Doze

I had two experiences while in (76-85) on this subject. My uncle who was into very fundimental evangelical Christianity brought me a tape from some guy name Johnny Todd about Witchcraft. My uncle had spoke to him and he told him that the way was into witchcraft. I listened to the tape and this guy pretty much pegged every group as into witchcraft but his. I dismissed it as just another religious idiot with diarrhea of the mouth with the conviction of Mike. My uncle went around a stirred up my parents and family about it. Fortunately, my father thought my uncle was off the deep end too.

Secondarily, we had a girl come to twig who claimed to be a witch. I witnessed to her at great length with little result. Her response was that all Christians lacked real spiritual power, including the way. Having waybrain at the time, this girl was scary...I summarily dismissed her as just another "war story" from my way experience. What did I learn from this? There are some pretty wacked out people out there with some wacky beliefs. She didn't arouse my curiosity to learn any more about her beliefs.

Regarding having some kind of shunning process where we were instructed to pray for bad things to happen to people who walked away...I never heard of it. We kind of viewed them as "How can anyone walk away from what we know". It bothered me, because these folks who were some of my best friends (I thought), no longer wanted anything to do with me. Perhaps TWI2 did it...I was no longer there myself, Praise God.

I agree, vic's way was the ultimate pyramid scheme...the products (costs way below Amway), the workers (volunteers who received no pay/as a matter of fact they paid the way to do their work)...it's brilliant if you have no conscience. It worked so well that even now that the business has virtually dried up, they still have millions in the bank.

I own a business, I pay for the products I sell and have to pay competitive wages to people that work for me. There are constant cash flow concerns, finding competent employees who deserve a living wage etc. It is a real struggle to run an honest business with no guarantee of success...but at least I can sleep at night.

Vic really was a master at MM, not the Bible. He didn't have to master the Bible, he just stole from others who had.

Money placed in a trust for a minor then subsequently used by the guardian of the trust without permission of the court is an act of fraud. I would say contact the court to notify the judge of this misappropriation of funds without your consent. Normally the court appoints a guardian ad litem to oversee the use of any funds from a minor's trust prior to the minor having access to those funds (usually at age 18). Guardians or parents are never allowed to access this money without going through the guardian ad litem (usually an attorney to oversee the trust for the minor) and the court.

They're battening down the hatches on their little world...remember the Yak analogy? Congratulations GSers...another win for the good guys!

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Originally posted by Rocky:

evil tv = Fox News Channel, unfair and way out of balance.

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Define fair and balanced Rocky. Your views on GS? Perhaps government censors should shut up anyone to the right of Allen Colmes? End all commercialization of TV news? All Bill Moyers all of the time? I think the Brits have already done that...its called BBC. The former MD of BBC is available, he just got sacked for lying.

My favorites (and I have no idea if they are from the Devil or not?) are CSI, Survivor, Court TV-Dominic Dunne's Power, Privelege and Justice., ESPN Sportscenter, Monday Night Football and Golf (if Tiger is playing) and Jeopardy. Am I going to Hell?

Pick of the week is obviously a money maker for Terry Bradshaw (and to that end I have no problem) and MSNBC. It is actually a rather brilliant (from a marketing perspective) way to frame infomercials...laid out on cable news station in short form (5 minutes). Most informercials that seem to run late at night or Saturday morning get real boring after hearing their products lauded to the sky over and over for a half hour. Remember Americans have short attention spans. Five minute informercials is actually not a bad idea. Mr. Bradshaw does a commendable job in his presentation (he is just reporting what he is given as any newscaster or sportscaster would do). I don't blame Terry, I actually like him on Fox's NFL show with James Brown. He and Howie Long are very entertaining together. Terry is always playing the ham on that show. The NFL season only lasts 6 months, so Terry needs another gig...looks like this is it.

As far as the way goes...looks like they are trying to appear more mainstream (unlike the 70's Rockstock style). More palatable for average American folk with 4 bedroom homes and two cars in the garage (of course it all better be paid for).

