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I just attended a memorial service for my uncle yesterday. At least 800 persons tried to attend through Zoom. My uncle was part of a large extended family. About 400 stayed for the comments afterward, and they lasted for more than 2.5 more hours, making the entire memorial about 3.5 hours long. There were attendees from all over the world, including Dubai and China, but mostly Californian and South Carolina. Based on statistical averages there is probably a fair chance that at least one of the other 16,700 members of this forum was also on that same Zoom call, assuming most of those members are JWs. The brother who gave the talk continued to "host" the whole time. My aunt and a cousin allowed for anyone to speak who wanted to say something. Dozens of persons had examples to share of his sense of humor, funny incidents that happened in field service, and a lot of nice things to say about his sincerity and kindness when it came to shepherding. He had been a circuit overseer and substitute circuit overseer for a good part of his life. This second portion of course is mostly a new Zoom thing for us, where the personal experiences are offered, and even children sometimes speak about their grandpa and great-grandpa. But I saw so much love coming through, and no one seemed to want the experience to stop. It's only the second of such memorial services I have attended like this, but I have heard of another one a month ago. Just looking for comments, I guess, on whether others have experienced this. I think it's a very good thing, and I was glad that some non-Witness relatives could share this experience.

@Emma Rose, I copied this straight from the jw-org website and the Hebrew letters appear to be fine: https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101971647 “The use of letters of the alphabet to represent numbers has led to some interesting consequences. Letters used in a compound numeral may accidentally spell out a word. Then the use of the numeral may be affected by the meaning of the word. For example, in the Hebrew system of numerals, the number fifteen should have been written as יה, which means ten plus five. (Hebrew is read from right to left.) However these are the first two letters of the word יהוה which spells out Jehovah. Since it was forbidden by Jewish law to use the name of God in vain, the Jews wrote the number fifteen as טו, nine plus six, instead.”

OH! Some of what looks like water is actually "OH" not H2O, and this hydroxyl can be a real "OH-OH." The link you gave mentioned: But it was unclear whether that hydrogen was in the form of hydroxyl – the chemical that makes up drain cleaners – or in the form of H2O, or water. The NIH.gov site cites a biochemical journal about hydrogen peroxide (HOOH), which adds this: . . . to generate hydroxyl radicals (OH.) from H2O2 has been investigated . . . And all this, of course, was presented, just as a setup for the old H2O2 joke:

Player 2 leaves nothing but four I's and an E in the pool. So the rest will be fairly boring. So, I'll play it out to the final HI (5). Final score 933 to 585, a blowout. O F R U M P I N G Player 1 Player 2 U A N T E A T E R QUETZAL 120 BANJAXED 91 T E R R A I N O FRESHLY 140 ZODIACAL 128 G B C KETUBOTH 118 LONGWAYS 107 O K I A F E DISAVOWS 107 PROCEED 100 E E N R E FRUMPING 194 LYMPHOMA 28 S T J E D VIRULENT 149 ANTEATER 77 V Q U E T Z A L S D TERRAIN 79 OUTGOES 20 I B O X H I I JEED 14 KI 6 R O D E I L S DEIL 7 MI 8 U T I D Y A HI 5 L y M P H O m A V E I C O N A W T L O N G W A Y S TOTALS 933 585

True. That's one of the most exquizit moves in Scrabble.

I should have played what's below on that turn instead. F R U M P I N G S L E E P E R S O It would have been 89 points.

Player 2 is reduced to low scoring letters only for 77 points with anteater 22+50. And Player one comes back with probably the last 7 tile bonus play F R U M P I N G Player 1 Player 2 A N T E A T E R QUETZAL 120 BANJAXED 91 T E R R A I N O FRESHLY 140 ZODIACAL 128 B C KETUBOTH 118 LONGWAYS 107 K A F E DISAVOWS 107 PROCEED 100 E N R E FRUMPING 194 LYMPHOMA 28 T J E D VIRULENT 149 ANTEATER 77 V Q U E T Z A L S D TERRAIN 79 I B O X H I R O D E L S U T I D Y A L y M P H O m A V E C O N A W T L O N G W A Y S E E G I I I I TOTALS 907 531 S U O O

That's what was supposed to attract the cheaters... I'll fix it...😊

For all those on the edge of their seat wondering who will win . . . Player2 played LYMPHOMA for only 29 points, which is answered with VIRULENT for 99+50=149. F R U M P I N G Player 1 Player 2 R QUETZAL 120 BANJAXED 91 O FRESHLY 140 ZODIACAL 128 B C KETUBOTH 118 LONGWAYS 107 K A F E DISAVOWS 107 PROCEED 100 E N R E FRUMPING 194 LYMPHOMA 28 T J E D VIRULENT 149 V Q U E T Z A L S D I B O X H I R O D E L S U T I D Y A L y M P H O m A V E C O N A W T L O N G W A Y S A A A E E E E E G I I I I I TOTALS 828 454 N N R R S T T U O O

Not bored. But I might be giving myself a diversion just to avoid responding. I tend to muddy the waters sometimes. Of course, I know there are probably a lot of people who want to discuss 1914 and China, maybe both under the same topic heading. 😁 I'll wait for the upcoming Neutrality talk before I say anything more on politics, though.

j/k. Just a reference to that last book title TTH showed.

