California.  LOL.

Women’s caucus.  LOL.

But my prediction is that all of the women on the supreme court (including Roberts) will be emotionally moved by the brief and side with the women of California.

Courthouse News.

The plaintiffs’ attorney Amy Bellantoni made little headway in trying to persuade the panel to issue a permanent injunction because, as she argued, the issues are very straightforward given the Supreme Court ruling in Bruen.

“Bruen has put this issue to rest,” Bellantoni said. “Bruen was a public carry case.”

That argument was a little too hasty for the judges, however, because Bruen requires that gun laws be evaluated by looking at the “historical tradition of firearm regulation” and that hasn’t happened yet in this case, VanDyk said.

“What Bruen said is that you look at the historical evidence,” VanDyk said. “Why shouldn’t the state have an opportunity to provide that historical evidence? I think you’d agree that the court doesn’t just have to take your word for it that it doesn’t exist.”

Here’s a quick note to U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyk.  You only said that because you’re an illiterate moron with the attention span of a chimpanzee.  That’s not the Bruen standard at all.  You just made that up because you’ve never read the document or you didn’t understand it when you did.

The Bruen standard is when the second amendment is implicated in an activity, that activity is presumptively lawful.  The burden is then on the state to prove that analogous laws existed controlling that activity at the time of our founding.  The burden isn’t on the plaintiff’s attorney to prove that such a law didn’t exist.  You should be telling the state to go find the law or else you’ll block the ban, not telling the Plaintiff’s attorney to do the state’s job.

Dummy.

U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyk is a Trump appointee.  Good job, Donald.  Some random guy in the phone directory could have done a better job.

Here’s Professor Mark Smith fleshing this out all over again for you, albeit speaking to the current case before the supreme court called Rahimi.

That also reminds me of something I’ve believed a very long time. There is no such thing as justice in America unless by accident. Judges are too stupid to know the law, and juries only get things right by accident. One can claim a right to due process, but unless that’s really “due process” under a viable and authentic justice system, there is no justice. Going before the system in America is like taking a roll of the dice.

Very well done video documentary.

Ezekiel 22:23-31

In chapter 22 of Ezekiel, he is commissioned as a judge to show Jerusalem her abominations, to pronounce the determinations of God against Jerusalem (Verses 1-2), calling it the bloody city (Verse 2) defiled by idols (Verse 4).

Verses 5-12 are a catalog of sins from which the charges against them are cited. Making a complete list of America’s sins would be impossible; time and space are limited, but some instances will be applied.

Verses 13-22 are the pronouncement of judgment, but within those verses, note that verses 17 through 22 discuss the necessity of the refining process they must undergo. Many types of metal and alloys are mentioned denoting that the purification of this refining will affect everyone; none shall escape the ire of God. Being purified and having the dross of sin skimmed can be painful for a man. But praise the Lord, put through the fire with sin purged, the end is sweet as honey, for we come out as a son of God after chastisement which yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:11).

Then, in our text, holy God calls out a roster to Ezekiel of the specific groups and their sinful actions; the prophets, priests, princes, and the people. The chapter concludes with verses 30 and 31; God could find no just man, a leader among the people that would give Him reason to forestall His wrath.

As background, Deuteronomy 19 is the Law of Innocent Blood. And in Proverbs chapter 6, cataloged among the things God hates are hands that shed innocent blood. “A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood” – Proverbs 6:17. Also, see Matthew 27:3-4, carefully considering the ends of men and the demise of empires that shed the innocent blood.

Some application for today is needed from the section starting in verse 23 to the end of the chapter. We’ll look at their situation and similarities today to understand why judgment is arriving in the West and what repentance should be if only we would.

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“23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.”

Verse 24 is not a pronouncement of drought but an indication that the land and people were not being cleansed, having no refreshing of God’s mercies due to their wickedness. Water is often a picture of the Spirit of God or, particularly, the person of the Holy Spirit. Jesus offered the woman at the well living water (John 4:14). Christ places the Spirit of God in a man’s soul, born again by the Spirit, making all who would believe “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” Also, see Revelation 22:1.

