Tick Tock Sheptock

Donald Trump whom I've taken to calling "Donito Trumpolini" because of his attempts at creating blatantly fascist policies, can hardly go a day without making another outrageous claim or devising another outrageous policy. He wants to use 100,000 national guardsmen to deport undocumented citizens; and, he wants to reinstate the draft -- both of which wreak of a fascistic, militaristic and foul odor. Let me remind you that a marriage of corporations and government is another element of fascism; and, Trump is tapping billionaires who have little or no experience in politics or governance for different cabinet posts. Make what you will of that. It looks like unabashed fascism to me. It's been said that every dark cloud has a silver lining. The silver lining in this case is that people the world over are becoming more politically- and  socially-  conscious, though they could still use a strong dose of spiritual consciousness. As Meatloaf would say, "Two out of t...

PREFACE:  As I sit here and begin typing this blog post, I'm also thinking seriously about taking people up on their suggestion that I write a book. Several people have made this suggestion over the years. Most have not clearly indicated what they thought the book should be about, though it stands to reason that they'd want me to write about the lessons I've learned as a homeless advocate from June 2006 to the present. I've repeatedly thought about how my having been abused from shortly after birth until my biological mother fractured my skull when I was eight months old, my having spent five years in foster care and my having then been raised by a Polish man and Italian woman who had 36 other children (only 7 naturally) would make for a really boring story. So, I'm not inclined to write an autobiography. I've asked myself what type of book by me would even stand the chance of becoming a best seller. Assuming that the book should be a critique of the "soc...

Unfortunately, Donald Trump (Donito Trumpolini) is our pseudo-president. It seems -- a mere 17 days into his term -- that, even as Cheney was the "war president" and Obama was the "too-sweet president", that Trump will preside over the implosion of capitalism in general and the U.S. Government in particular. Let's face it: As of February 6th, 2017, his administration is at odds with a GOP-appointed federal judge over a xenophobic executive order that Trumpolini signed. As many as 60,000 travelers have been inconvenienced and the process could end with Trumpolini being decapitated by the guillotine of impeachment. Congress people in his own party are pulling away from him and federal workers whose job it is to implement his policies are expressing their disdain -- which might be a precursor to an all-out mutiny. Trumpolini has a head that as hard as a rock. He's filthy rich -- probably from swimming in dirty money. He represents the worst that capitalism h...

I sometimes hear people state what they perceive to be the reason(s) for my homelessness. Some people TELL me that I choose to be homeless -- instead of ASKING me why it is that I lack a home. Some spread the rumor that I was offered housing and turned it down. I was never offered housing. Some say that I should have played crazy when DC Government was housing the "most vulnerable" men from Franklin School Shelter. The most positive assumption people make is that I choose to be homeless so that I can advocate for solutions to homelessness for all who experience it. Facebook actually has the best short answer: "it's complicated". I'll explain. I believe it was the end of 2015 when I had a one-to-one lunch with a certain professor named Sczerina. During our lunch, she asked me what I was looking to accomplish through my advocacy. I explained that I was looking to create a paradigm shift away from just housing the most vulnerable and toward getting city offi...

The last 19 months (beginning in June 2015) should have taught anyone who pays attention to the doings of government (which, sadly, is not everyone) that America is becoming more openly fascist, that the U.S. is a failing democracy (or, worse yet, a failing state), that the GOP is trying to implement a passive form of euthanasia and that various social services at all levels of government are designed to fail. Knowing these things should cause any person of conscience to swing into action -- which I'm proud to say some people have already begun to do   As the least popular president-elect in recent history was inaugurated, many people around the world protested -- some quite vehemently. The very next day, at least a half million people -- mostly women -- protested his treatment of women and vowed to keep the fight alive. Though the attendees of the Women's March didn't seem to coalesce around a shared goal of preventing the implementation of fascism in the U.S., they we...

Now that Donald Trump is occupying the White House (as our first "non-president"), many people have taken to expressing their fears on social media. Others, like myself, want to understand what types of damage he'll do and to see what we can do in the way of a "pre-emptive strike" -- like those that Bush 43 initiated against Saddam Hussein in a "buridiotic" war to stop him from using the WMD's that he didn't have in the first place. Though it might seem to be an impossible feat, I've been able to find a method to Trump's madness. In short, he's the "developer/mayor-in-chief". He seems to support the fascistic policies that have become all too common among local governments in the "Untied" States and he'll use the federal government to enforce them and bring about more of the same. Imagine a mayor and a developer working together to operate a tank and you've got the Donald. For some years now, various A...

The following is a testimony that I, Eric Jonathan Sheptock, plan to read at multiple hearings during the budget season for FY18. Dear Chairperson, In late 2012 I was one of several people who met with Chapman Todd to discuss the future of the then-1,350-bed CCNV Shelter. On January 13th, 2013 I sent a FOIA request to the feds in order to obtain information about the property transfer from the feds and the accompanying covenant. That led to the 6/27/13 CCNV hearing and a nine-month long task force from October 2013 to July 2014. Other advocates were part of the effort and dozens of well-paid city officials as well as non-profit employees attended the many task force meetings. In July 2014 the DC Council (which Muriel Bowser was part of) passed a law that set forth the 17 guiding principles that a mayor would have to adhere to if he or she were to close the current site of the CCNV/Federal City Shelter. Congress passed it in December 2014. This law, while it ALLOWS the sittin...