Redder Than Russia? #2

Do you remember the old days, when we were in a Cold War with Russia? One of the things we didn't like about the godless Reds was their intolerance of Christianity. The Communists didn't like Christianity at all, and did their best to get rid of it.

These days, Russia encourages the church and it's active in schools, the armed forces, and throughout civil society. The Russian State actively promotes the Orthodox Church, and some see a return of symphonia between the temporal and spiritual powers. 

In America, by contrast, Christian prayer is banned in Public Schools, while our President promotes Islam -- and I'll leave it at that. 

So who's redder now, America, or Russia? 

You decide.

LSP

Cleansing The Temple

I preached this morning on Our Lord throwing the money changers and animal sellers out of the Temple. And I managed to include the words "bag limit," "Polled Herefords," and "cattle brokers" into the sermon. 

Random Money Changer

The Baylor faculty got a look-in, too. "If the Baylor Faculty were to sin, heaven forfend," I declaimed, "They could buy the finest bull from Mr.***** here, and kill it. But what difference would it make? None at all. It would be, at best, a symbol."

The homily was on atonement and sacrifice, obviously.

God bless,

LSP

Has General Synod Been Found?

Strange radio waves have been detected by astronomers, emanating from far beyond our Galaxy. Could they come from the Church of England's General Synod?

The mysterious energy pulses are called fast radio bursts and last for fractions of a second. First spotted by a team of stargazers at Parkes Observatory in Australia, in 2007, it's estimated that the radio waves traveled at least 3 billion light years before they reached earth.

Experts are divided. A minority believe that the "fast bursts" may be coming from inside the earth's atmosphere. Others believe that they come from very dense objects, like black holes, imploding stars, or even enormous flares. But some pundits  think otherwise.

"It's obviously the General Synod," said one astronomer, "It's far enough away and we don't know what it means."

No one knows what effect, if any, the fast burst radio waves are having on earth.

LSP

Wildcat Awesome

I worked hard today, trying to turn the labyrinthine mendacity of the Episcopal Church's legal strategy, and tactics, into something that approached English. But in the back of my mind I was thinking of converting my existing 5.56 "upper" into something that shoots the hot-as-you-like 6.8 SPC. Why not?

Good question. A gun friend is already building me a Rainier upper receiver, and that'll shoot the 5.56 out of a good barrel. So why have another rifle in the same caliber when you can have something even better. What would it take?

A 6.8 barrel, (1:11) a 6.8 bolt, a mid-length handguard, and a magazine. Oh, and I'd want a new trigger. That's all. I have the other parts. And the result? 

Scorching awesomeness.

LL, who has probably forgotten more about shooting than I will ever know, can correct me if I'm wrong.

Don't Fear the Reaper,

LSP

Bishop Rayford isn't High. Or is He?

It's freezing outside, even though it isn't snowing, which is weird, seeing as how our carbon footprints have made everything so much warmer. To beat the chill, I cooked up some bacon and pancakes. Then I put maple syrup on both. But I won't repel you with a picture of my climate disruption snack, here's one of Bishop Rayford High, instead.

This is part of what the curiously named "High" had to say about his church's recent defeat in Tarrant County:

“Be of good heart. The Episcopal Church, including its continuing Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, welcomes everyone, no matter where they are on their spiritual journey. The mission of The Episcopal Church is to reconcile the world to God through Jesus Christ and that work continues.“

Welcomes everyone? Oh yeah, of course, in court. 

So be of good heart, they lost.

LSP

Snowblind

The snow started to come down fast a little before midnight; I found that exciting. Of course snow used to be rare in Texas, before it got colder because it's hotter.

Blue Ice Age had fun romping about in the white stuff this morning, though he seemed angry at the kids making snowmen on the sidewalks. I don't know why.

And now it's melting away, like the membership of the Episcopal Church itself, which keeps losing lawsuits and still keeps suing. Like a snowblind crazy person.

Be careful on the ice,

LSP

Bishop Rayford Got Himself High.

A fierce storm has blown in from the north. Rain, mixed with hail, rattles off the house like so much wind-driven shrapnel. My dog doesn't care, he seems to find it comforting.

In the meanwhile, the Episcopal Church refuses to accept that it lost in Texas and seems set to pursue its losing strategy in the courts. 

