Frog Gone

"And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people." (Exodus 8:11)

Photo ftom Pinterest.

Second only to the courthouse, it is the most photographed structure in Kermit, Texas. It is mentioned in at least two travel books, this one and this one. And it's about to be painted over. And only a few of us, it seems, are sad about it.
From CBS7:
Posted: Friday, July 18, 2014 7:13 pm | Updated: 1:27 pm, Mon Jul 21, 2014.
by DeAnn Lopez

(Watch the video here.)

KERMIT - It seems that Kermit the Frog has over stayed his visit in one West Texas city.

The Muppets star's face was painted on the city's water tower nine years ago when Kermit came down to celebrate his 50th anniversary of being in the entertainment industry.

City officials have been planning Kermit’s departure for a little over a year now.

Even though it won't be cheap to paint over the Muppets star, it's a price they’re willing to pay to show their community pride.

Back in 2005, Kermit Texas was the first stop that Kermit the Frog made while on his 50th Anniversary World Tour.

As part of his visit, Disney was given permission to paint Kermit’s face on the city's main water tower.

But, in just a few weeks the high school’s mascot will be buzzing its way back on to the tower.

"It's been the desire of many citizens that we make this change," Mayor Jerry Phillips said.

The water tower isn't the only thing that Kermit the Frog left his mark on.

Kermit the Frog Boulevard, which runs directly in front of City Hall, will once again be named South Tornillo Street.

CBS7 photo.

During Thursday night’s city council meeting, council voted to re-paint not only the Kermit the Frog tower, but their other water tower, which is going to cost them $123,500.

But not all residents agree with council’s decision.

 "I kind of don't see the point of them wanting to recover the Kermit the Frog, we got a lot of attention even with the Kermit the Frog festivities that still go on, I mean the Kermit Celebration Days, which they call now,” Kermit resident Letecia Garcia said. “It brings in a lot of publicity for Kermit."

Long-time resident Jaime Morales says he can't wait until those paint brushes hit Kermit the Frogs face.

"I know Yellow Jackets has been up for the longest time, I came to school here (Kermit High), I was proud to be from this school, it doesn’t make sense why we would still have a Frog,” Morales said. “It’s time to let go and let our bee come back."

If all goes according to plan, both towers will be painted sometime in mid-August.

(I just found this: About a month after Kermit's visit in 2005, a UFO was reported near Kermit. Muppets from Space? - DK)

The Day the Clown Cried

 

Okay, we live in an age that has survived Sharknado and Jar Jar Binks.  So what could be so terrible about this show?

 

Harry Shearer claims to have viewed the whole film, and here he discusses it with Howard Stern.

 

MORE BANNED FUNNIES:

• This Dennis the Menace cartoon actually ran in 1970, resulting in many complaints.
• These two Opus strips, here and here, in which Lola Granola's spiritual search leads her to embrace jihad, were censored by "a large number"of newspapers.
• A list of censored Looney Tunes.  Happy browsing!

 



Is Kermit Getting Tired of Kermit the Frog?

(We at Frogtown have long celebrated the now-fading images of Kermit the Frog which first appeared in 2005 when he visited our town. See here, here, here and here. But some residents and former residents of Kermit may be feeling differently ... )

From NewsWest9:
Posted: Jul 24, 2012

From Kermit on Tour.

By Sylvia Gonzalez NewsWest 9

KERMIT - It's not easy being green in Kermit.

Several people in the small town of Kermit have taken to Facebook to express their disgust for Kermit the Frog. Some want to see him permanently removed while others like having the amphibian around.

"We were proud to be the fighting Yellow Jackets, we've never been the frogs," former Kermit resident, Allen Vinyard, said.

The Facebook page, Kermit Memories, has been seeing more comments than usual and it all revolves around Kermit the Frog. There are people who believe they're seeing too much of him in town.

Vinyard lived in Kermit during his school years, and even though he no longer lives there, he says its embarrassing the reaction people get when he reveals where he is from.

