The People Are Not Feeling Sweet About The Suite Deal Jerry Jones Gave Arlington City Officials

A few days ago I blogged about the Suite Deal Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys have given the City of Arlington officials who had helped abuse eminent domain to take Arlington citizen's homes, apartments and businesses, for the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium.

Lately I have made note of the fact that I'm not the only one in these parts who is detecting that there are ever growing numbers of Texans who see the unethical, corrupt, just plain wrong, stuff that goes on in this location, and are becoming ever more disgusted and willing to be vocal about it.

I see this as an extremely positive thing and an excellent example of how that good ol' American concept known as Free Speech is supposed to work and why it was ingrained in our Founding Documents by our Founding Fathers.

Even the Fort Worth Star-Telegram seems to be getting onboard and is seeming to be less of a mouthpiece for the Ruling Oligarchy and more like a legitimate newspaper. Of late that newspaper seems to have skewed more toward facts, regarding the Barnett Shale pollution, than the gas industry propaganda the newspaper had been previously spewing.

The Star-Telegram was quite feisty in its expose of the obviously improper free Cowboy Stadium Suite that Jerry Jones gave City of Arlington officials.

And now in this morning's Star-Telegram there are several Letters to the Editor verbalizing righteous indignation over the "Suite Deal." My favorite of the letter writers suggests that each game day, or other event, a lottery take place. For instance, Dallas Cowboy game, a lottery of the Arlington residents who are helping pay for the stadium, is held, the winners go to a game and get all the perks. Another lottery for those who's homes were taken. Well, you get the idea. And I think it's a good one.

And now the letters....

The Suite Deal

Just when I thought the hypocrisy of politicians had reached its zenith, I read the Sunday report on the stadium "perks" received by Arlington's mayor and council members. I was dismayed but not surprised at their attempt to put as good a face as possible on what amounts to corruption in the eyes of ordinary residents. They argued that the wealth the stadium was going to bring to Arlington coupled with the insignificance of the personal benefit to themselves (i.e., the seats were not the best, they were there primarily to conduct business for Arlington, some made limited use of the perks, some use was for charities, etc.) justified the perks.

No suggestion was made that legal research had confirmed the perks did not violate the city charter limits on their compensation, that tax research absolved the city of responsibility to report these perks as income for tax purposes, or that there was no conflict of interest when fire code violations were not imposed at the Cowboys opening game against the Giants.

This reminds me of my grandfather's response after a church service when a fellow member rose to give testimony to his attainment of sinless perfection. Grandpa left church as soon as the service was over, went home and locked his chicken house. Arlington missed its chance for that when the majority voted for the stadium in 2004.

-- Terry Witt, Arlington

So, Arlington officials can't see how being bought and paid for by Jerry Jones is unethical?

Perhaps they should have their eyesight checked.

-- Bill Youngblood, North Richland Hills

We have the following suggestions in response to the ethical issues raised by the city's free suite at Cowboys Stadium:

1. Reserve at least one game each season for which some seats at the suite would be allocated by a lottery in which all city employees would be eligible to participate.

2. Reserve one game each season for which some seats would be allocated by a lottery to those households whose homes and neighborhoods were demolished to make room for the stadium.

3. Reserve some seats each game at the suite to be allocated to the city's employee(s) of the month.

This would not address all the ethical issues raised by the article, but it at least would provide a few opportunities for some who might never be able to afford to attend a Cowboys game the opportunity to see what their city has bought. It would relieve the mayor and council from some of the burdensome responsibility they apparently find comes from using this perk (or, as one councilperson called it, a "workday" experience) and it would give the mayor and council another opportunity to mingle with the folks whose sacrifices made possible this "gift" that the Cowboys gave the city.

-- Norma and Richard Cole, Arlington

Arlington City Councilman Mel LeBlanc's remarks concerning the large bouquet of perks for the council's Cowboys Stadium effort really hit the mark. I know it was really rough on them having to take private property away from their constituents to build the stadium. But as a reminder, there is still a lot of low-hanging fruit to be had. After all, in Arlington, economic development and eminent domain go hand-in-hand.

-- Ron Tovar, River Oaks

Once again our Arlington City Council members are taking advantage of their job with perks for being elected by the residents of Arlington.

For example, in six months Kathryn Wilemon obtained benefits of between $6,000 and $11,167 from the Dallas (Arlington) Cowboys in the form of tickets, parking, food, etc. Does she claim this as income on her federal taxes?

