Western Journal.

Police say a man who allegedly pistol-whipped an employee at a dollar store during an armed robbery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, last week is in jail thanks to the actions of an armed good Samaritan.

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A man approached him and asked to be let into the store, claiming he had left his phone inside, police said.

According to authorities, the man, who was identified as 20-year-old Nicolas Richard Lee Deas, did not leave his phone in the store but intended to rob it — which police say he did.

Police said Deas, who was allegedly carrying a stolen handgun, had an accomplice, and both of them entered the store together.

Per officers, Deas ordered the employee to the store’s safe at gunpoint and told him, “Give me the money or I will kill you.”

The employee complied with the order and offered up $1,200 from the safe. Police said he was pistol-whipped multiple times in the back, neck and arm.

The commotion was apparently loud enough that it roused the attention of a business owner who was in close proximity.

The man, who was armed, ran toward the situation, entered the store and drew his gun on Deas, police said.

No shots were fired, but the good Samaritan, whose name has not been released, held the suspect at gunpoint until officers could come and make an arrest – which they did.

According to the report, the clerk was closing the store.  This is perfect timing for a robbery, and makes the request suspicious.  The clerk should always have a firearm and he (or she) should have unholstered it at that very moment.  The decision to allow the boy back into the store was an error.  I’ll venture that it won’t be made again.

It’s a shame this kid wasn’t put out of our misery because the OT requirement that he be either executed or made a slave to the offended until all debts were repaid in multiples, won’t be followed.  Instead, the state will put him inside a cage with other hardened criminals, pretend they have the power to rehabilitate him, and pay for his housing, food and medical care for several decades.

Some of us have feral animals to deal with in survival situations, some have two-legged threats, and some have both.

This looks like fun.

This is a loathsome exchange.  The FBI isn’t ashamed of what they’re doing.  We’ve come to expect that sort of thing from them.  They have no shame.  But the worst thing about it is that the local Sheriff’s Department participated in the charade.

Reminder.  Never talk to law enforcement.

That’s the headline.  Here’s the story.

63-year-old man suffering traumatic injuries was rescued from the north rim of the Grand Canyon on Friday evening after the group he was hiking with left him behind.

According to a Facebook post by the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, they received an emergency call from a man using an Apple device through satellite connection at around 6 p.m. on September 15. Search and rescue then deployed via helicopter to the man’s given location at Kanab Creek, but had to land about a quarter mile away due to the difficult terrain and dark conditions.

“It was fortunate that the helicopter was able to rescue this injured hiker, as it would have taken an extended period of time for ground crews to reach his location.”

The rescue crew then proceeded through the creek on foot and located the man, finding him alone having fallen and suffered a shoulder injury that required emergency medical attention. The team was able to stabilize the hiker and transport him via helicopter to a hospital in Flagstaff.

The Sheriff’s Office reports that they don’t know exactly what time the original call was made, but they learned that the injury had occurred four hours prior to the call, at 2 p.m. that day, when the man was hiking with four other friends. Once he contacted authorities, the group, who were reportedly several days into a week-long backpacking trip, left him alone and continued with their hike – something rescuers warn hikers never to do.

Here is the Facebook post from the Mohave County Sheriffs Office Search and Rescue.  The commenters are hard on the so-called friends, but not sufficiently hard.  I’m going to be harder.

They are no friends of his.  In fact, he had a better chance of being assisted by a stranger than friends like that.  Man is made in God’s image.  Whether your hike is ruined or not, you stay with injured people.  Period.

Oh, I realize that there may be extenuating circumstances like someone who believes he can help better by stabilizing the patient and then going for help if there is no communication.  But there should have been communication.  You don’t go into the Bush without comms (i.e., a satellite uplink).  And in fact the call for help was sent that way.  They just abandoned him to whatever would befall him.

Had he perished, it wouldn’t be a stretch for me to see them indicted for homicide.  Said another way, if this had happened with my party, I might have sent other men for help and stayed with the patient (with the absolutely necessary med kit I carry, including Quikclot, tourniquets, medicines, gauze, etc.) and water, and ensured that the man was lifted out to safety.  It would have been my ministry to that man.  And God would have been watching me the entire time.  I would hear about it in eternity.

