The Bluest Skies I've Ever Seen Looking Out My Fort Worth Window

We have had, yet again, a return to blue sky here in my zone of North Texas called Fort Worth.

All winter long, for the most part, when I'd check the temperature here in the morning and then go up to Washington, via the Seattle P-I, more often than not there would be at least a 20 degree difference, with it being warmer in the Pacific Northwest than Texas.

The past few days the temperature difference has reversed back to the norm, as in this morning, when I first checked the temperature here, it was 53, while it was freezing, at 31, in Seattle.

Today it is scheduled to get to 75 here. Yesterday rain kept me from my usual aerobic escape. Today I plan to go to Veterans Park in Arlington and then to Chinatown.

I am still being perplexed by mysterious weight gain. This morning I hit a new high of 210. I am now closing in on my all time high of 217, reached in February of 2004 during a 10 day stay in Tacoma which including a 10 hours layover in Phoenix, getting drug McDonald's for All You Can Eat, then to a Happy Hour with way too many appetizers and then on to an In & Out Burger joint where I had 2 In & Out burgers. By the time I got on the plane I felt was going to pop open.

This morning WeatherBug started chirping with a National Weather Service warning that there is a potential for wildfires. Huh? It rained a lot yesterday, downpouring at times.

The picture on the right is the same view as this morning's, looking out from my patio balcony. Only yesterday's view was looking through a very heavy downpour.

I must maximize my enjoyment of today's blue sky and balmy temperature. Tomorrow we return to rain and thunderstorms.

Let Judge Sprinkle Know What You Think About Fort Worth's Cartergate Scandal

In the picture you are looking at Steve Doeung heading up the Tarrant County Courthouse steps during the CARO Rally last Thursday.

Yesterday, or the day before yesterday, I opined that I thought Chesapeake Energy should be made to buy, outright, at fair market value, plus a bit extra, any property under which Chesapeake wants to run a non-odorized natural gas pipeline.

Anonymous on Scott Avenue, with Scott Avenue being the street due north of Carter Avenue, commented about how I thought Eminent Domain should be properly abused on Carter Avenue.

Anonymous Scott Avenue's comment was so good and had such a good suggestion I figured the comment needed to be blogged about. And so I am.

Below is what Anonymous Scott Avenue had to say....

As a homeowner on Scott Avenue, I presented that option at City Council when this all first started going down.

The problem is that Carter Avenue is not the only street affected. This pipeline will endanger people for a large area including at least three city blocks on either side of the pipeline.

This is not an option. Chesapeake does not want the public relations nightmare of the nightly news showing homes being torn down to build their pipeline.

A more realistic approach at this point is to begin an email campaign to Judge Sprinkle at vgsprinkle@tarrantcounty.com to respectfully ask him not to sign the Judgment.

Steve's easement is no longer "necessary" for this pipeline and that would be the only reason for signing this Judgment. CHK says it is only needed for a "backup" now. We can only win this battle in the court of public opinion. It is time for the Judge to hear from us directly, in a respectful manner, on this issue.

Cartergate, The Star-Telegram & Other Fort Worth Texas Scandals

A few days ago I got an email with the subject line "Mike Lee responds."

Mike Lee is a Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter who had written the article in the Star-Telegram about last Thursday's Steve Doeung date in Tarrant County Court.

Many of the people who eye witnessed the courtroom proceedings were appalled at the disconnect between what they eye witnessed and what they read in Fort Worth's sadly corrupted main newspaper of record.

The emailer to whom Mike Lee responded had asked why there was no reference to the CARO rally in the article.

Mike Lee responded with...

"I put that in the story, and it evidently got cut out to make the story fit on the page. There are 3-4 paragraphs missing from the end, too."

The emailer, whom Mike Lee responded to, then opined...

"IMO it is wrong to attack a reporter like Mike Lee who works hard to understand and communicate the issues. He just works at the ST and has no control over what the publisher decides to print. Our slings and arrows should be pointed at the publisher not the messenger."

Now, maybe I am way off base here, but if a reporter does not accurately report something I'm not quite seeing how it is that that reporter works hard to understand and communicate the issues. Key elements of the story were cut so it could fit on the page?

