This Time The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Made A Fool Of Itself Over Policing Graduation Speeches

Something seems to have gone seriously awry at the fast failing Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Today the Star-Telegram hit a new low of journalistic ineptitude.

In an editorial titled Why graduation speeches might need policing the Star-Telegram went into full anti-freedom of speech propaganda mode over the ongoing controversy that erupted after a Joshua High School official stupidly cut the mic of their Valedictorian speaker, Remington Reimer, because he deviated from their pre-approved script.

To buttress their pro-censorship position the Star-Telegram quoted a speech by a professional baseballer and manager named Ozzie Guillen, in which Guillen said, “Man oh man, did you little [expletive deleted] pick the wrong time to graduate. For those of you lucky enough to get jobs, maybe half of you work at [expletive deleted] Popeye’s Chicken, and the other half get your [expletive deleted] blown off in Afghanistan.”

Trouble is, this Guillen guy never said this. The quote came from a satirical website called The Heckler.

Eventually the Star-Telegram re-edited the editorial to take out the part that made the paper seem like its run by idiots and then proceeded to be even more idiotic.

Of course, only the online version could be re-edited, the print version is still out there, for the few people who still buy this really sad excuse for a newspaper.

So,  what do the clever people at the Star-Telegram do when re-editing their embarrassing editorial?

They make up imaginary things a high school valedictorian might say to upset an unsuspecting crowd.

I am not making this up. I will copy and paste the current version of the Star-Telegram editorial in its entirety, before they re-edit it again to remove the latest idiocy. Before we get the new re-edited editorial, we have two Star-Telegram disclaimers, then the new re-edited editorial...

Editors note: This story has been modified from its original version. 

Correction:  A quote in the Tuesday editorial “Why graduation speeches might need policing,” attributed to former Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén, was created by the writers of a satirical website. Its inclusion in the editorial was an error.

Here’s why public school administrators review graduation speeches beforehand:

“I had an abortion my junior year. Let me tell you what that was like.”

“This school did its best to suppress my ability to think critically, but it failed. As soon as I leave here, I’m going to find a way to blow up the system.”

“You want prayer in public schools? I say what they need is anarchy, the more the better. Legalize pot so we can sell it on campus.”

“Heil, Hitler. Viva Castro. Marx is my hero.”

How might an unsuspecting crowd react to hearing any of those remarks from a high school valedictorian?

On Thursday, when Joshua High School valedictorian Remington Reimer veered off the comments administrators had approved for him, school officials turned off the microphone — just as they had warned him, the salutatorian and historian that they would if anyone went off-script.

The episode has generated plenty of buzz because of suggestions that Reimer was censored for speaking about his faith. But video shows that the sound system actually went off when he said, “Yesterday, I was threatened to have my mike turned off. …”

That, school officials said, wasn’t in his approved speech and triggered their response.

Indeed, the graduation ended with a prayer, which underscored that Reimer’s invoking God wasn’t the issue. Still, the U.S. Naval Academy appointee seems to have made the free-speech statement he wanted.

The Supreme Court has said that students don’t lose their free-speech rights at the schoolhouse gate but also that officials need leeway to maintain order not just in classrooms but also at school-sponsored events. Texas law also recognizes this and gives school officials authority to set boundaries besides time limits.

If they exercise it awkwardly and video circulates stirring up debate about First Amendment values, that’s actually healthy for free speech.

Has the Fort Worth Star-Telegram lost all its editors? How did that last sentence make it to being published?  I can not be the only one reading this who finds it ironic that the Star-Telegram is opining about something being healthy for free speech.

All those suggestions of horrific things a valedictorian might say, that supposedly justifies ham-handed censorship, have any incidents such as these actually occurred?

What happened at a Joshua High School graduation that has made that school's officials distrust the judgement of their top 3 students?

And if a valedictorian did say any or all of those stupid things, which the Star-Telegram is using as examples, what would be the result? Mass upset in the unsuspecting crowd?  Or befuddled giggling?

