James Thomas Rook Jr.

.... a little souvenir from the early 1970's I keep as a memento of interesting times ... and to surreptitiously quick  flash when I show a traffic officer my drivers license.
The gold flash has gotten me out of seven speeding tickets, and I never asked for any consideration, and never gave any explanation.
My eldest son was stunned when I got stopped in a 35mph zone doing 57 miles per hour.. When we pulled off without a ticket he said "I gotta get me one of those!".
By the way ... the little red thingies are Chicken Nipples.  They sell them on Amazon.
.... really!

That's because I am the only one that got the history right!
I am freaking AWESOME!
Good Detectives detect much.
With the same facts, bad Detectives detect nothing.
...  you have my condolences.

If they were not guilty of sedition ... then why did they later remove seditious elements from the Society's publications.?
Hmmmmmm ?
 

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I suppose it all comes down to the issue of credibility of the one doing the analysis of unseen, invisible things that happened a hundred years ago.
How many times has the WTB&TS been right?,  and
How many times has the WTB&TS been wrong?
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I don't care if it was encouraged by Mickey Mouse from the future!
If it is the death penalty to park your car in a handicapped parking space, and you DO park your car in a handicapped parking space ... it does not matter WHO made or influenced the laws.
You have committed a capital crime.
You are GUILTY of a capital crime!
.... and it is lawful to execute you.
The fact that the law is changed at a later date IS A WHOLE OTHER SUBJECT!

What you have referenced, BTK46, is post war spin generated to get back to normalcy.

The FACTS were that they were encouraging Christian values ....  which to a nation involved in a global war for survival ... true Christian values ARE SEDITION.
The rules change as a practical matter when a million men die in a year long battle, and Europe looks like the craters on the face of the Moon.
The Society WAS guilty of sedition, in encouraging men to uphold Christian Values, and NOT WAR, at a time when the Republic faced destruction at the hands of the Germans.
...and that's the fact, Jack.

That is so ludicrous I don't even know where to start.
The reason the Brothers were imprisoned for sedition, etc ... IS THAT THEY WERE GUILTY !
They were not let out of prison early because of some imaginary vindication ... they were let out because the "Great War" was over.

As the Admin pointed out ... by the time I had entered this thread, the Admin had REMOVED THE REFERENCE.
Therefore, you were reacting to what you saw ... and I was reacting to what I saw.
I personally do not even take threats, real or just bluster, too seriously.
I had a very wealthy Elder once call me up, and he said he was going to destroy me.
I nonchalantly replied that he knew where I lived, and I would meet him in the street, in front of where I was staying,  anytime, and we would shoot it out.
I never saw or heard from him again.
... and I do quite often TRY to act like  a three year old little girl ... they are so happy and full of life, and wonder !  
Very, very inspirational!
The best I can manage is a 24/7/365 sense of humor.
I seriously doubt the Governing Body has anything to fear from John Butler, he has no firearms .... whereas YOU, on the other hand, have claimed to own a small arsenal, and a 50 caliber BMG sniper rifle capable of shooting about a mile and a half, accurately, and 4.5 miles total, and I would not be surprised if that foam on your mouth. is NOT shaving cream.

I may have missed something BTK46, but I do not see where in this particular thread, as shown above, where John Butler threatened ANYBODY.
Please correct me with a quote, as you apparently see something that is NOT THERE.
No surprise at that .....
It's either you, or me that is wrong about this, and historically, it's always been you.
If I say the Governing Body is it's own worst enemy, because they keep shooting themselves in the foot and systematically destroying their credibility, day by day, that is NOT a threat.
.... merely a figurative  observation.

I also hear that "Hanoi Jane" Fonda was there, and is a Pioneer Sister in that congregation.

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!

HGH you say ....Hmmmm... I have been feeling a little poorly lately.
When I munch on a bowl of nails, the sparks don't shoot out as far as they used to .....

Arauna:
I think you should be worrying more about the Muslim immigrants that have overrun Sweden and Finland.
as for me ... What? Me worry?

...or, it could be Olives.

After having spent twenty five and more years discussing things like this with people who have strong ideas about such things ... but like myself, NOT HAVING THE SLIGHTEST CLUE, I have given up even caring about such things.
Things ARE WHAT THEY ARE .... and,
THEY ARE NOT WHAT THEY ARE NOT
... and a million word exposition  by the clueless ... myself included ... will not change that.
Do the best you can ... chill out ... have a beer ...  relax ... take more naps.  Pay more attention to your children while you still can.
Most "pangs of distress", I have found ... are self inflicted.
About the OTHER "pangs of distress" ... soon ... perhaps too soon ... we will all know.
I will probably be worse if you built your home on the side of an active volcano, or you live close to Yellowstone Park.

In a time of global pandemic, which has the potential to becoming global anarchy, I seriously doubt that an intangible such as a cryptocurrency will have any value when the global Internet collapses for most users. Gold will not have any value, either, because you cannot eat gold.
If I had the kind of money people invest in cryptocurrencies, and gold, etc. I would invest in small useful things that will ALWAYS have value, no matter how bad things get.
That is why I recommend investing in cans of tuna fish .... and 12 gauge shotgun shells.