It's his (Tom's) brother I'm trying to draw out.

Followed by DISAVOWS to catch the right center Triple Word score and the 7 tile bonus for 107 points. Then PROCEED for 100 points. Then, the chance for a 9x word score if someone could find an 8 letter word --FRUMPING works-- with the remaining letters that could hit both Triple Word scores (3x3=9x). or 16x9=144 + 50=194. F R U M P I N G Player 1 Player 2 R QUETZAL 120 BANJAXED 91 O FRESHLY 140 ZODIACAL 128 B C KETUBOTH 118 LONGWAYS 107 K A F E DISAVOWS 107 PROCEED 100 E N R E FRUMPING 194 T J E D Q U E T Z A L S D B O X H I O D E L S T I D Y A H A V C O A W L O N G W A Y S A A A E E E E E E G I I I I I I TOTALS 679 426 L M N N N P R R R S T T T U U V [ ] [ ] O O O

As I play it, I realize that it is too easy these days to look up 7 and 8 letter words. This was not so easy the last time I played this, many decades ago, through snail mail. There should be a rule against too many 50 point bonus words, or each player will have to become better at defensive plays. In the example above, only one more Triple Word score can be played with a 50 point bonus, and this leaves player 2 in a much worse position to ever try to catch up, even though more 50 point bonuses can be played in lower scoring areas. (This is why a 'handicap' scoring system should probably be worked out to keep player one from getting too much advantage.) A

That might work well, too. First, of course, I have to drum up some more interest. 🙂 ---------------------- KETUBOTH would also catch 2 Double Word scores, and use up more remaining high scoring letters (K B H) 17x4=68, plus 50 point bonus = 118. Followed by LONGWAYS to catch the bottom right Triple Word score and the 7 tile bonus for 107 points. Player 1 Player 2 QUETZAL 120 BANJAXED 91 FRESHLY 140 ZODIACAL 128 B KETUBOTH 118 LONGWAYS 107 K A F E N R T J E Q U E T Z A L S B O X H O D E L T I D Y H A C A L O N G W A Y S A A A A C D D E E E E E E E E F G G I I I I I I I I TOTALS 378 326 L M M N N N N P P R R R R R S S T T T U U U V V W [ ] [ ] O O O O O

Which calls for ZODIACAL. Hey this is so fun, I might just play this one out myself. 21x3=63, plus OX (9), plus DE (3), plus ID (3) = 78 plus 50 point bonus. Player 1 Player 2 QUETZAL 120 BANJAXED 91 FRESHLY 140 ZODIACAL 128 B A F N R J E Q U E T Z A L S O X H D E L I D Y A C A L A A A A A B C D D E E E E E E E E E F G G G H I I I I I I I I K TOTALS 260 219 L M M N N N N N P P R R R R R S S S T T T T T U U U V V W W Y [ ] [ ] O O O O O O O

Just had to add FRESHLY to the above because it catches TWO Double-Word scores, so that you get 4 times the word score (4 x 16), plus QUETZALS, plus the 50 point bonus, for a total of 64+26+50=140, and most of the high scoring letters are already used up. Player 1 Player 2 QUETZAL 120 BANJAXED 91 FRESHLY 140 B A F N R J E Q U E T Z A L S X H E L D Y A A A A A A A B C C D D D E E E E E E E E E F G G G H I I I I I I I I I K TOTALS 260 91 L L M M N N N N N P P R R R R R S S S T T T T T U U U V V W W Y [ ] [ ] O O O O O O O O Anyone else can start their own games below.

My edit buttons include B I U S, and the S is the strikethrough. But you don't need it. I think it's better to just erase the used tiles. Seems easier. For example, let's say I responded to QUETZAL with BANJAXED (I never knew that word before today; cheating is encouraged!). I merely erased the used letters. The problem is that it is harder to see if a mistake was made in the erasing. 0 Points - Blank tile. 1 Point - A, E, I, L, N, O, R, S, T and U. 2 Points - D and G. 3 Points - B, C, M and P. 4 Points - F, H, V, W and Y. 5 Points - K. 8 Points - J and X. 10 Points - Q and Z. The color-codes here are Triple Word Triple Letter Double Word Double Letter Player 1 Player 2 QUETZAL 120 BANJAXED 91 B A N J Q U E T Z A L X E D A A A A A A A B C C D D D E E E E E E E E E E F F G G G H H I I I I I I I I I K L L L M M N N N N N P P R R R R R R S S S S T T T T T U U U V V W W Y Y [ ] [ ] O O O O O O O O Sorry, I added the O's on the last line (after the two [blanks] instead of after the N's.

