scotoma

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Posts by scotoma

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  16

  End Times or End of Age Predicted in the Bible?

  by Maat13 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  starting april 15th, 2014 on four successive jewish holidays there will be a blood moon.

  significant events have occurred on each occasion?

  anyone else following these events?.

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  scotoma

  April 14 marks the anniversary of the Passover in 70CE when Titus initiated his attack on
  Jerusalem. He waited until the city was full of celebrants to attack. That Passover was also a
  lunar eclipse.
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  10

  Modern-Day Child Sacrifice

  by XBEHERE in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  circuit assembly this weekend.

  do's talk compared not having a family study or not teaching your children about jah to the apostate israelites sacrificing their children to molech at topheth in the valley of shinom.

  yeah that's the same thing.

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  scotoma

  Abraham get's blessed because he as good as offered up his son as a sacrifice.

  God spared Abraham the act of actually killing his son.

  But God expects parents to actually let their children die because of a symbol?

  If Satan really existed he knew how to get JW's to blaspheme Jehovah and portray him as an egocentric self-serving cruel God. The Blood Policy was one of Satan's greatest hits.
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  6

  Designs, a ? energy healing..

  by carla in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey designs,.

  in another thread you said, "a brother who was a 'energy healer' would munch on seeds constantly through out the day, aka the birdman".

  the guy was an energy healer?

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  scotoma

  How unusual. JW's falling for quackery.

  Thank God for the Placebo effect.
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  15

  Is Obama Giving Putin Ideas?

  by scotoma in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the guardian tues 25 march (julian borger).

  "russian actions are a problem.

  they don't pose the number one security threat to the united.

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  scotoma

  Not too many people are concerned with these recent developments between Russia and the US.

  At least people in the USA aren't worried. Life goes on as usual. Even Ukranians are still getting up and going to work, shopping, sending their kids to school. Humans are very resilient. Unless you are a refugee living in a tent settlement nothing changes the basic routines.

  You hardly hear anyone at the hall bring up the resurgence of the Russian/USA conflict. The urge to speculate has been completely beaten out of the JW thought process. I have casually brought the subject up to various JW's and was told that the main thing is to keep preaching and that nothing of note will happen until the UN attacks Religion.

  Only the "Faithful Slave" has the right to contemplate the meaning of world events. THEY are the seers. THEY are the only ones who are allowed to SEE. They certainly didn't see these recent events. They feel Jehovah guided them to take on a 4 year building project that will be finished in 3 more years. That project

  XJW's are so tired of this that their eyes glaze over with the mere thought of Prophecy and World Events.

  We are all victims of confirmation bias. We see what we want to see.
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  15

  Is Obama Giving Putin Ideas?

  by scotoma in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the guardian tues 25 march (julian borger).

  "russian actions are a problem.

  they don't pose the number one security threat to the united.

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  scotoma

  The Guardian Tues 25 March (Julian Borger)

  "Russian actions are a problem. They don't pose the number one security threat to the United
  States. I remain much more concerned about the prospect of a nuclear weapon going off in
  Manhattan," the president said, pointing out that was why he had begun a series of bi-annual
  summits aimed at improving the security of weapons-grade fissile material stocks around the
  world.

  So, now, Mr. Putin you know how to get even with the USA and keep them out of your back
  yard. Obama is not afraid of you. You're low on his list. He is afraid of terrorists exploding a nuclear
  device in New York City.

  And where might terrorists get hold of a nuclear weapon? Not Putin. Nooooo. He needs all
  his bombs! Since he's so weak he would never pass one of his small bombs to Muslim terrorists.
  Putin would never do anything so underhanded. He would want credit for any damage he could
  do to the USA. If he sent a bomb on the back of a Muslim terrorist how could he ever get credit
  for such a masterful plan.

  The terrorists would get the credit. But wait a minute - Putin could escape blame.

  Listen to what else Obama says about Putin/Russia.

  "Russia is a regional power showing weakness over Ukraine. The fact that Russia felt it had to
  go in militarily and lay bare these violations of international law indicates less influence, not
  more."

  What's Obama talking about? Does he think this is a pick-up game of basketball at some community
  center where you just taunt and belittle your opponent with pregame "trash-talk"?

