Terry

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  10

  1973: MYSTERIOUS LADY (in the back bungalow)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  1973mysterious lady (in the back bungalow).

  me: driving a squad car for a private security service.

  me: "warren's night off.

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  Terry

  

  I'm going by what my boss, Warren said.
  He claimed she was from Italy.
  Did she look Italian? Well, very DARK Italian. But - who knows?
  I found this photo on Google and searched the images. I couldn't really say any of these people
  look like her.
  So...bottom line? I know I didn't dream the incident :)
  Warren was the sort of guy who liked to test people and he was setting me up to see if I
  was more "human" than "holier-than-thou" JW.
  
  Frankly, she was waaay more sophisticated than I was and that skeered me :)
  
  __________
  The END of my security job (such as it was) came when I fell asleep on the job.
  I drove home for a very short nap and fell asleep on the couch.
  When I awoke the squad car was GONE!
  Panicked, I called my boss.
  
  Me: "Warren, um, you're not going to believe this but --"
  Warren: "Let me guess. The car has been stolen?"
  Me: "Ummmm, well ...."
  Warren: "You're fired. Go back to sleep."
  
  Warren tried to contact me around three in the morning and I didn't answer.
  Concerned, he drove around until he saw the car ... IN FRONT OF MY APARTMENT.
  He had waited just long enough to determine I wasn't coming out again.
  He took the car knowing I'd go batshit when it went missing.
  He was an ex-sheriff or some other law enforcement specialty who had retired and
  started up his own business, HOMEGUARD SECURITY.
  Subscribers to his service in the "wealthy section" of Fort Worth expected full-time service
  which consisted mostly of complaining about dogs digging up their garden, or shadows and noises
  which simply must be checked out.
  I could NOT stay awake from midnight to eight a.m. It was the worst just before dawn, for some reason.
• 
  10

  1973: MYSTERIOUS LADY (in the back bungalow)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  1973mysterious lady (in the back bungalow).

  me: driving a squad car for a private security service.

  me: "warren's night off.

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• 

  Terry

  1973
  MYSTERIOUS LADY (in the back bungalow)
  
  

  Me: driving a squad car for a private security service

  Me: .357 Magnum pistol strapped to my hip

  Me: Midnight to eight a.m. shift sleepier than sh*t

  Radio: (see attached tune) playing too loud

  Boss on 2-way radio: "Terry, get on over to (says address) and give the lady what she wants. Over."

  Me: "Say wuh?"

  Boss on 2-way radio: "A rich client has a music student living in her backyard bungalow as an exchange student. Van Cliburn finalist. You know the one. Don't you?"

  Me: "Say wuh?"

  Boss on 2-way radio: "I guess you don't know. Ha. Hahahahahahaha. You WILL KNOW soon enough. Get on over there. Ha. Hahahahah. Over and out.".

  Me: "Say wuh?"
  ____
  Me (back on the 2-way radio as I head the squad car toward the mysterious lady in the back bungalow) "Say Warren, what's this all about?"

  Boss on 2-way radio: "This piano finalist is from Italy and she's hornier than a sailor on shore leave. She'll be at the door waiting for you - she'll have some bullshit errand to send you on - like buying her cigarettes ... and the light will be behind her ...and she'll be wearing something a priest would not bless. Now do you understand?"

  Me on 2-way radio: "Errand? I'm not an errand boy. I'm a by-God rough and tumble conscientious objector fresh out of prison who has to wear a deadly weapon and work a lousy job all night for extra money because nobody will hire an ex-convict but you."

  Boss on 2-way radio: "Tell me something I DON'T know. Now get on over there and give her 'whatever' because your boss is really doing you a favor. Over and out."

  Me: (Insert un-Christian language out loud inside the squad car as the tune keeps playing).
  __________

  Fast-forward to today 2020.
  I hear the song again. It triggers THAT memory.
  __________
  I share it with you.
  ________
  
  The long gravel driveway snakes left and right with a thicket of dense pecan trees surrounding the pavement.
  There, I see it!
  The bungalow behind the rich person's house.
  
  Just as my Boss, Warren told me. The light is on. The door is open.
  