After I listed several points that were missing from Mike Lee's article I described him as "The Fort Worth Star-Telegram pseudo reporter/Chesapeake Energy shill, Mike Lee."

I called him a Chesapeake shill because, though Mike Lee left out many key points, he did manage to include and his publisher deemed needed to be included, unlike the CARO rally info, the following 2 paragraphs...

"Under Texas law, companies that build natural-gas gathering lines have the same eminent-domain power as more traditional utility companies such as Atmos Energy. And they have more freedom than many government agencies in condemnation cases. For instance, cities have to hire two independent appraisers when condemning a piece of land for a road, and those appraisals must be shared with the landowner. Gas pipeline companies don't have to do that.

Technically, Chesapeake could have started building the pipeline in 2008, after a preliminary hearing in front of a group of court-appointed commissioners. Chesapeake's attorneys, John Baker and Michael Ma, appeared to be waiting for Sprinkle to ratify that award before proceeding."

Now, maybe a fair-minded person might not consider the above to be shill type propaganda. I thought that the point being made in the above 2 paragraphs seemed ridiculous. But what do I know about the law? Especially the way it's practiced in Texas.

And then on the blogging about my disdain for the way the Star-Telegram covered this story I got a comment verbalizing better than I the absurdity of the 2 paragraphs above that I had characterized as Chesapeake propaganda.

Here is what Anonymous had to say....

"I was there in the courtroom and Steve respectfully but clearly corrected the judge in several instances, as to the facts and the law itself. The most compelling one was when the judge claimed that CHK could have shoved the pipelines down under his little front yard since Nov. 2008, and which Steve quickly retorted that "you honor, if this giant billion dollar corporation could have done that, they would have so by now--it's certainly not out of their generous heart or humanity"--as he pointed to the state seal that's about 16-inches in diameter to let all present know how massive the pipelines really are. Common sense would indicate that the judge was trying to "spin" the facts to make CHK look good--OR ELSE WHY ARE THEY STILL TRYING TO GET THE LEGAL PAPERS TO TAKE HIS PROPERTY? Even I can answer that question: because they got caught by Steve lying, cheating, and deceiving and thus could not legally take possession and would have exposed CHK to a massive fiasco for trespassing if they were to run their pipelines under Steve's private property."

The emailer, who asked Mike Lee about the CARO Rally omission, opined that slings and arrows should be slung and shot at the publisher of the Star-Telegram, not at that newspaper's reporters. I don't agree, but that's okay.

I have done plenty of poking at the Star-Telegram. I believe the Star-Telegram's editorial slant is way off. It's perfectly normal and legit for a newspaper to have a slant to its point of view, leaning left, leaning right, leaning liberal, leaning conservative. Most try to be fair and balanced, but that is a tricky act. I guess.

Where the Star-Telegram goes askew is in its over the top, irresponsible, at times, civic boosterism, to the point of completely misrepresenting the facts. Have you visited the Sante Fe Market lately to get a taste of being at Seattle's Pike Place Market?

And then there's the way the Star-Telegram acts like a mouthpiece for the Ruling Oligarchy and the Good Ol' Boy Network that seems to run this company town.

Here is one example that shines a really bright spotlight on the fact that the Star-Telegram is not a real newspaper, not in the manner of the real newspapers that serve most American communities. The City of Fort Worth staged a raid on a Fort Worth Citizen after he refused to roll over and play dead for Chesapeake Energy.

The clearly inappropriate raid was staged to intimidate this citizen. If the Star-Telegram were a real newspaper they would have been all over this like Woodward and Bernstein being all over a minor break-in.

As in, who ordered the raid? Why was the raid ordered? Who knew about the raid being ordered?

Another way to look at how bad this newspaper is. Had the Star-Telegram been Washington, D.C.'s newspaper of record, Richard Nixon would have successfully completed his second term and the word "Watergate" would not have entered the world's vernacular.

Tornado Season Texas Twister Time & Oklahoma Tarantulas, Snakes and Tornadoes

Speaking of Twisters, I just got a blog comment from Twister raising the Karen Silkwood specter. Last night I got emails raising the same concern. What I'm concerned about is what in the world happened to this zone of America that makes some people so wary?

