Monthly Archives: June 2017

Liberal mosque in Berlin draws criticism – Deutsche Welle

Posted: June 22, 2017 at 5:37 am

Sunnis, Shiites, Alevis, members of the LGTBQ community - all are welcome at the Friday prayer service at the Ibn Rushd-Goethe Mosque in Berlin. The organization, which holds its services inside the St. Johannis Church in the area of Moabit, has sparked criticism since a DW report on its founder, women's rights activist Seyran Ates, who established the institution despite fierce resistance.

Reports about the liberal mosque found their way into several newspapers in the Muslim world. The pro-government Turkish newspaper Sabah called it "absurd" that services took place inside a church. Another newspaper, Yeniakit, labeled Ates a Kurdish supporter of the controversial cleric Fethullah Gulen. And Daily Pakistan criticized the fact that women took part in prayer services unveiled.

'No conception of religion'

Men and uncovered women praying together, and presided over by a female imam on top of it? For some in the Muslim world, that's simply going too far. "They're creating a new religion, that's not Islamic," commented one DW user. "These people are not following the religion of our prophet. They have no conception of the religion. What idiocy," commented another.

DW Arabic's report garnered more than 1.7 million clicks by Monday afternoon.

"Our article drew quite an impassioned response," said Tarek Anegay, who works in DW Arabic's social media department.

Many users were outraged by what they saw as a contradiction of Islamic doctrine.

DW Arabic expected such reactions. "When it comes to anything that concerns the traditional, conservative code of Islam, people tend to act very sensitively and suspiciously," said Anegay.

A Western conspiracy

A key debate raging within the Muslim community concerns the lack of equality between men and women, along with the appropriateness of women not covering their heads during prayer. The concept of a female imam remains a special taboo, Anegay said. Many Muslims look at such attempts to liberalize their religion and see a conspiracy concocted by the West against Islam.

"The high number of Muslims frightens Europe, and for that reason the Europeans are attempting to market a new form of Islam that conforms to life in Europe," wrote Manhal al-Ahmad on DW's Arabic Facebook page. "I believe that they won't achieve their goal. In the end they will give up and eventually come to understand that this fight against this religion was wrong."

The impression still exists in Muslim countries that the West wants to impose its lifestyle on the Muslim world, according to Rainer Sollich, head of DW Arabic's online department. "Those who oppose all reformist ideas within Islam are also taking advantage of this agenda," he said. "It's a very populist agenda. It works, because many people in the Muslim world are jumping on it and many genuinely feel that way."

Emotional discussion

The tone of the commentary is at its core very emotional and aggressive, said social media editor Anegay. Editors often have to intervene, even having to remove verbal abuse, threats and defamation. "We counted more than 15,000 comments, but we had to delete a lot of them," Anegay said.

Seyran Ates is the woman behind the Ibn Rushd-Goethe Mosque

In Rainer Sollich's view, many in the Muslim world in general don't take into consideration reforms or any critical examination of their faith. But there is a growing realization of the changes that are needed. "Today may seem strange to us, but perhaps it won't be so unusual in a few years," one user commented. "A Christian woman in the West is allowed to be a pastor. Why do people not have the right to be what they want to be?" another said.

Egypt's highest Islamic authority responds

On Monday, Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah, the Egyptian government body that weighs in on religious or legal matters that divide Muslim believers, responded to the controversy, as reported by Egyptian news outlet Al-Shabab. "In prayer, gender segregation cannot be lifted," the office declared. The proximity between men and women in the mosque is not allowed, as it clearly violates Sharia, or Islamic law, according to the office.

"Such controversies are part of our reporting," said Anegay. "We understand that many Arab users aren't going to like them. But everyone has the right to interpret their faith the way they see fit, as long as they take into account the rights and dignity of other people. The people saw the report and felt attacked, but they didn't take the time to question themselves." Anegay thinks back to a famous line from an Islamic philosopher: The road to faith goes through questions.

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BC throne speech marks beginning of the end for provincial Liberal government – CTV News

Posted: at 5:37 am

VICTORIA - British Columbia's politicians will return to the legislature in Victoria today, marking the beginning of the end for the minority Liberal government.

