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washingtonweather

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  1. SAINT NICHOLAUS... SANTA CLAUS written by Sergio Caggìa with Paul Gwynne for © Nerone the Insider's Guide to Rome The 6th December is the feast day of St. Nicholas. Regarded by historians as a purely legenday character, Nicholas is supposed to have lived in the fourth century AD. Born in Patara (Turky) from a welthy family Nicholas was made priest by his uncle the Archbishop of Myra. At the death of his parents Nicholas gaved all his havings to the poor and went to Palestine. Returning to Myra was made Bishop. According to legend the Archbishop of that seaport had just died and the local clergy had decided that the firs priest entering the chuech on the following morning would be made bishop. That was Nicholas who then became the Bishop of Myra. Many are the stories around the figure of St. Nicholas, indeed made saint because of his generousity, modesty and miracles... A famous story tells that visiting a certain inn Nicholas descovered that the innkeeper had the habit of stealing small children, kill them and serve them to his guests. Finally Nicholas found a case containing the bodies of three kids and on the sign of the cross rescued them back to life. In honour of this story Nicholas became the patron saint of small children. The reason why Nicholas became patron saint of sailors and travellers is that on a voyage to the Holy Land the boat on which Nicholas was sailing was about to be wreck by the violent waves of a sea storm. Nicholas made the storm calm down, saving the boat. But the most famous story is the one that generate the legend of Santa Claus! Having heard about a nobleman who had lost all his havings, Nicholas decided to provide a dowry for his three daughters. He secretly threw, through a window of the man house, a bag full of gold for each girl . Nicholas was descovered while throwing the third bag, but begged the nobleman not to reveal the thrut. For this story Nicholas became also the patron saint of girls without dowry. Being St. Nicholas day on th 6th of December, close to Christmas day, his story was compared to the one of the Magi. Gradually Nicholas merged with the Christmas story and became familiar with the name of Santa Claus. Indeed is on his feast day that, in many countries, little presents and candies are given to children. In the Republic of Slovacchia for example on the night of the 5th Dec children polish their shoes to find filled of presents and candies on the following morning. Very symilar is the Italian tradition of the Epiphany, on 6th January... a kind old woman who flyes her brume and from chimney to chimney brings presents and candies to the children. Instead of the shoes in Italy we traditionally use sox. On the 9 May In 1087, some Italian merchant steal the body of St. Nicholas in Myra and brought it to Bari, in Puglia (southern Italy) when on the 22 June 1197 a great Basilica was consecrated to the saint. In Rome, in past times, there were 34 churches dedicated to St. Nicholas (the total number of churches is of nearly 400) of which only three survive today. The most ancient is the one of St. Nicola in Carcere (on Via del Mare), another is on Via dei Prefetti and a third on Largo Febo, near Piazza Navona with fine frescoes by Corrado Giaquinto (beginning of 18th century). Various is his iconography... always represented holding three bags or balls (recalling the story of the three girls) often is portrayed with children, a anchor or with a seaport on the background (again to recall his patronages). Saint Nicholas is also patron saint of loyers, traders, spice-dealers, perfumery-dealers and victims of judicial mistakes.
  2. my tradition-- I make spagetti x-mas eve, that way---I never have to plan that meal---started that about 6 years ago....since ya hafta plan so much other stuff
  3. MZimagine---good to see you again!!! I have actually only told 1 outside friend, we have become very close. Everyone else---well, I tell them I did stuff with a church that got too high maintenance
  4. MJ Not being a professional---I can olny offer a few ideas. 1. some of the people that hate you do because they hate themselves and havent come to terms with the sucky parts of life....Dont be with them! doenst mean they wont change in the future...but right now is not a time to bring that into your life.....You can also be the one that takes the high road...and not say anything...if soemone says something...tell them you would be glad to get with them...outside of "said" party. 2. make some new friends...believe it or not...there are people that never heard of the way that were in marriages that made way living look easy. I have several friends that I have confided in, and they me regarding dumb decisions with long lasting consequences...we are closer than sisters, I never thought I would find frineds like that after leaving the way and was really scared about that, but I still do believe God hears my prayers in that regard... Joel--"The Lord will restore that which the locusts hath eaten..." Don't despair---I hated not having friends, and that was probably the scariest consequence to me oabout taking a stand AGAINST TWI and everything it stood for.
