Now Is The Time For Justice For Jacob In Texas

With so much out of whack in the outer world on this Second Saturday of August, I decided to stay out of the outer world, for the most part, today.

Among that which is bugging me--- we've got Russia behaving bad in the Ukraine. Islamic extremists behaving bad in way too many places. America now trying to bomb the bad behavior out of the worst of the Islamic extremists, as if that ever works in the long run.

And then we have reactionary American's bad behavior reacting way too wacky over way too much to things like the unfortunate influx of a lot of kids at America's southern border.

And also in Texas we have the strange case of Jacob Lavoro. A 19 year old kid currently being persecuted and prosecuted by Texas for doing something perfectly legal in progressive, enlightened parts of America.

From the Jacob Lavoro Defense Fund website...

My son, Jacob, is a 19 year old young man who is currently in the Williamson County jail. He has never been in trouble with the law before, and has always been a great kid who we love very much. We have not been able to post bail, given the extremely high amount, nor have we been able to retain an attorney as of yet. We are appealing to you for whatever support you can give toward his defense. Thank you so much for whatever help you can offer. God Bless.

The Jacob Lavoro Case has now become yet one more instance where bad government behavior in Texas has become a national and international embarrassment.

Just go to the Jacob Lavoro Defense Fund website and read some of the comments to get a good idea of how badly Texas is embarrassing itself this time. Well, not all Texas is embarrassing itself, there are a lot of Texans appalled at the pot persecution of Jacob Lavoro.

You can go to the Justice for Jacob Lavoro Facebook page to read more national and international reaction.

What appalls me is this is a 19 year old kid. He made some marijuana brownies. For what? I don't know. A party? To sell? Again I don't know. I also don't know how it was Jacob Lavoro came to be arrested and jailed due to his brownies.

I don't need to know.

Why?

Because I know it is wrong to criminalize such a thing and persecute a young man or anyone in this manner over such a minor thing.

Way back in the last century I remember being at an event in the Independent Republic of Fremont in Seattle with Big Ed, Wally and Wanda.

Wanda and I were wandering about looking at exhibits when we heard a guy hawking hash brownies for a buck. He was doing the hawking a short distance from a Seattle policeman.

I said to Wanda wanna get a brownie. Wanda said okay. So we got two, purchased under the watchful eye of the enlightened law. We had no worry that either we or the brownie seller were about to be arrested.

Wanda and I ate the brownies. All I remember about them is they were tasty and we did not get potted from them. Though I do remember some giggling erupting randomly a short time later.

Way back then, in the last century, Seattle already had a tolerance policy regarding marijuana consumption.

And now, in Washington, and Colorado, it is legal to grow, sell, buy and use marijuana, within some guidelines which are still sorting themselves out. In many other progressive areas of America a tolerance policy towards marijuana is in play. Many progressive areas of America have legalized medicinal marijuana.

And then we have chronically backwards Texas, along with the other areas of the chronically backwards South.

Wasting money prosecuting a 19 year old kid because he made some marijuana brownies. A kid whose family does not have the resources to fight the persecuting prosecution.

It is not just the 19 year old kid who is being put through a Kafkaesque Texas hell. Jacob's parents, relatives, friends are all victims of this instance of a lack of common sense in Texas, a lack I see way too much of and am appalled by way too often in Texas.

And there you have my contribution to the Jacob Lavoro defense......

106 Degree Heat Warning In Texas While Arizona Suffers A Cold Spell At 101

For the first time this HOT season, unless I am remembering wrong, which would not be the first time, my location on the planet comes in #1 heat-wise, among the several towns whose temperature I monitor due to my temperature fixation.

In the middle of the afternoon on this second Friday of August, Fort Worth is sizzling with a National Weather Service HEAT ADVISORY because the outer world is currently being heated to 103, with the humidity making that outer world feel as if it actually being heated to 106.

Meanwhile up in my old home zone of Mount Vernon, Washington I would be shivering at 70 degrees.

Further south, in Tacoma, I would be shivering even more at 67. Maybe the Tacoma Connie D would be able to warm me up.

If the Tacoma Connie D was not able to de-chill me I could head over to Eastern Washington where Tootsie Tonasket is not being chilly due to her outer world being naturally air-conditioned at 84.

Visiting my mom and dad in Arizona would provide no heat relief, though it is colder than Texas at 101.

A couple minutes ago I texted my mom and dad to tell them I'm being hotter than them. They just texted back that they are having a below average cold spell.

I really don't think 101 degrees should be referred to as a cold spell....

I Did Not Fasten My Seatbelt For A Bumpy Ride In My Fort Worth Neighborhood

It seemed like a good idea at the point in time I thought of it, that being rolling my wheels on the non-sidewalk paths I see when I walk the sidewalk which surrounds the block in which my abode is located.

