Fort Worth's Air Is Kept Clean Because No Mountains Allows The Bad Air To Blow To Oklahoma

That is a smoggy look at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, looking west from the equally stunning Tandy Hills. Don Young took this photo on Monday.

I'll copy Don Young's commentary, which accompanied this photo, below. And below that I'll copy a letter to the editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, with an idiotic point of view on the same subject, and then below that I'll opine on this subject...

Today, I received from State Representative Lon Burnam's office, a list of 79 new gas drilling permits filed with the Texas Railroad Commission for Tarrant County, Texas. That is, 79, for the month of March, alone.

Today was also a fairly warm day with temps reaching 82 degrees. Higher temps and gas well emissions are not a good combo as you can see by these photos taken near downtown Fort Worth today at 6:30 PM CST. Just wait until July rolls around.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Fort Worth, whose income depends on gas drilling, recently announced the creation of a task force to try and figure out if gas drilling is a contributing factor to our compromised air. Gas drillers say that the air is actually CLEANER since drilling began in Fort Worth. They are also well-represented on the task force.

Feel better?

DY

The letter to the editor...

Fort Worth's air quality

It appears that a limited number of people are deeply concerned about the quality of air over Fort Worth because of gas drilling operations.

Fort Worth is fortunate that it is not boxed in by surrounding mountains and the air is free to move as nature directs. In fact, when there is a comfortable south wind blowing, the air that is over Fort Worth at sunrise is swirling in the Wichita Mountains near Lawton, Okla., at sunset.

Seems like a small number of people are doing a lot of worrying over a whole lot of nothing.

-- Warren C. Arthur, Fort Worth

Okay, Warren thinks Fort Worth's air is kept clean because Mother Nature blows the pollution elsewhere, like to Oklahoma?

Well, I'm thinking, since Texas and the Tarrant Regional Water Board are wanting to sue Oklahoma to get some of Oklahoma's water, that Oklahoma might want to consider suing Texas over that bad air Texas is sending to Oklahoma.

Fort Worth's air is kept clean because Fort Worth has the misfortune, I mean the fortune, of not being surrounded by mountains? Let's see, let me think if I can think of a place I've lived in with cleaner air than Fort Worth? Seattle, yeah, that's one. And Seattle is surrounded by mountains. Mountains on all sides, north, south, east and west. Same with Vancouver. Denver has a big wall of mountains to the west. All way less polluted, air-wise, that the Barnett Shale zone of Texas.

The air pollution blows away? And yet for some reason 25% of Barnett Shale air breathing kids suffer from asthma, while outside the Barnett Shale zone of Texas that percentage drops to 7.

Warren says, "Seems like a small number of people are doing a lot of worrying over a whole lot of nothing."

Instead, it seems to me, a sadly small number of people are doing a lot of worrying over something big, when that number of people worrying should be large.

I'm No Longer LOST At Finding Miss Beth On My TV

After viewing I don't know how many episodes without success, last night I finally, successfully, spotted my favorite TV Star, Miss Beth, aka Princess Oahu, on LOST.

LOST is like 24 to me. I get too caught up in the story, in suspending disbelief, in enjoying what I'm watching, to put my consciousness in a different location and recognize someone.

It helped that last night Miss Beth was not being a messed up survivor of a plane crash. Instead she was looking like herself, so when Miss Beth walked past Desmond, I instantly recognized her. I would have recognized her even if I didn't know I should be looking for her. I think. Even though she was in soft focus, with the camera sharp on Desmond.

Only a few more episodes of LOST. Not a lot of time left to make sense out of this wonderfully convoluted story.

Wandering Through A Forest Of Tandy Hills Prickly Pear Cactus With Other Conundrums

That's a forest of Prickly Pear Cactus I'm wandering through, under a semi-cloudy, 80 degree warm, sky, on the Tandy Hills, this afternoon.

For reasons we need not discuss, I was stuck on the Tandy Hills longer than I'd anticipated. It is likely that even with the partial cloud cover I have managed to acquire a slight sunburn.

I got back here later than I'd planned. Had lunch. Checked email to see Washington's Scrabble Queen had Scrabbled. I answered email then went to Facebook to Scrabble. Facebook was having "Communications Errors" that Facebook said they were working on.

In other words, Scrabble was not working. So, no Scrabbling.

In the same email that told me there was some possible Scrabbling to do, I got email from Betty Jo Bouvier, the Wild Woman of Woolley, sending me a file she thought I might find of interest. But my computer can't figure out what program opens this file. I tried one that should work for a text type file, to no avail.

