From UFOs to Johnny Vagabond, Wes Nations Takes His Final Trek

Wes Nations was a young man when he passed away on November 25, 2014, at the age of 47. He left behind a legacy of 1990s' alternative Austin-scene involvement that was close to legendary. But what came next will be circulating among the winds for decades to come. He exited the self-publishing field to undertake a long-held vision he'd fostered. He rid himself of most of his worldly possessions (the main exception being his beloved MacBook) and took off to travel for a year. His globe-trotting turned into six years on the road, a highly praised blog, and a persona known around the world as "Johnny Vagabond."

James Wesley ("Wes") Nations was born on July 1, 1967, in Aransas Pass, Texas. Famed for water sports, fishing, kayaking, and birding, Aransas Pass is the home to the largest hummingbird garden in Texas. Before Nations, the most recalled person from Aransas Pass was Emory Bellard (1927-2011), former University of Texas offensive coordinator and head coach at Texas A&M, inventor of the Wishbone formation. The citizens of Aransas Pass now have the genius of Wes Nations to add to their history, and they should be proud of him.

Nations began to make a name for himself in the age of news magazines ("alt-news-zines") in the 1990s. Wes Nations was the editor and publisher of Crash Collusion Magazine.

SMiles Lewis, Austin anomalist, conference organizer and archivist, personally alerted me to Wes Nations' death and his far-reaching linkages. Lewis observed:

Wes was my entre to the world of alt-news-zines in the 1990s. He was friends of many of the 1990s Zine Scene publishers (and early website operators) from the Excluded Middle magazine (Greg Bishop, Robert Larson, Peter Stenshoel), Steamshovel Press (Kenn Thomas), Adam Gorightly, E.L.F. Infested Spaces (published by me), The Konformist (Robert Sterling), The Devil's Advocate (Tim Brigham), and many more.

Meditative pose at Bell Rock, Sedona. 1997 Texufornia Kookout, with Peter Stenshoel, Paul Rydeen, Adam Gorightly, Mick Taylor, Dave Reimer and Wes Nations. Back row, Greg Bishop. Facebook.

As Nations planned his escape from Texas civilization to travel the world, he had to figure out what to do with his large library. Lewis writes: "When Wes moved away from Austin he gave away his vast collection of books and most of them went to Paul Rydeen and I. It was Wes's collection and mine that made up the foundation of my non-profit Anomaly Archives collections."

Kevin Revolinski said in his Wes Nations' remembrance,

He dreamed, planned, and saved, and finally, in 2009, already in his 40s, he set off on a one-year journey that became indefinite. Johnny Vagabond was born. He worked hard on his writing and photography, and due in no small part to his keen sense of storytelling, he was soon a typical inclusion on any list of travel bloggers to follow. 

Wes Nations' trips turned into a well-loved blog by many. "He was Johnny Vagabond in the travel writing world," Kevin Revolinski wrote. 

After Wes Nation died, Glenn Dixon recalled that "Wes was fairly well-known in travel blogger circles. One time Dixie and I were having lunch in our favorite restaurant, TierrADentro, and were approached by a cute young couple. They said hi, and then asked me, 'Are you Johnny Vagabond?' I got a big laugh out of this. Johnny Vagabond was Wes’ alter ego and the name of his blog. I’m pretty sure I told them that, no, I’m much younger and more handsome than him, but that I could connect them."

In Leigh Shulman ode to Wes Nation, she shared an overview sense of Wes' blog: "Raw is the word I hear most often applied to his writing. Things like how he almost killed a man who offered him an eight year old girl for sex. Or stories about the ethereal nature of travel."

 At Joshua Tree.

 Traveling the world, Wes soon found it was about the people, more than the places.

Wes at Tikal, a couple years ago. 

When the journey on which Wes Nations found himself reached its final destination, via liver disease, he was "back in his hometown, his parents Tommy and Barbara at his side. He had traveled full circle," as Keith Revonlinski nicely put it.

One of Wes Nations' favorite photographs of himself, which he used as his profile pix on blogs, Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere.

The man moved from writing about UFOs and conspiracies, to sex slaves and the mistreatment of the disenfranchised. We appreciate seeing the world through his eyes, even for such a small amount of time. 

Most of his peers, in the end, agreed, despite Nations' blog's tagline that "He's traveling cheap, taking pics, and telling lies," he saw truths and reported realities through his writings and images. He will be missed.