Premier Christy Clark's Liberals have recently announced a number of campaign-style promises that will be included in today's throne speech, including hikes for welfare rates, reforms to campaign financing and new money for childcare.

Clark said yesterday that the party heard from voters during this spring's campaign that social issues and political fundraising reforms are major concerns and the government is now prepared to act on them.

But New Democrat house leader Mike Farnworth says the Liberal's promises are acts of desperation from a party that simply wants to stay in power.

The election on May 9 gave B.C. its first minority government in 65 years, with the Liberals winning 43 seats, the NDP 41 and the Greens three.

Following the vote, the NDP and Greens signed an agreement to vote against the Liberals in an upcoming confidence vote, ending 16 years of Liberal rule and clearing the path for a minority New Democrat government.

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BC throne speech marks beginning of the end for provincial Liberal government - CTV News

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Can Vince Cable help the Liberal Democrats find themselves? – The Guardian

Posted: at 5:37 am

Popular mythology suggests Vince Cable regretted ruling himself out in 2007 on the grounds of age. Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian

So Vince Cable has finally done what he kicked himself for years about not doing before, when he first had the chance. He is standing for the Lib Dem leadership.

Popular mythology suggests he enjoyed himself as interim leader after Menzies Campbells resignation in 2007, and regretted ruling himself out on the grounds of age.

He had managed to wound Gordon Browns premiership with a number of well-hewn quips at the dispatch box, thought up in the bath, and believed he could do it.

That was a decade ago, as the banking crisis struck. Ironically, he is now 74, and six years older than Campbell was when he stepped down because commentators were afraid he was too old.

Cable wont have a clear run. Jo Swinson, a former business minister, is believed to have been asked to run as leader by most of the 12-strong parliamentary party. But she ruled herself out on the grounds that she has a young family.

Ed Davey, the former energy secretary, might reasonably be expected to stand. So might Norman Lamb, a highly successful health minister and advocate of mental health services.

Cable has some advantages. He is immediately recognisable, and is one of the handful of politicians recognised primarily by their first name (Ken, Boris). He had a good track record on the financial crash, which he is credited with having foreseen.

Even his faux pas being secretly recorded slagging off the Murdoch press when he was supposed to be in a position of quasi-judicial impartiality seemed to rebound in his favour. He looked not just human, but also concerned.

He is thoughtful and practical and was successful as business secretary, turbo-charging a new generation of apprenticeships and the new Catapult centres, which were designed to enable the UK to innovate, and which provided the bones of a new industrial strategy.

His disadvantage is his deep reserve. He has some charisma, but none of Nick Cleggs bonhomie, which means his success depends on the public projecting their hopes on to him rather than their fears.

The real divisions within the Lib Dems are not well understood by outsiders. The old Orange Book v the Social Liberals debate was more like an insiders-v-outsiders spat in the coalition years.

The Orange Book itself was a call for a balance between different kinds of freedom a much-needed reconsideration of a sort of faux Fabianism, but in practice offering little new. But then neither were the Social Liberals.

The real division, which is only partly a result of the 1988 merger between the Liberal party and the SDP is the divide between Liberals and Social Democrats.

In those days, it was the Liberals who carried the radical torch, the so-called beards and sandals. Last week, the Liberal humorist Jonathan Calder described the men in sandals coming for Tim Farron, like the mythical men in grey suits in the Conservative party.

The truth is that beards and sandals have long since disappeared from Lib Dem conferences and it is sometimes hard to discern a Liberal radicalism that isnt just the usual watered-down Fabianism.

Cable fits awkwardly into this division. He has gone from being the great advocate of conventional trade in the partys policy debate to being an angry campaigner against free market excess.

The great divisions in the party leadership during the coalition years, during which he was urged to challenge Clegg for the leadership, grew out of a disagreement about the correct attitude to banks during the crisis.

As business secretary, Cable was locked in mortal combat with the Treasury, which wanted to minimise the discomfort for conventional banking. There were those, mainly on the SDP wing of the party, where Cable comes from, who felt that the coalition was being too soft on the semi-criminal elements of UK banking.

He was right in that argument, as it turns out. We may have a safer banking system in the UK thanks to the coalition, but we still have a largely dysfunctional one.