It is rather amusing that the Star-Telegram, in its editorial, says "The episode has generated plenty of buzz because of suggestions that Reimer was censored for speaking about his faith. But video shows that the sound system actually went off when he said, “Yesterday, I was threatened to have my mike turned off.”"

It was the idiotic Star-Telegram, itself, that, for days following the episode, had an article about it with the headline being something like "Joshua Valedictorian's Mic Turned Off For Faith Remarks."

On Facebook, as the truth of the matter came out, the Star-Telegram's own Bud Kennedy was sharing the actual facts, but, apparently, did not relay those facts to the Star-Telegram.

The line in the editorial that says, "Here’s why public school administrators review graduation speeches beforehand" is also odd. This implies that this is a universal practice, rather than an isolated case of one school's administration's malpracticing of a dubious policy.

When I was in high school the graduation speeches were reviewed ahead of time by an advisor, so as to help the speaker give a good speech. There was no threat that if the student went off script the mic plug would be pulled.

I think this Remington Reimer kid showed way more mature common sense than the nincompoops who censored him. He did not like being told that if he did not stick to the approved script the mic would go dead.

Being told such a thing would have greatly annoyed me, because  I would be altering and tinkering with a speech right up the moment I gave it. If I was told I could not do that, I would likely have said I'm not giving the valedictorian speech and let my reason for refusing be known by contacting the local newspaper of record.

Except here in the Fort Worth zone there isn't an actual real newspaper of record of the normal daily sort.

We do have Fort Worth Weekly though. How much worse would Fort Worth be off if it did not have Fort Worth Weekly? I shudder to wonder.....

I Am Shocked To Learn Fort Worth's Panther Island Pavilion Is Not An Amazing Outdoor Music Venue

No, you are not looking at an artist's rendering of what the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Panther Island Pavilion music venue will look like after J.D. Granger and his collaborators' mix of initiatives and ambitious goals turn Fort Worth into a live music capital.

The water you are looking at in the picture is not the Trinity River. It is the Columbia River. Which would make the music venue The Gorge Amphitheatre, in George, Washington.

Just minutes ago I came upon an article in CNN online, titled 8 amazing outdoor music venues,

I was sure that Fort Worth's Panther Island Pavilion would be on the list, remembering that we learned in a blogging titled The Propaganda Panther Rocks Tonight With J.D. Granger's Big Dose Of Hubris that, according to J.D. Granger, the Panther Island Pavilion music venue's “Backdrop is crazy. You’re right in the middle of an urban environment, but you’ve got waterfront [access] — it’s a very unique thing.”

How is it that J.D. Granger remains the Executive Director of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, one can not help but wonder?

Looking at the CNN list of 8 amazing outdoor music venues we have Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah, New York,  Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah, Millennium Park in Chicago, The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington, The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, Gendarmenmarkt Square in Berlin and Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, Scotland.

I am shocked.

The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Panther Island Pavilion is not on this particular list of 8 of the world's amazing outdoor music venues. This leads me to think that CNN is not a reliable source of information regarding amazing outdoor music venues....

An Old Man In The Fosdick Sea Has Replaced The White Swan While Germany Floods

With the temperature a relatively chilly 87 degrees I thought it'd be a fine idea to drive to the relatively shadeless Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdick Lake.

And throw some swan food at the Fosdick White Swan.

However, the Fosdick White Swan was no where to be seen.

What I saw near the former residence of the Fosdick White Swan was the Old Man in the Fosdick Sea, sitting in the water, fishing for marlin, or maybe catfish.

Where did the Fosdick White Swan go?

Today I brought flour tortillas and brown rice tortillas for the Fosdick White Swan. With the Fosdick White Swan absent I threw chunks of the flour tortillas at the Fosdick Ducks. The ducks liked the flour tortillas, fighting over the chunks. But, there was no fighting over the brown rice tortillas. Those were totally rejected.

Fussy ducks.

I wonder if the Fosdick White Swan decided to fly out of town, heading north for the summer. Maybe a flock of swans flew overhead, with the Fosdick White Swan deciding to flock with birds of the same feather.

