Month: October 2021

by Travis Mateer

The University of Montana is the obvious topic of focus for today’s episode of Zoom Town because the warmth from the figurative dumpster fire will be a nice contrast to the cold that has arrived and the snow that will soon blanket the ground.

The President of UM, Seth Bodnar, has been the target of litigation because of the work environment he has created. This news broke in August and continues to simmer:

In the complaint, the plaintiffs condemn what they describe as a “good ol’ boys club” fostered at the university and strengthened under the leadership of UM President Seth Bodnar. Now, more than a dozen other women have come forward with similar allegations.

After this litigation hit the headlines, the law school at the University of Montana was next up for controversy with how it was allegedly handling accusations of sexual impropriety. This controversy focuses primarily on Mayoral candidate, Jacob Elder.

Here’s an excerpt of the reporting:

Elder, who has not been charged with any crimes, maintained his innocence to the Daily Montanan in the May 5 phone call and later on social media. Elder did not respond to either a Sept. 10 email requesting an interview or message sent on his campaign website. 

When reached by phone Sept. 13, Elder said he had shared the Daily Montanan’s message with his lawyer. However, he declined to answer questions for this story. He did not respond to a Sept. 26 email or message to his campaign website requesting comment on the allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Friday, UM confirmed Elder remains enrolled at the School of Law.

The woman also said at the law school, race plays a role in the dynamics. In the letter, she said that Elder, a Black man from Liberia, told her that if she told anyone he had raped her, “he would make it known that I was just a ‘small-town, sheltered racist white girl.’” In the meantime, she said the law school has propped him up in its media outreach.

Wowzers. Jacob Elder is really making a splash in his adopted community of Missoula, dragging UM into a Rape Capitol 2.0 situation that is sure to impact the enrollment crisis Seth Bodnar has failed to fix.

And now for the latest.

A computer science professor who didn’t get the WOKE memo is in hot water after some of his (now deleted) blog posts got the attention of the Kaimin. Here’s the kind of crap this dude was writing about:

In a different blog post, Smith wrote: “If you are in your peak, seek a woman in hers. This means you should be dating women who are as close to 18 as you can get, whatever age you are.” 

“…The younger a woman is, the more likely she is not jaded, the more positive energy she will have, and the more years you will have with her before rolling the dice of the hormonal changes that might turn her into a completely different woman than you married.”

I think the unsolicited dating advice from this computer science professor is pretty hilarious, but obviously a president under fire for running a “good ol’ boys club” is NOT going to be amused, at least publicly, which is why Bodnar is saying shit like this:

“I am personally disgusted by the homophobic and misogynistic views that were reported in the Montana Kaimin,” Bodnar said in the email statement. “I have directed the appropriate university officials to take immediate action to address this matter through investigatory and supportive measures.”

What kind of University officials is THE BOD sending? For Rob Smith’s sake, I hope it’s some physically fit hotties, because that might make the sting of being a sacrificial lamb for the boys club a little less painful.

Getting rid of Rob Smith will be easy. Deciding who to cast a vote for to lead this Zoom Town dumpster fire, on the other hand, is going to be VERY hard.

Either vote for the alcoholic incumbent who presided over the last UM sex assault scandal while allowing the homeless/housing crisis to worsen year after year as he spends millions in public financing on bridges to nowhere and bullshit communication plans, or vote for the young, black refugee from Liberia who has been fighting accusations of sexual impropriety since before the primary that reduced Engen’s competition to one heavily damaged candidate.

Or maybe there’s a THIRD OPTION.

To find out more, you’ll have to listen to today’s episode of Zoom Town. I’ll be recording the episode with Tim Adams today, and it should be available later this afternoon.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

The title of this post is probably a little confusing for those who have been reading the blog for awhile. Why, after endorsing ABE for Mayor (Anyone But Engen), would I make a 180 degree turn?

The first thing is that John Engen is a WINNER and, let’s be honest, we all want to be winners. To highlight the winning nature Engen has displayed over the decades, I placed a trophy with a golden pig next to Engen’s image.

Placing this newspaper effigy of Engen on the wall of my art studio helps inspire me. As I leave the safe space I’ve created at the ZACC, I kiss my fingers and place it on that black spot where Engen’s heart is supposed to be.

You see, ACTUALLY caring about people is a drag and can lead to being a loser. It’s much better to take your heart and kill its caring capacity in order to do what’s needed to be a winning leader like Engen.

The newspaper itself–the Missoula Independent–is a good example of what happens to things that oppose winners like Engen: they die.

Or, to be a little more accurate, the Indy was killed by Engen enablers, like Matt Gibson and Jim Strauss, the respective publishers who scorched the Indy earth and salted the digital archives.

