Cat Heaven

Chipper, the cat, stays out doors all day long in the warm months. In the last few years, she has been determined to stay indoors practically all the time during the cold months, and her definition of cold seems to be changing as the years go by... 

When indoors each winter, she chooses her own space. It is usually a particular chair, since I don't allow her on the sofas.  But this year, due to us having so many house guests every week, I decided to keep her off the chairs. I knew that would present a problem, so I panned ahead. I went shopping, looking for what I thought she would find acceptable. I hit it on the first try. It is this plastic basket. I have no idea for what it was made, but with a towel folded inside, it makes her a perfect bed, especially since it  is now in front of the hot air vent in my scrapbooking room.  She can be near me and the heat at the same time. It is like cat heaven.

Now for a more serious subject. I received an email today saying that prescription drugs, especially anti-depressants, play a big role in most mass shootings, even shootings where there are not so many involved.  It was frightening to read that, since so many, many people these days are taking them.  I had to check it out. I read and read and have come to the conclusion that something must be done about that problem. It is not the guns.  Because as we know, guns don't kill people.  It seems people, and especially people on drugs, kill people.  

According to Martha Rosenburg, a Chicago based health writer, "It is no secret that prescription drugs, notably antidepressants, can make psychiatric patients worse, not better, and even precipitate violence."

"Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants like Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil are so linked to violence that they were given the FDQ's highest warning, a black box, in 2004 for the suicidal risks they can create in young adults."

Most of the mass murderers are depressed.  We need to treat the real problem...that of mental illness, and fight to retain the ability of  the law abiding citizens to protect themselves and others...from the mentally ill.