Month: April 2022

by Travis Mateer

A few weeks ago I was tagged on a tweet that led me from this article about Mothers Against Drug Deaths (and what they’ve uncovered) to the website of one of the organizations getting serious government loot to do whatever the fuck it is government officials think they’re doing to “combat” the cruel carousel of addiction, incarceration and homelessness.

Before I get to Urban Alchemy and the creepy logo, let’s examine a bit of the insanity being uncovered by Mothers Against Drug Deaths, starting with the safe injection site.

Attached to the center is an open-air drug consumption area, where addicts lie on the ground or slumped in plastic chairs all day.

They’re provided all the tools necessary to continue using — needles, foil, pipes and more.

There are also drugs available.

Directly across the plaza is the largest open-air drug market in the city.

If you haven’t seen it for yourself, it’s hard to believe. At least 100 drug dealers standing in the bright sunshine – without any fear of police.

Anyone that knows anything about addiction would find this unfathomable.

Yes, fathoming is difficult when you make logical but erroneous assumptions about what the intent of these programs and the money going to the organizations is all about.

Now, let’s get to the SUPPOSED intent of Urban Alchemy, which has this eye peering at you for its logo:

Here is some of the content from the website, like the general intent of the organization:

And who they are seeking to employ:

Nice sounding language, slick online design. Great. But what about, you know, stuff like RESULTS?

Going back to the MADD moms, here are some of the absolutely pathetic numbers their efforts have uncovered:

According to the city’s own records, which we have compiled, out of 23,000-plus visits to the linkage center since it opened in December, only 18 people have received medical treatment for substance abuse or have been successfully referred to rehab. And we don’t even know if those 18 people are clean today, because there’s no way to track them.

While Missoula is significantly scaled down, would it surprise you, dear reader, to know that I have, in my possession, numbers ALMOST as pathetic as the excerpt above? Well, I do, but a conversation I had a few weeks ago convinced me that exposing the joke of a certain phone resource might dissuade someone from trying to actually utilize it, so for now I’m sitting on the numbers.

Going back to the logo, maybe the creepy eye is a way to make it more memorable? If that’s the case, then I commend the LifeGuard Group for going with this:

Since I was having trouble putting my finger on what I was getting from this image, I did a few searches and found something that might be applicable: the fascist color palette. From the link:

Since sometimes visual symbolism is more effective than words, I decided to make a graphic comparison using “The Fascist Color Palette”- consisting of black, red, & white.

These colors subconsciously represent danger and power. They were used most notably by the Nazi Party, and also by George Lucas in Star Wars to visually define The Galactic Empire- controlled by the quintessential fascist dictator, Emperor Palpatine and his fellow Sith Lord, Darth Vader.

Is this the vibe I’m getting? Or is it more like aliens emerging from the red glow of their space ship?

And what kind of people would the LifeGuard Group like to employ? Under opportunities, the in-house manager position for the Crooked Tree Ranch is still being advertised. Here’s the less than grammatically sound overview of the position (emphasis NOT mine):

The LifeGuard Group is committed to identifying and responding to the needs of individuals at-risk of human trafficking and/or exploitation and those working to transition out of the life of human trafficking. The LifeHouse In-Home Manager is responsible for the daily operations of the safe house, as well as working with the Case Manager to develop case management and care plans for each client of The LifeHouse.

This position is most vital in the operation of The LifeHouse as well as the overall mission of The LifeGuard Group. This position will set the tone and culture for The LifeHouse. Dealing with multiple persons as well as multiple personalities can be very challenging. Patience and courage are of the utmost significance. In-Home Manager are expected to maintain a high level of presence within the home and act as an immediate resource to clients. Ongoing training will be required and provided.  

Ideal candidates are familiar with victim centered assistance and trauma. Beneficial to have exposure working on a farm/ranch environment, and have some experience in outdoor recreational activities (hiking, snow shoeing, gardening, fishing, etc.). Previous work experience in youth/adult mentoring is preferred but not required. Candidates must be patient, innovative, collaborative, detail oriented, able to handle multiple tasks, and remain calm and competent in stressful/crisis situations; must maintain appropriate example to residents in all areas of personal conduct and appearance; must display leadership and supervisory qualities.

As I combed through the specific duties and education requirements, this part jumped out at me:

Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including ability to effectively communicate with residents and outside contractors. 

This time the emphasis is mine because I’m wondering how many outside contractors will be needed. Did I forget to mention that the Crooked Tree Ranch is supposed to be a “safe house” for victims of human trafficking?

