The Can Of Worms Of Tarrant County Scandals & The System That Keeps Them Canned

This zone of Texas where I currently reside, Tarrant County, seems to have scandals here and there and everywhere.

But few seem to care.

Part of the problem, scandal discovery wise, is that Tarrant County does not have a real newspaper of record.

Tarrant County does have FW Weekly, which is a legitimate newspaper.

But, Tarrant County's big paper is the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, a newspaper with all sorts of problems.

FW Weekly is a small, free, weekly. You can hardly expect FW Weekly to manage to cover every scandal that scandalizes this part of the country.

And so the scandalizers are free to do their scandalizing, feeling fairly secure that no bright light will be pointed at them.

In the current issue of FW Weekly the cover story, "A High-Priced Can of Worms" is a good look at the scandals that are rocking Haltom City.

For those reading this who are not locals, Haltom City is a suburb of Fort Worth. Haltom City has creeks running through it. Those creeks flood. Those creeks have been flooding for decades, at times deadly. But very little has been done to mitigate the flooding. While almost a $1 billion is being spent in Fort Worth on an un-needed flood control project known as the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

The Haltom City chronic flooding is not the Haltom City Scandal covered in this week's FW Weekly.

You can watch a movie documentary called Up A Creek, on this very blog you are reading right now and learn all about the flooding problems in Haltom City. Or go to Rahr Brewery tonight to watch the movie and drink some beer.

Regarding the Tarrant County Scandals. I know of the Haltom City Scandals courtesy of FW Weekly and someone who tells me about them in person.

Other Tarrant County Scandals I know of only because someone has contacted me because they desperately want people to know about something.

For example, Arlington's Kim Feil has been trying to find out what really happened at a Chesapeake Energy gas pad in Arlington, during a storm on April 11, 2011.

It was serious. 911 was called. Fumes entered homes. But no local news media, as far as I know, has looked into this incident. That, in and of itself, is sort of scandalous.

But, you have to realize, this area is currently under the thumb, sort of, of Chesapeake Energy. Read the FW Weekly article, linked to above, about the Haltom City Scandals, for an example of that.

It seems sort of sad to me that local citizens reach out to my lonely blog because of feeling desperate for help or answers or both.

Another scandal that I have witnessed up close is the Paradise Center Scandal. The Paradise Center Scandal has gone un-reported, for the most part, in the local media. FW Weekly did mention the scandal on their blog. And one of the local TV stations had a small, very small, piece on it.

The thing with the Paradise Center Scandal is that you have to devote some time to be able to understand it. When a cry for help went out on February 17, I did not know what the problem was.

It took me about a week before I figured out that this was serious business, what was done to the Paradise Center by MHMR-TC.

I had no clue if it would do any good or not, but, I was getting so many comments about the Paradise Center Scandal to my Durango Texas blog that I decided to make a Paradise Center Scandal blog.

Well.

I tell you, it has been like Watergate. Revelation after revelation. Lies, obfuscations, character assassinating. As the weeks went by it became apparent that the Paradise Center Scandal was just a symptom of a bigger overall scandal involving the Mental Health Mental Retardation Tarrant County Agency and its controversial CEO, Jim McDermott.

If you read through the Paradise Center Scandal blog and read the comments, it becomes real clear that this is a story that should be being reported to the people who live in this problem-laden, scandal-ridden zone, by the local Fourth Estate, which is pretty much, FW Weekly.

So, what other Tarrant County Scandals are out there that no one is being told about? Are there Fort Worth School Scandals beyond the ones that have made the news?

When a gas pad goes bonkers in Arlington, making people ill, and that is not considered newsworthy, well, that is scandalous.

Paradise Center Has A New Website & Is Accepting Donations While The Paradise Center Scandal Grows More Scandalous

The Paradise Center, Inc. website is back up and running.

And is now accepting donations.

The Paradise Center Scandal keeps getting curiouser and curiouser. It seems those who thought they were the "powers that be" never considered it a possibility that Paradise Center, Inc. might have the tools to fight back.

But, fighting back is what Paradise Center, Inc. has done. And at 2 months into the scandal, I can tell you, the fight has only begun.

Already there is some organizational shaking up going on in an agency or two in Tarrant County. There have been multiple demands for the firing of MHMR-TC CEO, Jim McDermott.

On the Paradise Center Scandal blog there have been around 400 comments made. I've been appalled multiple times over the meanspiritedness and downright nastiness of those making comments from the MHMR-TC side. Appalled at the nasty character assassinating, appalled at the juvenile verbiage and bad grammar. Just overall appalled.

