Month: February 2023

by Travis Mateer

This interview with William Ramsey was recorded on February 22nd and covers a wide range of occult topics. To accompany this interview I’d like to offer a few companion articles to consider. The first one is from the Religious News Service and it’s about the rise of Christian Nationalism in Idaho. From the link:

North Idaho has long been known for its hyperlibertarians, apocalyptic “preppers” and white supremacist groups who have retreated to the region’s sweeping frozen lakes and wild forests to await the collapse of American society, when they’ll assert control over what remains.

But in recent years, the state’s existing separatists have been joined by conservatives fleeing bluer Western states, opportunistic faith leaders, real-estate developers and, most recently, those opposed to COVID-19 restrictions and vaccines. Though few arrived carrying Christian nationalist banners, many have quickly adopted aspects of the ideology to advance conservative causes and seek strength in unity.

The origin of North Idaho’s relationship with contemporary Christian nationalism can be traced to a 2011 blog post published by survivalist author James Wesley, Rawles (the comma is his addition). Titled “The American Redoubt — Move to the Mountain States,” Rawles’ 4,000-word treatise called on conservative followers to pursue “exit strategies” from liberal states and move to “safe havens” in the American Northwest — specifically Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and eastern sections of Oregon and Washington. He dubbed the imagined region the “American Redoubt” and listed Christianity as a pillar of his society-to-be.

The next piece is an essay by Naomi Wolf, which you can read at her Substack page. Here is an excerpt near the beginning where Wolf explains how the events of 2020 led her to consider an idea of non-human agency at work:

I could not explain the way the Western world simply switched, from being based at least overtly on values of human rights and decency, to values of death, exclusion and hatred, overnight, en masse — without resorting to reference to some metaphysical evil that goes above and beyond fallible, blundering human agency.

When ordinary would-be-tyrants try to take over societies, there is always some flaw, some human impulse undoing the headlong rush toward a negative goal. There are always factions, or rogue lieutenants, in ordinary human history; there is always a miscalculation, or a blunder, or a security breach; or differences of opinion at the top. Mussolini’s power was impaired in his entry to the Second World War by being forced to share the role of military commander with King Victor Immanuel [https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/fascist-king-victor-emmanuel-iii-italy]; Hitler miscalculated his ability to master the Russian weather — right down to overlooking how badly his soldiers’ stylish but flimsy uniforms would stand up to extreme cold. [https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/hitlers-winter-blunder/]. Before he could mount a counter-revolution against Stalinism, Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico City in his bath. [https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/leon-trotsky-assassinated-mexico]

But none of that fracturing or mismanagement of normal history took place in the global rush to “lockdowns”, the rollout of COVID hysteria, of “mandates”, masking, of global child abuse, of legacy media lying internationally at scale and all lying in one direction, of thousands of “trusted messengers” parroting a single script, and of forced or coerced mRNA injections into at least half of the humans on Planet Earth.

I reluctantly came to the conclusion that human agency alone could not coordinate a highly complicated set of lies about a virus, and propagate the lies in perfect uniformity around an entire globe, in hundreds of languages and dialects.

Naomi Wolf, who is Jewish, goes on to describe her impression that being God’s chosen people isn’t an “eternal hall pass” to do whatever one wants. Instead she describes the covenant between followers of God and their supreme divinity as a two-way agreement, meaning the protection extended to covenant-abiding people can be taken away if the deal isn’t honored.

If you don’t think this country is on a fast-track to hell, a few minute on Twitter should be enough to make you question our secular strategies, like what’s happening in today’s schools. Here’s just one Tweet I came across that fucked me up as I was working on this post:

If you’re focusing on the RACE or the GENDER of the aggressor/victim dynamic in this act of evil violence then I think you are missing the larger spiritual forces at play. Or maybe you think spiritual considerations are dumb and without merit in the first place and it’s ONLY about race and gender.

If you gravitate toward the latter interpretation of the violence above, then you’re probably going to see the “American Redoubt” movement as some racist, misogynist retreat by white dudes to play with their guns in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. And maybe you’re right, but even IF that assessment is accurate, that doesn’t automatically mean the idea of a broken covenant with God, and the removal of divine protection, is something to abandon.

After seeing the atrocious video clip above, I came across an article about the Redoubt Movement on Twitter. This article came to me via a scholarly Buddhist I remember from my college days at UM.

From the link:

“I am a separatist, but on religious lines, not racial ones,” Rawles writes. “I have made it abundantly clear throughout the course of my writings that I am an anti-racist. Christians of all races are welcome to be my neighbors. I also welcome Orthodox Jews and Messianic Jews, because we share the same moral framework.”