That man needs to find other people to hang with.  Those are dangerous men to be around.  They are the sort of people who take you out into the bush and let you get injured, and then leave you behind to fend off animals, seek out your own water, medicate yourself, and try to effect triage if necessary.

Listen to this.  After the call for help, they didn’t even leave him with the Apple device they used to call for help.  They just left him there in the dark.  What a bunch of jerks.

Folks, no trip is worth leaving a man behind to perish.  Don’t leave men on the trail.  Don’t walk off from them, even if they’re slower, even if they fall behind, even if you don’t like them.  They could get injured and you wouldn’t know because you’re down trail frolicking along your stupid, merry way.

Don’t … leave … men … behind!  If you’re part of a party, stay with the party.  It’s the right and honorable thing to do.

Feeding a falcon from your window.  It’s amazing that he’s gained the trust of that bird.

He’s okay, but he was remined to carry a big bore handgun, wasn’t he?

Stevens hightailed it back the his truck to grab a hoodie that he hoped would protect him from the swarming pests, but as he hiked back, he noticed a Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks employee eyeing him from a distance. It was a biologist working in the area who’d been observing Stevens’ hunt from afar. From his vantage, he could see a large grizzly bear stalking in on the hunter and his kill.

“I walked out to where my car was parked and he drove down there and he said, ‘Do you know you have a grizzly stalking you?’,” Stevens says. “I was just shocked.” The biologist told Stevens that another group of hunters had been watching as well, and they’d alerted FWP because they were concerned for his safety.

“They said that as soon as I shot that deer, the grizzly picked up his head. He must have smelled it immediately,” he recalls. “It started coming straight on a line for me. I was really lucky that I got out of there when I did.”

Stevens had left his bear spray at home that evening. He had a handgun, but it was just a 9mm. “I’ve become so comfortable with that area and have been hunting it so often,” he says. “I didn’t wanna carry my big .45 around with me because I didn’t think I’d really need it. In hindsight, I should have thought that through a little better.”

I don’t mind carrying around my .45.

Bird shot just isn’t sufficient for bears.  I have no explanation for how you would avoid a situation like this.  Bird shot is certainly a second or third or fourth choice.  Reaching a large bore handgun would be my first choice, but this attack was from close range.  Actually, my first choice would have been 00 buck, but you don’t hunt upland birds with 00 buck shot.

Earlier this week, a man was hunting upland birds along Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front when a grizzly bear charged him from roughly 15 feet away. According to a press release issued by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), the bird hunter escaped the harrowing encounter without injury after firing his shotgun multiple times, injuring the bear and causing it to flee the immediate area.

I just don’t think I’d get into a pet skunk.  WiscoDave is pretty oddball with his pet pigs, but I don’t even think he would like this.

Oh, oh, it’s my human.  I love you so much!

@rachelhmarie

♬ original sound – rachel

Watch me.  This is how you do it.

@northernreachnetwork Little Tiny Tim being taught to walk with e legs like his foster bro Nemo. His amputation was today. He is doing well. #puppytiktok #northernreachrescuenetwork #rescue #dogsoftiktok #puppies #tripod #love #cute #puppies ♬ Funny – Gold-Tiger

I guess best buddies come in all shapes and sizes.

@brehillboyette Milkshake was in such a rush to get in the pond but STILL WAITED FOR HER COW ❤️ #fypシ #farmlife #bestfriend #furandfeathersfarm #fluffycows #minicow #3bestfriends #ducksoftiktok ♬ original sound – Bre Boyette

This bald eagle has a fish large enough that he can only swim it to shore.

Reddit/Firearms.

Here is an another video.

I see that some folks recommend the LM choke for quail.  I’ve used the IC choke with some success.  Any experience out there with choked for quail?