I have not been the only person appalled at what some of these people have said. Reading through the Paradise Center Scandal blog it becomes sort of a soap opera.

At times I have trouble figuring out pieces of information I get sent. And then I'll realize how the new information fits into the scandal. It is like putting a puzzle together at times.

Paradise Center will be having an Open House in their new location sometime soon. I'll let you know when that happens so I can see you there.

Smelling Roses In Arlington's Veterans Park And A Bigger Stink In Fort Worth's MHMR Of Tarrant County

I had to be in Pantego today. Pantego is close to Arlington's Veterans Park. Which had me deciding to go walking in Veterans Park before going to Pantego.

Upon arrival at Veterans Park and exiting my motor transport device I was immediately hit with air heavily perfumed by roses.

It was like being stuck on an elevator with someone with way too much perfume or cologne. Only not annoying.

Those are the smelly roses in the picture, below the waving flags and the soldier guarding them.

I am starting to get ever more annoyed at the Mental Health Mental Retardation of Tarrant County people who make comments regarding the Paradise Center Scandal. I don't mean to be too rude, but they are so incredibly stupid.

One of the issues in this scandal is the fact that the Paradise Center was an independent operation, which MHMR helped. MHMR represented itself as running the operation, which is not true. Then MHMR staged their February 17 coup d'etat, kicking out the Paradise Center and putting their possessions in a storage container.

In the Anonymous comment below, the Anonymous MHMR moron is bragging about all that MHMR is doing to the old Paradise Center. Which begs the question, if the Paradise Center was a MHMR operation why were these good things not done previously, if the quality of the Paradise Center's stuff was so trashy?

Below is the comment I'm talking about, and then below that I do more commenting.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Fort Worth's Paradise Center Scandal Now Has A Blog":

No it was not a April Fool's joke. Adults I am around "act like Adults" amd we do not play childish April Fools jokes. We have better things to do with our "Time". Yes, it is true that the new Drop In Center is Upgrading the old Paradise Center Building. Yes, Sam's Club is bringing supplies to us. With the cost of gasoline it is cost effective to have it delivered. The "old couches" were heavily used and Steve (Teresa's Davis husband) had put stacks of boards under the middle of the couches which didn't help much, and definitely made them look "trashy". New couches are ordered to replace the "junk". My understanding MHMRTC actually purchased those and that is why they are still there and not in storage. MHMRTC is replacing them with couches that will hold up to alot of wear, that will hold up to people flopping down on them, and accommodate heavy clients as well. The PROS brag alot, but, it has now been six weeks and Teresa Davis, her so called board, has accomplished very little. Let's see you act like "grownups" and rent your own storage building, rent you a Uhaul and put your own "dumpsters best" items in storage.

Has it occurred to MHMR people that maybe the Paradise Center's lawyers have told them not to touch the stuff that MHMR took possession of and placed in a POD storage container?

Today on the Paradise Center Scandal blog I compiled all the comments to that blog from the past 3 days. It is a daunting task to do that. If I don't figure out an easier way I don't think I'll be doing any  more comment compiling.

It's No April Fool's Joke: Fort Worth Is An All American City Finalist Due To Its Homeless People Programs, Mental Health Programs & Anti-Graffiti Programs

This morning Elsie Hotpepper pointed me towards something really bizarre.

On Wednesday Fort Worth was selected as a finalist in the National Civic League's All-America City Competition.

Along with 25 other cities, most of which I've never heard of, like several towns in California, such as Downey, Dublin, Yucaipa and Huntington Park.

Others I've never heard of include Eden, North Carolina. Dakota County, Nebraska. Dedham, Massachusetts. Belleville, Illinois. Lakeview, Oregon. Taylor Landing, Texas. Cottonwood Heights, Utah. Beloit, Wisconsin. Scott City, Kansas. Marshalltown, Iowa.

And then there are the towns I have heard of, like Cincinnati, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Kenai in Alaska, Torrance in California, Lakewood in Colorado, Tupelo, Ann Arbor and Seaside, Oregon.

Seaside, Oregon? That's just a little coastal town.

The criteria for being on this list is also what makes it very bizarre that Fort Worth is on it.

The cities are picked based on the strength of three specific items. Those being the town's participation in the Directions Home program that addresses the homeless people problem, the Mental Health Connection program, plus something called the We Are Legal Anti-Graffiti program.

Where do I start?

First off, you've got to hear what Fort Worth's goofy mayor, Mike Moncrief said about Fort Worth being in the running for this supposedly prestigious award....

