Articles by Herschel Smith

Let’s dispense with the notion that jihad is interpreted in many different ways by many different Islamicists, and can mean many different things, such as an internal striving for something.  In order to understand Islam, one must understand abrogation.  I am turning to John Guandolo.

One of the facets of sharia (Islamic Law) that turns the light bulb on in people’s minds more than anything else seems to be the moment they grasp the Koranic concept of abrogation and progressive revelation.

Islam teaches that Allah (the god of Islam) revealed Islam to mankind throughout history progressively. Allah revealed the Law to Moses which predicted the coming of Mohammad.  Those who did not accept the Law of Moses were lost.  When Allah revealed the Evangel to Jesus, which also foretold of the coming of Mohammad, it abrogated the Law of Moses, and those who did not accept it were lost (hellbound).  When the final seal of the prophets – Mohammad – came and revealed the Koran to all of mankind, it abrogated all that came before it, and those who did not accept it were lost.

According to Islam, the original Law of Moses and revelations given to Jesus were corrupted by the Jews and Christian Priests and, therefore, do not exist on the planet today in their “original” form.  In other words, Islam teaches that all Bibles in the world today are corrupt because the fore-tellings of Mohammad were all intentionally removed.

According to Islam, the message of the Koran was revealed to Mohammad via an angel over a period of approximately 23 years – progressively over time.

The Koran is organized into 114 chapters called “Suras.”  These suras are not organize chronologically, but generally by size of the chapter from largest to smallest with the exception of Sura 1 which is only several lines long.

Three times in the Koran (2:106, 16:101, 17:106) Allah says that whatever he reveals chronologically later abrogates (overrules or cancels) what he previously revealed.  Allah commands Mohammad to bring the community of people from their unbelief to full compliance with sharia progressively in stages.  This is exactly what we are seeing on the ground today across the world.  The Muslim community is slowly moving from living however they want to live to living in communities that are adhering to the sharia to a greater and greater degree.

According to Islam, Mohammad first received revelations in Mecca for a period of thirteen (13) years. He was completely rejected as a “prophet” by the religious scholars (Jewish, Christian) of the time. During those years only approximately 200 people converted to Islam – in 13 years.  This is the time of “tolerance” where Mohammad had to tolerate the non-Muslims and there were no revelations of jihad.

Then Mohammad made the hijra to Medina, and was called to become a political and military leader. There he raised an army and gained many converts to Islam as he began to get revelations of jihad. First Mohammad received revelations of defensive jihad, then limited offensive jihad, and finally, the command to wage jihad as a permanent obligation until the entire world is under sharia.

Allah said it last (chronologically) in the Koran, then Mohammad said it, and then Mohammad did it. This is why there is no gray area in sharia as to the permanent command for all Muslims to wage jihad until the entire world is under sharia when they have the strength and ability to do so.

The Law of Jihad provides for how jihad can be waged by Muslims depending on where they are and their abilities.

Bringing greater sharia adherence to the world via jihad is the Muslim Brotherhood’s entire focus of all they do, and the stated objective of all of the jihadi organizations on the planet.

Christian doctrine includes the notion of progressive revelation, but not the bastardized form in Islam.  In Biblical doctrine God’s revelation is progressively more complex throughout the scriptures, but there is never an abrogation of God’s revelation or a changing in His expectations for us or how He saves mankind.  In the Holy Scriptures there is consistency.  In Islam there is contradiction.  Islam was and is a political faith concocted by a syphilitic pedophile for the purpose of keeping his band of fighters together.  It isn’t original or unique.  Everything in is fabricated, stolen or otherwise concocted for the sole purpose of exercising dominance over other men and taking their women and wealth.  You may or may not share my theological views, but hold on for a moment and you’ll see the relevance of this for your life.

Since it is an ideology of domination, it has a doctrine of justification (Allah’s warriors are just and righteous to steal the riches of their conquests), no doctrine at all of forgiveness, grace or love, and an eschatology of victory.  Whereas Christianity makes it clear that the elderly, the sick, widows and orphans have a special place in God’s heart, Islam in its unmitigated darkness targets the weak, infirmed and defenseless.  It targets the weak of mind for its pernicious doctrines, and the weak spirited for domination.

