i am really excited by george bush's latest reason for bombing iraq: he's running out of patience.
for some time now i've been really pi##ed off with mr johnson, who lives a couple of doors down the street.
well, him and mr patel, who runs the health food shop.they both give me queer looks, and i'm sure mr johnson is planning something nasty for me, but so far i haven't been able to discover what.. i've been round to his place a few times to see what he's up to, but he's got everything well hidden.
Who wants to go across the border and inspect the U.S.'s weapons of mass destruction? How are those H-Bombs doing lately? Hans Blix? Chirac? Anybody? What if they don't comply?
Ohhhh, that's right, I forgot. That would be intruding on the Americans' right to sovereignty and the right of pre-emptive strike self-defence.
here are the last of the pioneer form letters.
next post in this series, i'll get back to actual correspondence.
but i wanted to get these out of the way, because the next personal correspondence i'm going to post has to do with how i stopped pioneering.. anyway, the first two-page letter is a "welcome letter" that was issued to new regular pioneers, basically spelling out the rules of the road.
wow! Aside from craning my neck 90 degrees to the right to read your schedule , it looks like you got 10 hrs/week on there...I'm assuming that you needed more "free time". In Canada, a certain beer commercial keeps plugging ways in which we can free our time...
It's amazing, and quite revealing, through all that correspondence, how the WTS as a numbers-based organization comes shining through!
Numbers, numbers, numbers. Right, JT?
i've been doing some reading on the zionists lately and there seem to be some interesting connections...needless to say, some of the stuff is politically controversial, but considering probable links between russell and freemasonry and the occult, pyramids and the sundisk, etc., i'm sure some here have further readings and insights into the role that zionism had to play in the wts' early years.
based on the posts i searched for here containing the word "illuminati", i've come to the conclusion that there is probably no links to this secret society vs. the wts.
david icke sneaks a point here or there but mostly he's out to lunch.
I've been doing some reading on the Zionists lately and there seem to be some interesting connections...needless to say, some of the stuff is politically controversial, but considering probable links between Russell and freemasonry and the occult, pyramids and the sundisk, etc., I'm sure some here have further readings and insights into the role that Zionism had to play in the WTS' early years. Based on the posts I searched for here containing the word "Illuminati", I've come to the conclusion that there is probably no links to this secret society vs. the WTS. David Icke sneaks a point here or there but mostly he's out to lunch. The problem with the secret societies is precisely that they are secret. However, with Zionism, and their antics, there appears to be documentation not so secret.
But with Zionism, the Mossad, etc., there are more probable and factual occurrences of skullduggery that have taken place, even to this day. I've exhausted NWO and Illuminati conspiracy theories, while interesting, they offer little in the way of conspiracy facts and probabilites. I've found it true, however, that certain groups do/have/will carry out agendas, whether to our good or not. It's just strange that the first magazine is called ZION'S Watchtower...from what I've read, these Zionists can be very mean-ass people!
What do you think? For me, exploring these historical connections can provide deeper insight into why the WT cult came into being, and its current and future influence and direction may be better understood. More importantly for me now, is finding root causes into the current Middle East conflicts and their ramifications for world events.
if so, how does this grab ya?.
i wonder, maybe you can answer this: who gave who this idea first???.
moving on, under section 501 of the blandly titled domestic security enhancement act of 2003, an american citizen can be stripped of citizenship if he or she "becomes a member of, or provides material support to, a group that the united states has designated as a 'terrorist organization,' if that group is engaged in hostilities against the united states.
If so, how does this grab ya?
I wonder, maybe you can answer this: Who gave who this idea first???
Moving on, under Section 501 of the blandly titled Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, an American citizen can be stripped of citizenship if he or she "becomes a member of, or provides material support to, a group that the United States has designated as a 'terrorist organization,' if that group is engaged in hostilities against the United States."
Until now, in our law, an American could only lose his or her citizenship by declaring a clear intent to abandon it. But—and read this carefully from the new bill—"the intent to relinquish nationality need not be manifested in words, but can be inferred from conduct." (Emphasis added).
Who will do the "inferring"? A member of the Justice Department. Not to worry. As John Ashcroft's spokeswoman, Barbara Comstock, says of objections to this draft bill: "The [Justice] department's deliberations are always undertaken with the strongest commitment to our Constitution and civil liberties." (This is a faith-based administration.)
part of article from http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0310/hentoff.php used under the principle of fair use
hey, we all have strong feelings about either supporting or opposing the war.
whatever things are discussed though, please stick to the topic, debate the facts and offer oppinions, not insults.. some people have posted some pretty extremist viewpoints on several topics and they should not be surprised that such views elicit a strong response and some insults in return.
they are after all, pretty insulting things to come out with in the first place.. please think before you post.
