Adjusting for inflation (buying power is the key valuation for money)
Sixty Dollars per bushel back then is approximately the same as
$1,461.62 today.

The famous PYRAMID tombstone for Pastor Russell was designed by the same Brother Bohnet who conducted the funeral. It is Bohnet who offered to donate the famous wheat to the Watch Tower.

In 1905 a Watchtower booklet called "Features of the Plan of God" is written by J. A. Bohnet.

Bohnet's 1910 letter to the Russell in the Watchtower:

The Watch Tower, October 1, 1910, page 307 
MIRACLE WHEAT AND MIRACLE RYE

Two grains of this wheat were given to the Editor, who, in turn, handed them to a brother in the Truth, who reported that the two grains produced 1,312, which, planted, produced five pounds -- one grain having fifty stools of well-developed stalks or straws. The brother planted the miracle wheat alongside of some ordinary wheat, and reports that the miracle wheat heads are from three to five inches long and from three to five grains to the mesh, whereas with the common wheat the heads are from two to three inches in length.

Another brother obtained some of the miracle wheat and, out of the first crop, presented the Editor a peck of the same. This was entrusted to another brother, a farmer, who has just handed the Editor $100 proceeds therefrom, with the following report: --

As you remember, I secured also a peck of the miracle wheat from a brother in the Truth as a donation to yourself (because he first heard of the miracle wheat through THE WATCH TOWER).

Brother Kuesthardt advertised the wheat in his paper, and the money sent you is the result of the sales at $1 per pound.

Your brother in Christ,

J. A. BOHNET
____

The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, located at 25 Columbia Heights in Brooklyn, New York was incorporated in 1909 in the State of New York as a Private Company, by Charles Taze Russell and several of his followers. 
Previously they incorporated as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society under the laws of Pennsylvania as a Nonprofit corporation under the date of December 15, 1884.

The United States Investment Co. Ltd. was incorporated June 24, 1896, in Pittsburg, PA.

From the records in Pittsburg:

"'Article 1. Names of Subscribers: John A. Bohnet, Ernest C. Henninges, Chas. T. Russell.

"'Amount Subscribed by Each: Bohnet $5.00; Henninges $5.00; Russell $990.00.

"'Article 3. For purpose of buying and selling real estate, patent rights, stocks, bonds, and other securities, merchandise, building homes, etc.

"'Article 4. Name of Association is U.S. Investment Co., Ltd.

"'Article 6. Officers--… C. T. Russell, Manager.'
Russell needed two "straw men" to make up the required number of three for incorporation. One would assume he would choose two men that he could trust. Note the name John A. Bohnet and the date of 1896.

(Note: the 3rd man in the above document ended up marrying Rose Ball and moving her to Australia before the famous divorce trial in which Maria Russell claimed her husband had been intimate with the young woman.)

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 25, 1911

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 22, 1911

This article appeared in the September 22, 1911 Brooklyn Eagle. Notice the "general counsel". It is obviously Rutherford.

CHURCH A SALESROOM FOR 'MIRACLE' WHEAT AT $60 PER BUSHEL 

Offered the Faithful Who Read Pastor Russell's Magazine. 

SOLD AT THE TABERNACLE. 

Anyone Who So Desires Can Purchase the Precious Grain at Hicks Street Headquarters. 

Many of the devoted followers or Pastor Russell, whose Indefatigable efforts in the vineyard of the Lord has attracted wide attention in Brooklyn, are awaiting with interest the result of a new experiment emanating from his headquarters in the Tabernacle, 13 and 17 Hicks street, this borough. 

The experiment is “Miracle Wheat”. 

The society of which Pastor Russell is the head wants it distinctly understood that It has nothing whatever to do with the wheat itself beyond the fact that the grain is being sold from its headquarters, and that it expects the faithful follower who produces it to give the society the returns froth the sales.

Because of the miraculous powers of the wheat in question, it is being sold at a slightly higher rate than that commanded by the ordinary variety. Generally speaking, the price of the “Miracle Wheat” is $60 a bushel. tI [sic] can be bought in small lots at about $1 for a pound. Or, if one desires, it can also be purchased at the rate of fifty-five pounds for $50. 

