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I've been using Linux for most of a decade as my daily driver, I keep a virtualized install of Windows 11 for when I need to print or scan from my laser printer that isn't supported. I recommend people who don't need windows only apps switch to Linux, because Microsoft spies on everything, plus it's faster than windows for most things. I use Manjaro Linux, but Ubuntu and Mint are great for beginners. The main thing about Linux is it's free, if you want great support you'll find Google helps in most cases. Most of the major distributions offer paid support if you need it. For folks that like games, Steam on Linux has thousands of games to choose from, many AAA titles. For Office apps there is Libre Office, a very capable office suite that has all the functions of Microsoft office. For adobe like apps there are many titles which may have a learning curve, but are free.

It's been a year or more since last posting, I don't visit here very often. I hope everyone is well. I came looking around for news about TWI, I guess they are laying very low and not doing the crazy crap they used to when Weirwille and Martindale where running things. I'm pretty much over my whole cult experience. I'm still in the same apartment, with the same cat. Haven't drank alcohol in 5 years and that is going great. I'm on ozempic and jardiance which has helped me get down to a 5.5 A1C and lose 50 lbs. I hope everyone is doing well. Seth

If SIT is THE most important action for a believer, according to victor, why does Paul only yell about it in 1 Cor. 12-14? If it is so important, so perfect, shouldn't he at least mention it in the salutations of his other letters? "I write to you in Christ in all supplication while perfectly praying in tongues..." Or even in the closings? "Peace be with you, and don't forget to speak in tongues ceaselessly..." I don't think Paul thought that highly of SIT. It was an embarrassing issue for him, along with the infighting and litigation amongst the Corinthians. I suspect Paul was aware of the prevalence of SIT among the mystery cults in the ANE. Some of his converts were coming from these cults over to his form of Judaism. He was cool with it, even propping them up (perfect prayer, etc.) and sympathizing (me too, more than you) before knocking them down (sounding like a drunk gong). Remember, Paul himself said he would be whoever he needed to be to persuade a potential convert. It's the same with the Corinthians. "See? I would that you all speak in tongues. I speak in tongues, too, just like you, except more." Intelligibility and love were paramount in Paul's message to the Corinthians, but he had to acknowledge this SIT fetish and set some ground rules. He was on a mission and would be damned if some babbling Greeks were going to embarrass and derail him. That's my reading. I could be wrong.

Paul had παιδεία (paideia). He had training in logic, rhetoric, philosophy, theology. He learned HOW (aytch-oh-double-you) to develop and construct persuasive arguments. The perfect prayer and all the rest of it are concessions ahead of his argument. Classic steel-manning. He was skilled at this. Sometimes, when reading Paul, I can hear him yelling at these people. And I can hear a sarcastic, hyperbolic condescension - a rhetorical device to persuade. "I thank God that I speak glossais more than all of you...[but that's neither here nor there because it's better to speak five understandable words the ten thousand logous en glosse!]" Clarity, comprehension, understanding, these were the most important things for Paul, not glossolalia. Vitctor got it wrong. Again. Hadn't he already spent time in Corinth teaching and preaching? This issue never came up? "Oh, I forgot to tell you, keep the babbling to a minimum, because people on the street will hear your incomprehensible lo shontas, and it's not a good look."

It is Somebody's Baby.

Let's move this along: The Fifth Element. Next: "Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee, lousy with virginity, won't go to bed 'til I'm legally wed, I can't, I'm Sandra Dee."

Acts 2 certainly does refer to xenoglossia or xenolalia (foreign language/foreign speaking). The challenge then is, what is Paul talking about with glossolalia? He doesn't use that exact word, but the exact words he does use correspond to it (glōssais lalein) to the exent that, I think, for our purposes, there's no practical distinction. He's talking about speaking in languages. I'm not really sure what to make of my overall question. Is Paul talking about indecipherable babbling that only God knows the meaning to? And come on, think about it: what would be the POINT of such a thing? Perfect prayer? We don't know what to pray for, so we babble and the right words are supplied by God to articulate what he already knows and we still don't even after having prayed? So God can act on our prayer now even though we don't even know that we prayed it? But it was perfect? That's not a prayer. That's an incantation. THAT MAKES NO BLOODY SENSE! It's like the scene in Aladdin where the genie needs Aladdin to articulate a wish but Aladdin is unconscious (having just passed out while drowning). So the genie lifts Aladdin, whose head drops down, which the genie reads as a yes and grants the wish. It was a cheat. Aladdin never wished to be rescued. The genie did that himself. Same with SIT as intercessory prayer. You're not praying for anything. God (the genie) knew the need before. You did nothing to contribute to his understanding of the situation or your desire for him to intervene. And he took your completely irrelevant action as a plea to intervene because he knew that's what was needed. Hey, if he knew what was needed and was willing to intervene, what did he need your completely unconscious prayer for? Make it make sense.

Why not go with the giveaway quote? "Mool-ti-pass."

That first quote comes from one a movie that grows on me every time I think about it. Brilliant writing. Unless you're Harold, of course.

I don't recognize it.

Somebody's Baby?

Four US Presidents have won the Nobel Peace Prize. Name three of them. George

[First line] "Well, just look at that girl with the lights comin' up in her eyes" All the guys on the corner stand back and let her walk on by

Both lines are from the same movie. Let's see if another line clicks. "Your a monster Zork"! "I know".

"Blue jeans sitting on the beach Her dog's talking to me, but she's out of reach She's got a body under that shirt But all she wants to do is rub my face in the dirt"

No. Go ahead, George.

Would you like to go again? George

What he said!

Sorry. Forgot about this. A mind is a terrible thing to lose. Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, Louisiana

To your point, Acts 2 seems to be xenolalia or xenoglossia.

Apparently the first spinoff of Man About the House was indeed about the Ropers, but it was called "George and Mildred." Joyce DeWitt, Jennilee Harrison and Priscilla Barnes are known mostly for their roles as Jack Tripper's roommates, Janet, Cindy and Teri. Priscilla Barnes later starred in Traxx. You're up!

"I just learned something very interesting." "'Pinocchio.' You risked our lives based on something you read in a children's book?" "Wait, it's a book? How about that? I got it from a movie." "I will return to you when it's safe. One day, right here, at sunrise, we'll be together again." George

Not DeNiro. Keep guessing

"Meeting an insurance agent the day your policy runs out is coincidence. Getting a letter from the emperor saying he's visiting is plot. Having your apartment eaten by a wrecking ball... is something else entirely. Harold, you don't control your fate". "If its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down... Oops, forgot my own rule". "You're the first - you're the first thing for so long that I've liked. The first person I could stand to be with. My whole life is such a waste. It's just nothing. I'm sorry. I'll take you home now". "Twenty-five seats, given to orphans. Perfect. Now my nightmare is complete". Could be right. Need confirmation from Human. George

Human is up. George