I agree, Simon.
Thank you.
Posting topics of a political bent here has been a cause of never-ending frustration for myself and others. Unfortunately, the tolerance for different points of view on these subjects goes right down the drain. It's tempting to post on these hot topics, since as when we were JWs, we were always on top of "current events", albeit filtered through our Society-trained viewpoints. I just as soon be clear of it, now, especially in light of the past few months here.
hemosol shares close down 65% after trials in key blood product halted .
at 17:00 on march 14, 2003, est.. .
printable version send to a friend
| Hemosol shares close down 65% after trials in key blood product halted
at 17:00 on March 14, 2003, EST. Printable version Send to a friend |
| TORONTO (CP) - The blood was drained from Hemosol Inc. shares Friday after the company reported safety problems with its key medical product. The stock plunged as much as 75 per cent during the day after Hemosol said it had stopped clinical trials of Hemolink, a blood substitute, because surgery patients could face heart-related complications. The trial suspension, announced late Thursday, is a terrible blow to the Toronto company, analysts said, because it has pinned much of its hopes on the commercial development of Hemolink. "The future of the company is very much in doubt," said Duncan Stewart, portfolio manager of Tera Capital Corp. But Hemosol disagreed with that gloomy assessment, calling it "too premature" while medical data are studied. Hemosol's stock had been halted all day Thursday, pending news. When trading resumed Friday, the stock sank as much as 75 per cent, or $1.54, to an all-time low of 51 cents. By the bell, it closed at 71 cents, down 65 per cent, or $1.34, on heavy volume of 5.6 million shares - a huge number for the company. The drop wiped about $62 million off the company's stock market value, which now stands at about $33 million. The stock's 52-week high is $6.35 and its 52-week low was 62 cents. "The vastly probable outcome of this is that these trials will never restart," Stewart said. "Further, if they don't, they will not get British or Canadian approval - in which case Hemosol essentially has no assets and will run out of cash. "But one never knows. It's always possible that they may recover from this," he said. But without approval from regulators to sell the Hemolink product commercially, "you're done. And this is really the only product they have." Hemosol said it halted two trials of Hemolink after the company's safety monitoring board found there was "the potential for an increase in certain cardiac adverse events" - heart problems. The company didn't elaborate on those side-effects. " 'Cardiac events' are intolerable," Stewart said, particularly with a product that's meant to be used instead of blood transfusions - a process that carries some risk but has been used with success for decades. "The standard for safety is so high that this sort of thing is a real problem." Enrolment in Hemosol's heart-bypass trial in the U.S. was temporarily suspended as the company reviews the data with its safety board and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. As a precaution, enrolment is also on hold for patients in a new orthopedic surgery trial. "Until they can conclude that Hemolink is safe . . . they have to suspend the trial," said David Dean, an analyst with Sprott Securities. "If it turns out that at the end of the day the product is not safe, then there is no Hemosol." But Hemosol disagreed with analysts' opinions about its future, saying it was "too premature" to make that kind of assessment. "This is obviously not something we had expected would happen," said Jason Hogan, a spokesman for Hemosol. "It does happen when you're running any clinical study. We have to wait and review the data." Hogan added: "What was announced (Thursday) does not mean the product does not work. It did not relate to efficacy and it does not mean that the product is not safe. The (safety board) has seen some information and they felt it was necessary to make this recommendation in order to further review that data. And we're going to look at it." "We feel that Hemolink is still an exceptional product and that its need is still growing within the marketplace." The safety board is made up of independent medical experts. Hogan noted that the company also has the option of creating an outside independent medical board to examine the data. Suspension of the trials will also hurt the biotechnology company as it tries to raise more cash this year to fund its development. "They have around four months to restart the trial or they probably won't have enough money to finish it," Dean said. The trial suspension is "not going to help" the company raise funds, Hogan noted. "We don't have an active clinical program on right now and clearly this (safety board) ruling is going to raise concerns with respect to safety," he said. "We need time to assess what exactly this is to be able to have discussions with various parties to determine our course of action." The company said it will be looking for more cash this year as it ended 2002 with $17.6 million in cash and is burning about $3 million to $3.5 million a month. The Toronto-based firm reported Thursday a wider loss for the fourth quarter and all of 2002 as it invested in a new plant and pumped money into the Hemolink trials. For the full year, the company posted a loss of $54.8 million, up 42 per cent from the year earlier. GILLIAN LIVINGSTON |
| © The Canadian Press, 2002 |
well i got me a copy of the new wt 2001 cd rom, and started looking at it and learning how to use it.. this was the very first thing i stumbled across, which was a thing that always bothered me.
those of you who saw me and watched my phases as i left will remember that this topic was a major issue for me.. .
here is the article, in part:.
