#also a gun store across from a walmart

[gladiatorcunt]

about to project all my beef with hyper christian southern small towns onto cowboy anakin

[bonchobrick]

Dead on Main au where Jason is of course Danny’s Fright Knight and like all knights do he has a weapon—except it’s his gun.

The batfam + justice league + everyone (except ghosts duh) don’t know that his normal average everyday gun is actually like a super powerful spiritual soul shooter that is, yaknow, capable of blasting someone into an alternate dimension where their greatest fears become real.

So imagine there’s like a big battle where a ghastly ghoul reigns terror on Gotham. The world sends their best hero’s—wizards and occultists are notably high highest in demand—to stop the ghost but, nothing works. All of the weapons and spells and chants fail.

But,

As the fights worsens and the heros scream for people to flee suddenly--

Loud squeaking footsteps echo across the ground. Jason yawns strolling into the battle zone in a ghostbusters t-shirt plaid pants bunny slippers--he strolls up in pajamas--as if annoyed at being woken up and cocks his fucking normal 'i could buy you at walmart' gun at the ghost.

His brothers screech at him yelling ”Are you insane” and to "get the hell out of here" in fear and panic because their idiot brother is trying to kill a real life ghost with a damn gun.

But then Jason shoots the ghost and it works.

The ghost fizzles down with a cry into just a little blob.

The young man then spends 30 minutes lecturing the spirit saying things like “you’re glad I’m not calling the big guy” and “you know our highness would not be happy learning what you’ve been doing” before taking out a thermos of all things and sucking the ghost into it.

Jason then sighs and walks away as if he hadn’t just defeated a hell raising ghost with a gun people can buy off a corner pawn store and a soup container.

Immediately the bat family swarms him with questions

Dick grabs him by his shoulders tense with worry, “Are you okay?”

“Um yeah—“ Jason tries to reply squirming in his hold

Damian cuts him off, “How the hell did your gun a physical weapon hurt that ghastly demonic spirit!”

“Uh that ghost is actually pretty chill you guys just pissed him off." Jason replies plain

They stare at him with a look saying 'you did not call a ghost that has been decimating gotham chill' probably because he did just that.

Tim is the first to break out of the disbelief stupor as he very inteligently says, "What?"

Jason responds easily with a confused quirk in his brow, "Second, my gun affects entities of all sorts, perks to my job and all that."

"How did being a vigilante and also probably crime boss give you a gun that could do that?" Dick asks

Jason sends him a look saying "are you an idiot" as he replies, "Yea, sure, kicking petty thieves and druggies got me my all powerful spirit weapon--No you dumbass, it's from being the bodyguard of the King of the Infinite Realms! How the hell did you guys not think of that!”

Tim breathes in, then breathes out, then breathes in again and screams, "Why the HELL WOULD WE THINK OF THAT JAY?!"

"The--" Batman, suddenly beside them, chokes, "Bodyguard of T-the what."

Jason blinks at his family then his eyes widen, "Oh shit."

"What?!" His family screech in panic

"Oh fuck," Jason says with a growing hysteric smile, "Danny's gonna have a big ol' fucking laugh with this."

"Brother who is Danny!" Damian demands for an answer

Jason coughs into his palm, "Oh yeah you guys really dont dont know. So I may have forgotten to explain some... things."

Bruce levels him with a stare that says "you think?"

Jason chuckles nervously, "So y'know how I'm half dead?"

pause

Damian very eloquently responds for the suddenly dying screaming combusting members of his family, "...sure."

"Well I met the King of the afterlife which is like the Ruler of Everything and he was really cute--" Jason says distant in his own world

"Theres a afterlife?" Superman asks casually appearing beside the emotionally wrecked family

"Yea its pretty cool. So I start flirting a bit with the guy and we hit it off, I now im his zombie ghost knight boyfriend lover for all time. Oh and i got this sickass gun." Jason says with a happy grin

"That is a pretty sick gun." John Constantine nods

"I know right?" Jason chirps

"You wouldn't mind if I inspected--" John reaches his hand

Jason slaps it away, "Not a chance you soul whore. Y'know your basically the tax evasionist of the Ghost Zone right?"

John only sighs and leaves

"But yea so I'm like the ghost world equivalent to married with the king and became his knight and thats how I was able to stop that ghost guy." Jason reiterates as if explaining a simple question, "Y'guys get that?"

Tim is on the ground trying to decide whether; sobbing hysterically, interogating jason to find out all the things he doesn't want to know or sleeping would be a better use of his time.

Dick has decided to blame himself and has started to draft a reddit post in the middle of the street starting with "I (23 m) have a younger brother (19 m), who I used to resent but really regret now, he died and came back and doesn't even tell me about what goes on in his life anymore. How do I fix our--"

Damian is just staring at the gun and... Jason pushes it deeper in his holster and shifts to the side, better to be safe than sorry with this thieving shit.

As Jason adjusts his weaponry he hears Bruce sob in the background, "He didn't even invite me to the wedding! Am I that horrible of a father!"

Wonder Woman pats his shoulder reasuringly whilst the rest of the League seem to be trying to calm him down

Jason looks around tiredly at the mess he had created and decides fuck it

"Alright I'm heading out for the night, you guys get home safe!" He yells and without caring to listen to anyone and everyone voicing their confusion he zips open a green portal and stumbles in

He crashes down on an unbelievably comfortable bed

Danny blinks blearily before sending the young man a sleepy smile, "Hey Jay, what kept you up so long?"

Jason slipping under the blankets with a yawn says, "You would not believe the night I just had."

------------------

Edit: UMM HII The fic is out now here!! you guys are awesome I'll post the new chapter 2 in a hot sec after editting ^^

[homerforsure]

Fuck It Friday

Tagged by @panbuckley and @wildlife4life

Okay according to poll results, I need to give you 56 sentences of Eddie Gives Buck a Key which would be a lot easier if my sentences weren’t 56 words long ����

but! i have the first 26 for you.

The blue and grey concrete box rose up in front of him as Buck rounded a bend on Victory place. The Burbank Walmart lit up with the same sea of bright white LED lights that Buck recognized from every other parking lot that he’d been in across the US. The sameness and familiarity of it was almost comforting except that it also felt a whole lot like defeat as he backed the Jeep into a space and put it into park.

When he first left home, Buck meant to save the money that Maddie gave him. He wasn’t going to blow through it like he did his allowance and his tuition money. He was going to build a new life and if Maddie didn’t want to come with him that was just fine. He didn’t need her.

He skimped on food, bought well drinks for people who smiled at him in the bars, drove past E until he found the cheapest gas, but for the first month that he was on the road, Buck slept in a bed surrounded by four walls. Hotels mostly, but also assorted apartments and condos and houses both fancier and more rundown than the one he’d grown up in. It wasn’t that he hadn’t slept around before, but there was a new wild freedom in doing it without having to worry about being caught, getting home late, wondering if he’d be shamed or ignored this time. For the first time since Maddie moved away, Buck reached out and found others reaching back.

Unfortunately, his, like all addictions, was expensive, and Buck’s pile of cash grew thinner and thinner in his glove box. He pulled over in a beachside town, talked his way into a dishwashing gig that barely paid enough to put gas in the Jeep, and got let down easy by a brown eyed server with a crooked smile. It got darker and closing time came and Buck thought about driving around and pretending he had somewhere to go until the sun came up and he could blend in with the surf crowd, but he couldn’t spare the gas.

It was a local grocery store that time, but the lighting was the same. Buck lay awake, waiting for a knock on his window, a gun, storm, a cop. But the only thing that peeked through the glass was the sun. Early morning staff pulled in not long after and Buck pulled away, a little stiff, a little grimy, but knowing something new about himself. What he could do. He still spent plenty of time in other people’s beds and eventually found jobs that paid enough to get him a room in someone else’s house and then, finally, his name on a lease of his own. But when it eventually, inevitably, came time to leave, Buck knew he could go.

Of course, the procedure was easier when half of what he owned was in the Jeep most of the time anyway. These days, Buck had a couple empty energy drink cans, an overkill first aid kit, a book he’d lost interest in, and a rubber duck in a firefighter’s helmet. No blankets. No extra hoodie he could squash down into a pillow. And it was January.

tagging @rewritetheending @mellaithwen @princessfbi @sibylsleaves @bigfootsmom @honestlydarkprincess @messyhairdiaz @renecdote @littlespoonevan @fleurdebeton @shortsighted-owl @devirnis

[duckyfruitbat]

Retro Review: War of the Monsters

Happy Birthday to me

Happy Birthday from me

Ducky you feeling good, you're kinda singing to yourself? Please don't cry again.

That's right friends and lovers, my birthday is coming up! Instead of just eating a whole cake by myself, I decided to do a review of a game from my childhood, while eating said cake by myself. Now what to play what to play? Well if you read the title you'd know I'm looking at a brawler released for the PS2 by Incognito Entertainment back in 2003, War of the Monsters.

You see one day my dad got a PS2 demo disc with said game on it. It had one map and two playable characters, but my brother and I constantly played that game until the disc broke. We loved seeing the monsters, the destruction physics, and just the atmosphere of an old monster movie. Obviously our parents swiped up the full game when they saw a copy in the store. It was the first game I ever completed, and I played it constantly. With the preamble out of the way, it's time to actually play the damn thing.

Everything about this game, from the intro video, the box art, to even the instruction manual is just one big loving homage to the old giant monster movies of the fifties and sixties. The box art is very reminiscent of the hand painted movie posters, and the manual is presented as a news magazine with the same name as the in game newspaper that is shown in the intro video.

The story is that in the fifties Earth is being invaded by an alien race known as the Zorgulons. Things are looking grim until the top scientist of the world develop a series EMP devices referred to as the secret weapons. They are placed all throughout the world and when they are activated the invading fleet is crippled and saucers are crashing down all around the globe. Victory is nearly declared when there is an unexpected side effect to the saucers leaking fuel tanks. The fuel has a mutagen effect turning all sorts of animals, people, and even stone into giant rampaging monsters. That's all established in the intro video, it's full of old movie tropes too.

Heading into the main menu, it's in a drive in movie theater with most things displayed on a screen. I have to say, this old movie thing really does give it a nice charm. There's even black and white footage of gameplay on the screen. Now time to select a character for the story campaign.

There are ten playable monsters, two are unlockable and each one has four alternate skins, with number four usually being the most out there design. Here's a list of said monsters.

(Fake name (Real Name))

Walmart brand Godzilla (Togera)

Beeg bug (Preytor)

Royalty free King Kong (Congar)

Liberty Prime (Robo-47)

Murder Tiki (Agamo)

Voltron (Ultra V)

Four Arms but Lava (Magmo)

Zappy Bitch (Kineticlops)

Dragon (Raptros)

Yip-yip With a Gun (Zorgulon)

I decided to go with Kineticlops because it was one of the two monsters available on the demo, so why not relive that? Also I had this image of one guy in a studio wearing a mo-cap suit with an eye painted on his chest while surrounded by people in rubber monster suits, and that made me giggle.

First level is against Congar in Mid-Town Park. I think it's based on New York, a bit hard to tell. Any way, the opening shot gives you an idea of the monsters story being a massive territorial dispute against each other along with their constant encounters with the military trying to either capture or kill each monster. Here we begin the battles!

Congar was the easiest one, and here I noticed that there are little health pick-ups across the map. You can pick them up at any point, but so can the other monsters. I also noticed that instead of an invisible wall, or weirdly indestructible buildings, the boundaries are marked by the secret weapon emitting a force field around the map. Nice little touch, and is used in all but one level. Now fighting Congar was just laying into him until he kicks the bucket. As we're battling the destruction physics come into play as buildings get caught up in the mayhem. As they crumble, all sorts of debris falls to the ground and becomes a usable item to either throw or use as a club, same for any vehicles around. I also found a truck that explodes on impact, so I threw that at Harambe in order to curse humanity for another hundred years as he burns alive. First level done!

Second level is Gambler Gulch, a legally distinct Vegas. Here I have to fight Togera, after he handles some military vehicles. I just start laying into him like before, but here is when I notice that these monsters have a self preservation instinct. If they get low enough health they start making a b-line towards any health nearby. Lucky for me there was some rubble that I could throw at him and I managed to take him out that way. This is where the military starts inserting itself into the players campaign. Once Togera is defeated, a Platoon of tanks and attack helicopters come through the map barrier and are followed by Robo-47. Yeah the robots are all military meant to defend humanity against the monsters and the aliens as seen later on. This one was a bit harder to get through because of the military taking shots at me, but I managed and the warranty won't be covering this.

The third level also has the first boss in Rosdale Canyon. An obvious homage to Roswell and area 51. First thing to get through is a barrage of mutant ants which are actually one of the alternate skins of Preytor. Their health is lower than other monsters, so the only real challenge is their numbers. With the ants out of the way we see the first boss landing atop the military base, Goliath Prime.

He starts the fight by lobbing bombs at you from behind a forcefield, the coward! The way to bring him down is to throw those bombs back at him. Eventually he falls off his pedestal and you must fight him in hand to hand combat. This is where you realize that he hits Hard. He has two pistols that he fires at you but he also has a charge attack and a spinning attack that knocked me across the map. This bot really spanked me, but I eventually came out on top as the dom I am.

Fourth level is in Metro City, the other New York level. This one is against Preytor and a resurrected Congar. The military has rebuilt him and are now having him do their bidding. This is where the difficulty starts climbing. Whenever going against two or more monsters they will team up against you, and often one will keep you busy while the other tries to get you. In these cases I had to start focusing on one and ignore the other. This also left me vulnerable to attack. Managed to defeat them and became the ruler of Metrocity!

Fifth level is Century Airfield where two Raptros are terrorizing the planes trying to leave. They are a pain to deal with, the previous issue with teams applies, but with the added issue of them flying around me. Managed to get them with one life left.

Level six is Atomic Island, a nuclear power plant that looks like it can power half the country. This one starts as another barrage of Kineticlops. I am now forced to fight my own kin. Here is where the environment starts giving options beyond throwing rubble and cars. There's a button I was able to ground bound that released hot, radio active liquid into the lower area. As I sat there watching my brothers melt into the sludge I wonder to myself how it came to this. I looked over the pile of corpses in mo-cap suits rotting away in the radioactive lake and hang on what's with that alarm? My thoughts were cut short as a meltdown happened and the environment changed to the next boss arena in a crater.

The boss is a three headed carnivorous plant named Vegon. This one is pretty simple, it will spit venom at you followed by trying to eat you. As its jaws are gearing up for a good bite you have to use the debris around you and throw it down its throat. As you do each head will retract back into the bulb until the final one falls dead. I like this boss, plant monsters have my favorite designs, but this one was pretty easy.

Level seven was Baytown, which was just San Francisco. Here we see a couple Robo-47's fighting off some UFO's before turning their attention towards my mocap suit. Ah yes, the thing that kicked off the plot. This team kept giving me the slip, I'd wail on one, the other would tag in letting his friend find all the health pick-ups. Cheeky little shits. Don't worry, I disciplined them thoroughly and moved on to the next level.

Level eight is Club Caldera, which is just Hawaii. Here we see Magmo and Agamo duking it out before they locked eyes with my singular eye painted on my mo-cap chest and decide that I was begging for a wedgie. Just like junior high. They both hit real hard, and I had to be the one who slinked away to get some health pick-ups. The whole time the UFO's start asserting their presence more, taking shots at me as I run around screaming with my underwear over my head. I somehow won against the two jocks of the roster and was able to move on.

Level nine is Tsunopolis, or just Tokyo. Here two Ultra V's backflip into the camera and challenge me to a Gundam fight, just like high school. Unfortunately I remembered the environmental trigger that causes a tsunami that will wash them away. Threw a car at a giant UFO and it created the tsunami and then I picked them off with a couple of lightning chains. With the mechs down I was abducted by the UFO and taken into space.

For level ten the UFO takes me to the Zorgulon mother ship. A citadel and base of operations orbiting between the Earth and the Moon. Here I am faced with a council of three Zorgulon, all appalled by my mo-cap suit. I tried to explain to them that my character design was impossible with practical effects and it can be fixed in post, but they weren't having it and they attacked, just like college.

There weren't many environmental hazards beyond a couple mounted turrets. Despite being in space, this level is one of the more boring ones. At least the canyon had a giant rock to throw around. Anyway, I decided the councils fate with my fists and the mother ship was evacuated. I was warped back into the saucer and as it was flying away it was hit by the ensuing explosion leading to the saucer crash landing on Earth. Thus setting up the final boss fight.

The final level is called capital. I read somewhere that it's supposed to be D.C, but it looks more like the Vatican to me. Anyway, the scene is set when the dome of the recently crashed saucer opens up revealing a brain in a four legged saucer mech. It jet boots its way out of the saucer and destroys the Washington monument before setting up a force field and beginning the battle. This is Cerebulon, the leader of the Zorgulon's and this thing can absolutely wreck my run. I remember having to start this battle over many times as a kid. There are three phases to this monster.

The saucer mech is the first one and it is invulnerable until after it does its main attack, being a laser that eats at your health like me at a sushi bar. You have to hide behind the obelisks around the pool Cerebulon is staying put in. After the laser is done Cerebulon needs to take a moment to recharge and the shield goes down. I took this opportunity to use the lighting chain to zap the brain jar. After I did that enough times the mech explodes into giant pieces and Cerebulon emerges from the wreckage in its second form, being an obvious homage to the tri-pods from war of the worlds. Also the brain can apparently twitch, which was just weird.

Anyway, this form still has a laser but will also use its tentacles to attack. The way to beat this form is to take the giant pieces of the mech suit and just yeet them at the glass brain jar in order to shatter it. After the off brand tri-pod collapses, Cerebulon decides to burst out of the dome in a scene that might be a homage to Alien. It howls and gurgles as it stands up on its tentacles and points towards me with its scythe hands to challenge me head on. Oh now the flashbacks are starting.

This is the most devastating monster in the campaign. It has a ten hit combo move that just deletes health. It does not take a break for health either, in order to heal up you have to make a run for it. If you stop moving it will just spank you over and over again until you beg for more, just like a Saturday night. I decided to just pick off its health with my light ranged attack and my beloved lightning chain. Yeah I took the cowards option here, cut me some slack! The naked dalek was after my lack of buns!

In its death throws Cerebulon's head exploded all over the square, and a smaller version emerged from that completing the Alien homage. Kineticlops declares victory, and the scene fades to black. Before the credits roll I am treated to the origin story of my chosen monster.

That was War of the Monsters. My god this thing just oozes with absolute love for the old monster movies. It is just so charming, from the music, the sound effects, all those posters above are the loading screens. The campaign itself is only a couple hours long and perfectly serviceable. The monsters having a sense of self preservation was a pleasant surprise and helped balance out the battles. The environmental hazards added some strategy to the stages when they were there. I only had issues with the camera, which was the style at the time. I absolutely recommend taking a look at this game, it's available on the PlayStation Store for the PS4. Hasn't been made available for the PS5 yet, but as I've said before the PS5 doesn't exist. If you like a good arcade brawler, and you're a fan of monsters like Godzilla, this is your game.

[newstfionline]

Sunday, April 7, 2024

Shhh, I’m on vacation. Travelers are on a quest for the quiet (AP) At home in the New York City suburbs, Oscar Sandoval has lots of friends and an active social life. But when it’s time for vacation, he prefers to keep it quiet. Like, literally. He’d stroll, sit, do some gardening and generally contemplate life for a week. More recently, he’s done solo backpacking trips across Spain. “The utter peace and stillness is impossible to put into words.” From serene nature retreats to silent walking, the quest for quietude has become one of modern travel’s latest trends. Conde Nast Traveler said last month it was “the travel trend we’re most obsessed with this year.” For many, quiet travel goes beyond escaping the cacophony of everyday life while on vacation. It can be a shift toward introspection; a deeper connection with where we are both literally and figuratively. “Transformative travel’s a trend we’re tracking for growth,” says Alex Hawkins, editor at the trend forecaster and consultancy The Future Laboratory. “It taps into consumers’ desire for self-reflective tourism experiences.”

Mexico breaks relations with Ecuador after embassy raid (Washington Post) Ecuadorian police forced their way into Mexico’s embassy in Quito late Friday and pulled out a former vice president who had sought asylum there, sparking a diplomatic crisis in a region becoming increasingly polarized between left and right. The raid was a brazen move by Ecuador’s government, which sent a convoy of black vehicles with sirens blaring to break down the front gate of the embassy. When the Mexican consul tried to stop one of the vehicles as it exited, police grabbed him and wrestled him to the ground. “This is totally unacceptable,” the consul, Roberto Canseco, told journalists, his voice breaking. “At risk of my life, I defended the honor and sovereignty of my country. This can’t be!”

When Haiti’s gangs shop for guns, the United States is their store (Washington Post) When Walder St. Louis entered the Miami pawnshop in October 2021, his shopping list contained just a few items: Two AK-47s and an AR-15. Germine Joly, then head of the Haitian gang 400 Mawozo, had placed the order from a Port-au-Prince prison. St. Louis would soon send two barrels of firearms back to the Haitian capital. Heavily armed gangs control 80 percent of Port-au-Prince, the United Nations has estimated, where they rape, kidnap and kill with impunity. Haiti doesn’t manufacture firearms, and the U.N. prohibits importing them, but that’s no problem for the criminals. When they go shopping, the United States is their gun store. The semiautomatic rifles that have wrought human carnage from an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., to a Walmart in El Paso are also being used to menace the Haitian government and terrorize the population. U.S. authorities seized some of the guns in the 400 Mawozo plot before they could be smuggled, and Joly, St. Louis and two others pleaded guilty to federal gunrunning conspiracy charges. The gang would soon gain notoriety for kidnapping 17 American and Canadian missionaries. Other firearms, purchased in part with ransom money, slipped into Haiti undetected.

French pupil dies after being beaten near school (BBC) There are renewed concerns over levels of violence in French schools after two young teenagers were the victims of attacks, one of them fatal. A 15-year-old boy named as Shamseddin died in hospital on Friday. The news came a day after he was beaten by a group of youths near his school in Viry-Chatillon, in the southern Paris suburbs. “This extreme violence is becoming commonplace,” said the town mayor, Jean-Marie Vilain. On Tuesday, in another incident in the southern city of Montpellier, a 14-year-old girl named as Samara was placed in an artificial coma after she was beaten by a group shortly after leaving school. The attacks have further heightened concerns about violence in schools, against a background of gangs, cyber-bullying and pressure to conform to Islamic rules.

Germans finally warm to digital payments (Spiegel) The island of Rügen is considered a stronghold for paper money in Germany, which is already widely known as a cash-obsessed nation. Tourists are often amazed by how attached the islanders are to coins and bills. “If you’re going to Rügen, take cash and lots of bread with you!” the Berliner Zeitung in Berlin once wrote. But cards are also slowly finding their way to Rügen, albeit slowly. Stickers can now be found on the windows and doors of many stores in the tourist town of Binz: “We accept debit card payments.” Still, 69 percent of Germans said that cash is either important or very important to them, especially older people and people with low incomes and education levels. In Europe, only Austrians appear to have a greater affinity for cash than the Germans. But that love is being put to the test. Millions of customers suddenly went cashless during the pandemic—and stuck with it. Many young people prefer to pay even small amounts by debit card or mobile phone. The EU is pushing for limits on cash payments, local authorities are issuing debit cards to asylum-seekers and the European Central Bank (ECB) is already working to create a “digital euro.” Cash, it seems, is coming under pressure from many different sides.

With no way out of a worsening war, Zelensky’s options look bad or worse (Washington Post) As Russia steps up airstrikes and once again advances on the battlefield in Ukraine more than two years into its bloody invasion, there is no end to the fighting in sight. And President Volodymyr Zelensky’s options for what to do next—much less how to win the war—range from bad to worse. Zelensky has said Ukraine will accept nothing less than the return of all its territory, including land that Russia has controlled since 2014. But with the battle lines changing little in the last year, militarily retaking the swaths of east and south Ukraine that Russia now occupies—about 20 percent of the country—appears increasingly unlikely. Negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war—something Zelensky has rejected as long as Russian troops remain on Ukrainian land—is politically toxic. The Ukrainian public is hugely opposed to surrendering territory, and Putin shown no willingness to accept anything short of Ukraine’s capitulation to his demands. The status quo is awful. With the fight now a grinding stalemate, Ukrainians are dying on the battlefield daily. But a cease-fire is also a nonstarter, Ukrainians say, because it would just give the Russians time to replenish their forces. Ukrainian and Western officials view Zelensky as largely stuck.

US, Japan, Australia and the Philippines to stage military drills in disputed South China Sea (AP) The United States, Japan, Australia and the Philippines will hold their first joint naval exercises, including anti-submarine warfare training, in a show of force Sunday in the South China Sea where Beijing’s aggressive actions to assert its territorial claims have caused alarm. The four treaty allies and security partners are holding the exercises to safeguard “the rule of law that is the foundation for a peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific region” and uphold freedom of navigation and overflight, they said in a joint statement issued by their defense chiefs Saturday. Aside from China and the Philippines, the long-simmering disputes in the South China Sea, a key global trade route, also involve Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. But skirmishes between Beijing and Manila have particularly flared since last year.

Chinese Overcapacity Is About To Slam Into Europe’s Economy (Die Welt) In late March, the BYD Explorer No. 1, a 200 meter-long bright white vehicles carrier, made its maiden voyage to Bremerhaven, a port city on Germany’s North Sea coast, to deliver 3,000 China-made electric cars. Technically equal to most German models, these cars are often significantly cheaper. And they are the first of many waves that will strike at the heart of a key German industry. In the next few years, the Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD alone is planning to launch seven more cargo ships to transport cars from Asia to Europe. And the electric cars are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to industrial products that are expected to pour into Germany from China over the next few years. Many of these will likely be less expensive than their German counterparts, forcing companies and politicians to look for new ways to respond to this challenge.

China carefully scrutinizes U.S. envoy’s ... chopstick skills? (Washington Post) U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen landed in China this week with a raft of thorny issues to tackle. But it wasn’t her trade policy or stance on the poor state of U.S.-China relations that caught the attention of the Chinese public. “Watching Yellen use chopsticks, it’s clear she’s a chopsticks master. She definitely eats Chinese food on a regular basis,” one user wrote on the microblog Weibo after news outlets posted a seven-second video clip of Yellen wielding said utensils at a Cantonese restaurant in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Thursday night. Chinese social media platforms on Friday were awash with details of Yellen’s first meal in China during a week-long visit aimed at improving U.S.-China ties and addressing what Washington sees as unfair Chinese trade practices. Hashtags related to Yellen’s dining choices drew almost 10 million views on Weibo. The breathless state media coverage of her dining choices or dexterity with chopsticks reflects an effort by Beijing to cast Yellen’s visit in a positive light, especially to an increasingly anti-American Chinese public. It underlines how Beijing sees Yellen as perhaps its best hope for improving trade ties with Washington and helping its own ailing economy.

U.S. Seeks ‘Results’ After Israel Promises More Gaza Aid Routes (NYT) World leaders and humanitarian groups said on Friday that Israel must show concrete results after it reacted to growing pressure from the United States by announcing it would open more aid routes into the Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has warned that a famine is looming. At a news conference in Brussels on Friday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken welcomed the new aid routes, calling them “positive developments,” but said that the United States was watching to see if Israel would make it a priority to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. One measure of Israel’s commitment, he said, will be “the number of trucks that are actually getting in on a sustained basis.” “The real test is results, and that’s what we’re looking to see in the coming days and the coming weeks,” he said, adding, “Really, the proof is in the results.”

After 6 Months of War, Some Israelis Ask: Is Netanyahu Dragging It Out? (NYT) Nearly six months since it began, Israel’s war in Gaza is dragging on. So, too, is the tenure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In Israel, some are now asking: Are the two linked? To his allies, Mr. Netanyahu’s refusal to agree to a cease-fire in Gaza is a necessary one, made in the national interest and backed by many Israelis. The thinking goes that Israel must cripple Hamas to weaken its hand at cease-fire negotiations. To his critics, the prime minister is dragging out the war to prevent the collapse of his fragile right-wing coalition and extend his time in office. By this analysis, he has made a domestic calculus that ignores both the growing global anger about the bloodshed—including from Israel’s most powerful ally, President Biden, which erupted into full view on Thursday—and the rising anger from the families of Israeli hostages who seek their relatives’ immediate release.

13.56 (WSJ) That’s the initial value of Zimbabwe’s new currency against the U.S. dollar. The government, notorious for printing 100-trillion-dollar notes, is launching Zimbabwe Gold, or ZiG, to replace the current Zimbabwe dollar, which most recently traded at more than 30,674 to the U.S. dollar. A previous dollar was abolished in 2009 after a hyperinflation rate of 500 billion percent, according to some estimates. Then the country used foreign currencies for nearly a decade. When the central bank couldn’t pay out savings in cash dollars, it reintroduced the Zimbabwe dollar in 2019. The currency has lost around 75 percent of its value this year.

