Behold The Light

 

Drive into the light on the way to yesterday's evening Mass at Mission #2, by the lake. There it was, a Texan sunset and there I was, powering into the incandescent beauty of the thing. Is the infinite glory of God revealed to us in creation? It certainly was to me on the way to Lake Whitney and I was reminded of a time, several decades ago now, in London.

It was one of those points when pretty much everything seemed to have collapsed and I was utterly miserable, staying at  Fr. Michael Hollings' eclectic community in Bayswater. He lived, this cousin of the Duke of Norfolk, in a small office which somehow doubled as a bedroom and in I marched to pour out my tale of woe, and it was exceedingly woeful. No kidding.

Well, the priest listened, smiled and said, "Look out of the window at the sky," it was uncharacteristically blue, "and the trees. Beautiful, God is very, very good." So I looked out of the window and yes, it was beautiful, and my heart felt peace at that moment in the revealed goodness our loving God. 

Sentimental, mawkish piety? No. Bear in mind, Hollings had fought at Monte Casino in the Guards, I think as a Major. No small thing, and the point of this story? There's several, not least this. Look out, open your eyes, and behold the glory, goodness and love of God. As even the pagans of antiquity sensed, Sol Invictus. There's immeasurable hope in that.

God bless you all,

LSP

A Cautionary Tale

 

Yes, readers, in song.

Your Buddy

LSP

Karahan Tepe

 

Everyone's familiar with Gobekli Tepe, the astonishingly ancient megalithic temple in Turkey originally excavated by Klaus Schmidt from 1995-2014. But we're less familiar with Karahan Tepe, 46 km south east of Gobekli Tepe and equally ancient, being some 11,500 years old, maybe older.

Both sites are remarkable for their extreme age, being built at the end end of the Younger Dryas and the dawning of the Holocene Age, at a time archeologists assumed humans were hunter gatherers and incapable of monumental architecture.

It's a fair assumption. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, what were humans doing beyond drawing pictograms on cave walls, gnawing bark, collecting roots, berries and, if they were lucky, driving the odd bison off a cliff. They were like, so the theory went, North American Indians or their equivalents in Africa.

Gobekli Tepe and now Karahan Tepe change all that. These prehistoric humans were well capable of monumental architecture and art, to say nothing of astronomy. They were clearly much more advanced than supposed. For that matter, were they, in fact, hunter gatherers who came together to build and then settled in one place with agriculture and civic life rising in the wake, or the other way around or both?

We don't know, but we do know this. The larger sculpted stones of the "T-Builders" at Gobleki Tepe weighed around 15 tons and these are the earliest, dating to approximately 9,500 BC, apparently the same holds true for Karahan Tepe. Later structures at both sites are smaller, with older construction being back-filled and replaced by lesser architecture. What does this suggest?

Shockingly, that the earlier builders were more advanced as a civilization than their descendants. They initiated the building and did so massively, later generations didn't. This implies a civilization in decline, for whatever reason, and begs the question, who were the original builders and what did they come from?

It's tempting to imagine an architectural people, and all that goes with it, somehow surviving the Younger Dryas glacial period and emerging in diminished form in what we now call Turkey as the climate mercifully warmed.

But again, we don't know, and with apologies to Graham Hancock, there's precious little evidence. That said, wouldn't it be strange if humanity, whose origins keep getting pushed back into the mists of prehistory, weren't able in hundreds and thousands of years to move beyond rock chucking and grubbing for roots to something better? An antedeluvian megalithic civilization of which little if anything remains, except their heirs in Anatolia around 11,500 BC.

Well, that's as maybe. Perhaps there's a parable in Gobekli Tepe and its twin at Karahan. Viz. They devolved.

Antedeluvia Forever,

LSP

Roundup

 

You no sooner attempt to step away from the news cycle to concentrate on producing an overdue magazine than boom, everything goes rodeo.