It is the racial aspects of encouraging people to move to a predominantly white area that has some critics questioning Rawles’ motives. In response, Rawles again emphasizes the religious drive behind the movement.

“I’m a white guy,” he writes. “But I have much more in common with black Baptists or Chinese Lutherans than I do with white Buddhists or white New Age crystal channelers.”

Beneath the tangible guidelines of food storage, self-sufficient energy sources, homeschooling and the like, Rawles’ writings — including the Redoubt essay — conclude with the reminder that a true Redoubter has strong faith. Prayer is as essential as land, food and water for a genuine Rawles-esque survivalist living in the American Redoubt.

“I am hopeful that it is in God’s providential will to extend his covenantal blessings to the American Redoubt,” he writes. “And even if God has withdrawn his blessings from our nation as a whole, he will continue to provide for and to protect His remnant.”

I hope these articles, and the interview with William Ramsey, gets you thinking about what’s happening to this country, and why. I know I’m thinking about it, especially as it relates to my own children, and this will DEFINITELY be a part of the conversation during this week’s review of local headlines, which will be available on Sunday.

If you see value in the work I’m doing here, and would like to support my efforts, please consider making a financial donation at my about page.

And stay tuned, there is SO MUCH MORE to come!

by Travis Mateer

Before attending Tuesday’s Transportation Policy Coordinating Committee meeting I already knew the Missoula Redevelopment Agency was planning on contributing a million dollars to sweeten the application for Federal RAISE money, but I didn’t know the local match was NOT a requirement for the grant. Here’s some context from Martin “Gomer” Kidston about this grant process (emphasis mine):

In hopes of presenting a strong application for a federal transportation grant, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency and other downtown partners plan to offer a small local match in hopes of landing a larger pot of funding.

Earlier this month, the City Council signed off on the preferred design for changes to a number of downtown streets, including Higgins Avenue, and Front and Main streets. In doing so, it cleared the way for transportation officials to apply for a $25 million RAISE grant.

Referring to a million dollars as a “small” local match might seem galling to anyone living paycheck to paycheck, but it really is small when we’re talking about transportation infrastructure and the quarter BILLION that could be at play to develop transportation infrastructure in our region.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Travis, you must be hallucinating this high dollar amount, because the quote above only mentions $25 million, not $250 million. While it’s true I suck at math, I assure you, dear reader, I am not adding an extra zero by accident. Nope, I distinctly recall City Council member, Mirtha Becerra, asking Aaron Wilson (after his presentation) how much the Regional Federal Grant Priorities Strategy was talking about, and Wilson said $200-$250 million dollars. And he did not stutter.

Our Multi-Modal Radical Placeholder Mayor, Jordan Hess, also didn’t stutter (because it’s a written letter) when he composed his transportation ode to Secretary Buttigieg about WHY it would be so great to give the planners $25 million dollars. The portion of the letter I’m highlighting shows how long a scheme, like the Higgins Lane Reduction Plan, is seeded, and which committees it appears in before drawing the ire of local businesses.

When our elected officials express frustration that the public just doesn’t understand the nature of the work done with their tax dollars, they aren’t wrong. But who is going to attend these boring-ass meetings to glean and contextualize with a critical eye what’s happening in these “public” spaces?

On Tuesday the answer to that question was me. I not only attended this boring-ass meeting, I also made public comments so anyone watching knew a citizen of Missoula was NOT enthusiastic about 15 minute cities, red light cameras, and using MRA money as a local match for Federal funds.

There was one thing I DID express enthusiasm for, and that’s the insightful writing of Richard Florida. I absolutely LOVE me some DICK FLORIDA! But probably not as much as our Multi-Modal Placeholder Mayor, who probably has a book by this proud gentrifier sitting on his nightstand. I’m just speculating here.

I was in such a generous-feeling mood on Tuesday I did some unusual things, like sustain an appropriate tone of voice throughout my entire commentary! I also acknowledged the limitations of the public exchange (I wanted an update on the South Street bridge project), offered to lend anyone a copy of my Dick Florida books, and concluded my second comment with a thank you.

If anyone doubts my possession of Dick Florida hard-copies, here is a picture of the gentrification sub-section of my library:

I pulled one of Dick’s books from the shelf–THE NEW URBAN CRISIS–and flipped it to the chapter titled Gentrification And Its Discontents. Here is an excerpt worth considering as it relates to today’s post:

Ultimately, gentrification is the product of forces that go far beyond the individual desires and preferences of the young, educated, and affluent who are moving into cities today, or of the artists and musicians who occupied the lofts of the 1970s and 1980s. Gentrification is shaped by much bigger and broader forces, among them the large-scale public and private investments that structure the choices individuals make, and in doing so, alter the trajectories of neighborhoods and cities.