Also in that same batch of email was one that related to what Betty Jo was sending me, that being a comment from Sarah R. about a blogging from a few days ago titled, "I Have Had My Last Chance With the 2010 Census Bureau."

Sarah commented,"I had to fill this out for my foster son who is Hispanic. I was left stupefied as to what to fill in for race. He's definitely not white. I searched the web. The Census website was useless. I finally filled in Other and listed him as Central American Indian. Asian cultures got all sorts of choices and are approximately 13.5 million of them in the US, but 46.9 million Hispanics. Maybe Asians have better lobbyists?"

Sarah, I'm thinking a better explanation is that, along with a lot of America, the government, for the most part, has gone insane.

In Texas Eating Whole Wheat Israeli Matzah & Hummus While Getting A History Lesson About Moses

I think I've mentioned, before, my unexplained weight gain and my quest for an explanation. Not enough exercise? Cut back in swimming due to cold water? Too much cheese? Too much Hummus? It's been a mystery.

And the mystery continues as I continue to puff up, rapidly approaching my all-time record, at the same time I think I've amped up the exercise and cut back on the eating.

Well, there was that fried chicken and pizza on Easter.

My new theory that explains the unexplained weight gain, thus making it explainable, is that it is Don Young's fault. Fort Worth's #1 Watchdog pointed me to a store I'd not heard of before.

Town Talk.

At Town Talk I find all sorts of exotic food items I don't find elsewhere, at ridiculously cheap prices. So, I've found myself buying big portions of Tennessee BBQ Pulled Pork. All sorts of imported cheeses. Sausage Kolaches. Coconut Shrimp. And Hummus.

For awhile I've thought my Hummus addiction might be the source of the unexplained weight gain. But today I read an article, on the Fox News website, that pretty much makes the case that Hummus is an ultra-health food.

Israel is Hummus Central. In Israel Hummus is like peanut butter is in America, like Nutella is in Europe or Vegemite in Australia.

I have no idea what Nutella or Vegemite is.

Hummus is in 95% of Israeli homes, with almost every restaurant serving the stuff up as an appetizer, I suppose much like Mexican restaurants in America, with the bowl of chips and salsa.

Hummus' zinc, folate and protein make it a great after workout snack. Chickpeas are high in fiber, garlic has a cholesterol lowering effect. The Hummus I get at Town Talk is the version with roasted red peppers part of the mix, hence even more nutritious.

Hummus consumption in America has gone up 35% in the past 21 months, with people discovering it makes a good mayo substitute, that it is good over chicken or fish and is a tasty replacement for sour cream on a baked potato.

I like it over brown basmati rice.

About a week ago I discovered Whole Wheat Israeli Matzah at Town Talk. Three boxes for a dollar. Made in Israel. The only ingredient is Whole Wheat Flour. I thought this is going to taste like cardboard. I was wrong. The Israeli Matzah is very tasty dipped in Hummus.

The packaging on the Israeli Matzah is interesting. Click on the thumbnail and you'll see what I mean.

The back of the package tells the story of something called The Exodus, where this guy names Moses was the leader of a bunch of Israelites enslaved by an Egyptian Pharaoh. Moses asked the mean Pharaoh to set his people free. The Pharaoh said no. This caused God to unleash a bunch of plagues, which eventually caused the Pharaoh to give in, but then change his mind and chase after the escaping Israelis, who wandered around the desert for 40 years til God gave Moses Ten Commandments and some other instructions as to how to start up the new nation of Israel.

Fascinating reading on a cracker box.

Tarrant Regional Water District Throwing An Eagle Mountain Lake Party On Election Day

I believe Saturday, May 8 is election day for the Tarrant Regional Water District. On that day the TRWD is holding something called the 18th Annual Eagle Mountain Lake Cleanup. Volunteers will get a special Eagle Mountain Cleanup t-shirt and a Cleanup kit. After the Cleanup the Cleanuppers are invited to a big party thrown in their honor. With prizes, free food and entertainment.

Who is paying for this I can't help but wonder? And is this some clever Machiavellian scheme to lure potential voters away from a ballot box that day, to keep the vote to its usual suppress Fort Worth level of about 6% of the eligible voters? I'm sure the lure of free food and prize will lure 1000s of voters to pick up litter. I wonder why the TRWD did not think of adding free beer to the lure?

Is this possibly nefarious Machiavellian scheme part of a plot to help guarantee the re-election of the status quo and thwart the election of the Honorable Right Knights, John Basham and Adrian Murray, in their quest bring a halt to the TRWD's other schemes.

