Happy Singing The Washington Blues

I saw that which you see here this morning in the Seattle Times and found it to be interesting.

Apparently the county I grew up in and lived in prior to moving to Texas is among the bluest counties in Washington, with there being nine such Washington counties, which was where the voters voted in sufficient numbers to put Washington in the win column for Obama, twice, legalized marijuana and same-sex marriage, prior to the Supreme Court making that the law of the land.

I suspect spending the majority of my existence on the planet in one of the liberal progressive parts of America may explain why I found myself appalled by much of what I saw in Texas upon arrival.

Eventually I got acclimated to Texas, sort of, and not as appalled as I was upon first exposure.

Though, having said that, I really never did quit being appalled by much of what I saw in the town I eventually came to call Sick City, that being the more backward part of the D/FW Metroplex, that being the FW part of D/FW.

Washington is split in two by the Cascade Mountains. The west side of the mountains is the more liberal, progressive, democrat part of the state. The east side of the mountains is more like Texas, in both topography and politically, with Eastern Washington being much redder that Western Washington. Eastern Washington is not as prosperous as Western Washington. Nor as well educated. Another similarity to Texas.

There does seem to be some correlation between how well educated a person is and their political leanings. Like college dropout, Rush Limbaugh, who flunked every class he took during his short time in college, yet became the cult leader of the right wing nut jobs.....

Tuesday Morning Thunder Booming In Wichita Falls

What you are looking at here is the view stormy view south from one of my kitchen windows on this post 4th of July first Tuesday of the month.

When I went into slumber mode last night, after fireworking, I did not know that a major storm was on the morning menu.

Lightning has been striking with thunder booming for hours now, along with periodic downpours.

And wind.

Even though the sun has been in town for over an hour the outer world is still quite dark.

Looking at my local weather information source I see the booming is scheduled to abate in a couple hours, followed by more thunderstorms in the noon time frame.

I suspect I will not be climbing to the summit of Mount Wichita today....

Wichita Falls 4th Of July Parade With Uncle Sam

I have long opined that Texas towns do parades much better than my old home zone of Washington's Skagit Valley.

Fort Worth's Stock Show Parade is excellent. Granbury's 4th of July Parade is also excellent. So is Arlington's 4th of July Parade. And the Ennis Polka Festival Parade is another good one.

Texas towns are able to get their high schools to participate, with marching bands and cheerleaders. And the football team.

Today I attended the Wichita Falls 4th of July Parade. It was different than any other Texas town's parade I have attended. No marching bands, no local school participation.

Yet, the Wichita Falls 4th of July Parade, while short, was highly entertaining and amusing, with more kid participation than I have seen in other Texas parades. Such as the young Uncle Sam you see above.

And the shirtless kid cops you see below.

I have never seen so much candy thrown to so many kids as what I witnessed today. And it wasn't little measly pieces of candy. I saw Tootsie Rolls getting thrown. I have never seen Tootsie Rolls getting thrown to eager kids at a parade, til today. The kids came prepared, like it was Halloween, with bags to stick their candy haul in.

The kid floats were human powered, for the most part, with what appeared to be moms and dads doing the horse work.

There was plenty of adult participation in the Wichita Falls 4th of July Parade, such as what you see below.

The above "float" appeared to be a bunch of bums sitting at a picnic table which had been installed on some sort of motorized device. The 4th of July connection was not accessible to my feeble imagination.

What with it being the 4th of July one would think the American flag would be prominently displayed.

Above the Texas Lone Star flag blocks one from seeing the flag we later pledged allegiance to at the Kell House 4th of July Ceremony.

The Wichita Falls 4th of July Parade had a lot of motorbikes, such as you see above, and dozens of old cars, some of the Model T type vintage. Several of the old cars had rumble seats. Multiple parade watchers within my hearing distance seemed fascinated by the rumble seats. This had me wondering why these type seats were named rumble.

Sheppard Air Force Base was well represented.

The patriotic little girl you see on the right clapped the entire time the military personnel marched by.