Eddie Hall had the world dead lift record when in 2016 he became the first man to lift more than 1100 pounds (1102 pounds).  He was bested in 2020 by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson who lifted 501 kg (1,104.5 lb). This is entertaining to watch.

“39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” – Luke 23:39-43

Three men were crucified that day: Jesus in the middle. The other two were criminal men, malefactors, wicked workers of inequity. “Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.” – Matthew 27:38. These two are serious criminals. Crucifixion was not a sentence given for any light offense; they were thieves; these two men were sinners.

One of the men understood, professed, and spoke with the Lord Jesus Christ, the other did not. It’s a simple message with a simple choice every man must make. One man accepted Jesus, and the other rejected Christ’s power and authority, including God’s particular way of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ to come into His Kingdom.

Many denounce Jesus Christ, even cursing God with rantings and ravings, while others don’t think there is a God at all. Some make very astute-sounding objections to God and Christ while remaining illogical in their assumptions of the design and its Creator. God, to some men, is a myth or a religious crutch for the weak, they say. Even some believers treat God as a spare tire only to be used in an emergency but otherwise forgotten.

Though the historical events are accurate, the picture drawn by Scripture in the last hours of Christ upon the cross illustrates God’s great and final judgment of all men. As these men did, your eternity will be decided before that great day; you will either be on Christ’s left hand or His right. The rulers, priests, scribes, Pharisees, and many of the attending soldiers mocked Jesus Christ, even saying, “Save thyself, and come down from the cross.” – Mark 15:30

This first man told Jesus to save himself and the other:

“39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.”

Yet Christ would die that day and commit His own spirit into the hands of Father God. A malefactor is a man who bestows evildoing on other men. In contrast, a benefactor profits a man, and in the case of Christ, benefits all mankind, even eternally, to those who believe. Notably, many would be saved, but not by God’s ordained means of salvation through Christ. If Christ climbs down from that cross, as the man asked, none are saved. God has made one way: faith in Jesus Christ as payment through giving himself as the final sin sacrifice for all men that believe by faith.

The books of the law and the prophets all point to this moment; this is the most pivotal juncture in all of Scripture: the Son of God, holding the future of mankind in His power, is hanging on a cross, being tortured to death, yet without sin, treated as a criminal. This is it! This is the way to holy God, the very day God offered eternal soul salvation to all men everywhere. Jesus loves us enough to stay on that cross for those who know deep in the corners of their heart that they can’t live unto God without Him, let alone see heaven’s glory.

Centuries beforehand, the profit tells of the coming Christ: “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” – Isaiah 53:10

In offering His own soul for yours, accepting the condemnation for your sins, the sons of God, Christ’s seed by faith, could be birthed anew by the Spirit of God. Christ is the seed of the promise to Abram, and those that are Christ’s are the blessed of all nations according to the prophecy. Upon the cross, Jesus looked out through time and saw His seed, all those who would be His.

And God certainly did fulfill the prophecy and Jesus’ time of the resurrection three days later, for Christ is eternal: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John 1:1. All things were made by Him and for Him. Jesus rose from the grave three days later; death could have no hold on Him.

We never hear from the first man again, and Jesus did not reply. Gone from the pages of history, this first man died eternal death, receiving his due reward. The horror is incalculable, being right next to Jesus on the cross and assuming God should have made some other way to be saved: “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.” Imagine the pride. Imagine the arrogance of presuming how God should order His domain and make way for eternal life. The man practically says: No, I won’t be saved except God do things my way. How many millions have suffered this exact same end? And what of you, dear reader? If you claim any other way to Father God, you have called Christ a liar.

Now, we see the second man:

“40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?”

He is no less a criminal, lying and thieving. Only the Gospel according to Saint Luke, records this precious exchange, in verses forty through forty-three. It’s the moment of faith between a sinner and his Saviour.

This second man, on the other side of Jesus, professed at least cursory acceptance of the existence of God, for he rebuked the first man for his railings. Having believed and thought it wise to fear God, he departs from the evil of the first man, differentiating himself by accepting who Christ is.