In hindsight many of these scientific revelations that were shared with us were not much different than a bunch of hippies on acid coming up with profound thoughts or enlightenments(at the time) that really didn't seem so profound or enlightened after the acid wore off. After the waybrain wore off none of these seem so profound or enlightening either. In my opinion, it's just a part of the brainwashing process.

The purpose of this load of crap in the way was to further perpetuate our feelings of enlightenment. Since we knew the Word like it had not been known since the first century it was only logical to extend this over to other areas. The way knew everything about everything better the world could ever know. Didn't matter if the field was medicine, agriculture, dog training or decorating your home...these self delegated experts knew more. I actually took my business's products to Ohio in an attempt to sell them to way. Mind you, I have been in this field my whole life and I thought of myself as Godly person working Godly principles attempting to sell the most Godly organization on the planet...these condesending jerks thought they knew more about my business/products than I did. I have been in to boatloads of sales/purchasing meetings and they are amongst the most cynical I have ever encountered, in a field that they really knew nothing about. I walked away and said to myself...F em I will never call on them again and never did.

Do you mean David Walker from Indiana married to Sandy Walker? Haven't crossed paths with them in 20 years.

I knew Jeff, occasionally get to Kokomo...don't think he is there though. Knowing Jeff, he is probably in California...smoking a cigarette and strummin on a six string. Good hearted guy...even though he was corpse, he kinda went his own way. Seriously doubt his continued involvement in da way...at least I hope not.

Can you personally autograph that PFAL book that Jesus has in his hand?

Quote from Bobby Boucher

"High-Quality H2O"

"Instant Hero. Just Add Water"

"You can mess with him. But don't mess with his water"

"I'm going open up a can of Whoop-a$$ on you"

Remind you of anybody?

They should have went with the Super Bowl (only $1 mil+ to air) instead of cable news. They could have reached 1 billion folks. They could have got in right after Janet and Justin did their little attention grabber...man o man that would have got those old Betamax machines going with new classes everywhere. It would have been instantaneous Word over the World. Not to mention all the pre-Super Bowl hype about the new ads. Hired a top advertising firm to produce a clever happening message like the donkey that wanted to be a Clydesdale (hired Mr. Ed and dressed him up as the donkey that talked in the Bible)...hired Paris Hilton as their spokesperson instead of RR (no cleavage there)...added a catchy tag line similar to "

Do the Due"..."Do the Word". It could have been a repeat of "Groovy Christians" all over again.

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Originally posted by Mike:

Doze,

You wrote: “I certainly do not have a problem with you having a "belief system" that is absolute for you.”

I cracked up when I read this. You don’t seem to realize that if a system is absolute only “for me” then it’s NOT ABSOLUTE at all. You are lost in the mumbo jumbo of new age psychobabble. What I mean, and stated, by an absolute system is that it’s absolute FOR EVERYONE.

Well Mike Perception is Reality. Let me give you a little more Psychobabbble. You completely lost my point...the jacka$$es that flew the planes in the World Trade Center were just as convinced as you that they had the "Absolute Truth"...oh, but let me see you do and they don't. Now I understand!

Lighten up and don't take yourself so seriously dude. I'm sitting here freezing my a$$ off in the midwest, while you are sitting in one of my favorite spots in the whole world. Take a ride up the PCH, take a walk on Solana Beach, talk to some real people, laugh, tell a joke, have a margarita (at Fidel's)...nobody really cares how enlightened you think you are, in the mean time life is passing you by. PFAL is not life (that is my perception and reality).