[bike42]

August 3-7, 2023 Montana for Calvin's Wedding

We left home in the early hours of August 3rd – heading North at first, then West back to Montana – this time a road trip!  We met our friend, Trapper in Maple Grove for lunch.  It had been way too long, and the hours flew by as we caught up.  When I first met JT, he and Trapper were like “brothers from different mothers,” with their own code language and lots of shared history. 

From there, we continued North to Moorhead/Fargo – where we joined brother-in-law Matt for dinner at their house.  My sister had already ventured west with my parents in their VW camper (a different kind of adventure!).  We had a nice dinner, visited with her cat, and enjoyed the evening in their serene backyard oasis.  My brother and two of his daughters (Emma and Georgia) were coming for the night and to transport Matt to MT, but they arrived much later in the evening, and we stayed in a hotel so didn’t see them until we arrived at camp in MT on Saturday.

We drove through the rain, took a few stops in Bismark, Medora and Circle MT.  Once again, we were revisiting memories of our 2012 bike adventure!  We made several stops in Bismark (TJMaxx, Dollar Store, Walmart) in search of cowbells for Jeff’s 29029 volunteer gig but came up short.  The drive from Circle was new territory for us, a two-lane road across the desolate prairie and ranch land of Montana.  Much of the road was under construction and but traffic was light, and it didn’t slow us down much.  With the rain and the mud though, we had a mud-encrusted Audi!

We arrived at our hotel in Grand Falls and found the Montana State Fair happening across the street!  We quickly checked in, then walked over to the fair.  We caught the last half of the rodeo – calf roping, young women riding horses very fast in the barrel races, and the bull riding at the end.  It was all so foreign tome, but I loved the energy of seeing it in person!  It was the second to last day of the fair, so most of the animals in the display barns had been taken home, I was disappointed about that!   But the art and flower arrangement displays were still there so we enjoyed that.

The next morning, we had some time, so we visited the Lewis and Clark Exhibition Center.  It was cool to imagine what the Missouri River looked like in those days!  There was a cool exhibit showing how they devised an 11-day portage around the 5 falls – imagine!!  We also enjoyed talking to an older gentleman that had many period guns and other weapons on display – his private collection.

The rain continued as we drove to Seely Lake (as did the muddy construction).  We grabbed hot drinks at the local coffee shop and then headed around the lake to “Camp Paxson,” our home for the next three nights (an old boy scout camp that’s now part of the National Forest and run by a non-profit).  I felt bad for Calvin and McKinley about the weather, but everyone in attendance was of the “make the best of it” mindset.  We got settled in our rustic cabin – I thought they’d be smaller (not sure why I thought that), and was surprised to find JT and I were sharing a cabin with mom & dad, and San & Matt.  A close family affair!

Saturday night was informal with a lasagna dinner, lots of wine, and Sandra and Matt led campfire stories and songs.  They were dressed in scouting attire, and it was a really fun night!

Sunday morning it was still raining.  Calvin and his friends had erected a tent with a stage and dance floor.  It was dry but sandy in there – we cleaned it up and Sandra led about 10 of us through a morning yoga session.  Then breakfast in the lodge, and free time for hiking, napping, or hanging out until the afternoon wedding.  Jeff and I hiked about 4 miles through a beautiful hemlock forest – incredibly open without much understory.

There was a rush to get ready in the communal bathrooms before the wedding – a different kind of experience.  Most found with the rain and humidity, it was senseless to try to do anything with one’s hair!! 

Like a miracle, the sun came out just before the outdoor wedding and it was a beautiful afternoon and evening.  A thoroughly enjoyable occasion – great band, good dinner, and fun celebration with family.  There were some “wedding crashers” at the end of the night – apparently, they got away with one of the beer barrels.

Monday morning was quieter.  Sandra and Amy and I still did yoga, we had a leisurely breakfast (my dad and my brother made Huckleberry pancakes).  A larger group of us hiked to a nearby waterfall, and then the folks that were left had salads and leftover lasagna for dinner.  Matt, San, JT and I played a fun game of croquet – obstacles like pinecones and tree roots!  Early to bed for me – big week coming up!

[whatisonthemoon]

Rod of Iron Kingdom Book (Full)

The following is the 2018 book by Hyung Jin Moon, founder of Sanctuary Church, known for the AR-15 blessing. The book is titled “Rod of Iron Kingdom”. Larry Pratt, Executive Director of Gun Owners of America and long-time associate of the Moonies, endorsed this book. Unfortunately the text here is poorly translated due to relying on Google Translate to get an English interpretation.  The original text is pulled from a Russian Sanctuary website with the Russian translation provided by Sanctuary members Tatyana Sokolova and adim Polyakov.

Originally posted here in Russian: http://sanctuary-ru.org/1992/

Spanish version here: https://www.santuariodeunificacion.es/Documentos/Unification%20Sanctuary/9.%20REINO%20DEL%20CETRO%20DE%20HIERRO.pdf

GRATITUDE  

This book is compiled from 16 sermons I gave last year in the context of the theme "Kingdom of the Rod of Iron".

I would like to acknowledge the efforts of Richard Panzer and Kerry Williams, two of the leading experts, and Regis Hanna and Robert Morton, who edited the manuscript. Thanks also to Rod Cameron for all his cover design efforts and PierAngelo Beltrami for his work on the layout.

I would also like to acknowledge the work of writer/director Dinesh D'Souza in exposing the threat to the American Republic posed by left-wing fascism, the Crime Prevention Research Center's fact-finding, and the American Civil Rights Union's reports on the racist origins of gun control laws. I also feel indebted to the important work of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Gun Owners of America (GOA) in defending our Second Amendment rights.

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to my Father, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, for his absolute faith and dedication to the mission of Jesus to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, and also to my older brother Kook Jin Justin Moon, who encouraged me to accept the anointing given to me by my father.

------

“Excellent publication in defense of the Second Amendment. A guide to avoid the big mistakes people make when they talk about the Second Amendment, self-defense, and limiting the powers of government. I encourage people to get this book!” Larry Pratt , Executive Director of Gun Owners of America

"Pastor Hyung Jin Moon is the real thing!" Tom "Chief Chief" Burke , founding member of the Green Berets ------

CHAPTER 1

PARKLAND, FLORIDA

On Valentine's Day, February 14, 2018, a mentally deranged young man named Nicholas Cruz showed up at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The clock was 14:19. Two minutes later, Cruz, a former student of Stoneman Douglas, entered the 1200 Building with a large bag and backpack. A few seconds later he started shooting.

Broward County Deputy Sheriff Scott Peterson was on the school grounds at the time, next to the administration building.

At 2:22 p.m., the fire alarm went off, blaring across the campus. The first call to 911 came through the Coral Springs emergency dispatch center.

“Be aware that there is a possibility that it could be fireworks. I think it's shots, possibly in the 1200 Building," Peterson reported at 2:23 p.m. via radio.

At this point, Peterson arrived at the southeast corner of the 1200 Building. “This is the 1200 Building, that building off Holmberg Road,” Peterson said frantically seconds later.

The shooting continued, first in the hallways and then in five classrooms on the first and second floors, calls began to "blow up" 911 call centers. Schoolchildren ran out of campus. Peterson radioed that "no one enters the school." Although he heard the shots inside the building, he remained outside.

At 2:27 pm, six minutes after Cruz entered the 1200 Building, the shooting stopped. Cruz threw his AR-15 rifle, vest, and some ammunition onto the third floor stairs and left.

At 2:32 p.m. —11 minutes after the shooting began—four Coral Springs police officers and two Broward security aides entered the building, helping to "extract the victims."

Down the street, Cruz entered a Walmart store and bought a drink from the Subway located inside.

At 3:40 pm, a Coconut Creek police officer saw Cruz and arrested him without resistance. Cruise was charged the next day with 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. Among the victims were: 2

Scott Beigel, a geography teacher who was killed while trying to get students back into the classroom when the shooting started.

Aaron Face, an assistant football coach who was killed when he rushed forward in front of schoolchildren to protect them from flying bullets.

Chris Hickson, the school's athletic director.

Alice Alhadeff, 14

Martin Anguiano, 14

Nicholas Dworet, 17

Jamie Guttenberg, 14

Luc Hoyer, 15

Kara Logran, 14 years old

Gina Montalto, 14

Joaquin Oliver, 17

Alina Petty, 14 years old

Meadow Pollack, 18

Helena Ramsey, 17

Alex Shakhter, 14 years old

Carmen Shantrap, 16 years old

Peter Wong, 15

Grieving students and parents asked, "How could this happen?" especially when there was an armed police officer on campus. Others drew attention to the weapon he used, the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, and called for such rifles to be banned from sale in the United States.

Survivors of the Parkland school shooting appeared on CNN and other television news channels demanding immediate legislation to restrict or ban the entire sale of the AR-15. They accused Second Amendment legislators of colluding with the National Rifle Association (NRA). Actor George Clooney and his wife donated $500,000 to a nationwide protest against gun violence. 3 Their announcement inspired other well-known celebrities to make similar gifts. Their slogan was "the NRA has blood on its hands."

Other surviving students from the Parkland School who doubted that such laws would have prevented what happened complained that they were not allowed to speak on CNN or that their comments were rejected by CNN staff.

HONORING KILLERS AS 'HEROES' AND 'MARTYRS'

You might think that such preconceived notions only reflect the views of ignorant, powerless people, but bear in mind that: The Palestine Liberation Organization and its affiliated Palestinian Authority regard the murderers of Jewish Israeli citizens as martyrs. As a result, the Palestinian Authority rewards the families of the killers. 6

For example, in 2016, in the Hebron suburb, Mohammed Taraira stabbed to death a 13-year-old Jewish girl, Hallel Yaffa Ariel, who was also an American civilian, as she slept in her bed. According to Bloomberg News, "The beating was part of a seven-month wave of attacks by Palestinians who shot, stabbed and beat Jews with the encouragement of social media and popular songs." 7

The ruling Fatah party in Palestine glorified the killer, who was subsequently killed by the guards. On her official Facebook page, Taraira's mother told the local news outlet, "My son is a hero. He made me proud. My son died as a martyr defending Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque." 8 The highest payouts go to those who kill at least one Israeli, and the lowest payouts go to those who could neither kill nor injure anyone. 9

Are Israelis committing heinous crimes against Muslim civilians? Unfortunately, they do, but they are not honored as "martyrs" by government officials. No payments are sent to their families for these murders. Their families don't brag about them as "heroes." For example, three Israelis were convicted and given life sentences in Israeli courts for the July 2, 2014 murder of Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khdair. 10

THE FAILURE OF THE GOVERNMENT TO PROTECT LIVES

This shooting tragically demonstrates the failure of the government to protect its citizens. For some reason, Broward County Deputy Sheriff Scott Peterson was unable to enter the school to stop the shooting. Other armed officers arrived too late to stop the firing.

Prior to this incident, local authorities had received 39 complaints about Nicholas Cruz's erratic and violent behavior. He reportedly had dreams of "killing people and being covered in blood". 4 He has been known to torture animals, bring a backpack filled with bullets to class, and threaten violence. Law enforcement officers were repeatedly warned that Cruz could be dangerous, but they chose not to take action.

The FBI was unable to comment on two points regarding Cruz, one of which includes an Internet posting of Cruz in which he planned to become a "professional assassin." Broward Sheriff's Office was also alerted to the teenager, and received word that he "planned to open fire at the school." 5 Making violent threats is a criminal offense that would justify his arrest and prevent him from acquiring a firearm.

Why was he not arrested after such threats? The answer may surprise you. Five years ago, Broward County Public Schools adopted the Obama administration's policy to prevent the arrest of troubled students. In 2013, Broward County Schools rewrote their discipline policy to make it almost impossible to suspend, expel or arrest students with behavioral problems, including drug use, assault or other criminal activity. Cause? Reduce the number of minority students incarcerated for crimes committed on campus. 6

The leading proponent of the new disciplinary policy, which outlined 13 crimes not to be investigated, was Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, who shied away from responsibility for the school shooting and tried to blame the National Rifle Association (NRA) instead.

Within a few years of the implementation of this new policy, ethnically diverse Broward ceased to be the top county in Florida for school arrests and became one of the counties with the lowest school arrest rate. School suspensions and expulsions have also fallen sharply. For students who break the law, the PROMISE (Recidivism Prevention Through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education) program replaces criminal detention with counseling. 7

The Obama administration praised Broward County's reforms. In 2015, the district superintendent attended a "Rethinking Discipline" event at the White House that highlighted Broward's success in "transforming politics and the school climate." eight

Nicholas Cruz was expelled from Stoneman Douglas High School. He was even expelled for bringing firearms to school, but without detention records, Cruz could still buy guns.

Despite the fact that Nicholas Cruz committed a series of arrestable crimes on campus before the Parkland school shooting, Nicholas Cruz escaped the attention of the police, passed the background check and bought a firearm, which he used to kill three employees and 14 students. All this happened because of the implementation of directives from the Obama Department of Education.

Cruz School District has been at the forefront of a strategy adopted by dozens of other major school districts across the country that allows mentally disabled, often out-of-control schoolchildren, to commit crimes without any legal repercussions. “The goal was to slow down the “transition from school to prison.” 9

Federal grant applications show that Broward Rancy County School Superintendent's plan was a critical factor in approving tens of millions of dollars of federal funding from Obama Education Secretary Arne Duncan's department. ten

This is not only an example of the government's inability to protect its citizens, but also of how "Progressive" federal policies can override common sense at the local level.

Local school officials and law enforcement officials were well aware that this boy was a ticking time bomb, but were not allowed to take action as the district school superintendent and the district sheriff made an agreement to increase federal funding. Is this their solution to reduce school-related crime? Don't report it.

And if something bad happened with the use of firearms? Just blame it on the NRA.

CHAPTER 2

NEWFOUNDLAND, PA

Newfoundland, Pennsylvania is a small, quiet town. A few years ago, our religious community bought a free church on Main Street. Based on the teachings of Jesus and my father, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, we held weekly Sunday services and a series of Holy Marriage Blessings with members from here and around the world without any media attention or controversy.

That suddenly changed after the Parkland shooting. An event that we planned many months ago has suddenly become front-page news. Over 40 journalists from over two dozen news organizations came to record our Blessing in the Book of Life on February 28th. Newspapers and TV shows, reaching an audience of over a billion people from almost all continents of the world, informed their viewers and readers about the Blessings with AR-15 Rifles event.

Here are just a few of the more "discreet" emails we've received:

You and your church are involved in the deaths of 17 students and teachers who died at Parkland School in Florida. You are involved in the deaths of everyone who died during the shooting at a concert in Nevada. You are involved in the deaths of everyone who died due to the Orlando nightclub shooting. You are accomplices. When you condone the possession, use, and misuse of military weapons by non-military people, you are complicit in the deaths of innocent Americans. Katherine S.

It is people like you who are the reason why religion is now dying.  You are ludicrous and I hope your species disappears soon. Maybe some crazy people in your community can use their assault rifles on other crazy people and that will solve the problem for sane Americans who don't want all of you here. All of you are despicable. Shame on you all. Adam C.

As a Christian, I can tell you that ALL of your souls are damned to eternal hell.  What a pathetically sick group of people you are. I pray for you. May God help you. Russ M.

I think you can justify anything... if you're a pervert.  So, I'm assuming that Jesus is for whatever size your killing machines are? You sick f * * *s, that's who you are. KD.  

Shameless amazing stupidity! RTB

Well, you get the idea. Press reports and vitriolic e-mails, but we don't bless the guns. On February 28, several hundred couples from all over the world gathered to consecrate their marriages to each other and, most importantly, to God.

We do not worship weapons or, as we call them, "rods of irons". We worship a God who created us in His image and who wants to have a personal relationship with each of us. We seek His blessings on our marriages because we believe that He is most deeply manifested in love between husband and wife, and between parents and children. Such blessed marriages are the building blocks for strong communities and the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

God's desire for the human race is expressed in His words by the first human ancestors, as recorded in Genesis 1:28:

And God blessed them, and God said to them: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

For us, the first Blessing "be fruitful" means to become spiritually mature. The Second Blessing "multiply" means creating a marriage and family that is centered on God. The third Blessing, "rule" means that all mankind have the right to establish divine sovereignty based on His principles and character.

Unfortunately, our first ancestors were unable to fulfill the "Three Blessings" due to the fall. Their fall is associated with the acquisition of self-centered carnal "knowledge". God's ideal of individual spiritual maturity, blessed marriages, and godly dominion over the earth has never been realized. For members of the Unification Sanctuary, the ceremony of the Holy Blessing is more than just a marriage. It is the grafting of marriage and family into the sinless royal lineage of Christ, referred to in Revelation 19:9 as "the wedding supper of the Lamb."

In the Book of Revelation, Christ repeatedly speaks of "ruling with an iron rod" (Revelation 2:27), but the word "ruling" is translated from the Greek word " poimaino ", meaning "shepherd" or "guard". Therefore, the Holy Scriptures say that God will protect His children with an iron rod, guarding the flock not as a dictator, but as a loving father.

In the same way, each of us is called to use the power of the “iron rod,” not to harm and oppress (as was the case before in the satanic kingdoms of this world), but to protect the Kingdom of God and its inhabitants.

You and I are responsible for protecting our families, communities and, ultimately, our nation. The Rod of Iron gives men, women and the elderly the ability to protect themselves and others from predators. If the football coach who ran into the school building to protect the students from the shooter with his body were allowed to carry a firearm, many lives, including his own, could be saved.

Police officers are not really the "first line of defense" in most life and death situations. You and I are them. In a crisis, it can take 10-20 minutes, and sometimes much longer, for the police to arrive, determine what is happening, who is involved and what can be done about it. In the case of the Parkland shooting, most of the police officers arrived too late to stop it. All they could do was help the wounded, carry out the dead bodies, and write a report on the crime.

True faith in God is not a magical world of illusions. Faith assumes that men and women take on the responsibility of loving God and their neighbor, willing to protect others at the risk of their own lives. This is what my father taught me before he passed into the spirit world, this is what I teach and practice with my own children and the Sanctuary Church community.

My father, who was born in what is now North Korea, understood what happens when people are defenseless. When the communists took over, he was arrested for preaching Christian doctrine and sent to the Heungnam death camp, where people starved and worked hard until they died. He survived because the military, led by General Douglas MacArthur, freed him and other prisoners. Many members of his own family and countless others have died.

My father forgave the people who tortured him and killed his relatives, he even met with dictator Kim Il Sung to help bring North Korea back to the modern age. He also founded a firearms company in South Korea after the war because he did not want his country and its people to be defenseless again.

God wants us to be his joint heirs and co-owners of the land in the Kingdom (see Rom. 8, Psalm 2). So I asked the couples who were present at the Blessing ceremony on February 28 to bring their "rods of iron." The purpose of the Rod of Iron is not to harm others, but to protect innocent life. As my father said: “Without a protected environment, human life is at risk. Love cannot be established where there is a threat to life.”

CHAPTER 3

CIVIL WAR IN THE WESTERN WORLD

America is a deeply divided nation. We see dramatic evidence of this every four years in the battle we call presidential elections, including clashes between blue states and red states voters.

However, this division is not just a political discussion about the role of government and its policies. In essence, this is a more fundamental discussion between those who accept and affirm the existence and authority of a Supreme Being, i.e. God, and belief in an "enlightened" class of "experts" who view such belief in God as immaturity rooted in ignorance.

The 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant put it this way:

Enlightenment is the way out of a person from the state of his minority, in which he is due to his own fault. Immaturity is the inability to use one's reason without guidance from someone else.  one

Since the Enlightenment, many have come to understand the universe as a place governed by physical laws rather than "divine providence." With the development of science, they began to believe that humanity no longer needs God as a source of moral values ​​or order in the universe. Just one mind and science is enough.

Many were glad to get rid of such obligations. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote:

In fact, we philosophers and “free minds” feel as though we are illumined by a new morning dawn at the news that “the old God is dead . ” 2

Although Nietzsche rejoiced at this liberation, he also foresaw a darker side:

By renouncing the Christian faith, you pull out from under your feet the right to Christian morality. The latter is by no means intelligible in itself... Christianity is a system, a coherent and integral view of things. If you break out of it the main concept, faith in God, then you also destroy the whole.   3

In other words, without belief in a sovereign God, there is no philosophical basis for maintaining Christian values ​​or morality. Is killing wrong? Who said that? You may think that this is always wrong, but others may see it differently. Is stealing wrong? There may be laws against all of this, but what if the laws change? Should morality be based only on what the law requires? What happens when there is a discrepancy between the law, real values ​​and people's behavior?

As a personal atheist, Nietzsche foresaw a difficult and even catastrophic future for post-Christian Europe:

What I am talking about is the history of the next two centuries. I am describing what is coming, which can no longer come in a different form: the emergence of nihilism ... Our entire European culture has long been moving in some kind of torture of tension, growing from century to century, and, as it were, is heading towards a catastrophe.  four

When "God is dead", you believe in things like:

Nihilism is the belief that life has no intrinsic meaning or value.

Materialism - All things, including thoughts, choices and consciousness, are the results of only material interactions.

Eugenics - Because human life has no intrinsic value, and because evolution produces dominant species, some races are "superior" to others. Thus, actions to reduce the population of "inferior" subspecies/races and increase the population of "superior" races are legal.

Nietzsche foresaw that if people came to the conclusion that "God is dead," they would probably worship secular institutions or institutions, such as National Socialism, a state that exalts and protects the interests of your race, while using force or violence against other races. Or communism - a Marxist dictatorship that, exploiting the interests of the "working class", is asserted through calls for "class hatred" and "class war".

The 20th century provided ample evidence of what can happen when people replace belief in God with a secular ideology. The ideology of racial identity adopted by the German National Socialist Workers' Party, which rose to power in the 1930s, led to the deaths of 13-21 million people. Communist ideology led to the deaths of approximately 150 million civilians in the 20th century alone. The government-sponsored massacres or "genocide" resulted in the deaths of some 262 million people, six times the number killed in combat during all the foreign and domestic wars of the last century. 5

It goes without saying that the government will not be able to eliminate unwanted members of society if the citizens are armed. There are frightening statistics on the confiscation and registration of weapons just before outbreaks of mass murder, that is, genocide. Examples include: 6

The Turkish government tightened gun control in anticipation of the Armenian genocide that began in 1915.

Germany banned the sale of firearms to Jews in 1938. From 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million 7 unarmed and disarmed Jews and people of other ethnic groups were sent to concentration camps and exterminated.

The Soviet Union established gun control in 1929 by confiscating guns from the Soviet population, which had always been heavily armed. Between 1929 and 1953, about 20 million dissidents, who now had no means of self-defence, were rounded up and killed.

The Chinese gun control program was started by the Republic of China in 1938. From 1948 to 1952, the communist government massacred 20 million political dissidents with no means of self-defense. Another 53 million were killed by government policies that caused mass starvation.

In 1956 gun control laws were introduced in Cambodia. From 1975 to 1977, more than a million people were killed who were considered "infected" by education or contact with Western values ​​or culture.

In 1964, Guatemala implemented gun control laws on the eve of the massacre of 100,000 Maya Indians.

Uganda launched its gun control program in 1970, shortly before the start of an eight-year terror that killed thousands of Christians.

Such horrors are deeply rooted in post-Christian ideologies and political movements that degrade the human dignity of members of various racial, religious or class groups. These ideologies saw the state as the proper agent to eliminate the demonized. The media were involved in the massacres organized by the government. Journalists who already agreed with a national ideology or course found many ways to present their actions in a positive light.

One notorious example was New York Times correspondent Walter Duranty, who won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for a series of articles praising the "progressive" communist leaders of the Soviet Union. His articles deceived New York Times readers about the Holodomor of nearly 4 million Ukrainian farmers. eight

Unfortunately, such dishonest coverage of totalitarian actions and authorities is widespread. An example is the mass suffering and loss of life as a result of widespread hunger and malnutrition in the once prosperous state of Venezuela.

While the Democratic opposition asked for voter roll verification, Socialist President Hugo Chávez set up secret networks with the help of the Iranian and Syrian authorities, as well as the terrorist organization Hezbollah. He also brought in the Cuban secret police to spy on the Venezuelans. 9

The dictatorship of Chavez's successor Nicolás Maduro was supported by Cuba, Iran, Russia and Syria. He has taken steps to eliminate democratic opposition, which includes providing food only to supporters of the communist regime. Hyperinflation and price controls led to critical shortages. On the shelves of stores, nowhere to find basic medicines. People are dying from diseases that can be cured. ten

Fascists dehumanize racial groups they don't like. Communists claiming to be "anti-fascists" denigrate "enemies of the working class", i.e. anyone who will not cooperate with their agenda. Both ideologies ignore that the human capacity for ultimate good or evil exists among all races and classes. Worshiping one's own group, class, or race is an unholy worldview that has a bloody track record and any moral person would want to avoid.

Meanwhile, a report released in early 2018 warns: "Christians are now facing more severe persecution than at any time in history." The persecuted and the forgotten warn that Christians in many countries will not survive if the violence against them continues. The report highlighted "indescribable atrocities" around the world, including in North Korea, where believers are facing "forced starvation, abortions and reports of believers being hung on crosses over fires and others being crushed under a steamroller." eleven

The report adds:

Christianity is the most persecuted of all religious groups, and this persecution is getting worse and worse. In addition to persecution in the Middle East by Islamic extremists, the report also describes abuses in Nigeria, where ISIS-linked Islamist organization Boko Haram displaced nearly 2 million people.

… The pervasive nature of persecution – and evidence of the involvement of regimes with which the West has close trade and strategic ties – means that our governments must use their influence to protect minorities, especially Christians. Christians should no longer be sacrificed on the altar of strategic expediency and economic gain.

Meanwhile, most people in America have heard little of such ongoing atrocities and loss of freedom, especially Christians and other religious minorities. On college campuses, instead of confronting massacres of Christians and other religious minorities, many students fight any "microaggressions" that make them feel uncomfortable.

When people lose sight of the existence of real good and evil, they invent "micro" reasons for their struggle. This is good news for the totalitarians, whose tireless efforts are to eliminate Judeo-Christian thought, as well as Jews and Christians throughout the world.

CHAPTER 4

THE "LEFT WING" FASCIST THREAT TO THE WEST

By the middle of the 20th century, when the number of communists had grown by tens of millions, the Marxist critique of capitalism needed a public relations offensive. With the help of the media, the left managed to draw public attention to the recent genocide in Nazi Germany, while minimizing the staggering and ever-increasing toll among other groups in the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Cuba.

Anyone who openly questioned "leftist" support for communist dictatorships or socialism was quickly branded a "Nazi". As Anthony Gregor, a scholar of Italian fascism, has noted, the label "fascism" is commonly applied to anyone who professes Christianity, advocates lower taxes, less government regulation, expresses skepticism about man-made "global warming" or who does not seem to cares about the reduction of "threatened species". 1 Oddly enough, real fascists did not defend any of these positions.

The term "Nazi" refers to members of the "National Socialist Workers' Party". The Nazis were socialists with a nationalistic program and a bias towards the Aryan race. They wanted more government control and regulation in people's lives.

Believe it or not, New Deal Democratic Party President Franklin Delano Roosevelt admired Mussolini and his fascist program of centralized state planning and action. On May 7, 1933, just a few months after Roosevelt's inauguration, New York Times reporter Anne O'Hara McCormick wrote that the atmosphere in Washington was "strangely reminiscent of Rome in the first weeks after the Black Shirts march, [and] Moscow at the start of the Five Year Plan... America literally asking for orders today.” The Roosevelt administration, she added, "provides for the federalization of industry, labor, and government along the lines of the corporate state as it exists in Italy." 2

During the 1930s, intellectuals and journalists noted "areas of convergence between the New Deal, fascism and National Socialism". All three were seen as going beyond the "classic Anglo-French liberalism" of individualism, free markets, and decentralized power. 3

As Wolfgang Schivelbusch described in his book Three New Deals: Reflections on Roosevelt's America, Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany 1933-1939, American Progressives studied at German universities "and came to understand the Hegelian theory of a strong state and Prussian militarism as the most effective way of organizing modern societies that could no longer be governed by anarchist liberal principles." four

Roosevelt himself called Mussolini "remarkable" and stated that he was "deeply impressed with what he did". Mussolini reciprocated the admiration. In a commendable review of Roosevelt's 1933 book A Look into the Future, Mussolini wrote: "Reminiscent of the principles of fascism, [Roosevelt's] principle that the state should no longer leave the economy to its own devices ... Without a doubt, the mood accompanying this apparent change, similar to the mood of fascism." 5

The main Nazi newspaper, the Völkischer Beobachter,  repeatedly praised Roosevelt's "acceptance of National Socialist principles in his economic and social policies" and "development towards an authoritarian state" based on "the demand to put the collective good above individual interests." 6

In 1944, in The Road to Slavery, economist F. A. Hayek warned that economic planning could lead to totalitarianism. He warned the Americans and the British that they did not think that there was some unequivocal evil in the German soul. National Socialism, he said, was based on collectivist ideas that had permeated the Western world for a generation or more. 7

Despite the fact that much of the politics of Ronald Reagan and, now Donald Trump, is aimed at limiting the power of the state, they are regularly accused by the mainstream media of being the new “Hitler” or of being “Nazis.” Why discuss politics when it's much easier to demonize your political opponent as an insensitive "fascist"?

