Sol Invictus

 

The sun rises over Texas, incandescent, unrelenting, invictus, unconquered. Do we back down and hide, skulking like so many knaves in our air conditioned dens? No, we stride out to meet the challenge, all the way to the nearest Pick 'n Steal.

Sure enough, there's modern age debris strewn across the way. A rubberized glove, some ear defenders, but no weaves, dime bags (right price, Ed?), needles, losing lottery tickets and beat up VIP passes to Taylor Swift gigs. Such is life in this blighted second decade of the Great Reset.

No matter Green New Deal, whoever said life'd be easy? Here's our 81 million vote beloved ruler, Old Joe, whom everyone loves:

Your Very Best Pal,

LSP

A Bit Chilly! For Zendo & LL

  

note cheap freebie glass

It's a bit chilly here in Texas, so maybe this cooling infovid  will help:

See you in Valhalla.

Fenrir,

LSP

Sunday Mass

 

For the first time in over a year I took a Sunday off and went to Mass in Dallas, at St. Matthias. "Smokey Matt's" is a traditional Anglo-Catholic church with an oriented liturgy, faithful priests and a down to earth, goodhearted congregation. Great people.

The previous Rector was sent there, he tells me, "to shut the place down," but he didn't, he grew the parish instead and quite literally built it. More than this, under his guidance, the church bought its way out from under pharaonic captivity to the Rainbow Church of Woken Dreams and the Diocese of Dallas. It now lives within the green pastures and still waters of the Diocese of Fort Worth. Result.

Fr. Dwight, Deacon of the Mass, gave an entertaining and true homily on today's Gospel, Martha and Mary. Without Mary's listening to Christ in love, in prayer, our active service becomes brittle at best and we run the risk of becoming "dried out activists." Yes indeed. Here's Benedict XVI on the same passage in Luke:

Martha and Mary are two sisters; they also have a brother, Lazarus, but he does not appear on this occasion. Jesus is passing through their village and, the text says, Martha received him at her home (cf. 10: 38). This detail enables us to understand that Martha is the elder of the two, the one in charge of the house. Indeed, when Jesus has been made comfortable, Mary sits at his feet and listens to him while Martha is totally absorbed by her many tasks, certainly due to the special Guest.

We seem to see the scene: one sister bustling about busily and the other, as it were, enraptured by the presence of the Teacher and by his words. A little later Martha, who is evidently resentful, can no longer resist and complains, even feeling that she has a right to criticize Jesus: "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me". Martha would even like to teach the Teacher! Jesus on the other hand answers her very calmly: "Martha, Martha", and the repetition of her name expresses his affection, "you are anxious and troubled about many things; only one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her" (10: 41-42). Christ's words are quite clear: there is no contempt for active life, nor even less for generous hospitality; rather, a distinct reminder of the fact that the only really necessary thing is something else: listening to the word of the Lord; and the Lord is there at that moment, present in the Person of Jesus! All the rest will pass away and will be taken from us but the word of God is eternal and gives meaning to our daily actions.

Dear friends, as I said, this Gospel passage...  recalls the fact that the human person must indeed work and be involved in domestic and professional occupations, but first and foremost needs God, who is the inner light of Love and Truth. Without love, even the most important activities lose their value and give no joy. Without a profound meaning, all our activities are reduced to sterile and unorganised activism. And who, if not Jesus Christ, gives us Love and Truth? Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us learn to help each other, to collaborate, but first of all to choose together the better part which is and always will be our greatest good.

Here endeth the Lesson and as we reflect upon it, check out this helpful infographic.

Arduus Ad Solem,

LSP 

Time To Shoot Again

There it was, another beautiful, clear, already ovenlike morning in country Texas, another day to shoot. This time at Chandler's range just outside of Valley Mills where I RV'd with some church people. Of course I was on a mission to test out yesterday's malfeasant gas gun. Would it work today after yesterday's failure and remedial gas block surgery?

Good question. You'll recall, far-sighted readers, that the gun wouldn't cycle because of an incorrectly aligned gas block and wrong length gas tube, which I corrected. Or had I? First shot. Bang, right in the center of the green terrorist's head, nice, the weapon was on. But no cycle. Dam.

Out came the screw driver, off went the hand guard, and whaddya know, the gas block still wasn't right. Attention to detail, LSP, get it right the first time, enough of your shoddy, useless gunsmithery. That in mind, I nudged the block back over the handy indent in the barrel, tightened it up, fired a test shot, the rifle cycled, phew, and replaced the hand guard.

