Month: July 2021

by Travis Mateer

The Montana Human Rights Network and Daily Kos would like you to be aware of the scary white conspiracy theorists who recently gathered at a festival held in St. Regis called THE RED PILL FESTIVAL.

This terrifying group of people inspired a MHRN tweet storm yesterday where their dastardly plans to make PUBLIC COMMENTS was courageously exposed:

Yes, you read that right, these people are going to ATTACK WITH PUBLIC COMMENTS!

Now, before we get to the Daily Kos piece, I should be straight with readers: I am white AND I entertain MANY conspiracy theories, like the one that posits Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas is not what he appears to be.

That said, let’s see how his glorified blog frames the Red Pill event, starting with the title of the piece, Montana ‘Red Pill Festival’ manifests how far-right conspiracism is mainstreamed in rural U.S.. From the link:

The gathering of 200 or so people Saturday at this small timber town’s community park spent the day reveling in a familiar array of far-right conspiracy theories and disinformation: America is now under the control of a “communist coup,” Donald Trump was cheated out of the presidency, the COVID-19 pandemic is a “Deep State” operation intended to enslave the world, vaccines are “poison,” public schools indoctrinate children into Marxist beliefs, and the U.S. is not a democracy, but simply a republic.

What a great promotion for this event. Now I’m sad I missed it.

Reading further, staff writer David Neiwert has some fantastic observations that captures how insidiously LEISURELY these people were, and how that leisure NORMALIZES the crazy:

The spread-out, leisurely feel to the gathering helped emphasize the sense of normalcy. About 20 booths set up around the lawn hawked conspiracy theories, let you take a photo with a cardboard cutout of Donald Trump (“Our leader in exile” and “The real president”), or buy T-shirts from the far-right street-brawling group Patriot Prayer, whose founder, Joey Gibson, was one of the day’s featured speakers.

Another excellent part of this coverage focused on media, and these red-pilled crazies who say RADICAL things, like the media covering them are PROPAGANDISTS, not reporters.

Montana legislator Derek Skees of Kalispell, who acted as the day’s master of ceremonies, seemed particularly obsessed with the presence of a crew from Vice News led by reporter Vegas Tenold. Referring sneeringly to them as a pack of hapless New Yorkers, he told the audience that they planned to go back to their offices and paint a portrait of the festival as a gathering of violent racists—and then repeatedly asked the audience if a previous speaker had encouraged them to be violent or racist.

Skees also coached the audience: “So when they pull you aside and they interview you and they talk to, have one of your friends take their phone and film them. Because they have a guy that works for them called an editor, and that guy’s gonna weed out everything you said that was truthful, and include things like “battle” and “freedom” and thing that they think is against freedom.”

I’m glad VICE was there to cover this event, especially considering VICE had those problems a few years ago with their co-founder, Shane Smith, an alleged sexual harasser who VICE replaced with a vagina (since genitals are so important to virtue signalers, I specified the body part instead of the person).

The featured speaker, Matt Shea, also brought attention to the media coverage:

Later on, Shea made a point of encouraging people to confront journalists. “We need to ask these reporters. I want everybody, when we’re done here, I want everybody to go up to those reporters, turn your phone on, and I want you to ask them that question,” he said. “I want you to ask them, do you denounce antifa? Will they denounce critical race theory? I want you to go down the list. Ask them. I’ve gotta tell you something, they’re not reporters. They’re propagandists. And they need to be held accountable for it.”

I agree that propagandists should be held accountable. That’s why I write posts like this one pointing out how the Missoula Current will write a story on the RISK of fires started by fireworks, while completely ignoring ACTUAL fires being started regularly by homeless people at the Reserve street camps.

Because propagandists like Martin Kidston don’t actually inform readers about what’s happening in certain parts of Missoula, I do things like pair video footage of homeless camps with virtue-signaling inclusivity statements:

I’ve got some more projects in the works, and I’m feeling VERY POSITIVE about the great people I am meeting along the way.

So, as I like to say, stay tuned…

by Travis Mateer

Why do people think they can still enjoy life? Why do people act like things are returning to normal? Millions of people are now bio-medical terrorist vectors, becoming hosts for the dreaded DELTA variant, and instead of doubling down on the serious solutions from BIG PHARMA, I go to Twitter and see memes like this:

Yes, these memes are dangerous, just like sarcasm can be dangerous, so it’s a good thing DARPA is doing critical work on detecting stuff like sarcasm. From the link:

With social media platforms representing one of the main conduits for adversarial propaganda, researchers are examining how information spreads across the digital environment and how it spills into action outside of the online presence. A recent breakthrough in sentiment analysis—with an algorithm that can detect sarcasm—from the University of Central Florida as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s SocialSim project, aids in this understanding and in defense.

