James Thomas Rook Jr.

Tomorrow's forecast ... continued mild.

Hmmmm ... " Blood Brothers: Palestinians and Jews Share Genetic Roots"  .....

I think there was a lot of clandestine crossings over the Jordan River in the dead of night to Fatima's Tent !

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No one on this planet has the SLIGHTEST reality based clue about what those "specific" signs will be.

I could "admit the "possibility" that a common frog might morph into a velociraptor dinosaur ... or that if I get bitten by a radioactive spider that I will get super human powers and become a real "Spiderman" ( although the costume would have to be large, and lumpy looking ...).

The ONLY fact in evidence is that I am admitting the ludicrous, insane, fantasy driven possibility!

NOTHING MORE

The rest is comedic drivel ... having absolutely no value at all .... except to trigger the imaginations of the incurably gullible, and mislead then leading them into believing a scenario that is NOT REAL.

When you "play to the crowd", taking ADVANTAGE of their gullability and cause them to believe fantasys .. that shows a complete lact of intellectual integrity ... and is EVIL.

Delusional fantasys, however, are often helpful ...  for the survival of the human race ... they prevent many mothers from drowning their ugly children at birth.

TTH;

THAT IS AN UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE ... only.

If you pray for religious freedom in Russia ... and DON'T get it ... your prayers were not answered.

The fact that traffic increased on your (edited) the Society's New York based website for two weeks following IS NOT a significant accomplishment ... and NOT what you prayed, and spent 20 million HOURS and 80 million DOLLARS for .... except in a fantasy world, agenda driven projection of the delusional.

My guess is that 98% of these hits were Witnesses looking for an official JW.ORG response.

If you pray for a car, and get a banana ... that doesn't count.

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Eight Million Witnesses prayed to God for there to be religious freedom for them in Russia, and a mighty effort in accordance with those prayers, amounting to about 7 ( ... or was it 11 .. I forget...) railroad boxcars full of mail sent to the Russian Government.

The international postage amounted to EIGHTY MILLION DOLLARS, or so, and the Russian Federation was given FIFTY FOUR MILLION of that 80 million dollars to deliver it at their end, by the Universal Postal Union covenants in place with all nations.

For all we know, all that mail is sitting on a railroad siding outside Moscow, waiting for winter, when the paper will be burned in stoves to keep somebody warm ... fuel at the proper time, courtesy of the Governing Body.

If I was a Russian Government Official, I would be laughing my head off ... and wondering to what good use I could make of FIFTY FOUR MILLION DOLLARS of "free money", courtesy of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Other than that... week long and more prayers by eight million Jehovah's Witnesses. AND 80 million dollars in postage ......produced ZERO observable results.

ZERO, ZIP, NADA, GOOSE EGGS.

Chance and circumstances befall us all. 

There is no real FREEDOM ... unless it is actually that way.

If this was NOT true, then FREEDOM would be a meaningless concept, and not really exist unless you had an "in" with that "cosmic butler in the sky" .....

..... and God's sovereignty would be subject to a "vote".

THINK ABOUT IT.

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Actually, in modern time there is no evidence ... none at all ...  ZERO, ZIP, NADA, GOOSE EGGS ! ... that Jehovah God has answered ANYBODY's prayers for safety, temporal  salvation, or sustenance.

No evidence whatsoever.

When I pray , I thank Jehovah God for the circumstances that I live in the time and place that somehow I have survived, and that circumstances infinite and random have not yet (yet!) managed to kill me. 

Perhaps .. .PERHAPS ... Jehovah had something to do with it, but to thank him for actually SAVING ME ... when so many Brothers and Sisters, much better in every way, more theocratic and innocent than I am died ... ASSUMES HE KILLED THEM.  or at the very  least just LET them die !

YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS WITHOUT IGNORANT HYPOCRISY.

4,100 brothers and Sisters in the Houston area are reportedly now homeless and facing terrible hardship. 

Perhaps some since the report one, several, or many have died of hardship, or exposure,  or other circumstances related to hurricane Harvey, but Jehovah had exactly NOTHING to do with who lived, who died, or who was injured.

Chance and circumstances befall us all.

If this was NOT true, then FREEDOM would be a meaningless concept, and not really exist unless you had an "in" with that "cosmic butler in the sky", and God's sovereignty would be subject to a "vote".

STUFF HAPPENS !

Get used to it.

