Harden the fuck up

"Failures in life are not only inevitable, but a requirement for getting better. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar. Period. Unless you are a prodigy, everything you do in life will come with some success, and some failure.  It's what you do with that failure that defines whether you get bitter, or better. Learning how to be happy with who you are is most often about what to do with those failures. A failure could be something that steers you away from something you shouldn't have been doing in the first place. Like a job, or a relationship, or MMA fighting, or smoking crack. It may not be evident at that moment, and may not reveal itself until later, but if you dwell on the "failure" aspect of the present, instead of looking to the future, you will stay mired in the sludge and quicksand. If you are ever to eradicate the blackness that envelopes you, you must come to terms with the fact that crawling out of the depths of it means your hands will become blistered and torn. At times the climb will be incredibly painful, and you will question if it's really worth it. However, you have to focus on the goal. The goal is to climb up and rise out. Not to do so unscathed. The blisters and blood and pain is all part of the climb, not part of "failing". 
 
"Death is winning...  At the end of the day, we are all inevitably carcasses on the safari planes we call life. Do the winds echo your name with a whisper of respect, dignity, strength, honesty, and integrity? Do they whisper that you were a coward, backstabber, leech, and liar? Or do they not even whisper you were here at all? Build your body to make it strong. You cannot protect or provide for anything or anyone, if you are weak and feeble. Be responsible for your decisions, and don't pass the buck. You get all of the power in regards to your own actions. No one can MAKE you feel anything. You decide that for yourself. Cut off emotional vagrants and leeches. You must learn how to let go of a hand that is attached to someone that desires the abyss. Cast out backstabbers, and liars. You have no reason to keep anyone who fits this description in your life. Most important, don't become either of the two. Stop caring what others are doing that have no matter in your life. Your own accomplishments and purpose should be at the forefront of what your energy is going into. Have specific goals in lifting and life. Your next minute or hour is not promised to you. Don't drift aimlessly in the pit of iron or in life, not knowing what you are doing. Find your purpose, accept the responsibilities that come with it, and harden the fuck up."

Paul Carter @  LIFT-RUN-BANG

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What are you doing to better yourself? Do something, don't just sit there and waste away. Pick something up and move it. Anything... Just do something.

FAA approval of Houston spaceport expected to be announced Tuesday

HOUSTON – Houston leaders and representatives from Johnson Space Center with gather downtown Tuesday to announce the FAA approval of a spaceport license at Ellington Airport.

In 2013, the Houston Airport System released illustrations of what the spaceport could look like at the airport once known as Ellington Field. Plans include a passenger terminal building and an aviation museum.

Airport system officials have said their plans for a spaceport include accommodating reusable launch vehicles, space vehicle assembly, launching of micro-satellites and space tourism.

Ellington, the 96-year-old airport that usually does not handle commercial air service, supports U.S. military and NASA operations.

Story here

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Reaching out

And I think that's cool...

I see you Tanzania... I'm interested in what drew you here to a little ole' blog of a small town Texan thousands of miles away and why you come back for more. Get at me over yonder at StackzOMagz @ iiipercent.com 
  
We are cool like that around here...

Alaska Silence & Solitude

Some folks just can't be bothered by it all...


My Alaskan readers, I envy you.

What's your "get home" insurance policy?

Do you have such a policy in place for your day to day routine? If you don't, you should... I don't live too far from the job thankfully, but it still takes me longer than it should sometimes to get back home. Getting back home is and always will be priority for me in the event that something should go foul in the world while I'm away from home. In Texas, long guns do not have to be concealed and may be loaded and within reach. Si fueris Romae, Romano vivito more...

I think these right here are the bee's knees.

Get a pit bull they said

It'll be fun they said...

I needed to work on rock and trim like a fish needs a bicycle...

One of these things

IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER...

This pulled up beside me when I was out to lunch. I noticed the paint first and then it hit me.... Dafuq?

