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

Government Gift Card Rant #22 ( Opinion ) April 3, 2020 Automatic stabilizers for recessions makes the most sense as a policy in order to smooth out economic slowdowns. That concept means that basically as soon as the markets show signs of slowing, the federal government automatically disburses checks of a set sum until a recovery begins. It would not replace things like unemployment insurance, but rather serves as a way to put extrra capital in the pockets of Americans. Then, when the economy gets going again, the Federal Reserve would take the training wheels off, so to speak. Failing that (or even as a way to augment it), I have an idea for future US stimulus checks. We should send people gift cards, essentially, the value of which expires at the end of the fiscal year, or 365 days later or something. Maybe people get one every month and the value goes down by 10% each month it is unused, expiring entirely at the end of one year or 18 months. In a scenario with no autom...

Radical Relationship Changes--Will They Ruin Society As We Know It? Rant #20 ( Opinion ) March 30, 2020 Homosexuality, birth control, children born out of wedlock, divorce, single mothers, casual sex, transsexuals--all sinful choices that will lead to a ruinous society, so say the right-wing, traditionalist, often religious voices. They've said this before. Radical shifts around sexuality and family structure rocked Western societies with the spirit of Enlightenment in the late 18th and early 19th century. It started in America and France (doesn't it always?) before it rocked the establishment conservatives of that time. What crazy, liberal, revolutionary new sexual and relationships started to become common then? Some people at that time began to practice the previously taboo act of marrying a person that they felt limerance towards. In other words, couples began to get married on the basis of infattuated feelings and love for one another. Which went against t...

If You Like AOC, Don't Donate To Her Campaign Rant #12 ( Opinion ) Originally March 15, 2020; posted March 16, 2020 I like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I think that she represents an important voice for both progressives and Millennials. DC definitely could use the new blood. And Fox News' fears of a first-term Congresswoman (who usually get no attention or clout at all) has actually amplified her popularity nationwide.  Every time I scroll through Facebook, I see these ads about donating to AOC's campaign. This has led me to conclude that if you truly support her and what she stands for, then don't give to her campaign this year! Instead, donate to Democratic campaigns in swing districts. Help Chrissy Houlahan (Chester County's Democratic Congresswoman since 2019); the Democrats cannot hold the House without holding onto seats like hers. She may run on a more moderate platform, but she's there when the Dems need the votes on important legislation. This H...

"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...