A Slog Of A Barnett Shale Blog

I got an amusing comment today to a blogging titled "Barnett Shale Ruining Lives in Texas".

I suspect this commenter is a Barnett Shale shill, likely working for either Chesapeake Energy or Devon Energy. The commenter seemed to miss that the point of the blogging was about the misery being visited upon an Azle couple, courtesy of the good folks at Devon Energy.

The commenter seems to think I was trying to scare people using a bizarre ongoing gas fire in Turkmenistan. I don't believe I was suggesting this was going to happen here. Then again, there have been a few explosions during the course of drilling into the Barnett Shale. And there have been people killed. I don't think anyone died in the firehole in Turkmenistan.

Anyway, below is the comment. My favorite part is I'm Archie Bunker in need of more joy. Truer words where never written. And the phrase "live in the Barnett Shale." This person lives in the Barnett Shale?

"Who wrote this slog of a blog, Archie Bunker? After all, 1971 is the year “All in the Family” debuted on television.

You’re going to the old Soviet Union … all the way back to 1971 … as a warning for those of us who live in the Barnett Shale?

1971? That was 37 years ago!

Most of the people reading your slog-of-a-blog weren’t even born in 1971.

That was the year the voting age was lowered to 18, and the year President Nixon (yep, Nixon) opened up trade with China.

In 1971, Intel introduced the microprocessor to the world.

There was no internet, no email, no blogs. No high-tech.

1971 might as well of been the days of covered wagons, compared to technological and engineering advances of today. In case you forgot to turn your calendar from the 70’s, it’s a whole new CENTURY now!

The new technology of horizontal drilling, highly advanced and monitored drilling practices, and government safety oversight of this new century is, quite literally, decades beyond anything that existed 37 years ago.

I can understand how people may be frustrated by some of the temporary inconveniences of drilling activity … some noise and dust and traffic. But these are temporary. And, frankly, minor inconveniences when compared to the benefits of drilling in the Shale … tens of thousands of new jobs for local workers who might otherwise be out of work … millions of dollars in new tax revenues to benefit our schools and parks … and an economic boost for every small business owner, employee and citizen of the North Texas, even those who may oppose development of the Barnett Shale. That’s right. You benefit even if you don’t like it.

So at least be fair in your criticism. Because trying to scare people by going back to the Soviet Union of 1971 is as ridiculous as Archie Bunker.

By the way, the top song in 1971 was Three Dog Night’s, “Joy to the World.” Sounds like you need a bit more joy in your own."

Siblings & Lulu

My dear ol' friend Lulu, the Dumpster Diva of Tacoma, has no siblings. But, Lulu is not your stereotypical only child, in that she does not, always, insist on being the center of attention. And Lulu does not make a big deal over her birthday, which has been the case with every other only child I've known. And Lulu plays very well with others.

Lulu doesn't understand the concept of having siblings. None of her aunts or uncles reproduced, so Lulu has no cousins either. Sometimes I get the idea that Lulu is a bit jealous that I've got a brother and 3 sisters. Well, not so much over the brother. He was a classmate of Lulu's. Other times Lulu thinks she's blessed not to have brothers or sisters.

That's my baby sister, Michele, in the photo, standing in front of a strange looking blonde haired lady holding a pair of salmon. I took this photo, but I don't remember where it was taken.

The last time I was in Tacoma, Lulu came over for dinner at Michele's. I did the cooking. Lulu brought blackberry pie. Lulu was amused to watch my little sister, the lawyer, out argue me over some little point about something.

If I remember correctly I'd been told not to mention a certain subject (an insect invasion).

But, I'd been asked a question in which that insect invasion seemed to be able to be mentioned without somehow violating the prohibition I was under. But, apparently my thinking was flawed, which my little sister pointed out with some legalese.

I think my defense had been something along the lines of it was she who introduced a subject, about which I could not talk, unless I mentioned the insect invasion. Yeah, that's it. Michele brought up me talking at length to a stranger who knocked on her door to whom I ended up mentioning the insect invasion. He'd known the previous owners, so I asked if he knew if they had insect invasions.

Anyway, I've not seen my little sister in over 2 years. I've not seen any of my relatives, actually, in over 2 years. I suspect I will be seeing several of them in 3 weeks or so.

My Texas Favorites

Someone I will call anonymous made note of the fact that I seem to find a lot to whine about regarding Texas. Anonymous was curious if there is anything I like that I've seen in Texas.

Without putting a lot of thought into it, here goes with my list of my favorite things I've seen in Texas. Now, keep in mind, Texas is a huge state and there are large areas of the state I've not seen.

In no particular order.

Galveston. I liked everything about Galveston, Moody Gardens, the beach, the town itself, the smell of saltwater, the restaurants.

San Marcos. I loved the way the river ran through the town with its crystal clear water burbling from an underground spring. Aquarena Springs is pretty much the clearest water I recollect ever seeing. And the long shut down amusement park with its rides still in place, but covered with vegetation, was very eerie and interesting to walk through. San Marcos is a university town. It reminds me very much of Bellingham in Washington.

San Antonio. The Riverwalk is nice. San Antonio has a new look, shiny and clean. Reminds me of Seattle.

Fort Worth Stockyards. I always enjoy going to the Stockyards. As do visitors from up north.

Fair Park in Dallas. Great place to roller blade. I like the art deco buildings.

Granbury. A very scenic small Texas town that puts on the best festivals and parades. The Granbury 4th of July Parade is the best parade I've ever watched.

Dinosaur Valley State Park. Great hiking and mountain biking. And there are dinosaur remains. Well, dinosaur paw prints. Not exactly remains.

Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. This is near Dinosaur Valley. I think driving through Fossil Rim is the most fun I've had in Texas. I know it's the most I've laughed. Who knew zebras could be so funny?

Enchanted Rock State Park. Reminds me of Utah. It's a great, scenic hike to the top of the rock. Lots of people.

White Rock Lake in Dallas. It's like a bigger version of Green Lake in Seattle, but with fewer people hiking, biking and blading. And you can't swim in White Rock Lake. Why? I don't know. It's fun to bike the trail all around the lake.

Canton First Mondays. I'd been to flea market, craft show type things before, but nothing like what takes place in Canton each month. It's huge. As in enormous.

Waco. I like Waco's Cameron Park. Great mountain biking. Waco is a cool looking town with a river running through it with a suspension bridge built by the same guy who built the Brooklyn Bridge.

Lake Grapevine. Great parks, great mountain biking. And I used to like to swim there til I was attacked by a rampaging turtle.

River Legacy Park in Arlington. This may be the best park in the D/FW Metroplex. Miles of paved trails. Miles of mountain bike trails. Lots of people. Lots of wildlife, from snakes to bobcats to armadilloes to fireflies.

Tandy Hills Park in Fort Worth. My favorite place to hike, by far. It's Texas before civilization arrived, hilly native prairie with the most wildflowers I've seen.

The Parker County Peach Festival. I've been to this twice. Enjoyed it both times. Weatherford is another cool looking small Texas town with a courthouse square. Like Granbury and Waxahachie.

The State Fair of Texas. It can be exhausting. But fun. It's in Dallas at Fair Park.

The Dallas Farmers Market. Visitors from the Pacific Northwest never fail to say the Dallas Farmers Market reminds them of Pike Place in Seattle. It is very similar. But no flying fish, multiple restaurants, waterfront hillclimb or multiple levels. But a lot of really good fruits and vegetables, and more, in a colorful setting.

Seattle Weather Babies

This past weekend broke temperature records in the Puget Sound zone of the Pacific Northwest.

In the photo you're looking at heat escapers at Brackett's Landing Park, by the Edmonds Ferry Dock, north of Seattle.

The temps got into the low 90s. In the Puget Sound region 3 days in a row with temps in the high 70s to low 90s is considered a major heat wave. Heat waves there rarely last longer than 3 days due to the heat causing cooler air and fog to roll in from the Pacific.

A former Los Angeles native, now Seattleite, is quoted in today's Seattle P-I, saying "People in Seattle seem to wilt after it gets above 75."

That is so true. I've only been up there during the summer one time since I've been acclimated to the Texas Heat, that being the summer of 2004. It was mid-July. The temperature was 78. I was cold, real cold. But the locals were in full whine mode about the blistering heat. Five days later I was at my sister's in Kent. That's a Seattle suburb. The temps that day were predicted to possibly break 100 for the first time in, west of the Cascades, Washington history. It only got to 99. Few people have air-conditioning on the west side of the mountains. It was miserable.

So, this weekend, on Saturday, the temperature, as measured at Sea-Tac Airport, tied the 1995 record at 91 degrees.

The weather service issued a heat advisory cautioning the elderly and children to drink a lot of water and avoid doing anything outdoors.

Meanwhile, in Texas, we've had a cold front blow in, with the low last night being 68 and the high today expected to only get to 95.

We are not weather babies in Texas.

Back Ache In Texas

Years ago, every once in awhile, I'd put my back out. This has only happened once since I moved to Texas. Til today. The previous Texas back ache was caused by leaning forward to pull a lever while driving a riding lawnmower.

Today's Texas back ache is computer related. As in one of my computers refused to come on. It'd light up for a second or two and then go back to sleep.

I figured putting in a new power supply was the best bet. I'd not operated on computer innards in a couple years. I was easily able to disconnect all the connections. Except for the big one that powers the motherboard. It would not come loose.

I should have put the computer on a table, rather than kneel over it on the floor. At some point, when I was tugging on that last connector, my lower back started to hurt.

By the time I got the new power supply installed I was not easily able to get vertical, could not stand up straight.

So, the new power supply fixed the computer. Now I had to try and fix me. I laid on the floor til I got my back stabilized enough that I could walk. Put on a swimming suit and went to the pool. I figured swimming would be a good thing for a back ache.

And it was. I swam for about an hour. Got out of the pool. No pain. I laid down on a lounge chair and called my big sister. Big mistake. By the time that half hour talk was over and I went to stand up, I couldn't. The pain is excruciating and causes me to let out these yelps of pain.

So, I got back in the pool. At first I was only able to use my arms. I'd sorta become like FDR at Warm Springs. I could swim, with no use of my legs. But leg function quickly returned. After about 20 more minutes of swimming I got out and stayed vertical.

Then I decided going on a walk would be more good therapy. So, I went to Oakland Lake Park. Got there, got out of my vehicle and once more I could not get vertical and I was back letting out those yelps of pain.

I forced myself as vertical as possible and tried to walk. Gradually my walking function returned. By the end of walking at Oakland Lake Park I was pain free.

Driving back here my vehicle began to sputter. Gas gauge low. I got to a gas station and somehow managed to not notice I pulled up to a diesel pump. I'd already swiped the credit card through the reader when I realized I did not want diesel. Got that canceled and got to another pump. I then realized I'd gotten vertical with no problem.

I got the gas pumped and got back here and got out of my vehicle with no problem staying vertical. I have had no yelping in pain episodes since.

So, I'm hoping this is a very short-live back ache incident and not a multi-month one like my other Texas back ache. I'm under enough stress right now, I don't need to add a chronic back ache to the mix.

Barnett Shale Chesapeake Energy Overdose

I think I've mentioned before that I've never before been witness to a propaganda campaign of the scope underway here in North Texas, brought to us courtesy of the good folks at Chesapeake Energy.

It seems a day does not go by without me seeing Tommy Lee Jones' age worn craggy face shilling for Chesapeake Energy and Barnett Shale on my TV. And on billboards. And in the newspaper.

In this morning's Sunday Fort Worth Star-Telegram we were treated to yet one more full page Tommy Lee Jones Chesapeake Energy ad. This ad has Tommy saying "Texans can live with industry. We always have."

Huh?

Tommy goes on to say, "We've been living with the Fort Worth Stockyards for a long time. If we weren't able to live with the stockyards there wouldn't be a Fort Worth."

Huh, again?

The rest of the ad is not Tommy's words, just basic Chesapeake Energy propaganda. Like, "Short-term costs include some increase in traffic, noise and water use." And, "because prosperity tends to spread throughout a community...the Barnett Shale will put money into every level of our society."

The ad forgot to mention some of the other short-term costs, like dust clouds that clog air filters, bright lights, trees removed, yards dug up for pipelines, that sort of stuff.

I can sure see one way Chesapeake is giving back to the community. All the propaganda must cost a lot. In addition to the full page ads, Chesapeake has plastered its message on park benches, buses, billboards, TV, radio and I recently learned Chesapeake published a thick magazine called The Barnett Shale, The Official Magazine of Thriving on the Shale, 72 pages on thick stock paper, 30 articles telling you everything you need to know about the wonders that Chesapeake is bringing to North Texas.

What I don't get is if drilling for gas in an urban zone, laying pipelines through people's yards, cutting down people's trees, covering cars with dust, making a lot of noise, keeping people awake at night, drying up water supplies, while polluting other water supplies and occasionally blowing up is so good for us, why do we need to be subjected to all this propaganda? Wouldn't we just intuitively know that the Barnett Shale is just about the best thing that ever happened.

Southwest Airlines Targets Fat People

Heavy duty participants in the National Strategic Fat Preserve, be warned, if you fly Southwest Airlines and if you appear unable to fit in a seat with the armrests down, you will likely be told that you need to buy an extra ticket if you want to fly.

Some people seem to think this is some form of discrimination.

What I think is I find airplane seats uncomfortable enough. I'd be miserable stuck next to someone for 4 hours who was oozing into my space, who made it difficult to get to the aisle en route to the restroom facility.

Why should a little person like me, a mere 172 pounds of me, pay the same as a person weighing 400 pounds? It takes way less airplane fuel to haul me 4000 miles than it takes to haul a 400 pounder. Why should I subsidize the airfare of a hugely obese person? How is it fair for a hugely obese person to fly for the same price as me?

I'm thinking the only fair thing would be to make all airfares based on poundage. Your personal weight plus whatever luggage you're dragging with you times a fixed amount per pound per mile.

For instance, if Southwest Airlines charged .0005087 per pound per mile, at 172 pounds, flying a roundtrip of 4000 miles it would cost me about $350. While the 400 pounder would pay $813.92.

Doesn't it makes good sense that your airfare be based on your share of the fuel consumed to haul your heft through the sky? And what a great incentive for some of our biggest fat banks to start drawing down on the National Strategic Fat Preserve.

Flying Geico Gekko

Today I was enjoying the peace and quiet, except for the cicada symphony, hiking at Tandy Hills Park, when a thumping, unnatural sound started growing louder.

I looked up to see a giant Geico Gekko flying above me, being pulled by an airplane. The banner said "Big Savings."

At least once a week I see an auto dealer named Huggins flying a banner for hours. This usually causes me to wonder why Huggins thinks this is a good way to market cars. It seems like this type eye pollution would be banned due to it being a bit of a distraction when you're driving.

At least I get the point of the flying Geico Gekko. Because it is true. You do save. I switched to Geico a couple months ago. I was paying Allstate $125 a month to insure 2 vehicles. With Geico it is only $33 a month. You hear bad stuff about Allstate. I've never heard a bad thing about Geico.

And see how effectively the flying Geico Gekko ad worked for them today? It caused me to blog about it and say nice things about Geico. For free.

Fat Matt Damon: Good Will Plumping

A couple days ago, when I mentioned that Matt Damon was doing his part in contributing to the National Strategic Fat Preserve, one of my acquaintances commented that I was being mean about fat people. That if I was fat I'd be more sensitive about the subject because I'd know how hard it is to lose weight.

I feel this person totally missed the point of what I was saying, that being that Americans have stored up this huge food bank on their bodies that gives us an advantage over all the other nations, except for Australia, which is even fatter than America.

With food prices skyrocketing all over the globe, Americans can now draw down on our collective fat bank, saving money, and driving down food prices as demand for food drops.

Now, my acquaintance, who thought I was being mean, has worked very hard to store food. I believe she is now about 300 pounds overweight. It takes about 2,500 calories above ones daily maintenance need, to gain 1 pound. 2,500 calories is about 4 McDonald's Big Macs. That means my acquaintance is contributing, what amounts to 1,200 Big Macs, as her part of the National Strategic Fat Preserve. That's impressive.

Now, regarding my acquaintance saying I'd be more sensitive regarding fat people if I'd ever been one and had to ever lose weight.

Well. In February of 2004 I had to fly up to Seattle and was locked in a room with all the chocolate I could eat for 10 days. When I was out of the chocolate room I was taken to buffets, burger joints and all you can eat cod at Anthony's Homeport. On the way back to Texas I spent 10 hours in Phoenix where I was forced to eat at an Applebee's Happy Hour and then drug to an In and Out for 2 of the best hamburgers I've ever had.

By the time I got on the plane I was a bloated mess. I didn't make it back here til 4 in the morning. When I woke up that day and saw my bloated self in the mirror I was appalled. When I got on the scale I was even more appalled. That scale said I weighed 217 pounds. 12 more pounds than when I'd left 11 days before.

It is now June 28, 2008, 4 years after I weighed 217. Today I weigh 172. That is a 45 pound weight loss. So, don't go telling me I don't know how hard it is to lose weight. It's real easy. You just eat less, eat good stuff and exercise. It took me about 2 months, after my 217 high, to get under 200. After that it's just slowly melted off.

I do feel a bit guilty about this, because I am contributing absolutely nothing to the National Strategic Fat Preserve. And I don't intend to.

Men's Health: Seattle Green / Fort Worth Fossil Fool

The current issue of Men's Health ranks American cities by how green they are, car-wise. Seattle came in #1. Arlington, Texas came in last place of the 100 city's ranked. Fort Worth is barely ahead of Arlington at #95. San Antonio is #94. The best in Texas is Lubbock at #32. Corpus Christi does pretty good at #34. Austin is #42. While Dallas is #67.

Meanwhile, up in the Pacific Northwest, in addition to Seattle being #1, Spokane is #8, Portland is #3, San Francisco is #9.

The rankings are determined by scores given in 7 categories.

"Fossil Fools" ranks the Biggest Gas-Guzzlers. Arlington is the #1 Gas Guzzler. Fort Worth is the #6 Gas Guzzling Fossil Fool.

"Fuel Wasted" ranks the least amount of extra fuel consumed due to stop and go traffic. Spokane is #1 on this list. Corpus Christi is # 3.

"Transit" ranks the greatest number of people using public transportation daily. No Texas or Pacific Northwest city shows up in the Top 10. San Francisco is #4,

"Ozone" ranks the lowest number of high ozone days. Portland ranks #2, Spokane is #4, Boise is #9.

"Pollution" ranks lowest daily particle pollution. Lubbock is #3, Corpus Christi is #4.

"Gas Consumed" ranks fewest gallons of gas consumed yearly. All but 2 of the cities on this list are in California. Which seems odd. Californians drive everywhere. The other 2 cities on this list are in New York, Buffalo and Rochester.

"Mileage" ranks fewest household miles driven yearly. No Texas or Pacific Northwest city shows up in the Top 10 on this list. Miami is #1.

"Greenest Drivers" is the over all score after combining all the categories to determine which cities are the most environmentally conscious. Like I already said, Seattle is #1. The rest of the Top 10 has Burlington, VT #2, Portland #3, Madison, WI #4, Fargo, ND #5, Rochester #6, Minneapolis #7, Spokane #8, San Francisco #9 and Norfolk, VA #10.

My conclusion from this? Well, Men's Health penchant for doing these type ranking things always seems a bit goofy to me.

I'll tell you this. I have driven in Seattle, Spokane, Portland and San Francisco. While each has many attributes that outshine anything in Texas, driving is not one of them.

Driving in Seattle is a nightmare. When I go back up there I feel like I've been spoiled by the ease of driving in Texas. Here if there is a traffic jam it is easy to get off the freeway and continue on surface streets. That option doesn't much work up in Seattle.

And it's not just Seattle, it's the whole I-5 corridor from Olympia to north of Everett. Just this morning Lulu told me it took her 2 hours to get 20 miles to Lacey. Lacey is between Tacoma and Olympia. The roads may be in much better shape up there, but driving on them is not in the best of shape. So, I don't know what in the world Men's Health was thinking, somehow ending up with Seattle having the Greenest Drivers.

