Month: July 2019

by William Skink

The New York Times recently ran an opinion piece declaring Americans Need More Neighbors. The gist is that housing is unaffordable because single-family zoning caters to all the greedy families out there who want a home and a yard for their kids to play in. From the link:

Local governments regulate land use by chopping cities into zones, specifying what can be built in each area. This serves some valuable purposes, like separating homes from heavy industry. But mostly, it serves to protect homeowners. In many cities, including Minneapolis, more than half of the city’s land is reserved for single-family homes.

People should be free to live in a prairie-style house on a quarter-acre lot in the middle of Minneapolis, so long as they can afford the land and taxes. But zoning subsidizes that extravagance by prohibiting better, more concentrated use of the land. It allows people to own homes they could not afford if the same land could be used for an apartment building. It is a huge entitlement program for the benefit of the most entitled residents.

The loose fabric of single-family neighborhoods drives up the cost of housing by limiting the supply of available units. It contributes to climate change, by necessitating sprawl and long commutes. It constrains the economic potential of cities by limiting growth.

The first paragraph lays out the premise: greedy home-owners who don’t want a modern-looking apartment tower built on their neighbor’s lot have the potent municipal power of zoning to protect them.

The second paragraph ups the ante: people (single-families) who extravagently expect the freedom “to live in a prairie-style house on a quarter-acre lot” are actually getting some kind of subsidy because their greedy use of land is keeping an apartment tower from being built.

Driving up the cost of housing is a nefarious “loose fabric of single-family neighborhoods”, claims the third paragraph. Oh, and climate change. Because of sprawl and cars and stuff. So rack ’em and stack ’em.

Let’s back up from this enlightened approach to the housing affordability crisis and ask a few questions.

Question 1: who will own the density?

This is an important question. The rental market doesn’t offer the same nest-egg opportunity to build equity in a home. And the smaller home-ownership opportunities, called condos, what’s to stop that kind housing from turning into a VRBO?

Question 2: are local tax-structures, like Urban Renewal Districts funneling that sweet, sweet TIF money, being considered as a factor in the increasing cost of housing? Also, is enough of that TIF money being directed to counter the gentrification occurring in hot, in-land mountain towns like Missoula?

Question 3: will eliminating single-family zoning address the reckless monetary policies of central banks which has sloshed enough “liquidity” to the tippy top, making real estate, in whatever form, an attractive investment?

Locally, in Missoula, a high-density housing facility for seniors is being proposed. The only two council persons to vote against this project are the only two council persons not running for another term.

It seems stronger council persons must be found to dictate the terms of Missoula’s growth and to re-educate resisters to their duty to have more neighbors.

Because climate change.

And because your backyard is the problem, not the monetary policies of central banks.

by William Skink

For some reason the explosive Jeffrey Epstein thread of intrigue has been yanked into the primetime spotlight for examination. Suddenly everyone is squawking about this alleged pedophile predator and the social circles he orbited, circles already known to encompass celebrities like Kevin Spacey, royalty, and American presidents, past and present.

Whatever could be afoot with this move?

Calling in this hedge fund honeytrap is a curious development. To give you an idea of the squirming going on right now, here is a tweet from Christine Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi’s daughter:

This Epstein case is horrific and the young women deserve justice. It is quite likely that some of our faves are implicated but we must follow the facts and let the chips fall where they may – whether on Republicans or Democrats.

While the PR first responders attend to Christine Pelosi’s unfortunate fave pedophile tweet, those of us who don’t rub elbows with influencers are left to wonder how deep this vein of depravity goes.

My personal opinion is Epstein was a honeytrap from the beginning, and if there is an intelligence/black-mail angle to his trafficked dalliances, I would immediately suspect Mossad.

Maybe Epstein getting arrested is meant to be a message to those caught up in the honeytrap–including Donald Trump–to stay in line and follow orders. And what could those orders be for Trump? Don’t resist the path to war with Iran. Israel is depending on it.

This is pure speculation, of course. Maybe Jeffrey Epstein is nothing more than a lowly billionaire pedophile with money that came from sources no one really knows anything about and he just happens to know princes and multiple presidents. Maybe that’s all there is to it.

Yeah, right.

by William Skink

What do we do with a drunken sailor? Put him in the corner until he gets sober.

by William Skink

How did it develop, the terrorist lobe of the liberal mind? Are their ghosts of colonialism haunting its grey matter?

