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Important to Decide
November 9, 2011 | 18 comments
The Nation's Pulse
Getting Fooled
Never mind has become the national catch phrase.
Are we being fooled, in this advanced age of electronics and swift communications? Try a few.
There is the series of banks ads: Two little girls are asked by a man if they’d like a pony. “Yes,” is the answer from each. The first is given a cheap toy; the second is given a real pony that trots out from stage center. The first complains, “But you didn’t say I could have a real pony.”
The man dismisses her with, “Well, you didn’t ask.”
The scenario is repeated with a little girl who may not ride a bike out of a square, a boy who is given a toy truck to play with temporarily, only to have it snatched away and a cheap cardboard replica handed to him in its place. Childish disappointment is a recurring theme.
It goes on. The 40-some woman who is regularly having tests for breast cancer hears suddenly that she is wasting her time, should wait until she’s 50 and then have a test only occasionally. Scores of women are thus told that they have been fooled by medical science all along — except of course for those whose cancer was detected on one of those unnecessary early trips and whose lives were saved. There’s talk now of revising the schedule of testing for cervical cancer also. There’s equal talk that the entire revision is flawed.
The advent of prescription advertising has brought new perplexities. If a user of Viagra finds himself with an erection that has lasted for four hours, whom does he call first, his doctor or the Guinness Book of Records?
Scores of cities are now in the throes of the new age of medical marijuana. A couple of small towns in Montana complain that the liberating word is slow in traveling and they are seeing some legal deliverers processed down at the city jail. Marijuana has become a successful agricultural enterprise in North California. One of the few things that seems to work there now that sequoias have become commonplace.
There seems no end to this. Someone even has a car that he insists will run on air, producing a by-product of water. Ask that little girl if she would like one.
About the Author
Reid Collins is a former CBS and CNN news correspondent.
Appleby| 11.24.09 @ 6:59AM
Daddy used to listen to snake oil salesmen like these snarky bank adsmen and ask *Whats the catch?* Or sometimes *Whats the Yabbut?* I had occasion to use that one this past weekend when a widely advertised promotion at our monopoly chain bookstore (Toronto has only ONE chain bookstore because socialists find choice terrifying, or so I hear) -- PICK UP OUR FREE SWIPE CARD -- YOU COULD WIN FROM $5 TO $500 OFF ON YOUR PURCHASE! -- proved to be valid only with $50.00 worth of books or more. *Yes, but---* said the clerk before I explained to her that my Daddy had taught me years ago about Yabbut.
There are no Special Deals. There is always a catch.
Grant| 11.24.09 @ 7:00AM
The pot heads are everywhere! There is even one with impeccable conservative lineage who famously endorsed B.H. Obama for president.
The Mescaline Left is actually running Congress.
I've been casting about for a simple test to indicate the permanent brain damage pot can cause and have settled on belief in AGW: without the brain damage, it's just weather.
And some so called Libertarians want to legalize the stuff! Unbelievable!
JP| 11.27.09 @ 12:36AM
Grant, clearly you've never partaken of the plant. It does not make you an idiot, or more liberal--I can attest to that. Did you know many of our great Founders smoked? Did you further know that you only have an ignorant bias against the plant because William Randolph Hearst funded a propaganda campaign in the 30s because hemp was a potential challenge to his paper business?
No one overdoses from Marijuana. Many people overdose and die from alcohol all the time, and I bet you have a few beers once in a while. And if you were a true conservative, you would be angered at the amount of time and money the government spends trying to suppress a demand that is not going away, fueling a black market, and hence most of the gang violence in America.
Seriously, stop being so ignorant.
Curtis| 11.24.09 @ 7:10AM
Of course legalize it. If we practically gave the junk away, half of congress would be too high to run for reelection. Pelosi would be trapped in a nightclub sucking a pacifier and playing with glowsticks, instead of trying her best to burn down the nation in order to save it.
Le Cracquere| 11.24.09 @ 9:04AM
Believe you might be thinking of Ecstasy, Curtis. All the same, your argument holds water: the likelier "Aqua Teen Hungerforce" DVD marathon would still suffice to keep Pelosi & Reid well away from the legislative helm.
Ken (Old Texican)| 11.24.09 @ 10:12AM
Uh guys?
I think Mr. collins' article was about being a grown up.