Then again, I just remembered, when I am up there it is quite noticeable how much more prevalent small cars are than here, and how many fewer pickups and SUVs are on the road. I don't recollect ever seeing a Hummer up there. Having a Hummer in the Northwest would be like asking for some sort of social ostracism.

Obama and Clinton Unity

In a display of unity, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama met in Unity, New Hampshire today. Hillary urged her supporters to support Obama.

The former rivals spent hours together today. Their motorcades arrived at the same time at the airport in Washington. When they met up, they kissed each other, and then boarded a chartered plane. On the plane they sat next to each other, chatting all the way to New Hampshire, where they shared an hour long bus ride to Unity.

Hillary is in oodles of campaign debt, owing all sorts of money to all sorts of people. Everything from catereers to plane charterers.

Obama has offered to help Hillary pay down her debt. He has asked his big money supporters to send some money her way. At the same time Hillary is asking her money machine to give money to Obama. Obama even went so far as to write Hillary a personal check for $2,300.

Somehow this doesn't quite make sense to me.

On another note, regarding this newfound unity in Unity. Hillary and Barack color coordinated their outfits today. Hillary wore a light blue pant suit. Barack's tie matched the color of Hillary's pant suit. How did they manage that?

Texas Ant Invasion

We have ants here in Texas. Lots of ants. The two types with whom I've had close contact are fire ants and sugar ants. This morning I was greeted by an army of sugar ants that had invaded my kitchen, occupying one wall and one counter top.

Counter measures were immediately called for. I got out my can of Kitchen Safe Bug Spray and began the counter attack.

But my can of spray ran out before I'd finished killing all the ants that needed to die. So, I hurried out of here and made fast for Home Depot for a fresh can of extermination spray.

By the time I got back here the survivors of my first attack appeared to be in full retreat. Even so, I unleashed a fresh barrage on the remaining ants, killing all of them.

I then had to remove all the ant corpses and clean off all the contaminated surfaces. Grueling, nasty business.

Lulu told me her friend, Linda, now spending her first summer in Texas, having moved here from fire ant-free Washington, stepped on a fire ant mound a couple days ago and got stung severely. Apparently Linda was unaware of the fire ant danger we are constantly faced with in Texas.

I fear it's gonna be a really bad ant season this summer due to the new drought. Last summer there was a short plague of ants getting in the pool. That was not pleasant. They were big.

There are more ants on the planet than any other creature. Ants are estimated to make up 15 to 20% of Earth's total animal biomass. That's a lotta ants. I've done my part to reduce the ant population by a few ounces this morning.

I've had a few incidents where I've been woke up by ants crawling on me. That is very unpleasant. What if they decided to invade my bed like they did my kitchen? If the army of ants were big enough they'd have me eaten before I could wake up, like the ants do to the poor little gecko in the video below.

Largest in Texas: Zorro's Buffet in Fort Worth

UPDATE: I have now experienced Zorro's Buffet in person, July 18, 2008, for lunch. Read what I thought about it in today's Blogging.

For a couple weeks I've been seeing ads for a new restaurant in Fort Worth called Zorro's. Zorro's claims to be the largest buffet in Texas. They don't say by what criteria. Largest building? Largest buffet table? Largest selection?

Zorro's being in Fort Worth. And in Texas. Both known to greatly hyperbolize, I guess I'll have to check it out myself to see how large Zorro's Buffet is.

A few weeks ago I told you how shocked I was when former highly respected food critic, Lulu, declared that a Golden Corral restaurant in Spokane was the best buffet she'd ever been to. I'm sure Lulu would love Zorro's Buffet.

The info on Zorro's website is a bet worrisome. In that if you don't get your verbiage right on your website, how am I to trust that you will not overly salt your clam chowder? For example..."Zorro's is a haven for both carnivores and vegetarians, our homogenous gourmet salad bar..."

Homogenous? I'm guessing the word they were looking for is humongous. They didn't even spell homogeneous right, if that was the word they meant to use.

There are some missing spaces after some commas which cause me to worry about Zorro's quality control. As in, "...our wide variety of succulent meat dishes to include country cooking, Tex-Mex, BBQ, Seafood, Italian,steaks,ribs, to name a few..."

In addition to the missing spaces after commas, that phrase "to include" seems off too. Shouldn't it just be "includes"?

And then there is this, "Zorro's Legendary and Experienced management team Promises to make your visit a unique buffet adventure like no other."

Zorro's has only been open a short time. How did it get Legendary already??

In addition to the website errors that cause me to worry about Zorro's quality control, the restaurant is in a sort of seedy section of Fort Worth.

But, even though I have serious concerns, I'm sure I'll be trying out Zorro's Buffet at some point in time before it goes out of business. I'll be sure and let you know how much I liked it.

Radio Shack's Fort Worth Boondoggle

Yesterday I verbalized my amazement at the news that the new Tarrant County College being built on the banks of the Trinity River was to be scaled way way back and instead of having college classes in the new building, the classes would take place at buildings a short distance away, that being the former Radio Shack Corporate Headquarters, which Tarrant County College bought, barely 3 years after Radio Shack finished construction on their new headquarters, which is no longer Radio Shack's Headquarters.

It is rumored that Radio Shack now operates out of a former McDonald's restaurant in east Fort Worth.

Apparently I am not alone in thinking this Radio Shack/TCC "deal" is yet one more Fort Worth boondoggle, where supposedly well intentioned tax breaks and eminent domain abuse does not have the intended result.

Below is a letter to the editor from this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram from one of Fort Worth's reliable voices of reason, Clyde Picht.

FOCUS ON ...Who loses in TCC deal?

Before the ink is dry on the TCC purchase of RadioShack’s downtown campus, public officials like water district board member Jim Lane and Tarrant County Administrator G. K. Maenius are touting the deal as “brilliant,” “phenomenal” and “a good decision.”

One media outlet reported the cost would be about the same as the current estimate for a campus on both sides of the river connected by a footbridge. Oh, really? Let’s review the numbers. Maybe from the public’s standpoint this isn’t so brilliant or phenomenal and just maybe it is another unjustifiable move at public expense.

Recall that by selling the Ripley Arnold housing complex to RadioShack the city housing authority had to find accommodations for the displaced residents.

The authority bought an apartment complex in Tanglewood in which 20 percent of the apartments would be subsidized. The entire complex came off the tax rolls. The authority bought prime property on Overton Ridge Boulevard for another housing development. Again, it was taken off the tax rolls. RadioShack got a 20-year tax abatement and then sold the property to foreign investors. They did still pay tax to the Fort Worth school district.

Now as TCC pays $235 million for RadioShack’s real property and adds $80 million for renovation, we already have $315 million of new expense. Add in the $42 million TCC paid for land on the river bank and a probable $200 million for continuing construction, termination penalties and the like, and we’re talking about a half billion plus. A little pricey for a junior college campus.

Now, not only will the city never get any tax revenue from the property, the school district won’t either. More and more public funds because of the Trinity Uptown project. Yes they are linked. The cost of both TCC and Uptown will easily approach $2 billion. Who pays?

— Clyde Picht, Fort Worth

Barnett Shale Ruining Lives in Texas

Way back in 1971, when there was still a Soviet Union, in the Soviet Republic of Turkmenistan, the Soviets were drilling for natural gas when the drilling zone collapsed and natural gas started to spew forth. Not wanting those vapors in the air, the Soviets set it on fire. It has been burning ever since, like a window into a mythical hell. I don't know why a way has not been found to harness this wasted energy.

Meanwhile, here in Texas, holes continue to be punched through the earth to reach Barnett Shale so that some water process, called fracturing, can release the natural gas.

This pleases many here in Texas. And greatly upsets others. Mostly those who have had their lives made miserable by having drillers suddenly show up on their property.

Last week Fort Worth Weekly had a sad story about a couple in the Fort Worth suburb of Azle who'd moved here from California to their dream ranch in a formerly bucolic setting. The distance from a residence rules that exist in Fort Worth don't exist in Azle. So, Devon Energy put up a drilling site 213 feet from Mike and Annette Daniel's house.

The drillers cut down a line of trees that gave the Daniel's privacy in their backyard and pool. And then the noise and light show began. And the dust. I've been through this myself. From over a 1000 foot distance. After a few months the worst was over.

You can read the entire story, "Paradise Lost" in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's nemesis known as FW Weekly.

Go to my Texas website for more about the Barnett Shale or what I call Fort Worth Flatulence.

And below you can watch a video of the ongoing glimpse into Hell in Turkmenistan.

Amtrak From Fort Worth To Tacoma

I'm pretty sure I'll be heading north to Tacoma next month. A pair of poodles await me. Among other things.

Years ago I rode Amtrak from Tacoma to Portland. It was awful. I've never been seasick or carsick. But I got trainsick. As in, by the time I got to Portland, I was totally nauseous, with a horrible headache that stayed with me all the way back to Tacoma, where barely a couple miles back driving on the freeway I had to exit and throw up.

So, I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to see if it was doable to take Amtrak from Fort Worth to Tacoma. It is doable. But totally, ridiculously bizarre.

First off it cost $418 one-way to Tacoma. And $414 to return to Fort Worth. That's $832 roundtrip. Flying is only about $350. Driving would even be cheaper. And funner, than Amtrak.

It's the convoluted route to get back and forth from Fort Worth to Tacoma that truly makes Amtrak bizarre.

I leave Fort Worth, July 16, on the Texas Eagle and 45 hours 30 minutes later I arrive in Los Angeles where I board a bus that takes me to Bakersfield where I get on another train, the San Joaquin and ride for 5 hours 10 minutes to Sacramento where I get on another train, the Coast Starlight and ride 19 hours 12 minutes to get to Tacoma, July 19, 4 days after I left Fort Worth.

And then the return to Fort Worth is even more bizarre. August 13 I get on the Coast Starlight, again, but this time it takes 19 hours 44 minutes to get to Sacramento (it's slower going south?) and then I get on the California Zephyr for a 48 hour 25 minute ride to Galesburg, Illinois, where I get on another train, the Southwest Chief and ride 4 hours 18 minutes to Kansas City where I get on another bus for an 8 hour ride to Oklahoma City to get on the Heartland Flyer for a 4 hour 14 minute ride back to Fort Worth for the end, on August 17, of a 5 day long return journey, where I would collapse and probably need to be hospitalized.

Well, it is now no longer a mystery to me why more people don't use Amtrak. One would think it would be feasible to run small passenger trains on a regular route, I dunno, like one heading through Fort Worth passing through Oklahoma City on its way to Denver and beyond.

There are train tracks all over this country. I've seen them. Why should it take way longer to take a train from Fort Worth to Tacoma than it takes to drive a car? I can drive there in 2 and half days. And that's with 2 motels stays. A train goes non-stop. It's 2200 miles when I drive to the Seattle zone. The routes Amtrak takes is thousands of extra miles.

The Farmer Got a Texas Wife

We are thrilled today in North Texas, thrilled I tell you. In yet one more example of what the Fort Worth Star-Telegram characterizes as Reality Shows love affair with Texas, spontaneous celebrations are likely breaking out all over North Texas, even more so in East Texas.

Why you ask?

Well, on some obscure TV cable station called, I think, CW, a farmer picked a wife. Bachelor farmers across the country are flooding the CW with applications to be the next farmer to get assistance in finding a wife.

The Farmer who so desperately wanted a wife is named Matt Neustadt. His fiance is named Brooke Ward. She is from somewhere in East Texas. The Star-Telegram has let us know countless times that Brooke Ward attended some college in Fort Worth. So, the celebrating will likely be quite big here in Fort Worth. I do not know, at this point in time, if there will be an official city wide celebration like there was the time a little known D.C. lobbying group put Fort Worth on some self-serving list of Most Livable Cities, or something like that. Most towns who got this bogus honor ignored it. But not Fort Worth, we had a celebration!

Radio Shack's Fort Worth Troubles

Last week a mouthpiece for Fort Worth's ruling junta objected to me suggesting Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision would likely turn into yet one more Fort Worth Boondoggle. Well, we had some prime Fort Worth Boondoggle material in the news today.

You are looking at what used to be Radio Shack's Corporate Headquarters in this photo, with what used to be Pier 1 Imports Corporate Headquarters in the background. Radio Shack's Headquarters was built with $86 million in tax breaks.

Radio Shack's Headquarters opened in 2005. To build their headquarters, Radio Shack used what was, to my mind, til the Dallas Cowboys out did them, the worst case of eminent domain abuse I'd witnessed.

Radio Shack booted hundreds of low income dwellers from their homes. Radio Shack also obliterated one of Fort Worth's few unique things, that being a free subway that ran from huge parking lots, also obliterated, to downtown. It used to be so easy to park downtown.

A short distance from Radio Shack, Tarrant County College was building a new campus. It's design was pretty interesting. I commented a couple weeks ago that this building might finally give Fort Worth an iconic structure that people in other parts of the world might recognize as being Fort Worth.

A powerful local, last name of Bass, a man with demonstrably bad taste when it comes to architecture, objected to the design of the new college, a design which included a pedestrian bridge across the Trinity River to more college buildings.

Well, that Bass man has gotten his way, there will be no bridge across the Trinty, no campus on the other side of the river, no sunken plaza. In other words, all that made this building unique has been taken away.

But what about the college? Well, Radio Shack has been on hard times for a long time. It always seemed bizarre to me that they would build such a palace for their headquarters, structures that seemed totally at odds with the tacky, run-down, trashy look of Radio Shack stores.

Like I said, Radio Shack got $86 million in tax breaks from Fort Worth to obliterate those parking lots, get rid of the subway, evict all those people and build their headquarters.

And now, Radio Shack has sold its corporate headquarters to Tarrant County College for $238 million. TCC estimates they will spend another $80 million renovating the Radio Shack buildings into class rooms.

Meanwhile, back at the original new TCC construction site, the parts already under construction, will be finished and turned into mostly administration offices.

As for Pier 1 Imports, they also have been having troubles. Soon after opening their new headquarters they turned off a bright light that shot skyward, to save money. And now their headquarters has been taken over by Chesapeake Energy, which has enough energy to turn the light back on.

So, Radio Shack lasted less than 3 years in its new headquarters. It's estimated the taxpayers are out about $100 million.

Does all this sound boondogglish to any of you?

Soon, another Fort Worth tax break beneficiary will be completed, that being the Omni Convention Center Hotel. The thinking for subsidizing the hotel was that the lack of a good hotel near the convention center was the reason that not many conventions took place in Fort Worth's Convention Center. No hotel builder saw the economics as justifiable to build a hotel, hence the tax breaks. Other cities, like Seattle, that do get a lot of conventions, do not have to subsidize the construction of hotels near their convention centers.

So, I predict that soon after the Omni Hotel opens there will be noises that its losing money due to many many empty rooms. Two years later it will shut down. Fort Worth will then take it over and turn it into their new city hall.

Meanwhile in far north Fort Worth there sits another underperforming beneficiary of Fort Worth tax breaks, that being the customer shy sporting goods store called Cabelas. Now, when Cabelas decides it needs to shut down its underperforming store I'm thinking it'd be a great building to makeover into a north campus of Tarrant County College.

In the end the taxpayers do get something from these Fort Worth Boondoggles, besides getting it in the end.

Matt Damon's Fat

Way back in 1996 Matt Damon played a heroin addict in a movie called Courage Under Fire. He had to lose 40 pounds in 100 days for 2 days of filming for a movie that I don't think ever got released. Damon had to take meds for years after this, due to damage done to his adrenal gland.

And now, 12 years later, Matt Damon has gone the other direction, as you can see in the photo. While he appears nowhere near being obese, it is clearly obvious that Matt Damon has decided to contribute to the National Strategic Fat Preserve.

Matt Damon may be endangering his health, again, for a movie, this time one called The Informant.

Narcoleptic Poodle

My sister in Tacoma has a pair of poodles who think I'm their uncle. They are named Max & Blue. Max & Blue have a blog. This morning Max & Blue blogged about a Narcopleptic Poodle. And complained that my sister was also narcoleptic because she wouldn't get up and get them some grub. Max & Blue constantly crave McDonald's Cheeseburgers.

Go to Max & Blue's Blog and watch the video about the Narcoleptic Poodle. It is both funny and sort of sad.

Texas Insomnia & Saharan Dust Storms

I had a bad bout of insomnia last night, for the first time in a couple months. I'd been taking sleeping pills, but last night I didn't remember I'd run out of my supply of knock out pills.

Last night I was tired, I was yawning, I'd have no problem falling asleep, or so I thought. I watched Hell's Kitchen til 9. That may have been too stimulating. I was then at the computer til 10. Again, maybe too stimulating. Then I went to bed and read a book I've almost finished, "Voices From the Third Reich." Again, likely too stimulating.

I turned off the lights coming up on 11. At about 11:30 that idiot Puerto Rican I've mentioned before called. She knows I go to bed early. The phone ringing was too stimulating. Of course, I did not answer it when I saw who it was. And then a minute later the voice mail tone went off. Again, too stimulating.

I lay in bed, over-stimulated, wondering if the Puerto Rican had called, all angry, due to reading something I may have said about her in my Blog. So, I got up and listened to the voice mail. I quickly deleted it when I could tell she was drunk and was calling me at almost midnight to tell me she'd watched the finale of Desperate Housewives again. That it was real good. That I should watch it.

So, back in bed, any sleep impulse totally evaporated. I tossed. I turned. The overhead fan made me chilly, so I turned it off. Still not asleep, coming up on 3am, I turned off the A/C and turned the overhead fan back on.

Sometime just after 4am I feel asleep for about 15 minutes. During those 15 minutes I had a nightmare involving my deceased grandma and me trying to help my now shrunken grandma navigate the kitchen floor at the house I grew up in, in Burlington, Washington. I woke up overheated.

I fell asleep again sometime after 5am. This time the nightmare was a Nazi stabbing another Nazi and another Nazi telling him to stop and the stabbing Nazi then slicing his own throat. Of course I woke up instantly and then laid there pondering what the significance of this nightmare was. I'm still pondering.

Sometime about 6am I heard the Star-Telegram hit my front door. So, I got up, made coffee, laid on the floor drinking the coffee and read the paper, what little of it there was worth reading. Then I got on the computer, saw how much Google money I made yesterday and then proceeded to blog my grumpy disdain for that recurring Star-Telegram inanity of pointing out Texas connections to people in the news. No matter how trivial.

It's gonna be a very long day. I am constitutionally unable to take naps. My first chance of being able to sleep will come sometime past 9pm this evening. I will need to brave going to Wal-Mart today to get a fresh supply of knockout drugs. I'd rather be a drug addict than suffer through another night like last night.

This is the last WWII book I'm reading. I must cut down on the amount of stimulation I subject myself to.

And as if my personal misery weren't enough, today north Texas is being blighted by a dust storm that has blown in from the Sahara Desert. That's in Africa for those of you who didn't know when the American Civil War took place. I hate it when we get a Saharan Dust Storm here. It makes me sneeze.

Texas Under Represented on Reality Shows

Only a few days left in the month and the likely cancellation of my subscription to Fort Worth's #1 newspaper. I don't know what I'll do without it, it's like a gift that keeps on giving.

Today, in the first paragraph of an article titled "Area stylists on 'Shear Genius' cut to the chase for us" the Star-Telegram's TV writer, Robert Philpot, had this to say about a Bravo Reality Show about hairdressers, called Shear Genius.

"Reality TV's love affair with North Texas gets truly snippy tonight as Dallas area hairstylists Daniel Lewis and Matthew Tully are among the contestants on season two of Shear Genius, Bravo's haircutting competition."

Now, I'm thinking the above is just yet one more example of how the Star-Telegram repeats nonsense without questioning its premise. Like how over and over again the Star-Telegram trumpeted that a sporting goods store, being built in Fort Worth, would be the biggest tourist attraction in Texas. Or when the Star-Telegram over and over and over again trumpeted a lame little food court called the Sante Fe Market as being the first public market in Texas and being modeled after Seattle's Pike Place Market.

