The Apocalypse Papers

Sign of the Times

2020-07-06T08:30:00.000-05:00

Prince is in my top three favorite artists of all time. And the title to his song “Sign of the Times” couldn’t be more prophetic. If I remember the Apocalypse Papers was to be a hodgepodge of things. Like a weekly Reddit, if I may be so bold. The Apocalypse Papers addressed the serious, the weird, and the downright stupid. But, for some odd reason, the proverbial shit sack is hitting the fan in slow motion. That is my perspective. But you cannot help noticing this nervous tension all over the news cycle. I won’t recall what is going on. But if you navigate to any news aggregator you can see it for yourself.

Thus,

Everyone should know that we are in the middle of a pandemic, but some of us refuse to wear masks.

Everyone should know you shouldn’t cough on a baby, three times. Come on, lady.

Everyone should know that protestors have the right to protest. But some people want to poke and taunt a large crowd of chanting people. Who the fuck does that?

Everyone should know that poking and taunting a large crowd of people is bad. And will result in some of that crowd losing their shit.

Everyone should know that pointing two weapons at a crowd of protestors is a Custer like move.

Even the “feel good” stories have a dark side. I mean a tree falling on a children’s birthday party. Top Broadway performer gets Covid and dies. An engineer who survived September 11th dies from Covid. And it gets worse and worse and worse. And I say, whoever manages the yearly human sacrifice to appease whatever God (big G) needs to do it and do it damn quickly.

Vale ~H~

Resurgence of Covid

2020-06-29T11:00:00.000-05:00

If you have been reading the Apocalypse Papers recently, you realize that I am keeping up with the coronavirus news. Not in the Johns Hopkins fashion. But in the “what in the hell is wrong with people” fashion. What bothers me the most about the surge in cases is that people are becoming numb to this virus.

So here what I feel will happen.

Another national lockdown is coming. The economy will take a massive hit. And supply lines will become disrupted. Which will cause shortages, prices to spike, and people to panic worse than they did in March. Why. Because there is a lack of scientific respect that involves wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, and washing your hands.

It is inevitable.

Yet. There is so much fake news out there that people are confused as to which conspiracy theory to follow. There is a "liberal agenda" theory. The Covid “isn’t real” theory. The "Flu is worse " theory. The “Mask won’t help” theory. The “If I get the Rona, I get the Rona” theory. And with Houston, Arizona, Florida, and Mississippi finding out that ICU beds don’t grow on trees, there has to be someone chronicling what happened. Or those theories will permeate through our future history and people will repeat more of the same.

I just hope that while we slowly cruise through this portion of history on Willy Wonka’s SS Wonkatania someone is taking notes. Enough notes to point out that people were coughing on each other on purpose. Laying out on the beach as if the virus wasn’t affected by the heat. Having secret parties or family gatherings against common sense. People were walking around without their masks. People making fun of the safety precautions. And when it is all said and done that the hundreds of thousands that are destined to die will be a result of poor information, scientific mismanagement, and the lack of sound governance.

Wash your hands, wear your mask, and practice social distancing.

Vale ~H~

Shaking the Coexistence Tree

2020-06-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

And racist fall out. For years Black folks like myself, have screamed that there was an undercurrent of racism that kept us trapped in certain positions or conditions. And for those who were not affected by the undercurrent those complaints were met with “You cannot pull the black card” it was a disarming and dismissive statement intended to make a complaint of race solely a personal one.

However

Once people rioted, protested, and looted, it was as if a secret portal opened up showing that racist undercurrent. It is the restaurant owner who stops a child from eating in Baltimore. It is an apartment dweller who stops another apartment dweller from swimming in a communal pool. It is CEO’s making racist statements, it is Instagram models who are clueless that racism exists. It is Fox news. Oh Ogun, is it Fox news. It is a department head who thinks that all Black People are lazy and the folks who feel that Confederate statues are a symbol of freedom. The fuck? It’s all the people who want to challenge protestors to a fight. Or murder a protestor. Or throw a protestor in jail. Or tear up a sign that says, “Black Lives Matter.” Its Karen. It’s definitely Karen.

And why are racist falling out of the tree?

Because people should stay in their places and not complain at all. Don’t complain about being ridiculed or murdered. Just let that happen. Be good citizens and stay at home and mumble quietly and peacefully. Let the racism happen like a forced conjugation in a prison shower. And if you say anything about that racism, you are being a rabble-rouser destined to upset the entire tree. Just ignore it and it will go away. After all the Blacks are free right? There should be no complaint that is worthy of inspection. Right? And anything that disturbs that tree of coexistence causes problems. Big problems.

If anything I’ve learned you have the right to say what you want but you are responsible for those words.

And, common sense says that people protest when there is a severe problem to be addressed. And not because they are off on a Tuesday and have nothing to do. And these protests are happening in the middle of a Pan damn demic. Mind you that if Crispus Attucks minded his own business American would have a king. Or if Susan B Anthony hadn’t spoken her peace women wouldn’t’ have the right to vote. And if there wasn’t the Stonewall Riots, we wouldn’t have an LBGTQ community and a pride month. Pointing out with each of those protests there was that minority that did not want people to change. And watching these trying times shake the coexistence tree lets the entire world know who is against change just that as they tumble out into the open.

