Rusty Hardin: Joe Straus' (and Bill Powers') "Bloody, Poisoned, Dwarf"

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"
Isaiah 5:20

Marxists follow patterns.  Their power built on lies, they must demonize the truth.  Enemies of the state must be eliminated.  What was true for Soviet Russia in 1937 applies equally to the University of Texas in 2014.  In the 'purifying' thunderstorm of Soviet 'justice' that is the Wallace Hall impeachment, Rusty Hardin is Nikolai Yezhov.

Rusty Hardin's 'report' is an astonishing, though strangely entertaining, act of chutzpah.  Using innuendo and petulance, the $157,000 (and counting) 'report' concludes that Wallace Hall is a big meanie: "Hall acted like a roving inspector general in search of a problem rather than a solution." (2)  Specifically, the 'report' charges Hall with making people work late, 'violating' irrelevant federal privacy laws, being mean to Bill Powers, and demanding basic financial accountability as grounds for impeachment.  We haven't heard a powerful, politically-connected, Texan whine this much since we were last in a room with Jim Keffer.  But at least Rusty Hardin got his 30 pieces of silver.

Hardin echoes Jim Pitts' original resolution that Hall made "numerous unreasonably burdensome, wasteful, and intrusive requests for information" (44)  Waaah!!!  The 'report' shrieks for 30 pages about Hall's supposed misdeeds.  Examples include: making people work late (49), personally visiting campus (55), meeting with the Office of the Attorney General (59), sayin' mean stuff (61), that "have negatively impacted employee morale" (79).  Sounds to us like due diligence.

Hardin's greatest slight of hand, however, concerns Hall's alleged abuse of 'confidential' information while investigating improper relationships between the UT administration and state legislators Jim Pitts and Judith Zaffirini.  At issue is an interpretation of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974.  In the gray area of FERPA interpretation, Hardin uses a convenient standard set by the U.S. Department that contradicts directly with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the 2002 Case Owasso Independent School District vs. Falvo.  The Court ruled unanimously that only an institution, not an individual, can violate FERPA, reducing Hardin's argument to legalistic sophistry.  A conservative lawyer with whom we spoke described this section as "sloppy" to the point "I would be embarrassed to put my name on it."

Of course, Wallace Hall's greatest 'transgression' is that he was mean to poor Bill Powers.  Following revelations about corruption at the UT Law School, "Hall's focus tightened on former law school dean Powers and what Hall perceived as Powers' failings." (117)   This January, following Powers' questionable testimony to the impeachment committee, "Hall sent [former U.T. Chancellor Francisco] Cigarroa a lengthy and detailed critique of President Powers's [sic] sworn testimony." (87)  He even had the nerve to follow up two weeks later!!! (88)  Clearly, Wallace Hall is worse than parents who eat their children's Halloween candy:



UT's most serious malfeasance, however, concerns the $215 million software donation scandal.  In 2007 and 2010, UT's geology department received valuable in-kind donations from a third party, which they counted towards their capital campaign using a favorable interpretation of a legal grey area.  In 2011, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) explicitly closed the loophole.  Caught with their pants down, UT panicked (93).  Hall refused to acquiesce to the cover-up (98).  Hall was eventually proven correct (95).  Clearly, the solution is to get rid of Wallace Hall.

An old legal cliche states: "[W]hen the law is on your side, argue the law.  When the facts are on your side, argue the facts.  When neither the law nor the facts are on your side, pound the table."  Rusty Hardin's 'report' pounds...something.  It combines the precise legal analysis of Joseph Stalin with the rhetorical subtlety of Khrushchev at the United Nations.  But the University of Texas is the biggest special interest in this state, and enemies of Bill Powers and Joe Straus must be punished.  FORWARD fellow comrades!!!

History Lesson: Meet Nikolai Yezhov

"and every spirit that does not confess that[a] Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world."
1 John 4:3

 We know this post seems off-topic, but if readers indulge us it will make sense shortly.

During the purges of the 1930's, Nikolai Yeshov was Joseph Stalin's primary hatchet man:

As a devout Stalinist and not a member of the organs of state security, Yezhov was just the man Stalin needed to intensify the terror and rid Stalin of potential opponents. Yezhov's first task from Stalin was to personally investigate and conduct the prosecution of his long-time Chekist mentor Yagoda, which he did with remorseless zeal. Ordered by Stalin to create a suitably grandiose plot for Yagoda's show trial, Yezhov ordered the NKVD to sprinkle mercury on the curtains of his office so that the physical evidence could be collected and used to support the charge that Yagoda was a German spy, sent to assassinate Yezhov and Stalin with poison and restore capitalism. [Emphasis Added]

From ExecutedToday.com:

From late 1936, when he eliminated his predecessor Genrikh Yagoda (later executed, of course), until his own fall from power in at the end of 1938, Yezhov presided over the apex of Stalinist terror, averaging hundreds of political killings daily — perhaps north of 600,000 for the two-year period, plus a like number disappeared into the Gulag’s freezers. (Just browse this here site’s ’1937′ tag for a taste.)

