konceptual99

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Posts by konceptual99

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  31

  Never Bring a Knife to a Drone Fight

  by LoveUniHateExams in

  1. social
  2. current

  apparently, it's good news, everybody - mohammed emwazi (aka jihadi john) has been targeted by a us drone strike.

  the location was in raqqa, syria, a few yards from isis hq, near a clock tower where crucifixions are carried out.

  there are conflicting reports, some say he died instantly at 11:40pm yesterday, others say that he was badly injured and taken to a nearby hospital.. from what i've previously read about emwazi, he was apparently terrified of being targeted by drones - yesterday it seems his nightmare was made reality.

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  konceptual99

  @luhe

  Correct - they might might be perfectly sane just completely indoctrinated. The use of the term "mental" is relative. Anyone who is prepared to cut off the head of an aid worker just because of political and religious ideals is mental even if they don't have a medically definable mental illness.

  I'm not questioning the principle of a military role, just that the solution has to be a complete change in attitude of the majority of people. The end of the troubles in Northern Ireland was essentially because the majority of people got tired of living in an urban war zone. Their ideals were trumped by their desire to have a normal life and the moderate voices started to outweigh the extremists.

  The Israel/Palestinian issue and the West/extreme Islam conflicts are no where near this tipping point but will be one day I hope. The other problem is that all the wannabe jihadi lunatics are only too pleased to be squashed like a bug. Take away an afterlife full of virgins and then see how many of them want to blow themselves up...
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  19

  Book Review: The Hunt for Vulcan: . . . And How Albert Einstein Destroyed a Planet, Discovered Relativity, and Deciphered the Universe

  by Viviane in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i recently read this book and found it to be excellent.

  it's the story of how we never stop knowing, how science works (even when it doesn't), how gracefully math can describe the world we live in and more.

  the story begins with how sir isaac newton, author of pricipia mathematica and holder of the lucasian chair at cambridge, developed math to describe the gravity and the motion of the planets with no need god holding them in place.

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  konceptual99

  Thanks for the recommendation. I was looking for something to read in the popular science vein.
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  31

  Never Bring a Knife to a Drone Fight

  by LoveUniHateExams in

  1. social
  2. current

  apparently, it's good news, everybody - mohammed emwazi (aka jihadi john) has been targeted by a us drone strike.

  the location was in raqqa, syria, a few yards from isis hq, near a clock tower where crucifixions are carried out.

  there are conflicting reports, some say he died instantly at 11:40pm yesterday, others say that he was badly injured and taken to a nearby hospital.. from what i've previously read about emwazi, he was apparently terrified of being targeted by drones - yesterday it seems his nightmare was made reality.

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  konceptual99

  As glad as I am that this evil nutjob got what was coming to him, sadly there are thousands of equally mental nutjobs waiting in the wings to take his place.

  The problem of radical Islam getting to any point of reconciliation with progressive, humanist values requires a sea change in attitude aside from a large political change. It will never be solved through military means.
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  12

  Report of the Trustees and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st August 2013 for Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  downloadable as a pdf here.. i did a search and couldn't find this posted on the forum.

  if it has been and this is a repeat post....i apologize.. there is lots of information in that pdf that may be of interest to our members who like numbers and money and misc info pertaining to wts organizational structure, etc..

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  konceptual99

  No disrespect taken. This financial statement did not turn up in searches on this forum. If you can find a thread on this forum where this has already been discussed, it would be much appreciated. No disrespect intended.

  I linked to them in this thread:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/499050001/jw-deny-rumours-moving-uk-hq-chelmsford-project-has-collaspe

  and referenced the documents in a reply to Jeff in this thread:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/493870004/how-read-financial-statements
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  63

  Raining before the Flood?

  by GrownMidget in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i remember at my teen years when i was studying with a brother that he said to me that there was no rain before the flood.

  instead there was this mist that you have.

  never before or after this have i heard something like this.

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  konceptual99

  At the meeting last night I was already steaming and boiling more than Noah would have been underneath all that water vapour and then someone went and misread one of the paragraphs and said the ark was the biggest vessel EVER built - bigger than the super cargo ships and massive cruise liners that sail the world today.

  I let out a barely concealed snigger and went back to reading New Scientist.
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  33

  Letter to be read at meeting this week about the downsize

  by dropoffyourkeylee in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a family member who is a bethelite informed me today that there is a letter to be read soon ( this week or next) concerning the downsizing.

  so probably someone who has their midweek meeting early in the week will be able to fill in the details.

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  konceptual99

  sir82 and Simon have called this 100% correct.

  Announcements have to be made so there is a clear party line to push cynical and critical comments underground.

  In the main however, no one mentally in will care. Everything is a blessing, everything is an evidence of the chariot going at warp factor 10 even if it's a direct contradiction of a previous announcement.

  The good news is that when people do start asking questions, the double speak is highly visible. The audit trail of what the organisation has said in the publications has been well documented for some time (e.g. jwfacts). The move to distributing BoE letters and other internal documents electronically has opened up more about processes and procedures to scrutiny. Most recently, the visibility of the GB and their need to respond more rapidly to community chatter means that there is no longer a simple wall of silence (AKA "waiting on Jehovah") where the org felt no desire to say anything.

  So, letters like this mean very little to most dubs in terms of their cognitive dissonance. To those waking up however, they are yet more pieces in the jigsaw of WTS propaganda.
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  63

  Pop Trivia

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  so many serious topics lately ... so for anyone who wants a break, it's trivia time and the subject is pop music.. which act is the only one to have a top 100 hit both before, during and after the beatles had theirs?.

  no googling.

  if you guess, you also need to add a trivia question for others to answer..

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  konceptual99

  It's the annoying Lady Grantham from Downton - Elizabeth McGovern.

  Can't think of much of a trivia question right now other than perhaps whose amp goes up to 11?
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  50

  Coordinator of Elders Problems in One Southern England Circuit!

  by The Searcher in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  information just passed to me.

  let's hope this becomes even more widespread.

  i wonder if the britain branch suspects a conspiracy?

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  konceptual99

  Agree @curiousconfused...

  I may be able to do some digging over the next couple of weeks...
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  11

  What I Hate About Halloween....

  by konceptual99 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ....is that it has totally wiped away the distinct celebration of november 5th and bonfire night.

  fireworks and bonfires are still ubiquitous this time of year but it's just merged in with halloween which, whilst always being celebrated, was not as promoted and so overwhelming as it is now.. bring back the guy!.

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  konceptual99

  Love the comments! When I was brought up as a Witness my parents did not allow us to attend any displays due to the religious history of the event but we were allowed to watch from our bedroom windows like some poor Victorian paupers peering through the frosted panes at the rich children enjoying their presents, as if characters in a Dickensian novel.

  What I found out in later years is many Witnesses did not really worry too much and would attend public displays. We went and watched our local big display over the weekend along with all the torches etc. etc. I know elders attend and there are loads of IGs going round of Witnesses going along.

  Having your own firework party this time of year is a deffo no no but the whole entry into winter with jacket tatties, mulled wine and chestnuts is really nice.

  The overtness of Halloween just seems to spoil the cosy side of our particular take on this time of year...
  
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  11

  What I Hate About Halloween....

  by konceptual99 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ....is that it has totally wiped away the distinct celebration of november 5th and bonfire night.

  fireworks and bonfires are still ubiquitous this time of year but it's just merged in with halloween which, whilst always being celebrated, was not as promoted and so overwhelming as it is now.. bring back the guy!.

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  konceptual99

  P.S. Sorry for those outside of the UK but this is a bit of parochial soap boxing.