The Wichita Falls 4th of July Parade ends at Kell House where a 4th of July Celebration Party takes place. You can watch video of a little of that celebrating below the below picture of the aforementioned Kell House.

At Kell House all the Air Force personnel who marched in the parade stood at attention. You can see some of them above, behind the cowboy on his mule, holding the flags of the various nations who have Air Force personnel being trained at Sheppard Air Force Base.

The video below gives you a little dose of a Wichita Falls 4th of July, at Kell House....

Trinity River E. Coli Levels Too High Near Imaginary Island

Why would any sane city have regularly scheduled events in water which requires regular testing to determine if the water is safe enough to get wet in?

The fact that Fort Worth has regularly scheduled floating beer parties in the Trinity River is just one among many reasons why I came to refer to this town as Sick City, after years of observing this Sick City up close.

And why do the people of Fort Worth go along with the ridiculous Panther Island labeling? There is no island. There never will be an island, not by any rational definition of that which constitutes an island.

Mislabeling is a Fort Worth forte. Sundance Square comes to mind. Where for decades the few tourists who toured downtown Fort Worth found themselves perplexed by signs pointing to Sundance Square, where there was no square.

If the City of Fort Worth is so determined to have a water venue for its people to float in that the town is willing to use a polluted river to do so, how about a civic effort to make an actual clean water venue for such events?

For instance, the pond which America's Biggest Boondoggle dug for the defunct Cowtown Wakepark. Could not such a pond be built with a filtering system keeping the water fit for humans to float in?

And is it not an indicator that Fort Worth is sadly lacking in outdoor activity opportunities if so many of the Sick City's citizens eagerly go floating with feces?

And another thing with this testing of the Trinity. Does it not seem logical that the level of e. coli ebbs up and down? As in a plume of extra polluted water flows on by, then a few minutes later a test sample gets taken, followed a few minutes later by another plume of extra polluted water?

Why would anyone in their right mind trust that the Trinity River is ever safe and free of pathogens?

The Curious Case Of Elsie Hotpepper's Oregon Rock Stalker

A couple years ago lifelong Texan, Elsie Hotpepper, ventured to the west coast state of Oregon.

I do not know if this trip to the west coast was Elsie's first visit to 21st century America, or just the latest of many trips to one of the non-Texas, modern, regions of America.

What I do know is Elsie Hotpepper checked into a Portland hotel. And in her room she saw a big piece of artwork hanging on a wall.

A day or two or three later Elsie Hotpepper ventured to the Pacific Ocean, to the fabled Oregon Coast.

Eventually Elsie came to the town known as Cannon Beach.

At Cannon Beach Elsie Hotpepper saw that which had inspired the piece of artwork she found hanging on her hotel room wall.

Haystack Rock.

Sort of an iconic symbol of the Oregon coast.

And then that Oregon rock began to stalk Elsie Hotpepper.

Haystack Rock followed Elsie to Portland International on her flight out, with a large piece of Haystack Rock artwork hanging overhead as Elsie made her way through security.

On her way back to Texas, Elsie way laid  to visit a friend in Colorado. Entering that friend's Colorado abode Elsie Hotpepper was startled to see a big picture of Haystack Rock hanging on her friend's wall.

I can't remember all the details, but when Elsie Hotpepper finally made her way back to the D/FW zone she soon found herself stalked by multiple iterations of Haystack Rock. If I remember right, one Haystack Rock iteration was in Elsie's mom's bathroom.

And now, today, I suddenly realized Elsie Hotpepper's stalking rock is stalking me.

Regularly.

My computer cycles various background images, to which I pay little attention. Today nothing was blocking the view on my secondary screen, with me realizing I was looking at Elsie Hotpepper's stalking rock.

That is a screen cap of such above.

And now, just as I typed "screen  cap of such above" Elsie Hotpepper's stalker rock cycled in to view again....

