Saw No Snakes Rolling With The Indian Ghosts Before Voting For Leonard & Lane Tomorrow

I took my handlebars to Arlington today to roll my wheels with the Indian Ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

That would make it the Village Creek, formerly blue, Bayou that my handlebars are looking at.

Years ago, early this century, or maybe late in the previous century, when I first saw this location the overlook was made of wood, the bayou was a big open pond.

It was in that big open pond that I saw my first collection of water moccasins slithering in Texas water. I asked a couple guys what they were looking at, they told me water moccasins. I had no way to know if they knew what they were talking about.

The snakes I saw slithering that day may have been simple ordinary harmless water snakes of some sort. But, seeing those snakes that day and being told they were water moccasins, well, it made me very wary of Texas water, a wariness that has expanded since from just a simple snake fear.

There were a lot of people at Village Creek enjoying this balmy Sunday in Texas. Mostly walkers, some dog walkers, a few bikers, one skateboarder.

One pair of the walkers appeared to be a bit elderly. I thought to myself that I hoped I was still out and about on a Sunny Sunday if I get to be that elderly.

That then had me thinking about Fort Worth's Mayor, Betsy Price. I may not like the bad political behavior of Betsy Price, but I do like how she is a big advocate of bike riding. I hope if I get to be as old as Betsy Price I am still riding a bike.

Yesterday I was on the Tandy Hills at the same time I was riding with the Indian Ghosts today. On the Tandy Hills I only saw one other person.

On all sides of the Tandy Hills, except the north side, the Tandy Hills are adjacent to residences. There are no walking distance residences near the Village Creek Natural Historical Area parking lot.

So, why are the Tandy Hills so lonely, most of the time? The Village Creek Natural Historical Area is in Arlington. The Tandy Hills Natural Area is in Fort Worth. Do Fort Worth people just not like their natural areas as much as Arlington people like their natural areas?

Arlington does seem a bit more sports minded than Fort Worth, what with having an NFL team and a MLB team playing in town, while I don't think Fort Worth has any professional sports teams calling the town home, not even an extremely minor league baseball team calls Fort Worth home anymore.

Is Fort Worth the biggest city in America without any major league team of any sport calling the town home?

Anyway, I had myself a mighty fine time rolling my wheels today, except for the fact that everywhere I drive I see the landscape littered with election signs. I'm so confused now by all the signs and mailers in my mail when I go to vote tomorrow I likely will be only voting for two candidates on the ballot.

Marty Leonard and Jim Lane.

Because I have a flawless record of never voting for anyone who wins, except for the last TRWD Board Election when I voted for Mary Kelleher and she won with the most votes in TRWD election history.

Maybe I should re-think who I am voting for and vote for Craig Bickley and Michele Von Luckner and hope that a miracle strikes twice.....

Mary Kelleher & Blake Woodard Tell You The Truth About The Nasty TRWD Board Election

The TRWD Board Election is less than one week away.

I came upon two letters today which pretty much sum up what the big deal is that is going on at this location on the planet, election-wise.

People in other parts of America, and the world, have trouble comprehending how a water board election can generate so much interest and be referred to as a historic moment.

Well, if the result of the election turns out the way I hope it does, the election will amount to being a revolutionary moment for Fort Worth and the area that surrounds Fort Worth.

The two aforementioned letters spell it all out for you.

The first letter of the day came to me via email. A few minutes later I saw that same letter on the Star-Telegraph. Please note that that is Star-Telegraph, not Star-Telegram. One would never see such a letter in the Star-Telegram, due to the fact that the letter counters the Star-Telegram's propaganda about this election. The first letter I am referring to is from Mary Kelleher, in which Ms. Kelleher tells you the truth about the "nasty" lies spewed in the TRWD incumbent's mailers and Star-Telegram ads.

You can read the Mary Kelleher letter in the blog post titled Mary says.... in the Star-Telegraph.

The second letter came from the pen of Blake Woodard.  Blake Woodard is the son of one of Fort Worth's finest, Don Woodard. I saw the Blake Woodard letter posted on Facebook. The letter is re-posted below, in its entirety, for your reading enlightenment....

