"i've paid by Bitcoin"
LOL
Posts by besty
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33New "Donation Arrangement" is a DECOY!
by The Searcher input yourself in the org's position - distasteful as that is - and come up with a solution to solve the problems of not only recovering their stock market losses, but also, ensuring an increase in their dwindling revenue stream.. the major problem is, donations are voluntary (with no future guarantees) whereas pledges are compulsory - in the heart and mind of the giver!.
however, far too many will probably forget/refuse to keep up their monthly tax - with no way of knowing who is 'paying the man', and who is not.
master stroke - make plan a 100% certainty to fail in the first year, based on the 'anonymity' of the setup.
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How far behind the Watchtower is on child abuse reform compared to the Catholics
by besty inhttp://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/04/11/qedcplwxs0ljsg3jk6zyhp/story.html.
pope takes responsibility for child abuse scandaltalks of sanctions; victims groups call for actionby john l. allen jr. | globe staff april 11, 2014pope francis asked forgiveness for the child sexual abuse scandals in the catholic church on friday, the first time hes done so as pope, and also said the church must be very strong in responding to the ongoing legacy of that crisis, including imposing forceful sanctions.. in remarks during an address to a french child protection group, francis said he took personal responsibility for what he described as the evil of child sexual abuse in the catholic church.. i feel called to take upon myself all the evil that some priests many, many in number, though not in proportion to the totality to take it upon myself and to ask forgiveness for the harm theyve done, for the sexual abuse of children, the pope said.the church is aware of this harm, he said.
its a personal and moral harm, but by men of the church.
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besty
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/04/11/QEdCplWxs0LJSg3Jk6ZyHP/story.html
Pope takes responsibility for child abuse scandal
Talks of sanctions; victims’ groups call for action
By John L. Allen Jr.
| GLOBE STAFF APRIL 11, 2014
Pope Francis asked forgiveness for the child sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church on Friday, the first time he’s done so as pope, and also said the church must be “very strong” in responding to the ongoing legacy of that crisis, including imposing forceful sanctions.
In remarks during an address to a French child protection group, Francis said he took personal responsibility for what he described as the “evil” of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
“I feel called to take upon myself all the evil that some priests — many, many in number, though not in proportion to the totality — to take it upon myself and to ask forgiveness for the harm they’ve done, for the sexual abuse of children,” the pope said.
“The church is aware of this harm,” he said. “It’s a personal and moral harm, but by men of the church. We do not want to take a step back in regard to treating this problem, and to the sanctions that must be imposed. On the contrary, I believe we must be very strong.”
Some experts on abuse issues praised the pope’s comments.
Everett Worthington Jr., a psychologist at Virginia Commonwealth University who’s also written on the subject of forgiveness, called the pope’s statement “a costly act that moves the church in the direction of beginning to restore a sense of justice to those who were wronged and harmed.”
Victims’ advocacy organizations, on the other hand, urged caution, saying they’ve heard apologetic language before from leading church figures but are awaiting concrete action.
“We beg the world’s Catholics: Be impressed by deeds, not words,” said a statement from the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests, the largest American organization for survivors of clerical abuse.
“Until the pope takes decisive action that protects kids, be skeptical and vigilant,” the statement said.
The pope’s comments come at a time when his overall approach to the child abuse crisis had been drawing mixed reviews.
Critics have charged he hasn’t engaged the abuse scandals with the same vigor he’s brought to other problems. The American watchdog group BishopAccountability.org, for instance, recently raised questions about his response to five abuse cases in Argentina, while his comments in a recent Italian interview claiming that the church has been unfairly singled out for its record on child abuse reminded some observers of the exculpatory rhetoric employed by church officials at the onset of the crisis.
On the other hand, Francis created a new Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in December, signaling resolve in confronting the scandals, and he also won praise for his first round of appointments to that body in March.
His picks included Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, who enjoys a global reputation as a reformer on the abuse crisis, and an Irish lay woman and survivor of clerical abuse named Marie Collins. In all, four of the eight people Francis tapped to lead the commission are women.
