TerryWalstrom

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Posts by TerryWalstrom

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  4

  Must We Always See Heroes OR Villains?

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  villains can be heroic.

  recite statistics of only the worst or exclusively the best of any person and a distorted conclusion is easy to reach.. __________.

  "by the end of his term, president ronald reagan's 138 administration officials had been convicted, had been indicted, or had been the subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations.".

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  TerryWalstrom
• 
  4

  Must We Always See Heroes OR Villains?

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  villains can be heroic.

  recite statistics of only the worst or exclusively the best of any person and a distorted conclusion is easy to reach.. __________.

  "by the end of his term, president ronald reagan's 138 administration officials had been convicted, had been indicted, or had been the subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations.".

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  TerryWalstrom

  Perhaps I'm hyper-aware of a concerted effort afoot to renovate public POV about damned near everything.
  It's not up to a referendum, no. It's not up for a vote, no.
  It is a vigilante effort, a posse, a lynch mob.
  Well, good luck with that.
  "Be careful what you wish for...you just might get it."
• 
  4

  Must We Always See Heroes OR Villains?

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  villains can be heroic.

  recite statistics of only the worst or exclusively the best of any person and a distorted conclusion is easy to reach.. __________.

  "by the end of his term, president ronald reagan's 138 administration officials had been convicted, had been indicted, or had been the subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations.".

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  TerryWalstrom

  HEROES can be Villains. Villains can be heroic. The historians have the last word because their slant is our only view very often. Recite statistics of only the worst or exclusively the best of any person and a distorted conclusion is easy to reach.

  __________

  "By the end of his term, President Ronald Reagan's 138 administration officials had been convicted, had been indicted, or had been the subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations."

  He is often cited as one of the best five Presidents.

  
  

  _____________

  Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa, and Nobel Peace Prize Winner was, until 2008, officially considered a terrorist by the United States. During the Cold War, both the State and Defense departments dubbed Mandela’s political party, the African National Congress, a terrorist group, and Mandela’s name remained on the U.S. terrorism watch list till 2008.

  The C.I.A. tipped off government authorities where to locate Nelson Mandela. Mandela was imprisoned in 1964 after being arrested and charged with sabotage, specifically a campaign against the country's power grid, and plotting to overthrow the government.

  __________

  Charles Lindbergh was the first solo flyer to cross the Atlantic in 1927. He was celebrated like no other person of his era. Hero?

  Before you answer, read his words:

  In 1939, he wrote, “We can have peace and security only so long as we band together to preserve that most priceless possession, our inheritance of European blood, only so long as we guard ourselves against attack by foreign armies and dilution by foreign races.”

  P.S. He was big on Adolf Hitler.

  _______

  Benjamin Franklin: Hero and Founding Father? Certainly.

  He was also a pervert! Franklin would stand naked in the windows of his Paris home and expose himself to the women who would pass by. Further, he bragged about his sexual conquests of dozens of old ladies and advised his young fans about the advantages.

  _____

  Albert Einstein gave us theories of Relativity and Gravitation as well as the succinct equation for converting matter into energy E=mc2.

  He was, however, cruel and demanding of his 1st wife, Mileva, writing out for her his list of demands:

  that she always do his laundry and serve him three meals in his room, that she does not expect to travel with him or be seen with him in public unless necessary, that she does not expect an intimate relationship with him, and that she be obedient to him in front of their children--he forced her to abide by if she wished to remain married.

  _____

  Andrew Jackson: War hero, president, the reason why Florida belongs to the US, and the inspiration for today’s Democratic Party, Jackson did his fair share of good things.

  Except...

  This slave-owning president was almost singlehandedly responsible for the American policy of Indian removal, mainly of Native American tribes from the South, resulting in the Trail of Tears and the death of thousands of native peoples.

  ______

  Heroes and Villains can pretty much be summed up by the passage of time, the slant of historians supporting their image or denigrating them in their books.