Speaking of strange bird behavior. This morning I was freshly reminded of my great disdain for passive-aggressive hypocritical neurotics.

No, I am not talking about Elsie Hotpepper, but I was sitting here thinking Miss Hotpepper has gone missing again when I saw Elsie show up, right now, via incoming email.

Let's open the Hotpepper email and see what's on Elsie's mind....

Flooding in Germany on the Elbe River.

Clearly Germany needs an Elbe River Vision to put a stop to this type flooding. Perhaps a flood diversion channel would have abated this disaster. J.D Granger really should lend his flood control expertise to Germany and help do to them what he's been doing for, and to, Fort Worth.

Facebook Shows How Much Pure Ignorance There Is In The World

I saw this graphic this morning on Facebook, from Pete Charlton. Pete Charlton regularly puts good stuff on Facebook. I have several people on Facebook who regularly share what seems to me to be good stuff.

And then there is the stuff that is not so good.

Or just plain embarrassing. Or annoying. Or annoyingly embarrassing.

Or just plain ignorant.

The graphic came from something called The Other 98%.

Pete Charlton's text accompanying the graphic said, "One good thing about Facebook: It shows how much pure ignorance there is in the world. And it also spotlights those who exploit ignorance for their own evil purposes."

Last week I got sort of tired of the tiresome postings of one of my Facebook "Friends". So, I looked to see if there was a way I could stop them from showing up. I clicked on, I think it was 'block', agreed that this was okay and next thing I know Facebook is telling me this removes the person from my "Friends" list.

My not knowing that 'blocking' de-friended someone is an example of my pure ignorance, but there was no actual evil intent in my doing so.

I will admit it has made Facebook a less annoying experience to have a little less self-serving smarminess served to me daily.

Today Village Creek Was Not In Flash Flood Mode

Yesterday a flash flooding Village Creek had the Village Creek Natural Historical Area's parking lot one accesses from Dottie Lynn Parkway, closed.

Today the parking lot was open so I was able to walk to the dam bridge I could not get to yesterday, as well as the dam bridge I was able to get to yesterday, but not cross.

Today it was not a flooding creek that rendered Village Creek impassable. It was a bulldozer. With no bulldozer operator to be seen.

I am fairly certain that this bulldozer did not get carried to this position by the flash flood, however, it was rather strange how it was positioned, blocking access, with no operator to be seen, as if it had been deposited at this location by Mother Nature.

Below is what I saw yesterday from the Interlochen side of the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

Below is the same view, 24 hours later.

Today, for the first time ever, it crossed my mind to wonder where Village Creek enters the Trinity River.

Yesterday I got Google Earth back working after an upgrade rendered it useless. I'm guessing I can use Google Earth to find the answer to the where does Village Creek terminate question.

I did not need to use Google Earth to find the missing Elsie Hotpepper. Miss Hotpepper resurfaced this morning. One less thing to worry about.

I Have Video Documentation That Spencer Jack Has Been Baptized Or Traumatized

I get videos sent from iPhones in .mov format. That format is Apple Quicktime, which I don't have on my computer, due to past issues with Quicktime being annoying.

To view a video sent to me from an iPhone, such as the one I received a few minutes ago from Spencer Jack's dad, I turn the video into a YouTube video in order to see it.

The incoming email with attached video, from Spencer Jack's dad, contained no words describing for me what I was going to see in the video.

I sort of figured the video would have something to do with the recently collapsed I-5 Skagit River Bridge.

I figured wrong.

Instead of a bridge I saw Spencer Jack in a tub of water, looking not too happy, maybe a little traumatized, as if  he'd been caught by some cult and was under going some cultish ritual.

I remember getting baptized in the Presbyterian Church when I was maybe 13 years old. I believe this consisted of some water being sprinkled on my forehead, and was not even remotely anything that looked like an attempt to drown a little kid.

Does Child Protective Services know about this practice of submerging a kid in water in this manner?