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The following are the links to my three remembrances for the three ufology researchers/writers who died in one week (November 25 – December 2, 2014):

Tom Benson

Rocky Wood

Wes Nations

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Tarot Cards As Criminal Twilight Language

The Joker? The Hierophant? Jack the Ripper? The Hanging Man? Twilight Language abounds.

As a followup to the recent Austin shootings (see "Gunman McQuilliams Targets 3 Major Austin Governmental Sites"), the identification of the shooter as Larry Steven McQuillams revealed his use of the Twilight Language.

Before his attack, McQuilliams changed his last public individual Facebook profile photo to the following:

It is the Hierophant Tarot card (h/t SMiles). Following is the complete view.

The Hierophant (V), in some decks named The Pope, is the fifth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks.
...
In many modern packs, the Hierophant is represented with his right hand raised in what is known esoterically as the blessing or benediction, with two fingers pointing skyward and two pointing down, thus forming a bridge between Heaven and Earth reminiscent of that formed by the body of The Hanged Man. The Hierophant is thus a true “pontiff”, in that he is the builder of the bridge between deity and humanity.
...
In most iconographic depictions, the Hierophant is seen seated on a throne between two pillars symbolizing Law and Liberty or obedience and disobedience, according to different interpretations. He wears a triple crown, and the keys to Heaven are at his feet. Sometimes he is shown with worshippers, as his alternate title is the Pope or, sometimes, Jupiter.
...
Some interpretations also suggest a link between the card and the myth of Isis and Osiris, a claim made about many cards. Source. 

There is a long tradition of leaving "calling cards" of various types at crime scenes. 

One of the most significant examples in history is those left by Jack the Ripper, which were wrongly interpreted as being Jewish in origin, when, in fact, they were Masonic.

Jack the Ripper is believed to have left two calling cards by Goulston Street, London on September 30, 1888, the night he murdered Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes: a scrap of Eddowes' apron and some graffiti reading Juwes are the men That Will not be Blamed for nothing. Source.

First off, the actual location of the killings, near or in Mitre Square is important, Freemasonically.

Also, in one widely disseminated theory:

Author Stephen Knight suggested that "Juwes" referred not to "Jews," but to Jubela, Jubelo and Jubelum, the three killers of Hiram Abiff, a semi-legendary figure in Freemasonry, and furthermore, that the message was written by the killer (or killers) as part of a Masonic plot. There is no evidence that anyone prior to Knight had ever referred to those three figures by the term "Juwes". Knight's suggestion was used in fictional treatments of the murders, such as the film Murder by Decree, and the graphic novel From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. Source.

In terms of the Beltway Sniper mystery, Tarot cards were used to leave messages.

John Muhammad and Lee Malvo, the so-called "Beltway Snipers," engaged in 23 days of random attacks in the Washington, D.C, area, in October 2002. Muhammad used a Bushmaster .223 rifle.

The snipers left Tarot “Death” cards like this one

at some of the shooting sites. Note the words

“Call me God” at the top. Photo: Official FBI page.

On October 7, 2002, at 8:09 a.m., Iran Brown, a 13-year-old boy, was shot in the abdomen and critically wounded as he arrived at the Benjamin Tasker Middle School at 4901 Collington Road in Bowie, Maryland, in Prince George's County (Brown's name was concealed from the public but was later revealed). His aunt, a nurse who had just brought him to school, rushed him to a hospital emergency room. Despite serious injuries, including damage to several major organs, Brown survived the attack and ultimately testified at Muhammad's trial. At this crime scene the authorities discovered a shell casing as well as a Tarot card (the Death card) inscribed with the phrase, "Call me God" on the front and, on three separate lines on the back, "For you Mr. Police." "Code: 'Call me God'. Do not release to the press."
...
Allegedly, at several scenes Tarot cards were left as calling cards, including one Death card upon which was written "Call me God" on the front and on the back on three separate lines the words, "For you mr. Police." "Code: 'Call me God'." "Do not release to the press." This information was leaked to the press and misquoted often as "I am God" or some similar misquote of the actual words on the tarot card. Source.

Heath Ledger's Joker and his card.

The Hanging Man Tarot card.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus: Heath Ledger's final role.

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Gunman McQuilliams Targets 3 Major Austin Governmental Sites

Neptune/Poseidon, symbolized by tridents, was the ruler of the seas and associated locations, but also, surprisingly, of horses.

