Yesterday was a beautiful day it was in the high 60's and today it is  in the high 20's and spitting snow.  What a difference a day makes.  Honestly I'm not sure if the dogs are going to get their walkies today.  Max is by his heater...the one that was my birthday present and Maxy claimed, after he chewed on one corner when he was a puppy.  The pups also go and crawl in bed with Dad in the mornings.

A couple of days ago I saw a post on facebook that I did find a bit funny, it was a line-up of what looked to be addicts.  Now I know that mug shots are a matter of public record, I've had my son-in-laws posted on my facebook feed.  My more compassionate friends will call me to let me know he's been arrested again and not post to my page, so when I do get one, I delete it.  I know my grandchildren live in the area and know what is going on, but I want don't want their dads mug shot on my page.  I am their grandmother and with that comes a bit of protecting them on my part.  So back to the mug shots.  The initial comments were funny and one guy did look like Bevis from Bevis and Butthead, but comments got nasty and were egged on by the mob mentality.  As a parent of an addict, a. my children were not the result of an incestuous relationship, b. neither myself or my husband have used heroin or meth, c. if that had been my child in that line-up, I would have been destroyed by some of the comments.  The other thing that stood out to me, is that the reason I got this feed was knowing someone who commented on it.  Now this person has a sister whos family is dealing with addiction and mental illness.  All I could think was what a special kind of ASS would do that to his sister.  Did this person think his sister wouldn't see it, if I caught it, I'm sure she did, since she keeps a closer eye on his feed than I do, and that is a special kind of stupid.  I know the type, they look at the opioid epidemic as a hand out for losers, this could never impact their family.  Well I'm here to tell you it can and when they start as adults, there is very little you can do.

I see that the Donald has declared opioid addiction as a National Health Crisis.  It's nice to see that the government has finally caught up.  The people that are shown on documentaries are not from the economically depressed areas, they are people from middle America.  Please undersand, I have to believe that rich or poor, all citizens are worth saving and that as "a nation" we truly believe that. None of us are going to travel this road perfectly...hell, I punched my kid in the stomach when coming in high on heroin; not one of my finest moments, but we do have to be some what civil to each other.  Those of us on the front lines will tell you it can be hell some days. My attitudes have changed the more I have learned...funny how that works.  I would ask those wo would post to something like the site I mentioned before, ask yourself, how would I feel if one of those pictured was a family member of mine, how would those remarks make me feel if so, and I know this person to be a Christian and so my next question to ask yourself, would God approve of this hurtful kind of humor?

I would ask for prayers for my young grandson, he is in a crisis and could sure use them. 

Thanks
Katie

So my hubby had a dental cleaning yesterday and we left the big dog so she could get into all of the house. She knocked my cookbook off the counter, chewed the cap off my new nail file, chewed on my spongy nail file, got into the trash by my hubby's recliner and ate part of a paper plate that had pecan pie residue on it, and knocked my recliner over.  The house actually looked pretty good...those of you who have raised a big dog will understand that last comment.

After a long day I watched some no-brainer TV.  There was a commercial about a guy in a woman's yoga class, passes gas, and hopes no one will know who did it.  The ending of, "...put less boom in the room" caught my attention and now I can't remember the product name.  And, I swear one of the next commercials was these big brown rice looking things on the floor and it opens the pantry door to a guy dressed in a mouse suit.  Before you think I'm getting sanctimonious, of course I laughed.  I did think Good Lord.

I think back to my Granny and what she would think.  This is the lady who was incensed when my mother used the word, "fart" in a Scrabble game.  And, yes, it is a word because we had to look it up then and there in the Oxford dictionary. This morning I woke up to Donald Trump and Sen. Corker going at it again.  I can hardly believe the things that Sen. Corker said in a live interview and again on his way to a GOP luncheon at the White House.  One of the talking heads didn't think even Sen. Chuck Schumer would go that far in criticizing Donald Trump.  My Granny would be laughing; good, bad, or otherwise, in my family, we got our sense of humor from her.  Though she was a Democrat through and through, at her core, she would have been pretty upset at the political division and that we have taken it too far. 

Trump is also touting his border wall and how it will put a stop to opioids coming into this country.  Sanjay Gupta did a segment that highlighted how opioids are coming into this country and it is through all points of entry.  There is a piece that showed how cartel held areas are planting poppies instead of marijuana now.  I think we can safely count that as a consequence of the War On Drugs. It might be worth noting here that fentanyl is coming from China and not Mexico.  Not only is fentanyl 100 times stronger than heroin they are developing stronger doses all the time.  They have some called elephant tranquilizer.

When communism took over in China, their way of dealing with drug addicts was to execute them publically.  Now they are shipping this poison all over the world.  Interestingly enough, the countries with more stringent drug laws are their target buyers.  Pease check your news and keep them accountable.  Become a better citizen, get informed, and make your voice heard.

Thanks
Katie

Remember I have chose not to use family names on this site.

Lists of Representatives and Senators

Maybe this will help you guys with your congress calling, or writing.  This is a full list of Representatives and Senators.  I plan to write to mine and send a copy to all offices.  Maybe there will be a staffer in one of the offices that will bring this to their attention. 


https://www.house.gov/representatives/


https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/


Thanks
Katie

Competing With the Sound Bytes of the Day

The other day when I watched the news it was all about the opioid epidemic, of course that all revolved around the Drug Czar appointment fiasco. The following day it was about the President and how he dealt with Gold Star families, the Attorney General testified before the Senate committee investigating Russian collusion, and the President reversed his stand on the healthcare subsides for insurance companies.  That got me to thinking: "How do we compete with the sound bytes when we want treatment for addiction?"

