Rain Books Dog

 

You never know what our Old Enemy the Weather will throw at you. Today it launched rain and for a time the heavens opened and there it was, sky water, beautiful. In the midst of it all a call came through, "Padre, can you help load up some shelves for the food bank?"

Sure I could and did, especially as it was right across the way from the Compound. Lo and behold, this good deed came with an unexpected benefit, as is so often the case, notably a set of medium sized bookshelves, "All yours, LSP."

Benzinger

Good, I needed these because of a recent influx of books from my dad's library. He was a a bibliophile and we've only just, after a decade, got around to moving the books from Dallas to the Compound. Net result? Many boxes of books on the floor of a guest room waiting to be shelved, a nightmare of unfinished business.

But after a few shelvish hours it was nightmare over and books off the floor, what an affordable result. In the meanwhile, the climate had changed too, bizarrely, our enemy is so unpredictable, and the sun shone from a clear, big, blue Texan sky.

Where is the dog? I asked myself. Downstairs, on the porch, in the bathroom, in a guestroom, in my room, going den behind the couch? No, none of these, Blue Veteran was nowhere to be found. So I climbed in the rig and drove around the area looking for the pup, and found him a couple of blocks away, grinning like a dog.

He was happy to be lifted into the truck and happier still for the adventure of it all. OK, he's an old dog, blind and deaf, but he still enjoys life. I feel I should take him out to the range to roam about and feel free, he'd like that. Is this overly sentimental?

On topic, do you think that those who read and keep libraries will be the kernel of civilization when our current demonic babel implodes?

Ex Libris,

LSP

Here We Go Now

 

Here we go now, looks like President Trump's been indicted.

Does that make him the undisputed warlord of Manhattan?

More seriously, will it, they/them be brought to justice? Don't hold your breath.

Your Old Pal,

LSP

Tucker Blasts Trans

 

Tucker Carlson got fierce with the increasingly violent trans craze last night, accusing it of being Christianity's "natural enemy":

The trans movement is the mirror image of Christianity, and therefore its natural enemy.

In Christianity, the price of admission is admitting that you’re not God. Christians openly concede that they have no real power over anything, and for that matter, very little personal virtue. They will tell you to your face that they are sinful and helpless and basically absurd. They’re not embarrassed about any of this. They brag about it. “That saved a wretch like me,” goes the most famous Christian hymn ever written in English.

The trans movement takes the opposite view. Trans ideology claims dominion over nature itself. We can change the identity we were born with, they will tell you with wild eyed certainty. Christians can never agree with the statement because these are powers they believe God alone possesses.

That unwillingness to agree, that failure to acknowledge a trans person’s dominion over nature, incites and enrages some in the trans community. People who believe they are God can’t stand to be reminded that they’re not.

So, Christianity and transgender orthodoxy are wholly incompatible theologies. They can never be reconciled. They are on a collision course with each other. One side is likely to draw blood before the other side. That’s what we concluded last week.

 

He has a point, there's Promethean or Luciferian pride at work in an ideology which thinks it has power to recreate nature, even to the absurd point of claiming a person has godlike ability to change their identity as a man or a woman. It goes without saying that such infernal pride admits no rivals, "No Gods, No Masters!" raged Margaret Sanger in 1917. 

Her spiritual heirs are still raging, and no wonder transgenderism is  championed by the Left. It's sacramental to them, an outward and visible sign of revolutionary power over the self without constraint. That this anti-sacrament's not very convincing to the eye or biology itself, seems to have gone strangely unnoticed; the Devil has a way of cheating his own. Tucker concludes:

Yesterday’s massacre did not happen because of lax gun laws. Yesterday’s massacre happened because of a deranged and demonic ideology that is infecting this country with the encouragement of people like Joe Biden. Let’s start by being honest about that.

 

Right on,

LSP 

Another Trans Shooting

 

You take a day off from mind blogging and what happens? A transsexual shoots up a Christian elementary school in Nashville. Audrey Hale, 28, who identified as a man, killed three children and three adult members of staff before being shot by police. This is the fourth transsexual mass shooting since 2018. 