So, let's look at the Star-Telegram's bizarre premise that Reality TV has a love affair with Texas. First off there are almost 30 million Texans. There are about 300 million Americans. So, Texas makes up about 10% of America's population.

So, all things being proportional, Texans should make up about 10% of the people on Reality Shows.

Do Texans make up 10% of the people on Reality Shows? I don't think so. Anymore than Cabela's is the top tourist attraction in Texas or the now closed Sante Fe Rail Market ever in the slightest resembled either a public market or Pike Place Market.

I would say Texas is being under-represented. Maybe that's why the Star-Telegram makes such a big whoop-de-doo whenever anyone on any show has any remote connection to Fort Worth, North Texas or Texas.

On the main TV page Philpot repeats his obsession, again, in a blurb about Shear Genius, saying "North Texas is represented by Frisco's Daniel Lewis and Dallas' Matthew Tully." In case we missed it the first time we got this important information.

And then in another blurb, this one about Farmer Wants a Wife, we learn that "Texas Christian University grad Brooke Ward has made it to the final two...."

Like I mentioned yesterday, in response to an emailer who suggested this was indicative of a small town mentality. Yes, it is. You New Yorkers ever read this type verbiage in the Times? Seattleites? Ever see this type stuff in the P-I? Los Angelenos, ever see it in the LA Times? Chicagoites, ever in the Tribune? San Fransicsans, ever in the Chronicle? Portlanders, ever in the Oregonian? Anyone, anywhere?

Oh yeah, I can see the LA Times having a lead paragraph read "Reality TV's love affair with Southern California gets truly snippy tonight...."

Pearls of Wisdom from Rush Limbaugh

I don't remember why, but I get an email every weekday from Rush Limbaugh. It's an email newsletter about that day's radio show.

I'd not listened to Rush Limbaugh for a week or so, til today, while pedaling my bike. I pedal pretty much everywhere these days. Keeping me fueled is cheaper than keeping fuel in my vehicle.

Mr. Limbaugh was being particularly amusing today. If only he'd tone down his ranting about liberals I would find him totally bearable. That particular ranting just seems way over the top, he so demonizes liberals, you'd think they were a scourge like Nazis.

An 80 something long time listener, first time caller, waited for over 2 hours to get to tell Rush that he looked good in that cowboy hat in the photo above. Rush Limbaugh has trouble accepting compliments. It can make him stammer. A stammering Rush Limbaugh is amusing.

One of the things I do agree with Limbaugh about is we share an aversion to whining doom and gloom mongers. They are almost always pretty much ignorant and so the world becomes voodoo nonsense to them as they stumble about in their empty little brains, being afraid of the world they live in. But not afraid to spout their nonsensical ignorance driven drivel.

Yes, I'm talking about you, you Latina Hothead.

So, here is one of Rush Limbaugh's Pearls of Wisdom from today's "Rush in a Hurry" newsletter.

Pearl of Wisdom: "I instinctively do not have a pessimistic view of the future of this country. I can find for you times in our recent past where gasoline prices have gone up identically in terms of percentage increase. Because of my advanced age of 57, I've been through these things and worse. The country is better today than at any time in my life, economically and with opportunity."

There have been times when gas has gone up by 50% in 6 months? I had no idea. Of course, Rush Limbaugh makes millions of bucks a year. He can afford to put gas in his tank. He doesn't even own a bicycle. Today he went on and on about his lifelong aversion to walking. He's hated it ever since he learned to do it. He estimates he walks no more than 10 feet a day. This came up when he questioned a statistic in some article he was quoting which said the average American walks over 900 miles a year. Rush figured that was over 2 miles a day and seemed unlikely.

Seemed unlikely to me too. Then again, I easily walk over 2 miles a day. Walking and biking are currently my only means of transport. I gave up on roller blades due to one bad fall too many.

George Carlin and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

My one long time reader may remember me making mention of an extremely weird oddity in my local inept newspaper of record. That being that if there is any remote connection between a person in the news and a location in north Texas, especially Fort Worth, the Star-Telegram will let you know that important fact, no matter how tenuous the connection may be. Like a person on American Idol may have visited Fort Worth at some point in time. This paper will let you know that important fact.

So, on Sunday George Carlin died. In an example of how hard it is for newspapers to compete with TV and the Internet, timeliness-wise, the George Carlin obit did not show up in the Star-Telegram til today.

That is understandable. What is not understandable is the Star-Telegram George Carlin obit's inclusion of the weirdest example yet of this paper's twisted need to make that all important Fort Worth connection.

Here's the Star-Telegram's front page George Carlin obit.....

"Comic George Carlin, who's being remembered as a counterculture hero, died Sunday of heart failure at age 71 after a long career on stage and in TV and film. But he had Fort Worth connections that predate his fame: He honed his act here in the late 1950s, when he was a DJ at the now defunct radio station KXOL."

He died. But he had Fort Worth connections? I am not making this up. The above paragraph is word for word what is on the front page of this failing newspaper. My longtime reader may remember that I heard from the guy who writes about TV for this paper. He told me the Star-Telegram does this type idiocy so as to give its readers a local connection to a story, unlike that evil paper in that evil town 30 miles to the east.

In reaction to one of my previous diatribes on this subject someone emailed me that "Fort Worth seems to have a small town mentality, which would seem to be like some sort of civic mental illness in a city of almost 700,000 population."

I couldn't have said it better.

Fort Worth Video

I've no clue as to what the point of this video is. The only thing about it that I do know is you get to see what some of Fort Worth looks like. From a hearse.

Who Cares About the Civil War? Part 2

I'm not real certain why it so bothered me to read that the majority of American high school students have no idea when the Civil War took place. It just seems like this is something anyone with any small bit of intelligence would know. That this is just one of those essential bits of knowledge that any American, with cerebral function, would know.

I asked a few adults yesterday if they knew when the Civil War took place. 3 out of 5 did. That was encouraging. But the 2 out of the 5 who did not know, well, their rationalizations for their ignorance were quite bizarre.

I won't name names. But one of the ignorant ones is up in Tacoma. This person thought the Civil War took place in 1812. But, the disturbing part was her rationale for being ignorant about a key piece of her nation's history. She told me that history is my thing, not hers. That she has other interests. Like I would have no idea what a Wedermeyer Chest was. Is some people's thinking so degraded that they equate knowing about a piece of furniture to knowing about the worst calamity to befall their nation, a calamity that reverberates to this day?

And then the other, much more disturbing, adult who did not know when the Civil War took place. Now, when I asked her I told her it would be understandable if she did not know, because she did not grow up in the United States, she grew up in Puerto Rico.

Well. She got all mad and defensive, going on about how she learned that but had no reason to keep that memory because she had too much on her mind and had to think about the future, not the past.

Okay, so that was pretty weird. And then a few minutes later she started going on about something in Puerto Rico that was making her mad, that being something about Puerto Rico making some demand of Spain. Something made me think she could conceive of no possible reason why Puerto Rico might make a claim on Spain.

So. I thought to myself, she's seemed pretty ignorant before, let's see how ignorant she actually is. So, I asked her if she knew why it was that Puerto Rico was part of the United States. She said she did not. She said she didn't care. That it wasn't important.

I then asked if she knew when Puerto Rico became part of the United States. She seemed really proud of herself when she answered that one, thinking she had the answer. She said "1492."

I sat there flabbergasted. This is a person constantly spewing the most ridiculous of ill-informed opinions and now I was right at the Heart of her Ignorance. This was a Puerto Rican who did not know why she grew up speaking Spanish, why or when her island became part of the United States. This is a person who must have never wondered why there is all that old Spanish architecture on the island.

She got very mad when I suggested if she knew about what happened in the past she might better understand the present. She then went on, again, about having too much in her head to add the past, that the past isn't important, tomorrow and the future are all that matter.

How does one communicate to such ignorance I sat and wondered?

The Puerto Rican is always going on, in a Doomsday fashion, about how the world is in such bad shape and so dangerous, with so many nations wanting to hurt the United States, particularly South America. I've tried to explain to her that the present is much better than having Soviet missiles aimed at us and growing up afraid of the dangerous commies. She had no idea what I was talking about. To her Hugo Chavez poses a grave threat to America, rather than the buffoonish cartoon character he appears to be to most of us. On and on she can go about Hugo Chavez, as if he's a modern era Hitler, and an important public figure on the world stage.

And therein lies the danger of being ignorant. If you've never heard of the Great Depression, if you've no clue about the total global chaos of World War II. If you are ignorant of the Cold War and the era when missiles were aimed at the United States. If you don't know of the bubonic plague. If you've never learned of the horrible famines that used to plague the planet. If you know nothing about madmen like Hitler. If you are totally ignorant about that which has happened before you are easy prey to stupid demagoguery. You'll believe that terrorism is the worst thing the United States has ever faced. You'll believe that $4 a gallon gas is the worst economic disaster of all time. You'll fear that a Holocaust denying fool, in Iran, is a grave threat to the world. You'll believe we live in the worst of times, when in reality, in most ways on most days, the world is in the best shape its ever been.

40 years ago who would have ever thought that China and India would be food exporters? Who would have thought a place like Dubai would rise in the Arab desert? That the Berlin Wall would be gone, Germany united, the Cold War won, by US, the Soviet Union gone, the Vietnamese loving American tourists, a black guy with a good shot at being our next President, cancer rates way down. 40 years ago who would have thought that Central and South America would be doing as well as they are now, stable for the most part, democracies, for the most part. 40 years ago, during the Space Race, who would have thought that, these few short years later, that America and Russia now cooperate in space, working together. And China is having an Olympics. And has put a man in space and is aiming at the moon.

It's a wonderful world.

I wonder if George W. Bush knows when the Civil War took place?

Who Cares About the Civil War?

Yesterday I was appalled to read that a recent survey discovered that a majority of American high school students did not know when the American Civil War occurred.

To me this spoke not to the sad state of our students, but instead to the sad state of our teachers. The college I graduated from was a big teacher's college. As in it is one where many grade and high school teachers got their credentials.

I remember a very telling incident. It was in a 300 level U.S. History class. The professor was passing out the graded results of our first test. Before he did so he said something like "I'm going to show you how well I read minds."

Before he'd handed a person their test results he'd say, "You're a future teacher, aren't you? And the person would answer yes. He'd give another their test and say, "You're not future teacher, are you?" And the answer would be no, I'm not.

I answered "no" when it was my turn.

When the professor was done he asked does anyone know how I knew the future teachers from those who aren't going to be teachers? I meekly raised by hand and suggested that "Since I got an A and I'm not a future teacher, I'm gonna guess that those you guessed were future teachers did not get A's."

"Not only did they not get A's, they did not get B's. All the future teachers got C's, D's and F's."

So, you've got C and D students teaching kids the essentials. But these are people who don't really have all that great a grasp on the essentials themselves. So, something as essential to understanding America as the Civil War is somehow not taught in a memorable way to a majority of students. That is appalling. If you don't understand what happened between 1861 and 1865 how can you understand the Civil Rights Movement that came along a century or so later?

More on this later, as in yesterday I asked several adults if they knew when the Civil War occurred. I was not universally appalled at the answers, but appalled nonetheless.

George Carlin Dead at 71

I've always found George Carlin very very amusing. I was surprised to learn, this morning, that he died Sunday. It doesn't seem a week goes by lately without some well known person dying, announcing they've got cancer or suffering a relapse requiring re-hab.

Below is a video of George Carlin taking on religion. In a very sacri-religious way. Is there any other way to take on religion?

Fort Trinity Trail Again, Plus Video

About noon I slowly coasted to my nearest gas station and pumped half a gallon into my nearly dry van. And then for the 3rd Sunday in a row I burned up half that half gallon driving to Gateway Park to bike the Trinity Trail to the Stockyards zone.

It was not windy today. That was nice. I had a huge surprise this time on the Trinity Trail. I have never seen so many bikers on this trail as I saw today. And it was the hot part of the day. I'm talking dozens. Usually I see none. I even saw non-homeless people walking the trail. When I finished my ride I even had a couple drive up to me and ask how to get to the Trinity Trail. That's definitely never happened before. I showed them how to go the scenic route. Or the shortcut. They took the shortcut.

Of course, self-deluded person that I am, attribute this sudden increase in bikers to being caused by my having blogged about it, in addition to being so earnestly trying to get Fort Worthers off their collective butts and work on getting Fort Worth off the Top 20 of those Most Obese Cities Lists. I feel I am making progress. Slow, but steady.

Here are a pair of videos showing what it's like to bike on the Trinity Trail. In the first video we start about a mile north of downtown, heading south towards downtown. We cross under the Main Street Bridge, that I've mentioned before. And then we cross another bridge to get to the other side of the Trinity River. The second video continues from that point.



The second video goes through the busiest part of the Trinty Trail, that being the part that runs from downtown through Trinity Park.

Six Flags Over Texas Anyone?

Anyone in the mood to stomach the stomach churning roller coasters at Six Flags?

I've got 4 free passes and no strong urge to use them. Actually, they're not really free. The free passes don't cover the cost of getting to Six Flags or parking there.

I've only been to Six Flags twice, both times very very very hot. The first time I got soaking wet on some Wild Rapids ride that had killed someone the year before. I did not realize I was going to be going under a waterfall. You would think this would be refreshing to get all wet when it's 110 in the shade. But it's not.

When you get all wet and it's superhot the natural human response is to take off your shirt. But at Six Flags Over Texas there are signs forbidding this sensible practice. I cared more about my comfort, than a sign, and figured if being shirtless got me both comfy and kicked out of Six Flags, the way I was feeling right then, that would have been a win-win.

Sadly, no one told me to put my shirt back on. After an hour of sitting and drying I was good to go. With my shirt back on. Why does Six Flags Over Texas insist shirts be worn? While on the opposite side of the freeway at Six Flag's Hurricane Harbor shirts are not required? You don't even have to wear shoes at that park. It's perplexing and vexing.

Australia Overtakes America's #1 Position

I am in some sort of state of minor shock. For weeks I have been imploring Americans to draw down on our National Strategic Fat Preserve in order to cut food costs and shrink waist lines. And for aesthetic reasons.

I bragged about how we Americans have such an advantage over other nations in this strategic area, with us Americans collectively storing billions of dollars worth of food in our personal Fat Banks.

And, so, what do I learn on this last day of Spring? Australia, of all places, has passed us Americans as the fattest people on earth. How could this happen? I think of Aussies as being like west coasters, a fit and trim people with plenty of health nuts.

26% of Australians are obese. Only 25% of Americans are obese. With a population of 300 million, that's 75 million obese Americans. Australia's population is only about 20.5 million. That's even less people than Canada and California. With 20.5 million people, and 26% of them obese, Australia only has 5.33 million obese people compared to America's whopping 75 million.

So, though we may no longer be #1 in the percentage of our people who are obese, America is still proudly #1 in total number of obese people and in the amount of calories stored in our collective National Strategic Fat Preserve.

F**king an Austrian Village

Due to its name being the same as an infamous English language vulgarity, a town in Austria was so vexed at the expense of having to replace all the Fucking town signs over and over again, due to tourists wanting souvenirs, that, in 2004, the Fucking residents voted on whether to change the town's name from Fucking. They voted to keep Fucking. And anchor the signs in heavy cement.

I'm thinking, geez, why not just sell some Fucking signs in your town's souvenir stores. And if you don't have any souvenir stores, open some and sell the Fucking signs.

Now, I never use this particular vulgarity, or any vulgarity for that matter. So, please note my use of that word above was in its noun form, that being the name of that Fucking town in Austria.

From Wikipedia: "Fucking is an Austrian village in the municipality of Tarsdorf, in the Innviertel region of western Upper Austria. The village is located 33 kilometres north of Salzburg, four kilometres east of the German border and half an hour by car from the town of Petting, in Bavaria. The name of the village resembles a swear word in English, although it is pronounced differently ("Fook-ing")."

Now, with Wikipedia you can look up that same word and get details on its vulgar meaning, as well as its Austrian meaning.

If I ever visit Austria, I've no inclination to seek out a Fucking sign to take home.

Texas likes to name towns after European towns, like Paris and Athens. I wonder why there is no Fucking in Texas?

Texas Executions

I can think of only one or two things for which Texas is #1 in the nation. One is most litter generated per capita. With the other being that, by a large margin, Texas leads the nation in number of executions. Texas is working hard to become the most obese state in the nation, but has a ways to go to catch up with Mississippi.

There had been a moratorium on executions that was only lifted a few months ago. Since then the most recent person to have a date with the executioner, at the last minute, had his death postponed for at least a month.

Why?

Well, a man named Charles Dean Hood was given the death penalty for the murders of Ronald Williamson and Traice Lynn Wallace. That was 18 years ago when the murderer was only 20.

The prosecutor in the case was Tom O'Connell. The judge was Verla Sue Holland.

Turns out the judge and the prosecutor were doing some heavy duty hanky panky whoopee making during Charle Dean Hood's trial. Apparently this violates all sorts of ethical standards and undermines the integrity of the court.

That the judge and the prosecutor were having an affair was known by Hood's lawyers during the trial. They did not bring this up, back then, because they knew they had to argue other cases in front of the same judge and did not want to make her mad.

So, as the time ticked down for the lethal drip to begin flowing into Hood, legal maneuvering ran amok. Til the time designated by the death warrant ran out, giving Hood at least a 30 day reprieve, during which it will be argued, some more, that he did not get a fair trial before an impartial justice system. Which seems sort of true when the judge who makes the rulings is canoodling with one of the lawyers arguing a case before her.

Seems like a no-brainer. New trial, new conviction, 18 more years on death row. Then execute the guy. If he's guilty.

Texas has so many executions the state needs an execution information center. Go here to visit the Texas Execution Information Center.

Tattoo Granny

Okay. I will admit I am like a very stodgy old codger about some things. Like guys wearing pants hanging half way to their knees, showing off their underwear, or lack of underwear. I don't get why anyone would want to have their body pierced and stick metal through the hole, except for, maybe, one hole in each ear. And no holes in male ears.

But the thing people do to themselves that vexes me the most is tattoos. Why anyone would want to do this to themselves I do not remotely understand. To me they don't look good in any way, they are like having a stain on your skin, like some sort of hideous birthmark.

So, there is this grandma who lives in Irving. Irving is where the Dallas Cowboys currently play football. This grandma is 62 years old. She prefers to go by the name of Miss Dixie. Miss Dixie got her first tattoo when she was 47. She got that first tattoo at the suggestion of a friend who told Miss Dixie it'd give her something to remind her of her mother who was dying from cancer. So, Miss Dixie got her first tattoo.

And now, 15 years later, Miss Dixie is covered with moons, suns, stars, angels, eyes and who knows what else. Miss Dixie goes to her tattoo parlor of choice about once a week for touch-ups or a new tattoo. Miss Dixie considers getting tattoos a form of therapy that works better for her than regular type therapy. Or meds.

Miss Dixie claims she's never heard a negative word about her tattoos, only compliments. And her grandkids think she is very cool with all her tattoos.

Like I said, I'm a stodgy codger. I don't think all those tattoos are cool. And I don't think this sets a very good example for Miss Dixie's grandkids. I think Miss Dixie should explore some new types of therapy and maybe try some different meds. Maybe Miss Dixie is addicted to pain. If needles are the thrill, perhaps acupuncture might fill the need, without all that nasty skin staining.

Destination Fort Worth Trinity Uptown Project

There were a couple of interesting, amusing letters to the editor in today's Saturday edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. One was from a reader who, like me, thinks there are some blind spots in Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Project. The other letter is from a Fort Worth native who feels Fort Worth gets slighted by airports.

First the letter about the Trinity Uptown Project------

FOCUS ON ... The ‘losers’ in Trinity Uptown project

The Army Corps of Engineers can fix the Trinity River flood problem, beautify the river and make it more accessible for $10 million.

The $576 million plan pushed by U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, called the Trinity River Vision, displaces rightful landowners by using eminent domain in the name of private development.