Schemes like suing the state of Oklahoma to take Oklahoma's water.

Schemes like abusing eminent domain to take private property so other private business owners can benefit from the ridiculous scheme called the Trinity River Vision, a vision never voted on by the people of Fort Worth, which spends around $ 1 billion to build a little like, maybe some canals, 3 bridges and an un-needed flood diversion channel.

You can read a good Fort Worth Business Press article about the different views of those running for TRWD Board of Directors seats here...

Steve Doeung's Gone Missing While I Spy Fort Worth Code Violators & Green Tandy Hills With Wildflowers

As you can see in the picture the Tandy Hills are starting to get green. You can also see it is a cloudy day here in the Fort Worth zone of Texas.

What you can not see is it is a semi-balmy 76, right now, at 3 in the afternoon. And it is humid.

It is less than 20 days til the April 24 2010 Tandy Hills Prairie Fest.

A few more wildflowers have made their presence known, including the purple wildflower below, but the hills are no where near their usual bright state of color, as has been seen in previous years.

The wildflowers have less than 3 weeks to paint the prairie before the Prairie Fest.

Speaking of diminished color and the Prairie Fest. I learned on Easter that, due to a variety of reasons, the Queen of Wink and Princess Annie, mostly likely, will not be making a royal appearance at the Prairie Fest.

In a slightly related subject, Carter Avenue's Steve Doeung seems to have gone missing.

Today I was finally able to see something he told me about the last time I saw Steve. That being something that precisely pointed out the bogusness of the multiple Fort Worth Gestapo Stormtrooper raids on Steve's house, due to imaginary code violations.

Behind Steve's house, on Bomar Avenue, sets a large semi-vacant lot, next to the home of the large semi-vacant lot's owner. That vacant lot owner has connections to those who order Fort Worth's Gestapo Stormtrooper raids. On that vacant lot is an eyesore level of likely code violations, if this were a city where such things were actually a concern.

If Steve's rather tidy yard, with its imaginary code violating piece of protest art, was worthy of a Gestapo raid, then his neighbor is worthy of an Army Brigade size Fort Worth Gestapo Stormtrooper raid.

Incoming Woolley Ham To Cure Texas Easter Hangover

I've been having myself a really bad day after Easter Hangover.

My feeding yesterday was your basic All-American Easter Dinner of Fried Chicken and Ham Pizza.

My delicate system is not used to a lot of fried food, particularly in combo with a lot of pizza.

I have not been so stuffed since my last bout of buffet bloat in Las Vegas. And that was years ago.

I am totally out of practice for over-eating.

So, I suffered all night long. Did not sleep well. When I did sleep I had horrible nightmares, mostly about pizza.

By the time I got done with a long time in the pool, this morning, I felt on the way to recovery, with my overeating hangover slowly receding.

Yesterday Betty Jo told me I'd be out of luck finding a good ham on short notice. Betty Jo was right. By Easter evening Betty Jo was bragging about how good her ham was, that everyone loved it and that she'd send me some if I wanted her to. So, I gave Betty Jo my ham mailing address.

This morning I got email from Betty Jo telling me, "the ham is in the mail...."

My mom and dad have mailed beef jerky to me from Phoenix, so ham being mailed by the Wild Woman of Woolley, in Washington, doesn't really seem all that odd to me.

Easter Morning A Tattered American Flag Waves In Texas While I Wear Tattered Clothes To Wal-Mart

I didn't realize until yesterday that today was Easter. Or maybe it was this morning.

Whenever it was that I knew today was Easter I decided I wanted to cook a ham.

I mentioned getting a last minute ham to Betty Jo Bouvier who proceeded to tell me the hams would be all picked over, should have been purchased a week ago and I'll be lucky if I'm able to find a scrappy ham. I may be paraphrasing.

I needed milk and bread, besides a ham, so I decided to go walking at Veterans Park and then go to the ALDI Food Market in Pantego to ham hunt.

On the way to Arlington I stopped to check my P.O. Box, at the Handley Post Office, and was surprised to see the flag flying on Sunday. On Easter.

Aren't there some sort of rules about how to display the American flag? I'm not one of those who gets all bent out of shape over such things. If someone wants to wear a bikini made from a flag, this does not bother me.

But, this American flag flying above the Post Office, in addition to flying on a Sunday, was also tattered, as in badly tattered and torn.

