Thief gets deck-ed by clever Magic: The Gathering player

Did you see what I did there?  Huh, did you?  That's all I got...

Well anyway, a recidivist robber is cooling his heels in a jail in Fairfax, Virginia after stealing 300 cards from the insanely popular game Magic: The Gathering in the possession of a self-described "nerd".  Said nerd, one Kemper Pogue, proceeded to formulate and execute an elaborate trap toward recovering his cards.  Which, incidentally, were worth $8000.

(Are these Magic fans dedicated to their hobby, or what?)

From the story at The Washington Post:

After filing a police report, Pogue decided to do what a Magic character like Garruk Relentless might do, and hunted down his enemies with dogged ferocity — sans the battle axe.

He started by posting a detailed message on Facebook to alert friends in the Magic community about the theft. Then, he began calling stores in Northern Virginia and Maryland that specialize in selling Magic trading cards.

Unless the thieves were big fans of the game as well, Pogue figured he knew something that the perpetrators didn’t: Despite its rapidly growing ranks, the Magic community is not only fanatical and obsessive, it’s also a tight-knit, nerds-only clubhouse, where information about players and cards circulates quickly via regional shops, tournaments and online forums on Reddit and elsewhere.

“There aren’t many physical things that can be taken that has this much sense of community attached to them,” Pogue said. “Cards have all these memories and conversations with them from people you’ve met all over the country. When Magic players hear that a collection has been stolen, it’s heartbreaking and they rally around each other to get it back.”

The story shares how Pogue and his friends trapped two thieves in the store after working with local law enforcement to crack the case.  It's a wild story and well worth your time to check it out.

I've never played Magic: The Gathering.  But I do know a lot of players who congregate at HyperMind and actively play, trade, all that good stuff.  It is definitely a close-knit community of players around the world and I can't help but cheer stories like this.

And it goes without saying: way to go nerds!!

(Also thanks to friend of this blog Roxanne Martin for spotting this story.)

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William Overstreet Jr. passes away at the age of 92

This is a photo of William Overstreet Jr. of Roanoke, Virginia, taken in recent years:

Photo Credit: The Roanoke Times

Mr. Overstreet passed away this past Sunday afternoon.  He was 92, and one of the most decorated airmen of World War II.

This is a photo of Bill Overstreet when he served in the Army Air Force during the war:

And this is the maneuver that forever put Overstreet in the history books:

This dude engaged in a dogfight with a German Messerschmitt Bf 109G over Nazi-occupied Paris.  And Overstreet, flying his P-51C, chased the Messerschmitt by flying through the arches of the Eiffel Tower!!  Overstreet soon after blasted the Nazi plane out of the sky.  It was a move that sent the morale of the French freedom fighters soaring.

Now... that is seriously hardcore.

Overstreet, a pilot in the357th squadron, was the recipient of hundreds of medals during his time of service.  In 2009 he was awarded France’s Legion of Honor during a ceremony at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia.

Now he is gone, but not to be forgotten.

Rest well, noble hero.  Your generation really was the greatest... and you were one of the best of them.

Read more about the extraordinary life and achievements of William Overstreet Jr. at The Roanoke Times website.

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Zero-tolerance out of control: Pencil leads to boy's suspension, while Eagle Scout hit with felony

I'll be damned if (Lord willing) I get blessed with children and I put them in a government-run school.

They're not here yet.  But I already love them too much than to subject them to the insanity of a modern public school.  And few things exemplify that madness more than do zero-tolerance policies.

(Hey, I ran for school board once.  It can't be said that I never tried to make the public schools better.  But things won't going to get better until more people get up the gumption to tell the bureaucrats "ENOUGH!")

Two stories demonstrating my point.  The first is about seven-year old Christopher Marshall of Suffolk, Virginia.  He was suspended from his elementary school last week per a policy of "zero tolerance".

What was his crime?  Pointing a pencil as if were a gun at another student and making "bang! bang!" noises with it.

Yeah, you read that right.  That's all that little Christopher was doing.

From the story at WAVY.com...

Seven-year-old Christopher Marshall says he was playing with another student in class Friday, when the teacher at Driver Elementary asked them to stop pointing pencils at each other.

"When I asked him about it, he said, 'Well I was being a Marine and the other guy was being a bad guy,'" said Paul Marshall, the boy's father. "It's as simple as that."

Christopher's father was a Marine for many years. He thinks school leaders overreacted.

"A pencil is a weapon when it is pointed at someone in a threatening way and gun noises are made," said Bethanne Bradshaw, a spokesperson for Suffolk Public Schools.

The Suffolk school system has a "zero tolerance policy" when it comes to weapons. And, Bradshaw admits, that policy has tightened up in recent years because of widely publicized school shootings.

"Some children would consider it threatening, who are scared about shootings in schools or shootings in the community," said Bradshaw. "Kids don't think about 'Cowboys and Indians' anymore, they think about drive-by shootings and murders and everything they see on television news every day."