Governor Abbott invokes Texas' Invasion Clause, authorizing exceptional measures to stem the flood of migrants into the state, some 1.26 million in 2022 alone. Abbott intends to:

Deploy the National Guard to safeguard the border, and to repel and turn back immigrants trying to cross the border illegally

Deploy the Texas Dept. of Public Safety (DPS) to arrest and return immigrants to the border who crossed illegally, and to arrest illegal immigrants for criminal activity;

Build a wall in multiple counties on the border;

Deploy gun boats;

Designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations;

Enter into a compact with other states to secure the border;

Enter into agreements with foreign powers to enhance border security;

Provide resources for border counties to increase their efforts to respond to the “border invasion.”

Quite a thing, to put it mildly, and that's not all. According to AP, a Russian missile/s(?) hit a farm in Poland, causing outraged cries for NATO heads to call an Article 4 meeting, frontrunners to suggest Article 5 and, well, war with Russia. No, not the proxy one we're fighting now but the real deal and all that goes with it. Huh, World War III. We can imagine the overworked DIs at Benning working 'round the clock to learn their intakes' pronouns.

But the next Big One's averted for now, thank God. Turns out the missile in question was a Ukrainian S 300 which went astray trying to take out a flying Russkie adversary. AP walked back the story and Biden confirmed the new narrative, much to Zelensky's discomfort. In fairness to the Ukraine's diminutive if coke fueled President, the most popular Ruler of America ever, Old Joe, must be a difficult paymaster. 

And then, just as you're recovering from the news that Armageddon isn't quite yet, 45 announces a bid for the White House in 2024. Will he be defeated by JEB! in the most insanely vicious revenge arc ever? 

That, along with everything else, remains to be seen. In other positive news, Nancy Pelosi's finally fired...

Saints preserve us,

LSP

Call to Quanrtell

 

Yes indeed, see you in the Coffee Room.

Your Pal,

LSP

Stardust

 

I find this soothing, you may too, and I remember as a child gown ups slow dancing in Texas as it played in the exotic heat of the night. At least that's how memory serves; quite a thing and vastly different to Military Correction Centre Colchester (MCCC).

You can have a gaze at MCCC above via the link. Wild commented, before I took the prison post down, "I don't think that's how they did it at LBJ. That's Long Binh Jail for the uninitiated." 

Speaking of Stardust, it's freezing here in Texas and it's raining. Will it turn to sleet? Perhaps. Thanks a lot, John "Woodentop" Kerry. In the meanwhile...

Marking Time,

LSP

FTX WIPEOUT

 

Massive disturbance in the Force. Sam Bankman Fried (SBF) was rolling the bones to the tune of billions, borrowing massive amounts of money from his crypto exchange FTX to pay for his hedge fund Alameda Research's trading. And everything else, including mega millions to the Ukraine > Democrat funding funnel.

Smart, and what was the collateral for the loans, the billions of dollars borrowed? FTX's native token FTT, which disastrously nosedived 75% triggering margin calls and FTX bankruptcy. The money, you see, just wasn't there. Is this a Lehman moment? I don't know, but I'll leave you with a helpful Day by Day infographic via Ed, widescreen it if you like:

Smart people are cleaning weapons, loading mags and getting ready to buy low. As always, my money's on the monkey.

Your Old Pal,

LSP

CRYPTO CARNAGE!

 

It's been a rough week for crypto. BTC's crashed to a wretched just over 16k, ETH's down to a miserable 1.2k and everyone's beloved DOGE sits and wags its adorable tail at a mere 8 cents. Wipeout across the board. So what happened? Several things, not least the collapse of the ponzi laundromat FTX exchange. Here's a helpful infographic:

Word to the wise, don't put more in than you can afford to lose and while you're at it, think about getting tokens off of exchanges and into secure wallets. That said and for what little it's worth, I'm long crypto and see an opportunity to buy at bargain basement prices, but caveat emptor, buyer beware. Do you dare reach out and catch the falling knife?

Money on the monkey and twice as fast, eh?

Cheers,

LSP

Mince Pie Maleasance

 

A man in his 70s has been given a 6 month gaol sentence for selling mince pies at a shooting range during a scamdemic lockdown. Where? North Korea? China? No, in England.

