TerryWalstrom

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Posts by TerryWalstrom

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  7

  75 years ago Tomorrow

  by snugglebunny in

  1. social
  2. current

  fantastic!

  but why being shown in 4k for only 1 day?.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btnda1azf2c.

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  TerryWalstrom

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBQ-vW6rz_Y
• 
  51

  The political left, perfectly captured in one short video exchange

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  this perfectly encapsulates the behaviour and opinions of the left and dave rubin nails it - "you're not oppressed, you're entitled".. lots of of shouting and claims of being denied rights to speak but nothing really to say when given a mic, just endless shouting and baseless confused claims about 'free speech'.

  hey, some blm bitches try and get in on it too because, why not.. constant "i have a question, i have a question ..." as though she isn't allowed to ask it when the reality is she really has nothing to say, she just wants to stop other people being able to talk.

  what a stupid cunt.. sadly, the left is indoctrinating a generation to think that *this* is what political discourse and "taking a stand" is.

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  TerryWalstrom

  The Watchtower would not currently exist if Free Speech were practiced inside the organization.
  The ignorance of the 'faithful' members must be preserved.
  The 'innocent' mindset is the last stand for the GB.
  The surefire method is PREEMPTIVE DISRUPTION of those who wish to ask the 'wrong' questions or point out failures and missteps--and especially sincere Elders who seek clarification of changes and policies.
  
  THE LEFT declares all-out war and destruction against critics, seeking to stop them dead in their tracks and to slime their reputation.
  
  The insidious effect on young people in college has been to poison the very concept of what Free Speech is or why it is essential to the preservation of a free society.
  
  Within my lifetime, I've seen the Democrat Part as champions of freedom for dissidents, critics, and outcasts. Yet, this has unraveled.
  There is the Extreme Left, the Social Justice Warriors, the Progressives who have infiltrated the Democrat wing to the point where a "moderate" Democrat is seen as Right-Wing!
  Corporate money has eaten the last gulp of integrity (such as it existed).
  There is little policy difference between the Left and the Right--and that is astounding to say out loud.
  They BOTH favor foreign wars!
  The fraudulent practices of the Democrat Party in sabotaging Bernie Sanders didn't make a blip on anybody's radar for very long.
  Hillary bought and controlled the Democratic party; her people ran it; it was a "by any means necessary" policy in effect.
  The result was this: DONALD TRUMP was elected--a man without a shred of character, experience, or veracity.
  The silly "Russians colluded with Trump" cover story is merely a diversion from anybody taking responsibility for the Trump Presidency by virtue of the fact just enough American voters would rather have a buffoon in office than stomach an obviously compromised and unethical woman with an endless record of getting away with nasty malfeasance in her bubble of manufactured virtue. (i.e. endless list of excuses.)
• 
  34

  What really happened around 1918 when WT leaders were imprisoned?

  by dubstepped in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i had never thought about this until just now when i saw that nathan natas posted some early tract from rutherford, and it made me think back to what little i could remember of the history i was taught.

  i now know that in most cases the dubs will spin stories in their favor.

  so i'm now assuming i was told some fictitious story about what happened when the leaders were thrown in prison and things looked bleak for the cult way back when.

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  TerryWalstrom

  One of the cornerstones of the Watchtower Society's claims about the 1918 trial of Joseph F. Rutherford and seven other co-defendants, is that the trial was a travesty of justice, where the defendants were railroaded off to prison.

  To make their point, the Society has repeatedly stated that Joseph Rutherford and his fellow defendants were "Exonerated" of all charges, and subsequently released from prison fully vindicated. The Society also attributed this 'victory' to Jehovah's hand in matters, restoring the symbolic 'Two Witnesses' spoken of in Revelation, and thereby, reactivating the Kingdom preaching work.

  What actually transpired is that the convicted defendants filed a Petition for a "Writ of Error." (Trial Transcript, pages 1-10, parts 1-30 ) The Writ of Error was allowed by the trial Court, Judge Howe, and granted by the District Court Judge Chatfield, whom the Society earlier objected to and had removed from their trial, because they felt he would not be fair to them.

  What does this mean? During the course of any trial, the defense attorney will take exceptions and objections and note any errors in procedure and practices customary to common law. If the defendants lose and are convicted, the defense attorney can use these 'errors' as a basis for appeal.

