Hi all,
It’s been a while. I took a big break from writing, one I needed, and somewhere in there I lost my mojo for a bit.
I love the support, the feedback, the questions, the critiques, all those things. What I discovered, though, is that putting your experiences and ideas out there also comes with personal attacks, online hatred and vitriol, and for me that came mostly from social media, Reddit in particular, rather than here on Substack. It takes a toll on you, and it’s part of the reason why I lost my mojo and why this next article has taken so long. Taking some time off to relax, let my brain breathe and see what’s important helped me remember why I started this in the first place, and that people’s nasty comments shouldn’t matter to me more than that. It’s given me the motivation and the break I needed, and I’m back with gusto.
To everyone who found me and subscribed while I was quiet, thank you. Coming back to new names here means more than you’d think.
Next up is a five-part series on Five Eyes, something I started before the break and have picked back up. It began with my morning coffee and a news story about visitors to the United States being asked to hand over five years of their social media history, and a thought I couldn’t shake: would I even want to go there now? I’m doing nothing wrong, so why was I even thinking about it?
Part 1 asks whether America has become the scariest country in the world to visit. I went looking, and part of me wishes I hadn’t.
The Architect
You mean that Five Eyes thing that skirts the law by running around getting other countries to do what would be illegal for them to do in their own? That Five Eyes another layer of duplicity and oversight avoidance like CIA's USAID but for domestic command and control?
Welcome back!