"Fort Worth's credentials are stronger than a horseradish milkshake. Homelessness is not a new problem, but a different solution was certainly in order. Fort Worth was no longer going to sit on the sidelines. It was time to act. The same can be said for our local mental health care system, which was disjointed and ineffective. This community came together and did something about it."

I can't help but wonder if maybe Fort Worth's mayor is possibly insane.

Yes, Fort Worth took a different tack with its homeless population problem than most modern American cities. For instance, there was a functioning Shantytown west of Beach Street that the City of Fort Worth removed, right before the Super Bowl.

The City of Fort Worth's city government has been "studying" the homeless problem for years. Task forces have been sent out to modern American cities like Denver, Portland and Seattle to see how those towns handle the homeless. And then the task force comes back to Fort Worth where nothing changes.

The community came together and did something about Fort Worth's disjointed, ineffective mental health care system?

Really?

Because Fort Worth does not have a real newspaper the mayor of Fort Worth likely has not heard of the MHMR-TC shenanigans and the Paradise Center Scandal. How did the community come together and do something about Fort Worth's ineffective mental health care system? By sitting mute while the county mental health agency booted out a well-functioning mental health facility because that facility would not go along with an insurance monetizing scheme?

And what is it that Fort Worth has done about the graffiti problem?

Fort Worth's credentials are stronger than a horseradish milkshake? Does no one check over Fort Worth's mayor's press releases before they get released, to reduce the goofiness quotient?

Note to the National Civic League: On June 17 in Kansas City,  Missouri, if you pick Fort Worth as an All-American City based on your stated criteria, you will have rendered your All-American City Award meaningless.

Hiking Among The Tandy Hills Prickly Pear Cactus Thinking About Being Up A Creek With TRV MHMR SFRF FWW & Other Initials

In the picture you are with me today around noon, face to face with a patch of prickly pear cactus prickling up the Tandy Hills.

It was a perfect hiking temperature today, with a strong wind blowing.

This morning's swim was also perfect with the water warmer than the air.

I've been a blogging/websiting maniac today, on my blogs and other blogs, that are sort of like my secret secondary blogs.

I think all the commenting on the Paradise Center Scandal Blog is the most of that type activity I've experienced since years ago when I inadvertently caused myself the Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival Brouhaha of over the top silly reaction.

The Scarborough Brouhaha was pretty much silly nonsense. The Paradise Center Scandal brouhaha is not something silly, it's something serious that sort of is like a boil on the festering sore that is the dark side of the Fort Worth Way of how the city and county government operate, with little accountability and zero transparency.

Meanwhile, on a brighter note, FW Weekly has an excellent article about Tarrant County's fiesty firebrand, Layla Caraway, and her multi-year battle to get Fort Worth and Tarrant County to wake up and face the water.

Read "TRV's Up a Creek: As the Trinity River moves right along, local communities still aren't  safe from floods" in this week's FW Weekly, the closest thing Fort Worth has to a real newspaper.

A Windy Warm First Sunday Of April In Texas Thinking About Scared Bullycrats In Fort Worth And Libya

It is being a bit windy the morning of the first Sunday of April. I don't know if it is the wind or the balmy 67 degree temperature, or what, but something has the birds tweeting up a storm of twittering bird noise.

I saw no mention of Libya this morning in the 4 online newspapers I check in on. Just a second, I'll click on CNN or FOX NEWS online.

Well, FOX NEWS does note that NATO is taking command while Qadaffi holds on, but the headline that caught my eye that I did not see in the 4 online newspapers I regularly check was "Two Found Dead at Japan Nuke Plant."

Switching the subject to the Paradise Center Scandal.

The only information I seem to be getting is via comments made to this blog and the Paradise Center Scandal blog.

Yesterday Anonymous made an interesting comment about the current state of the Paradise Center/MHMR Affair...

By Anonymous on Up Late On The Warm First Saturday Of April In Texas... 

The state's Dept. of Health Services has to have an inspection of this "clinic" before it can officially reinstate MHMR's business partner Bravo Health as a Medicaid+PLUS HMO provider. 

All these costly expenditures are NOT about the consumers or the patients. It's about MHMR and its executives' jobs and possible lawsuit from Bravo for misrepresenting to them that Paradise Center was "an MHMR program" with all those free workers and high attendance numbers.

This email spin came from the executive offices inside Hulen Tower, thus better grammar and more polished than the previous ones by low level managers and techs. How do I know this? I work inside Hulen Tower.

P.S. MHMR is stuck with all the properties they tried to steal from not-for-profit organization Paradise Center. McDumnut and his gang are befuddled and scared about what's coming next. The Paradise folks obviously are in the driver seat while these bullycrats (many of us love the label) are in the hot seat. Their only saving grace is the lack of media scrutiny. For now. 