"It's insulting to me when I tell someone where I grew up and they say oh like Kermit the Frog, and I say no like Kermit Roosevelt, which the town was named after," Vinyard said.

Many of the residents that NewsWest 9 spoke to didn't have any negative feelings towards the frog, as a matter of fact they are proud of it.

Austin Williamson is the starting quarterback for the high school football team and he says when he plays in other towns he actually likes hearing comments about Kermit the Frog.

"I take it as a compliment because I want a lot of people to know what Kermit is, but you have to tell them what it is, what it actually is. It's more than just a frog. I think it is just a little design, there's nothing wrong with it just being there," Williamson said.

Some of the comments on Facebook read, "The stupid frog was nothing until some California hippies got lucky. Kermit, Texas is way more important than the stuffed sock."

Another one read, "death due to an allergic reaction to a yellow jacket."

Lane Nutt is a business owner and he says he uses the frog as a conversational piece.

"In my business, I have lots of calls and they always make some comment about Kermit the Frog, it's kinda like a conversational piece, it doesn't bother me," Nutt said.

Nina Huda is a former resident of Kermit, who says the Facebook comments is just the beginning of what they plan on doing to get rid of the frog.

"We are going to be doing petitions and sending them to the City Manager's office," Huda said. Many residents say they're subject is clear. "Get rid of the frog," Huda said.



A Scientific Ghost Town

From the Associated Press:

Hobbs, NM, picked as site of scientific ghost town
By JERI CLAUSING, Associated Press

(Hobbs is about 60 miles north of Kermit, soz ya know. - DK)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A scientific ghost town in the heart of southeastern New Mexico oil and gas country will hum with the latest next-generation technology — but no people.

A $1 billion city without residents will be developed in Lea County near Hobbs, officials said Tuesday, to help researchers test everything from intelligent traffic systems and next-generation wireless networks to automated washing machines and self-flushing toilets.

Hobbs Mayor Sam Cobb said the unique research facility that looks like an empty city will be a key for diversifying the economy of the nearby community, which after the oil bust of the 1980s saw bumper stickers asking the last person to leave to turn out the lights.

"It brings so many great opportunities and puts us on a world stage," Cobb told The Associated Press before the announcement.

Pegasus Holdings and its New Mexico subsidiary, CITE Development, said Hobbs and Lea County beat out Las Cruces, for the Center for Innovation, Technology and Testing.

The CITE project is being billed as a first-of-its kind smart city, or ghost town of sorts, that will be developed on about 15 square miles west of Hobbs.

Bob Brumley, senior managing director of Pegasus Holdings, said the town will be modeled after the real city of Rock Hill, S.C., complete with highways, houses and commercial buildings, old and new. No one will live there, although they could as houses will include all the necessities, like appliances and plumbing.

The point of the town is to enable researchers to test new technologies on existing infrastructure without interfering in everyday life. For instance, while some researchers will be testing smart technologies on old grids, others might be using the streets to test self-driving cars.

"The only thing we won't be doing is destructive testing, blowing things up — I hope," said Brumley.

Not far from the Texas border, Hobbs has seen new growth in recent years but local leaders have been pushing to expand the area's reputation to include economic development ventures beyond the staple of oil and gas.

The investors developing CITE were looking for open spaces. Brumley said his group scoured the country for potential sites, "but we kept coming back to New Mexico. New Mexico is unique in so many ways."

One big plus for New Mexico was its federal research facilities like White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico and Los Alamos and Sandia national labs.

Gov. Susana Martinez joined officials in announcing final site selection for the project, which she hailed as "one of the most unique and innovative" economic development projects the state has seen. She noted that no tax breaks were given for the development. "The only thing they have asked for is guidance," she said.

Brumley said plans are to break ground on the town by June 30. The initial development cost is estimated at $400 million, although Brumley estimates the overall investment in the project to top $1 billion.

