The Dallas Cowboy Stadium & the Seattle Seahawk Stadium

I got an email from Seattle this morning, from Janice Taylor. Janice had been reading my webpage about the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Scandal where she came to a comment made by William G. in which William G., apparently, left out a few key facts.

Most of what Janice has to say resonates with my memory of how the new Seattle football stadium and baseball field came to be.

Except Janice makes one statement that even I, non baseball aficionado that I am, know to be wrong, that being where Janice claims that the Seattle Mariner's Safeco Field is too small to host a World Series. Well, a World Series goes back and forth between the ballparks of the teams in the World Series. If Seattle ever made it that far in the playoffs, their home games in the World Series would be played at Safeco Field.

Another thing, my reason for ever mentioning the Seattle sports palaces was to make the point that no one in Seattle lost their home due to the use of eminent domain, this in an area with way less open land than Texas, while in Texas, eminent domain was abused flagrantly, resulting in thousands of people being displaced, dozens of homes taken, a dozen, or so, apartment complexes taken and many businesses taken.

Anyway, below is the email from Janice...

You've prominently placed a comment from one William G. regarding the funding for stadiums in Seattle. Obviously, he was a supporter because he omitted a couple of key facts. First, the people of Seattle voted not once, but twice on the baseball stadium. Each time, the "no" vote prevailed. The second time, one week after the vote, our elected officials overturned the public's decision, saying we "didn't understand the source of funding." (I have letters from all I wrote using that same quote.) Democracy be damned.

As for the football stadium, it went to a state-wide vote because our governor, Gary Locke, knew the citizens of King County would never vote it through. (Gov. Locke reminded me of a 15-year-old groupie at a Motley Crew concert the way he cuddled up to Paul Allen to "Save Our Seahawks.") Only King County pays for it, though, and election results showed King County majority voted "no". The sports-only lotteries were terminated due of lack of sales. So the lottery money earmarked for education is now laundered to help pay for the stadium.

All totaled, Seattle spent over $1 billion in stadiums. Both are too small to host either a World Series or a Super Bowl. (But we sure got that argument when the pols were stumping.) And the first sell-out at Seahawks stadium was a soccer game. Today, I think Paul Allen realizes he picked the wrong "football" to support.

The Seattle Sonics basketball team then tried to bully its way into a new facility even though its home, Key Arena, had recently gone through a multi-million tax-payer dollar remodel. This time, all the politicians realized it would be political suicide to back a new stadium. One small city, Renton, toyed with the idea of hosting the stadium, but that idea died at the outcry of the residences.

So please do not hold Seattle up as any shining beacon on how sports arenas should be built. We citizens will be paying for decades. Hell, they'll probably demolish them for new before they are paid off, like our King Dome. I hope all the displaced citizens have found homes. The bigger issue is declaring eminent domain for private enterprise.

Janice Taylor
Seattle, Washington

The Fosdic Lake Dam Vision

You are looking at Fosdic Lake Dam, with trees growing out of it, in Oakland Lake Park in East Fort Worth in a picture taken yesterday.

As I walked across Fosdic Lake Dam yesterday I had a vision that I've decided to call The Fosdic Lake Vision.

Currently swimming and boating is forbidden in Fosdic Lake. And the fish you catch might be dangerous to eat.

The Fosdic Lake Vision fixes that. And other problems.

The City of Fort Worth is closing all its public swimming pools, but one. Leaving Fort Worth's kids with few swimming options. The Fort Worth official in charge of the pools suggested Fort Worth's kids could have their water fun at Arlington's Hurricane Harbor. Trouble is, there is no public transportation to take Fort Worth's kids to Arlington to pay $30 to get into Hurricane Harbor.

The Fort Worth city official's attitude struck me as very Marie Antoinette-ish of the "Let them eat cake" sort.

Currently Fort Worth is being subjected to a nearly $1 billion boondoggle called the Trinity River Vision. In this blurred vision Fort Worth gets an unneeded flood control diversion channel and a little lake. The vision used to include 3 fancy bridges and some canals, but those went away as the price climbed.

The Fosdic Lake Vision envisions draining Fosdic Lake, cleaning up the lake bed, installing filtration systems on the incoming Fosdic Lake water sources, installing aerating fountains in the lake, building sandy beaches around the lake, installing several docks on the lake and building restroom facilities.

I estimate Fosdic Lake could be turned into a safe, clean lake to swim and fish in for a small fraction of what the Trinity River Vision will cost. Plus, Fosdic Lake is already served by Fort Worth's public bus system. Kids from all over town could easily make their way to Fosdic Lake.

