Lance

It is not the same font as used in printed edition of NWT 2013.. which is serifed I like it ... the “ J” looks like a J now as opposed to a lazy “J”. With a weak ascender

Some people disire to see rules in everything.... others try to walk by faith and principles.... Rule 1: often it takes a lifetime to gain some proficiency at it. 😳....

Well maybe it comes from reading the King James Bible 1 cor 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: The last bush doesn’t fit so well... Just a thought 😇😎

Well we have to careful about our personal pet peeves... even if they have some merit. Most of us live in a multi cultural society with much diversity.

New Scientist June 9 2018 DREAMING helps us learn new information, and the boring dreams we have during the deepest stages of sleep may be the most important. As we drift off, our brainwaves slow and we enter progressively deeper stages of sleep, before returning to lighter sleep and entering a rapid eye movement (REM) stage. This cycle is typically repeated several times a night. Until recently, we thought dreams only occurred during REM sleep. We now know that is not the case, although REM dreams are the vivid, story-like ones we tend to remember. Those we have during deeper, non-REM sleep appear to be simpler and vaguer. For example, when you recall being chased down the street by a dinosaur, that is from an REM dream, says Björn Rasch at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. To investigate the role of sleep in replaying memories and learning, Rasch and his colleagues recruited 22 volunteers. They were all asked to learn a list of 100 words that were each linked to a picture, for example, the word tree with a picture of a child sitting on a chair. That night, the researchers used electrode caps to track what stage of sleep each person was in. Throughout the night, the team regularly woke participants up and asked them what they had been dreaming about. The next day, the volunteers were tested on the word-picture pairs. Those who saw more of the pictures in their non-REM dreams did best. There was no such link when it came to REM sleep (bioRxiv, doi.org/cqjp). Another night, the volunteers were given a new memory task and then allowed to sleep undisturbed. The following morning, they described the dreams they could remember – and none contained pictures from the task. This is the first hint that dreaming about things in non-REM sleep might be more important than doing so in REM sleep, says Rasch. This article appeared in print under the headline "You forget your most important dreams" Clare Wilson

New Scientist June 9 2018 MOZART and Beethoven are both said to have had it. The same is said of Mariah Carey. Now a study suggests that some adults may be able to learn perfect pitch in just a few weeks of training. Many musicians can identify notes in relation to a reference note. For instance, if they hear the note C and are told it is C, they will be able to identify G. But only a few have absolute pitch – also known as perfect pitch – which is the ability to identify any note without a reference note. "It is a tremendous advantage," says musician Rick Beato. People with absolute pitch can play or write down any tune they hear, or just sit down and compose music without needing an instrument. It is thought that only around 1 in 10,000 people have this ability, and that if a person doesn't learn perfect pitch before the age of around 8, they never will. However, when Stephen Van Hedger of the University of Chicago and his colleagues attempted to train six people in absolute pitch, two of them improved considerably (bioRxiv, doi.org/cqjn). The training – which took four hours a week, for eight weeks – involved listening to notes, trying to identify them and finding out if the guesses were correct. At the start, the two people who showed most improvement scored under 40 per cent on tests of absolute pitch. By the end they scored 98 per cent or more. One of them scored 100 per cent. "He passed the strongest test we could throw at him," says Van Hedger. But some are sceptical. The two volunteers who improved had music lessons in childhood, notes Seung-Goo Kim at the University of Cambridge. "In other words, this study shows that absolute pitch can be refined in some adults by training if they already have 'latent' absolute pitch." "There are a lot of people who don't know they have perfect pitch," says Beato. This article appeared in print under the headline "You really can make yourself pitch perfect" Michael Le Page

Ya right.... 😊😊😳 If you have such a strong urge .... look on eBay I am sure someone has a few for sale

Selective interpretation...😎

As for reporting things to authorities it is a judgement call ... if we find out someone robbed a bank as a opposed to someone not paying back a loan... two different things.. Elders are not commissioned to enforce Caesars laws... Again if in doubt they will contact the branch..

