Your Climate Killing Idiots Hall Of Shame While The World Burns In Climate Rage

I was sitting here pondering on how unsettling I'm increasingly finding various issues in this zone of Texas I'm living in, where in way too many ways it's still like living in the Wild, Wild Old West, where the "law" was weak and criminals ran amok.

While I was pondering I opened an email from Don Young about some articles in Rolling Stone....

You Idiots!

No, not you, dear reader. Rolling Stone magazine pulls no punches in nailing "the 17 polluters and deniers who are derailing efforts to curb climate change." Among this Hall of Shame is Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon-Mobil who recently bought XTO Energy of Fort Worth, one of the worst polluters in the Barnett Shale. They missed Chesapeake CEO bad boy, Aubrey McClendon, and a few others. But we know who the bad guys are.

See also two other related articles in RS issue #1096.

"As the World Burns"

"Climate Rage"

DY

Dredging & Constructing In Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historic Area

I had not been to Village Creek Natural Historic Area in quite some time.

So, I went there today. With the temperature in the 60s it's very pleasant outside this 3rd Sunday of the New Year. Right now my computer room window is open.

I was quite surprised today when I came to the dam bridge that crosses Village Creek.

Extensive work is being done. A big rock wall has been built to stop the erosion that had been eating away at the river banks and would have soon reached the paved trail.

A sort of diversion channel has been built on the east side of the creek with water being channeled through it. But water still flows through the other tubes that run under the bridge/dam. I couldn't figure out what the purpose of this project was, except for the erosion control.

Maybe this will all help the water flow better and stop the problem that happens when the creek starts running a lot of water and floods over the bridge/dam, leaving a big mess.

It was nice to see a constructive mess today, unlike the destructive mess I saw yesterday on the Trinity River levee, courtesy of Express Energy Services and their thuggish way of operating.

If you look closely at the picture you will see an outhouse up by the heavy equipment. But, this did not qualify for my Outhouses of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex series, due to it being temporary and construction related.

Tasha The Texas Devil Cat Hissed At Me Again Today

I dropped in on Miss Puerto Rico's cat on my way back from my daily constitutional, this time at Village Creek Natural Historic Area.

I think I've had cat sitting duty maybe 6 or 7 times. During the most recent previous cat sitting, back in October, the Devil Cat, Tasha, stopped hissing at me and threatening me with claws if I got too close.

This breakthrough came about due to Tasha, the Devil Cat, liking the treats I was giving her. She actually allowed me to pet her. Slightly. And if I didn't go find her upon entering her house, she'd come find me.

But, today, when I gave her her treats and slightly petted the top of her head, on the 3rd pet I got a huge hiss. I backed off.

The picture clearly shows Tasha the Devil Cat's evil eyes, along with her Hitleresque mustache.

I sat outside on the balcony for awhile, watching humanity pass by. When I came back in, the Devil Cat was where you see her in the first picture, glaring at me from behind her scratching post. I think she was wanting more of her special treats. She got no more. She shouldn't have hissed at me.

I called Miss Puerto Rico while I was sitting on her balcony. I had not heard from her and thought it might be a Haiti related phone service problem. But, the phones had had no problem. Apparently she'd called and left messages, which I did not see til I looked for them.

Speaking of phone calls. I got gas today so I called my mom in Phoenix and told her I got gas and how much it cost. After that we continued talking for way too long, til I got tired of holding the phone to my ear. My mom and dad are planning on coming to Texas again. Seems like they were just here, but it was slightly over a year ago.

Leo the Lion In Texas

Alma, the Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast, currently singing at various venues in the Port Aransas area, regularly emails me good stuff.

Among the good stuff today was a picture of the latest airport security method. It was a photo of dozens of people totally sans clothes, going quickly through security. I won't be sharing that photo with you, because this is a G-Rated blog.

Sometimes Alma sends me things with one of those "you must send this to 5 people" type warnings, lest something bad happens. Like one today, called ACCURATE 2010 HOROSCOPE. This one warned that this is the real deal, not to be ignored, that if I did ignore it I would start having horrible days, starting tomorrow.

And then there was a list of how much good luck I would earn by forwarding the email to a certain number of people. Like 1-3 gets me 1 minute of luck, 33-37 gets me 1 year of good luck, while 38 or more gets me a very lucky life.

So, I looked at what was said about my sign, that being LEO. It was uncanny. I used to know an Idiot Savant who spent way too much time thinking and talking about astrology. Maybe I should not be so dismissive.

Leo the Lion

Great talker. Attractive and passionate. Laid back. Usually happy, but when unhappy tend to be grouchy and childish. A Leo's problem becomes everyone's problem. Most Leos are very predictable and tend to be monotonous. Knows how to have fun. Is really good at almost anything. Great kisser. Very predictable. Outgoing. Down to earth. Addictive. Attractive. Loud. Loves being in long relationships. Talkative. Not one to mess with. Rare to find. Good when found. 7 years of bad luck if you do not forward.

Well, I did not forward this, but I did put it in a blog, does that save me from the 7 years of bad luck? I hope so.

Fort Worth's Tandy Hills Brush Bash Next Saturday With Grand Opening Of Don's Dawgs

The last time I hiked the Tandy Hills, before rain muddied up the place, I saw that a lot of brush had been cut and was laying on the ground, waiting, I assumed, for the upcoming Tandy Hills Brush Bash.

Yesterday I got email from Don Young that confirmed that the cut brush was for the upcoming BRUSH-BASH, which takes place next Saturday.

The most surprising news about the BRUSH-BASH was that a Snack Bar called Don's Dawgs will be making lunch available to those who get hungry and did not bring a sack lunch. And credit cards will be accepted at Don's Dawgs.