I don't think there should be a fee charged to swim in public Fosdic Lake. This is the sort of amenity most big cities provide their citizens, because it's the type thing that helps make a big city livable and its people happy and its kids out of trouble and having fun.

The other big city with which I am most familiar, Seattle, has several lakes where people can swim in for free. Like Green Lake, where you can swim, paddle a boat and fish. Fosdic Lake could be like a little version of Seattle's Green Lake.

I'm thinking just a fraction of the energy going into the cloudy Trinity River Vision could clearly make The Fosdic Lake Vision happen. And, like I said, for a fraction of the cost.

Fosdic Lake Dam Ducks In Fort Worth

It was another below freezing morning, here in the biggest fort in Texas, so true to my new thinking, as in no attempt to go swimming when the temperature is not above freezing, so no attempt was made.

But this new thinking means, if the forecast is correct, when I wake up this computer tomorrow morning I should be learning that it is not freezing. And so a-swimming I will go.

I was already out of here to do something constructive by the time my stir crazy mode usually kicks in. But the constructive thing involved nothing aerobic. Yikes! I typed erotic instead of aerobic. I have been catching all sorts of bad typos of late. Well, I hope I catch them. This was the worst, and ironically the typo was also true, as the constructive thing involved nothing aerobic or erotic.

So, about 3:30 this afternoon I took off to visit the ducks on Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park. You can barely see the ducks on the log in the part of Fosdic Lake closest to you in the picture. In this view we are looking sort of northwest at Fosdic Lake and all its parasitic trees.

I'll go see if I got a good closeup picture of the ducks. They were acting sort of funny today. Like they were happy it was warmer, so they were celebrating by doing some odd log dancing.

It was like the ducks couldn't decide if they wanted to get in the water or not. I identified with their dilemma.

Only 5 more days til Winter arrives and 4 days after that it's JC's big birthday party, biggest birthday party in the world.

Chesapeake Energy Continues With Its Eminent Domain Attack On Fort Worth Citizen's Property

The Star Telegraph, that being the Fort Worth area blog that often prints news you can't seem to find in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in a blogging today, says that Chesapeake Energy is still taking the one remaining Carter Avenue holdout to court, this coming Friday.

High pressure tactics were used by minions of Chesapeake Energy to convince Carter Avenue citizens to sign away their property rights so that Chesapeake Energy could install a pipeline running under their homes, carrying non-odorized natural gas.

In cahoots with the City of Fort Worth's corrupt city government, with an ethically challenged, conflicts of interest laden, energy industry installed puppet mayor named Mike Moncrief, eminent domain was threatened to be used against those who resisted the Carter Avenue pipeline.

A few weeks ago, after a long time of saying there were no options for the pipeline except for Carter Avenue, Chesapeake Energy discovered the pipeline could be run in a different location, under no homes, along side Interstate 30.

So, why is Chesapeake Energy continuing with its eminent domain attack on this particular Carter Avenue American? I thought that battle was won with the good guys winning?

The Star Telegraph says the lone holdout asked for legal representation, you know, counsel like that afforded criminals. But, apparently there is no mechanism to provide legal counsel to someone who is a victim of a corrupt city government and an overbearing, rights and decency be damned company like Chesapeake Energy, run by a should be in jail thief named Aubrey McClendon.

Have the Oklahoma City Supersonics won any games this season? I've not paid any attention. Are the players and their families still being disgruntled over being yanked out of Seattle?

Someone famous, I think it's that guy who's birthday we'll be celebrating in about 8 days, supposedly said, "That which you do to the least among us, you do unto me."

Someone else once said something like, "Chesapeake Energy used eminent domain to take property in another county, and I said nothing, then Chesapeake Energy used eminent domain to take property in a city different than mine, and I said nothing, then Chesapeake Energy used eminent domain to take property in my city, and I still said nothing, and then Chesapeake Energy used eminent domain to take my property, and no one said anything and I wondered why?"

Well, it'd be a real good thing if a few thousand Americans decided to say something on Friday, down at the courthouse in downtown Fort Worth, at 100 E. Weatherford Street. Court proceedings begin at 8:30am in Judge Vince Sprinkle's courtroom.

The Mad Texas Grandma Gets New Info From Arlington Police Regarding The Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart Parking Lot Grand Theft Of More Than 50 Autos

I have heard from the Mad Texas Grandmother regarding what she learned from the Arlington Police regarding the November 21 incident where more than 50 vehicles were illegally towed from the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart parking lot.

