Improving Posture With Multiple Beto's Before Cruz Yard Sign Dog Chase

This morning I opted to roll north on the Circle Trail. At the north end of Hamilton Park I came upon another of those new half mile Circle Trail markers.

Each with its own inspirational message.

At the MILE 7.5 marker mark we learn...

"More than Cardio".

and...

"Cycling can help improve posture and coordination".

I know I feel more coordinated after a bike ride. I do not know if I make note of any posture improvement.

On a previous posting about the Circle Trail half mile markers Betty Jo Bouvier opined "I think these 'helpful' signs would annoy me more than help me...and I don't have a dog"

Betty Jo's comment related directly to the half mile marker which advised that walking ones dog helps with the dog's digestion.

I think I can understand Miss Bouvier's aversion to the messages on these signs. They do seem borderline Orwellian. Big Brother spewing pithy slogans to the minions advising them regarding what might be beneficial to them.

Even though I think I may understand Betty Jo's aversion I don't share in it, too much. I find the signs slightly amusing. And a good reason to stop for a water break when I see a new one of the half mile markers.

My mine excitement of the day was seeing seven new BETO yards signs on the route I rolled today. For a total of 11 BETO signs on that route, as opposed to two Creepy CRUZ yard signs.

At the location of one of the two Creepy Cruz yard signs two large dogs took off after me, barking viciously and nipping at my heels as my feet spun the pedals at high speed. The dog chase lasted about a block.

Today's Creepy Cruz vicious dog attack marks the first time I have had myself any sort of dog incident in Wichita Falls whilst riding my bike.

I do not like getting chased by dogs whilst riding my bike....

Lake Wichita Memorial Day With Big Brother & Long-Nosed Gars

 Last week I read 1984, you know, that dystonian novel by George Orwell that sort of missed its future foretelling mark when 1984 became the actual year, with 1984 not being quite as bleak in reality as Orwell foresaw it being.

And then over three decades after 1984 George Orwell's book was back being a book store best seller, along with borrowing waiting lists in libraries across America, and other parts of the world where the literate found themselves appalled to find the American president to be an Orwellian nightmare of doublespeak, doublethink and totally doubleplusungood.

The last couple days I have been having myself some computer aggravation. Every time I think I have solved the problem I find I am erroneous.

Feeling I had reached some sort of computer plateau I decided to take a break and join the throngs of Memorial Day memorializers at Lake Wichita for some sun time whilst enjoying the cooling breeze blowing from the lake.

I was not long at Lake Wichita, atop Lake Wichita Dam, when I saw that which you see above, which is the reason I mentioned 1984, because when I saw that which you see above I thought to myself it looked like what a 2017 version of 1984's Big Brother might look like.

Soon after seeing the Lake  Wichita Big Brother I saw the bucolic scene you see below.

These fisher people are fishing near the ruins of the Lake Wichita Pavilion.  All which remains of the pavilion, which succumbed  to fire in the 1950s,  are the wood pilings you see the fishing pole pointing towards.

As you can see there are also non-fisher people wandering about under the watchful eye of the Lake Wichita Big Brother.

Another view of the Lake Wichita floating dock. That dock looks nice and stable today, but if one visits it on a windy day, when whitecaps wave across the lake, the ride on this floating dock can be sea sickness inducing. The last time I was on this dock when it was in rocking mode it reminded me of being on the Port Townsend/Keystone Ferry ferrying from the Olympic Peninsula to Whidbey Island during a stormy tidal change, with the ferry rocking so much walking was extremely difficult.

As you can see fishing and walking was not the only activity at Lake Wichita this Memorial Day. The people you see here are on the Circle Trail  on top of Lake Wichita Dam, heading north away from the Lake Wichita Big Brother.

Okay, I have mentioned the Lake Wichita Big Brother a couple times. Now let's see what it is this Big Brother is looking out from.

A fishy sign. Can you find Big Brother?

This Fish of Lake Wichita sign identifies all the fish which live, or try to, in this lake.

I have never seen anyone swimming in Lake Wichita. I know in the past, long ago, swimming in this lake was a popular summer thing to do. A streetcar system delivered  people to the lake. Long ago Lake Wichita was a popular resort-like destination, with multiple attractions in addition to fishing and swimming.

There is an ongoing attempt to revive Lake Wichita and restore it to some semblance of its former glory.

Methinks this effort should be accelerated.

I have seen the Lake Wichita Revitalization plans. If those plans come to fruition it will be a real good thing.  I do not understand why there is not a more vigorous effort to bring about this lake's revitalization. I've heard other towns in America fund such developments by having its citizens approve of some sort of funding  mechanism, rather than rely on car washes and selling memorial bricks to raise money.

If Lake Wichita does get revitalized and swimming again becomes doable I sort of would like to know a couple of those Fish of Lake Wichita are no longer in the lake. Like the long-nosed gars. Or the channel catfish. The other Fish of Lake Wichita look harmless.

I have never liked fish with whiskers. Or long sharp pointy noses...

The Eyes Of Texas Are Upon You Trump Cruz

For almost a year about once a month I find myself driving from Wichita Falls to the Dallas/Fort Worth zone.

Along the way, on Highway 287, a thing or two or three caught my eye the first time I drove by, and every time since.

One of the oddest I see shortly before passing through the tiny burg of Bellevue, with that odd thing being an adult video store. I thought video stores of all sorts, including the adult  type, had gone the way of the dodo bird, due to the Internet, along with cable TV.

Prior to Bellevue, about  20 miles out of Wichita Falls what I saw odd originally was "CRUZ" crudely spray painted on a large wooden wall billboard type thing slightly elevated above ground level.

Upon first perusal I did not know if this particular CRUZ sign was a political sign supporting the creepy Texas senator who bears a striking resemblance to Grandpa Munster, or what. Around the time of last summer's Republican Convention I saw that CRUZ had been crossed out, with "TRUMP" sloppily spray painted over CRUZ.

So, apparently this is a political sign of the times.

As I drove by I tried to snap a photo of the CRUZ/TRUMP sign, but that did not work out. Next time I will pull off the highway so as to facilitate successful photo documenting.

I forgot to mention a giant cowboy stands in front of CRUZ/TRUMP, adding to the oddity.

One of the other odd things, well, not really all that odd, more Orwellian than odd, I come to a few miles south of Decatur.

That to which I refer you see above.

A billboard warning passing people that "The EYES of TEXAS are Upon YOU". With a spy in  a cowboy hat snooping with binoculars.

I think this sign's purpose is to discourage people from poaching wildlife. Or maybe cattle. I did not realize this was a problem of such serious proportions that it would warrant a billboard and a phone number so that one can call and be a snitch about a suspected poacher...

Long Walk Checking Lake Wichita Revitalization Project Progress

Yesterday, if I remember right, I mentioned that Lake Wichita Has Been Reported To The Trump Administration.

I think I also mentioned that according to information I gleaned from what I believe to be the official Lake Wichita Revitalization Project website that Lake Wichita's Revitalization is expected to be completed somewhere in the mid 2017 time frame.

I think mid 2017 would be around June and July, about five months from this current Friday in February.

Til today it had been at least a month, likely longer, since I'd hiked to my neighborhood dam, that being the dam which causes Lake Wichita to exist.