  The curvy Italian music finalist; she's standing between the light and my popped eyeballs.

  I pull up and park.
  
  Back in 1973, no automatic windows. I lean and down roll as the lady is speaking.
  
  

  Me: "Say wuh?"

  She stops speaking.
  
  "Where is Warren?"
  
  

  I open the door and get out, standing all 6 feet 4 inches tall in a khaki uniform, tight fitting and adorned by my rather large deadly weapon...and rather sadly ... a Jehovah's Witness trying to earn a living working nights.
  -
  I walk around the car and stand in front of - somebody I can only describe as straight out of La Dolce Vita - except, not blonde. She's a dark skinned Italian with movie-star looks.
  
  

  "Warren ..." I quip. "You mean like Tolstoy's?"

  Her face froze and a Neapolitan flicker in her eye signaled
  she was chewing my comment over and for flavor.
  
  

  "Ah" she remarked finally, "No - not WAR AND Peace ...
  so - you make with funny for me. Who are you? You were sent by Warren for me?"
  
  

  I hesitated slightly.
  I ignored the implications of "for me."
  
  

  My mind searched possible conversation starters.
  Rejected: "What can I do for you?"

  Me: "Warren's night off. Yes - he sent me. There is an errand you wish to send me on?"
  
  

  The slinky Italian pianist was eyeball frisking me for contraband.
  She pursed her lips ... approvingly.

  "Why don't you come in?"
  
  Her hand beckoned like a TV game show Vanna White directing my eyes toward a gorgeous Grand Piano next to a wide bay window.
  
  Once inside, she stands there and the light caresses her ample 'talent.'
  
  

  I was done for. She had me at "Where's Warren..."
  
  

  In the next few minutes all I could look at was the truly magnificent and impossibly captivating object of desire I beheld.

  "Do you play?" Her voice may have carried double meaning .. maybe not.
  
  
  
  I was aching to get my hands busy. I don't know what got into me - I just couldn't help myself.
  I might never have another chance such as this and the moment seemed right.

  I lunged and my hands grabbed great fistfuls. Of those black and white piano keys!
  
  I improvised something in a minor key .. wistful ...forlorn ...exotic...passionate...
  Until -
  Until I came to my senses at what I had done!
  I can't play piano worth a damn. I'm awkwardly self-taught.

  The hubris!
  Me pounding like a chimp in front of a Van Cliburn competition expert - the shame of it struck me straightaway.

  The Italian temptress observed I had ended my impromptu passionate outburst.
  
  She spoke: "It sounds very American."
  
  

  I stood gazing adoringly at the splendid keyboard (with 9 extra keys). "A Bösendorfer is Austrian, I believe."
  
  

  The impatience with my not-so-funny comments tampered her mood.
  She tossed her tresses impudently.

  "Very well .. then ...here is my errand list..."

  _____
  The next day, my Boss Warren gave me a huge smile and one of those good-old-boy eyebrow raises.

  He chuckled. "What'd I tell you? Huh? Huh?"
  
  

  I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly... "To tell you the truth,
  she was very disappointed I showed up instead of 'Warren.'"

  I think I made his day.
  _____

  *1973 tune on the radio*
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jidMaFbmaok
  
  _____
  
  Can you spot the Van Cliburn pianist in this 1973 photo?
  
  
• 
  4

  Bring Me The Head of Jesus Christ! (A true story)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  __________________bring me the head of jesus christ________________i have a story to tell.

  if there is a moral to this story - well - it's for you to figure out.here goes ...toward the end of my so-called art career, i had devolved from a beverly hills art consultant slinging etchings, lithographs and paintings to movie stars in california ... all the way down to a local mom and pop art gallery and frame shop in fort worth, texas.i was now a custom-framer providing advice for graduation photos, paintings of jackrabbits, velvet elvis renderings, and even folded flags belonging to grieving mothers._____friday 1986the ting-a-ling bell attached to the front door brought me out from the workshop in back.a man standing in front of me appeared worried; very worried.he said his name was steve and was - he professed - "desperate.

