disaster – Looking to God

We Are Here

Posted on November 9, 2015November 8, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Our waterways are a mess. Our infrastructure is crumbling. The idea of a society connected through a common medium has rendered us isolated. What’s more? We’re on the brink of total environmental collapse. How do I know? Let’s find out and file this Monday Mayhem post under pending doom. No fear mongering here. Just fiction. Or is it?

The Blob [Photo Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]

The other day I came upon an article in the news describing of place in the ocean where no life exists. Apparently, science has labeled the phenomenon a “blob” If you’re familiar with the 1950’s movie that goes by the same name, the condition is relatively dissimilar in concept but still scary. The blob has taken over a good chunk of ocean and is growing. No one knows where it came from, and no one knows when it will stop consuming vital marine life. Science can’t even say if it’s even evolving into anything.

Then there’s this thing that’s happening off the coast of Japan where jellyfish are depleting marine life and spawning an infestation. Fishermen can’t seem to get rid of the animals. When caught in the nets, the fishermen kill what they can and throw the remains back in the ocean. The problem? The jellyfish harbor millions of eggs that pour into the deep and continue the cycle of infestation. Science hasn’t figured out how to stop them. In the meantime, Japanese fishing has taken a hit, rendering the industry helpless to the unwanted beasts. How soon will it be before nothing in the ocean survives?

Antarctica's Melting Ice Caps — Antarctica’s Melting Ice Caps

And the hits just keep on comin’ with the melting of the ice caps. It was inevitable that one day it would happen. No one believed it could have happened so quickly, though. One of the news agencies has taken a time-lapse video of what is actually going on in the Arctic. The entire shelf is crumbling as I write this. Russia, the United States and Canada are in the midst of claiming ownership rights to the new waterways formed by the phenomenon. The entire planet could soon find itself in one of the most contentions international disputes this side of World War II. That is in addition to the coastal water levels rising around the globe.

Can it get any worse? It sure can. The population of the world is accelerating at a rapid pace. What was once a breadbasket, United States is having trouble keeping up with demand. To aid with the sudden surge in the food supply, prices have skyrocketed while packaging has shrunk. The droughts in the west haven’t helped either. Last summer’s devastating water shortage has placed a strain on everything from cooking to showering. Lawns have gone dry. Imagine what has taken place in farm country. The drought coupled with the population growth not only has left the economy in the lurch but also has purged the supply chain dry.

It will only take a miracle now to reverse what has happened with the earth. Do you believe in miracles?

Get the Ranger Martin zombie trilogy now!

What do you think of what’s been happening to our environment? Is there something we can do to help?

Freedom Friday

Blink-182

Posted on October 24, 2014October 27, 2014 by Jack Flacco

One of my very favorite things I like to do is listen to music. Allow me to rephrase. What I always love to do is immerse myself in awesome music. There, the universe is whole again.

Since y’all know I use my Freedom Friday post to talk about—well—anything, I figure I’d talk about some of my favorite song lyrics. Don’t you worry, my musical tastes border on eclectic, so you shouldn’t have to fear of not being able to recognize the tunes.

Except today.

I’m feeling wound up and free. And if you don’t know who Blink-182 is, then head on over to youtube to find out. They are one incredible band.

All right, having dispensed with the introductions, here they are—Blink-182. I’ll provide a snippet of the song, then I’ll tell you what it means to me:

Disaster

White stones of hollow eyes
Death comes you better hide
Never rest in town
(Fall in my arms again)
Full moon on a rotten night
Eighteen and a wind came by
Not a soul around
(Fall in my arms again)

What it means to me: If I didn’t know better, Blink has a fascination with vampires. To me, though, I take it to mean zombies on the prowl. I don’t think vampires have white stones for eyes. Zombies, on the other hand, do. They are a dreadful kind, ready to tear apart anything resembling human. I wish this song would play somewhere on The Walking Dead. This would fit perfectly.

