The Political Thread

Sept 8, 2018 16:07:31 GMT -5 sierchio said:

Well, I'm glad you laughed because he IS a comedian by trade. I listen to a lot of right and left podcasts (a lot of them by comedians). It's up to me to decipher what's true and what's BS.

Also, not to beat a dead horse, but the suboxone article... I'm willing to bet that the company that produced the "new" drug paid MSN to write that article... Which is a lot of articles. Did you hear about Trump and the Daily Enquirer? (also, remember ALL mainstream media was pushing the Iraq War and weapons of mass destruction, FOX, CNN, MSN, ect... Jimmy Dore had a nice podcast about that and conspiracy theories, how the mainstream media pushed the biggest conspiracy theory of all time, "Weapons of Mass Destruction")

I've got some sleep (not enough, only 2.5 hours) and cooled off a bit.

Also, there was something else I wanted to post about but it's slipping my mind right now. Perhaps if I remember and it was important, I'll post later.

I really could use some mushrooms...

OOOHHHH that's what I wanted to post about...

Inger- You realize all drug companies do that? heart medicine, depression medicine, you name it.. Pharmaceutical reps come to the doctor office and push the doctors to prescribe the meds, offering them kick backs and opportunities to hear more about the meds at some fancy resort.. pretty much a paid vacation... The biggest are the depression meds, that's why they're pushed by so many people that don't really need them...

I didn't actually look into this but I heard that a lot of the people who do the mass shootings are on some kind of anti-depression meds and that it causes a disassociation where they don't realize cause and effect.. Pretty much the jist of it... I been meaning to look into that when I get free time (HA!)

Oh inger- Turns out I'm starting a band.. first practice is on Tuesday. A couple people got in contact with me about singing for them and I put us all in contact with each other... so it looks like that's gonna be my outlet... Until I change my mind again... This sleep thing got my mind all fucked up. I've probably gotten maybe 10 hours in the past two weeks.

Here are TWO songs you might want to PLAY with your new band:

--The Man Comes Around
Johnny Cash

"And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder
One of the four beasts saying,
'Come and see.' and I saw, and behold a white horse"

There's a man goin' 'round takin' names
And he decides who to free and who to blame
Everybody won't be treated all the same
There'll be a golden ladder reachin' down
When the man comes around

The hairs on your arm will stand up
At the terror in each sip and in each sup
Will you partake of that last offered cup
Or disappear into the potter's ground?
When the man comes around

Hear the trumpets hear the pipers
One hundred million angels singin'
Multitudes are marchin' to the big kettledrum
Voices callin', voices cryin'
Some are born and some are dyin'
It's alpha and omega's kingdom come
And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree
The…
_______________________________________________

'One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you, don't do anything at all

Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall

And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar has given you the call

And call Alice, when she was just small

When the men on the chessboard get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom, and your mind is moving low

Go ask…'

__________________________

I too am not sleeping; didn't get even one-hour of sleep last night...I think in last three days, I have slept only like 3-5 hours.

Maybe it is because I am dealing with a number of issues & because it is so, so damn hot here...A/C doesn't even help.  Hoping I can sleep tonight.

Sept 8, 2018 5:44:16 GMT -5 domeplease said:

Sept 7, 2018 20:27:16 GMT -5 inger said:

When I lived in KY a doctor that I knew on personal basis through having golfed with him and through having visited him professionally told me that the reason Applalachia was so horribly stricken with addition to pain pills had to do with the company that invented OxyContin. I forget that company's Name and am too lazy to look it up right now.

Anyway, they were a small drug company at the time and their budget would not allow them to compete with the giants of the trade for business. So they created a strategy whereby they went to poor, rural areas in the East (hmm. Sierchio...Pine Barrens, too?) and offered free cruises, golf equipment and outings to the doctors to get them to promote and prescribe their drugs.

While the belief became widespread that the usage of these drugs increased in all of the Appalachian areas was due to poor education and unfortunate economics, the truth was that the actual causation was strategic and conducted by relatively brilliant and wealthy (by most standards) businessmen, investors, and the doctors themselves.

I will tell you that education was rather poor in the are I lived in, and that there was a very poor work ethic among the lower class. They also had no desire to “escape” their lifestyle or the area they were born in, and had a distaste for us “Yankees” that dared to move there.

