James Thomas Rook Jr.

You live and learn ...... or you don't live long.

Don't let the sound of your own wheels ... make you crazy.

TTH:

I am impressed with your essay .... the writing style and the content, and the insight.

JTR

I believe that even William Shatner, after a 20 year period of being unemployed as James T.  Kirk, became T.J. Hooker.

9 hours ago, Eoin Joyce said:

No one is disputing Jesus' divine nature. Compare (1Pet.1:4). Nevertheless, what is "begot" is most definitely,............... "begun".

There is ONE exception to this ... if the language is bent into a pretzel and you redefine the word.  An example of this is if you changed the definition of a cow to match that of a horse.

Assuredly they have MANY similar features, but entering a cow in the Kentucky Derby would make you a certified loser, and would be udderly ridiculous.

Betting on a cow, even with a Trifecta, is entertaining, but probability zero.

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This is very impressive advice ... sound... common sense.. practical.

There are MANY scriptures that say the same sorts of things, but written to an audience whose thinking patterns were quite different, 2,000 to 5,000 years ago.

Dave Barry commented on this as follows:

" Contrary to what many women believe, it's fairly easy to develop along-term, stable, intimate, and mutually fulfilling relationship with a guy. Of course this guy has to be a Labrador retriever. With human guys, it's extremely difficult. This is because guys don't really grasp what women mean by the term relationship.

Let's say a guy named Roger is attracted to a woman named Elaine. He asks her out to a movie; she accepts; they have a pretty good time. A few nights later he asks her out to dinner, and again they enjoy themselves. They continue to see each other regularly, and after a while neither one of them is seeing anybody else.

And then, one evening when they're driving home, a thought occurs to Elaine, and, without really thinking, she says it aloud: "Do you realize that, as of tonight, we've been seeing each other for exactly six months?"

And then there is silence in the car. To Elaine, it seems like a veryloud silence. She thinks to herself: Geez, I wonder if it bothers him that I said that. Maybe he's been feeling confined by our relationship; maybe he thinks I'm trying to push him into some kind of obligation that he doesn't want, or isn't sure of.

And Roger is thinking: Gosh. Six months.

And Elaine is thinking: But, hey, I'm not so sure I want this kind of relationship, either. Sometimes I wish I had a little more space, so I'd have time to think about whether I really want us to keep going the way we are, moving steadily toward... I mean, where are we going? Are we just going to keep seeing each other at this level of intimacy? Are we heading toward marriage? Toward children? Toward a lifetime together? Am I ready for that level of commitment? Do I really even know this person?

And Roger is thinking:... so that means it was... let's see...February when we started going out, which was right after I had the car at the dealer's, which means... lemme check the odometer... Whoa! I am way over due for an oil change here.

And Elaine is thinking: He's upset. I can see it on his face. Maybe I'm reading this completely wrong. Maybe he wants more from our relationship, more intimacy, more commitment; maybe he has sensed -- even before I sensed it -- that I was feeling some reservations. Yes, I bet that's it. That's why he's so reluctant to say anything about his own feelings. He's afraid of being rejected.

And Roger is thinking: And I'm gonna have them look at the transmission again. I don't care what those morons say, it's still not shifting right. And they better not try to blame it on the cold weather this time. What cold weather? It's 87 degrees out, and this thing is shifting like a garbage truck, and I paid those incompetent thieves $600.

COMMUNICATIONS GAP

And Elaine is thinking: He's angry. And I don't blame him. I'd be angry, too. God, I feel so guilty, putting him through this, but I can't help the way I feel. I'm just not sure.

And Roger is thinking: They'll probably say it's only a 90-day warranty. That's exactly what they're gonna say, the scumballs.

And Elaine is thinking: Maybe I'm just too idealistic, waiting for a knight to come riding up on his white horse, when I'm sitting right next to a perfectly good person, a person I enjoy being with, a person I truly do care about, a person who seems to truly care about me. A person who is in pain because of my school girl romantic fantasy.

And Roger is thinking: Warranty? They want a warranty? I'll give them a warranty. I'll take their warranty and stick it right up their...

"Roger," Elaine says aloud.

"What?" says Roger, startled.

"Please don't torture yourself like this," she says, her eyes beginning to brim with tears. "Maybe I should never have... Oh God, I feel so..." (She breaks down, sobbing.)

"What?" says Roger.

"I'm such a fool," Elaine sobs. "I mean, I know there's no knight. I really know that. It's silly. There's no knight, and there's no horse."

"There's no horse?" says Roger.

"You think I'm a fool, don't you?" Elaine says.

"No!" says Roger, glad to finally know the correct answer.

"It's just that... It's that I... I need some time," Elaine says.
(There is a 15-second pause while Roger, thinking as fast as he can,tries to come up with a safe response. Finally he comes up with one tha the thinks might work.)

