The Road To Dystopia

It was a Sunday, late afternoon.  I'd gotten off work and was invited to a nearby bar where a collection of fellow employees were gathering to watch a WWE (then WWF) Pay-Per-View.  I don't recall many, if any of the matches on the card as only one epic match comes to mind and it was SO over the top, literally, that it shadowed everything else.  I've heard in interviews by the participants of the match that followed, Stone Cold Steve Austin versus The Big Red Machine, Kane, that when they saw the preceding match, they all but gave up on trying to make their match memorable.  The match I speak of is none other than Mankind (Mick Foley) versus The Undertaker in a Hell In A Cell match and if you know your history, you know exactly the match I'm referring to.

While exchanging blows atop of the steel cage, at what seemed like a spur of the moment decision, Undertaker grabs a hold of Foley and tosses him off the top of the cage.  To say this was the defining moment of the match is difficult to say as what would follow was equally as devastating and exhilarating to watch all at the same time.  It's a story that's been told a million times, at great length and detail by both participants so I'm not going to bother.  Google it.  It's quite a spectacle.

The reason I mention this moment in sports history, is that I wasn't present to witness this as it unfolded.  I've only watched this in replays for my entire existence, just as you are seeing it happen in the GIF to my right.  For as I had stated, we were in a bar and we had all ordered food and just as I was paying the waitress who happened to be standing between myself and the video screen so my only reference to the moment itself is the whole crowd roaring in disbelief.  It was truly a historical moment that I will never get to reflect on.

I am proud to say that I was present and accounted for, both in body and mind, to witness the Birth of Austin 3:16.  It was the 1996 King of the Ring Tournament, back when it meant something.  Now, I can't recall all the details, they are somewhat fuzzy, but the Coles Notes version is Stone Cold Steve Austin had gone to the hospital for an injury sustained earlier in the day, but when he returned he was told about an interview that Jake The Snake Roberts had given earlier aimed at his pending match with Austin.  Roberts, who at the time was a recovering addict in a 12-Step program was adding proverbs and alike to his speeches and this further aggravated a powder keg of a human being and long story short, Stone Cold stomped the hell outta the man.  In the interview that followed with former Freebird, Michael Hayes, Austin began chastising Roberts, "You talk about your Psalms and your John 3:16.  Well AUSTIN 3:16 says I just whooped your ass!"

You always hear people retell of what they were doing or where they were when historical moments go down.  I remember being a kid in school hearing about the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.  I recall coming home from a music festival to learn that Princess Diana had died in a tragic motor vehicle collision.  I remember vividly what was happening when I heard that Andre The Giant had died and I remember being parked on the side of the road, my eyes fixed on the radio as the commentator reported that the first Tower had collapsed in New York City on September 11th, 2001.  So when the opportunity came for me, a Canadian, to sit down and watch the Presidential Inauguration in 2021, I made it a point to watch as it was HISTORY happening in REAL TIME.

The Inauguration, to me, was monumental.  The United States and, let's be frank, the entire world was affected by the Donald Trump "presidency" and not in a positive way.  They were dark times, I feel.  Especially, considering the handling of the pandemic, but I'm not here to complain about the obvious, but when the Democratic Party thwarted the intentions of the Dark Republic, there was an air of hope.  That the storm had passed and better days lay ahead.

This was not the sole reason for my tuning in.  No.  This was a historic moment.  America was getting their first female Vice President.  An honourable woman of stature, grace, intelligence and compassion.  I felt America had gotten it right, for a change and as she raised her hand to accept the Presidential Oath of Office, I had tears streaming down my face.  Tears of joy and pride.  Thoughts that maybe things would be okay and in the months and years that followed, things did get better.  Things did seem okay, even with the darkness on the horizon, we as a world collective felt the dark times were behind us all. That the four year hiatus between 2017 and 2020 was nothing more than a tarnished memory and an asterisk in the history books.

Knowing not to count my chickens before they hatch I didn't believe the 2024 election would turn out the way it did.  The Blue Wave seemed real.  The voices were being heard and hope was on the horizon.  I knew that Kamala Harris had a fight ahead of her and who knows, maybe if she'd had the two or more years to campaign like her opponent, she would have faired better.  While I was preparing to celebrate, I was dumbfounded by the overwhelming outcome which was....  Words cannot describe the level of frustration and confusion that I possess.  I know common sense hasn't really existed for quite some time, but holy fuck.