Sunday Morning Thunderstorm Flash Floods Arlington's Village Creek While Elsie Hotpepper Goes Missing Again

This morning a thunderstorm was booming before the sun arrived to light up the second Sunday of June.

Rain was raining down on me when I went swimming this morning, soon after the arrival of the sun.

At my location this morning's rain did not rain down in heavy downpour mode.

At noon I headed to one of my regular outdoor locations, that being Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area. Upon arrival at my regular parking location on Dottie Lynn  Parkway I was surprised to see the parking lot gated shut, with a "Closed Due To Flooding" sign.

So, I drove to the Interlochen zone, where one can enter the Natural Historical Area from the east, and where Village Creek is very close to the road, unlike the Dottie Lynn Parkway location. There have been previous times where one could access the park from Interlochen, when the Natural Historical Area is closed due to flooding.

But, not this time, as you can see via the picture above, with Village Creek flooding over the dam bridge.

The pair in the picture were contemplating crossing, but as I stood there talking to them a couple big chunks of wood floated by, which provided good evidence that it was not safe to try and cross the flooding creek.

Changing the subject from one flood to another.

Elsie Hotpepper has been missing since Friday. I sent out a BOLO (Be On Look Out) this morning. Calls to Hotpepper Headquarters go to voice mail.

I am almost 100% sure that Elsie Hotpepper is fine, maybe off having herself some fun in a tropical location. That has been the explanation, previously, when Hotpepper has gone missing.

Then again, there is some cause to worry, due to the fact that it is a fact that Elsie Hotpepper does have some involvement with some Fort Worth nefariousness. The 7th Street gang comes to mind.

I suspected something was up with Elsie Hotpepper on Thursday when I got multiple messages with cryptic requests, all of which I was able to take care of, except for maybe one that confused me.

I guess I will give it another 24  hours before I call the Fort Worth Police to report a missing person....

I Saw Signs Of Danger In Fort Worth's Gateway Park Today On My Way To Town Talk

 It being Saturday, with this Saturday already the second Saturday of June of 2013, and me, creature of habit that I be, stopped at Gateway Park to rotate my bike tires prior to my weekly Town Talk treasure hunt.

Last Saturday Zombies stopped me from pedaling parts of the mountain bike trail.

Today I was a surprised to find that those sections I did not pedal last Saturday had crime scene type tape with the word DANGER repeated over and over again on the tape.

I thought maybe the DANGER tapes were put there for the safety of the Zombies. Then I remembered I had biked by these locations, this past Wednesday, well after the Zombies had left the park.

The DANGER tapes were blocking little side trails off the main trail. Those little side trails lead to a steep cliff that drops off into the Trinity River. Many a time I have taken a picture of my handlebars from those vantage points, now blocked off by DANGER tape.

As I continued my pedaling I wondered if the City of Fort Worth Parks Department has gone into super cautious mode, indicating DANGER, where previously there was no DANGER indicator, due to a teenage boy, Malik Cisse, drowning recently in the Trinity River, near some of Gateway Park's boarded up Boardwalks.

After the drowning the boarded up entries to the boarded up boardwalks were made slightly more boarded up.

However, no "NO SWIMMING" signs were installed. No "DANGER" signs were installed. The boarded up Boardwalks, remained, attractive nuisance eyesores, from whence a boy jumped to his drowning.

When my pedaling brought me to the site of the drowning and the boarded up Boardwalk, below is what I saw.

The memorial to the drowned teenager is still in place. There is no DANGER tape to be seen anywhere in the vicinity.

Has Malik's family contacted a lawyer yet?

After having myself a fine, perplexing time biking with a lot of other bikers, it was on to Town Talk where I got a lot of Yellow and Orange Peppers, two bags of Mandarin Oranges, a few dozen Chicken Legs, a case of Cascade Fresh Orange Cream Yogurt, Tillamook Extra Sharp White Cheese, Organic Non-Homogenized Whole Milk and other stuff I am not remembering right now.

The temperature was perfect for biking today, minimal clothing was needed, no overheating occurred. Such will likely not be the case in a few days. I heard on the radio today that our first 100 degree days of the year are arriving next week.