Here's the oddly named bishop High:

“We are disappointed with this decision but quite hopeful for the future. This sacred property was built up over 170 years in this part of Texas by generations of Episcopalians for the use of The Episcopal Church so it will be available for use by generations of Episcopalians to come as they do the work of the Church."

This sacred property? Which is part of some holy trust, kept by the Episcopal Church for whom? Moloch? Bishop High, you've made one too many trips to the meth lab. 

In the meanwhile, TEC, like the old pop song, keeps coming on, even though they don't have a case. Bankrupt your opponents? Well that's one strategy. If you're High.

Carry on,

LSP

Deadly Assault Rifle Hi-Jinx

Because I'm a patriot, I have an AR15. It's made by CMMG and I've had several years of shooting fun with the little gas-driven blaster. But I wanted to change it up; swap out the stock handguards with a free-float tube, install a gas block, and a single point sling mount. 

Go On, Take Your Gun Apart

Off went the flash hider, the barrel nut and the front sight gas block. Fine, but the gas tube roll pin didn't want to come out. It did in the end and the new one, that came with the new gas block, didn't want to fit in it's allotted hole. After a lot of aggro, I filed it down slightly and drove it home.

The Old D Ring

The new barrel nut went on easily enough, along with its Yankee Hill handguard, and the sling mount was simple to install. I'm pleased with the end result, but there was an adventure half way through the project.

Oh No, We Can't Sell You That!

Looking down at my old, dirty, gas tube, I thought why not get a shiny new one? So I drove to Ray's and asked for one.

"Do you sell carbine length gas tubes?"

"Oh no, we don't have any."

"But what's that, there, in a plastic bag? Look you have about five of them."

"Hunh! We do!"

"Well that's great, I'll buy one."

"I'm sorry, you can't."

"Excuse me?"

"No. You can't buy those."

"And why not?"

"You can only buy one if we install it for you."

"Of course. And how much would that cost?"

"I don't know, sorry."

"Goodbye."

I felt, for a moment, there in the gunsmith's section of Ray's, that the world had gone completely mad. 

Looks Good, Does It Work?

As soon as it stops raining and snowing, I'll take the gun out to the range and see how it shoots. The free float tube should improve accuracy, we'll see.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Liar

Hillary used private emails and a DIY server to conduct business when she was Secretary of State. She obviously didn't have anything to hide.  And remember, the Benghazi attack was all about a video.

Except that it wasn't.

LSP

The Diocese of Fort Worth Wins. TEC Loses.

Despite spending over $40 million in a zero-sum game of scorched earth litigation, the Episcopal Church (TEC) was defeated today in Texas' Tarrant County Court, with Judge Chupp ruling in favor of the traditionalist Diocese of Fort Worth.

The Diocese of Fort Worth voted to leave the Episcopal Church in 2008 and was sued by the denomination for all its property and assets. TEC claimed that these belonged to the national church and had been held by the diocese "in trust."

Chupp's order denies TEC's claim, and follows earlier decisions by Texas' Supreme Court, which stated that TEC's lawsuit should be tried on neutral principles of state property law and that there was no "trust relationship" between churches, dioceses and TEC.

Crazed

The Tarrant County ruling is the third in a series of legal reversals experienced by the Episcopal Church, following defeats in South Carolina and Quincy.

TEC, you lose, and perhaps $40 million+ might have been spent more wisely. 

LSP

Redder Than Russia? #1

Do you remember the Cold War, when NATO and the Free West stood against the Red Communists? One of the things we didn't like about the Soviet system was its forced "equality," where profiteering capitalists were disallowed, in the name of "wage equality." 

That was replaced by an all-powerful central state, which doled everything out equitably. Except that it didn't.

In today's Russia there's a 13% flat tax, in America the tax rate tops out at 39%.

So who's redder? America, or Russia?

You be the judge,

LSP

Sunday Night at the Compound

Its a pretty regular Sunday evening here at the Compound, cleaning guns, listening to marching songs on the jukebox, and frying up steak and eggs on the grill.

Blue M4 doesn't care, all he thinks about is "eye relief," "doping the wind," and "MOA." And food. He ate a block of cheese the other day, which I'd left out on the counter to get to room temp. I was looking forward to that cheese.

You're getting dangerously close to the edge, my furry friend.

God bless,

LSP