The best gun in the world is the one you’ll have with you when you need it.

Seriously, the features of a gun you don’t have with you don’t matter.

Like most tools there’s an optimal gun for every task under the sun. The task here is to ensure you’ll always have it with you when you need it. This article will talk about the features of a gun tool that will get that job done. And yes, I have a specific make and model in mind.

• If a gun is:
• Too big
• Too heavy
• Too hard to shoot
• Too dangerous to carry
• Too hard to maintain
• Feels awkward to carry, store or shoot
• Does not fit your wardrobe
• Does not fit your hand
• Does not fit your lifestyle
• Can’t handle most jobs you want it for
• Misfires when dirty

. . . then you’re less likely to have it with you when you need it. All this and yet a gun should be comforting, not comfortable.

Read the rest at The Best Gun in the World by Terence Gillespie.

YouTube – Is Senator DeMint Preparing To Commit Treason?.

Rachel Maddow is a cheerleader for totalitarian fascism.  She sold her soul to the state.

I thought about using Churchill’s “Never give up,” as the title of this entry.  But sometimes you need to give up because what you are attempting is not going to work and/or is not right.

But giving up is not the same as despairing.  Giving up is the pursuit of a new path.  It is hope.  It should be.

Never despair.

I’ve been reading in Isaiah and it occurred to me that one of the great things about the Bible’s corporate perspective on reality means that the corporate can often be applied to the personal.

Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the LORD;
awake, as in days of old,
the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces,
who pierced the dragon?
Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to pass over?
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

No matter what you are going through, it is not over.  And your future is not determined by your past.  God can change things totally around.  He has in the past and he can do so again.

For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I.”

Never despair.

One of the great things about Presbyterian government is that it was the polity used to condemn Jesus to death and get him crucified. It wasn’t the last time. Proper government can be used by Satan as well as by God.

But the good news is that God vindicated Jesus and so he vindicates all his servants. “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan” (Rev 2.9). “Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet and they will learn that I have loved you” (Rev 3.9). During the Reformation many a martyr was not only killed, but declared an outcast from the Kingdom of God by those who were sure they were in God’s inner circle.

Weren’t they surprised.

YouTube – The Vendor Client relationship – in real world situations.

Osama bin Laden repeatedly stressed the major objections: The U.S. had been supporting apostate dictatorships in the Muslim world, given one-sided support to Israel, occupied holy land such as the Arabian Peninsula, and enforced brutal sanctions on the Iraqi people that had left hundreds of thousands of Muslims, mostly children, dead.

Americans are warned not to forget what happened eight years ago, but we must not assume history began on that date. Those in the Muslim world tend to have a much longer memory.

In 1953, the CIA helped to oust the once-democratically elected leader of Iran, a man who had been featured as Time Magazine’s “Man of the Year” just a year before, and replaced him with the corrupt and brutal Shah, a dictator who ushered in a period of torture, terror and mass inflation. Twenty-six years later we saw the “blowback” — a term the CIA uses to describe the unintended reaction from American policy abroad — in the form of the Islamic Revolution. Iran fell under the grip of fundamentalists, but most of the nation would not rally against America for purely cultural reasons. What united them was resentment toward the U.S. meddling in their country.

Read the rest

You can’t have friends without rules. – 22 Words.

Excellent quotation by Tim Keller.  But it also opens up thoughts about how the principle gets abused.

If it is impossible to have a community without rules, then you can predict the end of a community–one that used to function–upon certain conditions.

For example, if it becomes widely recognized that the enforcement of the rules is done by unaccountable people for selfish reasons, the community will soon end.

If it becomes widely realized that accusations about breaking the rules can be made by some people without any truth to their claims.

Or when it becomes widely realized that “following the rules,” while used as a slogan, is in fact of no consequence compared to arriving at pre-ordained conclusions that are dogmatically asserted to follow from the rules when they actually don’t follow at all.

In these and many other ways, the sloganeering for the rules by community leadership can and often does cover rule-breaking that hollows out community until it implodes.

The Department of State announces the termination of a broad range of assistance to the government of Honduras as a result of the coup d’etat that took place on June 28. The Secretary already had suspended assistance shortly after the coup.
The Secretary of State has made the decision, consistent with U.S. legislation, recognizing the need for strong measures in light of the continued resistance to the adoption of the San Jose Accord by the de facto regime and continuing failure to restore democratic, constitutional rule to Honduras.

The Department of State recognizes the complicated nature of the actions which led to June 28 coup d’etat in which Honduras’ democratically elected leader, President Zelaya, was removed from office. These events involve complex factual and legal questions and the participation of both the legislative and judicial branches of government as well as the military.

Restoration of the terminated assistance will be predicated upon a return to democratic, constitutional governance in Honduras.

The Department of State further announces that we have identified individual members and supporters of the de facto regime whose visas are in the process of being revoked.

A presidential election is currently scheduled for November. That election must be undertaken in a free, fair and transparent manner. It must also be free of taint and open to all Hondurans to exercise their democratic franchise. At this moment, we would not be able to support the outcome of the scheduled elections. A positive conclusion of the Arias process would provide a sound basis for legitimate elections to proceed. We strongly urge all parties to the San Jose talks to move expeditiously to agreement.

Thus sake Darth State Department.

Translation:

We have you addicted to aid and now we’re sending you into withdrawal.

We think it is right to punish the poorest in Honduras most severely for crimes the powerful didn’t even commit.

We are the judge, jury and executioner and your constitution says what we say it does.

We would never want to be perceived as meddling in an important country like Iraq, but you are our bitch.

We will now harrass anyone in our reach with the Visa regime.

We will go to war with any popular candidate you vote into office.

You should not have crossed us; get back in line.  We’re the grasshoppers and you are just ants.

Delores Umbridge should never be disobeyed.

Palpatine is not happy with you!

We need all the help from American citizens to make your government see the error of the foreign policy that Hillary Clinton is applying with respect to Honduras. It is not possible to stand at the side of Chavez and against the democracy of Honduras. Please ask ALL of your friends to call massively to Hillary with the following message:

Call the State Dept. at 202-647-5171. Deliver the following message:

Secretary Clinton, please DO NOT follow the recommendation of the State Department.

DO NOT legally define the constitutional presidential succession in Honduras as a military coup.

DO NOT cut off aid to Honduras.

Please forward this message to anyone you know who you think will take action.

via La Gringa’s Blogicito: Honduras needs help from you.