I thought it would be interesting to check out Lake Wichita Dam, and the lake, to see if I can detect any of that much talked about revitalizing, what with the middle of the year and that completion date rapidly approaching.

Well. I could detect nothing that has changed since I last looked at Lake Wichita.

In the above photo we are rock and rolling on a wave tossed floating dock. That pimple on the horizon is Mount Wichita, looking like a floating oasis far out to sea.

The long range plan for a revitalized Lake Wichita includes building a new pavilion  on the lake.

Below is what remains of the former Lake Wichita Pavilion.

The Lake Wichita Pavilion was quite an attraction in its heyday. Eventually the pavilion became neglected and then at some point in the 1950s the pavilion burned to the ground, I mean water. The pilings you see above, sticking out of Lake Wichita,  are all that remains of the Lake Wichita Pavilion.

I think the Lake Wichita Revitalization Project is an extremely good plan. I hope this plan comes to fruition. Soon.

Near the start of this century the Texas town I previously lived in announced a water revitalizing project, which eventually became known as the Fort Worth Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

Or, more commonly, as America's Biggest Boondoggle.

The FWTRCCUPID Vision never has seemed like it was as well thought out and as good an idea as the Lake Wichita Revitalization Project.

The FWTRCCUPID Vision has had projected project timelines over the years that never manage to happen. For instance a couple years ago American's Biggest Boondoggle had a TNT explosion celebration to mark the start of construction of one of three little simple bridges being built over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

Construction on that bridge was supposed to begin soon after the TNT explosion. Many months later construction did start on that bridge, with a four year construction timeline. About a year ago construction on that bridge was halted due to the discovery of design errors. No one knows if or when America's Biggest Boondoggle's bridges will get built.

I hope the Lake  Wichita Revitalization Project is not plagued with Fort Worth type inept incompetence.

Way back in 2010 I remember riding my bike on Fort Worth's Trinity Trail. Soon I found myself seeing a lot of dirt being moved and the trail re-routed, along with a massive amount of signage announcing "Trinity River Vision Underway".

Way back then the official name for what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle was a lot shorter than it is now, fitting easier on a sign.

That dirt I saw being moved way back  in 2010 was to make a pond for an absurdity which became known as Cowtown Wakepark, a product of the Trinity River Vision. Cowtown Wakepark soon went out of business, due to multiple issues, most of which common sense would have obviated the Cowtown Wakepark ever being built  in the first place.

I do not see an unseemly amount of signage about the Lake Wichita Revitalization Project, certainly not at the bizarre Orwellian propaganda level of what continues to be seen in Fort  Worth with its embarrassing boondoggle.

Is that huge "Panther Island Bridges Under Construction" sign still displaying near the Henderson Street Bridge near the location of Panther Island Pavilion? Where there is no island or pavilion?

Walking Past Dry Wichita Falls I Learned How To Stop Aging

This morning I woke up with a bit of a hitch in my get-along. Not a bad hitch, but a hitch nonetheless.

Around noon I opted to try and work out the kinks of my hitched get-along and get myself to Lucy Park to walk to what I figured was the still dry Wichita Falls.

Figured to be dry due to the copious amounts of rain which flooded the Wichita Falls zone on Saturday.

Soon upon arrival at Lucy Park it was obvious, due to a mud line left behind, that the Wichita River had risen high.

At some points the river had flooded over the Circle Trail.

When I go to the location of Wichita Falls, like I already said I thought it would be, it was dry. Since the last time I walked to dry Wichita Falls I have been told the falls gets turned off when the river runs high due to muddy water wreaking havoc with the pumps which cause the water to fall over the falls.

Critters which live near the falls seem to be adjusting to the lack of falling water. Such as the cute little guy you see below.

This green little reptile was sunbathing on the dry falls ground at the south side of the Circle Trail bridge which crosses the dry falls.

Continuing on past the currently dry falls I opted to walk the Circle Trail under the I-287 freeway. And continue on towards the MPEC (Multi Purpose Event Center).

Along the way I came upon a series of inspirational signage of the sort I have not been inspired by previously.

A few examples.

This sign told me that working out looked good on me. Seems sort of Orwellian to me. How did the sign know this?

From this sign I learned that exercise prevents the signs of aging. I sort of already knew that. I am something like 70 years old and only look around 40 years old, when I look in a mirror whilst not wearing my glasses.

So, this is why I am so smart. Exercise improves brain performance. I did not know this until today. Walking the Wichita Falls Circle Trail really is a learning experience.

So, that is why I am so skinny. More muscle mass burns more fat. I need to eat more.

I can not remember the last time I was sick. Apparently those who exercise get sick less often. Does having a hitch in ones get-along count as being sick?

Work outs can improve the look of ones skin? Does going on a long walk count as a work out? Months ago Fort Worth's Miss Julie commented that judging from my skin I must be part dolphin. I was not sure what this meant but decided to think this was a good thing to have skin which looked dolphin-like.

This inspirational signage all took place in a distance which was likely less than a tenth of a mile. I don't know how many people jogging  and biking by stop to take the time to get inspired.

One thing I noted today which was interesting to me. The Wichita River rose high on Saturday. When the river retreated it did not leave a deposit of litter in its wake. All I saw today was one styrofoam container stranded in mud, mud which kept me from rescuing it.

When  the Trinity River runs high through Fort Worth the tons of litter left behind when the river retreats is a spectacle to behold.

I must go get some more exercise now that I have learned there are specific benefits from engaging in such behavior...

Polluted Public River Floating Is One Of Fort Worth's Great Imaginary Success Stories

That which you see here is not a guy fishing in a dirty brown river.

What you see here is a guy testing water in a dirty brown river near the location of the notorious Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats at an imaginary pavilion at an imaginary island in the great success story known as Fort Worth.

The photo of the guy testing the Trinity was part of a Bud Kennedy article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

I came to be looking at this July 1 Star-Telegram article after someone named Anonymous  made an anonymous  blog comment...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Are America's Biggest Boondoggle's Bridges Dust In The Wind":

You might have missed this gem from the bloated face of Fort Worth journalism:

Here’s the straight poop on that muck in the Trinity last week

The river’s makeover into a busy downtown tubing-kayaking attraction is one of Fort Worth’s great success stories.

_____________________

Now, that is just rude to refer to Bud Kennedy as the bloated face of Fort Worth journalism.

I agree with Bud Kennedy more often than I don't.

But, sometimes I don't understand how Bud Kennedy can type with a straight face some of which he types. I always assume he knows what he is typing is ridiculous and internally giggles. Or that he is just a big fan of creating ridiculous propaganda.

"The river’s makeover into a busy downtown tubing-kayaking attraction is one of Fort Worth’s great success stories."

A river makeover? Nothing has been done to that river that anyone would call a makeover. Some sand has been sprinkled to create a pseudo beach, and a couple outhouses have been installed on the south side of what is bizarrely called Panther Island Pavilion. Where there is no pavilion. But there is a small covered stage on the north side of the river.

A busy downtown tubing-kaying attraction?

Attraction? Busy?

Are you attracted to that attraction? I know I never have been, nor has anyone I've talked to. I've long opined that it is a sad indicator, and should be viewed as such, that Fort Worth is badly lacking in the outdoor water sport venues department. Thus so many people willing to get wet in that dirty river at that location.

