Francisco Tharp

Neon pink bubble letters. Rainbow-colored text. Flaming buzz words. Awkwardly placed parenthetical phrases. A hits ticker numbering in the mere thousands. And it all adds up to one long, raving block of righteously amassed “evidence.”

Most of us who hang ten online on a regular basis have stumbled across it at some point: that’s right, I’m talking about the conspiracy theory website.

So when I happened upon “AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?” a website claiming to prove that John McCain is guilty of “brutal genocide” of the Navajo people of the Black Mesa area, the attention-deficit format made me immediately suspicious.

The site, maintained by the Canaanite Independent Political Committee (sorry, no website that I could find) said,

John McCain (a/k/a “Saddam McCain”) introduced and arranged for the enforcement of unethical and Constitutionally unlawful legislations which brutally displaced thousands of Navajo farmers onto a Nuclear Waste Dump to live after brutalizing them for two decades in peaceful resistance…Using a phony tribal counsel composed of paid stooges, McCain and Peabody Western Coal Company have been progressively stealing and exploiting their lands for mutual personal gain, brutalizing the natives to leave, bulldozing their sacred sites and sweat lodges, beating their members and abusing their elders to the point of terrorizing them and causing health failure and heart failures.

(Read on …)

Ray Ring

Senior Editor

Hall and Hall is a leading seller of Western ranches. The company, in business for 61 years, has headquarters in Billings, Montana, and more salesmen in branch offices in Bozeman and Missoula; Jackson, Wyoming; Sun Valley, Idaho; Denver and two more Colorado cities; Nebraska and Texas.

Sample listing, among dozens of ranches Hall and Hall has for sale at the moment:

Encompassing 255,371± deeded acres and a 500±-acre lake … Flanked by two large rivers flowing 80 miles along two of the ranch borders … 70 percent of this land lies within … the largest wetland in the world. Currently producing 8,000 to 10,000 calves a year and farming soybeans on 12,000± tilled acres with far greater potential. Very high quality ranch improvements and residences with a main airstrip and auxiliary runways for the cow camps. $50,000,000 …

If you’re interested and want to see the property, keep in mind, it’s called Fazenda Santo Antonio do Paraiso, and it’s in Brazil.

Hall and Hall, you see, has responded to the current mess in the U.S. ranch market — prices soaring, sellers with unrealistic expectations, buyers holding back, causing a slowdown in sales — by listing ranches in South America, where apparently bargains can still be had.

Another sample listing, from Hall and Hall’s summer 2007 newsletter:

Bahia Mala (a ranch in Chile): Located along 2.5± miles of Pacific beachfront, this ecologically-rich gemstone property includes a comfortable lodge, 4 cabins with views of the ocean and up a river valley to a snowcapped volcano. These 1,730± acres augmented by 17,000+ acres of 30-year concession are truly a paradise 12 miles south of Raul Marin Balmaceda. $3,500,000 …

Or maybe you would prefer to buy:

Estancia Pilpilcura (in Argentina): Only 45 miles NE of Bariloche, this classic Patagonia ranch has 7,375± acres with 3+ miles of the Pichileufu River, a medium–sized stream known for excellent trout fishing. Residential compound overlooks the river with a superbly constructed 8,000± SF owner’s residence plus staff accommodations. The property is a haven for wildlife — eagle, red deer and valley quail. Pilpilcura Creek crosses the ranch for 2+ miles. Easy access to the airport. This ranch is a recreational treasure complemented by a working cattle operation. $3,300,000 …

Hall and Hall’s website is here, and the summer 2007 newsletter is here.

My take? Don’t know much about it really — might be good for South American locals and landscapes, or not. But it’s definitely one more sign that we’re in a new Gilded Age, in which those with tons of money to burn, and their business associates, bless their hearts, have their way regardless.

Ray Ring

Senior Editor

A rich guy named Wade Dokken, who moved to Montana, has a website for the very high-end housing development he’s putting together (The Ameya Preserve). No offense to Mr. Dokken or his plans, but … the Ameya website is simply TOO FULL OF ITSELF. To get a taste of its excesses, click here.

Websites can be irritating in so many ways, including oppressive ads, mandatory music, and attitude.

Not sure what can be done about irritating websites. Maybe the irritators — those in charge of the sites — will be embarrassed once they’re outed, and maybe they’ll revise their sites.

If you notice irritating websites as you cruise the ‘Net, let us know. Plenty out there. As time goes on, we’ll be outing more, so stay tuned.