And then there is the tale of Eagle Scout, honor student, devout Christian and model young man Cole Withrow from Princeton, a small town near Raleigh here in North Carolina.  Cole had been skeet shooting and accidentally left his shotgun in his vehicle when he came to school late last month.  Cole realized his error and sought to do the right thing: he went to the office and called his mom to come and take the gun out and away from the campus.  Unfortunately one of the staff at Princeton High School overheard the call and alerted the police.

Cole Withrow with his sister Hannah Walker

Cole was arrested on felony charges and expelled.  He will not walk with his classmates at graduation in a few weeks.  All for trying to do the right thing in the matter.  For trying to do what his faith and his vows as a Boy Scout would have him to do.

Cole will be allowed to graduate, just not from his own school.  His family is fighting for Cole's right to be with his classmates.

But at least his troubles caught the attention of Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University.  Cole Withrow has been offered a scholarship to attend the college.  Harding University has also extended a similar offer to Cole.

Is it paranoia?  Is it laziness?  Is it intentional conditioning of the kids on the part of the public school educators and administrators?  For whatever reason it is, this kind of thing has gone on... and continues to go on... for far too long.

"Zero-tolerance"?  More like "zero common sense".

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Alien abduction in Roanoke, Virginia!

It's true! Two are missing after an alien abduction in Roanoke, Virginia. And frantic parents are desperately searching for answers.

It's not a headline ripped from the pages of Weekly World News.  This is happening and it's happening now!  Dan Casey of The Roanoke Times is the first to break a story which will no doubt be soon going national.

Click here to read more!

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Threading Through Byzantium: Visiting a Greek Orthodox Church

Icon of Jesus Christ on the ceiling of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church,
Roanoke, Virginia

What is "church"?  Jesus told Peter that he was "the Rock" and upon it "I will build My church".

My Catholic brethren hold that Jesus was entrusting Peter and his predecessors as the exemplars and leaders of the church.  There are others who contend that Jesus was speaking of Peter's faith, and how such faith would be the foundation of His body upon this earth.

My personal understanding of "the church" has grown and developed in recent years, especially as I have visited the congregations of brothers and sisters in Christ with whom I share the faith, but also have differing perspectives about that faith.  There are some who will claim that such divisions do not represent true Christianity, but I disagree.  In fact, I don't believe that "denominations" are a bad thing at all.  There is even biblical precedent for them.  The seven churches of Asia Minor we read about in the Book of Revelation were as unlike from each other as there might possibly be.  And yet, Christ did not cast any of them from His sight.  There were some He praised and some He castigated, but they were still counted as being of His flock.

It was the coincidental visits by two dear friends which opened my eyes to a beautiful truth.  One is a Baptist minister and the other is a true renaissance man of many skills.  It was the latter who noted, as we discussed some spiritual matters, that "we're having church right now".  Because as Jesus taught His disciples, "where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am also".

That is what "church" is.  A gathering of imperfect people in the name of the One who is perfect and covers all our transgressions.  And if we see Him in different ways but still strive to cast our eyes upon Him, I've no reason to believe that His grace isn't beyond such minor incongruencies inherent to our carnal minds.

Yet even so, the professionally-trained historian of my nature wonders: where is the long, long line of fellowship through the ages, before and beyond the ekklesia of our sanctuaries and meeting houses and little gatherings of two or three?  Is there such a thing, even?

A week and a half ago my girlfriend Kristen and I visited a Greek Orthodox church: something which I had never done before.  Kristen is pursuing a master's degree and one of her classes requires attending the worship services of a culture not one's own.  There are a number of congregations in the Roanoke area which fit that criteria.  In the end, she chose the Greek Orthodox one.  She had to visit it twice and I went with her the second time.

It was a worship experience unlike anything that I had ever had the pleasure of watching.  Indeed, more than a week later and I am still trying to take in the beauty, the tenderness and the devotion that I witnessed.

We arrived at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church on Huntington Boulevard in Roanoke at around 9:30 in the morning.  A gentleman greeted us in the narthex, and Kristen introduced us to him.  The first thing that I noticed was a kind of table to our right, laden with votive candles (I'm assuming that's what they are called in Orthodoxy).  Many were lit and placed standing in a rectangular area of white sand, at the center of which was drawn, as with a finger, a Greek-styled cross.  I didn't ask anything about it but it is something that has stuck with me since.

Incidentally, it is the narthex where Orthodox baptisms take place.  Why?  Because it is by baptism which one enters into the church.  And fittingly, it is through the narthex which one comes into worship as a church.

Kristen and I took seats in the furthest pew at the back of the sanctuary, and settled in to watch.  But I use the phrase "settled in" lightly.  It turns out that in Orthodox worship, if you are at all able to, you stand up... a lot!  And that's what we did for most of the two and a half hours that we were there for.

Obviously for those coming from the Methodist, Baptist or similar persuasion, this is something rather unheard of.

(And speaking of that: I met three people at Holy Trinity who are former Baptists.  One of them was among the ministers praying the Matins.  More on those in a sec, but I thought that was rather intriguing that there were quite a number of what are considered "Protestants" who have since become Orthodox, and these are far from the only ones.  For reasons which again, I shall examine shortly...)