A new violent situation ended when a "veteran Austin police officer putting away horses for the night was able to stop a gunman rampaging through the city's downtown early Friday — ending the suspect's 10 minutes of terror before anyone was hurt." Source.

An individual fired at three targeted downtown Austin, Texas public buildings -- the Austin Federal Courthouse, the Consulado General De Mexico (Mexican consulate), and the Austin Police headquarters -- before police shot and killed him. Sgt Adam Johnson, a 15-year veteran of the department, has been identified as the cop who shot the suspect.

This occurred early "black Friday" morning, November 28, 2014. The gunman also tried to set the Mexican consulate afire.

The Austin Federal Courthouse opened in 2012, designed by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, occupies a full city block, directly west of Republic Square Park.

The Mexican consulate building.

Austin Police Headquarters.

The unidentified North Austin man was suspected of shooting into buildings at around 2:30 a.m. local time, KVUE-TV reports.

The Austin American-Statesman reported that the locations were the Mexican consulate, federal courthouse, and the Austin Police building.

Assistant Chief Raul Munguia told reporters that the suspected shooter, who was wearing some type of a vest, was killed near his vehicle, which may have contained an improvised explosive device. The police bomb squad was on the scene.

Officers pursued leads and were investigating a North Austin address where the suspect allegedly lived. They said they are checking the residence for other potential bombs.

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Update: By the end of the day, Friday, November 28, the shooter was identified as Larry Steven McQuilliams.

Larry, derived from Lawrence, means "laurel crowned," as in a victor of a battle or war.

Steven, derived the Greek Stéfanos, meaning "wreath, crown, honor, reward." In ancient Greece, a wreath of laurels denoted a winner of a contest, from which the crown, a symbol of rulers, was derived.

The root of the ancient Dalriadan-Scottish name McQuilliam is the personal name William. The Gaelic form of the surname is Mac Uilleim, meaning the son of William. The name is first found on the Isle of Harris, Scotland.

William is a name of old Germanic origin. William comes ultimately from the given name Wilhelm (cf. Old German Wilhelm > German Wilhelm and Old Norse Vilhjálmr). The Anglo-Saxon form should be Wilhelm as well (although the Anglo-Saxon chronicle refers to William the Conqueror as Willelm). That is a compound of two distinct elements : wil = "will or desire"; helm; Old English helm "helmet, protection"; > English helm "knight's large helmet."

Therefore, Larry Steven McQuilliams, literally is a triple name specifically linked to the covering of the head in laurels, a wreath, a crown, and the son of a helmeted one.

Videos posted onto McQuilliams' Facebook timeline show him practicing his skills with a Sai (shown at top), a weapon based on the Indian trisula, which is a trident.

The Austin Statesman gave a sketch of Austin's gunman:

McQuilliams, 49, was a Renaissance Fair enthusiast and martial artist, Matlack said. He took care of neighbors’ pets when they were away. Matlack said she saw him every couple of days while walking her dog. McQuilliams loved “Barking Springs,” the spillway end of Barton Springs where many owners take their dogs to roam off leash, and where many of Austin’s free spirits go to hang out. He would help clean up the hike-and-bike trail when heavy rains washed through it. He felt at home in drum circles….He was incarcerated in Texarkana, and his time behind bars — police have not released details of it, and online records are incomplete.

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Meanwhile, just after midnight, also on Friday, November 28, 2014, a stand-off in Newport News, Virginia, ended at the Fort Eustis base. An unidentified soldier locked his wife outside their base residence on Thanksgiving Day, at about 8 p.m., and barricaded himself inside, according to military officials. The man was not a threat, not violent, but refused to come out until the early morning. Rumors of an active shooter on the base were unfounded. It was unknown if he was armed.

See also: 

Gateway Arch Bomb Plot

Gateway Arch to Hell: Ferguson in Trident Times

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Ebola Scare At Logan on Ebola Discovery Anniversary

On Monday, October 13, 2015, at about 2:45 p.m, a Hazmat team boarded Emirates Flight 237 to tend to five sick passengers, all from Dubai. At least one individual was placed in a "protective suit" and removed from the plane.

The ill people had not traveled to West Africa, but recently to Mecca, before coming to the USA. The incident occurred at Boston's Logan Airport. Everyone on the East Coast usually just refers to the airport as "Logan."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there was no Ebola scare at Boston's Logan Airport on Monday after concerns were raised when five passengers with flu-like symptoms were removed from a flight that landed there.

