<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></title><description><![CDATA[Dude, where's my Hatteras?]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com</link><image><url>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/img/substack.png</url><title>These Current Years</title><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Wed, 08 Apr 2026 11:39:50 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[slugdaddy@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[slugdaddy@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[slugdaddy@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[slugdaddy@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[Waiting for the Other Shoe(s) to Drop]]></title><description><![CDATA[Covid Amnesty will have to wait; America's post-covid Feast of Consequences looms, and tensions are palpable.]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/waiting-for-the-other-shoes-to-drop</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/waiting-for-the-other-shoes-to-drop</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 12 Jan 2023 08:09:24 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZSj9!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8696ce7-a103-4e36-92cc-6c34e6a61387_612x407.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZSj9!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8696ce7-a103-4e36-92cc-6c34e6a61387_612x407.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZSj9!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8696ce7-a103-4e36-92cc-6c34e6a61387_612x407.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZSj9!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8696ce7-a103-4e36-92cc-6c34e6a61387_612x407.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZSj9!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8696ce7-a103-4e36-92cc-6c34e6a61387_612x407.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZSj9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8696ce7-a103-4e36-92cc-6c34e6a61387_612x407.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZSj9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8696ce7-a103-4e36-92cc-6c34e6a61387_612x407.jpeg" width="612" height="407" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d8696ce7-a103-4e36-92cc-6c34e6a61387_612x407.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:407,&quot;width&quot;:612,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:28429,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZSj9!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8696ce7-a103-4e36-92cc-6c34e6a61387_612x407.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZSj9!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8696ce7-a103-4e36-92cc-6c34e6a61387_612x407.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZSj9!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8696ce7-a103-4e36-92cc-6c34e6a61387_612x407.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZSj9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8696ce7-a103-4e36-92cc-6c34e6a61387_612x407.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Back in the olden days, apartments in big cities like New York were built fast and cheap, with identical floor plans on each level. Above your bedroom was another bedroom, and so on, all the way up. Should you go to bed early, a quite unpleasant way to be awoken during the night was the sound of your upstairs neighbor coming in late and kicking off his shoes. The sound of the first shoe hitting the wood floor above would wake you. At that point, cotton-eyed, you would be inclined to wait until the inevitable sound of the second shoe hitting the floor before resuming your slumber. That is the origin of the expression &#8216;waiting for the other shoe to drop,&#8217; which has come to mean more generally waiting for &#8220;a seemingly inevitable event, especially one that is not desirable.&#8221;</p><p>The <s>mass psychosis</s> government psyop of the past ~3 years seems to be winding down(?). Many, but especially those in power and their covidian cult followers, seem to be hoping this all ends with a whimper rather than a bang (or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctPViK3LK-o">a thud</a>.) This is logical given the circumstances; we all hope to avoid the feast of consequences for the sins of this life. I&#8217;m also eager to put the scamdemic nightmare behind me and move on. The thing is, once you hear the first shoe you wake up. Then it makes sense to defer action (sleep) until the inevitable second shoe hits the floor. Those of us who are awake find ourselves in an uncomfortable interregnum; waiting for the feast of consequences to present itself so we can make peace with all of it, and then get busy building a better and much more decentralized and &#8216;anti-fragile&#8217; world. </p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading Slugdaddy World! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><h2>THE FIRST SHOE(S)</h2><p>In this metaphor, there are several &#8220;first shoes&#8221; that have dropped; all of them falling loosely under the theme of &#8220;crazy things the government did or let happen to the people, circa 2020-2021.&#8221; The most germane of these, to me, are the following:</p><ol><li><p><strong>A staggering 262M Americans, or <a href="https://usafacts.org/visualizations/covid-vaccine-tracker-states">79% of the U.S. population</a>, accepted at least one experimental gene therapy &#8220;vaccine,&#8221;</strong> in spite of the complete lack of safety data, and in spite of the fact that the same government people who developed the vaccine &#8220;solution&#8221; also <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/dr-fauci-backed-controversial-wuhan-lab-millions-us-dollars-risky-coronavirus-research-1500741">developed the virus</a> &#8220;problem.&#8221;</p></li><li><p><strong>A nationwide/worldwide Milgram Experiment/Asch Conformity Experiment was conducted in plain site, and over mass media.</strong> At the height of this experiment, a majority of our fellow citizens (~58%) believed everyone should be forced to accept the experimental gene therapy &#8220;vaccine,&#8221; and those who refused deserved to lose their jobs and/or ability to move freely. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/354983/majority-supports-biden-covid-vaccine-mandates.aspx" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XYVV!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9beae00a-6b68-40ac-bd99-39ad261c2b58_720x424.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XYVV!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9beae00a-6b68-40ac-bd99-39ad261c2b58_720x424.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XYVV!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9beae00a-6b68-40ac-bd99-39ad261c2b58_720x424.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XYVV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9beae00a-6b68-40ac-bd99-39ad261c2b58_720x424.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XYVV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9beae00a-6b68-40ac-bd99-39ad261c2b58_720x424.png" width="720" height="424" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9beae00a-6b68-40ac-bd99-39ad261c2b58_720x424.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:424,&quot;width&quot;:720,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:30498,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https://news.gallup.com/poll/354983/majority-supports-biden-covid-vaccine-mandates.aspx&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XYVV!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9beae00a-6b68-40ac-bd99-39ad261c2b58_720x424.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XYVV!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9beae00a-6b68-40ac-bd99-39ad261c2b58_720x424.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XYVV!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9beae00a-6b68-40ac-bd99-39ad261c2b58_720x424.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XYVV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9beae00a-6b68-40ac-bd99-39ad261c2b58_720x424.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption"></figcaption></figure></div></li><li><p><strong>The &#8220;Government&#8221; went totally tyrannical and we took it (like bitches): </strong>Our &#8220;Constitutional Rights&#8221; were definitively proven to be privileges, we were told innumerable lies about anything and everything by officials from the highest to lowest levels of management, and the same bureaucrats continued pushing the same failed policies, especially the experimental gene therapy &#8220;vaccine,&#8221; even long after the harms were well known - and even while attempting to suppress all public awareness of said harms (illegal censorship.) In other words, <strong>for the first time (in America) the government revealed to the people it was willing to kill them all to serve whatever it claims is the &#8220;greater good.&#8221; </strong></p></li></ol><p>These are some <em>big</em> first shoes, and as they hit the floor the noise should have woken us all up. Each of these developments has unavoidable consequences our society is unprepared to reckon with. Until these have mostly played out it makes sense to wait and see what happens&#8230; Thus, our entire economic and cultural systems are essentially &#8220;treading water&#8221; (or &#8220;stuck in a concrete cul-de-sac&#8221; if you prefer) until the coming denouement of the covid melodrama.</p><h2>SPECULATIONS ON THE NEXT SHOE(S) TO DROP, IMMINENTLY</h2><p>When the narrative being shoved down your throat is obviously an artificial and manufactured mainstream government/media narrative designed to deceive and obfuscate, you can deduce that the intentions of those pushing it are not benign (the good guys don&#8217;t gaslight.) Based on the three first shoes that have dropped, outlined above, here&#8217;s what may be coming next:</p><ol><li><p><strong>Choose your own distopic adventure: &#8220;Died Suddenly&#8221; or &#8220;Children of Men.&#8221; </strong>It seems more than likely the experimental gene therapy &#8220;vaccine&#8221; is either directly causing a mass die-off (a la Died Suddenly) and/or causing mass infertility, leading to severe decline in birthrates (a la <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Men">Children of Men</a>.) Currently, we are seeing both&#8230; but this seems a bit too &#8220;in your face&#8221; even in 2023. In the coming months I expect one of the other of these effects to become widespread enough to be undeniable, even to most covidians. Whether we get no more babies or lots more died suddenly, society will quickly be destabilized. (TEOTWAWKI)</p></li><li><p><strong>Transformation into a &#8220;Low Trust Society&#8221; complete</strong> - To be sure, the intentional transformation of America from a high trust society to a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_trust_and_low_trust_societies">low trust society</a> started long ago (probably on November 22, 1963.) The scamdemic accelerated this process to completion. Now that we know the majority of our &#8220;fellow citizens&#8221; are able to be tricked into supporting tyranny, we can&#8217;t &#8220;unknow&#8221; it. Democracy is no longer desirable when the people voting lack all discernment. Societal disruptions are coming, and they will occur on a grand scale with unpredictable outcomes.</p></li><li><p><strong>The Tyrannical Government, now emboldened with the knowledge of how far it can push us without a push back, will roll-out more tyranny.</strong> Absent the challenge of constitutional rights, which are now de-facto only privileges, the government will &#8220;<strong>do more</strong>&#8221;&#8230;</p><div id="youtube2-tpAOwJvTOio" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;tpAOwJvTOio&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/tpAOwJvTOio?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div></li></ol><p>Sometimes, before you can &#8220;know&#8221; what to do, you have to wait for better information. <strong>Sometimes it makes sense to wait for the other shoe to drop.</strong> </p><p>Stay vigilant, and get ready to build a new world.. and don&#8217;t let the waiting get you down. The waiting <em>is</em> the hardest part.</p><div id="youtube2-uMyCa35_mOg" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;uMyCa35_mOg&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/uMyCa35_mOg?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><div><hr></div><p></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading Slugdaddy World! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[COVID-19: The Cloward-Piven Strategy]]></title><description><![CDATA[How a strategy for social change invented by 60's radicals was adapted for the crisis of the 21st century. Cloward and Piven proposed to collapse the economy and replace it with a system of guaranteed annual income. COVID made it possible,]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/covid-19-the-cloward-piven-strategy</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/covid-19-the-cloward-piven-strategy</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 31 Jul 2022 21:22:25 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Go!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1615875-326e-4ad2-925a-e9d17b76525b_613x382.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Beneath the real and the exaggerated elements of the covid scamdemic I have long sensed an economic agenda, one that is incongruous with the ostensive national goal of emerging from the corona crisis quickly and largely intact. Back in March 2020, when we were still being led to believe the infection fatality rate (IFR) of covid was around 3.5%, the lockdowns made no sense to me. Given the submicroscopic size, &#8220;<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7224694/">SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped virus &#8776;0.1 &#956;m in diameter</a>,&#8221; it would be near impossible to avoid on a long enough timeline. If indeed 3.5% of America&#8217;s citizens were going to die as a consequence, that would be sad and messy but the other 96.5% would obviously need to keep plugging away at their jobs in order to ensure society&#8217;s stability through the tragedy. The lockdown and social distancing never make economic or strategic sense. By April 2020, when serology studies began to come out showing the <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.14.20062463v1">IFR was far under 1%</a>, a rational and sane nation would have immediately put on the brakes. Instead lockdowns were extended, &#8216;the mask&#8217; became ubiquitous, and the economic damage became permanent. I knew then <strong>the covid countermeasures were simply The Cloward-Piven Strategy gussied up for the 21st century world</strong>.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Go!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1615875-326e-4ad2-925a-e9d17b76525b_613x382.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Go!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1615875-326e-4ad2-925a-e9d17b76525b_613x382.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Go!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1615875-326e-4ad2-925a-e9d17b76525b_613x382.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Go!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1615875-326e-4ad2-925a-e9d17b76525b_613x382.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Go!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1615875-326e-4ad2-925a-e9d17b76525b_613x382.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Go!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1615875-326e-4ad2-925a-e9d17b76525b_613x382.png" width="613" height="382" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a1615875-326e-4ad2-925a-e9d17b76525b_613x382.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:382,&quot;width&quot;:613,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:596813,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Go!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1615875-326e-4ad2-925a-e9d17b76525b_613x382.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Go!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1615875-326e-4ad2-925a-e9d17b76525b_613x382.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Go!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1615875-326e-4ad2-925a-e9d17b76525b_613x382.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A4Go!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa1615875-326e-4ad2-925a-e9d17b76525b_613x382.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Sociologists Francis Fox Piven and Richard Cloward</figcaption></figure></div><blockquote><p>It is our purpose to advance a strategy which affords the basis for a convergence of civil rights organizations, militant anti-poverty groups and the poor. If this strategy were implemented, a political crisis would result that could <strong>lead to legislation for a guaranteed annual income</strong> and thus an end to poverty.</p><p>- Fox and Piven, The Weight of the Poor: A Strategy to End Poverty, <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/weight-poor-strategy-end-poverty/">The Nation</a>, May 2, 1966 (Emphasis Mine)</p></blockquote><p>Their strategy as initially presented was to overload the welfare rolls by packing as many people as possible onto them, bringing about an economic collapse. Cloward and Piven "proposed to create a crisis in the current welfare system &#8211; by exploiting the gap between welfare law and practice &#8211; that would ultimately bring about its collapse and replace it with a system of guaranteed annual income. They hoped to accomplish this end by informing the poor of their rights to welfare assistance, encouraging them to apply for benefits and, in effect, overloading an already overburdened bureaucracy.&#8221;<a class="footnote-anchor" data-component-name="FootnoteAnchorToDOM" id="footnote-anchor-1" href="#footnote-1" target="_self">1</a></p><p>This Problem-Reaction-Solution dialectic was hardly new, though the idea of applying it to the economy itself was a rather novel and controversial approach. It does seem that over the following years this strategy was used and did lead to a rise in the welfare rolls, but not enough to create a real crisis. &#8220;Although the strategy helped to boost recipient numbers between 1966 and 1975, the revolution its proponents envisioned never transpired.&#8221;<a class="footnote-anchor" data-component-name="FootnoteAnchorToDOM" id="footnote-anchor-2" href="#footnote-2" target="_self">2</a> There just weren&#8217;t enough recipients to be found, yet, and the American work ethic was still too strong. Getting Cloward-Piven to work would require creating a much larger and permanent recipient class.</p><h3>PHASE ONE - THE LOCKDOWN &amp; CASH HANDOUTS</h3><p>By the time the <em>15 Days to Slow the Spread</em> was announced, unemployment was already spiking; over 10M by the end of March, and topping out just over 25M by mid-May. If only we had put the brakes on by Easter&#8230;</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eE2a!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33620ac0-495b-4e30-9787-ab140c124862_720x586.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eE2a!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33620ac0-495b-4e30-9787-ab140c124862_720x586.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eE2a!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33620ac0-495b-4e30-9787-ab140c124862_720x586.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eE2a!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33620ac0-495b-4e30-9787-ab140c124862_720x586.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eE2a!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33620ac0-495b-4e30-9787-ab140c124862_720x586.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eE2a!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33620ac0-495b-4e30-9787-ab140c124862_720x586.jpeg" width="720" height="586" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/33620ac0-495b-4e30-9787-ab140c124862_720x586.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:586,&quot;width&quot;:720,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:73025,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eE2a!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33620ac0-495b-4e30-9787-ab140c124862_720x586.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eE2a!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33620ac0-495b-4e30-9787-ab140c124862_720x586.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eE2a!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33620ac0-495b-4e30-9787-ab140c124862_720x586.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eE2a!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33620ac0-495b-4e30-9787-ab140c124862_720x586.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Between the supplemental $600 weekly unemployment checks, stimulus checks, indefinite rent deferments, and employer subsidies like the PPP, by summer &#8216;we were all socialists now.&#8217; Most of these measures appeared to be winding down going into 2021, but by June 2022 the <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgraph.png?g=SejM">employment-population ratio</a> was still lower than February 2020 by 1.3% (or -4.3M workers.) Additionally, over $4 Trillion was added to the national debt in 2020 alone. As of today, between administrative, legislative, and federal reserve action, <a href="https://www.covidmoneytracker.org/">$10.8 Trillion</a> has been spent on covid response; <strong>an amount equal to the total nation debt accumulated from the founding through 2008</strong>.</p><p>The jobs that have come back are not necessarily similar to the ones that were lost. Consider the many small businesses that went under during the pandemic; while their former owners may be employed again, possibly following personal bankruptcy, their incomes are doubtlessly much lower. The millions of employees who lost jobs working at small businesses may need two or more jobs (or &#8216;gig&#8217; work) to equal what they made before, and that&#8217;s before accounting for the rampant inflation.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3>PHASE TWO - VACCINE INJURIES</h3><p>How many Americans have suffered a vaccine injury? This is a very important question <strong>economically</strong>, and one that has been largely off limits until very recently. I read a post on Substack earlier today from <em>The Second Smartest Guy in the World</em> which pointed out Twitter is allowing #VaccineInjured to trend.</p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:66541387,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://2ndsmartestguyintheworld.substack.com/p/why-is-vaccineinjured-being-allowed&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:400535,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;2nd Smartest Guy in the World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Why Is #VaccineInjured Being Allowed To Trend On Twitter?&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This substack has chronicled the various recent mea culpas and partial admissions by the regular cast of puppet murderers like Fauci, Birx, Borla, et al. This is a trend that was predicted last year; namely, that at some point the CIA-run MSM and BigTech&#8217;s social media complex would be tapped on their proverbial shoulders to commence the culpability ph&#8230;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-31T16:55:36.301Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:75,&quot;comment_count&quot;:63,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:40525631,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;2nd Smartest Guy in the World&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/888167a1-2572-472f-8fd8-b8312b1adbee_147x172.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Exposing Psyops &amp; Scams&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-07-03T22:30:45.260Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:324897,&quot;user_id&quot;:40525631,&quot;publication_id&quot;:400535,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:400535,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;2nd Smartest Guy in the World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;2ndsmartestguyintheworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Exposing Psyops &amp; Scams&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:40525631,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FD5353&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-07-03T22:33:31.256Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:null,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;2nd Smartest Guy in the World&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:&quot;Founding Member&quot;,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://2ndsmartestguyintheworld.substack.com/p/why-is-vaccineinjured-being-allowed?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">2nd Smartest Guy in the World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Why Is #VaccineInjured Being Allowed To Trend On Twitter?</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This substack has chronicled the various recent mea culpas and partial admissions by the regular cast of puppet murderers like Fauci, Birx, Borla, et al. This is a trend that was predicted last year; namely, that at some point the CIA-run MSM and BigTech&#8217;s social media complex would be tapped on their proverbial shoulders to commence the culpability ph&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; 75 likes &#183; 63 comments &#183; 2nd Smartest Guy in the World</div></a></div><p>It is possible this means phase two of The Cloward-Piven Strategy has begun, but if not yet then certainly soon. The government has been quite sneaky with their EAU injections; these must be compensated under the <a href="https://www.hrsa.gov/cicp/cicp-data">Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program</a> (CICP), as opposed to the more generous National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). But still, with enough injuries it becomes a lot of money. No covid claims have been paid <strong>yet</strong>, but previous successful CICP claims have averaged <strong>over $206k each</strong>.</p><blockquote><p>The CICP is the payer of last resort and can only reimburse or pay for medical expenses or lost employment income that are not covered by other third-party payers. To date, the CICP has paid compensation for 29 CICP claims, totaling more than $6 million.</p><p>- HRSA, Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP) Data</p></blockquote><p>Ed Dowd has pointed out an increase of <a href="https://gettr.com/post/p1copgr01e0">3M disabled Americans</a>, occurring since the start of the mass vaccination campaign, quite possibly due to covid injections. A German Health Insurer reported a <a href="https://www.eugyppius.com/p/german-public-health-insurer-vaccine">vaccine injury rate of 3.6%</a>, before being fired. (This figure is people who required an office visit to deal with the injury, and thus does not include deaths.) The CDC <a href="https://openvaers.com/covid-data">VAERS</a> reporting system is showing just over 848k injury reports in the U.S. as I write this, and those are notoriously under-reported (perhaps by a multiple of 31X). </p><p>Depending on which of the above estimates we use, somewhere between 3M and 26M Americans have sustained vaccine injuries or died and are eligible for compensation. <strong>If the eventual payouts are made at the average CICP compensation rate of $206k, the total will be between $618B and $5.4T.</strong> Talk about overwhelming the system! And, keep in mind this is before the more dubious injury claims that are bound to flow in once the money starts flowing out. I saw this video a few weeks ago, and while I do feel for this woman and her loss, there is something about her tone a few minutes in that makes me a little queasy. No doubt many millions more like her will be <strong>insisting to be paid </strong>very soon.</p><div id="youtube2--Kiko_Ifm3c" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;-Kiko_Ifm3c&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:&quot;294s&quot;,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/-Kiko_Ifm3c?start=294s&amp;rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>When you start adding in all the Americans who are suffering repeat infections due to the shots, the millions who took them against their will to keep their jobs, the millions who are <a href="https://www.rintrah.nl/progressive-immune-depletion-from-repeated-infections/">experiencing immune depletion</a> (or VAIDS), the government could easily owe payments to 1/2 of the vaccinated - 130M people - <strong>or even all of them</strong>. This is Cloward-Piven on the grandest scale ever.</p><p>From my standpoint, as a hated refusnik who &#8216;did his own research&#8217; and only caught covid once, I think the injured do bear some of the blame for their fates, but not all of it. We all know there was no real &#8216;informed consent&#8217; in this process. Legally, these Americans are owed compensation - probably all 260M of them, and that&#8217;s north of <strong>$53T</strong>. That&#8217;s our future like it or not: a complete collapse of our current economic system under the weight of the national debt, entitlements, and payments owed to the vaccine injured. What&#8217;s unnerving is the people who are about to be pushing the newly updated fall booster know this too, they know it will make things worse, and continue anyway.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/covid-19-the-cloward-piven-strategy?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/covid-19-the-cloward-piven-strategy?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><div class="footnote" data-component-name="FootnoteToDOM"><a id="footnote-1" href="#footnote-anchor-1" class="footnote-number" contenteditable="false" target="_self">1</a><div class="footnote-content"><p>Michael Reisch, Janice Andrews, <em><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=f0iC56biZOgC&amp;q=cloward+piven+crisis+strategy&amp;pg=PA145">The Road Not Taken</a></em>, 2001.</p></div></div><div class="footnote" data-component-name="FootnoteToDOM"><a id="footnote-2" href="#footnote-anchor-2" class="footnote-number" contenteditable="false" target="_self">2</a><div class="footnote-content"><p>Robert Weir, <em>Class in America</em>, 2007.</p></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Alchemical Transformation of America, Part 3]]></title><description><![CDATA[COVID-19: The Great Work & Magnum Opus of the Elite. This is the third and final part of my series The Alchemical Transformation of America.]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-d53</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-d53</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 29 Jul 2022 15:46:50 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/h_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc453306a-be0d-4804-9b4d-15f2cd69ff2d_823x535.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is part three of the series The Alchemical Transformation of America; my continuation of a previous author&#8217;s work titled <em>The Failed Alchemical Transformation of America</em>. See <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of">part one here</a>. See <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-0c0">part two here</a>.</p><div><hr></div><p>A salesman who is bad at his job (most of them) will make you feel pressured and uncomfortable, while a good salesman is invisible (you never know he sold you.) Should you find yourself sitting across the table from a good salesman, perhaps in negotiations to make a large purchase of some kind, and he senses you are leaning towards a &#8216;no&#8217; he will start to <strong>nod his head</strong> in agreement. Often you will find yourself then nodding in agreement, and before you know it you&#8217;ve signed &#8216;on the line that is dotted.&#8217; There is a saying in sales, &#8216;<strong>motion creates emotion</strong>.&#8217; If you can change someone&#8217;s physical motions, you can change their mood and their mind. This is, I think, one of the reasons 9/11 failed to alchemically transform America; it required no <em>physical</em> action on the part of the masses.</p><p>There were other failures too. The World Trade Center had long been a target of terrorism specific to that location, so while the event itself was shocking it wasn&#8217;t something Americans outside NYC expected to repeat itself in their hometowns. Then there was the matter of information control, which ~20 years ago was something the government had yet to fully master. Somewhat infamously, a BBC news anchor reported the collapse of Building 7 (Salomon Building) before it occurred and while it could still be seen standing behind her shoulder.</p><div id="youtube2-IAgi4Z5ImRU" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;IAgi4Z5ImRU&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/IAgi4Z5ImRU?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>The video above has remained on YouTube <em>uncensored</em> for 15 years. Other videos and even feature length films questioning the official 9/11 &#8216;narrative&#8217; were made and posted to YouTube, or even appeared in theaters. The flow of information was most certainly not under control post 9/11. The Alchemists learned a lot from these mistakes, and the next time they attempted to alchemically transform our country much less was left to chance.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3>INITIATION</h3><p>Back in May of 2020, an article appeared on the web pointing out that &#8220;mask wearing, hand washing, social separation and lockdowns are age-old occult rituals.&#8221; You can <a href="https://haveyenotread.com/occult-ritual-transformation-and-coronavirus/">read it in full here</a>, and I&#8217;ve included some highlights below.<a class="footnote-anchor" data-component-name="FootnoteAnchorToDOM" id="footnote-anchor-1" href="#footnote-1" target="_self">1</a> It probably goes without saying that I connected with the author&#8217;s perspective, though his approach is a bit more Biblical than mine. From the Mystery Schools of ancient Greece, to the esoteric branches of world religions that form <a href="https://amzn.to/3Bbj1sF">The Perennial Tradition</a>, to the jr. occult elite of <a href="http://www.thestacksreader.com/the-last-secrets-of-skull-and-bones/">Skull and Bones</a>, students who want occult knowledge must first undergo an initiation and prove themselves worthy. While the specifics of initiation may vary, common elements include isolation, surrender, sacrifice, and submission. The Skull and Bones initiation ritual is said to involve isolating the initiate in a coffin, symbolizing the &#8216;death&#8217; of the man he&#8217;d been, later to emerge from the coffin reborn a &#8216;new man.&#8217;</p><blockquote><p>Let&#8217;s start by examining the four distinct, but interrelated, occult rituals that make up this massive global occult ritual initiation ceremony:</p><ol><li><p>Ritual Mask-Wearing</p></li><li><p>Ritual Hand-Washing</p></li><li><p>Ritual &#8220;Social Distancing&#8221;</p></li><li><p>Ritual Lockdowns</p></li></ol><p>In the course of examining these four occult rituals, I&#8217;ll do my best to explain to you how each one is part of an elaborate stage play designed to symbolically initiate the people of this world into their new positions in a <strong>new global order</strong><em>&#8230; </em></p><p>And in raising themselves to the position of your new sovereign, and muzzling you like a dog in the process, they alchemically create a <em>new</em> <em>you</em> in a <em>new</em> <em>role</em> under <em>new rulers</em>.&nbsp; That&#8217;s the <strong>alchemical transformational change</strong> involved in the ritual&#8230; In making <em>you</em> wear the mask, the powers-that-be are initiating you into their new order.&nbsp; They&#8217;re demoting you from your position as a sovereign representative on earth to the Most High God, to your new position as a dependent slave to their system&#8230;</p><p>To the occultists, this forced occult ritual washing of the hands <em>reverses</em> Pilate&#8217;s public handwashing ritual, which, for the last 2,000 years, has put the onus for Christ&#8217;s death on the hands of the ritualists themselves, and absolved Christ (and the Romans) of all guilt&#8230;</p><p>Symbolically speaking, the ritual of &#8220;social distancing&#8221; &#8212; at the magical &#8220;six feet&#8221; apart &#8211; is the part of the initiation ritual that SEPARATES YOU from Christ.</p><p>There are basically four stages to an isolation ritual:</p><p>Stage 1:&nbsp; Isolation for purification (you&#8217;re cut off from the normal, and thrust into a &#8220;new normal&#8221; that&#8217;s completely different than your past life)</p><p>Stage 2:&nbsp; Surrender to the &#8220;new normal.&#8221;&nbsp; This often involves being given a token gift (think &#8220;stimulus check&#8221;) leading the initiate believe he&#8217;s being well-taken care of by his new overlords, so there&#8217;s no need to rebel against the new order one is being initiated into.</p><p>Stage 3:&nbsp; Sacrifice.&nbsp; No gift can be given without something being taken. In this case, your dignity&#8230;your sovereign independence&#8230;your voice&#8230;your individual power on this earth as a representative of the Word of the Most High God &#8211; all of these things, and more, are being taken from you in exchange for the cold &#8220;comfort&#8221; of a new way in a new world.</p><p>Stage 4:&nbsp; Submission.&nbsp; Think:&nbsp; <strong>Mandatory vaccines</strong>.&nbsp; Social tracing.&nbsp; The willing acceptance of new rules for a new order.</p><p>Once again, the idea is that the &#8220;new person&#8221; being initiated into the &#8220;new order&#8221; needs to be psychologically, if not physically, purged of the old way, before gradually being initiated into the new way.</p><p>- <a href="https://haveyenotread.com/occult-ritual-transformation-and-coronavirus/">Steve Barwick</a> (Emphasis Mine)</p></blockquote><p></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XNyo!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58797bb7-745e-44e0-b7fd-aa72d0ff94a4_939x528.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XNyo!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58797bb7-745e-44e0-b7fd-aa72d0ff94a4_939x528.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XNyo!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58797bb7-745e-44e0-b7fd-aa72d0ff94a4_939x528.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XNyo!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58797bb7-745e-44e0-b7fd-aa72d0ff94a4_939x528.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XNyo!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58797bb7-745e-44e0-b7fd-aa72d0ff94a4_939x528.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XNyo!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58797bb7-745e-44e0-b7fd-aa72d0ff94a4_939x528.jpeg" width="939" height="528" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/58797bb7-745e-44e0-b7fd-aa72d0ff94a4_939x528.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:528,&quot;width&quot;:939,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:123199,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XNyo!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58797bb7-745e-44e0-b7fd-aa72d0ff94a4_939x528.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XNyo!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58797bb7-745e-44e0-b7fd-aa72d0ff94a4_939x528.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XNyo!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58797bb7-745e-44e0-b7fd-aa72d0ff94a4_939x528.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XNyo!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F58797bb7-745e-44e0-b7fd-aa72d0ff94a4_939x528.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">&#8216;Big Mother&#8217; Orwellian Road Sign, Interstate 75, Atlanta, June 24, 2020</figcaption></figure></div><p>From the start of the covid era, <em>motion</em> was required: <strong>stay home, wear this, stand here, don&#8217;t go there, isolate from others</strong>. This motion indeed created much emotion, especially <strong>fear</strong> and a sense of dislocation that persist to some extent now more than two years later. </p><h3>DON&#8217;T CALL IT &#8216;RONA</h3><p>I&#8217;ve noticed that Europeans still call it Coronavirus vs. COVID-19. If there is one thing the Elite Alchemists hate it&#8217;s mockery, which is probably why the satirical site Babylon Bee is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2022/03/21/the-babylon-bees-twitter-account-was-suspended-but-that-made-its-story-go-viral/?sh=3ef78e95209d">always getting cancelled</a>. Early on it was clear to me that &#8216;Coronavirus&#8217; would be an impediment to creating the kind of fear needed to alchemically transform us: Between sounding like a beer, and lending itself to silly nicknames like &#8216;the rona,&#8217;<br>it was just too easy to make a joke of it. Once humorous songs started coming out, the name had to go.