Think about this:  A convicted criminal is not allowed to vote in any election, yet a convicted criminal has been elected as the 47th President of the United States of America.  What the fuck is wrong with the logic of these voters.  And it's only now that the truth behind the rhetoric that Trump and his MAGA maniacs were spouting IS confirmed.  All the "lies" that they denied are now being confirmed by those same people and the voters are realizing this now, 48 and 72 hours later, they wish they'd checked the other box.  Sorry, there are no mulligans here.  I genuinely feel bad for those who voted for Harriz/Walz and lost, but I hold them as equally responsible because they could have done more to educate those who were clueless.

Following his victory in 2016, I began to reference the Mad Max movie series.  I remember watching these films as a kid and wondering: What must have happened in the world to scorch the earth like this.  Then the Trump/Pence regime began and it began to become clear as to what sort of governmental management would cause a violent dystopia like that depicted in these films.  I hope and pray that it doesn't get this bad, but when you consider the stance and campaign promises that Trump and Vance has made for the future of the United States of America, a violent society isn't that far from belief.

I am not a religious person by any means, but I may reconsider that belief in the coming years.  I am literally sick to my stomach and fearful.  That's not a healthy way to live.  As a Canadian, especially one whose country at the moment is at a crossroads itself with less than honourable representation in Ottawa, I fear for the future of Canada and if truth be known, I would not put it past Trump to turn and take inspiration from his buddy Vladimir Putin and invade Canada for our resources.  Oil, Water, Potash and Maple Syrup.  The last was meant as a joke, but given how much of the golden syrup is supplied to the world, I would not be surprised if that Tangerine Tyrant would, in fact, invade Canada.

I'm going to close my eyes, clasp my hands and praise the positive.  It's just about the only hope I have left.

The Sh*t Just Doesn't Make Scents

 

The dictionary defines perfume as: A fragrant liquid typically made from essential oils extracted from flowers and spice, used to impart a pleasant smell to one's body or clothing.  I define perfume as: A method for desperate people to draw attention to themselves, regardless of how it affects those around them.

I, like so many others, are allergic to said perfumes.  Some worse off than others.  Using myself as an example, I used to only get a little congested.  Experience some difficulty in breathing, but how it [perfume] has affected me in the last couple of years, is actually quite frightening, sometimes.  I would estimate that about 90% of my encounters in recent years has affected me in such a negative manner.  I experience pains in my chest when I try to breathe.  Shallow breaths is all I can muster in many encounters, not to mention the excruciating migraine that sets in.  Just a few weeks ago, when we were experiencing above normal temperatures and people were dressing down, I began to sense the a new brash of people wearing the offending odours that they find so "pretty".  It took me out of a day and a half of work while I was trying to rid myself of the headache.

The perfume industry generates an ungodly amount of revenue and shows no signs of receding.  Just short of $46 Billion dollars in 2022, followed by a slight climb to just over $48 Billion by the close of 2023.  Projections propose a global revenue of over $69 Billion by the close of this decade (2030).

Though the word perfume is defined as the extraction of scents from one source to create another, the word itself has evolved into the description of the smelly scents worn exclusively by women, while the term cologne has been imparted to the fragrances worn by men.  The actual terminology, as described on Wikipedia, is 'eau de parfum' for the ladies and 'eau de toilet' (instead of 'eau de cologne') for men.

In the beginning it was just extracts from flowers, spices and solvents to achieve the desired fragrances that would eventually be sold to the public.  In the decades and centuries since those albeit primitive practices were used, the process has gotten much more complicated and if I were to speculate, much deadlier, as where oils and extracts were diluted with much simpler ingredients, today's manufacturers are using a laundry list of chemicals which may be a contributor toward why so many are affected negatively.

"Just a dab will do" is the practice.  While I am quite allergic to perfumes, I never had a bad reaction to cologne and would wear it on occasion, myself.  I have a nice respectable collection of pleasing smells to which I can apply to myself.  However, in recent years, as my allergy to perfumes has worsened, so too, has my reaction to the colognes worn by men.  The only difference being that men tend to understand how much a "dab" is, while some women seem to shower themselves in the potent perfumes.  I tend not to wear anything more than the deodorant I spray on in the morning.

