Posts by Brock Talon

5

My escape from Jehovah's Witnesses to seek a life as an artist

by Terry in

jw
friends

dream of the unborn butterfly.

my escape from jehovah's witnesses to seek a life as an artist .... (1974 - i pulled up stakes in fort worth, texas, packed my wife and 3 small kids into a ford maverick, and headed to california seeking a job of some kind where i could earn a living --not as a janitor, window washer, or minimum wage slave - but as some kind of artist.

) ________________ “konichiwa” he spoke with a smile wrapped in mischief.it was paul miyoshi.

Brock Talon

Touching story, Terry. Nice sentiments too.

We paint our love for others with deeds.

112

Are You Concerned About Inflation?

by Simon in

i saw a statistic the other day that something like 25% of all the debt that the us has incurred since 1776 was created in the last 12 months.

that's because they have printed so much currency and instead of letting that stop them, they are going to continue printing more to go on a spending spree on crazy green-new-deal schemes and union handouts.. does anyone think that this can be anything other than inflationary?

they are effectively stealing the wealth of everyone to then hand money out to people.

Brock Talon

The rising inflation is just one of the things that makes it feel like we are living in the 1970's Jimmy Carter presidency all over again.

I was old enough to remember it, if not vaguely and I remember the lines at the gas stations because of the oil crisis. Eventually we all had to fill up at the gas station on odd or even days of the month depending on the odd or even license plate numbers. (I believe we were limited on the amount of gas we could get on one visit too.) I was too young to understand inflation, but I do remember my father complaining about it. And I remember the Iran hostage situation, which ran daily on the news at the time.

The thing is, this is not the 1970s. That was a much more innocent time then. It was an era where our news sources were not biased one way or the other, at least, it was not apparent. The Iran hostage crisis is an example. The media (which was pretty much only 3 TV stations and your local paper) all talked about it daily, and complained that Carter was not doing much about it. Republican Presidential candidate Ronald Regan said exactly what he would do. I remember that quite vividly because my mother commented that he was a "war monger" and that he would get us all killed. We all know now how that actually played out. So much for mom's liberal viewpoint on things.

Today the left leaning media would not play out any crisis like that for a Democrat president. Look how they have downplayed and then just not talk about the Afghanistan hostage crisis, which is WAY worse than Carter's Iran crisis. Jimmy Carter bungled a crisis he had placed on his lap, but Biden bungled a crisis he caused. He continues to bungle it.

Look at how the lefty media ignores the border crisis, again, another self-inflicted one by Joe Biden. He continues to bungle it actually. The only smart thing he did was to reestablish the Stay in Mexico agreement. Other than that, nothing. Biden leaves it to the laughing hyena Harris, who also does nothing.

Look at how the lefty media excuses the COVID vaccine mandates which is causing yet another crisis, one of losing millions of previously deemed hero "essential workers" who are now being kicked to the curb for wanting autonomy over their own bodies. Biden is doubling down on this nonsense.

Now we are facing a supply chain crisis, which to be fair Biden did inherit (due to COVID 19 shutdowns of so many businesses, ridiculous regulations in Democratic run states with ports like California and New York, etc.) but Biden has on cue, made it worse by declaring war on the oil, gas and coal industries and has shut down as many of them as he can. Now he is out begging for fuel from OPEC (who laugh at him) and the U.S. now is nearly 100% dependent on this fuel source from, well, countries who are mostly our enemies. To be fair, the supply chain crisis is a complex issue, but we certainly did not have an oil, natural gas and coal problem on our hands during Trump's presidency because the U.S. became 100% independent on that front. Biden has completely wrecked that in just 10 short months. Biden has made no movement to fix this, only make it worse by things like the COVID vaccines mandates. No, Biden leaves this to his Secretary of Transportation, Pete Butigieg, who promptly went on the record as saying this was the new normal "until the Pandemic was over" and we would just have to live with it. Then Pete went on extended paternity leave.

Now bad actors like China, Iran, Russia and the like are emboldened to do pretty much what they want again. It's like the adult left the room and they sent in a substitute teacher who really is a kid himself and has no control over the bullies. Biden has absolutely zero respect from the world's worse actors. With Trump, peace was literally breaking out in the Middle East and instead of receiving a Nobel prize for it, he was labeled a racist and impeached for nonsense. Trump had North Korea and Iran on their knees. Trump made friends with Putin and reined in any shenanigans from Russia. Trump has China on the defense. Now all of these countries are free to do as they please again, which is NOT good for the U.S or the rest of the world.