Blake Woodard
1300 South University Drive Suite 600
Fort Worth, TX 76107

Fellow Fort Worth citizens:

I invite you to participate in a historic moment for our city. A sea change – or more appropriately, a lake change – is coming to Fort Worth on May 9 in the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) election. This change is long overdue.

You’ve found the flyers on your door or in your mailbox, or perhaps you’ve seen the ads in the Star-Telegram, with Mayor Betsy Price and former Mayor Mike Moncrief warning you that a Dallas businessman is trying to take control of Tarrant’s Water Board. The businessman is my friend Monty Bennett, whose company owns two landmark downtown Fort Worth hotels that pay far more Fort Worth property taxes than either of the mayors, and who, like me, is supporting Michele Von Luckner and Craig Bickley for the TRWD Board.

Betsy and Mike are trying to divert your attention away from the real Dallas threat to Fort Worth citizens. Here’s what Betsy and Mike don’t want you to know:

• Moncrief raised $500,000 (so far) from an exclusive group of North Texas millionaires & billionaires, cashing in chips with his richest friends. If the incumbents get re-elected, these are the people who will continue to influence the Water Board. It sure won’t be you and me.

• Yours and my names were not on Mike’s Rolodex®, but five Dallas billionaires were. Don’t you think it’s hypocritical of Mike and Betsy to stuff our mailboxes with mailers warning about one Dallas businessman when they have stuffed their coffers with donations from five Dallas billionaires?

• Why are five Dallas billionaires eager to hand former Fort Worth Mayor Moncrief hundreds of thousands of dollars to finance his friends’ perpetual control of Fort Worth’s Water Board? Perhaps it’s because the TRWD Board is planning on spending $2.3 billion of your money to build a pipeline that forever will connect Fort Worth’s two prize east-Texas lakes to Dallas’ suffering water system. You’ve seen the severe water restrictions that Dallas-area residents have suffered the last two years. Some communities can water their lawns only once every two weeks. Thanks to the TRWD leaders from the 1960’s and 1970’s who built Cedar Creek and Richland Chambers reservoirs, Fort Worth is in much better shape. Once that “Integrated Pipeline” (IPL) is built, Dallas forever will have access to Fort Worth’s water. The IPL adds no water to TRWD lakes. TRWD’s own needs assessment shows that the IPL is a big win for Dallas but could exacerbate Fort Worth water shortages. Does that sound like a good deal to you? Isn’t buying Dallas a $2.3 billion pipeline to Fort Worth’s lakes like giving North Korean hackers the password to your computer firewall?

• Given Mayor Price’s and the TRWD incumbents’ passion for regional (Dallas-imposed?) water restrictions, this permanent connection of Fort Worth’s lakes to Dallas should concern you greatly. Dallas’ new pipeline into TRWD’s lakes + Mayor Price’s regionalism = Loss of Fort Worth’s water sovereignty.

In another flyer, Mayor Price tells you that we have the best water board in Texas. The best? I have higher standards than Mayor Price. Here’s my TRWD Board report card:

• They get an A for their east-Texas wetlands project.

• They get an inherited A for the outstanding employees of the Water District, many of whom, including one of my friends, have worked there decades to provide us water.

• They have failed to buy Oklahoma’s surplus water, dealing so poorly with our neighbors to the north that they ended up in a costly, losing federal lawsuit.

• They have failed to supervise the TRWD’s general manager, who among other incidents interjected himself into the 2013 TRWD election by sending hateful, belittling emails to one of the candidates from the TRWD’s email server. You might have gotten fired, but the incumbents did nothing. I think the incumbents are intimidated by this man. I think he needs supervision.

• They have failed to respect your private property rights, lobbying State Rep. Charlie Geren to sponsor a bill that gave the TRWD exclusive eminent domain rights to take your land for economic development, even if miles from any water. They then abused these eminent domain privileges to take your neighbors’ land for the $1 billion Trinity River Vision project.

• They have failed at transparency, only lifting the veil slightly when Mary Kelleher joined the TRWD Board in 2013. Mary needs two more votes on the board to effect change.

• They have failed to focus on water supply and flood control and have been distracted for years by Trinity River Vision, a sweetheart-deal restaurant, and other economic development.

