Are there any meaningful painkillers that are not addictive? You mean to tell me that in the more than 150 years (or however long it has been), drug makers have not found a satisfactory alternative to opioids such as morphine and OxyContin?
Over the years, the pharmaceuticals have developed one drug after another, only to see them pass from use in the hospitals to use in the streets. We're blessed with both cocaine and heroin thanks to this pipeline.
This is the 21st Century. Advancements in medicine are on most every front. Why not, then, on this? I hear of national crusades to cure cancer and such. And, President Trump has called opioid usage a national emergency. Why not, then, make this our new frontier: to find a non-addictive, almost harmless pain killer? Why not a we-will-not-be-denied approach to this, same as with so many other things we see as imperative?
Give us a somewhat harmless painkiller, Big Pharma, or we will march in the streets.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Monday, October 30, 2017
We Should Outlaw some Ways in which Opioids are Used
If we fear the opioid crisis is a national emergency, perhaps we should outlaw some uses of these drugs.
I went to the dentist the same day President Trump declared a national emergency. After my teeth were pulled and implants in place, the doctor gave me a prescription for hydrocodone. "Pain medication should be taken before numbness from local anesthetic is gone," said the written instructions.
That would mean taking it before I knew if I needed it.
I didn't take it. I didn't really experience much pain, certainly not enough that I should take an opioid.
I wonder at how some laws could be set up, how we could direct them so that they take away the abuse while still being there for those who need them. Do all patients experience basically the same pain from dental work? If so, outlaw opioids in for dental work. But, that probably isn't the case. Some people probably have severe pain.
But, I do wonder if we should have the pain set in before the prescription is given. Let the patient go home, but give him a phone number to call if the pain gets severe, so a prescription can be hurriedly issued and filled at that juncture.
I realize some will suggest this is cruel, requiring the patient to enter into pain before medication can be prescribed. I wonder on it, the same, wondering if it still might be the right thing to do. I do think we should outlaw some uses of opioids.
I went to the dentist the same day President Trump declared a national emergency. After my teeth were pulled and implants in place, the doctor gave me a prescription for hydrocodone. "Pain medication should be taken before numbness from local anesthetic is gone," said the written instructions.
That would mean taking it before I knew if I needed it.
I didn't take it. I didn't really experience much pain, certainly not enough that I should take an opioid.
I wonder at how some laws could be set up, how we could direct them so that they take away the abuse while still being there for those who need them. Do all patients experience basically the same pain from dental work? If so, outlaw opioids in for dental work. But, that probably isn't the case. Some people probably have severe pain.
But, I do wonder if we should have the pain set in before the prescription is given. Let the patient go home, but give him a phone number to call if the pain gets severe, so a prescription can be hurriedly issued and filled at that juncture.
I realize some will suggest this is cruel, requiring the patient to enter into pain before medication can be prescribed. I wonder on it, the same, wondering if it still might be the right thing to do. I do think we should outlaw some uses of opioids.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
The Choruses I Hear
I gather my papers, stuffing them under my arms, and hurriedly leaving the room. I must make it to the tavern by eight -- nine at the latest. The QRace will be waiting.
At the corner, I pause to take a newspaper from the box. I am anxious about the day's news, still not having read the story about the press release from the 13-year-old boy. All the nation is discussing it.
I slip onto the train at a quarter till 8. The other passengers are discussing the story. Some are taking in the news on their iPhones. Some, like me, are reading hard-copy newspapers. I look up, and see a contingent of people coming down the aisle, singing. They are dressed in costumes, for it is Halloween. Some are dressed as ghouls, some as witches, and some as devils. They sing their well-crafted songs, and then pass through to the next car on the train.
But, one of them comes back. He steps to his right, then to his left, as if dancing. "What have we forgotten to tell you?" he asks. "Did you hear what little Brighton Billie has to say?"
He paused, having our attention.
"Billie would have you believe we should all throw away our guns. He quotes from scripture, something about people turning their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks."
Out of all the people in the car, he looks at me, staring through a lop of long tangling hair that covers his face. "I'm here to warn you not listen to him. He quotes the scripture wrong. That scripture has nothing to do with what is going on. We must protect ourselves. We know what happens when people do not have guns to defend themselves.
"I am of the Catalans," he says, as he swings around and walks away. And, I know he doesn't mean he is literally from Catalonia, but rather from a group in the U.S. taking its name from the breakaway Spanish province, calling themselves the Catalans.
I exit the train at the Mallburst Station. Red's Tavern is but a short block away. As I walk in, those waiting me stand, snapping their heels together and saluting -- in a Nazi salute. "Did you bring the papers?" they ask.