Baron Bodissey on January 8th ran this column which delves into the simultaneous but not “spontaneous” assaults on European women, “The Larger Motive Behind the Groping Jihad.”

The city authorities covered up what had happened for as long as they could. They didn’t want to acknowledge that young women had been molested under the eyes of their police, and they especially didn’t want to admit that most of the gropers were recently-arrived “refugees” from North Africa and the Middle East. It wasn’t until last Sunday that the news of what happened was splashed across the headlines in Germany and the rest of Europe. And it took several more days to learn that Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, and other German cities had experienced the same sort of incidents on New Year’s Eve. Later we found out that the same thing occurred in Helsinki, Vienna, Salzburg, Zurich, Oslo, and Stockholm. I’m certain that we’ll eventually hear of incidents in other major European cities that have a significant “refugee” population.

In each city the modus operandi seemed to be the same: a large number of young men, often intoxicated and setting off fireworks, preying on young women in a coordinated fashion, as if the whole thing were planned and organized in advance. Which it may well have been – but in a distributed fashion, not with a central command structure.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi did not order his troops to carry out attacks. But he didn’t have to – this is Islam, and any good Muslim who has paid attention to what is preached in mosques and instructed in madrassas knows exactly what to do.

Not to mention what is preached in the Koran. The Baron indirectly adopts my own label for Islam and its cipher-like zombies: Star Trek’s the Borg.

The third layer of purpose is more subtle. To understand it, you have to understand Islam as an organism, as a hive mind that acts through many agents but with a single program.

This organism is now expanding into new territory, feeling its way as it goes, assessing the presence of the enemy and attempting to determine the strength and nature of his response to the incursion. One way to test the enemy’s mettle is to target his women.

This army of “refugees” made a statement on New Year’s Eve in Cologne (and in Vienna, Salzburg, Zurich, Oslo, Stockholm, and elsewhere: Islam is here, and we’re claiming your women. After all, Verse 16.71 and other verses assert:

And Allah hath favored some of you above others in provision. Now those who are more favored will by no means hand over their provision to those (slaves) whom their right hands possess, so that they may be equal with them in respect thereof. Is it then the grace of Allah that they deny?

And thousands of right hands were making their claims of possession in Cologne and other European cities that New Year’s Eve.  Probing, Fondling. Raping.

Britain’s The Daily Mail has extensive coverage of the assaults and the aftermath here.

So, we know all about German and European women. But, where are all the German and European men? Have they been castrated? Turned into eunuchs by their education and political upbringing?

One of them might answer: “That’s not fair! We’re not afraid of Muslims. We know they’re bigots. But we don’t want to be called Islamophobes, or bigots, or ‘right-wingers.’ We’re very upset. We don’t know what to do.”

Then, gentlemen, you can kiss your country goodbye, and your womenfolk, too.

Via David Codrea, Europe on the verge of civil war.

Society in western Europe is on the verge of breaking down amid chaotic violence caused by economic dislocation, mass immigration and terrorism. This is not the view of some ‘crazy survivalist’ but of the head of the Swiss Armed Forces.

Lieutenant-General André Blattmann has issued a warning to the Swiss people that society is dangerously close to collapse and advised those not already armed as part of the Swiss Army reserve to take steps to arm themselves …

“The threat of terror is rising, hybrid wars are being fought around the globe; the economic outlook is gloomy and the resulting migration flows of displaced persons and refugees have assumed unforeseen dimensions.”

Europeans are buying guns, but as long as the most sought-after item is OC spray by women who are rightly afraid, Europe hasn’t found the soul to defend itself, and probably will not survive.  The men are confused, halting and befuddled.  It took a committed Christian continent to repel the Islamic assaults of history, and Europe today is so secularized and morally hideous and obscene that the most significant reaction Germany can muster to a rape victim is to harass her.

As America more and more brings these barbaric peasants into her fold, we should expect more of what is happening in Amarillo, Texas.

As Texas officials spar with Obama administration lawyers over refugee resettlement, Amarillo is building Muslim “ghettos.”

Under federal refugee programs, the North Texas town has become home to more than 1,000 Mideast migrants – giving Amarillo the highest refugee ratio in the country.