I have rolled my wheels a time or two in my neighborhood, but those times I head west on the sidewalk which runs along some of Boca Raton Boulevard, exiting Boca Raton to roll up and down the hilly, tree-lined side streets.

Today I planned on going off-sidewalk all the way down the hill to Randol Mill Road. Soon after I started rolling on the dirt path I discovered the path was a bit erratic and the rolling not too smooth.

I bailed at the first opportunity, taking a side street back to Bridgewood Drive, which leads home. Those are my handlebars above in the picture, pointing south, sitting beside the road, on a narrow path which would be a sidewalk in a non-third world country.

Pedaling on this bumpy narrow path with traffic incoming at high speed was not pleasant.

I won't be repeating today's experiment.

In A Mountain Free Zone Of Texas Vicariously Enjoying Maxine's Washington Mountain Hiking

On the left you are looking at Washington native, Maxine, leading a visiting hiker up Sauk Mountain. The trail up Sauk Mountain is ever so slightly unnerving due to the fact that the trail is a series of switchbacks, out in the open, no trees, working its way to the top.

I last hiked up Sauk Mountain at some point in the 1990s, with my favorite nephew Joey, in what became one of the more infamous "Nephews in Danger" incidents, due to the fact that as we made our way to the top the temperature dropped with the drizzly precipitation turning to ice which had the final few switchbacks ice covered which added an element of risk.

But, Joey and I continued on to the top and then gingerly made our way back down to safety.

Years later, in the current century, Joey's mom, my favorite ex-sister-in-law, Cindy, took up the hiking hobby, which eventually had Cindy hiking up Sauk Mountain, which then had Joey telling his mom about the "Nephews in Danger" incident. When I was later asked about this incident I plead not guilty due to the fact so much time had passed that some sort of statute of limitations had to be in play.

Maxine is an avid year round hiker. When the high country of the North Cascades is frozen over Maxine hikes the lowland hikes of the north Puget Sound zone. Through Maxine I get to vicariously enjoy Washington mountain hiking.

The state I am currently in, Texas, does not have much in the way of mountains, except out in the West Texas Big Bend Region. I have seen the Quadalupe Mountains in the distance,whilst driving to and from Texas. I would like to go to Guadalupe Mountains National Park and do some real mountain hiking.

The closest I have come in Texas to what seems like a real mountain hike I experienced by hiking to the top of Enchanted Rock down south in the Texas Hill Country.

A couple days ago Maxine asked me if I'd seen the Washington Trails Association website. I had not. I blogged about the Washington Trails Association website this morning on my Washington blog in a blogging cleverly titled Washington Trails Association Website.

The WTA website covers all of Washington's 31 Wilderness Areas. Daily, hikers post trail reports. Some days there are dozens of trail reports.

As far as I know nothing like the WTA website existed whilst I was still in Washington. I relied on old-fashioned trail guide books for my trail hiking information.

For several years now, in the fall, Maxine has hiked Cascade Pass to Stehekin. I have always wanted to do that. I've hiked to the summit of Cascade Pass several times and have floated the Lady of the Lake on Lake Chelan to Stehekin, one time.

Well, there is no mountain hiking in the near future for me. Today I may go do some mountain biking with Arlington's Village Creek Indian Ghosts.

One more picture of this week's Maxine hikes. Below Maxine and her hiking troop are on Cascade Pass in North Cascades National Park. I can not tell if the view is looking west, towards my old home zone of the Skagit Valley, or looking east towards Stehekin and Lake Chelan.

63 Years Ago Today My Mom & Dad Got Married 6 Years After Hiroshima Got Atom Bombed

Today, August 6, 1945, a date which lives on in infamy, wait, that's not right, the date which lives on in infamy is December 7, 1941, that being the day the Japanese sneak attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing about America's entry into World War II, which in about three years brought the utter defeat of the miscreantic countries who started that world-wide mess.

August 6, 1945 was the day America dropped an atom bomb on Hiroshima, which soon led to the end of the war.

Six years later, on August 6, 1951, 63 years ago, my Mom  and Dad got married.

Which means today is my Mom and Dad's 63rd Wedding Anniversary.

This morning I text message Mom and Dad a "Good Morning and Happy Anniversary" text message.

Mom and Dad text messaged back saying "Thanks, we are going out for breakfast with J & J & J & J.

J & J & J & J are Jack and Jackie  and Jake and Jill. My brother-in-law, sister, brother and sister-in-law.

Last night I tried to make a composite picture of my Mom and Dad and the atom bomb exploding over Hiroshima. That composite picture did not turn out too well, as you can see above. It sort of looks Mom and Dad are standing in front of a giant head of cauliflower.

As you can see, my Dad is in uniform. An army uniform. Soon after my Mom and Dad got married Dad got sent oversees, to France, during the Korean War. My Mom stayed home.