No, this is not a replay of the 1970's. It is WAY WORSE. Jimmy Carter would never dream of trying to spend his way out of inflation and propose multi-trillion dollar spending sprees on nonsense. Biden does. AND he claims it is "all paid for"...But all the billionaires in the United States, if you took all their money away and paid for that spending bill, their money could not cover it. So where exactly does the money come from? Well, the fact that the Democrats are proposing a new way of trolling through all our bank accounts (anyone with $600 dollars of movement per year or more, later changed to $10,000) and the fact they want to add tens of thousands of new IRS agents, tells anyone with half a brain the Dems are NOT going after the 1% only. Why add all those agents for such few people? Why mull through accounts with a paltry $10,000 in movement per year? Answer: they are going after ALL of us!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_Americans_by_net_worth

(Notice in the above Wikipedia link that the 400 wealthiest people in the U.S. together are worth only $3.2 trillion. So how do we pay for the Dems original 3.5 trillion bill by taxing them?)

And yes, on top of that, they are inflating away the net worth we have actually been able to acquire.

So, do I worry about inflation? You bet your sweet bippy I do. I can only hope my physical gold and silver, paper gold and silver, my bitcoin account and the fact that my home is paid off will protect my family to some degree.

If we go into hyperinflation or the dollar actually collapses? God help us all.

12

US Government Insurrection Attempt

by Simon in

so now we know the russian dossier was a fraud, the whole "russian collusion" was a hoax, and we know it was funded by the clintons and promoted by the dem's media allies.. given that this was the basis for an actual attempt to remove the elected president of the united states, this was an attempted insurrection.. clinton is guilty and should face charges.. given that they did this, does anyone still believe that they wouldn't commit some lesser, election fraud, crimes?.

if so, you still haven't learned anything.

"fool me once" and all that ....

Brock Talon

The Clintons have been an absolute cancer to America.

Boy, is THAT true.

Have you guys seen the list of nearly 50 Clinton associates who have mysteriously died? Many of them are people who were about to blow the whistle on or investigating one of the Clintons for one reason or another, or who were so close to them that they would likely have a lot of dirt on them. (e.g. body guards, advisors, etc.) The last one was of course Jeffrey Epstein.

Detractors try to dismiss anyone who talks about this as a "conspiracy theory," which in CNN-like smear-speech is meant to say "only crazy people would entertain it."

But ask yourself this: how many people do you know personally who have mysteriously died? OK, so maybe you are not famous (like me) and don't "know" as many people as the Clintons, so perhaps that's not a good test.

So then, ask yourself, how many people mysteriously die who are associated with ANY other "famous" couple (movie stars, musicians, politicians, sports heroes, etc.) who could have a list like this complied about them?

Heck, even OJ and Don King only have two each.

Answer: only the Clintons

http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/list-of-clinton-associates-who-allegedly-died-mysteriously-or-committed-suicide-before-testimony/

12

US Government Insurrection Attempt

by Simon in

so now we know the russian dossier was a fraud, the whole "russian collusion" was a hoax, and we know it was funded by the clintons and promoted by the dem's media allies.. given that this was the basis for an actual attempt to remove the elected president of the united states, this was an attempted insurrection.. clinton is guilty and should face charges.. given that they did this, does anyone still believe that they wouldn't commit some lesser, election fraud, crimes?.

if so, you still haven't learned anything.

"fool me once" and all that ....

Brock Talon

I thought the Democrats weaponizing of impeachment was even more disgusting than the Russia collusion nonsense. In March of the year the Democrats finally "found" (read: made up) something, Nancy Pelosi said “Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don't think we should go down that path, because it divides the country.”

Well, that didn't stop them from doing it... TWICE! With Madam Speaker in lock step with the rest of them and with ZERO bipartisan consideration.

It was stunning to see them impeach Trump over asking if Joe Biden was involved in corruption with Ukraine because of the 1 Billion payout they got. It is widely known that the Ukraine government is corrupt, so asking about it just makes sense. This especially in the light of the fact that Hunter Biden got paid millions for doing... nothing. Hunter doesn't speak the language, Hunter is not an expert in anything that Ukraine needed from Burisma. Hunter even went on TV and admitted (under softball questioning from a friendly media) that it had bad optics and that he used "poor judgement."

https://time.com/5700615/hunter-biden-joe-poor-judgment/

Plus, there was that darn video of Joe Biden actually BRAGGING about holding money over the heads of the Ukraine government unless he fires the state prosecutor, the same one who was investigating Hunter Biden's company.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXA--dj2-CY

https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-to-fire-prosecutor-who-led-probes-into-burisma-holdings/30272137.html

Of course now, the Biden-friendly "fact checkers" want to claim that Biden was withholding money to "clean up the Ukraine corruption" which is laughable because to this day there is no excuse for Hunter Biden getting millions from the Ukraine government via Burisma, no reason for him being there at all, and that once the state prosecutor was fired, Hunter's company was in the clear from any investigations. Coincidence?