The price of ordinary wheat for which farmers claim no extraordinary or divine qualities is, according to the latest quotations, about 59 cents or $1 per bushel. 

Brother Dockey (first name refused to inquirers) is the watchdog of the wheat treasury. Brother Dockey states that from thirty to thirty-five bushels have been sold thus far, which, according to the price quoted, has netted from $1,800 to $2,100. The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society gets this money, accord., to Brother Dockey. The society's receipts last year from the sale of religious literature, donations, etc., was $150,000, and the money realized from the sale of wheat at $60 a bushel is expected to swell this year's revenues to an even higher figure. 

Brother Dockey says that Brother J. A. Bohnet, who, Brother Dockey understands, has “a farm out in Ohio,” first discovered "miracle” wheat. This was in 1907. Since that time he has experimented with it, and other "brothers" have been told the secret, until now Brother Bohnet of Ohio and Brother Flemming of Indiana and others are able to grow enough “miracle” wheat to have it placed on sale in Brooklyn, the brothers generously agreeing to donate all the proceeds to Pastor Russell's society. The following advertisement in the Watch Tower, the semi-monthly of the society, explains the proposition: 

Brother Bohnet's Generous Offer Set Forth in Detail. 

A DONATION OF MIRACLE WHEAT

Brother Bohnet writes us that he has gradually accumulated a crop of miracle wheat from the few grains he obtained as a start. He prefers that the first opportunity for obtaining this wheat shall go to The Watch Tower readers. He will sell it for $1 per pound, including postage, and give the entire proceeds to our society. All orders for this wheat should be addressed Miracle Wheat Bohnet, 17 Hicks street, Brooklyn, N. Y. This will keep mail on this subject separate from his personal mail and from ours.

Brother Bohnet promises to be ready to ship this wheat by August 1. He says miracle wheat should be sowed one-fourth as thick as common wheat. Ordinarily it should produce from ten to fifteen times as much proportionately to the amount sown. To save keeping account, money should accompany the order. Watch Tower readers will have the preference up to August 15, after which orders will be attended to indiscriminately, so long as the supply holds out. This wheat should be sown in the fall.

Brother Dockey says that some of Pastor Russell’s followers in this city came to the Tabernacle personally and bought “miracle” wheat, while others in other cities and states sent in their money by mail and Uncle Sam carried the precious grain.

For years wheat experts in America have tried to produce wheat with the yielding qualities claimed by Brother BohnetÂ’s grain. Yet here is a marvelous grain that has been in existence for four years and not a big grain man in the country has known anything about it, or it would have been commercialized long ago.

No Guarantee Goes With the Wheat, However.

At the Tabernacle in Hicks street no guarantee is given with the “miracle” wheat that is sold that it will yield “from ten to fifteen times as much proportionately to the amount sown.” Brother Dockey admits thepossibility that the “miracle” brand isn’t so wonderful as all this. He says that Brother Bohnet doesn’t claim this. Brother Dockey in substantiation of this statement points to the advertisement above quoted, pointing especially to several certain words, to wit., “ordinarily it should produce.” Brother Dockey figures that this relieves Brother Bohnet of all responsibility in case any particular lot of “miracle” wheat should prove to yield only ordinary results.

Brother Dockey says that a wrong impression is got by anyone who, reading the advertisement, believes that Pastor Russell or the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society guarantees the worth of “miracle” wheat or that either Pastor Russell or the society has anything to do actually with promoting the sale of the wheat.

“Here’s our lawyer right here,” said Brother Dockey today, motioning to a tall man in black who was standing near by. “He’ll explain that this society has nothing whatever to do with ‘miracle wheat.’”
 

The tall man in black said he was “general counsel” for the society. He did not care to give his name.

“Brother Dockey is right,” he said. “Anybody who says that Pastor Russell or the society is selling wheat is a liar. Brother Bohnet offered to donate his ‘miracle wheat’ and the society accepted his offer. He is merely allowed to place the wheat on sale here in the Tabernacle. Brother Dockey sells it. Neither brother has a voting share in the society. Brother Bohnet has kindly agreed to turn over all the money received for the wheat to the treasury of the society.”

Neither Brother Dockey nor the “general counsel” make any claim that the “miracle wheat” has an intrinsic value of $60 a bushel.