</p><div id="youtube2-iC6_NZxDUMc" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;iC6_NZxDUMc&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/iC6_NZxDUMc?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>COVID-19 sounds so much more serious. Not only is it hard to make a funny rhyme with, the new name incorporated 9-1-1 as mentioned <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/i/63748860/911-and-covid-19">here in part one</a> of this series. My personal take on the occult meaning of the name is <strong>Control/Divide</strong>. Either way, once &#8216;covid&#8217; replaced Corona there was a lot less joking about it. It was also a harbinger of the unprecedented control of information that would become commonplace thereafter.</p><h3>PREDICTIVE PROGRAMMING COVID STYLE</h3><blockquote><p>The expression &#8220;Revelation of the Method&#8221; describes a step in the alchemical transformation of society by an occult elite. It is thought that by making the masses aware of what is <em>going to be</em> happening to them, when it later does happen it will be considered consensual - at least on a karmic level. </p><p>- Slugdaddy, <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/revelation-of-the-method-amazons">Revelation of the Method: Amazon's Upload</a></p></blockquote><p>Unlike the somewhat sloppy predictive programming concerning the collapse of the WTC towers that <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/i/65533794/predictive-programming">appeared before 9/11</a>, what was came out before and during covid appears <em>engineered</em> (not unlike the virus.) We&#8217;re told the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/about/history/sars/timeline.htm">original SARS virus</a> appeared in 2002; kicking off a brave new world of <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/has-gain-of-function-research-improved">genetic coronavirus research</a>, ostensibly to prevent another outbreak, which continues to this day. Starting in the late 2000s several movies and TV series incorporating respiratory viruses and their &#8216;cures&#8217; as antagonists appeared; including <a href="https://www.eviemagazine.com/post/covid-19-has-eerie-parallels-to-v-for-vendetta">V for Vendetta</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7882858/">Contagion</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDNPdLal2Lw">Utopia</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXlOSEafzhY">Songbird</a>, and Children of Men.</p><div id="youtube2-2VT2apoX90o" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;2VT2apoX90o&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/2VT2apoX90o?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>I re-watched Children of Men last weekend, as it had been on my mind during preparation for this article. The film is set in England 2027, and could most easily be described as &#8216;What Happens After The Great Reset.&#8217; An infertility crisis has destabilized society, with the last known baby born 18 years earlier in 2009. The Elite in the movie live as now, cloistered away from the masses in decadent luxury. There is a migrant crisis, which appears to have been a failed attempt at replacing the dwindling native population. The masses now live in a chaotic police state, where despair over the apparent end of humanity has clearly taken its toll. It turns out there is a noble savage migrant women who has become pregnant, and the protagonist Theo (played by Clive Owen) is tasked with smuggling her out of the country to safety with members of <em>The Human Project</em>, a group of scientists working to &#8216;solve&#8217; infertility on the ship <em>Tomorrow</em>. Throughout Children of Men the cause of the infertility is said to be a mystery, at least to the characters. The viewer, however, is given plenty of clues to illuminate what really happened.</p><p>Theo and his former wife had a child who died after contracting a particularly bad flu virus during a pandemic in 2008. A year later the last human child was born. Theo&#8217;s father speculates that &#8220;genetic experiments&#8221; might be the cause of the infertility. Left unsaid is what happened between the flu pandemic and the end of babies, but we already know how governments respond to pandemics: <strong>mass vaccination</strong>. Perhaps most interesting is that the characters in the movie have never connected the dots; much like today where the masses can&#8217;t or won&#8217;t accept that made-up illnesses like <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/sudden-adult-death-syndrome-sads-doctors-trying-to-determine-why-young-people-suddenly-dying-facts-matter_4615977.html">SADS</a>, or the sudden <a href="https://igorchudov.substack.com/p/new-data-from-germany-births-and">drop in fertility worldwide</a>, are connected to the experimental genetic mass vaccination campaign. </p><h3>OCCULT MEDICAL SPECTACLE</h3><p>There is something comforting to me about nurses; I find them much more pleasant in general than doctors. Throughout the world the Nurse is an icon representing care, help in a time of need, and a return to good health. Sadly, during the early days of the pandemic the image of the Nurse was exploited for occult purposes. At a time when the public was being told we needed to lockdown to relieve the strain on the healthcare system, videos of dancing nurses began to appear everywhere. Not just freestyle dancing, but coordinated dance routines that would have required some practice to get right. Weird how so few people questioned how the dancing nurses found the time, what with a &#8216;deadly&#8217; pandemic raging and overcrowding the hospitals.</p><div id="youtube2-BcFR4p5uSQ0" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;BcFR4p5uSQ0&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/BcFR4p5uSQ0?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>Our Alchemical Elite love a good &#8216;inside joke.&#8217; It must be quite hilarious to them that no matter how often they <strong>show the masses exactly what the game is</strong>, the masses never catch on and realize the joke is on them. Consider the &#8216;traveling nurses&#8217; phenomena, especially during the spring of 2020 in NYC, at the very beginning.</p><div id="youtube2-OyjfIBy_GYM" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;OyjfIBy_GYM&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/OyjfIBy_GYM?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>Nurses flew all over the country to help treat covid patients where needed. As frontline healthcare workers, these nurses were the <em>most likely</em> people to be infected with covid and to spread it to others, especially patients. (covid spreads best in hospitals and nursing homes) Additionally, relatively young and fit nurses were unlikely to get all that sick from the disease, and many may have been infected without realizing they&#8217;d caught the CV. Flying them from hospital to hospital where they treated covid patients was portrayed as heroic. In reality, as we watched and cheered the traveling nurses bravely flying &#8220;thousands of miles&#8221; to and fro, <strong>we were watching them seed the virus throughout the nation</strong>.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-d53?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-d53?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><h3>INFORMATION CONTROL MASTERED</h3><p>I have discussed the <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-covid-information-war-exposed">covid information war</a> in a previous article. Unlike 9/11, there would be no public discussion of covid allowed on any major media platform. As early as January 2020, the site <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-01/zero-hedge-permanently-suspended-from-twitter-for-harassment">Zero Hedge was banned from Twitter</a> for daring to point out the suspicious location of the Wuhan lab in relation to the coronavirus outbreak. In the years that followed, record numbers of dissidents were &#8216;cancelled&#8217; by media companies, information questioning the narrative was removed in record time, and the masses were repeatedly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/03/opinion/dyor-do-your-own-research.html">admonished not to do their own research</a>. Just this week information included in a FOIA release showed conclusively how much the Biden government intervened to affect this censorship regime.</p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:66116479,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/smoking-gun-usg-free-speech-big-tech&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:583200,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Who is Robert Malone&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Smoking Gun: USG, Free Speech, Big Tech&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;Doctors working on the front lines providing early COVID treatment and raising concerns regarding the safety and effectiveness of the COVID genetic vaccines have long suspected that the US Government Department of Health and Human Services was colluding with Big Tech to censor, defame, gaslight and deplatform anyone who veers from the government-approve&#8230;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-28T20:04:16.545Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:513,&quot;comment_count&quot;:77,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:49176289,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Robert W Malone MD, MS&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0eb501a5-9fd2-4174-9231-6d6a73139db9_400x400.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Inventor of mRNA &amp; DNA vaccines, RNA as a drug.\nScientist, physician, writer, podcaster, commentator and advocate.\nBeliever in our fundamental freedom of free speech.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-12-03T14:30:47.501Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:514739,&quot;user_id&quot;:49176289,&quot;publication_id&quot;:583200,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:583200,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Who is Robert Malone&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;rwmalonemd&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Medicine, science, bioethics, analytics, politics and life&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:49176289,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF6B00&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-11-27T02:35:35.638Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Robert W Malone MD from \&quot;Who is Robert Malone\&quot;&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Robert W Malone, MD&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:&quot;Founding Member&quot;,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;RWMaloneMD&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/smoking-gun-usg-free-speech-big-tech?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Who is Robert Malone</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Smoking Gun: USG, Free Speech, Big Tech</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">Doctors working on the front lines providing early COVID treatment and raising concerns regarding the safety and effectiveness of the COVID genetic vaccines have long suspected that the US Government Department of Health and Human Services was colluding with Big Tech to censor, defame, gaslight and deplatform anyone who veers from the government-approve&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; 513 likes &#183; 77 comments &#183; Robert W Malone MD, MS</div></a></div><p>Beginning sometime in mid 2019, it appears a concerted effort was made to remove any people or information that might enlighten the masses as to the nature of the scamdemic they would soon find themselves immersed in. Most notably, the (untimely?) death of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPJnBSh_gXQ">Cary Mullis</a>, perhaps the one man best equipped to spoil the plan. Additionally, a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4172096/">paper</a> putatively defending the position of Mullis and other HIV contrarians, with numerous parallels to covid, was retracted in October 2019 over 5 years after publication&#8230; I could go on, but you lived through it too.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h2>THE GREAT WORK</h2><p>Alchemists believe in a concept called The Great Work, or Magnum Opus. &#8220;This involves spiritual transformation, the shedding of impurities, the joining of opposites, and the refinement of materials. Exactly what the end result of this profound transformation is, varies from author to author; it could be, self-realization, communion with divinity, fulfillment of purpose, etc.&#8221;<a class="footnote-anchor" data-component-name="FootnoteAnchorToDOM" id="footnote-anchor-2" href="#footnote-2" target="_self">2</a> Ceremonial Magician Eliphas Levi, the original creator of the image of <a href="https://philpapers.org/rec/STRTBO-12">Baphomet</a>, describes The Great Work in terms of will.</p><blockquote><p>The Great Work is, before all things, the creation of man by himself, that is to say, the full and entire conquest of his faculties and his future; it is especially the perfect emancipation of his will.</p><p>- Eliphas Levi</p></blockquote><p>Consider the image of Baphomet, described by Levi as &#8220;a symbolic representation of [the] magnetistic-magical concept of the Astral Light&#8221;<a class="footnote-anchor" data-component-name="FootnoteAnchorToDOM" id="footnote-anchor-3" href="#footnote-3" target="_self">3</a> (aka an image of God). We can surmise any Magnum Opus/Great Work springing from this Left Hand Path (LHP) interpretation of the world would contain the stuff of nightmares.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QdPf!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcac2ec04-1235-4322-8c1f-e701ee12aada_1000x1000.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QdPf!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcac2ec04-1235-4322-8c1f-e701ee12aada_1000x1000.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QdPf!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcac2ec04-1235-4322-8c1f-e701ee12aada_1000x1000.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QdPf!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcac2ec04-1235-4322-8c1f-e701ee12aada_1000x1000.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QdPf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcac2ec04-1235-4322-8c1f-e701ee12aada_1000x1000.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QdPf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcac2ec04-1235-4322-8c1f-e701ee12aada_1000x1000.jpeg" width="562" height="562" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/cac2ec04-1235-4322-8c1f-e701ee12aada_1000x1000.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1000,&quot;width&quot;:1000,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:562,&quot;bytes&quot;:162193,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QdPf!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcac2ec04-1235-4322-8c1f-e701ee12aada_1000x1000.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QdPf!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcac2ec04-1235-4322-8c1f-e701ee12aada_1000x1000.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QdPf!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcac2ec04-1235-4322-8c1f-e701ee12aada_1000x1000.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QdPf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcac2ec04-1235-4322-8c1f-e701ee12aada_1000x1000.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">The androgynous Baphomet as Depicted by Levi</figcaption></figure></div><p>Some 28 months into the the Alchemists&#8217; Great Work, we can observe the alchemical transformation covid has wrought. Much of it is indeed nightmarish.</p><ul><li><p>The <em>15 Days to Slow the Spread</em> lasted about 2 years, during which time Americans learned to speak a new language; including such gems as &#8216;the new normal,&#8217; &#8216;mask up,&#8217; &#8216;follow the science,&#8217; etc.</p></li><li><p>Family members came to view each other not as beloved relations, but as potential vectors of disease.</p></li><li><p>Young children were <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/i/63333777/maskholes">forcibly muzzled</a>, some for years on end.</p></li><li><p>Many <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/16/yelp-data-shows-60percent-of-business-closures-due-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic-are-now-permanent.html">small businesses were destroyed</a>, and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/19/worlds-billionaires-made-5-trillion-dollars-over-the-past-year.html">$5 Trillion in wealth was redistributed</a> from the masses to the occult elite.</p></li><li><p>An astounding 97.1% of the U.S. population over 16 has taken at least one dose<a class="footnote-anchor" data-component-name="FootnoteAnchorToDOM" id="footnote-anchor-4" href="#footnote-4" target="_self">4</a> of the experimental genetic vaccines, despite <a href="https://openvaers.com/covid-data">record reported injuries</a> and the now-obvious negative efficacy against infection, hospitalization, and now death.</p></li><li><p>Families have been divided by propaganda directed at the unvaccinated; causing hostility, divorce, anger, and resentment.</p></li><li><p>Truth is now treason.</p></li><li><p>It&#8217;s possible up to <a href="https://gettr.com/post/p1copgr01e0">2.9 Million Americans have become permanently disabled</a>, and perhaps 1/2 as many have died, as a direct result of The Great Work.</p></li></ul><p>Behold the majesty of the Alchemists&#8217; transmutation, brought to you by people who view the Baphomet as an accurate depiction of God.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pgJN!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc453306a-be0d-4804-9b4d-15f2cd69ff2d_823x535.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pgJN!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc453306a-be0d-4804-9b4d-15f2cd69ff2d_823x535.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pgJN!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc453306a-be0d-4804-9b4d-15f2cd69ff2d_823x535.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pgJN!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc453306a-be0d-4804-9b4d-15f2cd69ff2d_823x535.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pgJN!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc453306a-be0d-4804-9b4d-15f2cd69ff2d_823x535.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pgJN!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc453306a-be0d-4804-9b4d-15f2cd69ff2d_823x535.jpeg" width="823" height="535" 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points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><h3>WHAT NOW?</h3><p>As Alex Jones is fond of saying, &#8220;the propaganda wouldn&#8217;t be necessary if the situation was hopeless.&#8221; We who have eyes to see need to continue speaking out - this series is one way for me to do so. Ultimately, in order to escape or reverse The Great Work of the Elite Alchemists, Americans need to reconnect with the divine spirit. Whether this takes the form of Jesus, Yahweh, Allah, Buddha, or just nature is really irrelevant; what matters is connecting with it, and disconnecting from the false reality of the Magnum Opus of evil. </p><p>Absent a spiritual awakening, it is hard to imagine solutions that don&#8217;t involve the break-up of the United States. Perhaps, we have already entered the world of Children of Men. I suspect that by the end of 2022 much that remains hidden will have been revealed. What remains of our nation, we will have to wait and see.</p><div class="footnote" data-component-name="FootnoteToDOM"><a id="footnote-1" href="#footnote-anchor-1" class="footnote-number" contenteditable="false" target="_self">1</a><div class="footnote-content"><p>In more material terms, the lockdown and isolation were necessary to get people to accept the mask (for the <em>privilege</em> of leaving their homes again.) The mask was necessary to get people to take the experimental shot (both for the visual reminder of danger that masks signaled, and for the <em>privilege</em> of taking the mask off.) At that point, having received the sacrament of vaccination, the newly initiated became the unwitting but eager accomplices of the Alchemists.</p></div></div><div class="footnote" data-component-name="FootnoteToDOM"><a id="footnote-2" href="#footnote-anchor-2" class="footnote-number" contenteditable="false" target="_self">2</a><div class="footnote-content"><p>Catherine Beyer https://www.learnreligions.com/the-great-work-or-magnum-opus-95943</p></div></div><div class="footnote" data-component-name="FootnoteToDOM"><a id="footnote-3" href="#footnote-anchor-3" class="footnote-number" contenteditable="false" target="_self">3</a><div class="footnote-content"><p>Julian Strube https://philpapers.org/rec/STRTBO-12</p></div></div><div class="footnote" data-component-name="FootnoteToDOM"><a id="footnote-4" href="#footnote-anchor-4" class="footnote-number" contenteditable="false" target="_self">4</a><div class="footnote-content"><p>ABC News https://dig.abclocal.go.com/ccg/interactives/us-vaccine-tracker/vax_us_cdc.html</p><p></p></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Alchemical Transformation of America, Part 2]]></title><description><![CDATA[Metaphor, Symbolism, and the Philosophy of the Alchemical Elite]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-0c0</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-0c0</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 25 Jul 2022 04:33:21 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/h_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b4ecb9-850d-4568-80e4-2de7aec7b295_631x469.bmp" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is part two of the series The Alchemical Transformation of America; my continuation of a previous author&#8217;s work titled <em>The Failed Alchemical Transformation of America</em>. See <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of">part one here</a>. See <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-d53">part three here</a>.</p><div><hr></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QZ-Q!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb4787d4a-9679-4d1f-bedb-5d3847c5a66a_744x930.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QZ-Q!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb4787d4a-9679-4d1f-bedb-5d3847c5a66a_744x930.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QZ-Q!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb4787d4a-9679-4d1f-bedb-5d3847c5a66a_744x930.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QZ-Q!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb4787d4a-9679-4d1f-bedb-5d3847c5a66a_744x930.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QZ-Q!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb4787d4a-9679-4d1f-bedb-5d3847c5a66a_744x930.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QZ-Q!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb4787d4a-9679-4d1f-bedb-5d3847c5a66a_744x930.jpeg" width="380" height="475" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b4787d4a-9679-4d1f-bedb-5d3847c5a66a_744x930.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:930,&quot;width&quot;:744,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:380,&quot;bytes&quot;:255949,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QZ-Q!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb4787d4a-9679-4d1f-bedb-5d3847c5a66a_744x930.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QZ-Q!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb4787d4a-9679-4d1f-bedb-5d3847c5a66a_744x930.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QZ-Q!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb4787d4a-9679-4d1f-bedb-5d3847c5a66a_744x930.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QZ-Q!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb4787d4a-9679-4d1f-bedb-5d3847c5a66a_744x930.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">&#8220;As Above So Below&#8221; - Hermetic Remix</figcaption></figure></div><p>In part one of this series, I made the statement that our so-called Elites &#8220;share a common set of metaphysical beliefs.&#8221; This is a tall claim I know, but lest you take me for a moronic Qanon conspiracy theorist, it actually doesn&#8217;t look like a bunch of &#8216;luciferians drinking adrenochrome.&#8217; The Alchemical Elite come from all religions and all cultures, and there is no worldwide conspiracy required for my statement to be true. According to the (excellent) book <a href="https://amzn.to/3Bbj1sF">The Perennial Tradition</a> by Norman Livergood, there &#8220;is [a] single stream of initiatory teaching flowing through all the the original, authentic expressions of the great religions and philosophies.&#8221; Thus Elites from many varied cultural/religious backgrounds are able to arrive at the same basic set of assumptions about the world organically, on their own, and without any need to conspire with each other.</p><blockquote><p>More than twenty-five centuries have passed since that which has been called the Perennial Philosophy was first committed to writing; and in the course of those centuries it has found expression, now partial, now complete, now in this form, now in that, again and again...the Perennial Philosophy has spoken almost all the languages of Asia and Europe and has made use of the terminology and traditions of every one of the higher religions. But under all this confusion of tongues and myths, of local histories and particularist doctrines, there remains a Highest Common Factor, which is the Perennial Philosophy in what may be called its <strong>chemically pure state</strong>...</p><p>- Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy, 1944 (Emphasis Mine)</p></blockquote><p>Belief systems Livergood classes under the &#8216;Perennial Tradition&#8217; include Sufism, Hermeticism, Neo-Platonism, Illuminism, Cabala, Alchemy, Magic, Mysticism, and Gnosticism. In other words, <strong>esoterically</strong> all major world religions share a common metaphysical core; originating with the ancient texts of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedas">Vedas</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah">Torah</a>. (As a Christian Mystic, I hold nearly identical beliefs to those of Muslim Sufis, Jewish Cabalists, and Hermetic Alchemists.)</p><p>Most believers in these esoteric systems are <em>good souls</em> who are interested in personal spiritual growth and making the world a better place (Right Hand Path/RHP). A small minority inside these systems seeks to bend the world to their will (Left Hand Path/LHP), rather than the will of the God/YHVH/Allah/The Universe. For the purposes of distinguishing between benign and malign occultists in this article, I will refer to LHP practitioners as &#8220;Elites&#8221; or &#8220;alchemists.&#8221;</p><p>Though many Elites come to this common metaphysical system via the esoteric branches of world religions, there are others paths less mystical in nature that one can follow. If you go deep enough into the worlds of advertising, social/behavioral science, pick-up artistry, stage hypnotism, and even to some extent science, you eventually arrive at the same esoteric understanding. Not all occultists even believe there is a spiritual dimension to consciousness; many are scientific materialists who merely embrace the usefulness of what works. This is how the Alchemists worldwide are able to arrive at the same philosophical place, without need of a centralized conspiracy.</p><h3>SEEING IS BELIEVING</h3><p>What I hope to demonstrate to the reader in this series is that symbols, rituals, and other practices of the Alchemists often <em>do</em> impact the material world. This is not to say their esoteric beliefs are actually true, just that they seem to work for them in practice. There exist many levels of understanding on which a person or concept can be operating: While these may appear to contradict exoterically, when viewed esoterically each level of understanding is simply a more refined version of the same phenomena. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dJLE!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe84929fd-58ab-4f5a-9e86-d9e7d9da5b36_600x450.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dJLE!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe84929fd-58ab-4f5a-9e86-d9e7d9da5b36_600x450.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dJLE!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe84929fd-58ab-4f5a-9e86-d9e7d9da5b36_600x450.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dJLE!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe84929fd-58ab-4f5a-9e86-d9e7d9da5b36_600x450.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dJLE!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe84929fd-58ab-4f5a-9e86-d9e7d9da5b36_600x450.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dJLE!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe84929fd-58ab-4f5a-9e86-d9e7d9da5b36_600x450.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dJLE!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe84929fd-58ab-4f5a-9e86-d9e7d9da5b36_600x450.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dJLE!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe84929fd-58ab-4f5a-9e86-d9e7d9da5b36_600x450.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dJLE!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe84929fd-58ab-4f5a-9e86-d9e7d9da5b36_600x450.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Consider the use of symbols, images, and predictive programming on a non-spiritual level. That might include Elites from myriad disciplines, all doing essentially the same things but for completely different reasons and at different levels of understanding. Once we separate these alchemical concepts from their spiritual context it is much easier to provide a concise demonstration. (I can tell you about what an orange tastes like for hours, but it will be a shit substitute for actually tasting one.)</p><p>In the video below Darren Brown, an English performance artist fluent in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), shows exactly how symbols and images can affect an alchemical transmutation absent any alchemy. (In the last minute of the video he <strong>reveals the method</strong>; showing you how he pulled it off, and serving as excellent proof of the concept for this series of articles.) </p><div id="youtube2-43Mw-f6vIbo" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;43Mw-f6vIbo&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/43Mw-f6vIbo?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><h3>ALLEGORY, METAPHOR, AND MYSTICISM</h3><p>Mark Booth&#8217;s book <a href="https://amzn.to/3PBz3R0">The Secret History of the World</a> is another mystical work I draw on, both in my personal meta-thesis of &#8216;what is going on&#8217; and in this series of articles. Booth illuminates a critical feature in how perennialists view the world: <strong>&#8220;the fact that events are symbolic or allegorical does not mean that they are not to be understood as literally true, too.&#8221;</strong> From this perspective, Jesus Christ is both the <em>Son of God</em> and the <em>Sun of God</em> simultaneously and without contradiction.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5loL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77c6f5c2-5361-410b-bc29-866aa878b995_840x473.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5loL!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77c6f5c2-5361-410b-bc29-866aa878b995_840x473.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5loL!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77c6f5c2-5361-410b-bc29-866aa878b995_840x473.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5loL!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77c6f5c2-5361-410b-bc29-866aa878b995_840x473.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5loL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77c6f5c2-5361-410b-bc29-866aa878b995_840x473.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5loL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77c6f5c2-5361-410b-bc29-866aa878b995_840x473.jpeg" width="652" height="367.1380952380952" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/77c6f5c2-5361-410b-bc29-866aa878b995_840x473.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:473,&quot;width&quot;:840,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:652,&quot;bytes&quot;:112898,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5loL!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77c6f5c2-5361-410b-bc29-866aa878b995_840x473.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5loL!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77c6f5c2-5361-410b-bc29-866aa878b995_840x473.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5loL!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77c6f5c2-5361-410b-bc29-866aa878b995_840x473.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5loL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77c6f5c2-5361-410b-bc29-866aa878b995_840x473.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Many RHP perennialist types revel in the use of metaphor to subtlety reveal themselves to he/she who &#8220;<a href="https://biblehub.com/esv/matthew/11.htm">has ears to hear.</a>&#8221; Recently a SubStacker I follow wrote an excellent metaphorical article wherein she articulated exactly this understanding; stating &#8220;this &#8230; really happened. But that does not mean it is not also a metaphor.&#8221; Indeed. I wrote an article recently called <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-1990s-revolutionary-youth-movement">The 1990's Revolutionary Youth Movement that Biden Wanted to Bulldoze</a> that was both literally true and a metaphor; containing at least two metaphorical levels of understanding the astute reader will have likely noted.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3>9/11 ALCHEMICAL ELEMENTS SUMMARIZED</h3><p>I won&#8217;t dwell too deeply on 9/11, as there are <a href="https://amzn.to/3BazoWl">many other works</a> by many other creators that expound on its anomalous features. That said, the thesis of this series is that 9/11 failed to alchemically transform America where COVID-19 succeeded, so I will touch on a few key points of comparison. </p><h4>PREDICTIVE PROGRAMMING</h4><p>Commentators on the Interwebs have regularly pointed to the substantial predictive programming (or <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/revelation-of-the-method-amazons">Revelation of the Method</a>) that occurred prior to the 9/11 event; from Rugrats to The Terminator to The Simpsons. </p><div id="youtube2-mqrvxj5ZrGs" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;mqrvxj5ZrGs&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/mqrvxj5ZrGs?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><h4>THE FALLING MAN</h4><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!EWIw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b4ecb9-850d-4568-80e4-2de7aec7b295_631x469.bmp" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!EWIw!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b4ecb9-850d-4568-80e4-2de7aec7b295_631x469.bmp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!EWIw!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b4ecb9-850d-4568-80e4-2de7aec7b295_631x469.bmp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!EWIw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b4ecb9-850d-4568-80e4-2de7aec7b295_631x469.bmp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!EWIw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b4ecb9-850d-4568-80e4-2de7aec7b295_631x469.bmp 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!EWIw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b4ecb9-850d-4568-80e4-2de7aec7b295_631x469.bmp" width="631" height="469" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/11b4ecb9-850d-4568-80e4-2de7aec7b295_631x469.bmp&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:469,&quot;width&quot;:631,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:889278,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/bmp&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!EWIw!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b4ecb9-850d-4568-80e4-2de7aec7b295_631x469.bmp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!EWIw!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b4ecb9-850d-4568-80e4-2de7aec7b295_631x469.bmp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!EWIw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b4ecb9-850d-4568-80e4-2de7aec7b295_631x469.bmp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!EWIw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b4ecb9-850d-4568-80e4-2de7aec7b295_631x469.bmp 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Falling Man 9/11/01 vs The Hanged Man Tarot Card, Golden Dawn Edition</figcaption></figure></div><p>To those familiar with arcane knowledge, the spectacle of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Falling_Man">The Falling Man</a> on 9/11 was immediately recognizable as <em>The Hanged Man</em> tarot card of the Major Arcana. Perhaps this is merely coincidental, though based on the unlikely position of the limbs I tend to take the view of FDR here that, &#8220;In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.&#8221; <em>The Hanged Man</em> generally symbolizes feeling trapped or confined, uncertainty, lack of direction, needing release, or <strong>letting go</strong>.</p><h4>INDUCED FEAR STATE</h4><p>When you are afraid, you often feel uncertain, trapped, in need of release, and have a longing to be rid of that feeling (letting go.) In the days after 9/11 many people were filled with fear: afraid to travel, afraid of Muslims, afraid for our country, afraid of the unknown. This didn&#8217;t last more than a few months for most of us (failed alchemical transformation), but during that time emotions were high throughout the nation. </p><blockquote><p>The 9/11 attacks imprinted themselves on Americans&#8217; psyches in a way few other events in living memory have. Beyond the human toll...the attacks struck deeply at Americans&#8217; sense of security. In the 2011 poll, 75% of people reported that they&#8217;d been emotionally affected &#8220;a great deal&#8221; by 9/11, compared with 67% a year after the attacks; 61% said life in America had changed &#8220;in a major way&#8221; since the attacks, up from half who said that in 2002&#8230; In November 2013, the most recent time we asked this question, 34% said terrorists&#8217; ability to launch a major attack was now greater than it had been prior to 9/11, compared with 29% who said less and 36% who said it was about the same.</p><p>- <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/05/14/more-than-a-decade-later-911-attacks-continue-to-resonate-with-americans/">Pew Research</a>, <em>More than a decade later, 9/11 attacks continue to resonate with Americans</em>, 2014</p></blockquote><h4>THE PATRIOT ACT</h4><p>Building upon this &#8216;induced fear state&#8217; in the masses post 9/11, the government acted quickly to &#8216;do something&#8217; in the form of new legislation. </p><blockquote><p>Hastily passed 45 days after 9/11 in the name of national security, the Patriot Act was the first of many changes to surveillance laws that made it easier for the government to spy on ordinary Americans by expanding the authority to monitor phone and email communications, collect bank and credit reporting records, and track the activity of innocent Americans on the Internet. While most Americans think it was created to catch terrorists, the Patriot Act actually turns regular citizens into suspects.</p><p>- <a href="https://www.aclu.org/issues/national-security/privacy-and-surveillance/surveillance-under-patriot-act">ACLU</a>, Surveillance Under the Patriot Act</p></blockquote><h3>SHEEP &amp; SHEPHERDS: WHY THE ELITE ALCHEMICALLY TRANSFORMED AMERICA</h3><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!aTis!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba9c9dfe-6faf-49c5-b46c-8209bbeba13a_907x669.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!aTis!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba9c9dfe-6faf-49c5-b46c-8209bbeba13a_907x669.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!aTis!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba9c9dfe-6faf-49c5-b46c-8209bbeba13a_907x669.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!aTis!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba9c9dfe-6faf-49c5-b46c-8209bbeba13a_907x669.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!aTis!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba9c9dfe-6faf-49c5-b46c-8209bbeba13a_907x669.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!aTis!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba9c9dfe-6faf-49c5-b46c-8209bbeba13a_907x669.jpeg" width="632" height="466.16097023153253" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ba9c9dfe-6faf-49c5-b46c-8209bbeba13a_907x669.