• They have failed at conservation, insisting on top-down, big-government water restrictions, window-dressed with a silly Lawn Whisperer campaign that is pointless when citizens have no flexibility. Conservation works best when the citizens buy in. Yet in 2014, TRWD officials and Bryan Eppstein (TRWD’s lobbyist and the incumbents’ and Mayor Price’s political consultant) aggressively lobbied your city council to reject even a pilot project to test my conservation plan, the Woodard Plan1, which may increase conservation with less government.

• They have failed to trust you. Ask the incumbents if they trust you enough to give you the Woodard Plan. They were desperate to kill the Woodard Plan, because they are afraid that you will waste water if given the slightest flexibility. So they told the City Council on 4/8/2014 that if it approved the Woodard Plan, the state would deny any more inter-basin pipelines and lakes for Fort Worth. This assertion was completely fabricated, but it succeeded in swinging the Council’s vote against the Woodard Plan. You are seeing similar scare tactics in their campaign. When leaders don’t trust you, they do desperate things. Michele Von Luckner and Craig Bickley represent change. They are smart young business people, who like you and me are raising families in Tarrant County. None of their donors hopes to make a buck off of TRWD contracts. They want transparent government. They are passionate about conservation and ample water supply. They don’t want the TRWD taking your property for its next economic development idea. They want TRWD focusing on water, water, water. And they trust you. You will be proud to have Michele and Craig represent you on the TRWD Board. You get two votes for the TRWD Board on May 9 (early voting runs April 27 through May 5). Please join me in voting for Michele Von Luckner and Craig Bickley. I encourage you to visit their websites to make a donation or request a yard sign: www.michelevonluckner.com and www.craigbickley.com.

Blake Woodard
1 - For a copy of the Woodard Plan, please e-mail me at blake@woodardcompanies.com.

Puzzled By Tandy Hills Prairie Fest Art Before Getting Sesame Oiled At Town Talk

One week after the 2015 Prairie Fest I was back on the Tandy Hills for a pre-Town Talk hill hike.

I intended to park at my regular summit of Mount Tandy location under the Fort Worth Space Needle.

However, since my last visit to this location multiple "NO TRESPASSING VIOLATORS PROSECUTED" signs have been added.

I was in no mood for a possible confrontation with a member of the Fort Worth Gestapo, what with a large number of such ensconced a short distance away in the former NBC broadcast building, so I drove on to the View Street entry to the Tandy Hills, which also is the location of the Prairie Fest.

Some interesting pieces of Prairie Fest art remain on the prairie, like that which you see here.

I pondered the above piece of art after I finished pondering the piece of prairie art below.

My guess is the above is titled "Bird's Nest". Built for a really big bird. The color in the nest comes from string of various sizes and color.

Continuing past the first artwork installations I came to what appeared to be a new trail, heading west. I followed that trail and eventually came to another possible art installation, installed to cause us to ponder the sad fate of Fort Worth's large population of homeless people.

I walked into the Homeless People Prairie Fest art installation til I got a closeup view.

As you can see the Homeless Camp is quite a mess. To the left of what you see here was a black tarp stretched between tree limbs, clothes hanging off branches and other stuff.

After a couple miles of hiking it was time to exit the Tandy Hills. On the way back to my vehicle I came upon the latest Tandy Hills Outdoor Learning Center, which is what you are looking at below.

This is the area of the latest brush bashing, an ongoing project which removes non-native, non-prairie vegetation from the Tandy Hills.

And then installs natural benches where un-natural vegetation once grew.

The Town Talk Treasure Hunt went well today. Four loaves of Ezekiel bread, sausage, English sharp cheddar, corn tortillas, carrots, kale, tomatoes on the vine, a couple bags of apples, yogurt, sesame oil and other stuff I am not remembering right now.

Seattle May Day Riots Over Baltimore Police Killing Freddie Gray While Fort Worth Is Riot-Free

Like I already said once before today, unlike the town I currently live in, Seattle has more than one actual, real newspaper which prints actual news about what actually happens, without filtering the news through a Chamber of Commerce does it make our town look good filter.