"There was not an Ebola scare at Boston's Logan Airport," Shelly Diaz, a CDC spokeswoman, said.

Emergency crews in protective gear removed the passengers from Emirates flight 237 after it had arrived from Dubai on Monday.

When is an Ebola scare not an Ebola scare? Perhaps we just saw one happen at Logan?

A Special Day/A Special Name: October 13th

Why is this day unlike any other day?

As Nick DeLuca at BostInno pointed out, "According to an eerie TIME magazine article, the Ebola virus was first observed by the human eye on this day 38-years ago."

TIME began their article, "On Oct. 13, 1976, exactly 38 years ago Monday, Frederick A. Murphy, a CDC virologist and expert in photographing viruses peered into a microscope and saw what he describes today as a “dark beauty — [a] horror.”

Who?

Wikipedia says, "Reports conflict about who initially coined the name: either Karl Johnson of the American CDC team or Belgian researchers."

Richard Preston wrote in The Hot Zone (NY: Anchor Books/Random House, 1995), wrote on page 117, "Karl Johnson named it Ebola."

Peter Piot, at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp in 1976.

Michael Hoffman, "a longtime student of Twilight Language," recently wrote about the naming of the "Ebola virus":

The following is taken from an October 4 (2014) interview with the Flemish virologist Prof. Peter Piot, said to be the "discoverer," in 1976, of the "Ebola" virus. He is currently the director of the London School of Tropical Medicine.
In an interview with England’s Observer newspaper, Piot states that victims of the pathogen were first infected in "Yambuku and the area around it," in what had been the old Belgian Congo. (In 1976 it was called Zaire; today it is again named Congo).
He gives the following account of how the virus was named:
Observer newspaper: You were also the one who gave the virus its name. Why Ebola?
Peter Piot: "On that day our team sat together late into the night – we had also had a couple of drinks – discussing the question. We definitely didn't want to name the new pathogen 'Yambuku virus,' because that would have stigmatized the place forever. There was a map hanging on the wall and our American team leader suggested looking for the nearest river and giving the virus its name. It was the Ebola river. So by around three or four in the morning we had found a name. But the map was small and inexact. We only learned later that the nearest river was actually a different one. But Ebola is a nice name, isn't it?"
Piot and an anonymous "American team leader" supposedly named the virus after "the nearest river," Ebola, which, as it turns out, was not the nearest river. This river-naming explanation is repeated by the Establishment media without question.

....Piot's enigmatic statement that "Ebola is a nice name" is bizarre; almost a hint pointing to a clue. [For more on what this may be about, please read here.]

The French surname Piot is derived from a personal or physical characteristic of the initial bearer, from "pion" indicating "a pedestrian, that is, one who walks on foot."

The Hot Name For 2014

On July 16, 2014, I wrote "Hot Name Game of 2014: Logan." A mass killing, which occurred on July 14th, had the "coincidental" detail that one of the victims was a researcher of mass shootings. The place name where this event happened caught my synchromystic attention, for it was Logan, Utah. The multiple murders and suicide focussed my attention on the name Logan.

The incidents of the name "Logan" being spotted in violence situations this year have been intriguing.

On Friday, January 17, 2014, two students were wounded at 3:20 pm, during a shooting inside the Delaware Valley Charter High School, Logan, Pennsylvania. An 18-year-old female student was shot in the arm. The same bullet then entered a 17-year-old Tyler Lewis's shoulder.

On Sunday, May 25, 2014, at Princeton, Illinois, five-year-old Logan Jacobs died when he was left in a hot (84°) car.

On July 9, 2014, Ronald Haskell shot and killed six members of the Morman family of Stays in Spring, Texas. Haskell had previously lived and had domestic violence situations occur between himself and his then-wife (Melannie Kaye Lyon) in Logan, Utah (a Mormon community). Haskell lived in Logan, Utah, from July 2006 to November 2013, mostly with his then-wife.

In Chicago, Illinois, a driver struck a pedestrian walking in the Logan Square neighborhood, on July 16, 2014. 

On September 25, 2014, at the Vaughan Foods processing plant in Moore, about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 30-year-old Alton Alexander Nolen beheaded Colleen Hufford, 54. Nolen's criminal record notes he had two felonies related to selling pot in Logan County, Oklahoma.