Wichita Falls Walk Around Lucy Park With Fellow Communists

With the temperature a relatively chilly 88, with a strong wind blowing, on this first Saturday of July, which is also the first day of the 4th of July weekend, I decided to haul myself north, to Lucy Park, for some shady communing with nature.

A lot of Wichita Fallers appeared to choose Lucy Park today as there go to location for communing with nature. Among the communists were disk golfers, volley ballers, swimmers, joggers, geese feeders, walkers, bikers, picnickers and campers at the kid's camp.

The past couple days I have been in recovery mode, recovering from a slight concussion acquired via three separate incidents of banging my fragile noggin into something hard, like an open cabinet door.

Yesterday was spent in painful headache mode.

You can sort of tell via the pitiful selfie photo that I am in more pain than usual. Forelocks cover the scabbed over gash on my upper forehead.

Behind me, in the selfie, is my favorite location in Lucy Park. That being the swinging suspension bridge over the scenic Wichita River.

It is time to take my pain medication now and consume lunch. Tomato soup which I made this morning, along with some other nutritious stuff which should help alleviate my misery....

No Billionaire Helps Fort Worth's Homeless

This blogging is the latest in our popular series of bloggings about news we read in west coast online news sources, usually the Seattle Times, which we would not expect to be reading in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about similar type news in the Fort Worth area.

The Seattle area has a lot of billionaires, with Microsoft billionaire, Paul Allen, being a civic minded, philanthropic sort of billionaire.

Paul Allen has done all sorts of good things for Seattle and Washington, while never sticking his name on his various good deeds.

In other words, in Seattle, you won't find the Paul Allen Seahawk Stadium, Paul Allen EMP, Paul Allen Cinerama, well you get the drift.

Meanwhile in Fort Worth you will find the Bass name slapped on all sorts of things, like performance halls and cowgirl museums.

I am not aware of the billionaire Bass family doing what one might characterize as "good works" of the help the homeless sort.

Fort Worth has a homeless people district a short distance to the east of its downtown. The Fort Worth homeless district is primarily on Lancaster Avenue. Driving through this area is disturbing.

Near as I can tell the Fort Worth city government does little to help alleviate the homeless problem, no matter how outrageous the cause of such might be. If anything, from what I have seen, and been told, the Fort Worth city government exacerbates the homeless people problem.

Such as when the city and its mayor, Betsy Price, blithely looked away when a Dallas developer hit hundreds of Fort Worth residents with 30 day eviction notices. Likely an illegal action, which would have been dealt with appropriately in non-corrupted, modern, democratic towns in America.

But, in Fort Worth, such evictions are just business as usual.

Landlords, as in apartment complex owners, know that there is no governing entity looking out for tenant's rights. Owners know they can break the law, ignore Texas property code, violate TCEQ regulations, with impunity, creating, basically, a lawless environment where a property owner can wreak havoc with a tenant's life, with the tenant having no recourse.

As we recently mentioned we blogged about this in Betsy Price's Tarnished Golden Rule of Pseudo Compassionate Service and Fort Worth Shrugs Its Shoulders While Hundreds Of Citizens Are Given 30 Day Eviction Notices and Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price Has No Comment About 30 Day Evictions Of 100s In Her Town.

A tenant in a Fort Worth apartment may find they are the victim of criminal violations by a landlord. That tenant may try to fight the wrongdoing, only to find themselves being served with an eviction notice. Thinking a court will recognize the law and the property owner's criminal violation of the law, the tenant soon discovers that the justice system, in Fort Worth and Tarrant County, is in cahoots with the property owners.

How many of Fort Worth's homeless people are victims of the Tarrant County Kangaroo Court, run by an elected justice of the peace? A right wing tea bagger type, supporter of Ted Cruz. With no formal legal training. And an ex-cop.

Does all that not sound like a recipe for multiple miscarriages of justice?

A tenant can appear before this corrupt Kangaroo Court, armed with evidence of the property owner's wrongdoing. The justice of the peace, acting like a make believe judge, won't even look at the presented evidence, then rules in favor of the property owner, then informs the victim, I mean, tenant, that they can appeal this ruling by posting a couple thousand dollar bond with the court, and then ones case can be heard in front of a jury, and one can hope, a real judge.