While many of us are watching the television, with a deer in the headlights look on our face, the President thinks it would be a good idea to frack south of Yellowstone.  Not to sure fracking any where near a super volcano is a good idea.  CHIPS failed to get re-newed...last I heard.  North Korea threatens nuclear war "at any moment."  I do have to admit that I find all the late night humor.  But while we are caught up in this side show, real things are being done/not done.  These things are having an impact, or are going to impact the citizens in several sectors of our lives.  The insurance market is unsure, mining may impact salmon spawning grounds in Alaska, our standing on the world stage, can the world trust us as their ally?

I am old enough to remember the fight over testing the blood supply for HIV.  In a televised meeting one CDC worker got up and demanded to know, how many people have to die before it becomes cost effective to test the blood supply.  Treatment for mental illness and drug addiction seems to be going down a similar path.  I remember in the beginning HIV was considered a homosexual disease and many people believed that it was only what they deserved...they were going against God.  The LGBT community really had to fight for research, of course that was after they had the fight over who was going to get credit for isolating the virus.  So, it seems no matter how many changes, the more things stay the same.  By that I mean that we are in for a fight to get things done.

I would urge all of you who have been impacted by drug addiction to call your congressman or woman and tell them as much of your story as you feel comfortable with.  I was involved in a town hall meeting with my two senators.  They did take my call and I got a very positive response from both of them.  I do agree we need more pain killers that are non-addictive, but when I asked for a commitment to insist that insurance companies cover higher cost medications that deal with a medical issue but is not a narcotic, well that was a bridge too far I think.  Unfortunately, that is what insurance companies are doing, it seems that the narcotics are cheaper, if not as affective. So, we can take one issue at a time, with all of us working together we can eat this whale of a problem.  Maybe if we break it down we can be heard loudly and clearly.

Katie

Public Opinion

If we have learned anything with this last candidate for the Drug Czar, public opinion will sway this President.  Granted, it takes a lot of out cry from us, but we can make a difference.  It also highlights the problems with Corporations and their financial contributions to candidates running for office.  The three Senators that crafted this bill all got six digit campaign contributions from big pharma.  The debate in Congress, from what I understand from a Congressman who gave an interview this morning, the main issue that was discussed to promote the bill dealt with end of life issues and making sure cancer patients got the opioid medications they needed.  Well if that is the case, they shouldn't have issue with DEA inspecting shipping containers, but the bill limits those inspections.

Please, please, please, keep informed on the facts and let your voice be heard!!!

As I said in my last blog, that I will be doing some things so I am announcing that I will be joining the Democratic Party.  I have to admit that I used to try to vote my conscience, but the Republicans have got way too conservative and, in my opinion, only care about business.  I mean if a corporation can be considered a person and campaign contributions are considered "free speech" they can drown out the voice of average citizens with money to the campaign..  I have read the Wyoming Democratic Party Platform for 2016 and agree with the majority of it.  Interestingly it begins with the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution.

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the  United States of America."

Now in our history when there was an outbreak of disease, the government stepped in to help people impacted by it, medicines were the commons during those times.  This was evident during the Typhus, influenza, and polio outbreaks.  I encourage all of you to look up how our government dealt with these issues.  I really don't see addiction as being any different.  I won't sit here and say we always did it perfectly, but it would be worth studying and improve upon what we have done in the past.  To me, that falls into the category of "general Welfare."

I do not plan to run for office, but I don't deal in absolutes so we will see what the future brings.  I do want to bring the ideas of needle exchanges and methadone programs.  I am for legalizing marijuana for now; ultimately bring other drugs into that category and following Portugal's plan for combating drug addiction.  Again, in my opinion and I have a lot of those, we should look to the rest of the world and see what is working and of course what isn't.  If we tax the marijuana industry we can pay for those programs as well as education for addicts to learn a skill if they don't have one. 

So if there is anyone who thinks the way I do, then lets band together, lets raise our voices and drown out the voices of those who would try and detour our efforts.

Thanks
Katie

Back After Summer Vacation

As you can see, I didn't make it on here much this summer.  My hubby did end up getting back surgery, also so did my dog Max.  He had to have a ligament replaced...my poor guys.  I also tried a garden but it got hailed on after I put up a fence to keep the deer out.  After the hail storm my plants looked pretty bad and if that wasn't bad enough, a gopher moved in and that was the end of the garden.

We sat through Harvey, waiting to hear from our child that went through it.  After the "I'm OK" I haven't heard back since I won't send money.  I did contact a friend and told them not to give money but if they needed something, get it and I would pay them back.  My friend came up from Houston and was worried about her home.  The house did fine thankfully but it did take a bit to get her a bus home.

We did get some fishing in...mainly me.  We caught quite a few and have them in the freezer.  My husband is amazed that I have gotten into fishing so much.  He got me a new fishing rod and reel for my birthday, 3 months early haha.  Hopefully we can go fishing more next summer.

After the post of using the arts to help with stress, I have started on some painting.  When I get done with something, I will post some pictures...if I can get someone to help me with that.  I'm beginning to feel like the old couple on the ad that they give all electronics to the grandkids to get it to work.  There are several craft projects going on and hope to have them finished this winter.

So with this said, I am hoping to get some things going after the 1st of the year.  In my area I hope to get a fundraiser going to help folks with treatment. There are a few things that I want to get straight before I start i.e. taxes and the like.  I'm thinking something like change to change lives or dimes for drug addiction.  Any way I will let you all know how it goes.  I have also decided not to use GoFundMe because of the money they take out to shift money.  From where I sit, we need every penny we can get.

My prayers are with you all.