Remember: Real EVIDENCE ( remember EVIDENCE?), evidence has to be based on FACTS, not speculation or wishful thinking.

Prayer for our Brothers and Sisters is a very fine thing to do ... for MANY sound reasons ... but that is another topic.

This is a RANT.

Thanks ... I have had experience with the "German Option", and never knew there was an overall "famous quote" ... from Churchill.

I have a poster on one of my walls ... "I love a man who grins when he fights  -  Winston Churchill".

One I just discovered I made into a plaque is by Josh Billings ... "Thrice armed is he hath his quarrel just, and four times he who gets his fist in first", having learned THAT one also by experience.

...sigh ...

JWI:

No, there was no alcohol involved. just dancing and association with the Brotherhood.

The "other Tom" was a very fine Brother, an ex-Bethelite, and a Pioneer .. but he was completely wrapped too tight, probably because of his struggle with poverty. 

We were roommates for awhile when his apartment caught on fire

Now, a half century later,  that I have found out about such things, he may have had high functioning Asperger's  syndrome.

One Sunday he was giving the Public Talk, and was talking about how wonderfully we are made ... and he said "Look at the back of your hand and see the blood vessels and veins there and just think of the intricate detail ...", and in looking at his own hand, he got "lost in space", and examined his hand for about a minute in silence, before continuing.

10 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

although it confuses me,

I was speaking as if I was in that time period .... not now.

I should have said  ... " Steve says "We just can't leave him here, in the dark, halfway home ...", and we agreed, although at the time I seemed to only recognize that there was  SOME truth to that."

I have had several people ask me if I have Asperger's syndrome ...and might explain a few things, also.

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JWI:

It was  OF COURSE so entirely and completely absurd that it should have screamed satire!

I thought it was a topical piece of humor that would provide a little comic relief to an otherwise beat to death topic.

Alas... now I have to "let go", my last comedy writer ... the other 16 disappeared mysteriously.

It's late Wednesday night here in North Carolina, but In New York City they are

beginning to feel some weather effects from Hurricane Irma already. 

They have named it "Irmageddon!"

OK, ya got me!

Actually, my appearance has changed over the years as I have become old and fat ...

Before my Dad died, he asked me to shave off my beard.

I used to have very different eyebrows as my hair line changed,

and I became more and more pixilated.

MANY years ago I was in a car group of four Brothers, driving back from a  party  gathering in Baltimore, Maryland to Richmond Virginia .

Sidney was driving, I was riding "shotgun". Steve was behind Sidney, and the other Tom was behind me. We had the Beach Boys on the radio/tape player, LOUD, and having a GREAT time. 

Sidney was slapping the sides of the steering wheel to the music, ... I was slapping the dashboard. Steve was slapping the back of Sidney's seat, and Tom was singing along ( more or less) as we all were (more or less).

We are on Interstate 95, about half way to Richmond, and it is dark, about 3AM. 

SUDDENLY, Tom yells out "HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP TORTURING ME WITH THIS MUSIC?!",  and demanded to be let out of the car.   Sidney is stopping  the car as we try reasoning with him as he yells "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"....  that it is 50 miles to his apartment, and it is 3AM, etc., etc.

In a panic accompanied by "LET ME OUT!  LET ME OUT!" Sidney pulls over and lets Tom out the car, and we pull about 50 feet ahead, watching him in the rear view mirrors as traffic goes by.

To me, the problem was solved, Tom got what he wanted, and what he demanded, and I gave the "Wagons Ho!" sign for  Sidney to continue.

Steve says "We just can't leave him here, in the dark, halfway home ...", and we agree, although it confuses me, I recognize there is SOME truth to that. (edited)

 Steve says "We just can't leave him here, in the dark, halfway home ...", and we agreed, although at the time I seemed to only recognize that there was  SOME truth to that.

Tom gets back in the car, we turn the tape player off, and finish the trip in complete silence.

I guess the Beach Boys surfing music is an acquired taste.

That's me getting some Vitamin D.

I have seven dogs, which I and my wife enjoy immensely.

In the New System it sure will be nice to live at peace with ALL the animals.

This is my daughter, Michelle, when she was twelve years old ...

In the New System it sure will be nice to live at peace with ALL the animals.

Will Paradise have a High Speed Cable Internet connection?

I would sure hate to have to go back to a 56K dial-up

modem.