A few shots later on the head of the green terr proved the rifle was in working order. Mission accomplished. Result. The rest of the morning went on remedial .45 practice, I'm rusty, and plinking about with a .22. Great enjoyment and what a lot of fun to meet with with church friends for a shoot in the clean country air. 

We must build on this worthy endeavor.

Gun Rights,

LSP

Time To Shoot

 

So what kind of LSP are you, and by the way we doubt that's your real name, if you don't even shoot? Good question, punters. To set the record straight I headed for the range this morning.

There it was, hot as an oven under the Texan sky, and I was on a mission. Viz. Zero in a new and specially crafted AR15. But at what range? There's plenty of pros and cons to the 25, 36, 50 and 100 yard zero, and beyond, but I went for 36 because that's where the shooting bench had been moved respective to the nearest available target. 

 

After a quick bore sight, the weapon was on paper in the 9 ring and I dialed up twice to hit the X on the third shot. Awesome, rifle and optic worked, except that wasn't quite true. Sure, the gun was on but it wasn't cycling. Why? Because the cunning armorer who'd put the beast together hadn't installed its gas block correctly, it wasn't aligned with the barrel's gas port, turning the DAR (Deadly Assault Rifle) into a one shot wonder.

Huh. After a few shots on a steel turkey I moved over to .22 plinking with a Ruger American. A heavy metal bird took a beating along with a small spinner, and then it was time to head for home and a serious meeting with Block, Tube, Pin, Barrel & Co.

You see, the builder of this gun somehow forgot, perhaps he was distracted, that he was working with a 16" barrel. He thought he was assembling an 18" setup and labored accordingly. This meant the gas tube was too long and when fitted to its block didn't align with the barrel's gas port. No hot gas working that famous impingement system, you see, and thus no BCG cycle. What to do?

Utterly Wrong

Stare in slack-jawed, NRA consternation at the offending article and the sheer, brazen, literal incompetence of it all? Take it to a shop and ask them to fix it? Or do it yourself. I chose the latter route. It's not hard. Remove the hand guard, tap out the gas tube's retaining pin with a cleverly small hammer and roll pin punch, then loosen the gas block, slide it forward to the awesome Surefire SOCOM muzzle brake, which demands a suppressor, and remove the gas tube.

Right? Let's See

Well done, you're nearly there. Next step, produce a gas tube for a 16" barrel, clean it, mine was dirty, and press the tube into the gas block. Make sure the retaining pin holes on tube and block align, then tap the retaining pin back in. Replace hand guard. Done.

At least that's the hope. It looks right, but I'll test the offending article out tomorrow on another range at a church shoot. It'd better work or there'll be trouble, and then some.

#2A,

LSP

Happy Independence Day!

 

Have a great day with family and friends as we celebrate our freedom from British tyranny. You can imagine what that'd look like now, a Whitehall mandated rainbow flag on every corner and don't you dare disagree, serf, or you'll go to gaol for Hate Thought like the brazen transphobic Nazi you are. 

In the meanwhile, London bureaucrats would be sending billions of your tax Dollars Pounds to fund literal Nazis in Eastern Europe. For moneylaundering freedom and the Liberal World Order.

What a terrifying vision! Thank God we fought against such perfidious despotism and won, but you know the saying, "A Republic if you can keep it." That in mind, the flag of Liberty flies high at the Compound and burgers are about to hit the grill.

Cheers,

LSP

On The Way

 

One of the crew ended up in hospital the other day with a heart condition, but by the grace of God he survived and one pacemaker later was back in his newbuilt home today, recovering. I drove out to see him, and I tell you, it felt good to be out in the country. There it is, lying there in the searing heat, Texas. Good too to find my friend in good spirits and recovering, though weak. We prayed for a full recovery.

In other news, the Russkies had a good week, capturing Sverdonetsk along with neighboring territory and look set to capture Lisyshansk (across the river from Sverdonetsk) shortly. Smart UKR troops made it out of the encirclement, on foot?, and fell back to the Bakmut/Kramatorsk defense line. Expect RF forces to move West to test this after securing their rear. Or not. Here's a map from Rybar:

It's similar, when you think of it, to a mini version of Operation Bagration, but at a company and battalion level as opposed to divisional, and both sides seem to be operating on something like the 1944 playbook. Mini or not, it's no joke when it's your kid who dies in the fury of thing. And die they have, to the tune of tens of thousands. 

This is hideous, unlike Blue's new friend who's cute as all get out. But here's the thing. No cats in the house and this one's going to a different home after being rescued from ghetto street life by a soldier. 

