Terry

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Posts by Terry

• 
  4

  (Poppa was a ) GUITAR MAN

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  (poppa was a) guitar manpoppa drank from muddy waters made three sons and then four daughtersmomma owns the things he bought her for a songshe lived like old blind lemonbut his messin’ with wild women done her wrongi found him in new orleans livin’ off one of his darlingsin a jail drunk on rye whisky just becausehe’d broken every law there ever wasi bailed his sorry ass out, took him home and watched him pass outthen he woke up, swore he’d do it all againfriends tell me not to bother, i’ll become just like my fatherin bars on bad guitars like my old manhe’d sing:“there’s no harm in harmony and nothin’ fair about farewell,one of these days i’ll mend my waysor end up down in hell.”_____(i got) one old silver dollar in a suitcase in the parlorpoppa’s porkpie hat and coat are down the hallgonna break a pawn shop window snatch his guitar quick and then gograb a southbound bus to nachadoches townbar chords earn my living, and some women are forgivingwhen i sing the things the lady loves to heargirls with lonely faces sipping beer in lowdown placesguitar man’s the candy for her earnow i sing:“darlin’ i sure love you, my oh my if you piss me off this bird is gonna flyboo-yah - why oh why ohdo i do the thing that makes my baby cry?”______you can live for love or glory but the moral of this storyis that fate determines “what, where, when, and why”some of us are teachers, plumbers, bums, or holy preachersin the end my friend, we’re all a-gonna die_______poppa was a guitar man he sang the blues but had no plannow i’m the acorn from his crooked oak, i play for drunks and sing for mealsor break a window and i stealjust go ahead and laugh but i’m no joke________some cats fall - land on their toes (but that’s just how their story goes)dogs chase cars - run over on the roadi pluck, and slide, and moan and waili got my tiger by its tailall a man can do is bear his load________bar chords earn my living, but some women are forgivingwhen i sing the things the ladies love to hearthose girls with lonely faces sipping beer in lowdown placesthis guitar man is the candy for their ears___________i got one old silver dollar that he left me when he diedmomma cried and called to tell me at the bar.

  i told her i was sorry, she said,.

  “you know what you are?”i guess i maybe should have, could have lied.

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• 

  Terry

  I preesh ya BB!
  The Blues is honest, unadorned, humble, and often redemptive even coming from a rascal or two :)
• 
  4

  (Poppa was a ) GUITAR MAN

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  (poppa was a) guitar manpoppa drank from muddy waters made three sons and then four daughtersmomma owns the things he bought her for a songshe lived like old blind lemonbut his messin’ with wild women done her wrongi found him in new orleans livin’ off one of his darlingsin a jail drunk on rye whisky just becausehe’d broken every law there ever wasi bailed his sorry ass out, took him home and watched him pass outthen he woke up, swore he’d do it all againfriends tell me not to bother, i’ll become just like my fatherin bars on bad guitars like my old manhe’d sing:“there’s no harm in harmony and nothin’ fair about farewell,one of these days i’ll mend my waysor end up down in hell.”_____(i got) one old silver dollar in a suitcase in the parlorpoppa’s porkpie hat and coat are down the hallgonna break a pawn shop window snatch his guitar quick and then gograb a southbound bus to nachadoches townbar chords earn my living, and some women are forgivingwhen i sing the things the lady loves to heargirls with lonely faces sipping beer in lowdown placesguitar man’s the candy for her earnow i sing:“darlin’ i sure love you, my oh my if you piss me off this bird is gonna flyboo-yah - why oh why ohdo i do the thing that makes my baby cry?”______you can live for love or glory but the moral of this storyis that fate determines “what, where, when, and why”some of us are teachers, plumbers, bums, or holy preachersin the end my friend, we’re all a-gonna die_______poppa was a guitar man he sang the blues but had no plannow i’m the acorn from his crooked oak, i play for drunks and sing for mealsor break a window and i stealjust go ahead and laugh but i’m no joke________some cats fall - land on their toes (but that’s just how their story goes)dogs chase cars - run over on the roadi pluck, and slide, and moan and waili got my tiger by its tailall a man can do is bear his load________bar chords earn my living, but some women are forgivingwhen i sing the things the ladies love to hearthose girls with lonely faces sipping beer in lowdown placesthis guitar man is the candy for their ears___________i got one old silver dollar that he left me when he diedmomma cried and called to tell me at the bar.

  i told her i was sorry, she said,.

  “you know what you are?”i guess i maybe should have, could have lied.