True? Are the MHMR Bullycrats befuddled and scared? Are they in trouble for misrepresenting their relationship with the Paradise Center? Is a state inspection pending? I don't know. But I suspect Anonymous knows what she or he is talking about.

And now I'm going to cease thinking about anything for awhile and go swimming before it gets too HOT.

Up Late On The Warm First Saturday Of April In Texas

I awoke after the arrival of the sun on this Saturday, second day of April.

I had my windows open all night. It is 55 degrees at the present moment. I suspect swimming will be pleasant this morning.

I keep getting emails asking me what's up with the Paradise Center Scandal and wondering if they've found a new home yet.

I don't know. I have heard nothing.

Except for snarky, mean-spirited comments from MHMRTC insiders bragging about how wonderful the operation is working in the old location of the Paradise Center.

Below a typical MHMRTC comment, actually it is slightly atypical because I can only spot a couple grammar errors. Usually the MHMR people are borderline illiterate.

The Anonymous MHMR person said....

Currently the building is being freshly painted. New water fountain installed now. Other repairs made. Sofas were poorly made. MHMRTC is replacing with sofas that are built to wear better with lots of use. Regarding pool table it is a professional Brunswick. This does not have to be picked up on one end for the players to get the balls to roll down like the one at the old paradise center did. The new pool table is continually being used by clients and peer leaders. Pool Tournaments continue as before. Regarding Ben other people are opening the door. It is up to staff on his returning. It has been five weeks since the new Drop In Center started. And still Paradise Center cannot even get a storage for their own stuff. That does not say much for Paradise Center or there Board. 

I'm going swimming now.

Up Early The Last Tuesday Of March Thinking About Exploding Tankers, Melting Bridges, Texas Boondoggle Referendums & The Paradise Center Scandal

I am up way too early this last Tuesday of March of 2011. Looking outside from one of my viewing portals I can see no stars or moons.

I suspect a heavy layer of clouds are lining the sky, because thunderstorms and rain are in the forecast for today.

I learned this morning that yesterday's tanker truck explosion on I-30, a couple miles to my west, caused the steel beams in the freeway bridge over Sycamore Creek to melt.

The westbound lanes of I-30 between Beach Street and Riverside Drive will be reduced from 4 lanes to 2, for months, while the Texas Department of Transportation makes emergency repairs.

Meanwhile up in Seattle, in other transportation related news, a group called Protect Seattle Now has managed to get over 27,000 signatures on a petition to put a referendum on the August ballot which will have voters voting on whether to go ahead with a multi-billion dollar tunnel project. Or not. 16,000 signatures are required to put a referendum to a vote.

Which has me wondering.

How come I don't read anything in the Fort Wort Star-Telegram along the lines of a group called Protect the Trinity Now has gathered over 27,000 signatures on a petition to put a referendum on the August ballot which will have voters voting for the first time on whether or not they approve of proceeding with the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle?

Maybe TRIP (Trinity River Improvement Project) has a petition in the works that I've not heard about.

Right now I am petitioning for the sun to arrive to provide illumination for my morning swim.

While I wait for the sun to arrive I have an incredible amount of fresh incoming Paradise Center Scandal material to digest. Including a pair of videos.

The Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Thin Man Thinking About Seattle, Elizabeth Taylor & The Paradise Center Scandal

I have had myself a long day. And it's only a little past 6. I was up way before the sun this morning. In the pool for a long swim soon after the sun arrived. Up in Hurst in the noon time frame, which put me late on the Tandy Hills.

Hence the long Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man. It was semi-HOT on the hills today. In the 80s.

I encountered a pair of humans on the hills today. It sort of startled me. I was lost in my thoughts when suddenly a pair of what appeared to be hippies, who may have been living on the Tandy Hills since the 1960s, were right in front of me.

This may have been some sort of ghostly apparition.

The Paradise Center Scandal continues to be scandalous. I've written, maybe, 20 postings on this subject, on two blogs. These postings are generating dozens of comments a day. Putting it all together it becomes sort of a soap opera. You have villains, heroes, good guys, bad guys, nutcases and really creepy creeps.

The news of Elizabeth Taylor's passing really hit me today. The last star of the Golden Age of Hollywood. I just watched "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" a couple weeks ago. Elizabeth Taylor may have been at her peak in that movie. As was Paul Newman. Now they are both gone. It's depressing. To me, this is the saddest passing since Jackie Kennedy died.

