Thursday, May 31, 2018

The Imperfect Pastor

Pastors are people. Nobody is perfect.  That means no pastor is perfect.  Sadly, too many people expect perfection. 

To compound problems, many pastors these days are Gammas. This means their responses to imperfection can often draw more ire than the imperfection would have drawn, had the pastor dismissed and ignored.

Well, one pastor got the memo. Perry Noble penned quite possibly the most alpha response by a pastor in recent memory. Folks accused him of being imperfect, therefore unqualified to be a pastor. He agreed and amplified:

I Am Unqualified 

An exerpt:
I Timothy 3
Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer is to be above reproach, 

All so often in my life I was absolutely NOT above reproach.
I have, on more than one occasion, gossiped about others.
There have been way too many “not so clean” jokes I’ve either told or laughed at.
There is no doubt I did not tell the truth at the DMV when they asked about my weight.

The entire article is like this.  Toward the end is the most poignant statement:
As I've said before - I have never honestly felt qualified in my life, but was reminded recently in a sermon I listened to that God does not call the qualified, but qualifies the called.  

The Rifleman is fairly certain that Noble is no Alpha. Nevertheless, you would do well to read his blog on the regular. 


Wednesday, May 30, 2018

The Tell of a Lie

Tell me lies
Tell me sweet little lies
- Fleetwood Mac

When a person lies, they usually have tells.  Here is a good resource on uncovering written lies. And here are  10 Easy Ways to Recognize Liars (both spoken and written).

One tried and true method of determining a lie, for both spoken and written lies, is when the liar becomes defensive. From the second link:
A person who is telling a lie will get defensive. They will do everything in their power to deflect your attention away from themselves and will get angry that you are questioning their innocence. People who are telling the truth tend to go the opposite way and go on the offense. 

We have watched this with President Trump vs. the #FakeNews on numerous occasions.  It's a really good tell, and it's consistent.

Recently, the Rifleman came across a written lie, and called it such - and finished with the statement, given the folks who have left, it reminds me of the phrase 'the trash took itself out'."
The author got defensive - "thanks for calling me and my family trash!"

Liars get defensive.  Truth tellers go on the offense. 



Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Greed, Jealousy, or Sex?

So again recently, the #FakeNews blog, Pulpit and Pen, published another article about Pastor Greg Locke.  Naturally, there were major inconsistencies with the truth. Naturally, the same exact pattern was followed as before.  But it made the Rifleman wonder... why? Why repeat and rehash the same trash?

Some possible explanations come to mind...

#Mancrush syndrome.
Is it possible that an admin (or admins?) of PP have a homosexual crush on Pastor Locke?
Perhaps. The soy-boy faces of a couple of the Gamma admins certainly would not rule out this possibility. It is the Rifleman's understanding that closet gays do sometimes pronounce their love of another man in this manner. 

Follow the money.
Generally speaking, this can be a good starting point for investigating motives. Indeed, this is the assertion of one response on the publication:
Somebody told you that somebody said that somebody else told them and that makes it a fact. [Admin name redacted] can't raise $250 dollar be on the ballot for SBC President, so he denounces and attacks them. Can't reach the people the way Greg Locke or Beth Moore so again he denounces. See the pattern?
This is not the first time PP has been accused of chasing dollars with their "polemics" reports.

Jealousy.
Perhaps PP is jealous of the platform.  Following are screenshots of the followers of Locke and PP - both from Facebook and Twitter.  PP's Twitter platform has only 26% of the following as does Locke. 





PP's Facebook platform has less than 15% of the following that Locke has:







Indeed, this explanation - jealousy - and possibly added to greed, as mentioned above, seems to explain things perfectly.  In fact, one can almost see the seething admins of PP building in their anger and jealousy in the week prior to the publication. Here are screenshots of it, please note how many interactions the respective pages had:


14,000 reactions on Locke's page from the shared YouTube video. Only 32 reactions on PP's page.  Hell, the Rifleman got 97 reactions on his last FB post... and only has 1500 or so friends there. 


Summary
It really leans toward jealousy and / or follow the money. Don't count out the #Mancrush angle. Regardless, it's always good to understand the likely motives of an author.

The Rifleman's motive for this one?
Simple.
Observation. 
The "Recce" in "Recce Rifleman" is short for reconnaisance.


Friday, May 25, 2018

Rights, Not Needs

The Rifleman had this conversation with a poor beta boy sometime back...

Beta boy: I see your Facebook posts about an AR-15. I really want one. However, my wife won't let me have one. She says we don't need one.

Rifleman: "Need has nothing to do with it. It's a right."

Beta boy: Well, my wife still won't let me have one. You know, the kids.