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  Terry

  Indeed
• 
  20

  WATCHTOWER's RTO (Remote translation offices) like this one are million dollar luxury locations

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  more than 60 percent of our full-time translation teams work, not at branch offices, but at remote translation offices (rto).

  why is this arrangement beneficial?

  what equipment do translators need in order to work effectively at an rto?

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  Terry

  They can run - but they can't hide.
• 
  6

  AWESOME presentation!

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haxrybhjbhk.

  handled very well indeed!.

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  Terry

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaxrYbhjbHk

  Handled very well indeed!
• 
  20

  WATCHTOWER's RTO (Remote translation offices) like this one are million dollar luxury locations

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  more than 60 percent of our full-time translation teams work, not at branch offices, but at remote translation offices (rto).

  why is this arrangement beneficial?

  what equipment do translators need in order to work effectively at an rto?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  GETTING THE HELL OUT became a long-term goal, especially when NINE-ELEVEN tumbled
  in their laps, not all that far from headquarters and undoubtedly scaring the bejeezbus out of them.
  
  When all you've done for a century is predict a violent END - why wouldn't you want to be as far away from
  ground zero as possible?
  
  Let's face it - the scam of real estate turnover has always been the grub worm at the root of their tree.
  The avalanche of lawsuits put a spanner in the works, however. Child molestation issues could not be kept
  under wraps with the easy access to communication + leaks in the internet age.
  Watchtower ran out of free lawyers on staff forcing them to hire expensive "worldly" law firms that specialize in protecting
  crooked evangelists from bankruptcy.
  One thing you can always count on with lawyers: they can drag it out inflating their fees!
  This drain on finances has led to emergency liquidations (going out of business sales), begging witness kids for their ice cream money, and demanding commitment to tithing (disguised in weasel language).
  Bottom line?
  Where do cults go to die? The elephants' graveyard of a CULT COMPOUND.
  Circle the wagons.
  Sell off the Kingdom Halls.
  Pass the kool-aid.
  
  
• 
  36

  My personal thoughts on Ray Franz

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the death of ray franz hit me harder than i would have thought.. i had to reflect for awhile....alone......and quietly.. .

  after all, fine people die every day and some of them are indispensable, yet, we go on....don't we?.

  but, ray franz was something that can only be described in the phrase sui generis (one of a kind).. my task was to ask myself what it was that made ray so singular, potent and admirable without a trace of scandal or ill will attached to his memory.. .

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  Terry

  Ray Franz had mastered the style that Watchtower readers can read and not step on broken glass.
  Whereas, straight-ahead polemic chases them away instantly.
  The GB got rid of his concordance work as fast as they could as though it were a tuna sandwich
  under the mattress.
  I have TRIED and failed to read recent Watchtower 'literature' because the writing is grotesque.
• 

  THE MYSTERIOUS BOX - a very short horror story entirely without the Supernatural!

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the mysterious box.

  jobs disappeared.

  banks closed.

• 

  Terry

  THE MYSTERIOUS BOX
  
  

  Jobs disappeared. Banks closed. Long lines formed in the streets. People called them "bread lines".

  Hungry families woke early (if they slept at all) and stood in line all day to snatch a charitable loaf of bread to feed themselves…temporarily.

  ________

  In a cabin in the Appalachian mountains, there dwelt a family of four:
  two children (a boy and a girl), a mom, and a dad (he’d lost his job at the sawmill, the mom lost hers at the department store in the nearby city).

  Everywhere things looked really bleak.
  Tragically, their children were afraid they'd starve.
  
  

  "Mommy," said the little boy, "are we going to die?"

  "No, no, no" the mother reassured him, "let me show you something."
  His mother forced a smile, took her son's hand, and walked the boy and his young sister over to the pantry. . . opening the door majestically with joy and hope brilliantly beaming from her face.

  She found the stool and stepped up . . . stretching to reach a colorful box on the top shelf of the pantry . . .

  As her children watched expectantly, their mother grasped the mysterious box; taking it down, and turning it around wide-eyed --as though she were holding a Christmas present.

  The children’s joy and excitement lit that dark moment, not unlike a great burst of sunlight that might bathe a room as a curtain is pulled back revealing a hopeful morning ahead.

  Eagerly they followed her back into the kitchen area where she placed the heavy polished wooden display box on the table and slowly opened its lid.

  Inside the box revealed all sorts of brightly colored fruit! Oranges, bananas, grapes, cherries, and a huge pineapple!!

  "You see that my little Darlings?" The mother’s voice overflowed with music.

  The children nodded silently with wonder brimming over in their eyes.