Has Bud Kennedy partaken of the tubing-kayaking attraction? I know he likes to participate in local events.

And finally, the river's imaginary makeover is "one of Fort Worth's great success stories."?

One of Fort Worth's great success stories? I'm really not trying to be unduly snarky here, but I really can not come up with a single Fort Worth success story. And can not imagine characterizing those sad river floating events at that imaginary island as a success.

Really, I'm serious here, I can not think of anything that I might characterize as a great Fort Worth success story.

Having the #1 tourist attraction in Texas, via the Cabela's sporting goods store? Is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories? Nope. That one did not work out, despite the Star-Telegram, and especially Bud Kennedy's, touting it as such.

Having more wells fracked than another other city in the world? Is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories?

Having more outhouses in its city parks than any other big city in America, is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories?

Having fewer streets with sidewalks than any other big city in America, is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories?

Please, someone help me out here, what in the world could Bud Kennedy be referring to when he refers to Fort Worth's great success stories?

Read all of Bud Kennedy's Here’s the straight poop on that muck in the Trinity last week piece and see how many ridiculously absurd propaganda items you can find.

Of course the polluted river floating being one of Fort Worth's great success stories is my favorite Orwellian bit of propaganda.

Another gem is this paragraph....

Panther Island is one of the cleanest parts of the river. It has been safe to swim, tube, raft or boat there most of the past year, but only boating or rafting is allowed along the Clear Fork stretch near Trinity Park or near South University Drive.

The embarrassing Panther Island nomenclature really needs to be put to rest.

What does that "Panther Island is one of the cleanest parts of the river" statement even purport to mean?

The chunk of land The Boondoggle identifies as Panther Island is dry land. The Trinity River is not nicknamed "Panther Island".

Or did I miss that memo?

This Morning My Mailbox Contained A Tale Of Corruption Along With Some TRWD Corruption

An early Sunday morning, pre-swim, opening of my mailbox rendered what I think I would characterize as serendipitous irony.

A letter from Mary Kelleher, with the envelope boldly in red letting me know that what was inside the envelope was "A Tale of Corruption Told From an Insider's Perspective..."

Also in the mailbox was yet one more poster-sized propaganda mailing from the TRWD incumbents and their mouthpieces, Betsy Price and Mike Moncrief.

In Mary Kelleher's Tale of Corruption she cautions...

VOTER BEWARE 
Now please be forewarned. You can expect to hear some outlandish attacks from people in authority like Mayor Betsy Price, Mike Moncrief, and Kay Granger. I implore you to hold to the facts. You will be told Dallas businessman Monty Bennett of Dallas is trying to steal Fort Worth’s water. NOT TRUE! Monty Bennett is a wealthy businessman who lives in Dallas but he also owns property in Fort Worth and east Texas. Monty is one of many victims of TRWD’s abuse of eminent domain; he just happens to have the financial resources to fight against this abuse.

So, in my mail today I get a warning from Mary Kelleher warning me about the TRWD propaganda which was also in my mailbox.

This latest TRWD propaganda confirms the shamelessness of these ethically challenged miscreants who somehow, in Fort Worth, are seen as legit authority figures.

These Fort Worth authority figures, Betsy and Mike, who Mary warned you about, in this latest propaganda, after their boilerplate attack against the evil Dallas businessman, are quoted saying "Don't be misled by false attacks...."

Oh, the irony.

You really should heed that false attacks warning from Betsy and Mike, but take it as some sort of Freudian slip, where their tortured consciences are warning you not to be misled by their false attacks.

Basically the TRWD incumbents can not run on their record, because that record includes way too many instances of corruption, so they are running against a Dallas Bogeyman, believing, apparently, that Fort Worth voters are stupid and are irrationally paranoid about anything coming from Dallas.

On the reverse side of the propaganda where Betsy and Mike warned us to not be misled by false attacks are their own false attacks (and propaganda) under the Orwellian heading of 6 GOOD REASONS to keep Marty Leonard and Jim Lane PROTECTING OUR LOCAL WATER.

The false attacks (and propaganda) from Betsy and Mike....

Claiming 99% of the money for Marty and Jim's three opponents comes from either the Dallas Businessman Monty Bennett or from outside of Texas.

Not true.

Claiming Bennett has been involved in 7 lawsuits against the TRWD, and to date has lost all of his lawsuits in court.

Where else would one lose a lawsuit? And, not all the cases have been decided. This is what is known as deceptive propaganda. Note that no mention is made of the ongoing Henderson County Grand Jury investigation into TRWD wrongdoing

Claiming Marty and Jim have ensured we have water for Fort Worth and Tarrant County families.

Really? How have these two ensured we have water?

Claiming Marty and Jim have been strong taxpayer watchdogs.

Yes, strong taxpayer watchdogs, if by that one means that these two watched millions of taxpayer dollars get wasted trying to use the courts to take water from Oklahoma. Didn't Marty go along with Jim's taking millions of TRWD taxpayer's dollars to rescue a bankrupt friend by paying way above market value for the bankrupt friend's land on which the world's first drive-in movie theater of the 21st century was built?

Marty and Jim have saved taxpayers millions of dollars through conservation education which has resulted in 104 BILLION gallons of water saved between 2007 and 2013.

The above is so ridiculous I sort of don't know if anything needs to be said to point out the ridiculousness.

Marty and Jim have helped our water board partner with nonprofit groups to expand community use of Gateway Park, Trinity Trails system and Eagle Mountain Park.

How have Marty and Jim helped the water board partner with nonprofit groups in a way which affected Gateway Park? Or the Trinity Trails? I've not been to Eagle Mountain Park. Does that park have modern restroom facilities, with running water? And no outhouses? Marty and Jim's TRWD Boondoggle, currently calling itself Panther Island, for years has had a massive sign installation at Gateway Park touting all the wonders that their cataract clouded vision would bring to Gateway Park, none of which has come to fruition.

But, the signs are nice.

As for that letter from Mary Kelleher which contained the warning about outlandish TRWD incumbent attacks, well turns out I had already read that letter, back on April 15, when it arrived in my email in PDF form.

I blogged about the letter from Mary Kelleher in a blogging titled From The Desk Of Mary Kelleher Why We Need To Elect Bickley & Von Luckner.

Click the link and read the letter, if you want to read a straightforward account about the TRWD from someone who has experienced the corruption up close and very personal.

And don't forget to vote. Early voting begins tomorrow, April 27.......

Our Water Our Future Ironically Delivered By Fort Worth's Former Mayor & Rosie

This morning in the incoming email I found a blog comment commenting on a blogging from the day before yesterday....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Comment From A TRWD Progaganda Shill Has Me Feeling Chesapeake Energy Deja Vu":

Check out the horrible photo editing around the heads of Mayor Betsy & Mayor Mike. Photochop indeed.

http://www.owof.info/

I clicked on the Anonymous link, with no clue what "owof" might be, to find that which you see above, a smiling couple, Betsy Price and Mike Moncrief.

Eventually, I figured out what "owof" is via the copyright blurb at the bottom of the website's one and only page....

© 2015 Our Water, Our Future. Pol. Adv. paid for by Our Water, Our Future PAC. Treasurers: Mike & Rosie Moncrief.

Our Water, Our Future, brought to you by Fort Worth's former mayor and his wife.