My air-conditioner is ready for the HEAT. It got a tune-up and a new filter last week. I, myself, did not get a tune-up and new filter last week, so I don't know if I am personally ready for the HEAT. I suspect I will successfully acclimate.

A Fifth Generation Texan Has Exposed Me To The Reality Of Pittsburgh's Cultural District

No, that is not the Bass Performance Hall in downtown Fort Worth you are looking at in the picture. What you are looking at is Heinz Hall in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The reason you are looking at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh I will get to in a minute or two.

The past few days a person identifying him or herself as Fifth-gen Texan has been alleviating me of some of my ignorance.

I greatly appreciate it when anyone alleviates me of some of my ignorance.

On Wednesday, in a blogging titled The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Cordially Invites You To A Historic Ground Blessing I indicated I did not think the Apache ever had a presence in Texas.

The Fifth-gen Texan informed me that the Apache have had a presence in Texas, other than blessing new Fort Worth erections.

Then yesterday, in a blogging titled Exploring Fort Worth's Cultural District Is A Sophisticated Cultured Undertaking I was bombasticating about me thinking there could not possibly be any other city in the world that would designate an area of town as its Cultural District, other than prone to hyperbolizing, Fort Worth.

Fifth-gen Texan then politely informed me that there are other towns in America with areas designated as Cultural Districts, such as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, hence the picture of Heinz Hall, which is in Pittsburgh's Cultural District.

Pittsburgh's Cultural District, near as I can tell, has a lot more going on than Fort Worth's. Pittsburgh's Cultural District came about, also near as I can tell, due to a long ago Pittsburgh version of the Trinity River Vision of economic revitalization, but not in Boondoggle form, instigated by a guy with the last name of Heinz, hence the hall named after him.

The Wikipedia article, titled Cultural District, Pittsburgh, paints a pretty picture of this particular Cultural District. There is no Wikipedia article about Fort Worth's Cultural District.

Three paragraphs from the Wikipedia article about Cultural District, Pittsburgh...

The Cultural District is a fourteen-square block area in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA bordered by the Allegheny River on the north, Tenth Street on the east, Stanwix Street on the west, and Liberty Avenue on the south.

The Cultural District features six theaters offering some 1,500 shows annually, as well as art galleries, restaurants, and retail shops. Its landmarks include: Allegheny Riverfront Park, Benedum Center, Byham Theater, Harris Theater, Heinz Hall, O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School, Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery, Wood Street Galleries, and the August Wilson Center for African American Culture.

Major arts organizations based here include: Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Pittsburgh Dance Council, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Bricolage Production Company, and Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company.

So, Pittsburgh's Cultural District has an Allegheny Riverfront Park? Fort Worth's has a Trinity Park on the Trinity River. Are there Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats on the Allegheny River?

You can learn all you can possibly want to know about Pittsburgh's Cultural District by visiting its well done website. You can also learn all you can possibly want to know about Fort Worth's Cultural District by visiting its less well done website.

The Fosdick Lake White Swan Along With A Murder Of Crows Behaving Badly

The Fosdick Lake White Swan continues to hold court in Oakland Lake Park in the same location the bird has sat for weeks.

Just like was the case with my last White Swan visit, today two ducks were all that were sitting with the White Swan.

Meanwhile a flotilla of ducks were barely offshore, sort of keeping company with the lonely White Swan.

Today my Swan Food was sunflower seeds. The ducks seemed to like the sunflower seeds more than the White Swan did.

In addition to a White Swan and ducks and the regular turtle contingent, I came upon a large murder of crows acting as if they were auditioning for a remake of Hitchcook's The Birds. It seems as if recently I read of a murder of crows attacking people engaged in some outdoor activity, like picnicking. It seems as if this was in Washington, but my failing memory is not giving me access to the details.

The maid just rang the lunch gong. Today I think lunch is going to be baked whole wheat cheddar cheese pepperoni spaghetti and salad. This sounds good to me. Because I am hungry.