According to the Associated Press, Francis made his remarks to members of the International Catholic Child Bureau, a French Catholic network of organizations that protects children’s rights. The AP said that he spoke “deliberately and softly” in his native Spanish and that the remarks were not included his prepared text.
Three points about Friday’s statement seemed noteworthy to observers who have followed the arc of the church’s abuse scandals over the last two decades.
First, Francis did not merely express regret or sadness for the pattern of abuse in the Catholic church, but directly asked forgiveness. That’s a step that the late Pope John Paul II never took, though Benedict XVI did issue an apology for the crisis during a trip to Australia in 2008.
That was the same year Benedict XVI became the first pope to meet with abuse victims, which he did during an April visit to Washington, D.C. All told, Benedict met with abuse victims six times during his eight-year papacy, and Friday’s comments from Francis will likely raise expectations that he’ll put such a meeting on his own calendar soon.
Second, Francis did not attempt to play down the number of priests involved in incidents of abuse, using the phrase “many, many.” In the past, church officials were sometimes accused of defensiveness when they insisted that the percentage of priests accused of abuse is relatively low. (A 2004 report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, commissioned by the US bishops, found that 4 percent of priests serving in the previous 50 years had been accused of abusing a minor.)
The fact that the pope sidestepped such language indicates that he may be developing a better ear for how to engage the issue in a way that doesn’t reopen old wounds or come off as tone-deaf.
Third, the use of the word “sanctions” suggested to some observers that Francis may be open to imposing discipline not only on priests who abuse, but on bishops who don’t respond to abuse allegations in ways consistent with the church’s official “zero tolerance” policy.
For some time, critics have charged that holding bishops accountable remains the most important piece of unfinished business for the Catholic church vis-à-vis the abuse scandals.
They point to cases such as that of Bishop Robert Finn in Kansas City, Mo., who was found guilty in September 2012 of a criminal misdemeanor charge of failure to report suspected child abuse, and yet remains in office.
If the pope’s choice of words signals openness to taking action against bishops if they fail to respond aggressively, many observers believe that would indeed mark a turning point in the church’s efforts at recovery.
One further indication may come May 1-3, when the pope’s new anti-abuse commission will hold its first meeting. While its primary task will be to identify other experts to involve in its work and to flesh out the group’s structure and procedures, it may also begin to wrestle with the accountability issue with an eye to eventual recommendations to the pope.
If nothing else, Friday’s comments from the pope who appointed them may embolden the group to move in that direction.
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48
The Apostasy Within
by Ultimate Axiom inin the latest watchtower (july 15, 2014, page 14, paragraph 10) it says; today, jehovahs people are not often confronted with apostasy within the congregation.
still, when exposed to unscriptural teachings, regardless of the source, we must decisively reject them.. so, not often, but occasionally jws are exposed to apostasy within the congregation, and they are instructed to decisively reject it.
as we all know, the vast majority of the apostasy they are exposed to comes from the governing body.. i am meeting up soon with an old friend from the 1970s who i havent seen for decades, who is still an active jw, and who would really like to hear what i think about things.
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besty
ask him to select any page he likes from jwfacts.com and discuss why he disagrees with the conclusion reached. (if he does)
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15
Stephen Fry explains the purpose of life in 3 minutes (with pictures)
by besty inhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dhvwhrqvbs#t=167.
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think London Bethel is worth a few pounds?
by besty inhttp://www.octagon.co.uk/homes/london/totteridge-common/48-totteridge-common/.
this new home is being marketed as the 'finest new home in london' - my guess $50m.. its about 1/4 mile from london bethel - worked out the move to a dump in essex yet?.
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besty
http://www.octagon.co.uk/homes/london/totteridge-common/48-totteridge-common/
This new home is being marketed as the 'finest new home in London' - my guess $50m.
Its about 1/4 mile from London Bethel - worked out the move to a dump in Essex yet?
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29
The JW sign language v 50 cent video goes viral
by Mickey mouse inhttp://www.thepoke.co.uk/2014/03/09/jehovahs-witnesses-propaganda-vs-50-cent/.
it's the gift that keeps on giving..
