TrueTomHarley

Interviewed, the dog said that it was quite distressed at several Bible verses speaking disrespectfully of his kind.

It does seem like sin that the clergyman could turn his other cheek to

An 'anti-cult expert' I keep my eye on invites his followers to watch him on a TV iterview, where he makes the point that Trump was elected due to cult influences. If you think half the country fell victim to cult influence, does it not mean that you have drunk too much of the Kool-Aid yourself? Time was when the word meant something. If you fell under the spell of a charismatic leader and withdrew from normal life, you just might be part of a cult. These days simply thinking outside of the box suffices, and the definition expands to include ‘people we don’t like.’ Can Witnesses be a cult (the latest slam)? How can it be? You cannot join them without a period of study and experimentation, seldom lasting under a year. All the while you are 95% in familiar routine and surroundings. College is more cult-like by this definition, where a student is separated almost 24/7 from family and prior stabilizing influences. It is only because Witnesses come to think outside the mainstream that they are called a cult by those who permit no deviation.

Yikes! The perfect batter will never miss a grand slam and the perfect pitcher will never permit a hit! I’ve seen the light! I quit.

Possibly you could use it as a neck band. No, Tom, no. Don't say it. Be like the One that you claim to imitate.

To the extent that it is unambiguous, it is a good thing, no doubt.

Yikes! Without more instruction it could be taken as a plea that you need some.

Quit your bellyaching and get your credit card out to pay up.

If you knew Leroy White, you knew this fellow: "Ladies and gentlemen, did anybody lose this?" The flight attendant was holding something aloft, but 30 rows back, I couldn't quite make out what it was. "Now that I have your attention, ladies and gentleman, I'd like to direct it to the flight attendants demonstrating proper use of the safety equipment in the event of a ..." And as his two helpers acted out life preservers and breathing masks, he retreated unseen, but could still be heard chuckling at his little joke. (Hee, hee, hee) Only an older black man, like Leroy, could pull this off. A white man doing the same would come off as a prankster or a wise-acre, and the essential good will of the man would be missed. I mean, Leroy ... yes, I always joked with him that he should do my funeral talk, if he hadn't had gone and died first. "Hee, hee, hee - he was a good ol boy, that Tom Harley, but he's dead now. D-E-A-D. We won't be seein that boy till the 'raise ser rection, no sir' This is the same Leroy White who came up from Louisiana and who the younger brothers, young enough to be grandchildren, would set in and jam with, for Leroy knew the blues. At his funeral it was related how he passed up the chance to tour with B.B. King for fear it would mess up his spiritual routine. As for the flight attendant, who drawled only slightly less tha Leroy, he was the only one who did not repeat the Southwest mantra about how they realize one has choices in travel and so 'thank you for choosing Southwest' and yet still came across as more genuine than any of them. Not that the others weren't. He was just more so. I hope he doesn't hear about it. Usually if you can improve on the company line they will let you run with it, but every so often there is some unimaginative anal manager that can picture only going by the book. Meanwhile, it consistantly happens during the few emergencies there are that passengers misuse the safety equipment, so airlines strive to be innovative in getting them to pay attention to shows as to how to use it. This fellow did it the best of anyone. (Hmm. Before I post this, I went searching for a photo. This seems to be a Southwest 'thing' to do flight entertainment ) photo: Huffington Post  Â

Each morning Todd would drive to the overlook so as to watch the sunrise. Toward the end of our stay, I began to accompany him. He would say things about God's timetable being precise, and so forth. He would pull up with a minute or two to spare, watch the sunrise launch safely through his windshield, then drive back to where he came from. It doesn't take long for me to run with something like this and pad it a little (or a lot). For example: It is actually his job to put the sun up every day, just like the company custodian was entrusted to raise the flag every day, (when they cared about such things and didn't leave it up continually as it flapped itself to shreds) and I could take an overcast day as proof that he had slept in that day. And if he didn't raise it 'right' in the morning, it might wobble all day - be a little surly, or refuse to go down on time, or go down too early, or cause the sea to sizzle when it sank. It is a great meme, and I think it will be a permanent one with him. But I can't really do it in front of him, though. He doesn't get mad. He doesn't refuse it. But he doesn't quite know what to make of it. He pushes it away, for it seems to suggest to him that he is being made to look like God, raising and setting the sun. Yes, he knows it is a joke. But his inherent modesty is too much for him to join in the humor. Or maybe it is only me who thinks it is funny and it constitutes more evidence that I live in my own oddball world. Photo: Little Gasperilla sunrise

Don't get me going on these guys.

What we have is nothing of the sort. It's a good thing you didn't write any of the Bible. What a dull book it would be. I guess they were about to learn a thing or two, weren't they? Not only can God do it - his Son can also.