Researchers are employing neural networks, machine learning and social media data sets to conduct basic research on developing of possible solutions to counter information warfare. The proliferation of information warfare against the United States has created a great need for counter capabilities to protect against adversarial interference.

The sarcasm detector is an important first step, says Brian Kettler, program manager, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA’s) Information Innovation Office (I2O), who is currently leading the Computational Simulation of Online Social Behavior program, the formal name for the SocialSim effort.

“Sarcasm can really trip up sentiment analysis,” the program manager states. “If you’re trying to understand how people are engaging with a particular narrative, if they are outraged by it or they are accepting of it, sarcasm could make it appear one way, but it really is a different way. Understanding sarcasm, I think it’s a basic capability, so that you’re not tripped up by it when you are doing things like sentiment analysis on a particular text.”

Isn’t this fantastic? Once sarcasm is detected and neutralized, we should move on to other dangers, like satire.

I hope artists will comply and not try any funny business with their creative talents over this very serious subject.

For my part, I’m working on getting my poetic alter-ego, William Skink, to understand the importance of going along with the program, but last week Skink wrote a song from the perspective of City Council candidate Daniel Carlino, and I may have to do a music video to accompany it, because it’s pretty awesome.

So stay tuned…

by Travis Mateer

I’ve had a few opportunities to thank cops the last few days because they deal with homelessness in ways the general public is pretty clueless about.

For example, to maintain the West Broadway island (which was recently reopened), I witnessed law enforcement patrolling the area, on foot, last Thursday. I made a few notes in my journal while sitting on the California St. bridge, then packed up my shit to leave. As I was getting ready to go, a cop was walking down the bridge. I asked the officer if he knew about the history of the bridge, specifically the violent death of Forrest “Clay” Salcido.

Not only did the officer know that Clay Salicido was stomped to death on the bridge by two drunk teenagers, he was also one of the responding officers to the brutal scene.

I thanked the officer for the work he does for our community.

On Saturday I was heading to the market to meet my family when I noticed two police cruisers near my studio. As I was walking by, I overheard one officer tell the other officer about an apple-throwing incident in which someone was nailed in the forehead. Since they were loading a cart filled to the brim with someone’s belongings, it was an easy assumption to make it involved a homeless person.

I thanked the officers for the work they do for our community.

Finally, on Saturday night, a non-officer involved incident reminded me what we face as a community when it comes to dangerous drugs, like meth.

I was walking around late at night, taking in my surroundings, when I saw a former client I recognized. He was in such a hurry he was going to leave some little chunks of crystal meth behind on the concrete steps where he had been sitting. I implored him to take the meth with him, lest some squirrel comes across it, tweaking itself into a rabid mess.

While he scooped up his meth I asked him some questions and, surprisingly, he answered them.

For more on that interaction, though, you’ll have to tune in to next week’s episode of my podcast, Zoom Town.

Thanks for reading, and have a safe and enjoyable Sunday!

by Travis Mateer

Martin Kidston’s online news journal, the Missoula Current, is making some decisions about which stories to cover–and which ones to ignore–that I think RD readers should be aware of.

The scourge of illegal fireworks launched on the 4th of July is a story Kidston recently covered in an article with the following headline: Despite laws and warnings, Missoula issues zero tickets for illegal fireworks. Here is some of the reporting Kidston has featured at the top of his site for today:

Despite the pleas of elected officials and extreme fire conditions, fireworks across the City of Missoula lit up the night sky over Independence Day, all in violation of local restrictions.

While fireworks are illegal in city limits, no citations were issued this year and the number of calls to the hotline established to report such complaints decreased, according to figures provided by the city.

Still, a number of residents expressed concern over some of the larger fireworks incidents, saying sparks “rained down” on their rooftop. But even then, warnings remain “the approach the police department prefers to take” when responding to complaints, according to a city spokesperson.

So, despite the scourge of illegal fireworks being LESS of a problem than last year, Kidston is still willing to take the concerns of “a number of residents” into consideration for his site’s reporting on the fire risk during this VERY dry summer.

Speaking of fire risk, how has the Missoula Current reported on the 16 fires that have necessitated emergency response since JUST THE BEGINNING OF JUNE at the Reserve Street homeless camps?

The answer: they haven’t.