She's a goner

The Smoking Hot Little Barefoot Gardening Squaw has decided that her little poker pistol just doesn't suit her any longer. She wants something with a little more teeth. She's excited and wishes to venture into the 9mm arena. I suggested to her a Browning Hi-Power or a Beretta 92FS. What say ye manly men who look out for your ladies and encourage them to carry a loud rape whistle like the aforementioned high speed impalement devices? What are your gals shooting?

I've put my big ole' sandwich clamps around this thing and fired it off a few times. It makes me nervous, not gonna lie. I only get that uneasy feeling from it because it's so damned small in my banana hands.

As the day comes to an end...

I've realized a few things. Nothing about our current state of affairs is surprising to me at all. It's very simple to me really. There are people who mean to bring this grand experiment of Liberty to it's death and they are pulling out all of the tools too. The amount of mouthbreathers hopping on the ban everything bus is an epidemic like I've never seen before, I mean to tell you. They've really taken this shit up a notch haven't they? The amount of stupid in this magnitude is very dangerous. The mob mentality is out of control with some of this shit. Some of the people I thought I knew in my online circles have shown me who they are and who I'm not or are ever going to be. A wise man I read daily has said several times "When a man tells you who he is, believe him". That being said, I've seen the true education level indicators of people I know that went to school for solid degrees, totally throw their bought and paid for credibility out the window in any future conversations that we will likely have. The stupid, it burns... It hurts my brain to try and comprehend the level of thought that these drones relay back and forth like they are professionals and experts on everything. Common sense is gone. Might as well call common sense Beta Max because that shit is a dinosaur and it ain't coming back. 

This is not going to bode well for many people when they finally have to face up to their mob mentality actions and the directions they took themselves in based on blind faith in political agendas. There will be valuable lessons taught in windage and elevation and many of the kids in the class will not pass. There will be instructional periods of proper crowd dispersion techniques. There will be huge letdowns and failure realizations by those who refused to heed the warnings and make hay while the sun was shining. All by design, it is... I truly hope that it works out and things go back on plumb for at least a little while longer, but I doubt it will. For me and mine, the thought process is all on the same level and we realize that we cannot save everyone by word of mouth. Proceed at your own peril I say to the mouthbreathers. This static that we are feeling in the air is real. It's vibrating faster every day. The heat is expanding this vessel of Liberty and it's about to bust wide open at the seams. All by design. I'm no fool. I see it for what it is, and that's a misdirection operation. The ole' rope-a-dope. You know the kind of shit Ali used to do with his feet while he was about to bust your fronts out. When one hand is doing something the other is always busy. Pay attention fellow level headed readers. We are seeing the beginnings to something wicked coming our way like none of us have ever seen before. The hearts and minds bullshit is DOA with me. You cannot coexist with people who want you either dead or in chains. By that logic, we must do what we must to preserve our longevity and continue to play nice until it's time not to. You should know when that time is down to the millisecond if you have anything you believe in that is rightful and moral. The revisionist police are running a full on purge attack in an attempt to wipe away anything from the earth that hurts their little feelings or gives them a pedestal to scream victimization at the top of their lungs from, and that includes people that don't agree. Don't mind me over here... I'm just thinking out loud. The more we train in peace time the less we bleed in war. And that ain't no bullshit... 

Throwback Thurzday

This old sound takes me back to when I was a youngster living on the farm in Indian Rock TX, listening to KWKH out of Shreveport, standing in the back of an old international pickup, 3 on the tree with the choke pulled, throwing out pellets for the cows while pop rolled out the hay bails, all before I had to catch the school bus at 6:15 AM. 

Some mornings I'd ride the old Ford 5000 tractor up to the black top, get on the bus, go to school, ride the bus back home to be dropped off a mile and 1/4 from the house at the bus stop, and ride the tractor back to the house only to have work waiting on me when I got there. I bottle fed and raised calves that I picked up off the frost when their mamas abandoned them in our old farm house in a big wooden box right there in front of our 5 radiant Dearborn gas heater. I'd dig 100 yards of fence holes a day and string 4-5 lines of wire because that's how it was. Didn't have much to drink in dad's cooler except Schaefer Light or a little sweet tea. I was the chute man who'd run the board behind the cows legs to keep them from pulling out of the chute gates while we cut nuts, horns, or gave shots. That was hard work for a young man but it was expected out of me. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Kids these days just don't know how fucking lucky they are and don't care either...