FROM MANY - ONE?  

America's founding vision is expressed in the national motto "e pluribus unum", which means "out of many, one". Regardless of race, creed, or nationality, all are welcome to participate in the American Dream, with its guarantees of "inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." In Martin Luther King's famous words, people "would be judged by the content of their character" and not by the color of their skin.

But by focusing on "diversity," the left is turning the national motto "of one, many" on its head. According to their postmodern "multicultural" course, the founding ideals are really just a front for "white, male privilege." According to them, we are NOT united. We are a "diverse" collection of races and an ever-expanding collection of racial/gender/transgender/LGBT groups who seek to use state power to impose "equality" and redistribute wealth from those who allegedly stole it to those who were victims in the past. and who deserves it.

A widespread topic of discussion on college campuses across the country is that of "white privilege." Texas State University Campus Newspaper Editorial: "Your [white] DNA is an abomination", she also explains that "whiteness in the United States" is "a vehicle used to perpetuate the racist power system", and that:

The death of whites will mean liberation for all... Until then, remember this: I hate you because you shouldn't exist.  You are both the dominant force on the planet and at the same time the void in which all cultures that meet you die. eight

But if America is such a terrible bastion of white supremacy, then why do so many Africans, Asians, and Latinos want to come to the US, even risking their lives to get here? How is it that the first generation of immigrants from these parts of the world are doing better than the average American who has lived here for generations? Perhaps they understand something about America that most US university students don't - that in America, hard work can bring opportunities that they never dreamed of in their homeland.

Of course, there are privileges for the majority of the population in any country, whether you're talking about the Japanese in Japan, the Chinese in China, or the descendants of Europeans in the US. However, how do proponents of racial identity politics explain why the "minority group," Asians living in the US, have the highest median income for any ethnic group, at $81,000, 33% higher than "Whites"? 9

I would think long and hard before sending my children to most of the universities where they will be instilled with contempt for a nation that God has blessed as the freest and most prosperous nation in the world.

ANTIFA

At "anti-fascist" rallies held across the country, groups such as ANTIFA, whose members dress in black, their faces covered with scarves adorned with communist hammer and sickle, march with banners calling on Americans to "CRUSH WHITE SUPERIORITY."

The term "antifa" is often understood as an acronym for "anti-fascist" or "anti-fascist action". But "antifa" actually comes from "Antifaschistische Aktion" ("Anti-Fascist Action"), a German communist movement that was active in the 1930s. In the center of the photo below is an ANTIFA demonstrator, hooded with a hammer and sickle, the symbol of communism.

As writer and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza noted:

… the close connection between self-proclaimed anti-fascism and fascism can be seen in some obscure aspects of one of Antifa's main financial backers, George Soros.

The Hungarian-born Soros became a billionaire through shrewd global investment and currency manipulation; his "Quantum Fund" is one of the first private equity funds in the world. Soros is the main sponsor of about 200 "leftist" organizations, including Planned Parenthood, MoveOn.org and Black Lives Matter.

Soros also supports self-proclaimed anti-fascist groups – this year, the Soros-backed Global Justice Alliance donated $50,000 to militant thugs affiliated with Refuse Fascism.

Soros finances not only activism, but also destructive violence. In essence, his costumed club units constitute a private army: he created a militia of paid thugs like the Italian Blackshirts and Nazi Brownshirts. Soros' strategy is to organize dozens, even hundreds of groups, and then see which ones are useful. In the language of venture capitalism, I would describe what Soros does with the term venture capitalism operating through paid protesters. ten

D'Souza refers to a 1998 CBS "Sixty Minutes" interview with Soros, in which he expresses no guilt for helping to confiscate Jewish property and possessions when he was a teenager in Hungary, and concludes: "Soros and the self-proclaimed anti-fascism of the Left is a scam because there are no fascists they are fighting. The only fascism we see in reality is their own actions.” eleven

The media were willing accomplices of "leftist" propaganda to cover up their own fascist tendencies. Youtube recently blocked our Sanctuary channel, along with others listed on the "hate mongers" list compiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Among them were public figures such as former presidential candidate and secretary of HUD Ben Carson and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born feminist who fights for women's rights in the Islamic world and opposes forced marriage, honor killings, and child marriage. and female genital mutilation (female circumcision).

Also on the SPLC's "hate mongers" list are the Family Research Council, The Ruth Institute, the Freedom Defense Alliance, and other groups that support natural marriage and religious freedom guaranteed in the US Constitution's Bill of Rights. The SPLC maliciously places them on the same list as genuine racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, which had deep ties to the Democratic Party in the South when it was created.

Carl Zinsmeister, founder and vice president of the Philanthropic Roundtable, explains:

Trying to silence people you disagree with is a highly un-American approach. Violent debate, fair discussion, open exchange of ideas are all American, but free thinking and free speech are threatened by a group with a sweet-sounding name that hides a nefarious purpose. This group is called the Southern Poverty Law Center or SPLC. 12

Zinsmeister points out that Mark Potok, leader of the SPLC, was recorded on video stating to his supporters:

… the press will describe us as “monitoring groups that incite hatred” … I want to say directly that our goal in life is to destroy these groups, completely destroy them. 13

SPLC leaders don't eliminate hatred, they fuel it.

Because of these McCarthy tactics, the SPLC itself must be seen as one of the largest left wing hate groups on the planet. It is funded by George Soros and other wealthy "leftists" who scorn Judeo-Christian values.

Google/Youtube/Facebook/Twitter concerted action with SPLC attacks on conservative groups that espouse America's founders' vision of limiting the power of government should send chills down the spine of anyone who cares about freedom.

CHAPTER 5

THE CHALLENGE OF POLITICAL ISLAM

While my father was alive, he held dozens of international conferences, to which leaders of various religious traditions were invited, on the theme "One World under God." He wanted these religious leaders to reaffirm the dignity and worth of every person as a child of God and the paramount importance of establishing marriages and families at the center of God. He hoped that they would return to their countries and encourage their followers to live by these values.

In developing such interreligious initiatives, my father also clearly understood the unique position of Jesus as Lord and Savior. He repeatedly spoke of how Jesus' brief three-year ministry shaped human history. He sees the United States, in which the founding documents proclaim God-given rights to freedom of speech and religion, and the Bill of Rights limits the power of the government, the fruit of Judeo-Christian teachings. He believed that America was meant to be a force for good throughout the world, and often said that he was grateful to US forces for releasing him from prison in communist North Korea.

Because of the biblical teaching that all people have a common divine origin, America welcomes people of different faiths, or those who profess no faith, to exercise their freedom of conscience. However, my father also saw that many Americans do not understand the real nature of the ideological and political threats to their nation and the world.

For this reason, he spent enormous resources on educating citizens, creating the Washington Times and newspapers in other countries, and holding seminars, criticizing and counter-proposing the dialectical materialist theory of communism. He strongly supported the election of Ronald Reagan and the establishment of peace through a strengthening strategy. Reagan's policies led to the fall of many communist governments, thereby freeing hundreds of millions of people from this tyranny.

My father also clearly saw the challenge of political Islam. There are many people who would rather ignore this issue by censoring honest discussion. My father was not afraid to speak the unpleasant truth.

**********

To be clear, I will say that there are good and bad Christians, good and bad Jews, and good and bad Muslims. Each of us makes a choice to do what is right or wrong every day of our lives. However, any honest discussion of these religions must take into account the significant differences in their worldview.

RECENT VICTIMS OF ISLAMI TERRORISM

We all know about the horrific 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center that killed about 3,000 people. We also remember the beheading in Pakistan of Daniel Pearl of the Wall Street Journal in 2002 , the beheading of American journalist James Foley in Syria by ISIS in 2012 , the killing of 14 people in San Bernardino, California in 2015 , and the killing of 49 people in gay club in Orlando, Florida in 2016 .

In France, in January 2015 , 12 people were killed in the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo ; 130 people were killed by suicide bombers in Paris in November 2015 . In Brussels, 32 civilians were killed in three suicide bombings in March 2016. In July 2016 , 86 men, women and children were killed and 458 others were injured by Mohamed Lahuaiej Buel, who rammed a 19-ton truck into a crowd of people walking down the street in Nice, France. These innocent victims were not killed by Buddhist monks, Catholic nuns or Orthodox rabbis. They were killed by Islamist extremists.

However, the largest number of victims of political Islam are those who live under their direct control, such as the Yezidis in Syria and other Muslims who have an “unacceptable” interpretation of the Qur'an. Christians who have lived in the Middle East for two thousand years have also been particularly vulnerable to attacks.

On Palm Sunday 2017, Egypt's Coptic Christian community was hit by suicide bombers sent by the Islamic State, killing 44 people. 1 This blood-soaked episode was an all-too-common example of brutal attacks on Middle Eastern Christians. Shortly thereafter, militants attacked a Coptic Christian convoy in upper Egypt, killing 26 people. According to The New York Times , "the wave of persecution is still so severe that some fear it could lead to the end of Christianity in the region where it originated two millennia ago." 2-3

While these barbaric acts do not reflect all Muslims, it would be foolish to ignore how widespread hatred and disregard for religious freedom is in much of the Islamic world.

In 2014, a survey of 52,100 people in 102 countries found that 74% of people in North Africa and the Middle East expressed anti-Semitic hatred and beliefs. 4 Even in Muslim countries far from the Arab-Israeli conflict, the majority of the population expresses the same opinion. Malaysian Muslims are predominantly anti-Semitic at 61%, while only 13% of neighboring Buddhist Thais are anti-Jewish.

Here in the US, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan expresses similar views, stating that Judaism is a "gutter religion" and that Adolf Hitler was a "great man." 5 I well remember how my father approached Mr. Farrakhan to help him and his followers accept the fact that we are all children of God. Unfortunately, Farrakhan's words do not reflect this truth.

BROAD SUPPORT FOR THE DEATH PENALTY FOR THOSE WHO LEAVE ISLAM

An alarming number of Muslims support the death penalty for those who choose to leave Islam, especially among those who support the adoption of Sharia as the law of the land. Killing apostates is most widely supported in Egypt (86%) and Jordan (82%). According to the Pew Research Center, "roughly two-thirds of those who want Sharia law for the country also support this punishment in the Palestinian territories." In Malaysia and Pakistan, 62% support the death penalty for those Muslims who convert to another religion. 12 Similar statistics for those who support stoning those who commit adultery, severe punishment for those who criticize Muhammad or Islam, and chopping off hands for theft.

Support for such views is less common among Muslims living in Central Asia and Europe. However, there is a large gap between many adherents of the Islamic faith and those of the Jewish or Christian faith. For Jews and Christians, even the question of whether someone should be executed for leaving their faith is ridiculous.

Jesus and his disciples did not support converting people by force or punishing people who left the Christian faith by execution. Unfortunately, freedom of conscience is not part of the value system of many Islamists who want to create a nation based on Sharia law.

Of course, not all Muslims fit into this extremist mold. Here is one inspiring example:

After the German occupation in 1943, Albania's Muslim majority refused to comply with Nazi orders to hand over lists of Jews living within the country's borders. Various Albanian government agencies provided the Jewish families with forged documents that allowed them to blend in with the rest of the population. Albanians also provided asylum to Jewish refugees who arrived in their country while they were still under Italian rule, at the risk of being deported to concentration camps. 13

SUMMARY OF THE EXPANSION OF POLITICAL ISLAM

Many commentators have criticized the Christian crusades, which sought to reclaim the "Holy Land" from Muslim control. However, it is worth remembering that the crusades arose at the end of the 11th century, after four centuries of relentless Islamic efforts to conquer Europe. Islam was spread by military conquest and by the sword.

The spread of Islam began with the active military leadership of Muhammad. As writer Dan McLaughlin summarized:

The fall of Mecca in 630 solidified Muhammad's control over the Western Arabian Peninsula. The decisive Muslim victory at the Battle of Ajnadein in 634 extended Muslim control into what is now Israel. Between 634 and 689, Muslim forces overran Christian, Byzantine Syria and North Africa.

Beginning in the middle of the 7th century, Islamic incursions moved into Europe. Muslim armies tried to conquer Spain, France and Italy. The struggle raged from Constantinople in the east, to the borders of Georgia in the Caucasus, and also on the islands of the Mediterranean.

Islamic efforts against Europe and the West continued after the Crusades, from the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the naval invasions finally halted at Lepanto in 1571, to the epic Siege of Vienna in 1683 (which in turn was followed by another century bloody wars between Muslim Ottomans and Christian Habsburgs).

As has often been noted, the history of Muhammad as a military leader and Islam as a force of conquest contrasts sharply with the early history of Christianity, a persecuted faith founded by martyrs who did not campaign. While Muslims do not have an exclusive monopoly on imperialism, it cannot be denied that the Christian Crusades were a defensive response to centuries of Muslim expansion into formerly Christian and Jewish lands. Looking at its history, it's hard to argue that it was a religion of "peace."  fourteen

REFORM MOVEMENTS IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD

One ray of hope for the world is that there are Muslims who want to reform their faith and persuade others to renounce the violence of Islamism or "political Islam". One example is the Muslim Reform Movement 15 which claims that:

We are fighting for the soul of Islam, and Islamic renewal must defeat the ideology of Islamism, or politicized Islam, which seeks to create Islamic states, as well as an Islamic caliphate. Facing the threat of terrorism, intolerance and social injustice in the name of Islam, we have been thinking about how we can transform our communities around three principles: peace, human rights and secular governance. We believe that all people are equal in rights from birth and there are no privileges other than human rights.

We reject blasphemous laws. They are a cover for restricting freedom of speech and religion. We reaffirm the right of everyone to participate equally in ijtihad or critical thinking.

We believe in freedom of religion and the right of all people to express and practice their faith or disbelief without the threat of intimidation, harassment, discrimination or violence. Apostasy is not a crime. Our ummah - our community - is not just Muslims, but all of humanity.

The sad reality is that such reformers literally risk their lives to change the Islamic world. They deserve the support of all people of good will. It is shocking that many of these reformers are not invited to speak at American universities.

One example is Hussein Abubakr, an Egyptian-trained military instructor and researcher who calls for the reform of Islam. In February 2015, he was scolded, cursed and prevented from performing at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania by students who were convinced any criticism of Islam was unacceptable. 16

Another example is Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born former member of the Dutch government. Brandeis University awarded her an honorary degree for her advocacy work for women and girls in Muslim societies, only she was withdrawn due to pressure from students, faculty activists, and pressure groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations. An outspoken critic of links between violence and fundamentalist Islam, she has consistently spoken out against forced child marriage, female circumcision, and "honour killings" of girls or women that are believed to have brought shame to their family. What is the reason for withdrawing her honorary degree and inviting her to speak? She tells the painful, politically incorrect truth based on her direct, personal experience.

One professor of African studies accused her of spouting "outdated, racist thoughts that portray people from the Middle East and Africa as culturally backward and in need of Western civilizational influences." 17 So instead of dealing with the reality of female genital mutilation, forced child marriage, and honor killings, let’s just “kill the messenger,” or at least stop her from telling Brandeis students the ugly truth about the oppression of women and girls in much of the Islamic world. peace.

SILENCE OF CRITICISM OF ISLAM IN EUROPE

In much of Europe, the silence on honest discussions about political Islam is even worse. According to Gatestone Institute:

In France, those who criticize Islam or simply demonstrate the results of Islamic terrorism are subject to severe persecution.

In March 2018, French President Macron said he wanted to introduce a law against "fake news". If his plan is passed into law, all online magazines in France that do not broadcast what the government defines as "true news" could be immediately suspended by the government. If online publications originate outside of France, access to them will be blocked. Islamic online magazines and websites are not included in the proposed list of "fake news" providers. Which online magazines and websites will top this list? Those who doubt Islam.

After the attacks in France in November 2015 and July 2016, journalists and writers who claimed that the terrorists who attacked France were Muslims and that "Islamism" was not alien to Islam were prosecuted in court and fined thousand euros. eighteen

In Sweden, the situation is just as serious. According to a 2015 Gatestone Institute report:

Forty years after the Swedish parliament unanimously decided in 1975 to transform the previously homogeneous Sweden into a multicultural country, violent crime has increased by 300%. Sweden currently ranks second on the list of countries with high rape rates, surpassed only by Lesotho in South Africa.

In 1975, 421 rapes were reported to the Swedish police, and 6620 in 2014. This is a 1472% increase, although the population has only grown by 19% in these 4 decades. 19

In response to this appalling rise in rape, Michael Hess, a local politician from the Swedish Democratic Party, urged Swedish journalists to become familiar with Islam's views on women who do not dress according to its standards:

“When will you journalists realize that rape and abuse of women who refuse to follow Islamic teachings are deeply rooted in the culture of Islam? There is a strong link between rape in Sweden and the number of immigrants from MENA [Middle East and North Africa].”

This remark led to Michael Hess being charged with "denigrating ethnic groups". In May 2017, he was given a suspended prison sentence and a fine.

Mr. Hess has lived in Muslim countries for many years and is well acquainted with Islam and its view of women. During the trial, he presented evidence of how Sharia law relates to rape and statistics showing that Muslims are the main perpetrators of rape in Sweden. However, the court decided that the facts were irrelevant.

In a huge number of cases, the Swedish courts have shown sympathy for the rapists and acquitted the suspects who claimed that the girl wanted to have sex with six, seven or eight men.

Internet radio station Granskning Sverige called the main newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen to ask why they described the perpetrators as "Swedish men" when they were in fact Somalis without Swedish citizenship. These journalists were extremely offended when asked if they felt responsible for warning Swedish women to stay away from certain men. One journalist asked, "Why should this be their responsibility?" twenty

Germany, which has welcomed more than a million MENA immigrants in recent years, has also seen a rise in the rape of German women who do not dress according to Sharia law. One infamous incident took place on New Year's Eve 2016 in Cologne, where "dozens of young women" were "raped and robbed" by "gangs of men described by authorities as having a North African or Arab" appearance. The New York Times reported that “hundreds of young men broke into groups and formed rings around the young women, refusing to let them escape…” The attacked women screamed and tried to fight their way to freedom, a man who told German Public Television tried his best to protect his girlfriend." 21

Equally troubling are reports that, according to International Society for Human Rights President Thomas Schirrmacher, Germany's Federal Office for Refugees and Migration is turning down virtually all asylum requests from converts from Islam to Christianity. He said that the [Federal Office for Refugees and Migration] often relies on Muslim interpreters who intentionally misinterpret for Christians or converts to conduct "religious checks". “It's just a scandal that almost all converts from Islam to Christianity are denied asylum,” Schirrmacher said. 22

The very real problems associated with the admission of large numbers of immigrants from Islamic countries and their assimilation into Western culture are not helped by the suppression of an honest discussion of these issues. Leftist "progressives" and feminists pride themselves on being a human rights advocate, but their silence about the oppression of women and girls in the Islamic world and the justification for raping women who refuse to abide by Islamic teachings is deafening. It is also reminiscent of their silence regarding the massacres committed under communism. Their willingness to use the power of the government to punish politically incorrect statements should be alarming to anyone who cares about free speech.

Reformers who risk their lives to challenge political Islam and improve the lives of those who fall victim to it deserve the support of all people of good will, not the slander and ostracism they have experienced around the world.

CHAPTER 6

OUR JUDEO-CHRISTIAN FOUNDATION   DEFENDS FREEDOM FOR ALL

In the 16th century, a bald monk claimed that Christians could communicate directly with God and did not need the papacy to intercede for them. Just as the martyr Jan Hus proclaimed 100 years ago, Martin Luther declared that it is Scripture, the Word of God, that deserves this coveted central position: 1

Until I am persuaded by the evidence of the Scriptures, or a clear reason (for I do not trust either the pope or the councils, since it is well known that they often erred and contradicted themselves), I am witnessed by the Scriptures. I've been quoting and my conscience is captivated by the Word of God. I cannot and will not renounce anything, because it is not safe and wrong to go against conscience. 2

Luther's belief in the priesthood of all believers gave birth to a new paradigm of relationships between people and the hierarchical structures in which they lived. By nailing his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany, Martin Luther initiated a spiritual wave that shifted the foundation of the Christian faith from the centralized authority of the Catholic Church to the individual. The world of political thinkers such as John Locke, whose ideas about religious freedom had a great influence on the drafters of the US Constitution, was largely shaped by Luther's actions more than a century earlier. 3

Although the Founding Fathers held various religious beliefs, most held the belief that they did not want to be controlled by the king. The Founding Fathers rejected not only the authority of the English king, but also the rule of the most centralized authority. Whether Christian or Deist, they were all very knowledgeable about biblical culture and its stories. For example, John Adams, who later became the second President of the United States, wrote to his countrymen in 1776:

Managing a machine as complex and powerful as the United Colonies requires the meekness of Moses, the patience of Job, and the wisdom of Solomon added to the prowess of Daniel. four

Why did the founding fathers insist on the separation of powers into executive, legislative and judicial? They experienced what centralized tyranny is like and didn't want any "divine" right of kings that was common in Europe. But they also knew the biblical view that all men and women became sinful through the fall and thus structured the American government with checks and balances to guard against the human tendency to corrupt.

For the same reason, the Founding Fathers limited the scope of the national government. All powers not expressly granted to the Federal Government are vested in the States and local governments. Some of the founders owned slaves, a national sin that led to the bloodiest war in American history. However, the principles proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence were in the mouths of abolitionists who demanded an end to slavery. They were quoted by Martin Luther King almost two centuries later when he spoke at the Washington Monument in 1963:

In a sense, we arrived in the capital of our state to receive cash by check. When the architects of our republic wrote the beautiful words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they signed a promissory note that was to be inherited by every American. Under this bill, all people, white and black alike, were guaranteed the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

WHY AMERICA IS A LAND OF OPPORTUNITY?

Over the past century, many millions of immigrants from all over the world have left their homelands to come to this country, seeing it as a "land of opportunity". Why is America a place of prosperity? Its constitutional republican form of government, even with its often "dirty" politics, is emulated by nations all over the world.

Why can't so many countries that try to copy the outward form of American democracy become prosperous and vibrant themselves?

The founders knew that a common culture based on Judeo-Christian values ​​was needed for a republican form of government to work. As John Adams put it:

“We do not have a government armed with force capable of fighting human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Greed, ambition, revenge or pressure would break the strongest roots of our Constitution like a whale passing through a net. Our Constitution was created only for moral and religious people. She is completely unsuited to rule over someone else." 5

As Hollins University professor Edward Lynch explained, for a constitutional republic to work, it needs three things: trust, hope, and the feeling that "I have the power to improve my life and the lives of those I care about." 6

Corruption, however, destroys all these things. For corruption to thrive, human greed, monopoly of power, and anonymity are essential. Eliminating the first element is a personal choice, but with respect to the other two, the government can do a lot, both good and bad. Lynch argues that the persistence of poverty and dysfunction in many "democracies" around the world is due to the centralization of power. Dictatorships and oligarchies breed corruption because they can easily hide their decisions behind a veil of anonymity. 7

For example, Peruvian sociologist Hernando de Soto decided to compare the challenges of starting a business in Lima, Peru, and Miami, Florida. He was able to complete and submit all required paperwork for a new business in Miami in one day. In Lima it took 14 months. Without three significant bribes, it would have been impossible to start a business at all. eight

It is not difficult to see in which country someone would be more willing to take the risk of starting a new business. Centralized government encourages corruption and undermines trust and initiative.

Decentralized power ensures greater competition. If one locality is corrupt, a person can simply move his business to another place. Since most decisions are made locally, anonymity is less of an issue. You are much more likely to know who makes those decisions.

Americans are known for their independence and initiative, which allows them to try (and fail) to start new companies, charities, churches, and businesses.

The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 can be seen as a story about entrepreneurship. A man, going on a journey, called his servants and entrusted them with bags of silver. The first two servants doubled what they were given and received praise from their master. The third servant buried the sack of silver he had been given and was severely rebuked by his master for not making any effort to increase it.

We cannot control the circumstances of our birth, but we are responsible for what we do with what we are given.

Madame CJ Walker (1867-1919) is a great example of this. As described on the History Channel, she was recognized as "America's first black woman millionaire" for her successful hair care line. Born Sarah Breedlove, she was widowed by the age of 20 and went to work as a laundress. After looking for remedies for hair loss, she developed the Walker System and began selling her homemade products directly to black women. A talent for self-promotion helped build a thriving enterprise. Her Walker company funded scholarships for women at the Tuskegee Institute, donated large sums to the NAACP, the black YMCA, and dozens of other charities. 9

PROGRESSIVISM - A RETURN TO A FAIL MODEL

The progressive political movement of the 20th century in the United States, as described in Chapter 4, is a return to the centralized model that America's founders rejected. By centralizing power in the hands of a few, people are incentivized to turn to "big government" for solutions to their problems. Instead of fighting hardships in their communities, people compete for resources and benefits distributed from Washington DC.

Funding and regulating education is another activity the founders never envisioned for the federal government. There is little evidence that increasing public spending on education has improved student outcomes. Progressives in America are in fact in complete control of the American public school system, and the results are clear. While America led the world in academic standards, our students now lag far behind many countries in reading, math, and science. It is worth noting that some of the top ranked countries were quite poor 30 years ago. 10 Students graduate from high school knowing less about American history than their grandparents. 11 This is another proof that

Also, while the Founding Fathers opposed the state-funded church, they did not envision a public sphere or government that had nothing to do with the Creator or Judeo-Christian doctrine.

This is evident from Ben Franklin's Great Seal recommendation, which depicts the scene described in the book of Exodus, where the Israelites confronted the pharaoh of Egypt in order to gain their freedom. The motto accompanying the Great Seal read: "Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God."

FREE FROM STATE CONTROL

Thomas Jefferson's belief in the separation of church and state is often misunderstood as a belief that the public sphere should be free of religion. Jefferson was not a Christian in the traditional sense, but he believed that the teachings of Jesus were "expositions of the most exalted system of morality that ever came out of the mouth of man." 12 Along with many of his contemporaries, he objected to the fact that in some colonies ministers were commissioned to preach in accordance with the doctrine established by the Anglican Church. Citizens were often required by law to attend church on Sundays. Taxes were created to secure the wages of church workers, as well as to build new churches.

In 1649, the state of Maryland passed the Toleration Act, which allowed Catholics to practice their faith, but also imposed the death penalty on Jews and atheists who did not believe in Christ. 13 Jefferson understood that the government has no right to interfere in the relationship of people with their Creator, it has no right to impose bureaucratic, punitive demands on its citizens:

Freedom of conscience, which we have never suppressed, we cannot suppress. We are responsible for them before our God. The legal authority of the government extends only to such actions that are detrimental to others. But it won't hurt me if my neighbor says there are twenty gods or there is no God. He doesn't get into my pocket and break my leg... 14

Jefferson's first thought was to create a society that would allow for a variety of religious thought, free from any government control.

But do we see a variety of thoughts freely expressed in the public sphere? Instead of allowing individual expression, the government has become an increasingly repressive regime, restricting religious speech and encouraging its own secular state religion. Almost all public schools in the United States are Bible-free zones, but children as young as kindergarten are free to choose their gender any day of the week.

A shocking example of the abuse of state power can be seen in the recent “school protest” demanding tougher gun laws. In March 2018, tens of thousands of public school students across the United States gathered in street rallies to demand stricter gun laws.

This was not an academic pursuit; the rally was a brazen manipulation of the students' emotions, redirecting their pain from school shootings into hostility towards Second Amendment advocates.

Public school youth were selected by the organizers to blame the legitimate gun owners and their rights organization, the National Rifle Association. Was an attempt made to provide an opposing viewpoint, such as a complete failure by government officials to prevent or stop a school shooter in Parkland? No.

It is not decisive here which side you are on in a gun dispute. The question is whether government-regulated and funded schools have the right to promote the messages of one political party.