Rifleman: "My wife tried saying that once. I took her shooting."

And the rest is history. 


Thursday, May 24, 2018

HR Departments

From social media comes our quote of the day:

The problem is that HR Departments are neither human nor a resource. They are de facto legal departments.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

When To Find A New Job

From a reader:

I remember a job I had:

My ex wife (before she was my ex) went into labor early.  So I had to call out.

BOSS:  why did you call out?

ME:  my son was busy being born.  He came early.

BOSS:  how does this involve you?

ME:  well, my son was being born.

BOSS:  so you weren’t the one being born.

ME:  no.

BOSS:  and you weren’t the one giving birth.

ME:  well, no, but......

BOSS:  so, you could have come to work if you had wanted to.
There is no reason you count have come to work.

ME:  the birth of my son is the reason.

BOSS:  that’s not a reason.

ME:  it is a reason.  You just don’t like the reason.

BOSS:  ok smart guy.  Writing you up for unauthorized absence.  Writing you up for insubordination.


Tuesday, May 22, 2018

A Symbolic Facade

As the Rifleman has explained before, marriage, as defined by the modern US legal system, and marriage as defined by the Bible, are two totally separate entities.

This guy gets it. From his article:
... marriage is no longer a real family model. Legally speaking, marriage is now almost entirely symbolic, an optional facade we place over our real family model, the child support system.  Since legal marriage is a matter of aesthetics, there is a certain logic to only constructing the facade if the aesthetics are right.

What do you think?


Monday, May 21, 2018

You Bore Me

Quoted:

To those of you that wail on about guns whenever there's a gun free zone shooting:

You bore me.

You bore me because you have neither an intellectually valid argument, nor any statistics that validate your side of the debate. All you have is raw emotion. Raw, feminine, immature, pathetic, emotion. You are impervious to fact. Debating you usually takes on the characteristics of the logic of a 9 year old child. Most of you don't even know the origins of, or the reason FOR the Second Amendment; much less the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, the Anti-Federalist Papers, OR the history surrounding the founding of our country.

I find you willfully ignorant, socially suicidal, emotionally and morally pathetic.

“GUN FREE ZONES” didn’t, and haven’t, stopped ANY of these school shootings. Not a single one. Nor will they. EVER.


Friday, May 18, 2018

Motivation Friday






Motivational speakers. 

When they ask for audience participation with the intent of showing everything wrong, they despise alpha responses.
(Agree & Amplify, Dismiss & Ignore, Ridicule & Reframe)

They despise sigma responses even more. 
This particular specimen met six of the following seven signs.


Thursday, May 17, 2018

Ramadan Bombathon

It’s that time of year again.
#RamadanBombathon has begun. 
The Rifleman shall be keeping tabs on the carnage.  Every year, Jihadis start their crime spree against humanity at this time.  so much for being a peaceful religion.


Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Cobra Kai Review

This is a review of the series, Cobra Kai, available from YouTube Red.

*** Spoiler alert ***









The premise of the series is simple: the life of Daniel Larusso and Johnny Lawrence in 2018. Naturally, they are not the students so much as they are the instructors.

Pros:
Great acting. Good choreography. Good story line. Good writing.  Just plain fun. 

Cons:
The Rifleman must admit, it is hard to find fault with the series.  The only complaint might be how quickly all the students make "black belt." However, given that this was also true of Daniel in the first film, and this series has many throwbacks, it is almost understandable. 

Notes
This is basically a 5 hour movie, chopped up into 30-minute episodes.
There are a lot of acknowledgments of the original films. All three of them. There may be acknowledgments of The Next Karate Kid and Jackie Chan's reboot, but I haven't viewed those enough to know. 
The Rifleman enjoyed how the writers tackled teaching martial arts to millennials.
Though there was no nudity, it would definitely have been PG13 for language.
Most remakes are less than the original.  This is not. 

Overall: solid. 8/10
Not only does the Rifleman approve, so does the sister, brother, and brother-in-law.

Can't wait for Season 2 in 2019. 


Tuesday, May 15, 2018

MMA Analysis

This past Saturday, Bellator and UFC held events.  Both were pretty solid shows. The Rifleman has some takeaways:

Weight
Mackenzie Dern defeated Amanda Cooper via RNC. The story here is Dern missed weight (116 lbs.) by 7 pounds - she weighed 123 lbs.

Via Twitter:
The trend continues. Every fighter this year that has missed weight but goes on to compete in the UFC, wins. #UFC224
- @SandhuMMA

This is twice that Dern has missed 115 lbs. Perhaps she should fight at 125 or 135.

