Palm Sunday 2015

Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.

² There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.

³ Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

⁴ Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him,

⁵ Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?

⁶ This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

⁷ Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.

⁸ For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.

⁹ Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.

¹⁰ But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;

¹¹ Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.

¹² On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

¹³ Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

¹⁴ And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,

¹⁵ Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.

¹⁶ These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.

¹⁷ The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record.

¹⁸ For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle.

¹⁹ The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him.

John 12:1-19, KJV

Bullies Land A Whale. Ben Howland hired at Mississippi State (Updated)

Welcome Readers from SixPackSpeak.com

#HailState has become #HowlState as Ben Howland is set to become the new head coach of the men’s basketball program.

Howland is returning to coaching after a two year stint as a TV  analyst, following his very successful run at perenial basketball pwerhouse, UCLA.

The Blog interviewed legendary MSU alumnus Nuke Gingrich to get his reaction:

Epic.  Awesome.  The wool is thick.  Who would of thought AD Scott Stricklin had such a giant nutsack, to let go of his men’s basketball coach, with 2 years left on his contract, and go after a whale like Ben Howland.  And then, to bring him in —  I’m just beside myself with excitement.  I believe I speak for the entire Bulldog Nation when I say, “Welcome to Stark Vegas, Coach Howland.  We’re glad you’re here!”

Things happened quickly this weekend in Vegas, as the Saturday announcement of the non-renewal of Rick Ray’s contract was within a few hours followed by informed rumors that Howland had emerged as the leading contender for the position.  Howland had reportedly wanted to continue his coaching career at a football oriented school.  No doubt, Howland will get his wish at MSU and the SEC.

Consider this quote in an article from Bill Plaschke, LA Times.

“In my mind, my next job is where I’m going to finish my career,” he says. “I want to make sure it’s the right situation where we have great success.”

In typical Howland fashion, he then tightens his jaw and makes a promise.

“I’m really fired up about getting back into it, and I hope to do it next year,” he says. “And this time around, I will do the best job I’ve ever done.”

Yes, sir!  It’s a great day to be a Bulldog.

See also:  For whom the cowbell tolls

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Update:  It is Official!  HailState Beat,

Statement from Athletic Director SS (Grasshopper):  “Ben is someone who is ready to invest in the people of Mississippi and Bulldogs everywhere, while bringing championship basketball back to the Hump. Mississippi State basketball can compete at the highest level, just as several of our other teams have done in recent years, and I’m excited to have coach Howland lead us back to that level.”

The school will officially announce the hire on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. at Humphrey Coliseum. Fans are invited to attend.

What is a non-attorney spokesman anyway?

I liked it better when I was younger, and advertising for lawyers was unheard of.  You could find a block ad in the yellow pages, or something  similar in professional journals, but television ads?  No way.

Now, not only the yellow pages, but the back cover of the phone book is generally one of those full page photo ads of the “One call-that’s all” variety.  Stack them deep, and settle cheap.

And the tv ads seem to come one after another, trolling for clients to sue their doctors, pharmaceutical companies, stock broker, whatever and whomever.  Always ending with the same extremely fine print disclaimers and the voiceover ,”I am a non-attorney spokesman.”  Interestingly enough, I’ve yet to hear anyone offering to sue another lawyer for malpractice, have you?

/cue lawyer joke.

And speaking of TV ads, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw Jeff Goldblum on the telly, hawking a startup web company for apartment searches.  I thought he died in a fall on a movie set, didn’t he?

Nope.  Just another internet hoax.  You may notice that the article at the link is about 6 years old.

Heh™.  I gotta get out more.

Happy 60th Birthday Chevy Small Block V8

I came across an excellent article celebrating the birthday of this fantastic engine.  Whether or not you are a gear head or a fan of another car maker, your life has been impacted by the small block Chevy V8.

