Continuing Freeze In Fort Worth Breaks Tooth

That's the frozen view from my computer room window this 2nd Thursday of December. It is 26 outside the window this morning coming up on 10 o'clock.

It was 21 at the time I usually venture outside for a nice refreshing dip in the pool. 21 degrees would be way too refreshing.

I may try to go to the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area today if I can find my long underwear.

I'm in a pretty foul mood this morning due to waking up to find that somehow during the night one of my molars seems to have developed a problem, as in a bit of tooth is missing. I have had this happen before, but not in a long long time.

I hate going to the dentist less than I hate going to a doctor, but not that much less.

As you can see in our Fort Worth 7-Day Forecast, below, in addition to looking forward to a dentist visit I have an almost 70 degree day to look forward to, this Sunday. If this forecast is correct today is the last we freeze for at least 6 days.

Fort Worth Mayor Moncrief Sprouts Horns While Practicing Crony Capitalism & Ignoring All His Conflicts Of Interest

I read today that Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief has been making around $600,000, annually, from the Oil and Gas Industry.

Mayor Moncrief oversees meetings where policy is made regarding things like permits to drill for natural gas in the Barnett Shale.

Moncrief is part of forming policy from which he monetarily benefits.

In other parts of America, and the world, this is what is known as a Conflict of Interest.

A Conflict of Interest exists when a person is in a position where he is entrusted with impartiality, as in a Mayor is supposed to look out for the public he serves, not himself.

In America, except Fort Worth, a Mayor with Conflicts of Interest would either recuse himself from being any part of policy making, from which he might benefit, or shed himself of whatever is causing the Conflict of Interest. In Moncrief's case that would mean selling his shares of all the Barnett Shale gas drilling companies he holds an interest in. Or recusing himself when his Conflicts of Interest come in to play.

The need for such a recusal depends on the nature of the Conflict of Interest. If it is a trivial matter, no need to recuse. If it is a serious matter, as in something like being part of making decisions about how far from a residence a well can be drilled, or what sort of safety precautions must be taken, or what sort of pollution controls must be installed, or where a pipeline can be located, well, in that type circumstance a Mayor, with a Vested Interest that Conflicts with his duties as Mayor of the People, must recuse himself.

Failure to do so, and subsequently hugely profiting from the gas drillers activities, well, in the rest of America, like I've already said, more than once. Jail time and a huge fine.

The fact that these Conflicts of Interest are allowed to happen, in Fort Worth, has perplexed me for years now. There is a political science term, well, I'm pretty sure it's a political science term, of a certain type of capitalist economy called Crony Capitalism.

Crony Capitalism is what runs way too much of Fort Worth. It's how Fort Worth ends up with things like Cabela's, sold on promises, never delivered. Crony Capitalism is a deviation of a democratic capitalist economy. Crony Capitalism occurs where success in business requires a too close relationship between those in business and government officials.

For instance, say you are in the gas drilling business. You know there is going to be a huge play on this thing called the Barnett Shale. You know that a large part of the Barnett Shale lies under a large city called Fort Worth. You know a few years into drilling the Barnett Shale that you are going to want to be drilling in Fort Worth.

So. What do you do? You install as many of your cronies in positions of power as possible. The few people who bother to vote, work as willing stooges for the Cronies and elect their Top Crony as Mayor of Fort Worth. And even though it is clearly obvious that something is very wrong, the Mayor gets re-elected by a 70% landslide of the 6% who bothered to vote.

Why isn't the FBI investigating Moncrief's Conflicts of Interest? Especially now that even the Great State of Texas is having to recognize that an ever growing body of evidence is showing that the way the Barnett Shale is being drilled by the Cabal of Crony Capitalists, deadly pollutants spewing into the air of Fort Worth and North Texas. Entire towns (DISH) have been run over with noise, air pollution, property destruction, water pollution, dangerous chemicals (like Benzene) and who knows what else.

Now, til it became a known fact that the gas wells are spewing bad stuff into the air, and that there are ways to stop that from happening. Methods that pay for themselves. Methods that the gas drillers don't want to pay for, and which the government, not Texas, not Fort Worth, is not mandating be done, well, til then, I was not as annoyed about all this as I am now.

