Thursday, May 5, 2016

Top Of The News - 5 May

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!

1. “The Beautiful Ones”

If Prince died of an opiate overdose, and the mounting evidence is leading to that conclusion, it will be the shot in the arm (no pun intended) that the addiction epidemic in America needs to turn the corner.

New York TimesPrince’s Addiction and an Intervention Too Late

2. Holy Sh!$

From NPR - "Getting High From This Drug For Diarrhea Can Be Fatal"

"Loperamide — also sold under the brand name Imodium — can be purchased without a prescription as a liquid or pills; it activates some of the same receptors as other opioids, but at the dose that's recommended to treat diarrhea it doesn't produce feelings of euphoria."

"At doses 10 or more times higher than that recommendation, the drug can help ease symptoms of withdrawal from opioids, Eggleston says. And at the largest doses, it can generate a high similar to that of widely abused opioid pills or heroin."

3. Get your high on...the cheap (I guess today is the drug addition of Top Of The News)

From Washington Post - "So, something interesting happens to weed after it's legal." Wait for it...it gets very cheap very quickly. Well, Duh!

"Two years ago, the Washington state began an unprecedented policy experiment by allowing large-scale production and sale of recreational marijuana to the public."

"After a transitory rise in the first few months...both retail prices and wholesale prices have plummeted...prices are now steadily falling at about 2 percent per month. If that trend holds, prices may fall 25 percent each year going forward."

+ From Ozy - "The Party Drug That Will Give You a Sweet High" Literally, sweet, because it's cacao. The same cacao used for making chocolate. Evidently, raving on cacao is a trend in Western Europe.

"To be clear, cacao is not going to distort your reality. Under the beats of house, hip-hop, funk and electronic music, cacao “amplifies” the experience, rather than dims it with alcohol or drugs, says May."

4. What to do? What to do? If you're GOP, do you vote for Trump?

It appears the GOP is in an interesting pickle. The anti-Trump movement has failed and he looks to be the GOP's candidate for president. Some conservatives say, "Never Trump!" We'll see when the rubber meets the road...

From Washington Post - Anti-Trump Republicans confront a dilemma: Are they ready to help elect Clinton?

“The GOP is going to nominate for President a guy who reads the National Enquirer and thinks it’s on the level,” tweeted Mark Salter, a former aide to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Then he added a Clinton campaign slogan: “I’m with her.”

+ From Re/code - Silicon Valley’s GOP elite hate Trump, but don’t know whether to vote for Clinton

“For Silicon Valley Republicans, this is a moment when you’ve got to stop and say: Holy shit — I don’t know anyone who supports or even voted for the guy who just clinched the nomination,” said one Bay Area conservative who works in the tech industry.

+ Charles Koch's, "It's possible [Hillary Clinton would be better than Trump in the White House]," comment last month on ABC's "This Week" really put a spotlight on this issue. Although, I think the headlines took his remarks out of context. This New Yorker article lays out a pretty good argument for the silliness of even considering the Koch brothers would vote Democrat.

5. Leave Britney Alone!

Wow! Hard to believe Britney has been under a conservatorship for eight years. I guess it's working...

"In September, she announced a two-year, $35 million deal to extend her residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino here. Forbes named her the fifth-highest-earning female musician of 2015, ahead of powerhouses like Rihanna and Nicki Minaj. And she’s been hard at work on her ninth studio album, expected this year."

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