Vale ~H~

Spies in Mississippi

2020-06-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

Born in sixty-nine, I grew up surrounded by older Black family members who were affected by Jim Crow, told stories of lynching, commented on how things, “used to be.” And told stories of how they survived the harshness of the land. Segregated water fountains, segregated movie theaters, segregated funeral homes, and segregated churches. Stories of unfair civil practices, unscrupulous business tactics, and a legal system that was not in any way in their favor.

Not all the stories were bad, however. Many of them recounted tales of family and belonging to a group that suffered together. Survived together and died together. Prospering through prayer. And praying for the strength to bear that leaden cross with murdering their transgressors. It was survival through cunning and strategy and how they survived in the face of tremendous odds. It was tales of great food, family values, and psychological endurance. Long days of cotton picking and months to scrimp and save to leave the Deep South, in search of better days up north.

Weaved in between those tales were the whispers of how they had to organize in secret, the bombings, the beatings, the riots, the fires, and the lynching. And still, they managed to push past all of that to achieve their dream of equality. Only when I was older did I understand that there was a price to pay for that tremendous sacrifice. And many of those people who marched and sat down in the streets, suffering wounds so African Americans could have the right to vote are still alive. So that means that many of those people who bombed homes and beat Civil Rights workers are still alive also.

Watching Spies in Mississippi last night, and I won’t give away spoilers, taught me that there are undercurrents to the civil rights movement that we are still discovering. This documentary was an exposition of what systemic racism looks like. And how there is an educated approach to removing someone’s civil rights through defamation of character, misdirection of the topic, and by controlling the message. To be perfectly honest, I sat through the entire documentary with my mouth wide open remembering what my father told me about perceptions. And how you should never take anything at face value. And this documentary proved that very valid point. I would suggest anyone reading this post to watch Spies in Mississippi.

Vale

Privilege Immunity

2020-06-15T09:29:00.000-05:00

Healthcare is a fluid science that is based upon evidence. As one learns how disease manifests itself the disease is studied, and the best approach is used to treat patients.

We have social determinants of health. Or factors that cause you to be more or less susceptible to illness, injury, or disease. We have known risk factors that predispose a patient to chronic illnesses. We understand the factors that improve your health. Simply put. Healthcare understands the human body and its response to disease.

There are known pathways to sudden death and known pathways to a long arduous death. Either way, healthcare is aware of the things that make people sick. However. Knowing that are social determinates, comorbidities, risk factors, and an entire profession dedicated to improving health.

I have never heard of “Privilege Immunity.”

Let me explain.

Standing in the middle of an emergency room with Covid-19 patients surrounding us. A coworker opened their mouth and uttered that they will not get coronavirus because they not in that “group.”

I dare not open that can of worms but hey how does one fish for information. So, I asked through my mask,

“What group is that?”

Their response was, “Preexisting conditions. You see that this virus only affects certain populations of people.”

If I wasn’t wearing a mask, my mouth would have fallen wide open. I don’t react to much but that by far was the most idiotic statement of the year. After all, we had patients who were very much in my coworker's age group, social background, gender, income level, and race. And many of those patients tested positive for the coronavirus. Some of those patients were admitted and some were not. But the fact remains they were not immune. And according to research, there is no current immunity to this virus. And being a dick doesn’t make you immune either.

I consider this coworker a super spreader of toxic information. If they believe that their privilege and income prevent them from getting the Rona. I’m sure they’ve spread this crap on Facebook or some other social media site. Where people are like “Yeah, this nurse is right. I’m too important to catch this bug.” And decide not to wear a mask in public, stand too close in stores, tongue kiss random people on the street, and rub their eyes with unwashed hands. And boom we are all under stay at home orders again.

And I hate f*cking staying at home.

Vale

War Body

2020-06-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

Ogun African God of War

This is a topic that is covered a thousand times across the internet. But I think that the aim of men’s health is completely off. The message is one of more hair, a six-pack, larger arms, a bigger d*ck, a longer stroke, and muscles everywhere. What I am getting at is that the message that is being promoted to men at this time is one of a war body. And for those of us that have been to war know that a six-pack and biker arms are no match for NATO rounds.

I don’t disagree with those aforementioned themes, but I do disagree with not including every component of men’s health. Like prostate health, urinary flow control, sexual exercise (didn’t know that existed) cardiac improvement. Stamina and Endurance. Mental exercising and stress management. Skin, hair, and nail health, and flexibility. Water intake. Water intake. And Water intake.

As a Man and a Nurse, I am in constant contact with men who are in reasonable external physical shape and have poor internal health. Being a Nurse and Paramedic has led me to believe that health maintenance is not promoted heavily enough to men. After all how many guys will admit that they cannot touch their toes or have trouble with their stream? Or how many guys go to the gym every day to keep the Dad bod away only to have poor endurance or limited sexual performance.

Heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, cancer, and now coronavirus increases the chances of early death. There is no choice but to strike back by developing a strategy against those maladies. A strategy that promotes survival and quality of life over external appearances. So, I have personally decided to improve my health maintenance, change my body type, improve my diet, and when I am done, write a book about my new and improved War Body. I would enjoy looking like Ogun the African God of War. But. I'll pass. That's a 24/7 job. Yet, I don’t know how long this process will take. But I am sure that I will get there.