But now I am TOTALLY annoyed and appalled that there is not a louder demand that something be done. Done now. Moncrief and his cronies need to be run out of town on a Federal Prison Boat Float down the Trinity River.

And then I saw Mayor Mike Moncrief pouring purple water into the Trinity River. And I heard him speak for the first time. And realized what a stooge he actually is. I highly doubt that man has any concept of how ethically challenged he is. I doubt he is able to understand what a Conflict of Interest is. I doubt he'd be able to understand he is part of a localized Crony Capitalism system.

He might know what you mean if you told him he's part of the Fort Worth Good Ol' Boy Network. But, he'd likely take that as a compliment.

The Salvation Army Bell Ringers Accepting Credit Cards In North Richland Hills Texas

I had read somewhere that some Salvation Army Bell Ringers now accept credit cards. But I had not seen this in person til today.

That's the credit card accepting Salvation Army Bell Ringer at the North Richland Hills Wal-Mart Supercenter on Davis Boulevard.

I was a far distance away, using the zoom to take the picture. The Salvation Army Bell Ringer had no idea he was under surveillance.

It seems sort of cruel to stick the Salvation Army Bell Ringers outside during this Arctic Blast we are currently freezing with, here in North Texas.

It is currently 32 with the wind making it feel like 24.

How does the Salvation Army Bell Ringer process a credit card, I could not help but wonder.

I remember being at the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico and the native Taos tour guide telling us that the natives live the same way they did hundreds of years ago, with no modern conveniences, no electricity, no phones.

After the Taos tour you are invited to visit various shops that sell native handicraft type stuff and food, like this bread you could not help but want, after smelling it baking for an hour in a wood fired kiln type thing. After hearing the Taos Pueblo had no modern conveniences I was a bit surprised to see that credit cards were accepted. And processed over a phone line. In a room with illumination provided by light bulbs.

I'm fairly certain the Salvation Army Bell Ringer that accepted credit cards had a very efficient way to do so. I didn't whip mine out to find out how though.

Fort Worth Wind Chilling At 14 Degrees

That is what 23 degrees and a Wind Chill of 14 degrees looks like looking out my window at a very cold day in Fort Worth, Texas.

At least we are a bit warmer than my old location in the state of Washington where it is 16 degrees in Mount Vernon right now. With no wind.

So, I guess it is feeling colder here in Fort Worth than it is in Mount Vernon.

I have not ventured out into the deep freeze yet today. So, yes, there are limits to my insanity, in that I have not gone swimming this morning.

I did not hear from the Mad Texas Grandma yesterday. I've not yet learned who authorized A-AArlington to remove more than 50 vehicles from the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart on October 21.

I have heard from a Fort Worth, I believe, TCU student, named Ryan Cormier, via Twitter, that A-AArlington towed his car. I'll copy Ryan's Twitter Tweet....

"@RyanJCormier @DurangoTexas That place is the worst! They have towed my car before in Fort Worth!"

In Twitter world having an @ in front of name turns the name into a link to that particular Twitter account.

Microsoft has just installed yet one more round of updates to my computer, fixing yet more security problems that might allow some evil entity, like Microsoft, to take control of my computer. Now it is pestering me to restart so these important updates can take effect.

A Giant Cloudy Smoke Plume Drifts Over Fort Worth

Just like I thought would be the case, early this morning, I have had me a day. And it's still got over 6 hours to go.

The fog burned off around noon, maybe later. I really was in no mood to pay much attention.

About 5 I realized I'd run out of coffee. So, I headed to Wal-Mart to get me some.

When I left Wal-Mart, heading west on John T. White Road, I saw what looked like a humongous smoke plume blotting out a huge section of the recently re-blued sky. I thought to myself, this has to be a cloud, but it looks so much like a smoke plume.

That first photo I left full size if you click on it, so you can get a better idea of how strange this looked. The other two photos I shrunk down because they didn't need to be big to give you an idea of how strange it looked.

This looked as if it was coming straight out of downtown Fort Worth. As if a huge bomb had exploded or one of the thousand or two Barnett Shale gas wells had blown up.