Better yet, just copy this to the next post and anyone who wants to play can just edit the first play and I will be the second player, or the first player can request another player who is on the forum. Part of scoring is to mark which letters are left and to put the scores in the appropriate columns on the right. The only difference between this and regular Scrabble is that you choose which letters you would like, rather than picking them randomly without looking. Player 1 Player 2 A A A A A A A A A B B C C D D D D E E E E E E E E E E E E F F G G G H H I I I I I I I I I J K L L L L M M N N N N N N P P Q R R R R R R S S S S T T T T T T U U U U V V W W X Y Y Z [ ] [ ] O O O O O O O O

This was made from a Google Spreadsheet which will be shared between players so that a person with the link can edit it. (Will be sent by PM to whomever wants to play, and each updated screen can be displayed here after every valid play is made.) After any play, the player can tally up their points and will need to cross out the letters they used from the letter "pool." The first two items are just an example. Let's say the first player plays QUETZAL in such a way that they get 120 points. (Double letter score on the Q and double word, and a 50 point bonus for using all their tiles.) Let's say the next player plays XI in such a way that the X counts for 16 (double letter) for the word AX, and 16 again for the word XI, and also makes LI, for a total of 34 points. And every letter used gets a strikethrough, or gets greyed out in the pool it was chosen from. After that play the game board would look like this: Player 1 Player 2 QUETZAL 120 XI 36 Q U E T Z A L X I A A A A A A A A A B B C C D D D D E E E E E E E E E E E E F F G G G H H I I I I I I I I I J K L L L L M M N N N N N N P P Q R R R R R R S S S S T T T T T T U U U U V V W W X Y Y Z [ ] [ ] Obviously, the first player has a great advantage in taking out the best letters. A final score will probably reflect this, and perhaps should be accounted for with a "handicap." Perhaps the handicap could be that the first play is split evenly among the two players, or a percentage of that first score is given to the player who goes second. It's also possible in most browsers to actually just edit the game right here for each new play and then copy the final board now and then to the next post. You might need to check the scoring against an actual board, or look up the letter values on Google.

7 & 8 ... obviously!

So true in many countries. That's part of what I meant when I said that ... It seems they've found weasel-words to show that something might look like idolatry but it technically does not fall under their definition of idolatry. This is so different from the words the Bible uses such as "abstain" from idolatry, or "flee" from idolatry, or "guard yourselves" from idols. There's no room left for staying that close to idolatry but using technical definitions to claim it's not.

https://apnews.com/article/c7a9a84f0d24444492eb0922b5349b6f This was big scandalous news, especially among Catholic conservatives, but barely had time to get noticed before the pandemic drowned out the discussion. To touch on the original topic, native religions in Brazil have historically been persecuted with adherents being killed, massacred, and tortured. That war between Western religion and Brazil's religions was won long ago, although the Catholic church had already found ways to compromise by allowing "folk" religion to continue to live alongside Catholicism, even among Catholic converts. Today the issue is more about civil rights for Brazil's indigenous people as they are driven from their homelands and "persecuted" for the sake of taking the timber and other resources. The Vatican synod with the Brazilian bishops (which included presentations of native dances and even the presentation of "fertility objects") was held in October 2019. Immediately after that (also October 2019) was an interesting OCHR (Oxford Consortium on Human Rights) https://www.oxfordconsortium.org/workshop-descriptions/brazil-2019 discussing the way in which indigenous people, especially, were treated by police and national forces. For indigenous "Amazonians" it was once Western-style religion at the point of a gun. Now it's Western-style economic [unsustainable] development at the point of a gun. ----------------- I'm highlighting some interesting points from the Vatican article linked above: VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis’ controversial meeting on the Amazon took a criminal twist Monday after thieves stole indigenous fertility statues from a Vatican-area church and tossed them into the Tiber River. Video of the pre-dawn theft from the Santa Maria in Traspontina church was shared and celebrated on conservative social media. The Vatican’s communications czar, Paolo Ruffini, termed it a “stunt” that violated the idea of dialogue. Even before the three-week Amazon synod opened on Oct. 6, conservative and traditionalist Catholics had blasted its agenda as a heretical celebration of paganism, given its deference to indigenous cultures and spirituality. Their criticism reached a fever pitch at the synod opening, when Francis presided over a prayer service in the Vatican gardens featuring the statues of naked pregnant women that were presented to the pope. Conservatives said the “Pachamama” statutes were pagan idols; the Vatican said they were symbols of life and fertility. The statues were then placed in a side chapel of the Traspontina church, which is located just steps from St. Peter’s Square and has been the headquarters of the indigenous celebrations organized alongside the synod. ... Francis called the meeting of Amazonian bishops to propose ways to better care for the Amazon and minister to its indigenous peoples, who face poverty, exploitation and the destruction of their homes by unregulated logging and mining. ...