  By the way these remarks were made at a heavily attended summit in The Hague where the
  subject was setting standards governing security at nuclear sites and acceptance of international
  inspections as part of the security arrangements. 35 countries agreed to the standards. Russia
  and China were among the 18 countries at the summit that did not sign the agreement.

  Putin's master plan was to create a Eurasian common market similar to the European union.
  The West doesn't want Russia to do that because they fear that some sort of military
  alliance similar to Nato would eventually emerge. Ukraine is the essential piece to that project's
  success. Putin couldn't just let Nato get control of the strategic access Russia needs to the Black
  Sea-Mediterranean and the Atlantic. So, now this sets his plan back because he has been forced
  into a corner and had to respond militarily which of course scares off other countries from joining his project.

  Sure Russia is weak. It doesn't want to fight Nato. He wants to be fully integrated in a multi-
  polar world that isn't pushed around by the USA. There's two alternatives. 1. Become stronger
  than your foe or 2. Weaken your foe by your compliance so that he is caught off guard.

  Now which approach would a Judo expert like Putin take.
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  53

  Describe What a Jehovah's Witness Elder Is Like

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know what they are supposed to be like.

  but at this point in time, do you think the elders look joyful?

  are they serious bible students?

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  scotoma

  The problem with the "body" of elders is that they are all "body" and no "brain".
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  15

  David Splane in Poland today

  by FadeToBlack in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just got back from watching jw.stream presentation at our local kh of a 'special' meeting at ursus assembly hall in warsaw.

  all the congs in the country were tied in, but some will be watching replay later in the day.

  there were 3 parts.

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  scotoma

  David Splane reminds me of Ned Ryerson of the movie "Ground Hog Day" "Bing"

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqSYC_vwhDg
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  21

  Moscow - the only world power able to turn the United States into "radioactive dust"

  by scotoma in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  those are the words of a prominent russian tv broadcaster.. president putin recently appointed kiselyov as head of russia's newly restructured state-owned news agency rossiya segodnya (russia today), which was set up by an unexpected presidential decree to replace the longstanding ria novosti and voice of russia media outlets in december.. .

  do you think the watchtower writers are doing some recalculations?.

  will they switch the identity of babylon the great from a religious entity to the usa.. "rev.

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  scotoma

  DJS,

  I appreciate your response. You are more optimistic than I am.

  Since we are talking hypothetical situations the predictions are going to be based on our individual premises and not on some kind of certainty.

  Any event that involves multiple causes has a 50% chance of happening.

  If a person were to say that they are 60% sure an event will take place it would mean that you have access to information beyond simply guessing.

  If you say that you are 70% sure an event isn't going to occur you would have some knowledge beyond just stating the possibility.

  I acknowledged the fingerprint issue when I mentioned isotopes. That would only be an issue if you could map the route taken to get the device to its point of detonation. Russia would be able to deny its involvement unless someone blew a whistle on the conspiracy and evidence could be established beyond resonable doubt that Russian authorities were behind such an attack.

  Oligarchs are not the likely source of such intrigue. That was only thrown into the mix to consider multiple possibilities.

  Suitcase nuke is really an expression that did have some credibility at one time. It is not impossible for Russians to rig a device that could blow up lower manhattan and be small enough to escape detection. The device could be moved into place from multiple sources and assembled without detection. The most difficult thing would be delivering the fissile material that would be easy to detect. However, it's not impossible when you consider the creative ways to cross international boundaries in a country that has thousands of mile of unattended coastlines. If Tom Clancy were alive he would have a list long enough to write a library of spy novels. There might even be some devices that are already in place from the 40 year long cold war with diplomats coming and going with various degrees of immunity.

  Putin isn't motivated by money - he's not a businessman. He is motivated by power and control. He could have disappeared with his billions a long time ago. Putin wants to throw off the influence of the United States. He wants to change history. Putin cares about Europe because they are his neighbors and he respects their culture. Putin detests the monopolar world controlled by the USA. Biden is talking about the US and Great Britain doing maneuvers with Ukrainian troops. This creates a situation that would be very tempting for a man like Putin to carry out the kind of terror I mentioned.

