Australia's JB Buckingham's Frack Finding Tour Of Fort Worth & Beyond

Interesting incoming from the always interesting Don Young...

It's not every day that an Australian State Senator from New South Wales pops into Fort Worth for a visit. Senator Jeremy Buckingham, and his esteemed 8-person entourage are on a Frack-finding tour of the USA. They dropped by FWCanDo HQ last Monday seeking an unvarnished tour of Dirty Ol' Town, TX.

I was honored to be their "Virgil" on a whistle-stop, Don-te's Inferno Tour of devastation in the newly-industrialized city of Fort Worth. We visited several of the most offensive gas wells in FW including one in Gary Hogan's backyard. Other north Texas stops included Dish, Texas where they met with former mayor, Calvin Tillman.

Jeremy is a member of the Australian Green Party which enjoys more mainstream support and power than Greens in the USA. In addition to Texas, he and his entourage are touring Colorado, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and New York to investigate the impacts of fracking in their fight to ban the practice in coal seam and shale gas mining in AU.

Others on the tour include, Drew Hutton of Lock the Gate Alliance and Peter and Kim Martin of Southern Highlands Coal Action Group. The group will wrap up their tour at the Stop the Frack Attack in Washington D.C. on July 28. Their passion and commitment to protecting public health and the environment from fracking is admirable. Their willingness to travel to the US in that effort is inspiring.

Check out pics, videos and commentary of JB's USA Frack Finding Tour.

Looking Over My Handlebars At Scorched Quanah Parker Park Earth Heated To Over 100 Degrees With No Irritated Eyes

Once again I am copying my favorite Fort Worth blog, Hometown by Handlebar, by taking a look at something over my handlebars.

In today's look over my handlebars I am closer to my actual hometown, due to being in the town I am currently aboding in, Fort Worth, west of my previous looks over my handlebars, in Arlington.

What you are seeing my handlebars pointing towards is the remains of a fire in Quanah Parker Park.

I was peacefully pedaling against the wind when I began to notice a not unpleasant burned smell. Soon I came upon the remains of a wildfire that had scorched a 10 foot wide swatch about 100 feet long along the Quanah Parker Park paved trail.

I've no clue what lit this Quanah Parker Park wildfire. Lightning strike? Arson?

When Mother Nature sets something on fire, with a lightning strike, is that considered arson?

I really think the bad behavior of Mother Nature besmirches all the Good Mothers in the world.

I think Mother Nature maybe should be renamed Naughty Nature, for those times when Nature does a bad deed, like earthquakes, tsunamis, thunderstorms, volcano eruptions, floods and the births of creatures like Hitler and Fubbo the Butt.

Things like wildflowers and a gentle summer rain should be attributed to Mother Nature.

We have now gone over the 100 degree mark according to my computer based temperature monitoring device. The 32% humidity is making it really feel like 108.

Even though we are over 100 we are currently not suffering with an Air Quality Alert.

And I am not currently suffering with irritated eyes.

My Litany Of Texas Woes Now Includes A Black Irritated Eye

That is my left Eye in Texas that is staring at you in the picture.

Both my Eyes in Texas have been irritating me the past 24 hours, with the left one irritating me the most.

Is anyone else, who is exposing their eyes to the polluted air in this Dallas/Fort Worth zone of North Texas, experiencing any eye woes?

Yesterday, after I got back to my abode from riding my bike at River Legacy Park, my eyes, particularly the left one, felt as if they'd been in a sandstorm.

A lot of dripping drops of Artificial Tears and Redness Reliever eventually abated the irritation, a bit, by late afternoon yesterday.

As you can see, via the picture, my suffering left eye has really taken a beating from all the eye rubbing, to the point that it almost looks as if I have a black eye.

I don't remember the last time I was such  hot mess, literally, with the outer world at my location supposed to heat today to a HOT 103 degrees.

An hour in the pool, real early today, was very pleasant. At that point in time my eyes were not irritating me, too much. The eye irritation has accelerated since then.

