My love and my loss - handling the murder of a daughter - Column Essence, Jan, 1996 by Dee Sumpter
My daughter, Shawna, was taken from me by violence. I always dreamed that I would watch her grow up, get married, have children of her own and make fun of my graying hair. Instead I buried her just two months after her twentieth birthday.
When I arrived home after work on February 19, 1993, I didn't think much of the fact that Shawna's car wasn't there. I told myself she just wasn't home yet. I was making dinner when her boyfriend called. He was concerned, but I reassured him that she was probably with her godson. She adored that baby. But then her godson's mother called and asked us if we had seen her because she hadn't picked up the baby yet.
I knew immediately that something was wrong, and my heart flew into my throat. Shawna was very responsible, and this was completely out of character. I began to pray, but I tried not to panic. I was sure that any minute she would pull into the driveway.
Then I went to her room and saw her coat in the closet and her purse on the bed. Why was she out in the freezing cold without her coat? Where would she go without her purse? Now I was frightened. I called Daryl back and asked him to come over so that we could try to figure out where Shawna could be. Were we forgetting something? Did she have a meeting or class to attend that evening? Everything kept coming up blank. We decided to call the police.
I had beard that a person had to be missing for 24 hours before the police would take a report. But when I called, they took my information without protest. That cheered me up a bit. Still, I kept hoping to hear the sound of her car chugging into the driveway. Suddenly Daryl screamed and ran into the living room. He told me to call the police. Shawna was in the bathtub. She had been strangled.
The following months were like a nightmare. Each day was more of a struggle than the last. just to get up and leave the house was almost too much. It seemed that everywhere I looked - on the television or in the newspapers - there were other mothers who were suffering the loss of their children.
I had to do something. But what? Nothing would bring back my child. Maybe if mothers suffering this very special grief came together we could ease our pain. We could act as support to one another. Why not make a place where we could talk about our children and work toward recovery and healing in our own lives and in those of our other children and loved ones?
I founded Mothers of Murdered Offspring (M.O.M.-O.) for that purpose. Although our name begins with the word Mothers, we welcome anyone who has suffered a loss. We want to heal not only our own families but also those around us.
My heart still aches when I think of Shawna. The numbness has worn off. I wake up with my pain, and I lie don with it. My mind plays tricks on me, and I sometimes hear Shawna's laugh. I glimpse her in the mirror, trying a new hairstyle or testing my lipsticks. When those memories come, all I can do is pray.
I realize how blessed I was to have her as long as I did. Remembering those years sustains me now. Shawna was a shy beautiful and loving young woman. Her smile lit up a room. She and I were friends and confidantes. We giggled over silly things and talked each other through hard choices. We had our mothers-daughter disputes, but she respected my opinion.
My work with M.O.M.-O. has given me hope. Every, child has a right to a future. When I speak at schools and around the city and across the country, I know only one thing can stem the flow of violence in our communities: It is love. And love is only truly, love when you give it away. Shawna would be so happy to know that I love her enough to keep living.
Dee Sumpter is the mother of three other children and the founder of M.O.M.-O. in Charlotte, North Carolina.
William Barr is considering leaving because he's getting fed up with Trump's attacks on the Justice Department.
Rumor has it that Attorney General William Barr is looking for the exit due to the constant annoyance of the moron Donald J. Trump constantly tweeting about cases involving the U.S. Justice Department.
The Associated Press had sources saying that Barr was considering resigning after the ABC News interview. He was annoyed with Trump continued attacks on the Justice Department.
The Justice Department spokeswoman willing to speak said that "[Barr] hs no plans to resign."
One official said Barr's statement of concern was as much as a reflection of his thinking earlier in the day as it was an effort to persuade Trump to cut down on his Twitter remarks about legal matters.
Kerry & Murphy illegally violated the Logan Act. This is why Iran is not making a deal. Must be dealt with strongly! https://t.co/RpTW9c09ZY
Before leaving the White House for California on Tuesday, Trump said he realized his tweets about the Justice Department makes Barr's job harder.
"I do agree with that," he said. "I think it's true."
The ABC News interview was controversial. Barr meddled in the conviction trial of Trump's troll buddy Roger Stone. The Justice Department is considering 7 to 9 years in federal time out.
Trump told Barr to intervene in the matter. Four U.S. prosecutors resigned in protest over this.
The Justice Department has little confidence in Barr and felt that Trump is undermining those in law enforcement. Ever since the Senate acquitted Trump, he boldly said that he will continue on regardless of the consequences. He took Joe Biden before the election.
He will ask foreign entities to meddle in the U.S. Election.
Trump's threats on federal judge Amy Berman Jackson were not productive at all.
Trump claimed that Robert Mueller and the FBI were unfair to Stone and left the door open to pardoning Stone if he's convicted for less than five years.
But in his remarks before leaving for California, Trump said that he has "total confidence" in Barr.