The truth is that America cannot maintain freedom without adhering to its Judeo-Christian values, which are based on the conviction that we are equal, regardless of our gender, color, nationality, or religion. The belief that we have a common Heavenly Father who created us with free will is the strongest foundation for treating people of other backgrounds as equals. The Founding Fathers recognized this and created the Constitution, which limits the state's power to control or manipulate religious practice, leaving US citizens free to worship as they please.

My father taught a lot that God and strong families, not the state, are the building blocks for peaceful communities, peaceful nations, and peace on earth. In truth, "multicultural" teachings that encourage free sex, victim seeking, blaming, and envy are more of a threat to our nation than any foreign invader.

America was once a culture that respected the Ten Commandments as the ultimate truth that all citizens should strive to live by. Today it has moved away from the foundation upon which its shared civic culture was built. We must not stand idle when the unifying purpose of our country is destroyed. It is our duty to our descendants to ensure that the legacy of the founders is passed on to them and to future generations in the years to come.

CHAPTER 7

AND WILL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON

The gospel of Jesus is the gospel of the kingdom

The "good news" has traditionally been explained solely in terms of the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But what does Jesus say about the "Good News"? A close examination of Christ's words shows that his gospel is the gospel of the kingdom. In the book of Matthew alone, Christ preaches the message of the coming Kingdom more than forty times to the crowds that gather around him.

And about his forthcoming crucifixion, he speaks only three times, privately, to his inner circle of disciples. In the New Testament, Jesus preached focusing on the message of God's sovereignty:

“From that time on Jesus began to preach and say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17

“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every infirmity among the people.” Matthew 4:23

“… as you walk, preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 10:7

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14

“Then the King will say to those on his right hand, Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…” Matthew 25:34

“And after John had been betrayed, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God…” Mark 1:14

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus makes it clear that before we do anything else, before we worry about tomorrow, we must first seek the Kingdom of God. Jesus didn't say, "Seek democracy first." He didn't say, "First of all, look for communism." He didn't say, "Look for some useless degree first." He said, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

In Matthew 9:35, Jesus went about all the cities and towns, teaching in the synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom , and healing every disease in the people.

In Luke 4:43, Jesus said to the people, "...I must proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God, for to this end I was sent." He didn't say that he was sent to preach the gospel of the crucifixion, or the gospel of death, or the gospel of the resurrection on the third day. On the contrary, Jesus said that he was sent to preach the Kingdom of God.

Jesus also made it clear that his kingdom was to be both physical and spiritual: “Our Father who art in heaven! hallowed be thy name; let your kingdom come; May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-10) It will not be just a heavenly Kingdom that we will only enter after death. The kingdom of Christ will be the kingdom of justice and goodness that Christ will establish on this earth.

ROAD OF IRON

Because we are living in the last days, the promise of the Kingdom is now being fulfilled. Many receive revelation and inspiration from the Holy Spirit. Jesus will come with a new name (see Revelation 3:12) and he will set up a Kingdom where good people, along with Christ, will rule with a Rod of Iron:

“... ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession; You will strike them with a rod of iron; crush them like a potter's vessel." Psalm 2:8-9

“…and she will rule them with a rod of iron; like earthenware they will be broken, just as I have received authority from my Father.”  Revelation 2:27  

“And she gave birth to a male child, who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron; And her child was caught up to God and His throne.”  Revelation 12:5

“From His mouth comes a sharp sword, with which to smite the nations. He shepherds them with a rod of iron; He tramples on the winepress of the fury and wrath of Almighty God."  Revelation 19:15

When Christ returns, he will be the ruler whose words will judge the nations.

When John wrote the book of Revelation, the sword was a common weapon of war. This was the means by which sovereigns maintained their positions of power; and enforced satanic dominion over their monarchies. For the Kingdom of God to come to earth, godly, Christ-centered people must have more "firepower" than the forces of evil ( see Revelation chapter 20). The scriptures from the last book of the New Testament depict the Rod of Iron as a prominent attribute, an important physical object demonstrating how Christ will rule when he returns. His Kingdom is guarded and maintained by the just use of the Rod of Iron. In Revelation 20, Christ uses the power of fire (or “firepower”) against the wicked, “their number is like the sand of the sea,” to throw Satan into the lake of fire for punishment.

But it is often difficult for modern people to associate Christ with a weapon; they may seem to be mutually exclusive. Also, people are naturally afraid of firearms because of their deadly power. A death-inducing item typically elicits a reflex response, often leading to the belief that no civilian should be in possession of a weapon. Pacifist believers may argue that only God controls the power of life and death. But this statement begs the question: how can an invisible God control a weapon? How does this happen in real life?

We don't need to look too far to see that when godly people lack the strength to defend themselves, evil thrives. For example, the centralized government has killed over two hundred and twenty million unarmed civilians in the last 100 years , many of whom were killed for their belief in God.

Orthodox Christian writer and Russian dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn experienced firsthand the hardships created by centralized power, spending eight years as a prisoner in Joseph Stalin's Gulag labor camps. Solzhenitsyn was the Russian literary giant who, describing the main cause of the sixty million Russian deaths caused by communism, simply stated: “People have forgotten God; that's why it all happened." one

CHRISTIANS RECOGNIZE A HIGHEST AUTHORITY

As Christians, we understand that Satan used the power of the state to dominate, enslave, and kill the children of God. Christianity is especially perceived as a threat to the integrity of the state, because Christianity exalts the value of the individual. It creates a connection between people, strengthens solidarity and helps those in need. Governments rightly fear that Christianity will become a channel through which social uprisings can gain momentum.

By studying the life and lessons of Jesus, the Scriptures reveal teachings that are contrary to loyalty to the state. Although Jesus did not hold any political office during his lifetime, he was nonetheless considered a potential threat to the Roman Empire. Herod the Great inadvertently confirmed the truth of Jesus' position as the "King of the Jews" when he issued a decree to exterminate all young male children at the time of the Savior's birth. In the first three gospels, Christ repeatedly spoke of the coming kingship of God. Claims that Jesus was the incarnation of God and the King of the Jews were key factors in the hostile response he received from both the Jewish and Roman hierarchies.

Jesus was a true revolutionary who shocked and enraged the Jewish ruling elite with his claims that he alone was worthy of their loyalty. Following him meant that they should honor the rebel rabbi above their Roman superiors. This change in allegiance would put the Jewish leaders in a life-threatening position. Rome dealt with potential uprisings quickly and decisively. The state does not hesitate to use torture and crucifixion as a common practice in the treatment of slaves or rebels. A miracle-working, charismatic Jewish prophet who was able to mobilize large crowds could easily be seen as a threat to the status quo.

JESUS ​​DID NOT EXECUTE THE USE OF FORCE

To say that Jesus was a pacifist is not accurate. He made his own power-enhancing weapon as he made his attacking whip and persecuted the greedy, self-serving money changers in the Temple.

Jesus affirmed the right to bear arms in Luke 22:36 when he told his disciples:

“Then He said to them: but now, whoever has a bag, take it, also a bag; and if you don't have it, sell your clothes and buy a sword."

Jesus expressed his support for the death penalty when he said in Matthew 18:6:

"... and whoever offends one of these little ones who believe in Me, it would be better for him if they hung a millstone around his neck and drowned him in the depths of the sea."

The truth is that Jesus posed a threat to Jewish and Roman leadership with his gospel of the kingdom. They became increasingly angry and afraid of his message, because it was a message that undermined their centralized power.

At this time of the Second Coming, what kind of ruler do we imagine Jesus to be when he returns? Some Christians wonder if the Kingdom of God will open a time when humanity will be subject to divine dictatorship. Some think that the reign of Christ will be openly oppressive, that it will be a place where the King of Kings reigns, subjecting all nations to the absolute will of God. Perhaps secretly, some Christians have privately thought that it would be better to live in a free America than in the Kingdom of God, which they believe will be under totalitarian rule!

THE SHEPHERD IS READY TO RISK HIS LIFE

Considering the Greek word used for the term "reign" in Revelation, the Bible indicates that when Christ returns, he will be of the same character as before. As mentioned in chapter 2, the Greek word " poimaino " (poymaino) is the word used to refer to the reign of Christ in the quotations about the rod of iron from Revelation. The reign of the Rod of Iron is the reign of " poimaino ". " Poimaino " literally means to act like a shepherd, not like a dictator. The shepherd cares for the flock, shepherds, guards and directs. The good shepherd does not want to terrorize his sheep; he uses his rod to protect them from harm or danger - "Your rod and Your staff - they comfort me." (Psalm 22).

The Poimaino government is a caring government centered on God, who is just and merciful. Jesus, the King of Kings, who knows his flock, will still be the good shepherd in the Kingdom, for the Bible says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8). God is a patronizing Father who wants his children to be strong so that the forces of evil cannot destroy them.

To defeat evil, good, moral people must appear who are unshakable and adamant in upholding justice. Only the Rod of Iron gives the followers of Christ the opportunity to say no to tyrants.

History is an endless cycle of human suffering, of people ruled by centralized authorities and "cultivated taxes" over and over again by aristocrats, and "above the law" elite superclasses.

However, unlike the monarchies of the past, the God Realm is an inverted Realm. It is radically different. In the Kingdom of God, the formerly "poor in spirit" and those who were slaves and serfs will inherit his authority and power in the Kingdom, and will be co-rulers with him (see Matthew 5). Christ never wanted totalitarian rule, and as long as he reigns as head, we must be co-heirs of the kingdom:

“Because you did not receive the spirit of bondage to live in fear again, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by which we cry: “Abba, Father!” This same Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with Him, so that we may be glorified with Him. Romans 8:15-17

Participation in the suffering and glory of Jesus means that we spend our lives “putting on Christ” (see Romans 13:14) and become people who can be trusted to exercise great power with love and mercy, as well as firmness and justice. .

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus did more than just teach individual followers; he also taught humanity the culture of the heirs of the coming Kingdom:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they reproach you and persecute you and slander you in every way unrighteously for me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven: so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:3-12

In his eternal wisdom, Jesus taught us the qualifications for a kingdom of sovereign, armed men. Humility, compassion, mercy, purity, righteousness are the virtues of the Kingdom. In the Kingdom of Heaven, the Iron Rod is used within the framework of Christian ethics. The Iron Rod can only be used to uphold the Kingdom by moral citizens who are after Christ. Founding fathers like Charles Carroll understood this point:

Without morality, the Republic cannot exist over time; therefore, those who condemn the Christian religion, whose morality is so lofty and pure...undermine the strong foundation of morality, the best defense of free governments. 2

Citizens of the Kingdom of God who will be co-masters with Christ have the responsibility to protect their family, neighbors and nation with their own rod of iron.

Those who bear the iron rod are called to undergo both spiritual and physical training so that they can embody these Kingdom values ​​at both the individual and national levels. Only in this way can the moral republic be preserved. Our ability to thrive as armed defenders depends on continuous learning and training, with a fundamental relationship with Christ, who alone is the full incarnation of the gospel.

The Rod of Iron allows the citizens of the Kingdom to keep the peace through force. Christ's co-heirs become kingdom defenders, staying strong through restraint and slowing down to anger. Those who are armed must maintain a high level of discipline and vigilance. It is necessary to learn to control oneself, because citizens have great power when they possess an iron rod. Once the bullet is fired, it can't be returned.

Every responsible parent has a natural instinct to protect their children at the risk of their own lives. The Kingdom of God represents a culture where we are the "keepers" of our neighbor. The Iron Rod is the most effective way for a weaker, aged or disabled person to maintain his royal sovereignty. The fundamental principles of the culture of the Rod of Iron are love for God and love for one's neighbor.

An armed citizen has the ability to say "NO!" villains, tyrants and those who are possessed by the spirit of Satan. Only an armed citizen can say: “NO! You cannot dominate me, kill me, control me, enslave me, rape me, or unleash evil on me or my people. If you try to use deadly force on me, I will respond with deadly force to protect myself, my loved ones, or my kingdom.”

As part of God's family and sharing the dominion of Christ, the citizens of God's Kingdom proudly wear their royal crowns. We are devoted - to God in Christ, and not to the god of the state. That's why Jesus said, "Keep what you have, lest anyone take your crown." (Revelation 3:11) By putting on our crowns, we resist all godless tyranny and become citizens of the Kingdom of God.

The American rebel spirit of the 18th century was filled with the feeling that the colonists served only one monarch. As the British-appointed governor noted:

If you ask an American who is his master? He will tell you that he has no ruler but Jesus Christ. 3

Likewise, when British Major Pitcairn called out to the assembled regiment of Minutemen, "Disperse, you villains, lay down your arms in the name of George, rightful King of England." Reverend Jonas Clark replied:

We do not recognize any sovereign but God and no King but Jesus! four

Although America has seriously strayed from its divine roots, God has not abandoned this special nation. Precisely because the American Revolution was centered on noble values, Americans still have the right to bear arms. The purpose for which we use something determines whether God or Satan has power over it. A weapon is power, or a power multiplier. When we use weapons for righteous purposes, such as freedom from tyranny and defense of freedom, then God has power over them.

The reason Christ gives us the ends of the earth to own in Psalm 2:8 is not so that we are selfish, but so that we can exercise responsible government on his behalf. When the men and women of God own the earth with the Rod of Iron, the evil tyrants of the world will have to fear. "Sheepdogs" with weapons in their hands bring terror to the wolves, but they bring comfort to the sheep. They protect people who know God and recognize His voice.

As children of God, we are called to rule over the Rod of Iron, not to worship it. We are grateful for the ammunition of the Kingdom - the crowns and the Rod of Iron, given to us by God, but we do not worship them. We worship God and are grateful for the sovereignty and authority He has given us.

CHAPTER 8

LEGAL GUN OWNERSHIP SAVE LIVES

For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. G.L. Mencken

With astonishing speed, survivors of the Stoneman Douglas school shooting, such as David Hogg, Emma Gonzalez and Cameron Caskey, have delivered impassioned speeches to national media outlets such as National Public Radio, ABC News, CNN, and many other cable channels. and at the March for Our Lives on March 24. one

Kaski spoke of a "revolution" that is "powerful because it has already begun, that it is driven by the youth, and that it is for and for the young people of this country." He warned:

Politicians either represent the people or leave. The people are demanding a ban on assault weapons. People are demanding a ban on the sale of magazines with high-capacity cartridges. Be with us or beware. The voters are coming. 2

David Hogg blamed gun shop owners and legislators who support the Second Amendment:

…sick f*ckers [who] want to keep selling more guns, killing more kids, and frankly, just getting re-elected. What kind of shitty person does that? Even if the children's blood splashes on their faces, they won't take any action because all they see is dollar bills. 3

Another student accused "national politicians (who) value NRA blood money over children's lives." four

The possibility that "the people" have a wide range of views on gun law and that legislators may have a principled reason to support the Second Amendment doesn't seem to cross the minds of these teenagers. In their eyes, Second Amendment supporters are not just wrong, they are evil themselves. The statement of these teenagers that they speak on behalf of the “people” frankly resembles the language of the French revolutionaries of the 18th century before the mass executions of “enemies of the people”.

Thinking back to my own self-confident youth, I'm ready to give these young people a pass, but what about the adults behind them? Left-wing politicians like New York Senator Chuck Schumer are no doubt breaking champagne bottles as they see a generation of young voters convinced that all Republicans are vicious politicians paid for by gun-loving groups. On the 24 March march, Schumer stated:

Each time the NRA's iron grip on the necks of some of these politicians has been successful, but this time they won't succeed. Do you know why this won't happen? Because we have YOU!  5

Schumer proudly noted that he was the author of the Brady Act and the Assault Weapons Ban, but has anyone been saved by registering guns and "Assault Weapons Ban"? If we look at the research on the subject, you will see that the answer is "No".

What about the other students at Stoneman Douglas High who weren't allowed to speak on CNN or March for Our Lives or National Public Radio because they don't agree with gun control policy?

Take, for example, Kyle Kashuva, who also survived a high school shootout in Parkland, Florida. On CBS's "Face the Nation" he said:

And what I saw at the march yesterday, which really upset me, is that I have a different point of view, but what really bothers me is that, I was not invited to speak at the march, being Americans, we all have different points. vision. And it's important to represent them all equally .

Kaszow argues that a ban on "assault weapons" and high-capacity magazines will not solve the problem. Instead, he placed the blame for the massacres on law enforcement and accused them of failing to enforce existing laws and regulations. He concluded:

And I find it ironic that after all we've seen so many different government failures, we want to trust the government even more. 6

All these school kids are full of passion, but when it comes to enacting real government policies and laws that will govern our lives, aren't adults obligated to do what is constitutional and effective in reducing violence? Isn't it important for schools that approve of events such as the March 24 School Walkout to have all opinions represented, instead of a rally that represents only one opinion and can be interpreted as political exploitation of the youth?

BANN "ASSTORM WEAPON"?

One of the most important issues for the "more gun control" policy is the issue of banning "assault weapons". As David Hogg's words above show, gun owners and elected officials who question this are called "sick f*ckers [who] want to keep selling more guns, killing more kids, and frankly, just getting re-elected."

Legislators who support the Second Amendment are accused of succumbing to the "iron grip of the NRA on [their] necks" rather than representing the opinions of many of their constituencies who use guns responsibly.

California Congressman Eric Swalwell called for a ban on possession of semi-automatic "assault" weapons by buying such weapons from anyone who chooses to abide by this new law, and to prosecute "anyone who chooses to defy it by keeping their weapon." 7

Georgia Congresswoman Erica Thomas also supports a ban on "assault rifles" and then denies that they will be confiscated from legitimate gun owners, although the bill she supported as a Georgia legislator states: "The Georgia Bureau of Investigation must confiscate and seize any assault weapon, magazines with high-capacity cartridges, armor-piercing bullets or incendiary bullets of the fiftieth caliber. 8 Her ambiguous speeches are typical, and also show ignorance of research done by the US Department of Justice.

California Senator Feinstein and other anti-gun advocates are pushing for urgent renewal of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban Act, which was passed in 1994 and expired in 2004. The law prohibits the manufacture and sale of semi-automatic rifles with "military-style elements" such as pistol grips, as well as magazines with more than 10 rounds. However, a study funded by the Department of Justice in 2004 found no evidence that it reduced overall gun crime or made shootings less lethal. This should not come as a surprise since only about 3% of murders are committed with rifles (including semi-automatic ones such as the AR-15), while two-thirds of all gun crimes are committed with handguns. 9

In 8 out of 10 gun crime cases, the perpetrator was not the legal owner of the gun. "Law" obviously doesn't mean much to criminals. ten

These are some of the "inconvenient facts" that gun control advocates try not to mention.

“WEAPON-FREE ZONES” – FREE EXCEPT FOR GUNS OF CRIMINALS ​

As the Center for Crime Prevention Research notes, over the past six decades, 98.4% of mass public shootings have taken place in "gun-free zones" where the legal use of firearms is not allowed. Looking back at almost two decades from 1998 to 2015, 96% of mass public shootings took place in such "gun-free" areas. eleven

It is clear that this widespread approach to "gun reduction" in places such as schools, commercial areas, public open spaces, government property, houses of worship and medical facilities by creating "gun free zones" has not worked. On the contrary, it works great for criminals looking for a place where law-abiding citizens are prohibited from carrying firearms. Having an armed guard provides some protection, but knowing the exact location of such a person often makes them an easy target.

For example, the diary of the Batman movie theater killer, James Holmes, who killed 12 people and wounded 70 more in 2012 in Aurora, Colorado, reflects that he vacillated between an airport attack and a movie theater. He abandoned the airport option due to its "substantial security". Instead, Holmes decided to attack a movie theater (one of seven located near his apartment), which had signs forbidding concealed carry of weapons. 12

Another sad example is the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida in 2016. At least 50 people were killed and 53 others were injured. As commented in the British Daily Mail: "To aggravate the situation, it took three hours from the moment of the attack until the police entered the building." This is further evidence that law enforcement officers are unlikely to arrive in time to save lives.

As noted in a report from the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC):

Assailants tend to shoot at guards or uniformed officers first (the attack at Charlie Hebdo in Paris last year illustrates this point). Or they move to another place without uniformed officers. The first person to be shot dead in Orlando was an off-duty officer guarding a nightclub who was shot before Omar Mateen entered the nightclub. In this particular case, the police arrived at the scene only after the attack had been carried out. This illustrates another point: the police are simply unable to protect all possible victims.

It's hard to ignore that these shooters deliberately choose targets where they know the victims won't be able to defend themselves. And they do it for good reason, given the number of mass public shootings that have been stopped by covert gun holders with licenses. 13

Other points to consider:

81% of police officers support arming teachers and school administrators if they are properly trained and vetted. 14 Utah and Ohio are arming and training teachers. The survivor of the Columbine massacre is now a member of the state legislature and supports the arming of teachers, which the state of Colorado now allows. fifteen

After a school was attacked by terrorists in 1974, Israel mandated armed guards in schools, trained teachers in marksmanship, and often held active shooting exercises for them. There have only been two school shootings since then, and both ended with the teachers killing the terrorists. 16

The Marxist government in Venezuela has confiscated weapons from its population and now has one of the highest crime rates in the world, not to mention complete control over its (starving) population. 17

USE OF WEAPON FOR SELF DEFENSE

It is unlikely that gun control advocates ever discuss the use of firearms in self-defense. Two comprehensive studies have shown that there are between 1.5 million and 2.5 million defensive gun use cases in the United States each year. 18 19

This means that firearms are used 80 times more often to protect civilian lives than to take them away. The authors of the study explained:

Research consistently shows that victims who resist with firearms or other types of weapons are less likely than other victims to lose their property during robberies and burglaries.

Victims who resist with firearms are much less likely to be injured than those who resist in other ways, and are much less likely to be harmed than those who do not resist at all.

With regard to rapes, "it is much less common for an attempted rape to be completed if the victims fought back with some type of weapon." In fact, every year, 200,000 women successfully use firearms in self-defense against sexual abuse.

Commenting on gun control measures, the authors of the study warned that laws that restrict or discourage the legal use of guns could result in fewer "lives saved, injuries prevented, rape attempts stopped, [and] muggers expelled."

You may be asking, if there are so many instances of ordinary citizens using firearms in self-defense, why have we never heard of them? Good question! To make up for this lack of knowledge, let me share a few examples:

Houston, Texas, March 27, 2018. A woman in her 50s was in the driveway when she was ambushed by three armed masked men. They beat her, broke her jaw and took her wallet. But when they tried to enter her house, she was able to shoot them with a pistol and they drove off. twenty

Hemet, California February 14, 2018. The gun was used by an elderly couple to stop an intruder who had a history of violent crime in Southern California. 21

Stephen Wilford heroically intervened at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas on November 5, 2017. The killer, Devin Kelly, shot at the congregation when former NRA instructor Wilford ran barefoot from his house across the street with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, forcing Kelly to stop the attack, allegedly saving the lives of 20 wounded and possibly many more. 22

Lyman, South Carolina, June 30, 2016. Two weeks after the Orlando shooting, 32-year-old Jody Ray Thompson opened fire at another nightclub. He was able to shoot three people before another man with a concealed carry permit fired back and wounded Thompson in the leg. 23

Conyers, Georgia May 31, 2015 A man killed two people in a liquor store and continued shooting at others until the holder of a gun permit ran inside and returned fire. The killer escaped from the store. Rockdale County Sheriff Eric Levett commented, "In my opinion, he saved the lives of other people in this store." 24

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 22, 2015. A 40-year-old man started shooting at people in a barbershop. A passer-by who heard the shots ran inside and shot at the attacker. “The person who reacted had a permit to carry a gun. He stepped in and I think he saved a lot of people out there,” said Philadelphia police captain Frank Llewellyn. 25

Loganville, Georgia, January 4, 2013. The woman, hiding in the attic with her two children, fired several shots at the intruder before fleeing to safety. 26

Approximately 2.5 million self-defense firearms in the US each year suggest that there are more than 6,800 daily.

HIDDEN WEAPONING REDUCES CRIME

Opponents of the use of weapons by civilians generally fear that widespread "concealed carry" by ordinary citizens will result in unnecessary casualties, suggesting errors by inexperienced users. But the truth is that the vast majority of criminological studies have found that a law that requires governments to issue permits for concealed carry weapons with minimal restrictions reduces crime. These studies show that the number of violent crimes falls after laws allowing the carrying of weapons are passed, with a significant further decrease in crime as these laws are in place. 27

The Center for Crime Prevention Research reports that while concealed carry permits tripled during the first seven years of Obama's presidency, the homicide rate dropped 16% during the same period. 28

Other facts to consider:

Citizens with concealed carry permits are the safest segment of our society, as they are statistically less likely to commit murder than the police or the average member of society. 29

Florida's homicide rate has dropped 52% in the 15 years since the Concealed Carry Law was passed. thirty

In Kennesaw, Georgia, heads of families were required to own firearms. Attacks on homes decreased by 89%. Ten years later, the burglary rate was still 72% lower than before the law was passed. 31

Higher rates of criminal home invasion are found in gun control countries such as the UK 32 and Canada   33 than in the US. Homicide rates in London surpassed New York in February and March 2018 as the British capital experienced a sharp spike in knife attacks. 34

As expected, this sparked calls for "knife control" in the island nation. London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced a crackdown on knives in response to rising levels of violence, saying: "There are no excuses: there is no reason to carry a knife." (Seriously?) "Anyone who does this will be caught and they will feel the fullness of the law." 35

Given the "success" of gun control laws in the UK, I wouldn't be surprised at the prospect of a "knife control" law. But the madness is not limited to one nation. Here in the US, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for criminals who use guns to commit crimes. 36 In other words, do we need tougher laws for law-abiding citizens, but more leniency for criminals who deliberately use guns to commit violent crimes? Of course, this doesn't make any sense unless you're a left-wing gun control politician.

CHAPTER 9

THE RACIST ROOTS OF GUN CONTROL LAWS

Since a well organized popular militia is essential to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms must not be violated. Amendment II

The right to bear arms did not begin with the Second Amendment. On April 19, 1775, before the advent of the United States, the local militia (militia) of heavily armed colonists clashed and defeated British soldiers at Concord and Lexington. These colonists considered their rights sacred, as many of them perished.

English common law protected and even prescribed the possession of weapons, which were understood to be "weapons for attack or means of defense", and not just a device for hunting. In accordance with the Armament Assisi of 1181, King Henry II obliged all freemen of England to own and bear arms for the defense of the Kingdom, and forbade the lords to "alienate (i.e., take) them from their people." one

Of course, this right was not given to slaves in America, and often even free blacks did not have it. Gun control laws have been used to keep firearms out of the hands of African Americans since the earliest colonial days. In the New World, the earliest gun control laws were passed in the 1500s in what is now Mexico to maintain Spanish colonial rule. "Similarly, in the sixteenth century, the colony of New Spain, terrified by black slave revolts, forbade all blacks, free and slave, from bearing arms." 2 In Louisiana, French colonists outlawed black gun ownership. 3

The earliest American gun control laws were enacted just a few decades after the founding of the first English colonies. In 1640, the very first gun control law ever passed on these shores was passed in Virginia. He forbade blacks, even free people, from owning guns. four

Firearms became readily available in the post-Civil War years and were available to newly freed blacks and poor whites. In addition, blacks who served in the Civil War in the Union Army were allowed to keep their weapons. White supremacists saw this as a threat and passed laws to disarm blacks, but laws alone were not enough. In order to carry out the disarmament of blacks, the Ku Klux Klan was formed in 1866. They formed gangs throughout the south, traveling in large groups at night to terrorize black families and take their weapons. Black citizens without weapons could not fight back. 5

Several states, including Tennessee and Arkansas, have banned the sale of inexpensive handguns that most blacks could afford. Alabama and Texas have imposed heavy taxes on the sale of handguns for the same reason.

