Al Jazeera's Report About America's Own Taliban & Texas Governor Rick Perry

Not all that long ago the greatly respected (by few) governor of Texas, Rick Perry, came to Fort Worth where he engaged in a shootout with then Fort Worth Mayor, Mike Moncrief, in downtown Fort Worth.

Photos of this shootout in downtown Fort Worth were widely circulated.

This morning, thanks to world-wide Watch Dog, Don Young, I found out that the infamous photo of this infamous Texas governor and equally infamous Texas mayor, has made it to the Middle East and the newsrooms of Al Jazeera.

This photo was used for illustrative purposes in a July 28, 2011 article titled "America's Own Taliban."

Below is an excerpt from "America's Own Taliban.".....

There's a right-wing politico-religious presence centred in the US, but with a global reach, engaging in similar practises, destroying religious and cultural artifacts as a key aspect of its ideology of "strategic level spiritual warfare" (SLSW).

Until recently a fringe evangelical movement, warned against as deviant, "spiritual warfare" is rapidly positioning itself within America's mainstream political right. It's well past time for political journalists to start covering what this movement is up to.

Known as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a term coined by its intellectual godfather, C Peter Wagner, this movement surfaced in the 2008 campaign, with video of one of its most prominent practitioners, Kenyan witch-hunter Thomas Muthee, anointing Sarah Palin - but the mainstream media largely missed the real story on a number of counts.

This election cycle, the media will have another chance to get the story right. The NAR has made great strides since 2008, and already, NAR figures are deeply involved in organising for Texas Governor Rick Perry's August 6 prayer meeting, "The Response". 

On July 12, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow did a segment highlighting some of their more bizarre claims in a series of video clips. These included Wagner saying that the Japanese stock market collapsed because the emperor had sex with a demon (the sun goddess), another leading NAR figure, John Benefiel, calling the Statue of Liberty "a demonic idol", and a third figure, Mike Bickle, calling Oprah Winfrey "a forerunner to the Harlot movement", or, as Maddow put it, a "harbinger of the antichrist".

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It is sort of impressive that Al Jazeera has become such a respected news source, a lot more fair and balanced, or so it seems, than some, uh, western news organizations which claim to be fair and balanced. But aren't.

So Far We Have Not Reached 100 This Saturday In Texas While I Try To Figure Out How To Mail Betty Jo & Carlotta Some Pet Cockroaches

Coming up on 4 this Saturday afternoon it is looking like the 100 Degrees or more streak may come to an end today, what with it only 98.3 right now.

However, the clouds you see in the picture, taken around noon, have mostly disappeared. Without that cloud cover missing that HOT orb may be able to raise the temperature another 1.7 degrees and thus make this current HOT streak the 2nd longest HOT streak in North Texas history.

When I hit the Tandy Hills a bit earlier than the norm it was windy. The temperature was in the high 80s. The occasional blocking of the sun by the big white puffy things, was a nice relief, however it is very very humid. I assume the amped up humidity is courtesy of the remains of Tropical Storm Don. As are the big white puffy things.

Changing the subject from the Texas Temperature to cockroaches. This morning I exchanged emails with Betty Jo Bouvier and Carlotta Camano, neither of whom had personally met a cockroach of the insect kind.

I offered to mail Betty Jo and Carlotta some cockroaches so they could start up their own cockroach colony.

When Steve A learned of the plan to ship some cockroaches to Washington he advised me that I would need to supply a heat source if the roaches were to survive their trip to the Pacific Northwest. I assume Steve A assumed the cockroaches would be flying north and would get cold in the cargo hold.

Steve A also mentioned that cockroaches do not do well with cold and wet. I guess this explains why I never saw a cockroach til I moved to Texas. We have a lot of HOT and DRY in Texas, not all that much cold and wet.

Will The Last Saturday Of July Be Day 29 In A Row 100 Degrees Or Hotter In North Texas?

