Belle

Does anyone use a mapping software program that they would recommend? I need to plot our locations, the competitor's locations as well as clients, pipelines, etc. with options to show the layers together and individually - various growth stages.... all kinds of fun stuff. I've used Business Map but haven't been all that thrilled with it. Thanks!

HOW FRIGGIN' KEWL!! Neat-O!! I had to Google Dr. Norman Borlaug and - WOW!! VERY IMPRESSIVE!! She must be floating on cloud nine. Congrats, Mama! You done good! :) Thank you for sharing these incredible adventures with us!

HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS!!!

Hi Michael, I know you're not "new" here, but don't recall if you've been properly welcomed, so WELCOME! Besides at least some acknowledgment from John/Bulwinkl, what can I get for you? All I can think of with the cheese story is that some of the WOWs were incredibly poor and underfed while in the program and I can think of quite a few who would have done the same thing. What's the PDSTRO catalog? I'm not all that familiar with the earlier bands and musicians, but I do know that we have lots of them here at the cafe. I'll see if I can find any of those nostalgic threads for you. They are always a lot of fun to read..... would be even moreso for you, I'm sure.

Those ladies can NOT have waists right under their boobs, can they? :blink: There's just so much wrong with those outfits.... Concerning the theme, "Our Power for Abundant Living" - wonder if that's gotten any of the "old timers" (well, there are only "old timers" left, aren't there?) all nostalgic and hoping they do pull vee pee's class back out of the closet and dust it off. Maybe that'll be an announcement at the service, "We are so very blessed to be announcing that Dr. Weirwille's Power for Abundant Living class will be offered again for our beloved faithful disciples. There will be a nominal fee of $300 for the privilege of sitting through this power-filled class after which, you may serve on the class crew....err.... take the class again for free as many times as you want."

WG, have you seen this? What Jabez REALLY Prayed I wonder if you can get a copy through Inter Library Loan if they don't have it at your library. I also have to wonder about anyone who believes God is a worse "father" than our own flesh & blood fathers. :unsure: I mean, even when I screwed up majorly, my daddy was always there to help bail me out. Daddy doesn't require me to jump through hoops before he does something kind and loving for me. He does get hurt or angry or upset when I do some things, but he does not ever seek to discourage, depress or put me in despair.... How the he11 is that loving?? Those teachings make the Pharisees seem more kind and loving than God. Sheesh! Luke 11:11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if [he ask] a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Ephesians 5:26-27 So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. That doesn't say He beats the crap out of her - gives her boils, cancer and other horrible diseases so that she will "wake up and get her $h1t together". John 9:1-7 - remember this is the story of the man born blind - the disciples asked whether he or his parents were responsible for this "punishment"? Jesus said neither.... From one of the www.blueletterbible.com commentaries on this: And remember, too.... Ecc 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race [is] not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. People who are sick have not necessarily done any thing to deserve it. And, who the he11 is this bozo to be teaching otherwise?!?

OUR POWER FOR ABUNDANT LIVING Yes, folks, they have officially gone where we've been saying they were heading..... Meet the new theme ~ same as the old theme This comes from a very reliable source close to HQ.

No, my first question was whether anyone told them how to properly measure where their waist was.... So many of those skirts look like they were placed at extremely improperly high places.... Like old men who put their pants waists at some imaginary spot between their nipples..... And who got the bright idea that jewel tones, wrinkles and BROWN go together?????? That poor lady on the back row has a head three times the size of her body, if you watch the whole video ---- that's NOT normal!! The poor woman. I really feel for her!

Shifra, I have emailed the text to you. I think this might be more than Dan expected and he may not be able to find much more time to devote to this topic. I think that most of Christianity fails to recognize where most of their "traditions" and "rituals" come from.

DING! DING! DING! We have a winner!! It was a typo, precisely as our fellow editor suggested. :) It was a beautiful time, much like a "wake" as y'all shared. I appreciate the wisdom, sharing and time from each of you. Thank you very much!

WG, I just did some Googling on this guy and, guess who one of his nearest and dearest friends is..... Rick Warren of "Forty Days of Purpose" fame. <_< Failed Attempts in Africa More

(((((Raf))))) (((((Diana))))) Raf, praying fervently for you, Diana and the rest of your family.

Good job, Notta! I'm interested in the response to your e-mail. He should be commended for having an e-mail address posted - not even TWI does that. None of the links to the pictures of the books work - they are links to eBay auctions, so I wonder if he's with the Belize group that sells TWI books, or if he just hotlinked to it like he did the "TWI music" clips. Did anyone else see the "When you Believe, You Will Receive" clip? Just when you think the clothing couldn't get any worse!

I noticed that, too. <_< I wonder what his definitions of "fair" and "balanced" are and how long he will be allowed to present those overviews if they are not presented in a pro-TWI light. Thanks, Jim, I was wondering what whois would say who the real "about us" is. Twill be interesting to see how this unfolds.

I wasn't even a twinkle in my daddy's eye at that time, but I do remember reading with fascination about Laika. She was on the Sputnik II, though. I do remember watching 'October Sky' and marvel at how "boring" history was when I was growing up - now I can't get enough of it. Thanks for that link, Waysider! I didn't realize some of those things came from the space program. But, where is TANG?? I don't see Tang on the list?? :P

HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS, SUDO!