While much of my writing–especially about these jokers–tends to be fairly critical, I have managed to make ONE positive observation about this group, and that’s how they seem to be bringing together unlikely political allies.

How else to explain the financial support by the Gianforte foundation PLUS the political/law enforcement cover provided by the Missoula County Sheriff’s Department, where the Sheriffs have recently run, and are currently running, as Democrats?

Did I forget to mention the CEO of the LifeGuard Group, Lowell Hochhalter, is ALSO the chaplain for the Sheriff’s Department?

Maybe I’m missing something. Is there some not-happening power flex I’m not aware of?

I don’t know, but I sure find all this to be pretty damn inspirational, which is why I’m writing so many poems and songs.

Which reminds me, I’ve got a special poem coming this Friday, so stay tuned and thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

In lieu of a new podcast episode of Zoom Chron, here is a poem/song I recorded earlier today. Lyrics below. Enjoy!

https://player.vimeo.com/video/700814626?h=55deea1d6d&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479

the give-a-shit for God grift
hop on horse, helmet shines
Lancelot takes alley shifts
jousting hard for maiden time

shits to give, you helpless waif 
crunch like godly cracker bones
crooked trees are really safe 
you'll never, EVER be alone 

questioning makes Jesus sad
blind obedience, that's our jam
digging gardens for hold dad 
makes him happy as a clam 

but digging into closet space?
you must be holding Satan's hand
to smite you would be such a waste 
no, we're forming other plans 

taskforce, Governor, hotlines, schools
we can flex where money's weak
gonzo pens and mocking screens 
are aberrations we seek to tweak

unless the guts of spineless yes
turns from jelly into steel
our hatrack will have masks and vests
and LOTS of marketing sex appeal

by Travis Mateer

Once upon a time Alex Sakariassen wrote for the Missoula Independent, but those days are long gone. Now he’s at a dot org that claims to be FREE while also providing context and care.

The piece Sakariassen penned (which got picked up by Gomer’s platform) is an unintentional example of WHY people like Jill Taber and Amy Livesay are getting directly involved in school board politics–to claw some control back for parents like me who saw what these little tyrants were capable of when the fear fog descended.

A very important aspect of tyrant control is controlling the narrative, and that’s where reporters like Alex come in. Here is an excerpt from the article where the reporter frames the reason for the intensity of this year’s school board election:

Public health measures adopted by schools during the pandemic became a flashpoint for parents nationwide, sparking organized opposition to mandatory masking and vaccination requirements. Remote instruction gave families a more intimate look inside their children’s classrooms, and some parents didn’t agree with everything they saw. The past two years have transformed public education into one of the most politically divisive arenas of our time, and school board seats are increasingly seen as an opportunity to either fix a wayward and unresponsive system or reaffirm a commitment to long-standing educational tenets.

While I don’t disagree with this framing, I do think a disconnect that I’ve seen in local reporting is the seeming downplaying of just how disruptive and absurd those “public health measures” were to parents, including the absolute madness of remote instruction.

Where THIS article gets a little politically desperate is in the next paragraph, where the two camps are described thusly:

Despite the nonpartisan nature of school board races, various candidates interviewed by Montana Free Press in Missoula County agree that in 2022, two distinct camps have emerged along partisan lines: One inspired by the same concerns driving Montana’s nascent parental rights movement, and the other voicing a desire to depoliticize education and resist what it perceives as a regressive social agenda.

Yes, that’s right, Alex Sakariassen wants you to think people like Grace Decker are trying to DEPOLITICIZE education. That’s fucking hilarious, Alex. Also, demonstrably untrue.

Alex goes on to reference the infamous Crosspoint Church incident that can ONLY be told in the one-side manner the narrative controllers have succeeded in establishing, excluding the inconvenient fact a State Rep. (Danny Tenenbaum) snuck into the church that evening and secretly recorded the event against the church’s stated wishes.

Nope, that fact is no where in this retelling of what transpired:

Last November, Livesay and Gehl told a gathering of parental rights activists at Missoula’s Crosspoint Community Church that the 2022 school election presents a unique opportunity to reshape public education. Claim six seats on the MCPS board, they said, and they could push back against the forces that had enacted a district-wide mask mandate that fall. It was the same event where Missoula attorney Quentin Rhoades quipped that people should “shoot” superintendents they didn’t agree with — a comment he later retracted, and that Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen, who was also in attendance, publicly condemned.

Yes, what a lawyer SAID got all the attention, while the ACTION of the State Rep. went totally unreported.