Speaking of making me feel old, this morning Betty Jo Bouvier sent me a link to a funny YouTube video about "Fun Seattle Stuff You May Remember."

I remembered a lot of it. And put it on my Washington Blog. When I watched the "We Love It In Seattle" video I could not help but wonder if such a video could be made with Fort Worth material. Methinks not. Were Elvis or the Beatles ever in Fort Worth? Any killer whales make their debut on the Fort Worth waterfront?

Anyway, I have had myself a day and I still have hours to go.

You can watch the "We Love It In Seattle" video below....

Up Early The 3rd Wednesday Of March Not Being Upset With The Queen Of Wink Along With Wishing Someone Would Help The Paradise Center

As you can sort of tell, looking down on my aquamarine cement pond, I am up well before the sun on this 4th Wednesday of March of 2011.

It is 64 degrees out there, currently. I have my windows open and the ceiling fan spinning.

The Queen of Wink sent me a message, last night, with the first line saying she hoped she'd not upset me in any way. I have no recollection of the Queen of Wink upsetting me in any way, so I will need to remember to reply to this message and tell the Queen of Wink that she has not upset me in anyway.

Then again, the Queen of Wink also said she is back reading my blog after taking a sabbatical due to a variety of others things requiring her focus. So, since the Queen of Wink is back reading my blog again, she will read that she has not upset me in any way and so I really do not need to convey that in a reply to her message.

The Paradise Center Scandal continues to grow ever more scandalous. Yesterday I was sent some emails which shed some light on the scandal, so I blogged them.

The Paradise Center has only days to find a new home so that they can move their possessions that the MHMR bullycrats, led by their heartless CEO, Jim McDermott, put in a storage POD.

Is there no one in Fort Worth with a property on a bus line who can help the Paradise Center re-locate?

If only Fort Worth were a town that had some Christian churches with practicing Christians, there might be someone willing to do some good.

Maybe there is a Muslim mosque in Fort Worth that might help and be an object lesson for area Christians as to how to act Christian.

I think I'll go swimming now and not think about Fort Worth's shortcomings for awhile.

Looking At The Tandy Hills Periwinkles Thinking About The Paradise Center Scandal, Jesse James & Elsie Hotpepper's Murderous Worrying

I saw several new wildflowers for the first time this wildflower season, starting to work at coloring up the Tandy Hills.

I believe the blue wildflowers I saw today are known as periwinkles.

The Hills needs to amp up its coloring operation because it is one month to go til the 2011 Prairie Fest.

Hiking the Tandy Hills at noon today was overcast and windy, just like yesterday.

And now, just like yesterday, a couple hours later blue sky returns.

The Paradise Center Scandal, also known as MHMR-Gate, keeps giving me blogging fodder.

Go to today's blogging on The Paradise Center Scandal Blog to read an interesting email from the man who has been behind all the Paradise Center woes, Jim McDermott.

I just got email from Doug Bigelow asking for my assistance in finding out if a relative of his, Charlie Bigelow, might have been a Jesse James alias.

It's always something and it's usually perplexing.

Meanwhile, Elsie Hotpepper wants to know who I murdered in my nightmare. I don't really know. But I am fairly certain the victim was not Elsie Hotpepper.

The Tandy Hills Sprouts A New Wildflower With Me Pondering Fort Worth's Various Scandals

A couple wildflowers made their first appearance of the year on the Tandy Hills today. With one of the two being the pink wildflower you see on the left.

It was very cloudy and windy when I hiked the hills around noon. There was no Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man today.

But now, 3 hours later, shadows have returned, with the removal of most of the clouds.

Change of subject.

The Paradise Center Scandal is wearing me down. I thought when I made a blog, just for the Paradise Center Scandal, that the comments would go there. Instead there are a lot of nasty con and nice pro comments still coming to this blog. As well as the new one.

Yesterday someone called Jessie Girl commented on the the Paradise Center Scandal blog, to a blogging titled "Scandal Madness Fan is Appalled at the Lack of Civility and Decency of the MHMR Cons," asking "Just one quick question. What is the scandal? I'm confused."

I thought way back on March 4 County Commission Gal did a pretty good job of breaking down the MHMR-Gate/Paradise Center Scandal.

In many ways the Paradise Center Scandal is a worse scandal than Watergate. No one was actually hurt in Watergate, except for the perpetrators of the break-in and those who tried to cover up the crime. In the Paradise Center Scandal you have actual victims who have suffered damage due to the perpetrator's bad, likely illegal, behavior.

Unlike Watergate, the city where the Paradise Center Scandal took place has no real newspaper of the Washington Post sort.