For instance, this morning what you see here was the headline that greeted me when I clicked on the Seattle Times.

This was the first I had heard that May Day rallies in Seattle had morphed into rioting protesting the alleged Baltimore police murder of Freddie Gray.

I don't know how FOX talking heads and conservative radio talk show mouths will fit a Seattle police brutality protest into their Ferguson/Baltimore type narrative.

It should be quite clear to anyone paying attention that disgust over police brutality is widespread across America with the disgust not limited to any one race, creed, party or religion.

On Facebook, last night, I saw an interesting entry from Mr. Mike.....

"While no one condones looting, on the other hand, one can understand the pent-up feelings that may result from decades of repression and people who have had members of their family killed by that regime..."

Who said that? A flaming bleeding heart liberal type? No, this quote came from Donald Rumsfeld, one of the architects of America's Iraq mess. Is this a current quote, referencing problematic police regimes in various American towns? Or the regime of Saddam Hussein? It's hard to tell.

Below is video from the Seattle Times of yesterday's riot protest in Seattle. Can you picture such a thing happening in Fort Worth? More on that question later....

Repeating Myself About A Dallas Contribution To Conservative Talk Radio

Back in March, on one of my other blogs I blogged The Conservative Truth Is Seattle Restaurants Are Not Closing Due To The New $15 Minimum Wage.

Unlike the town I currently live in, Seattle has a couple actual newspapers. One of those newspapers, the Seattle Times, pointed out that no Seattle restaurant was closing due to the raised minimum wage.

Did those FOX news types and conservative talk radio mouths, like the Dallas contribution to that art form, you see above, Ben Ferguson, share the truth about Seattle's restaurants not closing when they learned they were spouting lies? I don't know, but I suspect no mention was made of the unfortunate truth.

I can only take listening to Ben Ferguson or Rush Limbaugh in very short doses.

The day after the Baltimore riots I heard Ben Ferguson repeat over and over and over again that that now infamous mom, who was caught on camera beating her rioting son, should be Mother of the Year. And over and over and over again asking where are the dads? Where are the black dads? Why are there no black dads out there stopping their kids from rioting?

The next day another photo went viral, world-wide, that being a photo of a line of black dads protecting a line of Baltimore police behind them.

Did Ben Ferguson see that and mention it on his show? Over and over again. I suspect not, but like I already said, I can only take listening to him in very short doses.

The day I heard him repeat that Mother of the Year nonsense over and over again I Googled Ben Ferguson, curious was I to match a face to the annoying voice. So, that would be Ben Ferguson above, on CNN. Why would CNN have that guy on cameera?

When I Googled Ben Ferguson I was surprised to see there is a short Wikipedia Ben Ferguson entry.

One paragraph in the Wikipedia Ben Ferguson article greatly amused me. Before I get to that, first part of what I wrote about Ben Ferguson on that Seattle restaurants not closing blogging...

I can only take listening to Ben Ferguson for about 15 minutes. He has an annoying tendency to repeat himself. Over and over again. He repeats himself.

See what I did there?

In addition to repeating himself, over and over again, Ben Ferguson is also very fond of various iterations of "you're an idiot", in sentences such as "If you think that you're an idiot." Every time I hear Ben Ferguson repeat his "you're an idiot" phrase it crosses my mind to assume that he has had that phrase directed at himself all his life, because, well, he comes across, to me, as a bit of an idiot.

The bit that amused me in the Wikipedia article was the article's mention of Ben Ferguson's tendency to repeat himself, over and over and over again....

"A prominent element of Ferguson's broadcast style is to immediately repeat most statements two, three, or four times for emphasis."

I think Wikipedia is being very generous in describing Ben Ferguson's repetitiveness as a broadcast style. To me it makes him sound idiotic, like he can not think of anything else to say. Or that he has to stretch out his talking until finally someone calls in to his show....

Marty Leonard & Jim Lane Are TRWD Puppets Of Dallas Billionaires

On Wednesday I blogged about that which you see here in a blogging titled Time To Pull The Curtain Back On Some More TRWD Propaganda Before Monty Bennett Comes To Fort Worth Tonight.