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the last Saturday of July at a clear blue sky it would appear that Tropical Storm Don has passed us by.

Despite the prediction that we would not hit 100 yesterday, at the official temperature monitoring station for this zone, at D/FW Airport, we did hit 100, making Friday Day 28 in a row of 100 degrees or more.

The prediction for today is only 99. But, if we do hit 100, or more, I believe that would make today's Day 29 in a row the 2nd longest streak of 100 degree days in North Texas history.

Meanwhile, up in Washington, Betty Jo Bouvier reports that yesterday it got to 80 and she almost sweltered to a full swoon whilst working in her garden. This morning Betty Jo is being chilled to 53.5, while here in North Texas we are being chilled to 79.4.

Changing the subject from the HEAT to lunch, I am making pizza from scratch today. Carlotta Camano gave me the step by step directions as to how to do so. I believe the pizza dough will be the only step which may present me with some measure of difficulty.

Before I make pizza I am going swimming and then later will likely do some hill hiking, followed by Town Talk. Then pizza assembly.

We Are Cooling Down In North Texas While I Help Gar The Texan Find The Best German Beer In America

My best friend with an IQ over 165, that being Gar the Texan, thinks I am temperature obsessed due to suffering from something called SSAD, with those SSAD initials being the short way of saying Summer Seasonally Affected Disorder.

Apparently I have had episodes where I have been unreasonably cranky, due to being overheated.

Gar the Texan has also made note of the fact that around 80% of my 20 to 30 bloggings a day seem to have something to do with the temperature.

Well, the thing is, the temperature is a HOT topic. I just realized a couple minutes ago that my Google AdSense revenue has already broken the monthly revenue record, with 2 days to go in July.

Now, I know Gar the Texan, with the advantage of his Ultra IQ, does better than I do with the pertinent blogging subjects. I imagine he has brought in a small fortune with his search for the perfect German beer made in America. And his parenting adventures.

Now, switching the subject from Gar the Texan and his parenting adventures, back to the temperature. I do not believe we hit the 100 mark today. If that is the case, the streak is over, with the 2011 streak being, I think, the 3rd longest in North Texas history, as measured at the official station at D/FW Airport.

If we don't get to 100 on Saturday, apparently a new streak of 100 degree days will begin on Sunday, with this coming Tuesday currently scheduled to be heated to a HOT 106.

We are currently scheduled to only get to 97 tomorrow. A 2 degree reduction from the previous prediction. Earlier I saw some big cumulus clouds that I assumed were due to Tropical Storm Don. But those clouds currently do not seem to be increasing.

Even so, I suspect there may be some thunderbolts jolting me in a few hours.

In the meantime I'm going with Gar the Texan to help in his quest to find an American Hefeweizen beer that is at a German quality level. This is an important project. It would be much easier if we were up in Washington doing this search, what with Washington's many brewpubs. For a state where the people seem to like their beer drinking, there seems to be a serious brewpub shortage in Texas.

Walking On The Brown Oakland Lake Park Hills Thinking About The Brown Hills Of Eastern Washington

So far it does not appear that Tropical Storm Don has arrived. But, for some reason the rain chance has been raised 10 points to 30%.

I think I remember what rain feels like.

I had a rough night with N. Somnia last night. It is hard to sleep with N. Somnia. During the short sleeping bouts very disturbing nightmares disturbed me, of which I remember nothing except for finding them disturbing.

A long bout in the pool seemed to have perked me up.

Before noon I went to Oakland Lake Park, again, to walk around Fosdic Lake, again. It was 94 degrees when I left air-conditioned comfort. It was 96.5 upon my return to air-conditioned comfort, with the Real Feel Heat Index feeling like 101.

The browned grass of Oakland Lake Park reminded me of Eastern Washington today. That is the browned grass in the picture, looking west at a stand of trees in front of Fosdic Lake.

When I was a kid I was always fascinated by the brown hills of Eastern Washington. Going from the green, west side of the Cascades, to a totally different climate and topography on the east side.