That Fort Worth and Tarrant County have such a corrupt judicial entity ruling on something as serious as evictions could, it would seem, explain why Fort Worth's homeless problem is as bad as it is.

Methinks some sort of external investigation of Fort Worth needs to take place.

FBI? I have no idea.

What I do know, from the sad tales I have been told, there is a judicial authority in Tarrant County who should not be in the position of making any sort of legal ruling about anything.

Throwing Back Thursday To Clancy Learning To Walk

A couple days ago I found myself needing to use a thumb drive to transfer files from my old laptop to my new laptop.

We need not discuss why the thumb drive means of transfer was needed.

One of the file transfer sessions involved transferring photos. I copied every photo folder I found on the old laptop on to the thumb drive. And then on to the new laptop.

When Picassa sorted out the incoming new photos and I looked at that which was sorted I found all sorts of photos I'd forgotten I had, such as that which you see here.

These photos were in a folder named Nancy. Nancy was the birth name of my oldest sister. That would be Baby Nancy above, in the assisted seating device, with me on the left side of the photo and Spencer Jack's grandpa, Jake, on the right.

As we progress through the Nancy photos we see her eventually learn to stand on her own two feet. Along with photo documentation of the first, and one of the few, times, Nancy was ever caught wearing a dress.

Since Nancy was born in Mount Vernon, Washington, I am guessing most of these photos were taken in our house on what became known as College Way, across from what became known as Skagit Valley College. Under construction whilst we lived across the street.

More than thirty years later I built a house a few miles to the east of that aforementioned home location on the south side of College Way.

Below, as you can see, Nancy still needs assistance when sitting. Here it was my job to try and hold her upright.

Nancy won a Skagit Valley Herald Beautiful Baby Contest when she was a beautiful baby. Below you see one of the rare instances where Nancy is smiling. I do not know if I have, among my photos, the photo which won Nancy the Beautiful Baby Contest. The regular photo positions of my brother and me are reversed in the below photo.

Below is the first know instance of Nancy being photographed sitting without assistance. My brother and I are once again reversed from our regular photo positions.

We all labored laboriously trying to teach Nancy to walk. Below you see an example of that.

Above you see our dad giving it a try, attempting to keep Nancy vertical and walking. Isn't Spencer Jack's grandpa a cute little guy in this picture?

I can not tell what Washington beach we are on here where my brother and I are able to balance on driftwood, whilst Nancy still required mobility assistance.

Above is somewhere on the Olympic Peninsula, would be my best guess.

Below is the first known photo documentation of Nancy on her own, vertical, with only minimal reliance on her big brother for stability.

And look at that outfit Nancy is wearing. A dress of some sort, with shiny black shoes. And a bonnet.

I have not seen Nancy in almost a decade. When I last saw Nancy, way back at some point in time in the previous decade, she was her usual charming self, hosting a family get together at a Skagit Valley park, where I got to meet Spencer Jack for the first time.

Since then, sister Nancy changed her name to Clancy and married Fancy on a beach somewhere on the Hood Canal, in an elaborate ceremony to which I was not invited.

I have seen photos of the Fancy Clancy wedding ceremony. The wedding dresses were such as I had not seen before. Stylish hoodies advertising something called Dungeness Crab Lager, if I remember correctly.

I wonder what other long forgotten photos I am going to find as I peruse Picassa.....

Tandy Hills Prairie Sky Star Party In Sick City

I miss little about Sick City. Mostly I am relieved to no longer breathe the polluted atmosphere which hovers over Fort Worth, in more ways than one.

This morning incoming from Don Young put me in mind of the one thing I do miss about Sick City.

The Tandy Hills.

I like this Prairie Sky Star Party concept. I think if I were still in the neighborhood this would be one Tandy Hills event I could see myself attending.

Details from the Don of the Tandy Hills, Don Young....