According to Breitbart:

In November of 2018, Snochia Moseley, a man who identified as a woman, wounded three and killed three after opening fire at his place of employment in Aberdeen, Maryland.

In May of 2019, a Colorado woman who identified as male shot up a school, killing one and wounding eight.

In November of 2022, a Colorado man who shot up a gay nightclub, killing five and wounding 18, was identified as transsexual.

On Monday, 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a woman who identified as a man, entered a Nashville Christian elementary school with a firearm. She murdered three adult staffers and three nine-year-old children.

 

This latest trans murder outrage comes in the wake of increasing calls for violent transsexual activism including a "Trans Day of Vengeance" on April 1. While we await this curiously scheduled event, people on social media have accused Tennessee lawmakers of being the real perpetrators of Monday's school massacre. Why? Because they've banned the sterilization and genital mutilation of minors in the name of "gender affirming care."

Surely the real perpetrators are the Mengeles, industry, ideologues and their agitprop allies pushing this insanity, to say nothing of the trans killers themselves. May the people Audrey Hale murdered rest in peace.

Out demons out,

LSP

T 55s in Ukraine

 

All you tank heads may have noticed Russia's been pulling Cold War relic T 55s out of storage and sending them, apparently, to the front. Will they be upgraded with thermal sights and reactive armor? Who knows but we do know this.

The T55 is the most-produced tank in history, with >96,000 made, of which Russia has approximately 2,800. The tank features a 100 mm gun (rifled), as opposed to the 125 mm smoothbores employed on later tanks. According to the appalling Wikipedia:

The T-54/55 tanks are mechanically simple and robust. They are very simple to operate compared to Western tanks, and do not require a high level of training or education in their crewmen. The T-54/55 is a relatively small main battle tank, presenting a smaller target for its opponents to hit. The tanks have good mobility thanks to their relatively light weight (which permits easy transport by rail or flatbed truck and allows crossing of lighter bridges), wide tracks (which give lower ground pressure and hence good mobility on soft ground), a good cold-weather start-up system and a snorkel that allows river crossings.

 

All well and good, against Pattons or Centurions, but what about now? A German combat engineer fighting with the Ukrainians has this to say, (worth the click) in sum:

The Russians have changed their tactics and increasingly use tanks for indirect fire (out of line of sight), effectively turning their armor into assault guns/mechanized howitzers. And more tellingly, "In my opinion there is no obsolete weapon as long as you use them tactically."

For example, the trebuchet artillery system was maximal Medieval tech and it's so outdated now. But imagine a battery of those catapults raining down flaming hell on, say, Mexia when every modern, chip driven gun has been taken out along with GPS and satellites themselves. Fearsome prospect and perhaps a presage of things to come. Hi-tech ineluctably to lo-tech, sort of thing.

In the meanwhile, Russia has a fair few T55s and vast stores of Soviet era 100 mm. It'd be foolish, surely, for them to ignore such resource. Speaking of which, Europe has disarmed itself and has few tanks, old or new, much less ammo. But that's OK, 'coz America's their Army. Until it isn't.

Panzers roll,

LSP

The Annunciation

Today's the Feast of the Annunciation, when the angel "announced unto Mary and she conceived by the Holy Ghost" and salvation came into the world. 

I find this reflection by Benedict XVI helpful, from his visit to the Shrine of the Annunciation in Nazareth:

What happened here in Nazareth, far from the gaze of the world, was a singular act of God, a powerful intervention in history, through which a child was conceived who was to bring salvation to the whole world. The wonder of the Incarnation continues to challenge us to open up our understanding to the limitless possibilities of God’s transforming power, of his love for us, his desire to be united with us. Here the eternally begotten Son of God became man, and so made it possible for us, his brothers and sisters, to share in his divine sonship.

That downward movement of self-emptying love made possible the upward movement of exaltation in which we too are raised to share in the life of God himself (cf. Phil 2:6-11). The Spirit who “came upon Mary” (cf. Lk 1:35) is the same Spirit who hovered over the waters at the dawn of Creation (cf. Gen 1:2). We are reminded that the Incarnation was a new creative act. When our Lord Jesus Christ was conceived in Mary’s virginal womb through the power of the Holy Spirit, God united himself with our created humanity, entering into a permanent new relationship with us and ushering in a new Creation. 