In that respect alone, he might deserve the party crown. But whoever wins it has to rise to this intellectual challenge, laid down for the party by the rise of Jeremy Corbyn: what is Liberalism for if it isnt a pale reflection of failed Fabianism?

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Air Force leaders continue to emphasize air and space priorities on Capitol Hill – Air Force Link

Posted: at 5:37 am

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein briefed congressional leaders on the Senates Defense Appropriations Committee on the future of air and space power during testimony on Capitol Hill June 21.

The leaders highlighted that efforts to restore readiness and increase the lethality of the force were foremost in their minds. Wilson said any objective evaluation of todays Air Force reached two conclusions: The Air Force is too small for what the nation expects of it and adversaries are modernizing and innovating faster putting Americans technological advantage at risk.

"The fiscal year 2017 budget began to arrest the decline, and restore the readiness of the force, so this fiscal 2018 budget starts us, I hope, on the road to recovery, she said. Air Force in Demand

Looking forward, Wilson and Goldfein do not envision the demand for air and space power diminishing in the coming decade.

Today, the Air Force is manned with 660,000 active, Guard, Reserve and civilian Airmen, a 30 percent decline since Operation Desert Storm 26 years ago.

"If I'd been talking to the Air Force in 1991, I'd [have] been looking at an Air Force of over 8,600 aircraft, 134 fighter squadrons from which we deployed 34, Goldfein said. Today, the grand total of your United States Air Force, active, Guard, Reserve, is 55 squadrons total. This is a much smaller force that's engaged in the same level of activity as we were in 1991."

The Air Force leaders said while the fiscal 2018 budget request focuses on restoring readiness and increasing lethality, future budgets must focus on modernization and continued readiness recovery.

Restoring readiness

The two testified that maintaining superiority starts with people.

"For Airmen, it's nothing short of a moral obligation to ensure that we establish air superiority quickly whenever and wherever it's required," Goldfein said.

The fiscal 2018 budget will bring the active duty force from 321,000 to 325,100 while also adding 800 Reservists, 600 Guardsmen, and 3,000 civilians, bringing the total force to approximately 669,000. The increased manpower will focus primarily on increasing remotely piloted aircraft crews, maintainers and pilot training capacity by adding two additional F-16 training squadrons and maximizing flying hours to the highest executable levels.

Wilson said next to people, the most obvious readiness need is munitions. In the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the Air Force has delivered approximately 56,000 direct-attack munitions, more than it used in all of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The fiscal 2018 budget funds maximum factory production of the most critical munitions. Modernization

The fiscal 2018 budget focuses on the Air Forces top three modernization programs:

Purchasing 46 F-35A Lightning II fighters and modernizing other fighters; Buying 15 KC-46 Pegasus tankers; Funding the B-21 Raider bomber development

The proposed budget also supports the continuation and modernization of the nuclear triad with funds dedicated to both air- and ground-based capabilities.

Our nuclear enterprise is getting old and we must begin modernizing now to ensure a credible deterrent, Wilson said.

"Standing side-by-side with the United States Navy, we're responsible for two of the three legs of the nuclear triad, Goldfein said. "On our worst day as a nation, our job is to make sure that we have the commander in chief where he needs to be, when he needs to be there, and through nuclear command and control - which we're responsible for - that he stays connected to a ready force to be able to defend this nation and deter adversaries as we also assure our partners."

Space

The Air Force has been the leading military service responsible since 1954. Over the last several years, the service has been developing concepts for space control, changing the way it trains its space force and integrating space operations into the joint fight.

"This budget proposal has a 20 percent increase for space, that means situational awareness -- the ability to not just catalog what's up there, which we would do in a benign environment, but to have a near-real-time understanding of what is going on in space, who is moving and where they're moving to," said Wilson.

The proposed budget increases space funding, including a 27 percent increase in research, development, testing and evaluation for space systems, and a 12 percent increase for space procurement.

On June 16, 2017, Wilson announced the establishment of the new headquarters space directorate. This directorate will be led by the deputy chief of staff for space operations, who will be the advocate for space operations and requirements to meet the demands of a warfighting domain.