My opinions on the subject are jaded, I will admit, because of my negative health reactions to the dope, but I believe that when people douse themselves with the fragrances, it's just a cry for attention, whether they do it on purpose or subliminally, they just want the attention of people approaching them to ask "What's that lovely smell you're wearing?"  I think it's just pathetic.

"My mom wears perfume." a friend told me, when we were discussing my negative reaction to perfume and I get that.  We all want to look and feel our best when we go out into the world, but how much attention do we want to attract?  The world is already full of predators looking for any excuse to pounce on someone, why add to the danger?

My mom and sister traveled to Las Vegas many years ago.  Sigfried and Roy were still performing and the public could take a tour to see all the beautiful white tigers and lions that the duo used in their show.  My sister told me that the tigers seemed agitated when she and my mom came around.  I asked if she was wearing any perfume at the time, to which she replied yes.  It was the perfume that caught the attention of these stoic creatures and if there wasn't a thick set of bars separating the two, I'm sure the news articles would have read that one of Sigfried and Roy's tigers attacked a tourist rather than Roy, himself.

I don't know where I'm going with this and I apologize.  I wanted to write a puff piece ridiculing the idiots who continue to splash this shit all over themselves, but as I read through some of this "research" on the subject, I'm coming to believe that it's more of a global brainwashing scheme.  As stated previously, by the end of this decade, the fragrance industry stands to gain nearly seventy billion dollars in revenue.  

That's a staggering amount and the advertising all seem to have the same theme.  "Not feeling pretty enough?  Wear some of this fragrance and you'll be as popular and beautiful as this stunning actress or supermodel."  What woman isn't going to want to feel beautiful and attractive to those around her?  "Not popular with the ladies, guys?  Where this cologne and you'll be a handsome rock star/celebrity like Johnny Depp."

I shudder to speculate how my future is going to pan out if everyone keeps buying and wearing this shit.  The chemicals are getting stronger.  The concoctions, themselves, are getting more complicated and every encounter gets scarier and more scarier for myself and those affected around me.

Every door entering a public space or doctor's office or just about everywhere, my bus included, has a placard reading something to the effect that it's a Fragrance Free Zone and that perfume/cologne cannot be worn inside.  As far as I know, that rule is enforced everywhere except on the bus. So regardless of people's safety, idiots wearing fragrances can come aboard and risk everyone's safety.  There was a day, last summer, where the smell was SO strong that I had to pull over and exit the bus for about ten minutes.  I managed to narrow down the culprit who was quite apologetic for causing the situation we were in and the distress that I was feeling at the time.  However, I doubt she ever considered anyone else's well-being after that.  I find most young folks, from teens to their twenties, to be selfish and arrogant.  I get that.  I'm that way, too, to a degree, but I possess just enough compassion to consider those around me.

It's 2024 and theoretically, either the aliens will reveal themselves to Earth and we'll have a whole new set of problems to deal with or Donald Trump will be re-elected and the whole world will have a whole new set of problems to deal with.  Whatever happens, it's not going to be pleasant, whatever it is, but we'll all smell like roses. 🌹
 

Journey Into the Bizarre

It was vividly real.  He was standing just a mere couple of feet away from me, sputtering his illogical rhetoric, pausing only long enough to take a breath. That's when I got a word in edge wise.

His pompous ego has never allowed him to accept any kind of advice from anyone, though in the past, he's always claimed to have the bestest and the bigliest people on hand to provide him with the greatest guidance.  Today, we all know this to be bullshit, as well.

This, however, was a dream.  I know it was a dream, because for one, I awoke from this bizarre scenario about ten minutes ago, but the situation that took place, as I've stated, seemed so vividly real.  A second clue would be how strange the event, if you can describe it as such, was.  It involved mowing a lawn.  Personally, I don't care to mow my lawn, but do so out of necessity.  I'm allergic to grass, so each endeavour is met with a lot of sneezing, wheezing and hacking.  In the dream, none of this was happening.  Third clue, was that the "Tangerine Tyrant", himself, was mowing his own lawn and mine, as well, as a courtesy.  Of what I know, common courtesy is not a trait that this individual possesses.  Nonetheless, there he was.  Wearing his trademark dark suit and overly long red tie, pushing a small lawn mower across a field of matted gold-coloured grass, leaving a swath barely touched behind him.  On this day, I met the acting "president" of the United States, Mr. Donald John Trump.