  "on the counter between us he'd laid out a very old portfolio of sketches, charcoal drawings, and preliminary studies.

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  Terry

  Here is a link to the CHRIST of St. John on the Cross essay
  describing my meeting with the male model used by Salvador Dali to
  creating his painting.
  
  https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5129662540808192/my-conversation-crucified-man
• 
  1

  Locate Your Brain Parasite (before you go Cuckoo)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  can you locate your brain parasite?_____________________________________is something troubling you?does your life often seem to make no sense at all?is your logic ...well...illogical?you just might have a brain parasite.scary, huh?but this planet is filled with opportunist species using you, exploiting you to aid its own purposes.sure, sure - we all know about one-cell organisms, worms, bloodsucking insects - but do you realize there are other kinds of parasites to worry about?meet the cuckoo!would this bird fit inside your clock?

  ?no, you silly!terry is about to use the cuckoo bird as an analogy of a brain parasite.stay tuned and follow along ...the cuckoo doesn't build a nest.

  it lays its eggs in another bird's nest.

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  Terry

  CAN YOU LOCATE YOUR BRAIN PARASITE?
  _____________________________________
  
  Is something troubling you?
  
  Does your life often seem to make no sense at all?
  Is your Logic ...well...illogical?
  
  You just might have a Brain Parasite.
  Scary, huh?
  
  But this planet is filled with opportunist species USING YOU, exploiting you to aid its own purposes.
  
  Sure, sure - we all know about one-cell organisms, worms, bloodsucking insects - BUT do you realize there are OTHER kinds of parasites to worry about?
  
  MEET THE CUCKOO!
  
  
  
  Would this bird fit inside your clock??
  No, you silly!
  
  Terry is about to use the Cuckoo bird as AN ANALOGY of a BRAIN PARASITE.
  
  Stay tuned and follow along ...
  
  The Cuckoo doesn't build a nest. Doesn’t have to.
  
  No. It lays its eggs in another bird's nest.
  The other bird does all the work. Free childcare!
  
  CUCKOO is a parasite.
  (Brace yourself - here comes the analogy)
  
  Cerain ideas are like those Cuckoo eggs.
  
  You have them in your nest (brain) and as those cuckoo ideas hatch -- problems happen for you that may not be your own.
  
  QUESTION: Who laid those cuckoo ideas in your brain?
  Broadening this query - where did your cuckoo ideas come from??

  What is an IDEA?

  DEFINITIONS (of "idea") are frequently too broad and so ambiguous that they end up having no IDENTITY. In fact, you may THINK you KNOW something and you are so confused you can’t really articulate it. ("Go get me that thingy ma jiggy")
  
  To KNOW something is to UNDERSTAND what you know and HOW you know it.
  
  ______
  BRAIN PARASITE SYMPTOMS

  When our definitions are fuzzy and indistinct we can’t reason effectively.

  We reason by linking ideas.
  
  A chain is as strong as the weakest of the links.
  
  The cuckoo egg is the weak link in our thinking.
  
  The idea we don't own is the idea that wrecks our thinking and cripples our logic and derails our life plans.
  ________

  DEFINITION OF IDEA:

  Our BRAIN (our consciousness) is inside our skull - but - the rest of the world is

  Outside.
  For us to KNOW and UNDERSTAND the world and how it operates we use our 5 senses to SEE, HEAR, SMELL, TASTE, and FEEL.
  
  Example Analogy:
  A robbery.
  A witness to the robbery.
  A Police sketch artist.
  The witness verbalizes a description. The artist creates a sketch of the robber.
  
  THAT IS HOW IDEAS WORK.
  The more accurate the eyewitness description, the better the sketch will be.
  Otherwise ...a FALSE ARREST occurs.
  
  OUR IDEAS are sketches of what our 5 senses perceive.

  To be CONSCIOUS is to be conscious of SOMETHING.

  To be AWARE is to be aware of SOMETHING.

  To be is to be SOMETHING.

  By continually making sketches of our surroundings we form our lists of Fact and Truth.
  
  The IDEA IS THE EGG that hatches into -----something----eventually. Fact? or Lie?
  We want no cuckoo surprises!

