Posts by OrphanCrow

3

Does anybody know the story with this?

by careful in

jw
friends

there is a book entitled untouchable by jacob miller published in 2010 (© by angel garcia).

the cover says that it's about "the biggest latino gangster ever recorded to be associated with the mafia.

" ordinarily i could care less about things like that.

OrphanCrow

careful: The story of that conversion is evidently told somewhere between p. 327 and 375 as those pages are missing in the preview.

Careful, I think the search terms determine which pages are dropped out of the preview.

I did a search for "Jehovah" in the same book and came up with the missing pages concerning his conversion to the JWs.

I don't see this book as becoming a problem for the org - parts of it reads like a JW sermon. Good advertising. But probably a load of crap - why would anyone believe a gangster?

I think it is a kind of promo book for the JWs - "even bad guys can become good!"

Eh...the JWs will probably make sure there are copies placed in all the prison libraries.

38

If the WT is a "money making machine"...who gets the money?

by NikL in

jw
friends

i've seen claims over the years that wt is in the real estate, book publishing business and is a for profit enterprise at it's core.. can those of you that believe this to be the case tell me who benefits from all this wealth?.

the governing body lives in relatively humble conditions no?.

i've been curious about this for a while.

OrphanCrow

dsp: BTW I thought this was interesting background, even though it's a bit old:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-how-much-your-company-pays-to-rent-office-space-2015-05-27

...if it is combined with the knowledge that Brooklyn's largest landlord was the WTS:

...the largest landlord in Brooklyn Heights and vicinity—the nonprofit Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, the Witnesses' business arm...

47

AND STILL NO RELEASE OF THE 2017 JW YEARBOOK

by steve2 in

here we are on the cusp of the new year, and the 2017 yearbook of jws has still not been released.

jw.org continues to feature the 2016 yearbook in its list of main publications.

in previous years, the upcoming yearbook's annual report on jws was released in november for the january 1st then the feb 1st watchtower, then earlier in december when it was only featured in the yearbook, then more recently with a couple of days of december 25th.

OrphanCrow

ds: Interesting? WT picks up on the decreasing ratio, or proportion of partakers - I think comparing that ratio to average publishers would be 'more accurate' though?

No. It is not "more accurate".

The partakers are based on an actual Biblical number - not a ratio. The partakers are members of an actual numbered group - they are not based on a ratio of partakers per membership. That has never been part of the doctrinal equation.

You calculations are redundant and meaningless when discussing increase/decrease of partakers

38

If the WT is a "money making machine"...who gets the money?

by NikL in

jw
friends

i've seen claims over the years that wt is in the real estate, book publishing business and is a for profit enterprise at it's core.. can those of you that believe this to be the case tell me who benefits from all this wealth?.

the governing body lives in relatively humble conditions no?.

i've been curious about this for a while.

OrphanCrow

problemaddict:
Orphan cows research...

Thanks.

But...I caw, I don't moo. Lol!

midnight: They use the money to balance out the needs of those publishers/ congregations in poorer,/developing countries I would guess

That would make sense, wouldn't it?

However, it isn't always true.

I read a scholarly paper* written by an African JW who was making a plea to the government to subsidize their "literacy program" because their Kingdom Hall had been built by a loan from the WT and their supplies provided for their literacy teaching needed replacing and the WT wouldn't supply any more literacy aids.

*sorry...the paper is on my hard drive somewhere...maybe on this forum in an old post

18

Santa Ana, Calif. News Report: Jehovah's Witness molested 4-5 girls

by AndersonsInfo in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag6ftvig9b8.

kacey montoya for channel 5.

OrphanCrow

ds: Finally, by private message, I have been kindly reminded that Barbara is not as young as she once was. I therefore realise that I should perhaps go a bit easier in future ...

That is crap.

Don't use age as an excuse to offer your lame apology. Barbara deserves an apology regardless of how old she is or isn't. She deserves an apology because she is an intelligent and brave person that doesn't deserve your smart ass comments thrown at her.

Bringing age into this is another underhanded way to discredit - the implication is that age makes a person fragile and not as smart as you.