The political advertisement paid for by the Our Future PAC is yet one more shameless, shameful propaganda piece raising the bogus specter of Dallas businessman boogeyman, Monty Bennett's, devious, nefarious plot to take over Fort Worth's water by spending millions of dollars.

The propaganda actually cites the equally shameless, shameful Star-Telegram, as if that newspaper is a legitimate news source saying, "As has been extensively reported in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Mr. Bennett wants to take control of our local water board and has already spent an estimated $4 million in election, lobbying and legal costs trying to get control of our local water board."

Extensively reported in the Star-Telegram?

Nothing is extensively reported in the Star-Telegram. And the Star-Telegram's reporting regarding the TRWD board's shenanigans has been particularly weak and one-sided.

Apparently the TRWD board incumbents can not run on their record. And so the Dallas straw man is needed as a bogus issue. The TRWD board incumbents' public relations propaganda people must have done research that has shown them that using the Dallas boogeyman will have traction with those few voters who will bother to vote in the upcoming election.

From the TRWD board incumbents we hear about the evil Dallas businessman spending millions to take control of Fort Worth's water, forcing the TRWD to spend millions to defend itself from the myriad lawsuits filed against them by the evil Dallas businessman.

But, we hear nothing from the TRWD board incumbents about the millions of dollars they caused to be spent suing Oklahoma in a ridiculous attempt to take water from the north side of the Red River.

We hear nothing from the TRWD board incumbents, particularly Jim Lane, about the millions of TRWD dollars spent to buy land from a bankrupt friend of Jim Lane's, with the millions paid being double the market value of the land, some of which was turned into the world's first drive-in movie theater of the 21st century.

We hear nothing from the TRWD board incumbents about the lack of progress of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

How about an explanation from the TRWD board incumbents as to how three simple little bridges being built over dry land can take an amazing four years to build?

Those are just a few examples of the TRWD board incumbents' real record, and that real record is what the voters should be talking about and focused on, rather than giving any credence to propaganda about a Dallas businessman trying to take control of the TRWD board and Fort Worth's water.

Below I will copy all the propaganda from the Our Water, Our Future website for your perusal. See how many lies and ridiculous items of extreme exaggeration you can spot in the following Orwellian propaganda....

WATER IS OUR MOST PRECIOUS RESOURCE
This May’s Tarrant Regional Water Board election is probably one of the most important elections in the history of our city, our region, our future and for generations to come. Truly, our water is our future.

While the rest of Texas has struggled through the sustained drought, our local residents and businesses have benefited from TRWD’s prudent planning and management of our local water supply. In fact, TRWD now owns 4 lakes and has water rights in another 3 lakes across North and East Texas.

HOWEVER, A DALLAS BUSINESSMAN WANTS TO CONTROL OUR LOCAL WATER
Two of TRWD’S Board members are up for re-election this May: Marty Leonard and Jim Lane. Marty and Jim are being opposed by a slate of candidates financed by a Dallas businessman (Monty Bennett).

As has been extensively reported in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Mr. Bennett wants to take control of our local water board and has already spent an estimated $4 million in election, lobbying and legal costs trying to get control of our local water board.

VOTER BEWARE
You may have received some inaccurate information about the Water Board, please know this FALSE information was paid for by Mr. Bennett.

VOTE TO SAVE OUR WATER
Vote FOR Marty Leonard and Jim Lane in the Tarrant Regional Water Board Election on May 9th. Your vote will keep Tarrant County’s water supply safe and secure for current and future generations.

If we let this Dallas businessman get control, our future water supply will be jeopardized.

© 2015 Our Water, Our Future. Pol. Adv. paid for by Our Water, Our Future PAC. 
Treasurers: Mike & Rosie Moncrief.

Can Anyone Find A Timeline Schedule Of Construction For The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle?

No, in the picture you are not looking at an artist's rendering of what downtown Fort Worth will look like if the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle ever builds the little lake, long ago promised, that many of the locals have taken to calling Pond Granger.

No, that ferry is not floating on Pond Granger, it is floating on Elliott Bay, in Seattle.

Elliott Bay is a natural body of water, part of Puget Sound, which is connected to the Pacific Ocean. It is not the result of a public works project run amok, that the public was not allowed to vote for.

This past week public works projects have been on my mind. Ever since the I-5 Skagit River Bridge collapsed in my old hometown zone of Burlington and Mount Vernon.

The building of the American Interstate System was one of the biggest public works projects in the history of the world. One would think there would be extensive records of its building, timelines, photos, all sorts of documentation.

But, there aren't.

Which brings me to the time line time table of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

Is there one?

Back when the TRV Boondoggle began, well over a decade ago, wakeboard parks, happy hour inner tube floats, drive-in movie theaters and music venues were not part of the vision that I saw. I do sort of recollect mention being made of restaurants being part of the waterfront attractions. I don't quite see how the TRV Boondoggle's Woodshed Smokehouse fits that bill, what with it being upstream from the Trinity Uptown zone.

Whenever I bike through Gateway Park I see the massive collection of Orwellian signage from the TRV Boondoggle touting the Gateway Park Master Plan.

What is the time table for the Gateway Park Master Plan? Is there one?

Trying to get info about the building of I-5 in Washington led me to the Washington State Department of Transportation website, which led me to some Washington projects, with time tables, that brought the TRV Boondoggle, with its non-time tables, to mind.

The Seattle zone has 3 public works projects underway that dwarf the TRV Boondoggle, both in scope and cost.

This summer the world's biggest tunnel boring machine will begin digging a tunnel under downtown Seattle for a new roadway to replace the earthquake damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct. Estimated cost, $4.25 billion. Completion date, 2015.

One of the floating bridges over Lake Washington is in dire need of replacement. This is now taking place, with the new bridge scheduled to be open in 2014. Estimated cost for the new bridge and other improvements, related to the bridge, $4.65 billion.

The other public works project underway in the Seattle zone are extensions to the Link Light Rail system. The various links have various completion dates. I don't know what the estimated cost is of the various new Link Light Rail routes, except for the fact that the number is in the billions and the public voted on the projects.

So, why is it that there is ZERO time line time table info for the extremely important, totally bogus, flood prevention economic development project known as the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle?

What can we expect to see from the TRV Boondoggle in 2015? A bowling alley? Roller rink? World's biggest collection of outdoor trampolines? When is Pond Granger scheduled to be filled with water? When is the scheduled completion date of the 3 ordinary non-signature bridges over the un-needed flood diversion channel?

Speaking of that, when is the scheduled completion date of the un-needed flood diversion channel?

Why is there no time table for the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle? Does it have anything to do with the project being underfunded?

Does it not seem that the public has the right to know a completion date for various projects of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle? Even though the public did not vote for the Boondoggle?

The TRWD Incumbent Cockroaches Throw Some Mud While Hiding From The Light

Last  night I was pre-warned I would find a bizarre  mailer in my mailbox this morning from the apparently increasingly desperate TRWD Incumbents.

Even though I was pre-warned, seeing the oversized, would not fit in my scanner, mailer, and its outrageous Orwellian propaganda, left me with the feeling of not knowing where to start with verbalizing my disgust for these miscreants who clearly need to be removed from any position involving public trust.

"A controversial Dallas millionaire is using a child actor to spread lies and throw mud at our hardworking local water board."