And Fort Worth definitely has no Woodward and Bernstein in town doing any sort of investigative reporting regarding the wanton wrongdoing perpetrated by MHMR of Tarrant County.

Maybe the Washington Post could send a reporter or two to Fort Worth. In addition to learning about the Paradise Center Scandal the rest of America would likely find it interesting that Fort Worth has a mayor who has made millions of dollars from the Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drillers poking holes all over the town of which he is mayor.

Maybe the Washington Post could find a way to explain to the people of Fort Worth what a conflict of interest is.

After telling the story of Fort Worth's corrupt mayor the Washington Post might want to tell the rest of America about Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision and explain what nepotism is to the people of Fort Worth.

I would think the rest of America would be a bit surprised to learn that their tax dollars are helping fund a huge, unneeded public works project.

And that Fort Worth's Congresswoman Kay Granger's son, J.D., was given the job of running this huge public works project, a job for which he had no qualifications.

But those who practice what is known as 'The Fort Worth Way" figured it would make the congresswoman beholden to them if they gave her son a job, with Ms. Granger getting behind sending some earmark money to help fund Fort Worth's unfunded Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

Unfortunately for the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, that earmark funding method is not working out too well.

Meanwhile, J.D. Granger has been having himself a real fine time on the public's dime, with fine dining, junkets, parties, expensive hotel rooms, a steady supply of liquor and all sorts of other perks.

I wish my mom was a congresswoman so she could get me a cool job with lots of booze and broads.

Not really.

Looking At A Dry Tandy Falls Thinking About Fort Worth's Paradise Center Scandal Madness

We are mighty parched in these parts. By parts I mean North Texas.

Tandy Falls is now Tandy Dry Falls. Looking at the picture you would never guess that a couple months ago this was a roaring waterfall.

Change of subject.

I am in a bit of a foul mood today. I am sort of annoyed at the people of Fort Worth.

Well, some of the people of Fort Worth.

When the Paradise Center Scandal erupted over a month ago I thought this was such an obviously wrong that even this justice-challenged part of America would get that a BIG WRONG was done. And insist it be fixed.

In all my years of doing the blogging thing I've never been inundated with as many comments to various bloggings as I have been over the Paradise Center Scandal. I thought I'd move it all to a Paradise Center Scandal Blog, but a lot of the commenting is still coming in to this blog.

What really annoyed me today were incoming comments from MHMR "cons."

Cons is the term one of today's sane commenters used. As in pros and cons, with the Paradise Center and Teresa Davis being the "pros" and the MHMR people and their little man leader, Jim McDermott, being the "cons."

I would hope, but know it won't happen, that "con" in this case will eventually come to also mean "convict."

Just minutes ago I got a long comment from Scandal Madness Fan.

The first sentence is an indicator that there are decent people in Fort Worth who can tell the difference between right and wrong....

"Wow, the lack of civility and decency shown by the commenters against (the "cons") this Teresa lady and her small but brave group of people leaves me and my family wondering what has happended to these cons to make them so hateful."

Good question. Methinks mental illness may be running rampant in the Mental Health Mental Retardation Tarrant County Agency.

But, then again, I have reason to think there is some sanity inside that organization. Someone claiming to be inside the MHMR organization has been sending me info. Including one very damning email written by MHMR CEO Jim McDermott.

I have been sort of confused as to what to make of much of what I've been sent. It all sort of wears me out.

Which makes me think I'm going to go swimming and not think about it for awhile.

Up Way Too Early On The 3rd Wednesday Of March Thinking About Swimming & The New Paradise Scandal Blog

As you can see looking through the bars of my patio prison cell on this 3rd Wednesday of March of 2011 I am up well before the sun and it is very dark out there.

It is now a couple hours later and the sun  has arrived.

I can not yet tell if it is a blue sky day in North Texas or if we are overcast.

I am able to determine that it is 56 degrees out there.

So, I will be going swimming in a short while.

I felt inclined last night to be trending towards a likely bad bout of insomnia. So, I stayed up til I got sleepy making a new blog.

I made a new blog so the victims of the Paradise Center Scandal, and the MHMR Bullycrats victimizing them, have a concentrated location to discuss their issues.

The new blog is called, appropriately, "The Paradise Center Scandal."

I am out of here, now, for scandal-free morning swim.

Swimming In The Center Of Paradise As The Last Friday Of February Dawns Cold In Texas

Stepping outside this last Friday morning of the second month of 2011 I looked up to see the recently full moon is now but a sliver of its former full self. That sliver is that little white spot in the photo.