The narrative of the Annunciation illustrates God’s extraordinary courtesy (cf. Mother Julian of Norwich, Revelations 77-79). He does not impose himself, he does not simply pre-determine the part that Mary will play in his plan for our salvation: he first seeks her consent. In the original Creation there was clearly no question of God seeking the consent of his creatures, but in this new Creation he does so. Mary stands in the place of all humanity. She speaks for us all when she responds to the angel’s invitation. 

Saint Bernard describes how the whole court of heaven was waiting with eager anticipation for her word of consent that consummated the nuptial union between God and humanity. The attention of all the choirs of angels was riveted on this spot, where a dialogue took place that would launch a new and definitive chapter in world history. Mary said, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” And the Word of God became flesh. 

When we reflect on this joyful mystery, it gives us hope, the sure hope that God will continue to reach into our history, to act with creative power so as to achieve goals which by human reckoning seem impossible. It challenges us to open ourselves to the transforming action of the Creator Spirit who makes us new, makes us one with him, and fills us with his life. It invites us, with exquisite courtesy, to consent to his dwelling within us, to welcome the Word of God into our hearts, enabling us to respond to him in love and to reach out in love towards one another.

When we reflect on this joyful mystery, it gives us hope, the sure hope that God will continue to reach into our history, to act with creative power so as to achieve goals which by human reckoning seem impossible. Yes indeed.

Sursum corda,

Artificial Intelligence

 

Note incorrect salute -- oh, maybe the RSF is Navy... hmmmm

Have you heard of these new supercomputer mind brains, artificial intelligences?  If you have or haven't, they're terrifyingly there and I asked one tonight, a Chatbot, "Write a story about the British Empire's expansion to the stars, Openai Chatbot."

What a sensible request and the happy bot replied:

Once upon a time, in an alternate reality, (ahem) the British Empire was not content with its earthly conquests. Its leaders and scientists were determined to expand their empire to the stars.

In the year 1875, a team of British scientists led by Professor James Rutherford unveiled their latest invention, a spacecraft capable of traveling beyond Earth's atmosphere. The spacecraft, named the HMS Victoria, was equipped with advanced technology that allowed it to withstand the harsh conditions of space travel.

Excitement and anticipation ran high as the British Empire announced its plans to launch the HMS Victoria on a mission to explore the solar system. The ship was manned by a crew of brave and skilled astronauts, led by Captain William Anderson.

As the HMS Victoria blasted off from Earth, it marked a new era of British dominance beyond the planet's surface. The ship journeyed through the asteroid belt, passed by Jupiter and its moons, and explored the depths of the Kuiper Belt.

The crew of the HMS Victoria encountered new life forms and planets with untold resources that could fuel the British Empire's expansion further. They made contact with aliens who welcomed them with curiosity and hospitality.

The British Empire's expansion to the stars was not without its challenges, as they also encountered hostile alien races and uncharted territories that threatened their survival. However, with their advanced technology and British ingenuity, the crew was able to overcome these obstacles.

As the HMS Victoria returned to Earth, the crew were hailed as heroes, and their achievements were celebrated by the entire British Empire. The British Empire's expansion to the stars had become a reality, and it marked the beginning of a new age of exploration and expansion beyond the boundaries of Earth.

With this new frontier, the British Empire had secured its place in history as the greatest empire that ever was, spanning not only the globe but the stars as well. And they looked to the future, knowing that there were still many more worlds and civilizations to explore, conquer and exploit.

 

Yes, there were giants in those days

Well done, Chatbot! See you at #1 Whitehall.

Ad Astra,

LSP

Stations of the Cross

 

This is very strange. It's Thursday evening here in Texas and there hasn't been a storm following Stations of the Cross. Who knows, perhaps someone craftily paid off an installment of the hated Weather Tax to appease our idolatrous carbon deity. 

Perhaps, but that didn't detract from the power of this evening's devotion in which we prayed and meditated on our Lord's Passion and Crucifixion, all to the end of finding greater union with his sacrificial action; the same union which is given to us in the Sacrament of Altar.

