Ride On & Halloween Isn't Satan's Birthday

August was a good month for riding, which is strange because of the heat, but September and October were a bit of a bust. I foolishly didn't make the time. But that's changing now.

I was pleased to see that JB's put on some weight and was easy to catch, tack up and mount. We went for an easygoing ride around the 10 acre pasture she lives in, just walking with an occasional Western trot with lots of practice moving in a controlled way around mesquites and various trails. 

She did well, with good, willing response to leg and seat. I was pleased with that and it reminded me that riding's good for mind, soul and body. It also means a pastoral visit to parishioners, which is no bad thing either.

Downright Scary

Speaking of bad, some people think that Halloween is Satan's birthday. That's not true, it's the eve of All Saints.

Saints, pray for us,

LSP

A Truck Full of Guns

Headed off to the range on Monday with a truck full of guns; an AR, a bolt .22 and the newly fixed up Lee Enfield. GWB brought some Ruger action to the party with a 10/22 and a Mini.

It was mostly about the AR and the Mini, starting off at 30 and 50 yards to get the hang of things then moving out to 100. Two very different rifles. I like the wood and steel of the Mini, which makes it more of a "ranch gun" but I also like the Milspec patriotism of the AR. It's argued that the AR is is the more accurate carbine and I think the best group of the day came from it, but in our hands the difference was pretty negligible. I'd say the Mini's  front sight post is better than the AR's because it's thinner but on the other hand, it's easier to fix optics to the AR. Maybe Santa will task his elves to sort me out for an Eotech or the mighty Trijicon...

At 100 yards we took it in turns to go for head shots/center mass. Ten rounds to each in our own time, several times. GWB claims that his nickname in the Service was "Head Shot." I find that unlikely for several reasons.

A tale of two empires

The Lee shot well but the scope had wandered off zero, so we spent some time getting it back in the X Ring and it still wasn't quite right by the end of the day. This might be the Holy Spirit telling me to purchase a Leupold Rifleman; maybe, I'll give the used Burris Fullfield another chance when time and ammo permit. Still, the gun was "hog accurate."

Moral of the story?

Don't be a slacker, get out and shoot.

LSP

Benghazi Treason?

It seems that the Banghazi fiasco, in which Ambassador Stevens was killed along with three other Americans, including several former SEALS, just won't go away.

We've seen the Administration lie, "It was the film that did it," when all along the White House Situation Room knew that a calculated attack was being made on our Ambassador and his team. We've also heard that repeated requests for support on the ground were denied.

At best, through inexcusable ignorance, our Commander in Chief turned his back on Americans who were under fire and then lied about it. At worst, something far more serious was in play. Admiral Lyons, writing in the Washington Times, hints at the nature of the beast (via pjmedia):

"…one of Stevens’ main missions in Libya was to facilitate the transfer of much of Gadhafi’s military equipment, including the deadly SA-7 – portable SAMs – to Islamists and other al Qaeda-affiliated groups fighting the Assad Regime in Syria. In an excellent article, Aaron Klein states that Stevens routinely used our Benghazi consulate (mission) to coordinate the Turkish, Saudi Arabian and Qatari governments’ support for insurgencies throughout the Middle East. Further, according to Egyptian security sources, Stevens played a “central role in recruiting Islamic jihadists to fight the Assad Regime in Syria.”

Why is it that our government is sending soldiers to fight radical Islamists in Afghanistan, all the while arming and training them in Syria?

I don't think that question should go away.

LSP

Dove Mojo

Dove season's over, at least until December, and most weeks I've been able to get out in the field against the  avian acrobats. The result? An awful lot of sound and shotgun fury along with a small but steady stream of birds for the frying pan or grill.

Tasty

In previous years I'd beat the treelines and fields hoping to surprise the feathered adversaries and shoot them as they broke cover. There's an excitement in that; you hear the birds feeding and move in their direction, senses sharp, then bang, they explode from cover and bang, off goes the gun. Sometimes you get a hit and there's a bird or two for the bag. But more often than not they have your measure and fly before you're in range.