"I think he's doing an excellent job. He's the strong guy."
The president also said, however, that social media gives him a voice he would not otherwise get through the news media.
Barr has been mum on his decision but expect within a few months, there could be a vacancy.
Bernie Sanders got himself a fresh amount of conspiracy nuts. He said he won't release his health records and now folks are calling for him to release his medical records.
That moron in the White House would not release his tax returns. He is literally fighting this all the way to the Supreme Court. He claims the public isn't entitled to knowing his personal finances.
So the candidates who call upon him to release his records. Yet, they're not willing to release theirs.
Here's a simple question.
Why can't the progressives support the nominee if it's not their first choice?
It seems like the Democrats are having the same shit going on with their party. They hate Donald J. Trump a lot. But damn it, they hate the current field of candidates running to beat him.
All the ingredients to help Trump secure a second term. While I'm willing to support any candidate over Trump, it's not worth arguing over who's the nominee if they're not "100% progressive."
Mind you, Trump beat 17 candidates including Republicans' favorite son, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
Thom Hartmann and Stephanie Miller are deeply divided over the Democratic candidates. Hartmann is supportive of Sanders and Miller is supportive of Warren. Both will not agree to supporting the nominee even if it's not their first choice.
The Republicans were bashing Trump for being a "showman" and "con artist." Yet, they voted for him over rival Hillary Clinton. Thanks to distrust from voters, Russia and disgruntled supporters of her Democratic rivals, Clinton lost and Trump unexpectedly won. He proved to the world, that he could commit a crime and he would not lose his supporters.
So far, he's gotten over 90% of the Republican Party's support.
Now if the Democrats could give the potential nominee that type of support!
Progressive agitator Stephanie Miller is a die-hard supporter of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Her fellow agitator, Thom Hartmann is a die-hard supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
They both disagree on who's their choice of candidate. Yet, they claim they're going to "vote Blue no matter who!"
Whatever.
I've listened to their word vomit.
Miller doesn't support Sanders.
Hartman doesn't support Warren.
Both of them are strongly passionate about the populist senators and their attacks on former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg. As Bloomberg is rising in the polls, the two senators are planning on confronting him over his record as mayor. They will attack him for being a billionaire. They will attack him for "buying" his way into the election. They will start criticizing remarks for what they've called racist.
Bloomberg will enter the debate stage for the first time. Expect controversy and word vomits from him and the five candidates still in the race.
Sanders is not a squeaky clean candidate. He is facing scrutiny. Many including myself are turned off by his passionate supporters. His supporters are a bunch of annoying trolls and gnats. They are making it harder for Democrats to rally around Sanders.
After two disappointing showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, Elizabeth Warren needs a good debate and strong showing in the Nevada caucuses to survive.
And now, they're calling out the junk food media for "smearing" Sanders because they want to see his "records."
At a CNN Town Hall, Sanders addressed a group of supporters and critics.
The Vermont senator and Democratic frontrunner said on Tuesday he will not release any more medical records during his presidential bid, arguing he's already released sufficient information to quell concerns about his health.
Some were quick to call him out.
Last year, the senator suffered a mild heart attack during a campaign event. Sanders had a blockage in one artery and two stents were inserted.
He said that he's "healthy."
"The people do have a right to know about the health of a senator, somebody who's running for President of the United States -- full disclosure," Sanders said.
"We have released quite as much documentation as any other candidate has. I think we have released a detailed medical report and I'm comfortable on what we have done."
Sanders and the so-called Bernie Bros have not been so kind when it came to his old rival of 2016.
The Bernie Bros have assisted a far-white cable news network in a massive smear campaign against a woman who the world believed was better suited for the job.
Rupert "Pervert" Murdoch's Fox News relentlessly went after Hillary Clinton's health. Remember Dr. Sean "Softball" Hannity had medical experts giving junk science about the former candidate's health.
All the while, a mentally ill former reality television agitator was saying shit without repose. A mentally ill troll who lied about having a "routine check-up" only nine months after his first one.
A mentally-ill troll who had allegedly had discomfort in his heart but to the junk food media, he was just visiting troops at Andrews Air Force Base. Not on the agenda. His traveling press would usually inform the public on his outings.
Now, we have a candidate who acts similar to Trump when it comes to attacking opponents because of a strength. He wants to make "enemies" of billionaires. Even the billionaires who support his causes.
Tom Steyer, Andrew Yang and Michael Bloomberg are billionaires. Trump is a billionaire. We get that. But Steyer, Yang and Bloomberg are willing to pay more to help others. That's the thing that Sanders and Warren ain't getting.
Mind you Sanders and Warren are millionaires. They have no real legislative accomplishments. The only candidates who have accomplishments is Joe Biden (as vice president and senator) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
The far-white agitators had made Biden's health and mental fitness an issue. He's suffering in the polls because the candidates, Fox News and Trump were concerned about Biden's son Hunter and Ukraine. Now that he's trailing in the race for the nomination, you see the focus shift to Bloomberg.