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I certainly do not have a problem with you having a "belief system" that is absolute for you. There are many such systems in today's marketplace of religious thought...question the pope on the virgin birth, question a trinitarian on Jesus not being God, or question a Wahabi on a woman not wearing the veil? These are all very sacrid beliefs in their systems of belief. So, you are not unique in your absolute unquestioned adherence to an absolute doctrine. That doesn't discredit those of us who are willing to say that we don't have it all figured out on things pertaining to God and Spirituality. What if we were able to determine the inherent and inerrant truth of God's Word to contridict what "Doctor" taught us? Would we change? Would Wierwile have listened to this new light when he was alive? He certainly banished a few in the ministry who questioned him with new light. You see, he was no different than any other bible student when his ideas were challenged...it became more about the researcher than the research. VP's scientific approach in his search for "the truth" was pretty revolutionary for his time. The only problem when others used those "keys to research" to come to different conclusions he brushed them off as "blasphemers to the truth". Was he willing to have his premise challenged like he challenged others? It certainly has the appearance of a double standard. In academia, you and I are held to a higher standard than VP allowed himself to be subject to. It's dishonest for him to have done so. It makes me take an even harder look at "belief systems" that I acquired via this man.

The 1st amendment guarantees our freedom of speech, however it is important to diferentiate between the freedom to speak or write and consequences of your spoken or written word. In other words you can say it or write it, but that does not get you off the hook if what is spoken (slander) or what is written (libel) is false and damaging to an individual or corporation. As has been stated previously by Cat always be truthful and state the facts. If you are right about the facts and being honest with them, this is the key to defending yourself if you are ever sued for slander or libel.

Opinions are beliefs not based on certainty, so there can be more license to express your own judgement without the serious consequences of being dishonest with the facts as in slander and libel.

One of the misunderstandings with the internet is that some view it as a backroom gossip lounge. It is not, it's open and it would be wise to be wary of those watching and listening in. Tell the truth and express your opinions...no problems other than the occasional disagreement with a fellow poster.

If I could play the guitar like Clapton...well it might just be worth it.

I recall being chastised by my region coordinator for not having a gun. I did go to an outdoor firing range and shooting his 44 or 45 or whatever it was. We fired into old mattresses, the hole in the front side of the mattress was pretty small while the back side was huge. I thought to myself, what would this do to a human? Even though I liked the guy, I would never kill on his command. If someone broke into my house and threatened my family, I would have no problem shooting that person. As far as killing for the way...no f-ing way!

When the sun sets at Dodger Stadium, I am impressed first of all with the mountains because, at this time of year, they are fully defined. It makes me think of some of the great artists who did Western paintings — Frederic Remington, Charles Russell, Frank McCarthy, to name a few — because they must have been inspired by that.

And then the cloud formations. At sunset, they turn pink. And as it continues, the closer you are to sunset, the clouds are still kind of gold. Farther away in center field and right field, you’re away from the sunset and the clouds are turning purple. So you think of an artist’s palette with various colors, and it just takes your breath away.

Down on the field, a ballgame is just beginning. But the sunset becomes a major distraction because it’s so overwhelming it’s hard to take your eyes off it. And then the palm trees — there’s a group of palm trees on the hill behind left field — they are defined against the sky, and they are turning colors with the sunset. You can’t see that anywhere else in a ballpark.”

Vin Scully

Los Angeles Times, August 21, 2003

And to think they are actually thinking about selling the land and tearing it down. Dodger Stadium is the modern era's answer to Wrigley Field. I know the new ultra modern parks fashiioned along the lines of the "Old Parks" but with all the amenities of the latest technology are cool, but please never tear down Dodger Stadium, Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium or the Green Monster...and with the exception of Wrigley (chewing gum empire/besides it's been Wrigley so long most folks don't associate chewing gum with it) none of the stadiums have these ridiculous coporate names.

What about Vic's Harley? Or maybe Vic's Pimpmobile (1981 Lincoln Town Car)? Those things were cool. Everything else sell on e-bay.

My favorite Dodger teams were early 60's...Sandy Kofax(almost unhitable in 62-63, Don Drysdale (right handed rotation mate), Maury Wills (first real modern day base stealing phenom), the Davis boys Tommy and Willie. This was my favorite Dodger team (even though I "Idolized Hank Aaron"). The first form of idolitry I was into. I also liked the Ron Cey (the Penguin) and Steve Garvey (Popeye) era of the Dodgers. But my favorite thing about going to Chavez Ravine (Dodger Stadium) has to be "Dodger Dogs". Far better than WOW burgers.