From Cyber USSR:

A complete nonentity, whose name, during the brief period of his administration, evoked horror throughout the entire country and entered history in the word "Ezhovshchina" [a curiously bland term, perhaps "the Yezhov thing" --HSC]. He was raised to power by Stalin for the specific purpose of setting up a bloodbath. In the Soviet press, he was called the "Iron Commissar," but among the people he was named the "bloody dwarf." [Ezhov was only 154 cm tall, about 5'1". Two other famous Russians of comparably short height were Nikita Khrushchev and Alexander Pushkin --HSC] According to those who knew him well, toward the end of his administration, he was totally dependent on narcotics.

More on the Poisoned (or bloody) dwarf:



Yeshov later fell from grace (hard), which was its own story, but for our purposes it's important to remember that he was Stalin's chosen agent for digging up dirt on enemies of the state.

Come and Take It -- Austin marches downtown

Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
Nehemiah 4:18

This afternoon, we attended an open carry event with the local Austin group.  The event began at the Texas State Capitol, then continued down Congress Ave to Sixth Street.  And yes, there was an open carry group walking up and down Sixth street in Austin just a couple hours ago!  Reactions were 99% positive, although we did observe on person giving the group a middle finger from a car.  We can't really explain it, but the hand of God is on this open-carry movement in Texas!!!

By the Angela Eberly statue at Sixth and Congress:

Turning the corner at sixth and Congress:

Various locations at Sixth Street and I-35:

Local firearms celebrity Michael Cargill spoke to the crowd about voting in  November:



And, of course, we had the election forecasting of Sam Fyrestarter!!! :)



If other event attendees have photos or video they'd like to add, they should e-mail them to cahnman@hotmail.com; please upload videos to YouTube BEFORE sending them to us!!!

Obama Attempting Texas Land Grab

"Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate;"
Proverbs 22:22

Yikes and Gadzooks:



Highlights:

• "Since 1803 when the Louisiana Purchase was completed, there has been a controversy over the boundary between Oklahoma and Texas. The boundary is supposed to be the vegetation line on the south side of the Red River. But the River has moved over time. The problem is the definition of that boundary line- Oklahoma and Texas each use different semantics to define it. And the BLM is finding ways to use the disputed words to give them the ability to seize the land."

• "Land that has been in the families of ranchers is to be seized as “public lands” that would be subject to fees or blocked off entirely from rancher’s use. Or in some cases, moving the boundary line over to Oklahoma, where Texas ranchers can lose their rights to the lands that they have owned for more than a century. The BLM had open meetings back in January to “take input” from the public …but they are moving forward with their plan to seize the land anyway. There was likely never any intention of actually listening to the rancher’s stand."

• Open grazing of cattle has always been a common law right in America. It is time for the American people to rise up against the theft of private lands and property by a government that is out of control. Ranchers have contact Texas  Representative Mac Thornberry for assistance. We will monitor this situation as it progresses.

Wendy Davis' filibuster, Wallace Hall's Impeachment, and Joe Straus

"When the wicked arise, men hide themselves;
But when they perish, the righteous increase."
Proverbs 28:28

As a glutton for punishment, we are in the process of reading Rusty Hardin's "report" recommending Wallace Hall's impeachment; so far, the report is as big of a fiasco as one would expect, but one detail stands out:

As you can see from the picture, Joe Straus launched this fiasco on June 25, 2013.

What other event, pray tell, happened at the Texas Capitol on June 25, 2013?!?  (HINT: We were there.)

That's right: Abortion Barbie's filibuster!!!

That Joe Straus launched this crusade in the middle of Abortion Barbie's filibuster tells you everything you need to know about both Joe Straus and this impeachment fiasco....

Arlington silences the Second Amendment

"Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me."
Nehemiah 4:18

SURPRISE, Petty Tyrants act like Petty Tyrants:

ARLINGTON — Gun-rights activists who petitioned the Arlington City Council on Tuesday to strike down an ordinance that they say restricts their freedom of speech were stunned to find their public speaking time limited.

