Posts by talesin

38

Why do animals suffer?

by nicolaou in

bonnie is fourteen years old now and she's still fit and active, but she sleeps (and farts) a lot more and is definitely slowing down.. she loves us in her own dumb way and always comes to the door to greet me when i get home from work.

she doesn't 'sin' but yeah, she'll steal biscuits and feel shame afterwards.

she's loyal and intelligent and i dread the day when .

talesin

usually that death is quick, it's only when people get involved that real suffering happens.

LisaRose

Agreed. : (

25

Brave New W0rld of Education - The Regressive Left

by cofty in

i found this to be a thought-provoking film on the trend in higher education.. oubliette drew my attention to a brilliant article recently called "the coddling of the american mind".

please have a look at the film, click the link and check out the links in the article.

i would love to hear your thoughts.. ...

talesin

To the OP, haven't read the thread.

The article was both thought-provoking and alarming. At one point, I stopped and thought "Brandeis?!", so I looked up its history, and sure enough, things have radically changed. The universities in the article, are not places I would expect to be using censorship.

I think this quote from the article sums things up:

[bold is mine]

There’s a saying common in education circles: Don’t teach students what to think; teach them how to think. The idea goes back at least as far as Socrates. Today, what we call the Socratic method is a way of teaching that fosters critical thinking, in part by encouraging students to question their own unexamined beliefs, as well as the received wisdom of those around them. Such questioning sometimes leads to discomfort, and even to anger, on the way to understanding.
But vindictive protectiveness teaches students to think in a very different way. It prepares them poorly for professional life, which often demands intellectual engagement with people and ideas one might find uncongenial or wrong. The harm may be more immediate, too. A campus culture devoted to policing speech and punishing speakers is likely to engender patterns of thought that are surprisingly similar to those long identified by cognitive behavioral therapists as causes of depression and anxiety. The new protectiveness may be teaching students to think pathologically.

Indeed.

As for the term, regressive left (which I did not see in the article, but have researched already, and know from whence it came, I don't see that referenced in the OP, but it was coined to partly define the people who express anti-Muslim sentiment, which I find rather odd; it's not just the 'left' that embraces it, but I digress), I could see there being a fringe (reminds me of the "Tea Party") element that embraces these dangerous ways of thinking (or should I say, NOT thinking). I feel it is important to realize that some of the (briefly heard, in relative terms) loudest nutjobs, are bloggers, authors (often opportunistic columnists) who are cashing in, or religious people, who get exposure because their message is founded in some logic, then embellished and twisted, and at first, it seems to "have a point". People get sucked in. Time goes by, and the crazy really starts to show ... that's when the mainstream wakes up and says yikes, there are more of these people than we realized.

Prominent mainstream liberal thinkers like Naomi Wolf, for example, would never endorse this school of thought.

When I see an article in The Atlantic, I pay attention. It has journalistic integrity in this poster's opinion. It's good that educators are aware, and that it's being exposed NOW. A good read, and very informative, thanks Cofty, and Oub.

21

Adult Coloring Books

by littlerockguy in

anybody take up coloring?

i got lost ocean by johanna basford and i got another coloring book mandalas and more.

i just use crayola colored pencils and some gel pens and thin tipped markers.

talesin

Lots offered as free downloads online.... the library is about $0.10/page if you don't have printer access. : ))

** click the link at the bottom for a place with lots of free stuff, including skulls, fractals (I think) ..... there's all kinds if you google. I just love the 'net!

LOL -----> oppostate mwah hahaha! we know what you're thinkin'. hehe

http://www.jdl-florida.org/free-coloring-pages-to-print-for-adults/

38

Why do animals suffer?

by nicolaou in

bonnie is fourteen years old now and she's still fit and active, but she sleeps (and farts) a lot more and is definitely slowing down.. she loves us in her own dumb way and always comes to the door to greet me when i get home from work.

she doesn't 'sin' but yeah, she'll steal biscuits and feel shame afterwards.

she's loyal and intelligent and i dread the day when .

talesin

Oh, look at those soulful eyes. GOOD dog! I can hear her tail thumping, all happy. xx

D-D ahahaha! Yes, we must not treat animals as family members. It's [a waste of possible contributions] against nature! The animals are created for man's use, not to be pets. Read the Creation account!

30

About my avatar

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

questions from readers .

say, who is that in your avatar slimboyfat?

from brother i. m. curious, usa.. that's archibald belaney aka grey owl.

talesin

Hey, Paul, I have a friend in Defiance,,,,, you are practically neighbours! :P

SBF,

Have you seen the biopic about Grey Owl, and if so, do you think it's historically accurate?

