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

Bishop Michael Ingham Found on Mars?

The famous Bishop of New Westminster, Michael Ingham, may have been found, on Mars. 

Pictures from NASA show what appears to be an ordinary rock, standing by itself in the dust of the red planet. But when the image is enlarged, a different picture emerges, revealing what seems to be the face of Bishop Michael Ingham.

While some have dismissed the face of the bishop as being a photshopped rock, others disagree.

"Very interesting," stated one expert, "Eyeball and teeth in a half face.It's clear from the original NASA photo that this hasn't been shopped. And the flat areas seem also artificial. Strange."

Photoshopped space rock, or head of the Bishop of New Westminster?

You decide.

LSP

Jihadi John Anglican Schoolboy

Do you remember Jihadi John? The Fortran programmer from West London who couldn't get a good mainframe gig in England, so he travelled to Syria for better "opportunities for jobs," and went Full-Jihad?

Sure you do, but what you may not know is that he attended a Church of England school. Thanks, Samizdat, for letting us know.

Way to go, Welby. Who knows, if Mohammed Emwazi had had the chance to be taught by the new Stonewall curriculum everything would be better.

Or not.

LSP

Elves

Maybe it's the cold, maybe it's something else, like the destruction of Apostolic Order in the Church of England, but whatever the case, there's a lot of elf chatter going on at the moment.

Matters came to a head in Iceland, where a new road project was blocked due to concerns it would destroy an elf, or "huldufolk," habitat, including an elf church. Local authorities were unwilling risk the elves' "displeasure" and halted the construction. 

"Mainly they're a peaceable breed but if you treat them with disrespect, for example by blasting dynamite through their rock houses and churches, they're not reticent about showing their displeasure," stated Emma Kirby, for the BBC.

According to surveys, 62% of Icelanders believe in elves, Here in the US, construction of the Keystone pipeline has been vetoed by President Obama.

No one knows for sure how many elves live in America.

LSP

Ice Age Apocalypse

So far it's been another day of climate disruption here in Texas, with freezing wind and driving snow. 

Unfazed by the icy apocalypse, I drove down Highway 22 to do some trading in Whitney. Snow was drifting in places on the small country road, and it's not too often that you see that in Texas.

Blue Eschaton doesn't seem particularly worried about the imminent destruction of the world by snow and ice. He may not be aware of research showing that the earth could have entered an intergalactic cloud, with untold consequences for the heliosphere, the sun itself, and life on earth in its present form.

Extremely Sensible Ears

In the meanwhile, tiny crystals of ice are falling from the sky.

Keep safe,

LSP

Jihadi John & Global Warming

It's snowing here, as usual, so I asked a cowboy who has a hat and cattle, if we should hold Stations of the Cross outside this evening. He wasn't buying, which means our symbolic pilgrimage to Calvary will be inside today. So much for Climate Change, which has made everything colder because it's so much warmer.

In other news, Jihadi John, the notorious ISIS headsman, has been identified as Mohammed Emwazi. Emwazi comes from a well-to-do London family, and graduated from College with a degree in computer programming before leaving Britain for Syria and the Caliphate.

Job Chart

I guess there weren't enough opportunities for programming jobs to give Mohammed Emwazi a fulfilling existence in Britain. Maybe all he knew was Fortran or something, and just couldn't cut it in today's fast-paced IT workplace. So he went Jihad, and starting cutting people's heads off.

Perhaps Jihadi John will be brought to justice at the hands of Yazidi women. In the meanwhile, it continues to snow.

LSP

Audit the Fed

Andrew Jackson had this to say to the Bank of the United States in 1834:

I too have been a close observer of the doings of the Bank of the United States. I have had men watching you for a long time, and am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the Bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the Bank and annul its charter I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. I have determined to rout you out and, by the Eternal, I will rout you out.

The Fed, which creates our money and loans it to the government at interest, ponder that, doesn't want to be audited. Well that's really weird.

You might want to read this, at ZeroHedge.

LSP

Is the Anglican Church of Canada Just a Kite?

A mysterious object captured on film may be nothing more than a purple kite, instead of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC).