In the view above you are sitting by the Jack in the Box at 820 and John T. White Road, looking west. When I rolled down my window to take the above picture I smelled a strong sulfur smell. This had me thinking, oh oh, maybe that is a giant smoke plume. But anything that big, there would have been sirens, I would have heard it on the news. No, it had to be a Mother Nature fluke.

Anonymous Information About A-AArlington & The Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart Towing Scandal

The most frequent commenter to this blog, the ubiquitous Anonymous commented to the blogging preceding this current one with the cryptic "More info can be found here."

I was seeking the answer to the question how did it come to pass that an Arlington towing company, calling itself A-AArlington, with words attached after the A-AArlington part that seem to vary each time I find a new mention of A-AArlington. How did A-AArlington know that over 50 vehicles were there for the plucking on the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart parking lot the night of October 21?

The co-manager of the Stadium Wal-Mart claims Wal-Mart has no contract with A-AArlington.

A towing company must have a relationship with a business in order to tow vehicles off the parking lot of a business.

So, what did Anonymous send me you're wondering? Well, it was a link to a State of Texas website that has something to do with recording business information, like if a business is certified properly, I think. I really did not understand what this all meant.

One part said "This Certification Not Sufficient for Filings with Secretary of State." That certainly sounds ominous.

One part says "Certification of Account Status."

Under that, where it says "Status:" it says in bold letters "NO STANDING, FRANCHISE RESPONSIBILITY ENDED."

This website has "Rick Merritt" as the Registered Agent. Whatever that means. I have seen the owner/officer of A-AArlington listed as Rickie W. Merritt and Ricki Merritt. And now as Rick Merritt.

I assumed Merritt was a female due to Rickie and Ricki.

On the webpage it says the SOS Registration Date is August 11, 1989. (I assume SOS means Secretary of State) That is over 20 years ago. Why does this info about A-AArlington come up on a State of Texas website over 20 years later? Where is pertinent to 2009 information about A-AArlington?

Who told A-AArlington to take those cars from the Wal-Mart parking lot October 21? Who told those taxi drivers to be there to pick up some easy marks? How did the taxis come up with the $10 fare? I thought taxi charges were regulated? Or did the taxi know that $10 was the amount that the meter would run up in the distance from the Wal-Mart to where the cars were being held hostage? The distance was a bit over a mile.

Still No Answer To Who Authorized A-AArlington To Steal More Than 50 Cars From Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart Parking Lot

Yesterday I told you that the Mad Texas Grandma had received a phone call from a person claiming to be the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart's co-manager.

The co-manager told MTG that Wal-Mart has no towing contract with A-AArlington, that being the towing company that stole MTG's car on October 21.

If Wal-Mart does not have a contract with A-AArlington to tow vehicles off their lot, who does?

A-AArlington has a website. On their website A-AArlington clearly explains that they have 2 tiers of customers, with their primary customers being businesses, and their secondary customer being those whose cars they hi-jack.

I'll copy what A-AArlington says about their 2 tiers of customers....

At A-AArlington, we serve two tiers of customers. Our primary customers, property owners and managers are key to the business and our longevity. Their businesses are apartment communities, manufactured home complexes, hotels / motels, industrial properties, everyday retail stores, shopping centers (big and small), and privately-owned lots.

Our secondary customer, those who have had their vehicles towed by A-AArlington, are also important to our business, And, our treatment of them, in their most unfortunate situation, is one of the more significant ways that A-AArlington can, and will differentiate itself from the competition.

So. How is it that Wal-Mart is a customer of A-AArlington with Wal-Mart's co-manager claiming that Wal-Mart has no contract with A-AArlington?

Who authorized A-AArlington to go on Wal-Mart's parking lot and remove over 50 vehicles?

I also told you that the Wal-Mart co-manager told the Mad Texas Grandma that A-AArlington is owned by the city of Arlington. From what I've seen I don't see how that can be. Unless Straw K, Inc. is somehow a business set up by Arlington. I could find no info about Straw K, Inc. beyond the fact that it exists, located in Arlington and is doing business as A-AArlington Abandoned Vehicle.

Another Cold Foggy Wet Day In Fort Worth Texas

It is not even winter yet and I've grown tired of that particular season this second Tuesday of December in Texas.