Terrorists are fanatics, often animated by some form of religious ideology. The liberal mind is supposed to trend toward secularism, rationalism, enlightenment.

The notion itself–that some metaphorical part of its thinking hardware is capable of justifying acts of terrorism–seems antithetical to the core values the liberal mind claims to be invested in, and dedicated to maintaining for the entirety of human beings across the globe (whether they want it or not).

The title of this post came to me as I was driving to work.

The previous day I had read an article from one of the few people trying to raise the alarm over the potential impact of near-biblical flooding still decimating crops across the Midwest.

With the suffering so far localized to the regions that helped put Trump into office, how easy would it be for traumatized liberals still seething over the failure of Russiagate to depose the alleged Manchurian resident of the White House to see the suffering of farmers as divine retribution for the orange menace they enabled? Especially considering a significant part of their pain can be directly linked to Trump’s trade wars?

Normally this kind of victim-blaming derives from religious zealotry, like when some evangelical Christians blamed Hurricane Harvey on gay people:

A number of Christian leaders have blamed LGBT people for causing Hurricane Harvey.

Despite overwhelming evidence that supports climate change as a factor in the devastating storm and subsequent flooding, a handful of evangelical leaders have ludicrously suggested the LGBT community are to blame.

Minister Kevin Swanson, who holds notoriously homophobic views, said Houston had sinned by having a “very, very aggressively pro-homosexual mayor.”

“Jesus sends the message home, unless Americans repent, unless Houston repents, unless New Orleans repents, they will all likewise perish,” he told his radio show. “That is the message that the Lord Jesus Christ is sending home right now to America.”

Obviously the liberal mind wouldn’t use the western Judeo-Christian tradition to make absurd claims that Jesus is using cataclysmic weather to punish farmers for voting for Trump, but the eastern concept of karma could be a handy concept to deploy, like Pete Talbot did recently when it was reported Ravalli County Commissioners were upset that the Trapper Creek Job Center could be privatized:

Karma’s a bitch

According to the Missoula Current, the three Republican Ravalli County Commissioners are upset over plans to privatize the Trapper Creek Job Center. They’re concerned that jobs could be lost or the center might close if a corporate owner doesn’t turn a profit.

Well, guys, you get what you vote for. Consider that in 2016 Ravalli County went for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton by 66-28 percent, and for Ryan Zinke over Denise Juneau 65-31 percent, and in 2014 opted for Steve Daines over Amanda Curtis 65-33 percent. I’m guessing the commissioners voted with the majority of Bitterrooters.

The idea being expressed here is Ravalli County is getting what it deserves (karma) because of how the Commissioners voted. That doesn’t sound much different to me than saying Houston got what it deserved for its tolerance of the LGBTQ community or even Americans got what they deserved on 9/11 because of American foreign policy in the Middle East.

Is this the terrorist lobe of the liberal mind at work?

One key function of the terrorist lobe is compartmentalization. Most Americans have this ability. Without it, cognitive dissonance would tear apart the myths and lies this country was built on.

On the eve of America’s bombastic birthday another flashpoint to shift our economic war against Iran into a kinetic one passed without the hoped for reaction .

I don’t think many people understand how close we are to things unraveling. One scenario of escalating tensions is Iran flexes its ability to shut down the Strait of Hormuz. Pepe Escobar offers some idea of what could happen were that to occur:

The facts are stark. Tehran simply won’t accept all-out economic war lying down – prevented to export the oil that protects its economic survival. The Strait of Hormuz question has been officially addressed. Now it’s time for the derivatives.

Presenting detailed derivatives analysis plus military analysis to global media would force the media pack, mostly Western, to go to Warren Buffett to see if it is true. And it is true. Soleimani, according to this scenario, should say as much and recommend that the media go talk to Warren Buffett.

The extent of a possible derivatives crisis is an uber-taboo theme for the Washington consensus institutions. According to one of my American banking sources, the most accurate figure – $1.2 quadrillion – comes from a Swiss banker, off the record. He should know; the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) – the central bank of central banks – is in Basle.

The key point is it doesn’t matter how the Strait of Hormuz is blocked.

It could be a false flag. Or it could be because the Iranian government feels it’s going to be attacked and then sinks a cargo ship or two. What matters is the final result; any blocking of the energy flow will lead the price of oil to reach $200 a barrel, $500 or even, according to some Goldman Sachs projections, $1,000.