I have found that even reporting an abuse is a “form of liberation”..... it is no longer your secret. The other person is put on notice and groundwork laid if and when other facts come to light or other occurrences.... I have known some individuals that all they wanted was an apology and they would of forgiven the perpetrator .... but not even a simple “I am sorry “ was forth coming. One thing is for sure healing is possible with the help of loving friends....experienced counselors and developing a spiritual perspective on the evils of this old world.

I agree it is raw data .... It dosn’t take into account unreported numbers, which we will more than likely never know. It is true that 65,000 versus 23 million is huge difference in sample size .. That being said 65,000 is a huge sample when it comes to averages ... Psychological mental health forecasts are conducted on a far smaller sample to indicate trends in population health and welfare. On top of that, these raw averages hold up over many decades... So we are not taking a sample from one discrete year in time. So the bottom line is that Jehovah’s Witnesses are multiple times less tolerant to sexual abuse issues than the average population. That dosn’t make JW’s perfect or without fault. It does show we are aware and we are cognizant of dealing with the issues. From my personal experience we as an organization are proactive in dealing with the issues and assisting the victims in whatever way we can.

Tom I looked at your numbers and how you came to that conclusion... and why you are concerned with some aspects of them. You are comparing apples to apples so that is fair comparison with the numbers presented.. So in 2017 there were 67,418 publishers in Australia with 12 non historical reported cases of abuse which means .0178 percent rate of abuse In 2017 there were 23,968,973 Australians with 27,058 reported cases of abuse which .means .1129 percent rate of abuse So the bottom line you are over 6 times safer in a congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses then in the world. Also a major difference, all the cases of Jw’s were in a familial setting and no elder was involved. So our rate of abuse amoung elders or “leaders in the church” was zero .. The churches do not track parishioners who are involved in a abuse but we do. As we all know “one abuse is one too many” ... but these numbers do show our vigilance

Tom “Data uncovered by the Australian Royal Commission suggests that a child is up to six times safer in the JW community than in the overall Australian world. ” I assume that this conclusion was reached by the rate of occurrence in the general population versus the rate of occurrence within Jehovah’s Witnesses of Australia... ? Do you have the numbers, because this is very quotable factoid.?

Whitney That is a very good article... it gets at the core of the issue when it comes to doing battle with opposers..

