On The Road

While you're getting into the groove of Funky Town and Barack Obama's awesome legacy, I'm psyching up to drive down I35 to the countryside. Maybe, at some point, our rulers will fix that road.

Speaking of broken roads, the Episcopal Church shut 385 churches between 2009 and 2015, a little more than one a week and that shouldn't be a surprise. Why would anyone who's looking to be a Christian decide to go to a church that's jettisoned Christianity?

Decline

The answer, of course, is that no one very much does and so the Episcopal Church and other denominations who've swapped out the Gospel for Team Hillary and the New York Times, continue their decline. After all, why bother going to church when you can successfully believe nothing and read the Grey Lady's oped in the comfort of your Chappaqua breakfast room.

Growth

In  stunning contrast to the sad and seemingly endless tale of the lib denominations' decline, churches that do proclaim the Gospel grow. For example, the Russian Orthodox Church grew by 5,000 churches and 10,000 clergymen over the last 6 years.

Crush Satan Underfoot

According to Patriarch Kirill, "This is not because someone ordered to build [a church], but because of [the] enormous strength of the faith of our people, who support the authorities’ wish."

These People Hate Russia

Is it any wonder that the progleft atheist cultural ascendancy in the West looks with hatred and scorn on Christian Russia. I'm hoping that's going to change.

Your Old Mate,

LSP

Obama's Legacy

What is Barack Hussein Obama's legacy? Healthcare, debt, unemployment, transgender bathrooms, race riots? Hard to say. Maybe it's better in song.

Thanks, Infidel.

LSP

MAGA Shines Upon Texas

The MAGA Light shines brightly in Texas, perhaps because Rick "He May Be A Fool But He's Our Fool" Perry is the nation's new Energy Secretary. Well, there was plenty of energy spilling out of the heavens on the way to Mass this evening.

And there was steak, which is cheap and plentiful in Trump's America. I mean for goodness sake, you can buy a solid Threeper for $15 at the commissary.

MAGA At Every Level

I like Strips, seared in heavy metal, brought to heat in a 400* oven and served with whatever. Maybe vegetables, maybe not. Some, most, would call that winning. Unless they're Austin vegans who live off tofu, bark, nuts and other people's money.

Austin Hippies Goofing Off

They scorn the MAGA Light, like Soros, who lost a billion big ones after the election. Bad luck, George, you lose, Trump wins.

Hangin' At The Tower

In other news, Le Pen was seen in the Golden Tower. Who knows, maybe France will become great again, too.

Ban the Burqa,

LSP

Angels

I was standing in the harsh Texan T shirt winter of a Walmart car park and looked up at the sun. It glowed with incandescent light through the high clouds, like an angel on its flight path down to the rigs and shopping carts parked right there on the asphalt. 

What are angels? The Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, teaches us that they're purely spiritual, intellectual beings and therefore incorporeal, necessitated by the "perfection of the universe" and the nature of divine creation.

A Typical Angel

Angels, we learn, are without form and matter and exist fully actualized, beings of almost pure act. They are, however, inferior to God because they are contingent upon Him. Good stuff and you can read all about it here. But maybe this is all a bit highbrow, form and matter, species and genus, essence and existence and all of that. Let's bring the definition down to earth by reflecting on what angels aren't. 

Here's a helpful infographic:

These aren't angels, at least they're not the good kind. Don't ask for their help.

Vicious rumors that top Democrat Party operatives practice ritual magic and commune with demons are entirely with foundation.

Moral of the story? If you're going to get into it with angels, choose the right sort.

God bless,

LSP

March Of The Trolls

Well, well. It seems as though 4chan /pol has been trolling Buzzfeed, CNN and the CIA, and if that particular Pepe hasn't been perhaps another has. Whatever the case, the trolls march on. Sorry, Wojak, you lose.

A Muslim at Dhimwit St. Mary's

In other interesting news, St. Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow invited a Muslim to sing on the Feast of the Epiphany. Very interfaith and thank you very much, the only problem being that the Muslim in question sang a sura from the Koran about Jesus not being God.

Wojak Cries

I don't know how many people bother to go to St. Mary's, but I do know that their Facebook commentary on the event says this:

Go Figure Dhimwits

Good looking out, dhimwits.

LSP

Take a Walk!

One of the benefits of living in a small rural farming community is being able to walk places. So what? You snort dismissively. So a lot; just you try and walk somewhere in one of America's metrosprawls. 

"I know," you think to yourself, "I'll walk to the shops." Think again, your city isn't built for walking or even for humans, it's built for cars instead.

The Broken Debris of Obama's America

That's not so true in older country towns, which were designed on a more human scale, and I like to take advantage of that, strolling out to the local Pick 'n Steal with Blue Defender after Morning Prayer. Or, for that matter, to Montes Mexican Diner.

This isn't Cheshire

I went down the latter route the other day, offering up the members of the congregations in prayer as I walked along the leafy boulevards of Olde Texas. 

A Typical Shack

Perhaps that sounds overly pious to you but I find walking and prayer tend to go together. There's something in it that stills the mind.