Does the compartmentalized terrorist lobe compute the risk of war with Iran?

And what shall it do over dead migrants?

I’m not talking about deaths at the southern border. Of course I saw the picture and it broke my heart, I’m not immune to what’s happening. But the migrants I’m talking about were killed in Libya, a once functional state reduced to civil war and open-air human slave markets thanks to Secretary of State at the time Hillary Clinton and Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama.

If you want to read about that tragedy, here’s a link to the Bezos Post.

The nefarious slayer of American Democracy, Dracula Putin, recently opined in The Financial Times that the liberal order is obsolete.

That’s easy enough for the liberal mind to immediately reject. Not as easy would be if the Dalai Lama said something crazy like European migrants should return to their own land:

The Dalai Lama says in a new interview that while Europe should take in migrants and refugees entering the continent, most who enter should ultimately “return to their own land” while “a limited number” can stay.

Asked in a wide-spanning interview with the BBC about increasing numbers of migrants seeking refuge in Europe, the 83-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader said countries on the continent should offer them an education and training but said the aim is to send them back to their native lands.

“A limited number is OK, but whole Europe eventually become Muslim country? Impossible. Or African country? Also impossible,” he told the BBC in the interview published Thursday.

He also expressed his support to “keep Europe for Europeans.”

If you want to add heads exploding to your holiday festivities, mention this at your liberal potluck.

Happy Birthday Amerika!

by William Skink

Any political commentary that doesn’t acknowledge the utter corruption of our two-party political system is not commentary I can take seriously anymore.

I get why you older junkies just can’t quit the party that has abused you over the years, but at this point your hope that the great orange evil that stumbles across the globe throwing tantrums will be bested by an alternative blue product line is evidence, to me, of cognitive decline.

I lost hope for the Republic when I realized how expertly and effectively Obama conned millions of well-intentioned people who (still) believe they are vastly intellectually superior over the mid-west hicks they despise.

Under that conman Wall Street was bailed out (setting up the recession we’re already in), wars were expanded (but with less body bags coming home), civil liberties continued to erode with drone executions denying US citizens due process, the Espionage Act was exploited to go after journalists, and the power of the executive grabbed by baby Bush was solidified and expanded.

None of that was enough for partisan hacks to lose hope in the Republic. None of the alarm bells that were raised about the danger of allowing Bush’s transgressions to stand for the next demagogue to exploit were taken seriously.

Then Trump happened, and the gnashing of teeth has yet to subside.

Which brings me to this partisan post from the always partisan Montana Post that just keeps beating the self-righteous condemnation drum over one wing of the corrupt wing span that encompasses US politics.

Here is an excerpt that could easily be applied to both parties if the author wasn’t such a blind partisan who can’t even see his own xenophobia in believing the farce known as Russiagate:

I might be losing faith that we can find a way out of this mess. For years, on or around the Fourth of July, I have posted a piece about how liberals love the United States, despite the horrific noise machine of the Republican Party that calls our patriotism into question. The piece has been rooted in an optimistic, perhaps naïve view that, despite our differences, a shared love of some core values in our country might be enough to help us overcome the partisan divide that seems more intractable, more entrenched than ever.

I’m just not sure that I believe that anymore, and I’m not sure what the answer is.

At the root of my pessimism is the troubling reality that so many conservatives seem either entirely untethered from reality, or perhaps more cynically, willing to ignore the truth to suit their purposes.

There is nothing that brings forth the bile from my gut in the morning like reading Don Pogreba lamenting all over himself. Gross.

If Democrats had all the answers and only needed to take the reigns to see forth their grand liberal vision, then Missoula should be an exemplary place where the socially marginalized are included, labor isn’t exploited, free speech is upheld, and blah blah blah.

The reality is Trump has so added to the already damaging political polarization that more and more people have been traumatized into hermetically sealing themselves off from any whiff of non-conformity to their chosen political ideology.

The corrupting power that has long held sway over our political system will not allow a citizen’s individual vote to carry any significant weight. Paying attention to the spectacle while our geopolitical pals run open air concentration camps (Israel) and commit genocide in Yemen (Saudi Arabia) is what extinguishes hope in my heart.

And anything Don Pogreba writes. That also disappears my hope.

Have a fun 4th, America.