James Thomas Rook Jr.

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. 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. .

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 familyÂ’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 motherÂ’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 didnÂ’t deserve this terrifying incident to happen to him.” Â

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.

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 ! .

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. .

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. .

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.

At least ..... when the pilot opens the door and asks "Hey, anybody here know how to fly this thing?", he is admitting he does not, or cannot, "fly this thing?" TEST: Where is the scriptural basis for overlapping generations? How about ONE example? Hmmmmm?

QUITE OFTEN .... I quote Adolph Hitler, Josef Stalin, and other assorted monsters. And I have not committed genocide in ..oh, say ... AT LEAST three weeks!

Otto: Accurate Translations are IMPORTANT. They keep you from being shot in the stomach by a policeman, when all you are doing is asking for directions. "Meow" means "Woof" in cat. Lighten up... you will live longer. This past Saturday at the meeting, everyone was in shock, as the uptight elder who sat directly in front of me most times DIED four hours earlier, of a heart attack. His wife found him on the floor in the living room. He might have PREFERRED instead to be hit with a bottle. On a related note, ... pi at 3.14 will not get your airplane off the runway ... pi at 3.14159 will keep you from using your flotation cushion ... to bounce out of a corn field. ( ... by not crashing the aircraft in the first place ...) DETAILS ARE IMPORTANT !

What if it was not a snappy mnemonic of words "Gog of Magog", but "Ralph from Cincinnati"?

Hmmm.. then it is OK to relieve a den of drug dealers from their suitcase full of drug money? That is CERTAINLY "unrightous riches" if there was EVER "unrightous riches".

Does that mean that "unrightous riches" is like not having faith in the stock market, but investing in APPLE in the early days when you thought it was a fruit company, like Forest Gump did, and end up a multi-millionaire?