Prayer Matins at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church

So we were standing and the Matins were already well underway  This is... well, in my mind this is the primary part of Orthodox congregational worship.  It is a continuous time of prayers and chants - in our English vernacular as well as in Greek - which I saw three or five black-garbed ministers intoning at a podium toward the front of the sanctuary.  Kristen had asked me to keep my photography to a bare minimum and I agreed to do so... but even if she hadn't asked, I think I would have done so anyway.  And it was only because I wanted to write about it for this blog that I even felt a need to take pictures at all.  And why is that?

Because I was... and I still am... overwhelmed by the sense of wonder and majesty and piety and devotion that I saw and heard from the two and a half hours we spent there.  Most of that was because of the Matins.  I cannot recall ever hearing prayers so beautifully offered up to God.  They were praise and appeals and music and much more all in one, made melody from the heart.

(Something I noticed during the service and mentioned to Kristen: at no time did we see any musical instruments.  The Matins, if they are considered "singing" from our modern perspective, are strictly a cappella.  Musical instruments are a fairly modern innovation going back four or five hundred years or so, but Orthodoxy has never found a need for them.)

The reason for that is something that, as a student of history, I found most intriguing: that Orthodoxy is perhaps the one organized church which can claim a continuous, unbroken thread of form and worship to the times of the earliest New Testament-era Christians in the region of Palestine.

Let me be clear on something: my Orthodox brethren do not and have never claimed to be "the one true church".  In fact, such a boast would be completely alien, even sacrilegious to Orthodoxy!  Their tenet could be summed up as such: "Christians only, but not the only Christians".  There were certainly others who did not necessarily subscribe to "Orthodox" style (history indicates that the churches in India founded by Thomas the Apostle were independent of anything recognizable by European standards, as were those of Ethiopia which traced their beginnings to the eunuch converted by Philip recorded in Acts chapter 8).  Rather, Orthodoxy is a chain of followers of Christ sharing a singular form of worship, one end of which is what we witness today and at the furthest end, the Apostolic Fathers.

And there is considerable historical evidence for this.  I found it... most fascinating.  And I can readily understand the appeal that Orthodoxy has for many believers.  For those searching for worship of Christ in its purest and most native form, there is a lot of appeal to be found in Orthodoxy.

The Matins went on until noon.  People came into the sanctuary to pray (and to stand of course) and then... they left.  After however long their hearts led them.  Ya see, in the Orthodox church there isn't a set time of worship where everyone comes in and prays and worships and listens to sermons together.  It's a much more individual and reflective experience than what many of us are accustomed to.  And I can understand the appeal of that, also.  It's the thing about Orthodoxy that I find most appealing to myself, I must admit.  Prayer and devotion to God should be a matter between the person and the Lord.  And that isn't glossed-over in Orthodoxy.  It is, instead, one of the foremost items of worship.

At the front of the sanctuary there was a partitioned-off area with three open doors.  This is intended to be analogous to the Holy Place of the Temple in Jerusalem, and the Tabernacle before it.  Only the priests and their attendants are allowed in this area, but it is completely visible from the sanctuary.  This is where the altar is placed, and upon it the church's copy of the Holy Bible: something which is maintained in special reverence and sanctity.  At least twice, the priests brought the Bible out and carried it around the sanctuary.  When this happens, everyone turns to face the Bible.  The acolyte parading in front of it walks backwards so that his own face is turned toward it.  So while standing Kristen and I and everyone else did a complete 360-degree turn.

Now, I gotta mention this, because it's become something that a lot of people have found, well... comical.  While the Matins are going on the priests are carrying a censure of incense around the altar.  This incense was some strong stuff.  I mean, REALLY strong.  Later we learned that it was probably burning sandalwood with roses.  A priest carries the censure and that incense before the Bible as it's being carried around the sanctuary.  And here is where things got funny...

I don't know what it was about that incense, and I did NOT see anyone else reacting this way.  PLEASE remember that!  But as for me personally, well... that smoke smelled incredibly lovely but it also made me high as a kite.  I mean it: for the first time in my life I felt stoned (I've never done marijuana or cocaine or any of that junk so I've no way to compare it but... there it is).  How much so?  Kristen saw me nearly stagger while standing.  And then there was the icon of Christ on the cross on the ceiling: so help me, I saw Him waving His arms up and down.

I'm absolutely certain that it was an allergic reaction.  I'm no doubt in a solid minority of those who might have that happen to.  And it's not the same incense that they use anyway: one person told me that there is a variety that gets used.  It wouldn't be the first time that something smoky has had an affect on me either: at a Boy Scout event in Indiana years ago the smoke needed to illuminate a laser show caused a reaction which sent me to the hospital a few days later.  So now I know I've a quirky allergy or something (along with all my other problems but anyhoo...)

At around 11:30 we heard a homily that I enjoyed immensely.  It was about how the worship in the sanctuary stretches across space and time, back to the early Christians.  That in our worship we truly are one body of believers in Christ.  The ekklesia as the body of Christ is something unbound and unfazed by geography or politics or the wear and tear of eons.  It is a mystical communion with those who have come before, and with those who will come after us.