“Our education system is overloaded with kids who can’t speak English. We have something like 22 languages spoken in our schools,” said William Sumerford, a local taxpayer activist.

City Commissioner Randy Burkett is considering a plan to halt further refugee settlements. Burkett could not be reached, but Mayor Paul Harpole isn’t optimistic about the city’s authority to push back.

“We’ve been a giving community, and it’s a huge disservice to bring in refugees in numbers that we’re not able to handle. We create small ghettos,” Harpole told Watchdog.org.

These ghettos won’t be acceptable for long by the Muslims.  We’ve seen what happens to women who are ambushed by hordes of Muslims, and it’s awful for them.

Take note of one Frenchman who is accosted by a Muslim criminal in broad daylight, the only thing stopping him being that the Frenchman toted a handgun.  Also take note of the swaggering, strutting, arrogant demeanor of the criminal, perceiving himself to be dominate in a strange land because of birthright.

The common theme should have become more pronounced by now.  By birthright (or conversion), Muslims are taught to see what’s yours as theirs, women as chattel, and men as kafirs to be conquered and killed.  Islam doesn’t coexist.  Islam is an invasive organism that tests, prods and penetrates to find weaknesses in the host organism.  It’s goal is to take over the host, consume its wealth, and conquer its people.

The migrant situation is going to get way worse, and we’ve only seen the beginning.  The number of migrants has reached 60 million, with many still in transit.  Let me repeat that for emphasis.  Many of the migrants haven’t even yet arrived.  They are still in transit.  It may sound repetitive and redundant to keep saying it, but be ready to use weapons to defend yourselves, your family and your tribe.  Practicing with your weapons is necessary, as necessary as having weapons and ammunition.  But also necessary is the mental and spiritual steel and resolve to kill in order to effect self defense.  While it may seem odd to bring this up, apparently it isn’t such an odd observation for Frenchmen or Germans.

While it may interesting to study and practice maneuver warfare and small unit combat tactics, techniques and procedures, MOUT and CQB techniques, the most likely first employment of a weapon you will ever face will be with your handgun and/or tactical knife.  Remember Herschel’s Dictum.  Always carry, always be prepared, keep your head on a swivel, and know with certainty that this is headed our way.

We’ve all had adequate warning.

Texas Observer:

Christians, arm yourselves.

That, in a nutshell, is what Liberty University students heard from Jerry Falwell Jr., in the wake of the shootings in San Bernardino in December. Falwell — president of the evangelical Christian college and son of the late Moral Majority founder — told students, “If more good people had concealed-carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in and killed them.” Adding that he was carrying a weapon in his pocket, he encouraged students to take Liberty’s concealed-carry training course.

[ … ]

Yet when it comes to linking lethal weapons to the “gospel of peace,” Falwell and Ramsey have nothing on Texas.

One pastor’s message to attendees of a 2012 Keller church conference went well beyond the suggestion that Christians consider gun ownership. “You can’t be a Christian if you don’t own a gun,” pastor Dr. Gary Cass told attendees at the Deliver Us From Evil Conference. “How can you protect yourself, your family, or your neighbor if you don’t have a gun? If I’m supposed to love my neighbor, and I can’t protect him, what good am I?” While Cass told me recently that there is some hyperbole in these statements — in that gun ownership alone is not sufficient to guarantee salvation — he does believe that self-defense “is a God-given right and duty.”

Cass’ DefendChristians.org is based in California, but several Christian ministers here in the Lone Star State are singing from the same hymnal. Huntsville-area preacher Terry Holcomb Sr. is known for carrying his AR-15 Bushmaster rifle into local businesses as part of his campaign for open carry. Likewise, the Rev. James McAbee, pastor at Beaumont’s Lighthouse Worship Center, has earned the moniker “the pistol-packin’ preacher” for carrying his Glock in church and for offering teachers free handgun training. Last summer, McAbee told KLST-TV that “it’s very important that every church, pastor and all, have a gun.” And yet, as he explained to the Los Angeles Times: “I don’t want to hurt anybody. I believe the Bible teaches peace. But that doesn’t mean I should let them hurt me.”

The notion of pastors packing heat and encouraging their flocks to do likewise strikes many Texas Christians, myself included, as peculiar — even, well, un-Christian. After all, the core teachings of Jesus himself suggest a very different message.

