We’re Back! The Iconoclast Returns

For the past few months (since about March), The Lone Star Iconoclast website has been somewhat inactive, due to several circumstances beyond our control.

With a very small staff, what impacts us on the periphery also impacts our ability to publish at times.

Not to make lame excuses, these most recently  involved two attacks by hackers that disabled our site, the deaths of some very close family members that we had to deal with, and some situations regarding my health. You might recall that two years ago I suffered from 73 strokes and have been dealing with rehab and bad medication side effects ever since, the latest to be detailed in a future essay regarding pharmaceutical companies not willing to advise patients of the exact ingredients of their drugs for “proprietary” reasons, even when patients’ lives are at stake.

It is quite a task to rebuild fairly intricately constructed websites such as ours. We have had to reconstruct thousands of files — twice — in an effort to get back on track. This has been an expensive and time consuming venture and we now hope our security is strong enough to prevent it from happening again.

In some ways it is interesting to realize that some powers that be want this site to come down, which, of course, makes us want even more to keep it going. It has taken much longer to rebuild the site than I had anticipated and there are some files that still need some tweaking, but we are back online now and hope those who have provided us with tips, news dispatches, and information in the past will continue to do so.

My health had been improving considerably over the past two years, until I took one generic pill about eight weeks ago to replace a brand name. The damage it caused was one of the worst experiences of my life and I am still recovering from it.

One of my health treatments in its aftermath has involved acupuncture, something new to me. So far, it has been a positive experience, and brings back memories of how The Iconoclast has always been a firm supporter of those who have been persecuted by the Chinese government for practicing Falun Gong, a qigong discipline combining slow-moving exercises and meditation with a moral philosophy centered on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Their calls for freedom are immense and their positive influences are now more personal for me.

There are several additions and enhancements we are anticipating with The Iconoclast in the days and weeks ahead, so we hope you will stay tuned.

Someone the other day asked why we show that “stupid rat” in our header and in promotions. In a way it is fitting, for he once was considered the “capitol rat,” symbolically getting in behind closed doors to let the public know what goes on with hidden agendas, which is one of our strengths. We are experienced investigators and have had success in the past, especially with the assistance of whistle blowers with whom we have worked and continue to share information.

A similar cartoon rat originated as a sports column heading when we published newspapers in Dublin and Stephenville, Texas many years ago over the writings of the late Denver Doggett, a very good friend and colleague. Keeping the rat alive seemed like a good thing to do. I think Denver would appreciate it.