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...

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...

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...

The Vaccine-Autism Link...Or Lack Thereof Originally composed August 4, 2018 Editor's Note: The anti-vaxxer quandary will not go untouched, as I intend to devote a future article, possibly more, to dissecting the bizarre phenomenon. For now, this article explains the origins of the misconception and clarifies reality. All too often, many people-and smart ones, at that-speak as if factually about the link between vaccines and autism, citing a causal effect of the former on the development of the latter. In fact, 18% of Americans believe this link to exist, according to  a 2011 poll cited by  Time .  Meanwhile, virtually every major scientific organization has openly rejected this presumption. Googling "vaccine and autism" will quickly reveal this unified position among organizations ranging from: the federal government's Center for Disease Control (CDC); news outlets like  Discover Magazine , the  Washington Post , and  TIME ; online healthcare publi...