Time to remind Kansans that a key skill in Kansas politics is distraction.

Yes, remember that you don’t have to be much of a magician if your assistant is sexy enough that she’s the one the audience watches, not whether that rabbit actually came out of the hat the magician is wearing.

Democrats do it, Republicans do it. Heck, even third-party politicians practice distraction. Right now, it’s the Republicans who are getting in gear due to a recent series of events.

The fuses: Last week, it was the need for the Kansas Department of Corrections to contract with a private for-profit corporation to hold at least 360 Kansas prisoners in an Arizona prison because Kansas doesn’t have the space for them.

The week before was the Kansas Department of Revenue demanding that all out-of-state merchants collect Kansas sales tax on sales made into Kansas.

Oh, and then there was the relatively distracting response to the massacres in Texas and Ohio.

It’s early, but so far, the Kansas Legislature and its Republican leaders who are still angry that the state elected Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly to be its governor are doing their best at distraction from the real issues and finding solutions that are politically acceptable to them and their supporters.

The prisoner issue: During the past eight years, conservative former Gov. Sam Brownback consistently cut spending on the Department of Corrections along with other agencies in order to make his dramatic tax-cut program workable, or at least appear to be workable. With years of prison aging and with below-market salaries for prison guards essentially frozen, Kansas prisons filled and then over-filled; the state just ran out of space for prisoners and for guards to manage them.

While lawmakers don’t like the idea of moving Kansas convicts out of state at $75 a day, they’re not really eager to take responsibility for the crisis and instead have special committees which are watching every dollar in spending proposed by Democrat Kelly that has become necessary after years of not spending money on prisons.

The sales tax issue that might well see the state hauled into court for its absolute sales tax collection rule? Well, that’s state law which the Legislature couldn’t get amended this year because it tacked the so-called “safe harbor” amendment exempting those out of state merchants with small sales into the state onto bills with millions of dollars of state income tax cuts for the well-heeled and corporations that the governor vetoed because the state needs the money. So, we’re seeing that sales tax problem become a distraction from the big tax cuts lawmakers voted for but couldn’t get passed.

Oh, and as part of the distraction, there’s the potentially small reduction in sales taxes on food which were part of the bill vetoed by Kelly. Hmmm…lawsuits and a Democrat not signing a food sales tax reduction. Not a bad political distraction, is it?

And the response to the Texas and Ohio massacres? The distraction here is that the state needs more mental health services for those with guns to keep them from using those guns in hate crime rampages. Nope, no mention of taking guns away from the mentally ill, the hate-mongers, under a “red flag” law, or even making it harder for those people to obtain guns. Let’s instead talk about mental health. Again, not a bad distraction, and one that doesn’t raise the blood pressure of the National Rifle Association.

Distraction? Nope just look over there…

Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com

My mom was so allergic to poison ivy I still believe to this day she could have caught it by merely looking at the plants. I remember her being hospitalized once with poison ivy so bad on her hand that it resembled raw hamburger. My dad on the other hand could’ve rolled around in the stuff and never known it. One night a few years back I went to change a flat tire on our mobile deer blind which was still in the woods, and found it to be afloat in a sea of the healthiest poison ivy I’d ever seen. I chopped it down all around the tire, wore gloves and was pretty careful as I worked, but three or four days later I had a small patch of rash on one arm, the first time I ever “got” poison ivy.

Each stem of a poison ivy plant has three shiny, pointed green leaves, thus the old saying “Leaves of three, let them be.” The troublemaker is the oil called “Urushiol” that is found on poison ivy plants. Urushiol by itself is fairly harmless, but when absorbed by our skin, our body attacks to it as an intruder and the red, itchy rash follows. Urushiol is found in ALL parts of a poison ivy plant ALL year round, and has actually been found to be present in plants that have been dead for up to five years. Animals and pets do not react to urushiol but can carry it on their fur or hide and infect humans that way. It can also remain indefinitely on clothing and tools. Liquid from poison ivy blisters WILL NOT spread poison ivy; urushiol must be absorbed by our skin to cause a reaction and by the time a rash develops the oil has long since been absorbed. Sensitivity to poison ivy is thought to be genetic so it can run in the family; someone sensitive to poison ivy can also have a reaction from the smoke of burning poison ivy plants.

To keep this from reading like a pamphlet about poison ivy you’d pick up at the County Extension office, I’ve put together a little fun trivia about the “leaves-of-three” plant, plus few not-so-common facts and cures for poison ivy rash.

Five hundred people could itch from the amount of urushiol found on the head of a pin. It’s estimated that 85% of the world’s population would have an allergic reaction to poison ivy. Samples of urushiol several centuries old have still been found to cause skin irritation on sensitive people.

If using water to attempt to rinse urushiol off your skin before it’s absorbed, ALWAYS rinse with COOL water as hot water will actually open skin pores and speed absorption.

Capsaicin cream, labeled for arthritis pain can suppress the itch of poison ivy rash for hours.

Apple cider vinegar, rubbing alcohol or lemon juice poured liberally over your skin can rinse off urushiol if done soon enough after contact. Either liquid can also help heal poison ivy rash if drizzled over the rash or used on a compress.

Other ways to soothe poison ivy rash include coating the rash with cucumber slices or a paste made from cucumber, and rubbing the rash with the inside of a banana peel or cool melon rind.

Witch hazel, strongly brewed tea, buttermilk or yogurt dabbed on poison ivy rash with a cotton ball can help draw toxins out of the rash and dry up seeping blisters.

Aloe Vera juice will soothe poison ivy rash like it soothes sunburn.

One cup of oatmeal ground into a fine powder, put into an old pair of pantyhose and used like a teabag in a tub of cool bathwater can provide relief from the intense itching of poison ivy rash.

Three teaspoons of baking soda mixed with one teaspoon of water makes a good paste to spread over poison ivy rash to aid in healing and offer temporary relief from itching.

In summary, lots of things can give relief from the itch of poison ivy rash, but the only sure way to prevent a reaction is to rinse off the urushiol oil before it can be absorbed into the skin. The opening lines of the old Coasters song “Poison Ivy” say “she comes on like a rose but everybody knows she’ll get you in dutch, you can look but you better not touch; poison ivy, poison ivy, at night when you’re sleepin’ poison ivy comes creeping around.” …Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors!

Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].