https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190218/adult-entertainment-industry-a-very-powerful-lobby-in-ri These places are not pretty, or glamorous, or sexy. Not even a little. Funny how quickly the illusion of erotica and beauty is shattered by bright fluorescent lights. The girl, who moments ago captivated her crowd of twenty admirers with her sultry swaying, bleary eyed come-ons and spread legged suggestions didn’t look so good […]

Men make fun of each other. We do it loudly, in public and don’t hold back; especially men who do tough jobs. We exploit each other’s weaknesses for our own amusement. There is no honor or dignity in it, it is not kind or dignified. We hurt each other’s feelings, then do it again. More […]

By Michael Morse “Either I’ll be high, or I’ll be gone.” He opened his eyes. The bugs in his head stopped buzzing, and he looked at me. “You weren’t breathing,” I said. It was just me and him in the back of an old ambulance in Providence, Rhode Island. A team of people had helped […]

  By Michael Morse 10. When a firefighter acts like a fool, the rest of them put a stop to it right quick. Funny thing about firefighters: When one does something stupid, the entire profession is tarnished. We are held to a higher standard. That’s okay; we’ve earned it. 9.  Firefighters don’t care what color, race, gender, shape, […]

Things they don’t teach in school . . . Her parents heard choking from behind the closed door. They tried to open it but something held it closed. The stepfather put his weight into it but it barely budged. Some commotion behind the door, then deadly quiet. He kicked the door in. His stepdaughter, two […]

I thought my high blood pressure was hereditary. I used to take a reading whenever I had a chance, and for twenty-three years in was in the 140/90 range – high enough to make me worry but not high enough to REALLY worry about. Now that I’ve had some time away from the tones I’ve […]

For EMS to become the third arm of public safety, right alongside law enforcement and fire departments, some separation must occur. We simply cannot all be considered first responders while existing with profit as our business model. For example, private security companies exist for profit, fire inspectors are employed by insurance companies and fire extinguisher […]

  We’re driving down Angel Street at three o’clock in the afternoon. It’s a perfect late summer day, nice iced coffee in the cup holder, pretty girls in summer dresses everywhere and no runs coming our way. It has been a grueling tour so far. Sometimes I wonder how I keep it all together and […]

Sometimes, think it was all for nothing. Then I give it some thought. What we do matters. Nothing much tops that. At the end of your career, when the ink has not only dried, but has begun to fade from the pages of history, it all becomes clear. You DID matter. You were one of […]