This isn't Kent

That said, there's plenty of mental space to take in the sights and reflect on the fact that this is Texas, opposed to Kent or even Cheshire. Then you arrive at Montes and everything's good. 

Tradition

I ordered Huevos Rancheros, I always do, it's a tradition.

Was I armed? Maybe.

LSP

The Final Countdown!

I think this powerful and uplifting infographic speaks for itself and while you ponder its wisdom, see if you can name one of Obama's accomplishments. Let's see.

Race relations? Healthcare? Employment? No? OK, maybe foreign policy was more his ticket, like in Syria and Libya. Hmmm, maybe not. Of course, the economy! Which is booming as long as it's measured in trillions of dollars of debt.

So go on, take the challenge and name a single Obama accomplishment. In the meanwhile...

The Countdown continues.

LSP

Melania Mondays!

Yes, it's that time of the week again, the best time, the time we've all been waiting for. That's right, Melania Mondays! and what's America's stylish, attractive and smart First Lady been up to, apart from looking good and lifting the nation's spirits?

Golden Melania

Only having famous designers fall over themselves to make clothes for her, that's what, and who can blame them. Calvin Klein, Diane Von Furstenberg, Tommy Hilfigger, Zac Posen, Dolce & Gabbana, Victor de Souza, to name just a few, are all competing to dress the #MAGA presidential consort.

Creative Melania

Sophie Theallet, on the other hand, who made clothes for Michelle Obama is refusing to have anything to do with Melania. Tom Ford, who made a dress for Michelle Obama to wear at Buckingham Palace, has also said he won't make clothes for Melania because his brand is "too expensive." 

Happy Melania

Some commentators have called Tom Ford an "appalling hypocrite."

Looking Sharp Melania

Here at the Compound we doubt that  Melania's too bothered by Sophie and Tom's embarrassingly futile protest against the will of we the people. 

Then There's This

After all, it's not like she'd want to look like Mitchell Michelle anyway.

Uplifting Melania

Well done, Melania, keep making America great again!

Keep up the good work,

LSP

Shotgun Wedding

Sometimes you have to tear yourself away from the endless text stream coming at you from Putin and the Kremlin and get on with normal life. For me, that meant celebrating a wedding.

It was cowboy themed, which meant that the Groom and his men all wore boots, starched and ironed jeans, black hats (off in the Sanctuary), turquoise shirts and black waistcoats; the waistcoats went with the hats. They also sported shotgun shell boutonierres, and I resisted the temptation to talk about "shotgun weddings," though the urge was strong.

The Bridesmaids came in with the Groomsmen and wore turquoise dresses to go with the Groomsmen's shirts, they looked good, and then in came the Bride. She was nervous, along with the Groom and rightly so, for it's no small thing to get married, but both did well and made their vows with confidence.

They got a clap at the Peace (Pax) after "You may kiss the Bride." I was moved, good work, kids. And may God bless you with many happy and joyous years as you go through life together, with all its twists and ambushlike turns. But here's the thing, readers, all two of you.

The Bride and Groom were binary. That's right, the Bride was a woman and the Groom was a man. Far out, eh? And before you blast me for being a white privilege racist, that's OK, in #TrumpsAmerica.

Your Friend,

LSP 

Trump Tweets

What! War with Russia's a bad thing, to make Hillary and the spirit cooking Democrats look good after their disastrous wipeout in the election?

Hunh.

LSP

The Truth is Out There

Stargazing boffins have finally discovered the galaxy responsible for emitting mysterious deep space radio signals, called Fast Radio Bursts (FRB).

The dwarf galaxy, less than 1/1000 the size of our own, is known to astronomers as DNC000, or "Triple Zero" and is responsible for the mysterious FRBs. These require large amounts of energy to be visible, possibly as the result of a "Black Hole."

A Rainbow Colored FRB

"These radio flashes must have enormous amounts of energy to be visible from that distance," said one scientist. "It was like trying to find a needle in a terabyte haystack. It took a lot of algorithmic work to find it but we did and named the galaxy DNC000, or 'Triple Zero' for short. A black hole could have caused them."

Hardworking astronomers were staggered when the enigmatic bursts from DNC Triple Zero were deciphered.

DNC000

"It was astounding," said Schubi Bannerman at Cornell University, "When we analysed the frequency and repetition of the bursts from Triple Zero, a rainbow pattern became apparent. It was simple but rising in pitch, it seems to say, 'The Russians did it! The Russians did it!', we could hardly believe what we were hearing, it didn't make sense."

While experts are unsure if the bursts from DNC000 have any meaning, some speculate that it's an "alien distress signal."

Space Static

"There's a frenzied urgency to the bursts from Triple Zero," stated one expert, "This leads us to speculate that it's an alien distress signal. Perhaps their planet or galaxy is on the verge of destruction as it's being sucked into a black hole."

Random spaceborne static from a dying star system or the desperate attempt of an alien race to save itself from destruction?

You, the reader, be the judge.

LSP

Trump Trophy Room

I don't think commentary's needed except to say thank you, LL.

Happy Epiphany,

LSP