I am retired and would love to see a Cowboys game or shows at the stadium, but I cannot afford tickets, parking and food. Oh well, I am only helping to pay the city's $325 million portion of the stadium's cost.

I do not buy the idea of promoting Arlington by going to the games and shows with family or friends. I only hope that when election time comes up, the voters remember this and the extra benefits that our elected officials receive.

-- John Feuling, Arlington

It breaks my heart to see City Council members take advantage of the perks offered just because of the position they hold. I am a registered nurse of 15 years and I, along with my colleagues, can do more in a 12-hour shift for this city than some council members do in an entire term. What do we get? Self-satisfaction! That should be enough for the council members.

Give up this unethical means of self-pleasure and give back to the city. The money wasted on that suite could go to our local schools, churches, etc.

It's unbelievable how this is being justified as a legitimate gift. Anything can be considered legit if enough heads turn the other way. To try to justify the perk because other suite holders "stop by" is ridiculous. The "substantial things" that Mayor Robert Cluck says occur because of the "discussions in the suite" could have as easily occurred with talks in the office or over the phone.

-- Denise Kubat, Arlington

Sierra Club As "Fixer" For Natural Gas Industry

In the picture you are on Lake Powell, on top of a houseboat heading into a canyon that leads to Rainbow Bridge. Lake Powell is the reservoir behind Glen Canyon Dam. Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell are considered by many to be an ecological, environmental disaster, due to the fact that Glen Canyon, pre-dam, had some of the world's most spectacular scenery.

Glen Canyon is still spectacular, it may be the most jaw-dropping scenic place I've ever been. I've houseboated on Lake Powell twice.

So, what's got me talking about Lake Powell? Well, I got a very interesting email from Don Young this afternoon. About the Sierra Club and its ironic part in 2 ecological/environmental disasters. The only thing Don said about which I might quibble was saying Glen Canyon was buried under acres of stagnant water. The water of Lake Powell is the clearest water I've ever had the pleasure to swim in.

I also have to mention another thing before I get to DY's message. The guy who runs the Sierra Club in Texas is Don Young. The Queen of Wink found out that Don Young ran the Texas Sierra Club and thought maybe he could get the Sierra Club to come to the aid of Carter Avenue. And then she found out that the Sierra Club Don Young is not the Fort Worth Don Young. And now, today, to find out that the Sierra Club is acting as a "Fixer" for the Natural Gas Industry.

Irony upon irony. And below is what the "real" Don Young had to say about the Sierra Club...

This is a story of two tragic but preventable mistakes made by the Sierra Club. One in the late 1950's that still resonates and one happening right now that could resonate far longer.

The Fixer-

If you saw the 2007 George Clooney flick, Michael Clayton, you may recall that his character was a "fixer", a man whose job it is to make sure people never connect A to B. "He works in that rarefied grey zone where barely legal meets almost criminal." (NY Times) More specifically, he makes his clients messy situations "go away." If the client has questionable moral or ethical standards, he just takes the money and looks the other way. The film deftly chronicles his redemption.

Victims and followers of natural gas drilling already know the significance of connecting A to B in shale country. But did you know the Sierra Club, a once trusted but now tarnished organization, is playing the role of "fixer" for the natural gas industry? To understand why this is possible, you need to know that the Sierra Club is no stranger to bad choices.

A short history lesson-

In the late 1950's the Sierra Club played an key role in what became known as, "America's most regretted environmental mistake." The SC was faced with a difficult choice: How to deal with the prospect of a dam on the Colorado River that would inundate Dinosaur National Monument or the lesser known Glen Canyon? Though not widely known at the time, Glen Canyon was a place of jaw-dropping beauty - as awe-inspiring as the nearby, Grand Canyon.

Dinosaur NM on the other hand, is now considered of minor importance, comparatively. Under the direction of David Brower, the Sierra Club elected to cut a deal that protected Dinosaur NM. As a result, the majestic Glen Canyon lies buried under tons of of silt and acres of stagnant water in a reservoir known as Lake Powell.

Brower admitted that the Sierra Club failed. He spent the rest of his life apologizing and agonizing over his failure and trying to correct his mistake. While the dam was a regrettable environmental mistake, it pales in comparison to the latest ethical lapse by Sierra Club officials: Support of natural gas drilling.

