How do you Entice People into Church?
A Church in England has a solution to fill all those empty churches on Sunday: A church in Shipley, England, has begun hosting professional wrestling events called “Wrestling Church.” The church combines Christian messages with wrestling matches and is led by Gareth Thompson, who wrestles under Gareth Ange.
Is Jesus Christ the headliner at the top of the ticket, or is it the UK’s answer to Hulk Hogan?
Questions (rhetorical): Do you go to church for the show? Do you skip out for the concession stand during communion? Do they have a liquor license? Open Bar? Can the wrestlers turn water into a fine cab for those who want a more mellow experience? What if you combined professional wrestling with a Cowboy Church? Come for the main event, but stay for the barbecue! I don’t judge. (Judge not!) But I’d take a hard pass on attending church to watch pro wrestling (unless it also offered world-class BBQ).
Do the events feature tag-team matches? Do the wrestlers’ onesies feature Christian themes? How many of the wrestlers wear masks? There aren’t many Mexicans in Old Blighty, but if you wanted to export the main event to the US, you might want to include Lucha Libre to bring in the illegal aliens. Have ICE standing by with a few buses. Is it a sort of a Christian variation on a Draw Mohammed contest?
Easter is Coming
Somebody made a shirt so you wouldn’t forget.
Bullet Points:
** A Canadian political announcement. This is serious, not a joke. (The Canadian assisted suicide law is called MAID, for reference.)
** (h/t Claudio) Finland, which shares NATO’s longest border with Russia, will withdraw from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines, according to President Alexander Stubb. The decision comes shortly after Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland said they were assessing the possibility of exiting the treaty, allowing them to stockpile and use landmines to secure their respective borders with Russia. How will Vladimir Vladimirovich respond? Maybe he marches Norks through the minefields to clear them?
** Last week, the news broke that the DC Bar had revoked — permanently — Hunter Biden’s law license. In case you missed it.
** A good woman stands by her man during bad times to tell him that none of it would have happened if only he’d listened to her.
** Senator Scott suggested cutting the IRS budget by half. The commissioner replied that we might as well save the money and shut it down completely. His terms are acceptable.
** I’ve heard that Pres. Trump (or that Team Trump) deliberately crashed the stock market to move people from there into Treasury Bonds. The bond market did go crazy, and because people are buying bonds, the coupon (interest) has dropped very significantly. USGOV needs to renegotiate $9 trillion in bonds in 2025. Traders sense that the US government will take this opportunity to refinance that $9T in debt at the lower rate, thus saving the budget (and the taxpayer) trillions in interest payments.
** Stranded cars were submerged in Nashville, Tennessee, during severe flash flooding. One local described it as the worst flooding in 25 years. Floods are no joke. VM’s concern, prayers, and love go out to the people of Nashville.
***
Because today is the sermonette…
In Latin America
Although U.S. policymakers face a variety of complex challenges in addressing transnational terrorism, one underappreciated aspect is Hezbollah’s evolving presence in Latin America. Academic literature and government reports almost universally indicate that Hezbollah’s activities in the region pose potential threats to U.S. national security. However, there is a significant knowledge gap in existing assessments.
Hezbollah’s operational footprint in Latin America focuses on illicit funding mechanisms, violent operations, and key operational hubs—particularly in the Tri-Border Area and Venezuela. Situating these activities within the broader context of Iran’s regional diplomatic, economic, and cultural activities partially facilitates conditions amenable to Hezbollah’s operations.
By analyzing the group’s operational strategies, current strategic alliances, and historical precedents, it is possible to develop actionable considerations for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) leadership while raising awareness of the organization’s presence among a broader community of stakeholders.
What the US decides to do about this is another matter.
In Germany
Stern Magazine called for mass conscription of German youths to join the army, including ensuring the defense of “freedom and diversity.” The reaction to the article has been harsh, to say the least, with hundreds of negative comments directed at Stern.
The article, “Others no longer defend us? Then we must do it ourselves!” claims that “the USA no longer wants to protect Germany. This brings a bitter realization: Our unbearable complacency must end.” The solution? Start drafting German youth to fight the future wars.
The author, Tilman Gerwien, a German male noticeable well past the age of someone who might typically be drafted, says that the days of a “dollhouse-like Bullerbü” are over and “we have to grow up.” He details the left’s traditional stance against conscription, which saw German youths demanding that American troops leave Germany, was “not only a matter of conscience, but also a lifestyle.”
