Has The Fort Worth Weekly Lost It?

That was the question Elsie Hotpepper asked me yesterday.

The reason Ms. Hotpepper was asking me this is because of what she read in a Fort Worth Weekly article titled Summer Fun List which purported to list some of the allegedly fun things one can do this summer in the Fort Worth zone.

The part of the article which has Elsie questioning the sanity of FW Weekly is...

And while August is the perfect time of year to get together with your favorite mosquitoes and grill some Walmeat, don’t forget that from June 14 through August 30, Panther Island Pavilion will serve up Sunday Fundays, in which you can rent a tube to float the Trinity from noon to 6 p.m. for five measly bucks. If you love the water but still think the river is too dirty –– or loaded with too many toe-devouring snapping turtles –– just remember that the flotsam at your apartment pool or nephew’s favorite Arling-fun water park is probably 10 times worse. #harboringecoli #hospitalbedvistas #ecoliestates –– Steve Steward

Well, that is a bit disturbing. Fort Worth Weekly coming to the defense of America's Biggest Boondoggle encouraging people to float in the polluted Trinity River, claiming Arlington's Hurricane Harbor is 10 times more polluted, along with equally polluted apartment pools.

Uh, unlike the Trinity River, apartment pools are tested daily,  the water is filtered, chemicals are added to the water to keep the water clean and safe. I'm fairly certain Hurricane Harbor makes sure its water is safe and clean.

Unlike the Trinity River, the water in apartment pools and Hurricane Harbor is the same treated water you get out of your faucet.

FW Weekly is advising us not to forget that The Boondoggle is serving up Sunday Fundays? With tubes costing only 5 bucks to rent?

Walmeat?

I think the answer to Elsie Hotpepper's question is YES!

Spencer Jack Celebrates Graduating 2nd Grade Making His Uncle Homesick For Washington

There seems to be a conspiracy afoot to make me homesick for Washington today.

Incoming email a few minutes ago from FNJ (Favorite Nephew Jason) with several photos, including the two you see here.

The text in the email said...

Spencer Jack explores Cap Sante after finishing the 2nd grade today.

Cap Sante is a Gibraltar-esque rock monolith in Anacortes. Anacortes is on a real island, called Fidalgo. In the photo above FNSJ (Favorite Nephew Spencer Jack) is sitting atop Cap Sante. In the distance behind Spencer Jack, on the left, is another island.

People reading this in Fort Worth, this is what real islands look like. They are surrounded by a large body of water. Not a dry ditch.

Below is a view looking west, at the Cap Sante Marina and downtown Anacortes. Many a time I helped launch a boat with my mom and dad from the Cap Sante Marina.

I don't know if we can see it, but on the left side of the above picture is where Spencer Jack's dad's Fidalgo Drive-In is located.

I Googled Cap Sante to see if there was a Wikipedia article about it. There is not. But I found a blurb on Yelp that was a fitting description, once I fixed the grammar and typo mistakes....

From the majestic trees draping precariously over the bank, to the beautiful sweeping view of Anacortes and beyond, Cap Sante Park is a must-do on your next trip to Fidalgo Island.  There are plenty of vantage points for photography, and usually there are at least a few yachts, sailboats, and/or large ships within view. If you're in an adventurous mood, hike down the easy path to the beach below, or just stay on top and admire the surroundings.  

That is true, there are often large ships to be seen at this location, called supertankers, bringing oil products to and from the Anacortes Refinery complex, located on the east side of Padilla Bay, on Marsh's Point, in the direction Spencer Jack is looking.

Time flies way too fast. Hard to believe that Spencer Jack is now a third grader....

No Cop Is Safe From The Attack Of The 14 Year Old McKinney Black Bikini Girl

Elsie Hotpepper sent me this a few minutes ago. I thought it was funny.

But also thought that those to whom it is directed won't get that it is they who are being made fun of.

I am talking about those who have been apologists for the bad behavior of the bad McKinney cop who has now resigned in disgrace.

People who claimed, based on nothing seen in the infamous video, that the black kids were disrespectful.

That the black kids were not listening to the bad cop's erratic demands and commands.

That the girl the bad cop attacked was being mouthy, thus the only way to shut her up was for the bad cop to tackle her, force her face down on the ground and then jam his knee into her back.

While taking time out to un-holster his gun and wave it menacingly.

Will America's Biggest Boondoggle Make A Mountain Out Of Its Ditch Dirt?

No, that is not an artist's rendering of what the Trinity River Central City Panther Island Vision Boondoggle's Pond Granger will look like if it ever is able to float a boat.

That is also not an artist's rendering of one of the transit ferries carrying vehicles and people across Pond Granger to the imaginary Panther Island.