I drop the papers on the table. "You are free to have them," I say. "But, I have come to tell you that you have taken me for a friend, when I am not. You have supposed me to be one of you, even thinking I might step in and lead you. For that, you invited me here."
I am interrupted at that point. Brighton Billie's face comes onto the television screen, a screen so large it covers the whole of the tavern wall, with Brighton Billie's face being as large as a semi truck.
"Oh, please, listen!" Brighton Billie says, and the words echo in my head. "I may be but a child, but I hope you will listen. You do not need to worship your guns. They need not be your heroes. Everyone does not need to have them. They will tell you that you will not be able to protect yourselves from crime, and will not be able to protect yourselves from government gone astray. I will tell you, though, crime does not go rampant. I will tell you that, yes, it is important to have armed forces to protect your land, and it is important to have enough police officers to protect the populace.
"But, this idea that everyone ought to have a shotgun in their closet, it is not wise. Weapons stored become weapons used. Suicides rise. I am not saying there are not things greater than gun ownership that prompt suicides, but guns do add to the problem. Crime rises in societies where guns are a-plenty. I do not say guns are the only factor. You can watch crime decline while gun ownership increases. Still, guns are a big contributor. If everyone has a gun, then both those who are good and those who are bad have them. The bad will surely use them while they sit idly in homes of the good, often waiting until a criminal steals them. If the bad have guns, the nature of their crimes will tend to be worse. You can't keep bad folks from committing crimes, but the nature of their crimes will not be as horrendous if they do not have the tools to make them horrendous."
The bar owner strides along the bar, picking up the remote and turning the television off. "Qs!" he yells. "You are not here to listen to this garbage. Don't listen to it. Our government is corrupt. It is stealing away our freedoms. All across the nation, we, the people, are rising up to save this nation. The Constitution calls for militias of the people and we now have militia after militia after militia set to attack at once. In addition to the QRace, we have the Catalans and the Zee Bees -- just here in this city. The whole nation has organized into militias, ready to rise up and strike against the tyranny of a government astray, a government that no longer adheres to that which is right and no longer follows the Constitution of the United States."
The barkeep turns and looks at me. "Then, sir, if you have a plan of action -- is that it you have left on the table?"
"You are free to have it," I calmly reply. I turn to walk out, leaving them to review the 200 or so pages, page after page saying the self-same thing, the words to an old peace song, once sang by Simon and Garfunkel, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash and others.
I watch the southbound train pass, and continue waiting the northbound, still thinking. I pick up a rock and -- reflecting on the QRace and other militias -- throw it angrily back to the pavement. It caroms off into the parking lot, endangering cars that should be sitting in peace and not endangered. I think of how I do not like it that militias are rising up against my country. I think of how Americans do not know the danger they are facing from them. I think of this one militia, the QRace. Whatever of the other militias, I certainly am not in agreement with it.
Note: Story edited and changed 11/4/17
(Indexes: Stories, guns)
At the corner, I pause to take a newspaper from the box. I am anxious about the day's news, still not having read the story about the press release from the 13-year-old boy. All the nation is discussing it.
I slip onto the train at a quarter till 8. The other passengers are discussing the story. Some are taking in the news on their iPhones. Some, like me, are reading hard-copy newspapers. I look up, and see a contingent of people coming down the aisle, singing. They are dressed in costumes, for it is Halloween. Some are dressed as ghouls, some as witches, and some as devils. They sing their well-crafted songs, and then pass through to the next car on the train.
But, one of them comes back. He steps to his right, then to his left, as if dancing. "What have we forgotten to tell you?" he asks. "Did you hear what little Brighton Billie has to say?"
He paused, having our attention.
"Billie would have you believe we should all throw away our guns. He quotes from scripture, something about people turning their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks."
Out of all the people in the car, he looks at me, staring through a lop of long tangling hair that covers his face. "I'm here to warn you not listen to him. He quotes the scripture wrong. That scripture has nothing to do with what is going on. We must protect ourselves. We know what happens when people do not have guns to defend themselves.
"I am of the Catalans," he says, as he swings around and walks away. And, I know he doesn't mean he is literally from Catalonia, but rather from a group in the U.S. taking its name from the breakaway Spanish province, calling themselves the Catalans.
I exit the train at the Mallburst Station. Red's Tavern is but a short block away. As I walk in, those waiting me stand, snapping their heels together and saluting -- in a Nazi salute. "Did you bring the papers?" they ask.
I drop the papers on the table. "You are free to have them," I say. "But, I have come to tell you that you have taken me for a friend, when I am not. You have supposed me to be one of you, even thinking I might step in and lead you. For that, you invited me here."
I am interrupted at that point. Brighton Billie's face comes onto the television screen, a screen so large it covers the whole of the tavern wall, with Brighton Billie's face being as large as a semi truck.