The location Monty Bennett was going to in Fort Worth that night was the Fort Worth Business Press TRWD Board Election Forum.

Marty Leonard and the Gutless Wonder known as the Cowboy Napoleon, Jim Lane bailed on participating, after having agreed to do so.

A rather telling indicator of the quality of their character.

But not nearly as telling as the campaign propaganda those two allow to be smeared in their names.

This morning incoming email brought me a point by point refutation of the bogus expose smears in the TRWD incumbent's propaganda purporting to expose the Dallas Puppeteer Monty Bennett's imaginary puppets, Michele Von Luckner, Craig Bickley and Mary Kellerher.

Below we will be looking at the TRWD incumbent's shocking exposes and then in bold we will look at the facts that arrived in my email this morning, with the first line in that email being "This is what they do when they can't fight the issues".

First the TRWD incumbent's expose about the Michele Von Luckner puppet....

Von Luckner was recently ORDERED in a JUDGMENT by a Tarrant County Civil Court to pay her bills.

Michele and her husband were laid off in 2008.  They worked with all their creditors and everyone is paid.

Von Luckner is coordinating her campaign with a person who changed his name to hide his past which includes an arrest record from San Angelo. This dubious individual is treasurer of one of Monty Bennett’s funded PACs.

The man that changed his name did so to reflect his adoptive family name.  (You can’t change your social, etc. which would still show charges)

Von Luckner has never voted in a local election in Tarrant County and uses a different last name (“Hojnacki”) on her Drivers License and Voter Registration.  

Many people have never voted in Tarrant County, note only 6% do. Michele’s maiden name is Hojnacki, it is on her legal documents.  Her husband’s last name is Von Luckner and that’s what she is known by.  (Like Martha “Marty” Leonard, you can put the name you are known by on ballot)

Von Luckner’s political consultant is Dallas businessman Monty Bennett’s business partner. 

As for Monty’s business partners in election – Marty and Jim’s campaign manager receives millions in contracts from TRWD, that sounds like a business partner to me.

Secondly the TRWD incumbent's expose about the Craig Bickley puppet....

Bickley can not vote for himself as he does not live in the Tarrant Regional Water District.

Regarding Craig not living in district, the qualifications say you must own taxable property in the district.  He does.

Bickley is coordinating his campaign with a person who changed his name to hide his past which includes an arrest record from San Angelo. This dubious individual is treasurer of one of Monty Bennett’s funded PACs. 

With nothing real to expose the TRWD incumbent's repeat one of the same things they "exposed" about Ms. Von Luckner.

Bickley’s political consultant is Dallas businessman Monty Bennett’s business partner.  

Again the same thing they "exposed" about Ms. Von Luckner.

Bickley is a failed candidate from a past race in the 2012 Republican primary. For this race, Bickley also declared his residence at an address outside of TRWD. 

As for Craig being a failed candidate, so is Jim – he lost his race for Congress, Mayor and his old council seat.

Thirdly the TRWD incumbent's expose about the Mary Kelleher puppet....

In an April 2015 press article, Kelleher admitted that as a TRWD Board member she has been helping Bennett in his losing lawsuits against TRWD. Since 2013, Kelleher has been under an investigation by the Texas Ethics Commission for not disclosing hundreds of thousands of dollars of in-kind campaign contributions funded by Bennett. In 2014, Kelleher was CENSURED by the TRWD Board for making false statements to the Fort Worth City Council. Also, in 2014, the Tarrant County DA confirmed that Kelleher and Bennett traveled together on an out-of-state trip to New Orleans that was funded by Bennett. Kelleher is now using Bennett’s money and business address to send out mailers falsely attacking her TRWD colleagues Marty Leonard and Jim Lane.

As for Mary, anyone who says she is a puppet, hasn’t met her.

______________________________________

Repeatedly the TRWD incumbent's propaganda uses variations of the verbiage "falsely attacking" or "false attacks".

What is a false attack? You either make an attack. Which would make it real. Or you don't attack. Which would make for no attack, or a false attack.