Several members of the Tarrant County chapter of Open Carry Texas were also upset when Arlington police would not let them bring pre-1899 black powder pistols or replica pistols — which they are allowed to carry openly under state law — into the council chamber.

....

Last month, police ticketed two group members for handing out pamphlets and pocket-size U.S. Constitutions at Collins Street and Road to Six Flags near the Lincoln Square shopping center. Police said Wood and Mason Yancy violated an ordinance prohibiting anyone from standing or walking on street corners, sidewalks and medians to hand out literature or other items to people in vehicles that are not legally parked.

Open Carry Tarrant County wanted to voice its concerns during the nontelevised public participation portion set aside at the end of council meetings. Typically, each public speaker is granted two minutes.

In total, 11 speakers addressed the council during the group’s allotted 30 minutes.

The city attorney’s office and Police Department are reviewing the ordinance. Council members could not respond to speakers during the public participation portion because the topic was not legally posted on the agenda.

Open Carry Texas’ mission includes lobbying legislators to enact less-restrictive gun laws, educating residents about their right to openly carry shotguns and rifles safely, and helping the public feel comfortable around those who do. Open Carry Tarrant County has held numerous demonstrations around businesses and public places throughout the county since last year.

One member of the group posted his testimony to YouTube:



Having observed these folks a couple days ago, we really like what the Open carry movement is doing.  They're driving petty tyrants insane, and that's always a good thing.  Keep it up.

The Latest Local Government Horror Story from Williamson County

"A ruler who lacks understanding is a great oppressor,
But he who hates covetousness will prolong his days."
Proverbs 28:16

Fantastic find from Holly Hansen:

According to official City Council Meeting Minutes from October 25, 2012, Councilman Salinas (and other council members,) voted to approve a development agreement [Resolution Number R-12-10-25-H3] for the City of Round Rock to provide a $400,000, 5-year, interest-free loan to a local developer in order to complete the purchase of the historic Nelson Hardware Building.  Supposedly this transaction was to further the City Council’s goal of making the “Main Street area an authentic dining, entertainment and retail shopping destination for local citizens and tourists alike.”  While we can certainly argue the merits of government choosing economic winners and losers in this way, there is an even more disturbing aspect to this story.

However, rather than an attractive new restaurant or shop, now it appears that the Nelson Building's main tenant is...Councilman Carlos Salinas.  During the first week of March 2014, Councilman Salinas' re-election campaign began occupying ground floor space at 201 East Main Street.  Since then, Salinas has held numerous campaign meetings and fundraisers with his out of town Democrat allies (like Travis County's Gonzalo Barrientos and Democrat congressional candidate Louie Minor of Bell County, who is running against Round Rock's John Carter.)

....

The real kicker is that, according to Salinas' financial reports, he is 'renting' the Nelson Building space for a mere $1,000 per month.  Based on the advertised price of the lease space and estimates by local brokers, the market value for this location is estimated to be approximately $5,500 a month, making this a sweet $4,500 monthly financial benefit for Salinas.

Not only does this apparent 'gift' seem unethical, it is also clearly illegal. 

Such a gift would be in violation of Section 2-118(a)(2) of the City of Round Rock Code of Ordinances, which states:

Gifts. No city official shall intentionally or knowingly solicit or accept any contribution, gift or economic benefit with actual or constructive knowledge that is given in consideration of the favorable exercise of such official’s judgment or discretion in the past.

Even more serious than the city ordinance is Councilman Salinas' possible violation of state statutes, specifically Section 39.02(7) of the Texas Penal Code, which states:

An offense...is a felony of the first degree if the value of the use of the thing misused is $200,000.00 or more.  

Salinas voted for the $400,000 interest-free loan, and therefore cannot claim he did not know about the agreement with the city.  Since a campaign office is clearly not a part of the original development agreement, Salinas could be guilty of official misuse of city subsidized property.  Legally speaking, some $400,000 of that building is government property, which would make abuse of the building a first degree felony. 

Councilman Salinas’s use of the Nelson Building does suggest an abuse of the city development agreement’s intent and stated purpose, which violates both City Ethics and State Abuse of Official Capacity laws.  Furthermore, Councilman Salinas’s below market lease rate constitutes an illegal gift, which violates both City Ethics and State Abuse of Official Capacity laws.

If you’d like to go see the Nelson building and the benefits of incumbency for yourself, Mr. Salinas is holding a fundraiser in his totally awesome taxpayer-subsidized digs this Saturday, April 12 from 11:30-3:00pm.  (201 East Main Street)  Admission is only $10, unless of course you're counting your taxpayer-funded loan to the owner.

 Read the whole thing here.