I checked the Missoula Current website and couldn’t find ANY reporting on the dozens of fires that have broken out at the camps since the beginning of the year. No headlines screaming DESPITE LAWS, MISSOULA ISSUES ZERO TICKETS FOR ILLEGAL HOMELESS CAMPS will be found at the Missoula Current.

Instead of reporting on ACTUAL fires that have been occurring regularly month after month, Kidston is directing his news journal to focus on POTENTIAL fires that could have resulted from ONE DAY of illegal firework activity.

Here’s more reporting on the firework scourge:

One Missoula resident told the Missoula Current that a neighbor several doors down launched a prolonged volley of fireworks in the middle of the street after the sanctioned show at Southgate Mall had ended.

Another resident caught the event on a Ring doorbell. Another neighbor said sparks were landing on his rooftop. The illegal display lasted for about 30 minutes.

“They were shooting probably 50 feet into the air and raining sparks onto neighboring properties,” one resident said of the event. “Another neighbor called the police but no one responded. Many of the residents were concerned that a fire would be started due to the hot and dry conditions we’ve been experiencing.”

The resident said a fire official showed up and issued a warning. Officials with the Missoula Fire Department didn’t return calls for this story.

I wonder why the Missoula Fire Department didn’t return calls for this story? Were they too busy responding to MORE FIRES at the homeless camps at Reserve?

I understand media outlets can’t cover EVERYTHING happening in a town like Missoula, but the contrast between covering fire RISK from one night of illegal fireworks vs. NOT covering ACTUAL FIRES occurring regularly at a homeless camp is just too stark to ignore.

Oh, and I should note, Martin Kidston did not return calls for this story.

Thanks for reading.

by Travis Mateer

Joe Biden is doing his best to sell vaccines to hesitant Americans, but his most recent performance combines that signature Biden cognitive decline (which is so endearing) with a robust vaccine zealotry that goes a little too far, requiring some media fact checks.

I was so impressed with the gentle, loving fact checks that I wanted to reproduce some of the media damage control. Every grandpa with a cottage cheese brain should be so lucky.

From the link:

BIDEN: “If you’re vaccinated, you’re not going to be hospitalized, you’re not going to be in the IC unit, and you’re not going to die.” — town hall.

THE FACTS: His remark accurately captures the strong protection the COVID-19 vaccines provide as cases spike among people who have resisted the shots. But it overlooks the rare exceptions.

Boy, talk about nit-picking. Our amazing president states clearly that vaccines ensure people don’t die, but apparently there ARE “rare” exceptions. Here’s more:

BIDEN: “You’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations.” — town hall.

THE FACTS: Again, he painted with too broad a brush as he described in stark terms the disparity between those who got their shots and those who haven’t. The disparity is real, but a small number of breakthrough infections happen and health officials say they are not a cause for alarm.

No vaccines are perfect, and the government is keeping a close eye on whether new coronavirus mutants start to outsmart the COVID-19 shots. But for now, federal health officials say even when breakthrough infections occur, they tend to be mild — the vaccines so far remain strongly protective against serious illness.

Yes, our vaccines are SMART, but sometimes mutants can be EVEN SMARTER than the very smart vaccines. Maybe Biden forgot how Corona mutants can sometimes outsmart our smart vaccines.

Boy, it’s a GOOD THING we have such a dedicated and honest media holding President Joe accountable, like this:

BIDEN, asked about vaccinated people who get infected: “It may be possible, I know of none where they’re hospitalized, in ICU and or have passed away so at a minimum I can say even if they did contract it, which I’m sorry they did, it’s such a tiny percentage and it’s not life threatening.” — remarks to reporters after the event.

THE FACTS: Once again, too far. That is evident from the CDC’s finding that 5,492 vaccinated people who tested positive for coronavirus were hospitalized or died as of July 12. That’s not “none.” But he is correct that it is a small percentage of the more than 159 million fully vaccinated Americans.

Sure, 5,492 is definitely NOT NONE, but Joe is trying REALLY HARD to convey how awesome the vaccines are. Maybe, in all his passionate enthusiasm for vaccine science, he is a little too excited and exaggerates, ever so slightly, the positive impacts, but so what? It’s not like his regime has dedicated itself to expunging vaccine CHEERLEADING because that is TOTALLY DIFFERENT than vaccine misinformation.

Anyways, all those hesitant bio-medical terrorists should run out TODAY and get poked, especially while beer brands are given out FREE BEER MONEY to go along with those free donuts:

If you’ve received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, then you’ve scored yourself a pair of free beers to go with your free doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. Last week, Sam Adams announced that it would be “buying a beer” for anyone who’s gotten a shot, and now Budweiser says it’s doing the same.

I’m SOLD!