Sign of the Times

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

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

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~

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