Wedgewood Massacre Afghan Veteran Glen Bucy Attacked By Frivolous Ridiculous Idiotic Lawsuit

A couple days ago, in response to one of my many personal problems with Texas, my sister, the lawyer, said to me, "OMG, how long will you subject yourself to the jurisdiction of such a crazy place????"

A few minutes ago I got an email telling me, basically, to check out, via Facebook, what the jurisdiction of this crazy place is doing to Glen Bucy, candidate for Constable in Arlington, Texas.

Below is what I was appalled to read on Facebook....

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Frivolous Lawsuit Filed by Former Constable Candidate Tim Hotchkin Against Glen Bucy For the amount of $322,000

Glen Bucy, survivor of the Wedgwood Baptist Church Shooting, U.S. Army - Afghanistan Combat Veteran , and Candidate for Constable Precinct 6 was served paperwork pertaining to a lawsuit filed by Tim Hotchkin (former Candidate for Constable). The lawsuit stated "During the campaign, Glen Bucy distributed by hand and U.S. mail a push card flyer comparing himself to his opponents." The suit alleges that the Push card included a number of false statements and omissions. The lawsuit also falsely alleges that Bucy created a fictitious FaceBook account in order to post the aforementioned "Push Card" material.

Bucy said "Look at the timing of this Lawsuit, it is nothing more than a direct attack on my character. Early voting will start in less than a week and I believe this is a coordinated attack in order demean my moral and ethical character to win an election to political office. Mr. Hotchkin is a known supporter of Jon Siegel and has given his full support and endorsement to him as well. I did in-fact distribute a comparative mailer before the primary election, however, all information pertaining to that mailer derived directly from the appropriate sources which include: Voting history provided by Tarrant County Elections, Hours of Police Training provided by TCLEOSE, and Employment history directly from the Constable that fired Mr. Hotchkin." The fact that the card states Mr. Hotchkin is a Private Security Officer Vs. Private Security Investigator is irrelevant and to my knowledge there isn't a difference between the two. However, in the same paragraph on the mailer I mention that he is a Reserve Officer with 8 years experience. "

In the race for Constable of Precinct 6, Glen Bucy is the only candidate who is actually a full-time Police Officer. The fact that the lawsuit calls for damages exceeding $322,000 is based on the assumption that Mr. Hotchkins would have won the election if this mailer would not have been distributed. That fact is that the mailer in question was actually delivered the day after the election due to unseen delays having the piece mailed. There is no basis for damages as all information was factual and voters received the piece after Mr. Hotchkin had already lost the election having received only 17.38% of the vote. The lawsuit therefore is nothing more than a smear tactic used late in the election in an attempt to discredit Mr. Bucy.

Today Mountain Biking In River Legacy Park I Did Not Get Snakebit

I'm copying my favorite Fort Worth blog again today, that being Hometown by Handlebar.

But, once again, my handlebars are nowhere near my hometown. My handlebars are, once again, in Arlington, about 2,000 miles from my old hometown.

What you really can not tell via looking at the picture of my handlebars is that they are on one of the mountain bike trails in River Legacy Park. I'm at a junction in the trail, with a green arrow pointing the way.

The River Legacy Mountain Bike Trail has expanded a lot over the years, with many loops added, and bypasses. The trails have become a bit of a maze.

There are sections of the trail which I do not enter on two wheels, with names like "Fun Town." A name like "Fun Town" makes you think it'd be really fun to ride on. And likely it is, if you are a teenager or in your 20s and impervious to flying over your handlebars.

There are two very extreme sections of the River Legacy Park Mountain Bike Trails. I am drawing a blank on the name of the one that is not "Fun Town." I have neither biked nor walked "Fun Town." I have tried to bike the other extreme section and quickly gave up. I have managed to walk the non "Fun Town" extreme section and managed to get lost. It is a very confusing maze of trails. Steep ups and downs. And water features that you really do not want to end up in.