This man had a reverence for God. “And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” – Job 28:28. No man can depart from evil in this life or eternity, but through the clemency and power of God Almighty.

The second man believed in more than just the existence of God and a degree of respect for God. He had the mental wherewithal to realize he would die either way, regardless of God’s plan for salvation as written according to Scripture. His eternal soul was on the line; his life would soon end. It would seem that he realized even if Jesus had done some miracle by removing them all from the cross, he was a wanted man, being condemned already; he was nonetheless guilty of sin against God. And before God’s holy throne, all men stand guilty of sin; we’re all guilty under the law of God.

You may not be an evildoer, but all men everywhere are condemned already by their sin. Jesus suffered the cross because it was necessary payment for sin as God fulfills His promise to make a way of forgiveness from the curse of sin that all men carry. The curse of sin is in your being; a sinner is who and what you are. “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” – John 3:18. You’re going to die, condemned by God already for your crimes; God is holy, somebody has to pay.

The second man continues:

“41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.”

The thief admitted not only his sin but that his due reward was wrath in the judgment of God. All men are under the verdict of God. All things are His, and every man is judged by His standard. He will heap appropriate consequences upon all men for their deeds. So few hear this profound truth; hell is what you’d undoubtedly get if justice is served. You don’t want justice from God; what you need is mercy. For a criminal, the second man on the cross was at least aware.

The due reward of Christ is His Church. Jesus never sinned. He is the perfect, holy sacrifice to God, once for all, paying for the sins of the world to save the body of Christ, who are His. Nobody has a right by their actions to claim Christ; the Church is His by faith. All those who believe in the hope of forgiveness of sin, seeking heaven instead, belong to Christ the King.

Speaking of Jesus Christ: “22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself  to him that judgeth righteously: 24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” – 1 Peter 2:22-24.

Jesus didn’t climb down off the cross, and though they reviled Him, didn’t argue with His accusers, even praying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” He held His peace knowing the God who judgeth righteously. Jesus bore our sins, suffering the torment, scourged, beaten, and bloodied; by His stripes, can a man be healed anew.

The second man sought his only hope:

“42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”

The man believed Jesus is Lord; He’s who and what He says is, the holy Christ, Redeemer of sinners, Sovereign over the Kingdom of God. He called Jesus Lord, admitting His power over him and authority over life and death itself; Christ alone determines the eternal state of a man’s soul. All men die, and all men are judged.

So the second thief called upon Jesus as Lord and Saviour, having surrendered to Jesus and to the will of God that in death he would be forgiven from hell so that he could be partaker of the everlasting Kingdom of God with Christ. What a simple and lovely prayer in faith; “Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”

“43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

God doesn’t owe us anything, yet proving His love, Christ took the vile evildoer to be His own by accepting that man’s simple faith. This man on the cross could perform no good deed of repentance toward God or make amends. He could perform no religious ceremony or rite, nailed there to a cross with the Son of God; all he could do was ask for mercy. The man could make no restitution, which is the law of God; remaining a criminal under the ordinance of God up to his last breath, by simple faith alone, Christ took the man into His everlasting. We don’t even know his name, but God loved him and saved him. “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

The first man who railed against Christ, as far as the Scripture record indicates, never had faith to be saved. The second man came to the realization of God at the very last moments of life. Had Christ’s crucifixion been any other day, would he have believed in time to be born again?

Appointed by God, no man knows the number of his days on earth or upon what date his body will expire. All men everywhere face the same choice those two sinners met that day: guilty of sin, impending death; one man to eternal damnation, the other by faith to life everlasting with Holy Father God. The difference between a repentant sinner and a man lost to hell is that the sinner admits what he’s done is wrong, and the due reward of punishment by God’s authority is fitting.

At Christ’s great judgment of all men, which side will you be on? Are you the man on Christ’s left hand rejecting God, cursed to hell for all eternity, refusing to admit your sin? “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” – Matthew 25:41

Or, are you the man on the right who believes Christ is Lord? “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” – Matthew 25:34

Dear Lord, have mercy on me a poor sinner.