  Judge Howe, who presided over the trial of Joseph Rutherford and his co-defendants, was very generous to note defense objections and exceptions, and openly stated in Court several times that he would act to preserve the rights of the defendants, and acknowledged that they could make appeals.

  What then is a Writ of Error and how is it processed? "WRIT OF ERROR, practice. A writ issued out of a court of competent jurisdiction, directed to the judge of a court of record in which final judgment has been given, and commanding them, in some cases, themselves to examine the record; in others to send it to another court of appellate jurisdiction, therein named, to be examined in order that some alleged error in the proceeding may be corrected."

  That is it! In this case, the Writ of Error was granted, and the case remanded back to the United States Attorney as is customary. The prosecuting Attorney then decides whether he wants to re-try the case, correcting errors or let it drop. Such 'errors' do not mean that the defendants are suddenly 'not guilty' or in any way 'exonerated,' but rather that if the case were tried, less the errors, it might possibly have a different result.

  What essentially happened is that the US Attorney decided not to pursue the case, and as a result, in accordance with the Writ of Error, the Defendants were released, and the original charges were not refiled. Double jeopardy does not apply, because this goes to the matter of how the first trial made errors. If they would have had a new trial, that trial would then be treated as the 'correct' trial, and the original trial would be treated as a mistrial.

  Were the errors significant, possibly suggesting that the Defendants did not get a fair trial? So far, from reading much of this 1500 page transcript, I have found nothing that jumps out as outrageous or even unfair to the defense. Most all the objections and exceptions taken by the defense were minor.

  "While I do not have conclusive information as to why the US Attorney backed off and did not pursue a new trial, it appears that after WWI, the nation settled down, and going through this issue again may have seemed pointless to the Government."
  (Amazing-post on JWD https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/28327/j-f-rutherford-exonerated)

  There you have it ... Joseph Rutherford and company were NOT exonerated, but simply let off of the hook because of procedural errors
• 
  34

  What really happened around 1918 when WT leaders were imprisoned?

  by dubstepped in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i had never thought about this until just now when i saw that nathan natas posted some early tract from rutherford, and it made me think back to what little i could remember of the history i was taught.

  i now know that in most cases the dubs will spin stories in their favor.

  so i'm now assuming i was told some fictitious story about what happened when the leaders were thrown in prison and things looked bleak for the cult way back when.

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  TerryWalstrom

  Below I've assembled various items pertaining to the OP questions.
  I've excerpted too from my own book, I WEPT BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON (A Prisoner of Conscience in a Time of War)
  ___________
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  __________________________________________
  
  _______________________http://ed5015.tripod.com/JwFinishedMystery85.htm____________
  
  
  
  New York Times, May 9, 1918
  
  ______________________________
  
  
  _____________________
  WHAT WAS STATED INSIDE THE BOOK, THE FINISHED MYSTERY?
  People who display patriotism are delusional murderers acting in the very spirit of the devil. Patriotism is narrow-minded hatred of other people.

  1. Prince Bulow, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannermann, Mr. H. H. Asquith, Mr. John Jay and Mr. Elihu Root were peace-loving statesmen under a sky filled with clouds of war.

  2. While 10,000 children in Tokyo were singing loving greetings to our naval officers, the US was gearing up for a war with the Japanese.

  3. The naval experts of Russia are planning a billion-dollar navy even though millions of its people are on the verge of starvation.

  4. The first expenditure of the United States government in the world war (WWI) was $7 Billion, which is 27% in excess of the value of all the crops harvested in the US.

  5. The Germans denounce war, with the exception of the present conflict with England. England condemns war, but excludes from their indictment the present fight against the central empires.

  6. This war (WWI) is the natural product of our unchristian civilization. Its soldiers are grown from greed, imperialistic ambition, and dynastic pride. Our participation in this war is unethical.