The location of transit lines, for example, have long shaped real estate development patterns. A century ago, streetcar lines shaped the location of early suburbs. Today, transit similarly spurs gentrification by encouraging the clustering of affluence people around it.

I really enjoy having these books on-hand because they provide a unique insight into the thinking of Multi-Modal Zealots (MMZs) and their plans to transform our towns and cities in accordance with their vision. In fact, I’m so excited about contextualizing transportation infrastructure in compelling ways that I even found a way to work it in to the conversation I had yesterday with author and occult researcher, William Ramsey, which I’ll be posting tomorrow.

If you listen to just the MMZs and their titular leader, placeholder Mayor Hess, you’ll get the SAME regurgitated bullshit year after year. To exemplify what I’m talking about, here’s Hess on his most recent KGVO appearance sounding like EVERY OTHER TIME he’s appeared (like his predecessor) to complain about state legislators and property taxes. From the link (emphasis mine):

On February 22, 2023, before his monthly ‘Wednesdays With the Mayor’ program, City of Missoula Mayor Jordan Hess stopped by the KGVO studio and provided a brief preview of what would be discussed later that evening. According to Hess, this month’s discussion was all about property tax reform.

“We are solely reliant on property taxes in the state of Montana,” Hess said. “96.5% of Montana municipalities’ general fund revenue comes from property taxes compared to about 70% in other states. What we really want to talk about is thoughtful reform so that we can come up with other revenue sources and get property taxes lower. That is going to take legislative intervention though.”

This regurgitation of the state scapegoat scheme came just one day after I appeared at the Transportation Coordination Committee where my comments ALSO included a warning to Hess and company that the state legislators were NOT going to provide any of the relief they’re seeking. If you think this notion makes them sad, think again. I think our more astute elected deflectors actually appreciate having a consistent municipal scapegoat to redirect citizen anger at.

If you appreciate the style of my independent journalism, like how I’m using their Dick Floridas against them, then please consider making a financial donation at my about page. And stay tuned for tomorrow’s special interview with William Ramsey! You can already hear the interview at his RSS feed, but it won’t have the ukulele intro I just recorded this morning, so stick around for that musical magic.

And thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

I have a simple, one-word explanation for why Project Veritas imploded: growth. If that doesn’t jive with what you’re hearing or thinking, let me explain.

After watching this develop online, and viewing O’Keefe’s farewell speech, I agree that the curious timing of the board coup–which came just a few days after his organization’s biggest exposure to date about Pfizer–points to something fishy going on behind the scenes. The details shared by O’Keefe further indicate his ouster was a messy professional assassination carried out in BAD faith by gaslighting board members. So why am I blaming GROWTH for what happened to O’Keefe?

The meteoric financial growth of Project Veritas’ “non-profit” organization is what allowed the variables of individual board members to infiltrate the organization. On paper the financial growth looks like an objectively good thing, but is it?

Another way to think about this is portion control, especially as it relates to a child’s desire for delicious food items. Ever hear someone say your EYES are bigger than your STOMACH? Well, take that idea and apply it to a $22,034,786 operating budget for this “non-profit” and ask yourself if this growth was either necessary or, in hindsight of O’Keefe’s ouster, worth it. Maybe it WAS worth it in order to pry some priceless insights from a despicable Big Pharma corporation.

I’ll also acknowledge that my own perception of this drama is colored by my less than impressive efforts to monetize my own content creation, and part of this difficulty I attribute to keeping my focus (and thus, my potential audience) on local, or regional, issues.

This conscious decision can be seen in the re-boot of my podcast, which is now a weekly review of LOCAL headlines, touching on bigger things when appropriate. I’m still going to do interviews with people that interest me OUTSIDE the borders of Zoom Town, but that will be like bonus content. Or should I say PREMIUM content, perhaps on a platform like Patreon?

It’s difficult for me to see the numbers O’Keefe generated and to feel much sympathy for his coerced departure. Flashy hidden camera videos aren’t pushing a resistance to totalitarianism where it needs to be, which is EVERY local municipality where the ostensibly “good” intentions of technocratic city planners are boringly weaving the noose that will ultimately choke out those last semblances of choice and freedom we took for granted during the brief span of this country.

It’s been an immense sacrifice, both personally and professionally, to independently sustain my local resistance to what’s coming. Where other podcasters and content creators merely TALK about the need to attend local City Councils, I actually DO it, like yesterday’s Transportation Coordination Committee where I made public comment about 15 minute cities and Tax Increment Financing (more on this in a later post).

