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OK - here is a picture of the catfish Oh ... and BWT, yes, those are homemade hushpuppies along with the fish

Yeah... I live in the west of Indonesia, while it happened near to the east... I dunno any brothers there in personal, but I attended meeting once while visiting my uncle (non jw)... Communication is quite hard since the earthquake, a lot of signal towers, roads, and bridges were destroyed, plus mountain slide or erosion, I even read news stated that aid or help is hard to delivered because people cannot reach the place by cars, I guess they are doing with plane or ship then? Thanks to Jehovah, my cousin send me a chat message this morning which means he is still okay I hope...

Anyone hear anything about our indonesian brothers? The 7.5 earthquake and then the tsunami? The city of Palu has been devistated over 800 so far dead. I worry about our brothers Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Thanks brothers and sisters for your concerns. Looking at jw.org, there is 1 congregation and 1 group in the capital city of the province where the earthquake occured. I live in Jakarta - some 2,000 kms away from the epicenter. Got messages from a few Japanese brothers asking about my condition.

Be safe Ivy.🙂

Sister Ivy has family there. Hoping for the best and praying that our brothers and sisters have not been badly injured or lost lives. Houses can be rebuilt. Unfortunately, the death toll continues to rise. These are "Great Earthquake" times - Luke 21:11. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/death-toll-from-indonesia-s-quake-tsunami-surpasses-800

Less than an hour later, twin natural disasters — a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and a tsunami that unleashed an 18-foot wave — turned parts of Palu and the surrounding strip of coastline into a graveyard. As of Sunday evening, national disaster mitigation officials said that at least 832 people had been confirmed killed.

In my opinion, it won't change anything. I felt it emphasized that Satan has the "Whole World in His Hand's." Pity the itty bitty baby.

If you are the type of person that likes to keep informed on how government operates, read it. If you like the way Bob Woodward writes read it. If you become infuriated over how government operates, don't read it. If you don't like the way Bob Woodard writes, don't read it. I would not recommend reading it. I have found it inadvisable to recommend any book, movie, TV show stage play, a concert or forum to anyone. Oh, by the way ... I found it to be an interesting read.

Yes, looting has been reported. It's going to happen whatever the disaster. It's good the minister has arranged for supplies though. That is why Jehovah allows govts to exist for now, to lessen the damage and consolidate repair efforts.

Eg-Ore

He should change his name to knucklehead, that's what call him anyway...

Pics from today's fishing The lake was exceptionally calm today - you can see how well it reflected the sky When we headed in, it was even calmer - almost like glass

Throwback from Rome.. Colosseum , Arch of Titus and Constantine I took this from an elevated platform overlooking the area. AN ANCIENT inscription found in the Colosseum of Rome, Italy, may indirectly confirm a Bible prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem. The inscription evidently has to do with the building and inauguration of the Colosseum in 80 C.E. As reconstructed by Professor Géza Alföldy of the University of Heidelberg, Germany, the inscription reads: “The Emperor Titus Vespasian Caesar Augustus had the new amphitheater erected with the proceeds of the booty.” What booty? “We are talking about the immense booty taken by Titus in the war against the Jews,” says Alföldy, “and in particular, the gold furnishings” of the temple in Jerusalem. This temple was destroyed in fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy. (Matthew 24:1, 2; Luke 21:5, 6) Alföldy concludes that the Colosseum—along with the famed Arch of Titus, which depicts the Roman victors loaded with the booty taken in the Jewish war—is a monument to this historic victory of the Romans. Awake 96 2/22

Monday, October 1 He satisfies the desire of those who fear him; he hears their cry for help, and he rescues them.—Ps. 145:19. Jehovah is “the God who supplies endurance and comfort.” (Rom. 15:5) He alone fully understands not only the problems we face but also the way our environment, emotions, and even our genetic makeup affect us. He is thus the best one to equip us to endure. How will God answer our prayers for strength to endure? When we ask Jehovah to help us cope with trials, he will “make the way out.” (1 Cor. 10:13) Does Jehovah maneuver matters to remove the trial? Perhaps. Often, however, he makes the way out “so that [we] may be able to endure it.” Yes, Jehovah strengthens us so that we “may endure fully with patience and joy.” (Col. 1:11) And since he knows our physical, mental, and emotional limits so intimately, Jehovah will never allow a situation to develop to a point that we cannot remain faithful. w16.04 2:5, 6

Hoping they get the help they need.

