Month: July 2020

by William Skink

Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) is the new term for UFO. The stated reason for this rebranding is because the proliferation of unmanned drone technology warrants a more inclusive term to cover all the new gadgetry buzzing through the air.

Another reason to update the term (the main one, I would argue)is to shed the embarrassing cultural baggage associated with it so that people will take the coming disclosures more seriously.

Which raises the question, why would anyone be invested in a rebranding effort that could bestow a higher degree of seriousness and credibility to the idea of flying saucers and aliens visiting earth from other planets?

Before dismissing this out-of-hand, recall the distant year 2016, before Trump was elected and those leaked emails were circulating. While odd references to pizza and handkerchiefs became the focus, there was also some communication between Tom DeLonge (of Blink 182) and John Podesta. Here is how Rolling Stone reported it at the time:

The guitarist sent his first note to manager John Podesta in October 2015, though the two had previously met, as DeLonge introduced himself as, “The one who interviewed you for that special documentary not to [sic] long ago.” DeLonge goes on to discuss a multimedia project – ostensibly his vast To the Stars effort – before requesting another meeting with Podesta.

“I would like to bring two very ‘important’ people out to meet you in DC,” DeLonge wrote. “I think you will find them very interesting, as they were principal leadership relating to our sensitive topic. Both were in charge of most fragile divisions, as it relates to Classified Science and DOD topics. Other words, these are A-Level officials. Worth our time, and as well the investment to bring all the way out to you.”

Ok, maybe a band member from Blink 182 and a shady political operative who likes spirit cooking are not the best examples to provide for taking UFOs more seriously, but combine that with the new military openness about this phenomenon, and a religious academic’s book released last year, tiled American Cosmic, and you start seeing UFOs getting pushed from multiple angles.

To highlight what I’m talking about, check out the title of this Vox piece about American Cosmic: The new American religion of UFOs. From the link (my emphasis):

Her book isn’t so much about the truth of UFOs or aliens as it is about what the appeal of belief in those things says about our culture and the shifting roles of religion and technology in it. On the surface, it’s a book about the popularity of belief in aliens, but it’s really a deep look at how myths and religions are created in the first place and how human beings deal with unexplainable experiences.

This is important to consider as we wonder what the hell “off-world vehicle” means (my emphasis):

Eric W. Davis, an astrophysicist who worked as a subcontractor and then a consultant for the Pentagon U.F.O. program since 2007, said that, in some cases, examination of the materials had so far failed to determine their source and led him to conclude, “We couldn’t make it ourselves.”

The constraints on discussing classified programs — and the ambiguity of information cited in unclassified slides from the briefings — have put officials who have studied U.F.O.s in the position of stating their views without presenting any hard evidence.

Mr. Davis, who now works for Aerospace Corporation, a defense contractor, said he gave a classified briefing to a Defense Department agency as recently as March about retrievals from “off-world vehicles not made on this earth.”

I provide all this information as background to the book I’m currently reading, titled Prisoner of Infinity: UFOs, Social Engineering, and the Psychology of Fragmentation, by Jasun Horsley.

Horsley’s work is intensely personal, and he treats topics many would deride and ridicule with an honest, earnest desire to understand, even when that understanding is bringing controversial figures, like Aleister Crowley, down to earth, where the myths dissolve and atrocities take shape.

In Prisoner of Infinity (POI) Horsley does a deep dive on Whitley Strieber, the author who wrote a personal account of abduction called Communion, a “true story” that did more to cement the images of alien abduction into popular culture than any other work. If the title sounds unfamiliar, look it up and the cover image of a grey alien with the big, black orbs for eyes will jog your memory (if you’re old enough).

Thanks to Horsley’s work, my concern about topics that don’t seem (at first) to be connected to alien abduction experiences, like Transhumanism and child abuse, has deepened considerably. I’ll try to explain.
While I’ve long accepted that systemic (often ritualized) child abuse is not just happening, but is actually much more pervasive than most are willing to acknowledge, Horsley introduces an argument (backed up with research) that there is a different way of looking at this abuse.