From New Scientist Magazine May 26 2018 Hit red link to go to article.. PEOPLE in a minimally conscious state have been "woken" at home for the first time, using brain stimulation therapy delivered by their family. Some of those in the trial could respond to questions from their loved ones, having been unresponsive for years. "They were more present... laughing when someone was telling a joke or crying when they heard sad news," said one family member. "It was nice to see them laugh at funny scenes on the TV." People with severe brain trauma often fall into a coma. This can improve to a state of minimal consciousness, where they might show fluctuating signs of awareness but remain unable to communicate. In 2014, Steven Laureys at Liège University Hospital in Belgium and his colleagues discovered that people in a minimally conscious state could be temporarily roused using mild electrical stimulation. The people in his trial were able to respond to commands and answer questions for a few hours before drifting back into an uncommunicative state. Last year, Laureys and his team showed they could extend the period of awakening to a week by applying the stimulation over five consecutive days. Now, they have taken the therapy out of the lab and into the patient's own home by teaching their family members or carers to use the stimulation device. The study involved 27 people, one of whom had been in a minimally conscious state for 33 years (Brain Stimulation, doi.org/cp3j). Each received a 20-minute session of stimulation every weekday for four weeks, or a sham treatment. Eight weeks later, they received the other therapy. No one directly involved was aware of the treatment order. When the team tested the participants one to two days after the real treatment had finished, a fifth showed improvements in awareness that were not observed at the end of the placebo sessions. A few people regained the ability to answer questions, such as "Am I touching my nose?". To communicate, each patient was taught a code based on how responsive they were, including thumbs up or down, or even just blinking to signify yes or no. All those in the trial were in a chronic minimally conscious state, meaning they had shown no improvement for several years. "We'd expect even better results for people with more recent brain injuries," says co-author Géraldine Martens, also at Liège University Hospital. The study involved a technique called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), which uses a tiny amount of electricity to make neurons more or less likely to fire. The stimulation device is placed over the prefrontal cortex, a brain region involved in higher cognitive functions such as consciousness and decision-making. This area is also linked to neural "hubs" that help direct information around the brain. In conscious people, electrical activity spreads around the brain like a wave. Increasing the activity in the prefrontal cortex using tDCS is thought to partly recreate this wave of communication. The device was configured to apply 2 milliamps of stimulation. "We think that a longer protocol with higher current might have better or more long-lasting results," says Martens, "but these people can't communicate pain so we have to be really careful about possible side effects." The team acknowledges that it can be difficult for families to see improvements in such a trial, only for their relative to return to their previous state. In light of this, an ethics board allowed the families to keep the device after the trial. They have been told not to use it more than once a day, and never at weekends. "They've had it for about a month, so we'll be catching up with them soon to see what has happened," says Martens. "This is a great step forward," says Joseph Fins, chief of the medical ethics division at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York. But how therapeutically meaningful it is still has to be assessed, he says. Fins and his colleagues previously used deep brain stimulation to temporarily awaken a man who had been in a minimally conscious state for six years, after which he was able to form short sentences and interact with his family. After stimulation ends, the individual does gradually return to their pre-treatment state, says John Whyte, director of the Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute in Pennsylvania. "However, there is reason to hope that the therapy could be continued indefinitely to maintain the improved performance." This article appeared in print under the headline "Woken up with a brain zap" Helen Thomson

It is all about time ... we have a number of people who are very passionate about discussing the refined policies of the organization, that certain things are written down in absolute black and white... and that is ok to point... What I have found that those polices have been practiced for the last 30 years even though not clearly written down in a step by step procedure. The over arching policy or principle we have is do the “ loving thing”. For the world that is too vague... for the majority of JW’s they get it and do it... So if we needed a clearly defined marching orders to act .. good now we have them, but it still boils down to go out and help those in need ... As for beating every false claim etc... We have some who come to this forum to sharpen their skills and gather information to do battle with the Pharisees and Saducces of this world ... How do we know that .. by the exact same phrases and questions used by opposers...your average brother or sister would not be using the same terminology or discriptors. It becomes an intellectual game or debate to prove those Pharisees wrong and a great deal of time and effort goes into the world of trolldom... We notice that Christ who is the head of the congregation has not directed the slave to gather a whole bunch of “internet pioneers” or “internet publishers” to wage battle with the trolls of this system of things. So if we are passionate about this ... I get it... my passion is helping individuals directly... one on one .. or if I know someone needs help. I arrange it that they can get help. We only have so much time in our limited life span...we all to have use it in manner that brings glory to Jehovah and in his direction during these last days...

I understand.... but we easily can spend “ a lot of time” and effort being “keyboard warriors” with great fire and zeal in our belly beating down every apostate and every false claim on the internet. For the most part those individuals are not the ones who need our time and attention. Those individuals can easily suck us dry and distract us from our main commission. Jesus was not “sent”to the scribes and Pharisees... But to bind up broken hearted ones.. ones with a desire to know the truth.. These issues need more then lawyerly prose and point and counter point... they need a kind loving heart that can help abused and traumatized people.