This was back when The Duke and Lee Marvin were still alive and being a manly man was encouraged. Now it's beta men in mom jeans on a fucking woman's bike and kids are getting the shit beat out of them because they are too scared to fight back because they'll get in trouble. Excuse me? Fuck that shit kid, nail that pussy right in the suck, right in front of everybody and you'll never have a problem with shit like that again.


Have a great Thurzday knuckle heads.

Ocumetics Bionic Lens could give you vision 3x better than 20/20

Imagine being able to see three times better than 20/20 vision without wearing glasses or contacts — even at age 100 or more — with the help of bionic lenses implanted in your eyes.

Dr. Garth Webb, an optometrist in British Columbia who invented the Ocumetics Bionic Lens, says patients would have perfect vision and that driving glasses, progressive lenses and contact lenses would become a dim memory as the eye-care industry is transformed.

Webb says people who have the specialized lenses surgically inserted would never get cataracts because their natural lenses, which decay over time, would have been replaced.


Story here


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Yep, sounds like a great idea...

Putin’s Plot to Get Texas to Secede

Nathan Smith, who styles himself the “foreign minister” for the Texas Nationalist Movement, appeared last Spring at a far-right confab in St. Petersburg, Russia. Despite roaming around in his cowboy hat, Smith managed to keep a low-key presence at the conference, which was dominated by fascists and neo-Nazis railing against Western decadence. But at least one Russian newspaper, Vzglyad, caught up with the American, noted that TNM is “hardly a marginal group,”and quoted Smith liberally on the excellent prospects for a partial breakup of the United States. Smith declared that the Texas National Movement has 250,000 supporters—including all the Texans currently serving in the U.S. Army—and they all “identify themselves first and foremost as Texans” but are being forced to remain Americans.  The United States, he added, “is not a democracy, but a dictatorship.”  The Kremlin’s famed troll farms took the interview and ran with it, with dozens of bots instantly tweeting about a “Free Texas.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/vladimir-putin-texas-secession-119288.html#ixzz3dtPl78jO

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If you think that Uncle Sam would let Texas leave the Union and secede on their own terms, you're high right now. This piece of prime real estate we call Texas is way too valuable to the power brokers to let go of without a fight. That's the way it is. Together we stand, divided we fall, and we are picking up speed at a rapid pace. Some say we've hit terminal velocity. I don't think we are quite there yet, but it wouldn't take much more to get there. This is why I'll never leave her for another state again in my life if I don't have to. I was born and raised here, and to the Texas dust one day I shall return. I love America, but Texas is my home. 

Marines looking at deploying aboard foreign ships

Faced with a shortage of U.S. Navy ships, the Marine Corps is exploring a plan to deploy its forces aboard foreign vessels to ensure they can respond quickly to global crises around Europe and western Africa.

The initiative is a stopgap way to deploy Marines aboard ships overseas until more American vessels are available, said Brig. Gen. Norman Cooling, deputy commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa.

The Marines will be able to respond quickly to evacuate embassies or protect U.S. property and citizens, a need highlighted by the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador.

Story here

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I guess this is a sign that Marine Infantry units are so chockablock of bad asses who want to murder and maim terrorists that the Navy can't keep up with demand for float time. 
 

How To Escape The Age Of Mass Delusion

Nearly 100 years ago, Walter Lippmann wrote about “the manufacture of consent” in his classic work, “Public Opinion.” On the heels of that book, Edward Bernays penned a little volume called “Propaganda,” in which he stated that an elite would always be responsible for making the public aware of “new ideas” which the public would then act upon as the elite nudged them into it. Related, but more in-depth is Jacques Ellul’s 1962 book, “Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes.”