Although his country was under oppressive Roman occupation, Jesus taught nonviolence — “All who take the sword will perish by the sword” — which is not exactly a forceful call to arms. Jesus also instructed his followers to love their enemies.

But, of course, the Bible is a big and complicated book. Some Christian gun advocates cite a puzzling passage in which Jesus tells his disciples that if they don’t have a sword, they should sell their cloak and buy one. In an email to me, Cass even cited this passage as evidence of a biblical right to self-defense. However, many biblical commentators, including the evangelical InterVarsity Press, interpret Jesus as referring to spiritual “swords,” not physical ones. Even when Jesus was arrested, and the disciples asked him if they should defend him with their (physical) swords, he told them no. Based on my studies as both a scholar and a Christian, I believe that if Jesus taught us anything, he taught us that the godly life is one of peace, nonviolence, and love.

[ … ]

… the Second Amendment enshrines what Aledo Christian conservative David Barton has called “the biblical right of self-defense.” The Second Amendment’s “ultimate goal,” Barton contends, “is to make sure you can defend yourself against any kind of illegal force that comes against you,” whether from a neighbor, an outsider, or “your own government.” However doubtful it is that the Founders wanted to allow rebellion against the very government they were creating, this “insurrectionist idea” is very popular in Christian Americanist circles.

Oh good.  Yet another derogatory phrase for Christians who believe in living according to the Bible: “Christian Americanist.”  So this makes twice I’ve heard the author, David Brockman, claim that he is a scholar.  But if you’re going to make that claim, you have to live up to the hype.  Frankly, Brockman fails miserably.

Why is the passage about Jesus telling his disciples to get swords puzzling?  I thought Brockman was a scholar.  In fact, first of all Jesus told his disciples to find swords for self defense (the command is placed in context of having a purse and bag which they didn’t previously have, and being self sufficient in the absence of Jesus who was soon to give His life for His people).  Second, the command sets up the disciples to rely on God’s mercy and grace.  It was against Roman law for anyone but Roman soldiers to have weapons, and Jesus was commanding that they break Roman law.  Finally, this command sets up Peter for good instruction when he slices the ear off one of the Roman soldiers (referred to later by Brockman).  Jesus explained to Peter that His kingdom wouldn’t grow by the power of the sword (contra false religions like Islam).  Jesus had to die and be raised again for His people, and Peter was getting in the way.

Brockman – if he is the scholar he claims he is – should know all of this.  He should also know that the founders set up a system that was intended to be curtailed by the power of weapons, for that is exactly what they did.  They curtailed the power of tyrants in England, and were it not for weapons, there would have been no victory.

But the biggest failure is Brockman’s ignorance concerning the case for biblical self defense.  I’ve explained it before.

I am afraid there have been too many centuries of bad teaching endured by the church, but it makes sense to keep trying.  As I’ve explained before, the simplest and most compelling case for self defense lies in the decalogue.  Thou shall not murder means thou shall protect life.

God’s law requires [us] to be able to defend the children and helpless.  “Relying on Matthew Henry, John Calvin and the Westminster standards, we’ve observed that all Biblical law forbids the contrary of what it enjoins, and enjoins the contrary of what it forbids.”  I’ve tried to put this in the most visceral terms I can find.

God has laid the expectations at the feet of heads of families that they protect, provide for and defend their families and protect and defend their countries.  Little ones cannot do so, and rely solely on those who bore them.  God no more loves the willing neglect of their safety than He loves child abuse.  He no more appreciates the willingness to ignore the sanctity of our own lives than He approves of the abuse of our own bodies and souls.  God hasn’t called us to save the society by sacrificing our children or ourselves to robbers, home invaders, rapists or murderers. Self defense – and defense of the little ones – goes well beyond a right.  It is a duty based on the idea that man is made in God’s image.  It is His expectation that we do the utmost to preserve and defend ourselves when in danger, for it is He who is sovereign and who gives life, and He doesn’t expect us to be dismissive or cavalier about its loss.

