The Pope's a Catholic! Breaking!

What, the Pope's A Catholic?

People all over the world are falling down in shocked wonder at the news that the Pope is, in fact, a Catholic.

As leader of 1.1 billion Christians, Pope Francis I, is "passionately concerned for the poor." George Weigel has this to say, in today's Wall Street Journal:

"The pope is passionately concerned about the poor, and he knows that poverty in the 21st century takes many forms. It can be found in the grinding material poverty of his native Buenos Aires, caused by decades of corruption, indifference, and the church's failures to catechize Argentina's economic and political leaders. But poverty can also be found in the soul-withering spiritual desert of those who measure their humanity by what they have rather than who they are, and who judge others by the same materialist yardstick. Then there is the ethical impoverishment of moral relativism, which dumbs down human aspiration, impedes common work for the common good in society, and inevitably leads to social fragmentation and personal unhappiness."

You can read the whole thing here. Prepare to be amazed at the stunning news that the Roman Catholic church elected a catholic to be their Pope.

Random Saddles & Gun

In stunning contradistinction the Church of England's busy getting gay with the Pilling Report. 

Mirabile.

LSP

Happy Thanksgiving

ISON

Out of respect for the person who said "a little Chesterton can go a long way," here's a short bit of GKC:

"The world will never starve for want of wonders, but for want of wonder. We should always endeavor to wonder at the permanent thing, not at the mere exception. We should be startled by the sun, and not by the eclipse. We should wonder less at the earthquake, and wonder more at the earth. What was wonderful about childhood is that anything in it was a wonder. It was not merely a world full of miracles; it was a miraculous world. Somehow one must love the world without being worldly."

I love that.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving,

LSP

Is Joni Mitchell a Devil Witch? Survey Results.

Joni Mitchell, Devil Witch?

A recent opinion poll shows that most people think that the once famous singer songwriter, Joni Mitchell, is a Devil Witch. 

Definitely a Devil Witch

Out of a representative sample of 24 persons, a large majority of 16 respondents thought that Joni Mitchell was either "Probably a Devil Witch" or "Definitely a Devil Witch." A further 6 persons were unsure if the singer was a "Devil Witch" or not and a small minority of 2 persons thought that she was "Not a Devil Witch."

Trending Bad

Unsolicited comments to pollsters included, "she plays the dulcimir, nuff said" and "I never trusted her!" One respondent answered the survey questionnaire in code: DEMIC. Service CAPE. 4 TINE.

Don't hang out with that deadbeat, Joni

Known for hit singles, such as "Coyote", in which Mitchell sings about "white lines" and sex, the pop star was allegedly inspired by a "spirit guide", or "cosmic being," that some sources claim she referred to as "Art." In one of her pop hits, Mitchell refers darkly to "paradise" being "paved" in order to "put up a parking lot."

"Art"?

Was Mitchell inspired by a demon called Art? Is she a Devil Witch? The polls are still open.

You decide.

LSP

A Country Breakfast

Circle Y Saddle

We don't have many restaurants here though we do have Montes, which is a Mexican diner that's not far from the Courthouse Willie Nelson helped rebuild when it burned down in the '90s. Willie, and Waylon, are not Illuminati stooges or part of the sinister NWO conspiracy that put up Denver's new satanic airport, at least as far as I've been able to work out. But that's a digression.

The Mighty .303

I like to go to Montes on Monday for breakfast and get Huevos Rancheros, corn or flour tortillas, I don't care, and strong coffee. Nothing fancy, but pretty good for all that. The staff were playing some kind of Latino dance music, kind of funky for breakfast, but whatever, and the table next to me was full of these workers who'd pulled up in battered 2500s. They were discussing the comparative merits of Madonna singles, "Well, I reckon she was influenced by Groove Armada, and I don't like that," type of thing.

No Hunting Today

I was planning on hunting some rabbits after breakfast but was rained off. It's all going on in the countryside, I tell you.

Ride on,

LSP

Denver Airport Satanic?

Denver Devil Horse

Modern air travel, in the U.S. at least, is bad enough without being confronted by satanic, New World Order symbolism, like at Denver International Airport.

Airport Demon

Arrivals at the airport are greeted by an evil apocalyptic horse with glowing red eyes, statues of demon possessed luggage and murals of people worshiping some kind of hallucinogenic plant.

Disturbing

Masons built the place, apparently, and some speculate that it's designed as a command and control center for the upcoming dictatorship of the stratospherically wealthy over everyone else. Speaking of which, the well known singer and Illuminati witch, Beyonce, was booted off a pyramind tour by Zahi Hawass. Why?

Downright Rude

For being "rude" and "stupid".

Hunh. Let's get Hawass onto Piers Morgan.

Kick out the jams.

LSP

Christ the King

Viva Cristo Rey!

Christ's kingship is exemplified in the sacrificial love of the cross and it's frightening to see the irrational rage that can evoke in people.  Why? Perhaps because deep-seated wickedness hates to be exposed and reacts first with derision and then with a kind of brute fury against its opposite.

Christ the King

The Church, which is inevitably drawn to the cross, will have to expect more of that as we get further into our brave new secularist experiment. 