Vale

Ten Rules of Business

2020-06-09T11:05:00.001-05:00

Having run a multimillion-dollar Ambulance service and a practicing serial entrepreneur over the last thirty years. There is a couple of things, I have learned about business and the business environment. I know that you can overthink things. I know that millions will not just magically fall out of the sky. I know that all sizzle and no snack will set you back. And I learned these business concepts and principals over time. I also know that if you want to learn the business you have to have a business. Business is an active verb. Yet, running into people who are often ready to take the plunge and lean towards financial independence. I realize that many people are confused as to what business is, how business works, and what is sheer fuckery.

My Ten Rules

Rule #1 Business is a service. You are serving a need and this need does not need to be invented.

Rule#2 Business is not your face on a business card so your mamma can brag, “Look at my baby,” Customers are bias, judgmental, and skittish as an antelope at a lion party.

Rule#3 Business is fickle and a cruel mistress who will change on you in a heartbeat. Always have backup plans 2-26 to make sure you can stay afloat.

Rule# 4 Business is not your bank account so you can purchase a used premium car, buy high-end clothes, and flex on the gram.

Rule #5 Business has a set of rules and laws that create millionaires over time. Don’t give up if you don’t meet your expectations quickly.

Rule #6 A business plan can be one page long.

Rule #7 Business is started in the smallest of ways. Note: Pablo Escobar started his empire by selling used bicycle parts.

Rule#8 You don’t have the next best thing. Just offer something someone else wants. See rule one

Rule#9 People who are not business-minded will sway you from your business goals.

Rule#10 Educate but don’t hesitate. Learn about your business but learn by doing. That is the way you become successful.

Vale~H~

Covid to Economics

2020-06-06T15:24:00.000-05:00

Let’s recap. The Coronavirus virus showed up in the United States somewhere around early February 2020. However, Nurses were reporting weird multifocal pneumonia early as October and November 2019. I remember my first patient from China with a form of ARDS Advanced Respiratory Distress Syndrome around July 2019.

The World Health Organization stated the entire world is in the grips of a Pandemic March 11th. Causing a cascading effect of countries, states, and cities to slowly lockdown around March 26th. We were asked to quarantine in place, wear a mask, practice social distancing, wash our hands as toilet paper and bleach flew off of the shelves. Businesses shuddered. People lost their jobs. Covid killed unmercifully the young the old, the healthy, and the infirmed. The stock market crumped. Stimulus checks were mailed out. Unemployment soared. Oil was in negative territory. And people began to telecommute.

So, what has changed from that March 11th to this very day?

Nothing. Or as we say in the South, “Not a goddamn thing.”

The virus is still active. And still on a murderous rampage across the world. There still isn’t a vaccine. Doctors are still confused about how to treat Covid patients. Because some patients present with a headache and are Covid positive. And some Covid patients present drowning in their secretions. Covid is so elusive that it is hard to fathom that a healthy adult could sit on the couch have a stroke. Or that a runner with perfect lungs would be placed on a vent. Or some people are completely symptom-free Covid positive and highly infectious.

To me, Covid-19 is a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside of an enigma protected by blockchains designed by Elon Musk himself.

And Yet. Stores are opening. Bars are doing business. People are out and about. And I’m sure if Covid had a voice it would say,

“Y'all gonna learn today.”

I’m sure that economics plays an important role in reopening our economy. And I hope that with the structured reopening to preserve what economic provenance we have left is worth it.

Americans are resilient and have the biggest swagger on the planet. After all, we are Americans. But as Americans we not immune to death and destruction.

I too long to walk through the mall buying yet another pair of cargo pants and a tall coffee from Starbucks. I too want gaze upon the most awesome artwork Baltimore has to offer. I’m excited to see my first Orioles baseball game. I want to go to Torrid and watch my spouse decimate a credit card. But I know what the coronavirus can do each time I wear all the protective gear to take care of a patient. With each ventilator, with each Comfort Flow, and with each time a patient cannot breathe. I resign myself to an Amazon purchase, Hulu, and YouTube. At least this way I know I am doing my part to prevent the spread

Vale

Eight Minutes and Forty-Six Seconds

2020-06-02T10:23:00.001-05:00

There is no right side of the equation with the George Floyd murder. On the left side of the plus sign is a Black man who was ~~subdued~~ murdered on camera for the entire world to see. On the right side of the plus sign is four law enforcement officers who stood by and watched. As if they had done it before.

And the sum equates of those six individuals meeting up on that fateful Monday for eight minutes and forty-six seconds. Would result in riots, shootings, car accidents, looting, and politicians who are mute. Along with Verbose politicians. The alt-right who is inciting violence during some protests. And Trucks that are trying to bogard themselves through a sea of people. People are firing arrows into the protestors. People are firing at the protestors. Gangs protecting their neighborhoods. And a whole lot of fires.

Yet It only took eight minutes and forty-six seconds to ignite a riot in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

And across the new cycles, pundits and cynics alike, there is a sense of Karen-like entitlement that these protestors are thugs, thieves, and malcontents bucking the rule of law. That the riots and protests are just a phase by people wanting new shoes, or televisions, home goods, or just have a thirst for violence. Mind you that a majority of these same protestors were either working, sitting at home, or trying to self-isolate. I’m sure that none of the protestors awoke on May 24 with the intent of marching down their respective streets enraged the following week.

Some move to say George Floyd was a criminal. Be that as it may, even IF he was a criminal, there is a thing called due process afforded to people in police custody. Not death by asphyxiation.

Yet this my America. Because young people are out in the hundreds of thousands, demanding better treatment, better civil liberties, police protection without summary execution or they will burn your shit to the ground.