The project is expected to create 350 permanent jobs and about 3,500 indirect jobs in its design, development, construction and ongoing operational phases.

Hobbs, a community of about 43,000 people, currently has two non-stop flights from Houston each day and is working on getting daily service to Albuquerque and Denver.

The mayor said discussions for the new flights have just started but having the research center may bolster efforts to connect Hobbs to more cities.

Follow Jeri Clausing on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jericlausing

You might be a Ron Paulblican

(Thanks as always to Rawhide for the text. I found the pictures everyplace.)

1.  You might be a Ron Paulblican if:

You believe that the Federal Reserve kills puppies.

2.   You might be a Ron Paulblican if:

 You came to believe after being bitten by another RP supporter.

3.   You might be a Ron Paulblican if:

You think that Rick Perry is the anti-Christ.

4.   You might be a Ron Paulblican if:

You refer to amendments 11-27 as the Bill of Wrongs.

5.  You might be a Ron Paulblican if:

 You support RP for fear of being abducted, again.

6.   You might be a Ron Paulblican if:

You believe that Satan is the patron saint of IRS agents, Washington politicians, and diet soda.

7.   You might be a Ron Paulblican if:

You believe IRS stands for I Represent Satan.

8.   You might be a Ron Paulblican if:

Every conversation you have eventually returns to Ron Paul and his midi-chlorian level being off the charts.

9.   You might be a Ron Paulblican if:

You believe that fiat money is the root of all evil.

10.   You might be a Ron Paulblican if:

You believe that Ron Paul is actually 9 feet tall, but the weight of his conscience makes him look shorter.

Sheriff Roberts Convicted on All Counts

From the Law Med Blog.

From Newswest9:
by Victor Lopez

MIDLAND COUNTY--Winkler County Sheriff Robert Roberts found guilty of retaliating against two nurses. Now he's not only facing jail time, he's out of job.

After Roberts was found guilty of retaliating against two former nurses, one of them says, justice has been served.

When you hear what sentence former Sheriff Robert Roberts received, some people might think it was kind of light. But, when you think about it, he'll be spending time in the jail he used to run.

Because of the guilty verdicts, Roberts was stripped of his title as Winkler County Sheriff. As for his punishment, Roberts agreed to let Judge Robert Moore sentence him, instead of the jury that found him guilty.

Following the state's recommendation, he was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay a one thousand dollar fine for each of the felony convictions. That sentence was suspended to four years probation and 100 days in county jail. Roberts also received 100 days in jail and a one thousand dollar fine for each of the misdemeanor convictions.

In addition to jail time and having to turn in his badge, Roberts was also ordered to surrender his license as a peace officer in the State of Texas.

Vicki Galle and Anne Mitchell were both present when those sentences were announced.

Galle said, as far as she is concerned, after two long years, justice has been served, "I am thankful to the Texas Attorney General for noticing this case, justice was served and we appreciate that. I do feel that our voice was heard and I'm thankful for that."

Roberts' fines total $6,000 and he cannot appeal his conviction. He will begin serving his sentence in the Winkler County Jail on June 27th. Calls to County Judge Bonnie Leck for a comment were not immediately returned.

Roberts is the second of four men facing these charges. Former hospital administrator Stan Wiley plead guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for his testimony. Next on the list to stand trial, Winkler County Attorney Scott Tidwell and Dr. Rolando Arafiles.

(And in a related story, Dr. Arafiles has found a new place to work.)

You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

(Thanks to Rawhide for the text. I found the pictures everyplace.)

1. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You believe Joe Biden is a Muslim.

\

2. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You have ever referred to yourself as a ‘smart-a** cracker'.

3. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You get two pizzas, both half cheese and half pepperoni.

4. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You whine about socialism for an hour and then break into tears.

5. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You write “Ready, Aim, Fire!” on the palms of your hands.

6. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You think there really is a government program called "Obamacare".

7. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You have ever added a small mustache to a picture of Obama.

8. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You like to crumple up dollar bills and throw them at disabled people.

9. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You've ever made an information request to the Hawaii Department of Vital Records and you're not a resident of Hawaii.

10. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You need to bring a lawn chair to a 1 hour political rally.

11. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You think the 2008 Presidential election was a choice between two communist-fascists.

12. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You think armed militias are a sensible idea.

13. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You think Obama was born in Kenya, that a death panel will kill your grandmother, and argue there is no evidence of global warming.

After this winter, you still believe in global warming?

Death panel.

14. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You think George Soros wrote 1984.

15. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You argue that 'separation of Church and State' came out of Adolf Hitler’s mouth.

16. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You think the greatest threat to America is liberal media bias.

17. You Might Be a Tea Partier If ...

You have a photo shopped picture of Obama, have carried a toilet plunger to a political rally or have ever decried a public option.

Tea partier's brain.

Satan in the Shower

From Jesus or Squirrel?:

You’d think that cleanliness was next to godliness, but for the Csrefko family of Budapest, Hungary, they’ve stopped using their shower after seeing the devil’s face in their brand new shower tile.

According to the World Net Daily:

"I was naked coming out of the shower and I could suddenly see his eyes staring into me," said a horrified wife, Andrea Csrefko, after bathing for the first time. "I just screamed and ran.”

“We can't clean it off and it wasn't there when we put the tiles up," said Andrea's 52-year-old husband, Laszlo. “It just appeared overnight and nothing can move it. The room is always ice cold no matter how high we turn the heating up and we've just stopped using it because it's too spooky. We wash in the sink downstairs now."

The family has now hired an exorcist to purge the evil spirits from the bathroom.

My biggest question is how clean can you get in a sink?

Winkler County Officials Indicted

From the New York Times:

A state grand jury in Winkler County, Tex., has indicted the sheriff, the county attorney and a hospital administrator for their roles in orchestrating the prosecution of two whistle-blowing nurses after they had reported allegations of malpractice.

The sheriff, Robert L. Roberts Jr., and county attorney, Scott M. Tidwell, each face six counts, including misuse of official information and retaliation, which are third-degree felonies. Stan Wiley, the administrator of Winkler County Memorial Hospital, in the dusty West Texas town of Kermit, was indicted on two counts of retaliation.

The case was investigated by the state attorney general after a jury last year acquitted one of the nurses of charges that she had misused official information by providing patient case numbers to the Texas Medical Board. In 2009, the nurse, Anne Mitchell, and a colleague, Vickilyn Galle, included the case numbers in an anonymous letter to the board about the practices of Dr. Rolando G. Arafiles Jr., who had recently joined the small hospital in Kermit.

The case against Ms. Galle was dropped before trial. Dr. Arafiles, who was arrested last month, faces four criminal counts, and has been charged civilly by the medical board with a variety of practice violations.

The charges issued by the grand jury on Thursday stem from Dr. Arafiles’s approach to Sheriff Roberts after the doctor learned the medical board was investigating him. The sheriff, who was a patient and friend of the doctor, opened an investigation and, according to the indictment, used deceptive means to obtain the anonymous letter from the medical board.

The letter included details that implicated the nurses. Mr. Wiley fired the two women, who had a combined 47 years at the hospital, and Mr. Tidwell handled their prosecution.

The nurses sued the county and settled last year for a shared $750,000.

Does Al Gore Know?

From Geek.com:  Wi-Fi Killing Trees?

WiFi may bring with it all of the good things in life — fun, entertainment and more — but it may be bringing about a miniature environmental apocalypse along with it: the death of the trees around you.

The surprising finding comes from the city of Alphen aan den Rijn in the Netherlands, which noticed that its trees were starting to mutagenically sprout strange growths and other abnormalities otherwise not usually seen in arborology.

To figure out what was behind the strange outbreak, Aplhen aan den Rijn commissioned a study half a decade ago from a researcher at Wageningen University. He found that over 70% of the trees today in the urban areas of the Netherlands exhibited strange tree growth, while only ten percent did five years ago.

