The variant that is bringing back mask mandates and, don't worry, much worse in the future, is named Eris.
Eris.
The Greek goddess of strife and discord.
Her opposite, Harmonia, is the goddess of harmony and concord. I haven't seen her around here in quite some time. I hope I used the correct pronoun.
Who picked the name, Eris, and why? She is credited with, if I can believe Wikipedia, starting the Trojan War by introducing a golden apple at a wedding (that she wasn't invited to) inscribed with "For the most beautiful one," which caused all kinds of problems as the multiple goddesses present all considered themselves to be deserving of that title.
Strife and discord.
There are no coincidences with these people.
The Hesiod quote on the image reads:
For indeed, she fosters evil war and struggle, being unyielding. No mortal at all loves her, but, by necessity of the immortals, they honor Eris the iron-willed and burdensome.
— Hesiod, Works and Days
“This is a pencil illustration of Eris, the Greek goddess of discord, drawn by Spencer Alexander McDaniel in June 2020. Her peplos is green, symbolizing envy, a common source of strife. In her right hand, she holds golden apple…In her left hand, she holds a xiphos, a kind of ancient Greek sword. A passage from Hesiodos’s Works and Days is written in Greek on her right. My own English translation of the passage is written on her left.” Katolophyromai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Buy the book: I'm Nobody. Who Are You? Can We Save the World?
Some comments on the book:
“It’s a cool gift for a fellow-dissident friend that can relate to the material. It’s like reading a war journal by someone you never met that was in the same conflict as you; you mostly read it for the good feelings you have as you nod along in agreement and reinforce the neural pathways that got fired up as you lived through your particular shared-but-unshared moment of history’s hell.” —Guttermouth from The Gutter
“I received your book today, and I can now honestly say, I couldn’t put it down. I read it from cover to cover, flipping pages with anticipation and delight. I read words and sentences that sounded as though they were flowing from my own mind (even to the point of reading the sentences that “filled that empty space” at the very end).
I will review. I will share. I will continue the fight of the nobodies of the world.” — John here on Substack
"This was a fun and very funny book, written in an interesting and innovative style. We’re all basically inmates in this open-air asylum known as Western Civilization in 2023. Here’s an enjoyable letter from a fellow inmate to lift your spirits, let you know you’re not alone, and inspire you with the possibility that maybe there are enough kindred spirits that we can change this world for the better. For anyone who feels like our postmodern culture has gone completely crazy, this book will be a thoroughly enjoyable read." — Mr. Thursday, Amazon Review
"A great way to spend an hour or so. The words of so many who love freedom, but who have never written them for others to embrace, are now available in short order and short form.
If you love freedom, reality and truth, all sprinkled with levity, more honesty and bit of snarky meme, this book will delight.
We can, we must, and we will save the world." — John, Amazon Review
This article also appears on my website, The Asylum. The website also has several things that are not possible to do on Substack: The World Economic Forum Members Reference (thanks to Dr. Malone), Red State/Blue State reference showing Senate and House percentages by party affiliation, quotes, a large resources section, a robust search feature and some other things unique to the site: quizzes, word games and leaked communications. These latter three are satirical and funny, at least in my mind, but you'll have to be the ultimate judge on that.
Oh boy, more strife and discord incoming. Thanks for pointing out the origin of the name of this latest variant, which I'm sure was intentional! There are, as you said, no coincidences. The question I keep returning to, though, is whose intent is behind this? The ruling class we *can* see do not seem capable of this degree of foresight or sophisticated planning and coordination, so who is the puppetmaster?
Wait, what happened to us calling the variants by Greek letters?!