It was not til I was 12 years old that I traveled far enough from Washington to discover that those brown type hills cover a lot of America, though Washington's version, with its rolling hills and coulees, is more scenic than some. That, and much of the brown has had green added to it, with irrigation allowing the growing of apples, peaches, apricots, grapes, nectarines, cherries, wheat, corn, hops and other stuff I'm likely forgetting.

The last time I saw the brown hills of Eastern Washington was the summer of 2001. We went on a fruit run to the Wenatchee zone with a stop in Leavenworth on the way. In the years since I moved to Texas, the Walla Walla zone has become a wine producing mecca. When I lived in Washington the agricultural product Walla Wallas was known for were its Walla Walla Sweet Onions.

I'm in the mood for a Washington visit. I think cherry season may be over. But, blackberries should soon be ripe for the free picking.

The Last Friday Of July With Tropical Storm Don Changing Direction & Mimi The Pitbull Back Behind Bars

Looking skyward through the bars of my prison patio cell on the last Friday of July you can see the sky is currently clear of any clouds.

Apparently Tropical Storm Don went a more westerly direction than expected, which apparently makes it less likely we will see any rain in North Texas.

But, even without as much incoming Tropical Storm Don, the predicted high for Friday has been been lowered to 99, which, if that happens, today ends our 100 degrees of more streak.

On a totally non-HEAT related subject. Months ago a Fort Worth pitbull named Mimi was in the news. Mimi was accused of being a biter. Mimi's owner, Steven Woods generated a lot of sympathy and money, with his false tale of being a war vet and Mimi being innocent.

Well. Mimi is behind bars again. A pregnant lady, her husband and kid in a stroller were walking in Fort Worth's Lake Como Park when they were accosted by two pitbulls, one of whom was Mimi. The husband got the dogs to chase him, then was attacked by the male, which the husband stabbed with a knife, causing both dogs to run away.

Woods admitted both dogs were his.

Methinks it is now time to remove all of Woods' dogs from his possession.

And in another change of subject, it is time to go swimming.

Getting Cool By Walking Around Fosdic Lake With A Blue Heron And An Incoming Tropical Storm Named Don

It was only 97 degrees when I walked around Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park today, with that 97 degrees supposedly feeling like 101.

However, the water in Fosdic Lake seems to have a cooling effect on the air surrounding it, particularly when you walk across Fosdic Dam, with the wind blowing across the lake from the south with gusts to 20 mph.

I think that was a blue heron I saw today on the east side of Fosdic Lake. The bird and the water are sort of the same shade of blue.

The cold-like symptoms that were vexing me bad yesterday seem to have abated. It pleases me when a bad thing abates.

Speaking of bad things abating. If the current prediction comes true, on Saturday we will not be heated to 100 degrees or above in drought stricken, oven baked North Texas. And rain is slightly in the forecast for tonight, Friday and Saturday, along with a chance of T-Storms, courtesy of incoming Tropical Storm Don.

The Last Thursday Of July With Tropical Storm Don Young Threatening An End To Our North Texas Heat Streak

The last Thursday of July is starting off cooled to a not too chilly 82 degrees, scheduled to hit a high of 103.

Day after day the water in the pool is warmer than the day before.

When we hit 103 today it will be the 27th day in a row of a triple digit high.

The temperature prediction for Friday is 101.

But Saturday, that being the day that our current North Texas 100 degree streak would tie for 2nd, is in danger of not happening due to Tropical Storm Don Young.

Tropical Storm Don Young is currently north of Cozumel, Mexico, heading west/northwest towards South Texas. If Don Young reaches the Texas coast late Friday or early Saturday its clouds could cause a temperature drop in North Texas.

I continue to have strange cold-like symptoms. It is very vexing.

Am I Coming Down With A Cold In The Texas HEAT?

I have not been sick in years. No flu, no cold, no nothing.

