Lessons Learned, and Not Learned

What lessons could we learn from nicotine chewing gum?

You might be surprised.

Read on.

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Having never been addicted to anything (or, anyone), the craving for a substance, other than food & water for sustenance, it interests me to understand the strong cravings that some have for non-food substances, including, for example, tobacco, spiritous beverage, or narcotics abused, or other illicit substances, including cocaine, methamphetamine, etc.

For years, I have, on a personal level, maintained that addiction was not what many were saying that it was, some years ago. And in the interim, from then until now, indeed, the definition, and our understanding of addiction has substantially changed, precisely because of our increased understanding of physiology, in conjunction with improved recognition of cause-and-effect patterns of human behavior.

For example, with smokers, they almost always fall into habituation through association with routine. Wake up, toilet, smoke, bathe, smoke. Drink coffee, smoke. Drive to work, smoke. Work a couple hours, smoke break. Work a few more, lunch break, smoke. Work a bit, smoke break. Off work, drive home, smoke. Get cleaned up, smoke. Watch teevee, smoke. Eat supper, smoke. Have cocktails/nightcap, smoke. And it all repeats itself the next day. That’s significantly serious behavioral reinforcement.

Those who make effort to quit, frequently forget the association of routine with smoking, and when determined to quit, they sometimes

BIG GOVERNMENT IS COMING TO EAT YOUR BABIES!

There’s a segment of society that’s cool with totalitarianism, and authoritarianism.

They’d be happy as a lark to live in a prison, with security cameras at every corner watching everything they do 24/7/365, complete with concertina wire-topped electric fences, armed guards, and people telling them what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and when and where to go – complete with patdowns and searches for contraband. Every moment of their life would be under scrutiny and available for public consumption.

Those are the Banana Republicans – people who have so little confidence in the government that they’ve helped to destroy since 1980, that they feel like they have to carry firearms and other weapons, openly and clandestinely, in order to protect themselves. People who say hate is love, and war is peace, and slavery is freedom all while doing their damnedest to convince the ignorant and fearful that the GREAT BIG BOOGEYMAN OF BIG GOVERNMENT IS COMING TO EAT YOUR BABIES!

Boo!

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AP-NORC Poll: Few In U.S. Say Democracy Is Working Very Well

By Steven Sloan and Thomas Beaumont
Monday, Feb ruary 8, 2021

WASHINGTON (AP) — Only a fragment of Americans believe democracy is thriving in the U.S., even as broad majorities agree that representative government is one of the country’s bedrock principles, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Just 16% of Americans say democracy is working well or extremely well, a pessimism that spans the political spectrum. Nearly half of Americans, 45%, think democracy isn’t functioning properly, while another 38% say it’s working only somewhat well.

The core elements of democratic government, including free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power, were put to a dire test by the baseless claims of election fraud advanced by former President Donald Trump. Those assertions of fraud were a root cause of the deadly violence at the U.S. Capitol last month, which damaged the country’s reputation as a model for democracy.

Trump will face an unprecedented second impeachment trial in the Senate this week for his role in sparking the violence. About half of Americans say the Senate should convict the Republican former president.

Only 16% Of Americans Say Democracy Is Working Very Or Extremely Well

A new AP-NORC poll finds Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to say democracy is working at least somewhat well. Few Republicans or Democrats say it is working very or extremely well.

How well would you say democracy is working in the United States these days?

CAPTION: Results based on interviews with 1,055 U.S. adults conducted Jan. 28-Feb. 1. The margin of error is ±3.8 percentage points for the full sample.
Source: AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research Graphic: Kati Perry

“At every turn, it’s gotten worse and worse,” said Curtis Musser, a 55-year-old Republican-leaning independent in Clermont, Florida, who didn’t vote for Trump. “You could see it brewing even before the election. And everything just kept spiraling downward from there.”

The poll’s findings are broadly consistent with

For those who like their newz with a right wring tryst, there’s… yellow reporting via @YHN YellowHammer News.

For those who like their newz with a Right Wring Tryst

Slant…

from a journalistic perspective, it’s colorizing a news report to fit the opinion of the reporter. It’s the polar opposite of hard news reporting, and is more akin to OpEd, or even News Feature writing.

More than likely, only the erudite would be aware of the differences. The average Joe is clueless about it, and only knows “where the gas and keys go,” which is another way of saying “if it’s on the Internet, it must be true.”