Not unlike many for profits it appears that TWI is into asset preservation and crisis management. With no shareholder interest involved the act of preservation only benefits the board and it's employees. This is how organizations lose thier original purpose and only protect the interests of those running the organization. Corporations are governed by state and federal laws that specifically state the reason for having directors. Directors are supposed to operate in "good faith" when carrying our their duties as directors. The Lectric Law Library's definition of "Good Faith-Honestly and without deception". Furthermore, most boards are comprised of independent thinkers who are not only allowed dissenting views, those views are encouraged to insure that actions taken by the board are debated openly and honestly (within the board/there are rules that govern this too) before such actions are taken. Dynamic corporations do not attempt to fill the roster of thier directors with "rubber stamps". When a board attempts to isolate itself and operate in a conspiratorial manner toward inside or outside critics, that board has essentially abandoned at least the "spirit" if not the letter of the law. Until this organization cleans itself up in how it's board functions there is no real purpose for it's existence other than for the self interest of those board members.

The best news is that the judge is becoming inpatient with delaying tactics and evasiveness from the defendents. In the courtroom judges are God, so it is not a good idea to pi$$ them off. Sounds like the lawyers for TWI might be on a slippery slope there. However, judges are careful not to allow some of these tactics for fear that they might be overruled by an appeals court. The wheels of justice turn very slow, so batten down the hatches for a long rough ride.

Keep an eye on Martha Stewert's case. From all indications she will be employing many legal tactics to discredit her accusers. She has even hired an "ink expert" to discredit documents that are very damaging to her case. We have entered a new era in American Justice with prosecuters entering arenas (inside corporate board rooms) to uncover abuses that were formerly hidden. White collar criminals are losing there waiver of justice.

If you look at a non-profit with no investors or shareholders, who are directors accountable to. In for profit corporations, officers are accountable to directors and directors are accountable to shareholders. In TWI's case, who are directors accountable to. I would say the people they are there to serve, which would be the followers. If this is not the case, then Who's ministry is it? If I were still involved, this is question I would ask. I know the board will say we are accountable to God. Ultimately God will be the judge, but didn't they teach in TWI that this "Man's day to judge?" Man is judging cover up, deceit and conspiracy very harshly these days in America.

No question this will be not be easy. Because of the likes of Martha Stewert and Enron, courts are taking breach of fiduciary responsibilities more seriously. Board of Directors are being scrutinized to a much greater degree regarding actions which enrich them or their corporate CEOs. The "Corporate Veil" is being broken and exposing these individuals to be more accountable for thier actions that personally enrich them individually. Throw in the angle of a not for profit organization that is receiving an exemption to federal income tax, this could be real interesting if it gets in the right court with the right judge.

The Consumer Protection Act is interesting in the fact that it is set up to give triple damages as a punishment for violations. It will be a tough argument to win, but certainly an interesting new angle to go after them with.

I am currently involved in lawsuit with my family business (nothing to do with TWI), after reading the court record, I can very much relate to the defense doing their damnest not to get to the real issues. What they were doing to Dr. Peeler is called "sliming". They throw everything at you in your past history to discredit you. It's an attempt to get you lose your cool on the witness stand. Were all of Colombo's questions about Dr. Peeler's past relevent to the case? Questions about "Did you graduate with honors?" What the hell relevence does that have? This man graduated from a very fine medical school...he has to be intelligent to do that. Then he tried to say he was being coached by his attorney in filing this lawsuit (standard defense attorney strategy). These low life attorneys know all the court procedures and tactics to avoid at all cost getting to the real issues here. I was so frustrated by never really getting to tell my side of the story in court, because the other side did everything in their power so see I never got the chance. It really gets down to who has the deepest pockets in American Justice. I unfortunately learned this lesson all too well, to the tune of $25,000 with very little result so far. They drag and delay these things to the point where they can really become self-destructive to the person seeking recourse. I have tried to move on and in hindsight wish I would have never hired an attorney. I am not saying this here, but my advice to Dr. and Mrs. Peeler, don't let this become your life's primary focus. I did and I am paying the price, as we speak.