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:669,&quot;width&quot;:907,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:632,&quot;bytes&quot;:211780,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!aTis!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba9c9dfe-6faf-49c5-b46c-8209bbeba13a_907x669.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!aTis!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba9c9dfe-6faf-49c5-b46c-8209bbeba13a_907x669.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!aTis!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba9c9dfe-6faf-49c5-b46c-8209bbeba13a_907x669.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!aTis!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba9c9dfe-6faf-49c5-b46c-8209bbeba13a_907x669.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Our Shepherd is an out-of-touch Technocrat</figcaption></figure></div><p>Speculating about what motivates someone is tricky business, and not one I would generally devote time to - except in instances where these motivations can be objectively identified. In the case of our Alchemical Elite, their metaphysical belief system itself is the motivation. Whether on the Right Hand or Left Hand paths of <em>The Perennial Tradition</em>, one views the masses as essentially <strong>sheep</strong>. The difference is in the approach to &#8216;solving the problem.&#8217; Jesus Christ, the Son/Sun of God and cabalistic magician, expounded on this topic; allegorically comparing his RHP approach to that of the LHP practitioners of the day (thiefs).  </p><blockquote><p>&#8220;Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger&#8217;s voice.&#8221; Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees <strong>did not understand</strong> what he was telling them.</p><p>Therefore Jesus said again, &#8220;Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them&#8230; The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.&#8221;</p><p>- Jesus, John 10:10-14 (Emphasis mine)</p></blockquote><p>Whether expressed in the words of Jesus, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle">Pareto Principle</a>, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments">Asch Conformity Experiments</a>, or in the preferences of your fellow Americans, it is clear that there are many sheep and they like it that way. As someone with a libertarian/anarcho-capitalist worldview, this was a hard truth for me to accept. I really wanted to believe that everyone wanted freedom and autonomy, but starting a business and being a &#8216;boss&#8217; for the past 17 years has shown me most people don&#8217;t want any of that. Thus the need for good shepherds who can identify and help to enlighten the sheep who are ready to taste the metaphorical orange, and protect those who aren&#8217;t yet.</p><p>Through the eyes of the Alchemists the sheep are not seen as needing a good shepherd because they &#8220;know not what they do,&#8221; rather sheep are seen as universally dangerous in the short term - destined for extinction in the long term. Their beliefs concerning the evolution of consciousness esoterically mirror the materialist view of evolution; those who are able to evolve in incremental bursts are not among the sheep, and those among the sheep are not properly adapted to evolve anyway. (Being destined for spiritual recycling until they evolve or are sent elsewhere). They find no value in convincing the sheep the orange is worth tasting because they <em>know</em> the sheep are incapable of understanding what an orange is. From this perspective, the desire of the Elite to alchemically transform America into a less populated nation full of frightened and dependent people is both rational and necessary.</p><p>To Be Continued&#8230;</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:63748860,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Alchemical Transformation of America, Part 1&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;I love the word &#8216;understanding.&#8217; Its meaning is so straightforward, yet so complex simultaneously. Should you want to understand a physical object like a car, for instance, you (or a mechanic) would inspect it, especially from beneath. By literally standing under the car, one gathers important understandings about its mechanical condition. When we want &#8230;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-19T06:33:04.372Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:6,&quot;comment_count&quot;:4,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World LLC&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">The Alchemical Transformation of America, Part 1</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">I love the word &#8216;understanding.&#8217; Its meaning is so straightforward, yet so complex simultaneously. Should you want to understand a physical object like a car, for instance, you (or a mechanic) would inspect it, especially from beneath. By literally standing under the car, one gathers important understandings about its mechanical condition. When we want &#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; 6 likes &#183; 4 comments &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:66169474,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-d53&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Alchemical Transformation of America, Part 3&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This is part three of the series The Alchemical Transformation of America; my continuation of a previous author&#8217;s work titled The Failed Alchemical Transformation of America. See part one here. See part two here.&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-29T15:46:50.525Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:0,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-d53?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">The Alchemical Transformation of America, Part 3</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This is part three of the series The Alchemical Transformation of America; my continuation of a previous author&#8217;s work titled The Failed Alchemical Transformation of America. See part one here. See part two here&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Alchemical Transformation of America, Part 1]]></title><description><![CDATA[How Covid succeeded where 9/11 failed. The New Normal persists because the Alchemists always learn from their mistakes.]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 19 Jul 2022 06:33:04 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/h_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb24df22-eb05-4580-af9b-638744269c07_768x512.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is part one of the series The Alchemical Transformation of America; my continuation of a previous author&#8217;s work titled <em>The Failed Alchemical Transformation of America</em>. See <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-0c0">part two here</a>. See <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-d53">part three here</a>.</p><div><hr></div><p>I love the word &#8216;understanding.&#8217; Its meaning is so straightforward, yet so complex simultaneously. Should you want to understand a physical object like a car, for instance, you (or a mechanic) would inspect it, especially from beneath. By literally standing under the car, one gathers important understandings about its mechanical condition. When we want to understand a concept, we have to do our &#8216;under standing&#8217; metaphorically rather than in physical space. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6KU5!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08850e99-3055-4e31-863b-f51651b7cc21_768x512.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6KU5!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08850e99-3055-4e31-863b-f51651b7cc21_768x512.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6KU5!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08850e99-3055-4e31-863b-f51651b7cc21_768x512.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6KU5!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08850e99-3055-4e31-863b-f51651b7cc21_768x512.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6KU5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08850e99-3055-4e31-863b-f51651b7cc21_768x512.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6KU5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08850e99-3055-4e31-863b-f51651b7cc21_768x512.jpeg" width="768" height="512" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/08850e99-3055-4e31-863b-f51651b7cc21_768x512.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:512,&quot;width&quot;:768,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:39654,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6KU5!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08850e99-3055-4e31-863b-f51651b7cc21_768x512.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6KU5!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08850e99-3055-4e31-863b-f51651b7cc21_768x512.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6KU5!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08850e99-3055-4e31-863b-f51651b7cc21_768x512.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6KU5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08850e99-3055-4e31-863b-f51651b7cc21_768x512.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Man Gaining a True Understanding of the Problem.</figcaption></figure></div><p>The key to winning the &#8216;everything war&#8217; we&#8217;re in is understanding (as best as possible) our problem. I define that problem as a corrupt Elite (or ruling class.) They might have made a positive impact once years ago, but now consume much more than they will ever produce again (a rentier class.) If we are able to understand what they&#8217;re trying to do and why, it&#8217;s much easier to mount a coherent resistance. Understand the worldview of the man and and you understand his actions.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>I don&#8217;t have all the answers. My writing, I hope, will shed some light on some answers and create a desire for you to seek as well. Collaboratively, I believe we can understand the machinations of the Elite (of El), and work together with purpose to take their misused power and decentralize it, so they can no longer harm the innocent. The first thing I can tell you with high certainty is that they share a common set of metaphysical beliefs.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jynk!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb063c1c-ec1a-44bb-89bf-6cf60e491fdf_660x433.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jynk!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb063c1c-ec1a-44bb-89bf-6cf60e491fdf_660x433.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jynk!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb063c1c-ec1a-44bb-89bf-6cf60e491fdf_660x433.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jynk!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb063c1c-ec1a-44bb-89bf-6cf60e491fdf_660x433.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jynk!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb063c1c-ec1a-44bb-89bf-6cf60e491fdf_660x433.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jynk!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb063c1c-ec1a-44bb-89bf-6cf60e491fdf_660x433.jpeg" width="660" height="433" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/bb063c1c-ec1a-44bb-89bf-6cf60e491fdf_660x433.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:433,&quot;width&quot;:660,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:106036,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jynk!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb063c1c-ec1a-44bb-89bf-6cf60e491fdf_660x433.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jynk!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb063c1c-ec1a-44bb-89bf-6cf60e491fdf_660x433.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jynk!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb063c1c-ec1a-44bb-89bf-6cf60e491fdf_660x433.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jynk!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb063c1c-ec1a-44bb-89bf-6cf60e491fdf_660x433.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Alchemist v.1.0</figcaption></figure></div><p>About 10 years ago I read a fascinating article called &#8220;The Failed Alchemical Transformation of America.&#8221; Unfortunately the full article is no longer online, but I&#8217;ve pondered its meaning often since. Its author had a very Masonic perspective, with thesis being that 9/11 was an attempt by our Elite to transform the America into something new via alchemical means, and that this attempt was ultimately unsuccessful.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share Slugdaddy World</span></a></p><p>Exoterically, the historical alchemist sought to transmute lead into gold. Esoterically, the transmutation of lead into gold references personal transmutation, purification, and perfection. (The heart/spirit of the alchemist is transmuted from lead into gold.) I would argue that our occult elite function as modern-day alchemists; both exoterically and esoterically. Consider the operations of the Federal Reserve:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RN-Y!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba6c7d2a-6854-48f6-a998-a14112062ec8_640x362.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RN-Y!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba6c7d2a-6854-48f6-a998-a14112062ec8_640x362.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RN-Y!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba6c7d2a-6854-48f6-a998-a14112062ec8_640x362.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RN-Y!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba6c7d2a-6854-48f6-a998-a14112062ec8_640x362.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RN-Y!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba6c7d2a-6854-48f6-a998-a14112062ec8_640x362.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RN-Y!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba6c7d2a-6854-48f6-a998-a14112062ec8_640x362.gif" width="640" height="362" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ba6c7d2a-6854-48f6-a998-a14112062ec8_640x362.gif&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:362,&quot;width&quot;:640,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:4493948,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/gif&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RN-Y!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba6c7d2a-6854-48f6-a998-a14112062ec8_640x362.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RN-Y!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba6c7d2a-6854-48f6-a998-a14112062ec8_640x362.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RN-Y!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba6c7d2a-6854-48f6-a998-a14112062ec8_640x362.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RN-Y!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba6c7d2a-6854-48f6-a998-a14112062ec8_640x362.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Alchemist v 2.0</figcaption></figure></div><ul><li><p>At a material level, the Federal Reserve prints money from nothing, which is the essence of exoteric alchemy.</p></li><li><p>On a spiritual level, our lives, and the time and potential productivity they consist of are represented by money: When we work, we trade our lifeforce for dollars. Printing additional dollars takes from the value of yours thereby allowing the alchemist to absorb your lifeforce into their own. The metaphorical base metal of your life is transmuted into the gold of the alchemist&#8217;s purse through the magick of alchemy.</p></li></ul><p>Just what the end state of America would look like following its transmutation was a question the original article never adequately answered. I&#8217;ve attempted to answer it myself over the years and will take a shot at it here. My own spiritual perspective is that of a Mystical Christian, in line with someone like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Steiner">Rudoplh Steiner</a>, a man I greatly admire. I bring this up because in matters of mysticism, there are two paths: the right hand and the left hand. Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism are all examples of exoteric Right Hand Path (RHP) belief systems. Our occult elite, on the other hand, are on the Left Hand Path (pun intended.) This is symbolized in the Tree of Life, the top part of the tree containing the sephiroth is the right hand path, and its mirrored image below, the qliphoth, is the left hand path.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uwPw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb24df22-eb05-4580-af9b-638744269c07_768x512.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uwPw!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb24df22-eb05-4580-af9b-638744269c07_768x512.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uwPw!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb24df22-eb05-4580-af9b-638744269c07_768x512.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uwPw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb24df22-eb05-4580-af9b-638744269c07_768x512.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uwPw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb24df22-eb05-4580-af9b-638744269c07_768x512.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uwPw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb24df22-eb05-4580-af9b-638744269c07_768x512.jpeg" width="768" height="512" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/db24df22-eb05-4580-af9b-638744269c07_768x512.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:512,&quot;width&quot;:768,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:124105,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uwPw!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb24df22-eb05-4580-af9b-638744269c07_768x512.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uwPw!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb24df22-eb05-4580-af9b-638744269c07_768x512.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uwPw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb24df22-eb05-4580-af9b-638744269c07_768x512.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uwPw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb24df22-eb05-4580-af9b-638744269c07_768x512.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Left hand path (LHP) practitioners don&#8217;t publish many books explaining their practices, and what is available to review is largely Crowleyian nonsense, or written in a way the obscures the meaning. (Only LHP adepts can understand.) And in most mystical systems of any kind, the deepest truths reside in oral traditions. As an example, in Jewish tradition there are three ways esoteric knowledge can be obtained:</p><ol><li><p>By interpreting sacred texts to uncover <em>nistar</em> (&#8220;hidden&#8221; meaning)</p></li><li><p>By oral transmission of tradition from a Kab&#173;balistic master</p></li><li><p>By direct reve&#173;lation, which might include visitation by an angel or Elijah, spirit possession, or other supra-rational experience</p></li></ol><p>The Elite are not proceeding haphazardly in their actions, if anything the mystical belief system they operate by requires precision and intention (which is a weakness we could exploit to defeat them.) I  spent several years working to gain understanding of these belief systems, two of those years formally training under a gnostic/kaballistic adept (RHP). Since it is axiomatic that &#8216;as above so below&#8217; any point below the tree (LHP) would be philosophically identical to of any point in the tree above, only inverted.  Understanding either path provides the needed information to understand both, with some of amount of thought required.</p><h3>WHAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE?</h3><p>I suspect many of <em>my</em> readers would answer this question correctly, fear. (Hate is said to be merely a consequence of fear.) At the center of the Tree of Life is Tiphareth (#5 on glyph), and in the western world this is Jesus Christ, and metaphorically it is the Christ Consciousness. It&#8217;s usually represented closer to the heart than pictured below, but I liked this image because it also represents &#8216;as above so below&#8217; or as Christians like myself say &#8216;on earth as it is in heaven.&#8217; (The spheres are the aspects of God, superimposed over the human form they align with the chakras of the body, as we are in His image.)</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u5-O!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F84ce7742-7b2e-4cfd-a822-4ed283543e29_725x794.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u5-O!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F84ce7742-7b2e-4cfd-a822-4ed283543e29_725x794.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u5-O!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F84ce7742-7b2e-4cfd-a822-4ed283543e29_725x794.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u5-O!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F84ce7742-7b2e-4cfd-a822-4ed283543e29_725x794.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u5-O!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F84ce7742-7b2e-4cfd-a822-4ed283543e29_725x794.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u5-O!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F84ce7742-7b2e-4cfd-a822-4ed283543e29_725x794.png" width="725" height="794" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/84ce7742-7b2e-4cfd-a822-4ed283543e29_725x794.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:794,&quot;width&quot;:725,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:952502,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u5-O!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F84ce7742-7b2e-4cfd-a822-4ed283543e29_725x794.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u5-O!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F84ce7742-7b2e-4cfd-a822-4ed283543e29_725x794.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u5-O!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F84ce7742-7b2e-4cfd-a822-4ed283543e29_725x794.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u5-O!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F84ce7742-7b2e-4cfd-a822-4ed283543e29_725x794.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>An RHP alchemist would hope to transmute his lead heart on Malkuth (#1) into the heart of gold/god on Tiphareth and the enlightened Christ Consciousness defined by <strong>love</strong>. Reasoning from this we would expect LHP alchemists to have as their mystical goal the <em>lowering</em> of consciousness (ours possibly theirs) down the tree into opposite of Christ, <strong>fear</strong>.</p><blockquote><p>&#8220;When you hear of wars and disturbances, <strong>do not be terrified; for these things must take place first</strong>, but the end does not follow immediately.&#8221; Then He continued by saying to them, &#8220;Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.&#8221;</p><p>- Account of Jesus speaking in Luke 21:9-10 (Emphasis Mine)</p></blockquote><p>Jesus, Biblically and metaphorically, is telling us not to fall for the fear, not to let the evil elites terrify us. This too shall pass.</p><h3>ALL FEAR IS FEAR OF DEATH</h3><p>If you are a member of the Elite rentier class using occult knowledge to manipulate and feed off the masses, you have a lot to fear in the material realm. But as you get older and ever closer to death, the fear your metaphysical beliefs might fail the acid test must become almost all-consuming. No wonder they try to live as long as possible.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_HnH!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b4344a-429a-42f3-8bdc-e6749f531567_960x640.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_HnH!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b4344a-429a-42f3-8bdc-e6749f531567_960x640.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_HnH!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b4344a-429a-42f3-8bdc-e6749f531567_960x640.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_HnH!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b4344a-429a-42f3-8bdc-e6749f531567_960x640.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_HnH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b4344a-429a-42f3-8bdc-e6749f531567_960x640.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_HnH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b4344a-429a-42f3-8bdc-e6749f531567_960x640.jpeg" width="640" height="426.6666666666667" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/93b4344a-429a-42f3-8bdc-e6749f531567_960x640.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:640,&quot;width&quot;:960,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:640,&quot;bytes&quot;:43927,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_HnH!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b4344a-429a-42f3-8bdc-e6749f531567_960x640.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_HnH!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b4344a-429a-42f3-8bdc-e6749f531567_960x640.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_HnH!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b4344a-429a-42f3-8bdc-e6749f531567_960x640.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_HnH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93b4344a-429a-42f3-8bdc-e6749f531567_960x640.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Many of us must die for him to live forever.</figcaption></figure></div><p>This is also why these men (usually men it seems) start charities; not to scam the tax system, or to continue doing harm by another means, but to actually help people. In their belief system, the good karma from charitable acts/giving can make up for or even outweigh the bad karma from everything else they do. It&#8217;s also essential to keeping the fear of death at bay.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!npvW!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0896653-c767-49d7-adf9-24c9e36f0260_873x454.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!npvW!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0896653-c767-49d7-adf9-24c9e36f0260_873x454.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!npvW!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0896653-c767-49d7-adf9-24c9e36f0260_873x454.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!npvW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0896653-c767-49d7-adf9-24c9e36f0260_873x454.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!npvW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0896653-c767-49d7-adf9-24c9e36f0260_873x454.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!npvW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0896653-c767-49d7-adf9-24c9e36f0260_873x454.png" width="873" height="454" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e0896653-c767-49d7-adf9-24c9e36f0260_873x454.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:454,&quot;width&quot;:873,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:223230,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!npvW!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0896653-c767-49d7-adf9-24c9e36f0260_873x454.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!npvW!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0896653-c767-49d7-adf9-24c9e36f0260_873x454.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!npvW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0896653-c767-49d7-adf9-24c9e36f0260_873x454.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!npvW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0896653-c767-49d7-adf9-24c9e36f0260_873x454.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>I don&#8217;t include the Gates Foundation intentionally; Bill Gates does not strike me as a man with any mystical knowledge, nor does he act like one. The dubious endeavors of his charity reveal a lack of sincerity, certainly no awareness of karma. Gates is not in the inner circle, he&#8217;s just a materialist who (naively) believes when he dies it&#8217;s over, and who will do anything to postpone what he refuses to admit to himself is inevitable.</p><h3>9/11 AND COVID-19</h3><p>When you look at these event names (sigils) you can see visually &#8220;9/11&#8221; and &#8220;COVID-19&#8221; have at lot in common. What jumps out at me is that an &#8220;I&#8221; is also the roman numeral for one. Without the letters, <s>COV</s><strong>1</strong><s>D</s>-<strong>19</strong> is the inverse of <strong>9</strong>/<strong>11</strong>. In America, 911 is what you call in an emergency. The event 9/11 was a frightening spectacle, and when COVID-19 kicked off it was too (for many.) In both cases we were told to be afraid of an invisible enemy. And in both 9/11 and COVID-19, the Alchemists left behind some easter eggs, hidden in plain site where no one sees them.</p><p>To Be Continued&#8230;</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:65533794,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-0c0&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Alchemical Transformation of America, Part 2&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This is part two of the series The Alchemical Transformation of America; my continuation of a previous author&#8217;s work titled The Failed Alchemical Transformation of America. See part one here.&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-25T04:33:21.930Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:0,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World LLC&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-0c0?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">The Alchemical Transformation of America, Part 2</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This is part two of the series The Alchemical Transformation of America; my continuation of a previous author&#8217;s work titled The Failed Alchemical Transformation of America. See part one here&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:66169474,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-d53&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Alchemical Transformation of America, Part 3&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This is part three of the series The Alchemical Transformation of America; my continuation of a previous author&#8217;s work titled The Failed Alchemical Transformation of America. See part one here. See part two here.&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-29T15:46:50.525Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:0,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-alchemical-transformation-of-d53?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">The Alchemical Transformation of America, Part 3</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This is part three of the series The Alchemical Transformation of America; my continuation of a previous author&#8217;s work titled The Failed Alchemical Transformation of America. See part one here. See part two here&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Slugdaddy World Featured on TLAV]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Last American Vagabond, an Important COVID dissident and anti-war YouTuber until getting cancelled. Slugdaddy World gets a mention! And its gone.]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/slugdaddy-world-featured-on-tlav</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/slugdaddy-world-featured-on-tlav</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 17 Jul 2022 15:46:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3nD9!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7f3476b9-a93e-429f-a823-486ab1d0e6f5_712x393.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>These days a lot of people from diverse viewpoints seem to be converging on a consensus that covid measures have done more harm than good, and we need to take back power from the public health establishment and move on toward a more populist future. Suddenly people on the formerly left or right are moving toward either forming a third way, or taking over the Republican party completely, while jettisoning the neo-cons who are already leftists now anyway. From my view it really does come down to Authoritarian vs. Not, and at different times each of the parties has played that role. Our willingness to change sides when needed is the only power the people have that can be easily expressed.</p><p>Ryan from <a href="https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/">The Last American Vagabond</a> is an excellent researcher and compiler of obscure facts and evidence. He functions to bridge the communication gap between the honest scientists on places like SubStack, and the general public popular with the youth (an important battleground in the <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-covid-information-war-exposed">information war</a>.) Mainstream scientists would do well to investigate many of the contradictions he has discovered, in the data and elsewhere. We all know that isn&#8217;t going to happen though because, in the words of Nick Taylor in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427944/">Thank You For Smoking</a>, &#8220;everyone's got a mortgage to pay&#8230;. The Yuppie Nuremberg defense.&#8221; </p><p>Here&#8217;s Ryan talking about a <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/has-gain-of-function-research-improved">recent Slugdaddy World post</a> on YouTube, <s>for as long as it lasts</s>. (It was removed from YouTube as I was literally typing. Hit a little too close to the mark I imagine. Link to Odysee at the point we&#8217;re mentioned below.) I&#8217;m also linking to the video on his site at bottom. The post related to continuing GOF research and whether it has societal benefit. Thanks for subscribing, and sorry to my subscribers for my tendency to hit publish before proof reading enough times, you may want to refer to the version on the web, with last minute edits, but I&#8217;m trying to control myself.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3>Youtube</h3><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3nD9!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7f3476b9-a93e-429f-a823-486ab1d0e6f5_712x393.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3nD9!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7f3476b9-a93e-429f-a823-486ab1d0e6f5_712x393.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3nD9!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7f3476b9-a93e-429f-a823-486ab1d0e6f5_712x393.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3nD9!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7f3476b9-a93e-429f-a823-486ab1d0e6f5_712x393.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3nD9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7f3476b9-a93e-429f-a823-486ab1d0e6f5_712x393.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3nD9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7f3476b9-a93e-429f-a823-486ab1d0e6f5_712x393.png" width="712" height="393" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7f3476b9-a93e-429f-a823-486ab1d0e6f5_712x393.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:393,&quot;width&quot;:712,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:19593,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3nD9!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7f3476b9-a93e-429f-a823-486ab1d0e6f5_712x393.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3nD9!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7f3476b9-a93e-429f-a823-486ab1d0e6f5_712x393.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3nD9!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7f3476b9-a93e-429f-a823-486ab1d0e6f5_712x393.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3nD9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7f3476b9-a93e-429f-a823-486ab1d0e6f5_712x393.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>Odysee</strong></p><p><a href="https://odysee.com/@TLAVagabond:5/TDWU-7-16-22:a?t=1585">https://odysee.com/@TLAVagabond:5/TDWU-7-16-22:a?t=1585</a></p><p><strong>TLAV</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/omicron-sub-variants-have-exact-same-mutation-as-previous-gain-of-function-infectivity-experiment/">https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/omicron-sub-variants-have-exact-same-mutation-as-previous-gain-of-function-infectivity-experiment/</a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/slugdaddy-world-featured-on-tlav?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a 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They called us druggies but the real threat was social classes mixing.]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-1990s-revolutionary-youth-movement</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-1990s-revolutionary-youth-movement</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 16 Jul 2022 21:49:23 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OVCR!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32a0e9ff-652b-422b-a940-e3b375ee2ac9_1140x760.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Today raves, now styled electronic music festivals, are hardly controversial, they are corporate and treated largely as just another big business. If not exactly mainstream, rave (EDM) culture is no longer edgy. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://www.miamiherald.com/miami-com/article259831390.html" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OVCR!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32a0e9ff-652b-422b-a940-e3b375ee2ac9_1140x760.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OVCR!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32a0e9ff-652b-422b-a940-e3b375ee2ac9_1140x760.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OVCR!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32a0e9ff-652b-422b-a940-e3b375ee2ac9_1140x760.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OVCR!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32a0e9ff-652b-422b-a940-e3b375ee2ac9_1140x760.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OVCR!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32a0e9ff-652b-422b-a940-e3b375ee2ac9_1140x760.jpeg" width="1140" height="760" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/32a0e9ff-652b-422b-a940-e3b375ee2ac9_1140x760.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:760,&quot;width&quot;:1140,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:192974,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https://www.miamiherald.com/miami-com/article259831390.html&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OVCR!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32a0e9ff-652b-422b-a940-e3b375ee2ac9_1140x760.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OVCR!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32a0e9ff-652b-422b-a940-e3b375ee2ac9_1140x760.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OVCR!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32a0e9ff-652b-422b-a940-e3b375ee2ac9_1140x760.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OVCR!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32a0e9ff-652b-422b-a940-e3b375ee2ac9_1140x760.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Ultra Music Festival, Miami 2022</figcaption></figure></div><p>Back in 1997, however, the Boomers were having none of it for reasons that may not be readily apparent unless you were there. (This included then Senator Joe Biden, whose memorable role I&#8217;ll get to.) By 1994 my home town Orlando had become the epicenter of rave culture in America; one that differed substantially from prior waves that occurred in NYC and San Francisco. The &#8216;Orlando sound&#8217; as it became known evolved beginning in 1991 from a group of people who had previously been active in the progressive/alternative music scene with its decidedly European flavor. One of our popular anthems of the time was a haunting remix of the Pet Shop Boys&#8217; Red Letter Day, and songs from Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Cult, and Sarah McLachlan would regularly appear in the mix. In summer 1997 <em>Rolling Stone</em> magazine called Orlando the "Seattle of electronica." Later that same year raves would effectively be banned from the city. Enhanced law enforcement efforts outside the city would quickly end what had been a revolutionary youth movement that threatened the social order of the time; its underlying principles expressed by the acronym P.L.U.R. (Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect)</p><p>If there is one song that best typifies the Orlando Sound, it&#8217;s this one. (Last I heard the DJ who originally recorded it was working as an engineer at NASA.)</p><div id="youtube2-wvt2yD68WUw" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;wvt2yD68WUw&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/wvt2yD68WUw?