Two Years of Thoughts Into Words

I want to thank you all for your support over the last two years. I hope Thoughts Into Words will continue to grow and expand in the years to come, and I hope you will all stick around as it does.

Two years ago today I published my first piece for Thoughts Into Words, and I can honestly say that I had no idea where it would take me.

I’ve always been somewhat aware of politics and current events, though if I’m being honest I use to be far more conspiratorial and — regretfully — far more gullible. During the madness that was the year 2020, I gained a better understanding of how to parse through information and identify reliable sources, and in doing so I also gained a much deeper appreciation for good journalism, particularly in the written form.

As a kid and into my young adult years I never really knew what I wanted to do for a career. I played football but was never good enough to seriously consider trying to make it to the professional level or even to try and use it as a way to make it into a good college. When I quit playing football and other sports I started a band with my brother and a couple of our friends, and for years I intended on pursuing music, though that didn’t end up working out (or at least, it hasn’t worked out so far).

Throughout all of that, I always kept the idea of being a writer in the back of my mind, but it was more of a “once I become a famous musician maybe I’ll write a book or two” sort of thing rather than a passion that I would try to turn into a career. Once I became a more avid reader, however, that began to change.

During my transition from being peripherally aware of current events but thinking I had it all figured out to being someone who chronically consumes news media and (I feel) actually has a somewhat decent understanding of what goes on in the world, I discovered Glenn Greenwald, a renowned and fiercely independent journalist. I ended up becoming a subscriber of his Substack, (Greenwald no longer posts on Substack as he’s moved all of his work over to Rumble and Locals) which is how I first became aware of this platform.

After learning about Substack, I considered starting one of my own but I wasn’t sure how to begin. I kept putting it off until I finally experienced something I felt was interesting enough to write about, which was a rock/metal music festival that my wife and I attended in late 2021 — the first such event (at least for us) since the Covid-19 pandemic had shut down much of the economy and drastically stunted live entertainment.

That music festival took place against the backdrop of around a year and a half of lockdowns and mask mandates. It also occurred not long after the rollout of the Covid vaccines and the accompanying vaccine mandates, which is largely why I found the whole event so interesting (my wife and I also just really enjoy live shows). I chose to write about that experience in my first ever piece, and Thoughts Into Words was born.

In the two years since, I’ve written about many different topics. A significant portion of my work has focused on US foreign policy, but I’ve also covered the threats to free speech and press freedoms that we’ve seen recently, police brutality, Covid insanity, Joe Biden’s marijuana pardon’s that took place last year, the fallout from the Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021, the IRS, government spying and censorship, gun rights, mass shootings, abortion, propaganda, Ghislaine Maxwell, the criminal justice system, global elites, the LDS church, and even UFOs (watch for more on that topic soon).

One topic I’ve covered that falls under US foreign policy but I feel is important enough to be mentioned specifically is the Defend the Guard movement, which is a cornerstone project of a group called Bring Our Troops Home. I talked with the group’s founder and chairman, Dan McKnight, via email and used many of his responses in an article I wrote in which I talked about that movement and why I think it’s so important.

Several of my articles, including the one about Defend the Guard, have been republished by an organization called Free the People, and I even wrote an article exclusively for them about the 21st anniversary of the Patriot Act.

Link to Post

Two of my most popular articles were both about a mysterious phenomenon known as “Havana Syndrome”. The first article was about a recent US intelligence report that concluded that “Havana Syndrome” is not caused by a foreign adversary, and in that article I talked about my skepticism of the syndrome existing at all. The second article was a follow-up piece I wrote after I talked with Len Ber, a civilian who has been formally diagnosed with Acquired Neurosensory Dysfunction, otherwise known as “Havana Syndrome”. That conversation shifted my perspective on the overall concept.

Toward the end of that article I stated that:

I still believe that much of the official narrative about “Havana Syndrome” that has been pushed by politicians, the media, and members of the intelligence community is based on lies and falsehoods and is meant to propagandize the American public against foreign governments outside of the U.S. empire. After speaking with Len Ber and looking into other civilian cases, however, I now think that the rabbit hole goes much deeper than I originally thought.

(Len also has his own Substack called Len Ber MD on NeuroStrike and Havana Syndrome.)

Shortly after publishing that article, Len invited me to appear on his podcast to discuss an ongoing lawsuit that a group called Targeted Justice (of which Len is a member of the advisory board) has filed against the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). During that conversation we discussed the evolution of my perspective on “Havana Syndrome” as well as my thoughts on that lawsuit.

Along with Len, I’ve become acquainted with two other writers here on Substack that I feel deserve mentioning.

Lafayette Cahill, who writes at Lafayette’s Newsletter, and Brad Pearce, who writes at The Wayward Rabbler, are both excellent writers and they have both been very supportive of this publication since they’ve learned about it. I’ll let the work they put out speak for itself, but I couldn’t write a thorough summary of the last two years without at least mentioning both of them.

Had I never started this Substack I’m not sure that I would’ve ever come across either of their writing, but becoming aware of their work has definitely been one of the highlights of the journey that has been the last two years. I highly recommend that everyone go and check out their work.

This year, I’ve expanded beyond the usual social and political commentary that the bulk of my writing consists of. That expansion includes one poem, one satirical piece (I’m actually not sure how to categorize it; it’s not necessarily satire but it certainly has a sarcastic tone), and more recently I’ve put out a 9-part series in which each part is the lyrics to a song off of Reality Time Machine, an album my band Awkward Anonymous put out back in 2016. (Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9.)

My most recent piece was an article I wrote about the brutal attack that Hamas perpetrated on Israel recently. I also provided some of the historical context that is needed to fully understand the ongoing conflict and I focused heavily on why it’s always wrong to inflict violence against innocent civilians regardless of whether that violence comes from a terror group like Hamas or an oppressive government like Israel.

I intend to continue expanding the sort of writing I put out as well as continuing the social and political commentary that has made Thoughts Into Words what it is today. My next article is a somewhat Halloween-adjacent piece that should be out just in time for the upcoming holiday.

I don’t have a large enough audience to quit my day job and turn writing into a career, and I likely won’t for some time. However, I’ve gained a much larger following than I ever would’ve expected back when I first started this Substack, and I could not be more grateful. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to turn this into a full-time gig.

I want to thank everyone who has supported me over these last two years; those who have been here since the beginning as well as those who have only recently subscribed. I greatly appreciate you all, and I hope you’ll continue to support me as I continue writing.

I especially want to thank my wife, who encouraged me to start writing in the first place and who has been unbelievably supportive throughout this entire endeavor. She also serves as my unofficial editor, which means she reads each piece at least a few times before it gets published; a task I know from experience can be quite tiresome. I hope she knows how much I love and appreciate her.

Once again, I want to thank you all for your support over the last two years. I hope Thoughts Into Words will continue to grow and expand in the years to come, and I hope you will all stick around as it does.

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