In the early 1900s, other states such as Florida and South Carolina banned the carrying and possession of handguns and repeating rifles, except for sheriffs and their "special deputies," which means "mercenary company and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)" . 6

Such gun control laws were not limited to the South. The Sullivan Act of 1911 required prospective gun owners in New York City to obtain permits from the police. For disadvantaged groups such as immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, Catholics, Jews and blacks, this was not possible. 7

Due to the "riots of 1967 and 1968", Congress was so "in a panic" that it passed the Gun Control Act of 1968:

cut off access to guns for blacks, and because they associated cheap guns with black ghettoes and believed that cheapness was especially characteristic of imported military surplus and mail-order traffic, they decided to cut off these sources, leaving over-the-counter purchases open to the wealthy. 8

DEFENSIVE USE OF FIREARMS BY AFRO-AMERICANS

As the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) noted in its report The Truth About Gun Control, Racism and Genocide, African Americans have a history of self-defense:

In contrast to gun restrictions, the freedom to bear arms repeatedly allowed black communities in America to defend themselves both before and after the Civil War. Private ownership of guns played an important role in protecting black communities in northern cities in the 1800s. City militias suppressed crowds of whites who attacked blacks in Providence (1831), New York (1834), Pittsburgh (1839), Boston (1843) and Philadelphia (1849).  9

Although blacks were generally excluded from official state militias, in several cities, black communities formed their own militias (militia). Black militias repelled white mob attacks on black neighborhoods in Philadelphia (1835) and Cincinnati (1841). ten

In Memphis in 1891, a group of black militiamen protected one hundred men who were threatened with lynching for three nights. The night the militias returned home, a white mob broke into the prison and lynched three blacks. eleven

After a series of beatings and murders of civil rights activists in the early 1960s by members of the Ku Klux Klan, armed blacks began to accompany the activists and guard their homes. Deacons for Defense and Justice were formed in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama from 1964-1965 to protect blacks and civil rights activists.

It is well known that many urban areas with strict gun control laws have a high crime rate. As the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) report notes:

Washington, D.C., a predominantly black city formerly known as the murder capital of the United States, has experienced a sharp drop in crime rates following a 2008 Supreme Court decision (the Heller decision) that establishes the Second Amendment as an individual's right to keep and bear arms without participating in militia. Heller has ruled that the extremely restrictive gun laws in the District of Columbia are unconstitutional, making it a crime for a person to load a gun while at home, effectively banning the use of guns in self-defense.  12

This decision was condemned by former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens on March 27, 2018 in The New York Times. He also called for the repeal of the Second Amendment. 13

The ACRU report continues:

According to gun control expert Dr. John Lott, more than 72,000 adults owned guns in Washington when Heller's decision was made.  Lott notes: "After the decision was made, almost a quarter of the adult population was suddenly able to legally use these weapons in self-defense." The county's crime rate dropped dramatically within five years of Heller's decision. Crimes with the use of weapons fell especially sharply. Robbery with guns fell 11.3%; gun attacks fell by 30.9%; and the homicide rate dropped by an astonishing 52.3%.

Lott also notes that after the Supreme Court lifted gun restrictions in Chicago in 2010, “murder and gun crime rates did not rise after the bans were removed—they dropped sharply. They have fallen far more than the national crime rate." fourteen

At the end of the report:

Gun control has proven to be a useful tool to oppress blacks politically and culturally in the United States, while at the same time making them vulnerable to criminals. By contrast, weapons in the hands of law-abiding citizens have repeatedly protected ethnic minorities while reducing crime in the most dangerous areas of cities.

GUN CONTROL AND NAZI GERMANY

As Stephen Holbrook noted in his book Gun Control in the Third Reich: Disarming the Jews and "enemies of the state" , our current gun control debate is nothing new. The same arguments for and against were made in the 1920s during the turbulent times of the German Weimar Republic, which enacted the registration of all firearms in 1931.

As described by Holbrook:

In 1933, the Nazis, led by Adolf Hitler, seized power and used [gun registration] records to identify, disarm, and attack political opponents and Jews. Constitutional rights were suspended, and mass searches and seizures of dissident weapons and publications began. The police withdrew the gun licenses of Social Democrats and others who were not "politically reliable". The Gestapo banned independent gun clubs and arrested their leaders. Gestapo consultant Werner Best issued a police directive banning the issuance of firearms permits to Jews.

In 1938, German Jews were ordered to hand over all their weapons, and the police had records of everyone who registered them. Even those who voluntarily surrendered their weapons were handed over to the Gestapo. Hitler instructed Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels to organize Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass. This massive operation, allegedly carried out in order to search for weapons, led to the looting of homes and businesses and the burning of synagogues.

SS chief Heinrich Himmler decreed that any Jew possessing a firearm would serve 20 years in a concentration camp. Rusty revolvers and bayonets from the Great War were confiscated from Jewish veterans who served with distinction. Twenty thousand Jews were thrown into concentration camps and forced to pay a ransom to be freed.

When France fell to the Nazis in 1940, The New York Times reported that the French were deprived of the same rights as the Germans, such as freedom of speech and ownership of firearms. The French who did not surrender their firearms within 24 hours were sentenced to death. fifteen

Most readers know what happened to the disarmed Jews and the "politically unreliable" during the Nazi rule. Well-meaning people in Weimar Germany, as they do today, advocated severe restrictions on gun ownership, such as a ban on certain weapons and registration. They could not foresee how the road to a hellish future is paved, in their opinion, by reasonable laws.

As noted in Chapter 3, in other major democides of the past century—Islamist Turkey, the Soviet Union, communist China, communist Cambodia, Guatemala, and Uganda—registration and confiscation of weapons preceded massacres in each of these countries.

In their wisdom, the Founding Fathers of our country clearly stated in the Bill of Rights that every American citizen has inalienable rights that come from our Judeo-Christian God, including the right to bear arms. Not for the purpose of hunting or sports shooting, but for self-defense. I believe what they believed: that it is a God-given right that no man or worldly power has the right to revoke. It's not just American law. The ability to protect yourself and your family is the right of every person on earth.

CHAPTER 10

POLICE OF THE WORLD GUARDS OF THE WORLD

"Peace Police Peace Militia" is a term my father used to describe how the citizens would defend the Kingdom of God. Through the Peace Police and the Peace Militia, as citizens of the Kingdom of God, we can take responsibility for protecting our precious, God-given freedoms.

It is a local expression of the love of Christ, based on the age-old principle of securing peace through power. The Peace Police and the Peace Militia require us to shift our thinking from a sheep mentality to a lion mentality:  “The wicked run when no one is pursued; but the righteous is bold as a lion . " Proverbs 28:1

The ability to fight and defend the Kingdom is an expression of love for God and His people. Self-defence is not only a natural right of citizens; it is part of their moral duty.

I have always been an avid fan of real martial arts, doing Brazilian Ju-Jitsu, Muay Thai boxing, Kali Escrima, Samurai sword and firearms. This passion was passed down to me from my father, who was a wrestler in his youth and an avid fisherman, hunter, martial arts and self-defense advocate throughout his life. Many do not know this, but my father created one of the first weapons companies in South Korea, which produced air weapons, and later the M1 carbine and the Vulkan anti-aircraft machine gun for the South Korean army. He felt most comfortable in nature and was the kind of person who could (and did) survive in any situation. He survived the infamous North Korean concentration camp. He survived unjust imprisonment and torture during the occupation of Korea by imperialist Japan. With such a terrible experience behind me,

Working with young people is a central theme of my ministry. I and other instructors in our congregation teach mixed martial arts techniques, which include Brazilian Ju Jitsu, Kali Escrima, Muay Thai and marksmanship training. I emphasize that the goal of training is for us to become more effective in loving God and loving our neighbor. If we love the Kingdom, we must be willing to fight for it. Some Christians may think that when the Kingdom comes, Christ will do everything, and we can stand aside and enjoy life in Heaven. Some look forward to a quasi-socialist state where you can live on everything ready. But this point of view does not coincide with the Bible, Jesus explained our responsibility (Matt. 19:28): “Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you that you who have followed me are in everlasting life, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, you will also sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Also in Matthew chapter 24: “ Who is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has appointed over his servants, to give them food at the right time? Blessed is that servant whose master, when he comes, will find him doing so; Truly I say to you that he will set him over all his possessions.”

Or 1 Corinthians 6:2 Paul writes: “ Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? But if the world be judged by you, are you not worthy to judge unimportant things?”

To be co-heirs with Christ means to join him in the government of the kingdom, upholding justice and casting out all that is evil and unclean. God gave His children free will; He will not take it away from us, because in this case we would turn into robots, unable to truly love Him. Love requires a choice regarding its reciprocity. There is free will, so even after the return of Christ, there will always be the potential for evil. The dormancy of evil and its awakening is described in Revelation 20:7-10. The war between Gog and Magog takes place after 1000 years of Christ's reign on earth; evil gathers together to attack Christ. Co-heirs of Christ must be prepared to overcome demonic power.

RESISTANCE TO DISARMAMENT  

" To disarm the people ... is the most effective way to enslave them ," George Mason, in regard to the advice given to the British Parliament by the Governor of Pennsylvania, Sir William Keith, Debate in the Assemblies of Several States on the Adoption of a Federal Constitution, June 14, 1788 .

“In order for a standing army to rule, the people must be disarmed, as is done in almost every European country. In America, the supreme power cannot impose unjust laws by the force of the sword; all because the masses of the people are armed and represent a force that surpasses any collection of regular troops" - Noah Webster, An Inquiry into the Guiding Principles of the Federal Constitution, October 10, 1787 .

The fight for freedom began with American colonists who resisted British attempts to disarm them. Relations between the colonists and Britain escalated so much that the Americans rejected the authority of royal rule and began to create a completely autonomous militia (militia). one

After the militia's victory at Lexington Green and Concord in 1775, Britain struck back by taking and destroying the colony's firearms:

"In Virginia, they seized twenty barrels of gunpowder from a public store in Williamburg and removed the bolts from the guns, rendering them unusable." 2

By 1777, it was clear that the colonists were likely to fail. Deputy Colonial Minister William Knoch, wishing to prevent the development of an uprising, ordered:

“The Laws on the Militia should be repealed and should not be adopted in the future, weapons should be withdrawn from the entire population ... in America there should be no casting enterprises, no production of weapons, as well as gunpowder and ammunition, unlicensed importation of gunpowder, lead, weapons should be prohibited and ammunition."  3

It was the stubborn resistance of the Americans against the seizure of their weapons, both on an individual and collective level, that allowed them to win in the end.

The right to bear arms and form militias against government tyranny is part of the American DNA: “Sir, what good is a militia? It prevents the dominance of a standing army, a strangler of freedom... Every time, encroaching on the rights and freedoms of people, the government tries to destroy the militia in order to raise an army on its ruins. (Rep. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, Annals of Congress I, 750, August 17, 1789).

In defiance of the gun ban, the Militia Act of 1792 made gun ownership and militia membership a duty rather than a free choice. four

The Second Amendment was written as a means of protecting American citizens from any future despots. It was a kind of insurance certificate that the people could deal with the government if necessary, while the citizens would be able to use force as a last resort. The local militia was such a substantial control in the way of government power. The authors of the Constitution paid special attention to the formation of the militia, which was supposed to perform the functions previously assigned to the standing federal army. Most of the Founding Fathers saw the standing army as the second self of a tyrannical government.

The Tenth Amendment was added to the Bill of Rights only to emphasize that the federal government has only that power specifically assigned to it by the Constitution:  "Powers not reserved to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it against the States, are reserved, respectively, for the States, or for the people . "

It was introduced specifically as a separate reminder and warning to those forces that contribute to the growth of centralized power like a cancerous tumor. Obviously, this was not enough.

Since the passage of the 10th Amendment, the federal government has spent trillions of taxpayer dollars on things that are not in the Constitution at all. Where in the Constitution is the executive branch empowered to create federal agencies with tens of thousands of regulations? These regulations affect the law, but the creation of new laws is the exclusive privilege of Congress. Who is able to resist this swollen bureaucratic machine, which is not going to moderate its appetites?

OPPOSITION CATTLE BUNDY

What character traits do you need to have in order to resist a federal government that oversteps its boundaries? Consider the story of the Bundy family of Southern Nevada.

Ammon Bundy and his brothers grew up on the family ranch in Clark County, Nevada. The ranch was founded by their great-great-grandfather in 1877. For five generations, the Bundy family drove cattle along Mount Bunkerville. Their homestead was founded before the first resident appeared in Las Vegas. Nevada, as a state, existed for only 13 years.

Bundy's great-grandfathers built water gutters and kept water storage tanks for livestock. Cleven Bundy, Ammon's father, expanded the aquifer system, which played a significant role in the improvement of the desert's wildlife, making it suitable for hunting and tourism. His hard work improved the state's industry at no cost to taxpayers.

In 1890, the state of Nevada created a registry so pastoralists and other citizens could register their water and pasture rights. Thus, the grazing right was recorded and protected by the state of Nevada. These rights to livestock and pastures were duly registered, just as a person's right to own a house is registered. These rights could be sold, bought or pledged. This means that the government could not seize them without compensation. They are the circulatory system of the ranch and a significant legacy of the Bundy family. 5

Fish and the US Conservation Service, an executive branch agency, intervened, which in 1989 listed the desert tortoise as an endangered species. A year later, its status was already described as "critically endangered". 6

Another executive branch agency, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), also intervened. It has placed hundreds of thousands of acres of federal land near Las Vegas under strict conservation, primarily to protect the desert tortoise. Among the conservation measures, they demanded a halt to grazing and also imposed severe restrictions on the use of off-road vehicles in the turtles' protected habitat. 7

In early 1990, BLM trespassed on Bundy's property, demanding an end to all farming activities on the land. They told the Bundy family that the federal government did not recognize their grazing rights and that they should remove all of their livestock.

BLM set up offices on the ranch and put up signs that read:  "No bellowing in '92" and "By '93 cattle-free zone!"

Cleven Bundy told them that they had no right to take away his family's inheritance. In reality, these federal agencies had no legislative constitutional power to dispose of the land within the state, and therefore it was not within their jurisdiction to charge him or prosecute him.

In August 2014, BLM teamed up with 4 other federal agencies in order to strengthen their illegal claims and destroy the farm. A massive military complex with 200 armed mercenaries was erected on the border. They attacked the Bundy family with stun guns, slammed them into the ground and set the dogs on them. Cattle were brutally rounded up by helicopters and driven to death. Newborn calves were left to die of thirst or be devoured by coyotes. Dead cattle were thrown into mass graves dug by federal excavators. BLM also began to destroy the water infrastructure built by the Bundy family over a hundred years ago. They were told that if they resisted in any way, it would turn into another Waco or Ruby Ridge. 9

Long before that, word had spread, and Bundy quickly began to gain the support of activists, self-defence members, constitutional advocates, and members of sovereign civic movements. Their supporters traveled hundreds of miles across the country to support beleaguered farmers. Among them was veteran Brandon Rapolla. “I am a dedicated Christian,” he said, “I have prayed deeply about this. And in less than 24 hours, I packed my belongings and headed there . ” ten

Although the Feds anticipated some rebuff, they could not anticipate the hundreds of self-defense members who overwhelmingly outnumbered the federal agent compound. The BLM was eventually left with no other choice but to retreat when confronted by a group of peaceful but stubborn and mostly armed people, men and women, standing up for their God-given rights.

However, BLM didn't stop there. They needed to teach the Bundy family a lesson. For if one ant thinks it can resist, the whole colony may think it can resist. The next step was to put all the men of the Bundy family in prison, leaving their wives and children to run the ranch alone. According to CNN report:

… according to court documents. Bundy and several others—including his sons Ryan and Ammon Bundy—appeared in federal supreme court for opposing federal land managers on the open ranch where the Bundy family herded their cattle two years earlier. eleven

In December 2017, U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro overturned the ruling, declaring a miscarriage of justice, and they were released from prison. 12

Throughout the long confrontation, Bundy did not threaten anyone and did not cause physical harm to anyone. On the other hand, FBI agents fatally shot family friend Lava Finikum while he got out of his car and put his hands up at a road block set up by the feds. He was shot in the back and had no weapons in his hands. 13

In Nevada, federal agencies have removed 5,072 water rights from the public, leaving them to fend for themselves. In its geographic region, Cleven Bundy Ranch was the last of 53. 14

Despite the best intentions of the Founding Fathers, the Constitution could not prevent the swelling of the federal government, whose methods of extortion were incomparably greater than those used by King George III in relation to the American colonies.

The Bundy family provided the greatest example of the character and courage needed to stand up to the abuses of federal power and defend the freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Needless to say, without the Second Amendment, they would not have been able to save their ranch.

DEFENDERS OF THE KINGDOM

In my opinion, the Bundy family embodies the spirit of the Peace Police and the Peace Militia. These are people who are ready to defend the Kingdom of God. The kingdom will not be molded from bonded Christians who have turned over their freedoms to an insatiable centralized authority that is often unaccountable and gladly oversteps its constitutional boundaries. The Bundy family and their supporters risked their lives to rise up against federal forces trying to increase their power through control of the local economy, arresting dissidents and even killing them.

The Peace Police and the Peace Militia are law-abiding, freedom-loving people, ready to defend what is rightfully theirs. The Peace Police take responsibility for maintaining order and security within the community. The Peace Militia has the responsibility of defending the nation from enemies, both foreign and domestic.

Government is meant to be a servant of humanity, not a ruler. It is the responsibility of the Peace Police and the Peace Militia to ensure that the government remains in its subservient position.

To participate in the Peace Police and the Peace Militia means to become the protector of your community and nation. Following God's command, we put into practice the most important of the commandments - to love God and love your neighbor.

CHAPTER 11

CHOICE

When people stop believing in God, they don't stop believing at all, but they believe in anything. Gilbert Chesterton

Legislators in the German Weimar Republic who in 1931 passed laws for the registration of all firearms may have had good intentions. Little did they know that in just two years the Nazis would seize power and use these records to identify, disarm, and attack Jews and political opponents.

It's tempting to take our freedoms in America for granted. We have been blessed with freedom and prosperity not dreamed of in many parts of the world. We believe that the American people can never be deprived of their freedoms without their consent. But I think a lot of that has already happened.

In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (5-4) that the belief in natural marriage between one man and one woman is an expression of an irrational bias and is therefore unconstitutional. At that moment, those who believed in natural marriage, including tens of millions of devoted Christians, suddenly became fanatics in the eyes of the law. What was widely accepted and understood by most Americans just a few years earlier has now become a shameful sign of malicious prejudice.

If something as fundamental as marriage can suddenly be overruled by one of the Supreme Court's votes, is there anything that can't be thrown out with a "progressive" interpretation? First amendment? Second amendment? Fourth?

We have already seen calls for the repeal of the Second Amendment from a former Supreme Court Justice and other public figures. We have seen leaders of one political party calling for weapons to be banned and even confiscated.

In April 2018, a Chicago suburb introduced a ban on "assault weapons," which includes semi-automatic pistols and semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15. If 18,000 residents of Deerfield, Illinois carry or possess one of these firearms, they can be fined up to $1,000 per day. One of the gun owners told the city council, "You are the bureaucrats that Thomas Jefferson warned us about!" one

We have seen much of the country's media focus on youth who accuse Second Amendment supporters of having children's blood on their hands, even when it is clear on several occasions that it was the government that repeatedly failed to prevent or stop mass shootings.

Because of this shifting of blame to citizens who had nothing to do with these horrendous acts, America is potentially one or two steps away from turning millions of law-abiding gun owners into criminals overnight.

WE FOLLOW WHAT YOU SAY

As discussed in Chapter 5, the courage to speak publicly about rape and violence committed by immigrants in several European countries has led to the condemnation of “hate speech” not by those who commit criminal acts, but by journalists or bloggers who honestly report what is happening. .

I personally witnessed restrictions on free speech in Europe when I attended the Arms for Defense conference last year in Lausanne, Switzerland. Several people with expertise in the field declined to participate, explaining that they were risking their careers by talking about gun rights in a public forum.

Free speech still exists in US theory, but increasingly not in practice. At the University of Michigan and other campuses, speakers with conservative views have been prevented from speaking, both by threats and by actual acts of violence. 2 Meanwhile, campus security and police were ordered to stand back and allow these protesters to destroy private property and prevent invited guests from giving their presentations. Campus "leftists" also took action to revoke 3 conservative student group statutes and take legal action against conservatives for "thought crimes". four

Whether we want to admit it or not, the spirit of self-righteous Brownshirts is alive and well on many school campuses, with the connivance of the same moral cowardice of school administrators that allowed fascism to rise in Europe in the 1930s.

The problem is not only that conservative speakers have been cancelled. Despite many well-funded "diversity" programs, most American universities are no different from one another in terms of the ideas and political affiliations of their professors. A 2016 study of faculty voter registration at 40 top universities found that out of more than 7,000 professors, Democrats outnumbered Republicans 12 to 1, making it unlikely that many, if any, conservative views will be represented to students.

Of the five departments analyzed, the least hostile area for conservative scholars was economics, where there were still 4.5 "leftist" professors for every conservative. History was by far the most conservative-hostile faculty, with the "left" outnumbering the conservatives 33:1. 5

Our understanding of the past shapes our perception of what is valuable to our nation and in which direction to move in the future. Because of this imbalance of points of view in our universities, socialism is predicted to grow in popularity among young people. The truth is that many students never learned about the problematic and even deadly history of socialism. Most of them have never heard of the enormous sacrifices required to establish the freedoms they take for granted.

Ken Holmes, a distinguished fellow at the Heritage Foundation, expressed his concern that the growing intellectual homogeneity in academia does not bode well for the health of the American Republic:

This is no longer an attempt to teach people to think critically, but an attempt to instill in them a certain point of view. 6

Students who have been taught to avoid ideas that make them uncomfortable are less concerned about protecting the right to free speech. But it is this right that allows Americans to discuss, compare, test ideas, and find solutions. Without this right, we are simply no longer a free country.

The problem is not just on campuses. Youtube, Facebook and Twitter have teamed up with "leftist" groups such as the Soros-funded Southern Poverty Law Center to shut down broadcasts of conservative, Christian, and pro-Second Amendment organizations as allegedly "hate speech." Youtube stopped us from streaming on our Church channels for months, claiming our videos were "spam".

Two-thirds of all videos watched by the younger generation in the US 7 are on Youtube. Its owner, Google, claims it is an "open platform". But more than 40 Prager University videos have been placed on a "restricted" list on Youtube, making it difficult for many young people to access these videos or even know they exist.

Try looking for "restricted" videos such as "Why Isn't Communism as Hated as Nazism?" (“Why is communism not as hated as Nazism?”) and “Immigrants! Don't Vote for What you Fled" 8 ("Immigrants! Don't vote for those you're running from"). Consider if there is any reason to call them "dangerous"? The answer is no, unless you think anything that challenges the left-wing "multicultural" dominance of the word is too harmful for young people to even consider.

The term "politically correct" was coined in the late 1920s by the Communist Party in the Soviet Union to describe how the views of party members should be aligned. The "leftists" on American college campuses are demanding a similar crackdown on views and free speech that do not follow their "party line." 9

As mentioned earlier, our own Youtube channel "Newfoundland Sanctuary Church" was closed on February 28, 2018. It was the day of our Blessing of registration in the Book of Life. Thus, many church members and others around the world were prevented from watching the live broadcast. We are developing alternative venues to ensure that such ideological failures don't happen again, but the biggest harm comes from those who Youtube doesn't even let know that our streams exist.

The "left's" attacks on free speech are real and disturbing, but at least there are alternative media where conservative and biblical views can be expressed. My father, who has invested hundreds of millions in establishing the Washington Times as an alternative voice in the nation's capital, would be pleased to see "left" dominance in the dissemination of information challenged.

It is disturbing to see how communist China praises Western countries for following its practice of restricting free speech on the Internet. The state- run Global Times in China announced gleefully in an editorial, "Social media management appears to be a trend of governments" 10 that suppress alleged "fake news" and unauthorized opinions. This will only drive ideas underground instead of allowing them to be tested and studied for their strengths and weaknesses. Of course, what most authoritarian governments fear is a real competition of ideas.

We should let people from all over the political spectrum, not the government or Youtube/Facebook/Twitter censors, figure out for themselves what constitutes "fake news".

THE PROBLEM WITH "MULTICULTURALISM"

Immigrants in America practiced and celebrated the culture and language of their home country even as they sought to adapt to the prevailing American culture. In the case of my own family, while my parents spoke mainly Korean, I remember my father staying up late into the night to learn as many words of English as possible. He was proud that my brothers, sisters and I spoke English fluently, but he was not pleased with the liberal "progressive" influences that were taking over America.

The expectation that immigrants to the US would assimilate began to change in the 1970s and 1980s with demands that government agencies actively work to assert unique minority identities. This approach is called "multiculturalism". It is defined as "supporting the presence in society of several different cultural or ethnic groups". eleven

It has also been defined as:

… the view that cultures, races and ethnic groups, especially minority groups, deserve special recognition within the dominant political culture. This recognition may take the form of recognition of contributions to the cultural life of the political community as a whole, a claim for special protection under the law for certain cultural groups, or autonomous rights of governance for certain cultures. 12

While this sounds good in theory, in practice multiculturalism challenges the ideal of a constitutional republic, which is that all citizens should be treated equally under the law. The practice of multiculturalism by the governments of many European countries has resulted in the concentration of large groups of unassimilated immigrants who feel alienated from the prevailing culture. Areas have been created where the values ​​of freedom of speech and religion do not apply.

This approach has also led governments to criminalize discussion and reporting of issues arising from these policies. Those who express concerns about the risks of non-assimilated immigrants are accused of being "full of hate", "racists", or "Islamophobes". It takes courage to confront such accusations, but it has always been the case for those who dare to question the status quo.

To give another example, the Women's March was organized after the election of Donald Trump with the goal of "dismantling systems of oppression" and "creating inclusive structures guided by self-determination, dignity and respect." 13

However, their commitment to "dignity and respect" for women was shown in an odd way when they condemned the closure of the Backpage website . Backpage promotes prostitution and trafficking in women and girls 14 but Women's March organizers say that "sex workers' rights are women's rights." fifteen

The "left" is quick to declare that they really care about women's rights. If so, why are they supporting an organization that promotes human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation and prostitution? Why are they silent about Muslim men in many European countries who harass, rape or attack women who want to freely walk the streets of their neighborhoods, as they have done all their lives? 16

These "leftists" seem to be unaware of and oblivious to the history of the abolitionist Christians who led the anti-slavery movements in the United Kingdom, other European countries, and the United States in the 19th century. They do not seem to understand that they will be among the first to be attacked, imprisoned or liquidated in an Islamized Europe. The massacre of journalists in the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris is just one example of what can happen.

Since the politics of multiculturalism does nothing to challenge Islamist extremism and instead creates an environment in which it can grow, why do the "leftists" continue to promote them? Is their goal to destroy the Judeo-Christian foundation of the West stronger than their supposed desire to preserve a society where women can walk the city streets in the clothes of their choice without being harassed or raped?

As I learned from my father, the Left has always been against Peace through Strength. If we had followed their policies in the 1980s instead of those of President Reagan, there could still be a Soviet Union exporting communism around the world. My father always insisted that without a foundation of biblical moral values, Western liberal democracies would not be able to resist the external and internal forces bent on their destruction.

WHAT CHOICE DO WE MAKE?

As I have said many times in this book, each of us is responsible for our own self-defense. It is illusory to think that governments can always protect us. When they try to do this, they often use tactics that only reinforce the "police state".

There is another approach that I believe will protect freedom and provide security, but that means taking responsibility instead of "outsourcing" all our security needs to "professionals". If families are armed, criminals and would-be tyrants will hesitate before trying to take advantage of or oppress them. The fact that all the Swiss were armed was an important reason why Hitler was afraid to invade this country. So far, the satanic kings have been the ones who have monopolized power. The time has come for the sons and daughters of God who do not want to oppress anyone, to protect their families, communities and “kingdoms”.

As followers of Christ, we are commanded to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus explained what this meant when he said, “There is no greater love than that of a man laying down his life for his friends.” (Gospel of John 15:13)

Aaron Face, the football coach at Stoneman Douglas High School, showed such love when he protected the students with his body. My question is: would you trust such a person not only to protect two students, but also to save more lives? I would trust. If Face were armed, he would have the means to prevent more people from losing their lives.

The "professional" appointed by the government, a deputy sheriff who had a gun and wore a bulletproof vest, decided not to enter the school until the danger had passed. Jesus didn't say "the greatest love is calling 911 and waiting for someone else to do something." When good people have the ability to defend themselves, malicious people will have to reconsider their desires and lifestyle.

Evil preys on the weak. We should strive to learn how to wield the Iron Rod, not to oppress others, but to protect others. The Rod of Iron is the ultimate equalizer and power multiplier against real corporate evil and tyranny. For materialists, this can be difficult to understand, because for them a gun is just a murder weapon.

But, from a spiritual point of view, the man (not the gun) is the problem. Is the person who wields the Iron Rod responsible, noble, chivalrous and sacrificial, like Christ? Is this person ready to give his life for friends, to love God and his neighbor? Is the Kingdom ruled by the Rod of Iron a Kingdom that respects and protects the freedoms and rights that God has given to all His children?

The era when the government centralizes and dominates all aspects of life is over. Families should no longer delegate control of their health, education, and survival to bureaucracies whose agendas do not align with or tolerate God's values. As co-kings and queens of Christ, we must claim the sovereignty that God has given us, not to oppress others as satanic leaders do, but to empower and protect all the peoples of this world.