He noted that at demonstrations against NATO, “people hopped around in peace-loving spirits, chanting ‘Out of NATO, into fun!’” According to Gerwien, all of this has to end. There is no way to know if Gerwien participated in these previous protests or shared those sentiments at one time, but, notably, he is now old enough not to have to face the draft himself. Lucky him.
They have all of those imported military age males (all Muslim) who could be drafted and form a huge armed Caliphate within Germany. Now, there’s an idea.
Born in the USA
The US consistently has the world’s largest economy in nominal GDP terms. For 2024, estimates place the U.S. nominal GDP significantly higher than any other country (e.g., projected around $28 trillion by the IMF). The US ranks very high when adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP, which accounts for cost of living differences).
According to recent IMF or World Bank data, the US is usually among the top 10-15 wealthiest nations by GDP per capita (PPP), often behind smaller nations like Luxembourg, Ireland, Singapore, Qatar, and Switzerland but ahead of most large economies.
Similar to GDP per capita, the US ranks very high globally in GNI per capita (PPP), including income residents earn from overseas investments. The OECD tracks net adjusted disposable income per capita, which reflects household income after taxes and transfers, adjusted for household size.
The US consistently ranks at or near the very top among OECD countries (a group of primarily high-income nations) on this metric, indicating strong purchasing power for the average household compared to peers.
Looking at median income (which better reflects the typical household than averages skewed by high earners) and adjusting for purchasing power, the US generally ranks among the highest in the world.
Media Distortions
Caliphate – on the Move
Syria was once a part of the Ottoman Empire, which was run from Istanbul. If the new Sultan Recip Erdogan has his way, it will be again. This is not a prediction. It is a statement of fact. The Turkish annexation of Syria is underway.
The new Syrian government, put in place with direct Turkish assistance, just handed over the old Russian airbase at Palmyra to Erdogan and the Turkish military. They intend to build a base there on the order of the United States’ massive facility at Ramstein in Germany.
Ankara has officially notified the United Nations (UN) and NATO of the decision. It has vowed to respond with military force to any act of aggression against its new base. Turkey owns this base. Stay away.
Meanwhile, Turkish forces have already begun constructing another military installation at the existing Menagh Military Airbase in northwestern Syria. According to sources, Turkish troops have begun trucking massive concrete slabs and other construction materials. The assessment is that they are building an air defense facility to help defend their growing military presence inside what used to be Syria.
The base was initially built to support helicopter operations. It has two runways, each 1.2 kilometers in length.
The Israelis are not particularly keen on the new Ottomans expanding their domain. A senior Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) official told The War Zone,
“The establishment of a Turkish Air Force base in Palmyra, Syria could heighten regional tensions and increase the risk of conflict with Israel…“Given Israel’s ongoing efforts to prevent hostile military entrenchment in Syria, any significant Turkish military presence, especially in strategic locations like Palmyra, could be perceived as a threat to Israeli security interests.”
Earlier this month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned, without using Israel’s name, against intervention in Syria. “Those seeking to benefit from Syria’s instability will not succeed,” said Erdogan. “We will not allow them to divide Syria as they imagine.”
In the Market
• Bond yields are collapsing. If you have bonds, your portfolio may return to even or show gains.
• The 10-year Treasury is at 3.8%. That’s excellent news for mortgages.
• The dollar is weak, and gold has soared to $3,150! I hope you bought it for $2,000 as I advised you then.
WTI crude oil has dropped sharply below its long-term support of nearly $65 per barrel. If this breakdown holds, it could head toward $45, a significant shift in oil prices. It would crash the US oil business, which needs oil to remain over $70. But it will feel good at the pumps.
Identify the Aircraft
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2
Floods any size are no fun. Record flooding now in inland southern Queensland and northern NSW. The area under water is bigger than Texas. Human life lost three or four. Stock (sheep and cattle) 250 000 plus. Hard to say as the water will take weeks to go down ( very flat region).
There is always a concern with cholera when you have that many dead animals in the water.
Flood cars often end up for sale. There are ‘detailers’ who do an amazing job in restoring them. You do not, repeat do not, want to buy one. One trick from a retired used car dog; use a extension mirror to check under the dash. That is the one place the detailers usually miss.