Viva Cristo Rey.

LSP

Guizot and Wickedness

Guizot

Just when you were beginning to think, "This LSP makes me incapable of serious thought!" up comes an excerpt from Guizot's Democracy in France, 1849, thanks to DC (bear in mind Guizot's Calvinist roots): 

"Let any man dive into his own heart and observe himself with attention. If he have the power to look, and the will to see, he will behold, with a sort of terror, the incessant war waged by the good and evil dispositions within him — reason and caprice, duty and passion; in short, to call them all by their comprehensive names, good and evil. We contemplate with anxiety the outward troubles and vicissitudes of human life; but what should we feel if we could behold the inward vicissitudes, the troubles of the human soul — if we could see how many dangers, snares, enemies, combats, victories, and defeats can be crowded into a day — an hour? I do not say this to discourage man, nor to humble or under-value his free will. He is called upon to conquer in the battle of life, and the honour of the conquest belongs to his free will. But victory is impossible, and defeat certain, if he has not a just conception and a profound feeling of his dangers, his weaknesses, and his need of assistance. To believe that the free will of man tends to good, betrays an immeasurable ignorance of his nature. It is the error of pride; an error which tends to destroy both moral and political order; which enfeebles the government of communities no less than the government of the inward man."

I think I'd want to temper the above with Aquinas' observation that the natural will tends towards the good, which has become warped and flawed through sin, as opposed to totally corrupted. Guizot, with his Calvinist upbringing, may have taken the latter view.

Still, the bad errors of Calvinism aside, we deny the fallen inclination of humanity to evil at our peril and, to quote an English friend, the fact that "wickedness organizes for wickedness." Fortunately for us, grace perfects nature.

Just a thought,

LSP

VCC & The Motorcycle Hippies

Motorcycle Hippies

Here at the Compound we're always on the lookout for interesting stories, like when a member of one of the Missions was driving across his ranch and saw a commotion in his stock tank. "What's this?" thought the Veteran Crew Chief (VCC), as he drove up for a closer look.

Goofing Off

It was hippies, motorcycle hippies, who'd somehow found their way onto his land, out of their clothes and into the tank. VCR got out of his truck and he just might have cranked a round in his short barreled pistol grip pump. You never know, better safe than sorry when you're looking at a whole tank full of motorcycle hippies.

Getting Dirty

Then, like a prehistoric monster emerging from the primeval slime, the leader of the hippies climbed out of the brackish water. My irenic friend told him they were "welcome to swim but this tank is known 'round here for its snakes." The hippies fled.

Trashing Someone's Land

So just who were these hippies? Most likely some crew chancing it out of Austin; they probably figured they'd trash someone's land for a few days before moving on. Hippies notoriously destroy farmland. Good thing they were caught before it got out of hand!

Born to ride,

LSP

Obamamcare Crony Capitalists Run Wild

can't pay won't pay

Vicious rumours that Obamacare is nothing less than crony capitalism run wild are manifestly untrue as Insurance Behomeths get a free ride on the backs of uninsured citizens and everyone else.

I don't have to pay!

Here's Zero Hedge:

"The cheapest plan now has a deductible of $6350! Before it was $150. Employees making $9 to $10/hr, have to pay $30/wk and have a $6350 deductible!!! What!!!! They can't afford that to be sure. Obamacare will kill their propensity to seek medical care. More money for less care? How does that help them? ...It all seems like a joke. How can this be the new system? Pelosi, pass the bill to find out what's in it? Surprise! You've annihilated the working class."

CIGNA CEO

And here's some figures from Forbes (worth the read). As of October, shares in CIGNA were up 63%, Wellpoint 47% and United healthcare 28%.

The best bit about it all is that the poor get fined for not signing on to Government mandated healthcare that they can't afford anyway. Nice.

Insurance Company Jet

Remember, the Government is your friend. Especially if you're on the Executive of an Insurance Company.

And lest we forget, our Overlords in the Government don't have to pay the new health tax. They're exempt, or at least play by a different set of rules; one law for the rich, another for the poor? Surely not.

LSP

Church of England Gives Huge Yes To Women Bishops

Dance to the goddess

The Church of England's General Synod voted overwhelmingly in favour of women bishops, with one priestess, Canon Rosie Harper, arguing that failure to make women bishops would make the Church of England look "weird."

Canon Rosie Harper isn't weird, at all

"I would like to name the sheer weirdness of a community arguing about discrimination in the 21st century - people out there don't care enough to be angry but they do dismiss us as weird," stated Rosie.

Nothing weird about Schori!

According to Rosie, the weirdness of not having women bishops would hurt the declining Church of England's mission, "If we are serious about our mission, and I know this is a very basic point, we really do have to stop being weird," she told the Synod. 

Totally not weird

In a final appeal to normality, Canon Rosie concluded, "Stop being weird and vote yes."

Deranged

Well done, Church of England. With women bishops you won't be weird anymore and everyone will start going to church again. Next stop, Gay Marriage, which everyone knows is entirely normal.

Entirely normal

Good luck, Church of England.