I know this is difficult material (how many are still reading?), but stick with me.

The argument Horsley constructs is that instead of senseless abuse inflicted on innocent subjects, ritualized child abuse is a kind of technology that uses specific methods with developing psyches (children) in order to split their forming ego-self into a regressed fragment and an evolved fragment that acts as a sort of guardian over the regressed part of the psyche that disassociates instead of facing unspeakable trauma.

Horsley applies the framework of child abuse over Strieber’s varied and often contradictory explanations about the experiences he claims to recall regarding his multiple abductions. Strieber has even claimed to have been abused in government MK Ultra-type experiments as a child in Texas.

What lends credibility to Horsley’s treatment of this subject is his blending of his own personal experiences.

It’s clear (at least to me) that Horsley is not coat-tailing popular authors and controversial figures to peddle books. The places his research has taken him has put him in uncomfortable company with religious/right types he would have, a decade ago, quickly dismissed.

I know exactly what this feels like, as my own research has led me to similar territories, questioning some of the very artists I was once inspired by, like Leonard Cohen.

While I still consider myself an artist and poet, I’m growing into a very different hope of discernment that my previous, more hedonistic approach to art making has produced. Maybe that’s a byproduct of not having taken a drink of alcohol since the 4th of July.

I am putting the finishing touches on a collection of 44 poems I started writing in March, titled WELCOME TO THE COVAXICON. Here is one of those poems, dedicated to Jasun Horsley.

FAB
for Jasun Horsley

in gradual steps
the Fabians came
slow like a poison
they melted their name

encoding proclivities
in progressive garb
Jasun’s dark map
examines his yard

the public can’t see it—
like water to fish?
or cannot accept
we wait on their dish

waiting bovinely
we hear the bell
and slobber like Pavlov
trained not to tell

by William Skink

Last month a man with a gun restrained a protestor in a Missoula alley. Now, over a month later, the City Attorney’s office is filing misdemeanor charges against him for “unlawful restraint”.

What I find interesting about this case is the way the Missoulian has reported what happened compared to how the Missoula Current has reported it.

First, the Missoulian plays the race card in the headline of its article, titled White man charged for unlawfully restraining black teen at BLM rally.

In the Missoulian article, a press release from BLM organizers sent out Wednesday decried the lack of charges. From the link:

The press release stated: “At the courthouse on June 5, 2020 one of our black community members was cornered in an alley by white militia. He was threatened, accused, and afraid for his life. When he tried to get back to safety, he was attacked and detained by MPD. He feared for his life. He has told his story to our city, and has been met with deflection and lack of concern.

“The local city government hasn’t met our calls for accountability and action from the last rally. They are dodging responsibility for the attack on a black member of our community at the courthouse and other attacks and injustices on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color).”

This article seems to make it pretty clear that the white man with a gun was part of the WHITE MILITIA and the black teen was a known protestor with BLM. But is it that cut and dry?

The Missoula Current article paints a very different picture of what happened, and the difference in reporting starts with the MC article NOT immediately playing the race card with its title: Armed man at BLM rally charged with unlawful restraint, acting as security without a license.

Here is how the MC article depicts what went down (emphasis added):

Kanyon Stevens, an event organizer, told police that Belden had stopped and confronted the victim in the alley. Police observed multiple people detaining the victim.

“Multiple Missoula police officers were familiar with (Belden), as he was an armed male who had shown up at the protest daily and assumed a role as security,” the charging documents state. “(Belden) told police that he had been acting as personal security for some of the Black Lives Matter event organizers.”

Stevens and a fellow event organizer confirmed Belden’s claim.

These are two very different depictions of what transpired on June 5th in downtown Missoula.

The Missoulian article relates a more simplistic narrative that highlights the race of the alleged aggressor and the race of the alleged victim: scary white man with gun terrorizes innocent black teenager.

The Missoula Current article relates a more complicated narrative that depicts the white man with a gun as being known by some BLM organizers and even supported in his attempt to identify “outsiders” who may be trying to come into our community to cause trouble.