Political propaganda aims to mobilize the masses to move an agenda forward. That’s most effectively done when the masses are unaware of the process. It’s what “community organizers” work towards, whether they know it or not. Once the masses are mobilized to push for a cause, the propagandists’ goals can be put into law.

Read the rest of this good read here


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Texas and the gold bugs: Is the Lone Star State preparing to secede at last?

Whether you call them visionaries or call them chuckleheads--or anything in between--you should tip your hat to the Texas legislature and Gov. Greg Abbott, who have now written fears of a fiscal Armageddon into state law.

Late last week, the Republican governor signed a bill establishing the first state-run gold depository in the nation. The Texas Gold Depository will position itself as an alternative to the U.S. government's Fort Knox and the vault beneath the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Its ostensible aim is to safeguard what its supporters say is $1 billion in state-owned gold bars once they're retrieved from the Fed's Manhattan vault, protecting them from seizure by outside forces, like the federal government. (More on that supposed $1 billion in a moment.) It will also hire itself out as a depository for private investors looking for a place to store their bullion, pending the collapse of civilization. in the meantime, they would be able to write checks on an account tied to their holdings.

Story here

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I like Greg Abbott. He's getting good at pissing people off.

.338 Magnum Squad Machine Gun

General Dynamics has unveiled a new medium machine gun chambered in .338 Norma Magnum.

The gun itself weighs 24 lbs. This is a lot lighter than the M240B and about 1.7 lbs heavier than the new M240L. The .338 NM cartridges are a lot larger and heavier than 7.62mm cartridges.

From General Dynamics Press Release via The Firearm Blog

“The LWMMG is an affordable weapon that closes a current operational gap, providing .50 caliber-like firepower in range and effect at the same weight and size of currently fielded 7.62mm machine guns,” said Steve Elgin, vice president and general manager of armament systems for General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products. “Weighing in at 24 pounds and featuring a fully collapsible stock, the LWMMG offers superior mobility and portability in both mounted and dismounted operations.”

Story here

The Senseless Death in a Charleston Church Could Have Been Prevented

Every time an American community suffers a tragedy involving a firearm, the anti-gun crowd unveils itself in full tribal dress.

Wednesday night, a 21-year-old sandy blonde-haired white man with blue jeans and Timberland boots walked into a historically black church in Charleston, S.C. and killed 9 people.  That’s a horrible, murderous act, made worse by the fact that the man is still at large.

UPDATE:  Dylann Roof, the shooter, was apprehended by police in Shelbyville, N.C.  I’m glad they got him, and I’m glad there will be an opportunity for justice.  But it’s sad that this wasn’t stopped before it happened.


The New York Times reported S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s statement about the tragedy.

“While we do not yet know all of the details, we do know that we’ll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another,” the governor said. “Please join us in lifting up the victims and their families with our love and prayers.”

Story here

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Nothing is more surprising to an attacker than when they find out "it ain't no fun when the rabbit's got the gun is it"? The only thing that stops predators in their tracks is violence aimed right back at them. You hit them, and you hit them fucking hard.

Nobody in America deserves being forced to be unarmed and forced to be at the mercy of their attacker because of what some politician feels is good for everyone. I know what's good for everyone and that's the option of having a say in what will and will not happen to you. Or, at least have the added variable of a defense mechanism in your possession that will shift the odds of survival in your favor. I will never give anyone the power to decide whether or not it's my time to die. That's my decision to make and it should have been theirs as well. 

As much as I hate to talk about coulda, woulda, shoulda, it's time for such a conversation because this shit needs to be stopped dead in its tracks. The murdering of innocent people isn't something I take lightly. I wish for the surviving family members of these murdered innocents to find peace and positive reflections of their loved ones in their hearts and in their memories of them. 

It boils me over to know that they did not even have a chance at surviving once the lead started flying because of some law that said they couldn't be armed in a church. Sometimes, being a law abiding citizen will kill you... Forget all of that noise, I'll catch a case before I leave it at home.