I read all of this and I wonder how many of you have actually gone through the whole process ... of discovery ..maybe family denial .. years going by .. court cases .. denials ....sexual activity among siblings and close relatives..add as many words and descriptors as you want... Helping the victims ... supporting the family of the abuser... more court cases.... At times a judgement ... but many times no justice from the courts.... enormous amount damage...... at times personal freedom from the revelation... understanding the differences between a victim and survivor I have numerous times.... I loose a part of me every time it happens. It seems that everyone thinks they have clear idea that all these situations are clear cut ... do this ... do that and problem is handled and settled.. We banter back and forth over exact words or phrases, if they were ever used and how much better this sentence is now.... yep ... so much better..... Each and every situation I have been involved in last 30 years and all the participating elders....have been for the protection and aid of the person who says they were victimized... period ... At times even taking the victims into our home.Each situation the branch was involved with , sometimes to a great extent and others just a notification if it was a situation of an abuse reported by an adult about a deceased abuser. Will the explicit guidelines help ?... absolutely Has all these inquiries and court cases drawn attention to the need to come forward and deal with the criminal sin and assault ..? yes Can this give the families in the congregation a clear mandate , to be proactive in protecting their children ...?. yes But by far the majority of situations are not what has happened in the congregation but by what has happened before anyone was a Jehovah’s Witness... Our role more often is to offer comfort, help them get some professional help with the side effects and residual effects of the trauma .. often times it is with our brothers and sisters from war torn countries... So I guess my bottom line is ..debate over words and phrases are interesting and beneficial .. but what is needed is Godly principles and love,that has to be “actively shared “with all victims of abuse and horrific trauma ... just go help someone . Bind up the broken hearts and lives of so many of our brothers and sisters...Please ... just a suggestion ... less debate more action. We know what has to be done... Isa 61 He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,To proclaim liberty to the captivesAnd the wide opening of the eyes to the prisoners, 2 To proclaim the year of Jehovah’s goodwillAnd the day of vengeance of our God,To comfort all who mourn,

Wedding... what wedding? Missed it again..🙈😳 Sort of hard to miss, every news channel trying to dissect it and it’s meaning for the House of Windsor ... and who wore what. But at the very least marriage is still honoured by some and that is a good thing ... 😊

Phil 4:12-13 12 I know how to be low on provisions and how to have an abundance. In everything and in all circumstances I have learned the secret of both how to be full and how to hunger, both how to have an abundance and how to do without. 13 For all things I have the strength through the one who gives me power. The whole association of brothers and sisters.. will be tested... guaranteed. Satan will make sure of that.... no one gets a free pass. There is not a lot we can do for our brothers and sisters in difficult circumstances... even though we we wish and agonize that we could transport them out miraculously.. Our brothers in the Congo are facing Ebola again.. many today are in hospitals facing some serious life threatening situation.. all of these trials have been originally been hatched by Satan .. what can we do we can pray.. and if we can, encourage .. if we can strengthen just as Paul did through his letters ... or emails or whatever Jehovah directs us to do....do it... Why...because all of us get scared and need to see the big picture of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty... we are nothing with out it... none of us are alone,, but at times we need to be reassured as Paul and our dear brothers did.. Romans 8:37 On the contrary, in all these things we are coming off completely victorious through the one who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor governments nor things now here nor things to come nor powers 39 nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from God’s love that is in Christ Jesus our lord.

I hear laurel my wife hears yanny ... she thought I was nuts ... that’s another story.. The NY times has an article on it with a slider that allows you to hear the differences .... it seems it is our perception of low tones or high tones I hear lower tones better and my wife hears higher tones better. .. According to Richards post.... for the record it is Laurel.. 😂 From NY times article.. One way to understand the dynamics at work is to look at a type of chart called a spectrogram — a way to visualize how the strength of different sound frequencies varies over time. The spectrograms above show that the word “laurel” is strongest in lower frequencies, while a simulated version of the word “yanny” is stronger in higher frequencies. The audio clip shows a mixture of both.

I can confirm Carlos post ... There is no easy quick answer to a lot of these situations. Here are number of observations over the years... 1) a brother or sister comes forward usually from ages 25-50 ..about something that happened in their family 10-40 years ago. 95 percent not from a JW background.... 2) A young person in their late teens comes forward about something that happened within their own family by their own brother or sister.. the parent or parents felt it was a family matter and none of anyone’s business. 3) A lot of serious morality problems ... have there roots in abuse issues before they came into the truth. That is why elders are told to phone the branch ... Most people think that ..issues are clear cut and straight forward ... 99 percent never are. But one thing is for sure ...there is great deal of emotional, mental, physical damage and other issues in the majority of our dear brothers and sisters who went through this.

