Posts by cliff

101

Help with Mathematical Concepts, Not Arithmetic

by Band on the Run in

jw
friends

my math background is embarassing.

my public education was very sad.

although i received good grades in college track math courses, i never understood the underlying ideas or motivations.

cliff

As a retired engineer I have always been exasperated at the waste of human endeavours that bad maths teaching has engendered.

My daughter struggled with maths (What's the point?") until we starting doing practical projects together:

How much wallpaper to decorate her bedroom? (which we then pasted up together - great fun!)

Graphed a profile of how quickly the oven warms up against time using an industrial thermometer. Then seeing what happens to the temperature after inserting a fresh chicken.

Stuff like that ....

Now (at c. 37) she is a junior professor in computational microbiology, soon to take up a position at NIH in DC.

I am (a bit!) proud, and still a fierce feminist!

Maths allows one to satisfy one's curiosity about how the world works.

Cliff

29

in flyinghighnow's wildflower page, she asked how an image could be added to another photo, and i thought to reply in a new thread.. i have noticed there are plenty of experienced photoshop users on this board who would likely have many tips to share with other users.. feel free to ask questions, or provide answers here.

my experience is limited, but i will help where i can, and i hope to learn from others.. there are many capable programs other than photoshop, so feel free to post about any of them you are familiar with.. there is often an easier way to do something, so any shortcuts are welcome!.

how to add an image to another photo.

cliff

USE LAYERS!

Disciplining oneself to use layers properly will save a lot of grief in the long run.

Layers can be thought of as transparent sheets of film in a stack, which can be sorted, switched on (visible) and off and locked at will.

The very first step on importing an image is to copy it to another layer, lock it and make it invisible. You can then always go back to the original without saving it as a different file!

Each significant edit, added text etc should all be on separate layers and can then be viewed / edited independently.

Just my 2c ....

Cliff

52

How many here smoke?

by cantleave in

jw
friends

i don't and am very unlikely to after seeing my father dying of a smoking related lung disease (even though i would like to try a high quality cigar).. but i am curious to see how many people take up smoking after leaving the org.. .

cliff

I sometimes fume - but I don't smoke.

24

23 scientists misquoted by the ever so deceitful Watchtower society

by Reality79 in

apologies if this has already been posted, but i actually found this to be an interesting and even funny read!.

http://www.tj-encyclopedie.org/blatant_misquotes_in_the_origin_of_life_booklet.

*edit* sorry you will have to copy and paste link, the icon to insert url isn't working for me for some reason......

cliff

But what would one expect from an organisational pyramid built on essentially uneducated people?

With an agenda.

65

TO ALL LURKERS: the WTS approves of parents humilating their children!

by Chemical Emotions in

jw
friends

no person can escape rendering an account to god.

5 after showing that children are not free from rendering an account, the apostle paul goes on to stress the obligation of the parents before god: "and you, fathers, do not be irritating your children, but go on bringing them up in the discipline and authoritative advice of jehovah.

since parents will render an account for the way they bring up their children, the question arises: what is jehovah's discipline?.

cliff

No wonder so many are damaged for life ...

Suffer little children to come unto me ....

56

Swedish government declines to give JW financial support

by InquiryMan in

quite recently, watchtower in sweden applied for governmental financial support, as they are entitled to as a registered religious community.

however, the government declined to accept the application, stating that the reason was that the jws do not adhere to democratic values and standards and do not support mainstream values.. the witnesses are upset, because they feel discriminated against.

they state that the financial issue is not the real issue, but to be treated in a similar way as other religious communities.. they have appealed the decision and plan to send a report explaining the witnesses views in more detail.. the branch office chose the religious, pentecostal (assembly of god) newspaper "dagen" to make an interview.. here is the photo report of the article.. .

cliff

Dagen is a daily newspaper in Sweden with the expressed purpose of being a Christian voice in the media noise. Its circulation is 18,400 (year 2006).

The first issue was published on November 1, 1945. Lewi Pethrus, the leader of the pentecostal movement in Sweden was its founder and its chief editor until his death in 1974.

(WIKI via Google)

Cliff

4

DOG FIGHTING

by badboy in

jw
friends

today, i had some dog ifghting gang outside my flat.. what a evil.. .

cliff

"organized dog fighting is illegal in england"

I thought Pitbulls were, too!

What's the mentality of people wanting to keep that sort of animal? A bit short in the trouser department??

52

Flouride and Chlorine in our drinking water is poisoning us to death?

by Witness 007 in

american dental association now reccomends due to health problems children under 12 not drink tap water with flouride!!!!

even though since the 1950's we were told flouride only helps "young teeth.

" it is chemical waste made from smoke staks while chlorine was a chemical weapon which was found also to clean water.

cliff

Any comments?

Yes, that is a silly an ill informed post, not even worthy of a detailed rebuttal.

Water is a chemical ....

24

Pray -Jehovah will save you...or let you die depending on "his will." Please Explain?

by Witness 007 in

witness yearbooks are full of experiences where jehovah saved a poor witness who prayed for help...and the soldiers walked passed and did not see them etc, etc.

however, other brothers prayed and still got executed by gillotine so...why does gods will allow such things?

isn't this just random chance put down as god's will?

cliff

I remember the great tsunami which killed 300,000 (?) people, babies and all.

There was a newspaper report about a scandinavian woman who later found her son, believed drowned.

"Thank God for this miracle", the paper trumpeted!

Go figure ....

34

If Shunning Didn't Exist, Would JW's Exist In Their Current Form?

by AllTimeJeff in

in my opinion, this is the crux of the matter where ex jw's are concerned.. so many religions have disagreements with their members.

but you can disagree, research, question, and leave if that is your wish.

you may receive some sanction depending on the religion, but no shunning is required in the major faith's and religions of christendom.

cliff

Interesting.

As an outsider (no connection with JWs except knowing some 40 years ago, but a growing interest in humans & religion (small "r"); -

I notice several comments above about the WTBS leaching money and members. Is this true and verifyable or just (understandable) wishfull thinking?

Any pointers to further discussion about "lawsuits on shunning"? Very hard to see what civil and criminal laws are being broken or could be. The prectice is disgusting and my eyes have been opened to how much damage this causes, but I canot see (and I work for a law firm) anything actionable apart from other issues like blood etc.

I am greatly impressed by the courage and scholarship of (some ) members here!