Is this artful propaganda? Rather than saying Mary Kelleher is attacking us with falsehoods, when she is not doing so, and saying so would be a slanderous lie, the TRWD incumbent's propaganda uses the meaningless Mary Kelleher is "falsely attacking" verbiage, which sounds like Mary is doing a bad thing, thus confusing voters easily confused by artfully spewed propaganda lies.

Methinks Mary Kelleher and her fellow puppets have been launching some rather accurate true attacks, hence all the propaganda on the TRWD incumbent's Dallas Puppets webpage on their propaganda filled Our Water Our Future website mostly paid for by the TRWD incumbent's Dallas billionaire backers.

There is a psychological concept called transference, where someone transfers on to others something about themselves they can not face, like how it actually is Marty Leonard and Jim Lane who are the puppets of Dallas Billionaires, and other people with lots of money, while Craig Bickley and Michele Von Luckner are regular public service minded citizens who want to help serve the people, all the people.....

Mayday Warning From Monty Bennett About The TRWD Board Election

A few minutes ago that which you see here arrived in my email.

This is the message from Monty Bennett which appeared in yesterday's Fort Worth Star-Telegram, on the same day TRWD Board Incumbent, Jim Lane, launched his now infamous attack ad on the man who has become popularly known as the Dallas Billionaire Businessman Bogeyman.

In his message to those few who are allowed to vote in the May 9 TRWD board election, Monty Bennett has a message for you.

It is a coherent message, free of propaganda, free of vitriol, free of lies.

In other words Monty Bennett's message bears no resemblance to the propaganda nonsense which the Jim Lane/Martha Leonard campaign spews.

I worked my typing fingers to the bone, and was eventually able to copy the entire Monty Bennett message for your reading enlightenment...

Why May 9th Really is Mayday
By Monty J. Bennett

Mayday is the term used to request immediate help when facing danger. Mayday! Your help is needed! Fort Worth voters must vote responsibly in the critical election on May 9th. Early voting has already started. Citizens of Tarrant County will decide whether a vitally important but largely invisible governmental entity should be transparent and accountable.

Decisions of the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) will affect residents of Fort Worth now and for many years to come. We cannot exist without water: clean, reasonably-priced, dependable water. The TRWD’s initial core mission was to provide what’s called “raw” water and flood control. (TRWD sells water to municipalities, and they sell it to you.) This is a vital responsibility. However, the TRWD is a poster child for “mission creep.” The powerful agency holds taxing, spending and eminent domain powers. It argued that flood control required it to fund levies but then changed to funding “economic development.” Today, the TRWD’s discretionary fund spends 250 percent more on private development than on providing safe water for public use and they have increased your water rates 64 percent over the last decade. A more accurate name for the TRWD is the “Tarrant Regional Private Development Piggy Bank.”

Demands for greater transparency are growing and your vote is the best way to be heard. Director Mary Kelleher was elected in 2013 and pledged to pull back the curtain on the TRWD’s dealings. Although she is a sitting director, she has been denied access to official records and was censured for having opinions different from her colleagues. Two commissioners, Marty Leonard and Jim Lane, should have stood for election last year. Article XVI, Section 30 of the Texas Constitution plainly and unambiguously provides that no TRWD Director may serve a term in excess of four years. The directors arbitrarily extended their own terms in office (under cover of a bill in the legislature ostensibly saying that elections should be “moved” to be in odd numbered years). How would you feel if your own city council member arbitrarily decided he or she didn’t want to face the voters and just moved his or her election to the next year?

The TRWD has attacked me, claiming I am only upset because they propose to use their powers of eminent domain to put a pipeline through property belonging to my mother. It’s true, that got my attention – and has largely been resolved in my favor, but as I’ve scrutinized their operations, I have become appalled. They have labeled me as a “Dallas businessman” and conveniently fail to acknowledge the fact that my company owns the downtown Hilton Hotel and the Ashton Hotel, so I have been paying taxes in Fort Worth for 20 years. They claim I want to ‘control your water.’ What on earth would I do with a bunch of water? All that’s just silly. The TRWD has run over citizens for decades; I just happen to be blessed with the resources to be able to fight back.

Moreover, I am committed to Fort Worth. I love Fort Worth, and I put my money where my mouth is. Interestingly, they never mention the five, yes FIVE, Dallas billionaires who are financing their campaigns. To my knowledge, I’m the only Dallas resident supporting the challengers.