Message & Don's Dawg's Menu below...

The City of Fort Worth Parks and Community Services Department has been cutting invasive brush and trees at Tandy Hills Natural Area this week.

Your help is needed carrying the cut material and debris out of the park.

Join your fellow Friends of Tandy Hills to help restore and protect this beautiful 160-acre prairie remnant.

Date: Saturday, January 23, 2010

Time: 10 am – 3 pm

Place: Tandy Hills Natural Area
3400 View Street
Fort Worth

What to Bring: Work gloves, water and a can-do spirit.

Lunch: > > > Bring your own or purchase, on-site, from Don’s Dawgs. (see menu below)

More Information: Contact Don Young at
donyoungglass@earthlink.net or 817-731-2787

See you on the prairie this Saturday.

DY

Don's Dawgs Menu for Brush Bash 2010

Hot Dogs - $3.00
Veggie Dogs - $3.00
Hot Links - $4.00
Nacho's - $3.00
Chili - $3.50

Above items include your choice of toppings. Chili, Cheese, Sauerkraut, Jalapeños, or Chopped Onions.

Assorted Chips - $1.00

Assorted Soft Drinks and Water - $1.00

Hot Chocolate - $1.50
Hot Spiced Cider - $1.50

We will accept Cash/Visa/MC/Discover

Miss Puerto Rico Has Not Phoned Home To Texas Since Haiti Earthquake

That is the 4 in the afternoon view from Miss Puerto Rico's this 3rd Saturday of the New Year.

That is an ominous looking sky.

I don't think I am doing a very good job of cat sitting Miss Puerto Rico's cat, Tasha. The little beast doesn't seem to be eating.

I was instructed to give Tasha only 3, no more, of her special highly fattening treats. She eats those, so since she does not seem to be eating much out of her food bowl, I've been giving her more than the prescribed 3 units of the special fattening treat.

I have not heard from Miss Puerto Rico since her first day on the island. Puerto Rico is very close to Haiti. I have no idea if anything to do with Haiti is why Miss PR has been incommunicado.

Miss PR is back on the island to deal with some relative issues and had told me she would need to call every day to vent, so that the madness did not cause her a meltdown. I was not looking forward to those calls and likely would have let them go to voice mail.

On a totally unrelated subject that relates to today. I went swimming this morning, once more for the longest duration of the new year. That will likely continue to be the pattern until we go back into a Deep Freeze again.

A Saturday Shootout With Express Energy On The Trinity River In Fort Worth

It rained last night, here in usually dry Fort Worth, Texas. With the rain I knew my usual Saturday hiking up and down the Tandy Hills would not be doable, so I decided to go to Gateway Park.

And since I was at Gateway Park I decided to walk out to the Trinity Trails to see what those Express Energy boys were up to, if anything.

I think yesterday, when I mentioned checking in on the EE boys, I said I might be back today to search for the illusive meters that the TCEQ claims are required for this type of water removal operation.

Today I took along a bodyguard. I'm sort of glad I did. I could see there were a couple guys sitting in the White Darth Vader Pickup when I snapped the picture you see above, of the rutted up, muddied, damaged Trinity River levee.

And then I turned my attention to a leak spouting out of one of the pipes. Now is this leak before or after the water has been metered?

When I turned around, after taking the picture of the leaking pipe, I was surprised to see the two Express Energy guys out of the truck. They looked harmless enough. My bodyguard waved them a big howdy. They waved back.

The Express Energy guys would have had to walk through all that mud if they had wanted to get closer to me. Is mucking up the levee and the paved pedestrian trail included in the permit to run this operation? What happened next was very interesting.

I turned around from having taken the picture of the Express Energy guys standing beside their White Darth Vader Truck to find another White Darth Vader Truck coming towards me at high speed on the paved trail that says "No Motorized Vehicles." As he got closer he was not slowing down. I'm thinking, wait a minute, I'm the pedestrian here, walking on public land on a public trail.

I blinked and jumped out of the way after snapping the above picture. At this point the Express Energy exploits lost any chance of being considered a benign thing where I'm just over reacting. This had turned malignant. I continued walking, but kept glancing behind me. The truck that was on a course to run me over, drove to the rutted up zone, by the first truck, then quickly turned around and started heading back towards me!

By then I was off the paved trail because it was too muddy and too wet, I assume from leaking pipes. The truck stopped about midway between Beach Street and the water sucking site. I stopped to take some pictures of all the mud where the White Darth Vader Trucks drive on to the No Motorized Vehicles paved trail, right off Beach Street. That's the below picture.

You can sort of make out the former paved pedestrian Trinity Trail that has become a highway for Express Energy Services.

I continued on walking past Beach Street for about a mile. The paved trail crosses the Trinity River just east of the Beach Street bridge, but an unpaved trail continues on top of the levee on the north side. I sort of expected the White Darth Vader Truck to follow us. But he didn't.

I was a little wary of what I was going to run into on the way back through the Express Energy zone. The first White Darth Vader Truck was still in position, with the EE guys back inside the truck. You can see here another view of what a mess they have made of the paved trail, with tire ruts on both sides of the trail.

All looked peaceful as I continued walking. And then something funny happened.

I was on the bridge that leads into Gateway Park. I was taking some more pictures of the pipe leak. When I turned around to look in the opposite direction, I saw that one of the Express Energy guys was taking pictures of me! So, I took a picture of him taking a picture of me.

Now, yesterday I mentioned that in the Modern Wild West that I think cameras and cell phones have replaced the Six-Shooters of the Old Wild West. I think after yesterday's shootout Express Energy decided they needed to arm their guys. I hope he got some good pictures. I'm not very photogenic.