  
  
  
  _______________________________________________
  
  
  
  
  Below is another good source. It tells how Rutherford requested the brothers to remove pages of the Seditious book to be torn out as an attempt to avoid jail time.

  http://ex-jw.com/why-judge-rutherford-went-to-prison
  (Paul Johnson)
  
  
• 
  7

  A Story: "When Things Get Really Bad"

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  during the great depression in the 1930's people lost their jobs.banks closed, and long lines formed in the streets called "bread lines".people got up early and had to stand in line all day to get a free loaf of bread to feed their family!caution: do not read this story if you have empathy or compassion________ "when things get really bad".

  in a cabin in the appalachian mountains, there was a family of four: two children (a boy and a girl), a mom and a dad (who had lost his job at the local sawmill).. things looked really bleak.

  the children were afraid they'd starve to death.. "mommy," said the little boy, "are we going to die?".

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  TerryWalstrom

  For those who are interested in the writing process here's something to glance at: the link above the other story was written first several years ago. It isn't much of a "story" but contains the core of what was urging me to write at the time. So, as such, it is merely a sketch.
  Yesterday, I took that idea and polished it just a little--rounding it off. A beginning, a middle and--at last, a kind of open-ended conclusion.
  
  The difference between those two versions is a pretty good example of the process...at least for me.
• 
  3

  In the Dying Light

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in the dying light.

  i smell the woodsmoke only in memory now and the laughter of my little molly in the dying light.

  such days have long gone when the cabin we built nestled cozily under the overhang of many branches.. hewn timbers snugged their fellows with dark mud plugging the ragged gaps and today still hold molly's tiny fingerprints.

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  TerryWalstrom

  Thanks.
  My father's side of the family came from the northernmost tip of Finland.
  Dad told me he had lost a sister when she was still small. The traces told the story although nobody saw anything happen.
  My dad's father told of lightning bugs blinking off in the dark forest. But they weren't insects--they were the eyes of a pack of wolves.
  
  That must have been stewing about in my brainpan for some time.
• 
  3

  In the Dying Light

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in the dying light.

  i smell the woodsmoke only in memory now and the laughter of my little molly in the dying light.

  such days have long gone when the cabin we built nestled cozily under the overhang of many branches.. hewn timbers snugged their fellows with dark mud plugging the ragged gaps and today still hold molly's tiny fingerprints.

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  TerryWalstrom

  In the Dying Light

  
  

  _________

  I smell the woodsmoke only in memory now and the laughter of my little Molly in the dying light. Such days have long gone when the cabin we built nestled cozily under the overhang of many branches.

  Hewn timbers snugged their fellows with dark mud plugging the ragged gaps and today still hold Molly's tiny fingerprints. She tossed her head back and giggled and such a stab of joy struck my heart! Side by side we built our world, forsaking sad remembrances as each day arrived and departed and memories of her mother became the echo of shadows.

  Many dawns and twilight curtain-falls have now passed from somewhere north of nowhere.
  That particular winter came much too early, catching us unaware.

  I smiled and touched the angel of my deepest love whose upturned face was all the heaven any man could believe. At the first chill of the North wind, I sent her inside. The scent of winter is unmistakable. What must be done carries much urgency.
  We’d need lots of wood when the approaching storm arrived.
  
  

  Trudging toward the timber I set off; as the first lazy snowflakes tossed and curled in mad cascades, scarcely whispering a hint of the deadly thunderhead beyond those hills.

  The heft of my heavy ax bit deep and tore the fleshy bark. “Hack-hack-thump” in the bitter whoosh of vanishing daylight.
  “There’s still time,” I told myself. “There’s plenty of time”.

  ___

  All afternoon I sang and hummed the silly serenade little Molly learned when she was three. Her mother’s tune--a trace of that other world--another time now passed. Bitter cold and hard work coaxed her remembrance and the lilt of her gracious voice came unbidden to my mind.

  I timed the bite of my swinging ax to the downbeat that song.

  Whoom! Toppled timber fell.

  And branches--Whoom!

  And snowfall--Whoom!

  ___

  Roped and cinched, I secured the firewood to my sled, tight and tighter, and turned to catch a fragrant smell: freshly baked bread quickening my pace. The plodding boot prints outlined in the nightfall's whiteness.

  Crunching echoes swarmed between snowflakes. I rounded whitened paths and turned toward my Molly’s welcomed window light.
  But there and then I stopped-- too sudden to breathe or call the name stuck sideways in my throat.

  All stood still--as did my heart. I held my breath at the sight of it--that telltale clue.

  The door wandered on its hinge, flapping slowly like the dying wing of a fallen sparrow.