A few summers ago I did have a bad allergy bout that I thought was a cold at first.

That may be what I have going on now. An allergic reaction to something.

Or I may have a cold. I do not believe I have ever had a cold in summer before. With the temperature over 100 every day it would seem that cold viruses would be withered from the heat, just like everything else.

Right now, at a few minutes after 5, we are being heated to 104.7 degrees HOT. A full blown cold in these HOT temperatures would be a miserable thing, I would think.

My symptoms are a slightly sore throat, a burning sensation in my nasal passages, slight eye irritation and an overall crankiness that is at a higher level of crankiness than my usual ongoing crankiness.

Could Fort Worth's bad air pollution and me exposing myself to it, daily, be what's causing the burning sensations? Anyone else having these symptoms?

I remember having a sore throat when I flew up to Washington in July of 2008, thinking it was caused by the air that I breathe here and that it would quickly get better breathing Washington's much cleaner air. But, it took a week for the cleaner air to clear up the sore throat.

Maybe I am just still recovering from Saturday night's saloon hopping with Elsie Hotpepper. Lord knows a night with Elsie Hotpepper exposes one to a lot of unexpected toxins.

A HOT Reflection On The Top Of Mount Tandy Thinking About My Mom & Dad & Nephews

In the picture I am on top of Mount Tandy, today around noon. As you can see I discovered a new way of taking a picture of myself by aiming the camera at one of my vehicular transport's windows.

That would be the Tandy Tower, aka the Fort Worth Space Needle, behind my right shoulder.

When I exited air-conditioned comfort today the outdoor air was heated to just a couple degrees under 100. The Real Feel Heat Index was supposed to be making it feel like 104.

However, a steady wind seemed to be introducing a bit of Wind Chill Factor to the Real Feel Heat Index on today's Tandy Hills.

Currently we are heated to 102.4 with a Real Feel Heat Index of 107. Right now up in my old home zone, the Skagit Valley of Washington, it is 64.2.

I believe my mom and dad are up in Washington right now. This would be their first return in 2 years. I have not been back in Washington for 3 years. Mom and dad have met their new grandson, David, previously. I think little David has flown down to Phoenix at least twice to visit them. Mom and dad will likely be visiting Tacoma to see David and their new twin grandbabies, Ruby Jean and Theo John.

Just a sec, I will go check the Blue & Max Blog to see if my mom and dad have been seen by the poodles.

Well. Blue & Max have pictures of David's visit to Phoenix. I know mom and dad's plan was to take off for Washington the morning that David was flying back north. Which must mean mom & dad are either on the road or have made it up to Washington. I guess I could make a call and get to the bottom of this mystery.

I can't tell from the picture if David is at my mom and dad's place in Sun Lake or my sister's in Chandler. The next two pictures I can tell are at my sister's house.

On the left that is my nephew Christopher Jay, more often known as CJ, with his cousin, my nephew, David.

That would be CJ on the left, David in the middle and, on the right, CJ's little brother, JR, Jeremy Ryan, my youngest nephew, until David and Theo showed up, in their mom and dad's backyard, blowing bubbles.

Seeing pictures of my nephews has me feeling a bit melancholy. JR was 13 when I moved to Texas. I remember Jeremy's mom telling me that me being gone was going to be hard on JR, because he liked to call me up when he had a day off of school and get me to do something fun. Often this involved a long bike ride.

When I moved to Texas the last month of 1998 the idea of CJ and JR and their mom and dad moving to Arizona was not on the radar screen.

I remember flying up for a family reunion in July of 2002 and my brother-in-law taking me aside to tell me about the possibility of moving to Arizona, wanting me to help get my sister to realize it could be a good thing to make a drastic move. I think within a year of moving to Arizona my sister came around to thinking it was a good thing.

I would not mind moving to the Phoenix zone. Currently it is only 101.7 in Phoenix. That is way cooler than the current temperature in my location of 103.4, warming up a little since I started writing this blogging.