The thought just occurred to me, that is we as Jehovah's Witnesses become tired of waiting on the Governing Body to straighten out this problem, AND hold those accountable, we can do it OURSELVES.
Report EVERYTHING to the police ... and let them sort it out.
Apparently THEIR system of Truth and Justice works better than ours!
Not perfect ..... just better.

"If the Body of Christ is united and, in your estimation, it is only the eight that have gone renegade, disfellowship them already and be done with it!"  - True TomHarley
 
Hmmmmmm ... and just who is there on Earth today that could do it?
Jehovah did not interfere when the Nazis and the Japanese Empire were trying to take over the world. 70 years ago, and he did not help or harm any nation involved in the conflict, or any individual, inside or outside of the Truth.
There is NOBODY on this Earth, able to fire the Governing Body.
..... er .... except in the Russian Federation.
 
 
 
 

QUESTION: Why does Apple assume I want to be reminded of a photo memory from years ago? Do they not realize the pain they cause many people reminding them of dead loved ones etc?
ANSWER:   Because either their programmers are cruel, sadistic trolls who believe that creating pain in the morning will help them sleep better at night .... OR .... it just never occurred to them that you are that fragile, or thought that you would completely forget them, if not reminded, by a photo from the past.
 

Quickly ... as in soon?
Or quickly, as in at a high velocity?
 

I would be stunned if the WTB&TS, et al, was successful in their lawsuits, as in the United States the concept of "whistleblowers" is held in very high regard, and the "Fair Use Doctrine" of U.S. copyright law is interpreted very liberally.
There is a lot to be said and considered on this matter, and an excellent source is WIKIPEDIA.
.... want to be smarter and well informed on this specific issue?
Read THIS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use
I personally think we should be proud of every thing we say and do, and not object if someone else shouts it from the housetops.
If we SHOULD be ashamed of anything we have published, and the "Pillowgate" videos immediately come to mind, it is ONLY by public disclosure that whatever it is, that it will ever change.
Sometime  around the 1960's, at Assemblies, we used to have a Public Relations Department set up, but they changed the name to News Service, because PR was asking for something, and NS was giving away something for free.
Their lawsuit will generate more publicity by a factor of at least X 100, than ever existed before ... and when all is said and done, and if the WTB&TS wins the lawsuits ( improbable at best ..) it will NOT stop Brothers from leaking these videos to others, or them publishing them, actually IN the public interest, to anybody who has a computer and a piece of free software, such as "Freemake Video Downloader:.
That genie left the bottle a long time ago.
 

In good times, and bad times, in times easy and times hard, I have relied on the JW-Archive as a sounding board for many things, and appreciate the forbearance when I have ranted and raved about all sorts of things, even from the Librarian, who often deleted my posts, with cause.
I have come to the conclusion that logic and reason is not the end-all that I had aspired to, and that all things being considered, it would have been better for me to be "Brother Watchtower", than the man I have become.
I am 73 years old, and I probably do not have time to change .... realistically, but for 14 billion years I did not exist, and I don't remember it bothering me any.
My Wife Susan, and my sons and daughter will fulfill whatever unfulfilled dreams I had, as the stars I could reach ... were just starfish on the beach.
With whatever time I have left, it is going to be my life's challenge, so I bid each of you so long, and hope you stay closer to Jehovah than I did. 
....and like Forest Gump said "... and that's all I am going to say about that."
Goodby.
 

I realize all to well that I should NEVER be granted immortality, as one of the Anointed of God, and my chief value as a human is to set a bad example that should NOT be emulated.
Perhaps that is why all three of my children turned out so well ....they had my example of what they did not want to turn out like.
I do like to discuss philosophy, common sense, practical efficiencies, but consider myself a "theologian" ... nah.
The "dark side of the Force, Luke ..." is unfortunately, very strong within me.
If I had not been associated with Jehovah's Witnesses my whole adult life, I probably would have been rightfully executed many, many years ago, and Civilization would have been a lot safer.

In good times, and bad times, in times easy and times hard, I have relied on the JW-Archive as a sounding board for many things, and appreciate the forbearance when I have ranted and raved about all sorts of things, even from the Librarian, who often deleted my posts, with cause.
I have come to the conclusion that logic and reason is not the end-all that I had aspired to, and that all things being considered, it would have been better for me to be "Brother Watchtower", than the man I have become.
I am 73 years old, and I probably do not have time to change .... realistically, but for 14 billion years I did not exist, and I don't remember it bothering me any.
My Wife Susan, and my sons and daughter will fulfill whatever unfulfilled dreams I had, as the stars I could reach ... were just starfish on the beach.
With whatever time I have left, it is going to be my life's challenge, so I bid each of you so long, and hope you stay closer to Jehovah than I did. 
....and like Forest Gump said "... and that's all I am going to say about that."
Goodby.