A one word description for that is “gullible.”

And face it, not everyone is a brainiac… and that’s okay.

What it boils down to is integrity, and truth-telling, which is precisely why journalistic integrity is of paramount importance in a free society like ours. Lack of it is what got “Lyin’ Brian Williams” canned from being the anchor of the NBC Nightly News. It wasn’t “colorful” reporting, it was blatant fabrication of a material fact. In plain language, he lied – and not just once, but several times – about events he reported, including Hurricane Katrina and being under enemy fire while flying in a Blackhawk helicopter.

Such phenomenon is not just limited to teevee news, but journalistic integrity also covers the written word. And there have been

WWJD Health Care: “Will this make your life better?”

I regularly contribute commentary to a blog entitled “OFFAir & ONLine,” by Tim Lennox. Mr. Lennox is a Viet Nam veteran and print/broadcast journalist of some years’ experience, and readers will see a link to his blog on this blog. His name or face maybe most recognizable from his 11-year tenure as News Anchor/Host of Alabama’s only statewide news program “For The Record,” broadcast on Alabama Public Television (APTV).

After APTV essentially deep-sixed the award-winning program, and its highly respected Host – calling long distance to bear bad news while he was attending a relative’s funeral almost half-way across the country – Mr. Lennox has quite fortunately again found gainful employment in his field.

Recently, Mr. Lennox cited a news item and posed a question to his readers, which was a reiteration of the same question asked by the subject of a news story to which he linked, and which was, “Will this make your life better?”

It’s said that there are two motivations for people: 1.) Love, and; 2.) Money.

If a person doesn’t do a thing for love, they then do it for money. And there is a word used to describe those whom do things exclusively for money: it’s called “prostitution.”

In that light, I composed the following response:

Fear mongering certainly seems to be Republicans’ political stock in trade.

I write that after reading the inane comments of Republican Nebraska Sen. Mike Johanns in the linked story.

Concerning “government delivered healthcare,” the only comment I have, is that it certainly seems to work quite well for our Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen!

But this issue is NOT about government delivery.

It IS however, about deciding whether our nation can and should continue on the path we’ve been embarked upon for nearly three generations (post WWII era).

That being, whether we shall continue to allow for-profit, Wall Street mega-billionaires and their über-wealthy insurance companies to call the shots on our healthcare by the power of their purse.

They have made their fortunes upon the backs of the suffering, and in the process, because of lack of regulation, caused and increased unnecessary suffering among untold Americans’ lives.

Among other unconscionable and inhumane acts, they have refused to pay for procedures, medications and treatments that healthcare professionals have deemed necessary.

They have refused to pay for treatments after services were rendered after they cashed checks, claiming a “cap” or “incorrect date” was on the check. They’ve constantly changed the “rules of THEIR game,” even in the middle of the “game,” forcing the insured to dance to the tune of THEIR piper… like it or NOT! (Yeah, it’s a mixed metaphor… but it works!)

And these are but two egregious examples. There are countless, and untold MILLIONS more.

One significant reason why healthcare costs in this nation are so out-of-control are because of insurance companies.

It’s a very simple-to-understand idea: 

Anytime anyone gets in between you and the check-out stand, you’re gonna’ pay more.

Analogously, why would you pay me to pay your fuel costs for your automobile? Why would you pay me to pay for your groceries?

We’ve done similarly with our healthcare in this nation for so long (since post WWII) that we’ve become accustomed to it, and act as if it can’t be changed.

Perhaps that “genie can’t be put back into the bottle.”

I don’t know.

But, we can darn sure (and should) do something about the environment in which it is allowed to operate!

Besides… if competition is good (and it is), why would the insurance companies (private enterprise) NOT want competition from the government?

It just doesn’t make sense… like most of what insurance companies say and do.

Whatever they say, I’m disinclined to do, simply because they proven time and time and time again, that they CANNOT be trusted.

They’re in it to make money.

They DON’T give a damn about you.

Take away their profit motive and what do they have left?

No reason for existence.

They’re NOT charitable organizations… like hospitals have historically been.

Christian charities have operated hospitals for longer than health insurance companies have peddled health insurance.

And they did a darn sight better when those whose filthy lucre turned it into a den of thieves stayed out.