Speaking of communion, this was the final part of the service.  In Orthodoxy, the Eucharist is reserved only for those baptized and joined to the church.  I understand why, and it is something I learned from a Catholic friend: that those partaking in communion must examine themselves before God, and find themselves worthy to share in the sacrament.  It's not meant to be something exclusive to Orthodoxy for exclusivity's sake.  Rather, it is a spiritual "safety mechanism" for the individual believer.  The Apostle Paul taught that we must be sure of our worthiness to take part in the communion, and in Orthodoxy (as well as Catholicism) this is a matter of grave policy.  However, there is also a "communion" of sorts with visitors not of the Orthodox persuasion.  The bread used in the Eucharist is deemed "consecrated bread".  But after the Eucharist is over, the non-Orthodox are offered the same bread... which is now considered to be "blessed bread".  I found this to be quite a joyful and unifying experience: that though Kristen and I were not Orthodox, we were still considered to be friends and brethren in the larger fellowship of Christ.

I would be remiss if I did not write about the Orthodox practice of kissing the Bible and the icons.  This is a sign of faith and devotion to God.  The Bible, I think many Christians will understand why.  But what of the icons: those beautifully painted depictions of Christ, Mary, the Apostles and the events of their lives?

Although we were never told so during our time at Holy Trinity, I think I can understand why, and it has to do with that "unbroken apostolic chain" spoken of earlier.  The premise of an icon is that it "transfers" from one to another.  That is, an icon produced in the present day has been presented and touched to an icon painted earlier.  And that icon has likewise touched an earlier icon.  And so on and so on, all the way back to the earliest days of the church.  Indeed, it is said that before the fall of Constantinople in 1453 that there were collected the earliest icons produced.  One was said to have been painted by Luke himself.

Now, THAT is something which I can't help but marvel at.  That the icon we saw the congregants kissing at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox in Roanoke might have a "lineage" descending from one made by an author of the Gospels.  Given what I've learned about Orthodoxy, it's altogether possible.  It's not that the icon is worshiped or is even a requisite of the faith.  It is, rather, evidence within our midst of the endurance of the church which was promised by Christ.

After the service, there was a meal in the fellowship hall.  Kristen and I got to meet and talk with many of the members of Holy Trinity.  As we left I made sure to pick up quite a number of brochures in the narthex about Orthodoxy.  The icon used in that day's service was also present on a stand.  I couldn't tell how old it was but it did look... well, old.  And again, as we were leaving I was left with another lasting impression of Orthodoxy and its history.

Every time that I have visited a church or denomination which I have not previously enjoyed fellowship with, I have come away... and I sincerely believe this... more edified and enlightened from the experience.  A few years ago I was invited to attend a Seventh Day Adventist service, and in retrospect I came away with a greater sense of how much I needed to have Christ-like love and humility in my life.  Then a few months ago I attended a Catholic Mass for the first time, and Christ as the mystery we still see through this glass darkly left an impression on my heart: that we should never cease to seek for Him.  The handful of Pentecostal congregations I have visited demonstrated the joy and the gladness that can only be found in the presence of God.

But it has been, and always will be I believe, a most unique experience that I had last week in those few hours with my Orthodox friends.  And though I may never become a member of that aspect of the body of Christ, I certainly respect, appreciate, even have great admiration for it.  For there is found the greatest evidence that I have discovered of the greatest promise that Jesus gave us...

"I am with you, even unto the end of the age."

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Kristen dances a storm at Showcase Spring 2013!

Last week was the semi-annual Arthur Murray Showcase ballroom dance spectacular at the Hotel Roanoke, put on by the Arthur Murray Studio in Roanoke, Virginia. This was the fourth one I've been at to cheer on my girlfriend Kristen Bradford. And once again she was a thrill and a beauty to behold! Her routines garnered a wazoo of applause from the audience and some of them she kept as quite a surprise... even from me :-)

As usual I shot footage of her dancing, and just finished uploading it to YouTube for your viewing pleasure. So here is Kristen accompanied by her dance partner Jay Henderson pulling off some amazing performances...

Awright, I better share this as well: at Showcase Kristen asked me to wear the official Doctor Who/Eleventh Doctor bow tie that she gave me for Christmas a few months ago.  Kristen thought it was a great new look for me.  So did our family and friends, one of which said it made me look "powerful!"

Is this the start of a new fashion trend for Yours Truly?!  I might have to get more of these.  After all: "I like bow ties!  Bow ties are cool!" :-P

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5.9 earthquake rocked this house!!!

Looks like I picked the wrong day to start blogging again...

The 5.9 magnitude earthquake epicentered near Richmond, Virginia shook my house west of Reidsville, North Carolina for... darn nearly 30 seconds! Okay, probably not that long but it sure as hell felt long enough. I was working on some stuff on my iPad while sitting up on my bed when I felt the bed shake and heard the windows creaking. First thing I thought was "wow, that wind sure is strong..." Then I looked outside and saw that there was no wind.