  Warning! Warning!

  OUR mind can be stocked with self-examined and tested IDEAS or cuckoo eggs laid
  by ruthless exploiters using us for their own purposes.

  What we do not test for ourselves we swallow whole.

  Rumor, urban myth, fallacy, superstition, fear, propaganda --these cuckoo eggs penetrate our thinking if we are not ON GUARD.
  The BRAIN PARASITES we must test by careful examinations and inspections.

  IDEAS RULE THE WORLD

  ARE YOUR IDEAS YOUR OWN?

  How do you make an idea your own?

  TEST Example: What is JUSTICE?

  Here is my definition: Justice is the principle by which each of us gets what we deserve but not what we don’t. If you do the crime you do the time. If you’ve done nothing wrong you can’t be punished.
  Justice demands a balance - not an excess.
  Justice is concerned with restoration.
  
  Importantly, LOGIC is free of self-contradiction.
  Nothing can be True or Just if it contains self-contradictions.
  
  This is how I choose to understand these terms: logically.
  Otherwise, I’m merely memorizing the dictionary.
  
  I’ve learned to be very cautious (skeptical) about accepting definitions without examining them first.
  
  CONSIDER THIS FACT:
  When a newly interested person starts a Bible study with a JW, the questions are printed at the bottom of the page. ( PREEMPTS natural curiosity)
  Insidious methods designed to lay eggs.

  Remember, if you cannot clearly define an idea it is NOT YOUR OWN.

  WATCHTOWER EGGS with CUCKOO IDEAS

  How many JW's clearly understand how the year 1914 is the KEY foundation of the Governing Body's hold on JW's worldwide?
  How many comprehend the nature of the forced reasoning that leads to 1914?

  JW's are too busy raising Watchtower cuckoos to have their own agenda, their own life, their own purpose. It is a hijacking of the entire viewpoint to that person's own detriment.

  What is the moral of the story?
  
  IF 1914 teachings were Truth - no counter-factual statements would ever apply.
  But the last 100+ years are filled with contradictions. Lies and Logic are incompatible.
  Watchtower publishes and teaches things at the WRONG TIME (the events predicted do not occur)
  This is incompatible with their own SELF DEFINITION "Faithful" "Discreet" "Food at the PROPER time."

  BRAIN PARASITES infest all of us from early childhood, school, friends, religious upbringing, News reports, political discourse, reading materials, advertising, technology -- the whole F-ing world is eager to dump a parasite egg in your noggin.
  
  Detection is simple: Which ideas are your own and which are not?
  Ask: What is the key idea and how do I define it?
  Listen to your answers. How vague are the connections?
  
  BEWARE THE SOURCE TELLING YOU :

  1.You can't "know" anything. (Although he seems to "know", doesn't he?)

  2.You can't rely on logic because it is manmade and imprecise. (While using that logic to present that view)

  3.Each person has their own reality; what is true for one person isn't true for another. (This relativism dilutes the concept of evidence, proof and facts. Very convenient preparation for a takeover.)

  4.You can't really ‘define” anything. (Math works, doesn’t it? We send rockets to Mars, don’t we? Computers and A.I. depend entirely on strings of exactly defined procedures).
  
  https://thebestschools.org/magazine/15-logical-fallacies-know/
• 
  4

  Bring Me The Head of Jesus Christ! (A true story)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  __________________bring me the head of jesus christ________________i have a story to tell.

  if there is a moral to this story - well - it's for you to figure out.here goes ...toward the end of my so-called art career, i had devolved from a beverly hills art consultant slinging etchings, lithographs and paintings to movie stars in california ... all the way down to a local mom and pop art gallery and frame shop in fort worth, texas.i was now a custom-framer providing advice for graduation photos, paintings of jackrabbits, velvet elvis renderings, and even folded flags belonging to grieving mothers._____friday 1986the ting-a-ling bell attached to the front door brought me out from the workshop in back.a man standing in front of me appeared worried; very worried.he said his name was steve and was - he professed - "desperate.

  "on the counter between us he'd laid out a very old portfolio of sketches, charcoal drawings, and preliminary studies.