That is my balcony view when I returned from swimming around 8 this morning. The fog was so thick it was pretty much a drizzle getting everything soaking wet.

It is a relatively balmy 40 right now in foggy Fort Worth. I suspect the swimming water was a few degrees warmer.

My new swimming shock therapy method is to run into the pool til I'm in swim mode, swim to the end, swim back, run to the hot tub. When I get in the hot tub I feel no heat for a couple minutes. Then it gets feeling too hot. I then get back in the pool where it takes about 2 minutes to feel too cool again.

I heard from the Mad Texas Grandma a couple times last night, emailing from her cruise ship somewhere in either the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean. We still have not found out who actually owns A-AARLINGTON ABANDONED VEHICLE or how it is they tow cars from the Stadium Wal-Mart with Wal-Mart claiming they have no towing contract with the mysterious company.

It is going to be a long day.

The Blitzkrieg The Barnett Shale Gas Drillers Have Unleashed In Texas & The Coming D-Day

If my memory is serving me correctly, this afternoon, a time or two I have referred to the Fort Worth Police as the Fort Worth Gestapo, due to their, at times, heavy handed Storm Trooper like behavior.

A brutal bar raid here, a brutal tasering there, with little consequence for the bad behaviors.

Well, I got an email from Don Young, today, he being Fort Worth's Top Watch Dog as determined by those who determine who Fort Worth's Top Watch Dog is.

In the email DY makes an interesting analogy between North Texas in 2009 and Denmark and much of the rest of Europe in 1941.

I'll copy DY's email in its entirety below....

I saw a great movie yesterday called, Flame and Citron, a true story about a pair of heroic resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Denmark. It's WW2 and the Danish people have a mixture of fear and anger at the way the Nazi's have taken over their Motherland. The tag-line of the film is:

"Do you remember when they came?"

If my overburdened email INBOX is any indication, there are lots of people around the USA who are asking similar questions nearly 70 years after the Nazi's plundered Europe. Not to tarnish the meaning or memory of WW2, but the parallels to then and now - to Nazi's and gas drillers, are chilling.

Nearly every day I get a new message from a homeowner, a rancher, a mother with children or a distraught father asking what can be done. What can be done to stop gas drillers from poisoning their air and water? What can be done to stop the degradation of their property and the ruination of their investments? What can be done to stop the poisoning of their animals and wildlife?

As you might expect, the answers are complex and not easily resolved. The enemy is entrenched and seems unstoppable. Just like in WW2, gas drilling companies are aggressive, arrogant, in control of elected officials and the courts. They laugh at our laws and manufacture their own version of truth, as needed. But this is 2009 not 1941.

There are signs of growing resistance to the blitzkrieg that gas drillers have unleashed. Activists are being created every time a driller bulldozes a fence, dumps poison near our drinking water, sets up a pad-site next to a school or releases a cloud of toxic gas in the name of profit.

For some of us, patriotism is gaining new meaning. But this is NOT about radical political ideology. This is about fundamental rights to clean air and water. The stakes are getting higher every day. What is your tipping point?

"A patriot must always be ready to defend her city against her government."

-Edward Abbey

DY

December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor Day's Diminishing Infamy

I opened an email from Don Young a few minutes ago, subject line "December 7, Do you remember..." which I assumed was going to be about today being the day in 1941 when Japan sneak attacked America at Pearl Harbor.

But DY's email was not about Pearl Harbor and that particular day of infamy, which seems to have faded in its level of infamy judging by how little note seems to being made in the various media I've looked at today, such as CNN online, which does have an article making note of the fact that tomorrow is the 29th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon. Seems sort of shocking that that was that long ago.

Is there anyone reading this who was alive and paying attention on December 7, 1941? How does the shock of that day compare with the shock of September 11, 2001? There would have been no live television coverage from Pearl Harbor on 12/7, like what happened on 9/11. But I believe the nation was glued to their radio way back in 1941.

I suppose Americans were already in a bit of state of shock on 12/7 due to all the nasty stuff the Nazis had been doing in Europe for a couple years.

Speaking of those nasty Nazis. Nazi's are sort of what Don Young's Pearl Harbor Day email was about. I think I'll share that in another blogging.