A Concerned Citizen In Arlington Fears Jerry Jones, The Dallas Cowboys & Arlington May Try To Steal Her Home

Over the past 4 or 5 years I've gotten a few messages from those directly affected by the abuse of eminent domain that was perpetrated in Arlington, with the city in cahoots with Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, to force thousands from their homes, destroying hundreds of homes and apartment buildings and businesses.

The City of Arlington, via Mayor Chuck Cluck, has said there will be no more use of eminent domain in Arlington for the Dallas Cowboys and their stadium. It took awhile, but those who helped Jones perpetrate this, well, crime, came to realize, to many observers, it gave Arlington a big black eye.

This morning I heard from a Concerned Arlington Citizen, worried that Jones has his sights on her husband's old family home and the land it sits on. I told the Concerned Citizen from Arlington that Arlington has said no more eminent domain use to get land for the Cowboys. I assume this to be true. I know that Jones has had to buy land for more parking lots the old-fashioned way, by negotiating a deal with the owners, rather than forcing them out via eminent domain.

I have seen the property that Jones is buying for more parking lots. You can see there are a couple holdouts, with most of the land razed, the holdouts stand out.

All those people remaining in that area used to live in a fairly quiet neighborhood. Now a gigantic, futuristic space ship, that looks totally out of place, has plopped down as an unwanted neighbor, making the residents nervous and feeling insecure in their homes.

The Concerned Citizen from Arlington feels Jones will get his due when he stands before God and hears "what you did to the least among you, you did unto me." And then shoves the man to hell.

Below is the message from the Concerned Citizen from Arlington (and Rome) Texas...

We have heard that Jones and his cowgirls want more land near the stadium for parking, even after buying out and bulldozing homes on Webb Street near the stadium, very recently. We live very close to the stadium about a block from it, in my husband's old home - the one he grew up in and of course don't want to see our old street turned into an ugly parking lot. However, if we have to move we will, but only for the right price for our home and land. Do you know if there are any more plans for the acquisition of more land for parking?

We hate the stadium and all that it represents - greed, selfishness, power and corruption. In my opinion Cluck, the chicken man, (you know, cluck cluck, it's what chickens do) should be in jail along with the rest of the Arlington City Council, and as for Jones, well he'll get his some day, either before or after he stands before GOD to be judged.

Concerned citizen, Arlington/ROME, Texas

I Am Not An Alcoholic, But I Know A Few

Recently one of my corespondents verbalized concern that a mutual acquaintance had developed a bit of a drinking problem. This particular individual with the drinking problem feels that alcohol helps overcome introvertedness in social situations.

I have been in social situations with the individual in question and I can say without a doubt that the consumption of alcohol does not make the individual more acceptably sociable. What it does is create the illusion that the individual is interacting more successfully with his fellow humans.

A couple drinks of alcohol a day is supposedly healthy. According to those who should know, over 14 million American men regularly knock back more than a couple drinks a day.

If you let your thirst for this medicine reach the 5 drinks or more a day level, you are in danger territory.

You will be hurting your liver, with cirrhosis a likely result. It takes 5 to 10 years of abusing your liver before damage sets in. If you stop with the excess booze, your liver can recover.

Another way too much booze can kill you is driving drunk. That happens way too often. And way too often it is the drunk driver killing another person.

Alcohol is a factor in 4 out of 10 violent crimes. So, if you drink too much you are much more likely to get murdered or murder someone.

Chronic heavy drinking enlarges and weakens your heart muscle. You'll start to swell up because of retaining water, your other muscles will start wasting away. The damage may repair itself if you stop drinking.

If you are an extremely heavy drinker, as in an average of 12 drinks a day, for over 25 years, you will likely develop Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome where the drinking causes a B vitamin deficiency, which causes Wernicke's encephalopathy to develop. This is a degenerative nerve disorder that messes with your ability to concentrate, balance, awareness of your surroundings, paralysis of your eye muscles and eventually it will kill you, but likely not before you also develop Korsakoff's Syndrome. That's where you can not recall old information or understand anything new.

So, there you have it, all you drunks out there. Several reasons to get off the sauce. Or at least cut back, way back.

Casinos in Texas, Oklahoma & Washington

I do not know if they still exist, but at one point in time 2 of the Indian tribes that still exist (in small numbers) in Texas, opened small casinos. The state of Texas did not like this. I do not know if Texas was successful in shutting the Indian casinos.

Other states that long ago tried to shut down Indian casinos found themselves on the losing end of court battles with the tribes, like my old home state of Washington. Eventually the state gave up, with the result being there are now Indian casinos all over the state, pretty much every Indian Reservation has at least one casino.