And concerning John Calvin’s comments on this subject:

We do not need to prove that when a good thing is commanded, the evil thing that conflicts with it is forbidden.  There is no one who doesn’t concede this.  That the opposite duties are enjoined when evil things are forbidden will also be willingly admitted in common judgment.  Indeed, it is commonplace that when virtues are commended, their opposing vices are condemned.  But we demand something more than what these phrases commonly signify.  For by the virtue of contrary to the vice, men usually mean abstinence from that vice.  We say that the virtue goes beyond this to contrary duties and deeds.  Therefore in this commandment, “You shall not kill,” men’s common sense will see only that we must abstain from wronging anyone or desiring to do so.  Besides this, it contains, I say, the requirement that we give our neighbor’s life all the help we can … the purpose of the commandment always discloses to us whatever it there enjoins or forbids us to do” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vol. 1, Book 2, Chapter viii, Part 9).

Far from a mere right, it is a duty.  Forsaking this duty is equivalent to turning over Brockman’s own children to criminals, rapists, thieves and abusers.  God isn’t impressed with Brockman’s fake morality, a morality that pretends Jesus is a bohemian hippie flower child.  And I don’t think Brockman is the scholar he thinks he is.

David Codrea:

Understanding that no activist can take the hard line Mike has without ruffling feathers and making enemies — including within the Second Amendment community — the appeal was specifically made to those who consider themselves his friends, and to readers who have received value from his work. As such, Mike’s readers are not being asked for charity — they’re being asked to make gratitude offerings acknowledging that they have regularly personally benefited from Mike’s work.

Those people who don’t appreciate Mike aren’t being asked for a thing. Those who do can show their appreciation by sending contributions to him at PO Box 926, Pinson, AL 35126, or by transferring funds to georgemason1776@aol.com via Paypal, and also by spreading the word to notify other gun rights activists.

I had initially intended to send a check (periodically) to Mike.  But my wife convinced me that Paypal would be a better approach, and I have to admit, it is fairly straight forward and also a very fast way to get money where you intend it to go.

Give it a shot.

Around these parts we speak the name of Eugene Stoner only with hushed reverence and awe.  I wish he had had more success pushing his fully automatic, crew-served area suppression weapons on the armed forces.

Marco Rubio effectively ends his campaign and informs us that he never really wanted to be president.

Sen. Marco Rubio says people who immigrated to the U.S. illegally but haven’t committed any major crimes could be allowed to stay.

In an interview airing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the Florida contender for the Republican presidential nomination said felons shouldn’t be allowed to stay, but those who commit lesser crimes could still qualify. In this interview, he didn’t specify whether those allowed to stay would ever be able to become citizens.

“If you’re a criminal alien, no, you can’t stay. If you’re someone that hasn’t been here for a very long time, you can’t stay,” he said. “I don’t think you’re gonna round up and deport 12 million people.”

Ah, there’s that reflexive, well-trusted, tried and true (or false) red herring.  No one has ever suggested that we round up 12 million immigrants and ship them home.  The only thing you have to do is make it illegal to hire persons who aren’t citizens, put a few CEOs in prison when they try, and presto, you have an immediate exodus of immigrants.

But they won’t do that because the very reason they want illegals here is to perform work for low wages, the difference being made up by the middle class who pays for health care, SNAP and welfare.  It helps those high level managers, VPs, and members of boards to dine in style, go on their junkets and buy those homes on the lake.  We all know the gouge.  We’re very familiar with it – my daughter is an ER nurse who treats immigrants on a daily basis who use the hospital as their routine medical provider, and they can’t legally be turned away.

The average taxpayer would be hunting for hemp rope and lampposts to hang politicians if they knew the thousands of dollars wasted on expensive tests for low paid workers so that big corporations can turn big profits.  But Americans know enough, and that’s why there is open rebellion within the ranks, and why the GOP will cease to exist without fundamental reformation.

As for Rubio, he’s telling us that he never really wanted to be president, and I guess he doesn’t want to be a senator either.  Very well.  Good riddance.

Donald Trump calls Ted Cruz’s remarks about “New York values” disgraceful.  Even Rich Lowry says “It’s hard to exaggerate how good Trump’s New York answer was: No politician in either party could do it better.”