“The advertisement in the Watch Tower does not say that ‘miracle’ wheat is worth $1 a pound,” said the general counsel. “It says simply that Brother Bohnet is willing to sell it at that price. It is purely a donation sale, for the benefit of the society, and those who buy at the price quoted, do so with the understanding and the idea that they are voluntarily giving aid to the society. I might place high value upon worthless forniture [sic] if I wished to, and if people wanted to buy at the price I named they could do so if they wished, though I made no claims that the furniture had any real value beyond that of ordinary furniture.”

Although Brother Bohnet is not a member of the society, according to the “general counsel,” it is a fact that he finds time between tending his “miracle” wheat on his Ohio farm, to lecture before Bible classes. Brother Bohnet just now is lecturing out in Washington or Canada. Brother Dockey is not sure just which.

So this one article tells us:

1) That it was easy to know that this was extremely overpriced.
2) That the Society received around $3.7M in 2016 dollars in 1911
3) That any person who knew anything about wheat would know this wasn't really "miraculous". If it was, then more people would know about it.
4) They were already planning for failure, "you didn't read the fine print".
5) Rutherford called himself "general counsel", not "judge", was prideful, and possibly knew they were selling worthless things at a high price.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 24, 1911

Amazon has perfected disrupting industries as the ultimate side hustle (it was between that and babysitting). And now, it’s testing delivery services in Los Angeles, positioning itself to undercut FedEx and UPS.

The service, dubbed “Shipping with Amazon,” is offering business-to-door delivery for the company’s third-party merchants (read: sellers on Amazon). Although, it hopes to cover all types of businesses as it expands beyond LA.

Naturally—like any other Amazon announcement—it sent UPS’ and FedEx’s stocks tumbling.

 

And while we shouldnÂ’t be shocked by that...well...weÂ’re still kind of shocked

 

Amazon has seemingly entered “invincible” status, where a simple announcement is enough to cripple future competitors.

• Remember groceries: Its acquisition of Whole Foods intitially wiped out a combined $12 billion in market cap from six competitors.
• And health care: Securing pharmacy licenses in 12 states was enough to send some pharmacy stocks down 10%. Or what about AmazonÂ’s new partnership with JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathaway, when insurance providers faced a similar fate.
• Then there was Best Buy: Amazon announced a Geek Squad competitor, sending the stock down 7% immediately. 

The point is, as famed tech observer Scott Galloway puts it—in a truly capitalist economy, one company shouldn’t hold such market-moving power. 

 

That said, FedEx says bring it on...

 

...by calling attention to a video showing just what Amazon is up against:

And while it took FedEx multiple decades to build up this infrastructure, Amazon feels ready to tackle the challenge. ItÂ…

• Already offers delivery for some of its own products in 37 U.S. cities
• Leased 40 aircrafts
• Has a framework for in-home delivery
• Offers ocean freight
• Has a patent on a blimp-like cargo hub
• Expects to be able to undercut the industry in pricing

The bottom line: No company should be big enough to move markets, but in Amazon’s case, there might be a reason for it.

http://morningbrew.cmail20.com/t/j-l-bxlkkt-yhyuhjkhdk-p/

In recent years, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have pushed their propaganda via annual conventions taking place in multiple locations around the country. Leaders have created high-quality films to show at these events, intended to teach a moral lesson from the faith. But those lessons often teach believers to shun family members who think for themselves, refuse blood transfusions even if your life is at risk, and stay faithful to God even when your life involves disaster after disaster.

So what’s in store for 2018? JW watchdog Lloyd Evans received copies of this year’s videos from someone on the inside of the organization, and he’s released them to the public so you can see how the organization plans to further manipulate its members.

The 2018 “Be Courageous” convention program hasn’t even been released on JW.org yet, but months before the first events are due to start we already have reason to expect similarly jaw-dropping material thanks to an unprecedented leak of unfinished convention video files to JWsurvey.org, complete with timers and greenscreen.

Six videos have been sent to JWsurvey by a Watchtower insider, apparently intended for a symposium designed to remind Witnesses of the need to show courage…

So what do these six videos teach? 

1) That your coworkers may want you to get politically active, but you must have the courage to say no!