  Darkness crawled up my spine with its icy claws.

  I squinted at the front porch where something damp had spilled along the floorboards. Reddish brown smeared and streaked a savage trace--stove to door--crimson and appalling to my eyes. Something bleeding had been dragged off and swallowed into a blinding white flurry.

  Suddenly somebody was screaming in my voice as half a mile away another voice and another joined tunefully. Voices not human.

  "A-wooooo," the voices called...

  "A-woooo," the others answered...

  I fell to my knees--all strength gone from my legs. My mind left me--somewhere north of nowhere as the storm plunged into that terrible night like a cold blade. Dear God, it came rioting in to spin and whistle through this empty cabin. Only then my arms let go the firewood--Whoom!

  "A-wooooo"

  "A-wooooo"
  
  This chorus had sung once before. The late September when dear Abigail gathered mushrooms in the thicket beyond the treeline and never came home again. And never will.
  ___

  I smell the woodsmoke only in memory now with the laughter of my little Molly in the dying light of evening. Such days have long gone where our cabin crouched as hewn timbers snugged their fellows, and where dark mud packed the ragged gaps still holding Molly's tiny fingerprints. Somewhere north of nowhere. Nowhere at all. A bitter year has passed. The thick blanket of winter clouds is back to taunt me. There is no need for firewood this time. No need at all. The cast iron stove is lit and the pungent aroma of stew will work its lure. The redness of twilight is fading and a half dozen yellow eyes blink out beyond the timberline. The door is ajar and my back is turned toward the entrance. Only enough room for one visitor at a time.
  There's just enough room to swing an ax.
  
  In the dying light.

  ___

  By Terry Edwin Walstrom
• 
  7

  A Story: "When Things Get Really Bad"

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  during the great depression in the 1930's people lost their jobs.banks closed, and long lines formed in the streets called "bread lines".people got up early and had to stand in line all day to get a free loaf of bread to feed their family!caution: do not read this story if you have empathy or compassion________ "when things get really bad".

  in a cabin in the appalachian mountains, there was a family of four: two children (a boy and a girl), a mom and a dad (who had lost his job at the local sawmill).. things looked really bleak.

  the children were afraid they'd starve to death.. "mommy," said the little boy, "are we going to die?".

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  TerryWalstrom

  I have been told by several people how cruel and awful it is to write such a story. I can't completely disagree--except--isn't this what writers are supposed to do? Make it real?
  Sometimes an idea comes to me and I can't get it out of my head until I write it.
  That's why I placed the warning at the outset.
  
  I think the other story I wrote with a similar dark theme was:
  LITTLE MOLLY IN THE DYING LIGHT
  I loved writing it :)
  SEE BELOW:
  
  https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5691164646703104/little-molly-dying-light

  
  
  
• 
  9

  The Face of Jesus (in the wood grain of a grandfather clock)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a couple of years past retirement, i moved into a "retirement community" (i.e.

  old folks home) which was convenient like a hotel.. once a week there would be a coffee and doughnuts meet and greet get-together so you would know who your neighbors were.. well .

  .. i went to few and missed a few.

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  TerryWalstrom

  What is interesting is the (apparently) common fixation on possessing artifacts, icons, fetish items of numinous connotation (such as the Holy Grail, or grill cheese sandwich with the Virgin Mary, etc.)
  These things seem (possibly) to instantiate belief itself by a weird form of (non) logic, to wit: the icon is actual therefore the religious object is magical. There are two closely related words: eisegesis and exegesis.
  Eisegesis means you "read into" something a meaning.
  Exegesis means you extract what actual meaning is intended out of it.
  
  Modern Art exemplifies this phenomenon, does it not?
• 
  9

  The Face of Jesus (in the wood grain of a grandfather clock)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a couple of years past retirement, i moved into a "retirement community" (i.e.

  old folks home) which was convenient like a hotel.. once a week there would be a coffee and doughnuts meet and greet get-together so you would know who your neighbors were.. well .

  .. i went to few and missed a few.

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  TerryWalstrom

  The pressure--oh the pressure!
  Who cares if others see what you see? Well, it matters apparently.
  
  I should have sloughed it off. I can see that in retrospect. I could have said something like...
  
  "Hey--it's KENNY LOGGINS!"