Jim

I attended at least 6 ROA's. I camped out (the worst), stayed in a motel (the best), stayed in a motorhome (pretty good), and at Joe Coulter's house with a bunch of A/V Corps (weird). The times I worked video at the ROA were the best. I had credentials that would let me in anywhere, the occasional use of Joe's golf cart, access to the backstage break area and an air conditioned video van to hang out in. The downsides were long hours and lots of pressure to get everything right.

"Please keep in mind, this woman was naked except a normal size bath towel that only covered the bare necessities up front, and I was not going to squeeze past. As a teenager, I was traumatized." I was traumatized just reading about it.

Someone's pants are on fire.

Most union bosses are fat. Most TWI leadership weren't. Maybe they are now though.

I go away for a couple of days and the place is totally out of control when I get back...

And what a big fsking deal it was? Did you know anyone that failed?

There. I said it. Happy now?

I wasn't in the corps, Marine or Way. I was in the Army and I was on staff. The biggest difference I saw was that after the first 3 weeks of Basic Training, you were encouraged to think. After the first 3 weeks of advanced training, you were encouraged to take initiative and resolve problems on your own. I never saw that amongst the later corps residents or grads. I was repairing tactical nuclear weapons at age 19 in the Army. Another huge difference is loyalty. "Once a Marine, always a Marine" isn't just a saying. Nobody strips you of your veteran's status because a new forehead comes in and rewrites all the rules. In the military, you *always* have a certain level of respect or privilege and you are entitled to it's benefits. Time and time again, Corps residents and grads that supported the ministry with their lives were turned out with less consideration than a stray dog. That doesn't happen in the military. Frankly, I'd like to know why VPW didn't serve in the military if he thought so highly about it. I think I know why Loy didn't.

My wife mentioned that she was having a hard time paying attention and I almost said that to her... Luckily I didn't.

Check your PM.

I downloaded all 7 files and melded them into a single pdf. Unfortunately, the resulting file is about 6 meg and is too big for me to upload to GS. The file is also a bit too *hot* for me to host on any of my servers. If the GS sysadmin knows how to host it on GS, send me a PM and I'll send it.

Tell me this... If I were to just show up for SNS, would they let me in? Do they check your Bible for notes in Ephesians? Or would security cuff me and toss me in the Way Woods for a couple of days?

I was on staff at HQ around 1980. I knew nothing of the sex scandal. I knew of VPW's need for Drambuie and I heard whispers from some of the old-timers that VPW had some serious faults in his walk. It wasn't until the adultry corps paper that I heard of the whole scandal.

Although not technically a belief, the dogma that leadership walked and made decisions by some extra-special revelation. And that the revelation was so good that rank-and-file must not question it. That and the "law" of believing.

I'm a little late, but I thought I'd add my 2 cents. Like Oakspear, I could not get TWI clergy to marry me. My fiance had taken the class but was a little less than enthusiastic about the whole TWI experience. I had given thousands of dollars and thousands of hours of my life to TWI, serving on staff at HQ for a year, flying out to the ROA early to help with A/V, and endless other functions. Being a strong believer in loyalty and honor, and thinking that TWI also believed in those things, I thought that they would at the very least marry me to the woman I loved. Alas, I was wrong. About the same time the announcement was made that Loy would succeed VPW. I had always seen Martindale as sort of a cross between a jock _ass-hat and a VPW _ass-kiss and I knew that there wouldn't be a place for me in the new TWI. So I just stopped going to TWI functions. Nobody called and I didn't inquire. I found a minster to marry us and we're still in love 26 years later. I first found Trancenet on the internet, then Waydale and now GreaseSpot. Reading the Passing of the Patriot confirmed my suspicion that there was some serious rotten fish in New Knoxville.

My wife and I have used it since the early 70's. We buy a gallon at a time, cut it half and half with water and put it in a 2 gallon dispenser in the laundry room. Lasts about 6 months, and it's the best liquid soap that I've found. Mixing a little Bronner's with a little powdered Boraxo works great for greasy mechanic's hands. Mixed 10:1 in a spray bottle it works good for cleaning counters and stuff. I don't know, call us brainwashed.

http://magicsoapbox.com/doc/ Watched the documentary on Sundance channel. I noticed the following things that our "Dr" had in common with Dr. Bronner: Son of Germanic immigrants Self-proclaimed doctor Believed he had a special ministry from God Recruited and housed hippies for employees Thousands of hours of preaching on tape Exposed himself to female employees Bad eyes I suspect I missed more. At least his soap is good.

Yup, it's a big deal. We have middle level state and local employees retiring with $100k+/year pensions. Prop 13, passed in 1978, requires a 2/3 majority to increase taxes. Despite that, local and state politicians gave huge wage and benefit increases to public sector employees in exchange for support. Now we are screwed, with massive pension and health care obligations to these employees. The good thing is that there's always the option of moving out of California, which I will probably do in the next 2-3 years.

Interesting that VPW couldn't visualize a blueprint. I'm surprised that they didn't get the graphic arts people to build him a foamboard model. Oh well, just lots of well-meaning and talented work down the drain. To me, the entrance with the overhang and the lobby look just like a high-class mortuary.

Ok, I've had a few drink so I might not be as coherent as I should be. Blame it on the Aspergers. First we had the West Virginia coal mine disaster. I grew up in a coal mining town and I always grieve the death of coal miners. A hard, hard life and a horrible way to die. I feel for these people and the loss of their fathers and brothers. May God give them some peace. Now we have the Poland air crash. The accident isn't getting much coverage here, but they just lost virtually all of their country's leadership. President gone, heads of military gone, heads of the church gone. A tragic loss for a country and people that have already suffered way too much. Regardless of the stereotype, I've never met a Pole that I've not liked. This is really, really bad. Thanks for listening.

Two issues here, after we set aside the smoking-is-expensive-and-bad-for-you issue. The first is whether or not it is correct to change the rules midstream. I say no. It happens, it's happened to me, and I hate it. Not with smoking but other things. The second is whether or not you drive away good people with an arbitrary policy. Many years ago, I worked for a Dallas-based company. They decided that implementing a tough no-drugs police would help sell their products. The only problem was that their star programmer, and their only truly productive programmer, couldn't pass the drug test. TWI never cut much slack for anyone who wasn't in the ruling class, assuming that there was always fresh meat to replace anyone that required too much personal accommodation.

A bunch of self-aggrandizing BS. Eat lots of calories before you go to sleep, dream vivid dreams. Go to bed hungry, no dreams, at least not remembered. Works that way for me and everyone I know.

See quotes 3 and 4 in my sig.

"I was actually told by a director that there is years of accumulated wisdom at the director level...." You misspelt "prideful foolishness"