Watchtower needs to make Witnesses fearful and paranoid about Satan’s world by convincing them that “worldly” people are thuggish, threatening and unyielding (unlike Jehovah’s organization, which separates people from their families for disagreeing with the leaders), and the story of Mark, dreamt up by their Writing Department, well serves this purpose.

2) That LGBTQ allies may want you to show your support, but you must have the courage to say no! Or else they’ll get shrill and angry.

Having failed to persuade anyone that Jehovah’s Witnesses have the right to tell gays and lesbians whom they may or may not love, or how they may or may not express their love, an exasperated Watchtower has resorted to this shabby attempt at portraying allies of the LGBTQ community as sneering, hostile and confrontational — precisely the attitude that Watchtower itself exhibits against gays and lesbians through its publications.

3) That strangers may not enjoy your proselytizing, but you must have the courage to tell them they’re doomed if they don’t agree with you!

… Next time she struggles with apprehension at the prospect of ambushing people she doesn’t know with a message that amounts to “believe as I do, or be killed,” she must mutter the mantra “pray, hope in Jehovah, and act.” (Please take a moment to write that down if it seems too complicated.)

4) That your religious leaders may give you irrational instructions, but you must have the courage to obey!

It is hard to conceive of more Orwellian, Jonestown-inducing ideology than this. Eight million Jehovah’s Witnesses were told that any instructions from Watchtower must be obeyed regardless of whether they can be logically justified!

5) That Armageddon will come, but you must have the courage to ignore the implications of Jehovah’s mass genocide!

… Millions of children will be subjected to this highly manipulative video propaganda that normalizes global genocide. It is one thing to relish such grisly, psychotic thoughts as an adult, but to gleefully thrust them on young minds is unforgivable.

6) That when you’re doubting your ability to adequately perform the free labor the Witnesses require, you must have the courage to do it anyway!

I’m sure many in the convention audience will identify with Philip. Witness indoctrination creates a state of “learned helplessness” in which you become totally reliant on the organization; doubting your own abilities and fearful of what would happen to you if left to fend for yourself.

…

The amount of brainwashing that occurs in these cults is incredible. But maybe if the first exposure to these videos that JWs have is not through their annual conventions, but through people like Lloyd Evans, they’re get a chance to consider the suggestions from a critical perspective instead of having it spoon-fed to them by people in positions of power.

Read more at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2018/02/12/these-jehovahs-witness-2018-be-courageous-propaganda-videos-are-disturbing/#d3lpcdAbUkv15KfY.99

To have a child is to inflict an extra human being onto the world and also, to inflict the world (with all its problems) onto the child.

@Doreen Dineoana Moteka Mthembu 

This would be the notable part for most sisters:

An art gallery in Manchester, England has taken down a painting that features naked women, ostensibly to spark discussion amid the #MeToo movement. Critics say itÂ’s simply censorship.

Are you serious: So am I understanding correctly that the special talk will now be recorded and presented to all congregations who's language is on the list?

What Sam Herd could have thought was “Why Kofi Atta Annan was elected as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1996 when such a thing was not even thought of by GB which was comprised by all white people from its very inception?

The May 2018 Watchtower is now out and thought I would make a few observations.

In this article we get a story about GB Sam Herd. The recurring theme throughout is the struggles he has had as a black man.

He was born in 1935 in a one roomed log cabin in Liberty Indiana. His mother raised him in the Baptist Church. He served 2 years in the USA Army stationed in Germany. He had grown up, learning to be a macho man. One day, two JW girls, who had given him Watchtower mags before, waved him over as he was driving his red convertible through town. He promised the girls that he would think about attending a book study.

He did attend and was impressed how much Bible knowledge the children had and was determined to learn more. His eyes were opened by learning that God's name was Jehovah. He was baptized in 1957 and was happy to have learnt what real manliness was. He learnt Jesus didn't fight and that he needed to be gentle to all. He started pioneering but in 1958 stopped as he married one of those young ladies that invited him to the book study, Gloria. Soon after their marriage in 1959 they applied for Bethel service but were told that they were not taking in married couples at that time. They were assigned to pioneer in Pine Bluff, Arkansas where there was one white and one black congregation, they were assigned to the black one. He states 
 

You may be wondering why segregation would be practiced in congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses. And the answer, put simply, is that there was little choice back in those days. There were laws in place to make it illegal for the races to mix, and there was also the very real threat of violence. In many places, the brothers had good reason to fear that if the two races met together for worship, their Kingdom Hall would be destroyed. Such things did happen. If black Witnesses preached from door to door in a white neighborhood, they would be arrested—and likely beaten up. So in order to get the preaching work done, we obeyed the laws, hoping that things would change for the better.

