Monday, July 06, 2020
Sign of the Times
Monday, June 29, 2020
Resurgence of Covid
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~
Saturday, June 27, 2020
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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Saturday, June 20, 2020
Spies in Mississippi
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
Monday, June 15, 2020
Privilege Immunity
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
Friday, June 12, 2020
War Body
Ogun African God of War |
Tuesday, June 09, 2020
Ten Rules of Business
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~
Saturday, June 06, 2020
Covid to Economics
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
Tuesday, June 02, 2020
Eight Minutes and Forty-Six Seconds
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
Friday, May 22, 2020
Smart News
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~
Thursday, May 21, 2020
1390
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”
Monday, May 18, 2020
As History Would Have it
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~
Friday, May 15, 2020
Ten Things to Do PostCo
@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~