Speaking again of Twisters, this morning, for reasons I've now forgotten, in an email reply to the Wild Woman of Woolley, aka Miss CVB, I mentioned a tornado that came down the driveway of a mutual classmate of ours, who had moved to Ada, Oklahoma.

This mutual classmate has an irrational fear of her name being on the Internet, so, for anonymity's sake, I will call her Miss CMP.

Miss CMP and family moved to Oklahoma about a month before I moved to Texas. I've known Miss CMP since early grade school and she's always been one of my favorite people. Visits up to Ada were quite fun. Miss CMP has since abandoned me and has moved back to where I came from, the Skagit Valley of Washington.

When Miss CMP moved to Oklahoma she had 3 major concerns, Spiders, Snakes and Tornadoes.

The first time I visited up in Ada, I drove us all over the place, with Miss CMP verbalizing her tornado worries. They'd been up to Oklahoma City to see the horrible damage done by a monster twister. I pooh poohed Miss CMP's concerns, asking do you see any tornado damage as we drive around? She proceeded to point out tornado shelters.

Switching from twisters to spiders. Miss CMP was not long in to being an Okie when one night she felt something moving on her bed. The lights came on. It was a huge tarantula. It remains a mystery, to this day, how this happened. As in there are not a lot of tarantulas in the Ada, OK zone. I've only seen 1 in my zone of Texas.

Switching from spiders to snakes. At one point Miss CMP and family discovered they were living with snakes in the attic. This was discovered, when one day, it was difficult to open the exit screen door. Because a huge snake was snuggled up against it. The snake slithered away, and to the family's horror, it slithered up a pole and squeezed into their attic. Later it was discovered the attic was home to a lot of snakes. This became a serious issue with air conditioner repair guys who needed to be in the attic.

Back to twisters. So, so far, 2 out of 3 of Miss CMP's worst fears have come to be reality. And then, one fine Oklahoma day the sky turned frightful, the wind began to blow. tornado sirens began to wail. Miss CMP and family stood outside watching the storm.

And then a tornado came into view, heading towards their house, heading straight up their driveway. The formerly scared of tornadoes, Miss CMP, told her daughter to get in the closet, but Miss CMP stayed outside taking pictures.

I was amazed when I heard this and saw the pictures.

You can see Miss CMP's Oklahoma Tornado here.

My mom and dad want to come visit Texas again. My mom also has an irrational fear of tornadoes. This will cause the visit to take place after tornado season. I have sort of dropped hints that tornadoes can happen, here, any time of the year.

DISH Mayor Calvin Tillman & Texas Sharon Mapping Methane In The Barnett Shale Unmarked Natural Gas Spy Van

Texas Sharon was unable to attend Thursday's Carter Avenue Rescue Operation Rally in downtown Fort Worth due to having important undercover work to do.

Texas Sharon explained what she was up to and profusely apologized for her absence, yesterday, on her blog and in emails. No need to apologize, her presence was felt, even if she wasn't there.

Texas Sharon, and cohorts, have been surreptitiously spying on various Barnett Shale natural gas drilling operations and using high-tech equipment inside an unmarked Spy Van, to conduct their surveillance.

The photo above is a partial look at the Spy Van. As you can see, DISH Mayor Calvin Tillman is part of the operation. Mayor Tillman took a break from the surveillance to attend the CARO Rally, leaving Texas Sharon behind to help with the monitoring. I believe that is Texas Sharon you can see behind the window in the passenger seat of the Spy Van.

Below is a YouTube video showing the Methane Mapping Spy Van in action....

This To Shall Pass From Alma In Port Aransas

Winter Is Quickly Melting Away From North Texas While Tandy Falls Roars

It is 64 right now. It was almost 60 when I went swimming, real early, this morning. It is supposed to get to 75 tomorrow. I have decided Winter is officially over in North Texas.

For several days in a row now, temperature world is back making sense, with the temperature here in Fort Worth being warmer than Seattle, rather than the unseemly reverse.