Here’s the Missoulian publisher, Jim Strauss, tweeting about having to take PTO because of Missoula’s daycare shortage:

Instead of being appreciative of being a well-paid information gatekeeper, Jim is on Twitter complaining about taking PTO for two days.

Has his newspaper put pressure on the Missoula County Sheriff’s Department to release information about the lethal use force against Johnny Lee Perry on August 29th?

No, the Missoulian reporter I spoke to never followed up with me regarding what I know about Johnny’s death. Does the Missoulian want to REPORT on what’s happening in this town, or PROTECT the political establishment?

That’s a rhetorical question.

I am so excited for four more years of Engen. Just look at what he’s accomplished already during his 16 year reign!

Good things are coming, Missoula.

Thanks for reading.

by Travis Mateer

The post I was GOING to write today is not the post I ended up writing. The topic is the same–technology in Missoula–but the focus changed.

It started with a “non-profit” that won a business accelerator thing, then added a venture capitalist with a write-up in Forbes. EXCITING STUFF!

A nonprofit dedicated to creating jobs and growing Montana’s technology sector won the Growth Accelerator Fund competition hosted by the Small Business Association and will receive funding to expand its state programs.

Early Stage Montana, founded in 2018, also added Tracy Chadwell to its board of directors. Chadwell, a venture capitalist and founding partner of 1843 Capitol, has been recognized in both Forbes and Entrepreneur magazines.

Jenni Graff, executive director of Early Stage Montana, said recognition by the SBA will include $50,000 to help the nonprofit expand its reach. The prizes are awarded to accelerator programs working with fledgling companies in areas of research and development, and STEM.

Jenni Graff has been around the tech-scene for many years now doing all sorts of things, and it’s what she was up to in 2018 that piqued my interest.

At the same time Early Stage Montana was founded, Graff took a job with an Israeli tech firm that specializes in predictive analytic for defense and health care, a nice pairing from a nice country that uses technology to make the world a better place.

To take advantage of this business opportunity, Graff left her job at the Missoula Economic Partnership to help this Israeli tech firm open up its first office in America:

Jenni Graff, who joined MEP in 2016, will mark her last day with the organization on Friday. She’ll join 4Cast in mid-October as project manager.

“My title is project manager, officially, but I’m kind of anything and everything they need to get their first paying client in the U.S.,” Graff told the Missoula Current. “After helping businesses grow and expand in Missoula for the past few years, I am looking forward to directly impacting (4Cast’s) expansion into the U.S. market, and growing professionally with the company.”

In addition to Graff’s personal growth with this Israeli company, the company itself was supposed to hire 100 people. Here’s another article touting the arrival of 4Cast:

The company, known as 4Cast, will develop predictive analytics aimed at homeland security, defense and healthcare. The firm plans to launch its U.S. office in June and hire 100 employees over the coming years.

The company’s office location has not yet been announced.

“They’ll be back here this summer with intention to open and start hiring sales and software developers in May,” Jenni Graff, economic development director with the Missoula Economic Partnership, said Monday. “It all makes sense now why we’ve been so bullish on tech-sector growth in Missoula.”

So, after nearly 4 years, has 4Cast hit its 100 person target for hiring? I don’t know, there hasn’t been any significant reporting on this claim, but Jenni Graff is certainly still around, moving like a pinball amongst the tech-funders.

For example, earlier this year, when Graff joined Early Stage Montana, Pat LaPointe and Frontier Angels was mentioned:

Jenni Graff, a University of Montana graduate who formerly worked with Missoula Economic Partnership, will serve as Early Stage Montana’s new director. Adam Gilbertson of Laurel and Dan Rausch of Sioux Falls will also join the organization’s board of directors.

Pat LaPointe, board president of Early Stage Montana and the managing director of Frontier Angels, said the additions will help expand and accelerate the organization’s mission.

“All three are successful leaders and ‘connectors’ in the tech community who will help us grow Montana’s tech ecosystem, create quality jobs in Montana communities, and diversify our economic foundations for the future,” he said.

When you start digging into Frontier Angels and the tech-work being done in Montana, you get to “charitable” set-ups, like Blackstone’s University launchpads.

Is this work tied to THE Blackstone Group? I believe so, but with these massive conglomerates, it can be hard to track. Here’s some more context:

Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms headquartered in New York, New York. Blackstone LaunchPad is funded by Blackstone Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Blackstone. The Blackstone Charitable Foundation was founded at the time of Blackstone’s IPO in 2007 with substantial commitments from the Firm’s employees. Influenced by the enterprising heritage of the firm and its founders, The Blackstone Charitable Foundation is directing its resources and applying the intellectual capital of the firm to foster entrepreneurship in areas nationwide and globally. Through its investment expertise across several asset classes and geographies, Blackstone has a unique perspective on the global economy and a heightened understanding of how entrepreneurial activity is often the crucial catalyst in the growth of successful businesses, industries, and communities.