The lawn was thick and matted, gold in colour, rather than a lush green like most well-kept lawns are known to be.  It was a terrible mess, the underbrush pulling it close to the earth, not allowing the decrepit mechanical device that Trump was attempting to use, to cut it.  The trail of which his machine left behind, was barely noticeable, but the look of accomplishment on his face was second to none.

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, the billionaire began his legacy with a mere $14 million dollar loan from his father, Frederick Trump. (On a side note, I just learned this... Fred Trump's middle name was Christ.  How f*cking pompous is that?  Oh the ego that f*cker must have had.)  However, being spoiled and rich his whole life, I doubt Donald J. Trump has ever known an honest day's work in his entire life. Chalk that up as another hint that this was a bizarre dream concocted in my own head.

The lawn, as described, was golden yellow in colour.  It was thick and seemed to be growing back on itself.  It was reminiscent of Donald's hair.  Well coiffed, but wild in it's nature.  The mower that Trump was sweating over, was a standard manual push reel mower that was barely making a dent. His efforts rivaling the ineffectual nature of his presidency.  To my left, I had a newer gas mower, primed and running, but I could still overhear Trump's vexing exasperating grunts in the distance as he disappeared around a small building.  I took it upon myself to tackle the lawn with my modernized machine, successfully removing several inches of tangled lawn, in the process.

Hearing the roar of my gas-powered lawn mower as it cut a deep trench through the patch that he'd already "mowed", Mr. Trump came storming around the corner.  No one has seen him move with such urgency since he was going for a second piece of chocolate cake at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.  Apparently the chocolaty treat is quite rich and delicious. (Much like Trump fancies himself.*)

The man was quite adamant, viciously attacking me, arguing that his method was the correct way to tackle the situation, despite the side-by-side comparison existing before us.  It was only when he paused to inhale, powering up for another relentless barrage of insults to fling at me, that I was able to explain that the RPMs on the gas mower, far exceeded that of the manual reel mower that he was struggling with.

I explained to the huffing and puffing Donald Trump how Revolutions Per Minute working in conjunction with mowing a lawn.  Wiping the white spittle that had formed in the corner of his mouth, Trump paused to learn a lesson in basic physics, learning that the over 3000-plus rpm's of my machine far exceeded the maybe 800 to 1000 rpm's that he was fighting to get out of his dulled archaic gadget.

As the realization warmed over his face, the mad man began to smile, as if he'd just discovered the wheel.  Now he was boasting to a small crowd that was forming, how he'd discovered this new futuristic implement that can be used to mow one's lawn.

Yeah.  That sounds like a real Trump-ism. Take credit for shit that already exists.  On that note, Trump flung his old reel mower, like a three year old having a tantrum, and walked off, leaving me alone in a field of yellowed grass.  Thank goodness, this is when I woke up, because as I said in the third paragraph, I hate mowing the lawn.  Even if it's in a dream.

.

*Trump fancies himself to be like his favourite pastries. Rich and delicious.
Why else would he turn himself into a human-sized marshmallow? 😆

6.8 Million Reasons

The other day I was flipping through my Twitter feed.  It's a practice I do to pass the time, especially when I'm at work, killing time on my breaks.  Everyone who works there keeps the television channels tuned into either sports or news.  I haven't any interest in sports highlights, and even though the news can be interesting and even inspiring for this blog, a fifteen minute news cycle gets a bit tedious at best.  So I was flipping through Twitter when I happened across a posting from @TMZ, who was reporting on the latest Johnny Depp / Amber Heard divorce news.  It was stated that Amber was set to receive six point eight MILLION dollars from her divorce to Johnny Depp.  I found this number to be outrageous, considering the duo had only been married for a couple of months.

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to comment on the situation and set forth to tapping away on my smartphone, like an angry Donald Trump taking a late night dump.  "$6.8M?? Weren't they only married for like a month or something? I'm not gay, but I'd marry $6.8M payday.  Even half that...😕"

It was a comment that came quick and straight off the cuff, but in retrospect, I probably would.  I'm really not gay at all and even if I was, I'd never go for someone like Johnny Depp.  He's greasy and gross.  However, that withstanding, I've also uttered the words; "You'd be amazed at what kind of bullshit I could put up with if I was getting a good payday out of it."  Granted, those words were spoken in reference to an actual paying job and not marrying me a sugar daddy.