That is an Orca (Killer Whale) jumping out of the water in front of the Tulalip Casino in Marysville. This casino has some very well done water features. For more pictures and a list of the Washington casinos, go here.

In Washington, like Oklahoma, there is a lot of land set aside as Indian Reservations. Texas solved their Indian problem by either killing them or running them out of the state, with a few very small reservations. Some of the famous Texas Indians, like Quanah Parker, kept up contacts with Texans, even while living in Oklahoma.

All the states bordering Texas allow casinos. The 5th largest casino in the world is just across the border, in Oklahoma, that being WinStar World Casino. It would seem that an awful lot of Texas money leaves the state and ends up in Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana and Arkansas. There are attempts to allow casino zones in Texas. The Fort Worth Stockyards is suggested as one location. I've seen what a casino can do for an area. I think it would be a good thing for Texas to legalize casinos.

But, then again, if Texas legalized casinos it would likely destroy the border casinos, like WinStar and Choctaw Casino in Durant and Kiowa Casino, just north of Wichita Falls. It'd likely be hard on all those riverboat casinos in Shreveport/Bossier City in Louisiana.

Oklahoma has an incredible number of casinos, as in dozens upon dozens. Go here to see a list of all the casinos in Oklahoma.

Many of the Washington casinos have added large hotel type resorts to their casinos, just like WinStar World and Choctaw Casinos have done in Oklahoma. The revenue from the casino resorts has made the tribes in Washington much more prosperous.

However, if I were the dictator I would have never allowed casino gambling anywhere but Nevada. I used to really like going to Nevada. It was like a whole different type world as soon as you crossed the border. All that neon and the clink clink clink of slot machines virtually everywhere. Nevada ceased being unique well before I moved to Texas. The Skagit Valley, where I lived, even back then, had 2 large casinos. Now they are much larger, and totally Nevada-like. Slot machines were allowed after I moved to Texas. Those really amped up the popularity of the casinos.

So, now that the casino lid is totally off, for the most part, Texas really should join the club and stop sending all that money to the bordering states.

Deep Fried Butter Wins 2009 State Fair Of Texas Big Tex Choice Award

That is Twisted Yam on a Stick looking tasty in the picture. The Twisted Yam did not win the 2009 Big Tex Choice Most Creative Award. That honor went to Abel Gonzales and his Deep Fried Butter on a Stick.

The Twisted Yam on a Stick would seem to be a more nutritious choice, but the Deep Fried Butter likely tasted better. Who does not like butter on toast?

Fernie's Deep Fried Peaches & Cream won the coveted Best Tasting Award. One judge wanted to kiss the Deep Fried Peaches because it looked so good. This delicacy is made by frying peaches that have been dipped in a batter flavored with ginger, cinnamon and coconut, topped with raspberry sauce with a scoop of vanilla frosting on the side for dipping purposes.

The Deep Fried Butter comes in 4 flavors. Just plain ol' butter. Or butter seasoned with garlic, grape or cherry flavors. Yum.

Deep Fried Butter is not the first time Abel Gonzales has won a Big Tex Choice Award. He has also won Best Tasting titles for Texas Fried Cookie Dough and Deep Fried Peanut Butter, Jelly and Banana Sandwich. He has previously won the Most Creative title for Deep Fried Coke.

It was win #1 for Fernie's Deep Fried Peaches & Cream creator, Christi Erpillo. The Peaches & Cream were her 5th attempt.

The State Fair of Texas starts up in Fair Park in Dallas in a couple weeks, running from September 25 through October 18, giving you plenty of time to pack on plenty of pounds eating plenty of the Big Tex Choice Awards goodies.

Beach Street Pipeline Stealing Trinity River Water On Public Parkland

Months ago when I hiked to the Tandy Hill's zone Chesapeake Energy operation I was surprised to see 3 big pipelines running through a culvert, under the freeway, to the Trinity River, to suck water for the drilling operation.

Seeing this perplexed me. How does one get permits and permission to do such a thing? Water is a precious commodity here in drought-stricken North Texas.

Then I remembered why Mike Moncrief was installed as mayor of Fort Worth. He's an oil man. With vested interests in all the drilling companies poking holes in Fort Worth to get at the Barnett Shale natural gas. In other parts of the world this is what is known as a conflict of interest. In other parts of the world it can get you jail time. Anyone heard of the Teapot Dome Scandal?

I parked on the north end of the Beach Street Bridge across the Trinity River, stopping to take some littler pictures. And then I saw something even more interesting. A pipeline was running under the Beach Street Bridge. I followed that for a bit, then realized it was not heading to the river. So, I went the other direction, towards Gateway Park.