Fort Worth Astronomical Society's Moving to Tandy Hills Natural Area Monthly Star Party

WHO:
Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area is hosting the Fort Worth Astronomical Society

WHAT:
Tandy Hills Prairie Sky/Star Party: Astronomy - Community Engagement

After many years at the Fort Worth Museum of Science & History, the well-attended, monthly public star parties presented by the Fort Worth Astronomical Society (FWAS) have moved to Tandy Hills Natural Area.

Established in 1949, FWAS is one of the first adult amateur astronomy clubs formed in the country and one of the largest with more than 200 active members. Members will have several telescopes set up at Tandy Hills for viewing the night sky.

Free & open to the public. All ages welcome.

WHEN:
Second Saturday of every month beginning, July 9th, dark-thirty

WHERE:
Tandy Hills Natural Area, 3400 View Street, Fort Worth, TX 76103

Why Is Fort Worth A Sick City?

Of late I have referred to the Texas town I used to live in, Fort Worth, as Sick City.

Sick City, to me, seems to be a much more apropos, modern nickname, for this town than its last century nickname.

Cowtown.

Recently, well, yesterday, someone named Anonymous asked me why Fort Worth is Sick City....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Downtown Fort Worth Construction Frenzy Hits Imaginary New High":

Since you have moved out of town you seem to have gotten even more pointed with your critiques of Fort Worth. Sick City is catchy. But why are you now referring to the former Cowtown as Sick City? 

__________________

Well.

It is multiple things I never saw in a city til I moved to Fort Worth which led me to conclude Fort Worth is a Sick City.

Eminent domain abuse is one. Both Fort Worth and its surrounding county of Tarrant are guilty of this sick trait.

Fort Worth used eminent domain abuse to remove hundreds of people from the Ripley Arnold complex so that Radio Shack could build a corporate headquarters which soon  failed. America's Biggest Boondoggle and it myopic Trinity River Vision have taken multiple businesses by eminent domain, in an abusive way, which has not left the victims whole.

Sick City.

Another disgusting property abuse example came when 133 Fort Worth apartment units and three homes were given 30 day eviction notices due to the criminal machinations of a Dallas developer who was speculating that the land the Parkview Village Apartments sat on would greatly increase in value if America's Biggest Boondoggle ever came to actual fruition. I do not know by what means these 30 day eviction notices were generated. But, I do know that Fort Worth and Tarrant County has a totally corrupt justice of the peace court, which acts as a Kangaroo Court, issuing evictions, at property owner's behest, no matter what property owner illegality evidence a tenant victim might show the pseudo judge who rules in this corrupt Kangaroo Court.

We blogged about this in Betsy Price's Tarnished Golden Rule of Pseudo Compassionate Service and Fort Worth Shrugs Its Shoulders While Hundreds Of Citizens Are Given 30 Day Eviction Notices and Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price Has No Comment About 30 Day Evictions Of 100s In Her Town.

Sick City.

A Fort Worth neighborhood is terrorized by a golf course's collapsing wall. Despite plea after plea after plea after plea the city and its mayor turn a deaf ear to the plight of these Fort Worth residents. This was blogged about in Why Is Fort Worth's Best Public Servant Ignoring The Pulte Wall Of Shame?

Sick City.

It was discovered natural gas could be extracted from the Barnett Shale using a new method called fracking. Fort Worth's city government formed a corrupt partnership with Chesapeake Energy and others, allowing thousands of holes to be poked in Fort Worth's ground, then fracked, disrupting the peace of neighborhoods and the health of residents. No other of America's a big cities allowed such a calamity in such a large scale as what was done to Fort Worth.

Sick City.

Over and over again Fort Worth grants concessions of various sorts to various entities who indicate they will come to town if Fort Worth grants them that which they ask for. So, Cabela's gets all sorts of breaks, tells Fort Worth Cabela's will be the biggest tourist attraction in Texas. Fort Worth falls for the con job, unlike other towns elsewhere. Cabela's gets built, does not live up to its promises, builds more Cabela's in Texas. While Fort Worth, once again, ends up with metaphoric egg on its face.