Additionally, there was no reason for Hunter to be receiving money from the Chinese either.

https://nypost.com/article/hunter-biden-china-timeline-business-ties/

It doesn't take a rocket scientist or brain surgeon to easily connect those dots. Anyone who wants to stick their head in the sand over these issues should be ashamed of themselves.

That said, given all this murkiness and shadiness, why would that rise to the level of impeachment for Donald Trump to ask about it? It certainly looked bad. If there was nothing there, so so be it. But investigating this should be reasonable. The reason given: Joe Biden "might" be the next presidential nominee and Trump was trying to smear him to win the re-election. (Biden had not received the nomination yet.) But wouldn't the fact that Joe Biden was running for president be MORE of a reason to ensure that there was no corruption going on with him or his son? Again, why would that be an impeachable offense to simply investigate?

In like manner, the Democrats started calling for the impeachment of Brett Cavanaugh right after this confirmation. Literally, hours after. For what? How can you impeach someone when they have not even served yet? Actually, the entire Cavanaugh hearing/public trial was a display of desperation and overreach. "Believe all women" they cried over Cavanaugh, who might have groped a girl in high school. This is the same group who promptly fell silent when Joe Biden was accused of actual rape while he was a sitting Senator and dismissed all the creepy "touching" he did for years.

But I digress.

Weaponizing the impeachment process by the Democrats to me remains one of the most shameful things I have seen in my country's history of politics because it poisons our standards of democracy and fair play by abusing a sacred constitutional privilege.

23

Armageddon house?

by exjwlemming in

the other night, my wife and i were driving through a upscale suburb with old, large, beautiful homes.

there is one house that my never jw she really likes.

as we drove by the house, i turned to her and said, "that's your armageddon house.

Brock Talon

But brothers and sisters seemed to be almost proud of the wealthier amongst us....whilst dismissive of the wealthy who were not JWs.

Alive! This was not my experience. Growing up a JW, I observed that the JWs who had the most were often deemed "materialistic" unless they were Elders. Wealthier Elders who gained what they had BEFORE they were JWs were excused from this judgment. This also applied to those who had higher education: if you got it BEFORE you "learned the Truth" then OK. But if wanted to get an education AFTER you became a JW, then you were judged. One elder I grew up with was a college professor. (Not with a big university, but a more modest college, but a professor none-the-less.) He was excused for this because he became a professor before he was a JW. Yet, he actually discouraged me from attending college when I asked him how I should start my own higher educational path saying it was "worldly." Hypocritical much?

Of course, the term "materialistic" was often thrown around and usually applied to anyone who simply had more than they did and was not prominent in the congregation. They figured, if you were not a pioneer, Elder or at least a Ministerial Servant and you had money, then you were "pursuing worldly things" and that you "loved money more than you loved Jehovah." I actually had one person tell me that about myself. I reminded him that I pioneered as a young person and went to Bethel, but after that I wanted a higher education and to buy a home, get married and raise a family like a normal human being. I told him I paid my dues. But that was not good enough for him, because now I lived in a brand new home that I had built and was not serving in any capacity any longer, so I must be materialistic and did not love Jehovah "enough."

Regarding "Armageddon houses," yes, I heard this ALL the time as a child. I often wondered how we knew these houses would make it through all the lightning bolts, earthquakes, floods, fires, riots and such that would most certainly happen at Armageddon, but I never questioned it until I got much older. Once I started thinking for myself, I wondered how we JWs would maintain the infrastructure required for such housing: public sewage systems, public electrical, water, gas, roads, etc. Also, why did the publications always show houses were in some sort of tropical paradise, sitting on vast acreage of land and not side by side in a mundane tract housing development?

The more I thought about it, the more my head hurt.

Oh, and regarding that guy who deemed me materialistic and not loving Jehovah enough? He was a pioneer who received his money from an inheritance and lived off it. Once the inheritance ran out (by doing stupid things like spending it on a new car and then crashing it without insurance) he left "the Truth."