Getting reports from friends all over: my girlfriend's apartment shook a few hours north of here. Good friend Chad in Cary felt it there. Folks as far away as Cleveland, Ohio and southwest North Carolina are saying it shook them too.

Wow.

Okay, I know there are lots of you who are like "Chris, this is no big deal." Maybe for good people in California or so but we are not used to this. I have never experienced an earthquake before and all my life I've heard about how unsettling it is. How treacherous an emotion it is, to have the ground beneath you start shaking without warning.

I had never known what it must be to have that feeling. This afternoon, I know.

Okay, gonna try to blog about more... stuff... now. Had some technical difficulties during most of the past week and then was trapped out of town last night. Back in the saddle now. And I didn't even have to resort to posting funny pictures of my girlfriend's cats either... :-P

Y'all stay safe out there!

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The most horrific news story I have read all year

A Campbell County, Virginia woman gave birth and smothered her newborn child to death. But she won't face murder charges because the umbilical cord was not yet cut so legally it's not murder but abortion.

Officials say that the loophole in the law keeps them from pursuing charges.

God help us.

Read the story here at WSLS if you have the heart for it.

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V declares Vendetta for Johnny Robertson!

Look folks: honestly, that isn't MY blog at all! And I have no idea whatsoever who it might be who created it. Heck, lately I haven't had much time to devote to this one, much less start and maintain a new one. Especially one as slick and polished and inspired as what I'm about to show you.

But that doesn't mean that I'm not flat-out stunned at whoever it is out there who has assumed the guise of V and decided to take on Johnny Robertson...

Vendetta For Johnny Robertson popped up out of nowhere this morning and a reader passed it along to me. Yes folks, V - the masked protagonist from V for Vendetta - has arrived on the streets of Martinsville, Danville and Reidsville to take on the cult leader/convicted felon who has been trying to "defeat destroy" in the name of God everyone he hates...

Johnny Roberston a "pastor" residing and terrifying the WGSR viewing area. His supposed Church of Christ in Martinsville Va., the only ones not damned to hell.

Spewing vitriol at his enemies and any and all who disagree; in this vast sea of hate is where we find dear lost Johnny.

Here and now is the victory. A vying of his virtues, our dear lost Johnny.

Judgment shall ran down upon he, and a judgment ruled impartially.

The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.

By the way, whoever this "V" is, he/she/it went to the expense of registering a top-level domain name for the site: head on over to vendettaforjr.com to see more of Vendetta For Johnny Robertson.

"People should not be afraid of Johnny Robertson." Darn right! :-)

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YouTube video: Police officer says "It ain't (America) no more"

From August 25th, 2009 at a public meeting between Rep. Jim Moran and his constituents at South Lakes High School in Reston, Virginia. As is happening a lot lately, the meeting was to discuss President Obama's health care "reform".

And outside the school, this exchange was taking place between a private citizen and polie officer Wesley Cheeks, Jr. During which Officer Cheeks is told that this is America and replies "It ain't no more"...

The only comment I'll make is that I've seen this sort of thing happening for a long time already. It certainly didn't start with Barack Obama (I saw much of the same happening on George W. Bush's watch). And I like to think that now that the shoe's on the other foot, that some Americans who had been too dense before will start paying attention.

I like to think that, anyway.

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Murrill McLean FIRED!! Danville cop who murdered dachshund is out of a job!!

Remember Murrill McLean, the Danville Police Department officer who a month ago shot and killed a tiny miniature dachshund that was only barking at him?

Here is "big bad" Murrill McLean...

And here is a photo of the late mini dachshund "Killer" that McLean terminated...

Well, guess what folks?

Murrill McLean has been FIRED from the Danville Police Department by Chief Phillip Broadfoot!

Incidentally, The Knight Shift was the first source that publicly broke the pictures of Murrill McLean hefting his heavy hardware. After the photos of McLean were published here they wound up widely disseminated among the mainstream press (and were also stolen for broadcast use on WGSR by general manager Charles Roark without attribution... and yeah I've got the proof of him visiting this blog to nab 'em too. But then he's a well-known kleptomaniac anyway...).

So, for this time at least, justice is served, and a member of law enforcement who abused the power entrusted him has been punished.

May other cops across America take something from this example.

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Cult driven out of Reidsville as Johnny Robertson gets caught in a lie (and the "Church of Christ" digs for dirt... literally)

Many people have told me that on Sunday night's television broadcast of What Does The Bible Say? on WGSR - or as I call it "The Martinsville Taliban Show" - local cult leader Johnny Robertson of the "Martinsville Church of Christ" claimed that there are now four robust congregations of the "Church of Christ" (which is nothing like the mainstream Churches of Christ) meeting in this area. Those would be his own Martinsville group, one at the old post office on The Boulevard in Eden, the one that has been coming together in Reidsville at the Holiday Inn Express, and a group meeting in Ruffin.

Robertson alleged that the Ruffin "Church of Christ" had been meeting for "over a year" (his words).

Curiously, the July 5th 2009 broadcast of What Does The Bible Say? on WGSR was the very first time that Robertson or anyone else with the "Church of Christ" has mentioned a group of their own in Ruffin.