Thank God, have a good journey and may His Kingdom come !

CHAPTER 1

1 Chronology of the shooting at the Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL based on reports from the Miami Herald. David Ovalle, Charles Rabin, David Smiley And Carli Tepoff, “Disgraced Parkland deputy heard shots inside school building, told cops to stay away,” Miami Herald, March 8, 2018.

2 Eric Levenson and Joe Sterling, “These are the victims of the Florida school shooting,” CNN, February 21, 2018.

3 Liam Stack, “Clooney, Winfrey and Spielberg Donate Money for March

against Gun Violence,” New York Times, February 20, 2018.​

4 Carol Marbin Miller And Kyra Gurney, “Shooter revealed gory fantasies to his therapists years before the Parkland massacre,” Miami Herald, March 9, 2018.

5 Guy Benson, “More Signs: Parkland Killer Revealed 'Gory Fantasies,' Violent Impulses to Therapists For Years,” Townhall.com, March 12, 2018.

6 Paul Sperry, “Behind Cruz's Florida Rampage, Obama's School-Leniency Policy,” RealClear Investigations, www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2018/02/28/obama_administration_school_discipline_policy_and_the_parkland_shooting.html

7 Ryan Nicol, “Does Broward Schools' Program Coddle Troubled Students and Excuse Dangerous Behavior?” Sunshine State News, February 28, 2018.

8 Tim Craig, Emma Brown, Sarah Larimer and Moriah Balingit, “Teachers say Florida suspect's problems started in middle school, and

9 “School to Prison Pipeline,” American Civil Liberties Union, https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline

10 Ryan Nicol, “Does Broward Schools' Program Coddle Troubled Students and Excuse Dangerous Behavior?” Sunshine State News, February 28, 2018.

CHAPTER 3

1 Immanuel Kant, “What is Enlightenment?” 1784.

2 Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science, translated, with Commentary, by Walter Kaufmann, Vintage Books, 1974.

3 Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols AND The Anti-Christ, Translated by RJ Hollingdale, Introduction by Michael Tanner. Penguin Books. 1990.

4 Friedrich Nietzsche (Author), R. Kevin Hill (Editor, Translator, Introduction), The Will to Power, Penguin Books, 2017.

5 Rummel, Rudolph J., Power kills: democracy as a method of nonviolence, Transaction Publishers, New York, NY, 1997.

6 Further discussion of these 7 examples of democide can be read in the article “Gun Control and Genocide,” posted 5/14/2016. https://archive.org/stream/FiveCasesOfGenocideInTheTwentiethCentury19151995101/Gun%20Control%20and%20Genocide%20-%20Mercyseat.net-16_djvu.txt

7 Scott Manning, “Communist Body Count,” December 4, 2006. https://scottmanning.com/content/communist-body-count/

8 New York Times Statement About 1932 Pulitzer Prize Awarded to Walter Duranty, https://www.nytco.com/new-york-times-statement-about-1932-pulitzer-prize-awarded-to-walter-duranty/ 9 Mary Anastasia O'Grady, “Why Venezuela Suffers: The regime enters phase two of its plan for a Pan-American revolution,” Jan. 21, 2018, Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-venezuela-suffers-1516566034

10 Ibid.

11 Persecution and Forgotten? A report of Christians Persecution and Oppression in the World 2015 – 2017. https://acnuk.org/country-profiles/

CHAPTER 4

1 Dinesh D'Souza, The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left, Regnery Publishing, 2017, p. eight.

2 David Boaz, “What FDR had in common with the other charismatic collectivists of the 30s,” Reason, October 2007. Reprinted by the Cato Institute, https://www.cato.org/commentary/hitler-mussolini-roosevelt

3 David Boaz, “Hitler, Mussolini, Roosevelt: What FDR had in common with the other charismatic collectivists of the 30s,” Reason, October, 2007.

4 Wolfgang Schivelbusch, Three New Deals: reflections on Roosevelt's America, Mussolini's Italy, and Hitler's Germany, 1993-1939, Picador, New York, 2006.

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid.​

7 F.A. Hayek, The Road to SERFDOM, Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, University of Chicago Press, 1995.

8 Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, “Column Stars a Culture War,” Inside Higher Ed, December 1, 2017.

9 List of ethnic groups in the United States by household income,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_groups_in_the_United_States_by_household_income .

10 Dinesh D'Souza, “The 'Anti-Fascist' Fascist,” The Daily Caller, 7/31/2017. http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/31/the-anti-fascist-fascist/

11 Dinesh D'Souza, The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left, Regnery Publishing, 2017.

12 Karl Zinsmeister, The “Anti-Hate” Group that Is a Hate Group,” November 1, 2017. https://www.prageru.com/courses/political-science/anti-hate-group-hate-group

13 Zinnmeister, op cit.

CHAPTER 5

1 Magdy Samaan and Declan Walsh, “Egypt Declares State of Emergency, as Attacks Undercut Promise of Security,” New York Times, April 9, 2017.

2 Mustafa Akyol, “Why the Middle East's Christians are Under Attack,” New York Times, May 26, 2017.

3 Eliza Griswold, “Is This the End of Christianity in the Middle East?” New York Times, July 22, 2015.

4 http://global100.adl.org/#map

5 “Farrakhan Again Describes Hitler as a 'Very Great Man'” New York Times, July 17, 1984. See also, https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/15/nyregion/editors-note-157088. html

6 Thane Rosenbaum, “Palestinians are rewarding terrorists. The US Should stop enabling them,” The Washington Post, April 28, 2017.

7 Eli Lake, “The Palestinian Incentive Program for Killing Jews,” Bloomberg News, July 1, 2016.

8 Ibid.​

9 Evelyn Gordon, “Stop Subsidizing Terror Murder,” Commentary, June 30, 2016.

10 Lizzie Dearden, “Mohammed Abu Khdeir murder: Israeli man convicted of burning Palestinian teenager to death in revenge killing,” Independent, April 19, 2016.

11 Pew Research Center's 2013 survey report, “The World's Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society.” http://www.pewforum.org/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-beliefs-about-sharia/

12 David French, “Dispelling the 'Few Extremists' Myth – the Muslim World Is Overcome with Hate,” National Review, December 7, 2015.

13 BESA: A CODE OF HONOR- Muslim Albanians Who Rescued Jews During the Holocaust, http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/besa/index.asp

14 Dan McLaughlin, “A Timeline Of Islamic Expansion In The Dark Ages,” https://www.redstate.com/dan_mclaughlin/2013/05/22/a-timeline-of-islamic-expansion-in-the-dark-ages /

15 https://muslimreformmovement.org

16 Hussein Aboubakr, “Where Are the Moderate Muslims?” https://youtu.be/Y9Enx4XxO1E

17 “Banished at Brandeis: The university yanks an honorary degree for Ayaan Hirsi Ali,” Wall Street Journal, April 9, 2014.

18 Guy Milliére, “France: Toward Total Submission to Islam, Destruction of Free Speech,” Gatestone Institute, March 19, 2018.

19 Ingrid Carqvist and Lars Hedegaard, “Sweden: Rape Capital of the West Gatestone Institute, Feb. 14, 2015. https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/5195/sweden-rape

20 Ibid.

21 Melissa Eddy, “Reports of Attacks on Women in Germany Heighten Over Migrants,” The New York Times, January 5, 2016.

22 Soeren Kern, “Germany: Asylum for Cash Scandal,” Gatestone Institute, May 22, 2018.

CHAPTER 6

1 John P. Pratt, “The Prophetic Dream That Saved Martin Luther,” July 14, 2010, Meridian Magazine, http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/meridian/2010/luther.html ..

2 Martin Luther, Luther's Works, 33: Career of the Reformer III,” (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1972) https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/4878257-luther-s-works-33 -career-of-the-reformer-iii-luther-s-works

3 Nicholas P. Miller, “Luther, Locke, and Human Dignity,” July/August 2017, http://libertymagazine.org/article/luther-locke-and-human-dignity

4 John Adams, “From John Adams to James Warren, 22 April 1776,” Founders Online. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-04-02-0052 .

5 John Adams, “From John Adams to Massachusetts Militia, 11 October 1798,” Founders Online. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-04-02-0052 .

6 Edward Lynch, “Latin American American democracy is crumbling under-corruption” The Hill, March 28, 2018. http://thehill.com/opinion/international/380482-latin-american-democracy-is-crumbling-under-corruption

7 Ibid.

8 Hernando De Soto, The Other Path: the Economic Answer to Terrorism (New York: Basic Books, 1989).

9 https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/madame-cj-walker

10 Tucker, marc. “Are We Just Fooling Ourselves? Is American Education aColossal Failure? Education Week, April 10, 2015. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/top_performers/2015/04/are_we_just_fooling_ourselves_is_american_education_a_colossal_failure.html

11 Holmquist, Annie. “How a 1934 New York Graduation Exam Shows How Far Academic Standards Have Fallen.” Intellectual Takeout, May 10, 2018, http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/how-1934-new-york-graduation-exam-shows-how-far-academic-standards-have-fallen

12 Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (ed. AA Lipscome and AEBergh) Volume XV (Washington DC: The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association 1905) 219-224 https://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/jefflet.html .

13 Constitutional Rights Foundation: Bill of Rights in Action, Fall 2010 (Volume 26, No.1) http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-26-1-the -virginia-statute-for-religious-freedom.html

14 Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 17, 157-61 ​ http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendI_religions40.html

CHAPTER 7

1Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Godlessness: the First Step to the Gulag, http://www.pravoslavie.ru/47643.html

2 Charles Carroll, Letter to John McHenry. http://www.faithofourfathers.net/carroll.html

3 Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Light and the Glory (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Revel, 2009), 324.

4 Marshall and Manuel, 324.

CHAPTER 8

1 “Emma Gonzalez's powerful March for Our Lives speech in full – video, March 24, 2018, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2018/mar/24/emma-gonzalezs-powerful -march-for-our-lives-speech-in-full-video

2 “Parkland Student Cameron Kasky: “Welcome to the Revolution,” March

24, 2018, https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/03/24/parkland_student_cameron_kasky_welcome_to_the_revolution.html .

3 David Hogg: “Our Parents Don't Know How To Use AF*cking Democracy, So We Have To,” March 23, 2018 , html

4 March for Our Lives, Washington, DC, March 14, 2018. https://www.facebook.com/Mediamatters/videos/10155393898351167/

5 Schumer to Walkout Students: This Time Gun Control Won't Fail “Because We Have You,” March 14, 2018, https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/03/14/schumer_to_walkout_students_this_time_gun_control_wont_fail_because_we_have_you.html

6 “Parkland student and Second Amendment advocate asks why he wasn't invited to speak at weekend rally,” March 25, 2018, https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/03/25/parkland-student-and -second-amendment-advocateasks-why-he-wasnt-invited-to-speak-at-weekend-rally?

7 Eric Swalwell, “Ban assault weapons, buy them back, go after resisters: Ex-prosecutor in Congress,” USA Today, May 3, 2018.

8 Erica Thomas Full One-On-One Interview with Tucker Carlson, 3/26/2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89qeWpeqlVw

9 “Fact-Checking Feinstein on the Assault Weapons Ban,” ProPublica, September 24, 2014, https://www.propublica.org/article/fact-checking-feinstein-on-the-assault-weapons-ban Also, see “2016 Crime in the United States, Expanded Homicide Data Table 4: Murder Victims by Weapon, 2012-2016” at FBI.gov

10 David French, “Study: the Vast Majority of Gun Crime Isn't Committed by Lawful Gun Owners,” National Review, August 12, 2016. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/study-vast-majority-gun -crime-isnt-committed-lawful-gun-owners/

11 More misleading information from Bloomberg's Everytown for Gun Safety on guns: “Analysis of Recent Mass Shootings,” Showing how mass public shootings keep occurring in gun-free zones, Crime Prevention Research Center, September, 2014. https://crimeresearch.org /2018/05/more-misleading-information-from-bloombergs-everytown-for-gun-safety-on-guns-analysis-of-recent-mass-shootings/

12 “Vince Vaughn explains the obvious: how mass killers pick out venues where their victims are sitting ducks,” Crime Research Prevention Center, June 1, 2015. https://crimeresearch.org/2015/06/vince-vaughn-explains- the-obvious-how-mass-killers-pick-out-venues-where-their-victims-are-sitting-ducks/

13 Mass Public Shooting in Florida occurred in ANOTHER gun-free zone: 49 dead in a shooting at an Orlando nightclub, Crime Prevention Research Center, June 12, 2016. https://crimeresearch.org/2016/06/mass-shooting- in-florida-occurred-in-another-gun-free-zone-as-many-as-20-people-died-in-a-shooting-at-an-orlando-nightclub/

14 Ron Avery, “Police Gun Control Survey: Are legally-armed citizens the best solution to gun violence?”  Police One Firearms Corner, April8, 2013. https://www.policeone.com/gun-legislation-law-enforcement/articles/6186552-Police-Gun-Control-Survey-Are-legally-armed-citizensthe-best-solution -to-gun-violence/

15 “US gun laws: Colorado to arm teachers in classrooms,” BBC News, June 21, 2017, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40353408

16 Tzvi Lev, “Israel proves the NRA's arguments,” Arutz Sheva, February 21, 2018. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/21714

17 “Venezuela just crushed 2,000 guns in public, but the country is still awash in weaponry,” Business Insider, August 18, 2016, http://www.businessinsider.com/r-venezuela-crushes-2000-guns-in- public-plans-registry-of-bullets-2016-8

18 Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig, “Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms,” NIJ Research in Brief (May 1997); available at https://www.ncjrs.gov/app/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=165476

19 Gary Kleck, Marc Gertz, Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense with a Gun, 86 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 150 (1995-1996).

20 Lea Wilson, “Woman shoots at armed, masked men after attack outside southwest Houston home,” March 27, 2018. https://www.click2houston.com/news/woman-shoots-at-armed-masked-men-after -attack-outside-southwest-houston-home

21 Nicole Hayden, “Senior couple from Hemet shoots suspected home invader; suspect later arrested at hospital,” The Desert Sun, Feb. 16 , 2018

22 “Man who opened fire on Texas church shooter hailed as 'good Samaritan,” Associated Press, November 7, 2017.

23 Jessica Chasmar, “Concealed carrier takes down shooter at South Carolina nightclub,” The Washington Times, June 30, 2016

24 John R. Lott, Jr., “Good guys with guns saving lives,” Crime Prevention Research Center, Nov, 12, 2017. http://crimepreventionresearchcenter.nationbuilder.com/good_guys_with_guns_saving_lives

25 Ibid.

26 Ibid.

​27 John R. Lott, Jr., “What a Balancing Test Will Show for Right-To-Carry Laws,” Maryland Law Review, Vol. 71, 1205-1218.

28 Lott, John R., Concealed Carry Permit Holders Across the United States: 2016 (July 26, 2016) http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2814691

29 Discussed in Gun Control Fact Sheet 2004 from the Gun Owners Foundation, https://www.gunowners.org/fs0404.htm

30 Florida's murder rate was 11.4 per 100,000 in 1987, but only 5.5 in 2002. Compare Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Crime in the United States,” Uniform Crime Reports, (1988): 7, 53; and FBI, (2003):19, 79.

31 Gary Kleck, “Crime Control Through the Private Use of Armed Force,” Social Problems 35 (February 1988):15. Chief Dwaine L. Wilson, City of Kennesaw Police Department, “Month to Month Statistics: 1991.”  (Residential burglary rates from 1981-1991 based on statistics for the months of March – October.)

32 “Most Crime Worse in England Than US, Study Says,” Reuters (October 11, 1998).  See also Bureau of Justice Statistics, Crime and Justice in the United States and in England and Wales, 1981-96 (Oct. 1998).

33 Gary A. Mauser, “The Failed Experiment: Gun Control and Public Safety in Canada, Australia, England and Wales,” Public Policy Sources (The Fraser Institute, November 2003), no. 71:4.  This study can be accessed at https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/failed-experiment-gun-control-and-public-safety-in-canada-australia-england-and-wales

34 Andrew Gilligan, “London murder rate beats New York as stabbings surge,” The Times, April 1, 2018. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/london-murder-rate-beats-new- york-as-stabbings-surge-f59w0xqs0

35 William Cummings, , “After murder rate passes NYC, London Mayor Sadiq Khan calls for sharper knife control,” USA TODAY, April 9, 2018.

36 Larry Keane, “California Eases up on Gun Crimes, While Restricting GunRights,” November 1, 2017. https://www.nssf.org/california-eases-up-on-gun-crimes-while-restricting-gun- rights /

CHAPTER 9

1 For more discussion about the historical background of the right, and duty, for the means to self-defense, see David T. Hardy, “Armed Citizens, Citizen Armies: Towards a Jurisprudence of the Second Amendment,” Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, 1986.

2 Michael C. Meyer and William L. Sherman, The Course of Mexican

History, 4th ed., (New York, Oxford University Press: 1991), p. 216.

3 “The Truth about Gun Control, Racism and Genocide,” 2015.  American

Civil Rights Union, 3213 Duke St., #625, Alexandria, VA 22314.​

4 Ibid.

5 Adam Winkler, “The right to bear arms has mostly been for white people,” Washington Post, July 15, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/07/15/the-right- to-bear-arms-has-mostly-been-reserved-for-whites/?utm_term=.b1c637cebd61

6 William R. Tonso, “Gun Control: White Man's Law,” Reason Magazine, December 1985, http://www.guncite.com/journals/gun_control_wtr8512.html

7 For more discussion about discrimination in the application of gun laws, see J. Baxter Stegall, “The Curse of Ham: Disarmament through Discrimination – the Necessity of Applying Strict Scrutiny to Second Amendment Issues in Order to Prevent Racial Discrimination by States and Localities through Gun Control Laws.” Liberty University Law Review, Volume 11, Issue 1, Article 10.

8 Op cit., “The Truth about Gun Control, Racism and Genocide,”

9 Ibid.

10 Robert J. Cottrol and Raymond T. Diamond, The Second Amendment: Toward an Afro-Americanist Reconsideration, http://www.guncite.com/journals/cd-recon.html#h5

11 Ibid.

12 Ibid.

13 John Paul Stevens, “Repeal the Second Amendment,” New York Times, March 27, 2018.

14 Dr. John Lott, “Updating the changes in DC's crime rates following Heller,” http://johnrlott.blogspot.com/2012/11/updating-changes-in-dcs-crime-rates.html

15 Stephen Halbrook, “How the Nazis Used Gun Control,” National Review, December 2, 2013, https://www.nationalreview.com/2013/12/how-nazis-used-gun-control-stephen-p-halbrook /

CHAPTER 10

1 TJ Martinell, “How the British Gun Control Program Precipitated the American Revolution” The Shooters Blog, September 4, 2015. https://blog.cheaperthandirt.com/british-gun-control-program-precipitated-american-revolution/

2 Martinell.

3 Ibid.

4 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nevada-militia/mistrial-declared-for-nevada-rancher-who-led-revolt-over-us-land-dispute-idUSKBN1EE2ED

5 Ammon Bundy, “BUNDY: The True Story-Official” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhNmZ2lWc9U&t=17s

6 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/04/15/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-long-fight-between-cliven-bundy-and -the-federal-government/?utm_term=.c67f21d285b1 ​​7 Rob Mrowka, “Tortoises Suffer While BLM Allows Trespass Cattle to Eat for Free in Nevada Desert,” Center for Biological Diversity, March 25, 2014. https://www .biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2014/desert-tortoise-03-25-2014.html

8 Ammon Bundy, “BUNDY: The True Story-Official,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhNmZ2lWc9U

9 Ibid.

10 https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-battle-over-bunkerville/

11“Cliven Bundy standoff case thrown out in another stunning blow to government,” OregonLive.com, January 22, 2018. https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2018/01/cliven_bundy_standoff_case_thr.html

13 Ammon Bundy, “BUNDY: The True Story-Official” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhNmZ2lWc9U&t=17s

14 Ibid

CHAPTER 11

1 AJ Willingham, “An Illinois town just banned assault weapons.  The penalty if you keep one?  Up to $1,000 a day,” CNN, April 5, 2018. https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/05/us/deerfield-illinois-assault-weapon-ban-trnd/Index.html

2 Stanley Kurtz, “Year of the Shout-Down: It Was Worse Than You Think,” National Review, May 31, 2017.

3Anthony Gockowski, “UW students petition to shut down YAF, punish leaders,” Campus Reform, December 16, 2016.

4 Cinnamon Stillwell, “When Speech Becomes a Crime,” June 28, 2006, https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/When-Speech-Becomes-a-Crime-2532414.php

5 Mitchell Langbert, Anthony Quain, and Daniel Klein, “Faculty Voter Registration in Economics, History, Journalism, Law and Psychology,” ECON JOURNAL WATCH 13(3), September 2016: 422–451.

6 Bradford Richardson, “Liberal professors outnumber conservatives nearly 12 to 1, study finds,” The Washington Times, October 6, 2016.

7 http://www.insivia.com/27-video-stats-2017/

8 https://www.prageru.com/playlists/restricted-youtube

9 “A little history of 'politically correct.'  The Soviets invented it and the university tolerates it,” The Washington Times, November 15, 2015. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/nov/15/editorial-a-little-history-of-politically- correct/

10 “Governments worldwide explore internet management,” Global Times, April 1, 2018.

11 https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/multiculturalism

12 https://www.britannica.com/topic/multiculturalism

13 https://www.womensmarch.com/mission/

14 https://www.commentarymagazine.com/politics-ideas/feminists-sex-trafficking-womens-march/

15 https://twitter.com/womensmarch/status/982689439574085634

16 Yves Mamou, “France: No-Go Zones Now in the Heart of Big Cities,” Gatestone Institute, May 23, 2017, https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10404/france-no-go-zones

[adrian-the-lonely-writer]

Transitions

A fluffy 'Dean WinchesterXTrans!Male' Reader one-shot where you had come out to Dean, and Dean decided he's going to do everything he can to support you.

“So,” Dean began. His heart was pounding. He rather be facing any number of ghosts and ghouls to avoid fucking this part up. Hell, he’d even take a few demons over this. Anything over these tense emotional moments. Still, he was glued to the bed, hand holding yours. He loved you. He wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of helping you.

“Y-yeah?” You stumbled over your words. You had no idea how your boyfriend was going to handle the news. Tears were threatening to fall over your cheeks as you kept your eyes glued to the floor.

Dean swallowed. Dammit, his brother mentioned something like this in the past. Why couldn’t he remember now? “Well in that case, I suppose we better get you some comfier clothes. C’mon.” He stood up, offering his hand to you. Looking up, you saw that same smile dance across his lips, the same smile you fell in love with. “Wouldn’t want my boyfriend to be uncomfortable.”

Your heart skipped a beat as you jumped into his arms, relief and love washing over you. Dean just chuckled, quietly as he shifted to wrap his arms around you, squeezing you against him. “Thanks Dean…Thank you so much.”

“Of course. You have a different name you like to be called now?”

“Y/N now- I uh, kinda picked it out when I realized I just-”

“Y/N is perfect babe.” His lips left a light little peck at your nose. “C’mon. Sammy’s with Bobby looking for another job, let’s take the day to get you feeling as good as possible, hm? I just had that great poker payout-”

“I thought that was for silver bullets-”

“Pshh. I can win another game or too.” Dean went to smile, but it quickly drooped into a frown. “Your clothes...do they make you feel-” He tried to find the right word.

“Dysphoric? Well I mean a bit. I didn’t exactly have time to choose great clothes when I ran off with you Dean.” Before you could even finish your sentence, Dean was digging through his duffle.

“I was going to drop them off somewhere, they feel a little small.” Dean grinned, poking his head back up. In his hands were an AC/DC shirt and an old pair of jeans. He even pulled out his spare hunting boots. “Might not be the most practical all the time, but we’ll get you some stuff today.”

You tried not to cry once again.

Few minutes later, you found yourself wrapped up in your boyfriend's clothes, in the passenger seat of the car. AC/DC rang out through the speakers. You couldn’t help but smile.

“You...really don’t mind Dean?”

“Mind? Why the hell would I mind?”

“Well you were into me as a-”

“I am into you, period.” Dean smiled a little. “Masculine, feminine, It makes no difference to me. You are still you. So, clothes we’re doing. Not half assed Walmart clothes either, we’re gonna get you some good hunting gear.” You couldn’t help but chuckle a little at that. “Masculine fake IDs from now on, easy enough. Anything else you need?”

“At the moment, I’m not sure...I kinda like what Sam does with his hair so I don’t think I’ll cut it off yet. It isn’t as long as his at the moment anyway.” You giggled at the scrunch in Dean’s nose at the mention of his brother.

“Cute guy with a ponytail never hurts either. Ah. Here’s the shop.”

“Dean this is a mall-”

“Yeah, sporting goods, including guns, bullets, as well as various clothing stores to get you what you need. Plus crowds to blend into. Malls are great Y/N.” He turned into the parking lot, picking a spot somewhere in the middle. “Plus, the impala doesn’t stick out too much here.”

Dean slipped out of his side, opening the door for you before you were even unbuckled. His calloused hand still felt tender as it grasped yours tightly, pulling you towards the store.

Your boyfriend was right after all. The crowds were seamless and the selection would be much greater.

“I’m thinking, we hit the sporting goods store, get some food and supplies. Take our time with it. Then just meet up with Sam and Bobby for the job, sound good Y/N?”

“Sounds perfect Dean.” Your smile was glued to your face as you leaned against his arm walking into the shop Dean had picked. “Is this where you got all your flannels and things?”

“Most of em, yeah. Why? You like that one?” He winked as he saw your cheeks turn a little pink. Sure, you loved the flannel. It made you feel more you, it also smelled like the man you loved more than anything.

“Well it’s nice and warm and-” You tripped over your words again. “Just really nice hunting clothes ya know? Like durable enough you have some protection, it’s also warm enough for nights but I can always open it ya know.”

“Great. So a couple flannels. Some jeans that won’t trip you up. Shirts.” Dean guided you to the clothing area of the store, whipping out his cellphone.

“Dean? Something the matter?” He doesn’t often look at his screen with that much concentration.

“Nope. I was just looking at a size chart.” He matched his screen to a couple of the tags. “These your colors?” He held out some forest green flannel and a black shirt.

“To start with, yeah! Although lighter colors are still nice. I don’t want anything thinking I’m your little brother if I match your style.”

“My style is functional and timeless. Plus, if I had a nickel for everyone who thought Sam and I should-” He scowled as you laughed. You couldn’t help but pick up those books when you saw them. Plus, as prank wars broke out it definitely gave you an upper hand.

“Alright, I concede your style is wonderful Dean.”

“Damn right it is.” He smiled a little. “But I get it, c’mon. Let’s walk around and see what catches your eye.”

The two of you scoured the store from top to bottom. Dean’s arms quickly became laden with fabric as you both approached the fitting rooms.

“Find everything you need sir, and-?” The guy in charge of the rooms spoke.

“Sir.” You introjected. Your heart rate spiked a little. Dean’s hand rested on your shoulder as he nodded to the cashier, as if confirming what you said.

“Of course, right this way. Here is your room, sir.” Without batting an eye the cashier escorted you back to try on your new wardrobe.

“Give 'em hell babe!” Dean called after you, taking his seat. He fiddled with his phone. Sam had finally convinced him to upgrade, and this one had a camera on it.

Quickly, pulse racing, you put on the first outfit of clothes, and slipped outside to model for Dean. Your nerves subsided when met with that goofy grin of his, and you couldn’t help but match it.

“You look amazing.”

“I feel amazing.”

“Wanna try more?” Dean snapped a photo. “That’s gonna be my new cell wallpaper.” You stuck your tongue out to him, a look he cheekily returned.

You went through this a few more times. Different mixed and matched outfits and hunting gear. Dean flirting with you every time you slipped into his sight. Soon you had a week's worth of clothes, with some extras to wear during a wash. Eventually you made it towards the food court, carrying the bags. You both went immediately to the burger stand and sat down.

“Fucck~” Dean’s eyes were closed in bliss. “I forgot how amazing these burgers were.”

“God we ate at gas stations so much I had forgotten food could be juicy.” You were devouring your burger as ravenous as Dean was. Oblivious to the look he was giving you.

Dean just smiled, chewing as he looked at you. It had only been a few months since you were traveling with him. Demon blooded kid like Sammy, you wanted to be able to help. Truthfully you were thankful they accepted.

Dean sometimes kicks himself at night for almost saying no. He had fallen for you, hard, the first time you rode in the back of the car. The way your eyes lit up as his own music started to play. The way you got along with Sam. He had fallen hard. You were perfect in his eyes now as you were then.