This isn’t only unlimited government — it’s anti-conservative and anti-American. It does not matter if the streets are paved with gold and chocolate is in the water fountains. What’s wrong is wrong. It’s socialism on display.

Jim Oliver, general manager of the Tarrant Regional Water District and head cheerleader for the “vision,” says: “It’s like in any other major public works project. You have a few losers and a lot of winners.” This coming from the guy who hired the congresswoman’s son without interviewing anyone.

If this project is about economic development, why should there be any “losers”? How many of the “partners” in the Trinity River Vision are taking that role at a loss?

This is a new, bold vision? I have to admit that they make it look pretty exciting! They thought of everything — except the rights and well-being of 89 “losers.”

And given the use of eminent domain, there’s nothing new or bold about this “public-private” partnership.

We should expect better from “visionaries.”

— Brad Williams, Omaha Surplus, Fort Worth

And then there was a letter from a guy in Grapevine------

Destination Fort Worth

As my wife and I were leaving Las Vegas recently to fly back to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, the American Airlines gate agent announced four times that our destination was “Dallas.”

I told her that I was going to Fort Worth. The airport’s name contains “Fort Worth,” and the airline’s headquarters is in Fort Worth. I asked her if she could mention Fort Worth sometime.

The next announcement referred to “Dallas-Fort Worth.” A few minutes later, she slipped into her old routine and dropped “Fort Worth.” I asked her again, and she told me that in the past three years I was the only person to ask her about Fort Worth.

Fort Worth can’t seem to get the recognition it deserves.

— Ed Rhodes, Grapevine

Durango Texas talking---Well, regarding taking umbrage at Fort Worth's name not being mentioned during boarding gate announcements. I frequently fly up to Sea-Tac. That's the nickname for Seattle/Tacoma International Airport. Just like Fort Worth, Tacoma shares the airport's name with a bigger, more well known neighbor. Unlike Fort Worth, Tacoma does not evidence a civic inferiority complex regarding Seattle in the way Fort Worth does regarding Dallas. Sea-Tac is located in neither Seattle or Tacoma. When the plane lands, if memory serves, the pilot welcomes you to Seattle. I highly doubt any Tacomaite has ever taken umbrage over this. Or imagined it to be a slighting of Tacoma. Or evidence that Tacoma does not get the recognition it deserves. Go here to visit a webpage of mine where I have some examples of what I think of as Fort Worth's Dallas fixation and how this is particularly troubling due to the well known fact that Fort Worth makes the World Green With Envy.

Where the Hell is Matt?

Seattle Matt's latest YouTube video has only been up 12 hours and it's already a hit. 14 months in the making, 42 countries with a cast of thousands. I wanna be Matt..... You can watch this extremely well done video here, or go here and watch it in high defintion. Just choose the "watch in high quality" option and click the full screen button.

Fort Worth Woman Dead from Traffic Ticket

A piece of local news bothered me yesterday. A 35 year old Dallas woman, Adrienne Lemons, mother of a 3 year old boy, was thrown into a Fort Worth jail because she had a couple traffic tickets she'd not taken care of.

From what I read it seems she was thrown in jail prior to having a hearing in court. The hearing in court was pending, when on the 10th day of her incarceration over traffic tickets, Ms. Lemons died, due to a staph infection, for which jailer would not give her her antibiotics.

At some point during her 10 day incarceration, due to traffic tickets, the pain from her staph infection became so intense she threatened to kill herself rather than endure the pain. Rather than getting her the treatment she needed, she was thrown into a solitary cell in the downtown Fort Worth Jail.

In solitary, Ms. Lemons condition became so grave she was rushed to the locally notorious John Peter Smith Hospital, where doctors decided her condition was so far gone there was nothing they could do. She died a few hours later.

Her family is in shock. Her brother has been the family's spokesperson. I'm hoping they find a very very very good lawyer.

I know someone here in Fort Worth who currently has two warrants for his arrest due to getting a ticket for not having car inspection sticker up to date. When he realized his mistake he fixed it that day, went to the courthouse to show that it was fixed and was met with confusing language from persons for whom English was not their first language. He walked away thinking the matter was taken care of.

Then 4 years later the notifications of his pending arrest arrived in the mail, not by registered mail, so there is no record of him actually getting these notifications.

Now, I'm thinking, elsewhere in the country, it is unlikely you could be arrested and thrown in jail over this. But, here in Texas, it seems common sense does not always rule. Or fairness. Because, apparently you can be thrown in jail prior to being convicted of anything. Now, I know that's the case for serious crimes, like murder, or bank robbing. Of course you put the perp behind bars prior to trial.

But for a traffic ticket? That is nuts. Totally nuts.

Blue & Max and the McDonald's Diet

My little sister, up in Tacoma, has a pair of poodles, named Blue and Max. Blue and Max have their own blog. Lately they have been blogging about how much they love McDonald's Cheeseburgers.

Today they blogged about a guy in Virginia who lost a lot of weight on what he calls "The McDonald's Diet."

Ironically, I just heard from my little sister, that, at this very moment, Blue is at the vet's, being X-Rayed, with an IV Drip dripping fluids into the little guy.

That is Blue on the left in the photo. That's Max & Blue waiting to get into their favorite McDonald's, that being the Chihuly Glass McDonald's in Tacoma.

Go here to go to the Blue and Max blog and read all about their McDonald's Diet.

Juneteenth

I'd never heard of Juneteenth til I moved to Texas. It's now an annual holiday in 29 states. Juneteenth originated in Galveston, Texas. In Texas it is called "Emancipation Day in Texas." At least that's what it says on my calendar. For more than a century Texas was the main location for Juneteenth celebrations.

I just got back here and saw what must be a big Juneteenth celebration setup, at least I assume that's what it is, in the open field next to my neighborhood Home Depot. I saw a Channel 5 TV crew set up in the Kroger parking lot across the street.

It looks like a big deal. Why was I not informed?

I've not actually ever attended a Juneteenth celebration. From 1870 til 1980 Texas pretty much celebrated Juneteenth alone. Since 1980 it became an official holiday in Texas. After that other states jumped on the Juneteenth bandwagon, including my own home state of Washington. So, now Washingtonians know what Juneteenth is. As do Oregon, California and Alaska.

So, Juneteenth is now a holiday on the entire west coast. Except for British Columbia. But that's in Canada. Canadians are always behind the curve.

This Juneteenth thing is a classic example of how Texas is always ahead of the rest of the nation. Well, sometimes.

How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World

This blogging is yet one more chapter in my ongoing campaign to get Americans to draw down on the National Strategic Fat Preserve by eating less, eating better and sitting less. And dressing better. Or at least in clothes that fit.

The photos you see here were all taken at the Fort Worth Stockyards, a prime hunting ground for plumped up Americans.

I read an interesting article from the UK, via the Daily Mail, titled "How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World." Here's a blurb----

"It is true that there is nothing quite as grossly fat as a fat American. Even clothes sizes have to be coyly renamed to accommodate them. Restaurant chairs and plane seats just aren't big enough.

Only recently, a woman succeeded in suing the hugely fat American who sat next to her on a long-haul flight and overflowed into her space, crushing and injuring her.

But the rest of the world is getting bigger, too. We should be sitting up — while we still can — and paying serious attention to the American situation."

Read the entire article by going here.

Fort Worth & Seattle's Water Projects

A day or two ago I blogged about what I thought might end up being Fort Worth's all time Biggest Boondoggle, that being the re-routing of the Trinity River through a diversion channel to build what they are calling a Town Lake and some canals, where the hope is people will live, play and eat at restaurants.

The Fort Worth project is called The Trinity River Vision.

Meanwhile, up in Seattle they already have plenty of Town Lakes, most courtesy of Mother Nature. There is no big river that runs through Seattle. But there are canals, with restaurants and residences by the canals.

Seattle is in the midst of a big water project, though. It's a bit different than Fort Worth's. The Seattle project is budgeted at $3.9 billion. The Fort Worth project is expected to cost a bit more than half a billion.

The Fort Worth project includes 3 new bridges. The Seattle project is all about 1 bridge. That being the replacement of the 45 year old Evergreen Point Bridge that crosses Lake Washington and connects with Interstate 5.

That is the current Evergreen Point Bridge in the photo. If you saw Sleepless in Seattle and remember Tom Hank's houseboat, that houseboat is moored just to the lower left of what you're looking at in the photo.

This is a floating bridge. Washington has had 2 of its floating bridges sink. The older the Evergreen Point Bridge gets, the greater the chance a storm will come along and sink it. There are no sinkable bridges in Fort Worth.

In Seattle and Washington there is a lot of public debate and input as to how the new bridge should be designed and routed. In Fort Worth the Trinity River Vision was announced as a done deal with little public debate and no public vote.

I'm guessing that the new Evergreen Point Bridge will be floating long before anything floats in Fort Worth's Town Lake. Or sinks.

Texas Thunder is Making My Head Hurt

We have been under assault here in the Dallas/Fort Worth zone of North Texas for hours now. It's coming up on 8am and it is still very dark out there.

And wet.

It appears I will not be doing any outdoor activity today.

I don't know when this loud bombing began. I had my earplugs in so as not to hear the air conditioner cycle off and on. Sometime after 5am I started seeing bright flashes. When I pulled out the earplugs I knew what was causing the flashes when I heard some big booming.

That big booming has gone on for hours now. It's making my head hurt. I want it to stop now. But it seems to be getting worse. WeatherBug says this could continue til noon.

Maybe I'll put my earplugs back in. Oh oh, I hear a siren. I don't think it's a tornado siren. But, I think maybe I should keep my hearing at full function.

If this is the last you hear from me today it means I've either lost power, been struck by lightning or been blown away by a tornado, or some combo of all three.

Fremont Solstice Parade

I talked to Lulu this afternoon, while I sweltered outside in the near 100 degree temperatures, while Lulu shivered inside her Tacoma abode. Lulu was working on stuff for next week's Fremont Sunday Market.

And she told me she was getting her outfit ready for the Fremont Solstice Parade. That is this coming Saturday, due to that being June 21, the Summer Solstice. I know Lulu has watched the Fremont Solstice Parade before and has been amused by all the naked bike riders.

But, I just can't picture Lulu doing this bike ride. Though I have seen her on some pretty scary bike rides. Like Gemini Bridges in Utah. I'm almost certain Lulu was not serious.

I mentioned the Fremont Solstice Naked Bike Parade a month or more ago. I recollect Gar the Texan asking if he could rent a bike near where the parade took place. I've not heard from Gar the Texan in awhile. I suspect he may be up in Seattle getting ready to ride.

Click on the link and you'll find a video of last year's Fremont Solstice Naked Bike Parade in all its glory.

Time For Me to Rob a Bank

Last week a 50 something guy decided to rob a Wells Fargo Bank in north Fort Worth. He successfully pulled off the bank job. And then he tried to carjack a ride from a woman. Two men, who had been in the bank, jumped the robber, pinning him down. Then 2 others joined in, holding the guy down til the cops arrived. The bank robber was, obviously, ill-prepared. He didn't even have a getaway car. Everyone knows you need a getaway car.

Now, I'm thinking, what drives someone to such a desperate act? You've lost your source of income, or income has not matched outgo, to the point that money is down to nothing. Bills are due. You can't pay the rent. Or maybe the mortgage. You're hungry.

So. You think to yourself, what if I rob a bank? If I succeed and get away, I've got money. If I fail and get caught, I've got free room and board. It's a win-win either way.

It's too bad there isn't some sort of Desperation Hotline that you can call and get some sort of one-time-only help, help that takes away the desperation and directs you to some sort of more sensible solution than robbing a bank and hoping to get a place to sleep and food to eat at the county jail.

Maybe there is a Desperation Hotline and I don't know about it. If there is, can someone send it to me, so I can call it before I need to rob a bank? Thank you in advance for your help.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Shrinks Some More

The Star-Telegram announced on Monday that it is shrinking again. This time by 130 employees. The Star-Telegram, or Startlegram, as the locals call it, was bought by McClatchy Co. two years ago. It's been downhill ever since.

McClatchy Co. also owns the Tacoma Tribune. Lulu told me the Tacoma Tribune shrunk on Monday too. From my reading experience, the Tacoma Tribune is a much better paper than the Startlegram. Takes way longer to read, because there is way more to read, in a paper in a city of 200,000, where the Star-Telegram is in a city of almost 700,000. But with a lot less readers. And a smaller paper.

On Monday, McClatchy Co. cut about 1,400 jobs from its 30 papers.

The Star-Telegram is going to increase its full subscription rates by $1.50 to $17.50 a month. The Star-Telegram says this monthly rate is less than other major Texas newspapers, like the newspapers of Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin. Uh. Maybe those newspapers cost more and that cost is justifiable because you get way more of a newspaper.

With the Star-Telegram it's just like what I read today that Kellogg's is going to do with their cereal boxes, as in put less cereal in the box, but charge the same. The Star-Telegram has been putting less news in their box and charging the same. Now they are going to be putting less news in their box. And charging more.

But. I don't think they'll be charging me more. I'm thinking I'm about done with the Star-Telegram and it's time for it to go bye-bye from my morning doorstep. I won't pay more for less.

Fat Americans & the Strategic Fat Preserve

This blogging is part of my ongoing attempt, in my own small, itsy bitsy way, to encourage Americans, or at least the 3 who read this blog, to draw down on the Strategic Fat Preserve by eating less.

I came across an interesting Newsgroup posting by an American who had visited Europe and was shocked by how skinny the Europeans are. I'll copy that below.

But, first I need to tell you that that is Gar the Texan in the photo, in Booger Red's Saloon in the Fort Worth Stockyards, having a Buffalo Butt beer with his wife, Madlen. Gar the Texan met Madlen in Germany. When I met Madlen she was a thin, beautiful young thing. Now, after just a short exposure to both America's food culture and Gar as a husband, the dear girl has greatly contributed to the Strategic Fat Preserve by becoming one of the Balloon People. Shocking.

And now the Newsgroup posting:

"After 17 days, 3600 miles, and 10 countries later, we returned home, and the first thing we noticed was how many fat people there were in North America, compared to Europe. Even in the Bavarian Alps region, an area noted for jolly chubby Germans, the % of fat people was not even close to the average American town/city... At breakfast, we noticed that our fellow travellers, all European, never took more than they needed... a croissant, an egg, just enough till lunch...the portions at the restaurants were not as big, the meat cuts at the supermarkets were smaller...but still, everyone looked so healthy and slim!!! In fact, I think they quietly shoot ugly people in Europe...everyone looked so damn good! In fact, the only fat people we saw were...well...American tourists pouring out of a bus, loud enough to be heard in Mosquito Neck, Iowa (a really really small place) (grin)"

Durango Texas Comment: Regarding the Newsgrouper's comment that he thought "they quietly shoot ugly people in Europe." It's a little known bit of history that, in addition to the known victims the Nazis sent to Death Camps in Hitler's attempt to creat a Master Race of Aryan Perfection, ugly people were also sent to the death camps. I don't know how Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Goring or Joesph Goebbels escaped that fate.

Read the Newsgroup Posting in its entirety here. The writer also comments about how liberated Europeans are in other areas, as compared to us repressed, unliberated Americans.

Eleanor Roosevelt, Joe Lash & J. Edgar Hoover

That image you see on the left is from Eleanor Roosevelt's FBI files. If you click on it and are able to read the small print, you'll have read the short version of what I'm blogging about.

The FBI had over 3,900 pages of files on Eleanor Roosevelt, forced free by the Freedom of Information Act. This is one of the largest collection of files ever made by the FBI on an American citizen, let alone a First Lady. These files were compiled by the FBI, mostly at the behest of what we now know was a detestable little cross-dressing creature, known as J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover ran the FBI, like a dictator, from its founding, in 1935, til his death in 1972.

Hoover was able to last at his position through President after President, til he met his match in Nixon, by compiling dossiers of info on anyone he wanted to have influence over. Presidents were sort of scared of J. Edgar Hoover. And with good reason.

I just finished a book called Roosevelt's Secret War, by Joseph E Persico. FDR did not care for J. Edgar. But he found him useful.

Eleanor Roosevelt befriended a young man named Joe Lash, who was 25 years her junior. There were no allegations of anything improper in this relationship. Til J. Edgar saw an opportunity. The First Lady and Joe Lash were in Chicago at a hotel. They stayed in adjoining rooms. The FBI had Joe Lash under surveillance, I don't remember why. A lot of people were watched by the FBI during WWII. Sort of like what goes on now, during our less sensible war, under our less sensible President.

So. J. Edgar had those hotel rooms bugged. J. Edgar heard something useful to his purposes, recorded from that hotel room. He felt he had to get the info to the President somehow, in a way that sort of kept his hands clean. J. Edgar had had clashes with the First Lady. She was on his enemies list.

So, a report found its way to the President which contained the info that a microphone planted in the room had recorded the clear indication that Mrs. Roosevelt and Lash engaged in sexual intercourse during their hotel stay. Mrs. Roosevelt was called into the conference, confronted with the charge, which resulted in a terrific fight between the President and Mrs. Roosevelt.

FDR sent orders to have Lash sent outside the United States within 10 hours.

Now. Here's the bad part. What really happened was J. Edgar's microphones had caught Joe Lash making whoopee with a married lady, 2 weeks after he'd been in that hotel with Mrs. Roosevelt.

Nothing untoward was recorded between Mrs. Roosevelt and Mr. Lash. It is believed J. Edgar Hoover was fully aware of the truth. But saw an opportunity to do some dirty manipulating.

To what gain, I can't fathom. J. Edgar Hoover kept these secret files in his possession til his death. I don't know if the goal for his little dirty trick was to make Mrs. Roosevelt think he was a powerful foe, not to be crossed. Or if it was to ingratiate himself, somehow, with FDR. Or both.

Who knows? But, what I found interesting is our nation has always seemed to be quite a roller coaster of dicey doings that aren't pretty at times.

J. Edgar Hoover was one twisted sister.

We're Storming in North Texas Today

A couple hours ago WeatherBug went off with a warning of incoming. Then the radio said a powerful storm was advancing on the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex from the north. And was moving fast. At that point in time the sky was mostly clear with little wind.

A couple minutes later, though it was totally calm, the power went out. And stayed out for quite awhile. By the time the power came back on, the storm was here. Cloudy and very windy. But the power stayed on.

The best part of this storm is it had been hot, as in it'd gotten to 90 this morning. By the time I sat outside on the balcony, enjoying the wind and taking the above picture, the temperature had dropped to goose bump producing temps, as in the low 70s. Brrrr.

There is supposed to be fresh incoming, later this afternoon, with falling wet stuff. It's nice having the A/C off for a bit.

And that's your weather report for the day from North Texas. Meanwhile, up in Tacoma, at this point in time, it is cloudy and 56. That is Super Brrrrr!

ABC's The Bachelorette 4 & Me

Go here for this morning's blogging about last night's Bachelorette final episode.

Last night I was tired and in a foul mood. I needed mindless, stupid, escapist television to put my mood in a better place. So, I decided, no matter how boring or appalling I found it, I was going to watch an entire episode of The Bachelorette.

I did not know, at the time, this was a 2 hour commitment, with the first hour called "DeAnna Tells All." I didn't want to know all. I don't remember much of that hour. My mind must have wandered. I do remember they went to Vail, Colorado to visit the only married couple to result from one of these shows. The husband part of this pair did not seem a happy fellow. And the skin all around his eyes was an odd shade of blue. I don't think it was eye shadow. His name is Ryan, the wife's name is Trista. I've seen this pair on TV before.

And then the second hour began. There are 6 potential husbands remaining. In this episode she must get rid of 2 and then next week take the other 4 to their hometowns to meet their friends and family. Most of the conversation on the show revolved around DeAnna's overarching concern regarding those visits.

The show started with the Outhouse boys being let out and with everyone taken to Palm Springs for a week of heavy dating.

I read someone describe this DeAnna person as having the personality of a gnat. I get what they mean now. If, of all the video footage they must have filmed, if what they show is the best they had to work with, well, that's just sad.