In Ezekiel chapter 22, the Spirit of God was being withdrawn, a horrifying thought indeed, for in the absence of God, darkness prevails, sin abounds, wickedness multiplies throughout the land, and the people suffer. What is outer darkness, but the absence of inner Light? It’s reasonably apparent that an exit from faith in God has been crossed for America and the West.

There is an Old Testament distinction between priests and prophets; verses 25 and 26 list them separately. Some thoroughly understand the Old Testament structure of roles and modes of worship, days of observance, purposes of the offices, and various sacrifices, but this writer has a weakness. Firmly planted in the New Covenant, the history is of interest but the application rules.

The prophets are most noted when God calls them and declares judgment on the people by them. The prophets had a separate school; in 2 Kings 6, they needed a more extensive training and living facility. We think today of a prophet as a man of old who foretold the future at the word of the Lord and did great miracles. But most often in the Bible, a prophet is a teacher (John 3:2) or a messenger of God. Though He was a prophet, but not only a prophet, billions of people today do err, thinking that Jesus was just another visionary. But Jesus rose from the grave. Everything Jesus said is coming true, and we serve in hope while awaiting His return to finish our course. Be sure Christ dwells in your heart by faith, making you rooted and grounded in love.

——-

“25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.”

Deuteronomy 18:15-22 details the creation of the office of the prophet; note carefully in verses 21 and 22 how to identify a false prophet. The modern prophecy movement today is run by the devil himself. Only God knows the future, but it’s plain to read what becomes of a people when their state is such as ours.

The prophets then, as today, were divining lies for personal gains, like a roaring lion ravening the prey, which sounds remarkably like the description of the devil in 1 Peter 5:8. The making of many widows refers to the false declaration to the king(s) about the authority of God to go to war, which is detailed further in verses 27 and 28 below.

Today false prophets further devour souls by selling the self-righteousness of works salvation, declaring rites, rituals, and ceremonies as equal to the grace of God that comes only through faith in the sacrifice of His own Son. They steal the foundation of the Gospel truth (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) and simplicity that is in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:3), filling men with the pride of their own achievements, which are wood, hay, and stubble (1 Corinthians 3:10-13), the filthy rags of men’s own righteousnesses (Isaiah 64:6), all of which, every last thing, will burn up in the final conflagration at the judgment of Christ (2 Peter 3:10-12).

How many false health and wealth movement prophets today have taken treasure and precious things?

——-

“26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.”

As background, the book of Leviticus outlines the Old Covenant law of the priesthood. We worship today, or we should, under the New Covenant in Christ.

First, profane can mean anything not ordained of God, not necessarily wicked, but even the ordinary. God is holy; nothing about Him or the worship He demands is common. There certainly are very profane things, wickedness and evil of all types, but taking the things not ordained of God and including them in worship, claiming them to be godly or holy, is a problem that leads to idolatry.

Unrepentant sinners abound among Christians, some even teaching in the churches, women “priests,” and many other examples come to mind today. But none of those churches started by having, for instance, sodomite preachers. Somewhere in the history of those churches, they allowed the profane. Perhaps the problem started before the current membership was alive: the leadership let some things slide, and just a few “little sins” began to creep in. Righteousness begets righteousness, and evil is forced to flee. So too, sin produces even more corruption by eroding the holy, just, wholesome, and clean, making God see all that worship as profane.

The application of verse 26 to today is rather apparent, or it should be. The priests are allowing all manner of sins, which is a violation of God’s holy law. The churches have put no difference between the holy and the mundane, let alone rejecting sin among them.

In Acts, the body of Christ met and worshipped daily and from house to house (Acts 2:46-47, 5:42), and God grew it mightily for their faith. I attend church on Sunday: it’s the right day under the New Covenant. I’m not telling you when to gather together, but you must do it; it’s a commandment (Hebrews 10:25). I know the churches are messed up. Even the good ones are messed up, for they’re full of sinners.

