Iran is the new COVID

211 - The Ides of March

🇹🇭 Bangkok reflections, Bitcoin meetups, Iran insights, exiting Big Tech with sovereign options (GrapheneOS, Nostr, Brave, Immich), hidden forces manipulating world events and why Bitcoin remains better money amid geopolitical shifts.

Roger Price

14 Mar 2026 • 11 min read

Benjakitty Park in the evenings

🇹🇭 V and I have been out and about touring the sights of the city and enjoying the warm, sunny weather. Bangkok is noticeably quieter with far fewer tourists at the moment. Most people I speak to seem keen to move past the recent geopolitical nonsense and get on with life. This echoes what I wrote four years ago here and here.

Hot on the heels of another Friday 13th, this Sunday is "The Ides of March". Traditionally this symbolises betrayal and doom (Caesar's assassination in 44 BC after he ignored the soothsayer). Like recent eclipses, real impacts of events on these days often emerge later, but the energy shift is palpable."

Monday we had the regular BTC meetup. This time we were in the Aesop's Bar up on the 25th floor of the Column Hotel. I got to meet all sorts of interesting people from around the world, including a visitor from Iran. Now stuck here, he arrived on holiday just two days before the nonsense started. We had some rather interesting and in-depth discussion about life in Iran and recent events. Obviously this is largely uncorrelated with what you are told by the empire propaganda machine.

Explainer of the week

I know that this one from Chase will be controversial and challenging for many but you likely ought to pay attention to know what is being done and how to spot and avoid it.

Click to understand what is going on and coming next

Everyone needs to make their own decisions. Do not say that nobody told you.

🛠️ Project Updates

This week I am again focusing on technology that enables Sovereign Computing - giving you control over what happens on your computer and with your data. I am also beginning a series giving you insights to what you were never taught about the workings of money and the economy. What are you doing?

Meet people where they are

Every week here I share and promote technology that you can use to Opt Out of Big Tech and those undesirable and unethical "solutions" that the Empire is pushing. I realise that not everyone is at the same place and many are just starting on the journey.

So - it is encouraging to check back with Laura. I introduced you to Laura a year ago when she was moving off Windoze onto Linux - a change that has now been fully successful and she now has lots more progress to report and share.

She explains her rationale for choosing each alternative:

Search Engine: she likes Qwant and Ecosia - my choice is Kagi
Browser: she likes Brave - a great choice and my favourite too
Email Service: she likes Posteo, a German-based service - it looks interesting
Cloud Storage: She likes Internxt - I avoid cloud storage altogether and use SyncThing
Photo Storage: she likes Ente Photo - seems a solid choice - I have moved to Immich
Social Media - she does not yet have good options - my recommendation is Nostr and you can create your own account at primal.net.

Alongside each of her choices, I have indicated mine - to give you additional options and to show you that there are many excellent possibilities for you to choose from. You do not need to remain hostage to evil Big Tech providers - in fact you owe it to yourself to get off them ASAP.

Another success story

Spencer recounts his experience of shifting to GrapheneOS. Like many, he has just had enough of the encroaching stranglehold of control that Apple and Google are imposing. GrapheneOS liberates you from this!

Principles of Economics

Saifedean has recently released all the lectures from his University-Level Economics course and like him I feel it is vital that as many people as possible understand this material that has been suppressed and vilified by the mainstream.

Once you take a little time to understand it you will see why and you will never be able to unsee this. Over the next 4 months I will be re-sharing all the lectures here. I encourage you to watch, listen, take notes and even follow along with the book. For each one I am also including a summary and transcript along with a link back to Saifedean's source.

Click for Lecture 1 summary, transcript and full lecture

For example - his explanation on the effect of Minimum Wage Laws should give you pause for thought:

Key insight: Minimum wage laws criminalize employment for the youngest, poorest, and least experienced. They don't just create unemployment; they create a permanent unemployable class by denying people the experience needed to raise their productivity above the mandated wage.

I have read, reviewed and recommend all of Saifedean's books:

🔗 Links for your edification

The following are links from my Liferea RSS feeds - learn, enjoy and share.

What is keeping you back?

If you have been following along, you would have noticed that over the last couple of months Tom has stepped up his content production. This is material that he is passionate about and producing it comes easily - it is highly relevant and prescient. Tom has hit a milestone where his monthly content-derived income now exceeds his consulting-job income and he shares how this can really change your perspective on life.

