WordWolf

His dishonesty got bigger and bigger because he got cocky and was getting away with so much, he started thinking he was invincible.

Feels like it's New Year's Eve all over again...

That's him. Avram Belinski was the Rabbi in "the Frisco Kid", Larry Abbot went on a "Haunted Honeymoon", Letterman was on The Electric Company.

(Correct song and artist, but the title is "God Bless the USA.")

"As far as I'm concerned this is all a hot mess anyway - since there is no law of believing " Now, now, that's unfair to all the witchcraft and magic practitioners out there. They're entitled to try to alter reality with their thoughts. We've had readers and posters for whom that would apply.

I understand that dehumanization is a thing. SS soldiers gassing millions of Europeans first had to stop thinking of them as humans. That was easier when they were one thing, like Jews or gypsies, but less easy when they looked at all the other prisoners who were neither. So, the SS thought of specific people as less than human, so it was all right to mistreat them or kill them- in fact, they didn't see that as "mistreatment" or "murder". It's a little like how one can downgrade plagiarism and label it a virtue, or announce everyone who disagrees with you is wrong and inferior. For the sociopath/psychopath, it is as if all of humanity- except only themselves- are dehumanized. They don't see people as people, they see people as resources, things. EVERYBODY. That's as far as I can get. I know they do it, but I can't empathize with it.

Next song. "Get your motor runnin'"

Hercules, no kidding? *checks* No, no kidding. This is interesting. When he was knighted, he wasn't knighted Sir Reginald Dwight, he was knighted Sir Elton H John.

That's close enough to count. The President in this story is Abraham Lincoln. The general is Ulysses S. Grant. Grant wasn't a complete teetotaler, but he drank little most of the time. His reputation as a boozer was partly because he wasn't that big, so it was easier for him to get drunk. (Try getting William Howard Taft drunk- that would take a lot of booze.) Because it was possible, he usually watched his drinking. So, his reputation as a boozer was largely exaggeration. Your turn!

Anyone who cares enough can go among a lot of Christian groups, and find stories among many of them, stories of deliverance, of blessings, of miracles, of healings. What does that tell us about blessings and the Christian groups? Someone desperate to find some label, some group, some brand, might say that ALL of those are endorsed by God. I think most would conclude that the blessings of God in the lives of people are completely unrelated to whatever groups they are in, or are NOT in. twi, and vpw and lcm especially, used to be very vocal with its adherents about how the blessings of God would abandon them if they left twi, and He would not protect them, and so on. They would be "a greasespot by midnight." Well, midnight has come and gone, and we're still moving on with our lives, generally better-off than when twi was a part of our lives.

As stated in pfal, the so-called "Law of believing", when practiced, is a means by which a person, using only the force of their will, causes things to happen, in accord with what that person wills to happen. "Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with the Will."- Aleister Crowley. So, does that mean the "Law of Believing" as taught in pfal is witchcraft and magic? Yes. It could have come straight out of the writings of Aleister Crowley.

The "literal translations according to usage" were frequently plagiarized as well. "vpw's" "literal translation according to usage" of Philippians 4:13 "I am ready for anything and equal to anything through him who infuses inner strength into me." (It was even in an Acts 29 song which was a title cut, and was part of the chorus.) Here's the Amplified Bible's version of Philippians 4:13. " I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.] " For those wondering, the Amplified Bible's New Testament was completed in 1958, and the bound full Bible was in stores as of 1965, published by ZONDERVAN, the same company that sells a bunch of reference books in the twi bookstore. So, yes, vpw was aware of the thing. Naturally, I'm expecting someone to claim either that vpw got that by revelation and it was an astonishing coincidence they read the same, or that God told vpw to plagiarize that version and verse and make sure to leave out any reference to the Amplified Bible.

Ok, name ANY of the game-shows to take the round. Obscure game-show time again. A) This game-show was inspired by an early 1980s video game by Konami, whose name it shares. Damon Wayans Jr is one of the hosts. It started out on Peacock (NBC streaming) but has appeared elsewhere in syndication. Contestants attempt to cross any of several "screens" (play areas) without "drowning" and "losing a life." Pairs of contestants try each area, with the better of the 2 moving on to the final round, where the best score comes from the most "hostages" (my term) rescued and the best time- but with a timer and with only one "life". The winner of each episode wins a fanny-pack full of money, and returns to try to make it to the series finale, for even more money. No part closely resembles the arcade game, but one "level" does involve crossing a highway. B) John Cena's one of the hosts of this show. It's another show where contestants risk "drowning" and getting knocked from places. It's NOT inspired by any video game or other source AFAIK. This show has already had several seasons, between ABC and TBS. It supposedly has the "world's largest obstacle course." C) Don't fall under in this game-show or you're out, and your team has to manage without you! In this game, you have to traverse any of several "rooms" that are booby-trapped and make it to the end. If you go under, you're "dead" for reasons obvious to people who know this show's title. It's inspired by a children's game. The children's game can be invoked anywhere, but the game is properly played at someone's house, without shoes, and preferably by smaller children that don't weigh as much as adults.

Larry Abbott Eugene Grizzard Dr Doug Ross George Caldwell Avram Belinski Letterman Quackser Fortune Rudy Valentine Rudy Hickman Michael Jordon Teddy Pierce Duffy Bergman

Maybe the line was "Hold me closer, Tiny Dancer." Reginald Dwight was still Reginald Dwight, but also known as Elton John.

Next song. "From the lakes of Minnesota, to the hills of Tennessee, Across the plains of Texas, from sea to shining sea."