It is only 4 degrees above freezing out there this morning in my zone of Texas. It got above 80 yesterday. I don't know if the water in the pool retained enough of that heat to make swimming pleasant this morning.

But, I aim to find out.

Up north, in my old hometown, in what is known as a banana belt due to its usual imperviousness to winter type weather, the ground is currently covered by a foot or more of snow, chilled to 19 degrees.

Total change of subject. The blog I wrote a couple days ago about my disgust regarding the Paradise Center Scandal has generated some interesting comments. Some pro Teresa Davis, some pro MHMR.

With the pro Teresa Davis comments seeming, well, intelligent and reasonable, while the pro MHMR comments seems, well, I don't want to use the word "retarded," even though I guess that is an acceptable term to use. Let's use the word "stupid" instead.

One of the stupid pro MHMR commenters was too stupid to note that comments are moderated. So, the commenter repeated the comment a couple times when it did not instantly get published.

It is time to go swimming now.

The Paradise Center Scandal Has Me Mad As Hell At Fort Worth

The Paradise Center Scandal now has a blog covering the ongoing scandal.

The troubled sky over the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth is a good metaphor for my foul mood.

I thought a late afternoon hike at the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium might break me out of this I'm mad as hell and I don't wanna take it anymore Howard Beale mood I've been in.

I think it may be the bizarre Fort Worth Paradise Center Scandal that has pushed me near the edge.

I've have had it happen to me, having something taken away with no warning. Unfairly and wrongly.

I've often been troubled, during my Texas Exile, as to what in the world is wrong with Fort Worth. Is there an Empathy Deficit in this town?

I'm not much of a religious person. Well, actually, I'm not a religious person. But I sure get some of what Jesus tried to teach people. As in, what you do to the least among you, you do unto me.

In the Paradise Center you had a place that helped the least among us. And you had a lady running the place of whom I think Jesus would have approved.

Running the Paradise Center in the Buckle of the Bible Belt.

Where are the Christians coming to the defense of these wronged people?

It is incidents like this that make me have very little respect for way too many who go about claiming to be Christian.

Why was Teresa Davis fired? What is the justification for disrupting her life and the lives of those she helped?

This is a woman who went way beyond the call of duty. Over the years she took adult disabled children on adventures they otherwise would never have experienced. Overnight trips to Sea World in San Antonio, the Space Center in Houston, Diamond Digging in Arkansas.

Why is there not a LOUD outcry from all the people who had family who were helped by the Paradise Center and Teresa Davis?

Why is the Fort Worth Star-Telegram not interested in this scandal?

Am I the only person who sees that something is very wrong here? I've already opined that the reason Teresa Davis was fired needs to be made public. An investigation needs to take place into who made the decision to fire Teresa Davis. And why. This may end up needing to be a criminal investigation. There may be some serious wrongdoing in play here.

And another note as to what bothers me about this. Teresa Davis is married to Steve Doeung. Teresa and Steve were put through a living hell by the City of Fort Worth and Chesapeake Energy in their fight to protect their home from having a non-odorized natural gas pipeline placed underneath it.

I watched Steve defend himself in court. I saw Chesapeake lawyers tell the judge that the judge was incorrect on some point of law. That Steve was correct.

I am embarrassed, as an American, at what the City of Fort Worth and Chesapeake Energy put this proud Cambodian-American through, after he went through so much to get to America.

America.

Where Steve was under the delusion he would finally be free of Communist type oppression.

Yet now, once again, Steve and his wife are subject to oppression, in America, oppression that is of the sort of bureaucratic bullying practiced by the Communists and the Nazis.

And yet nary a voice speaks out, demanding that this wrong be righted.

I really do not think Jesus would be all that proud that this sad part of the earth is known as the Buckle of the Bible Belt.

It's more the Center of Divine Hypocrisy.

I've told Steve Doeung, previously, that he and his family might be a lot happier if they moved to the part of America that is the America he thought he was moving to, when he left Cambodia.

Move to Seattle. Anyone in Washington reading this. Can you provide asylum to a Cambodian-American and his family and help them finally live in the America of Steve's dreams?

If Steve does move out of Texas and into America, I must warn you, if you meet him, he has a good Texas accent. And speaks way better English than a lot of Texans I've met over the years.

Protesting Because Paradise Seems To Be Lost In Fort Worth For Now

Yesterday I blogged the Press Release about a protest planned in front of the Tarrant County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Headquarters protesting the ham-handed, possibly illegal, actions of the officials running TCMHMR.

It was only this morning I learned that the the MR part of TCMHMR stands for Mental Retardation.

For some reason I thought the term "Mental Retardation" had fallen upon disfavor.

