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First and foremost, I’m a member of D.R.A.S.T.I.C., the group of scientists and researchers who continue to lead the search for the origin of COVID-19. I strongly encourage any visitor to learn more about who we are, what we’re doing and why we’re doing it - we believe the world deserves to know the truth, and we will find it.
Who is Prometheus Shrugged?
My name is Charles, and like many of you my short-term life plans suffered a direct hit last year from Hurricane COVID-19. It didn’t just hit hard-it hit early on, thanks to happy coincidences that brought me to Prague in late February of 2020. In fact, I was at the US Embassy attending an economic brief when our speaker was cut short by the announcement of the 1st cases of COVID-19 in the Czech Republic; that was when my gut first poked me with the ‘uh-oh’ feeling.
For those of you who may be disappointed, I’ll just skip ahead briefly and apologize for the elephant in the room - I’m sorry that your search to discredit me because I’m a front for a Russian troll farm that also fans ethnic tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh has come up empty. For everyone else, meet my crazy train:
Although none of my traveling companions [fellow 2nd-year MBA students from Southern Methodist University] were aware of the irony, my sense of deja vu on 3/1/20 wasn’t a coincidence; 18 months earlier, I was still stationed in Quantico, Virginia as the CBRN [WMD] Chief for Marine Corps Embassy Security Group. In my two tours that totaled nearly 8 years, I was the enlisted chief of the section charged with training and equipping all of the 2,000 Marine Security Guards at our then-180 locations, in the area of chemical, biological & nuclear weapons. Unsurprisingly, when I reached out to the MSG’s after that meeting was abruptly adjourned, half of them recognized me, and that afforded me enough gravitas to briefly offer a few tips in anticipation of potential future COVID-19 disruptions.
Also unsurprising were the dichotomous reactions of my fellow trip-mates, in response to SMU’s decree an hour later to cancel the trip [on its first full day]. I felt that that decision was an overreaction, especially because we were ‘ordered’ to return home immediately; if we chose to stay, the school would not be ‘liable’ should anyone get sick. I didn’t realize that I was coming face to face with the first spell of irrational bullsh*t from ‘leaders’ reacting foolishly to COVID-19; the trigger moment for me was the fact that we weren’t going to be reimbursed for the new tickets [we had already paid for our own tickets].
My passion for the last dozen years of my life has been in leadership development, and I knew enough about handling crises to be annoyed at the prospect of paying for another ticket when the university president could easily reach into his $2 billion endowment and charter a plane if he really felt that the threat was that serious. It would’ve added the non-trivial benefit of limiting the students’ exposure to the giant incubators known as airport terminals.
Ultimately, cooler heads prevailed, everyone agreed to change literally nothing about the itinerary, and I remained thankful that my return layover was in Madrid, not Heathrow, which connects directly with China/Asia far more than most of Europe. Only later in the week did disturbing reports really begin to emerge from Northern Italy, after which I could almost feel the continent ‘shudder’ as the situation exponentially exploded there.
Needless to say, I was sick less than 48 hours after getting home from Madrid; the rest, as they say, is history [which fits rather nicely with my background, lol].
Having returned to civilian life just as common sense became toxic and free speech became dangerous, I shouldn’t have been surprised by the willingness of politicians to politicize catastrophe and suppress dissent through implicit censorship. However, I also don’t have to accept that trusting our leaders is always in our best interest, since [as my COVID projections have shown] there’s no guarantee that ‘experts’ will have the answers - much less that our leaders would effectively employ those answers.
My original intent was to help fill a knowledge gap between the data and the narrative, until the COVID-19 situation stabilized and media/government communications became more effective. Since that time has not yet come, my work into the origins, clinical and epidemiological characteristics, and misinformation of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic continues. My WMD background, Marine Corps career, graduate degrees in history (M.A.) and business (MBA 98%), experience modeling accidental and intentional biological hazards, and love of spicy beef jerky may or may not convince you that my COVID opinions are worth listening to, and that’s okay. But, unlike our politicians, I can promise you that I’m more informed AND my priority is helping all of us get through the pandemic alive and together. I realize that genuine motives sound suspicious, but it can’t any more ridiculous than putting 3 masks on your face at one time.
Why subscribe?
…However, the better question is “Why NOT Subscribe?” I’m not shameless enough to guilt you into paying for my periodic word salad; news sites would keep more subscribers if they stopped insulting our intelligence or started treating customers like….customers.
Having said that, nothing prevents you from donating to support my crusade in defense of free speech, accountability of our elected leaders, and the fight to uncover the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Prolonged unemployment has been humbling, but I am driven to keep educating people about the pandemic because the knowledge gap is an anchor that has only made this crisis harder for the living, and more deadly (as Andrew Cuomo is learning).
So, if you subscribe and find value in my efforts, know that I will continue to fight this for as long as I have the means to do so; any support for my writing or assistance in finding like-minded individuals to share this information with is invaluable.
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What I’m currently doing (explained here); Why I’m doing it (scroll down)
*My current focus is researching COVID-19’s origins, as part of the loose collective known as D.R.A.S.T.I.C. [scientists, journalists & researchers].
**I’ve published an ongoing project to the academic open server ResearchGate titled SARS-CoV-2 Origins Research - Full Reference List. It contains links and information for [598] sources related to the question “Where did COVID-19 come from?.” The list also serves as the basis for an analysis of the impact of censorship in the early pandemic, which I will submit as a commentary for peer review & publication.
**I’ve published a volume of condensed, highly relevant selections from 100K FOIA emails related to the origin investigation; it includes 100 pages of my compiled and unaltered first 5 Fauci/censorship articles, as well as an appendix of 173 pages of the aforementioned emails. It’s titled Prometheus Shrugged.
A more comprehensive narrative of scientific censorship in the early pandemic will appear in a joint volume of research with 2 other DRASTIC authors
A separate collaboration covering aspects of epidemiology in the early Wuhan outbreak is being prepared as a submission for peer-reviewed publication. The scientist I’m partnering with is one of the individuals who has testified several times in recent Congressional hearings.
Another project on the same broad topic is a larger collaboration with many other members of DRASTIC.
Lastly, I am preparing a commentary based on the results of my projection for the winter pandemic wave, to offer some lessons learned to CDC & other epidemiologists
If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to assist more directly in the efforts on Capitol Hill; for now, however, I’ve got plenty to keep me busy.
*And your support will help keep it that way!