The transit authority here in Vancouver request us to be a certain locations.. they find it reduces crime.

I can’t speak for aTom but I think there is a few stories he feels it would not be wise to share if the authorities in Russia were to find out.. .. no discrimination just a precaution

New scientist may 3 2018.... Shocking news The universe just got even more confusing. Last week, the biggest ever 3D map of our galaxy was released as part of the second batch of data from the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite. The long-awaited measurements revealed the location and brightness of 1.7 billion stars in the Milky Way. But the first analysis of the data has also crystallised our confusion about the rate of the universe's expansion. We have two ways to determine this rate, expressed in a quantity called the Hubble constant, and they have always come up with different values. Some researchers had hoped that the Gaia data released on 25 April might lessen the divergence, but it has only got worse. One determination of the Hubble constant comes from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), a relic of the first light in the cosmos after the big bang. Researchers have used the now defunct Planck space observatory to examine this light and figure out how fast the universe was expanding back then. Those values can then be plugged into models of cosmic evolution to predict how fast the universe should be expanding today. The other method involves directly measuring the distances to stars called Cepheid variables. This lets us figure out how quickly objects in the local universe are moving away from us. The technique gives a Hubble constant more than 9 per cent larger than with the CMB method. In the past, we have only been able to measure a few Cepheids at a time, but Gaia pinpointed 50 of them. Adam Riess at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, and his colleagues analysed Gaia's Cepheid data to see whether the Hubble constant discrepancy would alter or vanish altogether. "Not only is it confirmed, but it's actually reinforced," Riess says. Prior to this analysis, he says, there was a 1 in 1000 chance that the apparent discrepancy was just a fluke – now, that has fallen to only 1 in 7000. If the discrepancy is real, it means that something is wrong with our models of the universe's evolution. And it's looking more and more real. Undetected particles out there could be undermining our models, or maybe our guesses about the nature of dark matter and dark energy are wrong, says Reiss. "When we say the Hubble constant should be lower, that's with models using the most vanilla, least interesting versions of dark matter and dark energy," he says. "But maybe there's a wrinkle. Maybe it's much weirder." Over 22 months, Gaia classified and measured the brightness of 500,000 standard candles – variable stars that can be used to measure distances to other astrophysical objects. The satellite also mapped the positions of 14,099 objects within our own solar system – mostly asteroids – as well as half a million distant galaxies and 12 dwarf galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. Closer to home, the Gaia data revealed a disturbance in our galaxy. The satellite galaxies that revolve around the Milky Way are gravitationally bound to it, so astronomers agree it is likely that some interacted with our galaxy in the past, perhaps smashing through its disc. Thanks to Gaia, we now have evidence that another galaxy perturbed the Milky Way's disc relatively recently. Teresa Antoja at the University of Barcelona in Spain and her colleagues analysed the motions of more than 6 million stars from the Gaia data set, and found patterns never seen before. Plots of these stars' velocities have swoops, arches and spirals, indicating patches of stars that are moving together (arxiv.org/abs/1804.10196). If the Milky Way were in equilibrium and hadn't been recently perturbed, those patterns would not appear. Their presence indicates that something has shaken up the stars recently enough that their orbits have yet to relax back to a stable state. The researchers found that the Milky Way was probably perturbed between 300 and 900 million years ago, which is also the last time an object called the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy is thought to have made a close pass. "This is just the beginning for Gaia," says Riess. "Gaia should be delivering data that's five or six times more precise than this in a few years." And for now, analysis of the deluge of data we have just received is nowhere near complete. This article appeared in print under the headline "Star map adds to cosmic confusion" Leah Crane