And here’s the UN a few years ago accusing Blackstone of contributing to the GLOBAL housing crisis:

The UN’s housing advisor has accused private equity firms and one of the world’s largest corporate residential landlords, Blackstone Group, of exploiting tenants, “wreaking havoc” in communities and helping to fuel a global housing crisis.

In a stinging critique of the role of private equity in the housing market UN rapporteur Leilani Farha and co-author Surya Deva, chairperson of the UN Working Group, singled out Blackstone’s business practices – which they claim include massively inflating rents and imposing an array of heavy fees and charges for ordinary repairs – as having “devastating consequences” for many tenants in countries around the world.

Wow, pretty impressive, huh? And I don’t mean the ruthlessness of conglomerates like Blackstone. What impresses me is how all this context is NEVER a part of the stories being told by the tech cheerleaders and their propaganda enablers at online “news” outlets like the Missoula Current.

While Martin Kidston champions the latest developments in tech (while dutifully avoiding any follow-up reporting that might undermine brash claims of how many people these tech-saviors are hiring locally), the director of the YWCA has been reduced to begging landlords to rent to the families they are evicting from the shelter.

That’s right, the brand new shelter that took millions in donations to build is already doing this to some of its families:

A single mom in Western Montana is speaking out after she said she and her children are being kicked out of a local shelter, just as the temperatures start to drop.

Due to capacity problems at Missoula’s YWCA Meadowlark, four families, including Jessica Waltz and her three kids, are being evicted.

Waltz says she has until Oct. 29 to raise money to stay in a hotel or find a rental place. But with Missoula’s current housing crisis, finding a place that’s affordable and big enough for her family, is nearly impossible.

And what is the director, Cindy Weese, going to do about this? Will she do something radical, like suggest Missoula HOLD OFF on bringing in Afghan refugees?

No, of course not. The non-profit sector is occupied territory of the Woke Cult, so all Weese can do is “hope” that property managers will just magically lower the rent:

YWCA Executive Director Cindy Weese said a waitlist that continues to grow, left them with no choice.

“We cannot offer long-term shelter for families and still give every family who is homeless a chance to get back on their feet,” Weese said.

…

Weese added that the rental market in Missoula isn’t making things any easier and she hopes Missoula area property managers will consider lowering rent for families in need.

Instead of delivering empty hope while evicting families in the cold, Cindy Weese could actually advocate for her clients by telling Missoula’s braintrust that figurative slices of pie-in-the-sky won’t actually nourish homeless families, but doing that would risk the wrath of the petty tyrants who run this town, so she keeps it simple and impotent.

Just the way our Mayor for life likes it.

by Travis Mateer

Yes, that’s right, I’ll be risking the wrath of Merrick today by going to the Missoula County courthouse to hold a sign. I still have the right to do that, just like Sara still has the right to text me every day, clueless, I guess, that we’ve broken up.

I like chatting with people, so if anyone wants to show up and talk, I’m all for it. But I must warn you that I am UNCLEAN.

I’m not talking about missing my morning shower routine. No, according to the SECOND lawsuit filed to invalidate Montana’s ban on forcing jabs on the unwilling, the Netzer law people on the eastern side of the state want to make sure their working environment is CLEAN. From the link:

The suit, filed Tuesday in state District Court by a law firm with offices in Sidney and Billings, says the new law violates constitutional guarantees to a clean and healthful environment, by prohibiting employers from ensuring their workers and customers are protected from communicable disease.

Because Netzer Law is prohibited from requiring employees to be vaccinated, it is “legally prohibited from taking measure to protect its employees from coming into contact with unvaccinated fellow employees or potential new employees that are unvaccinated, or from unvaccinated members of the public wishing to use their services,” the suit said.

The emphasis on the Nazi-esque part that makes the law firm advocating for medical apartheid sound like the Aryan Brotherhood is all mine.

Anyway, I’m running late, so I gotta wrap up this missive to my unclean brethren before I go meet up with ’em where the injustice peddlers conspire.

Adios.

by Travis Mateer

Instead of trying to move my Zoom Town podcasts, currently living on the Anchor platform, to the new platform I’m using (Transistor), I decided to create a new podcast that I envision will be the MOTHERSHIP of my podcasting efforts.

Zoom Chron will be moving beyond local politics, which is a fucking drag, to better chronicle the micro peculiarities of place and how these peculiarities fit into the larger patchwork of the meta-narrative.

Thank you for listening.