It has powered family vehicles, hot rods, commercial vehicles, boats and even motorcycles.  Revolutionary in its design, made possible by numerous advances in technology and fuels after WWII, the basic design of the engine is still being used in the modern version.

While most car companies have turned to the overhead cam engine designs to actuate the valves, the SBC V8 continues to use the push rod design and has managed to maintain an efficient and powerful engine that produces more torque than the OHC design.

Personally, I have owned numerous vehicles powered with the SBC V8 and have never had a problem with them.

May the “Mighty Mouse” engine live on for decades to come.

The article mentioned can be found HERE. It is well worth the read.

Execution Watch: Manuel Vasquez(TX) *UPDATED*

I have to apolgize for not posting on the last execution, Donald Newbury, which took place on 4 Feb 15. Work this year has been demanding.

Tonight’s scheduled execution looks like it will go forward, unlike so many stays we have seen recently.

*Thug: Manuel Vasquez(29 at time of offense)
*Date of execution: 11 March 2015
*Date of crime: 19 Mar 1998
*Victim: Juanita Ybarra (female, 51)
*Last Meal: For his last meal, Vasquez was served Pepper Steak, mashed potatoes, brown gravy, carrots, ranch style beans, sliced bread, and apple glazed cake, with a choice of water, tea, or punch to drink.(per Last Suppers Book)
*Last Words: thanked ‘the Lord for his kind mercy, faithfulness and unconditional love.’ ‘In Jesus’ name I pray,’ he said, then told the warden: ‘I’m ready.

After a violent criminal history in his short life, this contract killer for the Mexican Mafia will finally face justice some time after 6p.m. CST.

The media advisory from the State AG can be found here.
His criminal history was not only a violent one, it was extensive:

During the punishment phase, the State presented evidence regarding Vasquez’s violent criminal history, including (1) Vasquez’s receiving a 10-year sentence for aggravated assault for his role in the Aug. 31, 1986, death of Robert Alva during which Vasquez (along with his younger brother and others) choked Alva with a belt, beat him with a crowbar, kicked him, and set him on fire after dousing him with gasoline; (2) Vasquez’s commission of robbery by threats on Aug. 31, 1986, for which he received one year probation; (3) Vasquez’s March 5, 1992, execution style murder of drug dealer Richard Pacheco in retaliation for Pacheco’s failure to pay the [organized crime gang]’s “tax” on proceeds from the sale of illegal drugs; (4) Vasquez’s nearly fatal stabbing of Hector Zacharias on May 31, 1992, and resultant conviction and 8-year sentence for attempted murder; and (5) Vasquez’s participation with several other individuals in a series of burglaries and a pair of unsolved robberies committed in September – October 1996.

The State also presented evidence regarding Vasquez’s potential for future dangerousness. A Bexar County Sheriff’s Department officer testified that Vasquez was “a disruptive, violent, aggressive and dangerousness inmate” who was kept in segregation or isolation for the entire period in jail as a result of his assaultive behavior towards staff and inmates. Vasquez continued to associate with an organized criminal organization while he was awaiting trial for capital murder and was found in possession of a letter from a general of the criminal organization and a pair of treaties executed by the criminal organization with other prison gangs. Finally, while Vasquez was incarcerated at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, he obtained disciplinary actions for possessing a weapon, inciting a riot, and engaging in a fight.

The details of the crime he is being executed for is as follows:

On June 10, 1998, a Bexar County grand jury indicted Vasquez for the March 19, 1998, capital murder of Juanita Ybarra, charging that Vasquez intentionally killed Ybarra by strangling her with a ligature(a telephone cord) while in the course of committing and attempting to commit the offense of robbery.

Vasquez was attempting to collect a ten percent tax on Ybarra’s drug sales for the Mexican Mafia, a “dime” as they call it.

Finally, his violent criminal history that began almost thirty years ago(as far as we know) will come to an end. Our state and our cities will be just a little safer.

For Vasquez, the words from our old friend Robbie ring true…”Some people are just no damn good.”