"DON'T LET OUTSIDERS STEAL OUR WATER!"

Steal our water?

Can these idiots get any more irresponsible with the unsubstantiated nonsense they are spewing? The TRWD Board  must have a really low opinion of the intelligence of those who vote, thinking that throwing the "Big Bad  Dallas" card was a great bit of propaganda.

"Don't be misled by the DISHONEST DALLAS HOGWASH from his (the rich Dallas millionaire's) handpicked SLATE of Water Board candidates: John Austin Basham, Timothy Nold and Mary Kelleher --- one has recently been bankrupt and doesn't live in the district and another is being sued for being a tax deadbeat."

No Dallas millionaire hand-picked Basham, Nold & Kelleher to clean up the clearly corrupt TRWD Board.

In the blog post titled The TRWD Election Propaganda Spewings Of Self-Entitled Dowager Heiress Marty Leonard I already explained the reality behind John Basham's bankruptcy and the moral bankruptcy apparent in the fact that Marty Leonard and her co-conspirators in character assassination would sink this low. What I did not mention in that blog post, because at that point in time I did not know the details, was that Timothy Nold was late paying his taxes because the inept TRWD was sending his tax bill to a vacant lot.

Which had the morally bankrupt Marty Leonard characterizing Nold as a tax deadbeat being sued by the TRWD.

Why did this latest mailer fail to also mention the shocking claim that one of the candidates, Mary Kelleher, has a meager voting record? That claim had the TRWD member, dowager heiress, Marty Leonard, in full clutch her pearls mode.

"These dirty candidates should move to Dallas and leave our local WATER ALONE!"

I am actually more than a little embarrassed for the TRWD Board. How humiliatingly insipid to spew this type stuff, which clearly indicates they can not make any sort of case for re-election based on their sorry record.

We are in Malice in Wonderland territory here, folks. We are Through the Looking Glass, where yes is no, truth is lie, clean is dirty, hard working is do nothing, stupid is smart, good is bad. Well, you get the picture.

"Throwing mud at our hard working Tarrant Regional Water Board?"

Throwing mud? What mud? Claiming the TRWD Board bought a luxury helicopter with leather seats? And that the Board uses this aircraft to fly to some sort of private hunting preserve?  I notice that the TRWD propagandizers are not denying the existence of the private hunting preserve, or using the helicopter to fly there. Now, if I were to fly in a helicopter to a private hunting preserve, I would consider this a luxury. Yeah, that is really dirty mud to point out the TRWD flies their luxury helicopter to their private hunting preserve.

Claiming to be hard working is like claiming to be deep thinking. We need some proof.

Are there examples of this corrupt TRWD Board working hard to mitigate the flash flood dangers in Haltom City that have been a deadly menace for decades?

The answer to the above question is NO.

How come the TRWD Board Incumbents make no mention of the hard work they've done on the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle?

Is there no mention made because after well over a decade all we can see of the Vision is a pathetic, soon likely to go out of business Cowtown Wakepark and the first drive-in movie theater to open in America in decades?

How come the TRWD Incumbents make no mention of their hard work that brought the Woodshed Smokehouse to the banks of the Trinity River.

The Woodshed Smokehouse, for you who don't know, is a restaurant, brought about by behind closed doors, secret shenanigans of the TRWD Board, in cahoots with their lapdog, J.D. Granger.

Apparently, in the TRWD Board's hard working world, building a restaurant on the banks of a river is part of their flood control, water quality mandate.

While little girls drown in flash floods in the area of the TRWD's responsibility.

A few days ago a source I consider reliable emailed me some documents with the text of the email saying, among many other things....

"A little bird tells me that someone very high up at the TRWD is talking to the reporter and is looking to "get ahead" of what the "new board" will find once they start digging. Turns out the internal finger pointing about illegalities is now beginning. I can't wait to read what all he has found."

I never saw a cockroach til I moved to Texas. Let alone see a herd of cockroaches run for cover when the lights come on.

Methinks soon after May 11 we are going to be seeing some metaphoric TRWD cockroaches running from the light....

The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Gateway Park Master Plan Propaganda

Today I tried to pedal the Gateway Park FWMBA mountain bike trail, but quickly tired of its semi-muddy state and having to stop to clear fallen limbs off the trail.

Yesterday's storm hit Gateway Park harder than it did at my location, only 4 miles away. I experienced about 15 minutes of wind and lightning, with rain of an amount insufficient to leave lingering wetness.

The storm hit way harder in north Fort Worth, knocking out power to thousands, some still without power today. That would quickly turn very unpleasant, with no A/C.

After bailing on the mountain bike trail I pedaled the paved trail, where it was easier to dodge fallen limbs. Being on the paved trail brought me to the Fort Woof Dog Park and its forest of Trinity River Vision Boondoggle signage.

That Gateway Park Trinity River Vision Boondoggle signage is really impressive. If you've not seen it and you're in the neighborhood, it is worth a stop at Fort Woof to check out the signs. This is one of the coolest examples of Orwellian propaganda it has ever been my personal pleasure to experience.

The Gateway Park Master Plan sign, you see on the left, has some of the best of the propaganda. I'll copy it, almost verbatim, below...

The Gateway Park Master Plan is an exciting component of Fort Worth Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. The 1,000 acre park will be filled with new community-requested recreational amenities, making it one of the nation's largest urban-programmed parks. With the planting of over 75,000 of J.D. Granger's Magic Trees and the restoration of the original river channel, the park will transform into a natural setting the entire region can enjoy. The project is expected to spur economic growth around the park and will connect the East and Southeast neighborhoods of Fort Worth to the Trinity River corridor.

Also on this sign we learn that the Gateway Park Recreation Components are new soccer and baseball/softball fields, site work for disc golf and mountain bike course, outdoor covered basketball courts, expanded trail system (15 miles of trails), splash park, dog park expansion, amphitheater site work and grading to provide the initial infrastructure to create outdoor music venue for Fort Worth, full loop equestrian trail facility, water sports, fishing, rowing, kayak and canoe with 4 white water elements.

Along with those Recreation Components we also learn about the Ecosystem Restoration with the aforementioned 75,000 Magic Trees, gravel pits cleaned up to create a beautiful wetland environment, the old landfill will be compacted and graded for citizens desired recreational needs, lake and wetland creation in the old drying beds of the Riverside Waste Water Treatment Plant and clean up and return water to the historic Riverside Oxbow.

_____________________________________

Where do I start?

Community requested recreational amenities? Have we not seen this odd verbiage previously with the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle? How does the community go about making these requests?

One of the nation's largest urban-programmed parks? What is an urban-programmed park?

Restore the original river channel? Where will that be?

The park will transform into a natural setting? I don't know of many natural settings with disc golf, soccer and baseball fields, covered basketball courts, dog parks and amphitheaters.

This project will connect East and Southeast Fort Worth to the Trinity River corridor? Really? How?

An old landfill will be compacted and graded for citizens desired recreational needs? There is that odd TRVB verbiage again. I have no idea where this old landfill in Gateway Park is. Are we talking about that methane gas spewing mound that is east of Gateway Park, on the other side of the Trinity River?

It is all just way too perplexing. And when is all this magic going to take place? Fort Worth does not seem able to maintain Gateway Park as it is. Washed out paved trails remain blocked by cyclone fence. Boardwalks remain closed, boarded up eyesores.