History repeats itself-

While newly elected SC Director, Michael Brune, former director, Carl Pope, and other SC execs sit in their rarefied San Francisco offices hawking natural gas, thousands of people all over the country and untold wildlife are suffering at the hands of fossil fuel peddlers like Chesapeake Energy. Pope even toured the country with public environmental enemy No.1, Chesapeake CEO, Aubrey McLendon, promoting the idea of natural gas as a "bridge fuel." His naiveté is showing, big-time.

Pope, Brune and Co. are seriously out of touch with the sins of these environmental criminals. Even if the toxic emissions and poisoned water issues could be resolved, the impact of drilling on the American landscape is devastating. It's the most widespread destruction of the environment since the slaughter of the buffalo herds.

SC's partnering with Chesapeake is the most egregious display of green-washing I've ever witnessed. The idea of "appropriate safeguards" for this industry is about as likely as a unicorn hiding on the dark side of the moon. The industry has steadfastly resisted best management practices and lobbied successfully for exemptions to every important environmental rule. One has to wonder what's in it for SC.

Time to wake up-

With the credibility of the Sierra Club on the line, their leadership needs to wake up and smell the benzene. Their sense of shame needs a wake-up call, as well. They were so ashamed of their mistake at Glen Canyon they even published a book titled, The Place No One Knew (1963). Brower vowed to never commit the same sin again. Here's an excerpt of what he wrote in the preface:

"Glen Canyon died and I was partly responsible for its needless death. The Sierra Club has no better purpose than to try to let people know in time. In Glen Canyon we failed. There could hardly be a costlier peacetime mistake. With support from people who care, we hope in the years to come to help deter similar ravages of blind progress." David Brower, 1963

Learning from the past and changing course-

I could not agree more with the late, David Brower, who died in 2000. He was a noble and respected leader who more than atoned for his sin. I can't say the same about the current SC leadership. Their continued fraternizing with environmental criminals dishonors the good Sierra Club name and that of it's founder, John Muir.

It will take courage for the Sierra Club to admit their mistake and reverse course but they must cease and desist from their role as a "fixer" for the natural gas industry. They have an obligation to "let people know in time", to connect "A" to "B". As gas drillers step up their attack on the environment, wildlife and human health the Sierra Club needs to choose more carefully which side to be on. I urge them to act immediately to prevent another regrettable mistake.

My advice for Michael Brune, Carl Pope and the SC leadership:

1) Watch the video, Michael Clayton.

2) Read or re-read the Sierra Club book, The Place No One Knew.

3) Watch the documentary films, Split Estate and GASLAND.

4) Take a good look in the mirror.

5) Connect A to B

DY

Something Might Be Happening Soon Under Fort Worth's Ederville Park

There is a very very little park, called Ederville Park, across the street from Fort Worth's Handley Post Office. In all the years that I have been going to the Handley Post Office I do not recollect ever seeing anyone using this park.

There may be one picnic table, but Ederville Park appears to me to be a small, open, treeless grassy field.

When I left the P.O. I saw a sign that caught my eye, so though it's not my usual route away from the P.O., I drove by to read the sign.

It says...

PUBLIC NOTICE

The subsurface of this park is being considered for non-recreational use to allow off site drilling and extraction of natural gas from underneath this park. There will be no drilling units located on the park and the surface of the park will not change.

There are a lot of houses near Ederville Park. And the aforementioned Post Office. A church is across the street from the Post Office. On the north end of Ederville Park there is an Enterprise Car Rental outlet.

So, is this off site drilling only taking natural gas that sits under this little park? How does that work? One of those slant drilling operations that ends up under Ederville Park? I've seen no signs in the area of people objecting to drilling or being pressured to sign over drilling rights, like I see in other areas where the drillers are poking holes in the ground.

I wonder where the off site drilling site is?

Blue Sky Returns To Texas While I Take An Indian Village Walk

As you can see, we have finally had a return to the regular Texas nice blue sky. If the forecast turns out to be correct, this respite from a wet, gray sky, will be short lived.

I was listening to the radio on my way to Village Creek Natural Historic Area and heard Ryan Seacrest say that that gopher, or whatever creature it is, came out of its hiding place and then promptly ran back in, thus indicating winter will be staying for another 6 weeks.

On Sunday, I'm sure you remember, I had to get outside, after being icebound for too long. That was only 2 days ago. On that day the Village Creek Park was closed due to flooding over the pedestrian dam/bridge.

Today I saw that it did not appear the other bridge had gone under water. The Arlington parks people have been doing a lot of creek and dam improvement, so the water was able to flow through, I guess, without flooding over.