It’s not entirely certain what is causing the outbreak, but there’s some pretty strong correlation suggesting that the rise of WiFi is to blame. As part of his study, the researcher exposed twenty ash trees to various radiation sources for three months; those placed closest to a WiFi router quickly developed a “lead-like” shine on their leaves that was caused by the death of the upper and lower epidermis of the leaves, and eventually kill off parts of the leaves entirely.

It’s not just trees: the researcher also discovered that WiFi could inhibit the growth of corn. Is the death of the plants around you enough to make you shackle yourself to a Cat-5 again?

Read more at Antennebureau

Time Traveller?

First Superdelegate Arrives in Denver?

In 2003, Nebraska resident Stan Romanek just happened to be filming his window and caught a peeping alien on tape. This was released Friday in Denver to scientists only. The general public wasn't supposed to see it for months, but of course it was on YouTube seconds later:


Hey, if that doesn't absolutely convince you that aliens are peeking into our homes, I just don't know what to say! And the enhanced and longer version looks even more convincing:


Hey, he's an excellent dancer!

I'm happy to report that
nothing else strange or unusual is scheduled to happen in Denver this year!

Now back to you!

Stephenville Update

(Cue the X-Files theme music now.)

From The Independent Reporter:

STEPHENVILLE, TX - A staff writer with the Stephenville Empire-Tribune recently found herself at the center of her own story after she was directed to stop writing about UFO’s and pursue more flattering articles.

Ultimately, she ended up out of a job.

Angelia Joiner, a staff writer with the Empire-Tribune for the past 18 months, on February 3-4, 2008 wrote two in-depth articles about Ricky Sorrells who alleged that he was being harassed by the United States Air Force…

Sorrells was one of several witnesses who claimed to have seen a UFO in Stephenville and was interviewed by the Associated Press in mid-January.

According to Ms. Joiner’s published account, Sorrells alleges that “military officials have been harassing him by flying military aircraft over his property at low altitudes.” The article goes on to state that the military flyovers have disturbed the man’s livestock and interrupted sleep patterns.

The articles created a lot of interest within the community, generating record revenue for the newspaper through increased readership in January, but eyebrows were raised within the editorial offices.

In an email posted on Open Minds Forum — a message board specializing in UFology, Disclosure, Exopolitics and Paranormal Studies — Ms. Joiner revealed that the newspaper wanted her to cease and desist crafting stories related to the matter.

Pressure may have come from influential citizens within the community. As one city councilman allegedly put it, “the whole thing was an embarrassment to the town,” Joiner stated.

The writer then made the decision to submit her two week notice, but was asked by her boss to leave sooner. Her computer was “confiscated”, her rolodex came up missing and she was “made to feel like a criminal.”

Stephenville Empire-Tribune: UFO witness claims harassment
Stephenville Empire-Tribune: More twists in the Sorrells’ saga
YouTube: CNN covers Stephenville Texas U.F.O. Sighting
CNN: UFO fever
Open Minds Forum: Angelia Joiner’s email to a message board administrator
Open Minds Forum: Read all posts by former newspaper writer Angelia Joiner (posted as “ajoiner”)
Above Top Secrets: Dublin Texas UFO witness Ricky Sorrells being harassed by the Air Force (MUST READ)
UFO Blog: Stephenville, Texas UFO - Empire-Tribune Writer Silenced! (Commentary)

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Wednesday night, February 20th, this blog brought you the lunar eclipse.

This is what Tom Weller's excellent book Science Made Stupid has to say about eclipses:

"An eclipse of the moon occurs when the sun passes between the Earth and the moon.
An eclipse of the sun occurs when the shadow of the Earth falls on the sun.An eclipse of the Earth occurs when you put your hands over your eyes."

Lunar eclipses are often thought to be precursors of great calamity and evil.





The next day, Bill Clinton appeared in Odessa. Coincidence? You tell me.