I would like to think the difference in reporting is because the Missoulian is corporate and therefore more willing to push a simplistic narrative that plays on the biases and fears of its audience, and that the Missoula Current, as a little start-up, is more willing to tell a nuanced narrative, but I suspect the actual reason Kidston’s Current reported this story the way it did is because Kidston was harassed by BLM protestors just a few days previous to this incident.

In Kidston’s “Reporters Notebook” he begins by calling protestors hypocrites in his headline, which reads Missoula protesters harassing local media serve as hypocrites. From the link:

While protesters gathered peacefully Wednesday morning in downtown Missoula, a small group of individuals worked to interfere with the media, urging others to avoid interviews.

The Missoula Current had several interviews interrupted when members of a self-appointed “press control” demanded to know what outlet the reporter – that being me – represented.

Despite being informed of where I worked and what I did – and the fact that I’ve been doing my job for 25 years and for six different papers – they urged protesters not to talk, suggesting I was disguised as a right-wing agitator.

While I don’t have any hair and I shave my head by choice, I’ve never been accused of being a member of the militia. The very stereotypes most demonstrators came to overcome persisted among some members of this small but persistent group.

I’m sorry, but I have to laugh. Poor Martin Kidston was just trying to do what the Missoulian was doing, fitting this local iteration of a national protest movement into the pre-approved packaging of benevolent protestors vs evil white militia men, but then Kidston himself becomes a victim of an unfair stereotype, so he throws a little tantrum and, because of the “harassment” he experiences, apparently decides to relate a more nuanced version of what the Missoulian spit out for its liberal readership.

The difference in how this incident is being reported is a fascinating window into the media’s power to shape narratives for public consumption. If Martin Kidston hadn’t been offended by the supposed BLM hypocrites, I guarantee you his reporting would have been much closer to how the Missoulian is reporting what happened.

It will be interesting to see if this divergence in media narratives continues, or if they eventually get on the same page to demonize the white man with the gun, despite the fact there was apparently more than just one person involved in unlawfully detaining this young protestor.

by William Skink

A recent back and forth at the Moon blog got me thinking about the will to fight back.

After being told to seek anger management, a defeatist from Australia told me this (edited for length):

The vast majority believes what everyone else believes. Human nature as a herd animal unchanged throughout history. Only a very small percentage say “why” or see the massive holes in MSM propaganda. For them if everyone is saying it, it must be true. The few that do question this shit end up at sites like this and then rarely agree on all aspects.

As for what is occurring in this so called west – virtually nothing can be done internally. Whoever controls the media controls peoples minds. The few that don’t get caught by MSM mind control are no threat to those that control the narrative. A small site like this gets to the position it starts making waves as in large and widespread readership, it will be destroyed.

It is only self incurred collapse of the US or outside intervention that will change what is happening. If the US goes down, the whole western house of cards and illusion will collapse.

We can only watch. We could take a gun and take perhaps one or two politicians with us but that will change nothing. For me my life is finished but my children have now started their families. I watch, try and get an understanding of what is occurring and where we are at so that my children – if / when the shit hits the fan my children have some idea of what is occurring. Tearing your hair out and screaming incoherently changes nothing.

I get that what is happening seems too big and overwhelming to do anything about, but the notion that we are powerless is utter shit and needs to be jettisoned with extreme prejudice.

What Peter AU1 appears to be exhibiting are symptoms of learned helplessness. Here is an explanation of what learned helplessness is:

Learned helplessness occurs when an animal is repeatedly subjected to an aversive stimulus that it cannot escape. Eventually, the animal will stop trying to avoid the stimulus and behave as if it is utterly helpless to change the situation. Even when opportunities to escape are presented, this learned helplessness will prevent any action.

If I accepted the false notion that the act of writing is pointless because mainstream media has an airtight hold on everyone’s minds, then I wouldn’t be covering how public resources are being misused and abused in Missoula.