America’s churches are full of professional liars, teaching you to obey the god-government and how to get along by successfully integrating your family into a secular evil society while pretending it’s not all sin, debauchery, and unclean.

But you have to go to church. Go to every church within miles until you find one that obeys Christ’s command in Matthew 22:37-40. And John 13:35 is how you know who are His disciples. Most folks who won’t attend church today don’t go because they see how bad they are. Without you in some assembly, how can they stay right with God? Christianity isn’t a consumer activity in which you choose your favorite; it’s sometimes very formidable work to be obedient and please the Lord personally and as a group.

You can do this even in the face of what church leaders are doing. Show yourself to Holy God, one repentant sinner, desiring to be consecrated in the Lord, a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) worthy to be reckoned as belonging to the Most Holy. Then take charge of your family, purge all sin from among you, seeking God’s favor that you might be bathed in the blood of Christ, sanctified by the Holy Spirit of God. Next, your local church body; cleanse it of all sin, remove the unrepentant, and present it to God in like manner. “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” This isn’t somebody else’s job; it’s yours.

——-

“27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.”

It’s just too many sins today to list; frankly, I don’t even care what our leaders do anymore. We deserve them. The issue in the text is the shedding of blood for gain.

It’s difficult to understand why anybody of sound mind would join the armed forces of America or NATO countries. Without going on a tirade against the evil rulers of America, the West, and the global Oligarchy, I’ll point out that America has been at war my entire lifetime and doing it for fun, profit, and one world order. Waring for a few men’s pleasure and gain establishing a global central banking cartel is not a righteous endeavor; have no part in it. The bloody city, Washington D.C., has its due coming, along with all those who shed innocent blood to our ruin.

And what about abortion? America has princes in many states ravenous for the innocent blood of babies. Horrors undertaken too difficult to bear for a man not owned spirit of antichrist occur daily. Healthcare and healing have been turned into sickcare and a death mill. What else could come of a people who don’t value the next generations of their people?

——-

“28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.”

“untempered morter” seems to be a metaphor for patching up the rulers with lies, making feel and look good.

In verses 27 and 28, the prophets have sanctioned unjust wars. What was happening in Ezekiel’s day is happing here. The mainline Christians love war, and presidents take to themselves false prophets who divine “peace peace” lying through their teeth. See Jeremiah (a contemporary of Ezekiel) 6:14, 23:16-17.

As a young voter, politicians would promise a continuation of the “largest peacetime expansion” of the economy in history (but by flagrant usury debt to our children, a part they would omit) and, in the next breath, tell us who they were going to bomb back to the stone age. Take heart; I fell for it, too, even offering myself for military service. God has seen these lies! Presidents have had wicked men and women “spiritual advisors” and many famous professional fake Christian “men of God.” God has seen these lies, too, and the dual citizens they really serve.

“Even those who profess themselves to be my prophets, have been unfaithful in the discharge of their office; have soothed the people in their sins, and pretended to have oracles of peace and safety when I had not spoken to them.” – Adam Clarke on verses 27 and 28.

Separate yourself from the evil of Babylon as much as possible. Escape from her any way you can but run to the Lord God!

“My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.” – Jeremiah 51:45

“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” – Revelation 18:4

——-

“29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.”

It’s so bad in America that just about everybody has decided to “get mine” while the gettin’ is good. Dishonesty in business, whether with customers or employees, repressive wages, and much more, is now standard, while government mandates acceptance of the New Religion in all affairs of life. Welfare and insurance/disability fraud are rampant. People just accept sin as a way of life and that everybody does it. God also sees these lies. Christians are supposed to be different; be ye separate (2 Corinthians 6:17).

And don’t let liars and false Christians abuse this verse where it mentions oppressing the stranger. God required Israel to apply the entire law to the strangers and sojourners among them (Exodus 12:49) and requires the same of us today (Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11). Verse 29 is not Christ’s license to import a billion heathens and destroy your civilization through 501c3, Soros funded “refugee resettlement!” Notwithstanding, do good to whom God has said in the New Testament.