And that murdered armadillo still lays on the ground a few feet from where it was shot.

Chesapeake Energy Propaganda Says With Great Progress Comes Great Responsibilty

Any of us living in the Tarrant County zone of the Barnett Shale who may have wondered what it may have been like to live in a world of the sort envisioned by George Orwell, or what it might have been like to live in Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, places where the state controlled the media and thus had free reign to spew whatever ridiculous propaganda the regime felt like spewing, can wonder no more.

Welcome to the Orwellian World of Fort Worth, Texas.

Orwell's Big Brother, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany used a lot of slogans to make their propaganda points.

In Fort Worth we have a shadow government run by Chesapeake Energy. For years now Chesapeake Energy has been spewing propaganda, in addition to air pollution. The Chesapeake Energy slogans show up on Fort Worth buses, billboards, newspaper ads, TV ads and bus stop benches.

Chesapeake Energy is now calling the Barnett Shale "Buried Treasure" and hosting "The Party In Fort Worth" for Fort Worth's elite to celebrate the Buried Treasure that is making many of the elite wealthy while making others in Fort Worth, and beyond, sick.

Some examples of Chesapeake Energy's Orwellian propaganda slogans are...

"Let's get behind the Barnett"

"Thanks Barnett Shale for our Strong Economy"

"Friends of Barnett Shale"

"Barnett Shale Helps Our Schools"

Well, it sure has been fairly well documented that Fort Worth's schools can use some help. It has been years now Chesapeake Energy has been helping. Any improvement?

What has freshly annoyed me regarding the Chesapeake Energy propaganda is this morning it interfered with my fast peruse of Chesapeake Energy's propaganda partner, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

An annoying ad curled over the top of the front page, from "the Barnett Powering Progress."

With the propaganda slogan, "WITH GREAT PROGRESS COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY."

Great responsibility? Like when Chesapeake Energy responsibly tried to force a non-odorized natural gas pipeline under Fort Worth's Carter Avenue, and was only stopped from doing this due to an extremely rare citizen's protest against this outrageously irresponsible assault on a neighborhood?

This morning's propaganda does not specifically attribute it to Chesapeake Energy. The Nazis did not always trumpeted their messages as being from Hitler either. Like the "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign, upon entry to Auschwitz, did not say "Arbeit Macht Frei Sagen Adolf Hitler."

But, who else would pay for this annoying ad but Chesapeake Energy and it cohorts in poking holes in the ground all over Fort Worth and Tarrant County?

The Tandy Hills Helped Today's Existential Angst While Chase Bank Added To It

You are looking north on one of the long and winding trails on the Tandy Hills, around noon, today.

Even though it had been less than 24 hours since I had my mystical Tandy Hills encounter with an Aztec Indian, I felt compelled to return to the sacred ground, due to the extreme case of Existential Angst from which I am currently suffering.

Hill hiking seemed to help. A little.

I do not recollect a more perfectly temperatured day to be hiking on the Tandy Hills than today.

I think I already mentioned, in the blogging previous to this one, that I heard from Steve Doeung this morning. Steve wants to take me and Elsie Hotpepper to Vietnam. I mentioned this to Elsie. We both think this sounds fun. So, I guess it will be to Vietnam we shall go. But, not this weekend, not while I am having this Existential Angst thing hanging over my head.

Changing subjects. Today I got a letter from Chase Bank. I have long regretted the day Washington Mutual got taken over by Chase Bank. It's been like I was living in a democratic republic that was taken over by an autocratic monarchy, that one by one by one has been taking my WaMu freedoms away. And doing so with Orwellian verbiage that makes it sound like Chase is doing me a favor.

Today I learned that Chase is replacing my Free Checking with something called Chase Total Checking. Free Checking will now cost $12 a month.

I just checked to see how easy it is to switch my Google AdSense to a new bank account. It appears to be easy. Google is the only thing I can think of that might have presented a difficulty. Changing the bank account in other accounts, like PayPal, is easy.

So, I'm now looking for a new bank. It's the principle of the thing. When Chase took over they told WaMu customers our WaMu account's attributes would remain the same, only now with the protection of Chase Bank.

Anyone have any good bank suggestions? We can rule out US Bank.

Changing subjects again. I got a lot of good stuff. Again. At Town Talk today. Sushi was in the cooler again. And grape tomatoes. I got a lot of grape tomatoes. And dried pineapple. And a big bag of fire-roasted eggplant. Plus smoked Provolone.

I think it may be Town Talk that is making me FAT. Which is just one more factor in my ongoing Existential Angst.

73.7 Degrees Cold Mid-Wednesday Afternoon In Fort Worth

73.7, mid-afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas. Have we seen the end of 100 degree days for the year? I sort of hope so.

When I left here, a half hour before noon, heading north on 820, traffic was at a crawl, due to, I think, a lot of rain coming down. Traffic sped up once I got past the point where 121 joins 820. Traffic sped up and the rain let up.

The National Weather Service or the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, I don't remember which, issued a Level Orange Air Pollution Alert an hour or two ago.

It's windy, it's been raining, it's not HOT. So, why an Air Pollution Alert now? On Sunday there was no alert that I was aware of, with Sunday being a very nasty day, air quality-wise.

I don't understand why Texas has a Commission on Environmental Quality. There are a lot of Texans who are concerned about the Environmental Quality of Texas, but that particular Texas Commission does not seem to. It's very Orwellian.

Stop Jiggling Your Toilet To Save Water So The Natural Gas Drillers Have More To Waste

For what seems months now I've driven by a bizarrely ironic billboard, while driving west on Bridge Street, right by the CBS TV Station, visible to westbound drivers on Interstate 30.

The billboard admonishes drivers to "Stop Jjggling. Start fixing." With the message apparently coming from "-Your toilet."

On the Toilet Tank you are directed to a website, SaveNorthTexasWater.com.

This billboard is very near the Trinity River. It is also very near a spot on the Trinity River where last winter I observed a lot of water being wasted, never to enter the eco-system again, not in a healthy way.

Just today I already mentioned an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about well water being contaminated by nearby Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling.

That is one water issue.

Another water issue, regarding the Barnett Shale, is the fact that millions of gallons of water are being taken from North Texas water sources, like the Trinity River, mixed with chemicals, forced down wells, with the contaminated water then stored, supposedly safely, somewhere.

With this type water "use" and "misuse" going on all over North Texas, someone, somewhere, decides that the water waste problem could be alleviated by putting up billboards telling people to fix their toilets? Complete with a website to give you tips as to how you can do your part. Like not excessively water your lawn.

This is Orwellian. It's Third Reichian type propaganda. It's focusing on the little teeny harmless mouse in the room while pretending not to see the rogue elephant that is stomping damage all over North Texas. And other parts of America.

Now, it used to be whenever I'd blog something critical about the Barnett Shale operations I'd see Oklahoma City light up on my blog stats and I'd get moronic comments from Chesapeake shills. Chesapeake seems to have given up that rather fruitless effort.

I have said it once, I'll say it again. I am not against extracting natural gas out of the Barnett Shale. Just like I'm not against drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. But, only if it is done with absolutely safe methods.

It is clear, at least to me, that the Barnett Shale natural gas drilling is damaging the water supply of North Texas. The gas drilling is also damaging the air quality.