Speaking of mountain bike trails, which is what I'm doing right now, I heard from someone named Anonymous about getting snakebit whilst walking the Gateway Park Mountain Bike Trail yesterday....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Walking The Gateway Park Mountain Bike Trail Finding Tasty California Peaches": 

You're a lucky man!! I just read in the Startle Gram that there was person bitten by a snake near Gateway Park yesterday!! Could have been you! 

I missed the article about the snake bite in this morning's Startle Gram, also known as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. When I found the article, after reading the comment from Anonymous, I found there was very very little information in the article. I don't even know if the few words amounts to enough words to qualify as an article.

Suffice to say someone reported someone got bit by a snake and after awhile that person was found somewhere near Gateway Park.

I don't believe I have ever seen a snake in Gateway Park.

I have seen many snakes in River Legacy Park. I've had to stop on the mountain bike trail and wait for a big bull snake to move out of my way. I've been stopped by a big snake on the paved trail, stretching clear across the trail. I've been warned about a swarm of copperheads ahead on the mountain bike trail, which I never saw.

My Anonymous Oak Harbor Relative Has Me Thinking About Not Having A 2012 Family Reunion

Above are a few of my relatives, and me, at the Northwest Washington Fairgrounds in Lynden, Washington, a few miles south of the Canadian border, on July 27, 2002, attending the biggest family reunion in my relative American family history, celebrating 120 years of being in America, going back to the arrival in 1882, when my great-great grandpa, great-great-grandma, great grandpa, great grandma and great aunt landed in America after sailing in from Holland.

Me and my relatives are a very difficult to please type of people, so, upon landing in America, my ancestors kept heading west til they finally ran out of places to run to, which, luckily, turned out to be at the same time they found a place much to their liking, that reminded them of Holland, that being Whatcom County, in Washington.

That 2002 Family Reunion was a bit of a boondoggle fiasco which I sort of felt bad about for awhile, though the boondoggle fiasco parts were none of my doing.

I'd not remembered I'd blogged about this particular relative family boondoggle fiasco previously, in detail, til I got a blog comment this morning to a previous blogging, from one of my Anonymous relatives living in Oak Harbor, Washington.

The comment....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "My Anonymous Oak Harbor Relative Bringing Back The Pain of July 27, 2002": 

Durango.... Are you going to reconstruct a 10 year reunion of the family reunion? Signed Anonymous in Oak Harbor. 

No, Anonymous in Oak Harbor, I am not going to reconstruct a 10 year reunion of the family reunion boondoggle fiasco.

Almost a decade after I flew up for that "event" I am unable to even remotely put myself in the frame of mind that caused me to help bring that about, let alone build the most complicated, biggest family history website on the Internet. I can only attribute this temporary insanity to Post 9/11 Trauma Syndrome.

Walking The Gateway Park Mountain Bike Trail Finding Tasty California Peaches

For my mid-day doctor prescribed daily constitutional today I went to Gateway Park to walk, not bike, the Gateway Park Mountain Bike Trail.

When you walk a trail that you've previously biked, it looks way different on two feet than two wheels, because when you are on two wheels you have to pay very close attention to the trail, lest you end up having a painful accident.

So, I was a bit surprised, whilst walking the trail, to see how close the trail is, at times, to the paved trail. I had no idea, except for locations where the MTB trail crosses the paved trail, that there were so many escape routes from the Gateway Park Mountain Bike Trail Roller Coaster.

Another thing I had not noticed, whilst quickly zipping by on two wheels, is the sign at the start of the trail which has a map which shows the convoluted twisting and turning, roller coaster maze nature of this trail.

Click on the picture to make it big. The Mountain Bike Trail is the black squiggly line on the map.