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  Terry

  In my Beverly HIlls days (70's-80's) I learned the investment aspect of Art collecting.
  In those years, a business could buy art and depreciate it as "office furnishings" for tax purposes while, simultaneously, looking forward to the same item 'appreciating' in collector value for resale.
  People with lots of money must keep that money churning constantly with all sorts of investments - or else -taxes and inflation eat away.
  Consequently, particular artists and art items acquire a reputation as investment-worthy ENTIRELY APART from the eye-of-the-beholder quality of an image.
  If 'so-and-so' owns a particular artist's work - it is like buying a house next a millionaire.
  Property values go up.
  In fact - the average layperson, outside of this bubble of prosperity and speculation, is often astounded at the enormous sums of money knocked down at Sotheby's auctions.
  
  EXAMPLE:
  In 1987, a Monet sunflower painting sold at auction for $39.9 million dollars . Almost instantly, other Monet painting's valuations jumped in estimated worth.
  A tidal wave
  Note: why did a Japanese insurance company want this Monet oil painting?
  1. To replace an earlier painted destroyed in Allied bombing.
  2. To celebrate the founding of the firm .
  A tidal wave of sudden interest in owning art instantly kicked in because of FOMO.
  (Fear of missing out.)
  
  The 'knock-on' effect?
  

  The day after the ’Sunflowers″ auction, Christie’s reported record annual sales of $644 million, up from $591.6 million.

  The firm is second to U.S.-owned rival, Sotheby’s, which the same day reported their total as $980 million, up from $803.5 million.
• 
  4

  Bring Me The Head of Jesus Christ! (A true story)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  __________________bring me the head of jesus christ________________i have a story to tell.

  if there is a moral to this story - well - it's for you to figure out.here goes ...toward the end of my so-called art career, i had devolved from a beverly hills art consultant slinging etchings, lithographs and paintings to movie stars in california ... all the way down to a local mom and pop art gallery and frame shop in fort worth, texas.i was now a custom-framer providing advice for graduation photos, paintings of jackrabbits, velvet elvis renderings, and even folded flags belonging to grieving mothers._____friday 1986the ting-a-ling bell attached to the front door brought me out from the workshop in back.a man standing in front of me appeared worried; very worried.he said his name was steve and was - he professed - "desperate.

  "on the counter between us he'd laid out a very old portfolio of sketches, charcoal drawings, and preliminary studies.

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  Terry

  
  __________________BRING ME THE HEAD OF JESUS CHRIST________________
  
  I have a story to tell. If there is a moral to this story - well - it's for you to figure out.
  Here goes ...
  
  Toward the end of my so-called Art Career, I had devolved from a Beverly Hills art consultant slinging etchings, lithographs and paintings to movie stars in California ... all the way down to a local mom and pop art gallery and frame shop in Fort Worth, Texas.
  I was now a custom-framer providing advice for graduation photos, paintings of jackrabbits, velvet Elvis renderings, and even folded flags belonging to grieving mothers.
  _____
  Friday 1986
  
  The ting-a-ling bell attached to the front door brought me out from the workshop in back.
  
  A man standing in front of me appeared worried; very worried.
  He said his name was Steve and was - he professed - "desperate."
  
  On the counter between us he'd laid out a very old portfolio of sketches, charcoal drawings, and preliminary studies.
  
  "These belonged to my grandfather", he began to explain.
  "My grand dad painted the most famous painting in the world."
  
  He said it with utmost sincerity and immediately I tensed up.
  It was an "Oh no, I don't need this" kind of pull-back feeling.
  
  
  I took a deep breath and forced a weak smile. In my mind I was trying to figure the fastest way to end the conversation.
  Why?
  My experiences in life with people who owned paintings was a comedy of delusional over-estimation as to value.
  Why did I always have to be the bearer of the bad news? They never believe it and immediately a "shoot the messenger" attitude erupts.
  
  This time - why would anything be any different?
  
  I shrugged. "Tell me all about it."
  