Biden was considered the strongest candidate at one point. Because of Biden allowing Trump dictate the message, Bloomberg decided to run.
Why aren't they focused on Sanders and Warren's health and mental fitness?
Donald J. Trump has a 65% of winning the election. If we don't get our asses together, you're going to see Trump continue on as the president. Now I'm very serious. I don't want any candidate to be dragged down because of a bunch of trolls and Fox News. We need to take the fight to the Republican Party. Fuck apologies and sympathy towards them. They have no care for others.
Why dignify them by being "nice?"
Fuck the morality. If we don't get the money and resources to fight the Trump and the Republicans, the Democrats will lose the House and get hit harder in the Senate.
Primary season is not even over and we should be acting like it's crunch time.
Indiana Beach Amusement Park is closing forever. Many Hoosiers are upset over this.
The Great American Comeback folks!
For those living in the Hoosier State , there was an amusement park that attracted people from the metro area. The amusement park, Indiana Beach in Monticello has closed with no plans to reopen.
The park owned by Apex Parks, Inc said that the park has closed because of financial struggles.
Apex Parks purchased the property from Morgan Recreations of Saratoga Springs, New York.
The company is hoping to sell the property to another business in order to save an iconic Indiana theme park.
The thrills have ended.
At the edge of the Tippecanoe River and Honey Creek in the heart of Lake Shafer lies the Indiana Beach Amusement Park.
The amusement park has operated for 94 years.
The Twin Lakes region were in shocked.
"We didn't see this coming at all," Randy Mitchell, White County economic development director, said on Tuesday.
The park is expected to dismantle rollercoaster rides and the waterpark.
The park is only 30 miles from Lafayette, Indiana. It's about 95 miles from Chicago.
Indiana Beach's closure is heartbreaking.
The park was founded by Earl Spackman. He opened the park in 1926. He initially called it Ideal Beach.
The park grew over the years as a place to lounge on the beach, go on the rides and attend big name concerts. In the 1940s, Spackman handed off the resort to his son, Thomas, who got the idea of changing Ideal to Indiana. To the day it was called Indiana Beach.
Mitchell said that under Morgan, the park did go through some rough times. But once they sold the property to Apex, the park was back on the right track.
The Indiana Beach/Monticello KOA campground, which is a companion to the amusement park will continue on for the time being said the KOA Kampgrounds, Inc. presser.
Only two months after the live taping of Good Times and All in The Family on ABC aired, Ja'net DuBois appeared with John Amos, Jimmie Walker and Berne Nadette Stanis, we learned that she passed away.
So this comes as a huge surprise to me. She was active during her time.
As confirmed by her family and those close to Ja'net, the entertainer had died early Tuesday in her sleep at her home in Glendale.
Known for making some of the greatest entrances in sitcom history as the sassy neighbor Willona Woods on the Norman Lear comedy Good Times.
She was the show-stopper on the sitcom that lasted from 1974 to 1979.
Good Times was a very popular sitcom in the 1970s.
She appeared on stage with Jimmy Kimmel to praise the work of the cast of Live in Front of a Studio Audience.
Going on to win two Emmys later in life for her vocal work on Eddie Murphy's animated sitcom The PJs, DuBois also co-wrote and sang the iconic "Movin' on Up" theme song from The Jeffersons that opened each episode of the Norman Lear series from 1975 to 1985.
DuBois had roles on the big screen as well. She appeared in the Academy Award nominated Diary of a Mad Housewife in 1970. She also appeared in the 1950s Broadway series known as Golden Boys with Louis Gossett, Jr. and Sammy Davis, Jr.
She appeared in Keenan Ivory Wayans mock action movie I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. She appeared in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle as well as A Different World, The Wayans Brothers, The Steve Harvey Show and numerous others.
The last appearance of Ja'net DuBois was the live taping of Good Times and All in The Family with Jimmy Kimmel and Norman Lear.
She also was the co-founder of the Pan African Films & Arts Festival with Danny Glover and Ayuko Babu. She also founded the Ja'net DuBois Academy of Theater Arts and Sciences.
She had two children. Rani DuBois and Raj Kristo Gupta. Raj died of cancer in 1987. Rani appeared on one episode of What's Happening!!.
She had recorded two albums. The albums Queen of the Highway and Hidden Treasures show her talents as a vocalist.
Ja'net has won a Primetime Emmy for her role on The PJs and a TV Land award for Good Times.
Blago is out of federal time out thanks to his buddy Donnie.
Rupert "Pervert" Murdoch's Fox News and the guy who can get away with anything if he's the president managed to spring out a corrupt governor, pardon a corrupt cop, pardon a corrupt financier and a corrupt businessman. He also sprung out a Black woman who got a shafted a lengthy bid for trafficking narco.