Many observers were shocked to see a strange purple object hovering in the air over a building site in Lima, Peru, and believed they may have spotted ACoC. But others have been quick to dismiss the "UFO" sighting as a kite, instead of the small denomination.

"The object is too far out to see strings," stated one analyst, "so if there are strings we don't have the pixel resolution to make them out. However, we see at each end a darker patch which is likely where the kite fabric is doubling over where the strings attach.[...] Lastly, I'm not certain which direction, west or east, the camera is facing - but I get the feeling it's likely pointing toward the ocean where the beach is. Where there is a beach there is wind and kites."

Where there is a beach there is wind and kites. Could the Anglican Church of Canada be a purple kite, blown by the wind over a beach in Peru, or is it a gaily colored spaceship, flying high above South America as it travels to the stars?

Archbishop Fred Hiltz has not issued a denial.

LSP

 

Climate Change

It started out like any other day in Texas, with freezing fog and snow falling heavily from the sky. Like Donetsk, or Kharkov, or something.

Blue Exuberance liked that and had fun romping about in the snow. I took him for a walk and he tried to attack a mail truck. He hates mail trucks.

Then the Climate Changed and it became warmer. But I'm confused; I thought it was colder because it was warmer, thanks to all the CO2 in the atmosphere and not enough carbon taxation. So if it's warmer, then it must be colder, right?

So how come the snow's melting? 

LSP

All Hail Clint Eastwood

Some crew of angry Muslims are demanding that Clint Eastwood apologize for American Sniper. Good luck with that.

In the meanwhile, our government is broadcasting this handy leaflet against Violent Extremism By Nobody In Particular.

Maybe they'll airdrop it on, you know, Dabiq.

LSP

The Cause, Confederacy

It's not that long ago, the American Civil War, and a bloody business it was too. Some people think that the Confederacy is synonymous with with slavery and oppression, whereas the Union was was a beautiful civil rights movement. Others think that the war was about States' rights and freedom from big government Washington tyranny.

They opted for the latter where I live, and lost. There's a memorial in the Courthouse Square to remember the fallen.

William Henry Parsons raised a regiment of cavalry from the surrounding counties, the 12th Texas, comprised of the Hill County Volunteers, the Freestone Boys, the Johnson County Slashers, the Bastrop Cavalry Company, the Ellis Grays, the Ellis Rangers, the Kaufman Guards, the Ellis Blues, the Williamson Bowies, and the Eutaw Blues.

The 12th Texas went on to become part of Parson's Brigade and it may, or may not be the case that the National Flag of the Confederacy is on display in the courthouse.

For the record, I think our courthouse, which was restored by Willie Nelson, would make for a decent club. "What would you call this club?" asked a church lady, "I would call it Parson's, Ma'am," I replied.

Share your Swag Bags as you will,

LSP

Millionaire Socialist

Millionaire socialist, Patricia Arquette, made an impassioned plea at last night's Oscars for "wage equality" for women, and called on "gays" and "people of color" to help with that.

"It's our time to have wage equality," said Aquette to the star-studded audience. To even things up, losers at the Oscars were given swag bags worth $168,000, which included a $20,000 astrology reading and multiple vacations.

A Pile of Cash

Patricia Arquette is an expert on wage inequality, which is why her net worth is only $24 million. 

I Want More Money!!

Rumors that the femsoc Hollywood star has a leading role in the upcoming movie, Canting Limo-Lib Socialist Millionaire, are just that, rumors.

All aboard the private jet,

LSP

Thunder Sleet

I thought Thunder Sleet was just a Scandinavian death metal band, but now I know better. It's a vicious weather front, and it moved into this small country town sometime last night. 

Blue Shredder

No one is outside and the only sound that breaks the eerie silence our once thriving farming community is the sound of crazed peacocks, far-off sirens and sleet, washing down on abandoned Dodge pickups.

Good idea, LSP, shoot the sleet.

Here at the Compound we're cleaning guns, loading magazines and roasting joints of meat. I'll drive to the trading post later, for news, barter and supplies.

Ammunition is our currency.

LSP