Legalize drugs.. all of 'em

My husband and I were having a discussion regarding the number of murders that have been happening in the metro Vancouver area. It sounds like they're gang related. Most citizens are tired of the deaths and innocent casualties. The question becomes, how can we disable gangs? The answer: cut off their source of income, legalize drugs. All of them. Not just marijuana -- which most people believe should be legalized. I'm talking heroin, crack cocaine, meth.. all of them.

Who benefits from drugs being illegal? Gangs, other organized crime, and other people who selling or producing the drugs. Because it's so lucrative, organized crime is likely to get involved if Joe Average starts producing drugs in any significant amount.

Who hurts from drugs being illegal? Those who use the drugs. Who are they? There are the recreational users and then there are the addicts. Not much I can say about recreational users. If it's not affecting their lives, then what's the harm? On the other hand, there are the addicts. I've never been an addict, but I understand the desire to escape, especially when you're faced with something you don't know how to handle.

It seems like if people are looking for an escape, they should be allowed to have it. There's a legalization program in Switzerland and the Netherlands where they make heroin available to those who are need it. When this happened, the "addicts" were able to maintain their lives. They also offer psychiatry and social workers services. The needles and paraphernalia were kept in the clinic where the heroin was provided by nurses.

Initially, when we were discussing this, the foremost thought in my mind was, "What if my son experiments with it as a teen and gets addicted?" The answer is, "So what?" If he did get addicted, then he'd be able to access the drugs that his body needs and it would be up to my husband and I to address the reasons behind his addiction. If you think your life sucks, then you should change it. If everyone was striving to live the best lives they could, we wouldn't have drug addiction because there wouldn't be anything to escape.

When I took a lower level Criminology class in university, I was surprised to find that opiates were made illegal because of the gold rush in BC. Opiates was imported by the Chinese and it was felt that the Chinese had an unfair advantage.

Making drugs illegal only drives up the costs of policing the poor. It's silly. Make it legal, make it available at Safeway. Instead of trying to control the symptom of people living unhappy lives, we should address the root cause. That would be a much bigger challenge, but this world would be a better place if we were helping our fellow humans lead happier lives.

Sibling rivalry

My daughter has started crawling forward. She's mobile and a little explorer. It's wonderful.. except that she's getting into more toys and my son is not pleased with this development.

I've had to start punishing him (with 30 second time-outs in the corner) because he started pushing her over. The first day I started this, he must have pushed her 8 times before he stopped. Since then, he's stopped pushing her, for the most part. He still does it occasionally. He is snatching toys away from her, screaming, "Noooo!", and throwing the toy across the room.

A part of me thinks that I should intervene as little as possible because I want these two to develop a friendship, but it feels wrong because my daughter is so young. There are toys that are "his" and that I don't allow her to play with (when he's in the room). I'm also trying to instill in him the concept of toys that are exclusively hers and that he shouldn't be playing with. That's a difficult concept for a 2 year old to grasp.

Well.. the toys are in front of me, so I guess he needs some attention.

Octo-mom

Just fresh from watching a bunch of interviews with the octo-mom. What I find that really sucks in this society is how we coddle people. She had 6 kids alone, hasn't worked for the last 10 years, living off the dole.. and then wanted to have another one?!! I say let her figure it out for herself!

As for the children.. give me a break. There are so many children in this world who fall between the cracks, at least hers have media coverage and a fighting chance. And really.. do we *really* want to help her propagate her genes?

I've got kids of my own, so I feel for the children.. but she should not be allowed to benefit from her own stupidity.

She says that she wants to write a book?! C'mon people.. do you really want to take advice from someone who's caring for 14 children under 8? Not me. I found out enough about Ms. Octo-mom and I hope that people DON'T help her so that (perhaps for the first time in her life) she'll be held accountable for her own actions. But think about the kids? If people help her, then she's just going to have more kids and take more advantage of people's generosity. It's never going to stop.

One question that raises in my mind is the expense of IVF. If she hasn't been working for the last 10 years and has 6 mouths that she can't feed and needs to accept food stamps, how was she able to afford invitro? Seems like poor money management skills.. to the extent that she's using available funds for herself rather than for her existing children. Another reason to not help her. Let the state take away her children and let them find homes for her children. And if she has more, let those be taken at the hospital because she's not capable of caring for them.

This society seems to cater to those who live irresponsibly and then turn around and ask for a handout. Why are we rewarding those type of people? Wouldn't it be better to help people who are really trying and doing things responsibly?

Multivitamins

Recently, a study was done on seniors and found that taking multivitamins did nothing to improve health. I had always wondered about whether our bodies can actually use vitamins that have been extracted from their natural source or man made.