“Dean?...” Your voice was quiet, head against the window. After eating Dean had loaded you and your new things into the impala before starting to make your guy’s way to Bobby's place.

The excitement of the day had driven your eyelids to a close by this point. The soft rumblings of the engine were lulling you to sleep. Dean’s hand found yours once more, with a gentle squeeze.

“Yeah babe?”

“I love you Dean…”

“I love you too Y/N.” His words were the last things you heard before finally succumbing to sleep.

Dean drove on, hand never leaving yours. He had found the best boyfriend in the world, and he intended to keep things that way.

[thedeathdoctor]

Kinktober Day 5: Blood Play

Blood Play - Halloween: Michael Meyers x Reader

Guardian Demon

Tw for Breaking and Entering, Being held at gunpoint

It was ten past two in the morning when you pulled your 2003 Altima into the driveway. Fucking Steve. Ever since he had started as manager, your store had been pathetically understaffed. He never stuck around past four and never saw how long closing duties took. It was just you and Allison now, because “we don’t really need three people in here when we don’t get that many customers, anyway”. 

You shoved your work apron into your purse laying on the passenger seat before dragging yourself out of the car. Everything felt heavy, and your keys dangled limply in your hand. A thought resurfaced in your weary head: the pothole you had hit on your way to work because the assholes wouldn’t let you merge over to avoid it. It sounded expensive, but you had managed to get home, so you just gave a quick glance at it. You weren’t much of a car person, and it was dark; you’d look at it again in the morning. 

Leaning against the peeling paint of your side door, you fit the key in the lock, and found it unlocked. What? Maybe you had forgotten to lock up when you rushed to work this afternoon. Henry had called out for the third day in a row, and they had called you to come in earlier to cover for him. You didn’t want to, but you had to. The shitty washer that came with the unit had broken, and your landlord had refused to take care of it because clearly you had misused it in order for that to happen. A contractor had come out to fix it yesterday; the work was expensive,  he unsettled you in a way you couldn’t place, and in the middle of it all Steve called to ask where you were. He seemed to forget how you told him, to his face, three times, “I won’t be in on Wednesday, do not schedule me,” and still his chicken nugget sized brain forgot and expected you to come in. 

You shook your head, trying to clear your mind of the work fuckery from your head like an Etch-a-Sketch. It took up enough real estate in your head as is. 

Snacks. 

You dropped your purse on the mess of mail that covered your kitchen table. It would be sorted later. For now, you took your phone with you and rummaged through the cabinets, finding the box of Goldfish you had bought Monday. You padded into the living room, settling down into the couch. Though you lived alone, you had slept here for the past few nights on account of clutter spread over your bed. Well, it was mostly organized. Monday you had found the least sketchiest laundromat in your fifteen mile radius for the three weeks of laundry built up while you fought with your landlord. After all, there was a finite amount of times you could handle rewearing your work clothes before the thought of having to pay for laundry became begrudgingly tolerable. 

The waist of your pants cut into your waist, and you stripped them off and threw them towards the stairs with a growl. Your bra was next, and soon you were comfortable in your tank top and underwear. It had also been an embarrassing amount of time since you had vacuumed the floor, so your socks stayed on to keep your feet clean. 

“Honey, if you ever need help, I can always come over and clean with you. It’s really no problem for me.” 

Your mom’s voice reappeared in your head, kind and soothing. Truth was, you needed help, but couldn’t bring yourself to accept her offer. It was out of mercy. You didn’t want her to come over and see for herself how you, her precious daughter was really doing. She worried for you enough as is, and anyway, you were doing just fine, no need for her to see the bottles that frequently piled up in the yellow bin next to the door or the refrigerator that didn’t hold much excluding the condiments on the door, or the condition of your bathroom sink. You spared her the worry she would feel if she knew. Anyway, you could handle it, all you needed was another day off to take care of everything, two at max. 

Turning on the tv, you chose a random episode of Criminal Minds to watch to distract your brain. It had been your comfort show since you started watching it in 2011, and it filled the otherwise quiet space of the house. You apathetically ate a handful of Goldfish before folding the box back up and letting it drop on the ground. That wasn’t it. Occasionally, lights drifted across the interior of your house, headlights drifting in from the living room window as the occasional car passed by. 

A loud crash shocked you awake from the doldrums of half-sleep. Your eyes shot open as your heart revved from 0 -100, realizing that the sound came from upstairs. Fuck. There were footsteps now. Scrambling to find your phone to call 911, your heart sunk as the screen flickered to life for just enough time to blink its “low battery” icon at you before giving up. You did have a .357, but one too many nights with the bottle led you to disassemble it as much as you could and shove the pieces into a shoebox at the back of your closet, if only for your mom’s sake. 

You listened with bated breath as the footsteps reached the top of the stairs and began to descend. Every single muscle in your body did not reply, even as your mind screamed for you to run. You were frozen to the couch. 

A man, partially dressed in a dirty work coverall tied around the waist at the bottom of a grimy undershirt strode aggressively over to you. A black ski mask hid his face, but you could see his eye twitch as he raised the Glock in his hand to your face. His voice was strained and rough as he questioned you.

“WHERE ARE THEY??” 

“Where is what?” 

You didn’t have much of value at all, the most expensive thing that you had to your name was the Altima sitting outside and that was only $6,000 when you bought it a few years ago. 

“PILLS, SMARTASS. DON’T LIE TO ME. I SAW THE EMPTY BOTTLES. WHERE DO YOU KEEP THEM?” 

Oh. Truth be told, you didn’t have any left. All you had ever really taken was your Adderall XR and Zoloft. The empty Adderall bottle sat pathetically on your dresser, reminding you of the last time you had been able to afford the copay the pharmacy demanded. As for the Zoloft, well, your psychiatrist would keep refilling it as long as you kept showing up to her regular appointments, and the spontaneity of work had made it damn near impossible to keep an appointment with her. So it had been at least a few days since you had tried to taper off of them yourself. But you were unmedicated and well beyond tired, so you responded rather dumbly. 

“I don’t have any more. They’re gone. Sorry.” 

He didn’t react well to that, gritting his teeth and kicking over a folding chair that left a rather large hole in the drywall. Your fucking landlord would have a field day haranguing you for those damages. 

The side door that you had taken care to lock swung open violently, knocking over the bottles perched on the top of the pile in the recycling bin. Heavy footsteps strode through the kitchen and another man appeared behind the first intruder.

“HEY WHAT THE FUC-”

He was cut off as he was violently disarmed, gun clattering to the floor as a blade slashed through every tendon in his arm. Then, his body flew across the room and crashed head first into the Walmart bookshelf and the few books you had left with a horrific crunch. He was crumpled in a way that no human should ever be, and still the other man kneeled and plunged his knife between his ribs, ventilating his body as you would a frozen microwavable meal. And then slowly, stood up and turned to face you. 

He was impossibly tall, looming over the man who had tried to rob you; like him, he was also dressed in a coverall, bluish grey and relatively cleaner aside from the blood splashed across the front. His head was covered too, by one of those rubbery Halloween costume masks that people wear and pretend to be a serial killer or something. Matthew, or maybe Michael? You glanced over at the mutilated corpse at his feet, and the real, actual knife in his hand, still dripping with blood. You didn’t think he was pretending.

You cowered in the corner of the couch, your knees pulled up as close to your chin as possible, shaking uncontrollably. He walked closer to you, stretching out his free hand, and for some reason beyond your understanding, you took it. Your legs trembled like those of a newborn fawn, but you stayed up, mostly due to his hidden strength. Together, you both made your way over to the dead body, letting you collapse to your knees next to it. He dipped the tip of the knife into the man’s blood and brought it to your face. A scream died in your throat as he grabbed your jaw and steadied you as the blade traced over your forehead and cheekbones, painting you with the blood of his kill. On your stomach, he marked you with a simple “MM”. Michael Meyers. You were his. 

When he was done, he pressed you to the floor on your back and stripped you of your tank top and panties with a few quick flicks of his knife. His hands worked the jumpsuit zipper down as he shed his clothing and towered over you. He stroked his cock lazily, enjoying the look on your face as you realized that he wanted to put it deep in you. You were his and he was going to consummate your partnership, right here, right now.

He spread your legs and kneeled between them. It had been a while since you last had any kind of sexual encounter, but the patch of curls was of no consequence to him. Blood slicked his fingers, and you were surprised how expertly the pad of his thumb found your clit, kneading you to orgasm in spite of the horror you had just witnessed. Perfect.

He teased you, running his fingertips up and down your vulva until your hands urged him to get on with it. That was a mistake. He snapped your hands together and held you firmly by your wrists with his free hand. Punishment for being too impatient. Two fingers found your entrance before suddenly plunging into you as deep as they could. Your gasp satisfied him and he returned his thumb to your clit as his fingers pistoned into you at a punishing pace. 

The second orgasm crashed through your body, your arms weakly trembling against his fierce grip as you screamed out in pleasure. When your eyes returned to him, the submission he saw drove him mad with desire. He gripped your hips so hard, you were sure that you would see bruises in the morning, and slid you onto his cock, hissing softly as he entered you. God, he spread you apart like no one ever had before. 

You weren’t the most petite person in the world, but to him and his strength, you may as well have been. He slammed you against him, your thighs stinging as they met his hips, fucking you as if you were a filthy toy, a cocksleeve for him to use as he wanted, whenever he wanted. He paused for a moment, sliding his hands up under your back and supporting you with his arms as he stood up, still inside you. Your thighs wrapped around his waist, feeling the muscles in his torso and ass flex against you. His hips thrust up into you as he held you up in the air, gravity working alongside his powerful body as he ravaged you. Moans dribbled from your mouth as most of your upper body went limp. The back of your head crashed against the wall, but you didn’t care, your body was flooded in ecstasy as you came over and over, writhing in his arms and twitching helplessly around his cock. His fingernails dragged long, deep scratches along your back that smeared and stained the wall with blood as he pressed you against it, his breaths deep, panting, heavy with lust. 

Time lost all meaning to you as he broke you down to a sopping, quivering mess in his arms. It seemed he was intent on folding you in half and pressing you against the wall before his breaths hitched and pulled you as close as he physically could to him. His hips bucked involuntarily as he came deep into you, filling you with copious spurts of his cum. It took on a pinkish tone as it mixed with the blood from earlier, dripping from where your hips met. You were spent, falling asleep before he had let the both of you fall ever so gently to the floor, letting you rest on top of his chest. 

[ericdeggans]

A Tale of Two Videos: Why the Images of George Floyd Dying Broke the Nation

Why is the footage of George Floyd dying beneath a policeman’s knee the video that finally broke the nation?

I actually think the story of our current public chaos stems from two videos, brought to the public at nearly the same time, that outline both ends of a system which elevates white, moneyed people at the expense of everyone else -- especially those of us who are darker than blue.

In one, a white woman threatens a black man by telling him she will call the police and lie about him threatening her life. In another, a black man is pinned down by several police officers, pleading for help to breathe, until he dies.

One video shows the nightmare of overpolicing black bodies; losing your life because a store clerk thought you tried to pay with a counterfeit bill. The other shows a white woman well aware of the power that such overpolicing gives people like her when she calls 9-1-1. She knows – and assumes the black man she’s threatening also knows – whose interests will be defended, possibly with lethal force, when officers arrive.

Amy Cooper’s confrontation with Christian Cooper and the death of George Floyd have revealed the full scope of white supremacy non-white people live with every day in America. We have been talking about it for a long time; I wrote a book about it in 2012. But it is a reality many other Americans will not believe, until someone grabs a cellphone at a fateful moment, records it, and shows it to them. Again and again.

Because we have seen these videos before. We saw Philando Castile, a black man filmed in his last moments by his girlfriend, shot by a police officer during a traffic stop. We saw John Crawford, a black man who was going to buy a pellet gun at WalMart, shot to death by police within seconds of their arrival at the store after a 9-1-1 call. We saw 12-year-old Tamir Rice, playing with a toy gun in a park, gunned down within seconds of a police car driving on the scene.  

We saw Levar Jones, a black man who survived being shot by a cop during a traffic stop at a gas station as he was retrieving his license (the reason the cop stopped him? He was driving without a seat belt just before turning into the gas station.)

Eric Garner. Darrien Hunt. Botham Jean. The list of black people hurt or killed by police under suspicious circumstances is long and infuriating. How can a white college student suspected in the murders of two people who inspired a nationwide manhunt get taken into custody without incident, while a black man accused of passing a bad $20 bill winds up dead on a street, killed in broad daylight while cellphone cameras captured it all?

Beyond the frustration of the rising body count, there is frustration at the high price America demands before it will believe there is a problem in the first place.

People of color constantly have to rip open their wounds to prove to white America that racism is killing us. The videos are a blur of bottomless tragedy; a parade of pain where victims are often left screaming at officers: What did I do? Why won’t you help me?

And every time a new video emerges, black America asks that same question of the nation.

The challenge we face is summed up in a statistic from my book. I quoted a September 2011 study which found 46 percent of Americans believe discrimination against white people had become as big a problem as discrimination against racial minorities.

A study published in November 2017 by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health came up with different numbers. In that study, 55 percent of white Americans said discrimination against white people exists and 63 percent of white Americans said local police were just as likely to use unnecessary force against white people as non-white people.

This is the question at the heart of so many political and social conflicts in America: The fight over the very existence of systemic racism and prejudice.

It’s one reason conservative-oriented Fox News Channel is often so tone deaf on issues of race. Many of the channel’s pundits resist the idea that systemic racism against people of color is a serious issue. Lots of conservatives have decried George Floyd’s death; but the question of whether that death is a result of a few bad cops acting out or a result of systemic overpolicing and overpunishing people of color is the real dividing line in this crisis.

When Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson interviewed Ted Cruz on the unrest in Minneapolis, both men were careful to note they were horrified by the actions of one officer, while extolling the bravery of most police officers. But what about the notion that police officers work inside a flawed system that can shield bad cops and make it tougher for good officers, regardless of their race, to stop something terrible as it is happening?

This “one bad apple” idea – a notion expertly dismantled by comedian Chris Rock years ago – was also advanced by White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien Sunday on Jake Tapper’s CNN show State of the Union.

“I don’t think there’s systemic racism,” O’Brien said during one exchange with Tapper, before praising “99.9 percent” of police officers. “But you know what, there are some bad apples in there.”

Given all the videos we all have seen of black people hurt or killed unfairly by law enforcement in recent years, that sure seems like a lot of bad apples. And again the question rises: How many videos do you need to see, before you consider another possibility? How much pain leads to contemplating another explanation?  

Of course, Donald Trump has only made a volatile situation worse. I think his actions are summed up by a phrase I read or heard someone else say about him years ago: He can’t help saying the quiet part out loud.

So when Trump tweeted about the unrest in Minneapolis on Friday, he called protestors “thugs” – a word sometimes used as demeaning code for unruly black people – and dropped the phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” That’s a saying traced back to a speech by 1960s-era Miami police chief Walter Headley, often accused of racist policing tactics during the civil rights era.

In another tweet, Trump promised protestors who came close to breaching the White House fence would be “greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons,” invoking another terrible image from the 1960s, when segregationist police would use attack dogs to break up civil rights marches.

The quiet part. Tweeted out loud.

As cable TV news was filled with reports on looting and unrest in cities across the country, I was struck by a tweet from celebrity comic Chelsea Handler, who posted “Something for all white people to think about. Reflect on our privilege and ask ourselves if we’ve ever had to protest for the lives of our white brothers and sisters.”

With all respect, I suggested something a little different. Perhaps white people should find one element in their lives that supports or reflects white supremacy: that Fox News-loving relative, the pal who posts terrible things on Facebook or the boss/coworker who says awful things about non-white people when he thinks they aren’t listening (guess what: we usually know, anyway).

Find one element and do something to address it. Do what you can to dismantle the system where you can.

Beyond that, governmental leaders of all stripes need to learn that platitudes and the “one bad apple” philosophy will not satisfy people who feel like an endangered species in their own country.

Don’t make us rip open another wound to prove something we have been telling you for a long time. Maybe this time, when black people say they need help, you could just listen. And then help.  

[stone-man-warrior]

June 11, 2020: 5:05 pm:

I just now returned from a trip into dystopia, Grants Pass Oregon, about thirteen miles from my home, where the entire town in a theme park, every last detail of every last person in the town is all panned and scripted in advance, for the advance of terrorism towards Global Domination. Everyone is either a Screen Actor Guild member, or a Canadian SDA terror soldier. The two groups have killed and replaced all of the people who once lived in the town, and replaced them. I went only to 6th Street Market and returned home. Upon leaving Jackpine, the Sentry/Scouts had already been alerted, and were on Three Pines Road and Monument Dr., and there were sentry/scouts who swarmed into the empty field near the Freeway onramp as I passed by there. The Freeway was showing the same traffic conditions that have become the norm over the years. The presence of an Amazon Prime big rig truck & trailer spells large scale murder events. There was a car wreck at the same corner where the same two cars crash into one another regularly. A “T-Bone” accident where a late model white pick-up is broadsided by a modern lime green small car at the intersection of 6th and NW Midland Ave., there is always a large Grants Pass Fire Service emergency vehicle on the scene, and one white, small pick-up truck marked “Grants Pass Public Safety”, and a flat bed wrecker for hauling away the two cars that crash there, as the script and screenplay provides that they will on occasion. There are never any people visible at the wreck site, only vehicles in the intersection, with flashing lights. The white pick-up truck marked “Grants Pass Public Safety” is one of the crew that does preparation and ushering services at the large killing events, such as the one’s that are held at the Bi-Mart store on 6th Street. The Grants Pass Public Safety truck joins and works with a motorcycle cop at the Bi-Mart events, they wear orange vests, have some orange cones, they park at the 6th Street entrance to the Bi-Mart, and make themselves look busy, while exposing victims who drive into the parking lot with Nitrous Oxide gas. The terror soldiers and SAG members, only use the rear entrance to Bi-Mart when the killing parties are happening. At the 6th Street store, there are groups of people who all work together to kill customers who go there. Today was the “Hot Dog in the Hot Car with Black Man” terror attack scenario. It includes that there is a dog in a car in the heat in June, it’s barking and crying as the store clerk terror operative is out in front of the store scouting for victims, about ten feet away from the Hot Dog In the Car. When someone shows up, see’s what is going on, there could be direction that the car and dog belong to someone who is at the Orchid Grill restaurant nest door. Anything could happen if someone were to go over to the restaurant to say something about the “Hot Dog in the Hot Car”. I don’t take the bait, so I don’t know the results. Then, the clerk follows the customer into the store, there was no one in there, and the clerk/Scout was out front. Two Seventh Day Adventist Canadian terror soldiers come into the store behind the customer victim, they were summoned by the clerk/Scout, and had been driving around in the nearby shopping areas to aid any of the store front clerks who summon them. They pull in to the parking, and come in after the customer. The two were a “SDA Mating Pair” today, one bald white man, and one heavy female, they hide their faces, release nitrous gas into the store near the victim. Then, a very tall black man comes in and stands behind the intended victim, he is an actor, is a SAG member there to appear intimidating. That is when the Clerk/Scout strikes with a sword, or a .25, or uses the ground-glass-dust weapon by blowing a hand-full of tiny glass shards into the eyes of the victim. That is when the SDA Mating Pair would offer first aid. The black man would just leave, stay outside, and look innocent at that point. I have seen all of this play out exactly the same way with the same people at the same store many times. I have suffered the glass shards many times. I have defended against a sword many times. I have been shot with a .25 caliber gun, many times.

After leaving safely, I decided not to go to Walmart today. I saw there was a impostor Oregon State Police at the top of Merlin Hill on the Freeway in the median on both trips to and from Grants Pass. Upon returning to Russell Road, there is a terror play that includes a live snake. The terror bastards expose a snake to the Nitrous gas, and put the snake onto the roadway stretched out long. The snake is unable to move, is in the road, in the middle. Several cars drive by, and swerve to avoid the snake, and also to make sure that I, the victim, see the snake in the road. If I park my car to get out and retrieve the snake from the road, as I always do when the terror bastards do this terror play, then, just as I am getting to were the snake is, a big pick-up truck comes by and runs the snake over intentionally just as I am about to pick it up out of the road. Today, the truck barely grazed the head of the snake, and I was able to pick it up, and put it a safe distance from the road, with a minor head injury. That has happened the exact same way, with the same people many times over many years. Someone follows me into the neighborhood on Jackpine after that, I may have been shot at while helping the snake, from the “Bad Guy Automotive Service” terror cell there across from where the snake was placed in the road. Russell Road and Three Pines road, the house on the corner with so many cars ad trucks in the driveway. As I approached my driveway, someone driving the Monroe A-1 Exterminator Pest Control van, black Nissan Quest, drove out from the Monroe terror cell, and that was accompanied by a black sedan that I did not recognize, was was there to protect Monroe. The van will be reported as stolen if they think they killed me, and I will be blamed for the theft. I don’t know where the black sedan went to, it’s not a local car. And a small white pickup that followed me onto Jackpine, but ahead of me, went into the Clyde Baum terror cell, and also is not a local vehicle. Jackpine is a dead end street, only residents and guests should be in here for the most part, but none of the usual home owner/terror cells are around any more, almost all of them seem to have been replaced with new terror cells. No “property sales“ have been listed lately. Even if there are property sales, it’s all fake, and part of the show that is #SAGcoup, Global Domination Mass Murder Take-over. End terror report 5:58 pm.

[stormcrawler75]

Taking a Different Path (No Matter How Different the Path) Chapter 4

Summary: In the past, the four escaped subjects raid Walmart for food and clothes. In the present, Roman deals with his brother's decision to go to College. Warnings: Mentions of stun guns and mentions of eating disorders.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

January 4, 2001 2:19 AM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Logan looked the grocery store door up and nodded before giving Patton a firm nod. "Give me the babies," he ordered, holding out his arms. "You'll most likely need your full concentration for this."

"I don't know about this, Lolo," Patton said hesitantly as he passed the two sleeping babies over to Logan, who held them only semi-awkwardly. "The Doctors said that stealing was bad."

"They said that because they didn't want us to take extra food when it was in arm's reach," Logan explained with a sigh. "Something we did several times. It didn't bother you then."

Patton pouted at him and stomped his foot. "That was different! We were starving then-"

Logan arched an eyebrow and glanced down at the babies. "And they are starving now," he pointed out. And he was right. Other than stolen bottles of water, a banana, and a bottle of newborn milk stolen from an actual newborn, none of them had had a single thing to eat. And it was showing. Roman had lost some of his chub and the unnamed baby was a lot smaller than he should be. "They won't survive much longer without food," Logan said to Patton softly. "I know you don't like this but we need to do it."

The two of them stared at each other for a long moment before Patton fixed his jaw and turned to the store's door, holding out his hands and squeezing his eyes shut. Logan didn't look away from Patton, not even when he heard metal doors squeaked and strain as they were pried open. He worried for a moment that the noise would wake the babies but, very luckily, they remained quiet the entire time.

Patton gasped for breath when he stopped, doubling over and supporting himself against his knees. "D-did I do it?"

"You sure did," Logan said proudly, looking at the doors with a bright smile on his face. The metal doors had been pried open, leaving a nice sized hole for them to walk through. "You did amazingly, Patton. But-"

"I'm not done yet," Patton finished, wiping his forehead. He smiled at Logan tiredly. "Wait here. I'll be out in a little bit" Patton slipped inside the Walmart, leaving Logan standing outside with two very small and hungry babies in his arms.

Logan sighed and looked around nervously. He felt so vulnerable out in the parking lot without Patton watching his back. Doctors could be watching them from anywhere with stun guns waiting at their sides. Guards could be on their way over here to drag them all back to the Hospital with the Doctors waiting there to rechip them. He swallowed and pushed back those thoughts. They would do nothing to help anything right now. 

But, perhaps stepping into the shadows a little more would help.

"I am very glad that the two of you are asleep right now," Logan whispered, looking up at the moon. It was so beautiful when not looked at through a barred window. "The two of you would find this very upsetting. But it'll be alright. We will be getting you both some food right now. And something to carry you in." He smiled down at them gently. "And a book of names too. We need to find you a proper name, little one," he told the unnamed baby softly.

The response he got from the baby was nothing but a little grunt. Logan sighed. From his experience these last few days, grunts meant only one thing. He really hoped that this store had more diapers in it. 

He startled when Patton poked his head out of the hole in the door. His friend's face was drenched with sweat but he had a bright grin on his face. "Finished," Patton chirped. "Got all the cameras crushed into little balls and the people putting the things away knocked out!" He skipped out of the hole and held out his arms demandingly. "Now gimme one of the cuties! I'll get the diapers and carrier bags and you get some food Then we can both find some clothes for ourselves. 'kay, 'kay?"

 "Of course," Logan agreed. He passed Roman over to Patton and sighed in relief at being relieved of the extra weight. "We need backpacks too."

Patton nodded. "Got it!" He walked back inside and disappeared into the aisles. Logan took a deep breath and looked back down to the baby, just in time to see the baby's eyes open seconds before tired and hungry cries started up.

"Shhh, shhh," Logan cooed, rocking him back and forth as he walked inside. He grabbed a cart and awkwardly started to push it with one hand. "We're getting you food now, little one." He squinted up at the signs. His glasses had gotten chipped in the escape making it even harder to read than normal. But eventually, he found the aisle with all the baby food. 

There were so many different kinds.

Logan ended up grabbing plenty of the little jars with mashed foods inside, about ten boxes with bottles of something called "powered formula", newborn food, inside, and some little biscuits for Roman to chew on. Roman liked to chew on things ever since his teeth started to grow in. He also grabbed a sippy cup for Roman and a baby bottle for the baby.

Logan immediately broke the box full of formula opened and poured one of the bottles inside the baby bottle. He firmly put the top on and held it to the baby's mouth. "Come on then," he said gently. "I know it's cold but you gotta drink it."

It seemed that the baby didn't need the encouragement. Almost immediately, the baby latched onto the bottle and started to drink. Logan sighed in relief and paused, resting against the cart and smiling tiredly at his small burden. "There we are," he whispered. "I told you that I'd find a way for you to survive."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

January 13, 2020 1:02 PM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roman stared out his window with a sad expression on his face. His right wing was stretched out in front of him and he was slowly grooming it. His feathers had been puffing up so much lately that it was making it harder and harder to groom. And Roman knew that it was completely, totally, one hundred percent, his own damn fault.

Really, Roman should know better than to forget to groom his wings. Wing care was super important! How could he please Icarus' adoring fans with puffy feathers?! It just wouldn't do!

Before, Virgil would help groom Roman's wings but since Virgil was off to stupid College, Roman had to do it all by himself. 

College. Who even cared about something as stupid as College? College was dumb and stupid and you didn't learn anything important at College. Roman thought that College was the stupidest thing that his baby brother could've thought of.

His gave drifted over to the stolen Arts College poster he had ripped from a wall on one of his daily flights. His mood turned melancholy as he took in the picture of the man standing on a stage with roses littered around him. 'Yeah,' Roman thought with an air of jealousy that was somehow both general and directly pointed at Virgil. 'College is so stupid.'

Who cared that Virgil was going off to make new friends and leave his older brother behind? His older brother that was stuck inside all day except for when he was in costume? Roman certainly didn't care. And it didn't matter that Virgil was going off to be a terrific vet and start his own life. Roman had his own life. He didn't need his emo younger brother.

Roman sighed and flopped back on his canopy bed. "Who am I kidding," he muttered. Sadly, there was no answer to his open question. Rude. And before he realized what he was doing, Roman had his phone in his hands and was staring at Virgil's number.

He had made such an ass of himself these past few days. Going on live TV and telling everyone that there was going to be a new member of their team. Roman wasn't an idiot. Virgil was just as stubborn as him and wouldn't turn his back on stupid College, not now. All Roman did was make a complete fool of himself and got embarrassed by Logan carrying him off. And then sending that text this morning?! Ugh, no wonder Virgil stayed away from him! His older brother was the world's biggest drama Queen in the world!

But... if he admitted that he was wrong then he'd have to admit why and... Roman didn't think he could stand the pitiful looks from his normal looking brothers. It would just be too awful. And Roman would probably start crying and there was nothing worse than running eyeshadow.

Roman tossed the phone across the room. 

He sighed and turned onto his side, pulling his laptop over to him and pulling up his blog. He posted:

[Does anyone else get having something about you that draws so much attention and you love it? But you also hate that it draws so much damn attention?]

Roman sighed and rested his chin on his hand. This computer was the only normal interaction he got outside his brothers. And he really did love his brothers! He adored them! Patton was so supportive and he was finally gaining some more weight! Roman was so proud of him for eating more than he had before. He didn't think he had ever been so proud of his older brother than he had been when he saw a bit of chub on Patton's stomach at morning training. The morning training that his baby brother wasn't at.