The more I thought about the process, the more appalled I made myself.  I'm sure for a $6.8M payout, there'd be certain, duties that would have to be performed, none of which I'd be too enthused about, but when you compare them to $6.8M, suddenly the shock wears off a little.

The thought sickens me as I type these words, but a marriage has to be consummated in order to be legally binding.  I'd have to get blinding drunk and/or high to block out every ugly sin that would commence on the wedding night and with fingers crossed, we'd never have to revisit that horrifying experience, again.

People would talk, because that's human nature.  TMZ would be all over that shit and when asked to comment, I'd merely smile and utter $6.8M, bitches!  I don't think there's a man alive who wouldn't take a moment to reconsider life choices, for a $6.8M payout.

"Rumour is..., ya had to f*ck a dude..." some random guy would comment.

"Yes, but it was Johnny Depp."

Just about anyone would hum and haw at that and likely slough it off.  "He's greasy, but he's a hell of an actor."

It turns out that Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were married for more than just a couple of months.  It was a little over a year.  That's a few more ass poundings than I'd be willing to go through, but like I said, I'd be willing to get married for half of the $6.8M payout...

Apparently, she claims she'll be donating the monies accrued to charity.  Full disclosure.  I wouldn't.  Marry a dude for a year and give all the money away?  F*ck that.

Stay Strong, Lafayette

It's Thursday night.  It's summer.  It's too hot to stay inside and watch television.  Besides, there's nothing but reruns on, anyway.  Outside, it's too humid to tackle yardwork or go for a walk in the park.  Maybe hitting up a popular movie is the ticket.  A valid excuse to get out and socialize with friends and share a laugh or two.

You fight traffic, then struggle to find parking near the theater.  Pay for a ticket, buy popcorn and a soda, before settling in to watch the previews.  Your only concern is that no one taller than you sits in the seat in front of you and that no one plays with their phone during the movie.

It was a little over three years ago that there was a violent incident at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.  It was a midnight showing of the last Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, so when a man appeared in the darkness dressed in tactical clothing, patrons thought it was a part of the show.  A special added treat to the movie's premiere.  Delight was quickly replaced by panic when the assailant opened fire on the crowd.  In the aftermath, twelve were dead and seventy more were injured.  The gunman was picked up outside the theater by police.  Subsequently, this past week, on July 20th, 2015, he was found guilty of twenty-four (24) counts of first-degree murder and one-hundred-forty  (140) counts of attempted first-degree murder.  Sentencing at the time of this composition has yet to be announced.  I believe Colorado has the Death Penalty and it'd do everyone involved a favour if the guilty party is promptly executed.  That's my opinion, anyway.

Three years has passed and I guess, we as a whole have become relaxed and complacent, once more.  Relaxing in our belief that the incident in Aurora three years ago, was a fluke.  A single event that wouldn't or couldn't be repeated.  Sadly, this is not the case.  Just as we once believed the Colombine High School shooting to be a one-time incident, we've sadly had many more in the fifteen-plus years since.  It is with great disappointment and sadness that I discovered that once again, a gunman has entered a movie theater and taken it upon himself to play God.

This time it is a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana.  Twenty minutes into "Trainwreck", the new Judd Apatow comedy starring Amy Schumer, a lone gunman began shooting into the crowd.  It's reported that of the one hundred plus people in the theater, three have died, including the gunman from a self inflicted gun shot, and seven more injured.  Thankfully, the number of dead and wounded isn't comparable to the tragedy in Colorado, but even if there is one person is injured, that's one too many.

The fact that this asshole, a 58 year old man, according to news reports, killed himself, begs the question, why did he not just kill himself without killing others?  Of all the reasons to desire historical recognition, it'll never make sense to me why these insane people need to do so with such havoc.  Survivors of the tragedy in Lafayette, as well as those in Aurora, Colorado, are affected, too.  While they don't have an imperfection blemish on their skin, the emotional baggage that is associated with an event like this, is equally burdening.  Survivor's guilt.

Very little has been shared with the media regarding the gunman in tonight's shooting.  Authorities say that he did have some criminal history, but the incidents were from some time ago.  Whether he was convicted of a violent crime yesterday or forty years ago, the fact that he had a criminal record at all, should have predicated that he not be in possession of a firearm ever again.