"Weve provided GPS for the world. Weve transformed not only the way we fight but the way all of you probably navigate around the city, Wilson added. We must expect that war, of any kind, will extend into space in any future conflict, and we have to change the way we think and prepare for that eventuality.

Innovation for the future

Research, development, testing and evaluation are critically important for the Air Force, Wilson and Goldfein said.

To prevail against rapidly innovating adversaries, the Air Force must accelerate procurement. The service will take advantage of authorities provided in the fiscal 2017 Defense Authorization Act to help field operational capabilities faster than ever before, Wilson said.

The request for funding for long-term research in air dominance increased significantly in the fiscal 2018 budget. The Air Force will seek to increase basic and applied research in areas where it must maintain the competitive advantage over adversaries. This includes hypersonic vehicles, directed-energy, unmanned and autonomous systems and nanotechnology.

Budget stability

Its going to take approximately eight years to be able to get to full spectrum readiness with stable budgets, Goldfein said. The Air Force will be unable to execute the defense strategic guidance under sequester.

If the Budget Control Act limit is not fixed and we have to go through sequester, that will be equivalent to a $15 billion cut, Wilson said. The Air Force is too small for what the nation expects of us now; sequestration would make the situation worse, she said.

According to Wilson and Goldfein, by supporting the budget request, Congress can provide fiscal predictability to the Air Force so it can continue to own the high ground, defend the homeland and project power in conjunction with allies.

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Report: House Panel May Delay Fiscal 2018 Budget Resolution as Republicans Eye Higher Defense Spending – ExecutiveGov

Posted: at 5:37 am

The House Budget Committee may delay the release of its fiscal 2018 budget proposal until the last week of June or after the July 4threcess as Republicans seek to boost defense spending above the White Houses proposed $54 billion increase in defense funds, The Hill reported Monday.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), a member of the House Budget Committee, said he forecasts that the budget resolution will be higher than the administrations budget request.

The Trump administration proposed to cut nondefense discretionary spending by $54 billion in order to fund increases to the defense budget for fiscal 2018.

House Freedom Caucus members consider supporting increases to the defense budget by another $37 billion and higher nondefense spending levels without proposing additional budget reductions elsewhere.

Conservatives are willing to entertain the idea of voting for higher spending levels on discretionary spending if we can get the right kind of reconciliation instructions, said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a member of the Freedom Caucus.

The Hill reported such reconciliation instructions would call for congressional panels to attain certain budget cuts.

House Republicans are expected to negotiate a strategy for the budget resolution on its upcoming meeting Wednesday, the report added.

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Senate GOP plans July debt ceiling vote – Politico

Posted: at 5:37 am

"I'd like to see that done earlier," said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas when asked about lifting the debt ceiling in September. | AP Photo

Senate Republicans are planning for a July vote to raise the debt ceiling, according to senators and aides.

But House Republicans aren't prepared to show their hand yet, although they also hope to resolve the issue before the August recess begins. Yet with a possible health care vote in July if the Senate passes a bill top House Republicans are worried that the two issues could become entangled politically, making two already difficult votes even tougher.

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Though the Treasury Department has said Congress can likely wait until September to avoid default, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his lieutenants are increasingly disposed to clearing the Senates plate as much as possible before heading home for August recess. That would also likely mean decoupling the debt ceiling from a potential government shutdown fight in September.

Its not clear what exactly such a bill would look like, but members of both parties are interested in a broad spending deal that would avoid the blunt budget cuts of sequestration. A clean debt ceiling increase one with no policy strings or cuts attached might be a problem for a GOP majority filled with fiscal conservatives.

There is also an emerging consensus among Hill leaders that the debt ceiling currently $20 trillion should be raised by an amount large enough to preclude another vote for several years. This would make it politically dicey for fiscal conservatives, yet it would be easier for most rank-and-file lawmakers to just have one vote this Congress.

Id like to see that done earlier, said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas when asked about lifting the debt ceiling in September. Im hoping there will be a negotiation on spending caps. Maybe it will be part of that.

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On Monday, Republican Senate staffers were provided new schedule guidance laying out that the preferred debt deadline is before the August break.