UPDATE: Someone with the unusual name of Anonymous made the following comment regarding my Mom and Dad with The Bomb....

No, Durango, No! Mom and Dad with The Bomb? You always have tasteful and well done pics and graphics. Don't "Jump the Shark" on me!

Let us see your Peeps with a great period photo.

Well, really, I think I jumped the shark a long long time ago. But, just for Anonymous I've added the photo of Mom and Dad with The Bomb removed.

I wonder what color Mom's dress was. I could ask, but I doubt Mom would remember.

Revisiting Mary Kelleher's Call For Accountability Regarding Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy's Sexist Remarks

Last month, July 23 to be precise, TRWD Board Director Mary Kelleher emailed a press release verbalizing her disgust at Fort Worth Star-Telegram food critic, Bud Kennedy's, sexist remark directed at her, on Facebook, regarding her election to the TRWD board with a record number of votes.

The Bud Kennedy statement to which umbrage was taken is "Kelleher was the only challenger elected last time and only because she was the only woman on a ballot with 7 men."

I do not know how many people actually read the Kelleher press release. It was sent as an email attachment, with the body of the email blank, with the email attachment a document in Google docx format, which required knowing how to open such a document in order to read it. I suspect many who received the press release never read it.

A few days after I blogged about this issue someone named Anonymous made a blog comment to a related blogging, commenting in part...

"At the same time, the world is still waiting for Elbert Elmer "Bud" Kennedy to publicly apologize or step down. *grin*".

Elbert Elmer?

A few days ago someone asked me what the big deal was regarding Bud Kennedy's "Kelleher was the only challenger elected last time and only because she was the only woman on a ballot with 7 men" statement.

I explained to the "someone"  in question that this statement is a totally wrong-headed thing to say because  it  reduces Mary Kelleher's only attribute which got her elected to being her gender. Not her positions on issues, not her standing and reputation in the community, not her dogged campaign.

I then asked the "someone" in question to consider if Mary Kelleher was African-American and Bud Kennedy said the only reason she got elected was she was the only black on a ballot with 7 whites.

Or if Mary Kelleher was of the Jewish faith and Bud Kennedy said the only reason she got elected was because she was the only Jew on a ballot with 7 Baptists.

Or if Mary Kelleher were a lesbian and Bud Kennedy said the only reason she got elected was because she was the only lesbian on a ballot with 7 straight candidates.

Or if Mary Kelleher were a man and Bud Kennedy said the only reason he got elected was because he was the only man on a ballot with 7 female candidates.

Or if Mary Kelleher was the daughter of Kay Granger and Bud Kennedy said the only reason she got elected was because she was the only Granger on a ballot with 7 non-Grangers.

Okay, I'm not sure that the last example makes the point, but I am sure you get the drift, as in Bud Kennedy was way out of line to suggest that "Kelleher was the only challenger elected last time and only because she was the only woman on a ballot with 7 men."

Not A New Tandy Hills Hoodoo Honey Posing Like Kim Kardashian

I'm sure you're thinking that which you see on the left is a new iteration of the Tandy Hills Hoodoos, a horizontal version of the usual vertical Hoodoo, which we might describe as a Tandy Hills Hoodoo Honey.

Well, I did not find this Hoodoo Honey on the Tandy Hills, I found this Hoodoo Honey on Facebook, via Tootsie Tonasket.

Comments regarding the Hoodoo Honey work of art debated whether it was depicting Kim Kardashian or Nicki Minaj.

I sided with the Kim Kardashian side of this important debate.

I'm thinking this Hoodoo Honey might inspire the Tandy Hills Hoodoo builders to branch out in a new direction, including horizontal Hoodoos along with the vertical.

Horizontal Tandy Hills Hoodoos would not be as easily toppled over by a brisk gust of wind.

It might be a bit challenging to find rounded rocks on the Tandy Hills, so the Tandy Hills Hoodoo Honeys would likely not be quite as voluptuous as the Hoodoo Honey above, but more angular and rough around the edges, which is fitting for a Fort Worth Hoodoo Honey....

A Walking Around My Neighborhood Freshly Lamenting Fort Worth's Sad Sidewalk Shortage

It has been a week or two since I took myself on a walking inspection of my neighborhood, other than walking up the hill to Albertsons for this, that or the other thing.

Yesterday whilst driving to the Tandy Hills I found myself freshly annoyed about a subject which has annoyed me previously, that being Fort Worth's sad sidewalk shortage.

I drive Bridge Street to get to the Tandy Hills. Bridge Street runs parallel to I-30. Bridge Street has multiple businesses, apartment complexes and a library along side its north side.