In the above picture you see the pipeline going under the pedestrian bridge that connects Gateway Park with the Trinity River Trails.

The pipeline comes out the other side of the pedestrian bridge, then heads down a steep, roughly made "temporary" road, made to facilitate moving what is at the end of the pipeline.

At the Trinity River's edge sits a big diesel pump. At the time I saw it it was not pumping, but it reeked of diesel.

A skirt of some water-stopping material formed a barrier around the pump, I assume to try and keep spilled diesel out of the river. How does a private business get the permission to do something like this on public land? What would happen if a private citizen, for some random reason, built a road on public land, to put a diesel pump near the river, to run a pipeline so he could get water for free?

Tons Of Litter Dam Up The Trinity River In Fort Worth

A couple days ago I drove the Beach Street Bridge across the Trinity River and looked to the east, towards Gateway Park and the dam that serves as a pedestrian bridge to see an astonishing amount of litter trapped by the dam.

That "IT'S TIME TO TEAM UP TO CLEAN UP" sign, asking people on the trail to "Join us on Sept. 19," overlooks the aforementioned astonishing amount of floating litter. I've no idea how a mess like this can get cleaned up. I suppose using the usual method used here we'll just wait for the next flood to hopefully flush it downstream, maybe all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

I saw a lot of people biking the Trinity Trail today. This reminded me I need to get my bike fixed. I also saw several people fishing. I don't know what one does with fish one catches in this river.

Earlier today I read an article titled "New girl's take on Skagit County" in my old hometown online paper, by a girl new to the valley and the paper.

Her editors told her to go explore the valley and then write about her impressions. At one point she saw a lot of people on a sandbar on the Skagit River. Looking at it through her Kansas girl's eyes, she thought they were swimming.

Upon further investigation she was to learn that a lot of people spend a lot of time on the river. Fishing. The salmon runs have been strong this year. Salmon are healthy to eat. There are no warning signs on the Skagit River advising you not to eat the fish. There is also very very very little litter.

The Kansas girl also made note of being impressed by mountains and blackberries growing along the roads. I meant the blackberries grow along the roads, not the mountains. Then again, in places, the mountains do pretty much grow along the roads. If I ever move back I will never take all that free fresh fruit for granted ever again.

As soon as I parked, to walk down to the Trinity River litter, I saw something else that interested me. A couple months ago one of my Fort Worth blogging partners heard there was something fishy going on near the Beach Street Bridge. By the time I got there I saw nothing fishy.

But today I did. See something fishy, I mean. It's material for another blogging. To be written as soon as I hit the publish button on this one.

A Yellow Tandy Tomato, The Princess Annie Of Wink Project & WeatherBug Bugging Me No More

I've had myself a Labor Day. Which has pretty much been just like any other Monday, except I got up later than usual and was in the pool well after the sun lit up the place.

We are under a Level Orange Air Pollution Watch. Again. Day after day the National Weather Service issues the Level Orange Watch, with WeatherBug going off with its annoying chirp, even though I have it set to only warn me about incoming tornadoes and nuclear bombs. I can not shut the thing up. And every day I hear the chirp and click the flashing bug, thinking maybe it is a tornado or nuclear bomb this time, but it's always the Level Orange Watch.

Okay, WeatherBug just got offed for crying wolf one time too many.

I'd not gone there in awhile, so I went hiking at the Tandy Hills Natural Area today. I saw the odd yellow tomato like thing you see in the picture. The vines were scrawny and there was only the one tomato, or whatever it is.

Speaking of the Tandy Hills. A couple days ago the Queen of Wink commented on a blogging about the ELF tower teardown. Somehow this led the Queen to make a charming comment telling us about how the Tandy Hills had inspired her daughter, Princess Annie of Wink, to buy some Wink land to restore to its natural state. Many people were touched by this story.

But then the next day, for reasons still murky, the Queen of Wink, in some sort of Royal twist, deleted her comments. This led to much confusion, with some afraid they had incurred the wrath of the Queen or had offended her delicate sensibilities somehow.

And now today we learned that the Queen of Wink has told the story of Princess Annie of Wink's land restoration project in much greater detail than we knew before. Such as how Don Young's work to preserve the Tandy Hills and my photos of the Tandy Hills and other Tandy Hills stuff has inspired the young princess to turn part of her part of Texas back to its natural state.

You can read all about Princess Annie's project on her mother, the Queen of Wink's, blog.

Cougar Caught In Seattle, Cougar Killed in Redmond

Months ago I ran into an elderly lady wearing a mumu at Village Creek Natural Historic Area who told me about her encounter with a cougar. This encounter made the local news.