Oh sure it is, and the exaggeration was virtually ubiquitous last night in the media coverage, much of it coming from New York.  As for New York values, I cannot carry a weapon in New York.  In fact, I cannot legally own the magazines I currently do for my guns because of the so-called SAFE act, upheld with rulings from New York judges that utilize tactically ridiculous arguments such as the law making it more difficult to engage in spray-firing from the hip.

As for federal judges in New York, they have upheld New York’s gun laws on numerous occasions, and the people of New York, despite some good folk in the countryside, are beholden to the big city, and continue to vote in totalitarians like Michael Bloomberg, Bill de Blasio and Mario and Andrew Cuomo.

Don’t be deceived.  We know all about how the effete, New York elitists look down their collectivist noses at conservatives.  Andrew Cuomo can even tell conservatives that they have no place in New York and need to leave, and most Manhattanites never skip a beat.  As long as the great, unwashed masses who tote guns, attend church and get their hands dirty on a regular basis stay “out there” somewhere, truck in food and goods, and vote for politicians who will continue to enable the world financiers in New York to play their high stakes gambling games, the world is right.

But it’s not right, not really, and the unwashed masses aren’t as ignorant as you think.  As I’ve said before, I don’t feel one iota of brotherhood with Manhattanites, not in ideology, not in theological views, and only barely in language.

Trump comes from a background of liberalism.  He is only new to gun rights, he has always been and continues to be in favor of a single payer health care system, and continues to believe that TARP and bailout were good ideas.  For the record, I hate New York values.

BoingBoing:

Appears the new open carry laws in Texas, which have expressly allowed guns onto College campuses and into psychiatric hospitals, are back firing against open and concealed carry enthusiasts. Private business and property owners can ban firearms from their property by either posting signs, or verbally informing armed people they are not welcome to carry their weapons. Firearms enthusiasts are finding a lot of new signs around Texas.

Ooo …, “backfiring.”  Sounds serious, yes?  Their source is The Trace.

“Got an email from work telling us that not only are 30.07 signs going up over the weekend on our office building but 30.06 as well. What makes this even more frustrating is I have yet to see a single open carry,” wrote a user with the handle LTUME1978, before predicting in a subsequent comment that, at least in Houston, “Once the signs are up, they are not ever going to come down.”

That original post generated more than 100 replies, and numerous theories. Some Texas CHL users speculated that the increase in notices barring concealed weapons may be due to a revision to the existing 30.06 sign that was ushered in by the new open carry legislation. Older 30.06 signage was rendered obsolete by the change — and signage is something that Texas gun rights advocates actively police.

“Just as easy to have both 30.06 and 30.07 signs made at the same time,” a user named Distinguished Rick replied. “We have lost more than we gained,” he added. “I have had my CHL 20 years this year and I hardly ran into any legal signs back then. This has woken up the anti-crowd in a big way. So now the genie is out of the bottle and I don’t see a way to put it back.”

A user with the handle bmwrdr echoed his concerns: “Before the OC [open carry] movement started everything went smooth, now we see more and more 30.06 signs erected.”

Another user, posting as flowrie, theorized that the backlash generated by the open carry movement, which was itself driven by the gun rights group Open Carry Texas (OCT), was so spectacular that it may as well have been an opposition plot. “OCT has hurt much more than helped. I insist on carrying when taking my young son and wife to the movies, but that is now becoming more difficult. I do not really oppose OC, but the way they went about it was unwise and just down right ignorant. I too wonder if some of them are anti-2A [Second Amendment]. If I were anti-2A, that’s how I would do it.”

“We were free to carry concealed at far more places before than now. You have the exact same ability to be safe carrying concealed as openly. Except that now you can’t do either in many places. So you’re not safer at all. Open carry is not a right. It’s a dress code and comfort issue. You were already freely bearing arms before 1 Jan. You’ve given up safety for comfort and lost and freedom [sic] for all of us.”

“The immature, selfish actions and the loud, belligerent mouths of a few have hurt many,” Oldgringo concluded. “It’s true, all that glitters is not gold.”

What a bunch of whiny little bitches.  If it takes some time to work through the details of this, then so be it.  If you have to continue to work through concealed and open carry rights issues, then so be it.  If you have to petition businesses or otherwise withhold your patronage in order to persuade businesses to honor your rights, then so be it.  A business who indiscriminately posts signs prohibiting both open and concealed carry isn’t worth my patronage anyway.