This is America after all. Land of revolution. Land of freedom of speech and right to protest unjust laws. A land where taking a knee is criticized. A land where marching in peace is ridiculed. A land where a Black Man can’t birdwatch (he's the first birdwatching Black dude I've ever heard of) without 911 being called and his life being placed in potential jeopardy. And the land of Crispus Attucks for without his sacrifice would America even exist? So, as the riots roar on the question remains, “What do they seek from this?” And my answer would be freedom from death by assumption. Death because it is assumed that all Black Men are violent, rage-filled, hyper-sexed, brutes bent on destroying the social fabric of America and need to be put down like animals.

Vale

Smart News

2020-05-22T10:00:00.000-05:00

Every morning, I pull up the Smart News App and scroll from top to bottom and left to right. And even though I can say exactly what the app contains (pure fuckery) yet, I still do it every morning.

This is what I learn every morning.

The news is not my friend. People are stupid. People are getting stupider. Covid 19 is killing people by the minute. Young men and women are fighting over Jordan’s. People are burning down churches. There are random stabbings in the UK. Patients are being beaten up in nursing homes. New York is still in the middle of a pandemic rage. Covid is now raging in Montgomery Alabama and the city is out of ICU beds. Federal politics resemble a Star Wars movie with Darth Vader choking out all those who oppose him. Even the ones on his side. People are ignoring social distancing.

And the sun is losing its spots. Which by far is waaaaay scarier than Covid 19. They are talking about a mini-ice age. Or a planetary cooling. You think we are running low on toilet paper now. Wait until the first snowfall happens in Miami in July. As this cooling could last for fifty years.

I learn all of this before I even step foot out of bed.

And I would like to disconnect from the news. But as my age would have it. Reading the news is a requirement. Right next to the cargo shorts I am wearing and varicose veins. So, I will rant and rage every morning until my memory fades. Or learn how to do crossword puzzles.

Vale~H~

1390

2020-05-21T06:00:00.002-05:00

Having been raised in the Deep South, I have been exposed to almost the same amount of racism as my father, and most likely both grandfathers. Of course, there is a sense of healing that permeates through the beautiful countryside of live Oaks and towering Pine Trees. People of all colors go about their daily lives, speaking to one another, working, and living side by side. And even though, I live there, I understand not just four decades prior that my home was the site of beatings, lynchings, cross burnings, and pain. Lots of pain.

One hundred- and thirty-years prior Slavery existed. People were sold. Families were destroyed. Rights were taken. And fortunes were made off the sweat of a self-replicating workforce.

Yet.

My Deep South reached out as an old man seeking redemption. And as his memory fades. Before he forgets his transgressions, he leans towards amends. There is healing. There is a sense of community. There is a kinship in the food, worship, and football. There is kinship in work, and laughter, love, and even woe.

There are not so good days. There are frankly bad memories that still float around and remind people of color. We are not quite there yet. And I will not repeat Dr. King’s words because his plan succeeded for the basic equality to vote and eat in the same restaurants. To swim in the same pools and breathe the same air. I feel we were left in an economic and cultural spin cycle. But that’s another blog post.

And as that old man settles in for his long nap. The racist dog whistles have emerged being tweeted on every corner. Setting those men and women on edge who are only trying to live.

And the year is 2020.

Scrolling through the comments on Yahoo, I try to get an understanding of what people think. And for the most part, Yahoo commenters have a united sense of justice. They complain about taxes. They respond in angry unison to some child being baked alive in a car. They chide the lunacy of political effects on public health. And then they blame the “1390” for any crime where the person of color is involved.

Wait, I would wonder what is 1390 was until I would see it more and more. And then, it was more like wink, wink nod, nod the "1390."

Initially, I would roll past these comments, and then suddenly I realized “1390” had a sinister texture to it. So, with my Google-fu. And with the thickest of skin found this number was to suggest that African Americans (who make up fifteen percent of the US population) were responsible for ninety percent of the crimes (in the US). I had to bust out laughing. Because that’s “hold my beer math.”

And really who the fu*k came up with that math?

And how bad to is your hate for an entire population of people that you forget that there are over three hundred million people in the United States? And close to forty percent of them are minorities. And if the so-called thirteen percent of the population was doing crime at the ninety percent level. I as an African American Man would have to be doing assaults, robberies, and murders part-time. In addition to my full-time job. Along with my wife, brothers, father, and children. African Americans would be a collective ball of insanity.

That means Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas would have to do his part by driving a getaway car. Along with other African Americans who would have to stop singing, creating vaccines, writing Swift Programs, teaching, and nursing people back to health. Our three- and four-year-olds would do stick-ups and break right before naps and juice time.

Our African American Veterans would have to leave their positions in Iraq and Afghanistan, just to commit property crimes. Even our African Americans who are completely disconnected from their own culture would have to do break-ins.

Those African Americans on vents and in hospice would have to perform credit card scams and assaults after pain management but before the funeral home.

Yet. It has been shown that you cannot fight lunacy with a rational stick.

You have to use a friggen laser cannon.

So, to all of the people scoffing at any crime where the alleged perpetrator is African American and throw out the term “1390” Stop it. If my entire community decided to make this number true. You would not be able to leave the house. It makes you look stupid. And hopefully feel stupid.