"Oh, please, listen!" Brighton Billie says, and the words echo in my head. "I may be but a child, but I hope you will listen. You do not need to worship your guns. They need not be your heroes. Everyone does not need to have them. They will tell you that you will not be able to protect yourselves from crime, and will not be able to protect yourselves from government gone astray. I will tell you, though, crime does not go rampant. I will tell you that, yes, it is important to have armed forces to protect your land, and it is important to have enough police officers to protect the populace.
"But, this idea that everyone ought to have a shotgun in their closet, it is not wise. Weapons stored become weapons used. Suicides rise. I am not saying there are not things greater than gun ownership that prompt suicides, but guns do add to the problem. Crime rises in societies where guns are a-plenty. I do not say guns are the only factor. You can watch crime decline while gun ownership increases. Still, guns are a big contributor. If everyone has a gun, then both those who are good and those who are bad have them. The bad will surely use them while they sit idly in homes of the good, often waiting until a criminal steals them. If the bad have guns, the nature of their crimes will tend to be worse. You can't keep bad folks from committing crimes, but the nature of their crimes will not be as horrendous if they do not have the tools to make them horrendous."
The bar owner strides along the bar, picking up the remote and turning the television off. "Qs!" he yells. "You are not here to listen to this garbage. Don't listen to it. Our government is corrupt. It is stealing away our freedoms. All across the nation, we, the people, are rising up to save this nation. The Constitution calls for militias of the people and we now have militia after militia after militia set to attack at once. In addition to the QRace, we have the Catalans and the Zee Bees -- just here in this city. The whole nation has organized into militias, ready to rise up and strike against the tyranny of a government astray, a government that no longer adheres to that which is right and no longer follows the Constitution of the United States."
The barkeep turns and looks at me. "Then, sir, if you have a plan of action -- is that it you have left on the table?"
"You are free to have it," I calmly reply. I turn to walk out, leaving them to review the 200 or so pages, page after page saying the self-same thing, the words to an old peace song, once sang by Simon and Garfunkel, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash and others.
As I walk out the door, the first of a large group of people brushes past me and enters the bar. At first, I think it is the same chorus of Catalans who had been on the bus, but it isn't, though they, too, are dressed in costume -- attires ranging from that of Little Red Riding Hood to Dr. Seuss to Mary Poppins -- not a one being violent themed.
As they start singing, the words waffle back through the door. I turn in shock, for the song is the very song whose words I left on the table.
Last night I had the strangest dream
I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war
I dreamed I saw a mighty room
The room was filled with men
And the paper they were signing said
They'd never fight again
I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war
I dreamed I saw a mighty room
The room was filled with men
And the paper they were signing said
They'd never fight again
And when the papers all were signed
And a million copies made
They all joined hands and bowed their heads
And grateful prayers were prayed
And the people in the streets below
Were dancing round and round
And guns and swords and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground
And a million copies made
They all joined hands and bowed their heads
And grateful prayers were prayed
And the people in the streets below
Were dancing round and round
And guns and swords and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground
Note: Story edited and changed 11/4/17
(Indexes: Stories, guns)
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Today's Decisions Require Wisdom of Our Own
If a nation is to survive, it cannot quit being inspired. Wisdom once, must be wisdom moving forward.
I speak of America. I speak of America's Constitution being inspired. But, if America is to maintain its high standing, it must not cease to be inspired. It is we, in 2017, who face today's decisions. It is we who must decide if we raise the national deficit, if we allow assault weapons, and whether we do something about climate change.
If the Founding Fathers were wise and inspired, so must we be wise and inspired. Look around; You will not find many of them still around to make today's decisions.
I speak of America. I speak of America's Constitution being inspired. But, if America is to maintain its high standing, it must not cease to be inspired. It is we, in 2017, who face today's decisions. It is we who must decide if we raise the national deficit, if we allow assault weapons, and whether we do something about climate change.
If the Founding Fathers were wise and inspired, so must we be wise and inspired. Look around; You will not find many of them still around to make today's decisions.
Friday, October 27, 2017
Jim, Jim, and James, and Their Idea for Paying off Credit Card Debt
Jim Sturgis, Jim Burgess, and James Stengel -- as fine of men as you'll ever meet -- except for one thing: credit card debt.
These three men were so deeply in debt, I can't imagine them ever getting out. Then, one day, James Stengel had an idea, and he pitched it to his buddies. They were being billed monthly, of course, and it was James's idea that they shouldn't be paying so much.
"We are Americans, you know, and by virtue of that, I don't think we should be taxed -- I mean, billed -- this way," he said. "Jim and Jim, you know for yourselves that we've friends in Poland, and Scotland, and Iceland and Icelbeckia who don't pay this heavy of taxes -- I mean, don't have this heavy of credit card payments."