Both issues need to be addressed and all drilling operations need to be stopped until the issues are addressed. Same with drilling in the Gulf.

In my humble opinion.

And someone, please, take down that idiotic "Toilet" billboard. It's embarrassing.

Falling In Texas With Other Pains At Fort Worth's Fosdic Lake

I think I mentioned that I talked to Elsie Hotpepper this morning. Elsie was not long out of bed. I think she was only half awake and not at all recovered from the previous night's shenanigans, which somehow left Elsie's voice about 2 octaves lower than normal and her Texas drawl about 2 octaves lower, as well.

And then I heard from my therapist, Dr. L.C., grilling me about why I'm getting up so early. Dr. L.C. does not sounds as raspy as Elsie Hotpepper.

I don't know why my therapist is now concerned with when I get up in the morning. Yesterday it was concern about how late I have lunch. I tell you I live with an Orwellian level of Big Brother monitoring. It's very stifling.

To get temporary relief from feeling stifled, around noon, I went to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdic Lake. My quest to find Oakland Lake remains a quest. As you can see, in the picture, it was not being even remotely sunny when I was out walking.

I ended up only slightly sore from yesterday's fall. The slip and slide incident was not painful, unlike last week's ankle twisting fall by my mailbox. There seems to be an epidemic of falls and backaches among those I know.

My little sister is out of commission with an aching back. The Scrabble Queen of Washington is currently in back pain. Perry Mason's little sister, Lori, took a bad fall while gardening. Elsie Hotpepper falls regularly during her nightly shenanigans. Tootsie Tonasket took a tumble, on Sunday, whilst trying to chase a deer from her garden.

I'm sure I am forgetting some aches and pains. But, you know who you are.

Kermit Texas Nurse Faces 10 Prison Years For Reporting Doctor's Malpractice

There is a whole lotta crazy that goes on in Texas. I've mentioned before that the zone I live in takes on Orwellian aspects at times, what with all the double-speak from various Texas state agencies that are supposed to be protecting the people and the environment.

But it's not just my zone of Texas. A whole lotta crazy comes out of this little town in far West Texas, called Kermit.

Gar the Texan is from Kermit. That's one example. Sheriff Robert L. Roberts Jr., that's him in the picture, is another example of crazy coming out of Kermit.

There is this medical thing called the Hippocratic Oath, that's an oath medical type people take in which they pledge, among other things, to do no harm to patients.

Well, the Hippocratic Oath has been turned upside down in Kermit. A doctor in Kermit, Rolando G. Arafiles Jr., was doing bad things, like doing a skin graft, that failed, in an emergency room where he did not have surgical privileges. Another time Arafiles sutured a rubber tip to a patient's finger, an unorthodox procedure which was deemed inappropriate by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

A nurse, Anne Mitchell, had seen enough of what she believed to be Arafiles' bad medicine. She and a fellow nurse, Vickilyn Galle, sent a letter detailing the bad medicine they had witnessed, to state regulators.

That letter set in motion a bizarre chain of events that now has the good nurse indicted, facing 10 years in prison, for being true to the Hippocratic Oath. Nurse Mitchell is set to stand trial in state court on Monday for "misuse of official information." Whatever that is, it is a 3rd-degree felony in Texas.

The state prosecutor claims he will show that Nurse Mitchell had a history of making inflammatory statements about Dr. Arafiles, intending to damage his reputation, when she reported him to the Texas Medical Board, last April.

Nurse Mitchell, on the other hand, she being a voice of sanity in the troubled town of Kermit, said she had a professional obligation to protect patients from what she saw was a pattern of improper prescribing and surgical procedures.

Charges were dropped against co-letter writer, Nurse Galle.

When the medical board told Dr. Arafiles about the anonymous complaint, he complained to a friend that he was being harassed by a pair of nurses. Arafiles' friend happened to be Winkler County Sheriff, Robert L. Roberts Jr., who credits Arafiles with saving his life, after a heart attack.

Sheriff Roberts showed his appreciation of the bad doctor's good work, in his case, by obtaining a search warrant to seize the 2 nurses' work computers, where he found the evidence of their crime. That being the whistle blowing letter their consciences told them to write, which they felt they were free to do, living, as they do, or so they thought, in the land of the free.

No one had told the nurses they were not living in the land of the free, they were living in Orwellian Texas. It's a totally different country from the rest of America.

Obviously, this has been an extremely twisted nightmare that has been visited upon these nurses. State and national nurses associations have raised over $40,000 for the defense. Legal experts, operating outside of the Malice in Blunderland zone, say Nurse Mitchell would seem to be protected by Texas whistle-blower laws.

The nurses' lawyers have filled a civil suit in federal court charging the county, hospital, sheriff, doctor and prosecutor with vindictive prosecution and denial of the nurses' First Amendment free speech rights.

Nurse Mitchell's co-conspirator, Nurse Galle, said, "We're just in disbelief that you could be arrested for doing something you had been told your whole career was an obligation."

Nurse Galle, it's not just you and Nurse Mitchell who are shaking their heads in disbelief, heads are shaking in disbelief all over America and the world, over the latest scary stuff to come out of Texas, that common sense would seem to dictate would, should never happen.

But, somehow does.

UPDATE: Video of Dr. Arafiles. Watch it and ask yourself if you want him operating on you.

UPDATE: Read the Texas Medical Board document regarding 2007 malpractice charges against Kermit Dr. Arafiles.

Arlington City Officials Get Big Payoff For Helping Jerry Jones Abuse Eminent Domain For New Cowboy Stadium

I am really starting to feel sick and tired of feeling sick and tired of all the goofy stuff I see and hear here in this Orwellian Occupied zone of Texas I'm currently seeing too much of.

The sense of right and wrong that governs other parts of the civilized world is reversed way too much in these parts.

The latest example is the latest chapter in what for about 6 years I have called the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Scandal, due to what many, myself included, believe is the worst case of eminent domain abuse in American history.

Where Jerry Jones, conspiring with the City of Arlington, abused the perfectly legal concept of using eminent domain to acquire property for the public good. Like a road, hospital or school. That type thing. In Arlington eminent domain was abused to take homes, apartment complexes and businesses.

For a football stadium, a building that is pretty much a monument to one strange man's strange sense of entitlement.

Now, what did I learn today? Well, the Arlington city officials who conspired with Jones to abuse eminent domain to build the stadium have been rewarded.

Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys have given Arlington city officials the private use of one of the stadium's luxury suites. I believe the technical term for this is Payoff.

Since the stadium opened, Arlington city officials, like city council members and Mayor Chuck Cluck and their family and friends, have received free tickets to attend Cowboy games and other events, like the Paul McCartney concert. So far the comping has totaled almost $80,000.

The City of Arlington suite users also get to be additionally bribed with $1,000 in free food, when they use the city's luxury suite.

And they get special, close to the stadium, parking spots, that go for $75. For free. And if they want, the city officials can get coveted sideline credentials, for an up close look at the game, for which some fans would be willing to pay a small fortune.

There are some wise heads in Arlington who are complaining about Arlington city officials receiving this particularly onerous payoff for cooperating with Jerry Jones.

Have any of the victims of the storm that leveled their homes been invited to experience the City of Arlington luxury suite, high above where their homes used to stand? I suspect not.