“Vale”

As History Would Have it

2020-05-18T06:00:00.002-05:00

People everywhere forget what a pandemic actually can do. Including me. So, I had to do some research and find out what we are currently doing wrong with this pandemic. As a Registered Nurse, I can tell you there is so much misinformation out there. It is hard to believe what is real and what is not. And some of that information comes on the heels of someone who is wildly uneducated and is trying to push a cure for profit.

We know the Coronavirus can be destroyed by bleach on exterior surfaces. Drink that stuff and even the coronavirus itself will have to say,

“WTF are you doing?”

We know that the virus originated in Wuhan China in a wet market. And that the Chinese were not forthcoming about what actually happened. I mean do you blame them. Covid-19 is a highly contagious, super lethal, unknown virus. That is difficult to track, has an unknown transmission (airborne versus contact), and has no known cure or vaccine. And they were trying to control the outbreak before letting the world know. Heck, they built a thousand-bed hospital in ten days.

Hiding information is not a Chinese thing. That’s a human thing. We all try to fix our mistakes before anyone finds out.

Hell, it took the US government almost forty years to apologize for the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

It took the Canadian Government fifty years to apologize for turning away Jewish refugees fleeing from the Holocaust

And it took the Australian Government almost fifty years to apologize for treating the Aboriginals poorly.

So I ventured out to see what I could find,

Step One. Find the pandemic closest and most relevant to me historically.

Step Two. Look at the mistakes that were made

Step Three. Don’t make those mistakes.

Our scientists are being shouted down by people who are more concerned about the economy than human lives. Not accounting for the fact that humans are the economy. People are rushing the beaches and open areas. And trying to return to normal. And believe it or not. This behavior was done before. And it leads to a system-wide clusterofuckero.

History would have it

Philadelphia (one of my favorite cities) open their doors for a World War One parade too early during the Spanish Flu pandemic. And paid dearly with over eleven thousand deaths.

And. . .

St. Louis kept their city shut down during the Spanish Flu hosting no parades and the losses were just over six hundred.

The ends often justify the means. But as history would have it. The information is readily available to read and study. But as history would also have it. No one is reading it.

Vale ~H~

Ten Things to Do PostCo

2020-05-15T06:00:00.001-05:00

@juniormoranfotografia

Personally, my post-Corona list is like six hundred things long. 532 being watching that sunset, naked, drunk, and eating a bacon sandwich. I mean, I could actually do that now. But when I pull out my PostCo dad bod, 532 will be fantastic. You hear me. Fan-damn-tastic. Nonetheless. When the quarantine is lifted, and we can pursue our selfish directions of whatever the fuck we want. I would suggest that we do these ten things.

10. Get a Passport because the travel industry will be wide open. And there will be plenty to do. You know what the inside of your house looks like. Why not find out what someone else’s house looks like.

9. Meet New Friends that want to go an explore elsewhere. That means take a trip on foot. Look at the leaves on a new tree branch. Save a beetle from drowning. Count fat fluffy clouds. As long as it is outdoors.

8. Touch, the coronavirus has limited the human contact that humans need daily. Unless you are in the house with your bae, boo, spouse, or friend. And then you are probably tired of touching them anyway.

7. Listen to the Waves in Peace, right now beaches are in various states of open and close around the country. Because people are sick and tired of being in the house, they will risk their health. Just to go to the beach. Now is not the time. The time is PostCo. Then sit and reflect on how you survived.

6. Work Out. That does not mean go full Conan and get a six-pack and glutes that could crush a doorknob. Celebrate by stretching those muscles. Getting limber. Lowering your resting heart rate. And preparing for number five.

5. Run strengthen your lungs get to see what your body is made of how it responds to exercise and how amazing it will become. This is actually number three on my list.

4. Log out of social media. Who gives a flying fat bat, cause bats are the enemy now, if one of your friends got a new what the fu*k ever and is now balling. So what. Get away from the PostCo baby gender reveals. The engagement snaps. Go find a space in this world where there is time to hear yourself breathe. Away from basic shit like that.

3. New Everything post corona will be a time of rebirth. Whether this comes on the heels of a vaccine or a cure. PostCo will be the time to empty your closet and shop for things that will improve you. Coming from a conservative this sounds incredulous, right? Wrong. I got suits and sports coats already picked out. Immo be fresh as hell if the feds are watching.

2. Build Your Own Business because PostCo will see the business landscape change. There will be money. There will be trillions of dollars to stimulate the American tax base. You can either go back to work. Or put people to work. It’s your choice. However, if you are smart, you will start a business.

1. Throw those damn masks away. I’m burning mine. During PostCo I’m sure they would have figured out how to prevent transmission, prevent infection, and reduce the chances of death. So, the masks won’t be needed anymore. Unless you are working in surgery or in close contact with a patient with a weird respiratory disease. Or the flu.

Vale~H~

30 Day Social Media Blackout

2020-05-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

I have been a tremendous fan of Reddit, Tumblr, sometimes Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram upon my introduction to them.

Here is the problem.

I can’t get shit done for following Reddit, Tumblr, sometimes Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram upon my introduction to them.

Looking back, I did some maths (British slang) and realized that I shelved a majority of my writing, reading, and business anything close to the time when I immersed myself in the Social media stratosphere.

I shelved an entire series of Novellas because of social media.

I feel like a complete idiot.

And. . .

I must read a million posts, reblogged ten thousand posts, liked on Facebook, scrolled past the tweets, Snapped on, and snapped off of the snapchatter. And looked at the DM’s because I cannot slide into them.