The educational system was horribly under-funded, and I did draw the conclusion that the state government liked it that way. Much of what happened politically was driven by reasoning thatvcamd from the primarily Baptist bible-toters that used observances like, “You can’t go to heaven if you’re a Democrat (or vote Democrat) because the Democrats support abortion.

So, one thing leads to another. Sometimes it is indeed hard to tell whether the chicken or the egg did indeed come first...

WELL,  that about says it ALL!!!  Good Job...

1. "Anyway, they were a small drug company at the time and their budget would not allow them to compete with the giants of the trade for business. So they created a strategy whereby they went to poor, rural areas in the East (hmm. Sierchio...Pine Barrens, too?) and offered free cruises, golf equipment and outings to the doctors to get them to promote and prescribe their drugs. "

DO ME'S THOUGHTS: I knew some Pharma Sales Rep...what you stated is Right.  The Reps along with Doctors, the Pharma Companies, etc. sold their Souls for $$$ & STUFF.

 

2. "I will tell you that education was rather poor in the are I lived in, and that there was a very poor work ethic among the lower class. They also had no desire to “escape” their lifestyle or the area they were born in, and had a distaste for us “Yankees” that dared to move there.

The educational system was horribly under-funded, and I did draw the conclusion that the state government liked it that way. Much of what happened politically was driven by reasoning that came from the primarily Baptist bible-totters that used observances like, “You can’t go to heaven if you’re a Democrat (or vote Democrat) because the Democrats support abortion."

DO ME'S THOUGHTS: What you described, is referred to as Tribalism.  From a very early age they are taught this and since just about everyone in your Tribe/Community believes in these Dark Age Beliefs...you basically start becoming the same as them.

I have folks I know, that live in similar areas & situations and when we talk about their piss-poor plight(s) in life, all I HEAR from them,  is Bitching, Moaning, Whining, etc. etc. etc.

Plus they blame (justifications) for their situation(s) on: Liberals, Obama, Hillary, Hispanics/Latino's, Blacks on Welfare (yet, they too are ON WELFARE), illegal immigrants, Muslims, Jews, Asians, Gays, Socialists,  and on and on and on...a never ending list of groups that are DIFFERENT than them.

At the same time their State/Local Govt. Officials are slashing budgets for Education, Healthcare, Clinics. Aid to the Poor, Job Re-Training Programs, etc. because they have given Tax-Cuts ($$$) to the Rich & Corporations...

I TRY VERY HARD to be patience with them (but damn it is nearly impossible). I offer them good do-able advice: 

Go get you high-school degree (no, finishing the 8th grade, is not considered to be a HS Degree) and than go get at least a 2-year college degree in an area that is highly sought after (Nursing, Home Health Care, etc.) and/or learn a NEW Skill that is highly sought after (Welding, etc.). Then, you must move/relocate to where the jobs are at, etc. etc. etc.

Well to hear their responses, you would think I was the ONE that nailed Jesus to the Cross.  What they want (the vast majority), is Not to Change, NOT to make any Scarifies, NOT to disrupt their lives (which are basically piss-poor lives), etc. etc. etc.

They immediately come back at me with it is the Gays or the Immigrants or the Liberals, etc. that have caused their situation.

I try to tell them, that it wasn't a Gay Person, nor A Liberal, nor a Immigrant, nor a Jew, etc. that told them to drop-out pf HS, NOT to learn a new Skill when you saw the Handwriting on the Wall = That your skill was no longer needed, etc.) etc.

It was their Decisions/Actions and/or Lack of Such, that got them to their current plight in life. However,  they are much like the rest of Country =  Lack of Accountability.  

So , they sit with a skill that is no longer sought after and/or where the skill is still sought after, is in another State;  they refuse to relocate.

How can one help these folks, when they refuse to help themselves...plus they have a huge  ANCHOR, tied around their Ankles that keeps dragging backwards = RELIGION (Dark Age Beliefs).

Mr. Bloomberg was on CNBC (if I remember right?) along with Bill Gates & I believe Buffet around three years ago...Mr. Bloomberg stated we have a problem with these folks and WE need to help them thru re-training.  However as the discussion got deeper, they Acknowledged that if they refuse help, that they will become = The Left-Behinds (sadly) in our ever rapidly changing Country/World.