Donald J. Trump has commuted the sentence of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich.
The former Democratic governor was a part of a clemency spree. Trump issued a handful of corrupt politicians and business executives convicted of federal crimes.
Blagojevich was trying to sell then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama's seat when he became the 44th President of the United States.
Trump called the conviction, "ridiculous."
Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office because of this action. The feds found him guilty of corruption and he was ordered to spend 15 years in the iron college. Trump's commuting of Blagojevich shaves off half of a federal conviction. It doesn't necessarily mean he's been pardoned but many see it as one.
Trump confirmed to reporters that he's granted clemency to Blagojevich, Bernard Kerik, Michael Milken and Edward DeBartolo, Jr. These individuals were convicted of corruption and financial crimes.
The former Illinois governor was then a contestant on The Apprentice. He also was a governor who served the state from 2003 to 2009. He was the 40th governor of the state.
Trump pardons corrupt figures in American politics and business.
"He'll be able to go back home with his family after serving eight years in jail," Trump said to reporters.
"Many people disagreed with the sentence," Trump told reporters. "He's a Democrat, he's not a Republican. It was a prosecution by the same (rotten) people, [James] Comey, [Patrick Fitzgerald], the same group."
Trump found sympathy for his old buddy, a former contestant on The Apprentice: Celebrity Edition.
"Very far from his children," Trump said. "They rarely get to see their father outside of an orange uniform. I saw that and I did commute his sentence."
What Trump saw was the wife of Blagojevich go on Fox News pleading to release her husband.
Trump pardoned Milken, who the junk food media called the junk bond king. He was convicted of violating U.S. securities laws.
Further, Trump confirmed he pardoned the former New York Police Department commissioner Bernard (Bernie) Kerik. Kerik was going to be a top-pick in George W. Bush's Justice Department.
Trump and Rod Blagojevich had ties. Blago was on The Apprentice.
All of that went up in smoke after the feds determined he abused his power. He was convicted of tax fraud, misuse of property and lying to state and federal investigators. He was known as Rudy Giuliani's right hand man. He was the originator of the "stop-and-frisk" policy that Democrats are slamming Michael Bloomberg for.
Kerik spent four years in federal time out for his crimes. Trump pardoned the corrupt cop.
He pardoned a corrupt business man who owned the San Francisco 49ers. Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. was convicted of failing to report a bribe to the former governor of Louisiana when he pleaded guilty to it in 1998. DeBartolo was a gambler and tried to buy off debts by offering merchandise and tickets.
Jim Brown and Jerry Rice praise Trump's pardon of Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. and releasing Black drug offenders.
His guilty plea was in connection to his payment of $400,000 to former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards in exchange for a riverboat gambling license. He was not given a bid in federal time out, but was fined $1 million and was suspended for a year by the NFL. But the incident ended his career with the NFL.
He was denied pardons from Barack Obama and George W. Bush. There was a reason.
Trump's buddies, coon pastor Darrell Scott, NFL geezers Jim Brown, Jerry Rice and Ronnie Lott praised the decision to let DeBartolo off the hook.
Remember Trump promise he would drain the swamp. Yet, he is the emboldenment of the swamp.
The only good thing Trump did commute the sentences of Black women. Tynice Nichole Hall was sent to federal time out for 18 years for allowing her home to be a drug den. Crystal Munoz, who spent 12 years reduced for playing a role in a marijuana smuggling operation and Judith Negron, a white woman who tried to scheme and defraud the federal government.
Lots of ice in the state of Ohio. Meth is making a huge comeback.
The Great American Comeback, folks.
Donald J. Trump will likely win Ohio despite the population of the state is declining. The Republican governor Mike DeWine and statehouse Republicans control the government. They will retain power in 2020 and gain the opportunity to redraw congressional districts in 2022. The state is slated to lose at least one congressional district. The state is older, white, and economically depressed.
The only city in the state to see growth is Columbus, Ohio.
The population of Columbus at present time is nearly 989,000 people. The city has 1 million residents. Because of Ohio State University, state government and the healthcare industry has boast the city's population. The retaining of Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew and city's innovation to growing within it's borders has turned the city around.
Columbus is bigger than San Francisco, Indianapolis, Fort Worth and Jacksonville.
Yet, the rest of this state is suffering badly. Dayton, Akron, Youngstown, Canton, Toledo and Cleveland have seen massive decline in their populations.
The communities have suffered with blight, graffiti, boarded up homes, business leaving, food deserts and lackluster services like hospitals and schools.
Now the suburbs and rural communities outside of the major centers are facing turmoil.
Cities like Marietta, Stuebenville, Athens, Logan, Marysville, Lima, Upper Sandusky, Warren, Springfield, Greenville, Delphos and Cambridge have stories to tell. The smaller communities have dealt with opioids and now methamphetamine.