I thought it was illegal to sell a flood car? (Silly me, there I go being honestly naive again.)
It’s easier to restore a flood-damaged car (and sell it to the buying public) than to twist the new digital odometers.
They “wash” the Salvage Tile in another state with looser laws, ans who’s to know?
Identify the Aircraft:
1. IAI Heron
2. IAI Eitan
Well done!
NEWSMAX Class B IPO went public this week at $10 a share. The stock saw a 750% increase on its first day closing at just about $233 a share at the closing bell.Glad I bought some then sold off half the next day at the opening bell. If it’s to good to be true, it usually is. At present NMAX is at $45.50. nonetheless it was still an epic day for the stock on Monday.
Cha-Ching!!!
Paraphrasing the Sky Pilot in Blazing Saddles: “We will now read to you from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Barnum & Bailey.”
Showing up to church to the tunes from a steam calliope wipes out any hope of reverence. Then they’re hawking peanuts and hot dogs during the spiritual WWE wrestling (maybe masked). A lot of churches are entertainment-based in the hopes of selling the product but these guys in Old Blighty might have taken it a little too far.
Not quite this.
https://youtu.be/T5evsxRdkJw?si=YJ7hC_t0g19IK03g
The circus tent Jesus types offend me.
The end of the world is coming so they better get on their knees, quit their job at the big church where the milk and money flows and heed the words of Brother Paul Thorn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-FhapPZ0h8
I think of Elmer Gantry.
LL, let’s see what LSP says on the subject after finishing up his day job.
It’s on his old turf. Maybe he’ll try the idea out in Texas with the Lucha Libre wrestlers there.
“How do you Entice People into Church?”
Stop educating them and emphasize a belief in all things superstitious.
It’s always helpful if you can set up a wrestling ring in the middle of the building and have a tag team mud match too.
Some of, if not most of, the brightest minds in science have become convinced of the reality of the God of the Bible.
The response of some believers is sub optimal.
Always skeptics within the ranks…but ‘the foxhole axiom’ still holds, some just haven’t been to that place yet. A dulling of our true spiritual side has been what the mainstream church (all denom’s) has done; 15 – 30 minutes of ‘get you in the mood’ 7/11 songs, often by professional musicians, then a sermon…often prosperity and not truth/true gospel (heck, Paul had this same difficulty when not on site), then offering little to no challenge to those in the seats. Reform is needed.
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So called churches who try appealing to the itching ears crowd continue to show that those people are fickle, and the temporary audience soon disappears. On occasion, while growing up, my dad would say something about ‘bread and circuses’, and nothing seems to have changed since Rome fell.
‘Seeker Friendly’ waters down the Gospel, which God built to be the main attractor, or in showbiz terms, attraction.
I dare you to tune in to Sirius/XM Ch 128 and have a listen…ol’ Joel is the prime purveyor of such blather…in an Armani suit. Talks a good game and people eat it up like candy. Not much different than a former 2-Term’r who could talk like no other but was a hollowman subversive once past the smarmy rhetoric.
Whited seppulchre.
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Europe and Britain are gone unless they take steps quickly to reverse their errors in the liberal experiment. Possibly already too late. I have fears that we are past the tipping point here in the USA but have not lost hope.
TURKEY & NATO – I do not think Turkey can maintain an allegiance with NATO for much longer and maybe that is Erdogan’s plan? But I have doubts that he and Putin can maintain a strong alliance either.
Is this what causes us to leave NATO? I have often thought that Turkey have not gotten over us pulling missiles out to satisfy the Russians in ’62 to settle the Cuba crisis.
There are those who post here that are much wiser on these issues than I and would enjoy hearing your opinions.
hate to be the dark gremlin, but I’ve a bit of concern for the dollar (U.S.) when the price/cost? of an ounce of gold is now more than one hundred times the price it was when I was in dental school in the mid-’60s; is thisreally the value of the dollar compared to that period?
(what happened: the short version, please! remember I’m just a dentist, not an economist – profligate government spending? pocketing of funds by un/elected officials?)
People buy gold when they’re insecure. I’ve accepted gold in payment for decades and it kept going up in value as USGOV printed paper currency and crowed incessantly about the full faith and credit of the United States. The deficit goes up by trillions each year. The only thing that saves us is that other nations are more screwed up than we are.