I am calling “Mayday!” to encourage voters to learn what the issues and stakes are, and to compare the two incumbent directors with the independent, civic-minded challengers, Craig Bickley and Michele Von Luckner. These candidates have publicly promised to bring more transparency to the TRWD’s proceedings and to actually listen to the citizens of Fort Worth. I ask the citizens of the TRWD’s service area to call their friends who are eligible to vote and ask them to support the reform candidates. Shout “Mayday!” spread the word and be heard by exercising your constitutional right to vote for change and reform.

Monty Bennett

Escaping The TRWD Board Election Scandals By Walking With Ghostly Victims Of Eminent Domain Abuse

Today I decided to take a break from my temporary obsession with the ongoing TRWD Board Election Scandals and go to one of my favorite polluted creeks in the TRWD watershed, that being Village Creek.

Village Creek flows through the Village Creek Natural Historical Area. I go to this location to visit the Indian Ghosts who haunt the area where long ago many natives were murdered, or evicted from their land in a very primitive form of the Texas version of eminent domain abuse.

Nowadays Texas eminent domain abuse is usually accomplished without resorting to murder. Maybe some gravedigging, but seldom murder.

As far as I know.

Well, now that you are making me think about it, I suppose character assassination is a form of murder. A lot of that takes place during eminent domain abuse at this location on the planet.

I also visited the skittish Village Creek turtles today, which you can see above, where a few were sunbathing on their home log.

Village Creek appeared to be more brown than usual today. How does this water get so dirty in the short distance it has flowed from Lake Arlington?

Eternal optimist that I be I'm sure that brown water problem will soon be fixed.....

Shocked To Learn Marty Is Not TRWD Incumbent Leonard's Real Name

No, that is not a photo from 60 years ago of former Fort Worth Beauty Queen, Marty Leonard, you are looking at here.

That is a young Norma Jean Baker, before she changed her name to Marilyn Monroe.

Yesterday, in a shocking expose laden TRWD board incumbent poster of propaganda voters were shocked to learn that TRWD board opponent, Michele Von Luckner used her pre-married name of Michele Hojnacki on her Drivers License and Voters Registration.

How outrageously corrupt to use ones maiden name after one gets married to someone with a different last name.

Later in the day, yesterday, hours after I was shocked to learn that Michele Von Luckner had a different last name before she got married, I was further shocked to learn that the aforementioned TRWD board member currently running for re-election, Marty Leonard, has a different name on her birth certificate.

Martha Leonard.

How are we to trust anything this Leonard person tells us if she is so deceptive that she would change her first name from Martha to Marty. What is Ms. Leonard trying to hide with this name change?

As I thought about the shocking expose of Michele Von Luckner's and Marty Leonard's dual identities I thought of some other nefarious political figures who changed their names for questionable reasons.

Ulysses S. Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant, but changed his name when he joined the army. Why? To sound real patriotic, anticipating a run for the presidency a few decades in the future? Or just an honest mistake? With his new initials of U.S. Grant, some of his army buddies even took to calling Grant "Uncle Sam".  This scandalous name change really should have disqualified Grant from being a Union General, let alone president.

A few years after President Grant we had President Woodrow Wilson. Only that was not his real name. He was born Thomas Woodrow Wilson. What was Wilson trying to hide with this name change?

Then during the Roaring 20's Calvin Coolidge became president upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Calvin Coolidge's real name was John Calvin Coolidge. How do all these wanton name changers manage to get  into high office?

After Calvin Coolidge America went half a century without having a president who changed his name. And then, due to the bad behavior of Richard Nixon, Leslie Lynch King became president, without getting elected. Never heard of President King? Well, that is because you knew him as President Gerald Rudolph Ford.

A few years after President King we had our most recent presidential name changer, Bill Clinton, who was born William Jefferson Blythe III.

So, now that we have had time to think about it, Michele Von Luckner and Marty Leonard are in some pretty good company in the name changing department.

What I am wondering about now is what geniuses in the TRWD incumbent's campaign came up with this type "expose" nonsense?

