Thank you, Secretary Kennedy, for releasing the $700 million in behavioral health funding my father’s administration authorized.
But it should not have taken this long. The delay cost lives.
Putting people living on the streets first is right. They are the easiest to see and the easiest to ignore.
I have no problem with the mission.
I have a problem with one sentence in the guidance: STREETS grants cannot pay for harm reduction.
Harm reduction is not an ideology. It is a clean syringe, naloxone in a backpack, fentanyl test strips in a pocket. A place where someone can be kept breathing instead of being found dead.
I personally know people whose lives were saved by harm reduction. I know you do too. I know what they have done with those lives since. Not one of them would be in recovery today if they didn’t have access to harm reduction. The would be dead.
Anyone serious about recovery knows harm reduction saves lives. Ask people in the rooms. Ask the families keeping naloxone in the kitchen drawer.
If you want the Great American Recovery to mean something, fund what keeps people on this side of the grave. We do recover, but only if we make it out alive.
@she_obey@SteveScott12 The hoop, and maybe it's a euphamism for that, or maybe it's not.
The other sport that comes to mind is hockey, where a fair-sized hockey net is the goal, and now I'm thinking about Storm Large.
@she_obey@SteveScott12 Also, I'm not a fan of competitive dancing, I prefer recreational and/or performance just for entertainment, but that's just me.
@she_obey@SteveScott12 So, in basketball, you want to get the ball through the correct hoop. Throwing the ball to try to achieve that is "shooting", so you shoot that shot to try to get 1, 2 or 3 points, depending on the circumstances. (You probably don't want that breakdown.)
Coisas que as pessoas não escolhem:
• Orientação sexual
• Identidade de gênero
• Deficiências
• Transtornos mentais
• Doenças
• Cor, etnia, raça
Coisas que as pessoas escolhem:
• Ser um babaca com as pessoas por coisas que elas não escolhem
I just had the craziest experience at the airport.
We are about to board a flight to Atlanta when the pilot from the incoming plane walks out of the jetway. Guy is probably late 50s, salt and pepper hair, military look. The kind of pilot you instantly feel good about seeing on your flight.
Pilot walks over to the counter, gets on the PA system, and starts addressing everyone. “Folks, I’ve been doing this a long time. Flying one of these jets is easy. The hard part is looking at 130 people and telling them their flight is going to be delayed.”
Audible groans throughout the boarding gate. Most people here are flying to Atlanta as a layover before another flight. 130 people just had their day become a complete mess.
The pilot goes on. “I get it, trust me. But here’s the deal: During our landing, we had a small mechanical issue. I’m not your pilot for the next leg, but I don’t feel confident the jet’s safe to fly until we have a mechanical team look it over, and I don’t feel comfortable asking the next pilots to fly you guys until we get confirmation.”
He points at the agents next to him behind the counter: “Now, none of this is the agents’ fault. Please be kind to them. I’m the one who made this decision, not them, so any inconvenience you experience is my fault. Just please know that I don’t do this lightly, and I’m only doing it because I believe it’s in the best interests of everyone’s safety.”
Now this is where the story gets crazy. The pilot puts the microphone down, grabs his suitcase, and all the people in the gate…
Start clapping.
I’m not joking, everyone starts clapping for the guy. 130 people who just had their travel plans ruined give an ovation to the guy who made the decision and delivered the message.
All because he addressed them with decency and transparency, took ownership of the decision, made it clear that it was necessary, and explained why it was in everyone’s best interest.
It’s honestly one of the best examples of strong communication—of strong leadership, for that matter—that I’ve seen in a long time.
@Delta, whoever your Atlanta to Wichita pilot was this morning, he’s one of the good ones. Please tell him the delayed passengers of flight 1637 appreciate what he did.
@she_obey I'm just wondering why various muscles are sore this morning. And I'm going to aggravate things in 3 or 4 hours by helping a friend assemble a thing. Maybe I'll remember to take Advil this evening, though.