In the first picture I'm standing on fresh sod that has been installed to restore the area damaged when heavy equipment accessed the creek. Just yesterday I was at another park, that being Gateway Park in Fort Worth, and found the damaged Trinity River levee has not been restored to its former glory.

In the first picture, in addition to the new sod, if you look across the dam/bridge, you will see a young lady and her 4 month old puppy walking towards me.

The young lady and I chatted for a bit. I learned that Village Creek does flow from Lake Arlington and that it was the release of reservoir water that had the creek running high, days after heavy rain. I pondered that possibility in a previous blogging.

The subject of bobcats came up. I mentioned a couple of my bobcat encounters and then asked the young lady, I forgot to mention, her name is Ann, anyway, I asked if she'd ever run into a lady I call the MuMu Lady, who long ago told me of her Village Creek cougar encounter. Ann had spoken to the MuMu lady and had heard about the cougar. She also knew the MuMu Lady's name, which I've already forgotten.

The blue sky and my currently open computer room window has me in a rare good mood. It probably won't last long. But today is just peachy, starting off well with that thing I do almost every morning that is real wet and a bit cold.

Giant Blobs Of Foam Appear On The Trinity River In Fort Worth

No. That is not an Iceberg floating in the Trinity River. It's a big blog of foam, several instances of which I saw yesterday when I went on a newly un-muddied walk on the Trinity Trails out of Gateway Park.

I saw the foam before I found the Hole in the Trinity River Levee.

Speaking of the Trinity Hole. When I blogged about the hole I included a comment I got from that brave soul who calls himself Anonymous. I opined that Anonymous was likely an Express Energy shill.

Well the shill read that blogging and made another illiterate comment. One part of the comment said, "...and next time post my whole comment. dont edit it." First off, I didn't post the comment, I stuck it in a blog. And the only editing was the removal of profanity. I touched none of the spelling and grammar errors.

In today's comment Anonymous asks, "so if you almost got ran over by this truck with no license plate, why dident you call the police?"

How does Anonymous know if the police were called or not? Why does Anonymous think the orange traffic cones showed up to keep the Express Energy trucks off the Trinity Trails?

Anonymous also makes the suggestion to "get a real life."

There are two cliches I find annoying, one is "get a life" and the other is "you must have too much time on your hands." It has been my experience that these cliches are used by ignorant, unimaginative sorts who have no life and consequently have too much time on their hands. I have a relative who frequently uses these cliches. She's the dumbest relative I have. And the most boring and boorish.

Anyway, back to the Trinity foam. What makes such a thing? I know people put all sorts of things into the long suffering Trinity River.

Things as bizarre as the mayor of Fort Worth, Mike Moncrief, pouring grape kool-aid in the river, thinking this would color it purple.

But, what would make thick foam? The first Foamberg was about 50 feet below Trinity Falls.

Another big Foamberg was at the location were Express Energy had its water sucking pipes stuck in the river. I believe the foam was collecting there due to a small creek entering the river and causing the flow to slow.

Anyway, I found the big blogs of foam to be very perplexing.

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.

Is The Trinity Hole A Trinity River Levee Sinkhole In The Making?

I know I've mentioned it before, but to refresh your memory, 2 Saturday's ago I had a weird run-in with an Express Energy truck at the site of a water pumping operation in Fort Worth, on the Trinity Trails that run into Gateway Park.

After I had the run-in, I blogged about it, with pictures of the Express Energy truck barreling towards me on the paved pedestrian, no vehicles allowed, trail.

Soon after I blogged about the ugly incident, orange traffic cones were placed on the trail, with a sign saying "Utility Work Ahead." The traffic cones blocked the Express Energy trucks from driving on the Trinity Trail.

This morning I got a comment from "Anonymous" to the blogging about the Saturday Express Energy truck incident.

Anonymous said...

"DO ANY OF YOU HAVE A REAL JOB? walking around a park? huh? if your worried about the pavement being muddy? start by picking up the trash and dead bodies that are at the end of the hill... wheres the pics of that?"

Dead bodies? At the end of the hill? The hill reference sort of indicates this is an Express Energy person, aka shill. It's been pretty clear someone at Express Energy has been reading what I was saying about them every since I started saying stuff about them.

The best example of that came when I blogged about there being no permits posted. I then got a comment telling me there were permits posted, among other things. I quickly checked the site, to find no permits. And had my first encounter with Express Energy trucks.