What kind of message do you think this sends members of that congregation? I know what kind of message the FREE press is sending out about this event because here’s more “context” the Montana Free Press is delivering to its readers (with care, of course):

That evening at Crosspoint has become a pivotal moment connecting Livesay, Gehl and elementary district candidate Jill Taber to the broader parental rights movement. Their November discussion at the church, where Livesay and Gehl had previously expounded on the benefits of homeschooling their children, was promoted by the Western Montana Liberty Coalition. The conservative grassroots group advocates for parental rights and lauds Livesay, Gehl and Taber as “the future leaders [of] our government financed school system.” The coalition’s website includes links to several far-right groups that deny the science behind COVID-19 vaccination and perpetuate allegations of voting irregularities in Missoula County’s 2020 election.

Oh shit, do you see that? FAR-RIGHT GROUPS! If that wasn’t bad enough, there’s more worrying political considerations for TMFP to tell you about further down in the article.

The strongest nod yet to the camp’s conservative alignment arrived this week when some Missoula voters received text messages encouraging support for Taber’s candidacy. The text campaign was paid for by Leadership in Action, a Helena-based political action committee that, according to its website, “supports conservative candidates up and down the ballot that have the integrity, vision and grit to get Montana and our country back on track.” The PAC lists Attorney General Austin Knudsen as its “honorary chairman.” 

So, this former Indy reporter has successfully ferreted out the conservative leaning of some school board candidates while simultaneously framing the other side as hilariously trying to “depoliticize” the school board.

What a bunch of crap.

I had been meaning to get a candidate for the school board on my podcast, but I’m still tech-challenged at the moment, so that got back-burnered and won’t be happening today.

BUT later today I will have a song posting about the business of saving people. So stay tuned.

And thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

The topic of this post might seem like a difficult thing to discuss–things NOT happening–but I assure you it’s a phenomenon that exists, and in a variety of contexts.

For example, speaking as a privileged white man, much of my power is derived from a whole plethora of things that DO NOT and DID NOT happen to me, starting at an early age.

Now that I’ve established my expertise in this field of things not happening, let’s take a look at the criminal justice system, where a lot of curious not-happenings occur. Or don’t occur, as it were.

While not prosecuting someone who committed a crime is a good example of the power of things not happening, specific cases, like missing persons cases, can offer different insights into this power.

In the Jermain Charlo case, which I wrote about last week, one of the things that didn’t happen was the timely use of cadaver dogs. The reason given by Guy Baker was that he wanted to use the higher grade FBI dogs instead of the sad mutts I assume the Missoula County Sheriff’s Department have.

One of the things that DID happen in the Charlo case was the early and ENTHUSIASTIC involvement of the LifeGuard Group. If you listen to the STOLEN podcast, the enthusiasm exhibited by Lowell Hochhalter–that his group would succeed in finding Jermain Charlo–feels borderline pathological.

The successes for the LifeGuard Group are communicated to the public through Facebook. When I went scrolling to the weeks and months after Rebekah Barsotti went missing near the end of July, 2021, the NOT HAPPENING, in hindsight, now feels palpable.

So, what WAS happening around this time in LifeGuard Group world?

Yep, on July 28th, the important thing to note was a new board member. And the following month, one of the important things happening in LifeGuard World was registering people for a golf event.

Things not happening can be even more conspicuous and fucked up than this, like the call that never came for the family of Sean Stevenson before he was removed from life support at St. Patrick’s hospital. I still marvel how few people in this town know that story, but I have strong faith that will soon be changing.

Not everything that doesn’t happen is clouded in seemingly nefarious intent. I’m not drowning my feelings in box wine, for example, despite storms of personal magnitude rocking my world.

But overall, from my current perch, the not-happenings in the criminal justice system are incredibly ominous and pushing some good people into a network of shady operators for answers they may never get because too many people have learned that non-action is a fairly decent survival strategy.

I can’t say I blame them.

Thanks for reading.

by Travis Mateer

I find myself in the strangest and most wondrous place in my life right now.

But until the time is right for sharing a glimpse of the rising miracle, I want to share another magical conjuring I’ve made in the form of a song application for the Missoula County Sheriff’s Department.

Why?

Because I REALLY want to figure out what this guy is up to:

Yes, on a day like this, shouldn’t we ALL hope that by the grace of a higher power our souls may find redemption for what we’ve done here on earth?

Now, who wants to give me a REAL badge?

https://player.vimeo.com/video/700152304?h=b49992d745&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479