I've seldom listened to so many stilted conversations. She's so earnest about her search for a husband. It's a process, we hear again and again. That takes 4 weeks. You develop a lifelong relationship, in 4 weeks, with cameras recording your meetings with your potential mate.

One of the ones she booted she first took on a ride up the Palm Springs Tramway. They had dinner outside in the cold and a lot of stilted conversation where he, whatever his name was, professed his growing feelings for her, now that they've finally been alone. Except for the camera crew.

She took another guy on a very weird date. I remember his name. Jeremy. A very boring lawyer from Dallas, who claims to work til 10pm every night, yet still finds time to hit the gym, what appeared to be excessively, as he looked like a skinny Schwarzenegger. Is a guy who works til 10pm each night, and then hits the gym, good husband material?

So, for her date with musclebound Jeremy, DeAnna drove him, in a vintage car, to the late Frank Sinatra's house where much hilarity ensued as they badly karaoked a Frank Sinatra song. Their conversation was painful to listen to. This girl does not have the slightest bit of wit to her. And then, suddenly, they were in robes. Apparently, their swimming suits had been smuggled in. And so they swam in Frank's pool. Jeremy was a tad funny when he apologized to Sinatra for the singing and other desecrations of Frank's house.

At one point, DeAnna stuck the boys in helicopters, with one weird guy named Twille, I think, getting what they call "one on one time" with DeAnna. Unfortunately Twille has a motion sickness problem, so DeAnna spent most of the flight worrying that Twille was "gonna puke on me." He didn't. But when they landed he couldn't figure out how to open the door.

The reason for the copter ride was to get out to the desert to participate in one of DeAnna's favorite things. Riding an ATV. She was a real wild woman at it. She was not impressed with how wussy some of the guys were, but was impressed with how masterful a short, professional snowboarder was, named, I think, Jesse. She was not impressed with what a weeny Twille was on the ATVs. So, he got the boot.

Regarding Jesse, later, now slightly smitten with him due to his ATV riding skills, back at the house, sitting at a table, looking longingly into Jesse's eyes, DeAnna desperately wanted him to kiss her. He didn't. She lamented about this later. DeAnna's seems to have no problem with doing a lot of smooching, sometimes quite ardently. During the period while they were all in the yard and she got no smooch from Jesse, she did do smooching with each of the other guys, I think. The ones who weren't currently doing the smooching could see this going on. Very romantic to watch your future wife being busy with other guys. That session ended with DeAnna and Graham embracing tightly in a hammock, to the chagrin of the other boys.

And then there's this guy from Kirkland, WA, that's a suburb of Seattle. He seems like a nice guy. But he's got a 3 year old kid. I figured his wife must have died. But, no, it was a divorce. He doesn't have sole custody. Isn't that a redflag in dating world? Young divorced guy, with kid?

And then there is the guy the other guys seem to think is her favorite. His name is Graham. I read in Survivor Sucks that he has claimed to be celibate. In previews his own mother told DeAnna that Graham has never had a relationship last longer than 4 weeks. It appeared from the previews that this leads to a lot of crying and claims of betrayal. I assumed this was directed at Graham. Graham is an interesting name. It makes me think cracker.

For the booting the 6 guys arrived and were quite perplexed, because usually DeAnna is there to greet them, while a cocktail party takes place where each guy can once more make his case to stay and declare his undying love that he's found. In 3 weeks. But, DeAnna did not want to put them through this living hell, because she had made up her mind, so there was no use prolonging the agony. What a sweet, sensitive girl. The guys seemed more upset, though, that they weren't getting their usual cocktail party. And the bootees did not seem all that upset at leaving this trainwreck.

Anyway, I made it through 2 hours of this, with very little channel chasing. Now that I've seen the whole appalling thing it is more bizarre to me than ever. What sort of fool thinks this is the way to find a mate? With tv cameras running. In 4 weeks.

I'll admit the show had some amusing moments. Though I think they were all unintentional. Like the bootees were all more interested in hugging the other guys and saying fond farewells to them than they were in saying goodbye to the one who had rejected them. The host of this show is funny too, in that he seems to take it all very serious, almost like it is all part of some weird religion and he's running the church service.

I won't be watching again. Unless I'm in a very foul mood.

Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision

Yesterday, in a blogging suggesting Fort Worth build a Rotating Tower, I mentioned that a current, slow-going project, known as the Trinity River Vision was a likely boondoggle.

Mr. Anonymous commented on the blogging and the reference to "boondoggle" with this:

"The TRV is crucial to the city's future. It's no boondoggle, and it's far more than what you're describing. It will serve as a critically important tool to give new residents an alternative to the idiotic suburban sprawl that cripples our wonderful city."

From Wikipedia, defining Boondoggle---"Boondoggle has come to refer to a government or corporate project involving large numbers of people and usually, heavy expenditure, where at some point the key operators have realized that the project is never going to work, but are reluctant to bring this to the attention of their superiors. Generally there is an aspect of "going through the motions"—for example, continuing research and development—as long as funds are available to keep paying the researchers' and executives' salaries. The situation can be allowed to continue for what seem like unreasonably long periods, as senior management are often reluctant to admit that they allowed a failed project to go on for so long. In many cases, the actual device itself may eventually work, but not well enough to ever recoup its development costs."

Note, I did not say the TRV project was a Boondoggle, I said it would likely become one. Now, why do I think this project may become a Boondoggle? Well. The proposed area is an industrial wasteland. I remember when Tacoma wanted to remove an old industrial plant from the waterfront called Asarco, it became one of the biggest Superfund pollution cleanups ever. I suspect when the bulldozers begin to do their thing and testing of the soil is done, bad things are going to be found.

Another reason I think this is a likely Boondoggle is originally the plan did not call for a flood diversion channel. That was added on so as to justify getting Federal money for the project. The Trinity River flooded badly at some point in the 1950s. After that, dam-like dikes were built to stop that sort of flood from happening again. Now those dam-like dikes are to be taken down due to the diversion channel supposedly being able to handle an epic flood.

Another reason I think this may turn out to be yet one more Fort Worth Boondoggle is I've seen so many since I've been here. The Sante Fe Rail Market Boondoggle where city planners claimed an extremely lame food court type thing was the first public market in Texas and was modeled after Seattle's Pike Place and markets in Europe. Instead it was a Boondoggle.

The Lancaster Avenue Redevelopment Boondoggle. Years ago a section of Interstate 30, that hovered above Lancaster Avenue, was removed, revealing a very run down section of highway, just south of another Fort Worth Boondoggle, that being the Convention Center, where few Conventions take place, and where a city-subsidized hotel is under construction which will likely turn into yet one more Boondoggle, when it fails to cause an increase in Convention bookings.

After the freeway came down the plans were to quickly fix up Lancaster Avenue, with landscaping. But for years it remained a heavily weeded eyesore. In the past year there has been some improvement. But there are still none of the promised restaurants or flurry of other development, except for converting an old building into lofts.

The whole Cabela's deal is sort of a Fort Worth Boondoggle.

The city of Fort Worth taking over the failed Mercado in the Stockyards zone is pretty much a Boondoggle.

So, it's no mystery to me why I think this Trinity River Vision may turn out to be yet one more Boondoggle. Mr. Anonymous said the vision is far more than I described. Yes, I failed to mention that part of the Visioneer's claims is that this will spur residential development, restaurants and other entertainment venues. Sort of the same stuff I read about what would happen with Lancaster Avenue and the Sante Fe Rail Market.

One good thing has been added to the Trinity River Vision, that being sprawling the project all the way to Gateway Park and restoring wetlands.

Now, I really hope the Trinity River Vision does not turn out to be a Boondoggle, I really do. But when you don't put such a thing to a vote of your citizens, when the person in charge of the project is the son of the Congresswoman who represents Fort Worth (this is what is known as nepotism), when you add bogus elements (an unneeded diversion channel), when there are great unknowns (a potential massive Superfund pollution cleanup), you've got a recipe for total Boondoggle.

Or so it would seem to me.

Fort Worth's Rotating Tower

One of beautiful Fort Worth's identity problems stems from the fact that nothing in Fort Worth creates an iconic image that the rest of the nation or world sees and instantly knows it's Fort Worth. No Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Hollywood Sign, Reunion Tower, Riverwalk, Space Needle, Washington Monument, Eiffel Tower, you get the idea.

Fort Worth currently has this likely boondoggle called the Trinity River Vision that copied a bigger vision in Dallas that the citizens of Dallas got to vote on, but which was rammed through in Fort Worth by the Ruling Junta, without the good citizens of Fort Worth getting to vote on the destruction of the historic confluence of the West and Clear Forks of the Trinity River.

The Trinity River Vision is an un-needed diversion channel, a lake and some canals, ala San Antonio's Riverwalk and Oklahoma City's Bricktown. Trumpeted by the Ruling Junta's mouthpiece, known as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, to turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South. Without mountains. Or oceans. A Vancouver of the South, with a canal and a lake. This was the same mouthpiece which trumpeted the party line that Cabela's would be the #1 Tourist Attraction in Texas. Til a month later when one opened by Austin.

So, I'm thinking if Fort Worth is trying to make something cool that might make someone somewhere see an image of it and instantly know it's Fort Worth, well, something tall is the way to go.

This month, in that zone of over the top architecture known as Dubai, a new tower will begin construction. So far the only name I've seen attached to it is The Rotating Tower.

The Rotatating Tower is 59 floors tall. Each of the 59 floors will be able to rotate independently. In between the floors, wind turbines will generate enough power to provide the electrical needs for 10 other towers, in addition to meeting all the Rotating Tower's power needs. There will be 48 wind turbines and solar panels on the roof.

I'm thinking scrap that silly Trinity River Vision and go for something that's not been done in Texas or America before. Fort Worth has plenty of sun, with lots of wind. It's a little weak on stunning views from the windows of those rotating floors, but it's not that weak. I remember the view from the Reata, before a tornado destroyed it, was quite scenic, especially at sunset.

Below is video of Dubai's soon to be Rotating Tower.

Speed Humping in Texas

I've intended to take a picture of one of these signs for a long time. And today I finally remembered. In other locales, where I've lived, there have been lumps placed across the road with the purpose being to slow cars down.

Usually the lumps are called bumps. As in Speed Bumps. But in Fort Worth a Speed Bump is known as a Speed Hump.

I don't know why that amuses me. But it does.

This particular Speed Hump sign is near Oakland Lake Park in east Fort Worth.

National Strategic Fat Reserve

Last week I suggested that Americans fight rising food prices by cutting back on what they eat and burning up some of the calories stored by over 63% of Americans in the collective National Strategic Fat Preserve.

A couple days ago I was at Wal-Mart and was being freshly amazed at how many people, mostly female, stuff themselves into clothes that are much too small for their swollen selves. I don't know how they get some of those jeans and shorts onto their bodies. It would seem those tight tops and bottoms would be very uncomfortable.

But to me it's the aesthetics that are the main issue. Don't these people have mirrors? I've really grown weary of seeing way too many people who look like they are about to explode, with their clothes straining to keep them from doing so.

So, yesterday as I drove away from my abode I saw a group of 6 women dressed very attractively and colorful in loose fitting native type garb. They looked really good. This got me to thinking why is this not the style that plus-sized American women universally adopt? It would seem to be way more comfortable, cooler in hot weather, aesthetically pleasing and just all and all would make going to Wal-Mart a visually more pleasing experience.

The Japanese Government has grown concerned that Japan is getting too fat. An April 1 Government edict requires companies to regularly measure the waists of employees aged 40 to 74 as they diet and exercise their excess weight away.

Toshido Okada has written a Japanese best selling diet book called "Sayonara Mr. Fatty." The book is based on his experience of losing 110 pounds and no longer being a Mr. Fatty.

The percentage of overweight Japanese is way lower than the percentage of overweight Americans. We lead the world in our level of stored fat. By far. The number one thing that surprises Europeans, upon their first visit to America, is the huge number of what they call "Balloon People." They see way less "Balloon People" when they visit the West Coast. Way more when they visit the South. Way way more.

Below, a video called "Fat Americans."

It's Cooler in Washington

Biking the Trinity Trail today from Gateway Park to the Stockyards I came upon a section of the trail that had little inspirational messages chalked onto the pavement. Blurbs like "Love, Live, Learn" or "Encourage the Person Next to You."

This must have been for some race or walk charity type thing. When the trail went by a church I came to the last of the messages, that being that "You Made It!"

Only one of the chalked messages seemed out of whack, though it made perfectly good sense to me, that being the one you see in the photo, "It's cooler in Washington." I don't know what meaning of the word cooler the writer is intending. Either would be right. I suspect in this case cooler is likely a temperature comment.

Barnett Shale Drilling at the Fort Worth Stockyards

Last Sunday I blogged about biking the Trinity Trail past the Fort Worth Stockyards and being surprised to see a Barnett Shale Gas Drilling Rig so close to both the Trinity Trail and the Fort Worth Stockyards.

I've recovered from last week's sunburn, so today I decided to ride the Trinity Trail again and take my camera along.

That is the old Armor-Swift meat packing plant in the background. I call this the Stockyards Ruins. The FOX TV show, Prison Break, uses it as a prison set in Panama.

The official name of the Stockyards is Fort Worth Stockyards National Historical District. I wonder if this is the only National Historical District in America with a gas drilling rig?

Happy Father's Day

It's been over 2 years since I've seen my dad. And that was only during a 4 hour layover in Phoenix. I've not spent Christmas with my parental units since the year 2000, in Yuma. That was fun. That's Yuma in the photo. Me, mom and dad. I'm hoping to get to see Ma & Pa this summer up in Washington.

The older I get the more I realize how lucky I had it in the parental unit department. Most of what is good about my nature I got from my dad. I've never seen my dad get mad or lose his temper. I learned my style of driving from watching my dad. I am unflappable when driving. No matter where I'm driving, even notorious places, like Los Angeles, I'm always totally relaxed.

I never knew, when I was a kid, that not every family got to go on fun vacations. Usually the day school got out we'd take off on vacation. This is where I learned to like a long road trip. Me and my, at the time, 3 siblings, would beg to go to Disneyland, we wanted to see California really bad. When I was a 7th grader we took a week long trip to Oregon and Idaho. We were told if we behaved the next year we'd go to Yellowstone.

We behaved, so the next year we got to go to Yellowstone. We were told if we behaved on the Yellowstone trip the next year we'd go to California and Disneyland. We behaved.

So, when I was 13 we took our first trip to California. This remains the funnest trip I ever remember. Like I said, my dad is unflappable. We were barely 20 miles into our trip to California when something broke on the trailer. It was the trailer hitch. It'd cracked. The safety chain saved the trailer. Dad took apart the hitch. We drove into Everett. Dad found a welder to fix the break. We drove back to the trailer, dad put the hitch back together and we were back on our way. My mom and dad made this type thing totally non-stressful, like it was just part of the adventure.

In the LA zone we stayed at San Clemente State Park. Us kids were so antsy to get to the beach. We all had our little duties to do when we set up camp. We got those done quickly and found our way to the beach. We'd only been in the cold Pacific of the Washington coast. We'd not experienced warm salt water before. Or body surfing.

Disneyland was the best thing I ever remember doing as a kid.

We crammed in so much into our time in the LA zone, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Knotts Berry Farm. My dad only had 9 days off work. When it came time to head back north, mom and dad could tell us kids were sad. We made it as far as Ventura and pulled into a rest area. Mom and dad figured out they had enough money to take us to Universal Studios. And so we stayed in the LA zone one more day.

We had so much fun that we went to CA again the next year. I did not know it at the time, but that was to be my last family vacation. This is getting to me thinking back on this. That year my dad worked an extra job to save up enough so that he could take an extra week off. That year we did Tijuana and San Diego.

On our second trip to LA, our station wagon had a mechanical problem while we were in Hollywood to watch the Lawrence Welk Show get taped. We also watched The Dating Game. We were stuck in Hollywood for about 6 hours getting the car fixed. It was so much fun. My 2 older siblings and me took off exploring.

A mere 8 years later I was once more stuck in Hollywood, in the middle of the night. The clutch had gone out on my 65 Mustang after getting out of Paramount Studios about midnight after watching a taping of LaVerne and Shirley. We pushed the car to a Chevron station. And slept in the car til it opened. They were able to fix it.

My baby sister was born when I was 17, 3 years after my last family vacation. She never got to experience what it was like to be stuck in a car for thousands of miles with 3 siblings. And mom and dad.

The trips to California when I was 13 and 14 so imprinted happy memories on me that starting when I was about 20, for years, I'd go down there every year. The last time was Christmas of 1994. I remember once staying at San Clemente State Park, sometime in the 1980s, sitting on a picnic table, looking out at the Pacific and remembering back to when I was there when I was 13, with mom and dad and my brother and sisters. It made me feel sad. And alone. Sort of how I'm feeling right now.

Obama Sock Monkey

Just a couple days ago the use of the phrase "Obama's baby mama" was causing extreme umbrage and accusations of racism. And now a NAACP rep by the name of Jeanetta Williams is saying a Sock Monkey is "pure racism at its extreme."

The Sock Monkey in question is supposed to look like Barack Obama. It's made by a company in Utah. They have a website, TheSockObama.com. But if you try to go there you likely can't because when I tried I got a bandwidth exceeded message.

The Sock Monkey company has issued a sort of apology saying they "are saddened that some individuals have chosen to misinterpret our plush toy." They claim total innocence regarding any racist element being behind their motive for making the Obama Sock Monkey. They simply were sitting around and made the "affectionate observation of a charming association between a candidate and a toy we had when we were little."

The Sock Monkey people go on to say, "This is only our introductory plush toy. If we choose to move forward with a Republican candidate, we’ll begin with an elongated and slightly lumpy, fuzzy Idaho potato. Had a different Democratic candidate won the nomination, we were prepared to move forward with the cutest, fluffiest 12″ chestnut and golden-haired squirrel, with a short Farrah-like do in a brown pantsuit and call her Squirellary."

I'm thinking King George would be a good candidate for being a Sock Monkey. He certainly looks more like a monkey than Barack Obama does.

Below is a video about the Obama Sock Monkey from a Utah TV News Show.

Washington Casinos

Earlier today I blogged about the absurdity of the sanctimonious attitude, of some, towards the concept of allowing casinos to operate in Texas, a prohibition which sends untold millions of Texans across the borders of neighboring states in order to get their gambling fix.

Well, after I blogged about that I remembered I'd taken photos of the new, then, Tulalip Casino in Washington, when I was up there in, I think, 2004.

That is the Tulalip Casino in the photo. That is an Orca (Killer Whale) jumping out of the water in front of the casino. Seen anything like that in Texas?

When I remembered those photos, I thought, hmmm, I should make a Washington Casino webpage and add it to my Washington webpages. And so I did.

So, now you can go here and see some photos of the Tulalip Casino in Marysville, Washington. Now, I ask you, would this type thing be such a horrible thing to add to the Texas landscape??

Wal-Mart Not Doing Well

Several months ago I recollect blogging about Wal-Mart, with the title being "Wal-Mart Sucks." I don't remember what it was at the time that had me thinking that.

But I do remember what it is that has me thinking that lately.

A couple years ago I read Thomas Friedman's The Earth is Flat. The book is pretty much all about globalization and the new world economy. Friedman uses what he portrays as the wonder that is Wal-Mart as being a good example.

Friedman basically said something like when a bag of popcorn gets sold at any random Wal-Mart that information is sent along the supply line instantly, so that Wal-Mart can closely control its inventory.

Well. Yesterday I visited one of my nearby Wal-Marts because I wanted popcorn, among a few other things. Wal-Mart was out of the popcorn I wanted. This is not the first time. Lately I've noticed many shelves in Wal-Mart having missing items. A few weeks ago there were no large cans of tomato sauce. That was at the Dallas Cowboy Super Wal-Mart. That Wal-Mart was also out of the popcorn I wanted that day.

My closest Wal-Mart is a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. They are small grocery store type Wal-Marts. The self checkouts are often not working. Lately the store has been a mess with shelves missing a lot of items. A few days ago I was in there and the canned vegetable area looked like half the cans were missing. Most of the grocery carts have wobbly wheel issues.