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>Telling the story of why and how the movement was a revolutionary one requires a bit of context, both personal and historical. </p><p>The America gen-xers like myself grew up in was the America you see in the movie <em>Sixteen Candles</em>, or more to the point in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEFeFsP2qhg">Heathers</a>. Class divides were rarely ever crossed. One of the most important differences compared to today was the very limited amount of money a college student could borrow, which extended the rigid class structures of high school into college (though was still arguably preferable than allowing youth to rack up $100k+ in student debt.) </p><h3>FLORIDA MAN BRIEF BIO</h3><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ob8i!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20db3af0-3b46-4770-97f1-302855f604ef_1400x500.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ob8i!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20db3af0-3b46-4770-97f1-302855f604ef_1400x500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ob8i!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20db3af0-3b46-4770-97f1-302855f604ef_1400x500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ob8i!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20db3af0-3b46-4770-97f1-302855f604ef_1400x500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ob8i!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20db3af0-3b46-4770-97f1-302855f604ef_1400x500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ob8i!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20db3af0-3b46-4770-97f1-302855f604ef_1400x500.jpeg" width="1400" height="500" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/20db3af0-3b46-4770-97f1-302855f604ef_1400x500.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:500,&quot;width&quot;:1400,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:150151,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ob8i!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20db3af0-3b46-4770-97f1-302855f604ef_1400x500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ob8i!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20db3af0-3b46-4770-97f1-302855f604ef_1400x500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ob8i!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20db3af0-3b46-4770-97f1-302855f604ef_1400x500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ob8i!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20db3af0-3b46-4770-97f1-302855f604ef_1400x500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Downtown Orlando, &#8216;The City Beautiful&#8217;</figcaption></figure></div><p>I grew up from age 7 in a downtown Orlando neighborhood populated with powerful politicians and old money. My own family had no generational wealth, but we existed comfortably alongside the city&#8217;s elite on my father&#8217;s upper middle class income as an attorney. It had been my mother&#8217;s idea to move where we did; plopping a white brick new home on the last (small) lot in a 50 year old neighborhood. (The literal physical embodiment of nouveau riche) She had hoped the proximity to power would help my father&#8217;s career, but if it did it was short lived. After less than four years living there she divorced him and thew him out. She got as much as she could out of the man, but from then on my Mom would be poor. My Dad would remain as he had, though in a small condo for a while, and being a fairly well known lawyer in the community meant myself and two younger sisters got a hall pass into the upper class, with most people never knowing behind the doors of our interloping white house we lived in poverty. </p><p>These circumstances served to place me in an interesting, and somewhat rarified place between the social classes: I was able to pass in either, and belonged in neither. When I graduated high school in 1994, I hadn&#8217;t fully processed all the implications of my financial predicament. My peers were all headed off to college with cars their parents had given them, and financial support while they were there. I drove to my freshman year as an English major at Florida State University in a leased car I made payments on, a small scholarship, and not much else. By then my Dad had a new wife and house and two new kids and I was expected to do as he did 25 years prior and work my way through college.<a class="footnote-anchor" data-component-name="FootnoteAnchorToDOM" id="footnote-anchor-1" href="#footnote-1" target="_self">1</a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>Perhaps if I had accepted my actual status as a poor person during the planning stages of my college adventure, it would have worked out better. I would have chosen the dorms on campus where the poor lived without air conditioning, instead of the private dorm where I ended up alongside three friends from high school. Once moved in I was greeted with a shocking new reality; I could no longer pass as upper-class. This point was driven home when I attended Pledge Week with my friend and got asked to join zero fraternities, including my father&#8217;s where my legacy status should have guaranteed an invitation. That was no longer a world I fit into or related to at all.</p><p>In college the main difference in social classes was having a job. No one in my dorm worked. It appeared to me their sole point of being in college was to party and otherwise enjoy themselves. FSU was at the time the nation&#8217;s #1 party school. Jobs were hard to come by in the small town of Tallahassee; the best I could do first semester was delivering pizzas to FAMU students on the other side of town, and in second semester I worked alongside two <s>retarded</s> mentally challenged people putting shirts on hangers in the back of a Marshalls. At least there was no uniform at Marshalls, as I vividly recall hiding my Hungry Howie&#8217;s pizza shirt under a flannel when coming and going from the dorm to avoid humiliation. My college experience had turned out nothing like I expected.</p><p>After accepting the reality that the type of people I had been surrounded with all my life no longer wanted anything to do with me, I sought a new social group. Eventually I ended up with the pot smokers/trippers, and while I hadn&#8217;t done much of that myself I could pass as part of that clique. We took LSD and wandered around campus, and up to the yard of Jim Morrison&#8217;s old house. All the while I would be hearing from a friend back home about the booming rave scene in Orlando, and how new and different things were. Toward the end of my freshman year the popular Rabbit in the Moon came to a club in Tallahassee, and my friend came up for the show. We ended up taking some ecstasy and I had the time of my life. Not quite an &#8216;out of body experience&#8217; but close enough. </p><div id="youtube2-WMelxicyYnY" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;WMelxicyYnY&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/WMelxicyYnY?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>Between work and socializing with my stoner social clique, I didn&#8217;t have much focus left for school. By the end of freshman year my GPA had dropped to 3.1 (a record low for me) and I lost the small scholarship. Like it or not, I wouldn&#8217;t be able to afford to come back. I headed home to Orlando and became absorbed in the raver scene, where things were far different and stranger than anything I&#8217;d known before.</p><h3>ORLANDO RAVE CULTURE</h3><p>Beginning the summer of 1995, I would spend much of my free time at various rave clubs and otherwise generally immersed in rave culture. It was the first time in my life where I&#8217;d seen people from all social classes, races, and sexual preferences hanging out together in the same clique. During those years I would frequently run into people I knew from high school and college, daughters and sons of local wealthy lawyers and doctors who wouldn&#8217;t have given me the time of day at college, but who now in the context of the rave scene treated me like family. I understood where they were coming from, and served sometimes as a tour guide to newbies from that world. Something else different were the gays and trans people around me, whom I&#8217;d never been exposed to previously. At that time mainstream culture still considered these deviants, but in our culture they were accepted and had as much value as anyone else.</p><p>That year the movie <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_(film)">Kids</a> was released, and Christian activists went about protesting to made sure it would never be shown in Orlando, and they won. While the lifestyles in Kids were of a different flavor than ours, it was a popular movie in the rave scene once it hit HBO. (I maintain, if you deleted the first ten minutes it would be a masterpiece.) One of the more common &#8216;looks&#8217; girls would wear to the club was Jennie from Kids, played by Chloe Sevigny, with blue shirt and pixie-ish cut.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UAkj!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff73a9a95-cc55-420c-a35c-52a76399f303_704x396.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UAkj!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff73a9a95-cc55-420c-a35c-52a76399f303_704x396.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UAkj!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff73a9a95-cc55-420c-a35c-52a76399f303_704x396.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UAkj!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff73a9a95-cc55-420c-a35c-52a76399f303_704x396.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UAkj!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff73a9a95-cc55-420c-a35c-52a76399f303_704x396.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UAkj!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff73a9a95-cc55-420c-a35c-52a76399f303_704x396.jpeg" width="704" height="396" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f73a9a95-cc55-420c-a35c-52a76399f303_704x396.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:396,&quot;width&quot;:704,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:90161,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UAkj!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff73a9a95-cc55-420c-a35c-52a76399f303_704x396.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UAkj!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff73a9a95-cc55-420c-a35c-52a76399f303_704x396.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UAkj!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff73a9a95-cc55-420c-a35c-52a76399f303_704x396.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UAkj!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff73a9a95-cc55-420c-a35c-52a76399f303_704x396.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>There were a few elements to the culture that were uniquely appealing to me, and contributed to its revolutionary nature. In the 1990s, it wasn&#8217;t that cool to be smart. The first people I knew that were both were the ravers, most of whom were smart. These were kids who tested into gifted in grade school and had high SAT scores. In time not spent at the club, the ravers around me would often engage in deep intellectual discussion about the world around us and all manner of things. They were much smarter on average than a typical FSU student. Orlando ravers were also capitalists; every one of them had a small business dream of some kind and many had more than one: spinning records as a badass DJ, selling merch, handing out flyers promoting the next club event, starting an advertising company, or working for NASA. No one ever talked about what the government would do for us, all we wanted was for them to leave us alone. They were also generally friendly, open, and accepting in a way that was perhaps a little naive, but nonetheless preferable to the norms of the time. You could go there alone, and make some friends pretty easily, and there were hardly any jerks or assholes before the government intervened anyway (compared to a college bar it was night and day.)</p><p>Typically no one showed up to any of the area clubs until 1am. We would party, dance, listen to music, socialize, and so forth until 8am or so. Lots of times this involved MDMA, Ketamine, GHB, Rohypnol, and sundry other drugs. Lots of times we would be sober. I would estimate far less than 1/2 the crowd on any given night was high on anything. We were there for the music and the culture, psychedelics were secondary and it was considered passe to be there for that purpose. Orlando Ravers, economically diverse though we were, came to be known as the &#8216;snobby ravers&#8217; for among other things our tendency to look down upon people who were there only to get sloppy and act weird. There was also our knowledge this the movement started with us, that we were smarter, and had a distinctive style of dress which could be described as raver-preppy; a polo shirt, some absurd <a href="https://www.more.com/fashion/fashion-trends/jnco-jeans-are-officially-making-huge-and-wide-legged-comeback/">Jncos</a> khaki for me, nice shoes, and ALWAYS some cool sunglasses. Even the poor looked good going out, and we frequently lent/gave each other cool clothes or shades in times of need.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vCQH!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a5356bb-f8d6-42c8-965d-047cbbba9105_800x421.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vCQH!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a5356bb-f8d6-42c8-965d-047cbbba9105_800x421.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vCQH!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a5356bb-f8d6-42c8-965d-047cbbba9105_800x421.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vCQH!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a5356bb-f8d6-42c8-965d-047cbbba9105_800x421.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vCQH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a5356bb-f8d6-42c8-965d-047cbbba9105_800x421.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vCQH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a5356bb-f8d6-42c8-965d-047cbbba9105_800x421.jpeg" width="800" height="421" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8a5356bb-f8d6-42c8-965d-047cbbba9105_800x421.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:421,&quot;width&quot;:800,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:58230,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vCQH!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a5356bb-f8d6-42c8-965d-047cbbba9105_800x421.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vCQH!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a5356bb-f8d6-42c8-965d-047cbbba9105_800x421.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vCQH!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a5356bb-f8d6-42c8-965d-047cbbba9105_800x421.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vCQH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a5356bb-f8d6-42c8-965d-047cbbba9105_800x421.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Bomb Chillin&#8217; 1990s Raver Style</figcaption></figure></div><p>When not at the club, some of us worked shit jobs, some drove back and forth to college in Gainesville or Tallahassee, some just lived off their rich open minded parents and partied, and some just bummed it. I took a job selling used cars, and then later new cars. By the time I was turned 20 I was a top salesman at a Ford dealership by day, then I would drive my demonstrator vehicle to the club at night. This led to some humorous events where the world of day and night would collide, but my performance on the job bought me some grace for my transgressions. My boss at the dealership had a thing for ironing your shirt, so on the way from the club to work one morning I had to stop at a dry cleaner and have them iron my shirt as I tried to shake off the night and switch modes. The place ended up being staffed with ravers, so they ironed for free &amp; I would return frequently. Eventually though, it was too many hours too many places, and I longed for a less hectic life.</p><p>My uncle offered me a job selling Disney tickets in a hotel, which sounds like a silly job, but Disney tickets are world of their own and that will be a great story for another day. I was able to make what would be in today&#8217;s dollars about $90k a year, working all day Thursday to Sunday, and off the other days. It was the perfect job for the raver lifestyle and meant I was free to go to the best club night of the week: Sunday School at Club Firestone.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qoTb!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1412c4fa-cb44-4045-9790-9fbac390bfdb_711x516.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qoTb!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1412c4fa-cb44-4045-9790-9fbac390bfdb_711x516.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qoTb!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1412c4fa-cb44-4045-9790-9fbac390bfdb_711x516.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qoTb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1412c4fa-cb44-4045-9790-9fbac390bfdb_711x516.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qoTb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1412c4fa-cb44-4045-9790-9fbac390bfdb_711x516.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qoTb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1412c4fa-cb44-4045-9790-9fbac390bfdb_711x516.jpeg" width="711" height="516" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1412c4fa-cb44-4045-9790-9fbac390bfdb_711x516.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:516,&quot;width&quot;:711,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:121372,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qoTb!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1412c4fa-cb44-4045-9790-9fbac390bfdb_711x516.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qoTb!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1412c4fa-cb44-4045-9790-9fbac390bfdb_711x516.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qoTb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1412c4fa-cb44-4045-9790-9fbac390bfdb_711x516.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qoTb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1412c4fa-cb44-4045-9790-9fbac390bfdb_711x516.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Club Firestone, circa 1996</figcaption></figure></div><p>Firestone was a landmark nightclub made out of an old downtown tire store. With the brick steeple on top and blacked out windows, it looked like a satanic church to a lot of the parents. Calling the Sunday night party <em>Sunday School</em> didn&#8217;t help its reputation, nor did the youths stumbling out into the daylight of Monday morning rush hour full of angry dads who &#8216;don&#8217;t want to see that&#8217; on their way into the office. (I once saw mine sitting in traffic one morning, and quickly ducked to avoid pissing him off anymore than I already had.)</p><p>Starting from 1994 or so local news was sending undercover teams into the clubs, filming the most egregiously high ravers, and broadcasting this footage as often as possible. After a few years of this, parents were starting to get antsy. The police were all over our crowd, violating civil rights with illegal searches and general harassment. Glenda Hood, the mayor at the time and a neighbor growing up, was not happy. She had been hard at work attempting to make the entirety of the city look like DisneyWorld, and Orlando&#8217;s new status as the &#8220;Seattle of electronica&#8221; was the opposite of what she wanted. Moreover, the city&#8217;s upper classes did not want their children dropping out of college to fraternize with the hoi polloi, and so they kept her phone ringing with demands to do something. Fortunately for us, the owner of Firestone was also a lawyer, and he did a good job of restraining the powers-that-be for a time.</p><p>For our part, the ravers felt like we were pioneers of a new way of living and relating to the world. The downtown area we had grown up with was desolate, full of bums and crime. Our influence had made it a hot spot, and ravers filled the rental units nearby, bringing new life and excitement to the downtown area. While occasionally an ambulance would need to be called, for a newbie or frat boy asshole in town for the weekend who&#8217;d &#8216;eaten too many beans,&#8217; we didn&#8217;t cause too much trouble. The heroin epidemic that came later, once our movement was done, had a body count exponentially higher. Anecdotally, I had one personal friends die of OD (nothing to do with club) during the raver era, since then 7 of my closest friends from the scene have died of opioid OD. Few if any of them used opioids at all until the ordinance sent us looking for new things to do. </p><h3>THE ANTI-RAVE ORDINANCE</h3><p>By 1997, famous DJs from around the world would come to Orlando on a weekly basis. Ravers, record stores, club clothing stores, and 24hr eateries had pretty much taken over the downtown area. It was exciting and fun. Many of us dreamed of being DJs, but the ~$2k start up cost of Technics 1200&#8217;s and a decent mixer was more than most of us could afford. Those who could did, and we gathered at those houses when the clubs weren&#8217;t open. At the time we didn&#8217;t think it would ever end.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Mayor and city elite were scheming behind the scenes to make sure it did end, and by any means necessary. The raves and EDM would be out, and family-friendly boy bands would replace them. Work began to craft legislation that would accomplish this. The main thrust of the plan, which later became Orlando&#8217;s Anti-Rave Ordinance, was to force the rave venues to close much earlier in the evening. After month&#8217;s of debate, the ordinance was passed and would go into effect September 18, 1997.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/880fc73a3b4931054c8e03710dea0093" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ic7I!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4e2703a6-fddd-4056-a77f-02bd6692665a_1017x873.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ic7I!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4e2703a6-fddd-4056-a77f-02bd6692665a_1017x873.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ic7I!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4e2703a6-fddd-4056-a77f-02bd6692665a_1017x873.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ic7I!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4e2703a6-fddd-4056-a77f-02bd6692665a_1017x873.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ic7I!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4e2703a6-fddd-4056-a77f-02bd6692665a_1017x873.png" width="1017" height="873" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4e2703a6-fddd-4056-a77f-02bd6692665a_1017x873.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:873,&quot;width&quot;:1017,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:122011,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https://apnews.com/article/880fc73a3b4931054c8e03710dea0093&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ic7I!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4e2703a6-fddd-4056-a77f-02bd6692665a_1017x873.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ic7I!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4e2703a6-fddd-4056-a77f-02bd6692665a_1017x873.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ic7I!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4e2703a6-fddd-4056-a77f-02bd6692665a_1017x873.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ic7I!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4e2703a6-fddd-4056-a77f-02bd6692665a_1017x873.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Most of us thought the clubs wouldn&#8217;t comply, and so on the night the ordinance was to go into effect Orlando&#8217;s ravers had packed into Club Firestone planning to stand up for our rights. At 3am the music was still playing, and at 3:01am the lights all came on at once. As we blinked our vision back into daylight mode we saw armed police were posted up all over the place, hands on rifles across their chests. There would be no resistance as we walked out quietly heads down.</p><h3>BACK TO THE MARGINS</h3><p>One would think that the rave culture could have simply relocated but it wasn&#8217;t that simple. After the ordinance ravers were demoralized, the P.L.U.R. era had ended. Clubs that opened up outside town were raided by police nightly, with many arrests. Upper class types no longer felt comfortable once the movement had been criminalized and stigmatized, and many never came back. They were replaced with street thugs and drug dealers who started real trouble and changed the mood of the scene completely. By 2001, even Joe Biden had ravers on his enemies list as he called for arresting the promoters and bulldozing the rave clubs using laws previously applied to crack houses. (h/t <a href="https://taibbi.substack.com/">Matt Taibbi)</a></p><div id="youtube2-10MEBfqqEWI" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;10MEBfqqEWI&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:&quot;17&quot;,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/10MEBfqqEWI?start=17&amp;rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>In 2001, Cyberzone, the last of Orlando&#8217;s all-night rave clubs was forced to close after two overdose deaths. The end of the line had finally come.</p><h3>AFTERMATH</h3><p>Over the years I&#8217;ve occasionally wondered what would have happened if we had resisted. Unfortunately, we&#8217;ll never know. The police were so aggressive with arresting people back then, a lot of the ravers had pending criminal charges for drug crimes and couldn&#8217;t risk being re-arrested. The few that were truly committed moved on to other cities where the scene was still nascent, like Indianapolis. Others of us kept going to what events we could, trying to &#8216;keep it real.&#8217; Some like myself decided to focus on our careers, and the Orlando Sound became something we heard in our car on the way to work. Unfortunately, many of the poor kids ended up retreating to their apartments and becoming heroin addicts. Faced with the destruction of their culture, and nothing to do at night, they gave into despair. <a href="https://www.addictioncenter.com/rehabs/florida/orlando/">Orlando&#8217;s heroin problem</a> started shortly after the ordinance and continues to this day; killing thousands compared to the handful of overdose deaths during the rave era.</p><p>Downtown Orlando itself didn&#8217;t do so well either, a lot of it emptied out and it wasn&#8217;t very popular until the condo/real estate bubble many years later. </p><p>When considering the way culture played out, maybe we were threatening because we were ahead of our time. It&#8217;s now cool to be smart, gays are accepted and allowed to marry, blacks and whites hang out and intermarry. The one thing that hasn&#8217;t changed is social class. Those lines have only hardened over the years, and perhaps that was the real reason our world had to be shut down. I highly recommend the book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Apart-State-America-1960-2010/dp/030745343X">Coming Apart by Charles Murray</a> on the topic of social class. It has informed my meta thesis of &#8216;what is going on&#8217; a lot. Or at least take the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/do-you-live-in-a-bubble-a-quiz-2">bubble quiz</a> based on the data from the book. I was a 34 before moving to the country.</p><h3>RED LETTER DAY</h3><p>For a long time the Orlando Sound was something you couldn&#8217;t buy on CD, it was too new and obscure. People would have a DJ set recorded on a tape, or buy a tape of same at a rave. In fall of 1995 a raver left a tape in my car at Club Ultraviolet of a set by <a href="https://www.remarkcentral.info/sound">DJ Remark</a>. In this set he played a haunting song I now know as Red Letter Day by Pet Shop Boys. In this specific version, the &#8220;red letter day&#8221; is cut out so you&#8217;re left with &#8220;All I want is what you want&#8221; as the melody/refrain/chorus? Also, I had never heard Red Letter Day either and wouldn&#8217;t have recognized it. Maybe 5 years of asking people if they knew the name of the song later that tape finally gave out, and my friend and I who had found the tape together were no closer to identifying it.</p><p>It became a fun challenge to ask people. I usually ended up asking girls, as to recreate the song required the kind of singing men don&#8217;t often do to each other. I knew someday one of these girls might know, it became a bit of a litmus test for potential love interests. It took 10 years of asking in total to meet a woman who figured out the answer. I married her.</p><p>There was a documentary made about these events in 1997/1998, which I only saw the first time in 2017 when Remark put in on <a href="https://youtu.be/JXTIY89ORGo">YouTube</a>. If you&#8217;re interested, it&#8217;s below&#8230; but if you&#8217;re interested in the song, <strong>and you should be</strong>, there are some copyright issues with Pet Shop Boys and this remix, so it&#8217;s only on the video. It&#8217;s cued up right to that point for you. This was at just about the peak of our cultural moment. Police are everywhere. If you look close, you might see me dancing.</p><div id="youtube2-JXTIY89ORGo" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;JXTIY89ORGo&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:&quot;3229&quot;,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/JXTIY89ORGo?start=3229&amp;rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-1990s-revolutionary-youth-movement?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-1990s-revolutionary-youth-movement?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><div class="footnote" data-component-name="FootnoteToDOM"><a id="footnote-1" href="#footnote-anchor-1" class="footnote-number" contenteditable="false" target="_self">1</a><div class="footnote-content"><p>My sister read this and was like &#8220;yup, it was like that,&#8221; but she also felt like it sounded like I was complaining. In case the reader gets that impression, no I wouldn&#8217;t trade my experiences as an Orlando raver for the world. If anything, there was a synchronicity to things that ended up benefiting me. Also, my Dad was definitely right in thinking that if I wanted to stay at college I would have found a way to make that happen. It wouldn&#8217;t have been right for him to waste resources on my misadventures that the rest of my family needed, at the time.</p></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Pitch Black]]></title><description><![CDATA[When covid takes it all.]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/pitch-black</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/pitch-black</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 15 Jul 2022 04:44:46 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/youtube/w_728,c_limit/WEQnzs8wl6E" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="youtube2-WEQnzs8wl6E" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;WEQnzs8wl6E&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/WEQnzs8wl6E?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>In 2009 in the dark days of the GFC I was browsing the local Barnes &amp; Noble and ran into a rack of Ayn Rand&#8217;s Atlas Shrugged just reprinted. It was for me, as for many I&#8217;m told, an awakening. You&#8217;re never the same after reading it, even if like me you&#8217;ve read thousands of books. If only society could be organized around the Sacred Pledge:</p><blockquote><p>&#8220;I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.&#8221;</p><p>&#8213; Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged</p></blockquote><p>Part being an objectivist is believing the truth <em>can be</em> known, that is it better to be known, that one should seek the truth and rationality above all things. If my premises are wrong, then I disown them. As John Galt says &#8220;to maintain a contradiction is to abdicate one&#8217;s mind and to evict oneself from the realm of reality.&#8221; Rand would not like this world. In Covidland there is narrative, and there is hate directed as those who question it. In Covidland there are no prizes for getting it right, the prizes go to those who embrace contradiction.</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading Slugdaddy World! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>Covidland exposed a side of human nature that is so ugly. You can&#8217;t unsee it.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TVwJ!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0828f02c-be84-4220-8cdd-038604fff72e_818x467.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TVwJ!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0828f02c-be84-4220-8cdd-038604fff72e_818x467.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TVwJ!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0828f02c-be84-4220-8cdd-038604fff72e_818x467.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TVwJ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0828f02c-be84-4220-8cdd-038604fff72e_818x467.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TVwJ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0828f02c-be84-4220-8cdd-038604fff72e_818x467.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TVwJ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0828f02c-be84-4220-8cdd-038604fff72e_818x467.jpeg" width="818" height="467" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0828f02c-be84-4220-8cdd-038604fff72e_818x467.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:467,&quot;width&quot;:818,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:163969,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TVwJ!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0828f02c-be84-4220-8cdd-038604fff72e_818x467.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TVwJ!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0828f02c-be84-4220-8cdd-038604fff72e_818x467.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TVwJ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0828f02c-be84-4220-8cdd-038604fff72e_818x467.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TVwJ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0828f02c-be84-4220-8cdd-038604fff72e_818x467.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Protesting to mask the children.</figcaption></figure></div><p>The <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-covid-information-war-exposed">information war</a> continues relentlessly at all times. Google will no longer show you more than <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zyJB45ewvU&amp;t=2508s">400 results</a> for any given search term, even though it looks like there are more. (try it) Inside those are many duplicates, there are about 150 unique answers that you are allowed to see for any given question. </p><p>Maybe covid is over now, but the objectivist in me says its not. The masters of our universe love it like this; divide and conquer. Alex Berenson had a great piece the other day with stories from every day folks telling how covid mandates and measures affected their marriages.</p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:63625823,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/the-price-of-fear&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:363080,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Unreported Truths&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ba7118f2-c605-4b5c-b43c-6b38e775fa94_278x278.png&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The price of fear&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;Earlier today on Twitter I asked you for your own stories of how lockdowns and travel restrictions and vaccine mandates have touched your lives. So many of you have emailed already, and I must admit that the intimacy of these stories stuns me. Some of my closest friends are friends no longer, so I understand your sense of loss firsthand.&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-11T23:10:24.117Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:1194,&quot;comment_count&quot;:350,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:12729762,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Alex Berenson&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d6f12871-1a1b-44d1-bd70-774a01d18e36_4256x2832.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Alex Berenson is a former New York Times reporter and the author of 13 novels, three non-fiction books, and the Unreported Truths booklets. His newest book, PANDEMIA, on the coronavirus and our response to it, was published on Nov. 30.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-05-17T15:34:47.968Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:285461,&quot;user_id&quot;:12729762,&quot;publication_id&quot;:363080,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:363080,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Unreported Truths&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;alexberenson&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Independent, citizen-funded journalism&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ba7118f2-c605-4b5c-b43c-6b38e775fa94_278x278.png&quot;,&quot;author_id&quot;:12729762,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF6B00&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-05-17T17:51:04.814Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:null,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Alex Berenson&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:&quot;Founding Member&quot;,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;AlexBerenson&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/the-price-of-fear?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><img class="embedded-post-publication-logo" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!EFLx!,w_56,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba7118f2-c605-4b5c-b43c-6b38e775fa94_278x278.png" loading="lazy"><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Unreported Truths</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">The price of fear</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">Earlier today on Twitter I asked you for your own stories of how lockdowns and travel restrictions and vaccine mandates have touched your lives. So many of you have emailed already, and I must admit that the intimacy of these stories stuns me. Some of my closest friends are friends no longer, so I understand your sense of loss firsthand&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; 1194 likes &#183; 350 comments &#183; Alex Berenson</div></a></div><p>One of the stories is from a man who knew &#8220;what was going on&#8221; and warned his pregnant wife not to take the shot. She did and the pregnancy ended as you would expect, that is if you are at all paying attention. He states &#8220;I felt betrayed that she didn't value what I believe to be one of my greatest strengths&nbsp;and passions, the pursuit of truth.&#8221;</p><p>Indeed. This is Covidland. That is when it has taken everything; obliterating not only truth but the idea that truth has value. Truth has negative efficacy in Covidland.</p><p>It used to be that throwing babies in the volcano, sacrificing the young to save the lives of the old, was considered an abomination. Now it is sacrament. This is happening, not as much as they want, but it&#8217;s happening and it is pure fucking evil.</p><div id="youtube2-6Cj6zw2-nB4" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;6Cj6zw2-nB4&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/6Cj6zw2-nB4?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>These are dark days. Pitch black. Will truth ever come back? As the fear gets cranked up in the coming weeks will we see the worst face of humanity back on full display? One thing you can count on is that before Covidland is over, there will be justice, whether from divine retribution or something more genetic in nature. It&#8217;s hard to forgive people who aren&#8217;t sorry.</p><div id="youtube2-Xy4bhK67f50" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;Xy4bhK67f50&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Xy4bhK67f50?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading Slugdaddy World! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Midweek Pick-Me-Up: Biden Voters Admit is was a HUGE Mistake]]></title><description><![CDATA[Listen to Biden voters who have now seen the light: policies matter more than personality. Maybe there is hope for an American Renaissance]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/midweek-pick-me-up-biden-voters-admit</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/midweek-pick-me-up-biden-voters-admit</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 13 Jul 2022 20:45:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/youtube/w_728,c_limit/CrHL8JMO0O8" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The saddest thing is the poor people who actually believed he would help them&#8230; Just like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPNL1QDQVTI">Obama phone lady</a>, who has said since Obama definitely did not &#8220;do more&#8221; for her. Too bad democrats don&#8217;t really try to help the poor instead of keeping them dependent. I used the believe their BS about helping the little guy (many years ago,) then I started a business and worked my way into the middle class. I thought naively that Democrats would be excited that a little guy was getting ahead. Just the opposite turned out to be true: You can be poor your whole life and the first year you do okay, the Dems are the ones who can&#8217;t wait to take most of it and call you an capitalist/imperialist/oppressor. The hypocrite party.