And summarily fell deep into the dreaded Social medial hole. Groupthink became the norm for me. Group likes, group dislikes group donations. The entire lot of it.

Taking a break has afforded me boredom, boredom on a level where I have to customize my own web experience. Find my own likes. Find my own interactions and causes to be concerned about. And in the interwebs, this can take a while.

I mean unless you like porn. And holy cow there is a menagerie of porn out there.

I mean really, there is porn for everything you can imagine.

Is porn social media?

I’ll look that up later.

Slipping back into the groove of writing and business I’ll see if I can extend my hiatus of social media. And if not, I will see you in another ten years.

Vale ~H~

Conservative Black Southerner

2020-05-11T06:00:00.003-05:00

It took me a long time to realize that most of the views of the Republican Party, I completely agree with. And I consider myself a Michael Steele Republican. I say this because not all of the Republican views I agree with.

Just as I wholly don’t agree with a majority of the Democratic views.

Politics just like college sports are a big deal down south. But one of the things that I remember the most is that my dad had the most subvert conservative views. He believes in working for your keep. And paying attention to the political system as rule.

I, in turn, believe in not accepting handouts. Fairness in the court system. The promotion of small business. Education as an equalizing factor in the workplace. Voting as a powerful voice among the population. Protecting our environment. Promoting our technological power. And protecting current and past members of our armed forces. Protecting our 2nd Amendment rights. The separation of church and state.

I thought about those values and realized that I was living those ideals every day.

I cannot say I listen to Fox New-ever.

And, I cannot say I am a drone. That means party line until the end of time. I suppose I am that guy that says, “Wait!”

“What about that airshaft that is unprotected on our Death Star?”

To the dismay of the Death Star Commander who is like,

“We’re on a gigantic friggen gun in the middle of friggen space who the fu*k would dare attack us?”

So, I have questions and ideas that would make me a sore spot in the middle of a Republican room.

Questions like:

Why are we making people pay for college?

Or better yet we should only pay for college for people who actually finished college.

Why are we not streamlining our healthcare system?

Or better yet hospital conglomerations should be fined for closing rural hospitals and be given incentives for opening rural hospitals.

Shouldn’t we just bring social issues to a vote? I mean how hard is that?

Didn’t we stomp the Nazi’s already? Why are they very fine people?

And I guess with those questions, I will be placed in the Republican-ish category.

Vale ~H~

Homeless Doesn't Mean Helpless

2020-05-08T07:35:00.001-05:00

Working with the homeless population of people and married to a Case Manager, I believe there is a supreme disconnect to what homeless people actually want and actually have. Not to say that I can speak to homelessness. Simply because I have never been homeless. And because it is one of America’s top twenty shortfalls. With homelessness being number fifteen. I’ll post that list next week. However. What do you say to a person who no bills? Lives unencumbered on the street. Knows where to get a meal, where to take a shower, and has an address to receive benefits? Can sleep in the cool summer night air.

Or reside in a warm shelter or hospital bed in the frigid winter?

Side note: This is not an assault on the homeless.

However, it is a question as to why the hell am I paying for two different residences? Paying taxes. Paying for parking. Paying for health insurance. Paying for the right drive on an interstate. I don’t rightfully understand it. Light bills, water bills, cable bills, internet bills, and the list goes on and on and on.

When in actuality: The homeless are on to something.

Oh, boo hoo, I’m sure if you think this post is snarky as hell? It sure is. Because those people who want off of the streets can do so.

Need to start over and get back on your feet? There’s a program for that.

Need to sober up and get off of your drugs of choice? There’s a program for that too.

We need to have an emergency place to stay with food. There’s a program for that also.

Need to have health benefits, housing placement, clothes, haircuts, transportation, cellular phones? Yes, there are programs for that.

There are so many programs, I could break my whole life down into one large backpack go find a spot under a bypass or a homeless camp and start over.

But many homeless people do not.

And this leads me to believe that there is a certain type of solitude and independence of living the way you want to live. And for some people, this isn’t bad at all. It’s just the homeless lifestyle flies against the morays and folkways of the established community. And it takes a certain type of bravery I do not possess to do such a thing.

Vale ~H~

Pandemic Woes

2020-05-01T08:23:00.000-05:00

HazMat Marine Training

At the start of the Covid 19 pandemic, I have witnessed the insane ignorance in the face of overwhelming evidence. Ignorance even with the evidence you say. How dastardly? Armed protestors are rushing the capital in Michigan for the right to die from coronavirus. People on Instagram are swearing that this virus can be cured with saltwater. Pastors refuse to adhere to the warnings even after their parishioners perish.

There has been the “Man-Made Virus,” crowd, the “If I get it, I get it” crowd, “open my stores back up” crowd, and “the I got to go to church crowd.” “The nothing can stop me” crowd and “I gotta go to the beach” crowd. The "just eat fruits and berries" crowd.

People are drinking bleach and taking fake cures. People are still mingling and mixing instead of paying attention to the mandate of social distance.

Science is finding out that the virus can remain airborne for up to three hours.

False news, fake information, mass graves, refrigerated trucks filled with dead bodies, unrefrigerated trucks filled with dead bodies.

Governor Larry Hogan(R) should run for president. Just sayin.

And all along the Coronavirus has been a silently making a mockery of us all.