LSP

Rev. "Meth" Flowers, a Sordid Tale of Criminality and Vice

Rev. "Meth" Flowers

It can't be easy being a Labour Councillor, a bank boss and a Methodist clergyperson, so what do you do? You know, to relieve the stress? For Rev. "Meth" Flowers the answer was apparently simple, party on down in an orgiastic haze of coke, ketamine, rent boys and speed.

Speed

According to U.K. press, "Meth" Flowers used company email while he was Chairman of the Co-op bank to hook up with male prostitutes that he took on expensive dinner dates, before  drug-fueled gay threesomes. 

Coke

The paunchy moneyman was certainly up for it, "I knew what he did for a living and couldn't believe how debauched he was," stated one rent boy, Ciaron Dodd, 21.

"Special K"

While "Meth" was boss of the Co-op, the bank merged with the Britannia Building Society, taking on multi-million pound bad debt that came to light during its recent abortive attempt to acquire 632 Lloyds bank branches. 

Fail

The Co-op's debt rating has been downgraded to "junk" status, and the failed bank now stands to lose 70% of it's business to a consortium of buccaneering U.S. Hedge Funds, including Aurelius Capital and other investors. 

"Meth" 

"Meth" has been downgraded too and was suspended from the Labour Party, despite giving the improbably named Ed "FiddyK" Balls, Labour's Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, a donation of 50,000 pounds. 

FiddyK

Rev. "Meth" Flowers, who is under police investigation, is currently in hiding. You can read all about this sad and sordid tale of sleazy skulduggery here, here, here, and here.

Cheers,

LSP

Get That Franchi Instinct

Franchi Instinct L

GWB tipped up at the compound yesterday and before you could say "Archbishop Justin Welby's an Oil Shark!", there was an over and under on the mahogany. My philisophical friend had cleverly gone out and bought a Franchi Instinct L 20 gauge, and who can blame him?

Young Sharky

We took it out for a test drive today, rambling about in search of rabbits, who sensibly stayed under cover, and then slinging a box or so of skeet, country style. Just a lot of explosive fun and good practice. 

Old Sharky

I shot reasonably well, once I remembered to aim... and GWB was knocking the clays out of the air like a good 'un. But how did the Franchi perform? I took a couple of breaks from my cheap, but hey it works, Mossberg 835 Ulti Mag pump to find out.

Prince of Wales grip

I enjoyed shooting this gun; it's light, at 6.5 Ilbs, and comes quickly to the shoulder and to target.  I thought it looked good too, with traditional styling, case hardened finish on the receiver and no gaps between metal and wood. That said, the wood of the buttstock sits proud to the receiver by a millimeter or so, but I felt this was balanced out by well-defined, deeply cut checkering and A grade walnut furniture. Not a bad looking gun, but did it work?

dove feast

For sure, the Instinct functioned flawlessly over several hours of pretty much continuous shooting, with no misfires, failure to eject or mechanical problems. So that's alright then, but would I buy one? If I was looking for an over and under shotgun that costs $1149, yes, I think I would. 

The gun looks good, handles well and if you don't get carried away and forget to aim, it's perfectly capable of knocking the opposition out of the sky. Granted, it's not a $2000 plus firearm, but whoever said it was?

Shoot straight,

LSP

Borth

Borth

You may not know it but there's this small town in Wales called Borth. It's a short drive from Aberystwyth and seems to be pretty much controlled by older hippies who run all these overpriced junk antique shops, "galleries, and novelty cafes. Hippies are known for their thieving.

relaxing after a hard days thieving 

Borth also has sand dunes, which puts me in mind of Sting. Some people think that Sting's greatest cinematic performance was in Dune, others feel that he was even better in Brimstone and Treacle. But I won't judge, decide for yourself!

the genius of Sting

So go and visit Borth; it's just this little strip of hippie go-downs and a couple of pubs in a line facing the sea, right there on the Western edge of the Island.

edge of the world

Cheers,

LSP 

Brit Spy Found Dead in Bag

go on, try it at home

A British spy, Gareth Williams, was found dead inside a padlocked sports bag in an MI6 apartment in London. U.K.Police have ruled the death accidental. "Most probably it was an accident," stated London Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Martin Hewitt.

Gareth Williams was on secondment to MI6 from Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), and lived in MI6 provided housing in London. 20,000 pounds of unused women's clothing and shoes were found in Williams' not-so-safe house. 

The spy's DNA was not found on the locked sports bag in which he died.

Nothing to see here. Move along.

LSP

South London Pikers

South London Pike

I used to live in South London, a very, very, very long time ago, in what the English romantically call a "Tower Block", in a place not so far from Peckham. Hipsters live in Peckham now, strangely. Regardless, last week I overcame the psychic barrier that is the Thames and travelled South of the River to Lewisham.

Looking South

Before I knew it I'd RV'd with some old friends, climbed into a "motor" and was speeding(ish) towards Catford. We stopped on the edge of a tranquil pond as the sun was setting and the fish were starting to jump; country life, right there in the metroplex. Beautiful; a couple of rods later and we were casting for Pike and they were striking -- on my friend's lure anyway.

R with Pike

Thanks, R, for the rod and reel action.

Fish on.

LSP