satori001

When Vic heard what he thought was God's voice, it probably sounded like "cha-ching." (a cash register)

OE, do you think people changed their politics in TWI and now deny it?

Anybody besides me think Groucho is being a little snide here?Anyway, TWI did promote the GOP, there's no doubt, but what was VP's motivation? Part of it might be that Republicans are the "macho" party, for better or worse, the paternal party. Democrats are the sensitive, maternal party, broadly speaking (no pun intended). Vic was a manly man, a tough hombre, a "man 'o God." This behavior was proably compensating for a small... opinion of himself. But there must be more to it. Money! Republicans tend to support fundies, and their tax-exempt status, far more than the Dems, who would probably tax churches if they could. Hell, there's nothing they wouldn't tax (as the party of envy). I know that TWI management was worried and fearful about their tax-exempt status. They didn't want believer bucks going to the government. The left has always challenged religion's claim to the title of "your brother's keeper." So Groucho, if you want to continue the discussion without inviting the rebuke of your moral betters, let's keep it to TWI's politics without your opportunistic shots at conservatives, and I suggest (in addition to the poll of experiences), inquire what self-serving motives VP may have had for leaning right, and more significantly, persuading Wayfers to lean right together.

VPW never expressed "radical right wing" views openly. There were books which suggested he was a closet Nazi, "The Myth of the Six Million," "The 13th Tribe," or maybe he was just trolling for anti-semitism to see what might catch on. Every cult needs an "adversary." Regarding the supposedly popular right-wing pastime of antisemitism (the USSR, not a "right wing" nation if I recall, was a major purveyor of anti-semitism, but... whatever!), as far as I could see, VP was always ambivalent about Jews. Didn't trust them as a group, liked (some of) them as individuals. Maybe he thought they could be rehabilitated. :)--> But the other right-wing stuff wasn't so present that I recall, whatever it is. Groucho probably considers limited government, secure national borders, Constitutional courts, a strong national defense and low taxes to be radical, right-wing agendas, if experience is any teacher, so the background of his question needs to be interpreted as hatching from his own off-the-deep-end, left-wing viewpoint. As for me, TWI didn't affect my politics in the least. I was somewhat disappointed that the ministry's apparent "conservatism" was primarily "values-based," rather than philosophical. Values can be anything you feel is right, without much thought about the matter. If I said "flag burning," some people would say it was treasonous, some unpatriotic, some would have no opinion, some would call it a vigorous expression of free speech. Most responses would be based upon "values," with little reflection invested to determine their "value." Mostly, they amount to our core opinions, the ones we believe are a part of who we are. We rarely remember when or why we adopted them. TWI instilled values without the requisite, philosophical underpinnings. Of course, it was all supposedly "biblical," and philosophy was roundly and soundly condemned as "worldly wisdom." VPW had read anything worth reading, and we didn't need to worry our little heads about it. He would show us the way. As a result, TWI's politics were a house built upon the sand of "values," rather than upon the bedrock of understanding. And as a result of that, Groucho returneth to the left, as a dog... well, you know.

A good laugh.

Same theme, new question. What about having an "anonymous" login, where posters would not need to provide info or wait for approval? Obviously safeguards would be needed to prevent spamming. Maybe limit anonymous posts from a given IP address to 3 or 5 or 10 - something reasonable. Restrictions might also be needed. Greater control over the use of names, for instance. That way, someone who doesn't own a computer but has 5 minutes to get on can post a note of interest. Just a thought.

Same theme - follow up question: How does a Way Corps person cover his or her tracks on the computer used to view Greasespot? One suggestion is to use a utility like Window Washer, made by Webroot for about $30. Lacking the funds, or access to install new software, what else might they do? This is asked in the likelihood that Corps may be visiting Greasespot using computers at work, at TWI, etc.

This is a technical question, really. Many Corps lurk at Greasespot, and they may know little about the internet, having been kept behind the times by TWI. They may have a few misconceptions, engendered by "leadership" to scare them off. 1. If a Corps person should lurk at Greasespot, can their location or identity be determined by anyone who might report them to TWI? 2. If a Corp pesron should POST at Greasespot, can their location etc, be reported, etc. to the thugs at Wayworld? Enquiring Corps want to be reassured. Anybody with a reasonable gift for explaining this stuff to our Corps web-novice guests, please have a go.