Today the Missoulian is finally getting around to reporting that the Missoula Redevelopment Agency is considering hiring a communication consultant, something I covered last Sunday in my 1,000th post.

Where is the money going to come from for this expenditure? From the link:

Before voting, board member Nancy Moe wanted to know how much the contract would cost and how it would be funded. Essentially, Buchanan said, she envisions the communications being an administrative expense.

She said money could come our of all six of the city’s Urban Renewal Districts.

Let me summarize: MRA is being criticized for how it uses public money, so the response is to SPEND MORE PUBLIC MONEY on better messaging instead of reflecting on how TIF funds are being thrown around for things like bailing out the art park, and bailing out cost overruns at the library, and building a road so Peter Lambros could flip his mall property, and building a homeless bridge to nowhere, and on, and on, and on.

MRA is considering this expenditure on a communication consultant because THEY ARE LOSING THE NARRATIVE BATTLE over the alleged public benefit of their gentrification schemes.

And do you know WHY they are losing?

Because I have the truth on my side, and all they have are a deceitful Mayor, a co-dependent communication director, and liberal lackeys who traded in their spines and thinking caps in order to play political games with our tax money.

Writing these posts day after day, though, WOULD BE pointless if it wasn’t for one thing: you.

So thank you to all who read these posts, who comment (or don’t), who send me emails and help spread this content on social media platforms. If it wasn’t for you, the impact of these words would be zilch.

Thank you, and stay tuned…

by William Skink

A brief article at NBC Montana regarding what to do with a Federal building downtown caught my eye. You can probably guess, from the title of the article, why: Missoula federal building possible homeless resource after space declared surplus.

Apparently declaring this building surplus space was a big step in figuring out a future use for a building that is over 80% vacant and costs half a million annually to keep open.

The agency that declared this space surplus is the General Service Administration (GSA), and apparently it’s the GSA that is looking for a homeless organization to possibly use the space. From the link:

GSA officials say the building is 84.1% empty. The Forest Service moved out of the space back in 2015. Plus they say it costs around $500,000 in taxpayer money to keep the building running each year.

That’s part of the reason the city and county hope to acquire the space, but both know there are hurdles in the way of making that happen. The GSA says it first considers using the space to help the homeless.

“If a homeless organization comes in and shows interest that they will have a priority to submit a plan and application for the building,” said Missoula County strategic initiatives manager Casey Gannon. He says that’s why they’re holding off on spending any more money.

Huh?

Since I didn’t know much about the GSA, I did a little digging to better understand their role. Here’s an idea of what they claim their mission and strategic goals are:

Our Mission

“Deliver value and savings in real estate, acquisition, technology, and other mission-support services across government.”

Vision: Effective and efficient government for the American people.

Values: Service, Accountability, and Innovation

Strategic Goals

Save taxpayer money through better management of federal real estate. We will deliver cost savings and value for taxpayers through smart asset management while also providing cutting-edge workplace solutions that help agencies fulfill their important missions.

Despite these lofty claims, the apparent reality is this building (which costs half a million to operate) has been 84% empty for five years waiting to be declared surplus, and now that this has occurred, the GSA will continue to sit on this building hoping some homeless organization will show interest?

Am I missing something here?

Missoula County is already shelling out money for this building. From the first link:

The city and county already contributed $100,000 each for surveying the building and seeing if it meets their needs. It will also tell them how much more they’ll need to spend in renovations.

If all goes as planned, GSA will hand over the title to the historic building in the heart of Missoula by September 2022.
…
It’s a move proponents say will save taxpayer dollars and make the building a one-stop shop for city and county needs.

I added the emphasis because this is where the story is. With such a broad, general statement, the obvious question is this: what does a “one-stop shop for city and county needs” actually mean?

As our elected braintrust dribble out details on the future use of this federal building, check back here for local context you won’t get anywhere else.

by William Skink

Are you excited about the latest Missoula city land purchase in an Urban Renewal District enhanced with Trump Opportunity Zone sweetener for investors seeking to avoid capital gains taxes as they dump stocks artificially propped up by perpetual central bank intervention?