Looking Into Logan

In Gaelic the meaning of the name Logan is "from the hollow." In Scottish, the meaning is sometimes translated as "Finnian's servant."

I pinpointed Logan as a "power name" in my 1983 (updated in 2007) book, Mysterious America: The Ultimate Guide to the Nation's Weirdest Wonders, Strangest Spots, and Creepiest Creatures:

"Logan" is another one of those words. Rocking logan stones are a part of ancient megalithic research. My brother [Jerry Dale] and I interviewed the Lowe family about the big birds' attempted abduction of Marlon from their front yard, in Logan County, Illinois. Another Logan County, this one in Colorado, has had an unusually high number of cattle mutilations and one 1975 mystery helicopter report. Logan County, Colorado, also has had an 1897 airship account, as has Logan, Ohio. Loganville, Wisconsin, sits but a stone's throw from the woods around Baraboo, said to be haunted by ghost elephants. A lake monster supposedly made an 1835 appearance in Logansport, Indiana. Logan Peak, near Huntsville, Alabama, the location of UFO, Bigfoot and mystery explosion reports, is a short distance north of Hobbs [="devil's"] Island. Logan, Kansas, saw some unexplained bird deaths in 1978. Logan, Utah was frequented by UFOs during the late 1940s and early 1950s. A May 1, 1954, flash of light was followed by an explosion and huge crater in Logan, Utah. In the 1980s, women were disappearing from Boston's Logan Airport and thus ending this list unended. 

No surprises that Ebola and Logan have overlapped in 2014 on this special anniversary date. What's next? 

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Harry Potter, Fenrir, Haskell, and Norse Name Games

FedEx Again

In two recent postings, the FedEx came up as an organizing reality: "Rambo-Style Shooter Goes Postal at FedEx" and "Aurora Name Game & FedEx." In the latter case, several instances of FedEx events were detailed.

In the last week, the FedEx connection and mayhem combined in the news again.

Six people died in a Spring, Texas shooting Wednesday, July 9, 2014, when a gunman opened fire at 711 Leaflet Lane in suburban Houston. Four children were among the victims, who had been tied up and shot in the back of the head.

“It appears this stems from a domestic issue with a breakup in the family from what our witness has told us,” assistant chief deputy constable Mark Herman of the Harris County Precinct 4 constable’s office told reporters.

Haskell "came to this location yesterday afternoon … and came under the guise of a FedEx driver wearing a FedEx shirt,” Hickman said in a news conference. “[He] gathered up the children that were here and awaited the arrival of the parents. Sometime later the victims were shot in this residence, and we now learned that Mr. Haskell was married to a relative [the wife and mother of the children] of this home.”

Haskell, 33, was disguised as a FedEx delivery worker when he went to the suburban Houston home of his ex-wife’s sister, Katie Stay, on Wednesday afternoon, police said. Oldest child Cassidy was home alone and answered the door. She told Haskell her parents weren’t home. He later returned, forcing his way in and tying Cassidy up, police said.

Minutes later, her parents and her four siblings, ages 4 to 13, returned. Haskell allegedly tied them up as well, and demanded to know the whereabouts of his ex-wife, Melannie Lyon. They said they didn’t know, and they were each shot in the back of the head.

Stephen and Katie Stay and four of their young children were found dead from gunshots. The victims included 39-year-old Stephen Robert Stay; his wife, 33-year-old Katie Stay; and their four children: Bryan, 13; Emily, 9; Rebecca, 7; and Zachary, 4. One of the Stay children, 15-year-old Cassidy, survived the rampage with a bullet fracture to the skull by playing dead. She called 911, and told police that the shooter planned to target her grandparents next.

The suspect led law enforcement officers and SWAT team members a car chase late Wednesday. They later cornered the suspect before he surrendered several miles away from the scene of the initial shooting. Ronald Lee Haskell, 33, surrendered after a three-hour standoff.

One resident who lives close to the scene of the crime said he was shocked by the tragedy. “I’ve lived here 20 years. It’s a very quiet neighborhood,” Wesley Carr told the Houston Chronicle.

"It was a Mormon family," one neighbor told Houston Chronicle. "They were very sweet and their kids were very shy. This is a sad, sad day."

Ronald Haskell had previously had domestic violence situations occur between himself and his then wife in Logan, Utah (a Mormon community).

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Harry Potter links

While in the hospital, Cassidy Stay talked about angels she had learned in Sunday school are sent to "protect his children in times of great need," according to her grandfather Roger Lyon.