And still... Not a word about Chris Kyle's death

Photo Analysis of suspected SC Gunman

He's been caught. No need for my opinion now.

APNewsBreak: US to pay millions for Agent Orange claims

WASHINGTON (AP) - Ending years of wait, the government agreed Thursday to provide millions of dollars in disability benefits to as many as 2,100 Air Force reservists and active-duty forces exposed to Agent Orange residue on airplanes used in the Vietnam War.

The new federal rule, approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget, takes effect Friday. It adds to an Agent Orange-related caseload that already makes up 1 out of 6 disability checks issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The expected cost over 10 years is $47.5 million, with separate health care coverage adding to the price tag.

Story here

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Vietnam War veterans will recognize 2,4-D as half of the highly toxic mix that made up Agent Orange. Agent Orange was a defoliant used on the jungles and farm land of Vietnam, and veterans exposed to it suffer a wide range of illnesses, including cancer. The Vietnamese Red Cross estimates that nearly 1 million people have experienced health problems as a result of Agent Orange. 2,4-D is also the seventh largest source of dioxins in our environment. Dioxins are highly toxic chemical byproducts that can bioaccumulate, which means they can build up in your system, and our environment, over time. The chemical has been linked to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, lowered sperm counts, liver disease, and Parkinson's disease. Studies have also demonstrated the chemical's adverse effects on hormonal, reproductive, neurological, and immune systems. 

Got bread?

A Kroger store bread aisle wiped out due to Tropical Storm Bill

#patriot Hack of Fed.Gov clearance database, much worse then the government is letting you know

This post is a follow-up to the previous post Potentially everyone who has ever had a clearance compromised by latest data breach on the OPM hack.  Thank you “DB” for the links and help in getting this information out to the community.  We have learned more over the previous week. One of the reasons we have warned Americans to be concerned about the massive databases that commercial companies and the federal government are building on them is because they can be stolen.  We who work in the IT security field know that anything can be hacked eventually.  The more databases, the more of your personal life is recorded and can be taken by hackers.  Remember all of these people’s Social Security Numbers (SSN) are stolen, and those are never replaced.  If you are a current or former federal civilian, or if you are related, or a close friend to a former or current federal civilian your information is most likely in the hands of the communist Chinese. Here is what the government has said.

1. Initially, they did not know if they took the security clearance database. Lie.
 
2. That they found the security breach when upgrading their security system. Lie.

Story here 

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Awesome. It will only make American federal civilians, many veterans, and perhaps even politicians with clearances easier to find. 

Score one for the good guys...

Libyan terrorist leader behind 2013 slaying of Nederland native killed in US airstrike

 

Officials said that a U.S. launched airstrike in eastern Libya has killed the terrorist leader behind a 2013 attack on a gas plant in Algeria that killed at least 38 hostages. One of those hostages included Victor Lovelady of Nederland.

The 57-year-old engineer was one of three Americans killed during a four-day siege at a natural gas plant in Algeria. 

Lovelady is survived by his wife, and two children. His brother, Mike Lovelady, was a former Nederland fire chief. 

Pentagon officials say that airstrikes targeting the veteran Algerian militant, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, were carried out by U.S. aircraft Saturday. 

Story here

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Victor was a local. It makes a lot of us happy to know the shit head behind his death got smashed on by our superior air capabilities. 

Late night grocery run

Off for a few days

See y'all next Monday...

Korean Matchlock Musket, ca. 1800

This one is pretty interesting. I've never seen anything like it. Click the picture to see the appraisal and hear the story of this weapon. Yes, I watch Antiques Roadshow. Don't be a hater.

Fallout 4 - Official Trailer

I've been a fan of this game series for a while now. The artwork, the depth of play, and the cool as shit retro-ness to it have made me a fan. Of course, the bad ass futuristic weapons are cool too. Now there's Fallout 4. And yes, I still play video games every now and then. It's good for keeping the hand / eye coordination in tune. 

This pretty much sums up how I felt when I heard Fallout 4 was coming....