The deadly drug is back.
Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky experienced a jump in the meth addiction.
State officials have been tracking the increase of meth across Ohio and according to the letter sent to legislators there were hundreds of overdose deaths involving meth.
The ice is back on the streets and it's worst than expected. Ohio became the number one state for opioid addiction. Dayton, Ohio was ranked the third community in the United States with a rise in heroin addiction.
Even though law enforcement has seen a decrease in opioid addiction due to treatments like Narcan and naloxone, folks are still finding opioids as an escape from the "hard knock life."
Lots of white people are becoming addicted to opioids. When Black and Brown people were addicted to drugs, law enforcement have locked up them up. When white people are addicted to drugs, they get help and reality television treatment.
Having a gram of heroin would get a Black man locked up for up to 10 years.
The drug cartels are intensifying their distribution of the meth.
The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky/Eastern Indiana area has reported that meth is big in their area.
The Queen City is the second Ohio city that's growing with population. At present time, Cincinnati has 301,000 residents. The community has experienced a rise in meth.
Meth is a cheaper high and those moving past fentanyl are looking for the easiest way to get high without having their hearts stop.
The rise in meth tested at law enforcement crime laboratories across Ohio and Kentucky is staggering.
Just one example: The 23 drug task forces (including Northern Kentucky's) that are funded through the Ohio High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area agency saw a 1,600% jump in meth seized from 2015 to 2019 (and the 2019 numbers are incomplete).
A woman addicted to drugs changes over time.
But as shocking as that number is, some addiction experts say that we are missing the point behind the new meth wave.
The point: Addiction. The United States has an addiction crisis.
"We just simply move like a herd of locusts from one drug to another," said Dr. Mina "Mike" Kalfas, a certified addiction expert in Northern Kentucky. "Meth is the replacement for the crack of old. We go from opioid (pain pills) to opioid (heroin) to opioid (fentanyl) to stimulant (meth)."
"We try to get them off of the drug they're on," Kalfas said. "What we need to do is, treat the addiction. They're using (a) drug as a coping mechanism."
Addiction, which has been with us forever, is what needs to be fixed. With evidence-based treatment. The American Society of Addiction Medicine is still clamoring for more doctors to learn about such treatment and to attend to the problem as a disease.
Historically, the medical system largely ignored addiction, allowing the criminal justice system and treatment programs outside of the health care system to deal with it, said Lindsey Vuolo, director of Health Law and Policy and public affairs for the science-based nonprofit Center on Addiction in New York City.
The grudging change started with the opioid epidemic. As overdose death tolls soared, the mantra became: Treat addiction. Save lives. Keep people safe if they use drugs. Carry the opioid-overdose antidote naloxone. Provide more needle exchanges to prevent the spread of diseases such as hepatitis and HIV. Continue treatment for this chronic disease.
Those who ignore the advice put us at our own peril, experts say.
"If we don't start to effectively and efficiently address addiction like the public health issue that it is, we will continue to see drug epidemic after drug epidemic," said Courtney Hunter, director of advocacy at the Center on Addiction.
So why meth? Why now?
For starters, those who are addicted to opiates are hearing others talk about a new high, cheap and easy to get, and safer than fentanyl.
They are people with addiction, after all, and most people who suffer from addiction will reach for drugs other than the one they primarily use.
Meth is an alternative. But it's sneaky.
Kalfas calls the current meth problem a new tentacle of the opioid epidemic, noting that most patients he's seeing who switch from heroin to meth don't give up opioids for long.
"They perceive (meth) as different, sometimes even lesser somehow, which is how they underestimate it. But when their batteries are dry, they need to 'come down,' what will they turn to? The opiate-addicted turns to opiates."
Brittany Christian, 32, of Walnut Hills, who's in recovery, said she learned about meth while she was in treatment for heroin addiction in Louisville.
Hamilton, Ohio is a city that is located 20 miles from Cincinnati. It's a hub of meth and opioids.
"Everybody had done it and I hadn't done it, and I really wanted to try it," she said. "I did not want to go through the heroin withdrawal again."
Six months after she left that rehab, in May 2017, she decided to find meth.
"It's just as easy as getting cigarettes at the gas station," Christian said.
For Detzel, the woman who fell into obsessive floor-scrubbing, drugs were a way to cope with living, she says. Now 35 and in recovery for a year, Detzel was 13 when she was led into a sex-for-drugs trafficking situation orchestrated by someone close to her family.
She did drugs, she said, because it seemed normal.
"I never knew the proper way, you know, to get help," she said. “All I knew was to use because that's what I'd seen ... at a young age."
She was vulnerable to anything that took her away from her real life.
"I just wanted to try anything. Anything that I thought would take me to another level."
And by the time she was 30, meth was simply there for her to try, she said. "Somebody was selling it."