I felt so good after hiking the Tandy Hills, yesterday, after such a long absence, I returned today.

A pleasant Saturday and I had the hills to myself. What is wrong with these people in Fort Worth? If I were up in Seattle, today, and went to any of the many parks with hiking, biking and roller blading, there would be large numbers of people hiking, biking and roller blading.

Seattle has nothing remotely like the Tandy Hills near its downtown core. Okay, it is way more hilly there, so you could have yourself a good hike on sidewalks. But there is no Tandy Hills type natural area close to the downtown area.

If there was a Tandy Hills type natural area near downtown Seattle, trust me, the hills today would be alive with the sound of people.

Maybe I need to start a Saturday Hiking Group. Maybe it is fear of the unknown that keeps the locals, for the most part, off Fort Worth's Best Place to Stand.

The lack of hikers had me pondering today, whilst hiking, wondering why? The why of why don't people here, for the most part, enjoy the great outdoors? This is a zone where only 6% of the voters bother to vote for their city government leaders. I suspect the % who have ever stood on Fort Worth's Best Place to Stand is a minuscule fraction of 1%.

That is just sad. Real sad.

Anyway, that is Tandy Falls in the picture at the top. I'd not seen Tandy Falls in a long time. As I neared Tandy Falls I started to hear the roar of the Tandy River going over Tandy Cliff. I'd never seen such a large volume of water plummeting over Tandy Cliff. The Tandy River must still be being fed by snow melt.

In the second picture you can see downtown Fort Worth a couple miles to the west, but you see no natives in the native habitat.

In Fort Worth Texas Turning The Carter Avenue Rescue Operation Into The Carter Avenue Chesapeake Park Project

I have been dwelling, as in my tendency, about the events of this past Thursday.

My main dwelling revolves around the conversation that took place with Steve Doeung, myself and the Queen of Wink, at Riscky's BBQ in the Fort Worth Stockyards, after the CARO Rally and Steve's appearance in court.

During the course of talking to Steve there was a moment of absolute clarity, where, for a moment in time, the absolute absurdity of the hell Steve is being put through, by Chesapeake Energy and the City of Fort Worth, was so obviously wrong and the solution so obviously clear.

Chesapeake Energy wants to run a non-odorized natural gas pipeline under Carter Avenue. Chesapeake claims this is safe. However, these pipelines have been known to blow up. And so, it is totally reasonable that a person might choose not to live above such a pipeline.

This is non-odorized natural gas. The reason natural gas is odorized is so leaks can be detected. This was mandated after a natural gas explosion. In Texas. Killed 100s of school kids.

How can the natural gas industry so cavalierly dismiss citizen's concerns, when the record of the industry really inspires no confidence.

Steve is the last holdout on his side of Carter Avenue. The homeowners on the opposite side of Carter Avenue received no compensation, because the pipeline would not run under their front yards. Yet they are in the same danger, taking the same potential risk as their neighbors on Steve's side of the street.

The small amount of compensation, that Steve's neighbors took from Chesapeake, does not make them whole. It does not cover their loss in property value. Or the difficulty of selling their home, with the homeowner mandated to reveal to a potential buyer that the house sits atop a big pipeline pumping non-odorized natural gas.

Chesapeake Energy is a private company trying to maximize its profits. Abusing eminent domain allows Chesapeake Energy to help its bottom line, by being able to acquire gas pipeline routes on the cheap.

Okay, here is my moment of clarity. If, indeed Chesapeake Energy needs to run a pipeline under homes, to me the only sane, only decent, only right way to do this is for Chesapeake Energy to acquire the homes in the same manner Jerry Jones took homes in Arlington for his new Cowboy Stadium.

As is, the value of the home is being compromised, with the homeowner left victimized. Eminent Domain should insist that Chesapeake Energy should buy the entire property at market value, plus an additional fee to help pay for moving. Chesapeake Energy could then rent out the homes.

Or tear them all down and turn Carter Avenue into a park above the pipeline.

In a truly fair, logical and just America, this would be the only option. If this did not fit a private business's profit making model, fine, move on and figure something else out. But, it should not be part of the system that a private business can damage citizen's property value, in this manner, without truly just compensation.

