{"id":325760,"date":"2026-04-06T07:30:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T07:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=325760"},"modified":"2026-04-08T07:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T07:05:10","slug":"this-easter-in-the-new-normal-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=325760","title":{"rendered":"This Easter in the New Normal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Off-Guardian \u2013 April 5, 2026<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Our successor to This Week in the Guardian<\/em>, This Week in the New Normal<\/a><\/em> is our weekly chart of the progress of autocracy, authoritarianism and economic restructuring around the world.<\/p>\n

1. Babies make you sad and ugly and ruin everything<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Easter. Spring. The time of year to celebrate the rebirth of the world and bringing of new life into a freshly green world\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026or not, according to the MSM, who are all rather down on the whole going-forth and multiplying thing.<\/p>\n

A new study has apparently found the having children doens\u2019t make you happy, but does ruin your relationship, according to the Daily Mail<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Having children DOESN\u2019T make you happy: Becoming a parent provides no boost to wellbeing, study claims \u2013 but it does ruin your relationship<\/p>\n

Dispensing even with the pretense of science, BuzzFeed is just straight up reporting anonymous anecdotes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere Is Literally No Escaping This\u201d: Moms And Dads Anonymously Confessed Why They Regret Having Their Kids, And Wow<\/p>\n

In a variation on that theme, the BBC has a story headlined<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018Like a trap you can\u2019t escape\u2019: The women who regret being mothers<\/p>\n

In which alleged mothers say they would erase their children from existence if given the choice, and describe motherhood thus\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cMotherhood has taken my health, my time, my money, my strength, and my body [\u2026] The price is too high, and the cost is forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just in case you\u2019re missing the finer points of the subliminal messaging: DON\u2019T HAVE KIDS!<\/p>\n

2. Unshrouding Turin<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A new study on Shroud of Turin has found DNA of many different people, animals and plants on the centuries old piece of cloth. Surprising no one with even the most basic understanding of DNA or how time works.<\/p>\n

The New Scientist<\/a> writes:<\/p>\n

Researchers have identified genetic material from a vast range of organisms contaminating the shroud, said to have wrapped Jesus\u2019s body, further complicating the question of the cloth\u2019s true origin<\/p>\n

The \u201cquestion of the shroud\u2019s origin\u201d? That was answered decades ago scientifically and centuries ago by common sense.<\/p>\n

The Daily Mail has a separate story, also about the shroud, and headlined<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Shroud of Turin discovery places burial cloth at time of Jesus\u2019 death<\/p>\n

Which is just dishonest enough to tip-toe up the line of \u201clie\u201d, without crossing it.<\/p>\n

The \u201cdiscovery\u201d is a study of pollen from the 1970s. And when they say \u201cplaces the burial cloth at the time of Jesus\u2019 death\u201d\u2026they mean the time of year<\/em>. That\u2019s how dishonest the article is.<\/p>\n

The pollen is only around at spring time. Which means nothing, since it is documented the shroud has existed for nearly 700 springs, all of which probably had pollen.<\/p>\n

Why is this getting \u2013 if you\u2019ll forgive a rather good pun \u2013 blanket coverage?<\/p>\n

The shroud of Turin is not real. I mean, it\u2019s a real shroud, but it was never wrapped around Jesus Christ\u2019s body.<\/p>\n

They found red ochre pigment<\/a> on it over thirty years ago. It\u2019s paint, not blood.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no documented evidence of its existence prior to 1354. For the mathematically uninclined, that\u2019s roughly 1320 years after the crucifixion. This lines up perfectly with radio carbon dating results, which date it to between 1260 and 1390AD<\/p>\n

But, more importantly, just look at it:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

No human has ever<\/em> looked like this.<\/p>\n

It is not a real face, it is a drawing, a clearly medieval-era painting of a very European-looking Christ, whose hair is somehow hanging perfectly straight around his oddly-rectangular face, despite supposedly lying flat on his back with a cloth wrapped tightly about his head.<\/p>\n

With all the real mysteries hanging over the human race, the preoccupation with re-solving a non-puzzle seems like such a waste of time.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a medieval fake, from the golden age of bought-and-paid for miracles. That has historical significance in its own right, but there\u2019s no mystery or magic to it.<\/p>\n

3. The Great Kit-Kat Kaper<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In one of the more bizarre thefts I\u2019ve ever heard of, some criminal (or criminals) have made off with a cargo shipment of 12 tons of KitKat chocolate<\/a>, totalling somewhere close to 500,000 bars.<\/p>\n

I guess someone really<\/em> needed a break.<\/p>\n

The more I think about it, the more I find it interesting. Why would you do this? Yes, alright, you can sell them for money, but any wholesaler is going to be immediately questioning someone offering massive numbers of KitKits \u2013 and ONLY KitKats \u2013 at below market price.<\/p>\n

Which means selling them a couple at a time, hooking people up with black market chocolate bars in the alley behind a night club?<\/p>\n

I just don\u2019t get it.<\/p>\n

As an aside, I\u2019ve today discovered that I\u2019m a victim of the KitKat Mandela affect. Apparently there is no hyphen, and never has been. Weird.<\/p>\n

BONUS: Traumatising lunch of the week<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Spectator Australia has set out to scar a few children with its suggestion of Easter dining<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Eating the Easter Bunny for Easter lunch?<\/p>\n

Good luck explaining that to the little ones.<\/p>\n

BONUS II: Artistic Injustice of the week<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A 20-year-old Australian woman has been found guilty of vandalism<\/a> and fined A$2000 for sticking googly eyes on a sculpture.<\/p>\n

But you can\u2019t tell me this isn\u2019t an improvement\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

I think death of the author applies here.<\/p>\n

Easter Recommendations<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This Easter, we should take some time out to remember a real man who has too often been overshadowed by embellished account of his life published over a century after he died.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right, D\u2019Artagnan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2026who did you think I was talking about?<\/p>\n

In honor of the discovery of his burial place<\/a> I\u2019ve been revisiting my love of Dumas\u2019 Musketeer romances and cannot reccommend them enough. In terms of viewing, no movie or television version has ever really captured the brilliance and dry humour of the novel, but the all-star 1973 version comes closest. A fantastically fun watch for the Easter weekend.<\/p>\n

Or you could watch Ben Hur. Again.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

All told a pretty hectic week for the new normal crowd, and we didn\u2019t even mention how \u201cshrinkflation\u201d<\/a> is ruining Easter just like everything else<\/a>, Canada \u201ccriminalizing the bible\u201d<\/a> or the renewed debate on Daylight Saving Time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Happy Easter, everyone. And here\u2019s to a fresh new start.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Support Off-Guardian:<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among other items, Off-Guardian looks at a subliminal campaign in the mainstream media that seems intent on discouraging people from raising families <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":273448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-325760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-Commentary","category-Current_Affairs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=325760"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":325772,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325760\/revisions\/325772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/273448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=325760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=325760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=325760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}