Journal Entry

Prose by Nichole Hastings

What is there in music that it should so stir our deeps?

We are all ordinarily in a state of desperation; such is our life; ofttimes it drives us to suicide. To how many, perhaps to most, life is barely tolerable, and if it were not for the fear of death or of dying, what a multitude would immediately commit suicide! But let us hear a strain of music, we are at once advertised of a life which no man had told us of, which no preacher preaches. Suppose I try to describe faithfully the prospect which a strain of music exhibits to me. The field of my life becomes a boundless plain, glorious to tread, with no death nor disappointment at the end of it. All meanness and trivialness disappear. I become adequate to any deed. No particulars survive this expansion; persons do not survive it. In the light of this strain there is no thou nor I. We are actually lifted above ourselves.

[H.D.Thoreau, Journal, 15 January 1857]

Drug Abuse is a Result, Not a Cause

Vermont Quits War on Drugs to Treat Heroin Abuse as Health Issue

Inside: Naloxone, used to counter the effects of a heroin overdose

Photograph by Shane Lavalette for Bloomberg Businessweek

Inside: Naloxone, used to counter the effects of a heroin overdose

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin devoted his entire State of the State address in January to what he called Vermont’s “full-blown heroin crisis.” Since 2000, he said, the state had seen a 250 percent increase in addicts receiving treatment. The courts were swamped with heroin-related cases. In 2013 the number of people charged with heroin trafficking in federal court in Vermont increased 135 percent from the year before, according to federal records. Shumlin, a Democrat, urged the legislature to approve a new set of drug policies that go beyond the never-ending cat-and-mouse between cops and dealers. Along with a crackdown on traffickers, he proposed rigorous addiction prevention programs in schools and doctors’ offices, as well as more rehabilitation options for addicts. “We must address it as a public health crisis,” Shumlin said, “providing treatment and support rather than simply doling out punishment, claiming victory, and moving on to our next conviction.”

Read more here.

 

7.16.14

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At 3pm, although our plan had been to meet here and they weren’t here, I wasn’t worried.  I drove up to the William T  and the Happy Hill trailheads to look.  Alas, they weren’t there.  I left a note.  Nor did I hear from them at 5 or 7.  But I had left a note.  Surely they would be in touch soon. At 9pm, I had an uneasy feeling that something had gone awry…

I Bought Lobster and Porter House with My Food Stamps

When you’re poor, people treat you like you’re a second class citizen/human being.
What you eat is scrutinized,
Any money you spend on non-essentials is criticized.
If you own nice stuff, people think you’re lying, stupid, or should sell it all.

Your entire value of being is questioned.
Opinions of who you are as a person are formed.

Well, right back at you.

You have money?
That’s worthless.

You’re not poor?
Whoop-de-doo.

You put a can of soup or beans in a food collection box?
Big fucking deal.

You condescend to consider The Poor.

How about appreciation for others?
Gratitude?
Kindness?
Empathy?
Compassion?

Are those qualities a commodity measurable in money?

Some misguided rich assholes out there who donate to charities for tax write-offs,
Have kids that put a couple boxes of macaroni and cheese in a hunger drive box,
Drop off clothes they no longer wear at a Goodwill
Are saying “Yes.”

They pat themselves on the back for enabling poverty.
They do nothing of any real value to address poverty’s root issues.
They think, “The Poor eating lobster or a porter house is unfair. To me.”
They think, “Poverty…that could never happen to me.”

 

@nicholehastings