Yet with all the wonton ignorance, watching someone die from Coronavirus is horrible. It is probably the worst imaginable death I could ever imagine. Where the patient is drowning the entire time. And I will save the deep details from here. But as this person declines. The sudden realization that I could be next. Because there is nothing that can stop the virus. One slip of my decontamination protocol and I too am dying a lonely death. I too will be placed on oxygen and comfort flow and when that doesn’t work-on to intubation. And for us in healthcare, we harden ourselves to what happens when a patient is intubated.

Vale ~H~

The Renewal

2020-04-25T14:11:00.000-05:00

Renewing this blog after eleven years gives me much trepidation. First, my views have changed a lot since the Apocalypse Papers were first started. Second, my life has changed dramatically. And lastly the world is in a weary state the likes only the earliest generations have ever seen.

Yet, I will save the doom and gloom for other bloggers.

And stick to the point. We are in the midst of a pandemic. A pandemic that is growing more and more fierce by the moment. There is no vaccine. There is no cure. There isn’t a treatment. But what exists is pure and unadulterated ignorance enhanced by personal freedoms.

Personal freedoms that look like this. People standing on street corners huddled together in speech.People who casually stroll with their faces uncovered as if nothing was happening. People who are laughing and staring and not paying attention to the fact that just three hours north, they are filling mass graves on Hart Island with Coronavirus victims.

As I drove through downtown Baltimore (that changed also), I realized that the people who this virus will most affect. The poor communities. Are not getting the memo. That the virus is an agent of death. That nothing will stop if it decides to infect you, give you pneumonia, make you septic and then kill you dead as disco.

Your momma can’t stop it. Bleach won’t stop it. Hot baths won’t stop it. The only thing that slows the transmission is to be at a minimum six feet apart. And cover your mouth. Why.

Because the virus can float on air.

Sounds primitive. Buts that’s all we got until there is a vaccine. And then a cure.

Feels good to be back

Vale

Ten Marriage Codes of Conduct: Repost

2009-08-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

I feel that marriage is an antiquated institution that has lost all meaning to our society. Being married used to be the first step after maturing as an adult and the step next to death. But in my opinion it has become the bus stop of frequent travelers. The pomp and circumstance of being a Bride has overtaken the true essence of becoming a Wife. JUST as being a Groom has overtaken the true essence of being a Husband. And in my very humble opinion there should be a handbook, short course, test and lab before a marriage certificate is issued. This thought process may come as comedy to some and scathing cynicism to others but I don’t care.

If you look at the wedding announcements in any U.S newspaper you will see lots of photos of the smiling faces of Brides, amidst the gentle grimaces of the Grooms. This highly pretentious announcement should come with a score in the upper right hand corner of their photo. This score should dictate their direct understanding and passing of the Marriage Codes of Conduct. If it is a low score the guest should give only congratulatory cards with five dollar gift certificates. If it is a high score the guest should give to their hearts delight. If you are laughing, laugh at this…how many weddings have you attended where the marriage didn’t last as long as the flavor in a piece of Peppermint Gum? Seriously.

Having personally survived a divorce I went on a quest to understand what it took to make a marriage last. While transporting and interacting with literally hundreds of elderly couples I asked numerous questions. I wanted to see where I went wrong.Yes, I was wrong...some of the time.Some of their responses were prophetic and some of them were pathetic but the fact remained they were in relationships of longevity. The elder couples had almost an identical core of ethics that keep them together. I prefer to call them the Marriage Codes of Conduct. Ten of them are listed below:

10. Don’t mess with the money. I was told that addicts of any kind, gambling, fishing, hunting, whoring, will obliterate a marriage.

9. There is no such thing as, “Yours and Mine” there is only, “Ours.” One elderly woman said she was going to flatten her husband’s tires after his long night out with the boys, only to realize SHE would have to pay for them.

8. Think like a couple. I was told that newly married people mistakenly think in the plural instead of the singular.

7. You cannot blame 100 percent of a marriage’s mistakes on 50 percent of the relationship. Period.

6. Single friends give bad advice. They'er single for a reason.

5. Divorced friends give even worse advice. They're divorced for a reason.

4. Ex-wives, ex-husbands, ex-girlfriends, ex-boyfriends, should under no circumstance provide: a soft shoulder, a listening ear, a word of wisdom, a place to visit or a nod of approval. They're EX's for a reason.

3. Marriages make children, children do not make marriages.

2. Love is one of the jewels of the relationship, not the ring. This surprised the complete hell out of me when a Wife of 40 years said, “There were years I didn’t love my husband.”

1.Trust is essential, respect is essential but responsibility to one another is of utmost importance.

In many of my conversations I found out that the older couples wanted their marriage to last. I found out that most of the couples felt if your potential spouse was horrible before the wedding they will be horrible later with a legally binding agreement. In my efforts I found out that the key to an extended marriage is the direct result of knowing WHO you are going to marry an accepting him or her and NOT hoping that through marriage they will change.

~Vale~

Bush Who?

2009-02-03T07:00:00.001-06:00

Eight years of Republican leadership has driven the good ole US of A into the poor house. And now the Republicans, led by Rush Limbaugh, think by sitting on their hands and wishing gloom and doom to President Obama the economy will turn around, the real estate bubble will re-inflate and Reese’s Peanut Butter cups will return to their original size. The Republicans are wishing for more tax cuts for small businesses but if there is no bailout there will be no small business. What really is the Republican thought process?