Mojo

This year involved a bit of that but the focus was on the set up. Conceal yourself in a likely place and wait for the dove to fly in. GWB introduced a Mojo decoy, which is a plastic dove on a spike with battery powered wings. I was skeptical. Surely the keen eyed birds would scorn the fakey lure. Not a bit of it. They'd fly straight in, dive bombing the Mojo, leaving you to break cover and snap off a shot.

But remember, if the birds see you skulking about the Mojo they won't take the bait.

Just sayin'.

LSP

Texas Threatens U.N. Smackdown

Texas lowered the boom on the United Nations this week by threatening to throw its election observers in jail if they enter polling booths in the upcoming U.S. election.

According to The Hill, the threat of a Lone Star smackdown was met by fury and defiance on the part of U.N. officials.

The United nations

“The threat of criminal sanctions against [international] observers is unacceptable,” said Janez Lenarčič, a U.N. bureaucrat.“The United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections.”

Texas Rangers

Unfazed by Lenarcic's attempt to subordinate state sovereignty to a Brussels based New World Order, Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, warned the U.N. that its "observers" were not authorized by Texas Law to enter polling stations and faced jail time if they were found within 100 yards of them.

In other news, Illuminati shill, Piers Morgan, faces potential prosecution for illegal phone hacking while Editor of the Daily Mirror, a left-leaning tabloid in the United Kingdom.

Piers Morgan, Illuminati Stooge

Now we're talking.

LSP

Vicar of Slap Out

When the bishop calls you up and asks you to take on another Mission church you don't say, "No, bishop Iker, I'm awfully sorry but I can't be priest in charge of Slap Out, aka Hubbard." On the contrary, you say "of course, I'd be glad to help out."

was a train station - now  a church hall

So now I get to go to a third church on Sundays and I don't mind that at all. I especially like the congregation, who have good spirit, and the parish hall, which used to be Malone's railway station. The church bought it in the early 1950s, put it on a truck and drove it to Slap Out.

slap out of business

Why was Hubbard called Slap Out? Because, back in the 1860s, customers would go to the General Store only to be told that it was "slap out" of whatever they wanted. 

protestant work ethic

Slap Out's less basic now but it could do with a butcher, a pub, a bakery, and a gun/tack shop, maybe even some kind of book shop, for those of us who like to read. Why is that too much to ask? As it goes, the town has a couple of cafes, a masonic lodge, a feed shop and a pharmacy. It has a war memorial too, in the form of an attack helicopter.

I never in a thousand years would've thought I'd have a cure of souls in Hubbard. Why? I never knew it existed, but now I do and I'm not complaining. 

I like these small Texas towns.

LSP

The Ordinariate. Loving the Patrimony

The Team's been hard at work, this time in an Ordinariate way, sending in photos of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and a church not so very far from Fort Worth.

I'm all in favor, but let the reader understand that I'm loyal to bishop Iker, the Missions and, as always, to Texas.

Deo Vindice,

LSP

Look, A Sign!

A member of Team LSP just sent this in, from somewhere in East Texas. Here's another Texan picture, from Hubbard in 1908.

Slap Out

Hubbard used to be called Slap Out in the 1860s but was re-branded after a former Governor in the 1880s. Slap Out has 1,589 citizens as of the last census.

Burning Man

In other news, Big Tex has burnt to a crisp.

Somehow that seems relevant to me.

All for Texas.

LSP

America Doesn't Have a Class System

America overthrew British tyranny back in the 18th century. No taxation without representation and the rights of man, sort of thing.

Because of that we don't have a class system here, unlike England.

Thank God for that then.

Champagne all 'round.

LSP

Bandit Bishop Schori to Lawrence - You're Fired!