Yesterday, ahead of me as I drove west, I saw a mom carrying a little kid running towards a bus stop on Bridge Street, with the running taking place on a well worn dirt path. I saw the mom trip on the dirt path with the bus taking off before the mom returned to being vertical.

Above you are looking at the sidewalk that goes around the big block in which my abode is located. You are looking north at four lane Bridgewood Drive. The sidewalk takes a right at the green street sign. There is no sidewalk if one wanted to cross the street and continue north.

And what's up with sticking a light pole in a sidewalk? This repeats multiple times to varying degrees of sidewalk penetration.

Is Fort Worth the #1 major city in America in miles of roads without sidewalks?

If I remember correctly sometime around the last time I harped about Fort Worth's sad sidewalk shortage I read that the city was looking into possibly maybe developing some sort of sidewalk building program.

I have a suggestion on where to start. On major streets, like Bridge Street, where you can clearly see the volume of foot traffic has created a dirt path, that is where the city needs to add a sidewalk.

Maybe Fort Worth could send some sort of task force to a west coast town, like Tacoma, for instance, to find out how a little town like Tacoma manages to have wide sidewalks alongside both sides of pretty much all the town's streets.

The First Sunday Of August With A New Hoodoo At A New Location On Fort Worth's Tandy Hills

On this first Sunday of August I was back on the Tandy Hills for some natural sauna time in Fort Worth's best natural area.

Today's hiking route took me from the summit of Mount Tandy, north over the Tandy Escarpment above currently dry Tandy Falls, then over the fallen log obstruction to head west up the hill to the location of the Tandy Hills Hoodoo Central Zone at the north end of the View Street trail.

In the picture you are not looking at today's Hoodoo at Hoodoo Central. That Hoodoo had been totally Humpty Dumptied. I was heading back up Mount Tandy, on the trail on the south side of Mount Tandy, when ahead of me I saw a Hoodoo where I'd not seen a Hoodoo before. I took a picture then turned the camera to video mode, which I YouTubed and is watchable below.

When I was last on the Tandy Hills, last Monday, when I made the turn to the parking zone on top of Mount Tandy I found my way blocked by that which you see below.

Last Monday I could not figure out what this contraption was doing. Today I was very surprised to make the turn towards the parking to find the contraption still doing whatever it is doing.

On a Sunday.

When I exited my vehicle one of the guys waved at me, so I decided to walk over to the contraption to ask what they are doing. The guy nicely explained it to me, but all I got out of the explanation was they are replacing the cables which keep the Tandy Tower vertical. And that it takes a long, long time to do so.

And below is the aforementioned video of the exciting discovery of a new Tandy Hills Hoodoo....

Searching Fort Worth's Gateway Park For J.D. Granger's 80,000 Magic Trees

Yesterday prior to my regularly scheduled Saturday pre-Town Talk Gateway Park mountain bike ride I asked Has Anyone Seen The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Bridges Under Construction Since 2011?

Thinking about the Boondoggle's Bridges Over Nothing got me wondering about the Boondoggle's Gateway Park Master Plan as I rolled my wheels along with a lot of other wheel rollers.

It has now been a lot of years since the Boondoggle's Gateway Park Master Plan signage was installed touting the Boondoggle's imaginary Master Plan. As far as I can tell the only thing the Boondoggle has done in Gateway Park is to install the signs showing all that the Master Plan would entail if anyone was ever able to master the plan.

I recollect hearing J.D. Granger himself touting one aspect of the Gateway Park Master  Plan. That being 80,000 trees J.D. claimed were already being planted.

I remembered blogging about J.D.'s trees, so I entered "Magic Trees" into the blogs search tool to find that way back on April 1, 2011 I blogged about J.D. Granger's Army Of 80,000 Flood Protecting Trees Planted In Gateway Park To Save Arlington.

Four paragraphs from that blogging....

But, the strangest, funniest thing J.D. came up with was in response to a guy from Arlington verbalizing his concern that the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle was going to make flooding worse in Arlington. That, and he asked J.D. if the people of Fort Worth get to vote on this project.

J.D. acted like he's been worn out by all the referendums and votes there have been on this project. Somehow I don't remember these taking place.

As for the flooding in Arlington, J.D. explains that the TRV is going to extreme lengths to make sure not one ounce of extra water goes one second faster towards Arlington during a flood.

With the prime facilitator of that flood control being the 80,000 trees now being planted in Gateway Park.

I've seen no trees being planted in Gateway Park.

Over three years later I've still seen none of J.D. Granger's Magic Trees planted in the Gateway Park zone.

Shouldn't those Magic Trees be in the ground, growing roots, so if the Boondoggle's Bridges Over Nothing actually get built, followed by the un-needed flood diversion channel, followed by a big flood, that those Magic Trees can slow down that rush of flooding water shooting through the flood diversion channel, aiming high speed at Arlington?