After reading today's rather illiterate comment (I Ieft it as written, except for removing profanity) I decided I'd not been to the Express Energy 6 pump Trinity River water sucking site in awhile. So, today that is where I took one of those walks, which Anonymous finds perplexing that someone would do such a thing. In a park.

Well, there has been no attempt to fix the muddied, rutted, Trinity River levee. Maybe the water suckers are coming back, so what would be the point of fixing anything?

As you can in the picture, the levee got rutted up some more due to the Express Energy trucks being blocked by those orange traffic cones.

But, it was not the mud and ruts that surprised me today. Those I expected to see.

It is what the geologist, who walked with me today, found that was a bit unsettling, and, well, strange.

If you look at the picture at the top you will see a large hole. This large hole is about 100 feet west of the pedestrian bridge that takes you to Gateway Park. The large hole is on the north side of the paved trail, slightly south of the new "road" muddied in by Express Energy.

The Trinity Hole was weird to look into. My first reaction was how do I know that I'm not standing on a very thin layer of earth, with the Trinity Hole just being a little eye into the cavern?

My geologist co-walker said it looked like the beginning of a sinkhole. That it appeared that water had found its way into the levee and had eroded the hole.

The Trinity Hole is near where there was a leak in the pipeline, during the Express Energy water pumping. I took a picture of that leak on the Saturday I had the face-off with the Express Energy truck.

Looking in to the Trinity Hole it was too dark to see anything. So, I aimed my camera down the hole and took a flash picture. It looks like there's a bottom to the hole. Or maybe that is mud. It's such a perfect circle it looks as if something mechanical bored the hole. But why would anyone be boring holes, like this, into a river levee?

Very perplexing.

AVAST! Is Sailing Off My Computer

For a long long time I did not run an anti-virus program on my computer, due to believing that a virus could not activate without my active help. Since I don't click on anything without knowing what I'm clicking on, I figured I was fine.

And I was. Til I accidentally clicked on something while up in Tacoma. I quickly realized my mistake, but not before an annoying "fake" anti-virus thing was telling me I had viruses and needed to install the fix immediately.

It was fairly easy to fix that Tacoma problem. The computer virus problem was actually the least of my Tacoma problems, but I digress.

I run Windows Defender and a Malware Scanner. And every time Microsoft does one of its critical updates, Microsoft runs a worm removal tool.

So, I thought I was fine not running an anti-virus program. An additional reason is I've always found anti-virus programs to be as annoying as the problem they are supposedly stopping from happening.

And then my websites on my former bad webhost, IX Webhosting, started getting hacked. I was told I should run an anti-virus scan on my own computer to make sure it was not causing the hacking. That seemed absurd to me, but I was ready to try anything to fix the problem.

I was told AVAST! was a good, lean, anti-virus program. So, I downloaded, installed and ran it. No viruses were found.

Months ago I moved my websites to a new host and have had no more hacking woes. AVAST! has become my main computer woe. Several times a day AVAST! slows my computer down while a new version is installed.

But the really annoying thing that AVAST! is doing is to one of my websites, stulangley.com. AVAST! is claiming stulangley.com is a malicious website infected with malware that will damage your computer. The stulangley.com website was hacked only once while I was having that problem, with the hacking fixed quickly. AVAST! flags none of my other websites that got hacked, including my durangotexas.com one which had the hacking problem multiple times.

I had my new webhost check the stulangley.com website for any malware. I was told the website is totally clean.

So, AVAST! has no credibility with me and once more I'm thinking anti-virus programs are as bad a thing as the thing they are supposedly protecting me from.

Bye bye AVAST!

The Top 15 Texas Tourist Attractions With #1 Not Being Cabela's Sporting Goods Store

All of us Texans should have the Texas Almanac in our possession.

Among the best information, that I've found so far, comes from the Survey for Office of the Governor, listing Texas Traveler's Top Attractions.

My one longtime reader, and anyone reading this in the Fort Worth zone, may remember a few years back when the sporting goods store named Cabela's come courting Fort Worth.

Cabela's told Fort Worth officials, and the city's puppet newspaper, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which repeated it over and over again, that Cabela's would be the #1 Tourist Attraction in Texas.

The number of visitors predicted, that I read in that terrible newspaper, ranged between 4 and 8 million.