  5. on an open forum.... Well, if this is so important for them to save face about, what about all the other "misleading" speeches that defamed and demoralized people..... I just cannot buy the idea that they are so full of good intentions all of a sudden...does a leapord change its spots..not lately. Im with RR on this one... And if they are so "biblical" ( I use the term loosely with any Way related activity) I know some of you have read these several times before, but for those who haven't, these are excerpts from The Sublte Power of Spiritual Abuse. Identifying The Abusive System 1. Power Posturing Leadership spends a lot of time focused on their own authority and reminding others of it as well. This is necessary because their spiritual authority isn?t real?based on a genuine godly character?it is postured. If this pastor?s spiritual authority were real, he would not have to demand that others notice it. 2. Performance Preoccupation ?Power is postured and authority is legislated. Therefore, these systems are preoccupied with the performance of their members. Obedience and Submission are two important words often used. ?This system does not foster holiness or obedience to God, it merely accommodates the leaders? sick interpretation of spirituality and their need for control. 3. Unspoken Rules When you find unspoken rules by breaking them unintentionally, you will then suffer one of two consequences: either neglect (being ignored, overlooked or shunned) or aggressive legalism (questioned, openly censured, asked to leave?in extreme cases cursed. a. The Can?t Talk Rule: The real problem cannot be exposed because then it would have to be dealt with and things would have to change; so it must be protected behind walls of silence(neglect) or by assault (legalistic attack).If you speak about the problem out loud, you are the problem. b. If noticing problems is Labeled disloyalty, lack of submission, divisiveness, and a challenge to authority, then there is only a façade of peace and unity. 4. Lack of Balance a. Extreme Objectivism: This system limits God to act only in those ways that we can explain, prove, or experience. It puts God in a box?..and God the Holy Bible?as if understanding and memorizing Scripture is the only way to hear from God. We are relegated to songs that commemorate how God used do things. We no longer worship the great I Am, but the great ?I Was.? b. Extreme Subjectivism: What is true is decided on the basis of feelings and experiences, giving more weight to them than what the bible declares. The fact that someone reads the actual Word of God does not necessarily mean that they have a word from the Lord for you. Even further, we believe it is dishonest and dangerous?simply to receive and act upon a spiritual directive because you are ?supposed to be submissive,? or because someone is ?in authority.? 5. Paranoia There is an assumption that (1)what we say, know, or do is aresult of our being more enlightened than others; (2) others will not understand unless they become one of us; and (3) others will respond negatively. This mentality builds a strong wall or bunker around the abusive system, isolates the abusers from scrutiny and accountability, and makes it more difficult for people to leave?because they will then be outsiders too. ?echoed in the same rhetoric: ?We must be getting really close to what God wants us to do, because Satan has renewed his attacks against us through the evil secular media!? 6. Misplaced Loyalty a. ?We Alone Are Right?; A common way this is accomplished is by setting up a system where disloyalty to or disagreement with the leadership is construed as the same thing as disobeying God. b. Scare Tactics; Deciding to leave their church many Christian are told horrifying things. ??Without our protection, Satan will get to your children.? ?You and your family will come under a curse.? This is spiritual blackmail and its abuse. And it does cause people to stay in abusive places. c. Humiliation This is done by publicly shaming, exposing or threatening to remove people from the group. ?this insures your proper allegiance, and insulates those in authority. 7. Secretive People don?t hide what is appropriate; they hide what is inappropriate. Another reason for secrecy in a church is that the leadership has a condescending, negative view of the laity. This results in conspiracies on the leadership level. And I would venture that the "defense of TWI" has not even been presented to the peon laity of TWI.
  6. Okay---had to post an update, Got the new Canidae dog food, on the 30th of June.---today is the 17th of July...so almost 3 weeks. My old dog is a real testiminy to the change in food quality. She has had bad breath for about 2 years now....no teeth rotting or anything, just lousy breath. SHE DOES NOT HAVE BAD BREATH ANYMORE---I was amazed. she used to scratch her back like a horse and wiggle, stopped doing that about a year ago, started doing that again. Overall, she is definately friskier and happier. The younger dog is even more frisky, but the older dog has had measurable changes for the better...just had to follow up on this and tell ya'll 'bout it.
  7. It might be a little tiny cult - in a little tiny Ohio town, but its a little tiny family that is getting its little tiny existence ripped apart, and within it are little tiny hearts that bear protecting.
  8. Dot, checked out the links....no stores near here, however the good news is, even with shipping the prices are pretty compreble to the fancy regular stuff...and that includes shipping! On another note, regarding the vaseline, my grandmother bred dogs, Newfies and Black Standard Poodles....beautiful big dogs both...and she always gave them a finger full of vaseline everynight before bed...they could be at the other end of the house and when they heard her open her bedside table....they came running...used ta' gross me out, she said they loved it and it kept them regular, course this was a women who put fish oil on her dog's food ions before most of us ever knew it was so good for us... As for shaving -- one of our Dogs..named "Happy" is a Husky, Retriever cross...with coat that looks like Lassie with a Husky face. He gets shaved!...and LOVES it. He wants us to scratch him more....cause he can feel it finally. There is no way--in this hot New Mexico heat I would not shave him, unless I could not afford it....HOWEVER, we do keep him out of the sun (more or less) the first week or so...sunburn on that skin that usually never sees the light of day.