But not every one of us has turned to evil. There are those among you, come what may; we’ll try as God allows us to endeavor for what is right. Lord, have mercy on us.

——-

“30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. 31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.”

And finally, we arrive at the fury of God Almighty in the indignation of His wrath, having determined fiery vengeance to recompense those men for their evil. This same God is the only one that can save our civilization now, and it starts with you. It’s not justice you need; it’s the mercy of God’s forgiveness.

This is where every man stands, born into sin, helpless before the power of God’s holy throne, condemned already to hell’s eternal depths for your sin. The law can’t save you; no amount of religion or good deeds can appease God, for there is only one just atonement.

“For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.” – Ezekiel 18:32

Though you deserve it, God takes no pleasure in your soul’s eternal demise. He offers life if you would turn unto Him and live. Without Him, judgment is at the door.

Look back at verse 30; regrettably, there is none righteous, no, not one. It’s horrifying to hear in the day of Ezekiel that God searched out among all men one who could stand before Him, a hedge, a man to fill the gap between sin and the peace that lies at heaven’s gate, and there was none to be found.

But God, in His mercy, has given a man, His only begotten Son, a righteous hedge, a Mediator, a daysman betwixt you and God’s anger. Jesus fulfilled the Scripture according to the prophets and the law when He was crucified for your sins to pay the debt in total that you never could. He was buried and rose again the third day, triumphant over sin, death, hell, and the grave, now seated at the right hand of God the Father. Christ lives to make intercession for you.

“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” – Hebrews 7:25

Saved to the uttermost, it sounds like a perfect offer; go ahead and take it. He’s making intercession to God for you; call upon Christ Jesus, understanding you are a sinner, and whatever evils come our way, without Christ, you will surely perish in the fire of God’s wrath. But God loves you, and hell doesn’t have to be your home. Believe in your heart that the resurrected Christ, Jesus, is the way to life eternal and a life of service to the good of God that He would bless you now and into eternity. It will get worse here in the coming days; show yourself to God as belonging to Jesus Christ, ask for forgiveness for your sins, and offer yourself before the mercies of God’s courts.

I heard Professor Mark Smith make the observation recently in one of his videos that 18-year olds can vote and serve in the military and therefore age limits of 21-years is inane.  This is true enough, but ignores our rich history.  Then via David Codrea, I see that the SAF is glomming on to the same sort of argument.

“We remind the court that the Second Amendment refers to a right ‘of the people’ without mentioning age, and certainly young adults fall within the definition of ‘the people’ ever since they’ve been allowed to vote, and generations before that when they were considered part of the militia, and have been accepted into the military.”

Okay I’m really tired of this crap and it needs another reply (I’ve observed this before).

I invite you to come take a walk around the King’s Mountain Military Park and read the placards, all of them, every word.  You’ll learn many things.  General Cornwallis’ plan for the South was to rely on Tory militia to defeat the patriots and be able to move North to capture Virginia and then engage Washington’s troops.  King’s Mountain saw the defeat of that strategy.

Cornwallis could never have won anyway, given the damage the Mosquito did to the health of his troops, the fact that a full thinds of them were in the infirmary on any given day, the constant depletion of soldiers and resources from the insurgency in S.C. (Francis Marion), and the Continental Army regulars.

But King’s Mountain was still a massive blow to Cornwallis.  The men in the mountains of N.C. and Tennessee heard of the threats made by the British army and the Tory forces.  They didn’t wait.  At the time, the crops needed tending (it was the fall of 1780 and they needed to be harvested if the families were to survive).

Rather than the fathers going to war against the Tory forces (commanded by one British officer), they sent their sons into battle.  They kitted them up, and lined up along the roads as they left and sang hymns beseeching God’s protection and victory.  The boys travelled by night, many miles, in order to engage the Tory forces.

The average age of the sons of America who fought as patriots that fateful day was 14 years old.  They had learned to survive in the bush, and shoot and all of the things they did, by simply growing up with good men as their fathers.