The trail begins on the far left, you'll see two lines, the upper black line is the start of the trail, the lower black line is the end. Follow the upper black line til you make it back to the lower black line and you'll get a clear idea of why this trail has twice left me disoriented, not knowing which direction I was going, and exhausted from the miles of ups and downs, twists and turns and dodging of obstacles, like cliff drops, root ruts and stumps.

Walking this trail, through the jungle canopy, at around 90 degrees, was very pleasant. Totally shaded, for the most part.

I only saw one reptile today, and that was not in Gateway Park, it was on my front door when I opened it to leave. A cute little lizard.

Since Gateway Park is almost next door to Town Talk I went to Town Talk where I got a case of peaches for only $4. California freestone peaches. 84 peaches when I got them home and counted. What am I going to do with 84 peaches?

Well, more accurately, what am I going to do with 80 peaches? 4 disappeared during the lunch process.

Very good peaches. Blindfolded I would have bet they came from Eastern Washington, because they actually taste like a peach, unlike other tasteless peaches I've had the misfortune to have misrepresented to me as peaches in the past.

I didn't go to the Parker County Peach Festival this past Saturday. I read no glowing reports about the tastiness of the Parker County peaches this year.

Anyone want some peaches? I deliver within a 4 block radius.

X-Case Manager Claims Loss Suffered As By Product Of Paradise Center Scandal Blog's Exposure

When I don't hear from the Good People at Paradise Center I know all is going well in their world.

When I was first made aware of the wrongdoing that led to the Paradise Center Scandal it took me a few days to grasp an understanding of the wrong that had been done.

My first blogging about the Paradise Center Scandal was on February 23, 2011, in a blogging titled The Paradise Center Scandal Has Me Mad As Hell At Fort Worth.

That blogging caused a comment frenzy, with the Paradise Center Scandal suddenly seeming, to me, much worse, and more sinister than I had realized.

So, on March 12, 2011, I started the Paradise Center Scandal blog, with the first  blogging also titled The Paradise Center Scandal Has Me Mad As Hell At Fort Worth.

Soon, via comments made to the various postings on the Paradise Center Scandal blog, it became obvious that the corruption in MHMRTC (Mental Health Mental Retardation Tarrant County) was much worse than initially realized.

It was not long before the Paradise Center people began to bounce back. Soon they were in a new location and back in operation. They have since moved to another new location and opened the successful Camp Bowie Bingo operation.

Late last night I got a blog comment that sort of updates me as to the current status of the Paradise Center Scandal....

X-case manager has left a new comment on your post "When Are The Bloggerman & Catwoman Going To Camp Bingo?": 

Amen, anonymous. We dare you to go to this Camp Bowie Bingo with Catspaw dressed as our favorite superhero Batman.

BTW, you have no idea how much loss mhmrtc and their friends suffered as the byproduct of your blog's exposure. Melissa Gibbons is no longer making money off of the mentally ill. Nor is BRAVO Health after that scandal that Jim "Dr." McDermott orchestrated. The ruthless mental health consumers mhmrtc and mcdermott used as puppets are gone, most notably Tony "smile"/"the manager"/pool table expert and loopy Lynne who thought they could do what Theresa and Paradise Center (as if!). Of course, the people living with serious mental illness and our community suffered the greatest loss. Not McDermott and his bureaucratic pals given the public trust...and public money. 

Well, X-Case Manager, I really don't think I am going to be able to convince CatsPaw to go with me to Camp Bowie Bingo with CatsPaw dressed as Batman. CatsPaw is a very logical cat, I don't think I could convince her of the logic of CatsPaw becoming Batman. That and the Batmobile is in the shop for extensive repairs.

West Nile Virus Has Reached Epidemic Level In North Texas

I was aware that for several years now the West Nile Virus has been being delivered by the Culex species of mosquitoes to humans all over America.

I had no idea til this morning that the number of incidents of West Nile Virus cases in North Texas has now reached an epidemic level.

Dallas recorded the first West Nile Virus death of the year, in America, within the past week.