You may remember, the Wal-Mart co-manager, who called MTG, told her that Wal-Mart had no contractual relationship with A-AArlington Towing, that Wal-Mart did not ask for the vehicles to be towed, that A-AArlington Towing is owed by the City of Arlington.

So, what did our Mad Texas Grandma learn from the Arlington Police?

First off, the police spokesperson told MTG that the City of Arlington does not own A-AArlington Towing.

Second off, Wal-Mart has a contract with A-AArlington Towing.

Third off, the police spokesperson told MTG it was Wal-Mart who authorized the cars be towed.

Fourth off, the Arlington Police Department is aware the Wal-Mart towing warning signs are not Texas legal posted signs.

The night that the vehicles were being illegally towed, in other words, the night that over 50 acts of Grand Theft Auto took place, the Arlington Police were called by distraught victims. But, when the police arrived they simply stood by, said they could do nothing, while the vehicles were taken from a parking lot that, we now know, the police knew did not have Texas legal signs posted.

Energized By Carrot Sweet Potato Bacon Pea Soup I Hike The Tandy Hills

Today has been all mixed up from my usual tightly organized schedule. Freezing temperatures, along with wind, kept me from even considering my usual early morning, neither rain nor sleet nor dark of night shall stop me, swim.

And then, when the usual time came when I escape to the outdoors to do something aerobic, events conspired to prevent that from happening.

My Carrot Sweet Potato Bacon Pea Soup lunch was put off til almost 2.

After lunch I needed to go to the bank to do some depositing. The bank is right by the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area. Even though I hiked the Tandy Hills yesterday, in shorts and no shirt, in 70 degree plus temperatures, I thought I'd get myself all insulated in winter wear, including gloves, and brave the wind, as you can see in the picture.

The afternoon light makes the Tandy Hills look different than the noon light when the sun is high in the sky.

I got gas yesterday, but it was not convenient to call my mom. Usually the drive-through at the bank is a semi-long wait. So, I made my tardy mom gas call then. But no answer. There are way too many fun things in the Phoenix zone that keep them way too busy. My mom will likely call back this evening. I won't hear the phone ring. Mom will then leave a message that I won't notice til tomorrow morning. It's a vicious cycle.

The Scrabble Queen of Washington had gone missing for a few days, lost in Seattle doing Christmas shopping. I just got a Facebook message telling me she is home and has Scrabbled. This means I will be needing to do the most serious hard thinking I've done in a few days.

I'll likely get a headache.

Freezing Again In Fort Worth With Carrot Sweet Potato Bacon Pea Soup

You are standing on the Handley Post Office parking lot, with me, in the picture, looking a bit northwest at one of the 820/30 flyover passes that were rendered invisible due to fog 2 days ago.

If we are looking northwest that would indicate the flag is pointing to the south and being hit by a very stiff breeze from the north.

Last night when I last looked at the temperature it was 65. When I saw the temperature this morning, at 6, it was 29. Since then it dropped to 26 with a 19 degree Wind Chill. Since we hit that low we've bounced back to a balmy 29 with a Wind Chill of 25.

Anyone want to make a guess as to whether I went swimming this morning?

I've been making a lot of soup, of late, in an attempt to reverse my unsightly, decreased activity caused, weight gain.

Today's is Carrot Sweet Potato Bacon Pea Soup.

Now, I know it would seem that adding bacon to a soup is counter-intuitive to the weight loss thing. But, I bake the bacon in the oven, hence the name, rendering out most of the fat. Then it gets rinsed with hot water with paper towels sopping up some more bacon fat.

That is the Carrot Soup simmering in the picture. Lunch will be around 1. I'm also making bacon cornbread muffins. Don't be late or you won't get a muffin.

Having Myself An Email Deletion Party In Texas

I've had me a day. Due to the balmy temperatures going in the pool this morning did not cause a near cardiac arrest. Hiking the Tandy Hills was great.

About 3, or so, Bob the Cockroach Man showed up for a regular inspection. My Cockroach Collection is way smaller than when the invasion was in full George Bush mode. Today a gel was stuck in key locations, I suppose to snag the few remaining stragglers.

After Bob the Cockroach Man left I replied to an email, answering a question that had me looking through old emails. There were maybe 100 or so from this particular person. Let's call her The Unstoppable Woman.

I was looking for a password for The Unstoppable Woman so I could change her DNS settings so her website would be moved to my new host.