"Yes," he says.

A BEFUDDLED BEAU
(Elaine, deeply moved, touches his hand.)

"Oh, Roger, do you really feel that way?" she says.

"What way?" says Roger.

"That way about time," says Elaine.

"Oh," says Roger. "Yes."
(Elaine turns to face him and gazes deeply into his eyes, causing him to become very nervous about what she might say next, especially if it involves a horse. At last she speaks.)

"Thank you, Roger," she says.

"Thank you," says Roger. Then he takes her home, and she lies on her bed, a conflicted, tortured soul, and weeps until dawn, whereas when Roger gets back to his place, he opens a bag of Doritos, turns on the TV, and immediately becomes deeply involved in a rerun of a tennis match between two Czechoslovakians he never heard of. A tiny voice in the far recesses of his mind tells him that something major was going on back there in the car, but he is pretty sure there is no way he would ever understand what, and so he figures it's better if he doesn't think about it.
(This is also Roger's policy regarding world hunger.)

IT'S ANALYSIS TIME

The next day Elaine will call her closest friend, or perhaps two of them, and they will talk about this situation for six straight hours. In painstaking detail, they will analyze everything she said and every thing he said, going over it time and time again, exploring every word, expression,and gesture for nuances of meaning, considering every possible ramification. They will continue to discuss this subject, off and on, for weeks, maybe months, never reaching any definite conclusions, but never getting bored with it, either.

Meanwhile, Roger, while playing racquetball one day with a mutual friend of his and Elaine's, will pause just before serving, frown, and say: "Norm, did Elaine ever own a horse?"

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We're not talking about different wavelengths here. We're talking about different planets, in completely different solar systems. Elaine cannot communicate meaningfully with Roger about their relationship anymore than she can meaningfully play chess with a duck. Because the sum total of Roger's thinking on this particular topic is as follows:

Huh?

But the point I'm trying to make is that, if you're a woman, and you want to have a successful relationship with a guy, the No. 1 tip to remember is: 1. Never assume that the guy understands that you and he have a relationship. The guy will not realize this on his own. You have to plant the idea in his brain by constantly making subtle references to it in your everyday conversation, such as:
-- "Roger, would you mind passing me a Sweet 'n' Low, in as much as we have a relationship?"
-- "Wake up, Roger! There's a prowler in the den and we have a relationship! You and I do, I mean."
-- "Good News, Roger! The gynecologist says we're going to have our fourth child, which will serve as yet another indication that we have arelationship!"
-- "Roger, inasmuch as this plane is crashing and we probably have only about a minute to live, I want you to know that we've had a wonderful 53 years of marriage together, which clearly constitutes a relationship."

Never let up, women. Pound away relentlessly at this concept, and eventually it will start to penetrate the guy's brain. Some day he might even start thinking about it on his own. He'll be talking with some other guys about women, and, out of the blue, he'll say, "Elaine and I, we have, ummm... We have, ahhh... We... We have this thing." And he will sincerely mean it.

The next relationship-enhancement tip is: 2. Do not expect the guy to make a hasty commitment. By "hasty," I mean, "within your lifetime." Guys are extremely reluctant to make commitments. This is because they never feel ready.

"I'm sorry," guys are always telling women, "but I'm just not ready to make a commitment." Guys are in a permanent state of nonreadiness. If guys were turkey breasts, you could put them in a 350-degree oven on July Fourth, and they still wouldn't be done in time for Thanksgiving. "

On a related note, just translated from Russian Time Capsule Archives by the FBI .....

WASHINGTON -  May 16, 2017 – Associated Press

Unsealing and translating the purloined copy the old Soviet Era Politburo Archive Time Capsule after nearly 50 years, the Federal Bureau of Investigation declassified former director J. Edgar Hoover’s extensive missing file on the WTB&TS Bethel family, sources confirmed Monday. “These 3,600 documents reveal that the New York  Bethel “Family” were of significant interest to J. Edgar Hoover during his extra-judicial intelligence-gathering campaigns,” said Andrew Jewett, an American History professor at Harvard, adding that from 1964-66 the FBI chief had obtained numerous tapes of the “Family” and instructed federal agents to transcribe all conversations of the One Headquarters

 “According to multiple letters to officials, Hoover suspected that  Minister family patriarch Anthony Morris Jr, also known as “Tight Pants Tony”, AKA Cartoon  ‘Grandpa’, was a cartoonist and Vietnam War Veteran working in his dungeon little back room laboratory to develop very cute animated child cartoon robots to use on American soldiers and civilians.”

He was also convinced they were using the Watchtower at the Brooklyn, NY Bethel  Mansion to send coded messages to either the Soviets or radical dissident religious groups. Several documents also reportedly showed that Hoover had directed FBI agents to follow the Bethel Family and to recruit “Pioneer” niece Marilyn Twoshoes as an informant.