Cassidy Stay recovered and appeared at a public memorial service for her parents and siblings on Saturday, July 12, 2014. The ceremony occurred outside Lemm Elementary School in Spring, Texas. The 15-year-old lone survivor of the mass shooting quoted Dumbledore, the wise man from the Harry Potter series, in hopes of finding some good amid the horror. "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times," Cassidy said, citing J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, "if one only remembers to turn on the light."

At the end of the memorial service, Cassidy Stay flashed a hand signal for those who could translate it. The "Hook 'em Horns" is associated, in Texas, with a greeting saying "Good-bye." But in some European cultures, the identical corna gesture, the "Sign of the Horns," is used to suggest Satanic association. In 1985, five Americans were arrested, due to its satanic connotations, after dancing and displaying the gesture in front of the Vatican.

By coincidence, the same day that the media spotlighted Cassidy's quotes from Harry Potter, it was revealed a Harry Potter actor's body had been found earlier in the week, in Death Valley. David "Dave" Legeno (October 12, 1963 – July ?, 2014) was an English actor, boxer, poet, and mixed martial artist (of Muay-Thai). Legeno's first major film role was in Guy Richie's Snatch. Since then he has had roles in Batman Begins (he played a League of Shadows Warrior), Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and Centurion. 

Legeno's body was found by a pair of hikers on July 6, 2014, in Death Valley, California, United States. Due to the remote area, a helicopter was called in to retrieve his remains. It appears Legeno died of heat-related issues and may have been dead for three to four days before his body was discovered. The temperature in Death Valley on July 6, 2014, was 177 degrees. (As Red Dirt Report's AWG reminded me, Legeno's body was found near Zabriskie Point, Death Valley. Zabriskie Point is also the name of a 1970 movie by Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni; its soundtrack features music by British band Pink Floyd and Jerry Garcia.)

Dave Legeno was mostly well-known for having played werewolf Fenrir Greyback in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

In Norse mythology, Fenrir (Old Norse: "fen-dweller"), Fenrisúlfr (Old Norse: "Fenris wolf"), Hróðvitnir (Old Norse: "fame-wolf"), or Vánagandr (Old Norse: "the monster of the river Ván") is a monstrous wolf. Fenrir is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, Fenrir is the father of the wolves Sköll and Hati Hróðvitnisson, is a son of Loki, and is foretold to kill the god Odin during the events of Ragnarök, but will in turn be killed by Odin's son Víðarr. In the Prose Edda, additional information is given about Fenrir, including that, due to the gods' knowledge of prophecies foretelling great trouble from Fenrir and his rapid growth, the gods bound him, and as a result Fenrir bit off the right hand of the god Týr. Depictions of Fenrir have been identified on various objects, and scholarly theories have been proposed regarding Fenrir's relation to other canine beings in Norse mythology. Fenrir has been the subject of artistic depictions, and he appears in literature.

Haskell Name Game

Ronald Haskell has been accused of the killings, and was in court last week. He almost passed out, and authorities kept him from falling, eventually using a wheelchair.

Earlier in his life, Haskell appeared to have an ordinary upbringing. He went to high school in Alaska, played on the football team and was even voted prom king and class clown his senior year, according to The Alaska Dispatch.

He was quoted in his yearbook: “Why did they pick me to be class clown? I think it’s because I'm so darn good looking.”

The Anchorage Daily News reported Ronald Lee Haskell Jr. lived in Alaska until 2004. He attended Chugiak High School and was part of a tight-knit Mormon community in Eagle River, about 10 miles north of Anchorage.

Drew Nevitt attended the same Mormon church as Haskell and says Haskell was an older peer he looked up to. Nevitt says Haskell was just “a funny, red-headed, freckled guy with a good personality.”

Nevitt described Ron Haskell as “the Chris Farley of Eagle River.”

Haskell? Haskell? Why does the name sound vaguely familiar. Ah, yes, Edward Clark "Eddie" Haskell (also referred to as Edward W. Haskell) is a fictional character on the Leave It to Beaver television situation comedy, which ran on CBS from October 4, 1957, to 1958 and then on ABC from 1958 to 1963. Eddie Haskell was the smart-mouthed best-friend of Wally Cleaver. The character recognized as an archetype for insincere sycophants. Eddie exhibited a two-faced style, polite to parents and adults, but always up to no good behind their backs—either conniving with his friends or picking on Wally's younger brother, Beaver.

