James Thomas Rook Jr.

Let me give you an illustration: After two pitchers of beer, many years ago, a friend and I sat down to a lobster dinner. I had never even seen a lobster, much less one on a plate .... and it was a WHOLE lobster, with its beady eyes staring at me. Being totally ignorant, and sloshed, I started at the head. It was the WORST thing I had ever eaten, before or since, and the only reason I ate as much as I did is that I did not want my friend to think I was a stupid hillbilly. I learned an important lesson that day, after I sobered up .... NEVER eat what is presented to you without knowing what you are doing. This is true for lobster ... .... and theology. There are 15% core truths, unavailable elsewhere, that have served me well my whole life, but in my considered opinion there is about 85% that is inedible, even when served by cooks with the finest motives. I stay for the precious 15% ... and endure the rest.

People today have it too soft! I never had "child care", when I was a toddler. They put me in a coal mine, and I had to go into narrow tunnels and bring back lumps of coal in my diaper.

Yes.... but here is the way I look at it ... I am also an American, a citizen of the United States ... and as we have seen this past week .. fully a half of Americans (less one Senator), are certifiably evil, insane, mad as a hatter, full of hate and vitriol, and obsessed with invoking the principles of Justice, without allowing it for another, willing to convict in the absence of law, because they despise someone, and do their best to destroy them ... under color of law. Does that make me less of an American, or less dedicated to the principles of Justice, Truth, and the American Way? NO Same thing. Either you get that.... or you don't.

... not without having a crew lay railroad tracks up to the building, and arriving on a steam locomotive, preceded by trumpeters.

When I was 9 years old, I got Scarlet Fever, and the Norfolk, Virginia Heath Department put a quarantine sign on our house, forbidding anyone to enter or leave ... so I took the screen out of the back window, lowered myself onto our elevated furnace oil tank on stilts, held on to the filler pipe, and dropped to the ground ... and went to play with all my friends. ....... so much for quarantines. .

From Wikipedia: "1938 Yellow River flood Main article: 1938 Yellow River flood In June 1938, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Nationalist troops under Chiang Kai-shek intentionally broke the levees of the Yellow River near Huayuankou[3] to slow the advance of the Japanese army. Although several thousand Japanese troops were drowned, 12 million Chinese were affected, nearly 900,000 of them dying.[4] Reason for breaching the dike As the Japanese had been reported to have taken the city of Kaifeng, many of the dikes near Zhengzhou were along the path the Japanese would take if they wanted to capture the city of Wuhan. This was the triggering idea for the Nationalist troops as they pictured the Yellow River being a military tool to stop the advancement of the Japanese. The plan of attack by Chiang and his subordinates was to breach the dikes that withheld the mass amount of water from pouring into the 500-square mile area of central China. However while this long-term idea was in full swing, Chiang’s dilemma stood behind the thought of the many lives that stood past the dikes. This dilemma was thought of in two ways, the first being if he were to breach the dikes then he would be spreading death, wiping hundreds of thousands of people. The other thought was if he didn’t break the dikes then Wuhan would collapse within days. In all a decision was needed quickly and eventually was made as Chiang gave the orders to General Wei Rulin to blow up a dike holding the Yellow River near Henan. As this order was put in place the first few attempts stood no match for the army between June 4 and 6 1938 as the structure was too durable. While the attempts failed left and right, “hour by hour, the Japanese were moving closer.” [5]" ----------------------------------------- To try and stop the advance of the Japanese .. the Chinese killed 900,000 of THEIR OWN PEOPLE, and subjected 12 million to destruction and hardship of every sort ... to kill several thousand Japanese troops. ....makes you wonder ... what might REALLY be going on now, in Wuhan.

What does Trump wish the tariffs accomplish?

I so no problem with that ... he IS a Democrat.

...If it is one thing Americans know how to do, it is how to completely disinfect villages in Asia, of whatever threatens to over-run them. In this clip you will see Asian women bringing their children to the Army to save them. Disinfectin an Asian Village. .mp4

Concerning facial masks (see example above) it is well known that an Obama Face mask will scare away children, viruses, and other small life forms.

That is what is called a "binary question" which has a tendency to be grossly unfair. I presumes that the only choice on one side of the equation is to pray .... and the other only choice is to "run". It's like the famous example .. "Do you STILL beat your wife". It is also a matter of credibility, which is very important .. as there are many well meaning buffoons who with the very best of intentions, and the very highest known motives, will give advice that is rooted in their agenda, whatever that might be ... and NOT common sense reality. To the best of my knowledge and belief .... and I have been paying close attention for the past 50 years and more ... is that the Society and all it's counsel is SUPPOSED to be based on the Bible, but seriously lacks basic common sense. Never ONCE have they been right about anything in the real world. If they did not have an unlimited and constantly flowing waterfall of "Free Money", they would have imploded, years ago. This is extremely important, because if I lean on my own understanding ... which gets better and better over time ... if I am wrong, it is only I who have to pay the price, be it large or small. If the "Society" gives advice, about such common sense matters, and I follow that advice ( and their track record is zero for 1000, or whatever the real number is ...), I STILL have to pay the price, no matter how small or large ... AND THEY PAY NO PRICE WHATSOEVER. If they shared the consequences, I might be more inclined to take a "leap of faith", but the record shows that if it all blows up, they will weasel word what they said, deny saying it in words so carefully crafted that it appears to be MY FAULT, and continue with the practice. Leaning on my own understanding, of course can get me dead, dead, dead .... but so can leaning on theirs.. "STUFF HAPPENS".