West Nile Virus comes in varying levels of seriousness, with the most serious being the neuro-invasive virus version, which attacks the body's nervous system.

When I was reading about this mosquito caused epidemic I thought to myself that I do not recollect having a single mosquito bite all my years in Texas.

So,  what do I see on my face upon my return from the pool this morning? Well, it looks like a mosquito bite.

I do not remember a spring, summer or fall, in Washington, where I did not get mosquito bites.

I remember my first year in Texas, being in a Home Depot, in March, appalled at an invasion of what we called waterbugs. These round bugs that were attracted to light and sort of killed themselves ramming into the light, leaving a pile of waterbug corpses on the ground.

The lady at Home Depot told me the bug situation gets much worse as we get closer to summer.

I was mortified. Thinking the Texas bug invasion was going to be much worse than the annual insect invasion in Washington.

Well, I was relieved that, except for a plague of locusts, the insects in Texas are not as annoying as those in Washington. Except for cockroaches. I never saw a cockroach til I moved to Texas. But, I find cockroaches to be the most entertaining insect I have ever met. And they don't bite.

In Washington, in the Puget Sound lowlands, you would get plagued by annoying horse flies, in addition to mosquitoes and other flying biters.

Til the first freeze of the coming winter you can not go hiking in the Cascade High Country without covering yourself with bug spray, lest you find yourself covered with biting deer flies, whose bite hurts real bad.

I just checked the insect bite I got on my face in the pool this morning. It seems to have faded. I don't think it was a mosquito bite from a West Nile Virus Culex species of mosquito.

The majority of people who get bit by a West Nile Virus carrying mosquito develop no symptoms. People over 50, with weak immune systems, and people like Gar the Texan, who are prone to attacks of the vapors, are at risk of developing the disease.

Biking With The Indian Ghosts Who Haunt Village Creek While Thinking About Chief Joesph

Today I am sort of copying my favorite Fort Worth blog, Hometown by Handlebar.

So, in the picture, those are my bike's handlebars, no where near my hometown, which is a couple thousand miles distant.

My handlebars are on the deck that overlooks the Blue Bayou in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

Riding a bike for my mid-day constitutional is a lot less HOT than walking or hiking

Currently the outer world, according to my computer based temperature monitoring device, is being heated to 93 degrees, with the 45% humidity making the temperature really feel like 100.

Being in a HOT place makes me think about being in a cooler place. The Pacific Northwest is a much cooler place than the HOT place I am in right now.

I read on Facebook, this morning, that the Pacific Northwesterner known as Debbi Downer, is taking a long road trip from Pasco, in Eastern Washington, to Lake Wallowa, in Oregon. I think the distance from Pasco to Lake Wallowa is something like 70 miles. Debbi Downer characterized this as a long roadtrip vacation.

Lake Wallowa is at the heart of the land stolen from the Nez Perce Indians, an act of theft which led to one of the most epic battles of the Indian Wars, with multiple skirmishes, over a distance over 1,000 miles, as Chief Joesph attempted to lead his tribe to safety in Canada.

Chief Joesph and the Nez Perce were never allowed to return to the valley that was their home.

In the modern era area of Wallowa Lake there are many historical monuments making note of the history that took place in this location.

Chief Joesph died on September 21, 1904. According to his doctor, Chief Joesph died of a broken heart.

After he surrendered Chief Joesph made many attempts to right the wrong that had been done to his people. Chief Joesph traveled to Washington, D.C. three times, pleading his case to three presidents, Rutherford B. Hayes in 1879, William McKinley in 1897 and Theodore Roosevelt in 1903.

Chief Joesph spoke out repeatedly, in poetic language, about the injustice of American policy towards native people.

Chief Joesph was widely admired, even by his old adversaries, like General William Tecumseh Sherman.

Chief Joesph's most famous words were the speech he gave at the time of his surrender. They may be the most famous words ever uttered by a Native American...

"I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toohulhulsote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led the young men is dead. It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are, perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more, forever."