In the House, GOP leaders have not formally settled on a plan to raise the debt ceiling, according to multiple sources. The topic, which is toxic for many in the more right-leaning chamber, is expected to be discussed Wednesday morning during a GOP Conference meeting on the budget and appropriations process.

Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus have called for spending cuts to accompany any increase in the nations borrowing limit, and more than a few GOP leadership allies have bristled at the idea of doing a clean debt ceiling increase, as Democrats have demanded in previous years.

But GOP leaders in the House are eyeing whats feasible in the chamber across Capitol Hill. And since Senate Democrats will never go for spending cuts, the idea will likely remain a far-off hard-liner dream.

There may be some rank-and-file support among House Republicans to piece together a bipartisan budget deal to raise spending caps, as is being discussed in the Senate. More than 141 defense-minded House Republicans signed a letter in early May asking GOP leaders to raise the cap on the Pentagon budget.

Senate Democrats would be loath to support a military boost without increases for domestic programs as well. Some GOP defense hawks may be willing to negotiate to do both. Its unclear, however, whether they would want to link that to a debt ceiling vote.

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NJ State Council on the Arts To Hold Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Meeting On July 25 – New Jersey Stage

Posted: at 5:37 am

(TRENTON, NJ) --The New Jersey State Council on the Arts will convene its Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Meeting onTuesday, July 25thin the New Jersey State Museum Auditorium from 10:00am to 12:00pm. The meeting will include the election of Council officers and voting on the grants for Fiscal Year 2018. All are invited to attend a reception in the Museum's Riverview Court Gallery immediately following the conclusion of the meeting. Special thanks to the New Jersey State Museum for generously co-hosting the reception. The meeting and reception are free and open to the public.

Those unable to attend the meeting may call the Council office at(609) 292-6130after1:30 PMonJuly 25thto learn the results of the meeting. All grant awards will be posted on the Council's website,www.artscouncil.nj.govby3:00pm.

The New Jersey State Council on the Arts is committed to making all of its programs available to all people. For accessibility services please call(609) 984-7023(NJ Relay711) or emailDonald.Ehman@sos.nj.govtwo weeks prior to the event.

The New Jersey State Museum Auditorium is located at 205 West State Street in Trenton, New Jersey.

The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, created in 1966, is a division of the NJ Department of State. The Council was established to encourage and foster public interest in the arts; enlarge public and private resources devoted to the arts; promote freedom of expression in the arts; and facilitate the inclusion of art in every public building in New Jersey. The Council receives direct appropriations from the State of New Jersey through a dedicated, renewable Hotel/Motel Occupancy fee, as well as competitive grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. To learn more about the Council, please visitwww.artscouncil.nj.gov.

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Pivot Points in Focus: Sealand Natural Resources Inc (SLNR) – Nelson Research

Posted: at 5:36 am

One of the technical analysis indicators used to glean the overall trend of the market over differing time periods are pivot points. The pivot point itself is where the average of the high, low and closing prices from the previous days trading intersect. On the following day, trades above the pivot point indicate an ongoing bullish trend, while any trading below the pivot point means a bearish trend. Pivot point analysis can be used alongside finding support and resistance levels, like trend line analysis. In pivot point analysis, the first support and resistance levels are found by using the width of the trading space between the pivot point and either the high or low prices of the previous trading day. Secondary support and resistance levels are found using the full space between the high and low prices of the previous trading day.Pivot points are oft-used indicators for trading futures, commodities, and stocks. They are static, remaining at the same price level throughout the day. Five pivot point levels are generated by using data from the previous days trading range.

These are composed of a pivot point and two higher pivot point resistances called R1 and R2 and also two lower pivot point supports called as S1 and S2. Sealand Natural Resources Inc (SLNR)s Pivot Point is 0.3. Its 1st Resistance Point is 0.3 and its 2nd Resistance Point is 0.3. The 1st Support Point is 0.3 while its 2nd Support Point is 0.3.

Barchart Opinions show investors what a variety of popular trading systems are suggesting. These Opinions take up to 2 years worth of historical data and runs the prices through thirteen technical indicators. After each calculation, a buy, sell or hold value for each study is assigned, depending on where the price is in reference to the interpretation of the study. Todays opinion, the overall signal based on where the price lies in reference to the common interpretation of all 13 studies, for Sealand Natural Resources Inc (SLNR) is 8% Buy.