But Detzel rallied. She was able to maintain sobriety after her stint in the nursing home. She had been prescribed Suboxone for her opioid addiction and had to steer clear of drug use for six months before she could have heart surgery. She learned coping mechanisms, learned she'd been trafficked through no fault of her own and turned to God for help. She celebrated one year in recovery in January.
No such help with meth...
Both Detzel and Christian had been introduced to medical help for their initial addictions. There is no medication-assisted treatment available for meth addiction, as there is for opioid addiction.
The best treatment right now for meth addiction is psycho-social therapy, addiction experts say. The method can include talk therapy, learning about the illness and a rehabilitation regimen that helps people develop social and emotional skills they can employ to live a healthy life. Some sufferers are prescribed anti-anxiety or sleep-help drugs or other medications while they detox from meth.
Like with other addictions, "You have to look at the underlying issues and really make a treatment plan that's individualized for the person," said Kat Engel, vice president of nursing services for the Center of Addiction Treatment in the West End. "Are they self-medicating?"
As is usual with treatment, not enough are getting it. Meth-related deaths are rising. The latest figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that, from 2012 to 2018, the rate of drug overdose deaths involving methamphetamine and other “psychostimulants with abuse potential” was up almost fivefold.
Christian, who has been in recovery for a year-and-a-half, said that, "absolutely," treating drug use has to include treating the individual's trauma.
"What's causing someone to use? What issues are they going through? You know, I think a lot of it is underneath that needs to be brought up."
In her case, it was sexual abuse she'd endured as a child.
The faces of meth.
With meth, she was paralyzed, hyper-focused on a single task. Sometimes, she felt empty. She scratched and picked sores onto her body and face. Once, she piloted her car to a hospital, expecting to be locked in a psych ward. But she was discharged.
For her, the confines and rules of the Center for Addiction Treatment saved her, she said. She found sobriety by following the rules, then looking into her own traumatic past.
"If they told me I could not have a pair of leggings, oh well, I can't have a pair of leggings. If they told me to go to group therapy three times a day, I did that. My counselor, when she told me to journal, I journaled."
Both she and Detzel believe their continued success has at least something to do with their work.
Christian is an admissions specialist for the Center for Addiction Treatment. She loves her job, saying, "Somebody did it for me."
Detzel works at the YWCA downtown in Cincinnati helping domestic violence and rape victims as well as people with developmental disabilities who struggle with addiction. She’s been in recovery for just more than a year.
The lessons they learned about their own addictions and how to treat them are holding. But they see the avalanche of meth on the streets now. They know the attraction among opioid users to this drug is real.
In Hamilton County, Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco, the county coroner, said the crime lab's meth caseload leaped from a little more than 600 in 2016 to 3,600-plus cases in 2019 – "a sixfold increase."
In Kentucky, the amount of meth seized and tested at the Kentucky State Police Crime Laboratories rose by 77% in just two years, from 2016 to 2018.
The outcomes of all this meth is yet to be seen.
Dr. Adam Bisaga, an addiction research scientist who is a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center, has this prediction for those who use such stimulants along with opioids:
"The mixed stimulant-opioid addiction is a different one," Bisaga said. "We do not have a strategy to treat it, and many programs will be taken by surprise."
"The number of overdoses and adverse medical outcomes in people using both will increase, and this will be a fourth wave of the opioid epidemic."
Pier 1 Imports is the bubble. It's saying that if things don't turn around it could be the end.
The Great American Comeback, folks!
Troubled home goods store Pier 1 is telling investors that the end is near and if they don't find a suitable investor, they're going to liquidate and go out of business.
Last year, Pier 1 had announced they're going to shut down over 500 stores in the United States. The locations in the U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and all the Canadian provinces are affected.
The company, based in Fort Worth, Texas, released a statement saying that it reached a plan with lenders to provide it with $256 million. It will try to find a buyer for the company.
The company has more than 500 stores open.
"Today's actions are intended to provide Pier 1 with additional time and financial flexibility as we now work to unlock additional value for our stakeholders through a sale," Pier 1's CEO Robert Riesbeck said. He assumed that post in November and is also the company's chief financial officer.
Foot traffic decreased heavily at Pier 1 stores.
Their last quarter earnings showed a massive decrease around 11.4% compared to the same period in 2018. The company lost $59 million in revenue.
Since 2019, over 9,000 stores in America closed. It's been a huge increase. CNN reports that there was a 59% jump from 2018 and the highest number since Coresight Research began tracking the data in 2012. So far this year, CNN reports that Macy's, Papyrus and other retailers have announced major store closings.
The home goods sector has been hit hard by Jeff Bozos and Amazon. The company Wayfair also hits the retailers hard as well. Big box stores like Target and Walmart are picking at the bones.
Walmart is struggling as well. A round of locations in the United States and Canada ended the 24-hour services at many of their superstores.