  "As long as we have this we are never going to starve to death!"
  
  

  The brother and his little sister relaxed and smiled ecstatically.

  "Can we have a cherry right now?" Her son pleaded.

  "Oh, sweetheart, this is for later. Much later--only for emergencies. You know - in case things should ever get really really bad."
  
  Straightaway the mother distracted them by mentioning their favorite Bible storybook, quickly offering to read to them even though bedtime was hours away.
  
  

  As brutal weeks crawled by, their father hunted in the woods for squirrels, rabbits, or even less appetizing possibilities. Slowly, perceptibly … the children began to lose weight.

  The once over-active kids became listless . . . played very little . . . gradually turned hollow of eye and pale.

  Their parents listened with hearts breaking - to the plaintive whimpering in the bed at night with their little bellies growling like distant thunder.

  Sometimes it was unbearable. Often, in fact.
  
  

  When hope itself seemed cruel, mother heaved a great sigh and lit a candle to fetch the wondrous box from the pantry shelf placing it on the bed in front of the starving children for them to behold. She’d read to them her favorite scripture from the family Bible.

  "Mommy! Please, please....cacan't we have just a taste of.....one....just one grape?"

  But, mother solemnly, sternly shook her head from side to side with great sadness and tell them what she always told them.

  "When things get really bad and we’re all running out of any hope at all - if our happy hearts should become ungrateful and we stop believing even a little that our Lord and Saviour would allow innocent children to die hungry - well - THAT is when we’ll eat this fruit and no sooner."
  Straightaway one and all would go to their knees beside the bed and place prayerful hands together and the father would lead them in a grateful, hopeful prayer that lasted, and lasted until the children passed out exhausted and slept curled on the rug.

  That winter was hard.
  Mountainous snow drifted into great heaps that prevented much hunting at all. The game animals seemed to vanish from the Earth itself. Grass, roots, and plants dug out from under snow became a meal of bitter soup.

  The night would arrive with ferocious winds buffeting the cabin’s log walls, freezing and overcast with frequent flashing bolts of hostile lightning snarling like beasts outside their front door.
  But then…finally…inevitably …

  Spring came!

  The thaw brought a new season and the forest came alive - replenished like a great basket heaped with golden bounty. The sound of hunters shooting game replaced the dark thunder of that awful winter now passed.

  The Hunters arrived at the cabin, curious to see how the family of four had weathered the winter.

  The men knocked on the door. Loud. Louder. Then shouted to wake the late sleepers.

  Knowing people lived inside, they grew worried.

  Opening the door they called out, "Anybody home?"
  
  

  It was dark inside and there was a rancid, truly overwhelming smell that chilled the hearts of the men.

  Gradually, their eyes adjusted to the darkness.

  They found them. All dead in one large bed.

  Holding each other-- the little brother and sister; the Mom and Dad.
  
  

  Gaunt and wispy they were-- like the limbs of a leafless tree. Gruesomely tragic.
  The hunters noticed a dining table beside the bed had been pulled close.
  It was as if it were a thing to be observed - not a dining table - but a display table with a mysterious box.

  How curious! A colorful box rested in the center. The lid stood open.
  Across from the bodies whose heads were turned - as if - worshipfully toward what they beheld.

  The hunters stood quietly, their minds turning over the spectacle - so tragically senseless. What could this mean?
  
  

  Inside that box was a colorful display of fruit - like you sometimes see in the large department stores back East. Several pieces had been gnawed. Bits missing.
  
  

  A brass plate is engraved at the bottom. There were 7 words:
  "It looks just like the real thing!"

  At the bottom of the display card in small letters, it read: WAX FRUIT
  And large words beneath:

  Caution: DO NOT ingest, display only

  (poisonous.)
  
  Next to the bed, a large, heavy book lay open...perhaps a storybook.
  One last reading for the children perhaps?
  A passage was underlined many times.
  One of the hunters read it out loud.
  
  “...is the assured expectation of what is hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities that are not seen.”
  
  One of the other hunters spoke out, “What does that mean?”
  
  The man holding the heavy book shook his head with a puzzled expression,
  “I don’t know, somebody tore out a hole in front of the sentence.”
  
  The missing piece was found clutched in the mother’s hand.
  It was just one small word.
  
  It read “Faith …”
  
  They blew the dust from the cover.
  
  It read, HOLY BIBLE.
  
  At the funeral service in the nearest town, the Minister completed his sermon
  And the congregation bowed their heads for the prayer. There was no prayer.
  The cleric seemed overtaken by some internal eruption of grief. He spoke only 7 words, then turned and left the congregation wondering …
  
  “What did he say? I couldn’t hear him?” One of the older congregants asked aloud.
  Someone from the front pew answered her.
  “He said: Man does not live by bread alone.”
  