Oh man, Oakspear, come on. You haven't gone over to the dark side too, have you?

Galen, delete the Padme part of your post, please. It's a spoiler. I was purposely VAGUE. If there's a spoiler thread on the Movies section, someone will answer that question for you, but it's pretty straightforward.

Parenting classes? Like, requiring a driver's license, or a dog license? The ACLU be comin' after you. Seriously, it presents a whole long list of problems. Proper parenting has many competing doctrines. There are still people who say "spare the rod and spoil the child." I do think there could be parenting "information sessions" offered, where information might be dispensed in as neutral a manner as possible. But most of that information is available now, and the ones who need it most are the least likely to want it. I WOULD make it a requirement for receiving welfare. If you want the public to raise your kid, then the public gets to have a say in how you do it. Just my opinion.

Each incident is unique. When you have emotionally disturbed adults in charge of their young children, the adults can't deal with stress appropriately. They revert to a child's coping strategies, or even an animal's. The current welfare system has made child-rearing a cottage industry for emotionally disturbed or immature girls. The gods of compassion, left wing politicians, don't care about the results, only the appearance of doing something, so the problems persist. For every murder, there are hundreds or thousands of cases where severe physical abuse takes place, and there must be millions of cases where excessive and/or persistent (if not severe) abuse is used to control children. There isn't a parent alive who hasn't gotten mad at their kids. Healthy parents learn to express their feelings without lashing out. They express their love through their anger, but with all necessary restraint. Unhealthy parents often just hurt their kids. Most adults who do horrible things were children to whom horrible things were done. It doesn't excuse anything, adults can overrule their feelings and take the appropriate action, whether or not they feel like it, but it should motivate us to find a way to break the cycle as effectively as we can.

These are not "spoilers" because they give nothing important away, but they do discuss the movie elements that I've heard discussed in reviews, etc... Annakin's transformation was not too believable. There was nothing subtle about his pride and ambition, and his tantrum over becoming a "master" was childish for an 8-year old. You'd think a 20-something product of the samurai-like Jedi training, especially one so accomplished, would be a little less of a... big baby. When Windu and Palpatine have their tiff, it looks like Windu is smiling inappropriately, at one "point." The DVD will show more, if it isn't edited out. Dooku was surprisingly cooperative at his exit, knowing what he knew. Yoda was impressive in his big scenes, but then he couldn't resist looking pretty for the camera, after easily kicking some low-level, bad-guy butt. It was Lucas winking at the audience, but out of character for the venerable, warrior munchkin. Stoic resignation would have worked better than "Woo hoo, I rule, dude!" Toward the end of the movie, the camera looks down not once but twice at Padme's belly. "Those crafty Jedi!" What? We SAID, "Those crafty Jedi!" Ohhhhh. Duh. Lucas couldn't resist a little political comment in a couple of places. "If only we could go back to diplomacy, and give it a chance to work." - Padme "Whoever isn't with me is my enemy." - Darth V. I don't care when he wrote it, scripts get things called "re-writes."

Man, I wish that were true. It would make a good movie though.

So how does praying for these dirtbags actually help? Does God say, "I'd really like to help a poor family in need, but Biblefan Dave is praying for this rich, miserable, grasping, self-aggrandizing hypocrite over at TWI, so now I have to waste a perfectly good blessing on that old bag. Gimme a break, Dave. Sometimes it sucks to be Me." Maybe praying for Rosalie isn't as important as praying for something important.

I will insist on knowing how I died.

The word "bitterness" is just one more way of TWI's loyalist ex-patriots passing judgement on its accusers and victims, as TWI itself has always done, and always must. nervecurve's own personal bitterness expresses itself by projecting upon Greasespot... "How dare they sully the name of my beloved Focker in the Word, and his wonderful life and gifts?" Yes, keeds, Greasespot is a bitter reminder to TWI/Wierwille lovers that the truth is not in them. Those folks will probably never change. Their hearts are seared with a hot iron, or at least stained, shamefully, shamelessly, like VP Wierwille's adulterous bedsheets, and they can never accept the truth about their glorious spiritual Fuhrer. They do not distinguish between their belief in God and the beliefs taught by Wierwille, and therefore cannot reconcile the idealized fantasy with the real man. The truth is a bitter pill for nervecurve, and oldiesman, and a few others, but the bitterness of the truth is within them, not Greasespot. They will from time to time try to rinse that bitterness from their own mouths by passing it along to Greasespot. Don't accept it. It's theirs upon which to choke, theirs to swallow.