This unusual name Haskell is of Norse origin, dating from the time of the settlement of northern and eastern counties of England by Scandinavian people, mostly during the 8th Century. The modern surname Haskell, which can also be found as Ashkettle, Askel, Axtell, and Astell, among other forms, drives from the Olde Norse personal name Asketill, which is composed of the elements oss or ass, meaning god and ketill, meaning a kettle or sacrificial cauldron, the latter being a common element in Olde Norse names. Arkle or Arkell derive from Arnkell, arn being eagle, with ketill, as above.

In rarer cases, Haskell is a Jewish surname derived from the equivalent of English Ezekiel [Hebrew יְחֶזְקֵאל (God strengthens).]

Spring, Texas, School Stabbing

Spring, Texas, has been a focus of violence before. An event took place at Spring High School, in Spring, Texas, around 7 a.m. on Wednesday, September 4, 2013. Harris County (Texas) Sheriff's Office said one person died after a stabbing in cafeteria at a Spring ISD high school. The incident happened at the high school on Cypresswood at North Freeway. A 17-year-old student was killed, and three other teenage males were injured during a stabbing attack at the school. Luis Alonzo Alfaro, age 17, was charged with murder. Alfaro admitted pulling a knife during the fight and stabbing four people.

This is the Spring High School's patch of their mascot, the lion.

One last sync: Ron Haskell's intended prime target was the former Melannie Kaye Lyon.

H/T to Xenkenito, Robert S., and Steve L.

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Another Fort Hood Mass Shooting

 Ivan Lopez, Fort Hood's newest mass shooter.

Mass shootings sometimes repeat in the same locations. Fort Hood, in Killeen, Texas, was the site of a mass shooting on November 5, 2009, when Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan killed 13 people. Now there is early news of another multiple shooting at Fort Hood. (See my posting on the 2009 event, here.)

On April 2, 2014, four people were killed, including the gunman, in a shooting at Fort Hood in Texas, according to law enforcement officials, senior U.S. officials and the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

The committee chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told CNN he had been briefed on the deadly incident and said there were also 14 injuries. At least two of the injured had multiple gunshot wounds, a hospital spokesman said.

Indications are that the shooter died by suicide. An initial report indicates the shooting incident started as a soldier-on-soldier attack.

A U.S. military official said the shooter was an enlisted soldier named Ivan Lopez, who is dead. He was a 34-year-old Specialist, who was known to have driven trucks.

The Iraq War veteran, suffering from PTSD, Ivan Lopez was initially angry that he was not given permission to attend his mother’s funeral, but had been given a 24-hour pass to attend. A friend said Lopez mentioned he had an argument with someone at the base prior to the shootings.

Spc. Ivan Lopez, Fort Hood, Warrior Transition Brigade.

President Obama said his national security team was "working with folks on the ground to determine exactly what happened and to ensure that everyone is secure."

"The situation is fluid right now. ... Any shooting is troubling," the president said. "We're heartbroken that something like this might have happened again. I don't what on the comment on facts until we know exactly what happened. But just for now I would hope that everyone across the country keep the families of Fort Hood in our thoughts and our prayers. ... We don't yet know what happened tonight but obviously that sense of safety has been broken once again."

Fort Hood officiale identified the soldiers killed in the shooting as Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Ferguson, Sgt. Carlos Lazaney, and Sgt. Timothy Owens.

Fort Hood is a United States military post located in Killeen, Texas, in Bell County. The post is named after Confederate General John Bell Hood. The county is named named for Texas's third Governor Peter Hansborough Bell. What we observe here is a double-Bell power name game focus (see here).

Ivan means "Gift from God," or is seen as a variant of John, also "Yahweh is merciful."

López is a surname of Spanish origin. It was originally a patronymic, meaning Son of Lope, Lope itself being a Spanish given name deriving from Latin lupus, meaning wolf.

Fort Hood is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about 60 miles from each other, within the U.S. state of Texas. Waco in April has certainly been the apex of violence, of course.

After the 2009 shooting, during Hasan's trial, he called himself a "mujahedeen," or Muslim holy warrior. Hasan did not deny he was the shooter. He was convicted and received the death penalty in August 2013.

Lopez reportedly bought his weapon on March 1 at the Guns Galore store in Killeen, Texas — the same shop where Major Nidal Hasan bought the gun used in his 2009 killing spree.

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