Typical.

44

The Poor the Wealthy and the Middle Class

by Simon in

the poor spendthe middle-class savethe wealthy invest.

the unique circumstances of the lockdown and stimulus checks has highlighted these differences in stark ways.. on one hand, you have jumps in sales and valuation of companies like foot locker and nike, as people spend their "free" government money on sneakers.

they blow it on useless tat.

Brock Talon

Love it JeffT. Let's collect "Money can't buy happiness..." sayings:

---

Money can't buy happiness, but it can rent it.

Money can't buy happiness, but it can make the down payment.

Money can't buy happiness, but neither does poverty.

Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes unhappiness a whole lot more tolerable.

Money can't buy happiness, unless you know a hooker named "Happiness."

Money can't buy happiness, said the broke guy eying the plain looking dude with the nice suit, fancy car and beautiful woman on his arm.

44

The Poor the Wealthy and the Middle Class

by Simon in

the poor spendthe middle-class savethe wealthy invest.

the unique circumstances of the lockdown and stimulus checks has highlighted these differences in stark ways.. on one hand, you have jumps in sales and valuation of companies like foot locker and nike, as people spend their "free" government money on sneakers.

they blow it on useless tat.

Brock Talon

I'm not so convinced about the "Money does not buy happiness" saying. I posted on this issue a number of years ago when I saw an article based on a study that seemed to indicate the opposite of that. It is certainly a complex issue. Check this out if you want more details:

See: https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/286523/does-money-buy-happiness-longer-life-you-decide

Bottom line: while money does not guarantee happiness, it can certainly help.

Maybe the saying should go like this: Money doesn't buy happiness, but it can rent it.

2

Journey to God's House - Spanish edition

by Brock Talon in

for those of you who might be interested, my book "journey to god's house" is now available in spanish.. https://www.amazon.com/dp/b09kny6qmc.

.

Brock Talon

only Kindle?

Yes. I'll try to work out the paperback later if I can, but it's a lot of work. I get very few readers from the paperbacks for my other books, so it is not a priority for me right now. Sorry.

2

Journey to God's House - Spanish edition

by Brock Talon in

for those of you who might be interested, my book "journey to god's house" is now available in spanish.. https://www.amazon.com/dp/b09kny6qmc.

.

Brock Talon

For those of you who might be interested, my book "Journey to God's House" is now available in Spanish.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KNY6QMC

18

Tax on Unrealized Capital Gains!

by Simon in

so janet yellen, the us treasury secretary, thinks taxing unrealized capital gains would be a way for them to fund their runaway spending.. first, they claimed that the real cost of their nonsense spending was $0, so they were lying then or are lying now ("why not both?!").

second, they claimed that money printing doesn't affect inflation, so why not just print the money instead?.

third, the "for billionaires" is to get the feeble minded masses on board, those that live on benefits and vote democrat for more "free money", but the irs monitoring of $600 bank accounts is also apparently to target the ultra-wealthy as well.

Brock Talon

Simon, will "unrealized gains" also include brokerage accounts?

If so, can you imagine being taxed on that nice stock you picked 10 years ago that is now worth 10x of what you paid for it, but of course, have not yet sold it because you are waiting for a good time for you personally to do so?

With this "unrealized gains" nonsense, they could tax you on the 9x "gain" of up to 20% (both long term and short term capital gains will also go up if the Democrats have their way).

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/taxes/capital-gains-tax-rates

What happens if after they tax you and you pay your tax, then the stock goes down? Do you get a credit back?

Example: purchase stock for $10,000. It eventually is worth $100,000 (Market Value). Dems come in and tax you 10% on your so-called $90,000 "gain" and take $18,000 from you. How do you pay for that? You haven't even sold it yet, so where does the money come from to even pay it, that is, if you don't have a nice savings or other liquid account to tap into to pay the tax to begin with.

Anyway, while you are struggling to pay your tax, the stock goes down in Market value the next year to $50,000 and you sell you position, with a stop loss to stop the bleeding and to take your earnings. Your real, actual "gain" was only $40,000 and so you should owe only $9,000 in long term capital gains.

But, you have already paid (or are trying to pay) out $18,000 to the Dems the year before. So what now?

Same goes for Cryptocurrency? How does the IRS even KNOW what I have in my Bitcoin wallet?

This is not communism. This is total fiscal idiocy. Even the communists did not try to tax people on money they have not yet made because they were smart enough to know that having equity on paper does not always translate to actual earnings.