Sealand Natural Resources Inc (SLNR)s Raw Stochastic, which shows (on a range of 0%-100%) where the price closed in relation to its price range over the last nine days is 0.00%. Their Stochastic %K, which indicates (on a range of 0%-100%) where the price closed in relation to its price range over the last nine days with a 3-period exponential moving average applied is 26.67%. Finally, their Stochastic %D, the indicator that shows (on a range of 0%-100%) where the price closed in relation to its price range over the last nine days with a 3-period exponential moving average applied, is 26.67%.

Known also as statistical volatility, Historical Volatility is the realized volatility of a financial instrument over a specified period of time. The measure is calculated by finding the average deviation from the average price of a commodity during a specified time period.

Standard deviation is the most common, though not only, way to calculate historical volatility. Sealand Natural Resources Inc (SLNR)s 9-Day Historical Volatility is 625.77%, its 14-Day Historical Volatility is 632.78%, and looking back further, its 20-Day Historical Volatility is 662.51%.

Sealand Natural Resources Inc (SLNR)s TrendSpotter Opinion, the signal from Trendspotter, a Barchart trend analysis system that uses wave theory, market momentum & volatility in an attempt to find a general trend, is Hold.

Disclaimer: Nothing contained in this publication is intended to constitute legal, tax, securities, or investment advice, nor an opinion regarding the appropriateness of any investment, nor a solicitation of any type. The general information contained in this publication should not be acted upon without obtaining specific legal, tax, and investment advice from a licensed professional.

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Red Utopia: help fund a new art book documenting communist iconography across the globe – The Calvert Journal

Posted: at 5:34 am

Red Utopia is an art book in the making, documenting communist parties and their iconography over the past 100 years in India, Italy, Nepal, Portugal and Russia. The project is currently gathering funds on Kickstarter and will be jointly published by Nazraeli Press and Ipso Facto.

Jan Banning, the photographer and artist behind the work, describes Red Utopia as a non-propagandistic search for what is left of communism, 100 years after the Russian Revolution.The book will contain photos of communist party office interiors as well as environmental portraits of officials and activists, and is plannedfor publication in October 2017, to mark the hundredth anniversary of the Russian Revolution.

Elisabeth Biondi, the independent curator and former Visuals Editor at The New Yorker, described the photo series as terrific and even better than Bureaucratics, Bannings critically acclaimed photo book that brought him worldwide recognition.

To find out more about the project and how to get involved, click here to visit the crowdfunding page.

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Jeff Halvorson tried to build an idiosyncratic utopia at Orange Acres. Now it could all be yours for $399999. – Missoula Independent

Posted: at 5:34 am

The compound called Orange Acres is arranged in four quadrants. At the bottom of the sloping property, abutting U.S. 93, used cars are parked in grassy rows. Next to the cars, the first strawberries of the year are ripening in a garden. Uphill of the garden is owner Jeffrey-James Halvorson's single-story house. And across from his house, Halvorson has converted an old tannery into what's most simply described as a guesthouse.

Flagpoles flank the junction at the center of Halvorson's property. A flag showing a smiley face with the words "Peace, love and happiness" flaps atop one. From the other flies the yellow "Don't Tread On Me" banner of American revolutionaries, its coiled rattlesnake ready to strike.

Halvorson is Orange Acres' only permanent resident, but he likes company. He's variously advertised this 8.36-acre strip of land south of Arlee as a commune, couchsurfing community center, nerd colony, dharma station and free guest ranch. The Missoulian called it "peculiar." A couchsurfing Mother Jones reporter noted the unconventional house rules (dreadlocked guests must provide their own pillowcase) and the assault rifle Halvorson claims to keep on the premises.

In his late 30s and sturdily built, Halvorson smiles like an old friend as a reporter pulls up, stepping away from the yellow refrigerator that he and a preppy, twentysomething man named Wes are lugging across the yard. At the same time, a lanky, older guest turns off the lawnmower he's been pushing beside his motorhome. The sound of the engine gives way to wind chimes dancing in a summer breeze. The breeze blows open the doors to an outdoor cupboard, exposing stacks of dishware to the sun.