Annnnnnnnnnnnd, welcome back bad mood! How good to see you again!

Roman pushed those awful feelings back and reminded himself to ask Logan to make him some hot chocolate. Logan made the best hot chocolate ever, even if he sometimes didn't mix the power all the way through. It was the thought that counted!

Just when Roman could almost taste that powerdy hot chocolate on his lips, his feathers bristled and he froze. He sat up clumsily and looked around wildly. The windows were closed and the door was locked shut. Roman shivered a little. For some reason, he felt like he was being watched.

Roman forced himself to stand up, his feathers puffed up behind him, and walk over to the window. He looked around nervously and couldn't seem to calm down even when he didn't see a single person outside. 'It was just a bird,' he tried to convince himself. 'Everything's fine.'

But even so, Roman drew the curtains closed. Like Logan always said, it was better safe than sorry. You never knew who was watching.

[ledenginelight]

Led Engin Products

Subscribe to the Fulham publication, Illuminations, for product news, occasion updates, rising tendencies in the lighting business, and extra. A Light Engine drives the LEDs by regulating energy, managing thermals, and offering safety. Our Light Engines easily integrate into new and present light fixtures.

MRO company Interline Brands can also be owned by The Home Depot, with 70 distribution facilities across the United States. The Home Depot, Inc., commonly generally known as Home Depot, is the most important residence improvement retailer in the United States, supplying instruments, construction products, and services.

The firm is headquartered in incorporated Cobb County, Georgia, with an Atlanta mailing address. Mark Larson, who joined Digi-Key in 1976 as its general manager, became president in 1985. He has led the company from its initial concentrate on the hobbyist market to the expanded promote it serves at present.

The company color is a bright orange , on signs, tools and employee aprons. It was announced in August 2014 that Craig Menear will take over for Frank Blake as CEO while Blake will remain the chairman of the board. 

According to an August 2016 report by Bloomberg Businessweek, aggressive price-chopping decisions that began in 2000 when Lee Scott took over as CEO of the company led to a big enhance in crime in shops throughout the United States. 

While these selections succeeded in growing earnings 23% within the decade that adopted, in addition they led to an increase in each theft and violent crime. In April 2019 Walmart Inc. 

announced plans to increase the usage of robots in shops in order to enhance and monitor stock, clear flooring and unload trucks, a part of the corporate's effort to decrease its labor prices. David Merriman, Joseph Persky, Julie Davis and Ron Baiman did a examine in Economic Development Quarterly outlining the impacts of Walmart in Chicago.

Fulham is dedicated to intelligent, sustainable lighting options that give their users the ability to manage their mild. Quality is excellent they usually add an excellent stage of safety with the brightness of the L.E.D.'s. 

Bought with the Plug-n-Play Lighting Installation Kit (P/N bought individually) so they operate as turn indicators as well as operating lights. Only draw back is the added expense of buying the loom, however the excellent news is I can join a further 3 Goldstrike lighting products to the identical loom as it has 4 retailers. 

As of September 16, 2012, all seven of the box stores in China had been shut down. The Home Depot has no quick plans to additional broaden its specialty stores in China. The firm is taking a "wait-and-see" angle towards the Chinese market, however does not want to completely pull out because re-entry into the market would be very costly.

Walmart Discount Stores, additionally branded as simply "Walmart", are low cost department stores with sizes varying from 30,000 to 221,000 sq. feet , with the average retailer covering 106,000 square toes . Some newer and reworked low cost stores have an expanded grocery department, just like Target's PFresh department.

S-LCD was owned by Samsung (50% plus one share) and Sony (50% minus one share) and operates its factories and facilities in Tanjung, South Korea. 

As of 26 December 2011, it was announced that Samsung had acquired the stake of Sony on this joint venture. In 1980s, Samsung Electronics began to speculate heavily in analysis and growth, investments that had been pivotal in pushing the corporate to the forefront of the global electronics trade. 

In 1982, it constructed a tv assembly plant in Portugal; in 1984, a plant in New York; in 1985, a plant in Tokyo; in 1987, a facility in England; and another facility in Austin, Texas, in 1996. As of 2012, Samsung has invested greater than US$thirteen,000,000,000 in the Austin facility, which operates underneath the name Samsung Austin Semiconductor.

Walmart started changing workers who count currency by hand with machines that count 8 payments per second and three,000 cash a minute. 

The processing machines, positioned in the back of stores, permit cashiers to course of the money for digital depositing. In April 2011, Walmart acquired Kosmix to develop software for analyzing real-time data streams.

 As the largest retailer in the U.S., Walmart collects and analyzes a considerable amount of client data. The huge data sets are mined for use in predictive analytics, which permit the company to optimize operations by predicting customer's habits.

 Following the deadly police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. in October 2020, Walmart quickly eliminated gun and ammunition displays in thousands of shops throughout the U.S. from sales floors, grounding their reason in issues of civil unrest. Walmart struggled to export its brand elsewhere as it rigidly tried to breed its model overseas.

In 2012, The Home Depot conceded that it misread the nation's appetite for do-it-yourself products. Additionally, The Home Depot promotes compact fluorescent mild bulbs in its stores. 

As part of this effort, the company created the largest recycling program within the United States for the bulbs.In March 2013, Home Depot places in Canada stopped accepting compact fluorescent light bulbs for recycling. 

Home Depot stores average 105,000 ft2 in dimension and are organized warehouse-fashion, stocking a wide variety of provides. Home Depot's two largest stores are positioned in Vauxhall, New Jersey, which encompasses 217,000 ft2 of area, and in Anaheim Hills, California, the place it encompasses 204,000 ft2.  led engine

The mixed firm is focused on optical solutions and serves the complete worth chain in sensing, visualization and illumination, from emitters to sensors and software. In 1998 Osram acquired the lamp enterprise of ECE Industries India Ltd at a value of $9.55 million. 

After a bidding warfare with Bain Capital, Osram was taken over by the Austrian company ams AG in July 2020 and a majority of shares was acquired. That’s why Google engineers spend every single day testing it, conducting tons of of thousands of experiments yearly, resulting in thousands of enhancements.

[keepswingin]

What about something with Wyatt and.Cobalt Silver? (I know I'm not much help)

so apparently the cobalt silver is the stuff that’s used in that part in flesh and bone in case anyone was wondering like I was lol but that’s all you really need to know for this one!

.

i’m here (but don’t count on me to stay)

.

There’s something about humans in their environment that makes his skin crawl.

He doesn’t like the way they eye him from their balconies, their laughter ceasing until there’s nothing but silence and hallow gazes that seem to sear his skin. He doesn’t like the way families huddle closer together as he passes, holding their children tight, because they still see him as threatening even with a grocery bag in one hand and a jug of milk clutched in the other.

He doesn’t like the teenagers that hang around the liquor stores, drinking from paper bags - whiskey mostly, he can smell it from down the street - obnoxious as they drone on and on with drunken babble no passerby listens to. He doesn’t like the loners either, the ones out in thick jackets with their hands stuffed into their pockets on a night that’s far from chilly.

Being out in a world that isn’t his, one he’s still learning about years later and still not fully used to, it puts him on edge, and the humans do nothing to make that edge any less sharp.

This place made Seabrook look like something out of a fairytale, he thinks to himself bitterly.

His phone chooses then to ring from his pocket, startling his already ansty heart. He exhales slowly as he shifts the jug of milk to his other hand, careful not to tip the grocery bag or shuffle around the donuts he had snuck in for himself with the things they had actually needed.

“Hello?” he answers as he shoves the phone beside his ear, keeping half an eye on the surrounding buildings bustling with activity around him.

“Hey,” Addison replies, and she sounds...worried? Something inside him twists suddenly, his eyes catching on a car that revs from where it sits at the light.

“You sound worried,” he tells her quietly, trying his best to keep his voice steady. He was probably overreacting because of this new city, with all these new people and all this new noise.

“Only a little,” she admits, and he can hear the pitch in the breath she releases, “are you close?”

He looks at the street sign at the corner he’s approaching - 5th Street - which is still a few roads over from where their apartment sits on 10th. He could cut through an alley, save some time, but he’s not really feeling an alley is the best way to go right now as he passes another family that goes out of their way to be away from him.

He sighs, “I’m still a few streets over.” He decides to cut right to the point. “What’s going on?”

“There was an armed robbery a few minutes ago and - “

He can’t help the scoff that escapes him. “So much for this place being safe,” he mutters.

“No city is safe,” his fiancée rebukes, a bit of an edge to her tone. He doesn’t answer, instead adjusting his grip on the milk. He should’ve gotten the half-gallon. “I’m sorry,” she says a moment later, “this place was supposed to be safe. Apparently it’s the first big crime around this place in a while so,” she trails off, and the irony isn’t lost on him.

“So we’re just lucky,” he finishes for her, and he’s successful in making her laugh at least. He smiles. There’s a cop car heading down the street, slow as it stops at the light, dark in the shadow of the full moon above. “Where was the robbery at?”

“Close enough for me to be worried that you’re out right now,” she says wryly, “they stole a bunch of stuff from the Walmart and the gas station next door. A few took off in a car, one took off on foot. The police haven’t found anyone yet.”

“Stealing from Walmart is a new low isn’t it?”

He watches as the cop car passes him, it’s tires crunching on the cracked pavement. Addison chuckles, “Were you able to get everything?”

The car makes a u-turn behind him - he can hear it, the sharp turn of the tires, the hiss of the engine - before pulling up next to him. The window rolls down, revealing an officer in his mid-forties with a goatee that’s turning grey.

“Hold on Ads,” he whispers, directing his attention to the police now rolling alongside him.

“Heading home?” the officer asks, his squadmate watching from the passenger seat.

“Late night shopping trip,” Wyatt answers with a light laugh before turning his attention back to Addison. “Sorry. Just some cops asking where I was going.”

“Why are they asking where you’re going?” He shrugs, and is hyper aware when the cop car rumbles to a stop.

“No idea.”

He keeps his voice as even as possible, not wanting to worry her more than she already is. “It’s a load of bullshit is what it is,” she responds, and it’s then that he hears boots behind him.

“Can you stop walking, wolf?” The same officer from before calls, raising his voice enough for passerby to stop and look and murmur amongst themselves.

Wyatt turns around, coming to a stop as the officers approach him. The older officer has his hands clasped together, but the younger officer - who barely looks old enough to be a cop - has his hand over something small on the back of his belt. Wyatt can’t see what it is but his heart is beating faster and faster by the minute.

“Something wrong officers?” he asks, calm and collected, Addison asking him what’s wrong with increasing panic from the phone line. “I’m just trying to get home to my fiancée for some late night movies.”

“Do you have your ID on you?” the older officer questions.

Inside he curses himself, because of course the one time he didn’t bring it with him he needed it - he hated carrying a wallet with a passion, something he still didn’t enjoy about human life one bit. He didn’t like anything weighing him down, in the forest that wasn’t the way things were done, but outside it, humans enjoyed carrying more than they needed.

Wyatt’s heart is thrashing against his ribcage now, his moonstone humming with more urgency, and something inside of him telling him to run. To leave, to get as far away as possible, because these officers were barking up the wrong tree, and he was at the center of it.

“No sir, I don’t,” he replies, “didn’t think I’d need it for a run to the store a few corners over.”

“Wyatt,” Addison begs from the phone, her voice crackling against his ear, horror stories from her father and from the history books flashing through her head. No police were good when it came to werewolves, or zombies, or anyone different.

He hears it before he sees it.

His eyes snap to the younger officer, to the thing he pulls from his belt.

It’s a small container, something printed on the side of the metal that he can’t see, and then it’s spraying in his direction, and even with the dodge he uses with a jolt of power from his moonstone, whatever it is that comes from the container catches the corner of his elbow and then his skin is on fire.

He cries out, the grocery bag falling to the ground, the jug of milk breaking open against rough cement, his phone skidding across the sidewalk.

He reaches for his elbow with his opposite hand, his fingers lightly brushing against the skin that’s bright red and burning silently, and his fingers begin burning before he can pull them back fast enough.

“Goddamn it!” he hears the older officer shout, two pairs of boots advancing toward him, but the fire is twisting and thrashing like his heart is, and when someone’s hands go to grab at the excat same elbow that’s burning, he growls and shoves them off.

His eyes flash brightly as he moves away from the men, but they push forward, their hands still reaching.

“Why the fuck would you do that?” the older officer contuines, his voice muffled in Wyatt’s roaring ears.

“It’s a fucking werewolf, no matter what we did it was just going to attack us anyway!”

One hand is successful in closing around his elbow, but that just closes the fire in, drags it across his skin, and he growls again and pulls back, but before he can get far there’s someone on top of him, attempting to pin him to the ground.

That same something from before is sprayed at his back, catching arms and sinking through his shirt to the skin underneath, fire everywhere, blossoming and igniting and rippling. His moonstone hums angrily and flashes bright blue as he pushes the men off him with little difficulty, and then stumbling to his feet and running, power flowing through his veins and making his legs pump faster.

He needs to escape, he needs to go, to run, because he doesn’t know what will happen later, but he also doesn’t want to find out what happens now if he sticks around. Nothing good, his brain supplies, if the fire still racing across his skin was any indication.

The pain distracts him from hearing the cock of a pistol, the action of a bullet being slotted into place from inside the gun.

He doesn’t hear the bullet.

He feels it, something rupturing his skin and mixing with the fire, and sees it, when the bullet brings him to a sudden stop, looking down and seeing dark red seep from the middle of his chest.

He brings his hands to the red, pressing his palms flat against it before pulling them back, almost in disbelief when he sees them slick with dark red liquid that should be inside his body, not outside it. He hears shouting, and screaming, and so many other noises, and before he knows what’s happening there’s the shattering sound of another bullet unloading into his back, and another, and another.

His moonstone hums, louder in his ears than the noise around him, and then everything goes black.

[etraytin]

Quarantine, Day 75

This past week has been kind of stressful, but today turned out to be a pretty good day. I got up early so I could hit Walmart as soon as it opened, figuring that the best time to hit up a superstore would be as early as possible on a holiday where people might like to be sleeping in. I also made an extremely detailed plan beforehand, using Walmart's app tools to locate every item on my shopping list and rewrite the list in order of where I could find the items, working my way from the back of the store to the front. In an unfamiliar Walmart, especially one with one-way aisles currently, this somewhat tedious task saved a _lot_ of time. As it turned out, Walmart is about a hundred times better than Food Lion at safety practices, and with the place nearly empty anyway, I felt at least as safe as at Publix, and a lot more at home. No cart wipers, but a lot of social distancing and masks on just about everyone. 

Why start at the back of the store? Because that is where the toilet paper is, of course. I did well, too, picked up twelve jumbo rolls of Ultra Soft and Strong, far better than the Toilet Paper brand toilet paper that was all I could get delivered. There wasn't a huge amount available, but there were several different brands. I was able to get everything on my list except yeast, which remains stubbornly unavailable, but luckily there is always beer bread. The good thing about shopping at Walmart is that when you spent two hundred dollars stocking up at Walmart, you feel like you're actually stocked up. My cart was _full._ We should not need more groceries for at least another week, and then maybe just a top up. 

The thing that actually took the longest was my detour all the way across the store into the toy department. I spent a long time (less than five minutes, but subjectively very long when you're speed-shopping) looking at the Razor scooters, wondering if that would let the kid burn off energy and have some fun. The cheapest one that would really fit him was fifty dollars, which is not beyond our reach, but I realized I could only see him enjoying it with other kids around. Riding around in the driveway and the cul de sac alone seemed depressing even in my head. So instead I picked him up some other things. I got a pack of two generic super-soakers and two little squirt guns, a bouncy ball sized for throwing or kicking, a nerf football, and a four-pack of bubble wands. Stuff that also wouldn't be fun to use alone, but that his dad or I could use with him. Something to play with, but also the implicit promise that we would play with him. (I also got him some bubble gum because he likes bubblegum and hardly ever gets it.) 

Anyway, I got the groceries home and unpacked, then I showed the kiddo his new things. He was _very_ excited. I promised him that when the temperature got warmer in the afternoon, we would put on old clothes and run around with squirt guns, and he immediately filled them up and went on the deck to start practicing. There was a lot of yelling and posturing in front of the window for the benefit of us inside. The bouncy ball was another hit, and we're going to save the bubble wands to take on a visit to Papa so he can see them too. 

I decided on salsa chicken for supper because it is easy and takes five minutes in the morning to put together. Basically you cover the bottom of your crockpot with chicken breasts (a big one takes four or five), dump a packet of taco seasoning on them, and cover the whole thing with an entire jar of salsa. (I like the Walmart brand black bean and corn because it is good and extremely cheap for a big jar.) Turn on your crockpot to low and let it cook all day. Sometime at least an hour before you serve it, shred the meat with two forks and then wait until it has soaked up most of the liquid to serve it. Put it on tortillas with your preferred taco stuff. It's delicious! MIL ate two of them, another sign she's feeling much better after being sickly yesterday. 

While the chicken was cooking all day, we did baked potatoes and salad for lunch, and then it was time for The Soakening. At first it was just the kiddo and me because my husband is deep into writing a book and is trying to make up for lost time in the past few weeks. We went out to the driveway and ran around squirting each other and shrieking, then went to the hose to refill our guns. We did that twice more before the kiddo realized that just using the hose would be a more efficient vector for getting really, really wet. I agreed on the condition that he got to be the one getting wet and I would hold the hose. He agreed, so we began a hilariously one-sided water battle of Kiddo vs The Hose. He got very, very wet. I got pretty wet too, but not as much. My husband came out and we were going to give him one of the big squirt guns, but he pulled out the two little guns and started squirting in a very treacherous fashion, so of course it was the hose for him! After that it was mostly anarchy, with a lot of me getting Supersoakered in the back while trying to drench my husband with the hose. And yelling, lots of yelling. 

It took about an hour until we were all exhausted and soaked through and decided to call it a day. We had to use towels on the porch so we didn't soak Nana's hardwood floors as we sloshed off to our rooms to change clothes. There was resting time after that, then the kiddo and my husband baked a chocolate cake from scratch that turned out pretty good, then supper, a documentary about baseball, two episodes of Avatar, and bedtime. The kiddo didn't come out of his room after bedtime because he was stressed or sad even once. He just went right to sleep. It was a pretty good day. 

[twdfanfic-multifandom]

“I’ve had worse scratches from my sister’s kitten”

*Set between season 3 and season 4*

****

"Can I slide in a small request?" Michonne said quietly, her face stern. You turned to look at her, eyebrows furrowed.

"What is it?"

A moment of hesitation passed before Michonne finally spoke, the seriousness of her voice making you slightly nervous.

"Snickers. Kit-Kat. Butterfinger, whatever you can find. Please. I'm begging you." Desperation filled her voice as if her life depended on her single request for a candy bar. A laugh bubbled from your lips as you shook your head.

"I'll try my best, though I can't guarantee its freshness," you stated as you made a mental note to look for any form of chocolate on your supply run.

"As long as it has sugar and has more than a hundred calories, I don't care if it's decades old," Michonne retorted and offered you a small smile.

"Be safe," she instructed finally before turning away from you.

Daryl leaned against the car with arms crossed, waiting patiently for you. Tyreese already had the engine running, and soon the three of you were exiting the prison grounds. The sun was fresh and sharp having just risen, and the blinding golden rays streamed through the windows. From the backseat, you watched as golden strips of light cut across Daryl's skin, almost making him glow. He looked beautiful. He absentmindedly chewed on a fingernail while he and Tyreese exchanged quiet conversation.

An aura of tiredness filled the car. It was early, and runs weren't a fun part of surviving - though they were necessary. The prison ran out of food quickly despite the rationing, so scavenging for supplies became more frequent. Most of the time it was you and Daryl out hunting for food. The two of you worked exceptionally well together - your bubbly yet sarcastic disposition paired well with his hostility and dryness, and you found yourself enjoying time with Daryl. He was cold and stern, but beneath the tough exterior was a heart of gold. You'd clearly seen that throughout the months. This was occasionally reinforced by meaningful conversations shared between the two of you on late night watches, or laying beside a fire in the woods. He was a good person.

"Y/n, you still awake?" Tyreese said loudly, making you wince.

"Am now, asshole," you joked with a small chuckle, and Daryl glanced at you out the corner of his eye, his lip tugged up at the corner.

After a few more minutes, the entered into a desolate town and the three of you stepped out, weapons ready. Everything looked ransacked. Windows were smashed in, and walls were covered in graffiti. The end is here. Repent and get saved. They're coming. We're all dead. You're dead.

A small chill ran down your spine, and the two men also seemed unsettled by the writing on the wall. It was hard to get used to things like that. It added to the feeling of impending doom that always seem to loom at the back of everyone's minds. Walkers snarled in the distance. None of them seemed nearby, but everyone knew it was best to get in and get out before they became a problem.

"There," Tyreese pointed out a large building with a faded sign - what once was presumably a Walmart. Quickening up the pace, you headed into the building.

Daryl stepped protectively in front of you, crossbow raised. He scanned the massive room before walking forward towards the shelves.

"Let's split up," you suggested in a whisper. The large man nodded before Daryl interjected.

"No, no way. Ya stick with me," he instructed, making you roll your eyes despite the warmth that filled your heart.

"I can fight. It'll be quicker if we split up," you motioned to your gun and knife.

"She's right," Tyreese agreed, earning a glare from the archer. After a moment he reluctantly agreed, and we went different ways.

The shelves were not entirely empty, but most of the canned goods were gone. The only things left were the things most people didn't want to eat - beans, tuna, clams, vienna sausage. You placed the available tins in your backpack before heading to the candy aisle. Your heart sunk when you saw that it was totally barren. All the racks were empty, save for a single bag of marshmallows that had been ripped open and spilled all over. Defeated, you dropped to your knees.

"Why the candy?" You muttered bitterly to yourself, letting out a huge sigh.

"Ya say something?" Daryl called out from somewhere else in the store, and you shook your head stupidly before realizing that he couldn't see you.

"Just talking to myself," you called back. In a last effort, you bent down to scan the deep dark depths beneath the metal shelving. Shining you flashlight underneath, all there was to be seen was an ungodly amount of spiderwebs and dust. Then something glinted in the artificial light. Desperately you crawled forward to reach for the shining object. With a crinkle, you pulled out the dusty bar. Baby Ruth. Hell yeah. A big smile plastered onto your face and you pocketed the candy bar - Michonne was going to be happy. She hadn't asked for anything since arriving at the prison. All she did was help out as much as she could and stayed out of the way. The two of you had become close friends in the short time that Michonne had been at the prison, but it might as well have been years of friendship. It sure as hell felt that way sometimes.

"Guys we got company!" Tyreese yelled, snapping you out of your daze. Raising your gun you shot up off the floor and headed towards the sound of his voice, now noticing hungry growls.

"Holy shit."

A steady stream of walkers flowed through the single open door of the Walmart, while dozens more were pressed against the large window panes, blocking your exit. Arrows fired from beside you, and you glanced at Daryl. He was focused. You and Tyreese followed suit, firing your guns at the grotesque and hungry walkers. Their jaws snapped loudly. With a sudden shatter, one of the large window panes gave in under the pressure of the walkers, allowing them entrance.

"Shit," Daryl muttered. Fear pulsed through you as you kept firing, though it seemed pointless. The unmistakable click of an empty mag sent frustration coursing through your head. You flung your gun towards a biter with only half a face, then pulled out your knife. Rushing forward into the oncoming creatures, you stabbed them relentlessly in their decaying heads, one by one.

"We gotta go," Tyreese said breathlessly as he motioned towards the rest of the building. There had to be another exit. You nodded as you turned away from the creatures and hurried towards Daryl, who placed a warm hand on your arm.

"Ya okay?" He asked quietly, his low voice rumbling through your chest. His eyes were simultaneously cold and warm, paradoxical like him. Soft and hard. Cold and warm. Where his fingers touched your skin sent waves of electricity through your body, making your stomach tighten.

"Yeah," you breathed softly, your eyes staring straight into his.

"Seriously guys, not the time. We gotta go now."

With the moment broken, the three of you ran through the array of shelves. In the distance was another loud shatter. Then another. Then another. No more glass. Panic rose in your chest along with the increasing sense of urgency. They were coming, fast. Tyreese fired his last few rounds at the herd of walkers that just rounded the corner, and Daryl continued to fire his arrows - which would eventually run out.

"Tyreese, find the exit. We'll hold them off," you barked as you stabbed your blade through a half-exposed temple. The man paused for a moment, contemplating arguing, then nodded and headed out of sight. One particularly gross walker had been split up the torso, and its bowels hung out of it like putrid sausage. Its jaw hung limply from its rotting face, tongue lolling out like a smelling slab of meat. Bile rose in your throat and you shut your eyes.

It was a stupid thing to do.

Suddenly you were down on the ground. Fingers clawed at your ankle and a new set of nails clawed at your stomach, ripping open your skin. A small scream erupted from you as you shoved your arm forward, blocking the thing from chewing your face. A series of other pains burned their way onto your body like fire, and tears streamed down your face.

The walker by your face suddenly stilled, as did the other ones surrounding you. In one swift motion, Daryl pulled you up into his arms and sped towards a small, dingy bathroom. The fear in his eyes seemed to scare you more than the intensity of the situation.

He threw down his crossbow and instantly surveyed your wounds, paying attention the scratches on your abdomen. Blood seeped out of the slits and onto the beige tiled floor, making you feel slightly sick.

"Shit, y/n," Daryl's voice was laced with panic. His hands pressed against the wounds to stop the bleeding.

"It's not so bad. I've had worse scratches from my sister's kitten," you joked, though your attempt at humor failed miserably. Anger flashed across the man's face.

"This ain't a joke, y/n!" He yelled, making you flinch. Black spots danced into your vision and you shook your head slightly. It only made you more dizzy.

"You're right. The joke is you focusing on the scratches," you said lazily, staring into Daryl's fearful eyes. A puzzled expression crossed his face. Sighing, you pulled yourself into a half-sitting position before pulling off your tattered shirt. Daryl blushed heavily before turning to a deathly pale shade when he spotted the fresh bite in the side of your torso.

"No, no, no. No," he said repeatedly, his hands suddenly by the bite as if he could heal it. he couldn't. His head shook repeatedly, shaking free a few teardrops which spilled onto your blood-soaked skin.

"'S okay, Daryl," you said softly, gently placing your hand on his warm arm. Death was inevitable. Everyone knew that.

"Don't you dare say that," Daryl growled.

"It really is, it's okay. I'm not afraid of dying," you reassured him, though it was a lie. Everyone is afraid of dying. Especially when they have to die in front of the person they loved.

"Ya ain't gonna die. I'm not lettin' that happen. Ya gonna be fine, y/n. Ya gonna be fine," the archer's voice was now thick, choked by tears. Your own tears spilled onto your face as you watched him stare helplessly at your dying body.

"Don't let me turn."

Daryl looked at you, and for the first time you saw that he was broken. His mouth was turned down at the corners, and tears spilled down his cheeks in a steady flow, hair covering his face. Your hand found his blood-covered one as you passed him the Baby Ruth bar, also covered in blood. Your blood.

"Please give this to Michonne," you whispered and your eyes slowly fluttered shut. You were tired.

"Open ya eyes, y/n. Stay with me. Stay awake," Daryl pleaded as he gripped your hand, his other hand on your overheating face. It was now a battle whether you would die from blood loss or from the infection. This was one competition that you wished neither would win.

"I'm just tired," your voice was barely audible, sending blind fear through Daryl's body.

He never got close because he knew this day would come, but now it was here, he wish he did. He wished he'd told you how he felt. He wished he'd spent every single waking second with you, rather than attempt to distance himself. But now it didn't matter, because you were dying and it hurt all the same. God, how it hurt.

"Stay with me," Daryl pleaded finally, before he did it. Heart beating so fast he thought it would explode, Daryl place both hands on the side of your face and gently placed his lips against yours. All the times he wanted tell you how he felt, all the times you'd shared watching the stars, all the moments of ineffable feelings between the two of you filled that single kiss. His lips against yours felt like his heart growing warm and his heart shattering at the same time. It was warm because he loved you. It shattered because he knew that he would never be able to kiss you again. He would never be able to have more moments with you.

"Finally," you muttered weakly when you broke apart. Your heart would have been beating fast if it weren't pumping slowly and thickly from blood loss. New tears lined your face as you stared into Daryl's swollen eyes. Your heart broke at the sight.

"'S okay, D."

He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, placing his forehead against yours. He felt your warm, slow breaths against his face. The words were about to leave his lips; those three words that he'd been itching to say for the longest time. But then he realized it didn't matter anymore, because he no longer felt your breaths on his face. They had stopped. You were gone.