I am thinking we should turn the Carter Avenue Rescue Operation into the Carter Avenue Chesapeake Park Project aka CACPP.

Why is this type ruling not the automatic course of such things? It only makes sense. It just is not fair to maximize profit by squeezing the little guy. It all leaves me feeling slightly sick.

Fort Worth's Tandy Hills Are Back Alive With The Sound Of Hiking & Doves Mating

I'm having me a good good day, what a feeling, I'm living my favorite Blackeyed Peas song.

It is almost 70. The windows are open. I'm wearing nothing but the clothes I came into this world in. I think we really have finally left that nasty Winter business behind us and Texas is returning to the Texas I have grown to slightly sort of like. Weather-wise.

This morning, about 10, I saw a sure sign of Spring, right on the window sill outside my computer room. A dove was cooing. Then another dove arrived. Soon there was more cooing. I got out my camera. I moved slow so as not to spook the pair of lovebirds, and zoomed in.

The doves definitely were lovebirds, because it was obvious they were on my window sill to do that thing that married doves do to make little dove babies. This did not take too long. And then they were on their way. Because this is a PG-Rated blog I'm only showing you a PG-Rated picture of what was happening on my window sill this morning.

On a totally different subject, long ago I blogged, several times, about Only Child Syndrome, after I had a harrowing experience with one of the worst of the breed. Yesterday Steve Doeung asked me if the recent comment fest on my blog, over a controversial Wink Sinkhole, was the most out of control my blog comments have ever gotten. I forgot about the comments to the Only Child Syndrome bloggings.

Today I got an Only Child Syndrome comment from Ryan, a really long one, telling me about his personal bad experience with a person with a bad case of OCS. I commented on Ryan's comment and then Ryan commented on my comment, telling me he'd sent the link, to my blogging about OCS to the ex-girlfriend OCSer, and that I might be getting some comments. I sense another awesome blog comment flurry coming on.

Now, changing subjects again. Back to me. So, this morning was the warmest morning in awhile. I was in the pool before 7. I stayed in the water the longest of the new year. Maybe 10 minutes, before I began to fear for my extremities.

Today I decided we'd had enough semi-warm, windy days that the Tandy Hills should be dried out enough for an inspection. I was right. I think it's been well over a month since I've been on the hills. I think the absence of this extremely salubrious activity is what is behind my unexplained weight gain that has turned me into a bloated version of my former svelte self.

In the picture you are looking at a section of the Tandy Hills where the Brush Bashers have removed all non-native growth. This really improves the look of the place. I was impressed.

A lot of bags full of trash await removal, the effort to do so thwarted by our unseemly bad weather.

On a totally unrelated note, but still about me, I'm feeling a little guilty about walking the Queen of Wink all over town yesterday. I learned this morning that she woke up to aching feet. I knew, when we had to take our clothes off to get through the Tarrant County Courthouse security, that the Queen was in extremely high heels.

But, by the time we were doing a lot of fast walking at the Stockyards I'd forgotten this, til I mentioned we were at the spot where I'd seen Hillary Clinton navigating a rough surface in high heels. This was when the Queen told me she has been compared to Hillary. I can see the comparison. Strong women with blonde hair who both wear high heels while walking the Stockyards.

I asked about the why of the uncomfortable heels. The need for a Queen to be as tall as possible was the reason. I tried walking taller for a bit, by lifting my heels off the ground, all it did was hurt my calf muscles, but I sure was taller than the Queen of Wink.

Tomorrow will be in the 70s. I'll be back hill hiking. It's addictive. I've had withdrawal symptoms.

I forgot to mention, Tootsie Tonasket called this morning. The Okanogan sheriff, game warden and police raided Tootsie's house again, in search of evidence regarding a deer killing. I can't believe this is happening in my formerly sane state of Washington. Then again, this is taking place in Eastern Washington, a more kook prone location, that extends well into Idaho.

Fort Worth's Pravda Star-Telegram Botches Reality Again Mis-Reporting Steve Doeung's Court Case

If I had not long ago canceled my subscription to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, this morning I would have, due to multiple reasons, prime among them being the number of times I'd know a "news" article had factual errors, due to myself having first hand knowledge of what was being described.