Massive amounts of incriminating “extremist” information were known  to have been collected, and put in the  time capsule, with instructions not to be opened until 2016.

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Anna:

To be fair .. I did not make the "Cows with Guns" cartoon, or write the lyrics.... I just thought it was cute as a box of puppies!.

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Do not confuse “duty” with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect. But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants “just a few minutes of your time, please--this won’t take long.” Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time--and squawk for more! So learn to say No--and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you. (This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don’t do it because it is “expected” of you.)

Beware of altruism. It is based on self-deception, the root of all evil.

If tempted by something that feels “altruistic” examine your motives and root out that self-deception. Then, if you still want to do it, wallow in it!

You live and learn or you don’t live long.

(Aphorisms I use as a guide, from the Notebooks of Lazarus Long, by Robert A. Heinlein.)

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Of course, you can MAKE a Trinity, as I did when I was younger ...

I cut a worm into three parts, that he could have friends!

There is of course, that ... but even MORE insidious is that during World War II American submarines used Mercury as ballast, because it would flow, and could be pumped, and when they had to dump the ballast to surface the boat, the Mercury settled into low points on the ocean floor in large pools .... contaminating the local flora and fauna ( ... that means vegetation and animal life, for those in Rio Linda ...). 

The price of Mercury today made it economical to salvage those subsurface pools of Mercury, and much was recovered ... however, it could not be used, because it was contaminated with Tuna Fish.

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"What, Me Worry?"

Why not make it public?  This is the "Arena of Ideas" ... even stupid ones.

10 minutes ago, Witness said:

Don't worry, JTR; I don't believe Jesus is God, God is Jesus, only that they are one in Spirit and purpose.  

Rather than take a field trip down Booger's Woods, why not clarify why B=A, but that A is NOT equal to B.

OOOoughah ... Pretzel Alert!

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I prefer to disregard fake news, and the nice thing about being a rascally curmudgeon with Barbarian overtones is that, being 70 years old, I can usually spot fake news. 

When I was younger the credibility gap was compensated for by my gullibility fill, but I got TIRED of being wrong ALL the time, and played for a fool by my own inexperience.  I suppose it's a skill that one has to get used to .... as sheep never figure it out that the reason they are being cared for is to shave them bald, and EAT them.

That analogy has ALWAYS bothered me ... I mentioned it in a comment at the Watchtower Study years ago, and a Brother,  sitting four rows behind me got the microphone and exclaimed "Jehovah does NOT eat his sheep!".

I recall a line from the 1978 "SUPERMAN - The Movie" that pretty much sums things like that up .....

Lex Luthor, speaking about his dull assistant Otis:  " It's amazing that brain can generate enough power to keep those legs moving.". ... or, as Abraham Lincoln once said: "Don't believe anything you read on the Internet!"

When I get discouraged, I go to YouTube and watch "COWS WITH GUNS".

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A million words, presented to a guy that would chain-saw the elephant in his bath tub without discussion.

Put on your visualization hat, and explain to me what is going on in Revelation 1:1, in the first 11 or so words.

OBVIOUSLY GOD IS NOT JESUS ... says so there in black and white in EVERY English Translation, at least the 20 and more I quoted previously.

GOD gave the revelation to Jesus ... who until that happened, was IGNORANT of the revelation's contents ... THEN Jesus gave it to John.

Be a sport ... try to get around the simple, clear, unambiguous description of who is who, and who is NOT .. in Revelation 1:1 .... without fracturing the English language, or bending your mind into a pretzel.

Be a sport .... I will enjoy the gymnastics.

OH ... and When revelation describes Jesus sitting at the right hand of God, John was NOT suggesting proctology .. or having one sit on his OWN lap.

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When a person or institution is worried about what someone else does with the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth ... that person or institution is doomed.

To paraphrase Adolph Hitler "You have your Truth, and I have my bayonets ... let's see who wins.".

It took nine years  to find out.

Atlas Shrugging refers NOT to what the workers do or do not do .... but to the OWNERS and risk takers who by genius, sweat, and THEIR labor cause some engine of the world to exist ... when having their labors confiscated by Governments and Liberal perversions, shrug, and abandon their successful efforts to make life better for everyone, and make a profit while doing it.

These "Captains of Industry" who make the world a better place, and hold it all together ... decide to drop the ball and let the incompetent and the stupid run the show into the ground, causing great equity and fairness, by reducing EVERYONE to poverty, and ruin.

People demand "fairness" .... but if the world were truly "fair", the stupid and lazy would starve to death.

Yeah ... a great deal of Hislop was pure fantasy ... but there is ALSO "If it walks like a duck, Quacks like a duck and Looks like a Duck ... IT'S A DUCK !"

