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

"Psychoactive Substances' Presence In Narcissistic Nationalist Politicians" Rant #11 ( Opinion ) Originally March 13, 2020  Today, the president declared a national emergency in response to the spreading coronavirus, COVID-19. During the announcement , Trump gave his usual brash presentation. And yet, the way he spoke sounded a lot lower and slower than the way he usually speaks. Perhaps my observation here is a bit slanted: I only heard the address on the radio, so I don't know what he actually looked like during this. Also, I may be uniquely keen on noticing the effects of drugs on someone. So, was Trump on drugs?  The slurring, that weird draggy low voice: I don't know if you could go so far to say that there exists an 'opioid accent,' but the way he sounded reminded me of how many men tend to talk while on dope. Stringing together words has never been a challenge for this president. Those words might not make any sense at all, bu...

Ukrainian Chess Champion Found Dead In Russia My Take Originally March 6, 2020 A Ukrainian chess champion and his girlfriend were found dead in Moscow today. The 27 year old and his 18 year old girlfriend--also very skilled at chess--died from an overdose of nitrous oxide, aka "laughing gas." Authorities say they do not suspect foul play. So, a random drug overdose or a well-played Russian assassination? The GRU is known for its usage of poisons to make murders look like other causes of death. Nitrous oxide rarely causes fatal overdoses: I just did a brief search and did the math, and 470,000 Brits did the drug over the previous year. Yet over the course of 6 years (2006-12), it caused or was a part of 17 deaths. So, 0.0006% of anybody doing nitrous in a given year will die because of it (based off of the UK data).  So to OD while in Moscow just seems a little strange...Oh, and let's not forget, Russia and Ukraine are currently engaged in a war.  On t...

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...

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...

Q&A: "Are People Better Or Worse Off With All The Prescription Drugs We Have These Days?" Contains Subjective Input/Opinion Originally January 15, 2019 A lot of people have to think hard about this question, citing all the possible side effects of any given Rx as reason alone to criticize the scope of prescription drugs in the United States and elsewhere. Also, Big Pharma has some fairly shady marketing practices at times. Many believe that these companies made up disorders like Restless Leg Syndrome and ADHD just to sell pills, when the medical community clearly recognizes these as legitimate syndromes with particular treatments. Again, the marketing strategies employed by Big Pharma cross into shady territory all too often, but they don’t belong to some grand conspiracy that makes up mental illnesses in order to drug different-minded people into submission to the status quo… Before going off on some tangents that explore America's obsession with pharmaceuti...