Residents in one Houston, Texas neighborhood said they were swimming for their lives on Tuesday when a 4,500 pound crocodile was found wading around in their underwater neighborhood. Janice Wright, a forty-year resident of Houston, said this 21 foot crocodile is nearly missed her grandson as he was swimming away from the beast.

My grandson was helping us rescue a group of people outside their homes, when he said the large beast appeared in the water,” said Wright. “ThatÂ’s when he saw this giant crocodile eat a stranded puppy and then it lunged toward my grandson. All I heard was screaming and yelling! It almost killed my him!”

Scientists who receive the alligator after its capture say the animal is around 80 years old. They also say that he was looking to eat humans because he was too slow and old to catch animals. The crocodile was tranquilized and captured by Army personnel Tuesday afternoon and the animal is being held by local scientists for further evaluation.

The news is just FILLED with things  thought impossible just 10 years ago!

A five-year-old boy is being consoled by his family after his missing hamster, Teddy Bear, was found dead in the back-fat of his 700 pound mother. Michelle Wiggins, 31, was hauled to the emergency room by her sister when complaints of a foul smell had them concerned that one of her bedsores may have been of infected.

However, when examined by the emergency room doctor, Wiggins bedsores were the least of her family’s problems. With her 5 year-old son present, Dr. Timothy Murphy examined the obese woman, feeling an odd “lump” within the folds of her back-fat. When the doctor lifted the skin to examine the area, he was astonished to find a dead rodent decomposing on her skin. According to the doctor, the hamster had been there so long, one of Wiggins sores began to heal around the rodent, sealing it into her skin. This created the foul smell that was emanating from her body.

Unfortunately for the little boy, he witnessed the entire incident of Teddy Bear being removed from his mother’s back fat. According to the nurse on duty, the young man began crying “Not Teddy, please not Teddy!” Wiggins told the doctor the hamster had escaped nearly 3 weeks ago, but they were unable to find him. Wiggins infected area was treated and she was released. Her sister said she was headed to PetSmart to get the little boy a new hamster. “He didn’t deserve this terrifying incident to happen to him.”

 

1 hour ago, TrueTomHarley said:

I would guess it is those who have developed a complaining and challenging spirit - even a belligerent spirit - against those who have not, the same as can be seen today. 1000 years is a long time for it to take hold - it will take a while for memory of Armageddon to fade. In the first century outright rebellion broke out the instant the apostles died.

In other words, it will be JWs against jws.

No actually, .... it will be Christ Jesus as King, against rebellious subjects to his Kingdom.

In a thousand years humanity may be in several dozen star systems through immigration, and  interstellar war is not practical, for a variety of reasons, but that is a possible secondary concern.

I was mentioning this discussion with my wife, yesterday, and I remembered a WW I howitzer the Germans produced called BIG BERTHA by the allies. It had a bore diameter of about 18 inches.

In the REAL world it is often common to have means of projected power have personal names.

BIG BERTHA, and even larger guns .. but none of them were people, even though they had peoples names.

However, even with all this .. the HOLY SPIRIT only has a designation ... not a personal name .

Linguistic artifices in every direction are commonplace.

17 hours ago, Noble Berean said:

The theory isn't difficult to understand, but where's the Biblical evidence? Br. Flodeen gave the concluding talk at the convention and discussed the new theory--not one scripture was referenced! Very strange...

So, not a single scripture that shows Jesus understood a "generation" to be as currently defined by the Governing Body.  

Anything that is not THAT, is looking into an empty basket, and seeing it overflowing with wisdom ... a self induced FANTASY

NEWSFLASH !,  Jesus understood a generation to be the EXACT same way that EVERYBODY in HIS time understood it ... All civilization marks he time between one statistically average persons' birth and his death .. ONE GENERATION. 

That is the way it has ALWAYS been understood ... since civilization began and they started counting years, AND counting children.

THIS IS HOW JESUS UNDERSTOOD ONE GENERATION !

That is the way EVERYBODY, and I do mean EVERYBODY that is not delusional and trying to CYA with a fantasy explanation understands it now.

THOSE ARE THE FACTS.

You can have overlapping generations between peoples, sure ... BUT THAT IS NOT THE SAME GENERATION..

It only takes ONE sentence and plain old common sense to understand this !

" A generation is the time between ONE statistically average persons'  birth and his death. ".

That's IT ... one simple sentence explains it all.