Now some very intriguing information has come to light, the upshot of which a rational person could only possibly take to mean that, once again, Johnny Robertson is telling us a bald-faced lie.

It turns out that there are only three congregations of the "Church of Christ" that are currently meeting in the area... and maybe not even that many!

James Oldfield, previously of the Reidsville congregation, is conducting the services for the cult in Eden. Robertson is still in Martinsville. There has been thus far no evidence that a Ruffin cell of the cult is meeting at all...

...and the Reidsville congregation is now completely defunct! Sources have told this blogger that "This meeting is no longer being held, nor is any meeting of their group being held in Reidsville." The reason? "This would seem to say that folks in Reidsville are too wise for the tactics of this group, and have rejected participation in this 'sect'."

So Reidsville has proven too much for Robertson's cult. Let us pray that other communities in this area - and wherever else they try to harass - will prove too much for them also.

Meanwhile, other sources have been telling me that the cult's much-ballyhooed two weeks of "tent service" in Danville and the accompanying thirty hours of television airtime that Robertson purchased on WGSR has been "a bust and a sham". In spite of what Robertson and Oldfield publicly claimed was a large outreach in the Danville area, very few people showed up during nightly services at the tent (and Robertson himself did "little or none at all" knocking on doors, choosing to order his goons out instead). I can say that The Knight Shift blog is in possession of numerous photographs that attest to the low turnout at the "Church of Christ" tent but as these might well identify the person who took the photos, I have been asked to withhold publishing them here.

I haven't seen the footage, but several people have told me that during Sunday night's broadcast Robertson aired a tape of himself accosting the wife of some local minister in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart in Martinsville. Robertson alleged that he "just happened" to see her in the parking lot and coincidentally had his camcorder with him... which the same people have told me that it was pretty obvious that Robertson was stalking the lady (as is his well-documented custom).

Now for the last bit of info for this report...

Folks, I didn't believe it at first, but plenty of people have been telling me about it and now The Knight Shift can confirm: Johnny Robertson's "Church of Christ" has been caught digging through the trash cans of people Robertson has decreed to be "enemies" of his cult! They are literally trying to "dig up dirt" that they can use against those they are actively seeking to, as Robertson infamously proclaimed last year, "defeat destroy".

I've read the Bible quite a number of times, but for the life of me I can't recall any passage that teaches us to go through others' garbage in order to attack them.

(But then again, Johnny Robertson also claimed recently that he needs a camcorder because he doesn't have the Holy Spirit... whatever that is supposed to mean.)

The lesser angels of my nature are more than inclined to note that should any member of the cult come to my home and attempt to behave in their typical miscreant fashion, that I will not only shoot him dead, but I will gladly and immediately post full color photographs of his freshly-deceased corpse on this blog. As a warning to the next ten generations that it is the right of each person to seek God as best he or she can understand Him and without fear of harassment.

That's just the lesser angels of my nature though...

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THIS is the Danville Police Department officer who killed a helpless Dachshund...

Murrill McLean, Danville Police "officer", who shot and killed 11-pound miniature dachshund "Killer" earlier this week.

This is the "cop" who was so afraid of a tiny little dog that was only barking at him, that he used lethal force. This guy, who looks like six-foot something and all tough.

Apparently he's also an enlisted soldier who's about to begin a tour of Iraq.

Hide your puppies, people of Baghdad. Better keep your children out of the street too, if you don't want Officer McLean shooting first and asking questions later.

Want to make this better, Chief of Police Phillip Broadfoot? Then Murrill McLean had damned better make a heartfelt public apology to the family before the weekend is out and tender his resignation from the Danville Police Department. Either that, or fire his butt as an example for everyone else in law enforcement: that those of your profession must be held accountable for their mistakes, however much they might regret making them in the first place.

EDIT 10:28 p.m. EST: Here's another photo of Murrill McLean of the Danville Police Department (in addition to many others that I've come into possession of)...

There's so much wrong with this pose that I'm not gonna begin to comment about it. But y'all can if you feel so led.

EDIT 06/12/2009 09:08 a.m. EST: This post is receiving a lot of traffic and I have been asked for the source of this photos. They were plenty easy to find: Murrill McLean has a Facebook page that as of this writing is still publicly accessible for anyone in the Greensboro, North Carolina area and he has posted most of these on a Flicker account as well.

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NOT AGAIN! Danville, Virginia "cop" murders mini dachshund!

This is the second time in as many days that this blog has reported a story like this. The first was from Ohio, where two big Blue Ash Police Department officers tasered, then shot and killed a five-pound dog that they said was "threatening" them.

Now comes word that the same thing has happened just across the state line from here in Danville, Virginia.

On the left is a photo of Killer, who had been an 11-year old miniature dachshund weighing about 12 pounds. He was regarded as a "friendly, friendly" dog that was not only a companion to the Harper family that owned him, but well liked throughout the neighborhood.

On Monday night a Danville Police Department officer - and I will gladly post the name and home address of this bastard who has no business with a badge if someone will provide it to me - shot Killer dead while at the adjacent property serving papers.