Yeah, me to.

Here is the sweet $6.6 million land buy:

City officials moved forward with a plan to purchase roughly 19 acres in the Northside neighborhood along Scott Street with an eye toward developing residential housing and perhaps commercial services in the future.

On Monday, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency’s board approved a proposal to purchase the property through the issuance of roughly $6.6 million worth of Tax Increment Financing Revenue Bonds. The Missoula City Council has to approve any land acquisition by the city and the issuance of bonds, so they’ll meet at a future date to consider the proposal.

I am again confronted with the bubble thinking of our local braintrust as they operate from their alternate reality where OLD NORMAL development patterns persist.

Perhaps commercial services in the future? How far off in the future are these visionaries planning for? Because I suspect there is going to be plenty of available commercial/retail space available as the ripple effects of lockdowns really start emerging in local markets.

The article has some history on the site and the owner, Michael Stevenson. I believe this is the same Michael Stevenson who is a principal with the Bannack Group.

At the link you can read about the team at Bannack Group, like James McCray. Here’s some background from his bio:

Jim McCray is a Principal for the Bannack Group. He has extensive experience and knowledge in national fundraising and development. McCray is also a Managing Partner at Highwood Capital – a national political, business, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit consulting firm headquartered in Washington D.C.
…
Previously, McCray served as the Deputy National Finance Director for John McCain’s presidential campaign, where he actively managed a 50-state finance strategy. Prior to a brief stint at the National Republican Senatorial Committee running the major donor program, McCray served on the Senior Staff of U.S. Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) as General Counsel and as a Strategic Advisor for the Senator’s reelection campaign. McCray actively advised the Senator on legislative strategy and served as a principal liaison to industry groups. McCray developed deep connections with the majority of the Republican Chiefs of Staff and U.S. Senators, and he established significant contacts nationally with industries across the board. McCray has set historic fundraising records in Montana, Kansas, Utah and North Dakota.

Before working for Senator Burns, McCray practiced corporate law in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the international law firm of Dorsey & Whitney LLP and in Washington, D.C. at the law firm of Dow Lohnes & Albertson, PLLC in the areas of Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity/Finance – advising senior corporate executives, management teams and boards of directors on corporate governance, acquisition guidance, and private equity and venture capital financing arrangements.

McCray and Stevenson are also both involved in Highwood Capital, which describes itself like this:

Highwood Capital is a national political and business consulting firm specializing in solutions for business, political, and non-profit entities. The typical client cycle involves the formulation and execution of a strategic campaign to influence stakeholder and/or public opinion, enhance brand awareness, raise funds from national sources/investors, develop new business relationships, or a combination thereof.

Our consultants have extensive experience and knowledge with Government Relations, Message/Crisis Communications, Legal and Political Strategy, Political Finance/Fundraising Strategy and Campaign Finance Law.

Highwood Capital actively advises U.S. Senators, Governors, national business coalitions, non-profit organizations, and corporations.

I hope we got a good assessment on the value of this property.

The guy who did the assessment is Kraig Kosena. From the earlier link:

Buchanan said the property was appraised earlier this year by local appraiser Kraig Kosena, and a buy/sell agreement was negotiated with the owners last December.

Has this Kraig Kosena ever been involved in assessing land for a big city project before? Why, of course, and guess which project it was.

If you guessed the Riverfront Triangle project, pat yourself on the back. From the link:

Engen said Monday the appraiser evaluated the land three different ways. Kraig Kosena, with Kembel, Kosena and Co., separately appraised two parcels along the river. Then, he appraised them together.

The southeastern site, which would accommodate a performing arts center, came in at nearly $2 million. The adjacent southwestern site came in at $1.36 million. The two sites together came in at $2.7 million, which is less than the total, but Engen said it’s typical that splitting the sites increases their value.

The OLD NORMAL is alive and well in Bubble Land. If you think they will willingly change their ways, just recall what it took at address our Mayor’s alcohol problem: an INTERVENTION.