30

About my avatar

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

questions from readers .

say, who is that in your avatar slimboyfat?

from brother i. m. curious, usa.. that's archibald belaney aka grey owl.

talesin

paul, well said. I posted the above comment a day or so ago, and it is just showing now, darn. It wasn't meant to stir things up. American is the natural to identify people from the USA. I love my cousins to the south (both my blood cousins and in the figurative way), and have had many travels there. I once counted, and have visited 28 States, met nice, down to earth folk in all my travels.

Even so, I am Canadian. That's all. In my region, we identify more with Mainers and Bostonians, than we do the rest of Canada, to tell the truth. Ayup!

xx

29

Encounter with J.W's at wittnessing kart.

by karter in

jw
friends

me-you allow pedophiles to go d2d and into peoples houses even when they have children.. j.w-no we don't.. me-the one that interfered with a relative of mine does and another i know who raped his sister does in fact he's an elder.. j.w-we cant stop them going d2d.. me- so now your saying they do go d2d you can't stop them,no you don't want to!.

j.w-it happens in all religions.. me- so that justifies sending pedo's into strangers houses.how would you like it if a pedo came to your place and you didn't know.. j.w- it happened to my mother and if he came to my place it knock him out.. me - but you have no problem with anyone from your church going to peoples houses even if they are a pedo.. we argued around in circles with him saying the elders may not know and me saying well i told them and so did the victim and he admitted to it ,then i told him about the r.c in australia and he said that could be anyone claiming to be a j.w could be on the stand ( by this time he was getting desperate)the i said like jeffery jackson?.

i told them to look it up on you tube.. i gave then the names and congro's the 2 pedo's are in and said i'd come back next week and see if they had checked it out.the lady's body language said she knew the elder that raped his sister as they are a well know family they were in the year book a few years ago.. stand by for next week.. karter.

talesin

Karter,

That is great work. I've approached them, but never thought to name names! What a good idea, and I have a friend who was on the 6:00 news a few years back, telling his story, so I wouldn't be breaking his confidentiality. I just may give it a go, once I get mobile.

10

My experience with some ex-JW Christians

by opusdei1972 in

currently i can accept the existence of "god" if you say that "god" is a superior rational being.

i support the idea for the existence of superior beings living in other places.

it means to me that we, humans, are not the superior ones in the universe.

talesin

NN, I have experienced both. I've had and still do, friends who are Xtians. One is a self-described "Divided United" member of the clergy (referencing the Canadian split in the UC re women pastors among other things). As you can easily tell, she is very relaxed. She cares not, what you believe, nor is she preachy. I stayed with her in the country for a few months, when I was healing at one time. lol, I went on visits with her -- cup of tea, how was the fishing season? I heard you were sick, do you need any help? TOTALLY not like an elder's typical visit. Another friend, and his g/f are close, and heck, I knew him for a decade before I knew he prayed, etc.

BUT, his friend who I met onlne through my old buddy, is a whole 'nuther ball of wax. Once he found out I was exJW, he started sending me scripture and attempting to 'save me'. From what? My atheistic godlessness? Fck knows! Eventually, after two warnings, the first to CEASE AND DESIST with the religious BS, the second to stop hairy-assing me, I had enough. Still, the fool persisted. So I capped an email saying I would report him to the police. Finally .... crickets.

It's intolerable.

12

Mvie night

by glenster in

the battle of the century is a silent short film starring american comedydouble act laurel and hardy.

the team appeared in a total of 107 films between1921 and 1951.. the film is famous for using over 3,000 cream pies in the film's climacticpie fight; however, for many years, its second reel, containing the fight,only survived in three minutes of fragments used in the documentaries ofrobert youngson.

the complete reel was rediscovered in 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/the_battle_of_the_century.

talesin

I watched part of the Dirk Bogarde interview film, will be watching them all, thanks!

Last night, watched this with a friend.

14

New edition of APOCALYPSE DELAYED

by panhandlegirl in

a new third edition of apocalypse delayed has been released.

this may already have been discussed or may be old news but i just saw it on youtube.

mr penton, the author, says he has included jws attempt to deal with 1914 and their new light on the governing body being faithful and discreet slave in this new edition.

talesin

When I was researching, looking around, late 80s, early 90s, Dr. Penton's books were the only ones in our library that were exclusively about the JW. There was no online community; I was on my own. They helped me a lot, especially since he *was* a JW, elder's son, etc, and also a scholarly work. It was a first for me, to read the real deal written by the real deal, and not just a chapter in a book about cults. (Mr. Franz' books are there now.)

Happy to see a new edition; he is on facebook, and also has an account here. : ))

I looked at a couple of the booksellers' sites here, but no copies. There's two I know, that don't have websites; I'll give them a call. One guy in particular has a huge stock, and really good prices. If he has any of Dr. Penton's books, I'll report back.