Even the Devil can be right once in a while. Massimo Introvigne is already on jw.org in half a dozen places.

Yes. I think that you have hit upon the reason that the quote about peace and security was considered "Satanic." It was haughty in the sense of being far too optimistic and ambitious. Perhaps the words "supremely" and "vision" also give it a religious sense. "In+ these+ Goals+ and+ targets,+ we+ are+ setting+ out+ a+ supremely+ ambitious+ and+ transformational+ vision.+ We+ envisage+ a+ world+ free+ of+ poverty,+ hunger,+ disease+ and+ want,+ where+all+life+can+thrive.+" Of course, we know from the context that we are likely trying to read into it things that just aren't there, if we try to make too much of the supremely flowery rhetoric. But, do we really know what is the demarcation line for calling an organization evil and disgusting? Is it the grand scope of the optimism? The scope of the effort? Is this because they envisage the whole world to be better, not just limiting their efforts to a small country here and there? We don't call a school teacher evil and disgusting if he or she spearheads a project for a cleanup of a park, or a tree planting effort. But what if all teachers in several different countries support the idea of an "Earth Day" where several hours of that day every year are used for the promotion of such projects? What if the teachers optimistically claim that such efforts will save the world from a climate crisis? What if it turns out that the funding and promotional materials for these "Earth Day" efforts come from policies and think tanks at a government level, and these governments are haughty enough to think they can achieve these good things without God? (I noticed that even evangelists like Billy Graham and others have felt a need to counsel their audience that Earth Day is not evil. Here's another: So should Christians care about Earth Day? Yes.The contemporary environmentalist movement has often been flawed and clumsy and sometimes evil, as any movement made up of fallen sinners tends to be. But, at the core of it, is a concept Christians ought to recognize. But there is always a conspiratorialist somewhere who will be happy to find evil in anything. Here's an example: Don Stewart’s letter (News Messenger, April 22, page A5, “Celebrate Earth and not Lenin”) argued that Earth Day is connected to Lenin’s birthday as both fall on April 22. Celebrating Earth Day shows you are a red Communist and plotting much evil in the world of capitalism. Snopes.com even had to produce an article against that idea, since Lenin had supposedly murdered and "composted" his girlfriend. Other pro-capitalists found other political reasons for calling Earth Day "evil." https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2000/04/earth-day-evil/ The UN policymakers and think tanks look at the world as a bunch of projects. When they look at poverty, they see how some government policies have succeeded in a short amount of time in bringing very poor countries on their way out of poverty, from say 80% below a UN-defined poverty line only 8% still in poverty. Or other countries bring the meaningful amount of free health care from 50% of their population up to 100%. Or free education of children that was available for 20% of a population is now available to 100%. So the UN recommends some of those same ideas to other member countries in such a way that doesn't bring any specific God or gods into the equation. But for us, if the UN wants to promote projects they see as good, they will always be seen by some of us as "evil and disgusting." Even if member countries think this is a good thing in the eyes of their God, bringing God into the equation is a sure way of bringing prejudice and sabotage to these projects. And what if they did bring God into the equation? Wouldn't that just make them more evil and disgusting in the sight of most of us? The United States Supreme Court and other government agencies put up a sign that says "In God We Trust." Does that make them any more or less Satanic in our eyes? I know we don't tie the term Satanic to all political organizations and entities as we have done in the past, but especially when it comes to the UN, we are apt to use words like evil and disgusting. We can do this, while at the same time praising their efforts. Rutherford looked at the British armies occupying Palestine in the early decades of the last century and saw them as the "disgusting thing;" "the abomination of desolation." At the same time the Watchtower temporarily praised the League of Nations, using words saying, in effect, that it was the political expression of the Kingdom of God on earth. I see the United Nations as just another governmental organization about which we need to stay neutral. We can watch it as we would any government on earth. We can see its failures and see its successes. And we can see how people put too much faith in it, and their own governments. But if we start calling it specifically evil and disgusting then we are not neutral. We are not idolizing the UN if we point out its successes, just as we are not demonizing it when we point out its failures.