As a general rule, I do not like it when someone calls attention to their own special insight or qualifications. It seems to me that this fellow does it in spades. I actually don't mind speculation or added commentary as long as it clearly is labeled for what it is and does not run down everyone that is not yet so enlightened.

Since we will will have to wait and see what happens (for once you do not tell it), why are you so quick to say what the WT says is wrong?

I'd just as soon not see it play out. It is not as though Russia has nothing but pea shooters.

Unlikely though it may seem, the Dilbert cartoonist is up on these matters and it appears that Trump has his ear. He doesn't seem to let his advisers push him around.

All good points. For my money, I love Twitter. I follow a hundred sources or so, as diverse as I can get them. That way you can almost hope to see through the liars and not let your worldview be dictated by any ones source. And then you throw in individuals, too, whomever you find interesting.

One article I read said that they did it to themselves by consistently runnning very liberal opinion pieces in areas overwhelmingly conservative.

I liked the GIF of him taking a sip of water. "Drink water. Humans drink water."

That's why they invented the draft.

Oh, stuff it! If there are two people who can be depended upon to change not one iota, and who, when you answer a question, will simply ask it again, I am looking at them. Go back into the archives and construct my own answer for yourselves.

Hi, James! Would you say I am getting the hang of it? Â

I am not even sure what you think I have a problem with. But it doesn't matter. Often I do not know where you are coming from. I don't have to. On the list of seven things that God hates, that as by miracle, expands to eight, is "any one stirring up contentions among brothers." I will not do it. And I don't think you are doing it with me, unless you think that I am not a brother. Maybe some of our miscommunication lies in the fact you have battled the villians in many nasty places, and I have not - and for over a longer period of time. You have a terminology of internet lore unfamiliar to me. (Space Merchant is even more so that way) I have been online for most of 12 years, but until recently I did not stray from my own platform, where I would take comments from opposers if they wished to make any, but I did not let them hijack the site. About a year ago, as an experiment, I briefly forayed into an apostate site, being a very bad boy, but once they discovered I had no plans to defect, they were so unfailingly nasty that I soon withdrew. They were effusive in their warm welcome until they discovered I planned to stay where I was. Because I am playful maybe you think I am sometimes attacking you. I am not. Ever. If I say you are "abrasive," as I have, it is not said to put you down. It is just playful. Come now, would you have anyone believe here that you are not? You would probably be well-served to attend to that to the extent you can, just as I would be well-served to speak with less hyperbole, because it does get misunderstood. Not that I will do it. Not that you will do it. But I will nudge in the proper direction. You should too. Otherwise, to the extent that you believe it about me, we are brothers. We must not fight. But if you do not believe I am a brother - well, I guess that's okay. It is not exactly the Kingdom Hall here, is it?

I'm not scared of them. Nor do I know anyone who is. But if you are going to follow them on their heels and announce to all that they are vile, perhaps you would have reason to be. This is different from what you said previously. You said they gave you an option to fade and you refused because you did not want to relinquish your 'platform.' You appear to think they are all eager to otherwise.

"We live in a world of buzzwords and catchphrases, few of which will endure rigorous shaking. It is enough to employ our ‘six times better’ figure as a starting bid and concede that further bids might alter the picture." The handful of people on this forum have come to live and breathe pedophile facts and counter-facts, but most of our people know almost nothing about it. They will say "Look, I am not a pervert. I don't know any perverts. I don't like perverts. I don't want to know about perverts. I think perverts are disgusting. And yet now I am called upon to be a pervert expert." It is all a huge diversion from the heart of the truth. Give them a quick retort so that they are not caught as a deer between the headlights. They can bring themselves up to speed if they see fit, as can their detractors. JohnB was dumbfounded that this issue was not on the top of everyone's aware list. I explained that it was because they have thousands of atrocities to choose from. A quick answer is enough to move everyone along. It is not untrue as far as it goes. It simply does not address all the complications. it is like the quick answer we give our student to address a question that he has yet to build a foundation for understanding it. It is not wrong for him to ask it, and if he is persistent, we devote however much time it takes. But usually a simple answer suffices. It is even like the quick answer we give our 8 year old about the facts of life. The analogy is not perfect. You needn't point that out. Furthermore, I may rethink it but for now I am okay with it. It is not the centerpiece of the chapter by any means. It does not represent a call-to-arms cry. I also understand that in playing devil's advocate as you do, you risk being seen as the devil. I think I know where you are coming from and I thank you for your condolances about the local tragedy. Not only do I agree with everything here, but it could almost be the Foreword for Part II of the book. I think, should you read it, you will be satisfied I do not over-rely on a number or encourage anyone else to do so.