Halvorson is, in no particular order, an ambassador for couchsurfing, an ordained minister (credentialed online) and a used-car salesman. To the extent that others might see contradictions among those personas, he is unfazed. One minute Halvorson is explaining his spiritual mission to give food and shelter to veterans, homeless people and pretty much anyone who isn't drunk and wants a place to rest. The next, he's saying that Missoula County officials should be jailed for what he considers their campaign over the last six years to stop him. The minute after that, he's sprinkling "be-back" dust on a potential buyer whose first offer is too low.

A self-described Libertarian, Halvorson likes to demonstrate taxation policy by passing around a dollar bill and cutting off a third of it with each exchange. Pretty soon the whole dollar is gone, but what's really diminished is liberty.

"We started as a country where we left (England) so people could have their freedom to farm, to live, to thrive, to practice their religion," he says. "To practice who they are."

One of those Puritans, John Winthrop, famously imagined his colony "a city upon a hill." He was quoting the Book of Matthew, in which Jesus describes his followers as "the salt of the earth" and the "light of the world." The new world, Winthrop meant, would offer more than a chance for his fellow nonconformists to flee a king. It would carry the promise, and the baggage, of righteousness.

Nearly 400 years later, two poles of American righteousness are staked out on this gentle slope south of Arlee: the hippie and the rattler, the "take and eat" of Matthew meets the "Come and take it!" of battle and self-determination. In the middle is Jeff. Standing on his hill.

Jay Lewellen found Orange Acres on Craigslist, where it was listed as a "nerd colony, free guest ranch, for young adults." The post explained that people willing to pull their weight could stay for up to 20 days, maybe longer. The listing featured a photo of people in Stormtrooper helmets posing next to a black limousine.

"We are not a cult," the ad promised.

Lewellen is 29 years old, originally from Florida, with twin neck tattoos that depict a pot leaf folded into a peace sign and a skeleton hand flashing the sign of the horns. He was planting dragon fruit in the Philippines earlier this year when he decided to move to Montana. He doesn't consider himself a nerd, but figured rent-free temporary housing would buy him time to find his footing in a new city.

His plane landed in Missoula at midnight. Halvorson met him at the airport. After a quick tour of the Orange Acres property, Lewellen laid down in a recycled-wood cabin barely bigger than the mattress inside it. He couldn't sleep because of strange rustling sounds on the other side of the wall. "It was kind of like The Hills Have Eyes," Lewellen says.

Halvorson had forgotten to mention his sheep.

Missoula residents familiar with Halvorson likely know his name from the newspaper, where he's a frequent flyer on the Missoulian's letters page, and from that paper's coverage of Missoula County's controversial crackdown on land-use violations, which landed him in court. But most people who meet Halvorson are introduced to him online, through Couchsurfing.com and other sites that cater to people in search of a free place to sleep.

Couchsurfing is for idealists, strangers who trust one another to open their homes to fellow humans without recompense. This experiment in generosity and sharing has since been co-opted and commodified by Airbnb, but commercialized hospitality is sterile compared to couchsurfing havens like Orange Acres, where host and guest alike wear their eccentricities on their sleeves. Halvorson introduces himself in his Couchsurfing.com profile as a "rebel, do-gooder" who is "out to right the wrongs of the world." Then he lists the details: Guests staying more than one night have to pitch in on chores. No crackheads, Sierra Club members, haters or meanies allowed. Dogs and children are welcome if they're leashed. No one goes hungry, but if Halvorson catches you spending money on alcohol instead of food, you'll be asked to leave. Surfers without references must complete a lengthy questionnaire that asks whether they've ever clubbed baby seals and what they'd miss most about life if they died today.

Couchsurfing is a natural fit for Halvorson, who says he'd like to meet every person on Earth, if only he could live long enough to do it. He admits to being the guy who tries to strike up a conversation in the grocery line. His worst nightmare is being trapped alone on an island with $1 million and a direct line to an Amazon drone, because he'd have no one to share the deliveries with.

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Jeff Halvorson tried to build an idiosyncratic utopia at Orange Acres. Now it could all be yours for $399999. - Missoula Independent

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