Th Vatican is FULL of pagan statues to other gods, and thousands of things the imagry is adopted from the pagan world...

If the "Dagon Pope's Hat" thing can be DISPROVED somehow ... THAT I would be interested in.

Until then ...

QUACK!

The way we use language today is quite different in syntax from the way it was used thousands of years ago ... or even during the times of Shakespeare ... back then all manner of people from Aztec Shamans to Roman Emperors were considered to be "gods". 

Anybody with the power of life or death over you often considered himself to be a local "god", and demanded you address him that way, or you watched your blood squirt between your fingers as you died.

There are many "gods", and many "Lords".   English Judges are referred to as "My Lord", and there is a "House of Lords" in their parliament.

When you see something astounding, you may exclaim "Oh, My LORD!" to the air, and no one in particular, and it takes a highly disciplined person to after smashing his thumb with a hammer, to yell out "Oh, random fluctuations in the Spacetime Continuum !!!".

I have thought about getting a black robe, and a Barbara Bush wig, and walk around muttering "hurrumph!, hurrumph" and see if people will refer to me as "Lord", but I suspect they would just roll their eyes and say "Oh Lord! ... what is he up to now?".

..and then of course there is Geoffrey Jackson's proclamation before the Australian Royal Commission in case no. 26, under oath ... that the Governing Body are NOT inspired by God, but are "Guardians of the Doctrine" .. ( G.O.D.)

and not to forget that cultural Icon ... Lord Darth Vader.

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Well ... we know from the Russian Federation's Supreme Court Ruling that the Brothers in Russia did NOT benefit from the letter writing campaign, but the GOVERNMENT DID. 

The Universal Postal Union paid the Federation  70% of the face value of the postage affixed to deliver them to their recipients ... whether they did so, of just hauled them to the dump.  That means the Russian Federation got $56 MILLION DOLLARS as terminal duty from the Universal Postal Union, paid for by the Brothers.

That will buy a LOT of Vodka.

That having been said ... *coff*..... my main point was ....

" I am still waiting for an honest, Word-for-word translation of the JW Russian court trials from the Society, in English, but hopefully in all languages that they normally translate into. "

I am still waiting for an honest, Word-for-word translation of the JW Russian court trials from the Society, in English, but hopefully in all languages that they normally translate into. 

So far, an estimated $80,000,000 ( EIGHTY MILLION DOLLARS) in International postage seems to have nothing to show for it.

I grew up with Hula Hoops being the societal crazy thing of the time ... my children grew up with Pokemon Cards, and Sonic the Hedgehog video games.

In 2015-2016 it seemed that Caleb and Sophia Merchandise, purses, briefcases, pins, buttons, slacks, suspenders and bow ties, and pictures, back car window decals, book covers, wall posters, 3d dolls like GB Bro. Anthony Morris III has in his Bethel Office, Videos, DVDs, coloring books, decorated birthd...er... baptism cakes, stand up displays, literature bags, greeting cards, Sophia colorful tote bags for girls, and Sophia cloth shopping bags for Wal-Mart, etc., book markers, key chains, 3d Printer statues of Caleb, ball point pens, and penlights, pins and brooches for older Sisters, and cartoon wall hangings for the inside of Caleb and Sophia dioramas, or JW.ORG men's ties, lapel pins, wristwatches, aluminum military style dog tags, rings, aluminum pendants for neck chains and charm bracelets, car bumper stickers, car window decals, women's pocket mirrors, flags to tie to radio aerials, etc. . Then there is the JW.ORG blue oversized umbrellas, Unisex Hoodie Jackets, neck lanyards, hand lunch boxes with Paradise scenes, and of course Caleb and Sophia., and to contrast, from Peru, a BRIGHT Pink Caleb and Sophia Bible cover entitled New World Translation of the HOLY SCRIPTURES ... over a large picture of guess whom?

Of course the refrigerator magnets and motivational jewelry are big sellers, not so much for the Caleb crochetable doll ..were the craze and along with the JW.ORG logo seem to suck all the air out of the room.

It is my perception that the "crazy years" have passed, or that it has become the new standard.

Has the MADNESS over Caleb and Sophia subsided?

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Yeah... Google "Dagon Pope's Hat" and go to "images".

Oh Tom! Tom, Tommy Tom Tom .....

I have never taken an insult from you, even IF one was intended ... I have never been offended by your continuous ad-hominid attacks instead of discussing issues.   To the best of my knowledge, I cannot be insulted, and I certainly don't expect you to hold back on whatever it is you believe to be true.

Please feel free to pull alongside, open the gun ports, and give me a cannonade of your best shot.

FREEDOM is when you have the right to say ANYTHING you want .... also to fire back.

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3 minutes ago, bruceq said:

 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, And your ways are not my ways,” declares Jehovah." Isa. 55:8

This scripture applies to EVERYBODY!