Primary Part 2, Electric Bugaloo

This is solely about E.C. Sykes, the Republican candidate for North Carolina Senate District 18.

As a reminder:

We have new districts which are definitely not gerrymandered enough to toe the line after their last try got shut down. That is what it is, but we should be extra vigilant about who we're actually trying to vote for.

E.C. Sykes is everything you would want as an establishment Republican candidate. He has spent time as an executive officer for multiple multi-national electronics companies (Black Box and Flextronics), his campaign biography appears to have been written by someone who wishes they could ghostwrite for Faulkner.

E.C. was born in Durham, just two blocks from where he was baptized. His first job was raising and selling home-grown tomatoes door-to-door. He learned to drive on his grandparents Warren County farm and earned money for his first car by priming tobacco.

Do you feel like you're in Depression-era Mississippi yet?

It's a romantic retelling which could even be true, but is also a nakedly manipulative description of a "Proven Problem Solver, Not a Career Politician" who also happens a member of the Board of Governors for the Orwellian-named Council for National Progress, which boasts Ginni Thomas (Clarence Thomas' wife), Charlie Kirk, and Steve Forbes (yes, that Steve Forbes) as members.

It's a very questionable description for a member of a board of governors for an organization which saw their yearly gathering covered by the Washington Post. Does the Washington Post cover "outsiders"? You decide.

When he ran for sheriff, "he raised the awareness of the importance of the office, raised multiples more than any prior candidate, and came closer to defeating the 24-year incumbent than any prior candidate". How does an "outsider" raise "multiples more" than anyone else when running to be a county sheriff? Since when do we consider "came closer than any prior candidate" to be a noteworthy accomplishment? "Almost" only counts in horseshoes and hand-grenades. I'd surmise that Mr. Sykes is opposed to participation trophies.

He describes himself as the Managing Partner of Aslan Ventures (not listed: "III", since previous incarnations of Aslan Ventures fron NC are defunct). What does Aslan Ventures do? Uhh... anybody's guess. Three seperate entitites in NC with Aslan in the name and titles which vaguely connect to real-estate selling unregistered securities have filed with the SEC raising a total of $11,963,506 over the past couple of years. They are no required to report the usage of the funds, who contributed, or any other. They appear be real estate, but could really be almost anything. I expect a modicum of transparency from my representatives. There is literally not even a webpage for Aslan Ventures.

The filing for Aslan Real Estate Fund Cair Paravel, L.P clearly has Mr. Sykes as an executive officer, which raised $4,413,506 as part of an unsecured offering under rule 506(b). . This is, more or less, the ability to offer an unlimited amount of money in 'securities' to up to 35 'regular people' (in that they are not required to be accredited investors, defined as having a net worth over $1M or yearly income over $200k/300k, depending on marital status. Nothing wrong with making money. But what is it?

Well, there's only one result for Cair Paravel in North Carolina which is... a microfarm plus AirBNB. This place looks great, but the image of it really doesn't line up with Mr Sykes. You can stay in a yurt, Airstream, or one of a few homes, go hiking, buy locally grown products, and generally go all-in on the "local food" movement in a gorgeous environment. Or hang out at the pool/hot tub if you want. With a maximum per-day revenue based on AirBNB rates of ~$1000/day, will this return a reasonable return on investment for ~$4.5M after paying for all the other expenses, uhhh... Maybe.

We have no idea what investment vehicles are being offered by any of the three Aslan funds, what their assurances are, or anything else. It's the nature of unregistered funds. The SEC is worried about them in general as the incidence of misconduct is far higher than registered offerings, and they primiarily "fly under the radar" until when/if there is legal action by an investor. It's incredibly opaque, and without so much as a website or statement, we have no idea whatsoever. It's the kind of legal vehicle where, if I were friends with you and we had a mutual back-scratching agreement, I could invest with you knowing I would take a loss (which I could write off on my taxes), and you could use the money for anything you wanted, knowing that I would not pursue legal action. Dark money? This is black hole money.

Cair Paravel has also been open since before the SEC offering, and Cair Paravel is also an allegory for the Temple in Narnia's mythology (sorry for the ads on that page). Considering Mr Sykes' consistent Biblical references in his bio, a fund named after a allegory to a location which is eschatalogically (relating to the end of the world) important as real estate is disturbing. Imagine a person who believes the destruction of the Third Temple is a necessary step for the start of the apocalypse in Revalations starting a real estate fund named "Temple Mount Funds".

Other Aslan funds have similarly allegorical names, like "Stone Table" (a reference to the slab in the Holy Sepulchre which Jesus was laid on after his crucifixion). That one raised $2,350,000. Or Lamp Post -- which has no over iconography, but is the entry point to a world with physical manifestations of theological references. That one raised $5,200,000. It's starting to seem very much like a biblical realist running for office.

EC Sykes could be Karl Rove running for office. Despite his protestations, every indication once you take off the mask "bootstrapping Southern businessman who has gone from tobacco farmer to managing 30,000 people", it's the same Scooby Doo impression, and it's old man Washington insider all along!

Do get the impression that this man will focus on North Carolina, is it a necessary stepping stone for a destined national run? Do you think that, in the meantime, he will advocate for North Carolinians, or dogmatically press or what a small, hyper-exclusive group of Washington insiders (which he is a board member of) believes to be important?

Your call.