I find this powerful, by Austin Farrer:

What, then, was done to this body? It was stripped, scourged, and nailed to a cross: stripped of all dignity and all possession, scourged with the stroke of penal justice, and nailed up like a dead thing while it was still alive. The body you receive in this sacrament accomplished its purpose by nailing to a tree. You are to become this body, you are to be nailed: nailed to Christ's sacrificial will. The nails that hold you are God's commandments, your rules of life, prayers, confessions, communions regularly observed. Let us honour the nails for Christ's sake, and pray that by the virtue of his passion they may hold fast.

 

Yes indeed,

God bless,

LSP

Stagger Lee

 

Dam straight,

LSP

Behold The Raj Today

 

1947, that fated hour when the bankrupt Raj handed over to Asian Subcontinent. All yours, as it were, and you can't help but be moved by Sandhurst's Indian Army room, I assume it still exists. But, curiously, the Raj lives on as evidenced by its former units, not least cavalry:

Is there a moral in this? Of course there is, but in the meanwhile...

Eyes right!

LSP

Get It On

 

Get it on, well yes, quite, but what exactly. A Burris Fastfire 3 RDS onto a Glock 45 Compact Crossfire. Should be easy, right? Just buy Glock's cheap adapter kit and away you go, but not so fast. Everything goes swimmingly well until you notice the slide adapter plate's canted up at an angle towards the rear sight as opposed to flush with the slide.

Bad Error

Bad error. Why would this be? Two reasons. 1: You over-torqued the screws affixing adapter to slide. 2: The screws which you've handily set aside from the gun's original slide plate, the same screws which Burris tells you in its wisdom to fasten sight to slide, are too long. They protrude from the bottom of the adapter plate onto the slide and raise the thing up. Useless.

So what's the fix. Burris tells you to go to Burris and buy their special, proprietary lock washers, which will act as a kind of shim to lift the offending screw (s, there's two) by about a millimeter and hence flush with the adapter plate. Huh. Why not include M3 .50 x 7 in the adapter kit, you tightwad cash heads.

Solution? Go to the hardware store, buy some fresh M3 .50 x 8 screws and some toothed lock washers, it'll cost around 2 bucks if that. Then take them home, file or clip off the teeth of the washers. Then fix the adapter plate to the slide using Glock's provided 6 mm length screws, being careful not to overtorque, "hand tight" says the manual. 

This Locktite accomplished, fix the sight to the adapter/slide by way of custom washers. And there you go, one RDS topped pistol ready to hit the range with all of its compact fury. Will it perform? Let's find out. More anon.

#2A,

LSP

Cooking With LSP - Venison Sausage Pasta

 

So how exactly do you cook with LSP? You mutter skeptically. But not so fast, here's how. Go out and shoot a deer or get someone else to do it for you. Either way is good, your call. Then get some of that venison processed into sausage, so far so good. Next step?

Slice the sausage up into tasty morsels. It's not hard and I use a vintage Sabatier which has a miraculously keen edge. You might choose a different knife, and that's up to you, no "rule." Mission accomplished, dice up onion and garlic and chop up tomatoes. Behold a task well done.

Then fry up the onion in olive oil until translucent and add garlic. Fry for a minute or so 'til fragrant and add venison, brown it as you reflect on bond yields, interest rates and Credit Suisse shareholder wipeout, then add a tablespoon or so of tomato paste. Stir that beast around for a minute or two. Result. Add chopped tomatoes to the mix.

Well done, you've got this far, no small feat. So use your Old Wooden Spoon to stir the pot, adding 2 bay leaves, salt, pepper and basil to taste. Have a glass to celebrate this not inconsiderable victory and add a glass of red wine to the mix, just for kicks. 

Then let it simmer and listen to uplifting music; don't be in a rush, for goodness sake, let tomato, onion, and venison combine together into one compelling whole, you'll smell it when it's done. Word to the wise, let the oil seperate but in the meanwhile, boil up pasta to al dente perfection. Then fall upon your scoff.

Like a Warrior,

LSP