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There are some death penalty cases that cause one to pause and reflect upon its usefulness in today's society. This is not one of them .

A Houston man who was convicted of capital murder for the gang rape and slaying of two teenage girls received a death date today after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for his and other killers' executions.

Jose Medellin, 33, is set to die by injection on Aug. 5 for the 1993 murders of Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Peña, 16.

Finally, after 15 years surviving at taxpayer expense, this piece of human debris will die. Good riddance. 

What these beasts did to these two young women is something that no human being should have to suffer through. You cannot read through the horror that they suffered and have compassion for their killers.

When the rapes finally ended, the horror was not over. The gang members took Jenny and Elizabeth from the clearing into a wooded area, leaving the juvenile behind, saying he was "too little to watch". Jenny was strangled with the belt of Sean O'Brien, with two murderers pulling, one on each side, until the belt broke. Part of the belt was left at the murder scene, the rest was found in O'Brien's home. After the belt broke, the killers used her own shoelaces to finish their job. Medellin later complained that "the bitch wouldn't die" and that it would have been "easier with a gun". Elizabeth was also strangled with her shoelaces, after crying and begging the gang members not to kill them; bargaining, offering to give them her phone number so they could get together again.

I hope that their families will finally get some peace. As for Medellin, he should be happy that I am not in charge of his soul.

for the weekend. One of SU's friends at work invited us to her daughter's wedding, which was held at the Driskill, which is one of my favorite hotels ever. Old world charm at the mouth of 6th Street's club row, an awesome place to stay. But, there was no room at the inn by the time we got around to making our reservations, thus we stayed offsite and walked 5 blocks after finding a space in a parking lot.

The setting and decor were beautiful but not for me. I much prefer church weddings to weddings held in secular buildings or outdoors. I think that a certain amount of reverence and awe are lost if not held in a church. Certainly, the Unitarian style priest that officiated this one needs to find a sense of awe. He laughed and made light of the proceedings throughout. Guess I'm just old fashioned.

After the wedding, there was a full course meal and a dance band. But honestly, who wants to listen to a dance band when you can walk out the door to some of the finest live music in the world?

So, SU and I made a graceful exit as soon as we could. Walked over to the parking lot and changed clothes, right there in the middle of the lot. Keep Austin weird, right?

The sights and sounds of 6th Street are awesome. Not sure if it is due to the mix of college students, homeless bums and tourists or if it is the blend of a hundred different styles of music, but I love to walk down it at night. Daytime is not the same and is reminiscent of walking down Bourbon St. in the day - nasty and filthy. But when the sun goes down, it's hard to beat it.

Sat in on several bands but spent about 45 minutes listening to a blues trio fronted by J.T. Cole. Never heard of him but he was very good. Nice tight rhythm, excellent phrasing and nice technique. He was really into speed, normally not one of my favorites but he was decent enough that you could get into it. Nice.

Met up with 2 for brunch on Sunday. She looked great and is really growing into her own. I think her time in Italy was well spent. Enjoyed the brunch and then headed home.

Made the trek down 290 in hopes of seeing bluebonnets. None. Nada. Went south on 36 to Bellville, then east to Hempstead, none. Nada. Bunch of yellow wildflowers but no bluebonnets! What happened?

Forgot to mention that we watched a very good movie last week titled "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly". What a good movie. Hard to describe but basically a look at a very rare condition called "locked-in syndrome" from the patient's perspective. Really will make you think. Excellent cinematography as well.

We were exhausted when we got home last night and watched a movie on the life of the prophet Jeremiah. Very well done and brought to life some of the things that we are doing as a country that has turned away from God. Jeremiah 7:3-7:

The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right. If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land. Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says, We are safe! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! You must change the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. Stop killing innocent people in this land. Stop paying allegiance to other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. If you stop doing these things, I will allow you to continue to live in this land which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession.

Although the damage has already been done, and is too great to be undone, at least one of the warrants obtained using the fake phone call to a hotline has been dropped and a U.S. citizen is free.

An arrest warrant has been dropped for a man thought to be the husband of a teenage girl whose report of abuse triggered a raid on a polygamous sect's Texas compound, authorities said Friday.

A Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman would not say why the warrant was dropped for Dale E. Barlow, 50, who lives in Colorado City, Ariz. Barlow has denied knowing the 16-year-old girl who called a crisis center.

The article still gets it wrong though. There was no 16 year old girl that Mr. Barlow could have known because it was a setup.

The phone number used to call the crisis center is the same one once used by a Colorado woman, identified as 33-year-old Rozita Swinton of Colorado Springs, accused of making previous false reports of abuse.

Investigators have not said whether Swinton made the call to Texas authorities, though Vinger said she is "still considered a person of interest."

"There is an investigation centering on that," Vinger said. "We have quite a bit of evidence that still needs to be analyzed."

Investigation should read covering their tracks. I don't know why they bother though. All they have to do is say that it was "for the children" and the people there are very strange. That's all it takes in today's society to undo essential civil rights. Americans don't like different people.

Child welfare officials told the judge the children were living in an authoritarian environment that left girls at risk of sexual abuse and raised boys to become sexual perpetrators.

Children ripped from their homes not because of any crime whatsoever. Under oath, CPS workers admitted that there was no reasonable expectation of children being abused, either sexually or physically. But, they were being raised in an 'authoritarian' manner and that could someday lead to abuse. Maybe.

Which group is next? Are you different somehow? Do you not ascribe to the changing social mores? Perhaps it will be you.

it's been. Sheesh, sometimes life just blinks by. Other times, it seems slower than watching grass grow!

The new bike is awesome. Gonna have to pick a name for this one. Started to go with Zeus but it seems like everyone gives their bike a feminine name, so I haven't, yet. Problem is, I just can't find anything feminine about this bike. Pure muscle and that is in stone stock form. Twist the throttle and you are already where you wanted to be!

I've put over 500 miles on it in the last week. Rode it to work every day this week until today. Man, I'm tired! Ordered custom seats for it earlier in the week, appropriately named the "Big Boy" seat. Ordered the rider backrest with it, that should help the comfort level. Put a set of Kuryakyn grips on it yesterday. They are both good looking and functional.

So that has been most of what I've been up to. Class last Sunday was, once again, lively. Something about the group has changed, not sure what but the guys are willing to go a little deeper than normal. Probably just the personality of those that are attending.

The building itself is a mess. Walls torn out, doors cut through walls, the price of progress. But technically, everything worked - kudos to the General, Bear and Chief for that.

The pastor is doing a great job during the Sunday night Bible study walking through Revelation. So many people don't understand that this was a letter written relevant to the times in which it was written and is about the fall of Rome as much as it is about the "end times".

Speaking of religion, the idiots in West Texas were all in the news. From their bizarre practices, to their law breaking, to the states abuse of due process, they were everywhere. And will be for some time. Talk about an unpopular thing to stand up for. Due process is about gone, particularly when it comes to groups that people don't like. So unless you don't mind being called all sorts of vile things, don't stand up for anything unpopular.

One of my class members, KO, was in a bad bike accident Tuesday. Scared the bejabbers out of me when I got the call from Pop! Man, anyone can have a wreck but KO is the hardest core biker in our group. When I heard he was sent to the hospital via Life Flight, I just broke down. But he's a tough old coot and is gonna be back on a bike before you know it, rescuing a kid here, witnessing to a biker there, starting another church somewhere. 

Then I went on the two PGR rides. I think this one got to me because of the way the family handled everything with such grace. His father is Music Minister at First Baptist Church in Rosharon and I'd just about bet he knows my brother from the Singing Men of Texas.

The way that the Cunningham family handled this tragedy reminded me of the way my brother and his family handled the death of my niece, their child and sister. They were incredibly strong throughout. To this day I can hear their strong and clear voices above all others as we sang during the funeral.

These witnesses serve to remind me that there is so much more to life than pettiness and bickering. Life is to be lived full and flat out, using the short time that we have on this earth to make a difference in the lives of those around us.

Right where we are is right where we need to be. 

The skies were dark and gloomy as I rode up to the gathering site for the funeral of this young soldier. Unlike the previous day, there were no crowds lining the streets of the small towns on Hwy 6. There was just business as usual as time did as time does, marching steadily forward.