Bed Bath & Beyond, a rival home decor retailer is struggling as well. The company had its sales slump and the holiday sales fell flat. They have considered closing locations to save money.
Private equity has killed 600,000 retail jobs. These companies are piling on debt to companies.
Looking forward to another recession. If Trump does win reelection, expect the possible collapse of the economy. He will claim that Democrats and Barack Obama did it because of regulations and taxes.
But in reality, Trump and Republicans have raise the debt, cutback regulations that protect companies from being hit with debt and he's trying to rewrite history by removing policies that kept us from having a recession.
The Pier 1 store located near the Mall at Fairfield Commons will be affected by the closure. That store was on the list of the 500 closures. That store is located in Beavercreek and it will put a big dent in the region.
Scout's honor. The Boy Scouts of America will file for bankruptcy in response to multiple lawsuits against children.
Once upon a time not long ago Donald J. Trump have went to the Boy Scouts Jamboree. He practically made it a stump speech about how great he is and how his predecessor ruined the economy and he turned it around.
I think I can remember Trump said that he wanted to "Make America Great Again."
Well looks like you can't get really much out of the Boy Scouts nowadays. The Boy Scouts of America has finally decided to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The Great American Comeback right?
The century-old organizations faced numerous lawsuits from men who say they were sexually abused as Scouts.
The Boy Scouts had been exploring the possibility of bankruptcy since 2018, when the group hired a law firm for a possible Chapter 11 filing.
The Boy Scouts have faced sexual abuse claims. Not only them, it includes the Catholic Church to USA Gymnastics, states have changed their laws to allow more time for victims to sue their perpetrators and eliminate the statutes of limitations when it comes to claims about sexual abuse.
The national organization said they made the move to fairly compensate victims harmed during their time in scouting and to keep the 100-year old nonprofit running for years to come.
A Victims Compensation Trust will reportedly be set up during the bankruptcy process, which the organization says will provide "equitable compensation to victims."
"The BSA cares deeply about all victims of abuse and sincerely apologizes to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting. We are outraged that there have been times when individuals took advantage of our programs to harm innocent children," said Roger Mosby, president and chief executive officer of the BSA.
The national chapter of the Boy Scouts is going through a rough patch. Thanks to predators in uniform, many victims come forth suing the organization for years of abuse.
"While we know nothing can undo the tragic abuse that victims suffered, we believe the Chapter 11 process -- with the proposed Trust structure -- will provide equitable compensation to all victims while maintaining the BSA important mission," he added.
The bankruptcy petition reportedly listed the Boy Scouts' assets as between $1 and $10 billion, and its liabilities at $500 to $1 billion.
Trump went to West Virginia in 2017 to brag about his election victory. He took aim at Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama during his speech.
"You remember that incredible night with the maps," Trump said, noting that the maps were "so red it was unbelievable" and that the pundits who had expected a Clinton victory "didn't know what to say."
Mentally ill troll got chased out of an Ohio college campus.
In an attempt to generate buzz for her website Liberty Hangout as well as Infowars and The Daily Signal, far-white troll Kaitlin Bennett was doing her infamous "man on the streets." She was assigned to interview young voters about Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Pete Buttigieg and Michael Bloomberg decides to crash the Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.
As usual, she causes a scene and students force her to end her interviews.
This soy boy that followed me around a campus for 4 hours is trying to say I was bothering him for being gay... meanwhile a gay guy was trying to take a photo with me and telling him to cut it out. Disinformation is great isn't it? pic.twitter.com/1KH51Cq3Px
The OU Bobcats have already had to clean house over there. They got rid of the disgraced Roger Ailes and his namesake from their Associated Press Journalism Center. Ailes is the co-founder of Rupert "Pervert" Murdoch's Fox News Channel.
PLEASE WATCH: Here’s a clip of Kaitlin Bennett saying she’s a woman of color when she is clearly white. She then stated that she can change her race. pic.twitter.com/hig837B7os
She tried to enter Baker Center to interview students who support progressive candidates.
The troll would edit the comments and grab the most attention getting individual. She would try to profit off the clicks on social media. She will try to paint college students who support progressives as a bunch of idiots who want to silence conservatives.
She found herself being forced off campus when word got out she was trying to disrupt.
Bennett is a controversial figure. She is an alt-white agitator who rose to infamy when she took graduation photos at Kent State with her AR-15 and Bushmaster rifle. She caused a slight panic on campus.
Pervert Murdoch gave her a platform. She was promoted on Laura Ingraham and Sean "Softball" Hannity's shitshow. The agitators have been promoting her for the last few years now.
Now as a "reporter," this troll has found herself on many college campuses
She does these interviews for her website Liberty Hangout and she generates click and in turn she earns profit for her escapades.
Some of the remarks going around on social media include Sanders supporting trolls like Shaun King, Benjamin Dixon, Cenk Uygur and others.