But, now having learned that mental retardation is perfectly okay terminology, I guess it is politically correct to say it seems to me that maybe someone in a position of power within TCMHMR may be a bit retarded.

Drivers driving by yesterday's picketing protesters obliged the picket sign asking them to "Honk for Justice!"

Someone drove by the protest, honked their horn in support, then left a blog comment, saying...

This must be pretty serious because we drove by on Hulen this morning and honked in support of several people in yellow shirts holding signs saying "honk 4 justice for Paradise". An important looking man and woman were trying break them up or something. On our way back the group was still there but with a news cameraman obviously interviewing some of them. Keep us updated because this is both interesting and disturbing.

The news cameraman referred above was a WFAA, Channel 8, operation. As far as I know, Fort Worth's pathetic excuse for a newspaper of record, you know, a newspaper that actually reports the local news, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, has not told its readers about the Paradise Center Scandal.

However, Fort Worth's actual only real newspaper of record, it just isn't daily, Fort Worth Weekly, sent Jeff Prince to take a look into the Paradise Center Scandal and yesterday's protest. The resulting FW Weekly article is titled "Paradise Center Visitors Protest MHMR."

FW Weekly did not uncover what is behind the firing of the Paradise Center's only full-time employee, Teresa Davis.

However, comments made in response to the FW Weekly article seem to shine some possible light on the Paradise Center Scandal...

FWISD Product says:
Nice story. But whispers around MHMR is that there is a scheme to use the established reputation and leadership and skills of those people running the place as volunteers to keep attracting mental health consumers so MHMR and a private company can bill Medicaid for providing an essential component of mental health treatment/recovery.

There’s also talk of emergency meetings by the Board of Trustees and the executives to prepare for legal actions and possible investigations related to the whole affair, which those in the know say could cost a bunch of money and even executives’ jobs.

Please stay on this story because something doesn’t smell right about what MHMR is trying to present.

Carol says:
MHMR may not have plans of closing Paradise Center or reducing services, but will it truly be a “client run” organization as it has been in the past? It seems that MHMR has other plans for the building which may include serving individuals with mental illness, however, Teresa Davis and the consumers have kept Paradise Center “alive” for the past 10 years. As a consumer run organization, Paradise Center has given many individuals suffering with mental illness a reason to continue in life. It has given them hope, encouragement, and a place where they truly felt needed….because the organization did not “run” without the consumers or Mrs. Davis! So, will MHMR keep it a consumer run organization or just allow the clients to participate in what they tell them to do? Paradise Center has opened their doors on weekends and every holiday such as Christmas and Thanksgiving. Teresa Davis, her family, friends and volunteers were the ones there to help, not MHMR faculty and staff. And, why would MHMR need a “change in management”, as Massey said, when Teresa Davis has not had an evaluation in 8 years (because she was the director of a non-profit, not an MHMR employee) and has been a dedicated worker. Why the sudden change???? Something’s not right! What is MHMR trying to hide?

Linda says:
The clients of Paradise Center are family. They care about each other and help each other stay well. I have heard so many from other areas comment that they would love to have a safe place like Paradise and someone like Teresa. I know of no other that understands and helps clients like she does. Football season found her preparing weekly for the football games. Cooking and providing rides so that the group could get together to cheer for the Cowboys. They were able to have get togethers like friends do. Her phone turned on 24/7. She takes them to grocery shop, doctor appointments, out to eat and on and on. You do not find someone like Teresa that has dedicated her life to helping those that suffer from an illness that so few understand. She keeps these folks well and out of the hospital. She has respect for them and they love and respect her. This situation with the loss of their “home” is pitiful. No,it is shameful. Teresa deserves respect.

Bob C. says:
Teresa Davis deserves better than this, as do the people who are served by Paradise Center.

emey says:
They threw away her papers and stuff from her office!

Glenda says:
Not only did Teresa keep many patients out of the hospital
she gave up all her holidays for the patients. So the patients would not be home alone and could be with “family”. She does deserve better. I think someone should look into “the reasons” she was terminated.

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I agree with Glenda. Someone should look into the reasons why Teresa Davis was fired. I think the first comment above, the one from Fort Worth Independent School District Product, aka FWISD Product, may contain a big clue as to the reason for these retarded actions.

Since this is a government action, as in isn't this being done by a Tarrant County agency? Isn't there supposed to be transparency regarding actions by a public agency?

At this stage in the Paradise Center Scandal I've pretty much come to the conclusion that Teresa Davis needs to be re-instated.

An investigation needs to take place as to why she was fired.

And then whoever instigated that firing needs to be fired.