That is also not an artist's rendering of Mount Granger, as envisioned by America's Biggest Boondoggle, with the mountain made using the dirt dug to make the ditch to go under the three little bridges The Boondoggle is taking four years to build to connect Fort Worth's mainland to its imaginary island.

What you are looking at above is not an artist's rendering, it is an actual photo of a volcano, a real island, a large body of water and one of the world's biggest ferry boats, which would make that Mount Rainier with the boat floating on Puget Sound, a natural body of water, not an artificial result of someone's bad vision.

I saw this photo today on Facebook, via Miss Chris, she being one of my nephew's two new replacement aunts. Miss Chris captioned this photo by saying "Love this picture".

A few people, including me, made followup comments. The comments from the Washingtonians struck me as mild humble bragging. Maybe I am just being hyper sensitive due to missing mountains, ferry boats and large bodies of clean water.

8 people like this.

• 

  Sharon Southstone Nelson I love where we live! It is so beautiful and never tire of seeing the beauty of our state.

  Like · Reply · 1 · 4 hrs
• 

  Durango Jones That looks like a mountain and a ferry boat. We ain't got nothing like that for hundreds of miles at my current location....

  Like · Reply · 1 · 4 hrs
• 

  Chris Sampson Me either Sharon. I don't think I could live any where else.

  Like · Reply · 4 hrs · Edited
• 

  Jennifer Kaffenberger I could during the winter time

  Like · Reply · 2 hrs

Where Can You Get Medicinal Marijuana In Texas To Ease Chemotherapy Misery?

File this in the folder that contains yet one more thing you'd never see on the front page of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Morning News or any other Texas newspaper's online edition.

The front page of the Seattle Times online this morning had this ad repeated three times, including a banner ad at the top.

The ad is asking what your answer would be if your teen asked you how marijuana can be harmful if it's used as medicine.

Washington's voters decided marijuana was not all that harmful, and thus legalized recreational use of the herb for adults.

The teen might have asked if marijuana is not harmful and is okay for adults to use, why can't I?

I don't know what my answer to that question would be.

Start Talking Now is the website to which the ads are trying to direct readers. Apparently Start Talking Now is a project of the Washington Healthy Youth Coalition. Does Texas have a Healthy Youth Coalition?

Cowtown Wakepark Is Still Closed Due To Flooding So No Wakeboarding For Me Today

I woke up this morning thinking today would be a good day to try something new, something like wakeboarding, I thought, would be a good change from my regular repetitive exercise routines.

So, I Googled Cowtown Wakepark, to find the website for the world's premiere urban wakeboard facility, with that facility provided by the Trinity River Central City Panther Island Vision Boondoggle in an effort to give Fort Worth's residents the opportunity to participate in the exciting sport of wakeboarding, to paraphrase the Boondoggle's propaganda.

Well, the above is what I found. Cowtown Wakepark is currently closed due to flooding.

Why would anyone think it a good idea to build something where it is going to go under water anytime the river next door floods?

How much damage is done to Cowtown Wakepark by a flood? If I remember right there is only one permanent type structure that would go under water, that being a shabby looking building that I think functions as the office or headquarters for this bizarre operation.

I assume this facility uses the Fort Worth norm for restroom facilities, with the outhouses being able to be moved to high ground when a flood threatens.

How does the Cowtown Wakepark stay above water, financially? Wakeboarding is only doable when the temperature is warm and the river is not flooding. I think only three people at a time can wakeboard, with a session lasting something like 20 minutes, maybe a half hour.

What happens when dozens of locals show up, wanting to participate in this exciting new sport? Seems like there'd be a long wait. Does not seem, to me, to be a very good business model. It'd be like a ride at Six Flags only able to accommodate 10 people an hour. Makes no sense.

Then again, this is a product of America's Biggest Boondoggle, so making no sense makes sense....

McKinney Black & White Teen's Response To Racism Gives Hope For A Better Tomorrow In America

That which you see here I saw this morning on Facebook, a quartet of McKinney teens holding up protest signs.

The teenager holding the "MY SKIN COLOR IS NOT A CRIME" sign appears to have brown colored skin.

The teenagers holding up the "WHITE SILENCE / WHITE CONSENT", "NO JUSTICE NO PEACE NO RACIST POLICE" & "PROTECT OUR YOUTH" signs appear to have light colored skin.

In the last 24 hours I've received a couple messages mirroring the sentiment expressed in the caption below the protesters, that being the only good news about the McKinney debacle is the white kids' response to racism.....

Too many people are morons. When teens are making more sense than adults, there is a problem.

and

The only good thing I can see that has come out of the McKinney debacle is it seems most of the young people get it, get what was wrong about this incident, are not at all racist, don't care about the color of someone's skin. If everyone could be so enlightened this would be a much better world.

___________________________________

During the course of the McKinney debacle I have been appalled, over and over again, at what I hear people saying or what they write in posts on social media.