...depends on the hamburger. ...probably just wanted to trade his hamburger for a clam sandwich.

I don't know about you .... but when in a fight, I try not to lean INTO a punch. The best place to be when troops fix bayonets ... is somewhere else.

Here I am, 1:30 in the morning, waiting for a long distance phone call from the planet Remulac on the "Big Phone", eating raw eggs and drinking six paxks of beer .. and I had the strangest recollection..... Jesus, Mary and his Stepdad Joseph ran off to Egypt to hide for a couple of years, while Roman bad guys were killing babies in Israel. Remember the convention theme "Follow Jesus"? .... exit ... stage left! Don't let the camel bite ya in the butt! Denile is not just a river in Egypt!

If I had two heads .... would I be wearing THIS one?

Without further independent check-able proof, I do not believe ANY of this. Nothing, whatsoever. Any way to independently check this? The burden of proof lies with those making the assertions.

Meanwhile, 1.2 million people a year are being killed by mosquitoes, and a hundred million infected with various levels of disease, many permanently crippled .... and there is no panic anywhere! gimmee a break!

The Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, and many others during World War II prayed to God for salvation, not understanding that FREEDOM means many hardships, and death as the price that often or always must be paid .... and there are no exceptions .... EVER. The last time Jehovah God tweaked the global experiment that is the human race was about 2,000 years ago. Similarly, when we are being chastised into prison, and later into death, we have two choices: 1.) Rely on the prayers of eight million and more Brothers and Sisters for your salvation, to Jehovah God who according to all non-fantasy hard data has not interfered with ANY person, nation or organization in any way whatsoever, in modern times, or 2.) Sell everything you own at ten kopeks on the ruble (ten cents on the dollar), and get out of town, fast. Otherwise ... FREEDOM is just a null-word, with no meaning. ......... that is how the Universe REALLY works. The Jews tried to hold onto their property, and real estate, but "left town fast" .... up the chimney of a crematorium. That is the preamble of what is going on in the Russian Federation, now !

I have a reputation for diplomatic subtlety ....

In replying to Srecko Sostar's and Anna's observations I would like to add my own direct observations, using everything I know from the modern history I have studied, and things I have carefully watched over my 73 years of travel around the Sun. I could give hundreds of examples from REAL history and REAL life experiences, but I have done that over a period of time, and have never changed anyone's mind by hard verifiable facts, so I will call upon you to think deeply about your real life knowledge, and real life experiences, and see if you can come up with a different conclusion than the one I have. 1) Jehovah does not interfere in the affairs of mankind in any ways whatsoever, in modern times. The whole point of our existence is to be an experiment for the entertainment of Jehovah God .... and if you interfere with an experiment ... the results are skewed. Think of it as the theocratic equivalent of the Heisenberg Principle, that governs quantum mechanics. As counter-intuitive as it sounds, in the quantum world, if you watch an experiment ... it changes the results. Same thing. I have seen Brothers, much better men than I in every way, killed, yet somehow I survive. I have seen 8 million and more Brothers and Sisters pray for the Russian Federation to release our Brothers and return our property in Russia, with ZERO results. I have seen four Sisters in one car, out in Field Service killed , being t-boned in an intersection. I thank Jehovah several times a day for my, and my wife's lives, and the circumstances, times, and place that I live. But without excellent doctors, money, insurance, and a dozen other things, I would have died many years ago. I see 20/20 now, but I have been blind, twice, and it is ONLY because of money and circumstances, and reasonably competent doctors that I can see. The list of things I am thankful for is quite large, and I thank Jehovah God for my life, and the opportunity to know how to live a good and wholesome life, with my wife and dogs, and chickens, and an internet connection that I can sit in my computer room, and explore the Universe in detail. Whether or not I can afford to get my roof fixed ....is entirely up to me. The fact of the matter is that Jehovah does NOT interfere with the experiment, today. Not in big things ... not in small things. There is the old parable of the country Church, where the congregation prayed earnestly and long for God to heal little Johnny's crippled legs ... and God answered those prayers. NO. The last time he tweaked the Petri Dish was about 2,000 years ago. Since the chances of winning the Lottery are about one in 295 million, should I win, I may change my opinions slightly .... but it is still my responsibility to buy a ticket.

Perhaps he planted the talent in the ground, hoping it would grow into a plant of "E Pluribus Unum" .. and he would be the guy, to go out and prune 'em.

Yesterday I got a text message from my bank that my recent check to the Kingdom Hall had been posted to my account. I had marked on the check, in the memo section "FOR LOCAL NEEDS". I hope that this is not converted to help pay for the Societies Lawyers to go to court to try and stop publications of documents such as these mentioned here, but I have my doubts. Perhaps things such as this is why the name of the magazine "Consolation", was changed to "Awake! ".

One day while out in Field Service with the smartest brother at our Kingdom Hall, a long time Elder and an extremely dedicated man, I asked him if he understood the overlapping generation dogma, and could explain it to me. (He was driving, I was riding "shotgun", and there were two Sisters in the back seat). He was very thoughtful, for a few moments, and replied "I think they are trying to do the best they can ...." He could not explain it to me. Perhaps he needed to see this video! It's so CLEAR to me now!

HEY! "STUFF HAPPENS !" Chill out ... sit on the ground with a pile of puppies and pockets full of pork chops! Don't Worry! BE HAPPY!

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