</p><p>These people really regret it though, it&#8217;s so satisfying to watch, kinda like running into your vaxxed up friends that shunned you last summer and getting to hear all about their three covid infections this year. It&#8217;s okay to gloat, just a little. Enjoy!</p><div id="youtube2-CrHL8JMO0O8" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;CrHL8JMO0O8&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/CrHL8JMO0O8?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/midweek-pick-me-up-biden-voters-admit?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/midweek-pick-me-up-biden-voters-admit?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p></p><p>Added Bonus: New HILARIOUS Song About &#8220;Pedo Peter,&#8221; an odd name for your son to call you by, but that&#8217;s just how it goes with the Big Guy I guess.</p><div id="youtube2-wMKIRuJd5GU" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;wMKIRuJd5GU&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/wMKIRuJd5GU?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Has Gain of Function Research Improved Your Life?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Simple question. Are you better off for it? If you didn't like the sampler package, here's why it's time to cancel before you get billed again.]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/has-gain-of-function-research-improved</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/has-gain-of-function-research-improved</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 13 Jul 2022 08:22:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/h_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63c9d724-9b5f-49f3-bcbc-d4a3719fa6fb_901x631.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>*Updated, an earlier version included an incorrect link to one of the references.</em></p><p>Yesterday I wrote about <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/fools-or-knaves-it-doesnt-matter">Fools and Knaves</a>, and at the time I was thinking specifically about Gain of Function research. Fauci doesn&#8217;t like that term, fine, call it what you want. Let&#8217;s call it &#8220;modifying pathogens in a lab, to alter the transmissibility or the pathogenicity, with good intentions.&#8221; Has that improved <em>your</em> life at all? Did any of our SARS-1 research actually save a life when SARS-2 showed up? I&#8217;ve searched the web pretty thoroughly and haven&#8217;t turned up one example of anything beneficial to come from this research. If you have personally benefited from it, please tell me in the comments (your income as a scientist doesn&#8217;t count.)</p><p><em>As an aside, please don&#8217;t be afraid of covid. If you&#8217;re reading this, it didn&#8217;t kill you. Scaring you about an invisible enemy isn&#8217;t what this article is about.</em></p><p>Looking at the possible downsides of virus modifying research, the majority does seem to be coalescing on the lab leak hypothesis being the &#8216;proximal origin&#8217; of the covid pandemic. But whether it did come from a lab or not, the salient point here is that <strong>almost everyone now agrees it could have</strong>. All the ingredients <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nm.3985">were there</a>. If this virus came from an animal, coincidentally, that wouldn&#8217;t really change a thing. It could have easily come from the lab, and it could happen again. Not only that, they&#8217;re already telling you it <strong>may have happened again</strong>.</p><p></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-022-00941-z#article-info" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Divd!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63c9d724-9b5f-49f3-bcbc-d4a3719fa6fb_901x631.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Divd!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63c9d724-9b5f-49f3-bcbc-d4a3719fa6fb_901x631.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Divd!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63c9d724-9b5f-49f3-bcbc-d4a3719fa6fb_901x631.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Divd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63c9d724-9b5f-49f3-bcbc-d4a3719fa6fb_901x631.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Divd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63c9d724-9b5f-49f3-bcbc-d4a3719fa6fb_901x631.jpeg" width="901" height="631" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/63c9d724-9b5f-49f3-bcbc-d4a3719fa6fb_901x631.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:631,&quot;width&quot;:901,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:130826,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-022-00941-z#article-info&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Divd!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63c9d724-9b5f-49f3-bcbc-d4a3719fa6fb_901x631.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Divd!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63c9d724-9b5f-49f3-bcbc-d4a3719fa6fb_901x631.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Divd!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63c9d724-9b5f-49f3-bcbc-d4a3719fa6fb_901x631.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Divd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63c9d724-9b5f-49f3-bcbc-d4a3719fa6fb_901x631.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Recently, one of my favorite Substackers posted <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-022-00941-z">this study</a>, very interesting stuff. It&#8217;s about the L452R mutation, said to improve the ability of infected cells to fuse with adjacent cells (fusogenicity). I certainly encourage you to read it for yourself, but to summarize: The authors are trying to determine what makes Omicron far less deadly than Delta, and L452R is &#8220;the only RBD domain mutation that emerges in the Delta variant but is absent in the Omicron variant.&#8221; Past research indicated fusogenicity is correlated with pathogenicity in covid. Their &#8220;data suggest that the decreased fusogenicity of the Omicron variant is due to a lack of the L452R mutation present in the Delta variant.&#8221; </p><p>In layman&#8217;s terms, &#8220;sounds like great news!&#8221; Delta&#8217;s gone now and Omicron&#8217;s far less severe. Back to normal, guess I&#8217;ll have to find new topics for my Substack&#8230; </p><p>Maybe though, just for fun, could we try sticking the bad bits from Delta in Omi and see what happens?<a class="footnote-anchor" data-component-name="FootnoteAnchorToDOM" id="footnote-anchor-1" href="#footnote-1" target="_self">1</a></p><blockquote><p>Here, we developed an L452R mutated Omicron variant (Omicron-L452R) and found that the Omicron-L452R variant rescued fusogenicity and strengthened the high infectivity by enhancing the cleavage of the spike protein. Notably, Omicron-L452R greatly enhanced the ability of Omicron to infect lung tissues of humanized ACE2 mice.</p><p>- Yanan Zhang, Ting Zhang, Yihui Fang, Jie Liu, Qinong Ye &amp; Lihua Ding<br><em>Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy</em> <strong>volume&nbsp;7</strong>, Article&nbsp;number:&nbsp;76 (2022)</p></blockquote><p>Hmm&#8230; What could go wrong with your homebrew Deltacron?</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/epidemiological-update-sars-cov-2-omicron-sub-lineages-ba4-and-ba5" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cai4!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd1949d-59f2-49e8-8e46-44f1c8e88dfe_1186x703.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cai4!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd1949d-59f2-49e8-8e46-44f1c8e88dfe_1186x703.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cai4!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd1949d-59f2-49e8-8e46-44f1c8e88dfe_1186x703.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cai4!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd1949d-59f2-49e8-8e46-44f1c8e88dfe_1186x703.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cai4!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd1949d-59f2-49e8-8e46-44f1c8e88dfe_1186x703.png" width="1186" height="703" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7cd1949d-59f2-49e8-8e46-44f1c8e88dfe_1186x703.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:703,&quot;width&quot;:1186,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:127056,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/epidemiological-update-sars-cov-2-omicron-sub-lineages-ba4-and-ba5&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cai4!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd1949d-59f2-49e8-8e46-44f1c8e88dfe_1186x703.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cai4!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd1949d-59f2-49e8-8e46-44f1c8e88dfe_1186x703.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cai4!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd1949d-59f2-49e8-8e46-44f1c8e88dfe_1186x703.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cai4!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd1949d-59f2-49e8-8e46-44f1c8e88dfe_1186x703.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>That&#8217;s an interesting coincidence. I thought you guys said the L452R was the only Delta mutation that didn&#8217;t appear in Omicron?</p><p>Some of you might be thinking that&#8217;s quite a big leap to say BA.4/BA.5 came from this experimentation. If that&#8217;s where your head&#8217;s at you missed my point; it doesn&#8217;t matter if it did, it matters if it could have. This particular research seems to have completed in January 2022 and BA.4 was first identified that month, so the timing is a little tight. It could have come from a similar lab doing similar things that did not publish their work. We are told this is the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxocryRTOSI">second most contagious</a> virus in the world; it&#8217;s completely plausible that this research created BA.4/BA.5 (Deltacron), it infected a lab worker, spread, and went on to spread and become the dominate circulating strain.</p><p>We just spent 30 months dealing with fallout from the last time. The jab-a-thon alone was so absurd and destructive I can hardly believe it happened. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpQrAbkM3dI">Vax that thang up</a> anyone?) All of us have suffered in one way or another, and many have died. Trillions of dollars have been lost, years of progress erased, and not one of those public &#8220;conversations&#8221; politicians always talk about has ever been had about maybe stopping these people before they get us all killed. And all this risk is for what, a more effective fucking flu shot?</p><p>A while back I wrote about <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/the-wuhan-lab-chekhovs-gun-or-red">Chekhov&#8217;s Gun</a>, wondering if the as-yet-unresolved plot line of the Wuhan Coronavirus Lab would appear again before the show&#8217;s over. Back then I missed the point too; it&#8217;s not the Wuhan Lab, it&#8217;s any lab, it&#8217;s American funded labs. This so-called research that&#8217;s never netted one tangible benefit to a single American tax slave is still going on and we&#8217;re still paying for it, because we didn&#8217;t take <em>action</em>.</p><div id="youtube2-gCPH1CoooEs" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;gCPH1CoooEs&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:&quot;45&quot;,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/gCPH1CoooEs?start=45&amp;rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>Our corrupt elite will not stop, not voluntarily. They believe themselves to be the Elect (of El) and by paying them to roll the dice with our lives, we&#8217;re only reinforcing that belief, and feeding their insane hubris. If there is ANYTHING covid has taught us it&#8217;s this: The chimeric viruses these (literal) mad scientists are cooking up don&#8217;t have to kill you to destroy your life. </p><p>The good news is, this bullshit science isn&#8217;t even profitable. The only people dumb enough to pay for it are tax slaves. Once we end them, this research won&#8217;t be coming back. So I&#8217;ll finish back where I started: Has Gain of Function research improved <em>your</em> life?</p><p>If the answer&#8217;s no, then stay tuned right here at SlugdaddyWorld cause I&#8217;ve got a few ideas in the works, and I&#8217;m always happy to hear yours in the comments.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/has-gain-of-function-research-improved?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/has-gain-of-function-research-improved?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div class="footnote" data-component-name="FootnoteToDOM"><a id="footnote-1" href="#footnote-anchor-1" class="footnote-number" contenteditable="false" target="_self">1</a><div class="footnote-content"><p>I just have to add, as a capitalist and business owner, the idea that the &#8220;lets mix these two viruses&#8221; business plan got funded by someone is really offensive. But also fucking hilarious, like what did <em>that</em> elevator pitch sound like? LMAO as I type. How does that turn a profit or serve a purpose, even down the road? It&#8217;s so dumb and wasteful. Just think of what type of person heard that pitch and was like, &#8220;hell yeah, great investment I&#8217;m in!&#8221; Wtf. It&#8217;s funny till you realize that guy cutting the check owns you and is paying with money he stole from you. Still hilarious though, I mean who wouldn&#8217;t jump at that opportunity? The returns are sure to be as high as the vaccine efficacy % What a stupid scam!</p></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Fools or Knaves? It Doesn't Matter]]></title><description><![CDATA[The hubris of our Ruling Class will eventually get us all killed, then no one will be left to care if it was an accident or on purpose. Time for a Coalition of the Willing.]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/fools-or-knaves-it-doesnt-matter</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/fools-or-knaves-it-doesnt-matter</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 12 Jul 2022 05:50:20 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/youtube/w_728,c_limit/jtTvXZ5lby8" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="youtube2-jtTvXZ5lby8" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;jtTvXZ5lby8&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/jtTvXZ5lby8?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>Fools or Knaves, an age old question. On Substack, and Twitter, and everywhere else. We continue to debate amongst ourselves (me included) about whether the people in charge of the debacle of the covid era (and other things) are simply not as smart as they think they are, or just plain old evil. Are they fumbling their way toward disaster in a series of uncoordinated and stupid acts, or are we all being driven into destruction by Machiavellian conspirators? What if the only reason why we argue about motives is to avoid facing the hard truth? That our actions are all that really matter, talk is cheap and taking <em>action</em> is scary. </p><p>I&#8217;m sure our forefathers were scared, scared while they organized and met in secret and plotted their coup, to take down the government of a King. There had to have been so many steps to take in that long process, a grand Masonic conspiracy (the good kind) to create a new type of nation; free men and free markets. Jefferson envisioned a nation of Gentleman Farmers. Can you imagine how <em>revolutionary</em> of an idea that must have been at the time? Not nobility and peasants, not insane hubristic kings or white coated tyrants, but freedom, and a great green agrarian landscape of family farms from sea to shining sea.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hfUw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3038c1a-574d-4df5-8e77-25a52ffebf99_880x596.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hfUw!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3038c1a-574d-4df5-8e77-25a52ffebf99_880x596.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hfUw!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3038c1a-574d-4df5-8e77-25a52ffebf99_880x596.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hfUw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3038c1a-574d-4df5-8e77-25a52ffebf99_880x596.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hfUw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3038c1a-574d-4df5-8e77-25a52ffebf99_880x596.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hfUw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3038c1a-574d-4df5-8e77-25a52ffebf99_880x596.jpeg" width="880" height="596" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c3038c1a-574d-4df5-8e77-25a52ffebf99_880x596.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:596,&quot;width&quot;:880,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:180738,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hfUw!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3038c1a-574d-4df5-8e77-25a52ffebf99_880x596.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hfUw!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3038c1a-574d-4df5-8e77-25a52ffebf99_880x596.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hfUw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3038c1a-574d-4df5-8e77-25a52ffebf99_880x596.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hfUw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3038c1a-574d-4df5-8e77-25a52ffebf99_880x596.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>To even talk of such things then, and now, is treason.</p><p>Twenty years ago there was still <a href="https://improbable.com/teach/lessons2002/people-in-texas.html">enough square footage in Texas alone to give every family in the world 6,000 square feet of space</a> (population increases since make Texas just a bit small for every person on earth today.) There is enough <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/07/26/745731823/the-u-s-has-nearly-1-9-billion-acres-of-land-heres-how-it-is-used">land in the U.S.</a> to give each family 10 acres, and that&#8217;s without expropriating anything from family owned farms. Just a thought exercise we should all practice from time to time; what if we erased the chalkboard and started over?</p><p>The first obstacle we, the common man, have in even starting to talk of taking <em>action</em>, is that at, a national level, we don&#8217;t have a common set of First Principles. Without commonly understood and agreed to First Principles, there can be no trust, certainly not at a fundamental level where it counts in revolutionary <em>action</em>. There are still churches, families, clubs, and other community groups who abide by a common code; creating social trust within their members. Perhaps, if that&#8217;s what we have to work with, we should move toward a decentralized arrangement of autonomous communities? Then again, that would leave the many communities without such intangible assets unstable, and likely fall to crime and chaos; endangering the other communities. It is possible or desirable to keep America intact as one nation? What are the alternatives?</p><p>Again and again, any exploration of taking <em>action</em> at scale quickly becomes a morass of what is what, who is who, and how can I know you won&#8217;t fuck me over worse than I&#8217;m getting fucked over now.  If we don&#8217;t break out of this cycle of inaction, our grandchildren will live as slaves, if they live at all.</p><blockquote><p>&#8220;To begin, begin.&#8221;</p><p>- William Wordsworth</p></blockquote><p>People talk about where your line is, drawing your line in the sand, how much is enough. This is all nonsense, all of our lines have been crossed in the last two years. We&#8217;re not waiting for some additional encroachment to finally justify <em>action</em>. We&#8217;re just too atomized, diversified, divided, and dispersed, and to take collective <em>action</em>. Yet.</p><p>There has to be a way. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The COVID Information War Exposed]]></title><description><![CDATA[Wikipedia, Google, & Fact Checkers Have Made Sure Normies Can't Figure Anything Out. Here's how they're doing it.]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-covid-information-war-exposed</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-covid-information-war-exposed</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 11 Jul 2022 21:06:04 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sl25!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22007fdb-7b9a-41fc-9ba3-8dc8667bdbf2_627x778.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>How do you convince millions of Americans a virus less deadly than the flu is worth turning the world upside down over? How do you manage to mass vaccinate western nations with the most deadly vaccine in history, that&#8217;s really a novel genetic therapy, without most people asking too many questions? How do you go about convincing otherwise intelligent people to not only take said vaccine, but to proselytize for it?</p><p>The answer to all of these questions is the same; <strong>you control and/or manipulate the information they are able to access</strong>. Prior to the scamdemic, this sort of information control was far less efficient, and more saliently, far slower. During the notorious Event 201 exercise, information control was a key element of the rehearsed pandemic response. In my view, the powers-that-shouldn&#8217;t-be not only upped their censorship game massively during covid, in ways I&#8217;ll elaborate on, but they also engaged in proactive information warfare, seeding the web in advance of the typical normie &#8220;doing their own research.&#8221; This second and more cunning approach is why you can try to &#8220;red pill&#8221; or share information with a narrative believer, and maybe even convince them to go &#8220;look it up&#8221; - but it doesn&#8217;t matter, they do go look it up and then go on believing the narrative.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>Here&#8217;s an example to start, if you have been following the story of FDA approved Comirnaty not being available, then you know it&#8217;s not, at least in the U.S. as of now. Neither is Spikevax (Moderna FDA Approved Version.) Less than a month ago, in the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/144636/download">Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine EUA Letter of Authorization</a>, the FDA reiterated this point.</p><blockquote><p>&#8220;<strong>Although SPIKEVAX (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) and Comirnaty (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) are approved to prevent COVID-19 in certain individuals who fall within the scope of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine authorization, there is not sufficient approved vaccine available for distribution to this population in its entirety at the time of reissuance of this EUA.</strong> Additionally, there are no COVID-19 vaccines that are approved to provide: a third primary series dose to certain immunocompromised populations described in this EUA; a first booster dose (homologous) to the authorized population described in this EUA; a first booster dose (heterologous) following completion of primary vaccination with another authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine; a second booster dose following a first booster dose with any FDA authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine to the authorized population described in this EUA; or COVID-19 vaccination in individuals younger than 16 years of age.&#8221;</p><p>-FDA, Letter of Authorization, June 17,2022</p></blockquote><p>Now, imagine I am sharing this information with a normie relative, &#8220;Did you know the FDA approved versions aren&#8217;t even available? You can only receive the EAU version, which provides minimal/no compensation in the event you are injured. And, technically, by taking the EUA version you are participating in a Stage 3 clinical trial.&#8221;</p><p>Let&#8217;s say my normie relative is willing to go &#8220;fact check&#8221; me, or even just Google it. Here&#8217;s what ze would find.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sl25!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22007fdb-7b9a-41fc-9ba3-8dc8667bdbf2_627x778.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sl25!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22007fdb-7b9a-41fc-9ba3-8dc8667bdbf2_627x778.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sl25!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22007fdb-7b9a-41fc-9ba3-8dc8667bdbf2_627x778.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sl25!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22007fdb-7b9a-41fc-9ba3-8dc8667bdbf2_627x778.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sl25!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22007fdb-7b9a-41fc-9ba3-8dc8667bdbf2_627x778.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sl25!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22007fdb-7b9a-41fc-9ba3-8dc8667bdbf2_627x778.jpeg" width="627" height="778" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/22007fdb-7b9a-41fc-9ba3-8dc8667bdbf2_627x778.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:778,&quot;width&quot;:627,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:120859,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sl25!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22007fdb-7b9a-41fc-9ba3-8dc8667bdbf2_627x778.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sl25!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22007fdb-7b9a-41fc-9ba3-8dc8667bdbf2_627x778.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sl25!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22007fdb-7b9a-41fc-9ba3-8dc8667bdbf2_627x778.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sl25!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22007fdb-7b9a-41fc-9ba3-8dc8667bdbf2_627x778.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>It&#8217;s an axiom in advertising and internet marketing (the field I work in) that almost no one ever looks &#8220;below the fold;&#8221; in other words what you see above is <strong>all my normie relative will ever see</strong>. What would be useful there, and informative, etc. would be a result with the letter from the FDA I quoted and linked to above, which does directly address the search querie I made, with accurate information&#8230; but lol. </p><p>Let&#8217;s try Spikevax.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PDGT!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb675be26-d69f-4c34-8993-c78415326d46_684x866.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PDGT!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb675be26-d69f-4c34-8993-c78415326d46_684x866.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PDGT!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb675be26-d69f-4c34-8993-c78415326d46_684x866.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PDGT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb675be26-d69f-4c34-8993-c78415326d46_684x866.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PDGT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb675be26-d69f-4c34-8993-c78415326d46_684x866.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PDGT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb675be26-d69f-4c34-8993-c78415326d46_684x866.jpeg" width="684" height="866" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b675be26-d69f-4c34-8993-c78415326d46_684x866.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:866,&quot;width&quot;:684,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:140225,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PDGT!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb675be26-d69f-4c34-8993-c78415326d46_684x866.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PDGT!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb675be26-d69f-4c34-8993-c78415326d46_684x866.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PDGT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb675be26-d69f-4c34-8993-c78415326d46_684x866.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PDGT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb675be26-d69f-4c34-8993-c78415326d46_684x866.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>With Moderna&#8217;s Spikevax, there was clearly less of an effort to conceal the reality (since most people had already been vaxxed by the time it was approved in January.) But there was still one effort from <a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/feb/04/facebook-posts/spikevax-and-comirnaty-are-brand-names-existing-co/">Politifact</a>, and that again is the only potentially relevant result from my search that appears above the fold.</p><blockquote><p>Spikevax and Comirnaty are brand names for the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, respectively. The claim falsely implies that those vaccines, which have received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, are different from the non-branded vaccines that have been in use since December 2020 under the Emergency Use Authorization.&nbsp;</p><p>-Politifact, February 4, 2022</p></blockquote><p>My point isn&#8217;t to illustrate how willing major media and fact check orgs are to openly lie, you probably already know that. Back to my hypothetical normie relative, once ze has attempted to verify the information I shared, what do you think they are is likely to conclude? </p><p>After a quick bit of doing their research, ze is likely to conclude that I&#8217;m a conspiracy nut, completely full of shit, that just wasted their time and energy. But it gets worse, I suspect ze is likely to also conclude that all these anti-vaxxers are full of shit, spouting things even a monkey could disprove in the 0.77 seconds it took Google to fetch me these results. Ze is going to take shots from now on without question, and probably feels stupid for ever listening to me. Are you starting to see the problem?</p><h3>SEEDING AND SANITIZING WIKIPEDIA PROACTIVELY</h3><p>I know, I know, academics in the audience, Wikipedia is not a good source of information. But people still use it, a lot of people. For me personally, if I&#8217;m researching something I will occasionally use Wikipedia to quickly find links to better reference material. Sometime mid 2020, after the vaccine clinical trials had begun, I went to Wikipedia to find some resources that would help me understand what an RNA vaccine was, and what were its risks and benefits. In order to see what a webpage looked like at some point in the past, you can visit the <a href="https://archive.org/web/">Way Back Machine</a>, an invaluable tool in the information war. Here&#8217;s their capture of the Wikipedia RNA Vaccine Page on April 29, 2020.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Gsz!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc132f03-0de6-4e2a-903d-ef4e3b6a8fe9_1168x1115.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Gsz!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc132f03-0de6-4e2a-903d-ef4e3b6a8fe9_1168x1115.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Gsz!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc132f03-0de6-4e2a-903d-ef4e3b6a8fe9_1168x1115.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Gsz!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc132f03-0de6-4e2a-903d-ef4e3b6a8fe9_1168x1115.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Gsz!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc132f03-0de6-4e2a-903d-ef4e3b6a8fe9_1168x1115.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Gsz!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc132f03-0de6-4e2a-903d-ef4e3b6a8fe9_1168x1115.jpeg" width="1168" height="1115" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/dc132f03-0de6-4e2a-903d-ef4e3b6a8fe9_1168x1115.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1115,&quot;width&quot;:1168,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:399380,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Gsz!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc132f03-0de6-4e2a-903d-ef4e3b6a8fe9_1168x1115.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Gsz!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc132f03-0de6-4e2a-903d-ef4e3b6a8fe9_1168x1115.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Gsz!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc132f03-0de6-4e2a-903d-ef4e3b6a8fe9_1168x1115.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Gsz!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc132f03-0de6-4e2a-903d-ef4e3b6a8fe9_1168x1115.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>This is roughly what it looked like the first time I saw it. You&#8217;ll notice &#8220;Antibody Dependent Enhancement&#8221; listed under &#8220;Adverse Effects and Risks&#8221; with a link. ADE was and is a well known risk, of both Coronavirus vaccines and RNA vaccines. After reading the linked reference more than two years ago, it was obvious to me that RNA vaccines carried HUGE risks. Back then, a quick Googling of &#8220;RNA Vaccine&#8221; would lead you to that information. Reviewing various captures of this same page over time reveals a continued effort to &#8220;sanitize&#8221; this page, long before the first shots ever went into arms.</p><p>By the August 1, 2020 capture, ADE has been removed from the &#8220;Adverse Effects and Risks.&#8221;</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o5Tg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F02a385c5-5f1b-43e5-83e7-63c36e544ae5_1180x1113.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o5Tg!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F02a385c5-5f1b-43e5-83e7-63c36e544ae5_1180x1113.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o5Tg!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F02a385c5-5f1b-43e5-83e7-63c36e544ae5_1180x1113.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o5Tg!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F02a385c5-5f1b-43e5-83e7-63c36e544ae5_1180x1113.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o5Tg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F02a385c5-5f1b-43e5-83e7-63c36e544ae5_1180x1113.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o5Tg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F02a385c5-5f1b-43e5-83e7-63c36e544ae5_1180x1113.jpeg" width="1180" height="1113" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/02a385c5-5f1b-43e5-83e7-63c36e544ae5_1180x1113.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1113,&quot;width&quot;:1180,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:363856,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o5Tg!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F02a385c5-5f1b-43e5-83e7-63c36e544ae5_1180x1113.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o5Tg!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F02a385c5-5f1b-43e5-83e7-63c36e544ae5_1180x1113.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o5Tg!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F02a385c5-5f1b-43e5-83e7-63c36e544ae5_1180x1113.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o5Tg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F02a385c5-5f1b-43e5-83e7-63c36e544ae5_1180x1113.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>By the February 24, 2021 capture, the whole section has been renamed to &#8220;Side effects and risks&#8221; and further sanitized. (This version reads like it was written by Fauci.)</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uipf!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa2ab8cff-0dc3-415c-b700-204875859761_1157x1118.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uipf!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa2ab8cff-0dc3-415c-b700-204875859761_1157x1118.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uipf!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa2ab8cff-0dc3-415c-b700-204875859761_1157x1118.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uipf!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa2ab8cff-0dc3-415c-b700-204875859761_1157x1118.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uipf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa2ab8cff-0dc3-415c-b700-204875859761_1157x1118.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uipf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa2ab8cff-0dc3-415c-b700-204875859761_1157x1118.png" width="1157" height="1118" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a2ab8cff-0dc3-415c-b700-204875859761_1157x1118.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1118,&quot;width&quot;:1157,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:161422,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uipf!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa2ab8cff-0dc3-415c-b700-204875859761_1157x1118.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uipf!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa2ab8cff-0dc3-415c-b700-204875859761_1157x1118.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uipf!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa2ab8cff-0dc3-415c-b700-204875859761_1157x1118.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!uipf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa2ab8cff-0dc3-415c-b700-204875859761_1157x1118.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>If you want to conceal a webpage&#8217;s history from the Way Back Machine, the easiest way to do it is to rename the page. Once that is done, surreptitiously, anyone searching the new URL on the Way Back Machine will usually not see previous captures of the old URL, which will have probably disappeared entirely. It&#8217;s quite clever. The Wikipedia ../RNA_vaccine page became the Wikipedia ../MRNA_vaccine page. As of today, the version of the page shown above with ADE listed as an &#8220;adverse event&#8221; is no longer accessible through the Way Back Machine. (Sure glad I saved it before it was gone.)</p><p>I have also documented a very similar sequence of changes made to the Wikipedia DNA Vaccine page. Again most of the sanitizing was done well before the vaccine roll out. Someone spent a lot of time identifying and removing this information months before our normie friends would ever sit down to &#8220;do their own research.&#8221;</p><h3>SPEED IS EVERYTHING IN THE INFORMATION WAR</h3><p>If you&#8217;re reading this, chances are you consume a lot of other information too. Between sites like Substack and <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/">ZeroHedge</a>, it&#8217;s possible to pretty easily keep up with the latest developments in real time. Even if most of what you read is memory holed out of existence within hours, you may not care or even notice because you already consumed the relevant information.</p><p>Now consider the perspective of my normie relative one last time, ze doesn&#8217;t care all that much about the latest news; in their opinion, if it&#8217;s important enough it will trickle down to them. If they decide to &#8220;do their own research&#8221; it&#8217;ll be long after the truth is well below the fold. This is, I think, a real problem. It makes communicating with normal folks very difficult, especially when they go to look up the &#8220;crazy shit&#8221; you or I are attempting to share with them, and find out we&#8217;re &#8220;liars.&#8221;</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-covid-information-war-exposed?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-covid-information-war-exposed?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 4]]></title><description><![CDATA[Wherein all hell breaks loose on our way out the door]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-7e2</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-7e2</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 11 Jul 2022 03:53:03 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LUrw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F569255f5-b436-4e81-b480-0b87b1f17422_806x454.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is the 4th and final part of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid">See part 1 here</a>. <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-adf">See part 2 here</a>. <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-09f">See part 3 here</a>.</p><div><hr></div><p>In January 2021, my wife and I got our house ready to sell. It was, for both of us, a bittersweet affair. We had spent years finding the perfect &#8220;move up&#8221; house from our nearby starter home, and just three years later we were selling. So much had changed during that time, so quickly, it was all a bit much. The house was eventually staged, beautifully, and went on the market in February. It sold quickly, we probably should have asked for more. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LUrw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F569255f5-b436-4e81-b480-0b87b1f17422_806x454.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LUrw!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F569255f5-b436-4e81-b480-0b87b1f17422_806x454.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LUrw!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F569255f5-b436-4e81-b480-0b87b1f17422_806x454.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LUrw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F569255f5-b436-4e81-b480-0b87b1f17422_806x454.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LUrw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F569255f5-b436-4e81-b480-0b87b1f17422_806x454.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LUrw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F569255f5-b436-4e81-b480-0b87b1f17422_806x454.jpeg" width="806" height="454" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/569255f5-b436-4e81-b480-0b87b1f17422_806x454.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:454,&quot;width&quot;:806,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:116780,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LUrw!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F569255f5-b436-4e81-b480-0b87b1f17422_806x454.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LUrw!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F569255f5-b436-4e81-b480-0b87b1f17422_806x454.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LUrw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F569255f5-b436-4e81-b480-0b87b1f17422_806x454.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LUrw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F569255f5-b436-4e81-b480-0b87b1f17422_806x454.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">The oddly rearranged for staging purposes Slugdaddy lair, until it wasn&#8217;t</figcaption></figure></div><h3>JANUARY 21ST</h3><p>Without getting into the weeds with specifics that wouldn&#8217;t matter anyway, our business revenue is most closely correlated with consumer sentiment. Our customers are largely U.S. consumers, and when they feel like things are getting better, or even just staying the same but positive, they are likely to contact us with an interest in our services. Throughout the first year of the scamdemic, most consumers seemed to feel like it would all be over soon, and so our business shrank but only by 11%. With the PPP making up most of that difference, for our business 2020 wasn&#8217;t good but it wasn&#8217;t that bad either. (Larger companies in our industry reported 50% revenue declines in 2020.) Our employees work largely on computers, and many of them had been wanting to work at home. They actually performed great from home, and it freed me up to move to the country. Headed into 2021, consumer optimism seemed to be returning&#8230; then January 21st rolled around and suddenly our business was struggling.</p><p>Something about Inauguration Day flipped a switch in the minds of consumers, at least where our company was concerned, and the number of them contacting us to buy our services dropped about 40% and stayed there until very recently. I think it was the recognition that we (Americans) were all in for the long haul with the pandemic, and this changed financial priorities in a way that made them less likely to buy our services. Just weird that it coincided with Biden&#8217;s inauguration. </p><p>This all also coincided with the sale of our house, and the purchase of another house that would require getting another mortgage. Financial scrutiny of business owners applying for mortgages is intense, especially during corona. No matter how much you have down, you&#8217;re monthly income still has the justify the payment these days. As our company&#8217;s revenue dropped, so also did the amount we were able to borrow on the property we would be purchasing. It was touch and go up to the back-to-back closings in April, whether or not the company revenues would continue to support the new loan. </p><h3>WHITE KNUCKLE HOME BUYING IN AN INSANE PANDEMIC</h3><p>For all of the reasons above, the home we decided on was far under our maximum loan amount, at first. After the bidding war that ensued, bringing the price up above asking, it was somewhat under our maximum. That maximum kept dropping, along with our business revenues, and my spirits as years of progress seemingly vanished overnight. Thankfully (to God) it never came below the amount we needed. It was frightening though.</p><p>We purchased a small equestrian property on about 5.5 acres, inside a neighborhood with some equestrian lots, some lake lots, and lots of trails and nature. We don&#8217;t intend on owning horses anytime soon, but someday we might. In the meantime, it was plenty of space to spread out and not too much land for a family comprised, at the time, of 100% city people.</p><h3>TAKING THE LAST TREE THAT&#8217;S LEFT</h3><p>The Bentley only ever parked here, at the new property, one night. It wasn&#8217;t practical in the country, and I wasn&#8217;t comfortable looking wealthier than I now was. Also, driving back and forth 200 miles round trip to Atlanta on a regular basis would have worn it out quick, and I couldn&#8217;t have done that to such a beauty. I sold it to a dealership in Atlanta (with just barely 24,000 miles on the odometer,) and bought a RAM truck. The Bentley did look gorgeous while it was parked out front of the farm/compound/house/whatever.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DyiS!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1c9bc147-c1e5-4c94-9a8e-ab2d68211044_840x473.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DyiS!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1c9bc147-c1e5-4c94-9a8e-ab2d68211044_840x473.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DyiS!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1c9bc147-c1e5-4c94-9a8e-ab2d68211044_840x473.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DyiS!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1c9bc147-c1e5-4c94-9a8e-ab2d68211044_840x473.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DyiS!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1c9bc147-c1e5-4c94-9a8e-ab2d68211044_840x473.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DyiS!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1c9bc147-c1e5-4c94-9a8e-ab2d68211044_840x473.jpeg" width="840" height="473" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1c9bc147-c1e5-4c94-9a8e-ab2d68211044_840x473.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:473,&quot;width&quot;:840,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:230074,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DyiS!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1c9bc147-c1e5-4c94-9a8e-ab2d68211044_840x473.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DyiS!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1c9bc147-c1e5-4c94-9a8e-ab2d68211044_840x473.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DyiS!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1c9bc147-c1e5-4c94-9a8e-ab2d68211044_840x473.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DyiS!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1c9bc147-c1e5-4c94-9a8e-ab2d68211044_840x473.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">It was truly sweet while it lasted. Godspeed my 616hp friend.</figcaption></figure></div><h3>SO WE&#8217;RE POOR NOW?</h3><p>This was an actual question my daughter (6 at the time) asked me shortly after we moved. Something I definitely never wanted to hear. &#8220;No sweetheart,&#8221; I told her, &#8220;we&#8217;re not poor, we just don&#8217;t have as much as we used to. We&#8217;re still blessed compared to where we might be.&#8221; </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>Totaling up the costs of covid to me personally is a big number, but to our country WOW. It&#8217;s trillions and trillions of dollars, and millions and millions of lives lost (vaccine deaths and medical malpractice included.) This has been a colossal clusterfuck and it may well end in mass depopulation/genocide. Nothing is off the table in a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Turning-American-Prophecy-Rendezvous/dp/0767900464">fourth turning</a>.</p><h3>NEW LIFE AND NEW LIVES</h3><p>If you&#8217;ve read all of this series, thank you! (Subscribe it/share it/hook a brother up) Along our path out into the country I lost literally everything I valued before 2020, except my wife (who perhaps I almost lost too, and we still can&#8217;t see eye to eye.) But it&#8217;s kinda good. I wasn&#8217;t all that happy, deep down, in the old normal.</p><p>Since settling in out here, I&#8217;ve actually made two good friends; one of them&#8217;s an ER Doctor (believes/believed in the vax, but he&#8217;s never treated me less than for it.) I can totally hang out with them if there&#8217;s ever another lockdown. I recently found out my wife is pregnant, and I was hoping to have one more, so wish granted. She and I are working on resolving our differences, and healing our wounds. (She&#8217;s still as beautiful as the day we met 17 years ago. She&#8217;s totally worth it.) Frankly, the very public failure of the vaccination campaign, and the now undeniable truth that it was sold to the public on false premises, has gone a long way toward resolving our differences. (Thank you Pfizer?)  We&#8217;re now much closer to the Army base where my oldest son is stationed in military intelligence. He can&#8217;t get sent anywhere since he won&#8217;t take the shot, so he gets to visit often which is awesome. Life in the country is vastly different that anything we knew before (fodder for future newsletters.) My commute (driving the kids to school) now looks quite a bit different; I pass a &#8220;Let&#8217;s Go Brandon&#8221; flag along the way and sometimes the air smells like cow shit, but not often. It&#8217;s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine. <br><em>(In part I&#8217;m sure because I didn&#8217;t take the death shot lol)</em></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7QYl!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb79ad970-7c10-4071-ac36-48403d057c79_806x454.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7QYl!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb79ad970-7c10-4071-ac36-48403d057c79_806x454.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7QYl!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb79ad970-7c10-4071-ac36-48403d057c79_806x454.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7QYl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb79ad970-7c10-4071-ac36-48403d057c79_806x454.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7QYl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb79ad970-7c10-4071-ac36-48403d057c79_806x454.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7QYl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb79ad970-7c10-4071-ac36-48403d057c79_806x454.jpeg" width="806" height="454" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b79ad970-7c10-4071-ac36-48403d057c79_806x454.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:454,&quot;width&quot;:806,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:76385,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7QYl!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb79ad970-7c10-4071-ac36-48403d057c79_806x454.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7QYl!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb79ad970-7c10-4071-ac36-48403d057c79_806x454.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7QYl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb79ad970-7c10-4071-ac36-48403d057c79_806x454.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7QYl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb79ad970-7c10-4071-ac36-48403d057c79_806x454.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 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World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 1&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This is part 1 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 2 here. See part 3 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t exist. I think it does, and it&#8217;s&#8230;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-10T02:27:13.687Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:1,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World LLC&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 1</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This is part 1 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 2 here. See part 3 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t exist. I think it does, and it&#8217;s&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; 1 like &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:63432519,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-adf&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 2&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This is part 2 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. See part 3 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t exist. I think it does, and it&#8217;s&#8230;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-10T18:31:39.926Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:2,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World LLC&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-adf?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 2</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This is part 2 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. See part 3 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t exist. I think it does, and it&#8217;s&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; 2 likes &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:63465032,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-09f&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 3&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This is part 3 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. See part 2 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t exist. I think it does, and it&#8217;s&#8230;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-10T23:17:31.660Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:2,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World LLC&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-09f?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 3</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This is part 3 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. See part 2 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t exist. I think it does, and it&#8217;s&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; 2 likes &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-7e2?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-7e2?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 3]]></title><description><![CDATA[Marriage Problems, Where to Go, and Exploring the Countryside]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-09f</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-09f</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 10 Jul 2022 23:17:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UdKF!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0dd91da9-69dd-48fe-9655-cc3785becc6d_1200x675.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is part 3 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid">See part 1 here</a>. <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-adf">See part 2 here</a>. <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-7e2">See part 4 here</a>. </p><div><hr></div><p>During the endless two weeks to slow the spread, my wife and I began to diverge in our views of &#8220;what was going on.&#8221; I don&#8217;t believe she ever fully joined the mass formation, but it felt touch and go for a while. The mask was one of the first major points of contention, with her view falling along the lines that it may help and was harmless to play along for the sake of social harmony. This disharmony between her and I would, of course, become much worse during &#8220;the jab&#8221; saga. I couldn&#8217;t imagine that, knowing what &#8220;we&#8221; knew, she would even consider taking the death shot. In the end, she didn&#8217;t take it (at least as far as I know.) But she didn&#8217;t see a problem with others taking it, even in the absence of Informed Consent. Only lately has she been able to admit that it has killed some people, and it doesn&#8217;t work. (These were points of some contention throughout 2021, much to my amazement and frustration.)</p><p>I love my wife very much, but this has been a hard battle; at one point she would not commit to me not to have our children jabbed (and possibly sterilized.)  My body literally shutters at the thought of any of my children being given that poison - I would give my life to avoid that outcome without hesitation. Now, with so much more truth about the jab out, I am confident she wouldn&#8217;t do that to them. I&#8217;m still hurt that I wasn&#8217;t believed though, and that my concerns were often dismissed as &#8220;alex jones&#8221; stuff.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K3HN!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa14b054b-1ee7-4775-b10b-4ec0dd0b2e4e_238x250.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K3HN!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa14b054b-1ee7-4775-b10b-4ec0dd0b2e4e_238x250.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K3HN!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa14b054b-1ee7-4775-b10b-4ec0dd0b2e4e_238x250.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K3HN!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa14b054b-1ee7-4775-b10b-4ec0dd0b2e4e_238x250.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K3HN!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa14b054b-1ee7-4775-b10b-4ec0dd0b2e4e_238x250.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K3HN!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa14b054b-1ee7-4775-b10b-4ec0dd0b2e4e_238x250.jpeg" width="238" height="250" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a14b054b-1ee7-4775-b10b-4ec0dd0b2e4e_238x250.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:250,&quot;width&quot;:238,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:17266,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K3HN!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa14b054b-1ee7-4775-b10b-4ec0dd0b2e4e_238x250.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K3HN!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa14b054b-1ee7-4775-b10b-4ec0dd0b2e4e_238x250.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K3HN!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa14b054b-1ee7-4775-b10b-4ec0dd0b2e4e_238x250.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!K3HN!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa14b054b-1ee7-4775-b10b-4ec0dd0b2e4e_238x250.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The election of 2020 was another marital kerfuffle&#8230; normally, my wife and I discuss the candidates and their positions together, and most of the time we reach a consensus. Neither of us are particularly loyal to either party, but since 2012 both of us have largely voted Republican. That said, my wife hated Trump, hated. I do understand that, from the perspective of a woman, the man is a disgusting chauvinist vulgarian. But as an anarchist, I expect all politicians to be scumbags. Given that outlook, personality is irrelevant to me, policy is what matters.</p><p>The policies Joe Biden ran on had been destroying our country (admittedly under Trump) for the previous 8 months; lockdowns, masks, tests, and vaccines. Our business depends on positive consumer sentiment, and while we&#8217;d experienced minimal losses by the 2020 election, another year of covid would be devastating (and it was.) I couldn&#8217;t understand how my wife could vote for someone essentially promising to destroy my life. I couldn&#8217;t understand how <em>anyone</em> could want another year of covid insanity. In the end she voted for Trump, entirely for my sake, but the whole thing left scars on us both.</p><p>The decision to leave the city was nearly as acrimonious as the masks and the election. Ultimately the school&#8217;s refusal to commit to a mask policy for 2021-2022, and knowing we would make much less in 2021 under Biden and should probably downsize, were the straws that finally broke the camel&#8217;s back. We would move to the country.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3>FINDING A SMALL TOWN WITH A PUBLIX ISN&#8217;T EASY</h3><p>Since our business&#8217; lease in Atlanta would not expire until 2024, and with little prospects of sub-leasing it in December 2020, we decided to look anywhere within a 3 hour radius. That way I would be able to be in the office a couple days a month, at least until the lease ran out. This search included middle and north Georgia, and parts of Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee. We decided to buy a travel trailer (pull-behind RV) and we pulled that thing all around those four states behind her Yukon. It was pretty fun. Unfortunately, a couple million other couples bought a couple million other RVs at roughly the same time, so finding somewhere to camp wasn&#8217;t easy, but it was fun nonetheless.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UdKF!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0dd91da9-69dd-48fe-9655-cc3785becc6d_1200x675.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UdKF!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0dd91da9-69dd-48fe-9655-cc3785becc6d_1200x675.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UdKF!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0dd91da9-69dd-48fe-9655-cc3785becc6d_1200x675.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UdKF!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0dd91da9-69dd-48fe-9655-cc3785becc6d_1200x675.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UdKF!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0dd91da9-69dd-48fe-9655-cc3785becc6d_1200x675.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UdKF!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0dd91da9-69dd-48fe-9655-cc3785becc6d_1200x675.jpeg" width="1200" height="675" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0dd91da9-69dd-48fe-9655-cc3785becc6d_1200x675.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:675,&quot;width&quot;:1200,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:297539,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UdKF!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0dd91da9-69dd-48fe-9655-cc3785becc6d_1200x675.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UdKF!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0dd91da9-69dd-48fe-9655-cc3785becc6d_1200x675.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UdKF!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0dd91da9-69dd-48fe-9655-cc3785becc6d_1200x675.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UdKF!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0dd91da9-69dd-48fe-9655-cc3785becc6d_1200x675.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>We quickly realized that were hundreds of small towns in our search area, and that most of those were dying towns, sadly. (There are some great places ready to be re-inhabited though.) Together my wife and I developed a short list of criteria, so we could narrow our options down.</p><ul><li><p>Population between 5,000 and 20,000</p></li><li><p>A good private school, no masks, and ideally not too expensive</p></li><li><p>Aesthetically pleasing</p></li><li><p>Has a Publix*</p></li></ul><p>*Publix is a grocery store ubiquitous in Florida, where my wife and I are from, but there are far fewer of them in Georgia. It is known for being very clean and bright. It was my mother&#8217;s favorite grocery store, and I find it endearing that it is also my wife&#8217;s favorite grocery store, though I don&#8217;t totally &#8221;get&#8221; the appeal myself. I like Kroger.</p><p>With our criteria in place, our list of possible towns quickly shrunk down to about 5, all in Georgia, and by January 2021 we had a winner. I&#8217;m glad we stayed in Georgia, despite all the election fraud here. Along our travels, we discovered Georgia has pretty much everything hidden somewhere in its red clay. Here are some highlights you may not know about here in the peach state.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OiJ1!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7588bb01-eb5a-44eb-a22c-01276129a5d3_840x473.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OiJ1!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7588bb01-eb5a-44eb-a22c-01276129a5d3_840x473.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OiJ1!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7588bb01-eb5a-44eb-a22c-01276129a5d3_840x473.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OiJ1!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7588bb01-eb5a-44eb-a22c-01276129a5d3_840x473.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OiJ1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7588bb01-eb5a-44eb-a22c-01276129a5d3_840x473.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OiJ1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7588bb01-eb5a-44eb-a22c-01276129a5d3_840x473.jpeg" width="840" height="473" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7588bb01-eb5a-44eb-a22c-01276129a5d3_840x473.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:473,&quot;width&quot;:840,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:250169,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OiJ1!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7588bb01-eb5a-44eb-a22c-01276129a5d3_840x473.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OiJ1!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7588bb01-eb5a-44eb-a22c-01276129a5d3_840x473.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OiJ1!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7588bb01-eb5a-44eb-a22c-01276129a5d3_840x473.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OiJ1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7588bb01-eb5a-44eb-a22c-01276129a5d3_840x473.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Cloudland Canyon in N.E. Georgia. Under those clouds, there&#8217;s a canyon.</figcaption></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!88cv!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6dddf8eb-d6df-4b8c-a6e0-b238afe51a14_840x473.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!88cv!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6dddf8eb-d6df-4b8c-a6e0-b238afe51a14_840x473.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!88cv!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6dddf8eb-d6df-4b8c-a6e0-b238afe51a14_840x473.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!88cv!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6dddf8eb-d6df-4b8c-a6e0-b238afe51a14_840x473.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!88cv!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6dddf8eb-d6df-4b8c-a6e0-b238afe51a14_840x473.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!88cv!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6dddf8eb-d6df-4b8c-a6e0-b238afe51a14_840x473.jpeg" width="840" height="473" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6dddf8eb-d6df-4b8c-a6e0-b238afe51a14_840x473.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:473,&quot;width&quot;:840,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:196824,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!88cv!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6dddf8eb-d6df-4b8c-a6e0-b238afe51a14_840x473.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!88cv!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6dddf8eb-d6df-4b8c-a6e0-b238afe51a14_840x473.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!88cv!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6dddf8eb-d6df-4b8c-a6e0-b238afe51a14_840x473.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!88cv!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6dddf8eb-d6df-4b8c-a6e0-b238afe51a14_840x473.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Waterfall at bottom of Cloudland Canyon</figcaption></figure></div><p></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fzph!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcd5f47d7-eed3-4756-8449-072f3ca88e72_840x441.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fzph!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcd5f47d7-eed3-4756-8449-072f3ca88e72_840x441.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fzph!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcd5f47d7-eed3-4756-8449-072f3ca88e72_840x441.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fzph!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcd5f47d7-eed3-4756-8449-072f3ca88e72_840x441.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fzph!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcd5f47d7-eed3-4756-8449-072f3ca88e72_840x441.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fzph!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcd5f47d7-eed3-4756-8449-072f3ca88e72_840x441.jpeg" width="840" height="441" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/cd5f47d7-eed3-4756-8449-072f3ca88e72_840x441.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:441,&quot;width&quot;:840,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:104842,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fzph!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcd5f47d7-eed3-4756-8449-072f3ca88e72_840x441.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fzph!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcd5f47d7-eed3-4756-8449-072f3ca88e72_840x441.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fzph!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcd5f47d7-eed3-4756-8449-072f3ca88e72_840x441.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fzph!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcd5f47d7-eed3-4756-8449-072f3ca88e72_840x441.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Jeep Trail outside Helen, GA</figcaption></figure></div><p></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VaFa!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc83a22a-509a-4452-9548-1cb770dfe405_600x800.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VaFa!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc83a22a-509a-4452-9548-1cb770dfe405_600x800.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VaFa!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc83a22a-509a-4452-9548-1cb770dfe405_600x800.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VaFa!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc83a22a-509a-4452-9548-1cb770dfe405_600x800.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VaFa!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc83a22a-509a-4452-9548-1cb770dfe405_600x800.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VaFa!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc83a22a-509a-4452-9548-1cb770dfe405_600x800.jpeg" width="600" height="800" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/dc83a22a-509a-4452-9548-1cb770dfe405_600x800.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:800,&quot;width&quot;:600,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:165758,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VaFa!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc83a22a-509a-4452-9548-1cb770dfe405_600x800.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VaFa!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc83a22a-509a-4452-9548-1cb770dfe405_600x800.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VaFa!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc83a22a-509a-4452-9548-1cb770dfe405_600x800.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VaFa!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc83a22a-509a-4452-9548-1cb770dfe405_600x800.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Lake Lanier, near Gainesville, GA</figcaption></figure></div><p></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SzKV!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d438d6c-4bb6-4a76-8631-8fd9efba41e1_647x743.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SzKV!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d438d6c-4bb6-4a76-8631-8fd9efba41e1_647x743.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SzKV!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d438d6c-4bb6-4a76-8631-8fd9efba41e1_647x743.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SzKV!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d438d6c-4bb6-4a76-8631-8fd9efba41e1_647x743.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SzKV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d438d6c-4bb6-4a76-8631-8fd9efba41e1_647x743.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SzKV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d438d6c-4bb6-4a76-8631-8fd9efba41e1_647x743.jpeg" width="647" height="743" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0d438d6c-4bb6-4a76-8631-8fd9efba41e1_647x743.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:743,&quot;width&quot;:647,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:159698,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SzKV!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d438d6c-4bb6-4a76-8631-8fd9efba41e1_647x743.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SzKV!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d438d6c-4bb6-4a76-8631-8fd9efba41e1_647x743.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SzKV!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d438d6c-4bb6-4a76-8631-8fd9efba41e1_647x743.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SzKV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d438d6c-4bb6-4a76-8631-8fd9efba41e1_647x743.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Laser Light Show on Confederate Monument, Stone Mountain Park</figcaption></figure></div><p> </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OwS9!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F78e77a83-92e5-488a-88e7-dde8954fbc78_1200x675.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OwS9!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F78e77a83-92e5-488a-88e7-dde8954fbc78_1200x675.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OwS9!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F78e77a83-92e5-488a-88e7-dde8954fbc78_1200x675.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OwS9!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F78e77a83-92e5-488a-88e7-dde8954fbc78_1200x675.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OwS9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F78e77a83-92e5-488a-88e7-dde8954fbc78_1200x675.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OwS9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F78e77a83-92e5-488a-88e7-dde8954fbc78_1200x675.jpeg" width="1200" height="675" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/78e77a83-92e5-488a-88e7-dde8954fbc78_1200x675.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:675,&quot;width&quot;:1200,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:345216,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OwS9!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F78e77a83-92e5-488a-88e7-dde8954fbc78_1200x675.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OwS9!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F78e77a83-92e5-488a-88e7-dde8954fbc78_1200x675.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OwS9!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F78e77a83-92e5-488a-88e7-dde8954fbc78_1200x675.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OwS9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F78e77a83-92e5-488a-88e7-dde8954fbc78_1200x675.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Driving an armored minivan through Wild Animal Safari, Pine Mountain, GA</figcaption></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mz80!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22ff000f-4943-4b65-81ae-8bec2660d2ef_588x784.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mz80!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22ff000f-4943-4b65-81ae-8bec2660d2ef_588x784.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mz80!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22ff000f-4943-4b65-81ae-8bec2660d2ef_588x784.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mz80!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22ff000f-4943-4b65-81ae-8bec2660d2ef_588x784.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mz80!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22ff000f-4943-4b65-81ae-8bec2660d2ef_588x784.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mz80!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22ff000f-4943-4b65-81ae-8bec2660d2ef_588x784.jpeg" width="588" height="784" 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https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mz80!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22ff000f-4943-4b65-81ae-8bec2660d2ef_588x784.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mz80!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22ff000f-4943-4b65-81ae-8bec2660d2ef_588x784.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mz80!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F22ff000f-4943-4b65-81ae-8bec2660d2ef_588x784.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Playing in the Sands of St. Simons Island, GA</figcaption></figure></div><p></p><p>To Be Continued&#8230;</p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:63489503,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-7e2&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 4&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This is the 4th and final part of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. See part 2 here. See part 3 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t&#8230;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-11T03:53:03.588Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:0,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World LLC&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-7e2?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 4</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This is the 4th and final part of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. See part 2 here. See part 3 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:63333777,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 1&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This is part 1 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 2 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t exist. I think it does, and it&#8217;s being used as a &#8230;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-10T02:27:13.687Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:1,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World LLC&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 1</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This is part 1 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 2 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t exist. I think it does, and it&#8217;s being used as a &#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; 1 like &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:63432519,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-adf&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 2&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This is part 2 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here.&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-10T18:31:39.926Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:1,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World LLC&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-adf?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 2</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This is part 2 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; 1 like &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 2]]></title><description><![CDATA[Political Polarization, the Mask, and the joys of Little League Baseball]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-adf</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-adf</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 10 Jul 2022 18:31:39 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/h_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82ae9c86-25a9-45fc-be69-58a3e7c2b671_685x487.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is part 2 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid">See part 1 here</a>. <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-09f">See part 3 here</a>. <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-7e2">See part 4 here</a>.