He calls it "Bobby," which is sweet, but "Bobby" is not taking up residence, plaintive, sentimental, unrealistic, pugnacious protests notwithstanding.

Your Pal,

LSP

Fish You Fool

 

Boy With Fish

Elements of USARMY were asking, tragically, plaintively, "What shall we do?" Quick as a flash Command issued orders, "Go fishing." And so they did, putting rods and tackle into a Chevy Z71 which headed for the lake in search of fish.

Boy With Fish

Were they successful? Sure they were, fishing with light rods, circle hooks, frozen Shad and catching Gar, Flathead, young Striper and Black Drum. Well done, boys. 

Your Old Pal

Senior officers, on the other hand, stayed home, sorting out the admin of this irregular unit. Yes, this must change, we pride ourselves on leading from the front.

Fish On,

LSP

Small Town Texas

 

Welcome to the new normal in the rural idyll that is North Central Texas. But all's not lost, you can still buy regular for $4.39 a gallon, for now.

And drive to Itasca.

Which was prosperous until we declared war on ourselves.

Then it wasn't. Still, there's some bright spots like Karen's, home of famously good bean/brisket burritos, and the Olde Towne Country Store, run by Mennonites(?).

They sell all kinds of locally produced food, spices and much more besides. Their sandwich/deli's not bad either, pretty much a local lunch hangout.

Then there's the war memorial. What a terrible loss of life from such a small town.

Business taken care of I drove back to the Compound and that, all three of you readers, is the story of that.

God bless,

LSP

Surrender

 

I'll just let this repost stand as it is except to say that when I was a very junior LSP I asked a WWII vet "what was it like" when they surrendered. We were in a Morris Minor on the way to Oxford where he taught and I possibly pre-school learned. He replied, "They were incredibly disciplined, even in defeat." That's stuck with me over some 50 years.

Again, a babysitter from Germany in Texas (!) 1972, who had been in Berlin around the end. "What was it like?" She replied, "The Fuhrer would speak to us in the underground from speakers, 'Fight! We will win!'" Maybe it was Goebbels instead of the Fuhrer, and we know how his family ended. Again, an old, hoary and civilized diplomat, "I heard Hitler many times and never thought him anything other than absurd."

Make of this what you will, and if you want something uplifting check out Love The One You're With by the unwashed CSNY.

Cheers,

LSP

Dallas Goes Full Zelensky

 

Just back from the metrosprawl and what a good visit, grilling, a custom AR which sadly got lost when the kayak overturned in the Trinity and on. But I noticed something strange, Dallas had gone full Zelensky. 

This is OK Now

All the people in Ma LSP's neighborhood who support BLM, tranny everything, open borders and abortion to the point of birth also support the Ukraine. You can tell this by their ubiquitous flags and annoying yard signs, "I stand with Ukraine."

Just Some Furry

Leaving aside the risible fad of believing the next corporate driven agitprop big thing, we have to ask, "Oh, you do, do you?" Perhaps that's why you support literal Nazis, AZOV, RIGHT SECTOR, AIDAR and on.

Dammit, I told you not to!

Shouldn't that be strange or even dissonant? Apparently not. Our elite Martha's Vineyard rulers' hold on the minds of the ProgLeft is seemingly complete. That in mind, Nancy Pelosi has the sheer gall to get up in Congress and quote the Bible, "I was hungry and you fed me." And no one's called her on a fraudulent $40 billion, maybe they're all innit together.

Ahem

Tell us, Nancy, and all the rest of our ruling gerontocracy, what are your financial concerns in the Ukraine? And while we're at it, readers, keep some sanitizer handy.

Your Friend,

LSP

Serfs Can't Have This

 

What can we say? The beauty of modern engineering.

What a charger!

RAP Adjustable, too.

Too bad it all sunk beneath the waves of Lake Whitney in a tragic kayak trip. Oh well, win some lose some. Maybe powerful magnets on the end of ropes will bring this custom bad boy up from the depths. In the meanwhile, the Ukraine's recovering from an onslaught of Bono/Edge, Justine Trudeau, Doc Jill, Pelosi and the hideous BoJo clown.

Yes, they're shell shocked. Let's see how this beast shoots.

Your Pal,

LSP

Wednesday Roundabout

 

Rolled into Dallas down the hellway that is I35. But it wasn't so bad, 80 pretty much all the way. Then disaster. Locked the keys in the rig.