38

If the WT is a "money making machine"...who gets the money?

by NikL in

jw
friends

i've seen claims over the years that wt is in the real estate, book publishing business and is a for profit enterprise at it's core.. can those of you that believe this to be the case tell me who benefits from all this wealth?.

the governing body lives in relatively humble conditions no?.

i've been curious about this for a while.

OrphanCrow

NikL, have you ever examined the "Henwood Paper Scandal" that involved a paper salesman and the WT printing department?

If you go through the transcripts of the court cases related to that fiasco, it becomes apparent that it is those who do business with the WT who make money. And the WT goons who set up those business relationships - the "expensive entertaining" and such that goes along with business schmoozing - get some nice perks out of the dealing and wheeling.

22

Real Estate Business?

by no-zombie in

i was going over some of the older posts of others and without starting some kind of flame war, i got no idea why people are saying that the society is some kind of real estate business.

of course its making millions of dollars in its real estate sales but this a one time event.

its down sizing by selling the furniture.

OrphanCrow

no-zombie: ... but until that day comes, wouldn't it be better if we refrained from emotive name calling and put issues like this into its proper perspective?

Lol!

And here we go again...an appeal to the emotions rather than an acceptance of the evidence. Nice twist, too...label the ones who have produced evidence of being the "emotive" ones.

NZ...you have perfected the art

18

Santa Ana, Calif. News Report: Jehovah's Witness molested 4-5 girls

by AndersonsInfo in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag6ftvig9b8.

kacey montoya for channel 5.

OrphanCrow

darkspliver: Rather than being an exampe of confirmation bias, I think this more an example of post-truth - it's not fake news, sadly the news report is true, but some 14 months old. But the way it was presented here, effectively makes it 'post-truth'.

You are full of shit, ds. You do not have a clue as to what you are trying to appear intelligent about. Pffft...post-truth my ass.

Bullshit. You are full of it. This is NOT post truth.

And I agree with previous posters - lay off the snarky comments. ESPECIALLY the sarcasm directed towards the posts that Barbara makes. I have followed your posts and you have targeted her posts in particular. Stop it. You are a jerk

22

Real Estate Business?

by no-zombie in

i was going over some of the older posts of others and without starting some kind of flame war, i got no idea why people are saying that the society is some kind of real estate business.

of course its making millions of dollars in its real estate sales but this a one time event.

its down sizing by selling the furniture.

OrphanCrow

no-zombie: I was going over some of the older posts of others and without starting some kind of flame war, I got no idea why people are saying that the Society is some kind of real estate business. Of course its making millions of dollars in its real estate sales but this a one time event. Its down sizing by selling the furniture. Its like selling your milking cows after you've raised them from caves. It not a 'business' because there is no continuance of the business model. It would be different if the GB sold a hall and bought three more blocks of land for the brothers to build new ones ... but they are not. They are just cashing in.

And...you know all this because.....??

How do you know this? Where/what is your source of knowledge?

*to add...your post says that the WTS invested in real estate holdings years back and now are realizing the profits of those real estate investments

207

Honest Questions About Child Abuse

by Richard Oliver in

i have two honest questions for everyone here.

i understand that most here want retribution from the courts against watchtower for child abuse allegations.

but let us take away the instances where someone was accused of child abuse and then later put back into a position of authority, such as an elder or an ms. let us just take the cases where a regular publisher or even an appointed person, with no previous accusation of child abuse has come up against that person.

OrphanCrow

vidiot: A more plausible - and much darker - explanation is, of course, that mandatory background checks would end up disqualifying far too many (otherwise qualified and willing) brothers to keep the Organization functioning at the congregational level...
...because make no mistake - without that, the WTS would be in real trouble.

And just think of the monkey wrench that would throw into the JW "rehabilitation program" - the one where the JW guys go into jail and hold bible studies. And the sisters write encouraging letters to felons.

It wouldn't do for the org to come off as unfriendly towards criminals, would it? All that hard work in prisons would go for nothing.

After all, the org's "expert" at the ARC was someone who works with the integration of sex offenders into church communities. That is Applewhite's background - working with offenders, not victims.