When I saw the picture before the bottom line, my first thought was there is always a friend who wants to knit you something.. and got carried away..😂

Very cool! Our AH has a lift similar to this..

Our Be Bold! assembly happened today at our Montreal Assembly Hall. Peak attendance this morning was 2,133, and there were 10 baptized. One of those baptized was a very elderly (don't know how old) sister in a wheelchair. Two caregivers (likely son and daughter-in-law, or vice-versa) sat with her in the front row to help her stand for the questions. For the baptism, she had to be transferred into a regular chair and both of the baptizing brothers came up out of the pool to carry her down. Both brothers had to baptize her. Their first two attempts, while she was still in the chair, were unsuccessful. Because of the positioning, her knees stayed above the water. So then they removed her from the chair and tried again. You should have heard the shout of applause when, this time, they finally succeeded! There was also a huge smile on the sister's face! Then the brothers, without using the chair, carried her up the steps out of the pool to her wheelchair, and all the time she was waving to her family and friends! It was so heartwarming!

I don’t recommend any of them. That might be the title. I know my dear husband was looking for something that sounded sort of like that. He will dig around until he finds it. It was recommended to him somewhere down the line. This is all unreal. I'm getting so I can tolerate less and less of what’s out there. Guess that’s a good thing. I even fast foreworded a John Grisham book I was listening to. I knew sort of how it would end, but I could not take the grimy details. Some of his are really good. Well, one I can specifically remember. Maybe two. Says desperate Bea. I listened to The Secret Garden and loved it. Same for Girl of the Limberlost. And Cat who came in from the Cold. Sorry. OT, I know.

According to Hoyle, you can trump trump, but I find it hard to believe.

After natural disaster, I am worried about human disaster. My cousin's girlfriend posted a status in her social media saying about post disaster like this: the moment you realise people is scarier than nature. They pick others' stuff, checking others' houses with fierces eyes ready to hunt... I've just come to see she posted it this morning, but hasn't replied my message asking further information, seems the service provider hasn't worked properly yet... Heard that it come and go...

Keep us informed sis and our prayers are with you all with love.

Since the city is devastated, the trade minister stated that people can get any supply from certain convinient stores, which will be paid by government But, I'm afraid people nowadays can be quite crazy, they may loot any store they want...

He's returned!!!!

I think I’ll change my name to, “Be”!

Look at the detail of the toes in the water. What a great piece of sculpture! Giovanni Battista Lombardi 1864

What's your address again???

This morning at the meeting for service the conductor pointed out that the news barely talks about disasters, it's too focused on politics instead.

Sometimes we don’t have a choice . We ride along with it playing in the vehicle. But, for the most part, that’s the story of my life, media-wise. Being exposed to all this, um, drama, and doing my best to file it under, “none of my business”. The other day, I actually went upstairs, and plugged in earphones, trying to drown it out. Then, if you escape that moment, it’s regurgitated, time and time again. Ad nauseam. Pray for me, friends! .

I love Kiwi... It contains quite high amount of Vit C... One of my fav fruit

I can't decide if I want to be 'You' or 'Today' Jesus said You and Today would be with him in paradise..

We shouldn't be encouraging evolution!

Call me uga...

Ye is the last bit of his name, so maybe the newspaper is making too much of it ... signed: Di (manDI) Oooooh Greg that makes you: Eg. NOT a good look. Tortuga is Ga!