I know the U.S. Government is in really bad shape, running up deficits far beyond what anyone thought possible only a few years ago. I know the economy is still in bad shape.

So, is this tattered, torn American flag the new standard issue? Somehow symbolic of these troubled times in which we live?

After taking pictures of the tattered, torn American flag waving on a Sunday Easter morning in Texas, I continued on to Veterans Park.

At Veterans Park I saw several Easter picnics going on. I've noticed this on Easter ever since I moved to Texas. I thought maybe it was a Southern thing.

Then, this morning, after all this time in Texas, I realized that on Easter in Washington I would not have been in a park, I would have been stuck at some relative's Easter, so I've no idea what goes on in Washington parks on Easter.

Part way to Veterans Park it dawned on me that ALDI might be closed. I continued on anyway. After walking around Veterans Park I headed to ALDI. I passed the Pantego Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. It was open. A sure sign that ALDI would be too.

That sign was wrong. I felt dejected. Easter ruined. No ham. On the way back here I dropped into my Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. I looked at the Wal-Mart hams. None said buy me. I then saw the bake it yourself pizzas. One had ham on it. It said buy me. And so I did.

Being in my local Wal-Mart Easter Sunday, after church, put me in mind of a funny thing Betty Jo Bouvier sent me as part of her "REDNECK" emails.

"You might be a Redneck if your wife is quoted in the local paper saying..."

I was dressed more for Dollar Palace than Wal-Mart today, what with all those post-Easter service people all decked out in their Sunday finery and me in my hiking rags.

Master Martha Will Be QiGonging April 24 At Fort Worth's Tandy Hills Prairie Fest

You are looking at a group of Texans in, I think, Veterans Park in Arlington, celebrating the 2009 World Tai Chi/ QiGong Day.

I mentioned Tai Chi/ QiGong yesterday in regards to the upcoming Prairie Fest on April 24.

This morning I came upon information that elaborates on my slightly erroneous information that I blogged yesterday.

I had identified the QiGonger as a nurse known as Dr. M. F.

I assumed the doctor title came from being a doctor of QiGonging. I was wrong.

First off, the QiGonger in question is not a nurse. I was misinformed regarding that. The QiGonger is known as Martha Fiddes, Master of QiGonging.

Master Martha has a QiGong Website. From that website I learned that, "QiGong is a system of health care that is over 2500 years old. It refers to the ability to use breathing, postures and gentle exercises, meditation and focused intention to allow the natural energy in the body to flow correctly. When energy flows in the body correctly the body is AT EASE. When there is an interruption in the flow of energy we have DIS-EASE. We practice QiGong to prevent disease and to provide self-healing once disease occurs. Traditional Chinese Medicine includes QiGong as a vital form of medical care."

World Tai Chi/ QiGong Day is April 24, 2010, the same day as the Prairie Fest.

Here is what Master Martha has to say about that, "On Saturday afternoon I will provide a QiGong and Sunstyle program at the wonderful Fort Worth Prairie Fest at Tandy Park. Our practice will start at 3:00 PM. Again, no experience is necessary, just a willing heart and smile!"

You can also visit Master Martha's website for more information about QiGong. You will want to have a magnifying glass due to the font size being very very small. It must be a QiGong thing to help exercise your eyes.

Anonymously Bugging Me In Texas

Most of the ubiquitous Anonymous comments I get I don't mind getting. But lately I've been getting dozens a day, with a lot of HTML gibberish. It gets to be a pain to delete them.

What is the motivation for this behavior? I have trouble believing it actually generates any business with anyone actually ordering the, uh, "enhancement" products offered.

These type Anonymous comments are obviously some sort of automatic thing, no human is sitting there, pathetically sending out these comments over and over and over again.

Which leads to the other Anonymous comment of late, which is really pathetic, because a live human is actually typing these comments.

This Anonymous currently is calling him/her/itself "The Confederate." All the comments are variations of a theme. I'm clueless. I'm a moron. I'm stupid. I'm I forget what else. Oh, I need to leave Texas. Texas does not want me here. I don't understand Texas or Texans. I'm a Carpetbagger and Yankee Trash.

Stuff like that. It's sort of amusing. I've hit the publish button on a couple of them due to the being amusing thing. Although the Anonymous Confederate doesn't get that he/she/it is being amusing or accidentally ironic.

If the Anonymous Confederate makes one of his/her/its comments to this blogging and if it is funny, I'll hit the publish button. If not, I'll hit the delete button. I am guessing it's gonna be a delete. Then again, I'm a clueless moron, what do I know?