Here's the story as reported by GoDanRiver.com...

According to a news release from Danville Police Chief Philip Broadfoot, an officer shot and killed the dachshund Monday night while serving two outstanding warrants to a neighbor in the 100 block of Berman Drive.

As the officer returned to his car, “he was surprised by a growling dog running through the yard directly at him from the rear, leaving him with just seconds to consider his options,” according to the news release. The options for the officer in that type of situation include running to the squad car; distracting the dog; or using pepper spray, a baton or firearm. The dog lunged at the police officer and attacked him as the officer fired one shot that hit and killed the dog, Broadfoot said.

An investigation by the Danville Police Department found that the dog displayed aggressive tendencies before other people.

“Shooting a dog which is actively presenting a threat to an officer is within the department’s policy,” ac-cording to the release.

Lt. Mike Mondul, public information officer for the Danville Police Department, said that the lag between the incident and acknowledgement from the department was due to an administrative decision.

“The decision was made by department administration that the chief would address it on Thursday,” Mondul said.

Carlos, 14, was upstairs when he heard the gunshot.

“I saw my mom, and she started to cry,” Carlos said.

The children came downstairs, he said, and their mother told them that a police officer shot Killer.Tawaiin drove home from work after getting a call from Carlos about the shooting.

“When I got there, the dog was laying with his guts hanging out,” Tawaiin said.

The officer leaned against his patrol car, smoking a cigarette, and Tawaiin walked over to talk to him. He said the officer told him that he had to shoot the dog because he was barking at him. Tawaiin asked for his badge number and name, but the officer refused to give it to him and said his supervisor was on the way.

His supervisor arrived and couldn’t believe what happened, Tawaiin said.

“(The lieutenant) was very, very remorseful,” Tawaiin said. “He kept apologizing. And he said I know apologizing can’t bring the dog back, but I just don’t know what to say.”

The dog was a member of the family, Tawaiin said. Nicole was 4 and Carlos was 3 when the family wel-comed the new addition.

“He was like a brother to me,” Carlos said.

Killer greeted Tawaiin every time he came home. Whenever a car pulled into the cul-de-sac, Killer barked to let everyone know that someone new was there.

“He was the security guard around here,” Tawaiin said.

Neighbors said Killer was a sweet, mild-mannered dog.

“He just kind of walked up and down the neighborhood and didn’t bother anybody,” said Jenine Edmunds, who lives on the cul-de-sac. “He was just a little house dog.”

Friends and neighbors have asked the Harpers if they will get a new dog.

“You can’t replace Killer. He’s one of a kind.

“I’m still trying to soak it in because the dog had been with us so long. He was a family member. They took a family member away.”

So the Danville Police Department officer killed a harmless dog, then coolly began smoking a cigarette and refused to identify himself.

This asshole "cop" needs to be fired at the very least. And in a saner world and a different age perhaps dragged out into the street and beaten within an inch of his life.

Like I said yesterday, I have no sympathy for anyone who abuses authority entrusted them like this. But no doubt the "internal affairs" of Danville Police will come back after an "investigation" - which we already know will be a joke - and will report that this officer did "nothing wrong". And a family will still be without its miniature dachshund: one of the most playful and harmless breeds around.

Like I also said yesterday: this kind of thing is not going to stop until a lot of the bad cops are dead.

EDIT 06/11/2009 05:08 p.m. EST: What kind of "police officer" is it who would shoot and kill a miniature dachshund that was only barking and was known throughout the community as being a happy, harmless doggy?

Are y'all ready for this?

Click here for more about Murrill McLean of the Danville Police Department.

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Why has Old Dutch Galaxy Food Center apparently pulled out as an advertiser on WGSR Star 39?

Could it possibly be because of a certain anti-Barack Obama sign that WGSR general manager Charles Roark devoted obscene amounts of airplay and screentime to this past Friday afternoon, and then again on Monday?

The answer to that question is, evidently, "yes".

Old Dutch Galaxy had been a major advertiser for WGSR. A chain of four grocery stores around the Danville and Chatham area in Virginia, Old Dutch Galaxy had been running updated commercials every week (on a station that was still running spots for the Reidsville Christmas parade last week, mind ya...).

But the word from our friends around south-central Virginia, is that Roark's constant harping about a sign calling Obama a "bastard" and his mother a "slut" was way over the top and into the realm of completely inappropriate behavior.

I doubt that this lesson will be anything but lost on Charles Roark, who has abandoned responsible broadcasting ethics for tabloid-style trash that caters to the least common denominator.

Except now, WGSR has lost one of its bigger clients because of Roark's reckless behavior.

But I'm pretty confident that Roark won't care, and he probably even told the Old Dutch Galaxy guys as much when they pulled out, since cult leader Johnny Robertson can always be relied upon to make up for the loss via all those thousands of dollars coming in from "the Mysterious Texans"(tm).

Seriously though: I've been arguing for awhile that the image conveyed by WGSR's management is a detriment to the commerce of this area. Does anyone now doubt the veracity of that contention?