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New Article on JW.org about gay people
by ateograciasadios inok, sometimes i go to jw.org just to laugh a bit about the 'food at the proper time', and i would like to know what people think of this hillarious article 'am i attracted to the same sex.
does that mean i am gay?'.
this has to be one of the most remarkable pieces of logic (last paragraph of the article).. the bibles stand is not unreasonable.
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besty
facebook provide 50 gender options now
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31
Was There Anything A JW Said That Made You Raise Your Eyebrows?
by minimus inwe had an elderly pioneer/ms in our hall and he used to like to rattle the elders.
he liked using the "n" word in his comments.
he one time started to comment about the "ni##er pool" that he would observe among the poorer blacks.
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besty
"raise your eyebrows and i'll give you 10 dollah"
so i did.
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76
Bizarre comment about jw.org at SAD
by sir82 inrecently attended a sad.. bethel speaker was gushing about the wt's embrace of new technology, in the part of his talk warning about "apostate" web sites.. a loose summary of his comments:.
"and the brothers at headquarters have made it very safe for you to go to our website.
in fact, the brothers talked to the folks at google, and they made a special arrangement so that when you type in 'j w period' into the google search engine, it automatically shows you the jw.org website.
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besty
No way we can knock 'em off the top spot is there ?
note that the other sites displayed by google were jwleaks.org and jwsurvey.org
notice anything?
If I was creating a new site now I would seriously consider having jw in the domain and using the .org TLD
Same goes for Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Facebook, Instagram etc - grab jworg as a username wherever you can and add lots of content.
Not sure if Paul at jwfacts might consider swapping his primary domain to the .org he already has????
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Bizarre comment about jw.org at SAD
by sir82 inrecently attended a sad.. bethel speaker was gushing about the wt's embrace of new technology, in the part of his talk warning about "apostate" web sites.. a loose summary of his comments:.
"and the brothers at headquarters have made it very safe for you to go to our website.
in fact, the brothers talked to the folks at google, and they made a special arrangement so that when you type in 'j w period' into the google search engine, it automatically shows you the jw.org website.
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besty
my 0.02 (13 years experience working on 'something to do with the Internet')
1 - Typing "jw." will autocomplete to jw.org in google.com. Unfortunately for the WTS typing "jw" autocompletes for 'jw pepper'. Thats why they are making the big deal about the period. https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/106230?hl=en On google.co.uk "jw" autocompletes for "jw3" leading to jw3.org.uk - again "jw." autocompletes for jw.org.
2 - There is a slight nuance if you look closely. Type "jw." (don't hit enter) and it will autocomplete for jw.org and also display the Results Page with jw.org listed first. The second result shown is for jwleaks.org and then jwsurvey.org. Its only when you hit enter you will see jwpepper.com, jwpet.com etc. So every person typing "jw." and then looking down into the Results will be visually exposed to apostate sites. Dangerous this internet thing.
3 - The WTS don't need to and will not have paid Google anything for the above. jw.org is already the number 1 entry on the Results Page (beating jwpepper.com into 2nd place on google.com and jackwills.com on google.co.uk). Note the difference between SERP (Search Engine Results Page) and autocomplete.
4 - The WTS may indeed have had an advisory conversation with Google - you can too - just call them up and ask how to get your site listed - 1-866-2GOOGLE - they will try and sell you ad-space of course, but you can tell everybody you "talked to Google about your site placement". <wink wink>
I would expect in time that "jw" without the period will autocomplete to jw.org on most Google properties - jw.org is an extremely large site with high traffic and thats only going to grow as the WTS funnels more visitors towards it. The speaker at the SAD has been misinformed if he thinks this is a special arrangement with Google - its just the way autocomplete works.
If you are interested in manipulating SERP for payment then take a look at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reputation_management
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization
EDIT: Interesting footnote - typing "jehovahs" into Google.com autocompletes for "Jehovah's Witnesses" and places http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses above jw.org - another reason for the WTS to promote searching for "jw."