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I have no gold. Mistake? Haven’t decided. Apparently I’m the odd sibling brother in this (they would pause at “odd” but that’s another topic). Somewhere around here is supposedly a stolen/lost/inside job pilfered stagecoach transported $60k Army payroll strong box…likely gold pieces. Haven’t looked intentionally, but if I arrive at the Ford dealer with $135K in cash…successfully not confiscated in transit…because…because…we don’t actually own our cash according TPTB who Fed alert over $10k because that must mean…drugs! or something nefarious ((snicker)) – and walk out with a new F-150 Raptor with all the do-dads, including a trail-ready mini-bar or that awesome cooler in Ironman, you’ll know I found it.
I wouldn’t buy gold at $3,100/oz. Now, if somebody wants to pay you in gold, take the money.
The Rolling Stone shirt is missing one thing. Keith Richards needs to be there. I don’t want to imply he’s the resurrected one coming out from behind the stone, just that maybe Keith was getting his first guitar lesson. Or maybe he was teaching The One His first guitar lesson.
Keith may agree.
I think that Keith resembles one of the Roman guards there on Golgotha. Coincidence? You be the judge.
Time traveler.
@ML Thomas, “There are those who post here that are much wiser on these issues than I…”. Indeed.
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My 2 cents on gold. I have never understood how gold can be a “hedge against inflation” when it’s increased dollar value is by way of inflated dollars that are worth less. And, how long before those last two words become one? Also, if things really go sideways, who would want to trade for something that is heavy, you can’t eat, and can’t burn for warmth?
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As a young lad growing in California’s Gold Rush country, I had numerous opportunities to pan for gold. We found just enough color to make it great fun. It was also an excellent lesson that while a few got fabulously wealth during the gold rush, far many more made a decent living selling pans and shovels.
Not including myself. How long could the AVERAGE AMERICAN last without food, WATER, necessary medicaion or additional ammunition? How many Americans have a viable defensive plan? You’re right, RHT, you can’t eat gold and you can burn paper money to keep warm – but gold is still gold.
You’re only nine meals between mankind to anarchy…or so they say.
It sounds true.
I have a few month rations supply at the ready, 2 sets of gates to slow ‘em down, and a plywood and PVC replica of a Hydra-6 perched on the high spot as a visual deterrent. Might be good for a while….because “nobody lives here”.
I guess what bothers me is:
gold was ~$35/troy ounce in 1964 and the price of first class postage (U.S.) was $.05; Friday gold closed down @ $3,037.65 and first class postage (U.S.) is currently $0.73.
I don’t have a grasp of higher economics (as an undergrad avoided courses in same like the plague – I was a Chem major, minor in Math); I remember stories of my mother’s brothers going to market (in the Ukraine in 1916) with two wheelbarrows piled high with rubles and coming home with one can of chickpeas.
I’d just appreciate some idea of which is going to catch up to which.
IOW, if I leave $x to my son, will he be able to buy a loaf of bread with it?
Leave him real estate. And some rubles to pay the tax man.
Trump is trying to eliminate death taxation…pure theft as if (as I alluded in an above comment) it’s really not your money or real estate to bequeath. Dad passed 31 years ago…too soon. Sitting around the massive conference table at the family attorney’s office, starts with the basics but then presents a large six-figure tax bill from the State of Pennsylvania. I went off. Brothers were like “Here we go.” Told the attorney (a good man) to draft an invoice to the State providing chapter and verse of all the people dad well employed, all the subcontractors he hired over the years to build his office buildings, all the taxes he paid, etc, etc. (I went on in detail for a few minutes or so) then make sure the invoice zero’d out their asinine Bill of Theft…they weren’t entitled to a damn penny. Got up and left after my little tirade. Luckily dad also had a good CPA, but imagine Joe Schmo’s widow getting hit with this takings garbage with no one to advocate…have to sell everything to pay it. How wrong is that?
Money is an awesome invention. All it requires is that both sides agree to a relative value, and then it is a placeholder of that value. Gold historically worked because it was rare, shiny, easily malleable and therefore easy to make into many similar-size and similar-weight items, and hard to counterfeit. But humans have used all other sorts of wampum, too. These days, some people (not all) agree to the entirely abstract placeholders called bitcoin, while others think that’s a stretch too far.