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James Oldfield declares the Salvation Army is a work of evil on broadcast television

Folks, please understand that I am not on a "get the 'Church of Christ In Name Only'" binge tonight. Heck, I've so many projects on my plate right now that I'm pretty much relying on the reports that others have been sending me lately about the cult. Like earlier today when I posted that cult leader Johnny Robertson can't spell worth a hoot even as he condemns preachers of other (and in my opinion, legitimate) churches in the area.

And now later this evening, it is Robertson's chief henchman/second cousin who accompanied him from Texas, James Oldfield (heh-heh... bet y'all didn't know that the two were related, did ya?) who is up to no good.

Who is Oldfield and the "Church of Christ" cult (remember, it's not the real Church of Christ at all) going after this time? None other than the Salvation Army.

I came in from some errands tonight, and there were two e-mails practically screaming at me to tune in to WGSR Star 39. And I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it but sure enough, Oldfield is in "mad pit-bull" mode, assailing the Salvation Army for not being "the real church" and accusing them of all sorts of chicanery. Oldfield even used his hidden camera tricks on the head of the Salvation Army in Danville. As if that weren't bad enough, Oldfield told viewers that he and the "Church of Christ" do not boast about how they help people like the Salvation Army does... and then Oldfield went on to brag about how there was a frozen turkey in the trunk of his car that he was delivering to a fellow cult member!

I also happened to catch Oldfield condemning the Lord's Food Pantry in Eden. Which logically puts WGSR general manager Charles Roark in a bad position since apparently he was making a big deal about the Lord's Food Pantry earlier in the week, even staging a "telethon" to raise money for them to purchase food for needy folks. Which I think the Lord's Food Pantry is doing a good thing too. I think the Salvation Army has always been of immense service to others also, for the right reasons.

So why are James Oldfield and no doubt Johnny Robertson and the rest of the "Church of Christ" cult attacking them?

I can think of only one word at the moment: "jealousy".

Maybe Robertson and Oldfield should take the $15,000 that "the boys in Texas" send them for airtime each month, and put that money to some good use like the Salvation Army and the Lord's Food Pantry... instead of using it to harass and threaten others. They certainly have let it be known to enough people that they have no intentions but malicious ones.

(And some of y'all wouldn't buh-leeeeve what one person has told me in the past few weeks what he/she would do if Robertson and Oldfield came to their house again. 'Twould be enough to give one pause for sake of personal safety, no doubt.)

EDIT 11:02 p.m. EST: And what were Oldfield's concluding words on his broadcast tonight? "Don't put any quarters in those kettles."

A very wise man told me in recent days that Johnny Robertson, James Oldfield, and their cult were "of the spirit of the Antichrist" as the Bible puts it. If I had only their broadcast tonight to go by, I couldn't possibly doubt that.

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More American jobs moving overseas

A few days ago RF Micro announced it would relocate much of its work from its Greensboro, North Carolina plant to China. 80 local jobs will be lost at the microchip plant.

And yesterday Dan River, a textiles plant that has been in operation for 126 years in Danville, Virginia, announced it would be closing down. It was a little over a year ago that Dan River was bought by a company based in India.

About time to post on this blog a video of James McMurtry declaring the obvious: "We Can't Make It Here Anymore".

(By the way, I don't agree with everything depicted in this video, especially about blindly supporting unions and the Democrat party... but I think otherwise the style of this clip describes things pretty darned well.)

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Johnny Robertson of the Church Of Christ In Name Only still doesn't get it

Although to be fair, a lot of other Christians don't get it either...

(Yes, I admit that I'm watching Robertson's show tonight on WGSR, 'cuz more than a few people suggested that after the video I posted in response to last week's show, that he might use it tonight. So far I haven't seen it.)

Mr. Robertson, God does not care which "church" we belong to! God is not interested one bit whether we are "Church of Christ" (I'm going to start calling the bunch that broadcasts on WGSR Star 39 as "Church Of Christ In Name Only" or "COCINO" for short to differentiate it from the real Church of Christ, the independent congregations sincerely trying to serve God that most people have heard of) or Baptist or Pentecostal or Catholic or Methodist, or any other denomination...

God does care about whether or not we are seeking for Him, whether we honestly want Him. And that seeking for God is not dependent upon which doctrine we follow or how strenuously we adhere to it.

As I said in my original post, we are saved by the grace of God. And I haven't heard Robertson touch on that at all.

And God doesn't give a flip about what we wear to church either. If things were the way Robertson was claiming tonight, nobody would get into Heaven! What Robertson was arguing is, in effect, "conditional repentance".

There's another wrong aspect of what Robertson said about one's attire in church: it's as if the church building itself is imbued with some kind of power. More shades of Gnosticism there, as was mentioned in the earlier post.

Talk about hypocrisy: Robertson spent a good part of his show tonight condemning some churches for buying expensive buildings. When he and his bunch spend several thousands of dollars a month to broadcast... well, hatred toward other Christians. Robertson even publicly offered $1,000 last summer to anyone who could meet his challenge on something or other (I forget the exact details at the moment).

One last thing: Johnny Robertson, if you are reading this...

Miracles still happen.

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