With the Presidential race beginning to pick up speed, the subject that should be at the forefront of everyone's platform is Gun Control.  It's heinous and offensive how many violent acts occur on a daily basis in the U.S., involving firearms.  People shooting people over $20 or the colour of their shirt or the colour of their skin.  It's insanity.  We have the audacity to claim ourselves to be civil, yet act so barbaric.  It leaves me scratching my head.

Even here at home, in Canada, where we do have gun control, there's still an uprising in gun-related crime.  While my hometown, Saskatoon (Saskatchewan), has never been free of crime, I have noticed a scary increase in gun-related crimes.  It's making me more and more fearful to leave the house to go to the corner store.  That being said, it's not as bad as the epidemic that plagues the United States.  Gun Control works.  Trust me.  You just need to go at it in an intelligent manner.

The second amendment of the United States Constitution protects the rights of all Americans to keep and bear arms.  This amendment was adopted on December 15th, 1791, two-hundred and twenty-four years ago, when the average man possessed a single shot musket that required to be loaded one lead ball at a time.  I'm sure that if the founding father's had possessed the forethought of there ever being guns like the AR-15 or AK-47 or even the Tec 9, just to name a few, I'm sure they would have erased that amendment or at least worded it differently.

Donald Trump has been in the news a lot, lately, mostly due to his negative and borderline insane comments in his bid for the Presidential nomination.  The man is clearly nuts, but deep down, I believe he's equally as intelligent.  You can't become a billionaire by being a complete idiot.  Idiocy usually tends to come after the fact.  That withstanding, I'd be interested in what he has to say about the necessity for Gun Control.  He doesn't strike me as the type to be afraid of anyone, even the NRA.

In the aftermath of the movie theater shooting, Train Wreck star, Amy Schumer sent a comforting message via Twitter: My heart is broken and all my thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Louisiana. The world shares that sentiment, sending positive thoughts to all those affected by this tragedy, tonight.

The Zombie Apocalypse

A short while ago, I watched a "science" show on a zombie-like virus that would eventually infect the entire world.  The show was on a science channel and spoke mostly of "what ifs", but much of the speculation was based in actual science.  The premise, essentially, began with a breaching whale, of all things, that lands atop a small sailing vessel.  The survivors are beaten up pretty bad, but are rushed to a nearby hospital.  Unfortunately, their injuries are far too severe and they succumb soon after arriving.  Unbeknownst to medical staff, however, is the unseen virus that exists.  Acquired from the whale that struck their boat, the two victims of this maritime tragedy are also infected with the rabies virus.  Even though they are deceased, medical staff contract the deadly virus and soon begin showing symptoms.  At this point of the science program, the pandemic really begins to snowball.  Eventually, the world is over run and humanity, as we know it today, is lost to the annals of time.  The program was a thing of pure fiction.  A form of accepted adult entertainment, but real enough to leave a grain of sand in the back of your mind, just large enough to make you think.., "What if?"  

Fast-forward to today, where there's word of a major viral outbreak in West Africa.  Formerly known as 'Zaire ebolavirus', it's now known simply as the Ebola Virus.  (Zaire was dropped, I suspect, because the stigma of a deadly virus really hurt the tourism of Zaire.)  Without getting into the thick of it, the virus, in it's simplest of terms is: It begins with an onset of influenza-like stage which includes symptoms like chills, sore throat, headaches and pain in the joints, muscles and chest.  The central nervous system is majorly disrupted with the development of confusion, seizures and sometimes even coma.  And that's the mild part.  Eventually, lesions form on the skin, followed by major bruising and eventually hemorrhaging.  The actuality of the disease is much more in depth than this, obviously.  Suffice it to say, it's not a cool way to be taken out in this world.  Having a vending machine fall on you after it steals your quarter.  Now THAT is a way to die, my friend.  Currently, according to Wikipedia (where I obtained this delightful description) says that there is no known cure for this affliction.