Appleby nailed it: "There ain't no free lunch".
Somebody has to pay for it.
In America today, 40% of the lunches are being paid for by the rest of us.
Obama believes he can tip the balance to 51% and suck the most addictive drug forever ie: power.
We must clean up our voter rolls, people. We must not let Mickey Mice destroy our country from the comfort of their mommies' basements.
Please consider being a poll watcher and vote watcher.
1FreeMan| 11.24.09 @ 5:20PM
Ken,
Please post how we can be poll watchers and what we can/should do to effectively secure free access to the polls while making sure not to be just another "black panther" intimidating others. We need to act if we are to stop this next election from being a total sham!
Hats off to you, Sir. I appreciate your post.
Neo| 11.24.09 @ 10:25AM
One of these days we will awaken from the "wild party" and find out that we are the new Bangladesh.
Ken (Old Texican| 11.24.09 @ 10:43AM
Neo
You are so wrong. We patriots will not stand for it.
Get off your butt.
As Our logo says: "The Sleeping Giant is Awake, And Angry" http://judgeroy.wordpress.com
Jim Hlavac | 11.24.09 @ 11:20AM
Um, maybe I'm losing something here, but how does limiting mammograms, the perilous joy of viagra and a banking commercial have anything to do with legalized marijuana? Marijuana is a plant, not a test, pill or bank. Marijuana will grow even if every human disappears. Marijuana is a plant made by God -- which cannot be said for tests, pills or banks. Furthermore, how can prohibition against something that is probably just as dangerous (though in a different way; and probably less so anyway,) than alcohol possibly be the destructor of the country when it is autocratic ideology by whatever name that is doing the destructing? I'm sure, back there during alcohol's prohibition, there were some who said "and Libertarians want to legalize the stuff!" But marijuana as the font of the nation's ills? You jest. In fact, imprisoning tens of thousands of people for pursuing happiness in their inimitable way in the privacy of their own homes cannot conceivably help the nation. It has only led to more and more police state activity.
Indeed, it seems some folks here want to outlaw their three disfavored things. Meanwhile the left want to outlaw their three disfavored things, and the moderates want to outlaw their three disfavored things -- and in the spirit of bipartisan horse trading 9 things are thus outlawed. Oh joy for liberty. Oh great American individualism -- so long as we outlaw what we ourselves would not do lest someone else somewhere is enjoying it without our permission. The horror of all that wanton liberty is quite frightening indeed. Let the best autocrat who knows best what is good for me stand up! Now I shall choose between my liberal or conservative dictator. What a country.
Allen Hanson| 11.24.09 @ 11:51AM
Our Rastafarian friend ("It takes Ja to make de ganja!") is missing something. Marijuana is not the way God made it; it has been subjected to selective breeding designed to increase the plant's THC content. You could say that today's marijuana plants have been subject to genetic engineering. When marijuana is allowed to grow wild, its THC levels drop rapidly, especially if it interpollinates with natural hemp plants.
When it comes to pot, "I was born at night, just not last night". There is no legitimate rationale for legalizing the drug. The last thing America needs is more stoners.
JP| 11.27.09 @ 12:49AM
"There is no legitimate rationale for legalizing the drug."
Seriously? How about unclogging our prisons, saving billions each year, ending a black market and much of the reason for gangs in America, allowing people to make their own decisions, giving police less reason to hassle otherwise law-abiding citizens, and the fact that weed is far less harmful to individuals and society than alcohol?
You also assume that anyone who smokes pot is going to become a stoner, or that enough will become stoners so as to burden the country. I know some stoners. Believe me, if that is your inclination, you were going to find the pot anyway. Plus, you can smoke pot and be productive and upstanding. I get all my work done and As in my courses. It's all about individual responsibility, something anyone reading this site should believe in. If you smoke pot, you must be responsible and rational enough to not let it take hold of you (as say alcohol, or television, or a woman might...). If you can't do this, you're probably a liberal anyway.
Stop forcing your morals on other people.
Margie| 11.27.09 @ 12:42PM
Sure, JP. That's all we need are more people out on the roads adding to driving while texting, eating, putting on make-up, drinking, and what the heck? Smoking weed!
Tim| 11.24.09 @ 12:07PM
Respectfully: The last thing America needs is more Democrats.
