by rebel8 17 Replies latest jw friends
His agent will be receiving literally thousands of emails from public health professionals. This is a big deal in the world of tobacco control professionals and there is a big international outcry among them about this scandal.
Doesn't the borg care about public disgrace these days?
I think I will email them about this.
Granted, they say it is because they received the stocks and bonds based on a probate estate transfer. The fact remains that it is there and they have never sold nor sought to get ride of those stocks.
Yes, it was based on a transfer of stock held in trust and was probated thru to the WTBTS. As to whether they still hold the stock or not, I have not seen anything to show that it was transferred out, but that does not mean that to date they still hold shares in the company.
From what family members say, the WTBTS is "encouraging" people to leave funds to the WTBTS at the time of their death. There are several wealthier JWs who have trust (i.e., stock, bonds, diversified portfolios) that include things that would be a no-no for JWs such as financial interest in tobacco companies. In particular, there is a elderly relative who was married to a wealthy "worldly" guy. The guy has since died and she inherited his fortune thru his estate. They never had kids. That I know of, her will is set up for the WTBTS to receive the assets of her trust upon her death. There was a specific inquiry as to whether the WTBTS would have issues with receiving the interest of shares that related to tobacco companies and my great aunt was told, don't worry about it and go ahead an transfer the stocks over to the WTBTS. Now, I don't know if then they sell off of those shares, or they keep the trust the way it is upon inheritance.
But you see this is a huge issue for me, because when I worked at a grocery store in the deli, I was dragged in the back by the elders on a regular basis because the grocery store sold smokes and that could possible be a bad witness to people. HOW ... .I work in the frigg'n deli. But in the end, because they made my life miserable, I quit the job. So this is a sensitive subject w/ me. That is why I pressed the issue w/ my family member when I found out about it.
Wow.
I waitered on George when he visited the Australian Bethel. He arrived in a limo with his minders and got to seat at the head table.
You would think he has enough money now not to have to give up his chance of everlasting life. Rebel8, good idea to send an email to Bethel to let them know of what George is up to.
LOL at the George Benson & Hedges.
It's time to get J. R. Brown to spin this. Cano was dropped faster than a scalding iron, but methinks he is going to rationalize this somehow.
This is such obvious hypocrisy, but I wouldn't bet on the org taking too much action against George, who is quite probably a generous contributor to wts funds. Unless, of course, a lot of negative publicity comes from it, enough to cause the org severe embarassment.
Benson and Hedges. Interesting irony.
Benson states:
My mother was always a bible person anyway she had been taking me to many different kinds of churches since I was a little boy and she found God's name and that was the thing that made me become a Jehovah's Witness. They knew God's name. They showed that to us in the bible. That was the great difference that made the difference for me.
This sad statement hits a raw nerve with me. My mother behaved this way as well. Dragging us to different churches. Yet my instints now tell me it wasn't to find god. It was to find a man. Stability. Security in numbers. Funny, now that I think about it, she married a military man. Military men need stability and security too. That type of structure takes team work. They can't live on their own. They need a compound inside and outside of themselves. Cults too.
Now to the hiliarious part of Bensons statement about THEY KNEW GODS NAME AND SHOWED US IN THE BIBLE....THE GREAT DIFFERENCE....FROM ALL OTHER RELIGIONS AND ANYONE WHO EVER READ THE BIBLE BEFORE AND GOT TO THE PSALMS....
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It has always struck my funnybone at how jws proclaim this as a main reason they started "studying".
Anyone who has read the bible knows what it states as gods name. Why do they make such a big deal over this?
Anyhoot, cigarettes kill. Anyone that is involved in this industry, in any way, shape or form, is a killer in my eyes. Cigarettes should be abolished.
sKally
It seems the public health petition is opened for public participation. (I think--see if it works for you.) Here you can sign a petition about Benson taking tobacco $$.
I just received the following email a moment ago:
Dear Friends,
Good news! Well over 200 people around the world participated in the online petition campaign opposing tobacco industry sponsorship of George Benson's concert this evening (December 4) in Indonesia. Last Friday, Bob Zievers, the person at International Creative Management, Inc (New
York) who booked the concert for George Benson, sent the following message:
thank you for bringing this to our attention. i want you to know
that prior to receiving your email we were not aware of a tobacco
sponsorship of george benson's appearance in jakarta on monday, and
george benson does not in any way endorse the use of tobacco.
while it is traditional in the concert business to have sponsorship
attached to almost every event, we rarely encounter tobacco
sponsorships. i'm sure you are aware that nearly every concert and
sports venue in this country has sponsorship attached both to the
venue and the events that are produced in those venues. we try to
make sure that whatever venue or event sponsorship is involved with
mr. benson's appearances are strictly venue and event sponsorships
and do not imply his endorsement of any product. while i haven't
seen copies of the print advertising, i sincerely hope that the
advertising doesn't appear to make mr. benson an endorser of
tobacco as that would be a violation of the spirit of our
agreement. it is, however, somewhat difficult to monitor each ad
placed for an event taking place halfway around the world.
we have taken steps to stop as much as can be stopped at this late
date, and i can assure you that there will be no presence of tobacco
sponsorship on site at george's concert on monday. we sincerely
regret this unfortunate turn of events and have now learned to add
extra caution in the future to prevent a reoccurence of something
such as this. i again thank you for bringing this to our attention.
sincerely,
bob zievers.
Given the positive response, we have suspended the petition campaign.
We have also sent an email to Mr. Zievers emphasizing the importance of George Benson stipulating, as a condition of any future contracts, that concerts in which he performs may not be sponsored by a tobacco company or brand. We will keep you informed of any further updates on this issue.
Some Indonesian colleagues may be attending the concert tonight. If so, hopefully they can verify that the tobacco sponsorship was indeed halted.
Lastly, kudos to Dina Kania in Indonesia for bringing this to the attention of the GYAT Network, a global network of young tobacco control advocates launched at the 13th World Conference on Tobacco or Health this past July. One of the purposes of the network is to promote cross-border collaboration, activism and solidarity campaigns to counter the tobacco industry's targeting of their generation.
Thanks to all who participated in this petition campaign!
Anna White
Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control
Essential Action
P.O. Box 19405
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: +1 202-387-8030
Fax: +1 202-234-5176
Email: [email protected] (or [email protected])