Fighting the Gravity

This air is too thick to breathe
So just drive
These eyes are too sick to see
Don’t leave me behind
Something’s swimming in my blood
Something’s rotting in my brain
When I’m smothered from the flood
I can’t recognize your face
I need to leave
So just drive

What it means to me: I can’t help but think of the desert laid waste by its sand and heat. I can’t also help think of a virus rotting the brain turning everyone into zombies. Okay, so that last part just came to me, but I’m listening to this song and it’s reminding me of that specific impending doom awaiting humans if, and when, a zombie apocalypse should take place.

You’re right. My mind is in one place. Let me change it up a bit.

Ghost on the Dance Floor

Yeah I
I saw your ghost tonight
The moment felt so real
If your eyes stay right on mine
My wounds would start to heal

What it means to me: Mourning the passing of a loved one is an intense process. I’ve gone through it, as I’m sure the majority of you also. For me, this song represents healing from a past loss in order to move on. Every so often when the ghost reappears, making the moment seem so real, I allow it to heal my wounds. I then go about my day knowing several months from now it’ll probably happen again, but to a lesser degree.

Maybe, this is not what I had in mind when I meant I wanted to change it up a bit. Let me leave you with this song instead:

Aliens Exist

Hey mom there’s something in the backroom
I hope it’s not the creature from above
You used to read me stories
As if my dreams were boring
We all know conspiracies are dumb

What if people knew that these were real
I’d leave my closet door open all night
I know the CIA would say
What you hear is all hearsay
I wish someone would tell me what was right

Up all night long
And there’s something very wrong
And I know it must be late
Been gone since yesterday
I’m not like you guys
I’m not like you

I am still the skeptic yes you know me
Been best friends and will be till we die
I got an injection
Of fear from the abduction
My best friend thinks I’m just telling lies

Up all night long
And there’s something very wrong
And I know it must be late
Been gone since yesterday
I’m not like you guys
I’m not like you

Dark and scary, ordinary, explanation
Information, nice to know ya, parnoia
Where’s my mother, biofather

Up all night long
And there’s something very wrong
And I know it must be late
Been gone since yesterday
I’m not like you guys
Twelve majestic lies

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.

What are your favorite song lyrics? Do they remind you of an event that had happened in your life?

Monday Mayhem

How Far Would You Go?

Posted on February 25, 2013February 24, 2013 by Jack Flacco

How far would you go if it meant preventing the death of a loved one? Would you go beyond everything taught as wrong in order to save your family? Would you do wrong? In an attempt to answer these questions, this edition of Monday Mayhem explores humanity’s moral weakness during an apocalyptic event.

When things go well, humans tend to enjoy the spoils of their labor in relative peace and security thinking no one or anything could possibly disrupt their harmony. But throw in a crisis of biological proportions and the average person runs into the streets terrified their life as they know it is over.

The first thing to happen during a disaster of this kind is a run up on cash. Folks try to get as much of it as they can. But the old adage “cash is king” will not work when humanity is on the cusp of a new paradigm. It will all be about bartering and sharing. Even if folks head to the grocery store in an attempt to outwit their neighbor hoarding the last bit of the foodstuffs, they will have to do more than search, beg, and borrow. Guaranteed the neighbors have weapons. Guaranteed they wouldn’t be afraid to use them.

The question is, how far would you go?

Once society breaks down and the last morsels of food disappear, it will be up to the survivors to make due with what remains. And if the biological catastrophe involves a change in a large percentage of the population’s eating habits, there will be far more to fear than starvation. A new enemy will have emerged to either unite the survivors or tear them apart. An enemy so brutal and carnal, the survivors would have to do anything and everything to avoid them in order to remain alive.

Again, how far would you go?

A simple bath in clean water may take weeks. A warm bed with covers and sheets may take months. The joy of listening to any of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos or any music for that matter may never happen again. The simplicities in life, the things we take for granted, a quick walk through the woods, a chat on the phone, an email, reading a letter, a caress, taking a bus, riding on a train, walking a dog, smelling a flower, sitting on the veranda watching the rain fall, a hug, the taste of vanilla, a dance, a play, a movie, the joy of writing, talking, humming, a kiss—may disappear forever.

How far would you go?

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