I suspect that having apple juice gets us no vitamin C--unless it's freshly juiced. We do funky stuff to our food. Did you know that half a grapefruit contains all the vitamin c you need in a day? On the other hand, a 300mL bottle of grapefruit juice contains no vitamin c. What the heck did we do to that poor grapefruit?

Then when you consider all the vitamin no-no's that people don't tell you. Did you know that iron and vitamin c shouldn't mix? Same with calcium and vitamin c. But multivitamins contain them side by side by side. Who knows what the benefits are. Or if there are any.

Best site ever

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf576594.tip.html

That's the best site ever in terms of information for skunk smell removal. Let's just say that there's at least one that's set up a den under our front steps (concrete steps.. it dug under it). I wasn't in a huge panic to get rid of the skunk because I didn't think it would spray near its home. It was a nuisance to be afraid of taking the garbage out.. We didn't have a confirmed sighting of the skunk until the night before last.

But now that I've read more about skunks (more than I've ever wanted to know).. the female will sometimes spray a male if she's not interested. I suspect this is what happened.

Now the problem is the smell in the house. I don't know how to get rid of it. I'm trying lots of different things, but the smell is coming from the front of the house, under the front steps.. likely inside the skunk's den. I think it's seeping in through the walls.

So this is what I've done. I've put out bowls of vinegar, I'm burning scented candles, I'm boiling coffee, I'm baking coffee grounds and cinnamon in the oven at 250, I've got all the windows open, I've got a fan going. I'm very, very sensitive to smell so the only reason why I haven't run from the house screaming is a pair of swimmer's nose plugs (while sitting next to an open window). Thank goodness. Before I thought of the nose plugs, I was shaking from the smell. I had sat myself and my infant daughter beside an open window. It's pretty cold outside.. close to freezing.

Strangely enough, my husband doesn't seem to be too affected by the smell. I wish that I didn't have my super olfactory senses. It's good for detecting spoilt milk better than anyone I know, but this is ridiculous.

What am I doing about the skunk? Previously, we put mothballs in the den and the skunks left. My husband got some heavy wire to block off the opening and covered it all with lots of gravel. That was the one side that was easily accessible. The other side, he put gravel down it, but it was difficult because of the roots of a bush. I thought that would be enough. At the time, it was the middle of winter and my husband asked if he should pour concrete down it. It was very cold, so I told him not to and that we could do it in the spring. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb!

So that's our plan. As soon as they/it leaves, we will pour concrete down the side. Might also dig up the other side and pour concrete down that side, too. I don't know. I don't want to have to go through this again.

It's so bad that my plans are to go live with my sister temporarily. This will be a huge pain because it will mess up both my kids' sleep. I don't know. Maybe the house just needs a day to air-out.

I'll be heading to the store to pick up some vapor-rub to put under my nose. I can't live like this.

So in love

I'm so in love with my son. He's adorable. I could do without the night time wakings and the tantrums, but he's just the sweetest little boy. After a tantrum, he'll seek you out for an extended hug. Same with the night time wakings. And I gotta tell you, he gives the best hugs in the world. There's something about the strength of the little arms holding your neck that's the most precious feeling in the world. And then there's the funny little things that he does. If you've got your face cuddling his head and you lift your head before he's done with his hug, he'll pull your face down.

It's a pure, innocent love that's simply intoxicating.

Even the times when he's not cooperating, it's very cute. You can almost see his toddler mind working. There is no malice, no negativity behind his intentions. He wants to play, he wants to laugh, he wants to feel loved, he wants to feel important, he wants to feel independent. It's all very sweet and endearing.

I'm shocking myself with this sudden change in attitude. Previously, I found his tantrums exhausting. I'm not sure what's happened, but for the last 24 hours, I've felt nothing but love for the little guy. Maybe it's baby-sitting my niece that's changed things. He used to get irritable starting around 4 or 5 in the early evening, but we've been picking up my niece from daycare at that time and the two of them have a blast until it's time to go to bed.

Maybe it's because I see him interact with her. He's totally in love with her. He'll share everything with her. He follows her around and imitates her. She, being older and wiser, tries to "teach" him things. Mostly, she'll read to him and point out the names of items and tries to get him to repeat after her. She also goads him into doing things that he shouldn't. It's sweet watching them play.

Terrible two's aren't so terrible

Tonight, I saw a side of two year old's that make them far from terrible. Okay, they've got those tantrums and they're impossible to reason with. The other day, my son threw a tantrum because he couldn't defy gravity. What can you do about that one?

As a 2 year old, my son's intentions are completely pure. His motives are clear, for the most part.

Unfortunately, my 7 month old has bed time needs that I can't ignore anymore.. so perhaps I'll post more on this later.