I understand the term fiscal responsibility. But there is the question of an initial 350 billion dollars of taxpayer money that has bailed out struggling banks. Some of which are have thrown ten million dollar Super Bowl parties and were trying to purchase forty-five million dollar jets. What gives? Who was watching the helm with the TARP loan was thought of…oh wait, it was REPUBLICANS. Yep, point proven. But alas, they know best. But because of a numerical advantage the Republicans are powerless to stop the Democratic steamroller. As they should be until our country can be straightened out, people put back to work, families allowed to remain in their homes and a solution is found to reduce global warming.

~Vale~

819 Billion Dollar Bailout

2009-01-29T08:43:00.005-06:00

As a working (thank God) Paramedic I cannot understand why Republicans are having a complete hissy fit over the 819 Billion Dollar Bailout.The only thing I have heard thus far is why the Republicans oppose not what they would do to solve our financial mess. Oh yes,wait, the Republican plan: business tax cuts, no abortions and guns and God in public classrooms. Yada, yada, yada, we have heard it all before.But what if there are no businesses, no clinics to get abortions or rudimentary health care or no pawns shops because they have all shut their doors.

My America is in a crisis. I have no clue what America the Republicans are living in. My America is watching Moms and Dads loose their jobs every minute as business that were solid as a rock suddenly collapse. In what America do these Republicans reside? Oh yes, the America where homes are being foreclosed on and it is the homeowner to blame. The America where it is okay to be out of a job but not okay to take unemployment, food stamps, Medicaid or housing assistance.

Well...as an Independent, Small Business Owner and provider for my family I think those Republicans are completely retarded. It stirs me to my very soul to hear that some fellow citizens are committing suicide, killing their children, going into deep depression or becoming homeless because they cannot find a job. The same citizens who wouldn't ask for a handout, generally vote Republican, and wants a chance to pay a bill any bill. The same citizens who will now vote Democrat than to starve like a homeless dog. I feel that those dissenting Republicans are comfortable as they occupy the responsible spending "high ground" when it was on their watch we got into this mess in the first place.

~Vale~

The Easter Bunny Hates You

2009-01-20T08:00:00.000-06:00

Wow! Two hilarious videos in the span of one week. Who knew? Enjoy.

~Vale~

Twenty Things That Don’t Make Sense!

2009-01-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

Warning, the link in this title has graphic pictures, click at your own risk.

Alex~D~

1.Over-the-top press about Caylee Anthony’s disappearance/murder but nothing about the rest of the children who became missing and/or were murdered around the same time.

2.The price of a barrel of oil sliding but the price of a gallon of gas increasing! WTF!

3.The rush to purchace firearms because of a new Democratic Government however you still have to register the same weapon you just purchased so the same Democratic Government knows where the weapons were sold. Retards.

4.Bernie Madoff and his house arrest.

5.American Idol...why, somebody please do something with this show.

6.Kellogg’s salmonella infused peanut butter. Somewhere Tony the Tiger is smoking a fatty and trying to figure this one out.

7.America’s Best Dance Crew. Like we have nothing better to do but watch children dance.

8.A child named Adolf Hitler. Parents clueless as to why Adolf was removed from their home along with Joyce Lynn Aryan Nation Campbell

9.Pencil Leg Jeans. Yuck!

10.Israel bombing the shit out of Gaza.

11.Israel’s cease-fire

12.Hamas telling Israel to eat a dirty Yarmulke as they continue firing homemade rockets.

13.Amy Winehouse, Amy Winehouse, Amy Winehouse!

14.North Korea threatening South Korea…again.

15.The Hi Phone

16.Falling out of your boat in a Piranha infested lake.

17.Russia turning off gas flow in the middle of winter.

18.Citi-Group falling from grace…twice

19.Refinancing your mortgage or even sending a payment when the company holding the lien…closes.

20.Sociopathic Paramedics.

~Vale~

Flight of the Conchords

2009-01-18T16:39:00.002-06:00

Yes, this video is silly as hell...but I like it anyway.

~Vale~

If I could have…

2009-01-06T16:50:00.003-06:00

…one superpower it would be able to telekinetically induce explosive diarrhea to those in my mental range and through the television to those on the other side. And boy would that power be grand. Some guys want flight, steel bending biceps, x-ray vision, not me. I want something that strikes the fear in all of us…losing bowel control without warning. This ~~could~~ would be a very effective weapon, like the power of drinking liquefied rotten chicken and Ipecac mixed times 100; I wouldn’t charge people anything for me to use it either (for those that knew).

Drug dealers on your corner….whirl, whirl, whirl, cha, cha, cha, splat!

They would clear out in a moments notice. Every time they returned wouldn’t you know, the shitty sagging pants hath returned.

Some reporter on CNN bucking for the next primetime spot and you know they are just eye candy…whirl, whirl, whirl, cha, cha, cha, splat! CNN would have to clear the studio from the smell alone.

And my favorite getting pulled over by an overzealous police officer, whirl, whirl, whirl, cha, cha, cha, splat!! No ticket. As they tip-toe back to their cruiser butt cheeks clenched tight to reduce leakage.

I would be a sort of colon cleansing Robin Hood; someone takes your investment and fumbles the portfolio like Madoff…whirl, whirl, whirl, cha, cha, cha, splat! Until 50 billion dollars magically returns or he loses 51 pounds, whichever comes first. Someone wont give you a refund not a problem, where and how much? And I would take care of the rest. Oh, if only.

~Vale~