Sick City.

Fort Worth and Tarrant County have corrupt judges and corrupt court rooms. Probate courts steal the wealth of hapless elderly residents. No overseeing government entity intervenes. The cowed people of Fort Worth don't demand something be done. Fort Worth Weekly prints exposes exposing the corruption. The Star-Telegram stays silent. Eventually one elderly victim got some of her money back.

Sick City.

Steve Doeung fights Chesapeake Energy over the plan to lay a non-odorized natural gas pipeline under the street he lives on named Carter Avenue. The cases ends up in court in front of a judge named Sprinkle, with Steve Doeung up against two Chesapeake lawyers. The judge ruled in a way which baffled and outraged the packed courtroom. Like I said, corrupt judges and corrupt court rooms.

Sick City.

Around the turn of the century a bizarre, supposed combo economic development flood prevention plan, gets foisted on the Fort Worth public, without a public vote approving this project, which, if implemented, would have a great impact on the city of Fort Worth. Yet the people were not allowed to vote on this project. The project dawdled along. After a few years, in order to hopefully secure federal earmark money, Congresswoman Kay Granger's totally unqualified son, J.D., was put in charge of this project, which eventually became known as America's Biggest Boondoggle, as the years passed and little was accomplished in building this supposedly vitally needed economic development flood prevention project. Which would seem to indicate the plan was not all that vital. And, if it were actually vitally needed, would you put someone like J.D. Granger in charge of it?

Sick City.

J.D. Granger deserves two Sick City entries. So, with the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision, aka, America's Biggest Boondoggle, boondoggling along in slow motion, due to the lack of funds, perpetual Frat Boy, J.D., helped foist on Fort Worth events like Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats in the polluted Trinity River. The old Tandy Subway maintenance building was turned into a Beer Hall called The Shack. A small stage was built, which was then monickered Panther Island Pavilion.  Polluted floating events held at this location are said to take place at Panther Island Pavilion at Panther Island. Where there is no island and no actual pavilion.

Sick City.

For decades Fort Worth confused its few out of town downtown visitors with signs pointing to Sundance Square, when  there was no square in downtown Fort Worth. Most tourists who asked where Sundance Square was were pointed to the parking lots adjacent to a big mural representing the Chisholm Trail. A couple years ago an actual square was built on those parking lots. A small square, which in the tradition of Fort Worth parks, has no modern public restroom facilities, unlike squares in other downtowns across the planet. And this square was goofily named Sundance Square Plaza.

Sick City.

And speaking of Fort Worth parks. It deserves a separate mention that the majority of Fort Worth city parks have no running water and no modern restroom facilities. But, plenty of outhouses.

Sick City.

Downtown Fort Worth has nice wide sidewalks. Leave downtown Fort Worth and drive around the town's eastern, northern and southeastern neighborhoods and eventually you will be treated to the sight of a mom trying to push a stroller up a hill where a dirt path has been worn, where a sidewalk should be available. Most Fort Worth streets have no sidewalks. You reading this in modern towns in America may find this hard to believe, but it is true, appalling and true.

Sick City.

Most cities in America indulge in this thing called urban planning. You know, looking forward to where development is expected, building infrastructure, like roads and drainage ahead of building shopping centers and housing developments. Fort Worth does it backwards. Drive to north Fort Worth and witness the mess of traffic woes around the newly opened Buc-ee's. Did this development just drop out of the sky on Fort Worth with no warning? Other towns pay the price for Fort Worth's slaphazzard way off growing. Towns like Haltom City, downstream from Fort Worth sprawl. Sprawl which sprawled without taking into account controlling drainage. So, killer flash floods now flush out residents downstream. Much needed flood control is ignored, while America's Biggest Boondoggle's bogus flood control project boondoggles along.

Sick City.

I could go on and on. And usually do. But, I think I've given you a good idea as to why I think Fort Worth's nickname for the 21st century should be....

SICK CITY