Via Spiked:

Picture the scene: Maurice Snelling, a British pensioner from Staffordshire, was serving wine and mince pies in December, bringing some festive cheer to his local area. For this ‘crime’, he was reported to the police. This then set off a chain of events that have now landed him in prison. This is because Snelling was selling his mince pies in December 2020, the first winter of the pandemic – a time when the world was gripped by Covid hysteria and England was under ‘tiered’ lockdown rules.

Snelling served his pies on the premises of his Cloudside Shooting Club. At the time, Staffordshire was under ‘Tier 3’ lockdown restrictions, meaning that hospitality venues were only allowed to operate as takeaways or drive-throughs. But Snelling was allowing people to gather, eat and drink on the site.

 

Wow. Snelling had the sheer, brazen, literal temerity to break Tier 3 Lockdown with malfeasant mince pies. What an enemy of the people. Now this 72 year old criminal can serve well deserved time for his so-called "festive cheer." Good thing his neighbours reported the old age perpetrator to the Stasi.

Take a deep breath and remember the old line in the song, "Britons never, ever, ever shall be slaves." No, not slaves, maybe serf peons of the rainbow ascendant NWO. In other news, Russia pulled back from Kherson to take up defensive lines on the Dnieper. Check out pro-Russkie RWA's intelligent analysis if you're interested.

Then there's us, here in the States, the most powerful, advanced country in the world which, apparently, finds it hard to manage the free and fair mechanics of an election. Don't say Zimbabwe.

Libera Nos,

LSP

Veterans Day

 

They say the badge is made of gunmetal from a French cannon captured at Alex. It became plastic, though smart soldiers bought the real thing; it then amalgamated and then disappeared. You see, all those votes don't come cheap and we'll never, ever have to fight a war again. Good gamble, idiots.

Speaking of which, I announced to Ma LSP, "I'm a veteran!" She replied, "No you're not, you haven't even been in a war." On the contrary, Ma'am, I am the veteran of a 1000 psychic wars, and the Glos. Rgt.

Respect to all who served and are serving.

LSP

Church of England Gets Even Moar Gay

 

Hawk-eyed observers of the religious scene will have noticed that the venerable if shrinking Church of England's getting gayer by the day. Yes indeed. In October, an openly partnered rainbow clergypersyn, The Very Revd Dr David Monteith, was promoted to one of the COE’s most prestigious positions, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justsin Welby, congratulated the new Rainbow Dean on his promotion:

"I'm delighted by David's appointment as Dean of Canterbury," gushed Old Etonian Welby, "He has been an exceptional Dean of Leicester -- and his deep faith and spirituality, creativity, and profound sense of service will be a gift to Canterbury Cathedral and all the communities it serves."

How very lovely. Monteith lives in a civil partnership marriage, which somehow isn't a marriage, with David Hamilton, a bereavement counselor. But that's not all, no, not by a long shot.

Only last week, the Bishop of Oxford, Steven Croft, wrote and published an annoyingly long 52 page argument in favor of same-sex wedding rituals. Other bishop figures were swift to applaud Croft's interminably gay essay. 

The Bishop of Worcester, the Rt Rev Dr John, the Bishop of Dudley, the Rt Rev Martin Gorick, the Bishop of Reading, the Rt Revd Olivia Graham, the Bishop of Buckingham, the Rt Rev Alan Wilson, and the Bishop of Dorchester, the Rt Rev Gavin Collins, all backed Croft’s call for the COE to embrace same-sex marriage. 

There's more, much moar, but I'll leave you with this. Rainbow Rider Croft unironically deployed Matthew 7:15-20 as a proof text in support of his lengthy argument in defense of gayness. Here it is:

15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

 

"Thus you will recognize them by their fruits." Quite, to say nothing of false prophets. Rainbow Rider Croft curiously doesn't expound upon these but feels the Church since its conception has been an unhealthy tree because of its bizarre insistence that marriage is something which can only take place between, gasp, shock, horror, a man and a woman.

Kyrie Eleison,

LSP

CHANT DE L'INFANTERIE

 

Stirring, what? Even though it is French.

Slow March,

LSP