And then today, the Wal-Mart visit that prompted this particularly blogging incident. I'd been hiking at Tandy Hills Park. That is close to what is known as the Beach Street Super Wal-Mart. It's a nice looking one. I was only getting a few things. I wanted a Texas Sweet Onion. The Super Wal-Mart had none. So I got a White Onion instead. I wanted to get 93/7 turkey burger to make spaghetti sauce tomorrow. They were out of it and only had 2 packages of the breakfast sausage version and 4 of the higher fat 85/15 version. So, 2 of the 5 items that I wanted, Wal-Mart did not have in stock. But I was able to get the popcorn that I wanted yesterday.

I know what you're thinking. As in quit going to Wal-Mart.

Well, it ain't like I've got a lot of good choices here. The grocery store situation here in North Texas is not what you people in other parts of the country, particularly the west coast, are used to.

I like Sprouts, but the closest one is 20 miles away. Central Market and Whole Foods are good, but also too far from here.

I've got an Albertsons across the street. In Washington Albertsons was at the bottom rung of the grocery store ladder. Here it's seen as a good grocery store. Also within walking distance is a Krogers. I've had more price errors, always in Kroger's favor, than any store I've ever been in. I've had incidents where I'm only getting 5 items and 2 of them will scan with an incorrect price.

Wal-Mart rarely has price mistakes and its usually cheaper than I expected. Maybe that's why I go to Wal-Mart. Just last week I bought apricot jam thinking it was $1.68 and it rung up at $1.18.

Gambling With Texas

There are some things that Texans accept as making sense that seem really goofy to a non-Texan. Like the Texas liquor laws. They are very convoluted. I live in a wet zone, next to a dry zone. Right on the border. So, I am surrounded by liquor stores.

That sort of relates to my change of subject. That being gambling in Texas. For most types of gambling Texas is a dry zone. The bordering states are wet zones.

Texas allows gambling on horses. There is a state run lottery in Texas.

In state after state the Indian Nations have won court battles giving them the right to open casinos. But in Texas, the few Indians who were not run out of the state opened a couple casinos, but Texas successfully shut them down.

A few years back a Wal-Mart in Denton, Texas was doing a fun thing for seniors. As in they ran a freebie bingo game with prizes, like bananas and boxes of Depends. The state shut down the bingo game for violating the gambling laws. I don't remember if any of the elderly were arrested.

Ever so often a Texas politician will try to get casino gambling legalized in Texas, to no avail. I don't quite understand what the aversion to casinos is. Maybe Texas is being kind to Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico, knowing if casinos were legalized in Texas it would devastate the economies of those states.

A lot of money flows from Texas to the riverboat casinos across the border in Shreveport and Bossier City. Riverboat casinos? Well, it isn't just Texas that is convoluted about how they go about things. In Louisiana it was decided that somehow gambling was less sinful if it took place on a boat that could float away if need be.

Oklahoma allowed casinos a few years back. They are sort of pseudo casinos with make believe slot machines that I don't quite understand. New Mexico has real casinos that don't have to float.

When I was younger and living in Washington it was a fun thing to go to Reno, Nevada. Back then Nevada seemed so different from the rest of America. And then the Indian Tribes won the right to open casinos in all the states, except Utah, that surround Nevada. Now, when I'm in Tacoma, there are 2 Nevada quality casinos to play in. With real slot machines. That are actually entertaining. Like this giant Monopoly game one that plays like the real Monopoly game with giant dice spinning over head. Lulu and I somehow figured out how to regularly come out ahead on the Monopoly game. Lulu told me a new casino is under construction in Tacoma that will replace the Muckleshoot Casino as the state's biggest. Their seafood buffet is a good thing. The current big one in Tacoma, where I've played with Lulu, is called the Emerald Queen Casino.

Where I lived in Washington, the Skagit Valley, there are two Indian casinos, both prosperous. One run by the Swinomish Tribe with a marina and RV Park part of the casino complex, the other run by the Upper Skagit Tribe, with a large hotel. (built without government subsidy unlike what had to be done to get Fort Worth's seldom used Convention Center a hotel) A few miles south of where I lived the Tulalip Indians have built a Vegas quality casino that is quite cool. Prior to deciding the Golden Corral was the world's best buffet, Lulu thought that of the Tulalip Casino's buffet. That's the front of the Tulalip Casino with a pod of Orca Killer Whales and a giant Indian spearing a giant salmon.

Reno is on hard times due to all the west coast casinos. I think the same thing would happen to the casinos on the Texas border, if Texas were to allow casinos in Texas. All that money would stay in Texas. I think Texas is quite kind to help its neighbors like this.

Tim Russert Sudden Death

A bit over an hour ago I was in the midst of making lunch when I was informed that Tim Russert had collapsed and died at work. He was only 58. The person telling me this was quite shocked. I liked Tim Russert. He always seemed so enthusiastic and engaged. But my reaction to hearing he had died was pretty much, well, that's sad. I wasn't shocked. But I wondered what the cause of death was. He seemed like a rather robust healthy guy.

This got me thinking I've gotten pretty jaded. Since I've been in Texas I've gotten a few calls telling me a family friend or relative had died. I just sort of hear the news and don't get all mournful. Even when I got the call telling me that my grandma had died. Grandma was 94. She'd lived a good, long life.

Events in the world used to shock me. When I was younger the China earthquake would have seemed like a bigger deal. Or the current floods up north, evacuating Des Moines, Iowa is pretty major, but I've seen a lot of floods, filled a lot of sandbags.

Now it takes something catastrophic. The last time I remember being super shocked was the morning of 9/11. I got a call telling me that a plane had struck the World Trade Center. I assumed this meant the World Trade Center in Dallas, because the party calling me was in Dallas near the Trade Center. I was shocked to turn on the TV to see, within seconds, the second plane crash into the World Trade Center in NYC. I then began calling friends and relatives on the west coast to tell them to turn on their TVs, that our country was under attack.

I was a bit shocked when the Space Shuttle blew up over head and our freeway warning signs here said, "Watch for Space Shuttle Debris." I saw none. I didn't hear the explosion or see anything. Others here did.

I was shocked when Ronald Reagan was shot. I was shocked when the Challenger blew up. I had almost 2 decades of no major shock, til 9/11.

Maybe it's just getting older. People die, bad things happen, you get sort of used to it. It is sad though.

Obama's Baby Mama

Starting yesterday a brouhaha erupted over FOX News and Michelle Malkin's use of the phrase "Obama's Baby Mama." The Obama's took extreme umbrage to this.

Apparently it is current slang amongst youngsters to use the phrase "My Baby Daddy" to refer to the father of your baby, to whom you are not married.

I like the Obama's. But it seems a tad disingenuous to get all upset over someone using this phrase, because, well, Michelle Obama has used it herself.

Michelle introduced Barack to the crowd at his Senate victory celebration in November of 2004, saying something like, "I am proud to introduce the new Senator from the state of Illinois, my husband, my honey, my baby's daddy, Barack Obama!"

I guess it's offensive if you say "Baby Mama," but it's okay if you say "Baby Daddy?"

I've always had difficulty with proper etiquette.

The Real Housewives of New York City

Awhile ago Lulu asked me if I'd seen a new Bravo reality show about New York housewives. Lulu had previously liked a west coast version of this show, that being one about the Real Housewives of Orange County. Lulu was perplexed by the New York City housewives. She said they seemed like women from an alien planet, while the OC housewives seemed like people she'd met before. I guess that may be because Lulu is a west coast girl.

So, I happened upon the Real Housewives of NYC one day. I quickly got what Lulu meant.

Here's a blurb from the Bravo website about this show:

"The new series features an elite and powerful set of New York socialites as they juggle their careers and home lives with busy calendars packed with charity fund-raising galas, the social whirl of the Hamptons, and interviews for elite private schools. These driven and ambitious women show everyone what it takes to make it in the upper echelon of society, where money and status are an essential way of life."

Every time these women meet each other they do this weird kissing on both cheeks thing. Then they comment on how the other is looking real good. Over and over again. I've never seen women so obsessed over how they look. They're always saying what beautiful, strong women they are.

One is named Jill. She drags along a guy she calls her gay husband. Jill reminds me of Barbra Streisand. She is one of the two housewives who are somewhat likable. The other likable one is named Bethenny. Bethenny has daddy and men issues. But she is not married, which is confusing, since she is not a housewife. On a show about housewives.

Then there is this one named LuAnn. She's a former model married to a French Count. Which makes LuAnn a Countess. Something she never lets your forget. LuAnn and family live in NYC. But had never been to the Statue of Liberty. Which isn't all that odd. I never visited some of the tourist attractions in Washington. But what makes it odd, in this case, is a big deal was made of the Countess's family visit to the Statue of Liberty. Why? To show the kids. Why? Because the Countess said the Count's family gave the United States the Statue. No, the Count corrected the Countess, "We presented the Statue to the United States." I don't think the Countess understood the difference. France gave us the statue, the Count's family delivered it.

And then there is Ramona. She is either on medication or needs to be. Ramona makes for good TV because she seems to be a nutcase. At one point Ramona wanted to go dancing. She talked Bethenny into dancing with her. Ramona danced like a spastic stripper doing a bad imitation of Elaine on Seinfeld. Ramona goes on and on about the need to put an effort into looking beautiful. While she dresses like a slutty teenager. Which is embarrassing to her daughter.

The oddest of these women, the oddest by far, is named Alex. Alex is married to Simon. Simon is an alcoholic with the droopiest bags under his eyes I've ever seen. Simon is French, I think. He speaks with a very odd, affected accent. Alex and Simon have bred, producing this horrible little brat named Franciose. I've no idea if that is how you spell that name. It's pronounced France-wa. The other housewives advised Simon and Alex that they needed to give the kid a nickname because he's gonna get beat up a lot if he goes around calling himself Franciose. Franciose has big bags under his eyes just like his dad. I've never seen that on a kid before. Alex and Simon have a French maid who only speaks French to their kids so that they will grow up bi-lingual.

Alex and Simon live in a run down house that needs a lot of fixing up. They think they are part of New York society. On and on they go about their society connections. Simon at one point was thrilled to see his wife's back in a photo on the society page of the NY Times. Simon and Alex paid $10,000 for tickets to some season opening thing. And another 10 grand for Alex's dress. They took a limo to the show, but got stuck in traffic. They decided to hoof it. It was very amusing watching Alex in her 10K dress running to hobnob. Sadly, the hobnobbing turned out to be making eye contact with famous people, as in they later bragged about all the eye contact they made with famous people, like Jane Fonda. I'm pretty certain any eye contact was caused by this pair being such a weird looking couple.

Which leads to the most disturbing thing. During the course of the show nude photos of Alex appeared on the Internet. At the NYC Housewive's reunion show Alex was asked about the nude photos. This caused Ramona to run off the stage in horror and Bethenny to ask if the photos just showed New York or did they go all the way to Florida. Alex said they only went to New York, as in they were totally tasteful topless photos that her husband took.

Well. I have seen the photos. Not only do they go all the way to Florida, they go to South Florida, they go deep into the Everglades and all the way to Key West. The photos are gynecologically graphic. This was not a stimulating thing to see, more the opposite. I had a bad case of ED that lasted at least a week and couldn't have been helped by intravenous Viagra til the images finally faded from my memory.

There is going to be a second season of The Real Housewives of New York City. That's disturbing.

Gas Price

I very willingly admit I don't know much about a lot of things. And a lot of things confuse me. Lately I am perplexed by the constantly rising gas prices.

Sometimes I listen to Rush Limbaugh on WBAP-AM, out of Dallas, because that is the only station my cheapo headphone radio will pick up. Rush Limbaugh gets quite riled when people blame the oil companies for the rising prices. Yesterday he went on and on and on along the line of what would we do if the nice oil companies didn't supply us with gas.

I took an economics class, maybe two, in college. I did not get good grades in those classes. I did learn, though, that the price of a commodity is determined by supply and demand. If you have a high supply and low demand, the price is low. Low supply and high demand, the price is high.

I get it that China and India, with their supposedly booming economies, are sucking up a lot more of the world's oil than they did a few years ago. I believe the supply of oil being pumped has increased. Has the demand jumped by an amount that explains the price increase? How would I know? But it seems unlikely.

Rush Limbaugh thinks the oil companies deserve every penny of their multi-billion dollar profits, as do their CEO's deserve their huge salaries and bonuses. This from a man who makes over $30 million a year yapping on the radio for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, with a lot of time off. Among the many things I don't get, is if demand is outstripping supply and forcing the price to rise, how is it that the oil companies, like EXXON, report quarterly profits in record breaking amounts? Isn't that sort of capitalism run amok?

The airlines are struggling to make a profit. For some reason they can't increase their fares hugely and suddenly have quarterly multi-billion dollar profits. But, for some reason the oil companies can increase the price of their product and get away with having huge profits. The airlines need money to invest in new planes and keep their existing stock in good shape. But they struggle along, while the oil companies make record breaking profits.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the oil companies generating enough money to cover their operations, and it is the excess cash flow that is being accounted for as a profit? So, EXXON is charging Joe Driver 4 bucks for a gallon of gas. Of that, part goes to pay EXXON's cost of operation, including acquiring the oil, part goes to taxes. The rest is profit.

Doesn't that sort of indicate they've been charging a tad too much for gas and the over charging is showing up as record breaking profits?

Now, Rush Limbaugh will say that these profits are what the oil companies use to hunt for new oil, drill it, refine it and bring it to market. Well, if they are spending money on doing so, how are they reaping such huge profits? Like, in the last quarter if EXXON was plowing $8 billion into some new refineries, where are the new refineries? Isn't a profit, just that? A profit. It's not investement capital, is it? Or are they using these huge profits for something good other than plumping up stockholder's pockets? If so, why don't they let us know? Because these record breaking profits combined with record breaking prices are making people cranky.

Another thing I really don't get is how do the gas stations decide when to raise the price? In my zone there is a QT, a Chevron, a Shell, a Conoco and several other gas stations. Two days ago the QT was $3.85 a gallon, yesterday, when I bought a gallon, it was $3.89. Today I drove by QT and it is $3.95. Now, I know they did not get fresh gas trucked in 3 days in a row. Usually the Chevron is the most expensive in my zone. Today it was $3.92, making it cheaper than QT. By tomorrow I'm guessing Chevron will be back being the most expensive.

How does this work? This constant changing of the price at all the random gas stations. Do they get a call from someone telling them to up it a nickel? QT sells a lot of gas. There is a small independent station across from them. When QT goes up, the other station goes up. Why? Did the supply change? Did the demand change?

I just as well try and understand nuclear fission, or is it fusion, than try and understand how the gas pricing system works.

ABC's The Bachelorette 4 Again

Go here for this morning's blogging about last night's Bachelorette final episode.

Monday night I popped a bowl of popcorn and needed something to watch on TV. I channel chased and landed on ABC and The Bachelorette. I've mentioned previously how appallingly absurd I find these Meet a Mate Reality Shows.

My longtime reader may remember me saying I'd made it through the first 15 minutes or so of this show's premiere before my gag reflex kicked in.

So, on Monday the extremely desperate to marry, long-suffering girl named Deanna was down to 6 or 7 or was it 8 guys. During my popcorn time she was out on a double date with 2 sort of pudgy guys. They all seemed very very boring.

At the end of the double date Deanna said to one guy she can't give him a rose because she finds him unattractive. He was then banished. She may have worded it differently. Apparently one must be given a rose on this show or one is banished. Then she did the same thing to the other guy, because she also found him unattractive.

Meanwhile, back at the place where the guys are living, they all seem to be having a good time. They refer to their domicile as "The Outhouse." Later I was to learn that some guys get to live in Deanna's house while others are exiled to "The Outhouse." Now, if I were on some stupid TV show, competing for a wife and she put me in "The Outhouse," I don't think I'd wait around for the moment she decides not to give me a rose. I think I'd just go home. But not before letting her know I found her unattractive. I don't believe one needs to be a gentleman to someone who put you in an outhouse.

When I'm confused by a TV show, like the plot of LOST, I often go to this website called Survivor Sucks where erudite discussions take place on the important subject of TV shows. It is very educational.

Here are some snippets from the Survivor Sucks Bachelorette thread:

"Okay, I sort of watched and came to the conclusion that the men are more into bonding with each other than with her. Then again she has the personality of a small gnat."

"As for the guys in The Outhouse, they blab more then the girls ever do. They share every single detail of their dates. Who comforts who & when she changed to get comfy. I thought girls were supposed to be the catty ones but WOW, these guys take the cake. They even analyze personalities & possible connections."

"Ok, ladies of the D/FW area, Brian is free!!! I've never been happier for my fav not to get a rose since DeAnna just bugs the crap out of me!"

(Durango Texas talking: Oh my, apparently she booted a D/FW boy. The Star-Telegram must be crushed.)

"I think she realized that the reason Brian was closer to the guys is because he's gay. He seemed to protest too much about being 31 and unmarried."

(Durango Texas talking again: Now we learn the booted D/FW boy apparently isn't free for the ladies of the D/FW area.)

Wow! I just watched some of this crapfest online.. she is a total bore! I think in 10 years she'll be a Big Fat Greek Hausfrau. I think she wants everyone to be open because, well, there is nothing she has to offer... she is a desperate woman, wanting to get married. No interests, hobbies, career or even friends. Just family, who will clearly treat her like the Greek Goddess she is under the mistaken impression she is.

(Durango Texas talking yet again: Enough of this. I need to find something other than TV to do when I have a bowl of popcorn.)

Fort Worth and Cabela's

A few years back a business calling itself the "World's Foremost Outfitter" came calling in Fort Worth. Cabela's wanted to open a store. Like a suitor come a courting, Cabela's made all sorts of promises. And like an Old Maid desperate for company, any company, Fort Worth agreed to all sorts of tax incentives if Cabela's would call Fort Worth home.

That is the Fort Worth Cabela's above.

Fort Worth was told that their Cabela's would be the "#1 Biggest Tourist Attraction in Texas." The local co-hort in this type propaganda, known as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, repeated this nonsense ad nauseum, with the number of tourists varying between 5 to a high of 8 million.

At the same time that Cabela's was busy courting, successfully, Fort Worth, it was also courting the town of Buda, down by Austin. Also in Texas. I do not know if Cabela's ran their '"Biggest Tourist Attraction in Texas" scam, down in Austin. Austin may be a bit more sophisticated, overall, than Fort Worth. With, possibly, a more responsible newspaper of record.

I don't know why it was never mentioned in the Star-Telegram, during the courtship, that Cabela's was also building a store down by Austin. You'd think Fort Worth would feel sort of jilted.

Fort Worth ended up giving Cabela's $60 million or so in tax incentives. There were some strings attached in the pre-nup. Cabela's had to meet some performance goals. How hard could that be with those millions of customers turning this store into the #1 Tourist Attraction in Texas?

Well, Cabela's did not live up to its performance estimates and is having to give Fort Worth back a lot of money. And Fort Worth has had to come to terms with the fact that it does not have the #1 Tourist Attraction in Texas.

Cabela's does not always run their "Biggest Tourist Attraction in the State" scam on every place they want to build a store. Cabela's must do some pre-proposal research to determine the level of rubeness they are dealing with. Cabela's does always try to get tax breaks. Sometimes, like in Idaho, they are told if it doesn't economically make sense for you to open a store here without tax breaks, then don't build a store. In Idaho there are now 2 Cabela's. Neither the Biggest Tourist Attraction in the State.

Cabela's opened in Lacey, in Washington, last year. They got some small tax breaks. Cabela's did not run their "Biggest Attraction in the State" scam. They used a variant, as in Cabela's will be "One of the Biggest Attractions in the State." It's interesting how Cabela's seems to know where not to use their #1 con, knowing if they did it in some places it would make them appear like clueless, foolish snake oil selling con-men. Like when Cabela's came to a Phoenix suburb in the state that has the Grand Canyon, they did not run the same scam that worked so well for them in Old Maid Fort Worth.