The gathering of PGR riders was smaller, perhaps from the inclement weather, perhaps from the fatigue of the prior day's escort, perhaps from the sheer exhaustion that comes with tears, both tears of grief and of joy.

But smaller doesn't mean insignificant. There were 18 flag bikes and 50 or so non-flags, three trikes and a host of PGR members in cages. Easily over 100 ordinary, everyday Americans took time from their lives to honor the life cut short, a promising life, a life that was fully lived in only 26 years on this earth. Men and women of all colors, all faiths, all creeds with a single common purpose.

The PGR coordinators did a superb job for this mission. We staged at Coles Antique Village & Flea Market on Hwy 35. The owner, Bob Lewis, had arranged for restroom facilities for us and provided very tasty barbecue sandwiches for the entire group. It's awesome to see these types of contributions in honor of our military.

As we made the short trip to the funeral home, the skies held their tears within the dark clouds. People stopped and stared at the procession of loud pipes and American flags thundering down the road.

Our flag lines were set so that each and every person that attended the funeral walked through them. These displays immediately set the mood and cause people to truly reflect, perhaps for the first time, on why they were there. Not for a man that died of disease, accident, or at the end of a long life. They were there to honor a man that gave his life for our freedom.

The funeral home was overflowing with attendees, entire families spilling out into the hallways. After the funeral started, we took a break and waited for the military honors ceremony. The funeral itself lasted about two hours. When the time came for the military to honor this young man, we gathered our lines again and formed a U around a tent set up in the parking lot for the family. 

The honor guard then carried 1st Lt. Timothy Cunningham from the chapel to the tent as members stood in salute, military with the slow draw to the cap, non-military with hands held over their hearts. 

As always, we left a break in the line so that the family had an unobstructed view of the 21 gun salute and the bugler as he played the long, slow, mournful notes of Taps. Flags, medals and plaques were presented to the family as a lasting reminder of both their loss and the reason for it.

If there is any one memory that I will take from this funeral, it was the moment when the clouds could no longer hold their tears. As the bugler played the last note. the clouds let loose and the heavens cried. During this drenching, no one ran, no one sought shelter. The PGR stood silently, flags popping, raindrops joining the tears streaming down our faces.

One other group didn't move either. A group of men, I think the Singing Men of Texas, were fully exposed in the elements in full dress suits. They too stood silently, the tears of heaven soaking their song sheets, touching their hearts.

After the heavens cried, these men moved up and sang a final song of farewell. It was truly touching.

Wow. What an incredible escort home for this fallen soldier. Galveston County LEO's always do a fantastic job of showing our soldiers respect. This time they combined with Brazoria County LEO's and police from all of the small cities from Galveston Island up Hwy 6 to Hwy 35 to Beltway 8.

These missions are always filled with both sadness and joy. Sadness when you look in to the eyes of family members grieving for their loved ones. Joy knowing that America isn't totally lost and is still producing outstanding young men and women.

As you can see from his mom's testimony, Tim was a Christian man, as was his family. Solid, mature Christians do not fear death and you can see the difference at the funerals. There is grief yes, but not too much. There is joy, yes, but not too much. A lot of smiles from memories past and a lot of smiles from the sure and certain knowledge that they will meet again.

His mom is obviously a very strong believer. She took the time to walk down our flag line and should every single members hand. As did her daughters and 1st Lt. Cunningham's wife, Amber. With tears in their eyes, they thanked us with strong, firm grips.

As we wound our way through all of the small towns, people lined the streets to welcome this man home and to honor his service. Bayou Vista, Hitchcock, Sante Fe, Arcola, Algoa, Alvin and Pearland. Santa Fe had their entire high school student body lining the street. Business after business stopped the daily grind of commerce and joined us on the street. Cars pulled off the road, men and women of all ages standing in honor of Tim's service. A VFW hall had it's members lining the streets, men from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Afghanistan, Iraq and all the time in between honoring this young man's life.

It was an honor today to escort this fine man home. His young wife and daughter need our prayers as they struggle without a husband and father. But I am confident that their faith will see them through because I was witness today to an entire family that knows that Christ is Lord of all.