Like a lonely spinster, surprised to find a suitor interested in her, Fort Worth agreed to just about anything Cabela's asked for, like tax breaks, I forget what all the concessions were. Part of the deal was Cabela's had to meet certain performance criteria, and if those criteria were not met, Cabela's would pay for it.

I remember the first time I read that Cabela's was to be the Top Attraction in Texas, it just seemed such a ridiculous claim, that I was appalled the local newspaper of record fed that propaganda without questioning it.

Not long after Fort Worth got shystered by its Cabela's suitor, Cabela's announced that another Cabela's would be opening in Texas, down in Buda, south of Austin. The fact that Cabela's was cheating on its Fort Worth suitor, with another town in Texas, was not much mentioned in the Star-Telegram. Nor did the Star-Telegram ever admit, as far as I know, that the claims that Cabela's would be the Top Attraction in Texas, were, basically, a con job that Cabela's has pulled on other easy to dupe places.

In other towns, like Boise, Idaho, when Cabela's makes its play and asks for tax breaks and other breaks, Boise told Cabela's if it is not economically viable for Cabela's to operate in the Boise area, without being subsidized, then don't. Boise provided Cabela's no breaks. Cabela's built a Boise store, anyway.

So, I found it amusing to see a list, provided by the State of Texas, of what the Top 15 Tourist Attractions are in Texas, both for Texans and for out of state visitors.

I know it is going to shock you, but Cabela's is not the #1 Tourist Attraction in Texas. The Governor's survey combined the total number of visitors to both the Buda and Fort Worth Cabela's and even then Cabela's was only the #10 Attraction for Texans and #7 for out of state visitors.

In a rather funny irony, two attractions in Fort Worth are more attractive to Texans than Cabela's, that being the Fort Worth Stockyards at #8 and the Fort Worth Zoo at #9. Six Flags Over Texas, in Arlington, is a bigger attraction than Cabela's at #5. I remember mentioning Six Flags in my letter to the editor of the Star-Telegram, asking if it really made sense, to them, that a sporting goods store was going to be a bigger attraction than Six Flags?

Anyway, below are the two lists, the first list being that of the Top 15 Attraction for Texans, with the second list being the Top 15 Attractions for out of state visitors.

Top Attractions For Texas Tourists

1. Alamo
2. River Walk
3. Galveston Island
4.(T) State Capitol
5.(T) South Padre Island
5. Six Flags
7. NASA Space Center
8. Fort Worth Stockyards
9. Fort Worth Zoo
10. Cabela's (both Buda & Fort Worth)
11.(T) Sea World
11.(T) Moody Gardens
13 Ballpark at Arlington
14. Kemah Boardwalk
15. San Marcos Outlets

Top Attractions For Out of State Visitors

1. Galveston Island
2. Alamo
3. San Marcos Outlets
4. River Walk
5. State Capitol
6. South Padre Island
7. Cabela's (both Buda & Fort Worth)
8. Sea World
9. State Fair of Texas
10. Six Flags
11. Kemah Boardwalk
12. Fort Worth Stockyards
13. Fiesta Texas
14. Moody Gardens
15. Ballpark at Arlington

My only problem with the Texas Almanac is there is so much information on its 736 pages that the print size makes it hard for me to read, at times, without a reading aid, like a magnifying glass.

Village Creek Flooding While I Make Lemony Chicken Spinach Soup

It was a balmy 30 when I took my quick dip in the pool this morning. The water was not freezing, but it was not much above freezing, or so it felt to me.

This morning the Queen of Wink sent me directions on how to construct Lemony Chicken Spinach Soup. I needed to go to Wal-Mart to get 2 of the items needed to construct the soup, a lemon and spinach.

Before going to Wal-Mart I wanted to go on a walk at Village Creek Natural Historic Area, with it being a short distance from Wal-Mart, that seemed to be the thing to do.

But, the park was closed, the gate blocking the entry to the parking lot. "Closed Due To Flooding" said the sign, or words to that effect.

This surprised me because we have not had any rain since, I think, Thursday.

I decided to drive to the Interlochen neighborhood where there is another entry to the park. When I got to where I could see the trail into the park I was surprised to see water running over the dam/bridge that takes you into Village Creek Park. It's easy to see the high water mark. It was not much higher than where the water level is now.

This was a bit perplexing. Usually when creeks, here in this zone of Texas, go into flash flood mode, it happens quickly and then the water recedes. Maybe water is being released from Lake Arlington. I think that's where Village Creek comes from.

Soups ready.