Allen Hanson| 11.24.09 @ 12:10PM
I won't say they are the same group; let's just say "the two groups are not mutually exclusive".
Tim| 11.24.09 @ 12:10PM
The advent of prescription advertising has brought new perplexities. If a user of Viagra finds himself with an erection that has lasted for four hours, whom does he call first, his doctor or the Guinness Book of Records?
Under Obamacare, he calls a hotline to the publicly funded Kennedy Center for Boner Science.
Doobie| 11.24.09 @ 1:24PM
Hey Dudes, what's wrong with: "I want it all, right now, but I don't want to pay for it"? (cause I'm to stoned to go to work..hee hee...WOW, Dude I'm hungry too! Buy me some pizza?).
PacRim Jim | 11.24.09 @ 1:50PM
A dumb and thus easily led electorate is now among us. Teachers' unions, mission accomplished!
Lucy| 11.24.09 @ 2:53PM
Aaarrrrgggghhhhhhh!
martin j smith| 11.24.09 @ 3:34PM
If people vote for a guy they do not know then deserve what THEY get. Problem is everyone gets BAD DEAL.
Gerald Stephens| 11.24.09 @ 4:07PM
Ken ( Old Texican) has provided an elegant solution to just being angry! Now there is nothing wrong with angry except for the associated heartburn.
SO take Dr. Ken's prescription. JOIN with other angry folks. You will experience wonderful satisfaction knowing that there are more of us than them.
I recently discovered the 'Committees of Safety'. The originals organized in response to the England's attempt to 'reform those colonists'.
The present mission is the INSURE that NO level of government violate your enshrined freedoms by violating the CONSTITUTION.
Browse: Committees of Safety. Think you will revel in the idea. The present inspiration, Walter Reedy, will be delighted to chat with you.
Ken, say hello to him.
Gerald Stephens
Hartford , CT
ken (Old Texican)| 11.24.09 @ 6:39PM
Gerald,
Thanks.
I will ask them to join us. See, T.E.A.M. stands for "Together Everyone Achieves More."
We are just the "under the grandstands clubhouse"
where we all get our game-plan together before hitting the field and kicking arse.
The tea parties, and committees, and the bloggers for freedom all across the country are joining us.
They all have their beauty, but we have the "game-plan" to win our country back.
We are comprised mainly of the "small business community.....and Veterans". Together, we have more smarts and more, (pardon me ladies), balls, and more money than all of the Soros types.
We also owe much to the ladies that have more testicular fortitude than most men.
My grandmother was a half-indian ...pioneer. She was a better shot, (this during the commanche era), than my grand-pop....he loaded....... she shot...commanches.
...one bullet...one commanche.
...Today that translates to..."one bullet...one woman fearing/hating jihadist."
Screw the wimp-arse so-called men here. You ladies are welcome though. Heh.
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Richard Baker| 11.26.09 @ 12:37AM
I've been suggesting for years that we legalize ALL drugs and medications. Within 18 months we'll have a great many overdose deaths and then we'll be rid of all these weak sisters. This would solve a lot of our problems. First to go will be all the Baby Boomer stoners and good riddance to them. At 57, I've been watching these immature brats since the mid-'60s and would be glad to see their immature selves gone.
JP| 11.27.09 @ 12:51AM
Exactly! If you can't manage your own life, to hell with you!
Mandarin Chinese Online | 11.28.09 @ 5:07AM
nothing is impossible to a willing heart!
posse comitatus| 11.29.09 @ 7:29PM
I could see legalized Marijuana. Allow anyone who wants to use it, a special permit, something like a drivers licence, only federally issued, and bearing a thunbprint and photograph. The permit would allow the now registered user, the ability to purchase marijauna like is was tobacco, subject to the same restrictions as the use of tobacco.
The registered "user" is then prohibited from voting. This is something that convicted users of "weed" already experience once legal authorities become aware of them, yet those people still smoke that weed and don't even care if they are sent to prison for doing it.
My plan simply eliminates going to prison and merely asks that potheads give up the idea that they are qualified to make reasonable political choices for the rest of us.
electronic | 11.30.09 @ 4:19AM
nothing is impossible to a willing heart!
Richard Baker| 11.30.09 @ 7:23PM
posse comitatus:
Why not let all the druggies self-select and remove themselves from our midst? It could happen. Imagine.
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