I suspect the only Cowboy perk the victims could maybe obtain is making use of one of the 100s of custom made outhouses that surround the new $1.1 billion stadium.

Something besides those outhouses is really stinking in Arlington.

Experiencing Malice In Blunderland In Fort Worth Texas

Reading FW Weekly and TxSharon this morning has me aggravated.

The FW Weekly aggravation comes from the Metropolis section, which further documented the bad behavior of the corrupt state of Texas agency that calls itself the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, an agency name which is pretty much Orwellian double-speak, due to the fact that the quality of the environment does not seem to be much of a concern to this commission.

The TCEQ seems more concerned with helping the Barnett Shale natural gas industry cover up their dirty deeds and doings.

In the FW Weekly article we learn about the different testing results, and different methodology used by the TCEQ and the little town of DISH. A little Texas town that has been ravaged, in many more ways than one, by the basically un-regulated natural gas company Blitzkrieg that has damaged lives and livelihoods in a once peaceful small Texas town.

The town of DISH has an actual, real, serve the people who elected him, type of mayor, unlike Fort Worth's corrupt Mayor Mike Moncrief, who was installed by the gas industry to help facilitate the gas driller's massive Blitzkrieg on Fort Worth. The natural gas industry pays Moncrief over $600,000 a year to be their in the henhouse fox.

DISH Mayor Calvin Tillman has been fighting back, trying to save his town and the people who live there. Eminent domain was abused in DISH when the gas drillers decided it would be a perfect location for gas compressors, which are jet engine noise level contraptions. To feed the compressors, pipelines had to be laid. So, land that people used for their livelihoods was, well, basically stolen, using the corrupt Texas legal system to do so.

I sure use the word "corrupt" a lot. I never think I'm exaggerating when I do so.

After awhile, people in DISH started not feeling as well as they did before the Natural Gas Blitzkrieg hit their town. DISH paid to have their air tested. The results showed bad, bad things were in the air they were breathing.

And now, gas industry legal lackeys have sent the town of DISH some sort of legalistic, threatening letter, the theme of which seems to be making all sorts of claims of things DISH has not done correctly.

Visit Texas Sharon to read what Mayor Tillman has to say about this latest bullying by the corrupt gas industry thugs and read the thug's intimidating letter.

We are down the Rabbit Hole here, where black is white, yes is no, wrong is right. But, it's not Alice in Wonderland, it's Malice in Blunderland.

I've been in Texas around 10 years now. In all my years of living on the West Coast I don't recollect anything ever happening that appalled me like the things I've seen happen here in Texas.

A corporation wants a new headquarters? Boot 100s of Fort Worth low income people out of their homes and build a new Radio Shack Headquarters, that Radio Shack could not afford.

A mall needs some new parking space? Abuse eminent domain to take Hurst citizen's homes for the benefit of a private business known as the Northeast Mall.

A football team wants a new stadium? Abuse eminent domain, in Arlington, to boot more than 1,000 people from their homes and apartments and businesses. And bulldoze the homes before the victims have had their day in court.

Some goofballs get the hare-brained idea that ruining the confluence of two forks of the Trinity River to make a little lake and an un-needed flood diversion channel? Abuse eminent domain, taking homes and businesses, for a "public" project that the public has never voted on, known as Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision or Trinity Uptown Project or Fort Worth's Latest Boondoggle.

A company called Chesapeake Energy, run by a man many believe to be a lying shyster, named Aubrey McClendon, wants to run a non-odorized natural gas pipeline under a street called Carter Street, in Fort Worth. The Carter Street homeowners object, but one by one, under the threat of the abuse of eminent domain, they all give in to the strong arm tactics, all but one man, Steve Doeung.

And what does the City of Fort Worth do? Does the city tell Chesapeake Energy they must find a different route, and pipe only odorized gas. No, the City of Fort Worth sends in a gang of Gestapo Stormtroopers, in the form of code inspectors and Fort Worth Police, to raid Steve Doeung's house.

Where is the outrage here in Blunderland? Okay, there is some outrage, I mean I'm outraged. Texas Sharon is outraged. Don Young is outraged. The Queen of Wink is Royally outraged. Steve Doeung is outraged. 100s, maybe 1000s are outraged.

Why is the Environmental Protection Agency not outraged by what is happening in DISH. And elsewhere in Texas?

Has the Environmental Protection Agency been co-opted somehow, like all the other government agencies in Texas that are supposed to look out for the welfare of the people, but instead look out for the welfare of those who exploit and abuse the people?

What became of Dr. Al Armendariz? Why does the EPA not order a moratorium on gas drilling activities until the issue of pollution, both of water and air, are properly vetted to everyone's satisfaction, not just the satisfaction of the drillers?

I tell you, all this Malice here in Blunderland is the most perplexing stuff I have ever witnessed. I never dreamed, when I moved to Texas, that I would somehow manage to one day find myself being terrorized by White Trucks.

P.S. The Star-Telegraph has blogged about the Star-Telegram's article today which reverses previous articles which followed the gas industry and their lackey, Mayor Mike Moncrief's party line, that being nothing harmful is entering the air from the thousands of gas wells.

Express Energy Pumps Not Sucking Trinity River Water At Gateway Park Trinity Trail Location

I'm often surprised by what I see when I cross the Trinity River, heading north on Beach Street. Today there were no white Express Energy Services trucks to be seen.

Maybe because, except for cleaning up after themselves, their water sucking operation, at this location, seems to have ended.

The pumps have been drug up from the river's edge. I assume this means they are done.

I could tell that the Express Energy Services trucks had not driven on the paved trail. All the orange traffic cones were knocked over and scattered, but there was no fresh mud on the trail.

I can't help but wonder how it came to be that the Express Energy people were told to quit driving on the paved trail?

A "UTILITY WORK AHEAD" sign remains up, with no utility work appearing to be happening.

It will be interesting to see how well the muddy, rutted mess on the Trinity River levee is cleaned up. Then again, this may not be the last of the water sucking from this location. This had been the second iteration of a pumping operation at where Gateway Park meets the Trinity Trails.

In the second picture you are looking south, towards the Trinity River, from the east side of Beach Street. You can see the Express Energy pipelines on the left and right.

This is the access point for what I was calling the White Darth Vader Trucks. A little bridge took the trucks over the pipelines, then, before they were stopped from doing so, they'd take a left on to the paved trail, quickly having it thickly covered with mud.

That mud was cleaned up when the "Utility Work Ahead" first appeared.

Below are most of the links to the bloggings about my experiences with Express Energy Services. I hope that subject is at an end...

Mess of 6 Pumps Getting Ready To Steal Trinity River Water?

Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief Or One Of His Lackeys Thinks I'm A Clueless Reactionary

The 2010 Cold Orwellian World Of Fort Worth Texas

I Have Had Me An Orwellian Big Brother Encounter With Express Energy On The Trinity River in Fort Worth

More Questions In The Increasingly Orwellian World Of Fort Worth Texas

West Texas Chief Operative CT2's Report On Express Energy Services

A Sunday Surprise At the Fort Worth Beach Street Trinity River Gas Driller Pump Site

Another Visit With Express Energy Services At Gateway Park Where Water Is Now Being Removed From The Trinity River

A Saturday Shootout With Express Energy On The Trinity River In Fort Worth