boy, are you set."