It seemed plausible that a creature that preferred living in the wild might follow the banks of the Trinity River in the D/FW urban zone.

An implausible cougar story is in the Seattle news today. A 2 1/2 year old male cougar weighing 140 pounds was captured in Seattle's Discovery Park around 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning, after the cat was treed by hunting dogs.

The cougar was tranquilized, fitted with a GPS collar, which will track his whereabouts twice a day, caged, then released back into the wild at an undisclosed location.

Discovery Park is an island of green surrounded by urban development on 3 sides and the Puget Sound on the 4th side. How did this cat get to Discovery Park? How did it get across the Ballard Locks if it came from the north? How did it get across Lake Washington if it came from the east? How did it get past downtown Seattle if it came from the south? It's very perplexing.

Methinks this may be a coordinated cougar invasion of the Seattle Metropolitan area. Saturday evening there was another cougar incident. A driver ran into and killed a cougar on a Redmond road. Redmond is east of Seattle, on the east side of Lake Washington, where Microsoft is headquartered. It seems the logical source of the cougar invasion would be the Cascade mountains to the east. I wonder how many more cougars have left the mountains to move to the Big City?

Moab, Arches, Stehekin, Maui, Las Vegas, Bears & Fiery Furnace Hikes With Nephews & Slow Modems

I think I mentioned I spent a few hours in the past couple days re-doing a lot of my biggest website. I updated old stuff to make it look slightly less ancient.

But, I did not realize, til thinking about it this morning, that some of those old webpages are well over 10 years old. No wonder they looked so dated.

Another thing with the old webpages is they were made back way before anyone had heard of the concept known as broadband, back when you thought you were being superfast when you upgraded from a 14.4 BPS modem to a 28.8, and then the unthinkably fast speed of 56.6. Was it .6? I dunno. It's been a long time.

So, back then websites could take a long time to load. If you made websites you kept graphics to a minimum. If you used photos you sucked as much resolution out of them as possible, while still managing a semi decent image.

That first picture you see above is not too bad. That was a scanned image, re-scanned during the era of broadband. That is Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park. I've done that hike twice. If you are ever in the Moab zone, do not skip Arches and do not skip hiking the Fiery Furnace, even though it will cost you a few dollars and it's a group, ranger-led hike. It's fun.

The worst pictures are those I used for one of the funnest things I've ever done, that being taking the Lady of the Lake on Lake Chelan to Stehekin in North Cascades National Park. I have never seen so many bears. Not even in Yellowstone, when bears were still allowed there. I think I still have the original photos of the Stehekin trip, though that is well over a decade ago. I could find them and re-scan them. But I am drawing a blank as to where the photos are.

Actually, now that I am looking at them, the absolute worst are the pictures from Maui with my nephews, Chris and Jeremy. They now live in Phoenix. Recently my sister was thrilled to have both boys moving back home again. Temporarily. I do not have the originals of the Maui photos, so I am stuck with these badly damaged images. Damn the early days of the Internet and what it made us do.

I have the originals of photos taken in Las Vegas when my nephews, Jason and Joey, took me there soon before I moved to Texas. I re-scanned one of them recently when I wrote a blog about Death Valley. The nephews and I went out to Death Valley on a HOT August day that had the potential to break the temperature record. But it did not. We got plenty HOT though.

It seems so recent that the nephews took me to Vegas. Joey was 15 then, Jason 18. Joey is now 26, which I guess makes Jason 29, married, divorced and with the cutest kid I've ever seen, my great-nephew, Spencer Jack, who has a blog, but it is viewable by invite only, so I won't bother making a link to it. That is Joey on the right, with his big brother, standing in the Excalibur pool, with the skyline of New York New York behind him.

My Wal-Mart Supercenter Super Car Stopping Posts

A couple weeks ago I blogged about my nearest Wal-Mart Supercenter getting attacked through the entry doors by a car heading to the McDonald's inside.

The destroyed doors were replaced within hours. The inside seems to be taking awhile to fix, though the damage was slight.

Last week heavy duty car stopping posts were stuck into the cement outside all the entries to my nearby Wal-Mart Supercenter.

After seeing the car stopping posts at the site of the attack I was surprised to see the posts added to my nearest Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market.

Is Wal-Mart adding these car stopping posts to Wal-Marts all over? Or is just my neighborhood at risk for car attacks through Wal-Mart doors?

One car going through the doors incident and this sort of rapid response? Something seems ridiculous about it. Right next to my nearby Wal-Mart Supercenter is a Sam's Club. Sam's Club does not have the car stopping posts. Then again, Sam's Club does not have a McDonald's inside.

It's perplexing.