Every life Insurance company in the world will pay you the policy benefits specified when you reach 100 years of age, even though you have not actually died.

If you are alive at 100 years old, you get the money ... yourself!

Previous threads did answer those concerns, and yes, I did not like them, because ....

... I WAS LOOKING FOR CORRECT ANSWERS that conform to REALITY !

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Hurricane Irma is expected to hit land with an a wind speed of 180 mph ... to put that in perspective .... a Skydiver,  "standing up" in free fall, any experienced skydiver can LEARN to reach speeds of over 160-180MPH.

Speeds of over 200MPH require significant practice to achieve. The record free fall speed, done without any special equipment, is 321MPH. ( All within less than five miles of the Earth's surface.).

Obviously, it is desirable to slow back down to 110MPH before parachute opening.. 

The winds will be high enough to lift up debris, AND children up in the air and take them away without letting them down until the wind speed drops, and flatten almost ANYTHING.

Have a nice day!

MANY years ago I was in a car group of four Brothers, driving back from a  party  gathering in Baltimore, Maryland to Richmond Virginia .

Sidney was driving, I was riding "shotgun". Steve was behind Sidney, and the other Tom was behind me. We had the Beach Boys on the radio/tape player, LOUD, and having a GREAT time. 

Sidney was slapping the sides of the steering wheel to the music, ... I was slapping the dashboard. Steve was slapping the back of Sidney's seat, and Tom was singing along ( more or less) as we all were (more or less).

We are on Interstate 95, about half way to Richmond, and it is dark, about 3AM. 

SUDDENLY, Tom yells out "HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP TORTURING ME WITH THIS MUSIC?!",  and demanded to be let out of the car.   Sidney is stopping  the car as we try reasoning with him as he yells "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"....  that it is 50 miles to his apartment, and it is 3AM, etc., etc.

In a panic accompanied by "LET ME OUT!  LET ME OUT!" Sidney pulls over and lets Tom out the car, and we pull about 50 feet ahead, watching him in the rear view mirrors as traffic goes by.

To me, the problem was solved, Tom got what he wanted, and what he demanded, and I gave the "Wagons Ho!" sign for  Sidney to continue.

Steve says "We just can't leave him here, in the dark, halfway home ...", and we agree, although it confuses me, I recognize there is SOME truth to that.

Tom gets back in the car, we turn the tape player off, and finish the trip in complete silence.

I guess the Beach Boys surfing music is an acquired taste.

ps:  I used to have a 12 foot long surfboard that looked similar to the one in TTH's photo ... after I lugged it down to the beach, I was often too tired to surf. I used to have to eat breakfast three hours before going out on the water, as I ALWAYS got sea-sick waiting for a surfable wave, and threw up in the ocean.

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Otto:

I find it amazing, of the various issues I raised ... you took exception to the dimensional tolerances of airplane parts.

That in itself tells a story.

A very SAD story.

Lighten up ... relax ... you will live longer.

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4 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

You hammered the exact same taunt repeatedly in a previous thread that addressed it at length, with answers that you did not like. But that does not mean they were not answers.

TTH:

So, not a single scripture that shows Jesus understood a "generation" to be as currently defined by the Governing Body.  

... surprise! (NOT!)

Anything that is not THAT, is looking into an empty basket, and seeing it overflowing with wisdom ... a self induced FANTASY.

I got news for you kiddo,  Jesus understood a generation to be the EXACT same way that EVERYBODY in his time understood it ... The time between one statistically average persons' birth and his death. 

That is the way it has ALWAYS been understood ... since civilization began and they started counting years, AND counting children.

THIS IS HOW JESUS UNDERSTOOD ONE GENERATION !

That is the way EVERYBODY, and I do mean EVERYBODY that is not delusional and trying to CYA with a fantasy explanation understands it now.

THOSE ARE THE FACTS.

You can have overlapping generations between peoples ... BUT THAT IS NOT THE SAME GENERATION..

ONE sentence explains it ALL!

" A generation is the time between ONE statistically average persons'  birth and his death. ". 

That's IT ... one simple sentence explains it all.

Every life Insurance company in the world will pay you the policy benefits specified when you reach 100 years of age, even though you have not actually died.

If you are alive at 100 years old, you get the money ... yourself!

Yes, previous threads did answer those concerns, and yes, I did not like them, because ....

... I WAS LOOKING FOR CORRECT ANSWERS.