</p><div><hr></div><h3>AGGRESSIVE &#8220;SWING DISTRICT&#8221; POLITICS</h3><p>The north Atlanta suburban area where we lived from 2009 to 2021 was part of Georgia&#8217;s 6th congressional district. It briefly made the news in 2017 when a special election for our congressional seat <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/5-important-takeaways-georgias-record-breaking-special-election">shattered all records</a> to become the most expensive one ever. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Mmwd!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc11a2fc8-931c-412a-931e-271f437bee8b_1804x1191.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Mmwd!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc11a2fc8-931c-412a-931e-271f437bee8b_1804x1191.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Mmwd!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc11a2fc8-931c-412a-931e-271f437bee8b_1804x1191.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Mmwd!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc11a2fc8-931c-412a-931e-271f437bee8b_1804x1191.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Mmwd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc11a2fc8-931c-412a-931e-271f437bee8b_1804x1191.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Mmwd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc11a2fc8-931c-412a-931e-271f437bee8b_1804x1191.jpeg" width="524" height="345.8543956043956" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c11a2fc8-931c-412a-931e-271f437bee8b_1804x1191.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:961,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:524,&quot;bytes&quot;:190632,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Mmwd!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc11a2fc8-931c-412a-931e-271f437bee8b_1804x1191.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Mmwd!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc11a2fc8-931c-412a-931e-271f437bee8b_1804x1191.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Mmwd!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc11a2fc8-931c-412a-931e-271f437bee8b_1804x1191.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Mmwd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc11a2fc8-931c-412a-931e-271f437bee8b_1804x1191.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">A little Scatological for a Yard Sign?  </figcaption></figure></div><p>The somewhat infamous Handel-Ossoff race went to the Republicans, but narrowly; setting off an aggressive campaign to &#8220;flip the 6th&#8221; by any means necessary. Through the 2020 election, enormous amounts of money was spent, and propaganda disseminated, in order to &#8220;swing&#8221; our district leftward. </p><p>Just how much these efforts had advanced became clear at a popular <a href="http://www.marietta.com/east-cobber-parade-festival">annual local parade</a> in September 2018. Joining the marching bands, fire trucks, Elks lodges, and girl scouts, was a group marching, all in red: Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cThA!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82ae9c86-25a9-45fc-be69-58a3e7c2b671_685x487.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cThA!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82ae9c86-25a9-45fc-be69-58a3e7c2b671_685x487.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cThA!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82ae9c86-25a9-45fc-be69-58a3e7c2b671_685x487.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cThA!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82ae9c86-25a9-45fc-be69-58a3e7c2b671_685x487.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cThA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82ae9c86-25a9-45fc-be69-58a3e7c2b671_685x487.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cThA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82ae9c86-25a9-45fc-be69-58a3e7c2b671_685x487.jpeg" width="685" height="487" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/82ae9c86-25a9-45fc-be69-58a3e7c2b671_685x487.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:487,&quot;width&quot;:685,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:145126,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cThA!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82ae9c86-25a9-45fc-be69-58a3e7c2b671_685x487.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cThA!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82ae9c86-25a9-45fc-be69-58a3e7c2b671_685x487.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cThA!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82ae9c86-25a9-45fc-be69-58a3e7c2b671_685x487.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cThA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82ae9c86-25a9-45fc-be69-58a3e7c2b671_685x487.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Cobb County, Georgia was, until the day before yesterday, a place full of men from the south who love to hunt and fish, and use firearms. (And, to teach their sons and daughters gun safety from an early age.) The idea of a gun control group in our local parade made me briefly wonder about the safety of these anti-gun moms marching past. But, rather than boos and hate, many of my neighbors were cheering (even a few men.) Not one person in the crowd near me seemed offended in the least. Flip the 6th seemed to be winning. During our congressional election in November 2018, the 6th did indeed flip - to Lucy McBath, National Spokeswoman for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.</p><p>When the scamdemic kicked off, our newly &#8220;flipped&#8221; district was all-in on containment measures. A newly ascendant group of Moms Demanding Things would militantly advocate for every draconian measure, but most of all the mask.</p><h3>MASK LOGIC</h3><p>Let&#8217;s examine the pitch to mask up: Wear the mask because you might be infected without symptoms and unknowingly pass it to others. If I also wear the mask, then mine protects you and yours protects me.</p><p>Even if one allows that masks work in this fashion, as &#8220;source control,&#8221; the reasoning advanced as to why one should &#8220;mask up&#8221; would obviously apply forever. If you can feel well but be sick anyway, then when would you know <em>not</em> to wear the mask? The answer of course is you would know when the government told you.</p><p>Then there is the more obvious matter of whether and how a mask could work as &#8220;source control&#8221; at all&#8230;</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DNme!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F984629a3-059a-4c3e-bd57-3b2cc8eb149f_519x399.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DNme!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F984629a3-059a-4c3e-bd57-3b2cc8eb149f_519x399.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DNme!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F984629a3-059a-4c3e-bd57-3b2cc8eb149f_519x399.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DNme!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F984629a3-059a-4c3e-bd57-3b2cc8eb149f_519x399.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DNme!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F984629a3-059a-4c3e-bd57-3b2cc8eb149f_519x399.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DNme!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F984629a3-059a-4c3e-bd57-3b2cc8eb149f_519x399.jpeg" width="519" height="399" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/984629a3-059a-4c3e-bd57-3b2cc8eb149f_519x399.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:399,&quot;width&quot;:519,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:48780,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DNme!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F984629a3-059a-4c3e-bd57-3b2cc8eb149f_519x399.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DNme!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F984629a3-059a-4c3e-bd57-3b2cc8eb149f_519x399.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DNme!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F984629a3-059a-4c3e-bd57-3b2cc8eb149f_519x399.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DNme!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F984629a3-059a-4c3e-bd57-3b2cc8eb149f_519x399.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>But for me, the objection was always ideological: <strong>If I don&#8217;t believe masks serve any purpose, and I wear one because you force me, then you are forcing me to pretend to believe in a falsehood. </strong>My freedom of conscience, and yours, should be sacrosanct in all matters.</p><h3>FALL INTO THE DARK WINTER</h3><p>In the fall of 2020, baseball and soccer seasons began for two of my kids. This was my first opportunity to interact with other dads I knew since the lockdown. At my son&#8217;s little league, the &#8220;baseball people&#8221; had largely kept their heads. Most of them were frustrated as I was with the absurdity of everything. Over the course of the season, what few &#8220;rules&#8221; had been put in place to annoy the kids, coaches, and parents, were quickly forgotten. The baseball field would be remain a joyous place of refuge through the following spring season, right up until we left the city for good. (If you live in the north Atlanta area and are looking for a great little league, you won&#8217;t find better than <a href="https://www.eastsidebaseball.com/">East Side</a>, it&#8217;s the best.)</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9teI!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa9d843a1-02f4-422f-9c35-17ef679c7866_903x577.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9teI!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa9d843a1-02f4-422f-9c35-17ef679c7866_903x577.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9teI!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa9d843a1-02f4-422f-9c35-17ef679c7866_903x577.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9teI!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa9d843a1-02f4-422f-9c35-17ef679c7866_903x577.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9teI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa9d843a1-02f4-422f-9c35-17ef679c7866_903x577.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9teI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa9d843a1-02f4-422f-9c35-17ef679c7866_903x577.jpeg" width="666" height="425.5614617940199" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a9d843a1-02f4-422f-9c35-17ef679c7866_903x577.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:577,&quot;width&quot;:903,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:666,&quot;bytes&quot;:259415,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9teI!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa9d843a1-02f4-422f-9c35-17ef679c7866_903x577.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9teI!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa9d843a1-02f4-422f-9c35-17ef679c7866_903x577.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9teI!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa9d843a1-02f4-422f-9c35-17ef679c7866_903x577.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9teI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa9d843a1-02f4-422f-9c35-17ef679c7866_903x577.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>At my daughter&#8217;s soccer field, things couldn&#8217;t have been more different; masks were required for parents, siblings, and coaches, at all times. (Players could breathe free) Keep in mind this is outdoors, in the sun. As I approached the field with my wife for the first time and saw the &#8220;mask required outdoors&#8221; sign, I really thought it was a joke. It wasn&#8217;t. There they were, dads I had been looking forward to seeing for months, all obediently wearing face diapers, and most glaring at me because I wasn&#8217;t&#8230; I realized, somewhat surprisingly, that while I had been grumbling and smoking too much weed during the lockdown, these guys had been locked down and genuinely scared of the virus with a 0.2% infection fatality rate. (Commuting to work in Atlanta is far more deadly.) It made me sick to my stomach. I knew that day we had to get out of the city before any of us caught whatever contagious version of &#8220;crazy&#8221; these people had&#8230; but there was a problem, one of us was already infected.</p><p>To Be Continued&#8230;</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:63465032,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-09f&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 3&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This is part 3 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. See part 2 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t exist. I think it does, and it&#8217;s&#8230;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-10T23:17:31.660Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:0,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World LLC&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-09f?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 3</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This is part 3 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. See part 2 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t exist. I think it does, and it&#8217;s&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:63489503,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-7e2&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 4&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This is the 4th and final part of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. See part 2 here. See part 3 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t&#8230;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-11T03:53:03.588Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:0,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World LLC&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-7e2?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 4</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This is the 4th and final part of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. See part 2 here. See part 3 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:63333777,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 1&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This is part 1 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 2 here. See part 3 here. See part 4 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t exist. I think &#8230;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-10T02:27:13.687Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:1,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World LLC&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 1</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This is part 1 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 2 here. See part 3 here. See part 4 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t exist. I think &#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; 1 like &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-adf?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-adf?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 1]]></title><description><![CDATA[Waking up in a New Normal Nightmare]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 10 Jul 2022 02:27:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!V3B7!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3643f506-7019-4483-903e-f09f051ba52e_779x432.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is part 1 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-adf">See part 2 here</a>. <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-09f">See part 3 here</a>. <a href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-7e2">See part 4 here</a>.</p><p>Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t exist. I think it does, and it&#8217;s being used as a scam.</p><div><hr></div><p>The covid scamdemic was like an atom bomb dropped in the middle of my life; nothing has been the same since. Not all the changes have been bad, in fact I&#8217;m probably happier now, but the involuntary nature of the scamdemic makes even positive changes feel coerced and rushed.</p><p>In March 2020, I was living more-or-less the American dream in a trendy close-in suburb of north Atlanta. Big brick house on a large suburban lot, kids attending a great private school, pretty wife, personal and professional autonomy. The advertising company I own was growing steadily, and had just moved into a &#8220;Google style&#8221; office in one of the most beautiful office buildings in Atlanta. My drive to work was 7 miles, which was almost always a serene experience, even with traffic, from the driver&#8217;s seat of my Bentley Flying Spur W12. From a thousand foot view, everything looked great&#8230;</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!V3B7!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3643f506-7019-4483-903e-f09f051ba52e_779x432.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!V3B7!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3643f506-7019-4483-903e-f09f051ba52e_779x432.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!V3B7!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3643f506-7019-4483-903e-f09f051ba52e_779x432.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!V3B7!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3643f506-7019-4483-903e-f09f051ba52e_779x432.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!V3B7!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3643f506-7019-4483-903e-f09f051ba52e_779x432.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!V3B7!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3643f506-7019-4483-903e-f09f051ba52e_779x432.jpeg" width="779" height="432" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3643f506-7019-4483-903e-f09f051ba52e_779x432.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:432,&quot;width&quot;:779,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:215952,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!V3B7!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3643f506-7019-4483-903e-f09f051ba52e_779x432.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!V3B7!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3643f506-7019-4483-903e-f09f051ba52e_779x432.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!V3B7!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3643f506-7019-4483-903e-f09f051ba52e_779x432.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!V3B7!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3643f506-7019-4483-903e-f09f051ba52e_779x432.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>But it wasn&#8217;t exactly satisfying, more like exhausting. When you live in an area where the cost of housing and private school are doubling every ten years, your income has to pretty much double every ten years just to keep up. You can&#8217;t afford to get comfortable; the others dads in my old neighborhood busted their asses <em>all the time</em> just like me. What time I had that wasn&#8217;t taken up with earning money was often spent going to and from various kids activities; including baseball, soccer, ballet class, swim team, tennis lessons, piano lessons, golf lessons, and much, much more. Just as keeping your income climbing fast enough to not fall behind had become a competitive sport, parenting itself had taken on the dimensions of a competitive sport. It was, in short, unsustainable.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3>THE LOCKDOWN</h3><p>The lockdown started suddenly in Georgia, and, after, things were eerily quiet for some time. Under the lockdown directives, since my business was non-essential, only myself as the owner and one employee were allowed to go there on a regular basis. You were not allowed to go in someone else&#8217;s home, even if they were related to you. Most parks were closed at first. Only one family member was allowed out for groceries and other necessities. These rules were not really enforced, at least that I ever saw, but people in my suburb obeyed them anyway. For the duration of the lockdown and beyond, the people around us locked down and we saw practically no one outside our immediate family unit for a couple months.</p><p>When I did venture into the office, I was greeted with numerous layers of absurdity. The management company jumped at the chance to adorn everything with warnings and rules. (Without much consideration as to the effects that might have on the how rapid people might return to work, or how much demand there would be for commercial office space?)</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mxCW!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d2632ae-ec6e-42c4-8d12-b5be00b8b60f_588x862.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mxCW!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d2632ae-ec6e-42c4-8d12-b5be00b8b60f_588x862.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mxCW!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d2632ae-ec6e-42c4-8d12-b5be00b8b60f_588x862.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mxCW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d2632ae-ec6e-42c4-8d12-b5be00b8b60f_588x862.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mxCW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d2632ae-ec6e-42c4-8d12-b5be00b8b60f_588x862.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mxCW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d2632ae-ec6e-42c4-8d12-b5be00b8b60f_588x862.jpeg" width="588" height="862" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4d2632ae-ec6e-42c4-8d12-b5be00b8b60f_588x862.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:862,&quot;width&quot;:588,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:183379,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mxCW!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d2632ae-ec6e-42c4-8d12-b5be00b8b60f_588x862.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mxCW!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d2632ae-ec6e-42c4-8d12-b5be00b8b60f_588x862.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mxCW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d2632ae-ec6e-42c4-8d12-b5be00b8b60f_588x862.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mxCW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d2632ae-ec6e-42c4-8d12-b5be00b8b60f_588x862.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Is this an elevator to hell?</figcaption></figure></div><p>In the early days of the lockdown I realized something: Though I would have happily violated the rules to hang out with a friend, I didn&#8217;t actually know anyone well enough to ask. Obviously from the beginning of the scamdemic there has been immense social pressure to conform to the rules and mandates, often with hatred directed at anyone who didn&#8217;t &#8220;take covid seriously.&#8221; It was a sad and shocking revelation for me that I wasn&#8217;t close enough with anyone to gauge where they would likely fall on the covid-crazy spectrum. </p><p>Even worse, my wife knew plenty of people well enough to know where they stood, and WITHOUT EXCEPTION her friends and their spouses were &#8220;all in&#8221; on the narrative. (As I write this I realize that she must have experienced much more intense social pressure to conform, from her social group, than I had previously considered. She held up pretty well though.)</p><p>I spent most of the lockdown riding around in the Bentley vaping marijuana and listening to techno; taking in the deepening insanity of the world around me. It was a way to cope. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eVLs!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F01abd3c5-4822-41d6-8e16-ea3d824e71a9_1164x597.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eVLs!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F01abd3c5-4822-41d6-8e16-ea3d824e71a9_1164x597.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eVLs!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F01abd3c5-4822-41d6-8e16-ea3d824e71a9_1164x597.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eVLs!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F01abd3c5-4822-41d6-8e16-ea3d824e71a9_1164x597.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eVLs!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F01abd3c5-4822-41d6-8e16-ea3d824e71a9_1164x597.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eVLs!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F01abd3c5-4822-41d6-8e16-ea3d824e71a9_1164x597.jpeg" width="1164" height="597" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/01abd3c5-4822-41d6-8e16-ea3d824e71a9_1164x597.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:597,&quot;width&quot;:1164,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:254521,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eVLs!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F01abd3c5-4822-41d6-8e16-ea3d824e71a9_1164x597.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eVLs!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F01abd3c5-4822-41d6-8e16-ea3d824e71a9_1164x597.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eVLs!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F01abd3c5-4822-41d6-8e16-ea3d824e71a9_1164x597.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eVLs!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F01abd3c5-4822-41d6-8e16-ea3d824e71a9_1164x597.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Guaranteed to provide immunity from traffic stops in nearly all driving conditions.</figcaption></figure></div><p>For a while, it was like driving through an episode of The Walking Dead.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/terrycarter/the-walking-dead-atlanta-bridge-poster-coronavirus" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QEId!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33f4957f-42f7-4db5-877d-1df14a68d03f_592x496.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QEId!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33f4957f-42f7-4db5-877d-1df14a68d03f_592x496.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QEId!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33f4957f-42f7-4db5-877d-1df14a68d03f_592x496.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QEId!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33f4957f-42f7-4db5-877d-1df14a68d03f_592x496.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QEId!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33f4957f-42f7-4db5-877d-1df14a68d03f_592x496.jpeg" width="388" height="325.0810810810811" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/33f4957f-42f7-4db5-877d-1df14a68d03f_592x496.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:496,&quot;width&quot;:592,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:388,&quot;bytes&quot;:85356,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https://www.buzzfeed.com/terrycarter/the-walking-dead-atlanta-bridge-poster-coronavirus&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QEId!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33f4957f-42f7-4db5-877d-1df14a68d03f_592x496.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QEId!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33f4957f-42f7-4db5-877d-1df14a68d03f_592x496.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QEId!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33f4957f-42f7-4db5-877d-1df14a68d03f_592x496.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QEId!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33f4957f-42f7-4db5-877d-1df14a68d03f_592x496.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The church we had attended for several years prior locked down and went radio silent; church services did not resume until mid-2021, and then only with masks and discrimination against the unvaccinated. I realized that the &#8220;community&#8221; I had imagined myself to be a part of wasn&#8217;t really a community at all, just a subset of atomized individuals who happened to be pursing their individual goals in geographic proximity to each other. Maybe that was an okay arrangement in times of peace and prosperity, but it turned out to suck when covid came to town.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3>THE &#8220;SOFT&#8221; REOPENING</h3><p>By the time the lockdown in Georgia ended in May, I knew covid had an <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.14.20062463v1.full-text">infection fatality rate of 0.12-0.2%</a>, I knew the duplicitous Fauci <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/dr-fauci-backed-controversial-wuhan-lab-millions-us-dollars-risky-coronavirus-research-1500741">had been involved in coronavirus research</a> in Wuhan that likely led to the scamdemic, and I knew the people around me were not thinking critically about what was happening or where it was leading.</p><p>Prior to the scamdemic, we had made reservations for a summer vacation at our favorite resort in South Carolina. Throughout the lockdown it was unknown whether the resort would even be open, or whether we would be able to legally travel there. It remained a beacon of hope for me in the distance, that perhaps normal would return by our summer vacation in June 2020. The resort did end up opening one week prior, and we went, and it was good but also weird. Pool time had to be reserved and was limited capacity, and &#8220;the mask&#8221; had begun to make its appearance, though only on employees at that time. Overall, it was a blessing the resort was open and we were able to enjoy a little normalcy. The night before we left to come home <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Rayshard_Brooks">Rayshard Brooks</a> was shot and killed after falling asleep in his car at a Wendy&#8217;s in Atlanta, and then attempting to taze an officer. The BLM summer had begun.</p><p>The BLM summer was one of the few events of the scamdemic that woke a few people up to the exaggerated nature of the response, and the insincerity of those driving that response. How anyone could not see through the utter bullshit, I do not know.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WhE_!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47a45a13-56ef-4242-a932-d3498b8167b6_583x581.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WhE_!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47a45a13-56ef-4242-a932-d3498b8167b6_583x581.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WhE_!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47a45a13-56ef-4242-a932-d3498b8167b6_583x581.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WhE_!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47a45a13-56ef-4242-a932-d3498b8167b6_583x581.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WhE_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47a45a13-56ef-4242-a932-d3498b8167b6_583x581.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WhE_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47a45a13-56ef-4242-a932-d3498b8167b6_583x581.png" width="583" height="581" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47a45a13-56ef-4242-a932-d3498b8167b6_583x581.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:581,&quot;width&quot;:583,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:442666,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WhE_!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47a45a13-56ef-4242-a932-d3498b8167b6_583x581.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WhE_!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47a45a13-56ef-4242-a932-d3498b8167b6_583x581.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WhE_!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47a45a13-56ef-4242-a932-d3498b8167b6_583x581.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WhE_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47a45a13-56ef-4242-a932-d3498b8167b6_583x581.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>As it happens, my sister-in-law and her husband and children were driving up to Atlanta to visit us the night we returned from vacation. Fortunately, they took the longer route around 285. Had they driven through the city they would have been stranded for hours on the interstate without food or water, and possibly accosted by BLM protestors.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-protests-06-13-20/h_7ee902ca78bd79824c8074f6eec8e8c0" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ej2N!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9f40088e-03e9-485f-99b3-0fd08a773423_622x785.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ej2N!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9f40088e-03e9-485f-99b3-0fd08a773423_622x785.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ej2N!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9f40088e-03e9-485f-99b3-0fd08a773423_622x785.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ej2N!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9f40088e-03e9-485f-99b3-0fd08a773423_622x785.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ej2N!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9f40088e-03e9-485f-99b3-0fd08a773423_622x785.png" width="622" height="785" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9f40088e-03e9-485f-99b3-0fd08a773423_622x785.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:785,&quot;width&quot;:622,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:431677,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-protests-06-13-20/h_7ee902ca78bd79824c8074f6eec8e8c0&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ej2N!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9f40088e-03e9-485f-99b3-0fd08a773423_622x785.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ej2N!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9f40088e-03e9-485f-99b3-0fd08a773423_622x785.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ej2N!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9f40088e-03e9-485f-99b3-0fd08a773423_622x785.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ej2N!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9f40088e-03e9-485f-99b3-0fd08a773423_622x785.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The BLM protests continued over the summer, eventually moving north into the suburbs, and right up to our neighborhood. The suburban protestors were ironically almost entirely white people. They worked in shifts, and I once actually caught them doing a &#8220;shift change&#8221; in front of the Dicks sporting goods on the corner.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h4AL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa5b7b34f-5594-4584-861d-6a4fde61347e_892x489.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h4AL!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa5b7b34f-5594-4584-861d-6a4fde61347e_892x489.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h4AL!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa5b7b34f-5594-4584-861d-6a4fde61347e_892x489.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h4AL!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa5b7b34f-5594-4584-861d-6a4fde61347e_892x489.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h4AL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa5b7b34f-5594-4584-861d-6a4fde61347e_892x489.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h4AL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa5b7b34f-5594-4584-861d-6a4fde61347e_892x489.png" width="892" height="489" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a5b7b34f-5594-4584-861d-6a4fde61347e_892x489.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:489,&quot;width&quot;:892,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:640332,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h4AL!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa5b7b34f-5594-4584-861d-6a4fde61347e_892x489.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h4AL!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa5b7b34f-5594-4584-861d-6a4fde61347e_892x489.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h4AL!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa5b7b34f-5594-4584-861d-6a4fde61347e_892x489.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!h4AL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa5b7b34f-5594-4584-861d-6a4fde61347e_892x489.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Entirely White &#8220;Black Lives Matter&#8221; Protestors Preaching to the Choir</figcaption></figure></div><h3>MASKHOLES</h3><p>The supposedly highly rated Cobb County public school system did not return to &#8220;in person&#8221; learning in fall of 2020. The private school my children attended did open for the 2020-2021 school year, but a with mandatory mask policy. As with all absurd covid policies, there was no discussion or debate, it was take it or leave it. Public school parents frustrated with the closed local schools rushed to enroll their children in private schools, like ours. This sudden influx of revenue seemed to convince the school that existing parents with concerns were irrelevant to the decision-making process, as their children could be easily replaced with newcomers who wouldn&#8217;t argue. My little princess spent her entire kindergarten year wearing a mask that made it hard for her to breathe, and there was absolutely nothing a Slugdaddy could do about it.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFsn!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa414a032-8c05-448f-b67d-ed0f83daa4e7_587x505.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFsn!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa414a032-8c05-448f-b67d-ed0f83daa4e7_587x505.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFsn!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa414a032-8c05-448f-b67d-ed0f83daa4e7_587x505.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFsn!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa414a032-8c05-448f-b67d-ed0f83daa4e7_587x505.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFsn!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa414a032-8c05-448f-b67d-ed0f83daa4e7_587x505.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFsn!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa414a032-8c05-448f-b67d-ed0f83daa4e7_587x505.jpeg" width="587" height="505" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a414a032-8c05-448f-b67d-ed0f83daa4e7_587x505.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:505,&quot;width&quot;:587,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:176019,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFsn!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa414a032-8c05-448f-b67d-ed0f83daa4e7_587x505.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFsn!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa414a032-8c05-448f-b67d-ed0f83daa4e7_587x505.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFsn!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa414a032-8c05-448f-b67d-ed0f83daa4e7_587x505.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFsn!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa414a032-8c05-448f-b67d-ed0f83daa4e7_587x505.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>You&#8217;ll notice in the photo above (first day of school) that my daughter and I are wearing gaiter-style face diapers, which do make it a little easier to breathe than a full face diaper. Within a few weeks these were banned, since they don&#8217;t provide enough &#8220;protection.&#8221; My 8 year old son kept getting mask-acne. Basically literal child abuse and all the other parents thought it was just fucking fine.</p><p>To Be Continued&#8230;</p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:63432519,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-adf&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 2&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This is part 2 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. AGGRESSIVE &#8220;SWING DISTRICT&#8221; POLITICS The north Atlanta suburban area where we lived in 2020 was part of Georgia&#8217;s 6th congressional district. We briefly made th&#8230;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-10T18:31:39.926Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:0,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World LLC&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-adf?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 2</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This is part 2 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. AGGRESSIVE &#8220;SWING DISTRICT&#8221; POLITICS The north Atlanta suburban area where we lived in 2020 was part of Georgia&#8217;s 6th congressional district. We briefly made th&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:63465032,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-09f&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 3&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This is part 3 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. See part 2 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t exist. I think it does, and it&#8217;s&#8230;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-10T23:17:31.660Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:0,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World LLC&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-09f?