  Thus began a remarkable story - an unbelievable tale which, as it turned out, happened to be completely true.
  __________
  
  The man, Steve, was Stephen Sallman.
  Steve's grandfather was named Warner, Warner Sallman. Son of Swedish immigrants and graduate of Chicago's famed Art Institute.
  
  Okaaaay. (I'm really thinking - So what?)
  
  He reached down and flipped over the cover sheet on a charcoal sketch.
  The image of Head of Christ.
  I instantly recognized it from --well--my whole frickin' life!
  
  As very small boy, I saw this portrait of Jesus EVERYWHERE!
  It was hanging on the wall at home, for instance.
  My great-grandmother had several of Sallman's Jesus images on her walls as well.
  It never occurred to me a person - an artist - had created the portrait. It was ...was...it JUST WAS.
  It was a fact of life. THIS is what Jesus looked like.
  At least - I thought this when I was a child. As an adult -- I certainly knew better!
  
  But - an emotion was stirred..
  I had seen Sallman's paintings reproduced inside THE HOLY BIBLE, on clocks, lunch boxes - like I said: EVERYWHERE.
  
  Steve's grandfather had passed away a couple of decades previously (1968) and his only mission was to find a church, a gallery, a museum who would curate and preserve these remaining documentation of the genesis of Head of Christ (and other famous images) which had been reproduced over HALF A BILLION TIMES!
  
  
  
  
  
  _______
  What was the problem which made Steve so 'desperate'?
  
  Ready for this? NOBODY HAD THE LEAST INTEREST!
  ("That's nice - now go away.")
  
  This stunned me. Steve was beaten down by the negativity and downright scorn he'd encountered. Yet, undaunted.
  
  Fortunately, the man I worked with was a devout Catholic ex-Major in the Army who never took "NO" for an answer. He owned the Gallery and he was over-the-moon in his enthusiasm for helping Steve Sallman.
  Frances Woods could do it "Even if it hare-lips the Governor." Said he.
  
  Woods and Steve Sallman devoted well over a year going from pillar to post fulfilling the mission to find a home for Warner Sallman's legacy.
  
  The result?
  
  "Since May of 1987, Anderson University and Warner Press have jointly shared ownership of more than 140 works by Warner Sallman, with Warner Press holding the copyright and distribution rights, while Anderson University possesses the actual paintings and drawings. "
  ________
  
  But wait!
  Why am I telling you this story?
  Neither you nor anybody else we know has any feelings attached to a painting of Jesus!
  Not anymore.
  We now live in a completely different world mostly uninterested in such things.
  
  I'm an Ex-Jehovah's Witness, for crying out loud.
  We had our own illustrations of a manly-man Christ Jesus.
  
  
  
  No, the reason I'm telling you this story is simple. And very personal.
  Ready or not - here it comes.
  
  As a child - an innocent - Warner Sallman's illustration actually reached my heart. I was opened to the IDEA of being grateful that such a person was willing to give his life to rescue anybody and everybody who wanted to accept his offer and willing to listen.
  The word "Salvation" was something real when I was growing up. It was on the lips of everyday people without embarrassment.
  
  NAIVE? GULLIBLE? STUPID?
  No, I don't think so.
  This how young boys and girls were brought up in the Bible Belt in the South and even in Fort Worth "Where the West Begins."
  Cynicism and doubt?
  For me, that came later -- later when I was indoctrinated by a completely different idea of - not Jesus Christ - but Christ Jesus. (Jehovah's Witnesses have everything backwards.)
  
  The JW version of Jesus - who was he? He was really the Archangel Michael.
  Soon to return with a sword of destruction slaying billions of non-Jehovah's Witnesses at ARMAGEDDON. The Jehovah's Witness Jesus didn't die for all mankind. No no no. He only died for a tiny group who run the Watchtower Organization. The rest of us can... maybe...(if we follow the Governing Body's every word) manage Salvation through them.
  
  (Bumper sticker : "Jesus is coming - and boy is he pissed!"
  
  Yeah -Warner Sallman's Christ would not fit that image at all!
  
  ____
  More to the point - in that gallery that day way back in 1986 - already I was 39 years old and deeply cynical.
  Not an atheist so much as angry at religious indoctrination and more than bitter I had squandered my youth parroting
  propaganda from door to door with "Jesus" attached like the tag on an old mattress - the WARNING not to remove upon penalty of law!
  