Whoever it is, I think the highly ethical, morally upright Jim Lane and Marty Leonard should fire them, that is, if they actually are highly ethically and morally upright.....

Time To Pull The Curtain Back On Some More TRWD Propaganda Before Monty Bennett Comes To Fort Worth Tonight

I tell you this TRWD Chinatown Board Election is exhausting. This morning it was a despicable full page Jim Lane attack ad in the Star-Telegram. This afternoon it was another poster size Jim Lane/Marty Leonard attack ad in my mailbox.

The attack ad in my mailbox shared some of the same propaganda as this morning's newspaper attack ad, that being the accusation that Monty Bennett was digging up and re-burying veterans, and others, in his fake, pipeline blocking cemetery.

However, the TRWD incumbent's attack ad in my mailbox outdoes the despicability of this morning's Star-Telegram ad.

Before I get to saying anything more about this afternoon's despicable attack ad, just as I was getting ready to take a photo of it, due to it being too big to fit on my scanner, my phone rang with an un-recognized 817 number. I answered to find myself being told that the evil Dallas businessman, that nefarious bogeyman puppeteer, Monty Bennett, will be in Fort Worth in a couple hours, attending the Fort Worth Business Press TRWD Board Election Forum  at 5:30 pm at the Central Library  in downtown Fort Worth, 500 W. Third St. (corner of Third and Lamar, two blocks from the Tarrant County Courthouse).

I have also been told that Jim Lane has chickened out of attending this forum. Student that I am of psychology, it surprises me not that Lane would not want to face those against whom he has launched today's despicable attacks. It is a symptom of Little Man Syndrome to be all brave bluster when one is a safe distance from the tall object of ones faux brave bluster.

Now back to the piece of despicability I found in my mailbox. One quarter of the huge mailing is taken up with BIG white text in front of a red curtain saying "It's time to pull the curtain back on Dallas businessman Monty Bennett and his puppet slate of Water Board candidates".

When we pull back the curtain, or open the poster, we see the depiction of Monty Bennett you see above, being the evil Dallas puppeteer.

And what is that 'truth' behind the curtain?

Well, it is truly shocking stuff, way more shocking than Jim Lane funneling millions of TRWD money to his bankrupt friend.

I shall translate the shocking revelations to be closer to the truth than the TRWD propagandist's muckraking.

For instance Michele Von Luckner was recently ordered to pay an overdue, disputed bill. Von Luckner has someone working on her campaign who once changed his name and was once arrested for something like jaywalking in San Angelo. This highly suspect person is the treasurer of a PAC. Von Luckner has never voted in a Tarrant County election and has been known to use her maiden name (shouldn't she be doing hard time for this?). Von Luckner's political consultant is Monty Bennett's business partner. (Now that really is shocking, I know I'm shocked. Aren't you?)

And then there is the nefarious Craig Bickley. You can tell just by looking at his menacing face that he is probably up to no good.

Well, get ready to be shocked. Bickley can not vote for himself. And he also is involved with someone who changed his name to hide his criminal past in San Angelo. (methinks San Angelo must be a hotbed of crime) This criminal also is a treasurer in a PAC. (I wonder if this is the same bad man that is on the notorious Von Luckner campaign?) Bickley's political consultant is also Monty Bennett's business partner. (I tell you it is a vast criminal conspiracy)

And the most shocking of the TRWD incumbent's behind the curtain Bickley revelations? Craig Bickley failed to win a previous race in a Republican primary. And not only that, for this current TRWD election Bickley baldfacedly declared that his residence was outside of the extremely gerrymandered TRWD voting district.

Craig Bickley failed to win a previous race? Only one? How many times has Jim Lane lost a race? I think the only time he's ever won is election to the TRWD board. If I am remembering right Jim Lane has lost mayor, city council, congressional, senate and dog catcher races.

So, yes, Craig Bickley is way behind Jim Lane in number of races lost.

Will Fort Worth's SWAT team be on site to deal with the evil Dallas businessman coming to town? What with it being so widely known that Monty Bennett is behind a vast conspiracy to take over Fort Worth's water supply I suspect a massive police presence will be in play.....