 

I wonder, when they DIE and meet Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates; are they going to BLAME Gays, Jews, Immigrants, Liberals, etc. when St. Pete sentences them to HELL?

So SADLY, these folks have NO HOPE...when ONE loses HOPE, they tend to do desperate and STUPID stuff.

Currently, these folks ages 42-55 (???) have the earliest Death RATES than any other group in America (They are dying earlier than they should...due to Excessive Drinking; not being able to Access Medical Facilities for Preventive Treatments, OPIOIDS, Suicides, Obesity, Smoking, Diabetes, Pollution in their communities (Air, Water, Etc.), have just given up all hope...etc. etc. etc.

____________________________________________________

Sierchio: Here is a good article on a treatment that helps Opioid Addicts off the Drug, slowly and where they can again function in Society (hold down jobs, etc.) but our Congress (mostly GOP, but some Democrats) are against this treatment, because it contains a very low level of Opioids.  Go figure... because I cannot.

www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/opioid-billionaire-granted-patent-for-addiction-treatment/ar-BBMZyzL?li=BBnbfcN

A billionaire pharmaceuticals executive who has been blamed for spurring the U.S. opioid crisis stands to profit from the epidemic after he patented a new treatment for drug addicts.  

Richard Sackler, whose family owns Purdue Pharma, the company behind the notorious painkiller OxyContin, was granted a patent earlier this year for a reformulation of a drug used to wean addicts off opioids.

The invention is a novel form of buprenorphine, a mild opiate that controls drug cravings, which is often given as a substitute to people hooked on heroin or opioid painkillers such as OxyContin.

The new formulation as described in Dr. Sackler’s patent could end up proving lucrative thanks to a steady increase in the number of addicts being treated with buprenorphine, which is seen as a better alternative to other opioid substitutes such as methadone.

Last year, the leading version of buprenorphine, which is sold under the brand name Suboxone, generated $877 million in U.S. sales for Indivior, the British pharmaceuticals group that makes it.

Before the opioid crisis, the Sackler family was primarily known for its philanthropy, emerging as one of the largest donors to arts institutions in the U.S. and U.K. But the rising number of addictions and deaths has highlighted the family’s ownership of Purdue, which some members have tried to shy away from.
 

This article supports some of my statements in the above Post:

www.cnbc.com/2018/09/04/deaths-of-despair-in-rural-america-helped-trump-win-study-finds.html?recirc=taboolainternal

Ever since Donald Trump's improbable political rise, many have attributed his appeal among the white, male voter base to economic anxiety. Faced with unemployment and wage stagnation, these voters elected a president who promised to fight for jobs.

A study published on Wednesday in the Journal of General Internal Medicine offers an additional explanation: declining health and rising death rates in rural Republican bastions helped tilt the presidential election toward Trump...READ MORE

"Changes in life expectancy were an independent factor in voting choices. Reduced health prospects are an important marker of dissatisfaction, discouragement, hopelessness, and fear — sentiments that may have resonated with voters who sided with President Trump," said Dr. Lee Goldman, the study leader and chief executive of the Columbia University Medical Center.


Other studies have added more elements to the economic anxiety narrative too. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that Trump voters were driven over a fear of losing their status. Last year, a Public Religion Research Institute survey of more than 3,000 people found that fears of cultural displacement pushed the white working class toward Trump.

White Americans from rural America, with less education and lower income levels, voted disproportionately for Trump, according to the Columbia study. This group is increasingly victim to "deaths of despair" related to alcohol, drugs and suicide, the researchers said.

They also find that counties with a net gain in individuals who voted for the Republican candidate had a 15 percent higher age-adjusted death rate in 2015 than counties with a net gain in Democratic voters. The increase in death rates due to "deaths of despair" was also 2.5 times higher in counties where Republicans made gains, compared with counties where Democrats made gains.

Pro-Trump counties also had a 7.4 percent higher age-adjusted death rate than counties won by Hillary Clinton. Counties in which Trump's percentage vote in 2016 was higher than John McCain's percentage vote in 2008 had a 15 percent higher age-adjusted death rate.

AND: Finally Some Sanity Common Sense & Reality (BRAVO): www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/7-times-obama-hit-trump-in-speech/ar-BBN0Xnf?li=BBnbcA1  
Former President Obama ripped President Trump on the economy and a laundry list of other issues during a fiery address on Friday.