That is the Lacey Cabela's, above, with the rain drenched, empty, parking lot. It does not appear near as elaborate as the Fort Worth version. At least on the outside. In Lacey, Cabela's likely had less land to work with, so there is no lake, river or waterfall. Just a wet parking lot.

Beached Whale Killed on Texas Gulf Coast

Alma, the Songbird of the South, just emailed me with a story from her zone, that being the Corpus Christi, Port Aransas zone. On Mustang Island, yesterday, beachgoers came upon a stranded 30 foot long, 10 ton sperm whale who had run itself aground on a sandbar.

Whales do this when something is badly wrong, as in an illness, or just old age. Onlookers surrounded the whale as it thrashed about. Eventually people from the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network showed up. It was decided to tranquilize the whale and then haul it to shore before euthanizing it. And then perform a necropsy to learn what was wrong with the whale.

Alma also included a link to Texans' comments about the stranded whale with Alma commenting about the comments that "some people are obviously insane."

Some of the comments-----

"Bad tomatoes?"

"Bad fillet."

"Bad sushi"

"They did not use euthanasia for the whale....they gave it tranquilizers and then bled the animal in the surf."

"They should try blowing it up like in the one video on the internet were a whale beached its self and there was no way to remove it so they used dynamite to blow it up in to smaller pieces but used to much and the whole thing just blew into a bunch of small chunks and got a whole lot of people covered in whale body parts."

"THING IS, THESE IDIOTIC SPECTATORS AND THEIR KIDS ARE STANDING TOO CLOSE TO THIS STRICKEN WHALE WHEN THEY COULD'VE GOTTEN INJURED. PARENTS, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO LEARN?"

"Under what authority exactly did the police and lifeguards have to "clear the area". If people want to take the risk of getting close to a stranded 30 foot sperm whale in a public area, they should be allowed to do so."

"LOL go play in the freeeway."

"Well, that's American's for you!"

"It was Bush and the Republicans fault!"

"Hey dudeI just wanted a few steaks for the bbq. As Homer would say "MMMMMMM Whale burgerrrrrrrr.......", the whale died, its tragic, people are curious, and if it were up to me I would have eaten him."

Obama Smoking Again

This morning I was peacefully pedaling my bike on the River Legacy Mountain Bike Trail, listening to Rush Limbaugh til my batteries wore out. But before that happened I learned that Barack Obama is back smoking again. Cigarettes.

Apparently people have been noticing him smelling of the nasty weed on the campaign trail. Today Obama told reporters in St. Louis that he's fallen off the wagon and smoked in the past months.

Obama had become a Nicorette chewer when he gave up the coffin nails after promising his wife he would do so if he ran for President. What with needing to set a good example, among other reasons.

Apparently, prior to quitting Obama had been a very heavy smoker. It is hard giving up an addiction. I'm addicted to coffee in the morning. I've tried to give it up. But then I get coffee withdrawals. So, I remain an addict. There is no Nicorette type thing for coffee addicts, as far as I know. Just de-caf.

Leavenworth and Lulu

Yesterday I mentioned Lulu and her aversion to the Washington tourist town of Leavenworth.

I got an email from one of my 2 readers asking what this Leavenworth place was that I liked and Lulu didn't.

Well. Leavenworth is a town on the east side of the Cascade Mountains in Washington state. It's located in the Wenatchee River valley at the east end of Steven's Pass, that being one of the mountain passes one drives to get over the Cascade Mountains.

Steven's Pass is very scenic. It's my favorite of the 3 main mountain passes in Washington. Mainly because Leavenworth is at one end of it.

Way back in 1962 Leavenworth had fallen on hard times. City leaders knew something had to be done or they'd end up a ghost town. So, Project LIFE (Leavenworth Improvement For Everyone) was started. It was decided to transform Leavenworth into a Disneyesque Bavarian Village.

Project LIFE succeeded far beyond anyone's expectations. Leavenworth is now busy year round, with many festivals, including the largest Oktoberfest outside of the original in Munich. I've been to the Leavenworth Oktoberfest. It is a spectacle.

The A & E Network named Leavenworth the Ultimate USA Holiday Town.

Now, a few weeks ago, Lulu was doing her Fremont Street Market and a couple from Dallas showed up at her booth. Lulu and the couple chatted and at some point the Dallas couple asked what else they should see when they were in Washington. They mentioned to Lulu that they'd heard Leavenworth was fun. Lulu told them Leavenworth was silly and not to bother, to go to see the Pacific or ride a ferry instead.

Now, when I heard that she'd told the Dallas couple this I was appalled. I mean, they are from Dallas. No matter how strong a telescope they might have they can not see a mountain from Dallas. Texas has saltwater and ferries. But there is nothing in Texas like the Cascade Mountains, Steven's Pass or Leavenworth.

Leavenworth has fun shops, restaurants, brew pubs, bakeries and even a Bavarian style Starbucks. That's what the photo is at the top, the Leavenworth Starbucks. That's Wanda and Wally having expensive coffee. We went to Leavenworth when I visited a few years back. Prior to the coffee we'd been to a real good outdoor hamburger grilling place.

Click here to see a multi-day fast forward look at Leavenworth's main street.

Go here for a look at Leavenworth and the Cascade Loop.

Go here for other pics I took of Leavenworth with Wanda and Wally.

Go here for the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce website for good photos and video. And where to eat and sleep info.

Go here for the Leavenworth Oktoberfest website.

Go here for the City of Leavenworth website.

Lulu & the Golden Corral

My dear ol' friend, Lulu, up in Tacoma, has always had impeccably refined tastes when it comes to most things, especially food. She has the snout of a truffle sniffing pig when it comes to finding a random good place to eat when in some random town on a road trip.

Lulu is not snooty or pretentious when it comes to food stuff. It just has to be good. Over the years Lulu has become somewhat of a buffet aficionado. I've lost count of the number of buffets we've done in Vegas over the years. Usually 2 a day during a Vegas stay.

On our first group visit to Vegas, Lulu's first husband, Pulitzer winning photographer, Geff, dubbed us Buffet Sluts after one particularly spectacular stuffing at the original Luxor buffet, during which one member of our party had so overstuffed himself that he began to sweat profusely. That buffet has since gone to the basement in both meanings of that word. Soon after Geff labeled us Buffet Sluts he started one of his many Cool Site of the Day websites. It was about mountain bikiing. He called it Mudsluts. This has since become the term Pacific Northwest mountain bikers are known by.

This past weekend Lulu was in Spokane for something called The Farm Chick Antique Show. Lulu is a well-known Pacific Northwest antique artsy person. So, the Farm Chicks invited her to their show. You can see Lulu at the Farm Chicks Show by going to her blog.

Lulu blogged from the Farm Chick Show. In her first blog from the show she said something that shocked me, shocked me, I tell you, totally shocked me. When I read it I feared Lulu had had some sort of breakdown.

On the first night of the show, Lulu went out for dinner at a buffet. The Golden Corral. A franchise operation that is all over the country. I've been to the Golden Corral a few times. I don't care for it.

But, Lulu has declared the Golden Corral in Spokane to be the best buffet she has ever been to. In her blog she said it was last meal on earth worthy. When I talked to Lulu on the phone she waxed poetic about the Golden Corral's banana pudding with vanilla cookies. That overly sweet dessert is a staple here in the South. I'd not had it prior to my exile here.

Lulu told me she'd make the 500 mile roundtrip to Spokane just to eat again at the Golden Corral. She threatened to take me there when I'm up north this summer. I'd only agree to that if Lulu agreed to go to Leavenworth. Lulu has some very disturbing ideas about Leavenworth. Leavenworth is one of Washington's top tourist attractions. But its charms, for reasons unfathomable to me, are lost on Lulu. I've always liked Leavenworth.

Distorted thinking regarding Leavenworth, and now this Golden Corral thing. I am in fear of what else I'm going to be shocked by, via Lulu, when next I see her.

Dennis Kucinich: Impeach Bush

Last night Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush. Each of Kucinich's articles seemed much more serious than the Articles of Impeachment that were brought against Bill Clinton.

Or even Richard Nixon. No one died due to the supposed high crimes and misdemeanors of Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon. Or Andrew Johnson.

It's long been a mystery to me why there have not been any impeachment moves against our Dear Leader. Til now. Or at least investigations. We suffered through laboriously long investigations into Watergate, Iran-Contra and Monicagate. But there's been no special investigation, with live TV coverage, into Bush's various shenanigans. Why?

Also a mystery to me is why it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that Kucinich's Impeachment attempt will go nowhere. Granted he is a bit of a goofball. But at times he can make a lot of sense. Like with his Articles of Impeachment thing.

Below is video of Kucinich introducing his Articles of Impeachment to the House of Representatives.

Gennifer Flowers & Paula Jones

That's a pair of names that belong in the last century. Unfortunately they resurfaced this morning. The pair of Bill Clinton's ex's have teamed up in a business venture.

They are offering Internet users graphic details of their Bill Clinton encounters for a mere $1.99 per viewing of one of their videos describing their rollicking times with Hillary's first hub.

Speaking of Hillary. Yesterday I came upon some YouTubery about Hillary. It is so easy to forget the many Clinton scandals. This YouTube video is about that long ago scandal regarding Hillary and Hollywood and a massive fundraiser whilst she was still First Lady and running for Senator from New York.

The video is in 2 parts. You have to get a couple minutes in for it to get interesting. It starts off sort of goofy. This video sort of relates to the most recent Clinton dust-up, that being a week or so ago when Bill got all huffy over an article in Vanity Fair.

United States Flag and Religion Day

I've had me a day so far. I'm sort of recovering from pedaling 20 miles yesterday and ending up with my first bad sunburn in a long time.

I thought a nice peaceful non-hilly walk would do my aching aging bones good. About 3 miles from my abode there is a nice park called Indian Village Park. So named because before the invaders ran them out of their town it was the site of one of the biggest Indian Villages on the continent.

But, before getting to Indian Village I had to go to the Post Office. And was surprised to see the state of the flag waving in the wind. That's it in the photo. This was at the Handley Post Office. Aren't there some rules and regulations regarding displaying a flag? Or maybe this tattered flag has some significance of some sort.

I'd not been to Indian Village in quite a while. It's the time of year when it's a lush jungle, with really big trees. I saw my first armadillos in a long long time, 2 little ones. My last armadillo sighting was a couple years ago at River Legacy Park when in one day I saw 3 separate sets of baby armadillos. I used to see armadillos at River Legacy all the time, but ever since a huge flood a couple years ago I've seen no armadillos and way fewer snakes.

Right after I saw the armadillos I saw this older lady in a moo-moo heading towards me. She asked if I'd seen 3 boys with fishing poles. I said no, but I just saw 2 armadillos.

She asked if I walked here often. I said no. She asked what parks I go to. She liked learning that River Legacy now has a mountain bike trail. She said something about praying about the blessing of taking her kids walking at River Legacy.

And then she asked if she could give me her testimony. This is only the second time this has happened to me in the Buckle of the Bible Belt. The other time was Gar the Texan giving me his religious testimony. But his was of a different sort, I suspect, than the type testimony the moo-moo lady wanted to give me.

I indicated I did not want to hear her testimony. She then asked if she could say one verse to me. I said okay. She then said that bible verse you hear all the time that goes something like "God sacrificed his son so anyone who believed in him would have everlasting life." I wanted to ask what sort of father would do such a thing? And if Jesus didn't really die and was back alive and in heaven 3 days after being murdered, then, really, where is the sacrifice? And why does believing this somehow give you everlasting life?

As I started to walk away the moo-moo lady insisted I take two little pamphlets. One is called "THIS WAS YOUR LIFE." The other is "DO YOU KNOW FOR CERTAIN THAT YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE AND THAT YOU WILL GO TO HEAVEN WHEN YOU DIE!"

That second one is disturbing for asking a question, but ending the sentence with an exclamation point.

I thought I'd made my escape, quickly crossing the bridge. But the moo-moo lady started hollering at me, something about a bird. So, I turned around and headed back towards her. She was pointing at something, but all I saw was a turtle. And then the bird appeared. It was very exotic looking. I'd not seen one before. Then the bird flew away. I started thinking the moo-moo lady has strange powers.

She then told me she'd seen a mountain lion just ahead. She said people didn't believe her. I told her I believed her because I've seen one too. She pointed to a bench and said that's where it happened, that she was kneeling and praying and looked up from her praying to see a mountain lion 6 feet away. She started screaming "Save me Jesus." The mountain lion backed away.

The moo-moo lady went home and called the police. Animal control was sent. They found signs of a mountain lion. Later that day a Dallas news helicopter got footage of the mountain lion near River Legacy Park. I remember when this was in the news.

The moo-moo lady was really easy to listen to with a classic lilting Texas accent. If only she didn't mix in that religious stuff.

Biking the Trinity Trail in Fort Worth

I have not been on my bike much in the past several months. I've been enjoying hiking at Tandy Hills Park instead. But this week I rode the mountain bike trail for 11 plus miles at River Legacy Park for the first time in a long time. New sections of trail have been added. It was all in the best shape I'd ever seen it.

I felt so good after biking at River Legacy that today I decided to pedal another trail I used to do all the time, but have not in months. That being the Trinity Trail in Fort Worth. There are 30 some miles of paved trails along side the Trinity River in Fort Worth.

I started my ride at Gateway Park. Gateway Park is where Fort Woof is located. Gateway Park is on the north side of I-30, directly across from Tandy Hills Park. Gateway Park supposedly has a new mountain bike trail. I pedaled all over, but was unable to find it. So I hit the Trinity Trail. That's it above where you see a bridge atop a dam. The trail crosses these type dams in several places.

Usually I pedal about 7 miles, turning around when I am in view of the Fort Worth Stockyards. But today was being a lotta fun. A heavy wind pushing me had me sailing over 25mph a couple times. I knew I was gonna pay for it when I headed back into the wind.

Usually I see no one on this section of the Trinity Trail. But today I saw at least 6 other bikers. And two walkers. But they were homeless people under bridges. The homeless people are usually the only humans I see on this section of the Trinity Trail. The section that runs from downtown, west, is where you'll usually see humans. And no homeless people.

I saw 2 vexing things during my ride, other than the 2 homeless people. The first one was right after I pedaled under I-35 I saw something new. A shelter with a bench and 3 drinking fountains, one on ground level for dogs, a mid-level one for kids and a taller one for bigger people. But the oasis turned out to be a mirage. As in the water fountains produced no water. I could have used some more water. When I went by the mirage on my way back there were a pair of bikers pushing on the buttons trying to get water. The City of Fort Worth has been having some budget woes. Maybe they didn't pay the water bill.

The other vexing really surprised me. When I got in view of the Stockyards, on the other side of the river, not far from that side of the river's trail, a gas drilling company rig is in full operation. I'd not seen this brand before. FGDC, I think were the initials, but my bad eyes could not read what the F word was. I know what my F word was at that moment, though.

This was at the 7 mile mark, or so. Usually this is when I turn around. But I saw construction cranes where the new downtown Tarrant County Community College is being built. When I last saw the construction zone they were cutting into the Trinity Bluff, shoring it up with steel and cement. And now the building is well underway. From what I saw I think this is going to be a real good addition to downtown Fort Worth.

I've always been impressed by the Main Street Bridge that crosses the Trinity River, connecting downtown to the Stockyards and beyond. There is an historical marker near the bridge on the opposite side from where I was. I can't remember what makes it historical, but I think it was something like being the first bridge to use concrete arches. Or something like that. I was too worn out at the 10 mile mark to add another 1 to get to the other side to read the historical marker.

But what struck me today is it is sort of sad that few see this bridge. The Trinity Trail runs under it, but no road comes into view of it. So, those Texans who are constitutionally restricted to walking distances no greater than 10 feet, have never seen this bridge. One troubling thing I noticed. One of the support trusses attached to one of the arches, was cracked. If this were an earthquake zone that would be worrisome.

That is the Main Street Bridge in the photo, just part of it. That is the arch that has the cracked truss on top of it. That is Radio Shack's Headquarters on the other side of the arch. It's a scenic spot. That few see. I think when the new TCC campus opens up, many more people will get an appreciation of this bridge. And this section of the Trinity Trails.

So, I ended up biking about 20 miles. There is little shade and I ended up being out in the sun for about an hour and a half, shirtless. So, I have my first minor sunburn in a long long while.

Dallas vs. Fort Worth

This is a totally D/FW centric blogging, so read no further if anything D/FW centric vexes you.

So, it's been my observation during my time here that there is a weird one-sided rivalry that has gone on for years, with many Fort Worthers feeling like their town is overshadowed by Dallas. Because, well, Fort Worth is overshadowed by Dallas.

You often hear odd remarks about Dallas coming out of Fort Worther's mouths, as if Dallas is some sort of evil place best avoided. I documented some of this some time ago. You can read that here. Some of it is pretty amusing.

Well. Yesterday I came upon something interesting that likely will vex those Fort Worthers who are Dallas obsessed.

On my Eyes on Texas website I have a page about the Fort Worth Stockyards. It is usually my 4th or 5th most visited webpage. I've long known it Googles well, as in, usually somewhere in the top 5, when someone searches for "Fort Worth Stockyards."

I was checking on my webstats. I get a list of what search strings people are using that have them ending up on my website. I'd noticed before, but thought nothing of it, that one of the top search strings is "Dallas Stockyards."

Fort Worth Stockyards does not show up on my top 20 list of search strings.

So. I Googled "Dallas Stockyards" and what do my surprised eyes see? My webpage Googles #1. Then I noticed the number of results for the Dallas Stockyards search was 379,000.

I then Googled "Fort Worth Stockyards" and found that search string brought up only 122,000 results with my Fort Worth Stockyards webpage being #4.

I don't really know what to conclude about this except that it would seem a lot of people associate Forth Worth's actual one and only unique thing, that being the Stockyards, with Dallas.

For a variety of reasons, some notorious, Dallas is imprinted on the world's consciousness. The Dallas skyline is iconic, recognized all over the world, due to a TV show's opening credits and that show for a long period of time being the world's most popular TV show. Nothing about Fort Worth is recognized all over the world, or even the majority of the nation.

The only thing in Fort Worth that even remotely might be considered iconic, that might be recognized by some people in the rest of the nation, is the Fort Worth Stockyards sign above Exchange Avenue.

It's sort of sad that apparently a lot of people associate Fort Worth's only possible iconic image with Dallas and Google for info about it because they think they want to visit the Dallas Stockyards.

D-Day Anniversary & Google Earth

Yesterday, if my math is correct, and I admit my math is often faulty, was the 64th Anniversary of D-Day.

I knew a computer whiz once, named Dale, who had no idea what things like D-Day or Pearl Harbor Day were. I found that appalling.

So, for you Dale's out there, here is the short version of what D-Day is.

Way back in the last century there was this massive war caused by Germany and Japan going nuts and violently taking over other countries. This became known as World War II.

A couple years after starting the war, Germany tried to take over Russia, which was then known as the Soviet Union.

But that invasion didn't go so well for Germany. The Soviets began pushing the Germans back to Germany where they belonged. The dictator of the Soviets was an evil man named Stalin. Stalin wanted his Allies, those being, mainly, America and England, to open a second front in the west.

The Allies took awhile to agree on the idea of how to open a western front. Roosevelt, who was the American President, was gung-ho on the idea of taking on the Krauts in France, but the English leader, Churchill, feared a bloodbath.

By 1944 the Soviets were rapidly advancing on Germany. The Americans and Brits knew they had to move fast so as to prevent the Soviets from taking over all of Germany. And so on June 4, 1944 the largest amphibious invasion in history began with landings on the beaches of Normandy. Normandy is a province of France. France is a country that Germany invaded in 1940. By the end of D-Day the Allies had control of the beaches and were moving inland.

The Germans were soon in full retreat on all fronts.

In a coincidence, regarding yesterday, and D-Day. I am currently reading a very good book by Joseph E. Persico called Roosevelt's Secret War: FDR and World War II Espionage. On the anniversary of D-Day I was at the point in the book were Roosevelt had changed his mind on who was to be the General in charge of Operation Overlord, that being the code name for D-Day. Roosevelt decided to have Eisenhower run the show instead of General George Marshall.