Shouting down the advocates of open carry is turning your criticism on the wrong people when you’ve got culpable establishments to target.  Open carry advocates didn’t force businesses to put up signs prohibiting concealed carry.  Other states have learned to deal with this, and Texas will too.  Settle down.  Mind your manners, grow up and stop being little girls over this.

Mother Jones:

The cartels’ weapons of choice are high-caliber rifles, including AR-15 and AK-47-type semiautomatic rifles, which can be easily converted into fully automatic machine guns. The cartel’s gunrunners often buy firearms legally in the United States, either at gun shops, gun shows, or in private sales. The firearms are then illegally shipped across the border.

But it gets better.  Commenter Aquarian Dreamer said:

usually ‘High-Caliber’ is used to reference impact power, which until the late 19th usually meant larger ammunition. that changed as aerodynamics became better defined, and rifle power became less about bigger ammo with more gunpowder packed behind.

“Impact Power.”  “Aerodynamics became better defined.”  It’s sort of like that little puppy who is just learning to walk but still bumps into things, vomits and shits on the rug.  Maddening, but in some weird, freakish way, adorable nonetheless.

Prior:

High Magazine Clips And The Shoulder Thing That Goes Up

High Ammo Clips

Automatic Bullets In Rapid-Fire Magazine Clips

Duck Hunting With Bullets

Fully Loaded Ammunition Cartridge

High Magazine Round

First, there is this from David.

Per Mike, the doctors have told him he is not long of this world. As we all know, his financial situation due to years of disability and devotion to the larger issue of self-sacrifice for freedom is terrible.  He is doing what he can to get his affairs in order, but the reality is, his wife will be left in really bad shape.  I would like to help with a funding appeal.

I looked at various “crowdfunding” sites, but there are hoops to jump through and/or  a cut they take. For now at least, in order to get the ball rolling and hopefully growing as it does, I’m asking all of Mike’s friends to spread the word and to send gratitude offerings directly to him:

• Paypal to  georgemason1776@aol.com*
• Check, money order, cash, etc. to Mike Vanderboegh, PO Box 926, Pinson, AL 35126.**

You’ll note I called it a “gratitude offering.” That’s proper, as this is being directed to those of you who have received value from Mike’s work over the years.

Then David updates with this.  Then Mike updates us as follows.

Looks like the first chance for everyone will be the first weekend in February — the 5th, 6th and 7th. There will be some preliminary stuff that has to be done and I’ve got some volunteer offers from local friends and readers to do specific tasks like, dismantling the hulk of the above ground pool and hauling it and other easy to reach trash off to the dump. They will schedule those tasks as they can between now and 5 February. The jungle (and the lower deck) will remain to be removed and there are a small host of specific smaller tasks that will remain to be done (from malfunctioning electrical circuits within the house to tearing out the front shrubbery so that they can no longer be a pathway for heavy rain that periodically soaks the basement to cleaning the front gutters to tearing off the back gutters and preparing the back wall on the second floor where the rotting deck connects, etc., etc. etc.

As I’ve said, I want to meet Mike face to face and shake his hand and hug him.  But I don’t quite know what this post means.  I don’t know whether Mike can sustain visitors over the 5th, 6th and 7th, or if there is some field available for us to ensconce and have Camporee over the night while we work during the three days.  I have a note out to Mike and I will let you know when I get clarification.  I can bring a chain saw, table saw, compound miter saw, tools, a good attitude and my body.

To mention his address again, it is: Mike Vanderboegh, PO Box 926, Pinson, AL 35126.  I intend to donate.

No doubt as you have noted, we have some sailors being held by Iran.  No doubt either, their vessels have been confiscated by Iran and are being reversed engineered now, perhaps with the help of Russian engineers and programmers.

Daniel (my former Marine) and I discussed it.  We both agreed upon the necessary course of action had we been on board those vessels prior to being confiscated by Iran.  Call on a satellite phone with your last known location, deploy life rafts, water, guns, ammunition and food, and then scuttle the vessels.

If they could not do that, they should not be sailors.  I’m sorry if this offends former sailors, but this is what I think. And it’s what Daniel thinks.  Sailors are supposed to be warriors too.  We’ve become soft.