  So is this likely? I can't say. You can't say. Not having extraordinary knowledge it's a coin flip. Things don't happen until they happen. Evoltuion tells us that given time anything can happen. Who would have bet that terrorists would hijack four Jet Airplanes and synchronize an attack on two landmark NYC buildings and the Pentagon and a fourth unknown target. On a warm fall Monday we all went to sleep as we heard the usual planes flying over our dwellings. Tuesday morning we woke up to a smoldering New York skyline. Remember you are dealing with a man who came to power with the backdrop of destruction of hundreds of poor people killed by solid rocket fuel bombs in their apartments at night.
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  7

  Is honesty the best policy?

  by LouBelle in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i ask because many a time being honest and telling the truth, even with tact is not met well - in my experience.. in the last couple of days i went for an interview with a company and when asked what my current package was i was honest and told the truth.

  they came back with the exact same offer - i then asked if we could negotiate considering my experience blah blah blah - they didn't both to respond and after three emails and asking for some sort of curtesy reply, i got a very offish response.

  a collegue i work with went for the same interview, lied about what she earns and they offered her a higher salary and were happy to negotiate even higher.

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  scotoma

  Honesty is the best POLICY. It's the best guiding principle when you need a habitual reaction.

  However honesty is not necessarily the best STRATEGY. Sometimes there are larger issues - such as life and death - financial ruin - career goals etc.

  If you run a company at what point do you let your suppliers know the depth of your financial woes and the possibility of bankruptcy that will leave them without full payment? Unfortunately you have to play people.

  That's why human brains are so big. Social interaction in a clan of about 120 people requires some lying.

  The bible is full of divine deceptions.

  Why would Jehovah make Moses feel he was actually influenced by his intercession on behalf of Israel.

  Why would Jehovah act like he needed to promise he would never kill every living thing again?

  Why would Jehovah let his people believe that he really liked the smell of fat and entrails being grilled on the altar?

  When the Bible promises everlasting life (on earth or in heaven), based on Jehovah's tendency to deceive, how do you know this isn't a manipulative trick to get you to cooperate.

  Not that I believe any of that. But it shows lying is an essential option in surviving in a community?
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  21

  Moscow - the only world power able to turn the United States into "radioactive dust"

  by scotoma in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  those are the words of a prominent russian tv broadcaster.. president putin recently appointed kiselyov as head of russia's newly restructured state-owned news agency rossiya segodnya (russia today), which was set up by an unexpected presidential decree to replace the longstanding ria novosti and voice of russia media outlets in december.. .

  do you think the watchtower writers are doing some recalculations?.

  will they switch the identity of babylon the great from a religious entity to the usa.. "rev.

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  scotoma

  DJS,

  It's obvious that Kielyov is far from the big nuclear button.

  What should be of concern is the sober formulation of policy that makes a first strike a rational strategy.

  Both Russia and the USA have a first strike policy. It is generally believed that the side that initiates the first strike has the best opportunity for their missiles to do the job - whether the missiles will be accurate or not - no one knows for sure until they shoot. One thing is sure if your strategy is reactive rather than preemptive you are guaranteed a result that is not optimum.

  So, who is more desperate? Russia or the USA. Desperate situations call for desperate actions. The FSB and possibly Putin himself were implicated in the bombing of the apartment complex in Moscow and other cities in Russia at the end of 1999 to destract Russians from Yeltsin's corruption and pave the way for Putin to become Prime Minister and then President. The bombs were blamed on the Chechens and Putin won the hearts of the Russian Nationalists by invading Grozny and bombing that city of a half million people into a pile of rubble. Litvenenko was poisoned with polonium because he knew too much about those bombings. Also look up Ryazan & bombing on the internet.

  Does the west want to make Russia more desperate?

  I don't expect missiles to fly but I wouldn't be surprised if a wealthy oligarch or even the FSB passed a suitcase nuke over to some terrorists to blow up the financial district in New York. There would be no return address. Putin would act real concerned and friendly sending his condolences. Even if the isotopes indicate a Russian device his plea would be that unfortunately such instruments can fall into the wrong hands.

  The USA would be preoccupied with digging out of that mess. The countries of the former soviet union - including Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia would understand that the west is no longer in a position to help them.

  We are in an extremely dangerous time. Anything could happen.