Click for summary and for Tom's full monologue

I can certainly understand that feeling and it is one that many, if not all Bitcoiners, also feel. It derives from recognising that you have agency over your life and you need not be slave to the machine. Bitcoiners also recognise that Bitcoin is Better Money. When it comes to saving, Dollar Cost Averaging to acquire Bitcoin is likely one of the best things you can do. As Satoshi said:

"It might make sense just to get some in case it catches on. If enough people think the same way, that becomes a self fulfilling prophecy."
~ Satoshi on Bitcoin in 2009

The best thing you can do it to buy some bitcoin every month and use it everywhere you can for daily and recurring payments. Also, aim to have more bitcoin at the end of each month than you had the month before. Keep doing that and benefits will likely ensue. It is never too late to do the right thing.

How interesting

I hesitated to listen to this when I heard that Cynthia is married to Matt Ehret but I am glad that I did. Matt is a somewhat controversial character. Together they are both rather prolific. It's good to listen in the spirit of Ethical Skepticism and I really appreciate James doing interviews with this mindset too. You will gain new insights and she does reference verifiable sources.

Click for a most interesting and informative interview - pieces of the puzzle

Among other things you will discover:

Chung proposes an 'Ancient Control Systems' theory with three interconnected loci: Ancient Athens (Cult of Apollo), Ancient Babylon (Cult of Marduk), and Ancient Egypt (Cult of Horus), operating as ancient intelligence networks.
Modern media, particularly Netflix, is compared to ancient mystery cults, using formulaic content and sexualisation for psychological control and 'nudging' behaviour, exemplified by shows like 'Industry' and films like 'Hereditary'.
The Tavistock Institute, linked to the Russell family, is described as transforming psychiatry into societal-scale psychological therapy and social engineering, influencing the World Health Organization and concepts like 'mental hygiene'. They were even involved with the music of The Beatles.

The image below says it all

You might have missed Melania Trump's 2026 UN Security Council presentation. Her presentation, focused on children, technology and education in conflict zones (a problem that the Empire created). It is described as a deployment of a "parallel governance stack" that displaces constitutional rights with programmable permissions.

You should quickly recognise the tactics being used to manipulate you: Opportunity → Threat → Governance Solution. This structure, likened to a FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) tactic, aims to overwhelm critical thinking with statistics and emotional appeals, leading to the acceptance of AI-mediated decision making infrastructure.

Click through and read/watch Peter's full exposition

Key themes include the proposition of a digital nation-state, the dissolution of sovereignty and the deceptive framing of AI as democratizing knowledge. The article argues that children in conflict zones are used as a "categorical shield," an "ideal test population," and a "precedent engine" for this new governance architecture.

It should further concern you when you see that she proposes that terms like "education," "knowledge," "protection," and "democratization" should being redefined to serve this agenda, ultimately leading to a system of "governance without representation" and "coercion disguised as frictionless convenience." Recall Newspeak in Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Iran is the new COVID and this is but one of the threads that the empire plans to enforce. War-zones (and Australia) are used to test technology that is then rolled out globally.

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If it is in the news - it is a ruse. There are no coincidences.

🤔 Closing Thoughts

Closing out this week with a most insightful book, well reviewed by Wayne McRoy. The book is the result of some 40 years of research by a well-respected Canadian Military Commander. When you have research of this depth and breadth clearly presented, you would do well to pay attention.

"Pawns in the Game" is a book by William Guy Carr, published in 1958, that presents a well-researched theory about world events. ³ ² The central metaphor of the book uses a chess match, where ordinary people and nations are depicted as expendable pieces manipulated by hidden, evil forces or leaders of totalitarian-minded groups. ¹

Click for a good summary and to listen to the full book review

Pawns in the Game (1958) - Carr, William Guy

You can read the book yourself here

Pawns in the Game (1958) - Carr, William Guy.pdf

820 KB

The book aims to show how "The Game" has been played historically and to predict future moves by these manipulative groups. The content offers insight into mid-20th-century conspiracy thinking and the human desire to understand complex historical events. ²

References

Independent Corroboration

This is a superbly interesting and informative discussion between James and Johnny. Investigative journalist Johnny Vedmore discusses his findings on Les Wexner's involvement with intelligence agencies. He then shares his seven-year investigation into Nicole Junkermann, revealing her connections to surveillance technology companies like Carbyne 911 and Owkin, as well as the likely true function of TerraMar, set up by Ghislaine Maxwell.

Click for summary and a fascinating interview

Vedmore also touches upon Klaus Schwab's connections to nuclear proliferation activities and the sophisticated methods of media manipulation and fifth-generation warfare used to control narratives.

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No one can be told what The Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.
- Morpheus to Neo in The Matrix

How to exit the matrix - do you see it yet? Click here: Morpheus will explain it to you

Any questions or anything else? Feel free to comment below!
You can also email me at: LetterFrom@rogerprice.me

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"99% of all subjects accepted the program if they were given a choice - even if they were only aware of the choice at an unconscious level"
- The Architect

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