  
  

  Abraham Lincoln was very much a man of his time. He was self-educated in youth and among the common people. During his presidency, he signed the Emancipation Proclamation, effectively freeing kidnapped African slaves from their captors.

  Does it matter what his personal views were? If it doesn't, he is a hero.

  If it does...read on.

  “I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races, that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality.” – 1858

  People are just people, neither ALL bad nor ALL good.

  Perhaps the real problem is our binary thinking: Either / Or.

  Why not, BOTH?
  
  

  Has RELIGIOUS indoctrinations given us the naive and one-sided binary view

  Of humanity requiring us to accept and praise / reject and damn our fellow human beings who step up as leaders?
  
  People are complicated.
  Do you want to be judge by your worst behavior? Only your best behavior?
  Do you wish to be regarded solely on the basis of the thoughts you have whether you act on them or not?
  If it suits our purpose to frame them one way or the other we tilt the scales this way or that. We easily fool ourselves by self-blindness and polarizing exercises of black and white thinking.

  
  
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  7

  ANECDOTE of the DAY (a Rabbi on God's slaying of humans)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anecdote of the day.

  _________i spoke with a certain rabbi every morning for over a year and a half.we were at a starbucks along with a table filled with all sorts of fellows.

  they were mostly immigrants.

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  TerryWalstrom

  I'm glad I'm not a Rabbi.
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  7

  ANECDOTE of the DAY (a Rabbi on God's slaying of humans)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anecdote of the day.

  _________i spoke with a certain rabbi every morning for over a year and a half.we were at a starbucks along with a table filled with all sorts of fellows.

  they were mostly immigrants.

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  TerryWalstrom

  Eisegesis and Exegesis are perhaps mankind's most under-rated talents. If only we could know which it is we are doing!
  I'm reminded of the potter who smashes the pot and reuses the clay.
  
  I'm not a Rabbi, but I have made up a silly joke.
  
  What happens when you invite a Rabbit to Tea?
  
  
  

  Rabbi + T = Rabbit
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  7

  ANECDOTE of the DAY (a Rabbi on God's slaying of humans)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anecdote of the day.

  _________i spoke with a certain rabbi every morning for over a year and a half.we were at a starbucks along with a table filled with all sorts of fellows.

  they were mostly immigrants.

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  TerryWalstrom

  ANECDOTE of the DAY

  _________
  
  I spoke with a certain Rabbi every morning for over a year and a half.
  We were at a Starbucks along with a table filled with all sorts of fellows. They were mostly immigrants. Interesting people, one and all.

  This Rabbi was a particularly interesting guy.

  Conversations were never about religion. It was usually politics and world events.
  One time, however, the subject of God and His penchant for slaying people was passed around. Each person had an opinion.
  The Rabbi, in a very matter of fact tone, said something which almost made a lot of sense--compared with the other's opinions.

  He told us:
  "When I was a boy, I used to go over to my grandfather's art studio. He was a painter. His work was wonderful. He let me watch as long as I wanted. Sometimes he'd let me ask questions; sometimes he just wanted to work in silence. Anyway, he had a stack of older canvas paintings he had done in the corner. None of them was framed. I watched him pick one of them up and start a new painting right over the surface of the previous one! Since the previous image was quite wonderful to my eyes--I protested."

  "Why are you ruining it--I like it very much?"

  He stopped in mid stroke and turned to look at me with a surprised, unhappy expression on his face. I realized I should have stayed quiet.

  He regarded me for a long, long minute. Then, he took a deep breath and laid his brush down on the easel and walked over to where I stood and crouched down until his eyes were at the same level as mine.

  He looked directly at me and said with a kind voice:

  "Amateur painters keep everything they paint because they imagine what they are doing is always worth saving. Only the creator knows that; only he has the right to decide."
  Now then, when I became a Rabbi, I remembered my grandfather's words and I sometimes think I know what he meant; sometimes not--but, it's useful, I think, to apply those words to God."