Stop it with all of the arguments that people can vote and go into the army at 18 years old.  I don’t care about voting, I don’t care about military service.  The boys who won the battle of King’s Mountain were 13 and 14 years olds.

Just stop it.  I think it’s stupid every time I hear that argument trying to justify firearms use.  Boys with good fathers can use firearms at any age the father deems appropriate.

Because families are the central building block of society.  The government is not.

Firearms ownership and use is a right of the militias.  It is an individual right.  It is a God-given right of all men everywhere.

An A&E video piece.

A few takeaways from this.

It’s difficult for me to tell, but I think this was a black bear.

Next, she said she deployed her bear spray and it was completely ineffective.  Yea, I’ll bet.

Retreating, she stumbled backwards and fell down.  This is a bad position to be in when the bear jumps on you.

The dog intervened, and was badly mauled, but still lives and looks good.  Dogs are man’s best friend.  Get yourself one or more.  Also, notice that the bear went after her, not the dog.  It only went after the dog when the dog intervened.

Finally, she should be carrying a large bore handgun.  If I’m out and about in the South, I never go into the bush without a firearm.  There are bears, Coyotes, snakes and two-legged threats, as well as feral hogs.  This holds doubly true for the Northwest.  If you go “walking” or “jogging” in the bush without a big bore handgun, you’re asking for what happens next.

Outdoor Life has the list. We’ve discussed quiet hunting for non-permissive environments before. In searching for that prior article, I found a link to it, where another author discusses his experience with .17 and .22 air rifles. A good air gun is worth having, especially at a lower price than a rimfire or centerfire rifle. Of course, BBs don’t hunt well; pellet capability is what you need. The venerable and a personal favorite, the Crosman 760, made the list as the best squirrel hunter. BB guns are a great way to start children out learning the responsibility of gun ownership and use; most will quickly graduate to a rimfire.

Outdoor Life:

For many hunters, the BB gun was a distinct pillar of childhood. Generations of us learned basic marksmanship and firearms safety with a BB gun, and there was never a more formidable tool when tin cans or plastic army men were game. I often toted a lever-action or pump-up BB rifle across the handlebars of my ten-speed, and no other tool was as steadfast through my formative years. BB guns are great fun, and they can be great for teaching youngsters or new shooters the basics. They have some distinct advantages over real firearms in that application. They can be safely and legally fired in many areas where real rifles can’t. They can also be mailed straight to your door. Ammo is significantly cheaper too, and I can’t imagine the bills I’d have racked up if the milk-carton-style containers of BB’s—the small cardboard tubes were child’s play—were cases of 5.56 ammo.

My interest in BB guns has become reinvigorated as my children are growing into them, and I’m finding that the world of BB guns is so much cooler than when I was a kid. Many of the classics are still here, but now we have BB guns that even my fertile imagination couldn’t have fathomed. Here’s a look at some of the best BB guns you can get in 2023.

Battlefield Mods to the M1. Clever. What’s the saying; necessity is the mother of invention.

When the M1 Carbine (officially the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) began to reach American combat units in late 1942, the handy little rifle quickly gained a reputation as the “soldier’s pet”.

And why not? The little M1 Carbine weighed just 5.8 pounds (loaded with a 15-round magazine) and was only 35.6” long. By 1942 standards, it was a semi-automatic sweetheart.

Consequently, as the Carbine quickly made its way from its intended role as a weapon for officers and specialist troops (like artillerymen, tankers, and paratroops) into the hands of the long-suffering infantrymen, the G.I.’s penchant for customization created some interesting field modifications for their new favorite rifle.

They had plenty of opportunities — there were 6.1 million carbines made during World War II, and they were issued in every combat theatre.

Several interesting field upgrades with pictures are at the link.

Some helpful tips for young families. YMMV. Certainly, offhand shooting is critical. Having a plan, first aid, and controlling your children in a gunfight are very lightly considered. If you carry with children in public, train for it. Story at the link.

Weird but interesting drop bolt, caseless cartridge concept.