8 As servants of the Great Theocrat, Jehovah, we do well to bear in mind the differences between democratic and theocratic procedures. Democratic processes call for equal representation and are often characterized by campaigning for office and election by majority vote. Such procedures are not involved in theocratic appointments. These do not come from men; nor do they proceed from some legal entity. Apparently alluding to his own appointment by Jesus and Jehovah as "an apostle to the nations," Paul told the Galatians that he had been appointed "neither from men nor through a man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him up from the dead."—Romans 11:13; Galatians 1:1.
Contrast the above paragraph with the ending one:
19 Theocratic appointments come from Jehovah through his Son and God’s visible earthly channel, "the faithful and discreet slave" and its Governing Body. (Matthew 24:45-47) The whole process of such recommendation and appointment is directed, or guided, by holy spirit. This is the case because the qualifications are set out in God’s Word, which is inspired by holy spirit, and the individual appointed gives evidence of producing the fruitage of that spirit. Therefore, the appointments are to be viewed as being made by holy spirit. Just as overseers and ministerial servants were appointed theocratically in the first century, the same is true today.
Hey, zev, you forgot to highlight any of paragraph 8!
In p. 8, we read "these do not come from men" , then in p. 19, "God's visible earthly channel"....that's a group of men! D'oh! "faithful and discreet slave" ...that's still a group of men! D'oh! I guess the holy spirit is a visible channel of men! Or is it God's invisible active force?
In p. 8, we read "nor do they proceed from some legal entity", then in p. 19, we read "and its Governing Body"! D'oh! The Governing Body is in charge of the legal entity known as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.! And they are ultimately in charge of a plethora of other "legal entities" which further appoint more groups of men! Are the shareholders of these corporations the holy spirit??? Don't shareholders vote? How does the holy spirit vote theocratically???
What part of the holy spirit are men and legal entities, I wonder? Isn't the holy spirit supposed to be God's invisible active force? There's my observation. Paragraph 19 completely invalidates paragraph 8!
jehovah's witnesses were raped and tortured by the thousands in malawi because they obeyed the watchtower society's rules, and they broke caesar's law and refused to purchase a political card in a country that only had one polictical party.
now (since 1999), jehovah's witnesses are allowed to vote in political elections!
i would love to hear everyone's comments.
JT: long time no see buddy!
As usual, you are RIGHT ON about the dogma timelines of the WT...
The kicker is, the current position on voting as being a conscience matter would be much the same, if not exactly the same position, that Raymond Franz would have recommended the GB to use...along with many other points of contention. The same Ray Franz that was shot down for apostasy now has his "apostate" material creeping into the writing department today! Just like in the UN/NGO issue, the WTS can again thank the "apostates" for helping them to see clearly these matters!
Coincidentally, this may explain the difference between this changed PR-saving "conscience matter" official Bethel stance, and the UNWRITTEN everyday application of the old policy when the rubber meets the road in everyday congregational reality.
You also can make the same argument about many other WTS policy changes over the years, especially when the policies sway from conservative to more liberal. It's like the hardliners in the congregations refuse to hear any of it, and perhaps feel that the new liberal stance might be a Satanic tactic designed to undermine organizational unity. However, when the policy shift is from liberal to conservative, the zealots in the borg spare no time in gleefully enforcing the crackdown post-haste!
It would be interesting to CONFIRM whether or not that that Questions From Readers was edited out of the new 2001 CD-ROM as well. It wouldn't be the first time that revisionist history has taken place. That's also what makes the Proclaimers book such a PR scam. If the average Witness had any inkling of the WTS' real past and history, they'd be rightfully startled. Fortunately, through the Internet, facts and truth may be dug up from the information grave, which is where the WTS wants to place their embarrassing history.
my hubby and i come from different backgrounds.
although neither was raised as a jw, he was in a very religious household.
as kids they were forced to read the bible everyday after school, while the neighborhood kids played outside.
Points well taken, Sadie. It's moderation that works, for sure, in parenting as in everything else. My philosophy on this is helping children to develop their own tools so that they can make their own decisions about things. Many things don't have to be dichotomous absolutes. There is no discipline like self-discipline. The child needs to learn how to think and do things of his/her own accord, as they become adults, they must, as they are a separate entity, with free will to make decisions. Only delusional people think that they can control and run their childrens' lives 24/7. It invariably backfires, to be sure.
In addition, Jesus said happy are those conscious of their religious spiritual need. Spirituality is important. Religion, on the other hand, is STILL (and will always be) a snare and a racket.