(((((RASCAL))))) I just love, Love, LOVE you and your stories!! Yes, Jonny, like anything, we can go overboard with it - After leaving TWI it was real easy to ignore the outside world and spend all my time living like a hermit with the exception of online activity. It's just finding that balance, which, for some is easier than it is for others. I've made some very dear friends online, here at at other websites - I would not trade those friends for the world and, even when I'm not online and even though I no longer participate at some of the websites, I am still in touch with those friends and hope to always be. I am, finally, expanding my world to more and more "real life" activities and friendships now and it's a good thing. :) I will never give up my internet - there's too much value and convenience involved. I can't remember the last time I wrote a check or actually snail mailed something other than a greeting card. I love the internet! Not as much as I love Rascal and the tales from her life, but I do love the internet.

WG, you have to do what's comfortable and pleasing to YOU. I had the very same issues with "The Forty Days of Purpose". It was all performance based religion and it disgusted me - literally, it made me sick to my stomach. I couldn't bear to sit through the classes. After the first couple of times and spending untold hours trying to convince myself that I was still "way-brained" and "projecting" my TWI experience onto those teachings, I finally decided that it doesn't matter whether I am or not - I am not happy, peaceful, "blessed" or otherwise enriched by sitting in that class. Perception is everything, right? Therefore, it was not healthy for me to be there. I had already spoken up about the things that I disagreed with on the teachings at the last "class session" and some of the people agreed with me, but they were going to keep on plowing through - much like we did in TWI, no? Ignoring those red flags - ignoring those alarms, those anxiety-producing statements and situations..... If it doesn't sit right with you, then, by all means, withdraw yourself from the situation. It's good that you've spoken up about it - that's a huge step for those of us coming from the TWI-induced "silence the dissenter" atmosphere. I see absolutely no value in subjecting myself to something that scratches my soul and well-being like fingernails on a chalkboard. If that makes me ignorant, stubborn or otherwise evil, then so be it - it keeps me peaceful and that's all I really care about anymore. I don't give a rip about pleasing a teacher, a pastor, even my family - I have to do what I need to do to keep my spiritual, physical, mental and emotional state in balance. I do still visit that church on occasion, but it is not my only, or even primary, source for spiritual enlightenment, support and community. I seriously doubt that one place ever will be again and I doubt that the scriptures say we should have one place, church, teacher, source, "spiritual home".... whatever you want to call it.

:unsure: Ummmm..... save the singing quartet downtown (unless there was a fair or celebration going on) - yes, my home town was like that growing up - only we had TWO radio stations - 1) Country 2) Western. (Actually, one was Top 40's, the other was Country). We only had ONE McDonalds and you had to make a road trip to the "big city" of Columbus if you wanted to shop in a mall or eat Taco Bell. In fact, I vividly remember when we finally did get Taco Bell in my home town. I was a senior in college and it was a really, really big deal! When my cousins' home town got a McDonald's in their town, it made the front page of the paper. (That was in 1992.) We certainly didn't have that many restaurants to choose from, but we did have that many churches I think. We had only 2 hotels, but one of 'em I doubt even roaches would stay at. Yeah, I grew up in a Mississippi Mayberry. I'm not exaggerating. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but I sure do miss it now.

A mess over what craig did, or that he got caught? Bliss, how does he reconcile that with the fact that HIS MOTHER covered for vee pee and craig? How does he justify the fact that she had a serious hand in covering, supporting and allowing rape to continue on her watch for decades? Not trying to be a sh1+, but the fact is his parents could have put a stop to things way back to the days of vee pee and they did nothing. They covered and continued to cover with blatant disregard for the lives being destroyed. I just wonder how much of it Brian is aware of and, like so many of us, how many red flags he's ignored through the years. Ahhhhh, so he's learned well from vee pee, craig and, most importantly his daddy. Bobby was a master at treating folks like slaves.

HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS, DOVE!!!

Thanks, Don!! Soooo....... Donna and others have been very much aware of the plaigarism and even CONTRIBUTED to it for all these years. Velly, velly intellesting. We have Donna covering up sex, lies and videotape so that more lives could get ruined - Dottie Moynihan covering up a multitude of rapes so that more lives could get ruined, Dotsie keeping her mouth shut.... and we have this whole conspiracy to "market" and present the vicster as some scholar knowing full well that he was full of sh1t. If those people had spoken up - refused to go along with the deception - fought back instead of playing the Emporer's game and complimenting his clothes - TWI might have been closed down by the time I got involved in the 90's. Yeah, that chaps my arse.

That's the way I see it, too, Rascal. ESPECIALLY given the reputation of the person asking for details. <_< The guy even stated that the reason for asking is to be able to better "judge" the situation. I don't know who promoted him to judge and jury, but I have a feeling Polar Bear wasn't asking to go before a court when he started the thread. Sounds like those asking for details are maybe a bit too full of themselves. AND, it doesn't matter - perception is everything. They perceive TWI to have been a perfect place where people were treated properly according to the scriptures - no amount of details is going to change that. Those who have had the same experience already know the feeling, the experience, the perception and have their own stories to share. They don't need details.