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P.L. Blake

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esplanade91

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Dec 9, 2010
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Reading a book about the whole Scruggs ordeal and this guy is mentioned pretty much on every page. I just got to the point where he apparently arranged a meeting between Scruggs and Al Gore. Who the 17 was this guy and how come MSU never [publically] saw a dime from him?

Former MSU football player for those questioning the reliance.
 
thatsbaseball

thatsbaseball

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May 29, 2007
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The key word here is "publicly" . I don`t know what his level of involvement is now but back in the day we used to hep people from time to time and Mr. Blake was a very helpful fellow.
 
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Dash Riprock.sixpack

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Aug 22, 2012
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Used to be a delta farmer when i was growing up there in the 60's and 70's. went broke a couple of time but came out of it on the other end ok. Was rumored to be the bad man for Scruggs/Nutt in the tobacco law suit to keep the politics/judges in line. was given tens of millions of dollars to spread around. Most folks, including me, think that P.L. knows where all the bodies are buried on both sides of the isle and everyone is scared of him and that kept him out of the grand jury indictments. Lives in B'ham now, i think. All that being said, I, and everyone i know, except for some people that lost money because of him back in the day, have always like P.L. Good guy, life of the party fun to be around.
 
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esplanade91

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Dec 9, 2010
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Yeah, Curtis Wilkie describes all the incidents leading up to the bribery case throughout Scruggs' entire career and at every corner Blake had something to do with it. Not just him, but everything happening in Mississippi politics. Everything. Lott and every governor throughout the timeframe of the book was influenced somehow by him. Crazy how one of the most powerful people in our state's history was an MSU alum and no one has heard of him.
 
thatsbaseball

thatsbaseball

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Even his farming was political. He was the recipient of a number of huge FmHA loans that the average farmer would have absolutely no shot at. Very smart and likable guy though.....he was a hell of a "wheeler dealer" even in those days.
 
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esplanade91

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Dec 9, 2010
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He was charged for that but Scruggs whittled it down to a misdemeanor. He was basically getting grants to keep a modest farm alive while having $50 mil worth of holdings in Texas. His holdings included a grain company where the United States paid him to store excess corn. No one connected the dots.

Really good book. I recommend it.

Our resident politician Amy Tuck was hand-picked by Blake and at his recommendation was given a $500,000 "loan" to run for Lt. Gov by Scruggs. So I take back what I said about him and MSU... He apparently looked out.
 
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esplanade91

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Dec 9, 2010
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I don't believe that, but while every university I've ever visited has buildings and colleges named after big donors all of our buildings are named after former presidents and UM politicians who passed legislature to give us the building/center (Cochran/Stennis... Who no doubt did a lot of MSU but worth naming rights?). I just want a big name guy to add some legitimacy to the school.

Bobby Shackouls, Adkerson, Mize, and the Seals count, but most of those are for sports.
 
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Faustdog

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Jun 4, 2007
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esplanade91 said:
I don't believe that, but while every university I've ever visited has buildings and colleges named after big donors all of our buildings are named after former presidents and UM politicians who passed legislature to give us the building/center (Cochran/Stennis... Who no doubt did a lot of MSU but worth naming rights?). I just want a big name guy to add some legitimacy to the school.

Bobby Shackouls, Adkerson, Mize, and the Seals count, but most of those are for sports.
Click to expand...

Stennis was a State grad.
 
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olblue.sixpack

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Aug 14, 2012
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noxdog said:
I figured you jet-setter's would be on here to tell us about the trip.
***
Click to expand...

Some try to disguise it with the "Where can I watch the State game in Bali?"

missouridawg assumes everyone's is as impressed with his ACT score and his travels as his Aunt Bea from Branson
 
missouridawg

missouridawg

Junior
Oct 6, 2009
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olblue said:
Some try to disguise it with the "Where can I watch the State game in Bali?"

missouridawg assumes everyone's is as impressed with his ACT score and his travels as his Aunt Bea from Branson
Click to expand...

Sorry i I have a job that takes me around the world and you're stuck in BFE, MS living in your moms basement.
 
Lawdawg.sixpack

Lawdawg.sixpack

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Jul 22, 2012
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Some dude named Swalm gave a dollar or two for a building. And does the Richard Adkerson School of Accountancy not count because it's not the name of the brick facility?

And lest ye forget, the Sanderson Center... Soon to come: the Dee Bost School of Calendar Management.
 
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Brahmabull10

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Aug 22, 2012
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I know a very wealthy family that has given a pile of money and continues to do so with the stipulation that their name never be put on a building. Some people don't want to be known.
 
Crucifictorious

Crucifictorious

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Jan 31, 2012
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I'd rather our University academic buildings be named for the academics who make each department great then be named for someone who left town and donated a huge chunk of change, but maybe that's me. Cochran has a building named for him on every campus (technically here the research park is named for him). And Stennis is one of the most powerful graduates MSU has ever produced. And we name the smallest building on campus for him. So for me, I am much more interested in explaining to students that Middleton Hall is named for an MSU alum who went on to become a war hero and eventually the President of LSU then to say, "oh he's some rich oil dude."
 
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Dash Riprock.sixpack

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Aug 22, 2012
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Nutt financed the tobacco law suit. David took the money he made in asbestos litigation and parlayed that into the tobacco suite. Think his take was over $350m for the tobacco suit. Still gets a check every quarter from big tobacco for a few million dollars. hard life...
 
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Faustdog

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Jun 4, 2007
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**Yeah, forgot about that one.

It is kind of funny though. With all of the dirtbag, racist, backwards politicians that we've had, and we know where most of them were educated, Stennis and Montgomery are possibly the two most universally respected. Both are State guys.
 
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esplanade91

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Dec 9, 2010
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I guess there's that, but I've noticed that my resume simply says "College of Business" while my brother-in-law who went to a school no one has ever heard of got his degree from whatever university in the JPMorgan school of whatever. What I'm saying is that I want colleges attached to names, like the Seals College of Business.

My B on Stennis. I took a course on Mississippi's political history this past year and the only school reference for Stennis was UVA.
 
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