Month: November 2020

by William Skink

I just watched a live stream of Missoula Police Chief, Jaeson White, doing a press conference on the police’s use of lethal force on Jesse James Kale Brown last Saturday. The part that caught my attention was White’s acknowledgement that the new Mobile Crisis Team, had it been active, would NOT have been the first to respond to an incident like this because it was an “active assault”.

So, what WOULD be a situation in which the Mobile Crisis Team responds BEFORE police?

Before continuing, I will again remind readers that my former position as the Outreach Coordinator for the Poverello Center put me in a first-responder type role because of my program’s HOT line, which allowed business owners and community members to call me first BEFORE calling 911, was often used in a manner that is now being duplicated, but, I’m afraid, poorly structured.

One of the things I learned during the years I did this work was the reluctance people in the community have for calling 911. This is important to note, and one reason I tried to get the call BEFORE the 911 dispatch center did. I did this by emphasizing my role as responding to NUISANCE issues, not SAFETY issues. I would constantly encourage people I talked to to call 911 if they ever felt unsafe.

What this general reluctance means is that usually, by the time someone finally calls 911, a mental health crisis has already escalated to the point of an emergency, and that will almost ALWAYS mean police responding FIRST to secure the scene.

Will the mobile crisis team have a different phone number people can call for a response? If the answer is no, why the hell not?

This is a difficult subject that might be better served through a recorded conversation, perhaps in a podcast format. I’m hoping it will be just a matter of a few more weeks until you, dear readers, can choose the option of listening to my melodious voice.

Stay tuned…

by William Skink

UPDATE: because of formatting issues, the donation box has been moved to the William Skink about page.

I finally did it and went for a basic wordpress plan, paying them to stop peddling RD readers with ads. If there’s gonna be any peddling going on, it’s gonna be The Skink peddling ink and other things!

I’m taking this step because, behind the scenes, I’ve been getting all fancy with an LLC and business account and everything, which allows me to try out my handy new panhandling function, which is featured below.

What would a donation be going toward? Great question.

First, a donation to William Skink helps me make my case to my CFO (my wife) that there is viability in my move to becoming a content creator, so please don’t make me get a real job again, ok?

Second, a donation will help cover the cost of my studio at the ZACC, where the podcast magic is about to happen. I got the microphones, and the software updates, and a new level of frustration with technology, in general, and Apple, specifically.

And third, one of my artistic mediums is plastic bricks, and those don’t come cheap, especially at the scale of what I’m building.

Finally, while getting my harmonious ranting voice ready for primetime, I expect to maintain a writing schedule of 5-6 blog posts a week.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for your support!

by William Skink

While the Missoula Current is taking a closer look at security being provided at the County Courthouse and City Hall, this online news journal has barely taken a FIRST LOOK at the shooting death of Jesse James Kale Brown on Saturday by Missoula police.

Why is that?

Last summer, when a young man was confronted in a downtown alleyway during protests against the police killing of George Floyd, the Missoula Current had no problem writing stories about what happened, and the subsequent charges against the armed vigilante that resulted.

If Jesse James Kale Brown had been a black man shot dead by police, would the Missoula Current be ignoring this unfortunate tragedy? I doubt it, considering all the reporting over the summer about defunding the police.

Maybe there are more important things happening in our community, like a cool study about how Grizzly bears use road-crossing structures. Is that the reason for not taking a closer look why two little girls don’t have a dad anymore?

Maybe I’m thinking about this all wrong.

Back in August, when Missoula invested $100K to develop a “pro-equity policy agenda“, our housing guru (who now leads the Office of Everything) framed the investment like this:

Eran Pehan, director of the Office of Housing and Community Development, said the $100,000 funding request for the FY21 budget directly relates to the city’s commitment to address racial and social equity.

She said the city has already made a commitment to work with community partners to find disparities in local government and other social realms, and to identify solutions that advance the city’s goals around social, economic and racial equality.