I still have my original Nintendo from Christmas of 86' tucked away in my collection to pass on to my children once I think they are responsible enough to enter the Contra Code successfully. I mean honestly, can YOU beat Contra without 30 lives? I can't.

Texas judge says he quit over speeding ticket quota

First, it was the "Dirty Thirty," a line of four towns along a 30-mile stretch of Interstate 45 south of Dallas that issue a high volume of traffic tickets.

Now, welcome to the "Texas Triangle" – a group of small towns in Falls and Robertson counties southeast of Waco that are also in the ticket game, according to a longtime municipal court judge who said he quit over what he described as a ticketing quota system.

Revenue generated from tickets pays for a lot of small town police departments in Texas. Without ticket income, some couldn't afford a police force.

"Normally, when they pull you over for safety, they ask the 'safety' kind of questions. They ask you for insurance; they check your tags. This was none of that," said Don Shaheen, one of the thousands of Texans who got speeding tickets in April.

Story here 

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You've all heard me say it... Revenuers gonna revenue.

I've been sitting here for a few minutes thinking about this shit. 

How come a cop will pull you over for a busted light but when you're broke down on the side of the road they just breeze right on by like they didn't see shit?

Good on you Judge. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered...

Meet the New Generation of Robots for Manufacturing

"They are nimbler, lighter and work better with humans. They might even help bring manufacturing back to the U.S."

A new generation of robots is on the way—smarter, more mobile, more collaborative and more adaptable. They promise to bring major changes to the factory floor, as well as potentially to the global competitive landscape.

Robots deployed in manufacturing today tend to be large, dangerous to anyone who strays too close to their whirling arms, and limited to one task, like welding, painting or hoisting heavy parts.

Story here 

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The industrial overlords are getting rid of you human. You have this thing called free will. It allows you to make conscious decisions based on your feelings. It allows you to say when you've had enough of low wage, high pressure, high workload, high stress, bullshit jobs. Robots don't care. They keep going until they break. They don't have families at home, they don't take time off, and they don't need constant monitoring to see if they are fucking off at work. If you want to bring back manufacturing back to the US, get rid of globalization and outsourcing.  NAFTA, CAFTA, and the elimination of trade barriers opened up access to foreign markets for American manufacturers in return for building factories abroad.  Every time an American manufacturer closes and then reopens elsewhere, the foreign country gains American technology. By building factories overseas, manufacturers are sowing the seeds of their own long-term destruction by slowly reducing the wealth of Americans, who are also their primary customers. 

This isn't going to work out well for us. Just saying...
 

Legs and lungs are screaming, but for good reason

I've got a little work left to do to get myself into what I consider mountain shape. I have been getting in 2 miles a day and running the stands (aka snakes) at the football stadium. I'm almost ready to go 3 miles at a time again. Getting there! The Backyarder Camp will be in Colorado come this July for some well deserved fun time. I have big dreams I'm chasing on this go round'...

One of them is to make it up the Manitou Incline  under 45 minutes. I think that would be a good time to try for considering what the Incline is.

The next mission will be to hump it out up to Barr Camp on Barr Trail, going up the trail to Pike's Peak. I know I cannot make it to the summit of Pike's Peak. I'm not dumb. But, I'm fairly sure of my abilities in that I can make it to the Barr Camp.

There are many other trails that are close to where we are staying and I intend to make several of those as well. 

I cannot wait to get there. It'll be nice to get a break from this damned Texas humidity. We will go and we will conquer.

Tuesday Truth

Train...

Police Snipers Spotted at Two Texas Harley Dealerships in Wake of Twin Peaks Shooting

Photos on the Facebook page of a group called Free All The Waco Bikers appears to show police snipers on an apartment building rooftop, across the street from a Harley-Davidson dealership that was a hosting a memorial service for one of the bikers shot and killed outside a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco on May 17.

This is the second time in less than a week that snipers have been posted outside a Texas Harley Davidson dealership after the Waco incident.

Story here