  Gazing at the sketches with a peculiar emotion inside of me - I questioned the grandson about what sort of person his grandfather had been.
  
  (Biography)
  Born in 1892, Sallman was a devout member of the Swedish Evangelical Mission. He met his wife singing in church.
  He attended the Chicago School of Art Institute.
  Working for most of his life out of his bungalow, he never showed his art in a gallery setting. Nobody wanted it.

  In desperation he turned to commercial art to earn a living.
  He was a prolific illustrator for advertising agencies and publishers, creating images for magazines and ads.
  Working from sketches (the ones in front of me on the counter), in 1940 Warner Sallman woke up from a dream he'd had one night and painted his first of five Jesus illustrations.
  He donated one to a hospital The Master Healer.
  "Sallman produced a number of images which have become virtually archetypal for such groups as Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Church of God, and the Evangelical Covenant Church, his own church body."
  WIKIPEDIA:
  Head of Christ was reproduced more than 500 million times, appearing on church bulletins, calendars, posters, bookmarks, prayer cards, tracts, buttons, stickers and stationery. Tens of thousands of wallet-size copies were distributed to servicemen during World War II. In the mid-1950's
  
  ____
  At a symposium at Yale University, this was shared:
  "When we showed these works, there was a passionate reaction unlike anything I'd ever seen, Ex-G.I.'s would weep as they told me stories about carrying 'Head of Christ' in their wallets, and how it kept them alive."
  
  His last painting, 41 x 46 inches was created in 1964 and donated to a chapel, where it hung for 28 years. Then? Well, the chapel tossed it and it ended up in the local Salvation Army Thrift Center on sale for a hundred bucks.
  _____
  
  By the early 60's, Sallman's Jesus was beginning to show signs of age. Even in its heyday, "Head of Christ" had been criticized by some for presenting a too-effeminate Jesus. The silken, wavy hair, especially, was singled out for attention.
  ____
  As we now all know - unless you are uneducated, backward, and living in a 3rd world country - the idea of a portrait of Jesus depicted the way Warner Sallman painted him - would only result in scorn, ridicule, and rejections. Ironically - may I add - the same way the Bible version of Jesus was scorned, ridiculed and rejected by most people.
  
  I leave you with the following comparison of ART VALUES demonstrated below.
  As I said at the very top:
  If there is a moral to this story - well - it's for you to figure out.
  ________________
  Warner Sallman painting donated to Salvation Army Thrift Store and sold for ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS
  
  
  Leonardo da Vinci painting sold for FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY MILLION
  
  
  Willem de Kooning painting sold for THREE HUNDRED MILLION
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jackson Pollack painting sold for TWO HUNDRED MILLION
  
  
  Mark Rothko painting sold for ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY SIX MILLION
  
  
  
  Jackson Pollack painting sold for ONE HUNDRED FORTY MILLION
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  David Hockney painting sold for THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS
  
  
• 
  19

  "I'm As Mad as Hell - and I'm not going to take it anymore" (First Principles)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  two things we all need to know; may already know; have known for a long long time - but nothing at all has changed .... first principles.

  these are assumptions that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption.. .

  (what the hell does that mean?).

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  cofty:
  Since you have contempt for democracy, how do we get to this state that you call 'how things ought to be', and what would that state look like?
  _____
  
  
  Wrong.
  I have contempt for CORRUPTION of Democracy in the same way bedbugs in Luxury Hotels is unacceptable.
  I think you are disingenuously misreading because I've been excruciatingly clear.
  
  Democracy with fair elections, neutral Media, and the absence of money (i.e. oligarch puppeteers) works great because THE PEOPLE can access reform and credible information to analyze what sort of leadership and policies they are asking for.
  
  There is a movie embodying the spirit of what I'm saying.
  Watch the movie and see what I mean by "ought to be".
  Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jit3YhGx5pU

  
  **https://brokelyn.com/welcome-to-hotel-bedbugs/
  
  
• 
  19

  "I'm As Mad as Hell - and I'm not going to take it anymore" (First Principles)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  two things we all need to know; may already know; have known for a long long time - but nothing at all has changed .... first principles.

  these are assumptions that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption.. .