So I'm laying in bed this morning, sleeping very lightly with the TV on in the background.  I have it set to a news channel and I repeatedly hear a story about two aid workers in West Africa who contracted the deadly disease and are now in peril.  They've been quarantined in Africa, but are now being sent back to America for treatment.  According to the news story, the Ebola virus has never existed in the western hemisphere, but soon it will.  The patients are being flown, one-by-one, under triple layered protection, to somewhere around Atlanta, Georgia. (This is the same area where "The Walking Dead" takes place.  Coincidence?) (Yes, actually.)  Each patient will be on a gurney surrounded by a protective plastic tent, which will exist inside another protective plastic tent.  Caregivers will be wearing hazmat-like suit and treatment throughout the transit will be given via thick rubber gloves that are at the side of the initial protective plastic tent.  Great care and attention has been given to the seriousness of this situation and anyone who is familiar with horror and tragedy movies, you know that so much attention to safety and prevention is just aching for failure.  Someone's going to tear their suit, be too ashamed to admit to it, rush home to kiss their wife and play with the kids and eventually, everyone in the greater Atlanta-area are f*cked, and eventually even me, way up here in Saskatchewan is going to be inflicted...  Selfish motherf*ckers...  But I digress.

I'm sure the reasoning behind why these people were volunteering in West Africa was of noble intent, but it's unselfish acts like this that are usually the most selfish.  Just because they wanted to stand out as being "heroic", supplying aid and rescue to those unlucky enough to be born into a shitty life, these people may eventually cause the end of the world.  With so much aid to be given at home, why fly half way around the world, placing the rest of us in jeopardy?

When asked why these two aid workers deserved to be given treatment in America, it was stated it was because they were Americans and because they gave so selflessly to help those in need.  I call bullshit!  By bringing them back to America, you're stating that the level of medicine in West Africa pales in comparison to that of Western civilization.  Of course, this IS true.  I doubt dancing around a fire, chanting incoherent rants will rid anyone of the hiccups let alone the Ebola virus.  At the same time, though, by bringing them home, you're proving to the world, that being an American is superior to everything and everyone else.  Maybe that's true.  I'm not to judge the validity of that belief.

The Ebola virus is contracted by contact with infected monkeys, fruit bats and pigs.  How someone comes in contact with two of these three things, is beyond me.  Pigs, I understand, because bacon is f*cking awesome.  Fruit bats confuse me.  They are only a few inches long and what fruit they eat, is hardly enough sustenance for even the hungriest of Africans.  I mean, what the f*ck is one grape going to do for ya?  As for coming in contact with infected monkeys...  You'd think people would've gotten the hint after catching AIDS from these motherf*ckers back in the 80s.  Now people are f*cking them again?  Is the gene pool so limited in Africa, that men have to take to the jungles for some sexy time with promiscuous monkeys?

It's written that to contract the Ebola virus, one needs to come in contact with the bodily fluids of an infected creature.  Blood, mucous & urine.  Semen, I've read is another example...  Other examples include, contact with contaminated medical equipment. (It's like nobody knows they can boil water with fire to sterilize this shit!)  The lack of usage of protective clothing like gloves or surgical masks.  The virus is not an airborne contagion, but you get some dumb motherf*cker sneezing in your face, and you're f*cked.  And given my, albeit limited, exposure to foreigners, considerations like "covering their mouths or noses in the event of coughing or sneezing, is not among their strong points".  I caught many colds from face-to-face conversations with the Filipino folks I used to work with.

The outspoken Donald J. Trump tweeted out a couple of comments via his Twitter feed, and though he's full of shit most of the time, I have to agree with him on these points he's made.

1. "Ebola patient will be brought to the US in a few days - now I know for sure that our leaders are incompetent. KEEP THEM OUT OF HERE!"
   
2. "Stop the ebola patients from entering the US. Treat them, at the highest level, over there. THE UNITED STATES HAS ENOUGH PROBLEMS!"

They're both valid points.  Why tempt fate by bringing this shit to North America.  You're just putting the rest of us in jeopardy.  Why punish us for doing the right thing and minding our own f*cking business?  You watch.  Some kind of shit will go down.  No one will own up to it right away.  The virus will get out.  People will die.  The government will label the virus some other media-savvy name, so as to divert attention away from the strain being identical to the Zaire ebolavirus.

I think this statement sums it up the best...

The Los Angeles Times reported that sixty-three percent of American families are now considered dysfunctional. Good. 'Cause that means when Armageddon really happens, thirty-seven percent of this population is going to "lose their minds". "Oh my God, the world is over!"  Us sixty-three percent?  We're going to go, "Hey... there's no one watching the Lexus dealership!  We're going to the Apocalypse with leather and a CD changer!"

- Christopher Titus, Norman Rockwell Is Bleeding