Wrong president, your thinking is incorrect.

The following story is made up, which is a shame. One US President received notices about one of his generals. Some people didn't like that general, and attempted to portray him as a drunkard. The President replied to those notices. He asked them to find out what it was he was drinking. The President said he was interested in sending a few barrels of that to EACH of his generals, to see if he could get the same winning results from all of them. The criticisms stopped. The truth of the matter is that one general DID have a REPUTATION as a drinker. He could get drunk easily, and a few years before, he'd lost his wife and child, so he had drunk a bit then. At the present time, he was sober and NOT drinking. However, reputations can be hard to shake, even if they were unwarranted the entire time. Anyway, which US President is this about, and which general?

"Yes we have, and I bring up the rarely considered views." You bring up something. Whether it's rarely-considered or worthy of discussion is another thing entirely. "Here's another: VPW was the kind of mover and shaker that moved the Word around the world, and even to this old hippie (young then), for which I am extremly thankful." vpw moved almost nothing. His group was tiny and incredibly obscure. We would never have heard of him if he hadn't hijacked the hippies. See, there was a bunch of quality Christians, young ones who walked the walk and weren't focused on studying a new Greek word. They were getting attention. vpw heard of them and rushed over. He put on his full act. They were convinced he was some great one. Some of them avoided him, but some others joined twi. Those people became the entire advertising arm of twi, its entire outreach program, its missionary program, etc. One might say, by derailing the work they HAD been doing, that vpw had DISRUPTED the GENUINE work of God in the lives of local people there, people who were making enough of a difference nationally that people all over the US had heard of them- until they joined twi and faded from most of the public, and became part of the twi machine. So, those hippies and ex-hippies- and the people they taught- "moved the Word around the world" to the degree it happened. However, despite them doing all the work, you never give them the credit. "There is no way I could have gotten what I cherish now from any of VPW's sources, ESPECIALLY in the state I was in back in 1971. I would not have been able to listen long enough to Billy Graham to get born again, and I'd have NEVER learned to SIT from any of the teachers the past 50 years." Sure would have been nice to have heard directly from your peers during a genuine movement among God's people.... which would have happened if they hadn't been drawn out of that movement and into twi. "I can't take what Western Churchianity offers seriously. I love blending in with them to see if I can serve any where, gently and without controversy." There are so many genuine things happening among God's people all over, regardless of denomination, that it's a terrible shame you're reduced to tossing insults like "churchianity" at them. If that's your attitude, you're neither going to be loving- they can sense that- nor will you find what you actually need. You'll no more find them than a thief will find a policeman. "I have visited many churches with neighbors and customers and even the musicians I hob-nob with. EVERY time I am in another church I have a great sense of thankfulness for what I was taught, and for what I had in common with that particular church. I think we got the best quality product on the market." Are you going around calling them "churchianity"? If your focus is more on what you have, and not what you can gain from interaction with them, you're going to miss it every time.

I thought I'd get ahead of one of our talking-points. A lot of people here read "Babylon-Mystery Religion." Yes, the author wrote a sequel-"The Babylon Connection?' that largely repudiated the book. But that's not my point. A lot of us read "Babylon- Mystery Religion". We had no trouble reading it- it was a book that was particularly easy to read. There's a reason for that. The author read "The Two Babylons" by Alexander Hislop, and found it ponderous and hard-to-read. So, he largely rewrote "The Two Babylons"- taking the main points and stating them much more clearly. The book was specifically designed to be easy-to-read. According to one school of thought, vpw didn't follow legal and moral imperatives and cite his sources because he cared about us so much, and properly citing sources would have made the books unreadable. That is demonstratably bushwah. "Babylon-Mystery Religion" cites its sources ALL THE TIME. The end-notes for each chapter were extensive. Were they a distraction? Hardly. Most people not looking for them didn't notice they were there. Most people reading the book didn't notice they were there. As soon as I looked for them, I was amazed at how well-documented everything was, since all of it was UNOBTRUSIVE. Worse, since this book was carried in the twi bookstore, vpw had an example on-hand of a book with extensive documentation that was NOT a distraction from the book. So, had he actually wanted to give proper credit (as is legally-mandated and morally proper), he had an example to use that would have been unobtrusive. So, that argument is without merit. And was about to be repeated, so I thought I'd save everyone some time this time around.

With public domain, the public owns it. So, citing sources is still legally necessary. You can use it as much as you want- so long as sources are cited.

So, in other words, as instructed by vpw, twi, etc, to "operate the Law of Believing", is to engage in white magic, witchcraft? (The answer is yes. Shocking, isn't it?)

vpw didn't give them "FREE ADVERTISING." vpw plagiarized their efforts and didn't say so. Every once in a while he'd quote something- that lulled people who trusted him into thinking he really cited his sources (he did it a LITTLE, but most of the time, he did NOT.) twi tapes have twi information and twi labels on them. It's easy to see where they are from. Most, IIRC, have a MAILING ADDRESS on them. You can get a catalog or order some. Plagiarizing is the OPPOSITE of that. Kenyon wasn't mentioned much, and Stiles wasn't mentioned AT ALL. In fact, vpw referred to him ANONYMOUSLY in one place, and later erased the mention of anyone else (the White Book.) So, that's the opposite of advertising. All of this is known. "Has anyone done any research on this?" Are you kidding? You don't know by now? http://empirenet.com/~messiah7/tw_founder.htm We've discussed this a lot.

I thought he meant the movies based on how he started the clue. How would you call that one, George?

I don't know if there was such a show, but that's not the name of any show I'm talking about.