Posts by JeffT

4

WOULD THIS BE A TAX SCAM?

by The Searcher in

if a religion loaned out money - interest free - to its followers, would the authorities view the repayments as being taxable?

if so/not, could the religion legally cancel the debt, and request a donation for the same amount instead, thereby qualifying to claim back tax from the government, which the donors paid?

(in the uk it's called gift aid).

JeffT

What Hoser said is also applicable in the US. Under US tax regs forgiving a loan can produce a taxable event for the person who owed the money.

112

Supreme Court ruling- refusing to photo gay wedding is discrimination

by SadElder in

according to bloomberg news:.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-04-07/wedding-photographer-rebuffed-by-top-court-on-same-sex-ceremony.

"the u.s. supreme court turned away an appeal from a new mexico wedding photographer found to have violated a state anti-discrimination law when she refused to take pictures of a commitment ceremony for a same-sex couple.. the photographer, elaine huguenin, argued unsuccessfully that she was being unconstitutionally forced to convey a message conflicting with her religious beliefs.

JeffT

Just out of curiosity, do you guys think the African-American owned fried chicken place up the street from me should have to serve the KKK if they walk in and want to eat?

29

kingdom hall insurance....??

by punkofnice in

i seem to recall that there was an assistance fund set up for insurance on kingdom halls that were essentially set up as insurance.. where you were not to insure the khs by normal insurance companies.does anyone know about this and does any kh claim againt the fund i.e.

the watchtower?.

sounds like a scam!.

JeffT

We had an older visiting sister to fall inside our Hall and hurt her hip and back. Her hsuband was the visiting speaker that Sunday. She wasn't used to the floor plan. This sent her to a chiropractor or physical therapist for extended treamtments. Her husband, the brother, called later and asked about filing on our KHall insurance. We contacted the Society.

The Society told us to speak to them kindly and with understanding, but also to ask them to file on their personal health insurance if they had any. I was the Accounts Servant at the time, so the Secretary got the dubious task of calling them back. A week or so later I asked him how it went. He said they were not happy about it, but had health insurance, and so filed on their own.

Somewhere on their insurance forms there will be a little box that says something like "if this injury resulted from an accident check this box and fill out details below." If they don't put the real information in there they are technically committing insurance fraud. Of course, the only way somebody finds out about this is if a knowledgable person talks, which is unlikely given WTBS intimidation tactics.

206

Took my son (5 yrs) shooting for his first time.

by dazed but not confused in

i went with my neighbor to an outdoor shooting range in the pawnee national grasslands in colorado.

its about 2 hours northeast of denver.

it was awesome.

JeffT

Dazed, the last couple of summers I drove up and down I-25 between Billings and Boulder taking my daughter back to school. Yeah, what I was talking about was similar, although slightly more populated (Eastern Washington).

I've noticed people who love guns typically don't have a reputation of being educated or posessing any type of intellect.

Claptrap. My family are all avid hunters. Between the five of us there was a BA, three MD's and a Nobel Prize. All our hunting buddies were research scientists.

You need to kill for food? Grocery store is way easier and cheaper.

Yeah, the moral superiority is obvious, because nothing dies to make store bought hamburger.

206

Took my son (5 yrs) shooting for his first time.

by dazed but not confused in

i went with my neighbor to an outdoor shooting range in the pawnee national grasslands in colorado.

its about 2 hours northeast of denver.

it was awesome.

JeffT

next month maybe you can teach him to drive

OK, we can change arguments for awhile. In lots of rural areas in America kids start learning to drive as soon as they can reach the pedals and see over the steering wheel at the same time. I've lived in farming areas where 13 or 14 year-olds could legally drive trucks to the co-op during harvest. The 15 year olds are driving heavy equipment in the field. They tend to be good drivers by the time they get their licenses.

206

Took my son (5 yrs) shooting for his first time.

by dazed but not confused in

i went with my neighbor to an outdoor shooting range in the pawnee national grasslands in colorado.

its about 2 hours northeast of denver.

it was awesome.