Ping Pong (Table Tennis) continues... North Korea's foreign minister has warned that there is "no way" his country will disarm while the US continues to enforce sanctions. Ri Yong-ho told the UN General Assembly the sanctions were deepening North Korean mistrust of the US. Pyongyang has repeatedly appealed for UN and US sanctions to be lifted and has support from Russia and China. But the Trump Administration has said that sanctions should stay in place until North Korea denuclearises. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45695654

UN General Assembly (Credit: Wiki Commons) U.S. President Donald Trump plans to introduce his ‎Middle East peace plan, dubbed the “deal of the ‎century,” during the U.N. General Assembly meeting ‎in New York next month, the Palestinian daily Al-‎Quds reported on Monday.‎ The 73rd General Assembly session will be held from ‎Sept. 18 to Oct. 5, and will feature speeches from ‎prominent world leaders, including Trump, who is set ‎to address the assembly on Sept. 25. ‎ The United States has, in the past, warned that if ‎Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas ‎remains adamant in his refusal to engage the United States as ‎a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, ‎Washington will introduce its regional peace plan ‎regardless of his reservations. ‎ Abbas has been shunning the U.S.’s peace efforts ‎since Trump’s Dec. 6 recognition of Jerusalem as ‎Israel’s capital and the subsequent move of the U.S. ‎Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and ‎has accused the Trump administration of being ‎‎“grossly biased” in Israel’s favor. ‎ According to the report, U.S. Special Representative ‎for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt, ‎senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, U.S. ‎Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and ‎‎U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who have ‎been working on the plan since early 2017, seek to ‎introduce it under the “most optimal conditions” and ‎the General Assembly is seen that the best venue to ‎do so. ‎ Last week, the four envoys released a joint ‎statement on Twitter acknowledging that “no one will ‎be fully pleased” with the much-anticipated ‎Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.‎ ‎“No one will be fully pleased with our proposal, but ‎that’s the way it must be if real peace is to be ‎achieved. Peace can only succeed if it is based on ‎realities,” the statement said.‎ Al-Quds quoted an unnamed American official as ‎saying that Trump has been keeping the details of ‎the plan close to the vest as he prefers to outline ‎it in full at the world leaders’ meeting.‎ The source said Trump believed that if his plan ‎for Middle East peace were to fail, no other U.S. plan ‎would be able to resolve the decades-long regional conflict.‎ The official stressed that it ‎would be up to the Israelis and Palestinians to ‎accept or reject the plan.‎ I don't think Trump introduced the plan ... UNITED NATIONS: US President Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday (Sep 26) to present a peace plan for the Middle East by the end of the year and endorsed a two-state solution, apparently confident that the Palestinians would return to talks despite his unwavering support for Israel. Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/trump-pledges-mideast-peace-plan-within-months-10761908

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/faqs-about-taking-oath-of-u-s-citizenship.html The section on JWs and the alternative oath is interesting.... Question: As a Jehovah's Witness, I can't take an oath—can I still become a citizen? My religion teaches me not to take an oath of allegiance to any country, and that military service is forbidden. Can I still become a naturalized U.S. citizen without taking an oath? Answer: A modified oath is permissible if you can show religious reasons To become a U.S. citizen, you will have to attend an oath ceremony and make a pledge of allegiance to the United States. However, “conscientious objectors” to military service and those whose religion has instructed them not to use the word “oath” can request a modified oath from USCIS, omitting four phrases: “on oath” (You will instead use “solemnly affirm.”) “so help me God” “willing to bear arms on behalf of the U.S.” and “willing to perform noncombatant services in the Armed Forces of the U.S.” Request the modified oath when you submit your N-400, which will ask questions about taking up weapons, joining in a war, or providing noncombatant services in the armed forces. (See Filling Out USCIS Form N-400.) You must also attach information stating that you are a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in good standing (an active participant in congregational events) together with a letter on official letterhead explaining that Jehovah’s Witnesses are opposed to bearing arms, military service, and using the words “on oath.” A letter from your congregation’s elder is considered adequate. At your naturalization interview, a USCIS officer may ask you further questions on this topic. (Also see What to Expect at Your Naturalization Interview.)

I was tempted to rent this "baby" LOL

I just wanted to express how grateful I'm for this talk given by Brother Seth Hyatt. Because sometimes I feel like I can control a situation, when I can't. And unfortunately, it happens a lot here among us young people, because we lack good sense. It can happen quickly and before you know it, it's too late. This talk definitely made me aware of it, to avoid doing something that only leads to disaster, no matter how exciting or tempting it can be. I wanted to share it here https://tv.jw.org/#en/mediaitems/LatestVideos/pub-jwb_201809_11_VIDEO

You mean Adore ..right?