In a move that was as stunningly predictable as it was stupid clever, Space Alien Bandit Bishop, Katherine Jefferts Schori, has put the boot into Bishop Mark Lawrence of the Diocese of South Carolina, (DSC) prompting one of the  oldest and healthiest Anglican dioceses in North America to leave the Episcopal Church.

Bishop Mark Lawrence

Last year, bishop Lawrence was anonymously accused of "abandonment of communion" but two of the three  charges were dismissed by a disciplinary panel of bishops especially convened to deal with the alleged infractions. Dismissed that is until this month, when Lawrence was informed by the Bandit Bishop that he had abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church and wasn't allowed to function as a bishop.

This triggered secession clauses in the Diocese of South Carolina's Constitution, prompting it to leave the Episcopal Church. Next step? The Episcopal Church will sue the DSC for all its money and property after forming a potemkin diocese to serve as plaintiffs. That will bring the total number of traditional dioceses being litigated against by the Episcopal Church to five, San Joaquin, Pittsburgh, Quincy, Fort Worth and now South Carolina. 

Sue You

I won't comment further except to recommend A.S. Haley's post on Anglican Curmudgeon, but I will leave you with a test.

Imagine, for a moment, that you're the leader of a wealthy little denomination that's shrinking at an alarming rate of 50,000 members a year. One of your more numerous dioceses, with 29,000 members, publicly dissents from your prophetic pro-gay agenda. What do you do?

A. Try and find a way to co-exist with the dissenting diocese and concentrate on mission.

B. Sue the dissenting diocese and lose 29,000 people.

If you answered "A" you have failed the test to become the next Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. If you answered "B", well done! You too can be a space alien and have a grand penthouse apartment on New York's prestigious 5th Avenue! But remember, lest you get too carried away by the logic of your position, a church without members isn't really a church at all.

Carry on suing,

LSP

Obama Says Ban Assault Rifles?

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think I just heard Obama tell the world, and a person asking a question about AK47s on tonight's "debate", that he wanted to "ban assault rifles".

For Obama and his friends, an assault rifle is a semi-automatic version of its military counterpart. Why are they more dangerous than any other semi-auto rifle? Because they look more deadly? For that matter, why are they any more deadly than a well aimed bolt? Cooper argues, convincingly, that they aren't.

I have both, not that I'm allowed to shoot people. And for those of you who think that a heavily armed society is bound to be more violent, well, have a look at Switzerland.

England, where you're put in gaol for owning a pocketknife, is far more violent. Some would say more interesting too, but that's another story.

More guns, please.

LSP

Get Out and Hunt

There's few things I like better right now than getting out in the field after Sunday's Masses and roving about with a shotgun in search of dove, or small game. Going solo is good, just you, the countryside, senses sharpened in search of game and the satisfaction of something for the pot if things go right. If they don't? An armed ramble about the fields and treelines is good too. But I prefer to go out with company, which lately means GWB and his bird dog in training, JEB.

We shot a couple of the feathered acrobats and missed far more, they'll fly again to fight another day, and most of our time was spent set-up in silence along the edge of a big field waiting for the dove to fly. I like that silence. After a while you start to hear the sounds of the country, insects, birds, livestock, far off dogs and... dove! Then it's up and at 'em with a vengeance.

But they're canny rocketeers. They'll swerve to miss the shot, take off at impossible angles like gravity defying UFOs and otherwise defy the shooter. One seemed to play dead yesterday, stumbling in mid arc, nosedive falling straight down towards the ground, then taking off like an insane experiment out of the Peenemunde proving grounds. Well flown.

Then it was back to the tailgate to clean the birds as the sun was setting and back to HQ to eat them.

Fried up the breasts with onion, garlic and chili sauce on a toasted bun with mayo -- sandwich style.

Tasty, followed up by a glass or two of the right stuff on the porch and the usual banter about Angelic alphabets, Benchmade v. Spyderco, the wickedness of Yoko Ono and the perversity of thinking that the more you're taxed the richer you'll be.

God bless,

LSP