Jim and Jim looked back at him, thought for a moment, and then nodded their heads in agreement.
"Doesn't seem fair to me," Jim said.
"Doesn't seem right to me, either," Jim echoed.
That's when Rawson Wilson came walking in. "I hear you boys talking," Rawson said. "I'm just going to suggest it is a little late for this. You spent the money, and you continue to spend it. You spend as if money grows on trees or comes off a printing press. You buy this and you buy that and you buy a little bit of everything. Then, when the bills come due, you suggest you deserve a tax break -- I mean, a break on paying your bills. It doesn't work that way. You run up the bill, you better pay it. Don't be whining about how nobody else pays so high of a tax rate -- I mean so high of a monthly credit card bill. Don't be telling me it isn't fair. Fair is paying for what you buy. You want a break, you think about that before you buy something."
He looked them straight in the eyes, but I couldn't tell if what he had said was sinking in.
(Indexes: Stories, national deficit, tax reform)
These three men were so deeply in debt, I can't imagine them ever getting out. Then, one day, James Stengel had an idea, and he pitched it to his buddies. They were being billed monthly, of course, and it was James's idea that they shouldn't be paying so much.
"We are Americans, you know, and by virtue of that, I don't think we should be taxed -- I mean, billed -- this way," he said. "Jim and Jim, you know for yourselves that we've friends in Poland, and Scotland, and Iceland and Icelbeckia who don't pay this heavy of taxes -- I mean, don't have this heavy of credit card payments."
Jim and Jim looked back at him, thought for a moment, and then nodded their heads in agreement.
"Doesn't seem fair to me," Jim said.
"Doesn't seem right to me, either," Jim echoed.
That's when Rawson Wilson came walking in. "I hear you boys talking," Rawson said. "I'm just going to suggest it is a little late for this. You spent the money, and you continue to spend it. You spend as if money grows on trees or comes off a printing press. You buy this and you buy that and you buy a little bit of everything. Then, when the bills come due, you suggest you deserve a tax break -- I mean, a break on paying your bills. It doesn't work that way. You run up the bill, you better pay it. Don't be whining about how nobody else pays so high of a tax rate -- I mean so high of a monthly credit card bill. Don't be telling me it isn't fair. Fair is paying for what you buy. You want a break, you think about that before you buy something."
He looked them straight in the eyes, but I couldn't tell if what he had said was sinking in.
(Indexes: Stories, national deficit, tax reform)
Thursday, October 26, 2017
It is Policies such as These that I Don't Favor
Many suggest supporting President Trump because of his polices. And, there are a number of his policies that I might agree with. His declaration against opioids might end up being something I highly laud. (At the moment, I am not quite ready to endorse his opioid effort, as I am wondering what kind of federal funding will be attached, and whether the money being spent will bring results.) His release of the Kennedy files I am very in favor of.
But, there are a number of his policies and efforts I do not support. A border wall? I do not support that. Bombing in Syria till some cities are largely uninhabitable, and then telling the people in Syria they are responsible for their own rebuilding? That doesn't set well with me. Health-care proposals just for the satisfaction of saying you're getting rid of another health plan, even though your own proposal doesn't appear any better? I wonder what good that will do. A tax measure that increases the national deficit? I'm afraid I don't support that. A tax measure that favors the rich? I cry out against that.
Bless President Trump for what good he does. But, there are a number of things he misses on.
But, there are a number of his policies and efforts I do not support. A border wall? I do not support that. Bombing in Syria till some cities are largely uninhabitable, and then telling the people in Syria they are responsible for their own rebuilding? That doesn't set well with me. Health-care proposals just for the satisfaction of saying you're getting rid of another health plan, even though your own proposal doesn't appear any better? I wonder what good that will do. A tax measure that increases the national deficit? I'm afraid I don't support that. A tax measure that favors the rich? I cry out against that.
Bless President Trump for what good he does. But, there are a number of things he misses on.
Would the Founders be Conservatives or Liberals -- or Moderates?
I don't know that we can consider the Founding Fathers as conservatives, at least not in terms of whether they would support the conservative issues of our day. Conjecture as to what the founders would do, and what stands they would take, is interesting. I am prone to wondering, myself. Gun control? I think they would be in the same boat we are in today, having to weigh the pluses and minuses, with some of them thinking one way and some of them the other. The same would go with many other issues, I would guess. They would consider the issues, think about them, and come to conclusions. True, just as in this day, there would be some with preconceived opinions. Still, I'm guessing there would be more moderates among them than there are today, if we define a moderate as someone who is willing to consider each issue instead of simply going with a preconceived opinion.
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