Man Of Jackistan: Reason and Truth's Time and Place

Can Bernie Take Texas? My Take  ( Opinion ) Originally February 28, 2020 Could Bernie pull off a win in Texas? No, not on Super Tuesday. I don't mean next week; I mean in November. Conventional wisdom would quickly assert 'no'-- but that dynamic might be changing. A new poll by the University of Houston in association with Univision and "Latino Decisions" shows some surprising results. Among the 1,004 registered voters they surveyed, 45% said if the election were tomorrow, they would vote for Bernie Sanders--equal to the percentage of respondents who said they would vote for Donald Trump. This leaves 10% undecided, but still. The idea that a Democrat--let alone one regarded as so far left--could do well in Texas comes as a surprise to many Americans. After all, this is the state of George W. Bush. A conservative powerhouse and in some ways an emblem of the right done 'right.' How could this happen? If you regularly read The Man of Jackist...

"I'm Too Smart To Be Interfered With By The Russians" Rant #5 ( Opinion ) Originally February 25, 2020 This week, news broke that the Russian GRU (its CIA-like agency) had been caught meddling in the Democratic primaries, promoting candidate Bernie Sanders while smearing the others in an attempt to ultimately have the Vermont Senator win the nomination. Meanwhile, their preference for having President Trump remain in office has not changed. It is likely that they believe Trump will have the least trouble defeating Bernie Sanders, and thus want to help him get to the general election. While they have deployed some enhanced technology this time, their tactics remain largely unchanged from their successful 2016 game plan.  Some will deny any involvement by the Russians in our electoral discourse. Trump and his literalist base will defend his assertion that not only did the GRU not get involved in the 2016 election, but Ukraine and Hillary Clinton supporters fram...

They Should Understand Addiction, Or At Least Try! Rant #4 ( Opinion ) Originally February 24, 2020 Somebody said that they hate when people don't understand addiction as a disease, or that sometimes, Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) such as buprenorphine (usually called by the most famous brand name of it, Suboxone) and methadone. These treatments involve taking a person addicted to opioids and administering Suboxone or methadone to them, in order to quell withdrawal symptoms and craving. Because both are actually just different opioid drugs, it prevents those things from happening. 'Giving drugs to addicts' seems controversial, especially when somebody knows little about those treatments or the science behind it. Below, I have cleaned up the response I gave to my friend: I am so annoyed when people say "I'd never get addicted to that because I have strong willpower" or "I've [drank/done drugs] and I never got addicted." Yes. So cle...

"Vote Shrooms-Ayahuasca 2020" Rant #3 ( Opinion) Originally February 1, 2020 On May 7, 2019, by the narrowest margin, the people of Denver voted "yes" on a controversial ballot initiative. Despite just 50.6% support at the polls, Initiative 301 passed, making Denver, Colorado the first city in the United States to decriminalize shrooms. Yes, those shrooms: also known as magic mushrooms, more formally referred to as psychedelic mushrooms. This categorization represents over 200 species of fungi that contain psilocin or psilocybin, mostly in the genus Psilocybe. These mushrooms grow allover the United States and the world. And for the last 50 or so years, it has been a crime to buy, sell, grow or hold any of them.  I've said this for years, going back as far as 2007-08 as more and more states considered and then legalized marijuana first for medical uses, then for recreational: the 2010s would be the decade of cannabis. States would start to l...

Bernie Burning Opponents In Polls Rant #2 ( Opinion ) Originally: February 19, 2020 Polls often fluctuate wildly and, after the upset in 2016, many question the legitimacy of polls altogether. Admittedly, the 2016 presidential election that saw Donald Trump become president shocked nearly everyone--including Trump himself, given that in the days leading up to the election he started decrying it as 'rigged.' The polling agencies have since attempted to correct these mistakes, some of which include changing their models to give more weight to non-college educated people, who don't answer surveys as frequently, among other tweaks to their methodology. So it seems like people discredit polls too much these days, given their typical accuracy. Also, there is more than just one polling agency--some do a better job than others. For example, Rasmussen Reports leans heavily toward Republicans. With all that said, acknowledging the fallibility of opinion polling, a slew of i...

Adderall Manufacturer Mallinckroft Is Awful A Review Containing Subjective Input Originally February 16, 2020 I have been prescribed Adderall/its generic equivalent on and off for 13 years; I've been on IR, XR, Vyvanse, brand name, various manufacturers. In the last 7 or 8 months, at least 3 times I have refilled my Rx for 20mg IR 'Adderall' and gotten these white, octagonal pills. The bottle lists "Mallinck" as the manufacturer, shorthand for Mallincrodt. These pills are, for lack of better word, garbage. While I am not going to take more than the doctor has prescribed me (because I can't; 60 mg a day appears to be the upper limit), if I wanted to take a dose of Mallinckrodt equivalent to the normal kind I get, I would have to probably take somewhere in the range of 1.5 to 1.8 times the dose--possibly even twice as much or more. Seriously, this stuff stinks. Also, it has a divergent side effect profile when compared to the other brands, it would seem. M...