  (what the hell does that mean?).

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  cofty: I think you could condense this entire thread into three words - 'democracy is imperfect'.
  _____
  
  Democracy in America is corrupt. That's a wee bit more precise and alarming.
  The 'ho-hum' malaise is also part of the emergency.
  Rigged elections, false media reporting, and the buy-out of the political establishment (by the Oligarchy) requires action on the part of the constituency.
  
  All over the world, a despised and displaced middle class has resorted
  to bizarre, flailing choices (Trump and Brexit, for instance) and the rift
  between the 'basket of deplorables' and the Elite is an erupting pustule of
  of volcanic heat and no light.
  
  Not as pithy as your synopsis, Cofty - but more accurate.
• 
  19

  "I'm As Mad as Hell - and I'm not going to take it anymore" (First Principles)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  two things we all need to know; may already know; have known for a long long time - but nothing at all has changed .... first principles.

  these are assumptions that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption.. .

  (what the hell does that mean?).

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  I'm still hoping that you might begin to even hint at an alternative Terry.
  

  _____
  
  Cofty -
  Think of it this way:
  
  We all die. What's the alternative? Resurrection to heaven or paradise?
  You are calling for the role of RELIGION which is to create an alternative to reality itself.
  

  That escape /alternative is, as Willy Wonka sang, "Pure Imagination."
  
  There IS NO ALTERNATIVE to reality!
  Now there is pragmatism for you.
  
  Quack medicine cures are an alternative to chemotherapy and when
  you are desperate and dying --why wouldn't you try coffee enemas?
  
  Seriously Cofty ...
  Getting a small group to agree on something is easy peasy.
  But it is all those "other" small groups which spoil the party.
  
  Liberal vs Conservative
  House of Commons vs Parliament
  Democrat >Social Justice Democrat
  Republican > Tea Party
  Judaism >Zionist
  Christian >Catholic >Protestant > Orthodox > Cults
  Islam >Sunni > Shia > Wahabi
  and don't forget:

  • Sunni Hanafi.
  • Sunni Maliki.
  • Sunni Shafi'i.
  • Sunni Hanbali.
  • Shi'i Imāmī (followers of the Ja'fari jurisprudence)
  • Shi'i Zaydi.
  • Khariji Ibadi.
  • Sunni Ẓāhirī
    
    Bolshevik / Mensheviks / Monarchy
    ...
  • And the beat goes on ...
    ______
    
    THE VERY BEST THING a Western Democracy can hope for is a slow
    rot into corruption by the Oligarchy.
    Well - it is here!
    Now what?
    
    Enough common people must arise in an insurrection to overthrow that Power Cabal.
    In doing it - the economy will crash.
    
    Is that really an ALTERNATIVE? Sure but burning the barn to get rid of rats
    is bad for the environment :)
    
    ALTERNATIVES aren't as beautiful as make-believe solutions.
    
    The current model in the U.S.A. is fake elections.
    ______________
    
    Pure Imagination

    Anthony Newley, Leslie Bricusse

  Hold your breath
  Make a wish count to three

  Come with me and you'll be
  In a world of pure imagination
  Take a look and you'll see
  Into your imagination

  We'll begin with a spin
  Traveling in the world of my creation
  What we'll see will defy explanation

  If you want to view paradise
  Simply look around and view it
  Anything you want to, do it
  Wanna change the world?
  There's nothing to it

  There is no life I know
  To compare with pure imagination
  Living there, you'll be free
  If you truly wish to be

  If you want to view…
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVi3-PrQ0pY

  
  
  
• 
  19

  "I'm As Mad as Hell - and I'm not going to take it anymore" (First Principles)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  two things we all need to know; may already know; have known for a long long time - but nothing at all has changed .... first principles.

  these are assumptions that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption.. .

  (what the hell does that mean?).

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  DEMOCRACY: Two wolves and a sheep voting on 'what's for lunch'.