JeffT

I learned gun safety so long ago its an ingrained habit. You could wake me up in from a dead sleep in the middle of the night, hand me a gun and the first thing I'd do is check the action. Our house contained a number of guns, getting one out without permission was simply unthinkable. They also were neither a mystery nor cool. Kids that have been taught proper gun safety are not the ones to worry about.

206

Took my son (5 yrs) shooting for his first time.

by dazed but not confused in

i went with my neighbor to an outdoor shooting range in the pawnee national grasslands in colorado.

its about 2 hours northeast of denver.

it was awesome.

JeffT

Nice pics. I haven't shot a .40 but I would think it would kick pretty hard for a kid. How did that work out? Upon reflection, I realize that I was shooting Dad's handgun at 10 or so and loved it, it's an old revolver that belonged to my grandfather and weighs a ton.

nicolau, those of us who enjoy shooting probably think he is avoiding indocrination.

23

MAS370 - Was it a Remote Hijacking?

by fulltimestudent in

professor kevin barrett is not exactly the most trusted commentator you could find, but that, of course, just maybe because, there are people who want his views on 9/11 to be ignored.. anyway he's advanced a theory that the missing malaysian airlines plane was remotely hi-jacked.

in the absence of other evidence, it just maybe what happened.

to consider whether it did happen, we need to ask why it may have been hijacked?

JeffT

Complete crap. There is no way to take control of an airplane from some place else. The control systems don't have external inputs.

55

Don't miss the health care sign up deadline.

by FlyingHighNow in

jw
friends

sign up deadline is the 31st, in a couple of days.

if you have problems with the website and youve been there before, try cleaning out your cookies and cache, then restart your computer.

that worked for me.

JeffT

You know, every single person I've talked to that says the ACA is screwing them over didn't actually know what it does, how to sign up, what was covered, how to use credits or deductions.

Well, now you know one of those people. I'm semi-retired, self-employed and buy my own insurance. My old plan was canceled to make way for an ACA compliant plan that costs $300/month more (multiple by two, it effects both of us.) We make just a bit too much money on our retirement fund to qualify for a tax credit. It will be two more years before I qualify for Medicare. The insurance commisioner here in Washington won't allow a return to the old plan. I'm an accountant and can do figures and read contracts. I signed up on the state website the day it went operational.

Between increased premiums and higher deductables ACA is screwing me.

PS, when people start doing their taxes next year expect screaming when they discover they don't acually qualify for the credits they're claiming.

43

Is it all about the money?

by Laika in

often on this forum there are posts about how the gb are obsessed with money and some people here often suggest this impacts every decision the gb makes i.e.

on my holiday thread it was suggested jws aren't allowed to celebrate holidays as it means spending money on presents that they want for themselves.. i however, do not think this is at all true.

the society rarely talks about money and as a percentage of income i think the vast majority of jws contribute a very small amount simply because the society rarely talk about it.. obviously money is important to the society in the sense that they couldn't run a major organisation without it, so they have to ask for it at times and factor it in to some of their decision making, but actually the gb live quite frugally and seem to worry much more about clinging to their authority and power than getting rich.. my controversial suggestion of the day is that saying the gb are obsessed with money must make us look silly to lurkers.. what does the jwn intellegentsia think then?.

JeffT

Lisa beat me to it. The Mormon church is a much better example of a religion driven by money. If the GB wanted money every other Watchtower would be about the scriptural history of tithing, and members would be told to study hard and get good jobs so they could tithe more. The elders would keep donation records instead of field service reports, and on April 15th every year you'd give them a copy of your tax return so they could verify your accounts.

I know a lot of the numbers look big, but they aren't really. I worked for 25 years in investment real estate, a billion dollars is not that big an empire, I've worked for small family outfits here in Seattle that had portfolios worth 300-500 million.