Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 10-26-18

Editorial/Columns
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hile we have been distracted by news of the
Mueller investigation into Russian tampering with the 2016 elections; the Stormy Daniels-Trump sex scandal; Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen’s spilling of the beans; the Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination; hurricanes that changed America’s landscape and peo- ple’s lives forever, we have missed the reports of ac- tions taken by the Conservative Republican Congress that will also change our lives forever.
News we missed was the U. S. Treasury Depart- ment’s announcement that our federal deficit rose to $779 billion, thanks to Trump’s corporate tax cuts (the 2018 deficit rose the highest since 2012). Quietly, the Trump administration expanded short-term insurance plans that don’t have to cover pre-existing conditions and health care that the Affordable Care Act requires. These plans don’t have to cover “essential health ben- efits like hospitalization, prescription drugs and ma- ternity care.” Rightfully so, these plans have been labeled “junk insurance.”
Moreover, the world’s ocean level rise has doubled in the face of nearly an inch rise per decade since 1917. For retirees, a court ruled against a Labor Department policy that required financial advisers to place their clients’ goals ahead of their own when offering guid- ance about retirement investments (re: hidden fees and bad advice).
Hungry Americans who are eligible for food stamps are not able to purchase food that will be eaten in the store, (coffee, hot food, sandwiches, etc.), soda, candy, and cake. Had one lawmaker had his way, food stamp recipients would not be able to purchase steak and lob- ster, which were called “luxury foods.”
Such actions require that we remain vigilant and keep our eyes and ears open when being bombarded by news hypes. We could indeed, be taken to the cleaners while focusing on the loss of a shirt.
Something Worse Than Crack
hen rock-cocaine hit
the scene 35 years ago, no one knew how much it would change the landscape of the world around them. The popular party drug, known for inducing mind-blowing highs for short periods of time, soon became the stuff of nightmares for those who couldn't shake its
addictive hold.
In the years that followed,
people who lived through that era watched helplessly as family members, friends and estab- lished individuals within their communities slowly deterio- rated into smoked out zombies as the crack epidemic swept through neighborhood after neighborhood destroying lives like a runaway bulldozer. Its rampage only slowed during brief shortages, commonly re- ferred to as "droughts" in the streets, when cocaine was
scarce.
Since then there have been
several other hardcore narcotics that have risen up to challenge crack's domination and infamy in the drug market, including crystal methamphetamine, MDMA (Molly) and a host of opiates that come in pill form. But none proved to be as potent as the original "white devil."
That dynamic is now chang- ing with the introduction of a new highly destructive, unas- suming, product that has begun to dominate the drug industry recently.... synthetic marijuana.
While it's not as lethal as heroin or adversely affects a per- son's appearance like meth, the multiple ways it disrupts an in- dividual's mental stability not only makes it harmful to the person using it but, it can also place anyone who comes in con- tact with that individual into
danger as well.
This is mainly due to the fact
that this so-called "fake weed" has been known to make people engage in extremely bizarre, er- ratic and violent behavior. And, since it's undetectable using cur- rent drug tests, that means that any school bus driver, pilot, train engineer or surgeon can get as high as a kite on a daily basis, without anyone knowing, until he or she has a psychotic episode while on the job.
This is one of the reasons why the CDC (Center For Dis- ease Control) has identified the increasing use of synthetics as one of the biggest threats to public health and safety in the country.
Those who believe that they've found a safe way to get lifted, without violating any drug re- strictions they may be under, are, instead, potentially placing deadly toxins inside of their bodies.
What we're witnessing is just another example of the sad state of the world in which we live. People are so depressed with their current realities that they're willing to risk any cost in order to escape the madness.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bulletin Publishing Company. You can contact Mr. Barr at: cbarronice@gmail.com.
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
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News Distracts From Real News
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2018 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5-A