  I repeat this story--not because it solves anything--but because from a certain point of view--it gives me a way of seeing a difficult question from a different light.

  Now, you as well.
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  23

  Leah Remini (Scientology expose' series) "May turn attention to Jehovah's Witnesses next"

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4935392/leah-remini-turn-attention-jehovah-s-witnesses.html.

  remini said that she was warned of the jehovah’s witnesses that 'these f----rs are super powerful,' but is not one to cower in fear.. 'are you ready for my response?

  'i don’t give a s--- about powerful.

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  TerryWalstrom

  Watchtower has corporate layering while Scientology is a personal empire. Checks and balances aren't in place for David Miscavige.
  He's a regular Joseph Stalin.
  The Watchtower has made it clear (in so many words) they'd be killing Apostates if the law weren't standing in their way.
  Miscavige is emboldened by having figured out how to defeat the I.R.S. and bureaucracy generally.
  Scientology went after individual employees rather than "the government" and the hundreds of individual lawsuits drove them nuts--they couldn't get anything done for all the court cases.
  
  Feed a wolf and you've got a problem.
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  11

  Spillane, Mickey Spillane--Cool Brother Spillane-naked wife on the cover

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  spillane, mickey spillane.

  he pulled no punches and his pen was as fast as his gun.

  after all, it took almost three whole weeks for mickey to type his first novel.

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  TerryWalstrom

  ***SPOILER ALERT*****

  The basic storyline of I, the Jury is simplicity itself. Manhattan PI Mike Hammer vows to personally execute the murderer of his buddy, ex-cop Jack Williams, who had lost an arm in the Pacific saving Hammer’s life. In his search, he meets a seductive female psychiatrist, a pair of man-hungry twin sisters, a medical student who lives with a racket boss, and other lovables. After wading through the carnage of four more murders he gets to carry out his grim sentence, gut-shooting the psychiatrist and narcotics queenpin Charlotte Manning, watching her die slowly and painfully.
  
  The last two lines of the book are justly famous, or at least infamous.
  Manning: “How c-could you?”
  Hammer: “It was easy.”
  
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  11

  Spillane, Mickey Spillane--Cool Brother Spillane-naked wife on the cover

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  spillane, mickey spillane.

  he pulled no punches and his pen was as fast as his gun.

  after all, it took almost three whole weeks for mickey to type his first novel.

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  TerryWalstrom

  Thanks, all--a fellow on Facebook asked me about Mickey Spillane because he knows I was a JW. I usually write little snippets, anecdotes, or stories about interesting people who have passed through my life. Unfortunately, Spillane and Terry never shared breathing space but I wrote this for the joy of writing and to extract a bit of portraiture for the younger ex-Dubs who almost never hear about the rebel Dubs who did things pretty much their way rather than strictly "by the book."
  

  truth_b_known36 minutes ago37 minutes ago

  This is a well-written article. Thank you for this post. I greatly enjoyed it.
  _______
  THANK YOU--that's why I tried to do right by M.S.
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  11

  Spillane, Mickey Spillane--Cool Brother Spillane-naked wife on the cover

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  spillane, mickey spillane.

  he pulled no punches and his pen was as fast as his gun.

  after all, it took almost three whole weeks for mickey to type his first novel.

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  TerryWalstrom

  Thanks, Sparky 1.
  Mickey probably bit off more than he could chew in marrying a lady he was attracted to who did not share ANY of his interests.
  As far as I know, at a certain point in time (after the movie THE EXORCIST) was released, Kingdom Halls were abuzz with almost nothing else but "demons" and being "demonized."
  My mother, for example!
  So, Mrs. Spillane might have walked into one of "those" situations and a Q & A standing around before or after the meeting could well have spooked her.
  Let me know if you find out anything. It would be nice to put to rest many of rumors without evidence and to nail down those with facts to back them up.