Over and over and over again I have heard and read that those black kids were disrespectful, didn't listen, were mouthing off.

Yet, when I watch the infamous video that set off this International embarrassment, I see no black kids being disrespectful, or mouthing off. I see several kids who appear to be frightened. And with good reason, as they were terrorized by the disgraced, now resigned, out of control cop.

The out of control cop was both yelling at kids to sit their asses down, and to leave the area. I would imagine it was very confusing for those teenagers to have an adult in uniform acting so nuts.

Further appalling is the people who verbalize support for the cop, who think that the situation warranted his over the top madman overreaction. These types come across as so sure of themselves, they further denigrate black teenagers, claiming black kids don't get taught to respect authority. These blanket statements come across, to me, as extremely racist and extremely wrong.

Where I live I see a lot of black kids, teenage and younger. In all the years I have been in Texas I have not experienced any black kid being anything but well behaved and polite.

Just today I was in ALDI where a black mom was scolding her kids, I think there were five of them, all appearing to be pre-teen. The kids were having fun looking at a toy ALDI had for sale. The mom apologized to me, saying something like "sorry my kids are blocking the way and making so much noise." To which I said something like "They aren't blocking my way. I think they're being darn cute. Do you want mom to get you kids one of those?" I asked the kids. Which got a universal "YES!" The mom laughed and said something like "you kids don't need anymore toys."

All in all a perfectly pleasant experience for all involved. Now, imagine if it had been that psychotic racist McKinney cop in ALDI with those kids having fun. Likely it would not have been a pleasant experience for all involved.

It really is not all that difficult to be nice to all the humans one encounters during ones day....

Biking With Flood Soaked Village Creek Indian Ghosts & Armadillo Roadkill

Today, for the first time since the Great Texas Flood, Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area's Indian Ghosts were available for visiting.

The flood appeared to have swept Village Creek free of its usual collection of litter.

The two photos you see here were not taken in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area. These two photo were taken on the Bob Findlay Linear Park trail that one comes to when one exits the Historical Area and enters the Interlochen neighborhood.

The Indian Ghosts also haunt the Bob Findlay Linear Park, what with it being the location of one of the more notorious battles to which the Village Creek Indians were subjected, that being the battle which turned either Tarrant or Denton into a ghost. I can never remember which one, or what rank they held, captain, general, corporal or what.

As you can see above, on the Bob Findlay Linear Park trail there are mirrors installed so as to facilitate the easy taking of what are known as "selfies".

Is that not one bright blue sky? Only 11 days until the arrival of Summer.

There was a lot of lawn mowing and weed whacking going on in the Village Creek zone today. I was not liking all the grass dust blowing in the wind causing a couple allergic sneezes.

I could tell by the mud line that Village Creek flooded possibly higher than I'd seen it flood before.

At one point I was rolling along at high speed to find myself doing some brake slamming due to the trail being blocked by what you see above.

Was this a flood damage repair project? I could not tell. The men repairing the damage and I did not speak a language we both understood. I asked a pair of fellow bikers, who were also stopped by the obstruction, if this was flood damage related. They said they wondered the same thing.

It was fairly easy to get around the blocked area and continue on.

I saw my first armadillo roadkill of the year today. Where have all the armadillos gone? Today's roadkill armadillo was the first armadillo I have seen in a long time.

Sister Clancy Being Yogi Bear Has Me Looking For My Brother Being Wilma Flintstone

I was looking for a Burlington Berry Dairy Days float photo of my brother and me pulling one or two of our sisters in the Berry Dairy Days Parade when I came upon this photo of my oldest sister, who used to be known as Stella, currently known as Clancy.

This float was in the Sedro-Woolley Loggerodeo Parade. That takes place on the 4th of July, if my feeble memory is serving me correctly.

The theme of this float is "The Three Bear'ies".

This would seem to indicate to me that the float made its first appearance, weeks earlier, in the Burlington Berry Dairy Days Parade.

The caption under the picture indicates my brother and I were also on the float. I have no memory of this.

I also have no memory of how the float would have been transported from Burlington to Sedro-Woolley. I vaguely recollect a flatbed trailer.

Every year for many years mom and dad would make us kids a float for the Berry Dairy Days Parade. The float was kept in secret in the garage. We were always in float competition with the Olsen sisters who lived on the other side of the Burlington city park across from which our houses were located.

More than once we won the top prize in the float competition. I have no memory of what the prize was.

One year my brother and I were Fred and Wilma Flintstone, with my brother being Wilma. I think my baby sister, Jackie, currently living in Arizona, was Pebbles.

The biggest float mom and dad ever made, and likely the last one, featured only baby sister Jackie on board. The float was a HUGE strawberry, with Jackie all Shirley Temple curly cute  on top of the strawberry. My dad was the "motor" inside the berry. I recollect there was some trouble getting the berry to roll over the railroad tracks that cross Burlington's main street, Fairhaven Avenue, in the middle of downtown Burlington.