The real idiots are those who were online implying Dern is overweight.  Ideal female weight charts for 5'3" is 107 - 140 lbs. More women this size would mean a healthier society. 


Left Hands
Ryan Bader crushed "King Mo" with a hard left hook which set up the finish.
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos finished Sean Strickland via spinning head kick... which was set up by a good left jab. Dos Santos had been using that left effectively prior to the final setup.
John Lineker defeated Brian Kelleher via R3 KO using a left hook.
Warlley Alves defeated Sultan Aliev via R3 TKO. Aliev was unable to answer the round due to his eye being swollen shut.  The culprit? A left hook in R2.
Aaron Pico def. Lee Morrison by KO - left hook body shot.


Basics
Chiek Kongo defeated Javy Ayala via hook block + straight right for a KO.
Lyoto Machida defeated Vitor Belfort via front kick.
Perez, Ramos, Dern, and Piccolotti all won with RNC.


By The Numbers
19 fights
3 decisions
6 submissions (all chokes)
10 KO or TKO.


What did you learn or notice?


Monday, May 14, 2018

All They Have Left


They are all #FakeNews all the time. 

From the article:
In an apparent jab at the administration, The Times’ headline said, “At a Key Moment, Trump’s Top Diplomat Is Again Thousands of Miles Away.”

The Times’ story noted that “Senior State Department officials were momentarily speechless on Tuesday when asked why Mr. Pompeo did not delay his trip by a day to be in Washington during Mr. Trump’s Iran deal announcement.”

It became clear on Wednesday morning why Pompeo didn’t delay his trip to Pyongyang when Trump took to Twitter.

“I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting. They seem to be in good health,” Trump wrote. “Secretary Pompeo and his ‘guests’ will be landing at Andrews Air Force Base at 2:00 A.M. in the morning. I will be there to greet them. Very exciting!”

#FakeNews - all they have left is an agenda.


Friday, May 11, 2018

Infidel

Ramadan starts next week. Accordingly, the Rifleman plans to keep track of the Ramadan Bomb-o-Thon. Moslems go apeshit and blow stuff up at an incredible pace during Ramadan.  In honor of this fact, here are a few relevant memes:



Thursday, May 10, 2018

2 AM

Earlier this morning, at 2 a.m. Eastern time, President Trump welcomed home former detainees from Korea. 

On September 11, 2012, at 2 a.m., then-President Obama ignored pleas from our troops in Benghazi for reinforcements. 

If you excuse or rationalize the latter, you're simply against America. 


Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Being Well Regulated

You want to prep, you want to train, you want to be ready; but what, exactly, should you train?

For years, the Rifleman tried to find legitimate instruction.  There would be a group here or there that would say they train, but most didn't.  And the former military folk they had could never agree on what was important.  They'd always argue and fight over what was important... to the point that it would seem like they really didn't know. 

The reality of it was this: the military folk who had been there and done that were rarely good instructors.  This is not a knock on them... they were great infantrymen, they just weren't geared to have the patience to teach. 

But, as the Rifleman learned more and more, and as progress was made, it became clear what needed to be trained. 

This list is not all inclusive  (no list ever is). However, this list has been formulated with the input and advice of several Army and Marine Infantry men, several Forward Observers, a Combat Medic or two, and several other relevant sources. Additionally, much of the detail can be found in the US Army Ranger Handbook, US Army Guerilla Warfare Handbook, and Field Manual FM 3-21.8 (FM 7-8) The Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad March 2007.

What do you need to train? Simple: Rifle and handgun basics, patrolling, close quarters combat, amd combat life saving. Surely, more can be added, but these are the basic fundamentals. 

Gun Basics
The fundamentals of all gun basics can be summarized thusly:
1. Be able to hit what you aim at (marksmanship).
2. Be able to bring your firearm to bear quickly enough to make a difference.
3. Be able to fix stoppages.
4. Be able to do 1-3 smoothly. 

Pistol Basics
Grip
Draw
Aim
Reload
Fixing stoppages
Marksmanship.

Rifle Basics
Grip
Draw
Aim
Reload
Fixing stoppages
Marksmanship.

Patrolling Basics
Formations - ranger file and staggered column.
Security patrols and recon patrols.
Range cards.
Hasty ambush.
React to Contact - disengage, and advance. 
Medical evacuations.
Bounding overwatch. 
Bounding by 2's. 
Standard Patrol situations - halt, kneel, go prone, get up, move forward, leaders meeting, circle up, 360 security, Etc.