  9. yeah-- we all know they plaster NEW & IMPROVED...'specially on Soap on everything--why would VP be any different...cept he claimed he researched it all on his own in most instance invented the soap.
  10. that's pretty good ---Bullsh** Threshold--- so adequacy becomes relative to the individual...makes more sense understanding peoples reaction (or lack of) that way.
  11. What is adequate here? We confronted 48 families in New Mexico with the legal truth....NOT ONE blinked an eye.
  12. Ya know Oak-I think those names in the OOOrijinale piffle class were name dropping. Just like in WAP class, cragers tries to span....jocks to geeks by talking about sports and illuding to the Harvard Classics. They use these things to establish what they call a rapport...I would say...credibility... which in VP's case..copying is still copying...and that leads to the question of all questions ---Where was the integrity?? nowhere. ps: I do have a 1908 edition of the Harvard classics...read about 1/4 of them...they do not make a college education like lcm said!
  13. I could not tell you word for word right now...further it bores and nauseates me to peruse the works of the abusive vpw anymore. But, in the same way he repackaged Dale Carnegie, he repackaged Bullinger, Kenyon, Stiles, Skinner and so many others and then called them his own....much like kids copy from encyclopedias ..change a few words and then call it their own....I am not a hair splitting research type of person...but we have many here who are and I believe there have been several threads regarding this fallacy of TWI and much or it's "original" research.
  14. heres a few still on my shelves: E W Kenyon ---The Blood Covenent ---The Wonderful Name of Jesus Albert E Cliffe ---Let Go and Let God; Steps in Victorious Living Glenn Clark ---The Man who Talked with the Flowers Ben Sweetland ---I Can! The key to Life's Golden Secrets Not to mention the repackaged Dale Carnegie stuff.
  15. Hope --- Great point one word---------INTEGRITY-------- or lack of. and Oldies, if you recall....can't remember if you were here then or not...(you're not the only oldy :)-->)....but Research Geek and many of us did a thread on all the books we knew that had been plagerized...it was well over 30 different authors....I will see if I save that one... Anyone else remember us doing that?
  16. That verse -- the most twisted of all by TWI...tore more families apart than any other verse TWI could have used on us.!!!
  17. Abby, Seems 8,9, and 10 are especially prevelent... I know I had to work very hard at geting rid of the over-reacting bunker mentality. Even number 7, learning what was a socially normal level of inquisitiveness, without the ulterior motive of "hustling" someone to the wrongly-divided bible,-- that was at least a couple years of learning how to talk to people all over again. WW
  18. OKAY- you all know my serious side so don't get yur' panties in a bunch when I suggest... "Tell the BC your sleepin with the RC that night" hahaaaa---they wouldn't have a clue what to say...could you imagine... Anyhow, I didn't mind mall stuff to much...mostly I just shopped...FOR REAL...if I happened to talk to someone and IF I happened to get around to the bible....it was a miracle...ifn' my partner was a real religious zealot...I just shut-up and let them gab and I shopped....If you have one of those that will rat on you....well, tell them...you always believed it was more spiritual to shop and end up witnessing, than to witness and end up shopping.....WHICH I STILL THINK IS TRUE.
  19. Dot - courageous girl! Radar - I agree OCD - If your gonna save the world with you erodite wisom, be sure you like the way it is. WG - The misused trust of the innocent cornered them into positons too shameful to tell anyone about....there are still abused women who have chosen not to tell their husbands. I hope you have never been in sucha psychological state, but it is clinically very real and very valid. It is a debilitating kind of emotional blackmail originating in trust that is exploited. The problem is that guilt is rectifiable in 99% of the situations, however, shame is horrible and parelyzing. When we are ashamed we generally become depressed clinically and spiral downward. Many depressions are never diagnosed...Many abused women could barely discuss it, and even after the depression is treated, the horrible taste will never go away...may fade, but never disappear, believe me....I know about sex-abuse first hand...not by any member of TWI. The other thing is there were a few...A VERY FEW who stayed in this TWI cycle of abuse were enablers and stayed by choice...i.e. named in the Lawsuit- Ramona Bidon
  20. Ron, Iffn ya cant find a real one, there are tons of fake bear claws at Boy Scout shops...for the cub Scout Bear level and other odd things....check a craft store too. Or call the Bass Pro shop in Lake Orion Michigan, tell my sister-in-law...Sandy to get a Claw off one of her husband's many stuffed Canadian and Alaskan Bears(He's a guide/welder.) Just ask for Sandy...she's famous, won a kitchen from Home Depot...Big news in her town.
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