Texas Farm Bureau had a solution, fortunately, and the truck was freed. Nice. In the meanwhile, Tucker's on downstairs. He questions the validity of our most popular president. And let's not forget, Biden's the most popular president in US history, with a solid 81 million votes.

a pal with a snake

That means, when you follow the logic, that a vote against Biden is a vote against the people. And being an enemy of the people? You do the math. Meanwhile, our beloved leader's greeting people who aren't there. 

an ENO with a daughter

What does this mean. That Biden's simply demented and out of place or that he's speaking to spirits, to ghosts of the dead and demons? I'm no exorcist but perhaps you'll be betting on the latter. Guinea on.

Vade Ratro,

LSP

Good Friday #2

It's Good Friday so let's have some Donne:

Let mans Soule be a Spheare, and then, in this,
The intelligence that moves, devotion is,
And as the other Spheares, by being growne
Subject to forraigne motion, lose their owne,
And being by others hurried every day,
Scarce in a yeare their naturall forme obey:

Pleasure or businesse, so, our Soules admit
For their first mover, and are whirld by it.
Hence is't, that I am carryed towards the West
This day, when my Soules forme bends toward the East.

There I should see a Sunne, by rising set,
And by that setting endlesse day beget;
But that Christ on this Crosse, did rise and fall,
Sinne had eternally benighted all.

Yet dare I'almost be glad, I do not see
That spectacle of too much weight for mee.
Who sees Gods face, that is selfe life, must dye;
What a death were it then to see God dye?

It made his owne Lieutenant Nature shrinke,
It made his footstoole crack, and the Sunne winke.
Could I behold those hands which span the Poles,
And tune all spheares at once peirc'd with those holes?

Could I behold that endlesse height which is
Zenith to us, and our Antipodes,
Humbled below us? or that blood which is
The seat of all our Soules, if not of his,
Made durt of dust, or that flesh which was worne
By God, for his apparell, rag'd, and torne?

If on these things I durst not looke, durst I
Upon his miserable mother cast mine eye,
Who was Gods partner here, and furnish'd thus
Halfe of that Sacrifice, which ransom'd us?
Though these things, as I ride, be from mine eye,
They'are present yet unto my memory,
For that looks towards them; and thou look'st towards mee,

O Saviour, as thou hang'st upon the tree;
I turne my backe to thee, but to receive
Corrections, till thy mercies bid thee leave.
O thinke mee worth thine anger, punish mee,
Burne off my rusts, and my deformity,
Restore thine Image, so much, by thy grace,
That thou may'st know mee, and I'll turne my face.

Yes, they speld differentlie in those dayes,

LSP

ESCHATON

 

It started off gently, with a soothing murmur of thunder and unassuming flashes of lightning. Yes, our Old Enemy the Weather was up to zhir old tricks again, pretending to be some kind of first year curate fresh out of Duke or some other lesser satan like Sewannee.

Then boom, the sky turned green, wind blasted out of the north driving sheets of rain before its onslaught as thunder crashed from heaven with all the elemental ferocity of MLRS on the Kharkov front. (What? Ed.)

In related news, 1000 marines wisely surrendered in a Ukrainian port, a French reporter claims the US is running the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, huh, and a church in Chicago is urging its congregation to "fast from whiteness" during Lent. What does that look like, Talcum X or Rachel Dolezal? Your call.

More seriously, please say a prayer for my rodeo friend who died on Saturday, he was a good man. His requiem's tomorrow, may he rest in peace and rise in glory.

Dies Irae,

LSP

Sun Rising

 

The day dawned bright, the sun shone in a clear sky as birds sang, no chemtrails here, life is good. Then, after Morning Prayer and the obligatory stroll to the Pick 'n Steal, I drove to Cleburne, population 30,289, quite the metropolis.

I tell you, it always feels out of place and stranger in a strange land when I leave the protected zone of this bucolic if asset stripped rural haven and venture into the world. There it is, Walmarts with polished concrete floors, strip malls in abundance, CPAs, all this cacophony which has become the way we live now.

Note GOLD ceiling strips. Yes, real gold

Some, who live in real isolation, will feel this more keenly, and there it is. Business taken care of I climbed back in the aging rig and headed for home and Stations of the Cross. Must get an oil change on the old truck, write up a talk on the final two petitions of the Pater Noster, clean some guns and pick up the Specialist from the Metrosprawl airport tomorrow.

While we're at it, could someone, please, bring the Ukraine adventure to a conclusion? Thanks, readers, in advance. Oh, and let's see the rest of Hunter's laptop hit the news too, apparently gigabytes are being uploaded somewhere in Switzerland. Yes, please.

God bless you all,

LSP