That includes what Pehan described as a “pro-equity policy agenda” in areas that include economic development and jobs, the environment, housing, health, the justice system, and mobility. The process will unfold in two phases.

“In Phase 1, we’ll honor our commitment to work with community partners to define disparities in our community and to identify the most promising solutions toward advancing social, economic and racial justice,” she said. “We’ll also conduct an internal policy analysis and equity audit to ensure operations, policy creation and decision making reflect the city of Missoula’s goals to advance racial and social equity.”

Maybe a WHITE MAN being shot dead by police instead of a BLACK MAN is a form of racial equity.

While I’m sure killing white men is NOT an official policy position, I can only assume the Missoula Current’s lack of interest in delving deeper into this story is a result of the victim’s skin color.

I hope I’m wrong about that.

by William Skink

I am writing to you today to warn you of a trap, sprung on you four years ago, and now moving into a new phase.

The Don-Con you nibbled one Q-crumb at a time caused you to hallucinate white hats where none existed. I am sorry to inform you that there never was going to be a mighty stallion on which William Barr would gallop forth, Durham close behind, to take down the demon-possessed child fuckers (who really do exist, by the way).

I will admit a small portion of my wishful-thinking psyche took in the con as a possibility, even though I am staring right now at a science fiction book written by William Barr’s dad, Donald, where he indulges in off-world rape fantasies.

Did you know William Barr’s dad helped Jeffrey Epstein get a job at the elite Dalton school many years ago?

The trap’s new phase entails a jarring flip where Russian-obsessed conspiracy theorists (who spent four years throwing all manner of near-treasonous bullshit at a figurehead that truly deranged their brain functioning) are now smugly lecturing you to ignore any red flags of fraud as they celebrate their scorched earth victory.

The goal I am setting for myself, after the smooth anointing of Biden on a Saturday by corporate media, and the even smoother certainty being cemented in place through their megaphones of repetition, is to not take out my anger on those closest to me.

Unfortunately I have failed rather consistently all weekend on that front.

Instead, I really should marvel at the engineering of the Don-Con, and how the Integrity Transition Project really did script out what’s going down right now.

I’m sure the deals have already been cut, and now those closest to the Trump cartel are explaining to their Don how much fun Trump TV will be, and how much money he’ll make, and how the Vanka-Kush Clan will be set up splendidly in New Jerusalem when the time is right.

And if you fight any of this, Dear Disappointed and Enraged, you will be mercilessly gaslit, cancelled, vandalized and harassed until you do something stupid to get yourself arrested by Kamala’s new federalized police bureau.

It won’t be easy to ignore the provocations, especially if you continue using social media. Instead, do what the opposition never did when Hillary went down in flames: take some time to self-reflect and consider how your overreaction to the fraud being shoved down your throat is exactly what is expected of you, and will be used against you if you’re not careful.

This is a marathon, people. Act accordingly.

by William Skink

I’ve got a good post coming tomorrow, but I keep breaking my own rules to mitigate anger by taking peeks at Twitter, and the poem I wrote today seemed tailor-made for smug MFers like CNN’s Jake Tapper, who had this to tweet:

Jake, and all his fellow corporate cum-buckets in corporate media, THIS POEM IS FOR YOU!

UNITY

neoLIB and neoCON
hand in hand now
nothing wrong
hooray they say the 
ORANGE MAN GONE!
our schemes are safe
our empire, strong

ends achieved
forget the means
you stupid bumpkins
now take a knee
and if you don't
we'll test your path
for psycho tendencies
with triad math

see them cheering?
that's our tribe
masks on faces
day and night
masks all plastered
alone in cars
quick submission
they beg for bars

but not the kind
where the merry meet
to act like humans
to eat and drink
no, No, NO!
that will not do
we cannot risk even
ONE ACHOO!

so stay inside
and stay away
from other humans
night and day
and if you don't
the tech will know
and quickly report you
to Grandpa Joe