Wierwille is part of the dirty bathwater. Keep the "baby," if that's how you view what you learned, but don't confuse the new baby with an old, self-serving, lecherous fraud of a false prophet. If he were alive today, he'd be walking around the grounds with his bathrobe open, just as he so often did on TWI's official boom-boom bus whenever he could lure some attractive female aboard. At his core, the great pretender was a greasy predator.

sharon, I will remember. Your point is well taken.

Ron, leftist genocide is "progressive," part of the noble experiment. Mass murder of an ethnic group is only objectionable when committed by Fascist types. This is why so many American and European leftists who visited Stalin's Russia returned saying nothing of the unspeakable horrors there, even though they were often well aware. It was just a necessary evil, in his case. We would have to ask the Jews who support the various Nazi Holocaust remembrances why Czarist & Soviet Russia both are given a virtual pass. People might dismiss 19th century barbarism as irrelevant today, but who's afraid of Joseph Stalin's ghost do you suppose? Maybe it's pragmatic. Hitler makes a better poster boy because it's hard to find anyone but a social misfit who believes in his ideology, whereas there are communist sympathizers everywhere, from campuses to newsrooms to the Democratic party and of course Hollywood. (Now is that red-baiting, or just the truth?) Pretty frightening, when you think about it. Apparently normal people can be so selectively blind. We get a lot more upset about some serial killer like BTK, it seems, than the many contemporary genocides. Weird. When it happens in Africa, I think a lot of people see it as breaking even - less mouths to feed in a poor part of the world. Their lives count for nothing. I believe this is the Vatican view.

There is genocide going on right now, by warfare, pestilence, and starvation. There are groups (religious and political), and nations, planning now to commit genocide, and many others would begin immediately, or resume immediately, if they were not prevented by force or the threat of force. I wonder if some Jews, given the means and opportunity, and emboldened by God's own commandments (it's not the "old" testament to them), wouldn't be among those groups. Especially among those ultra-orthodox crazies living in some of the Israeli communes, called kibbutz's. The truth is, every faith, creed, or political persuasion which objectifies individuals as the rightful property of their God or their movement is capable of genocide. The lowlier the individual appears in their cosmology, the more expendable he or she is. Once the Jews were out of the way, Hitler was coming for the communists, then probably the Christians & Muslims, and on down the line until nobody was left but Adolf and Eva, and maybe a few German Shepherds -- First They Came for the Jews First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me. Pastor Martin Niem?r -- The Nazi "animus" (or animating force) was not inherently Nazi. Mein Kampf, and the rest of their nonsense, were just window dressing. The communists have killed hundreds of millions. And Stalin, who murdered millions by forced starvation (talk about evil) was our ally against Hitler. Ironic, huh? The Catholic Church wants to see how many it can kill with primitive and backward doctrines on health, in particular, AIDS prevention. Genocide is alive and well. We would be misguided to call it a "Nazi" phenomenon. It's a cult phenomenon, or that of a certain kind of cult. One that has all the answers and believes that only other people stand between them and their "magnificent obsession." One that believes that human life has no inherent value, other than that reclaimed by a redemptive power, which is released solely by obedience to their perfect and exclusive ideology. Say amen.

Wise as serpents, harmless as doves. In this context, "wisdom" translates into awareness. (Yeah, it's my own damn opinion.) "Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good." "Trust but verify." - Reagan johniam, it seems your example demonstrates the opposite point, that things worked out well because the cop had a finely-tuned BS detector. His professional skills have probably revealed a fair number of liars too. Maybe that's why the magistrate went with his opinion.

Yes, PMosh's unauthorized biography. Had to hit a nerve. I thought it was funny.

laleo, Kirkus, huh? Couldn't borrow the Cliff's Notes off somebody? Funny post.

You people should be reading up on statement analysis. Get to work.