I don’t plan on putting blog posts, or the Week in Review, behind a paywall, but I am scheming on how to entice potential “patrons” to subscribe to different tiers for premium content. One idea I’m considering adapting from the Grimerica guys is reading long excerpts from books and offering the audio as premium content. I wouldn’t go the full audio book route, like they do, but would select sections or chapters to highlight, then offer the ability (locals only) to check out the hard copy for further reading.

Another direction I’m considering is more video-oriented content, but that can be time intensive. Luckily I’m meeting with some creatives this week to explore areas of collaboration because the brick world I’m building is begging to come to life with some imagination and low-budget humor. Yes, we definitely need to LAUGH more as it becomes more and more apparent we are under direct attack.

If you’d like to assist my efforts, like the $25 dollar donation I just received recently (thank you!), then go to my about page and make the clicks. Is it a lot to ask? Sure, but I’m working for it on the faith that the truth of what’s happening still matters.

Thank you for reading.

by Travis Mateer

I was a little shocked to see an image of Wally Congdon addressing Mineral County Commissioners at the Missoula “news” website, Missoula Current, but I set aside my shock to get to the following question: why is this Deputy Attorney/hall of fame cowboy telling Commissioners about the consequence of NOT suing a private landowner?

From the link:

Mineral County is taking legal action to open a section of county road that’s been illegally blocked for years, thanks to the groundwork of some concerned citizens.

On Friday afternoon, Mineral County commissioners voted unanimously to have Deputy County Attorney Wally Congdon sue landowner Paul Wheaton to get him to relinquish the county right-of-way along about 1 mile of the Cyr Iron Mountain Road, also known as Forest Service Road 344 south of Interstate 90 east of Superior.

About a dozen people attended the meeting to back Congdon’s proposal, including locals and representatives of the Montana Backcountry Horsemen, Hellgate Hunters and Anglers, Public Land Water Access Association, and the Big Sky Upland Bird Association. Wheaton did not attend.

Before getting to who Paul Wheaton is, and why I think what he’s doing with his land is interesting, I want to add a little political context to the issue of accessing public lands in Montana because the recent history of this issue has largely benefited Democrats, especially considering our current Governor has provided fodder for the framing of this issue, pitting out-of-state wealth against average Montanans who want to maintain their proud heritage of accessing public lands to hunt and recreate.

The link above is to a Missoulian article from May of 2016. Back then a liberal blog called Montana Cowgirl brought awareness to a 2009 lawsuit in which Greg Gianforte sued Fish, Wildlife and Parks because of claims an easement near his property was leading to damaging land incursions for this wealthy property owner who wanted to be Montana’s Governor. From the link:

Gov. Steve Bullock and Democratic organizers took aim at Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte on Monday after an anonymous liberal blog surfaced a 2009 lawsuit filed by a family-owned company to kill a public access easement in Bozeman.

East Gallatin LLC sued Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in May 2009 to remove an easement that provided public access along the East Gallatin River, arguing that users were damaging adjacent land, the original 1993 agreement by a previous owner was invalid and that the public had sufficient access via two other nearby sites. The complaint was filed to create a foothold for a case, but the papers were never served to the agency.

The dispute was resolved after a department visit to the site in July 2009 led to trail and fence upgrades that did a better job keeping users off the rest of the Gianforte property and the agency updated records on the easement boundaries, according to state documents requested by the State Bureau.

The reason I find this context interesting is because the political dynamics seem to be reversed in the case developing in Mineral County. Or maybe I’m reading too much into the political leaning of the Paul Wheaton who runs Wheaton Labs.

I don’t really care what kind of politics this “Mad Scientist” subscribes to, or what he does on his land. Permaculture is a pretty cool topic (NO sarcasm there), but maybe there is a reason this guy doesn’t want the locals of this conservative, rural county to come near his “experiments”.

I’ll preface my friendly warning to Paul Wheaton with a movie suggestion: watch God’s Country. It’s a movie that may have some helpful cultural context for what might develop, since I know at least one person who thinks Mineral County was the inspiration for this film.

Now, here’s the warning. In Mineral County there are people like David Barsotti, a supposed “wounded” Veteran who recently claimed to have contracted rabies from one of his lovers dogs. I followed up regarding this claim by contacting the health department in Mineral County, but everyone I spoke with was VERY unhelpful. It’s almost like this guy is pals with people in authority, like the NEW Sheriff (and odor expert), Ryan Funke.

Last week I attended a court hearing where David Barsotti (and his hilarious eye-patch) made a virtual appearance on Zoom. After the hearing, I approached Barsotti’s lawyer, Julie Sirrs, and asked her if she would have any obligation to report a case of rabies were she aware of one. After saying that was quite an odd question, I told her about the claim it appeared her client had made regarding rabies, and the action he had to take, which was to allegedly kill the rabid-crazed dog that almost killed him.

