I wish I had more to write.
(Now you know the post will be long).
The thing is...I’d just be repeating what others are saying.
Whether it’s the talking heads on AM radio, those on Fox News, or the myriad alternative, curator websites that I visit to get different viewpoints...more and more, I just find myself echoing what they’re saying.
Now, sometimes I’m able to weave these disparate viewpoints together to make connections and create some interesting stories. But more and more, it’s hard to do that.
Our local media and our state media doesn’t make that any easier. Despite a longtime NBC Montana reporter here in Missoula getting a prestigious award, most of them (thinking Lee reporters) aren’t producing hard-hitting news pieces...or even things that inform us. Much of what they produce are regurgitated press releases and sweetness-and-light stories that don’t hit on the real problems in our communities.
Rising rents, no available housing, stagnant wages, increasing homelessness, gentrification, no land to build on...these problems aren’t going anywhere for the next decade, yet I actually don’t read that much about them in the local media.
I just don’t feel I’m getting the full story.
(Now you know the post will be long).
The thing is...I’d just be repeating what others are saying.
Whether it’s the talking heads on AM radio, those on Fox News, or the myriad alternative, curator websites that I visit to get different viewpoints...more and more, I just find myself echoing what they’re saying.
Now, sometimes I’m able to weave these disparate viewpoints together to make connections and create some interesting stories. But more and more, it’s hard to do that.
Our local media and our state media doesn’t make that any easier. Despite a longtime NBC Montana reporter here in Missoula getting a prestigious award, most of them (thinking Lee reporters) aren’t producing hard-hitting news pieces...or even things that inform us. Much of what they produce are regurgitated press releases and sweetness-and-light stories that don’t hit on the real problems in our communities.
Rising rents, no available housing, stagnant wages, increasing homelessness, gentrification, no land to build on...these problems aren’t going anywhere for the next decade, yet I actually don’t read that much about them in the local media.
I just don’t feel I’m getting the full story.
In other news…
It appears Rand Paul was 110% right when he challenged that quack Fauci a few weeks ago.
Isn’t it interesting how the tide has turned?
First we had the Wuhan Lab leak theory rebound into the news, this time becoming increasingly plausible. Then the other day we learned of Fauci’s emails and how much he knew a year ago, how much he’s lied to us since then.
Makes me wonder how much they're lying to us about the vaccine. What do they know now that we won't learn until a year from now?
It's hard to have faith in government bureaucrats that mostly just want to cover their ass.
It’s clear Fauci's committed perjury to Congress. What will the consequences be? I suspect none. We have a double-standard in this country: one for Democrats and other media darlings, and one for conservatives.
Is it fair, right, legal or justified? None of the above, but that’s America today.
Big plans are afoot in the Garden City to deal with the undesirables, er...the ‘unsheltered.’ I’m sure you’ve heard of it by now. Here are my questions”
- What is Missoula County and the City of Missoula’s plan to forcibly relocate “unsheltered” residents into some kind of designated tent city or homeless shelter?
- How do you force someone to move against their will when they don’t have a residence, and make them stay there when you do?
- What do you do when they wander back, or wander nearby, or wander to a new place, and put down stakes there?
- How many times do you forcibly remove the same person before you throw up your hands and either give up and let them stay, or force them out of town via a bus ticket to Portland?
- Where is the new homeless ‘shelter’ location going to be? Is it going to be built or will an existing structure be used, such as the case last year with the Johnson Street place? Will it just be a lot of tents on a parcel of land? How many tents?
- Where is the money coming from? How much of the Covid money is being used? Is this coming from the state or the feds, because the city/county have been having trouble getting it from the state? How long is this money going to sustain these operations before local donations are called for, ultimately resulting in the use of local taxes?
These are all simple questions I have about the city/county’s new homeless initiative. Remember, the plan they put in place 10 years ago failed, abysmally so.
Wow, maybe I shouldn’t have sold all my AMC stock on Friday!
It shot up to $68 at the close yesterday, falling back to around $47 Thursday morning. Last Friday it was around $25.
What happened? The meme stock crowd on Wall Street Bets. Then this week AMC turns around and says they’re going to release new shares. Surprise, surprise!
That should have immediately dropped the stock in price, but inexplicably, it rose...damn-near doubling in value when it should have lost twice its value. It really makes no sense, like so much in economics today.
I was expecting the issuance of new shares, so I sold. Boy was I wrong! But I’m glad I sold anyway, and we’re really not talking about many shares.
At this point, the roller coaster is just getting a little too fast and a little too bumpy for me. I’m wondering why everyone is cheering and laughing when they should be screaming.
How long before the next cyber attack cripples a segment of our nation’s critical infrastructure?
I’m going to say next week, but if we keep paying them, maybe they’ll start hitting us twice a week.
Do you think the meat packers paid? They seem to have gotten things up and running again pretty quickly. Chances are good they won’t say, after having seen the blowback that Colonial Pipeline suffered.
What happens when they hit our water supply, and either contaminate it or just shut it off? What are you going to do when you turn on the tap and nothing comes out. You’d probably be fine for a few hours, but what about a day, or a week...or a month?
What would you do? I think the answer is simple - you’d die, like many Americans would, either from us turning on each other, or death from sickness associated with drinking bad water, or simply dying of thirst, maybe suicide.
This nation would descend into chaos in a manner of weeks if something like that hit large swaths of our country for an extended period of time. I mean...how many pallets of water does FEMA have, not to mention the ability to mobilize them to the devastated areas. Can you imagine making deliveries to inner-city Chicago a week after they'd had no water, for instance? Most would avoid it like the plague.
I’m not sure we can wait another two weeks for Biden’s G8 summit with Putin to ask these questions, or get to the bottom of this problem. I’m not sure we can wait years to update our cybersecurity.
No, something has to be done now...but what, and who’s going to do it? Do you think Biden has any idea what to do about this, Kamala Harris?
We’re in deep shit, folks.
I’m filled with joy to see the corrupt Benjamin Netanyahu thrown under the bus, thrown out of power. It seems it’s a done deal now, with a new government being formed without him. Good riddance.
A lot of people hate Jews right now around the world, and a surprising lot of them are in this country. I don’t understand this.
I just finished Bill O’Reilly’s Killing the SS this past week, and that made me want to watch Schindler’s List again. Boy, that’s a tough movie to watch.
These people have been through hell, and it’s unfortunate the level of hatred against them is on the rise again.
At the same time, Israel hasn’t done the best job over the decades in treating the Palestinian people with kindness, fairness and compassion, something you’d expect from a highly religious people. I think in many ways, Israel has fallen very far from God’s path.
I wish them the best and hope we have peace there for years, but I see the world how it is, not how I want it to be.
Finally, we’re going to have an incredibly hot day today and the weeks ahead will be similar.
It’s time to get outside and enjoy yourself, though wait a few more weeks on the rivers.
Until then, there are plenty of lakes and hiking trails. I suggest books about Montana waterfalls, Montana state parks, and hiking trails in your area.
I’ve used these books over the years to go to some great places, and many of them are quite empty of tourists, even in busy times.
People just don’t know about the out-of-the-way places as much, just Glacier and Yellowstone.
While we both avoid those as much as possible, consider a nice drive out of town to support some of these smaller communities and see the natural beauty they have to offer.
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