I wonder if Jackie has any memory of being rolled through Burlington on top of a big red berry? I must remember to ask when next I talk to her.

I know photos exist of the other floats, like the Flintstone one. I know I have seen a color photo of my brother and me pulling a float. I have no idea where these photos are located.

Does Berry Dairy Days still happen? What with the strawberry industry in the Skagit Valley being a bit messed up. If this event does still take place it should be happening this coming weekend, or the one after that. Or maybe it was last weekend.

I have fond memories of Burlington's Berry Dairy Days. The parade assembled on the street in front of our house, Washington Avenue. The carnival took place one block to the west, across from where I went to school from first to fourth grade, Roosevelt Elementary, named after Teddy, not Franklin.

A highlight of Berry Dairy Days was what was billed as the World's Biggest Strawberry Shortcake. I don't know if this was true, or Texas type exaggerated brag. I remember the shortcake was free and drew a HUGE crowd.

I have not had a real strawberry this century. Those Driscoll atrocities from California don't count.

I think I will go float photo hunting....

UPDATE: I have found two floats photos, including one I think is the color version of The Three Bear'ies one....

Worried America Is Becoming A Fascist Police State?

This latest Bad Cop behavior, that being the McKinney Incident, had me Googling "fascist police state".

That brought up a surprising number of websites where people are pondering what has gone wrong in America.

I only read a few of them. I thought the one titled America Has Become a Fascist Police State by Carl Gibson made some interesting points.

The first five paragraphs from America Has Become a Fascist Police State...

George Orwell's "1984" wasn't meant to be an instruction manual.

One word that emerged from the novel was the word "doublespeak," where truth is deliberately obfuscated through clever wording. In some cases, the meaning of a word is reversed entirely. Oceania, the totalitarian regime in Orwell's book, used doublespeak as a matter of course. The Ministry of Truth specialized in propaganda. The Ministry of Love was a secretive torture complex.

In the early years of public school, or in public addresses by politicians, America is touted as the Land of the Free, or the Land of Opportunity, or the Greatest Country on Earth. We're taught from near-infancy that this country was founded on the right to say what you want, whenever, wherever, to whomever. We're told we have the freedom to assemble peacefully, to petition our leaders for a redress of grievances. We're taught that if you're apprehended by the law, you have the right to a fair trial and legal representation.

Yet, today we live in a country where government aids the corporate takeover of elections. Here, banks who fraudulently took Americans' homes for profit can get bailed out by the taxpayers, and use the money to pay themselves 12-figure bonuses. This is a country where even US citizens can be detained without due process, tortured, and even assassinated overseas.

Today, in the Land of the Free, nonviolent political protesters using their First Amendment rights to speak out against all of the above can be beaten, tasered, and maced by heavily-militarized police forces, using military-grade equipment, without any provocation.

__________________________________

The 15 year old kid who shot the video that went viral which has led to international outrage, is a white kid, friends with the black kids being pushed around by the out of control cop. The 15 year old knew what he was witnessing was wrong, that it was his black friends being targeted, not him or his other white friends.

Whatever went on before what we saw in that video does not justify, which some are claiming, the behavior of the Bad Cop.

Pulling a gun on two little kids?

Little kids who were obviously upset seeing their friend manhandled by what appeared to be an out of his mind Bad Cop. I know my impulse when I saw what that Bad Cop was doing to that girl was to knock him off the girl and beat him up.

Do these kids have valid reason to fear cops? Of course they do. Did they have the right to try and run away from the cops? Of course they do.

No crime had been committed.

What gives the cop the right to yell at kids to get their asses on the ground, and then accost them when they don't obey his orders? In the chaos that the Bad  Cop created who knows what  the kids heard. They appeared to be terrified.

The Nazis were big on orders that must be followed. If a Gestapo Storm Trooper ordered you to get face down on the ground you had better do so, or get shot. The Soviet Union, at its worst, same thing.

How did it come to this in America? Orders must be followed, including laying face down on the ground, or a bullet may be fired at  you.

America's cops need to find a different way to defuse a possible dangerous situation other than shooting to kill. How about shooting to render the person no longer a threat? Like a shot to the leg, not the head. or heart. And how about never shooting when there is no weapon in play?

I know most cops are good cops, that the nutjobs are a small minority. But, the nutjob Bad Cops need to go. There is no excuse for that McKinney Bad Cop's behavior. What we saw on the video should have been enough to get him immediately fired and then charged with some sort of assault charge for manhandling that young girl.

In various social media you read people defending the Bad Cop. They come across like fascists to me. The majority commenting, though, come across as good people who know a bad thing when they see it.

And want something done about it....