I've used the computer I'm on right now since 2004. I've rarely deleted an incoming email. Or a sent email. I always tell myself I should go through the email and delete most of it, but then decide it would be an odious time consuming task. That and what's the harm of having thousands of emails? With attachments?

So, I started in on deleting The Unstoppable Woman's email, hoping to find the one that had the password I needed. And then I kept on going.

All was going fine til I got to the Alma email. Alma is my favorite songbird singing on the Texas Gulf Coast. Alma sends a lot of big attachments, videos, pictures. I selected a lot of the Alma email to be deleted, hit the delete button. And waited. It took over a half hour to delete that batch of Alma email.

After that I seemed to have lost control of Outlook Express and my computer.

So, I re-started. After the re-start I continued with the deletion fest. Only at a more gingerly pace. I got Alma all cleaned up. Then I ran in to Tootsie Tonasket. There were over 4000 emails from Tootsie Tonasket since 2004. Tootsie sends few attachments, so the Tootsie deletion went quickly.

After that it was fairly smooth sailing. An hour or so later I had the Inbox cleaned up. And then I realized the Sent Items had a lot of emails in it. But those are ones I send, few attachments, not nearly as many emails as the Inbox. So, that went fast.

Outlook Express is seeming happier. But I'm sure by tomorrow I'm going to be wanting to find an email that I've now deleted. That's usually how things seem to go.

Windows Open Shirts Off With One Week To Go Til Winter In Texas

I just got back from a hot hike at the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area. I direly needed the sanity restoring benefit of hiking on Fort Worth's best place to stand (and walk).

It is 70 right now. Which feels like 100 after our recent bout of being in a Deep Freeze as low as 17. Or was it 14?

The hiking was done today shirt-free. My windows are open. It's like Spring has arrived one week before the Winter Solstice.

Tomorrow reality returns and Spring departs while we once more are predicted to return to the Deep Freeze.

That plant you see in the picture I see in multiple locations on the Texas Prairie. I'm not certain, but I think it's called a Century Plant. I'm sure someone less horticulturally challenged than myself can make a correction identification.

I went to Town Talk after Tandy. Have I ever remembered to thank Don Young for pointing this place out to me?

Today I got Broccoli, Salsa, New York Sharp Cheddar, Jarlsberg Lite Swiss, Vanilla Yogurt, Coconut Shrimp and I forget what else. The main reason I like Town Talk isn't that you can get stuff there at a cheap price, my main reason is I get stuff there I just don't usually buy. Like these big bags of hummus. Very tasty.

Speaking of tasty. I just heard the rice cooker beep, along with the microwave beeping, indicating the broccoli is done. All I've got to do is add these things called Turtle Beans, I got previously from Town Talk, and Pineapple Salsa and lunch is done and ready to consume.

See you later. Or sooner if you're coming here for lunch.

The Mad Texas Grandma Is Off The Boat & Back On The Case

The Mad Texas Grandma is back on dry land, at her headquarters in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex.

Unable to get a straight answer from a woman claiming to be the co-manager of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart, in Arlington, MTG is calling the Arlington Police today to try and get a simple question answered.

As in who authorized the towing of her vehicle and more than 50 others from Wal-Mart's parking lot on November 21?

The Wal-Mart co-manager told MTG that Wal-Mart did not ask that the cars be towed and that Wal-Mart has no relationship with A-AArlington Towing, that being the entity that did the towing.

There has been a problem in the D/FW Metroplex and Texas with Rogue Towing Operations. Was this a Rogue Operation?

Without Wal-Mart's knowledge did A-AArlington have agents on the Wal-Mart lot, looking for parkers who walked across the street to the Dallas Cowboy Stadium to watch high school football games?

Since Wal-Mart denies having a relationship with A-AArlington Towing, if that is true, then there are only a few possible other scenarios. One being the scenario already mentioned, that being the Rogue Towing Operation, with A-AArlington in cahoots with no one.

Another scenario would be the Arlington Police were behind the towing. One of the choice items the Wal-Mart co-manager told MTG was that A-AArlington was owned and operated by the City of Arlington. Looking at public records that does not appear to be true.

Another scenario would be that Jerry Jones has someone monitor parking, determined to make money off as many people as possible. Don't want to pay $40 to park on his lots? Trying to park for free on the Wal-Mart parking lot? Is it Jerry Jones who contracted with A-AArlington?

MTG has determined that this was an illegal towing operation due to the fact that Wal-Mart's towing signs do not meet the criteria as defined by Texas law.

It will be interesting to hear what MTG learns from talking to the Arlington Police today.