CQB Basics
Stacking up
Breaching
The Fatal funnel
Making entry
Dealing with corners
Dealing with dead space
Rear security
Additional rooms

CLS - combat life savers
Tourniquet application
Packing a wound
Applying a chest seal
Medical evacuation

Considerations
Of course, in combat, you should be shooting, moving, or communicating. The big part of this is communication. Proper communication - verbal communication and hand signals - is necessary in each of these courses of study. Also, please note, that controlling, CLS, and CQB are all dependent upon small team tactics. It would be difficult to do any of these things solo.



In the Rifleman's estimation, the above topics are all part of the phrase "well regulated" from the Second Amendment. Every man, woman, and child over the age of 12 would do well to achieve a basic mastery of the above topics. Children under 12 do very well in patrolling and CLS.


Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Emotional Bus Driver

The Rifleman's son, Ninja, was on this bus. 

As Ninja tells it, the bus driver became agitated at the noise level, and intended to turn the bus around and go back to the school.  The driver pulled into the driveway of an unknown individual, and tried to back out so as to be able to go back the way she came.  The results was getting stuck as you see pictured. 

What's totally insane about this, is the fact that the driver could have used the road she was on to turn the bus around:


The bus got stuck at the red "X." The bus had been travelling East to West on the map shown, on the road with the green line. The driver pulled off, onto the side road, in order to execute (or, fail to execute) the turnaround.

It takes the average person about 3 seconds to realize that taking a left turn at the end of the side road the bus was on, then another left, and she would be headed back toward the school. 

Instead,  this driver let emotions get the better of her.  Too many drivers let emotions get the better of them. 


Monday, May 7, 2018

About Taxes

Nine Ronald Reagan quotes about taxes:

1. “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” 

2. “We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much.”

3. “Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15.” 

4. “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth!” 

5. “Simple fairness dictates that government must not raise taxes on families struggling to pay their bills.” 

6. “Government does not tax to get the money it needs; government always finds a need for the money it gets.” 

7. “You can’t be for big government, big taxes, and big bureaucracy and still be for the little guy.” 

8. “The American people are not undertaxed, the government in Washington is overfed.” 

9. “Whenever we lower the tax rates, our entire nation is better off.” 


Courtesy of  this site.


Friday, May 4, 2018

Globalist Scum

When self proclaimed Republicans fail to adhere to Republican principles, and offer excuses, the resulting cries of finding a "true conservative" are not far behind. Please keep a few things in mind. 

Conservatism has failed to conserve anything. 

Conservatism is the ideology of principled defeat. Defeat is defeat. Winning is not conservative.  Conservatism does not value winning.

The political fight is not "Left vs. Right."
The political fight is not "Liberal vs. Conservative."
The political fight is Nationalist vs. Globalist. 

All those things you thought were Liberal policies, and that the "Not True Conservatives" also espoused: those things are Globalist policies. 
Higher taxes are a Globalist policy. 
Gun control is a Globalist policy. 
Socialized healthcare is a Globalist policy.
Abortions are a Globalist policy.
Unchecked immigration / invasion is a Globalist policy.
The destruction of Western Civilization is a Globalist policy.
The advancement of the LGBTQ agenda is a Globalist policy.
The replacement of traditional Patriarchal systems in favor of Big Daddy Government is a Globalist policy.
The list goes on. 

So, instead of calling them RINOs or Not True Conservatives,  call them and their Leftist brethren what they really are: Globalist Scum.


Thursday, May 3, 2018

Momma Bear

An observation:

Women who call their angry behavior, "momma bear," are simply trying to excuse being a bitch. 


Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Excuses, Excuses

Tennessee's standardized school tests, called TNReady, has hot multiple snags in implementation.  Th company hosting the online testing wasn't ready (again) for all the schools to log in, so their servers crashed. 

They said they were ready on day 2, but the servers crashed again.  And this is where the fun began. The blame game started.  They actually blamed a "hacker." The Rifleman wonders if this was a Russian hacker?

Later delays have been blamed on individual schools' respective internet "being down" - despite the fact that these schools could access other websites without issue. 

Another delay was blamed on a fiber optic cable between Atlanta and Nashville being cut by a dump truck.  This excuse does not explain how tests were interrupted in Memphis and Bristol on those same days. 

What will result in all these excuses? Don't believe a one of them,  for sure!


Tuesday, May 1, 2018

How Not To Prep

Too many preppers envision a single scary situation: "This is my scenario I envision."

Translation: "I literally have only one plan, and I am completely screwed if it doesn't go down exactly as my limited mind can expect."

There's wisdom in training to the most likely scenarios (natural disasters, economic collapse, etc.). But make sure you prep and train for all major eventualities. 

But too many train for the most weirdly specific situation imaginable. Don't be that guy.