"Libs who are flirting with Bloomberg now should be aware that they are going on lists," said one tweet. Several others targeted Democratic candidates and previous rivals Hillary Clinton, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Beto O'Rourke and Julian Castro.
Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor is rising in the polls and it's drew the ire of Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Joe Biden. They are complaining that Bloomberg is buying his way to the nomination.
What's the problem with that?
There's no rules to self-finance your presidential campaign. He's following all the rules of the Federal Elections Committee and he's following the law.
What makes me like him more is the fact he's ignoring the noise. Yeah, I agree Bloomberg has to answer to his record as mayor, business mogul and activist, but don't act like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and the rest ain't squeaky clean.
Sanders has to answer for his record as a senator. Last time, I've check, he, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) have no many accomplishments other than generating television appearances and memes. Sanders supported Joe Biden's crime bill and opposes gun control.
Bloomberg warns Sanders that he will not win support from Democrats who are moderate.
Klobuchar is a staunch supporter of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. No one is asking her about that support.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) still in this race. No one is asking about her ties to a Hindu extremist or her white extremist support. Everyone is complaining about her going to Sean "Softball" Hannity's shitshow and the Russian influence campaign, but no one is talking about legislative accomplishments which she has none to offer.
The only ones who have accomplishments are Biden, Klobuchar, Bloomberg and Pete Buttigieg.
Sanders on the campaign blasted Bloomberg for supporting the "stop-and-frisk" policies of the New York Police Department.
Some comments from the trolls include:
"Vote Bernie or bad things will happen."
Some suggest Buttigieg as a "demonic rat."
At an event in Las Vegas, Sanders said that Bloomberg will not excite voters and he has no energy to win over voters.
"The simple truth is that Mayor Bloomberg, with all his money, will not create the kind of excitement and energy we need to have the voter turnout we must have to defeat Donald Trump."
Bloomberg's campaign said that he will raise taxes on the wealthy and will close tax loopholes and bolster enforcement."
November 22 is the Nevada Caucuses. Sanders is leading in the field.
The ad singles out Sanders for pushing a negative campaign against Democrats running. Bloomberg is warning Sanders and his supporters that the gloves will come off if they continue to attack him.
Catherine Pugh, the former mayor of Baltimore could face six years in federal time out for a corruption scandal involving her children's book. She urged companies doing business with Baltimore to buy her books.
Attorney General William Barr is involved in the convictions of disgraced Trump allies Roger Stone, Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort. Barr continues to deny Donald J. Trump ordered him to do a review of the conviction. Now, Flynn and Stone's sentencings are on hold and Manafort is trying to get a retrial.
But if you're not an ally of Trump, expect the U.S. Justice Department to throw the book at you.
Michael Avenatti was convicted of extortion, tax evasion and fraud of clients. He awaits his sentencing.
Jussie Smollett, former Empire actor and singer was indicted again for making false reports, felonious assault and theft by deception. The feds are looking into whether they're going to hit him with charges for the "death threat" he had sent to the studios where Empire was filmed.
Now, ex-mayor of Baltimore Catherine Pugh is facing time in federal time out.
Federal prosecutors recommended the maximum serving of 57 months in federal time out. Pugh pleaded guilty in November to federal conspiracy and tax evasion charges.
Healthy Holly is a good children's book. The former mayor of Baltimore wrote the book to encourage healthy lifestyle in children. However, the promotion and distribution of her books became a scandal.
Pugh was elected to be Baltimore city's mayor from 2016 until 2019, sold thousands of copies of her self-published children's book "Healthy Holly" series to health care companies and charitable organizations with the promise that the books would be donated to schoolchildren -- but it's unclear where the books ended up at.
She only had up to 8,216 copies listed in her inventory and gave another 35,000 copies away -- yet she was able to resell nearly 135,000 copies for nearly $1 million in revenues. The feds believe that she used connections in the city to pressure companies to take her book.
Prosecutors says Pugh, the former Democratic mayor, would sell pre-paid copies of the same set of books to two different buyers, meaning she was paid twice. She was accused of keeping the books nd the cash used to by the books but failing to deliver the books or getting them printed in time.\\
She sold the books to companies that wanted business contracts. She used some of the books revenue to boost her career.
Baltimore City Hall has been rocked before. It continues to strive despite the controversies.
Upon the federal investigation, Pugh reduced her role as mayor and handed power over to Bernard C. Young (known as C. Jack Young). He would strip her title away and the city voted no confidence in her leadership.
Upon the indictment, Pugh would resign and formally be booked in Baltimore city lockup.
She had her computers, books, phones and passport seized. She was forced to sell her properties to pay for the hefty get out free card.
Pugh's attorneys are hoping to secure a short bid in federal time out. She is hoping to get a year and a day in federal time out.
This one of the many white collar crimes that taken down powerful leaders. She didn't ask a foreign country to help her win. She's not Donald J. Trump.