  
  

  ______________________
  
• 
  13

  Are Jehovah’s Witnesses softening their view of Faders?

  by Darkknight757 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so my in-laws actually went out to dinner with us today.

  normally, since leaving in 2016, they wouldn’t eat with us or talk much to me.

  (since i did convince their daughter to leave the cult).

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  Terry

  Elsewhere (other than the U.S.) Watchtower treatment of DF'd persons (especially under age) has backfired on the Org.
  This seems to my way of reasoning to be the heuristic behind an apparent softening (for public relations purposes.)
  The leopard can't change its spots.
  
  (Norwegian officials apparently acted against the Witnesses because they are troubled by the group’s practice of disfellowshipping; i.e., severing contact with people who leave the church.)
  
  https://avoidjw.org/world-news/jehovahs-witnesses-face-trial-hate-crimes-february-2021/
  
  https://abcnews.go.com/International/russias-mysterious-campaign-jehovahs-witnesses/story?id=78629389
  
  https://www.au.org/the-latest/church-and-state/articles/jehovahs-witnesses-lose-tax-funding-in-norway/
• 
  36

  My personal thoughts on Ray Franz

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the death of ray franz hit me harder than i would have thought.. i had to reflect for awhile....alone......and quietly.. .

  after all, fine people die every day and some of them are indispensable, yet, we go on....don't we?.

  but, ray franz was something that can only be described in the phrase sui generis (one of a kind).. my task was to ask myself what it was that made ray so singular, potent and admirable without a trace of scandal or ill will attached to his memory.. .

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  Terry

  IMHO Ray Franz was not an "Apostate" for the simple reason he didn't have the anger and ego or eagerness
  to push himself forward into a "reform movement" with himself at the forefront.
  It is just my opinion - but- I think Ray Franz COULD HAVE begun a REFORM movement. But you can't
  build on a bad foundation and he knew that. His ambition for notoriety was zero.
  
  Comparing Fred Franz (the "oracle") with Ray Franz (humble servant) is all you need to do to capture the essence
  of what went down at JW headquarters. Fred Franz was MENTAL. Ray was clear-thinking. Ghastly nonsense from Fred swept like a tornado over ordinary people's lives wrecking their prospects of having an existence without self-induced trauma. Some of us have had mentally disaffected people in our own family and we know what happens if they are an authority with power over others. Ray was tolerant in forbearance. That is a word nobody uses anymore. Look it up and there should be a picture of Ray next to it :)
  
  Modern Day Jehovah's Witnesses have (take a deep breath) NEVER HEARD of Ray Franz for a good reason. (Good in the worst possible ironic sense). The Governing Body is hyper-aware of what a few words of Ray's illumination could do to their castle in the clouds.
  
  Psychiatrically, people do things for all sorts of personal reasons but put a public face of benevolence on it all and that is belied by consequences...eventually. Fred Franz invented chronology nonsense, polished turd heaps of fallible scenarios leading to FALSE DATES, and never paid for his crimes. The JW organization REWARDED his failures by making him PRESIDENT even after the disaster of 1975. Stop and think about that!
  The Watchtower corporations are evil empire comic book style insanity and their Herculean efforts at covering their collective ass by cracking down on historical proof they are WRONG is openly apparent (if you dare take a look at Ray Franz's words).
  Ray Franz pulled back that Wizard of Oz curtain and the flim-flam took our breath away.
  Ray's spark started a cleansing fire and the push-back of GB authoritarianism has grown more ferocious and insane over the last forty years.
  I'm glad we are talking about Ray once more. A whistleblower is a kind of martyr and if you look that word up in your dictionary, the root means (ironically) "witness". Jehovah's Witnesses have never been eyewitnesses to a Governing Body meeting but Ray was. He is a true Jehovah's (martyr).
  
  

  for·bear·ance

  /fôrˈberəns,fərˈberəns/

  Learn to pronounce

  noun

  1. patient self-control; restraint and tolerance.
• 
  20

  WATCHTOWER's RTO (Remote translation offices) like this one are million dollar luxury locations

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  more than 60 percent of our full-time translation teams work, not at branch offices, but at remote translation offices (rto).

  why is this arrangement beneficial?

  what equipment do translators need in order to work effectively at an rto?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  I'd really like to know if GB each has his own getaway location or if it really is just for the purpose of
  real estate investment schema.