They had applied to be special pioneers and it was a long wait to be accepted. In 1965. He was assigned as a CO. He continued in the travelling work and in 1997 was invited to the US Bethel Service Dept. A year later he was appointed to be a helper on the service committee and in 1999 became a GB member.

Quote

The service overseer or someone else designated by the body of elders should determine what may be legally required, if anything, in the way of permissions, permits, and insurance coverage. Any application to use a mobile cart or to set up a table or kiosk to display literature must be filled out in the name of an individual publisher, not in the name of the congregation, any corporation used by the organization, or “Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

Wow, they are explicitly stating they have no liability or responsibility for the cart witnessing. They are shifting all responsibility and liability to the hapless r&f.

http://findfrederick.com/jw-pedophile-map/

In each episode, host LeVar Burton (Reading Rainbow, Star Trek, Roots) hand-picks a different piece of short fiction, and reads it to you.

Jehovah's Witnesses try to retain building by donating it to Spanish fellow believers

PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE AIMS TO RETURN REAL ESTATE OF ANGARSK JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES TO STATE

Interfax-Religiia, 25 January 2018

The prosecutor of Angarsk sent to the city court a lawsuit with the request to return to state ownership a building and parcel of land previously belonging to a local religious organization of the Jehovah's Witnesses, which are banned in Russia, the prosecutor's office for Irkutsk oblast reported on Thursday.

"In 2017, by a decision of the Russian Supreme Court, the religious organization 'Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia' was liquidated along with the local religious organizations belonging to its structure. The property of the liquidated organization reverted to the ownership of the Russian federation on the basis of article 9 of the federal law "On combating extremist activity," the oversight agency recalled.

According to information from the prosecutor's office, the Angarsk local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses had transferred the building and land in Angarsk, where worship services were conducted, to the ownership of Jehovah's Witnesses in Spain, on the basis of a donation agreement, before the adoption of the aforesaid judicial decision.

"The donation agreement was concluded not for socially useful purposes, as required by civil legislation, but with the goal of avoiding the loss of this property by reason of its reversion to the ownership of the RF. At the same time, the immovable property has remained in the effective ownership of the Angarsk local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses on the basis of a contract for its use without charge," the report notes.

Therefore the prosecutor of Angarsk asks the court to rule the donation agreement to be invalid and to turn over the building and land of the Jehovah's Witnesses in the city to ownership by the Russian federation. (tr. by PDS, posted 30 January 2018)

— Russia Religion News. “Monitoring news media reports about religion in Russia and other countries of former USSR. This website is maintained by Emeritus Professor Paul D. Steeves of Stetson University.”

My iPhoto account has erased the last 10 photos out of all of my devices.

I think it has something to do with the upgrade I did today.

Anybody else have problems with Apple iPhoto?

My trust level in the Apple iCloud has now tanked for the 1st time ever.

We’ve all been there: you go out for a morning jog and accidentally reveal the location of a top-secret U.S. military base. Especially if you’ve been using the fitness tracking app Strava, which in a matter of days has gone from triathlete-favorite to national security pariah.

The backstory: In November, Strava published a global “heat map” showing the running and cycling routes of its impressively toned users. But things went south several days ago, when an Australian student discovered that in certain remote regions—like Afghanistan and Syria—one could figure out sites of sensitive military installations by examining the jogging patterns of soldiers. 

Sure, the whole situation seems absurd, but to national security officials, Strava’s map is no laughing matter. A military expert tweeted, Strava possesses data “most intelligence entities would literally kill to acquire.” And the app has even caught the attention of the White House, which considers the map a “security risk.”

We’ll keep all future exercise to ourselves.

- Morning Brew

Live Video Link