Bro-J

Just another reason to not mess with turtles...we got friends...😁

I had a part time U.S. gov job while pioneering. Another Sis was already working with this supervisor, who said "Oh, I don't need to do this part. I know about your beliefs."

Yeah, I do that too; sometimes I need an expert opinion. ....

Well it's been a little while since I last played with Signal (which is often considered the 'gold standard' in security for end-user messaging apps), but Telegram is cloud-based so it has some more conveniences than Signal such as be able to use your Telegram account on a computer or tablet even if your phone is disconnected from the internet or the battery dies. And Telegram does this while still being more secure and privacy focused than WhatsApp. WhatsApp does not function if your phone's battery dies: While you can access your WA conversations from a computer, if your phone loses its internet connection, your computer is immediately logged out/disconnected from the WA servers. From what I remember, Signal had the same issue (someone feel free to correct me if this is no longer the case with Signal). By contrast, you can download Telegram to any and all devices (apple, android, and more) as well as computers using either their native clients for Windows, Mac, and Linux or using a web app (which runs inside the browser on your computer)---and all* your conversations immediately appear (similar to an email inbox in the cloud, which is what 99% of us are using for our e-mail accounts right now). *I'll add that there is one kind of special Telegram conversation that does not sync between all your devices (and this is purposefully by design) is a Telegram feature called "secret chat." When you start one of these with one of your Telegram contacts (and it's only available for one-on-one chats, not groups) then the recipient must first accept the invitation from just one of their Telegram devices, and when they do, that conversation is not synced to your Telegram account (is not stored in the cloud) but instead is end-to-end encrypted, with an additional layer of security, so that you can be sure that only you and the other party will ever see whatever you now decide to type. You can even set a self destruct timer on messages (I use this with my mother when we need to share a password with the other for an account we share, such as Netflix). And as an added security feature, if the recipient takes a screenshot (which would be undesirable in a secure chat where you want for there to be no record of anything left over) you receive a notification they did took the screenshot. (note, apple does not allow app developers to prevent a user from taking a screenshot, but Telegram added this ability so at least you know if/when the other party has made a digital copy of your secret chat). Oh and I should also mention that while all three of the messaging apps we're discussing here require new users to use their phone number to create their account, Telegram is the only one that allows you to send messages to other Telegram users without actually sharing your phone number with them. This is an optional features which allows you to create a sort of nickname for yourself on Telegram which you can share with people you want to start a chat with without them having your actual phone number. In my opinion this feature puts all the other phone-number-based messaging apps at a big disadvantage compared to Telegram, since there may be times you'd like to chat with someone new but are not sure you want to share your personal contact details with yet.

Just looking at the previews causes me to wonder why he is called a bull? Something is missing, not quite sure about Ferdinand. How does he hold a teacup? Of course Babe the Blue Ox was obviously not an ox, just as I don't believe Ferdinand was a bull. On the otherhand that Bison the tourist was dancing with in Yellowstone was obviously a bull. People just seem to have trouble getting this straight.

I found a great quote in a book about the evolution of the long-necked giraffe by W-E Lönnig: The quote is by A. Lunn "Faith is the substance of fossils hoped for, the evidence of links unseen."

A very interesting point from the above book, something I had not really thought about before. When discussing the existence of God, if the atheist refers to evolution then it is totally irrelevant! Evolution, even if it were true in all its Darwinian glory, has no bearing on the existence of God. Evolution can only operate on life (if it operates at all) so the real question is: How did life originate? No-one has any idea, say all the scientists researching this area. To get from non-living chemicals to the "simplest" of cells i.e. the bacterium, is absolutely beyond any scientific explanation. I put 'simplest' in quotes because a bacterium is anything but simple! The dna, the rna, the nanomachinery, ribosomes, cell membrane etc etc. are incredibly complex, not to mention its ability to self-replicate.