And, on another D-Day note. Yesterday I went to the beaches of Normandy. I visited via Google Earth. If you've not installed Google Earth on your computer, you really should. It's free. Go here and get it. Yesterday I also went to Baghdad. That was very interesting. You can check out the Green zone and go all over Baghdad. I had no idea there we so many cool looking buildings in Baghdad.

Google Earth has a lot of features packed into it. Like if you go to Mount Rushmore an audio tour starts up. Some areas are done in extremely high resolution. Like I can almost read the license plate on my vehicle. If you've not been to Mt. St. Helens, go via Google Earth. Las Vegas is another locale that is in extremely high resolution. You can get down to street level and see exactly what it is like to vist Vegas. I'd not been to Disneyland since Disney California opened, so that was interesting to see how that has all changed.

National Donut Day

Good Gawd. Not barely a minute after I write longwindedly about the need to go on a National Diet I learn that today is National Donut Day! The most obese nation on earth needs a day to celebrate the donut!?

I can see where it'd make sense if the state I am in had a State Donut Day. I've never seen so many donut stands as there are here. There seem to be more donut stands here in Texas than the ridiculous number of espresso joints all over the Seattle zone.

Okay, I'll admit I've had a donut or two in my day. I've actually had more donuts than espresso. I never jumped on the espresso bandwagon. I hated all that coffee talk, did not want to learn that lingo just to order a cup of coffee. When Krispy Kreme arrived with much brouhaha and huge crowds, in Arlington, well, I had to taste what the fuss was about. Krispy Kremes are good, especially when hot out of the fryer.

But, I'll eat, at most, 2, of the overly sweet things. I've seen obese people sitting inside Krispy Kreme eating one after another. And taking a couple boxes home with them. I think donuts should carry a federally mandated warning, just like cigarettes do. Because, it seems obvious from all the porkers wolfing them down that they don't know the health downside from consuming so many empty calories of sugar and fat.

Is there a National Cigarette Day? I guess I could look it up. How about a National All You Can Eat Buffet Day? Is there a National Do Nothing But Sit On Your Butt Day? I'm guessing not. Is there a National Beer Day? There should be. I like beer. And I don't have a beer gut. Or a beer butt, either.

I guess I should walk across the street to my local Krispy Kreme pusher, Albertsons, and get me a donut to celebrate this National Holiday.

Food Costs, Gas Costs & Obesity

I grow tired of hearing the constant lamenting of rising food and gas prices. Not that I don't feel the pain. It's just that rather than whine, I don't know why people just don't do something about it if money is getting tight due to having to spend more on food and gas.

Take gas, for instance. There are some places you absolutely need to drive to, you can't avoid it. Other drives you can avoid. Like I used to think nothing of driving 50 miles round trip to Cedar Hills State Park in Dallas to go on an 8 mile mountain bike ride. I've done that dozens of times during my exile in Texas.

When the drive to Cedar Hills came to cost about 10 bucks in gas, that just seemed a really stupid thing to do. That and I used to buy an annual park pass, which I no longer buy, saving another $70, or whatever it costs now.

I'm pretty certain I'm spending way less on gas now than when it cost $1.29 a gallon. I used to like to drive up to Lake Grapevine, once more about 50 miles roundtrip, to hike or bike at Rockledge Park. Then I discovered Tandy Hills Park, with greatly superior hiking, only 4 miles from my abode.

Which leads me to the food cost increase.

Well.

It has been my observation, particularly here in Texas, that America could stand to go on a National Diet. There is way too much obesity. I saw a hugely fat little kid yesterday, swimming. To me letting your kid get that fat is a form of child abuse.

I've never been much of a junk fooder. But I do like cheese, the sharper the better. When cheese prices spiked I quit buying it, just on the principle of it. My own cooking is usually healthier than eating in a restaurant, so I do that seldom. It's way cheaper to eat your own cooking.

If the chubby people would cease going to fast food joints, or cut way back, they'd save money, calories and gas.

If the chubby people would get out of their car and walk a bit more they'd burn more calories and less gas.

I see fat people at the Super Wal-Mart riding in the motorized carts, due to being unable to walk, due to their heft, with their cart filled with awful stuff like packaged donuts, candy, bags of chips, frozen breaded chicken parts, frozen corn dogs, bacon, ice cream and assorted other things that you shouldn't be eating if you're obese, with no sign of fresh fruit, vegetables or anything nutritious and lo-cal in the cart.

It is my totally based on nothing guess that America could stand to cut back on what it collectively eats by 30% or more. If demand for food goes down, the price will go down, just like the price of gas would go down if the demand for gas dropped.

Other nations do not have the advantage that America has in this area. The American people are together carrying millions of tons of stored calories, sort of a food version of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

So, now, in this time of crisis, it is time for America to draw on its Strategic Fat Reserve and go on a National Diet. This will bring down the price of food, the price of gas and the price of health care. It's a win, win, win.

Stuck: The Movie and Fort Worth

I sort of recollect mentioning an oddity which regularly occurs in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, one where if there is even the most remote of a connection between Forth Worth and someone in the news, or on TV, the Star-Telegram will let you know.

Well, today there was an example of this that I would have expected the Star-Telegram to ignore, as it is one of those connections that you really don't want to have associated with your town.

A movie named Stuck opens today. Stuck is about a woman who runs into a homeless man with her car, impaling him in her windshield. She then drives home, parks in her garage, leaves the man bleeding and dying while she goes in the house to make whoopee with her boyfriend.

Stuck is set in Providence, Rhode Island and filmed in Canada.

And now the Fort Worth connection. On October 26, 2001, a woman in my Fort Worth neighborhood named Chante Mallard rammed into a homeless man named Gregory Biggs, impaling his head and torso in her Chevy Cavalier windshield. Mr. Biggs is believed to have lived for 3 days, stuck in the windshield while Ms. Mallard made whoopee with her boyfriend.

The Stuck movie version of this crime leaves out a lot of what Ms. Mallard did. The Star-Telegram's review of this movie made the Fort Worth connection in the first sentence, as in "Loosely based on an incident that occurred several years ago in Fort Worth." They might have added, being more true to the paper's usual form, that Ms. Mallard was born and raised in Fort Worth, in addition to committing her heinous crime in Fort Worth. I don't know where she is serving her jail time.

Go here to read a New York Times article about the 'incident' that Stuck is based on.

Gas Prices. What Are You Going To Do?

A cottage industry seems to have sprouted up giving people advice about what to do, travel-wise, what with gas costing a little more than last summer. Like here in the D/FW Metroplex, in the local papers and on the radio, I've heard advice to stay close to home and visit the local attractions.

And then a few days ago in the New York Times I saw a pretty goofy variant under the title, "The 31 Places to Go This Summer." The article starts off with, "Traveling this summer may sound like a cruel joke: airlines are getting worse, gas prices are creeping toward $5 a gallon and the euro continues to go up, up, up. It's almost enough to make you stay home. Almost."

And then proceeded to offer 31 suggestions. I'd been to quite a few of the suggestions, so I slightly know whereof I speak. One suggestion that made sense, yet oddly named, as in the label was "Pacific Northwest." The suggestion was to ride AmTrak and stay in Glacier National Park.

Another suggestion that sort of made sense, if you were already in Washington, was to take the ferry to the San Juan Islands. I have not done that since the summer before I moved to Texas. Walked onboard in Anacortes and for only 4 bucks you could ride to all the islands. Lulu informed me yesterday that it now costs something like 60 bucks to take your car and one passenger out to Friday Harbor in the San Juans. She did not know how much a walk on now costs.

As for goofy gas and money saving suggestions, one was houseboating on Lake Powell. I've done this twice. No matter which marina you find your boat, it is gonna be a long drive to get there, even if you fly into the nearest airport and rent a car. And renting a houseboat is not cheap, as in over a couple thousand bucks for 4 days. And you pay for the gas. The houseboats do not get good gas mileage.

That is a Lake Powell pic at the top. Me in the lotus position high atop a redrock bluff in a place we called Bobcat Cove, misnamed because it was a Mountain Lion, not a Bobcat, that I heroically saved everyone from in the middle of the night. You can read all about that trauma here. That is me being the Captain of what I came to call Hell Houseboat in the photo on the left.

Another goofy suggestion was to go to Monument Valley. Now, Monument Valley is very cool. And the drive there goes through some great scenery, like the Painted Desert. But once more, there is driving involved. Monument Valley is in a rather isolated location.

One of the suggestions was to go to Las Vegas. I can get behind this. Easily flown to and once there you don't have to drive. Lulu would suggest you fly to Vegas and then rent a car to drive to Lake Powell. Or Monument Valley. I think I make mention of why Lulu would suggest this in the Lake Powell link above. Or just click here.

# 1 on the NY Times list is Texas Hill Country. Been there done that. I wouldn't suggest it. Unless you've not seen hills before. I believe Texas Hill Country is #1 on the list due to the list being arranged in no particular order, not due to it being in order of supposed merit.

The Western Road Trip suggestion goes through some nice scenery, starting in Vegas and having you go to Bryce Canyon NP en route to Capitol Reef NP. Why it has you skipping the North Rim of the Grand Canyon or Zion NP, I do not know. But, once more, a lot of driving would be involved.

I can get behind the suggestion to visit Portland, Oregon. But it makes no mention of nearby Mt. St. Helens. Another suggestion is to drive Highway 101 along the Oregon Coast. I've not done that in a long time and would love to.

Anyway, go here to check out the rest of the list in the New York Times.

George W. Bush Eminent Domain Abuser?

This morning I Googled "dallas cowboy stadium scandal" and was surprised to see this search string brought up 644,000 hits. I was a little less surprised to see that this very blog Googled #1 for that search striing with my Eyes on Texas website Googling #2.

But what really surprised me was some of the info this search string brought up. As in I did not know that there had been eminent domain abuse in Arlington prior to the outrageous, should be criminal, abuse that was done to get land for the new Dallas Cowboy stadium.

None other than our Dearly Beloved Leader, George W. Bush, was part of what New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof described "as a sordid tale of cronyism, of misuse of power, of cozy backroom money-grubbing -- a more pressing threat to American business than outright criminality." He called Bush's dealings appalling. "Even Kazakhstan," he said, "would blush at such practices."

Go here to read the New York Times article titled "Bush and The Texas Land Grab."

Go here to read another article on the same subject which references the NY Times article and is titled "Taking Propoerty, Bush's landgrab -- and the New York Times."

How did this guy get elected? Both as the governor of Texas. And the U.S. President. It's perplexing.

And what is wrong with the city of Arlington?

Who was it who said something like "That which you do to the least of us, you do to me?" Oh, yeah, Jesus. I've seen a lot of churches in Arlington. I've not paid close enough attention to ascertain if they are Christian churches. With Arlington's civic bad behavior regarding how the city allows its citizens to be treated, I suspect these must not be Christian churches. How did that happen in the Buckle of the Bible Belt?

Texas Tomato Salmonella

Great. I've not bought a tomato for quite some time. Mostly because I'd not seen any that looked all that good.

Actually the only real good tomato seems to be one I grow myself. Which I tried to do at my first location in Texas. That's how I learned about locusts. I did not successfully grow any tomatoes in Texas to the eating stage. Actually that isn't true. They did grow to eating stage, but it was the swarm of locusts that got to eat them.

Anyway, so I bought some nice deep red-looking roma tomatoes. Grilling burgers with tomatoes and onions with real sharp cheese seemed a good plan. And so I did so.

And now I learn there have been 17 hospitalized victims of Salmonella in 9 states, including Texas, that is being called the "Tomatoes Salmonella Outbreak." I guess in Texas it would be called the "Texas Tomatoes Salmonella Outbreak."

It's been almost 24 hours since I consumed the possibly contaminated tomatoes. I did thoroughly wash them before slicing. At least I think I was thorough. I have read that washing the tomatoes takes care of the problem. Why aren't they washed before they end up in a grocery store?

Tommy Lee Jones and the Barnett Shale

Several energy companies, including one called Chesapeake, have been drilling holes in north Texas for several years now, tapping into this thing called Barnett Shale and using a controversial water process to fracture the shale and release natural gas.

As the drilling advanced right into the heart of the Dallas/Fort Worth urban zone there began to be an ever louder level of protest, particularly when places like Tandy Hills Park were threatened.

The threat to Tandy Hills led to the forming of a group known as the Eastside Rabblerousers. The group grew ever larger and ever louder. They began to help people all over D/FW fight back against the gas drillers. The main leader of the Eastside Rabblerousers, Don Young, along with others, started a well done website to help them wise people up to the drilling issue.

The Eastside Rabblerouser's success led to what is happening now. It's one of the strangest things I've seen. The energy companies, mostly Chesapeake Energy, for several months now, have been running a massive Orwellian, Sovietesque, Goebbels Worthy Propaganda Campaign.

Many of Fort Worth's public transit buses have been totally covered with signs saying things like "Thanks Barnett Shale for our Strong Economy." This when the city of Fort Worth has had to make massive layoffs of city employees due to a huge budget shortfall.

Dozens upon dozens of Chesapeake billboards litter the landscape almost on the scale of their drilling rigs. At some points on the freeway there are more than one Chesapeake billboard in a row hammering home the propaganda. The billboards repeat the messages on the buses, things like "Friends of Barnett Shale" and "Barnett Shale Helps Our Schools."

The propaganda slogans are repeated in full page ads in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, almost daily.

And then a couple weeks ago, new Chesapeake billboards appeared with actor Tommy Lee Jones being a shill, like you can see above with him saying, "Let's get behind the Barnett."

So, our lead Eastside Rabblerouser decided that maybe Tommy Lee Jones needed to be wised up as to what it is he is shilling for. This led to a letter writing campaign, with the letters sent to Tommy Lees Jones' residence in Texas.

Don Young sent me a copy of his letter to Tommy Lee Jones. It is a very good letter. I'll paste the last 4 paragraphs and you can go here to read the entire enlightening letter.

I’ll end this letter by telling you about the latest news from Chesapeake: I recently learned that they are proposing an 18" gas pipeline that will run through the front yards of four blocks of a residential street near my home. This is a quiet, well-established neighborhood.

Thanks to Chesapeake, nearly every tree on that side of the street will be cut down and new trees can never be planted over the pipeline. Some of those trees are over 100 years old. Most of those homes have kids and old folks living there who will miss those trees. Homeowners will never be able to recoup the value of their homes that sit 4 feet above a disaster waiting to happen.

This unbelievable scenario is no longer an isolated incident in Fort Worth. Why? Because companies like Chesapeake want to make more money and their ad campaign featuring you, Mr. Jones, is helping them do it.

I hope you will accept my offer to give you an unvarnished tour of Fort Worth in the near future. I want you to see with your own eyes how companies like Chesapeake Energy are turning Fort Worth into a Dirty Ol’ Town.

Sincerely,
Don Young
Founder, Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area

Bill Clinton Slimes Todd Purdum and Vanity Fair

While mountain biking today, before I got a flat tire, I heard Rush Limbaugh going on and on over Bill Clinton ranting over something. But I caught the tail end of the the Limbaugh ranting on this subject, so I didn't know what it was Clinton had said or what it was about.

Hours later I learned it was an article in Vanity Fair by Dee Dee Meyer's husband, Tood Purdum that set Clinton off, when a campaign event attender in South Dakota asked Clinton about the article. Clinton blamed Purdum for his Whitewater Woes, among other things. With Bill, it is just never Bill who is the cause of his problems. Bill seems to have a very low opinion of the husband of his ex-press secretary. Dee Dee Meyers no longer speaks to Bill Clinton. I imagine after hearing Bill describe her husband as a lying, dishonest, sleazy slimeball she'll be even more disinclined to speak to the man.

Interesting to me, among many interesting things, in the Vanity Fair article Purdum does not mention Whitewater, but he does describe current Clinton shenanigans that when I read Purdum's description of them, I thought, geez, it's like Whitewater on a Grand Scale.

Read the Vanity Fair article here. Watch the video below to hear Bill Clinton's reaction to the Vanity Fair article. Judge for yourself who the slimebag is, Bill Clinton or Todd Purdum. I've made my choice.

Bobcat & Mountain Lion Encounters

Five days ago, hiking at Tandy Hills Park I had a close encounter with a very large cat. We stared at each other til I started to move forward which spooked the cat into running away. I'd previously seen a large tannish colored cat in the distance. Til then, I really didn't believe the rumors that such an animal existed in the park. I don't know what type cat this was. I'd read that panthers have been spotted. Here in Texas they usually call mountain lions, panthers. In the northwest they were usually called cougars.

Long ago a Dallas reporter visited Fort Worth and wrote that the town was so lifeless that a panther was spotted sleeping at the courthouse steps. Or was it city hall? This long ago story is why Fort Worth is called Panther City and why it's baseball team is the Cats. So, apparently there is a long history of panther encounters in Fort Worth.

What perplexes me is, though this cat did look like a cougar, it was only about twice as big as a very big housecat. The cougars I've seen in zoos or stuffed in museums have been quite large. Way bigger than the cat at Tandy Hills. This cat at Tandy Hills was just a little bigger than a bobcat.

Which leads me to yesterday's encounter at River Legacy Park, my first with a bobcat in quite some time. My first encounter with a bobcat was on the River Legacy Park mountain bike trails. I'll admit it scared me. At that point in time I was sure it wanted to eat me. I was to learn later that there is no record of a bobcat attack on a human.

So, my subsequent bobcat encounters did not scare me. My strangest bobcat encounter occurred on the pedestrian bridge that crosses the Trinity River at River Legacy. As soon as I turned onto the bridge I saw a bobcat walking on to the bridge at the other end. He kept walking towards me and I kept pedalling towards him. We passed in the middle, both looking at each other, he not saying a word, me saying "Hello kitty."

I did not have my camera with me during my Tandy Hills panther encounter. I did with yesterday's bobcat, which is the source of the photo above.

Below is video taken by Dave of Dallas of a bobcat encounter at River Legacy Park.

The Chicken Crossed the Road. Why?

Incoming from the Songbird of the South known as Alma:

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE! The chicken wanted CHANGE!

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure -- right from Day One! -- that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.......

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on 'THIS' side of the road before it goes after the problem on the 'OTHER SIDE' of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his 'CURRENT' problems before adding 'NEW' problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road...

ANDERSON COOPER - CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's GUILTY! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain. Alone.

THE LATE JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth?' That's why they call it the 'other side.' Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media white washes with seemingly harmless phrases like 'the other side. That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its life long dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your check book. Internet Explorer is an integral part of the Chicken. This new platform is much more stable and will never cra...#@&&^(C% .reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken!

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

Clothing Optional Hippie Hollow Nude Beach in Austin

I've been working hard on trying to overcome my pathological shyness. So with gas prices so low it seemed like a good idea, at the time, to burn some driving down to Austin.

Why Austin, you ask? Well, near Austin there is a body of water called Lake Travis. And on that body of water there is a place called Hippie Hollow, where a human body visiting this particular body of water is not required to wear clothing, as in it is a clothing optional type of place, meaning people of all sizes, shapes, ages and gender are naked.

There are warning signs to caution those who might not realize they are entering a naked zone, as in signs saying "NOTICE: NUDE SWIMMING OR SUNBATHING ME BY OCCURRING BEYOND THIS POINT."

Now, yesterday was not the first time I've been naked. I take at least one shower every day and don't wear a swimming suit to do so. Yesterday was not the first time I've been naked outdoors. I have skinnydipped a time or two, among other things.

Hippie Hollow had some things viewable that I probably would have preferred to not have imprisoned in my memory. But there were some things viewable that I don't mind having seen. I'm hopeful the bad memories will fade.

A visit to Hippie Hollow is not free. In addition to the gas you'll need to burn to get there, you'll also have to pay a fully clothed park ranger 10 bucks before you can take your clothes off.

For more Hippie Hollow info you can go to the official Hippie Hollow website.

Below is a video of Hippie Hollow. Be warned, there is a flash of bare booby in this video.