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In the abstract, money allows us to move past barter, because maybe I need this roof repaired, but you don’t want my cow. Rather than waste many, many manhours working out a 7-way trade that leaves all comers either satisfied or owing “a favour”, I can trade the cow for money, and give you the money. In fact, I can even bank trades for later. Instead of working by tally-sticks of favours owed and their worth (like milk from the cow, and use of it to plow a field, and cow patties for cooking fuel), we can just hand over small coins, and when times comes, take a part-hoard and trade it then.
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So gold (and silver) is a hedge against inflation in that, over the decades, the same amount of gold is worth roughly the same amount of end product… even as inflation makes the intermediary, the pieces of paper. increase. And if the paper becomes worthless, then gold can still purchase the product.
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And yes, if things go to “scrabbling in the dust for a few edible / burnable scraps”, then gold is a burden… but there’s rather a lot of variation in disasters and third-world standards before you hit that, and gold is a hell of a lot easier to use in a trade for a technical and a couple local fighters than, say, vats of sorghum beer.
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As a lady of a certain age and experience, I am well aware of why my mother has coin bracelets of silver Bolivars that weren’t meant to be worn where you can see them – because if La Guardia / La Policia wouldn’t take the 5-bolivar note in your sedula (internal passport / ID document), something very bad was going on (usually a revolucion. Again.) If you were caught out and realized you were likely to shortly become a playtoy and then another body dumped in an unmarked grave, it was time to reach up under the sleeve (subtly!), yank off as much as needed to buy safe passage, and palm it to the right person.
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You can’t eat it, you can’t burn it, but she’s alive and I’m here because you can carry it and use it to buy favours without attracting notice when nothing else is going to work.
Military people have long bought gold Rolex wristwatches with gold links that can be removed for payment in the back of beyond. It’s the same reason that I always have a couple thousand in cash on me. Credit card canceled by USGOV? No problem.
Same with the guy selling 34ft ladders on the Mexican side of The Border Wall.
That was in response to RHT447…” few got fabulously wealth during the gold rush, far many more made a decent living selling pans and shovels.”. …albeit not to invade our country, but entrepreneurial efforts can be admired for creativity.
I was curious and found that in 1930 on top of the line Lincoln went for $4,000. Today it goes for $120,000.
In 1930 that would be 20 oz of gold at the then current price of $20 an ounce.
The Lincoln today would be 40 oz of gold.
Far fewer Americans could have afforded a Lincoln in the depths of the Great Depression than can do so now…or it it due to something else?
I’d rather have the Raptor for that money…but the Caddy would be a nice highway driver, could do 15 hours much more easily.
The Raptor has Lincoln vented seats, Lincoln instrument cluster, and wicked good suspension. It rides like a Lincoln or a Caddy.
So how much extra would it cost to put that suspension on all trucks?
I would think tuned springs cost the same as just springs.
Tom
The Fox suspension system on a Raptor goes for about $8K in parts (+labor). I’m sure that there is a mark up but that’s the retail bullet. I prefer the King suspension system for the Raptor (though mine is OEM – Fox) and that’s $8,800. So 10% more. Is it worth it? I still have the Fox system.
Did you guys miss my point?
In cash the value of a top of the line Lincoln went up 30 fold.
In gold, 2 fold.
Your point is well taken.
Not at all Ed…government has interfered with the ability of car manufacturers to make affordable vehicles on top of their caused inflation…but just having some color outside the lines fun what if thought.
A friend bought $357k of gold when it was $1,100.
I am happy for her.
I deal in lead. (h/t Steve McQueen)
Another friend, at 6’10”, literally a giant of a man, with a soft heart as large, collects cowboy boots the same as one may collect art. Most made of exotic skins, his boots are works of art. Every one custom made for his grizzly sized feet.
But the boots serve in his work; he is long time foreman of a ranch of 115k acres. Or was. Mostly retired since cowboys don’t ever retire, not really.
He added a room to house his collection. I reckon he’s got several millions in the boots.
His bootmaker, another friend of mine, started in the craft at age six. He took his inheritance plus his savings to buy AU. I reckon over nine millions now. He bought when gold was $400.
I remain ‘poor’. God doesn’t allow me to hold on to fortunes. Every time I get filthy rich, it vanishes. I am okay with that. God knows better than I.
There you go again with those pesky facts…LOL
What a good sermon.
I know some people go to church for entertainment and sex (!). I know you do not.
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