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 3</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This is part 3 of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. See part 2 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t exist. I think it does, and it&#8217;s&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share Slugdaddy World</span></a></p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:63489503,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-7e2&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 4&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;This is the 4th and final part of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. See part 2 here. See part 3 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t&#8230;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-11T03:53:03.588Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:0,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:5613891,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/974011ee-586d-4310-8fb5-bd68f497661e_653x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Dissident, writer, dad, Orlando raver.&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-19T22:58:18.593Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:321318,&quot;user_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;publication_id&quot;:397098,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:397098,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;slugdaddyworld&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:null,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;Dude, where's my Hatteras?&quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:null,&quot;author_id&quot;:5613891,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#FF9900&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-06-29T22:50:00.407Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Slugdaddy World LLC&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:null,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;twitter_screen_name&quot;:&quot;SlugdaddyO&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://slugdaddyworld.substack.com/p/escaping-the-city-during-the-covid-7e2?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><span></span><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">Slugdaddy World</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Escaping the City During the COVID Scamdemic, Part 4</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">This is the 4th and final part of a series about my experience moving from a large metro area to a small rural town with my family, amidst the political and cultural chaos of the covid scamdemic. See part 1 here. See part 2 here. See part 3 here. Note to the reader: My use of the term scamdemic isn&#8217;t meant to imply I think the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic doesn&#8217;t&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; Slugdaddy</div></a></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[My Dog Has Long COVID]]></title><description><![CDATA[So do all the other dogs in my small community.]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/my-dog-has-long-covid</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/my-dog-has-long-covid</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 09 Jul 2022 20:25:04 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X5IP!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F487a81e5-4e42-4a5c-b5ec-1cc27a41b667_744x545.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X5IP!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F487a81e5-4e42-4a5c-b5ec-1cc27a41b667_744x545.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X5IP!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F487a81e5-4e42-4a5c-b5ec-1cc27a41b667_744x545.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X5IP!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F487a81e5-4e42-4a5c-b5ec-1cc27a41b667_744x545.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X5IP!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F487a81e5-4e42-4a5c-b5ec-1cc27a41b667_744x545.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X5IP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F487a81e5-4e42-4a5c-b5ec-1cc27a41b667_744x545.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X5IP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F487a81e5-4e42-4a5c-b5ec-1cc27a41b667_744x545.jpeg" width="744" height="545" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/487a81e5-4e42-4a5c-b5ec-1cc27a41b667_744x545.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:545,&quot;width&quot;:744,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:130493,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X5IP!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F487a81e5-4e42-4a5c-b5ec-1cc27a41b667_744x545.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X5IP!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F487a81e5-4e42-4a5c-b5ec-1cc27a41b667_744x545.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X5IP!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F487a81e5-4e42-4a5c-b5ec-1cc27a41b667_744x545.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X5IP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F487a81e5-4e42-4a5c-b5ec-1cc27a41b667_744x545.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">He knows humans are to blame.</figcaption></figure></div><p>I wish this was a satirical post, it is not. Perhaps COVID-19 and associated countermeasures have zero to do with my Labrador retriever&#8217;s condition, dogs do get sick after-all. According to our veterinarian, in our small community (~10,000) many of the dogs are sick lately with an upper respiratory infection, and a substantial subset of those have been persistently sick up to a month, and counting. The symptoms are cough and congestion. In some dogs these symptoms worsen and become bronchitis, and in a small number of &#8220;older, sicker&#8221; dogs this becomes pneumonia and death. The vet also told me that, whatever &#8220;this&#8221; was and he didn&#8217;t know, it was highly contagious and that I should make sure to keep my dog away from other dogs for about two weeks. (I shit you not.)</p><blockquote><p>Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.</p><p>Most people infected with the virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment. However, some will become seriously ill and require medical attention. Older people and those with underlying medical conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, or cancer are more likely to develop serious illness. Anyone can get sick with COVID-19 and become seriously ill or die at any age.&nbsp;</p><p>-WHO</p></blockquote><p>Our lab, Sammie, came down with dog covid about a month ago. He was coughing and it was causing him to throw his partially digested food up. (Unfortunately, this included on a very expensive rug in our living room that we&#8217;d just bought. If you have a dog and/or kids, do not buy expensive rugs. I definitely won&#8217;t again.) The vet prescribed a round of antibiotics and cough suppressant. Within a few days, his symptoms largely resolved, though I would hear him cough once every day or two. After a couple weeks, and about one week after completing the antibiotics, his cough returned slowly at first but progressing quickly (this time I got him into the laundry room before any property damage occurred.)</p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:63110276,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.eugyppius.com/p/anthony-fauci-on-day-26-of-his-paxlovid&quot;,&quot;publication_id&quot;:268621,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;eugyppius: a plague chronicle&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b8f6591c-90a2-4276-a625-5e9f469c5d31_476x476.png&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Anthony Fauci, on day 26 of his Paxlovid- and vaccine-enhanced Corona experience, says that he is \&quot;Close to if not at 100% the way I was before infection\&quot;&quot;,&quot;truncated_body_text&quot;:&quot;Despite not only following, but embodying, The Science, global vaccinator-in-chief Anthony Fauci caught Corona while attending a school reunion on 11 June. While most Omicron infections resolve within a week, the quadruple-vaccinated NIAID director and blight upon human civilisation suffered Paxlovid rebound, ten days ago, and is now approaching a month&#8230;&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2022-07-08T10:34:32.188Z&quot;,&quot;like_count&quot;:599,&quot;comment_count&quot;:311,&quot;bylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:15736836,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;eugyppius&quot;,&quot;previous_name&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6cb1103d-3c29-475c-8493-9d9fb3b1a87a_1020x1447.jpeg&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;fifteenth-century painting&quot;,&quot;profile_set_up_at&quot;:&quot;2021-07-24T05:09:54.848Z&quot;,&quot;publicationUsers&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:221619,&quot;user_id&quot;:15736836,&quot;publication_id&quot;:268621,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;admin&quot;,&quot;public&quot;:true,&quot;is_primary&quot;:false,&quot;publication&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:268621,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;eugyppius: a plague chronicle&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;eugyppius&quot;,&quot;custom_domain&quot;:&quot;www.eugyppius.com&quot;,&quot;custom_domain_optional&quot;:false,&quot;hero_text&quot;:&quot;We are witnessing an unprecedented, comprehensive failure of policy, medicine and science. The world will never be the same. &quot;,&quot;logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b8f6591c-90a2-4276-a625-5e9f469c5d31_476x476.png&quot;,&quot;author_id&quot;:15736836,&quot;theme_var_background_pop&quot;:&quot;#009B50&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-01-23T07:09:49.870Z&quot;,&quot;rss_website_url&quot;:null,&quot;email_from_name&quot;:&quot;eugyppius&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;eugyppius&quot;,&quot;founding_plan_name&quot;:&quot;Founding Member&quot;,&quot;community_enabled&quot;:true,&quot;invite_only&quot;:false}}],&quot;is_guest&quot;:false}],&quot;utm_campaign&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="EmbeddedPostToDOM"><a class="embedded-post" native="true" href="https://www.eugyppius.com/p/anthony-fauci-on-day-26-of-his-paxlovid?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_campaign=post_embed&amp;utm_medium=web"><div class="embedded-post-header"><img class="embedded-post-publication-logo" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!U0wr!,w_56,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb8f6591c-90a2-4276-a625-5e9f469c5d31_476x476.png"><span class="embedded-post-publication-name">eugyppius: a plague chronicle</span></div><div class="embedded-post-title-wrapper"><div class="embedded-post-title">Anthony Fauci, on day 26 of his Paxlovid- and vaccine-enhanced Corona experience, says that he is "Close to if not at 100% the way I was before infection"</div></div><div class="embedded-post-body">Despite not only following, but embodying, The Science, global vaccinator-in-chief Anthony Fauci caught Corona while attending a school reunion on 11 June. While most Omicron infections resolve within a week, the quadruple-vaccinated NIAID director and blight upon human civilisation suffered Paxlovid rebound, ten days ago, and is now approaching a month&#8230;</div><div class="embedded-post-cta-wrapper"><span class="embedded-post-cta">Read more</span></div><div class="embedded-post-meta">4 years ago &#183; 599 likes &#183; 311 comments &#183; eugyppius</div></a></div><p>After a return trip to the vet for chest x-rays, I was told that this was all normal and that <strong>the last 4 dogs the veterinarian had seen that day presented with exactly the same symptoms</strong> and most of them had previously been sick. Sammie&#8217;s x-ray showed that his infection had turned into some bronchitis in his upper lungs. The vet said not to worry about progressing into pneumonia, since Sammie is only 7 and in otherwise good health. He prescribed another round of more potent antibiotics and <strong>oral prednisone to clear the infection</strong>. </p><p>We are now a few days into treatment and the cough is gone, and Sammie is furious with me. The prednisone makes him tired and thirsty, and then he needs to pee. I hope he quickly recovers. Except for the (exceptional) shedding, this Lab is a perfect pet for a family with children, and much loved by my four kids.</p><p>In thinking about what could be going on here, I will say that no one in our household has been injected, and we all had covid in January. (Our vaccinated friends and neighbors have had it again, some a few times, we have not.) Further, we live on a small equestrian property (h/t Robert Malone) so our neighbors are far away, and don&#8217;t own dogs anyway. </p><p>Our small community is around 70% vaxxed, with many wealthy retirees who have been boosted to the max. There are very few &#8220;dog parks&#8221; in this rural area, there are parks where you can bring your dog but they don&#8217;t get to socialize with each other. It&#8217;s hard to imagine how dog covid is spreading, but I am sure that chronically infected 4x vax retirees giving it to their household pets is playing a role. </p><p>There is one other species that may be playing a role as well, and this particular species jumps our fence all the time and feeds in our field. In fact, our area is completely overpopulated with them, especially in the summer.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p8AZ!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc869340b-cbed-4e75-9bf0-5cefec8cfb08_1013x660.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p8AZ!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc869340b-cbed-4e75-9bf0-5cefec8cfb08_1013x660.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p8AZ!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc869340b-cbed-4e75-9bf0-5cefec8cfb08_1013x660.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p8AZ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc869340b-cbed-4e75-9bf0-5cefec8cfb08_1013x660.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p8AZ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc869340b-cbed-4e75-9bf0-5cefec8cfb08_1013x660.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p8AZ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc869340b-cbed-4e75-9bf0-5cefec8cfb08_1013x660.jpeg" width="1013" height="660" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c869340b-cbed-4e75-9bf0-5cefec8cfb08_1013x660.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:660,&quot;width&quot;:1013,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:357789,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p8AZ!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc869340b-cbed-4e75-9bf0-5cefec8cfb08_1013x660.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p8AZ!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc869340b-cbed-4e75-9bf0-5cefec8cfb08_1013x660.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p8AZ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc869340b-cbed-4e75-9bf0-5cefec8cfb08_1013x660.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p8AZ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc869340b-cbed-4e75-9bf0-5cefec8cfb08_1013x660.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">This is our backyard every summer evening. More deer than you can count.</figcaption></figure></div><p>We do know that covid has been said to be <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01112-4">spreading in deer</a>. Perhaps there is some retiree-deer-dog transmission chain or evolutionary process akin to the <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2013/04/upstream-color-faq-analysis-and-the-meaning-of-shane-carruths-film.html">worm-pig-orchid</a> lifecycle in Upstream Color (I dare you.) Deer droppings look like piles of black beans, and dogs are often fecophilic maybe, but I have never seen my dog eating the beans.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>What is going on? I don&#8217;t&#8217; know, &#8220;I&#8217;m not a biologist&#8221; as they say, I work in advertising. In order to survive the scamdemic, you have to pay attention. Selling used cars in my 20&#8217;s is where I learned the value of paying attention. It has served me well ever since. </p><p>I&#8217;m sure there are some sciency people on Substack that might know how to find out if chronic/long dog covid is a widespread phenomena, or just a middle Georgia thing between deer seasons. </p><p>I will post an update on my lab&#8217;s long covid. As the veterinarian says, this is new and we&#8217;ll just have to see where it ends. Hopefully more transient than the inflation.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/my-dog-has-long-covid?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/my-dog-has-long-covid?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Cash Me Outside Girl is Somehow Winning]]></title><description><![CDATA[What it takes to get ahead in Amerika]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-cash-me-outside-girl-is-somehow</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-cash-me-outside-girl-is-somehow</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 08 Jul 2022 19:50:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/youtube/w_728,c_limit/ZrtSOTGNqA8" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As I was driving this morning and listening to a podcast the topic of &#8220;Cash Me Outside Girl&#8221; came up. Where is she now? Her viral moment didn&#8217;t strike me as all that flattering, and I recall having some compassion at the time for someone whose parents clearly failed her.</p><div id="youtube2-ZrtSOTGNqA8" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;ZrtSOTGNqA8&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ZrtSOTGNqA8?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>Cash Me Outside Girl (who goes by the very Bollywood-esque &#8220;Bhad Bhabie&#8221;) has done stunning well for herself since going viral on Dr. Phil back in 2016; According to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/cash-me-outside-girl-bhad-bhabie-explains-how-she-made-50-million-1699603">Newsweek</a>, she recently paid $6.1M Cash for a house in Florida, and claims she&#8217;d earned $50M in one year on OnlyFans.</p><p>I thought about it a bit, I mean just the house of the &#8220;cash me outside girl&#8221; cost as much money as one man (or woman) would make in 40 years, being paid $150,000 per year. They don&#8217;t give $150k a year jobs out like candy; for a <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/758502/percentage-distribution-of-household-income-in-the-us/">household</a> (which could be two workers) $150k per year puts you in the top 15%.  Wow, I wonder how that household would feel knowing 40 years of their lives have an actual cash value substantially less than 2 months of being Cash Me Outside Girl? Probably <a href="https://unintendedconsequenc.es/bezmenovs-steps/">demoralized</a> (step 1.)</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading Slugdaddy World! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why You Shouldn't Celebrate the Destruction of the Georgia Guidestones]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Occult Meaning of Georgia's Stonehenge and its Destruction]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/why-you-shouldnt-celebrate-the-destruction</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/why-you-shouldnt-celebrate-the-destruction</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 07 Jul 2022 19:19:22 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!I-IG!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc1ab479-95da-4ed5-a1bb-e7d4c08a9173_448x336.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I had never heard of the Georgia Guidestones (or Georgia Stonehenge) until reading about them in <a href="https://www.wired.com/2009/04/ff-guidestones/">Wired Magazine 2009</a>. To briefly summarize, an anonymous man calling himself R.C. Christian paid a substantial sum to build a large granite monument out in a field in North Georgia. The monument was completed in 1980 and features an astrological alignment, with ten &#8220;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones#Inscriptions">commandments</a>&#8221; written in numerous languages along its faces. </p><blockquote><ol><li><p>Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.</p></li><li><p>Guide reproduction wisely &#8212; improving fitness and diversity.</p></li><li><p>Unite humanity with a living new language.</p></li><li><p>Rule passion &#8212; faith &#8212; tradition &#8212; and all things with tempered reason.</p></li><li><p>Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.</p></li><li><p>Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.</p></li><li><p>Avoid petty laws and useless officials.</p></li><li><p>Balance personal rights with social duties.</p></li><li><p>Prize truth &#8212; beauty &#8212; love &#8212; seeking harmony with the infinite.</p></li><li><p>Be not a cancer on the Earth &#8212; Leave room for nature &#8212; Leave room for nature.</p></li></ol></blockquote><p>The only note of explanation is a tablet reading, &#8220;Let these be guidestones to an Age of Reason.&#8221; And, apart from speculation, this is all that is definitively known about the guidestones&#8217; origins or intent. The first of the commandments has drawn much negative attention over the years, for reasons that need little explanation.</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading Slugdaddy World! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>The Wired article fascinated me, and I determined to see them for myself someday. Though I live in Georgia, this city of Elberton, where the guidestones are located, is not really a destination <em>on the way</em> to anywhere. I didn&#8217;t make it there until 2013, when we were able to take the hour detour on a trip with the kids. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!I-IG!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc1ab479-95da-4ed5-a1bb-e7d4c08a9173_448x336.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!I-IG!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc1ab479-95da-4ed5-a1bb-e7d4c08a9173_448x336.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!I-IG!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc1ab479-95da-4ed5-a1bb-e7d4c08a9173_448x336.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!I-IG!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc1ab479-95da-4ed5-a1bb-e7d4c08a9173_448x336.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!I-IG!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc1ab479-95da-4ed5-a1bb-e7d4c08a9173_448x336.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!I-IG!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc1ab479-95da-4ed5-a1bb-e7d4c08a9173_448x336.jpeg" width="448" height="336" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/dc1ab479-95da-4ed5-a1bb-e7d4c08a9173_448x336.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:336,&quot;width&quot;:448,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:22827,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!I-IG!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc1ab479-95da-4ed5-a1bb-e7d4c08a9173_448x336.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!I-IG!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc1ab479-95da-4ed5-a1bb-e7d4c08a9173_448x336.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!I-IG!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc1ab479-95da-4ed5-a1bb-e7d4c08a9173_448x336.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!I-IG!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc1ab479-95da-4ed5-a1bb-e7d4c08a9173_448x336.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">What do you do if you happen across a satanic monument to the new world order? In &#8216;merica you take a picture with it.</figcaption></figure></div><p>Early yesterday morning the guidestones appear to have been bombed, with the side carved in English blowing up, and the rest of the structure left unstable. Late that  afternoon bulldozers finished the job, and now <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/georgia-guidestones-damaged-explosion-stonehenge-b2117290.html">none of it is left standing</a>.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GwA2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3eee957f-9ee4-45b5-b92d-e86e38529b07_673x490.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GwA2!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3eee957f-9ee4-45b5-b92d-e86e38529b07_673x490.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GwA2!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3eee957f-9ee4-45b5-b92d-e86e38529b07_673x490.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GwA2!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3eee957f-9ee4-45b5-b92d-e86e38529b07_673x490.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GwA2!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3eee957f-9ee4-45b5-b92d-e86e38529b07_673x490.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GwA2!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3eee957f-9ee4-45b5-b92d-e86e38529b07_673x490.jpeg" width="455" height="331.2778603268945" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3eee957f-9ee4-45b5-b92d-e86e38529b07_673x490.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:490,&quot;width&quot;:673,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:455,&quot;bytes&quot;:48630,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GwA2!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3eee957f-9ee4-45b5-b92d-e86e38529b07_673x490.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GwA2!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3eee957f-9ee4-45b5-b92d-e86e38529b07_673x490.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GwA2!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3eee957f-9ee4-45b5-b92d-e86e38529b07_673x490.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GwA2!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3eee957f-9ee4-45b5-b92d-e86e38529b07_673x490.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><h3>ON OCCULT KNOWLEDGE</h3><p>I grew up in a Christian family, of the evangelical kind, so at an early age I was admonished about the dangers of the occult. There was to be no playing Dungeons &amp; Dragons for your humble narrator, nor even cable television, which my mother believed was &#8220;of the devil.&#8221; Even the word &#8220;occult&#8221; itself was repugnant to me, at least until much later when I learned it simply meant &#8220;hidden.&#8221; Then one day in 1993, when I was a bored 16 year old (because no cable), I picked up a book my mother&#8217;s friend had recently written and given to her. The name of the book was <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Planned-Destruction-America-James-Wardner/dp/0963219057">The Planned Destruction of America</a>, and reading it changed my perspective permanently.</p><p>The Planned Destruction of America is a somewhat similar book to the more widely known <a href="https://www.amazon.com/None-Dare-Call-Conspiracy-Allen/dp/1939438004/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3I7Z3DH8JQAU&amp;keywords=none+dare+call+it+conspiracy+book&amp;qid=1657164390&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=none+dare+%2Cstripbooks%2C231&amp;sr=1-1">None Dare Call it Conspiracy</a>; the federal reserve is not federal and there are no reserves, most politicians in both parties serve the new world order not the people, and our elite are luciferians who use cultural Marxism to dismantle the western Christian culture. Pretty much standard red pill fare, and, for me, a gateway drug to more advanced reading like <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tragedy-Hope-History-World-Time/dp/094500110X">Tragedy &amp; Hope</a>. I realized that most of the really interesting information in this world was hidden, and developed a lifelong interest in occult knowledge of various kinds.</p><p>Businesses own intellectual property, some hidden from public view; trade secrets, algorithms, client data. Occult knowledge literally powers our economy. I sought to accumulated such knowledge as had practical applications in business and in life. Like the ability to cabalistically &#8220;manipulate matter one molecule at a time.&#8221;</p><div id="youtube2-eglTE8ijhF8" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;eglTE8ijhF8&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/eglTE8ijhF8?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><h3>SIGILS ARE MORE THAN SYMBOLS</h3><p>The elite ruling class has its own religion; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perennial_philosophy">perennialism</a>. Under this umbrella term are the interrelated belief systems of cabalism, theosophy, freemasonry, gnosticism, and luciferianism. Our perennialist elites consider themselves the Elect (of EL), and the masses are &#8220;the profane.&#8221; As we cross from the age of pisces into the age of aquarius, the human race must evolve its consciousness accordingly. Those who are not evolved enough, those set in their ways, are incompatible with the new age and cannot enter.</p><blockquote><p>&#8220;No one will enter the New World Order unless he or she will make a pledge to worship Lucifer. No one will enter the New Age unless he will take a Luciferian Initiation.&#8221;</p><p>&#8212; David Spangler, Occultist and UN Advisor</p></blockquote><p>Generally, the perennialist believes himself to be acting in the best interests of humanity, and according to the &#8220;divine plan.&#8221; This allows him to manipulate reality, or much worse, not only with a clear conscience but with absolute conviction. One tool the perennialist uses to affect change on the material plane is the Sigil.</p><p>A sigil is symbol imbued with a magickal intent to change material reality by its creator, or creators. The sigil is &#8220;charged&#8221; by human attention; becoming more and more magickly powerful. Corporations often use sigils to attach themselves to your subconscious mind. Consider the sigils of our most popular cellphones, for instance.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!koCc!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd38960f-101b-46fc-8ce8-4d88936f1f36_426x443.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!koCc!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd38960f-101b-46fc-8ce8-4d88936f1f36_426x443.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!koCc!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd38960f-101b-46fc-8ce8-4d88936f1f36_426x443.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!koCc!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd38960f-101b-46fc-8ce8-4d88936f1f36_426x443.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!koCc!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd38960f-101b-46fc-8ce8-4d88936f1f36_426x443.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!koCc!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd38960f-101b-46fc-8ce8-4d88936f1f36_426x443.jpeg" width="426" height="443" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/dd38960f-101b-46fc-8ce8-4d88936f1f36_426x443.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:443,&quot;width&quot;:426,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:24648,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!koCc!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd38960f-101b-46fc-8ce8-4d88936f1f36_426x443.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!koCc!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd38960f-101b-46fc-8ce8-4d88936f1f36_426x443.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!koCc!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd38960f-101b-46fc-8ce8-4d88936f1f36_426x443.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!koCc!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd38960f-101b-46fc-8ce8-4d88936f1f36_426x443.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Do you prefer Eve&#8217;s apple, or the &#8220;G&#8221; of the Freemasons?</figcaption></figure></div><p>Importantly, in Magickal workings as opposed to corporate ones, once fully charged the sigil must be released from the conscious mind, or destroyed in the material reality. Often perennialist sigil rituals involve burning the sigil. Occultist Austin Osman Spare said there should be "a deliberate striving to forget it," in order for the magick to work.</p><h3>THE GUIDESTONES AS SIGIL</h3><p>If you are a perennialist and member of the elite, and have come to belief the divine plan involves massive depopulation, constructing a massive granite sigil in rural Georgia makes perfect sense. You inscribe your intent right into the stone. The profane hear about your sigil and think about it, and visit it. Many of the profane come to hate it; energizing the sigil&#8217;s power ever more. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hpJy!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7a941be5-e7b6-4a3a-a1cf-2ff54bc6ea6a_630x567.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hpJy!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7a941be5-e7b6-4a3a-a1cf-2ff54bc6ea6a_630x567.jpeg 424w, 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src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hpJy!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7a941be5-e7b6-4a3a-a1cf-2ff54bc6ea6a_630x567.jpeg" width="630" height="567" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7a941be5-e7b6-4a3a-a1cf-2ff54bc6ea6a_630x567.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:567,&quot;width&quot;:630,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:29650,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hpJy!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7a941be5-e7b6-4a3a-a1cf-2ff54bc6ea6a_630x567.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hpJy!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7a941be5-e7b6-4a3a-a1cf-2ff54bc6ea6a_630x567.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hpJy!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7a941be5-e7b6-4a3a-a1cf-2ff54bc6ea6a_630x567.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hpJy!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7a941be5-e7b6-4a3a-a1cf-2ff54bc6ea6a_630x567.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Eventually, the magickal intent of the guidestones sigil is expressed into the material world. An infinite chain of subtle causes and effects finally culminates in the mass vaccination of the world&#8230; a vaccination unlike any other, in many respects.</p><p>The destruction of the guidestones is not a good thing; they were allowed to be destroyed because they have served their occult purpose, and it&#8217;s best for the elite if they are quickly forgotten. Ten years from now, it will probably be a &#8220;conspiracy theory&#8221; that they ever existed.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>The perennialist elite always <em>show you</em> first; they believe if they show you first, and you still fall for it, you&#8217;ve given your consent and their karma is clear. Amazon&#8217;s Utopia was filmed over the summer of 2019 and released in 2020.</p><div id="youtube2-Y2QNnoqc3XU" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;Y2QNnoqc3XU&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Y2QNnoqc3XU?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading Slugdaddy World! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The My Body My Choice Boomerang Just Boomeranged]]></title><description><![CDATA[The most predictable dialectic plays out predictably, more jabs for you!]]></description><link>https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-my-body-my-choice-boomerang-just</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.thesecurrentyears.com/p/the-my-body-my-choice-boomerang-just</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[These Current Years]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 01 Jul 2022 04:12:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RKBd!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe5c5f713-73cc-4b21-929d-a27dcfcf4e28_1212x1133.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I haven&#8217;t posted here in a while, been in a bit of a post-pandemic malaise wherein the realities the covid saga has laid bare, about the nature of my fellow citizens, my government, and the general fragility of the current system, have weighed heavily on my mind and heart. Add to that the daily rigors of keeping a small business afloat throughout the endless two weeks to destroy the economy. And finding out, somewhat unexpectedly, that my wife is pregnant with what will be my fifth and likely last child. The due date is January 6th, which makes me giggle. Many newsletters worth of thoughts to share in coming weeks.</p><p>Whether it&#8217;s unvaxxed sperm or perhaps babies themselves that will be &#8220;the next Bitcoin&#8221;TM, human fertility has a different feel about it these days. I know that I will survive this scamdemic and provide for my family. I know that a majority of my fellow citizens, at least during the height of the jab-a-thon and likely still today, were supportive of compulsory vaccination of people like myself and my wife. I am under no illusions that, had we &#8220;accepted&#8221; the ritual of inoculation, we would currently still be expecting a child. These people are enemies; my fellow citizens who embraced the mandatory jab have blood on their hands. There is no going back; we can no longer trust our fates to majority vote. (Probably never could/should have.) They don&#8217;t care if you die, as long as they believe jabbing you marginally improves their survival chances. It&#8217;s a big load to swallow, I&#8217;m working through it, as are I&#8217;m sure many readers.</p><h2>My Body My Choice is the Best Policy Ever</h2><p>From my personal moral perspective, abortion is something sad and to be avoided. Morals are not laws. Using government force to make women birth unwanted children is, to me, obviously wrong. Inviting government into the bedroom or your doctor&#8217;s office is obviously wrong; if the last 2.5 years of scamdemic hell has taught people anything, it ought to be the the federal government is better kept out of the healthcare business. From the surveys I&#8217;ve read, most Americans are comfortable with abortion up to a certain point. Which raises the question, why is Roe being revisited now? At a time when most people, in this supposed democracy, are in favor of some level of available abortion, and while some level of abortion does exist without obvious widespread negative consequences, why now? </p><p>I can think of two reasons, the more obvious of which is to negate the idea of &#8220;my body my choice&#8221; in all its permutations. This includes tricking the right into celebrating the end of &#8220;my body my choice;&#8221; making them both dupes with regards to vaccination policy, and obvious hypocrites able to be mocked on late night TV. </p><h2>Boomerang Time</h2><p>It didn&#8217;t take long for this &#8220;not your body not your choice&#8221; policy to boomerang back and clip Justice Thomas square on the chin. In this story, which buries the lead in favor of vaccine propaganda, we learn that whether or not aborted babies are used to develop the covid vaccines, the court has let stand a ruling that eliminates religious objections to the vaccine mandate: </p><p>https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/justice-thomas-cites-debunked-claim-covid-vaccines-are-made-cells-abor-rcna36156</p><p>I like and respect Justice Thomas, but when that boomerang comes back around I&#8217;m sure it smarts. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/justice-thomas-cites-debunked-claim-covid-vaccines-are-made-cells-abor-rcna36156" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RKBd!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe5c5f713-73cc-4b21-929d-a27dcfcf4e28_1212x1133.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RKBd!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe5c5f713-73cc-4b21-929d-a27dcfcf4e28_1212x1133.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RKBd!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe5c5f713-73cc-4b21-929d-a27dcfcf4e28_1212x1133.png 1272w, 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https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RKBd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe5c5f713-73cc-4b21-929d-a27dcfcf4e28_1212x1133.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Conservatives should stick to their free market principles. If you want less abortions, and many of us do, then win on the battlefields of minds. Convince the public abortions are not right for them. Offer alternatives like adoption/placement services. What you <strong>do not do</strong> is violate your own first principles and use the force of the state to make those you cannot convince comply. That will always boomerang back on you down the road, <em>or</em> next week.</p>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>