Providing information to relevant parties in a timely manner is just what I do because then I can say that you know, and knowing is half the battle.

If you appreciate the unique knowing my local coverage provides, please consider making a financial donation at my about page.

And thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

Generally speaking, city cops aren’t County Cowboys who like to serve and protect for the cameras. City cops deal with city problems, and those problems come at a much higher frequency, I would think, than what County Cowboys come across. That’s why, in 2019, the Sheriff’s Office in Missoula had the time to participate in Live PD. From the link (emphasis mine):

The Missoula County Sheriff’s Office appeared in the first episodes of the new season of “Live PD” on Friday and Saturday on the A&E cable channel, and Montana is abuzz with what they saw.

Undersheriff Rich Marcelli says that they have received positive and negative comments, but so far it’s been about 10 positive to every negative comment.

Law enforcement says they expected a mixed response from the community and did extensive research leading up to the show to make sure it would be a positive experience for Missoula County.

If the Sheriff at the time of this decision, T.J. McDermott, thinks the fact Sheriff resources were spent RESEARCHING this stupid idea before implementing it will insulate his tenure from criticism, I’m here to say THINK AGAIN. And that appears to be precisely what T.J. McDermott is doing by NOT announcing his campaign to run for Mayor later this year. He’s thinking, then thinking again, about figurative skeletons and who has a set of keys to his closet door.

Yes, I’m wondering how loudly McDermott’s favorite chaplain is jingle-jangling while he goes to console the latest takers of a kill shot via the Sheriff’s Office. Don’t worry, the Clinton Market only had to close for one day to presumably clean the blood off the floor.

Want to know what this “inconvenience” was? Well, here’s the scant information provided in press-release-form to local media:

Missoula County Sheriff’s Deputies used lethal force responding to a suicidal male at the Clinton Market on Saturday.

At 11:19 a.m., deputies responded to a suicidal male who was reportedly holding his wife hostage at the Clinton Market, according to a press release. 

“The situation unfortunately evolved to the point where deputies were forced to use lethal force,” the release said.

The release did not indicate who lethal forced was used against, or against how many individuals.

The Montana Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation is handling the investigation, and the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office is acting as the coroner. 

There is no further information and no current threat to the public, the release said.

When I saw this “news” article post, I immediately drove to Clinton to take the picture above and the one I’ll share below. These pictures were taken just FIVE HOURS after this incident. Did I see any investigation going on? Nope, it appears the state agency involved in checking out these officer-involved killings had already wrapped that up. The gas pumps were even back to pumping gas for customers as the snow fell like nothing had happened.

Was Live PD filming our County Cowboys when they assisted this man in his plan to have local badges help him die, allegedly? No, sadly, that relationship is on pause as part of a normal rotation for the television program. From the link (emphasis mine):

The Missoula County Sheriff’s Office is taking a break from appearing on the TV show Live PD as part of a rotation of participating departments.

The decision means that the Sheriff’s Office will not be featured on upcoming episodes.

Missoula County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Brenda Bassett notes that one of the more special part of the experience with Live PD was to be able to show the public more of what the department does.

I’m starting to understand why the dude shot near the airport and the old woman who was beat to death are situations that continue to be shrouded in mystery–there’s no television cameras around to help our Sheriff’s Office show us, the public, what the fuck they’re up to in the rural parts of our County while city cops see sex offenders disappear into Reserve Street no-go-zones.

Maybe the NEW Sheriff can reassess the death happening BY and AROUND his Sheriff’s Office by taking a fresh look at the Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) our CITY officers receive. I even spoke with Theresa Williams, our CIT guru, many months ago specifically about the Sheriff’s Office because she knows my previous work at the homeless shelter and that I’m not full of shit when I say things like there are SERIOUS PROBLEMS inside the Sheriff’s Office.

I went back out to Clinton on Sunday and the store was open again serving customers. The kid I spoke with looked barely old enough to drive. He told me I should talk to the manager, but the manager wasn’t around.

Will more details about what happened come out? I’m sure they will, but the question is when. Maybe in two years there will be a coroner’s inquest. Until then, I’m wondering about some basic things, like was this guy INSIDE when he was shot? Did he have a gun? Was anyone else injured? You know, stuff like that.

I’ll keep digging into this lethal use of force because it’s part of a concerning trend, along with information blackouts for local media. If you’d like to help me do the work of local, independent journalism, you can make a financial donation at my about page.

Thanks for reading!