Know Who You Do Business With

A few days ago I came across a news feed that linked to the Huffington Post, which I refuse to link here. It was a list of the 379 corporations that have filed amicus briefs with the Supreme Court in support of legalizing homosexual marriage.

I glanced over their article, knowing that the intent is to please their readers who are inclined to support making deviant sex socially acceptable and to possibly encourage that readership to do business with those corporations.

I would like to thank the person at Huff-N-Puff that posted the corporations names so I will know who to boycott. The vast majority of the hundreds listed are entities I have never heard of and never will again, or in the case of a few (Target,General Mills,Levi-Strauss) I had already ceased making purchases from quite a while ago because of their support for deviant sex issues.

Personally, I could not care less what a person wishes to do in their sex lives, as long as I don’t know about it, and particularly when it isn’t shoved in my face and told I must embrace and support their deviant sex practices.

I also will not knowingly support any business, company or corporation that willingly supports the cultural and social destruction of this country for their temporary financial gains. They can blather on about why they believe it is necessary to make a sexually oriented issue into something other than what it is. I’m not listening to their rhetoric any longer, it is baseless at the surface and goes no deeper.

I don’t know what others will do with this information and don’t need to, but for me I will be finding a new bank and cell phone provider this week and will never buy a Coca-Cola or any of their products either.

One of my grandmothers told me something when I was in my early teens that I have always remembered, “You can only vote once in each election, but you get to vote everyday with your dollars.”

The full list follows the break, I copy and pasted it from the story so it can remain here as a permanent resource and so you won’t have to give Huffington a click.

Wanna go surfin’?

How’s about surfing these musical waves …  thirteen minutes of Neil Young’s “Cortez.”

Nice way to start the weekend.

I’m going to spend a lot of my weekend out back, finishing up the barn I started building last week, now that the rain has stopped.

Hope y’all have a good one, too.

When The Moment Is Right: A Conservative Coup In The House?

JD Winteregg had a pretty funny campaign ad in his unsuccessful run against John Boehner in 2014.  You might remember the “Electile Dysfunction” video.

Winteregg did a lot better than many expected, but the power of incumbency, especially for the Speaker of the House was too much to overcome.

This time, it is rank and file Republicans who are openly weighing a revolt against Boehner’s leadership team after their underwhelming performance in the opening weeks of the new Congress.

Is it time to finally say, “Bye Bye Boehner?”

Here is a statement from Rep. John Fleming, LA in a story by the Washington Times:

“The problem is we are used to being in this moderate lane and the people, our constituents who are sending us here, are trying to move us over into the more conservative lane,” said the Louisiana Republican. “I think the struggle is that leadership has not yet picked up the trim line that they need to put out more conservative legislation to get better results”

The leadership either doesn’t get it, or they are being deliberately obtuse.  They campaign on conservative ideas, but govern timidly, firmly established in the mushy middle.  Conservatives are tired of the game, and Mr. Fleming is absolutely correct.

The proof of the leadership’s lack of a connection with their conservative base is clearly stated by Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma:

“Our problem isn’t leadership around here; it’s followership.  We have a group of people who, frankly, think they are always right and their leaders and the conference collectively are usually wrong.  It’s actually a fairly small group.”

It’s just a hunch, but I imagine that there is a considerably large group of Oklahoma conservatives that believe much differently than Mr. Cole.  My warning to him and others like him is to not take their conservative voters for granted.  We see the Left making bold moves in their “fundamental transformation” of America.  We voted in a new Republican majority to make a stand.

If Boehner, Cole, McCarthy, et al want to see some followership from the conservatives, then it’s time for the leadership to get off their collective asses and get to work.  Use the majority that the voters gave them, and quit acting like losers.  Persuade McConnell and the Senate GOP to use the Reid Rule nuclear option to move legislation forward.   It’s time.  It’s high time.