Those type errors are the benign side of the Star-Telegram's problem. Worse is when the newspaper acts like a propaganda shill for some some Fort Worth project, I mean, boondoggle.

The worst example of that type Fort Worth Star-Telegram propaganda was the way the newspaper described the long ago failed Sante Fe Rail Market, as being the first public market in Texas, modeled after Seattle Pike's Place Market and European public markets. When, in reality, the Santa Fe Rail Market was not even the first one in Fort Worth, and was so badly executed it was like a bad food court in a bad mall.

STAR-TELEGRAM PROPAGANDA REACHES NEW LOW

And now, this morning it was brought to my attention that the Star-Telegram has done it again, proving, in the most embarrassing example to date, how deeply entrenched is this so-called newspaper's role as a propaganda tool for both Fort Worth's city government and the city's puppetmaster, the Barnett Shale Gas Drilling Industry and the chief puppetmaster of the puppetmasters, Chesapeake Energy.

Has the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported to its readers how much money Fort Worth's conflict of interests laden mayor, Mike Moncrief, makes from his holdings in the natural gas drillers poking holes in his town? Has this newspaper called for an investigation into the corruption that permeates Fort Worth's city hall?

Of course not.

Did Pravda ever call for a look at the corruption in the communist party? How many times did a Pravda reader read some communist propaganda and shake his head in wonder, due to knowing the actual truth, not the Pravda truth.

So, what is the latest idiocy in the Star-Telegram that has me all in HIGH UMBRAGE MODE?

Well, this morning there is an article by a supposed reporter named Mike Lee, about yesterday's events at the Tarrant County Courthouse.

The headline is "Carter Avenue landowner loses round in court over gas pipeline."

No he didn't.

The article made no mention of the Carter Avenue Rescue Operation Rally that took place prior to Steve Doeung's court appearance.

The article made no mention of the fact that the courtroom was filled with supporters of Steve Doeung.

The article made no mention of the fact that Steve Doeung held his own against the legal system and Chesapeake Energy's lawyers.

The article made no mention of the fact that Steve Doeung's calm demeanor and sense of humor charmed the entire courtroom, including the Judge, several times causing the courtroom to erupt in laughter.

The article made no mention of the fact that by the end of the hearing everyone present was praising Steve Doeung, including the Chesapeake Energy lawyers, regarding how well he had defended himself.

The article made no mention of the fact that Steve Doeung has 30 days to file an appeal, with the 30 days beginning only after Judge Vincent Sprinkle signs the paperwork.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram pseudo reporter/Chesapeake Energy shill, Mike Lee, did not feel compelled to make mention of any of the things I mentioned above, but Mike Lee did feel compelled to share the following Chesapeake Energy propaganda...

"Under Texas law, companies that build natural-gas gathering lines have the same eminent-domain power as more traditional utility companies such as Atmos Energy. And they have more freedom than many government agencies in condemnation cases. For instance, cities have to hire two independent appraisers when condemning a piece of land for a road, and those appraisals must be shared with the landowner. Gas pipeline companies don't have to do that.

Technically, Chesapeake could have started building the pipeline in 2008, after a preliminary hearing in front of a group of court-appointed commissioners. Chesapeake's attorneys, John Baker and Michael Ma, appeared to be waiting for Sprinkle to ratify that award before proceeding."

Part of the above was mentioned by Judge Sprinkle during the hearing, that being that Chesapeake Energy supposedly had the right to begin running the non-odorized natural gas pipeline, under American citizen's homes, after simply having a preliminary hearing in front of some court-appointed commissioners.

If that is the case, isn't that comforting?

I thought every American citizen, in every case, of any situation that put one in legal jeopardy, that one is entitled to due process, as in, one is entitled to ones day in court.

Then again, I know Jerry Jones started bulldozing homes in Arlington, for his new football stadium, even while the home's owners where trying to seek relief via the corrupted legal system.

What an appalling state, of a new status quo, which has been allowed to grow, like a malignant cancer, on the freedom from such abuses Americans used to enjoy.