Here are seven of the most prominent examples.

Taxes
The former president tore into Trump and the Republicans for offering tax cuts to wealthy Americans, while neglecting the impact that the reduced duties would have on the nation's deficit.

"With Republicans in control of Congress and the White House, without any checks or balances whatsoever, they've provided another $1.5 trillion in tax cuts to people like me, who I promise don't need it, and don't even pretend to pay for them," Obama said.

"It's supposed to be the party supposedly of fiscal conservatism," he continued. "Suddenly deficits do not matter."

The "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" was signed into law in December and remains Trump's most significant legislative accomplishment since taking office.

The president and congressional Republicans have argued that the measure simplifies the tax code and will spur economic growth. Opponents of the legislation, however, argue that it's a massive windfall to corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

Obama also suggested Trump gets too much credit for the soaring economy and that not enough credit is given to his administration by Republicans.

Charlottesville
Obama was biting in his criticism of Trump's remarks following a violent neo-Nazi and white supremacist-led rally in Charlottesville, Va.

"We are Americans. We're supposed to stand up to bullies, not follow them," Obama said. "We're supposed to stand up to discrimination and we're sure as heck supposed to stand up clearly and unequivocally to Nazi sympathizers."

"How hard can that be?" he asked. "Saying that Nazis are bad."

One counterprotester was killed during the Charlottesville rally last year after a vehicle plowed through a crowd of demonstrators opposed to the white supremacist rally. Trump drew widespread criticism when he said that there were "very fine people on both sides" of the protests.

Obama said Friday that it was up to voters to hold racist groups accountable and ensure that they "don't feel emboldened."

"When you vote, you've got the power to make sure white nationalists don't feel emboldened to march with their hoods on or hoods off in Charlottesville," Obama said.

Politicizing the Department of Justice
Obama criticized Trump's drumbeat of tweets attacking Attorney General Jeff Sessions and calling for his department to be used for political purposes.

"It should not be Democratic or Republican, it should not be a partisan issue, to say that we do not pressure the attorney general or the FBI to use the criminal justice system as a cudgel to punish our political opponents," Obama said.

"Or to explicitly call on the attorney general to protect members of our own party from prosecution because an election happens to be coming up," he added.

The second comment was a reference to Trump's recent tweet blaming the Justice Department and Attorney General Jeff Sessions for indicting two Republicans, Reps. Duncan Hunter (Calif.) and Chris Collins (N.Y.), because it would hurt GOP chances of keeping the seats.

"Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department," Trump tweeted. "Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff."

Trump has also urged investigations of his political opponents, including Democrat Hillary Clinton.

"There is so much GUILT by Democrats/Clinton, and now the facts are pouring out. DO SOMETHING!" Trump tweeted last year.

Russia and Vladimir Putin
The former president launched an attack on what he described as Trump and the Republican Party's softening position on Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, saying that the GOP had strayed from its long-established principles.

"They're undermining our alliances, cozying up to Russia," Obama said.

"What happened to the Republican Party? Its central organizing principle in foreign policy was the fight against communism and now they're cozying up to the former head of the KGB, actively blocking legislation that would defend our elections from Russian attack. What happened?"

Trump has often spoken warmly of Moscow. He stirred controversy during a joint news conference with Putin in July when he appeared to question the U.S. intelligence community's assessment that the Russian government meddled in the 2016 presidential election.

He later reversed course, however, saying that he misspoke. Still, he has routinely denigrated the ongoing special counsel investigation into possible collusion between his campaign and Moscow.

Paris climate agreement
Obama laced into Trump's decision last year to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, reminding the crowd on Friday that the U.S. was alone in abandoning the pact.

"The only nation on Earth to pull out of the global climate agreement - it's not North Korea, it's not Syria, it's not Russia or Saudi Arabia - it's us," Obama said. "The only country. There are a lot of countries in the world. We're the only ones."

Trump withdrew from the pact last year after railing against it frequently on the campaign trail. He had long complained that it held the U.S. to higher environmental standards than developing countries, such as India.

The Paris agreement sought to curb carbon emissions worldwide, but ultimately allowed each country to set its own goals for reducing such emissions. Obama said that Trump had "rejected science" and "rejected facts on things like climate change." READ MORE...