I just did a quick search using the word concrete for an association with opioids and found this interesting result, hmmm
https://drugs-forum.com/ams/24-concrete-policy-steps-to-reduce-opioid-addiction-and-overdoses.27372/
That was an awesome moment on that call!!
On Election Day, don't forget: It's a republic, if we can keep it
In perhaps one of the most poignant interactions surrounding the ratification of the Constitution, Benjamin Franklin left Independence Hall and was accosted by a citizen of Philadelphia who posed the question, “What have we got, Mr. Franklin? A republic or a monarchy?” Most have heard Franklin’s notorious, almost pessimistic reply, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Every other November, and sometimes more often, we vote. We send representatives to our townships, counties, state legislatures, and Washington, D.C., to represent our interests and ensure the future security of the republican form of government. Some elections receive more pomp and circumstance than others, but each is fundamentally necessary for the preservation of our way of governance. Yet, when a citizenry has so long been favored with the privilege of self-government, it often becomes callous to the blessings such a system bestows.
Congressional approval in recent years often never rises above 25 percent, and even in years past, rarely reaches 35 percent. Presidential approval hovers in the 40-50 percent range, with the occasional spike in either direction during nation-shaking events. Inarguably, government has grown more intrusive than it was ever intended to be. Inefficient, out-of-control spending creates a looming financial crisis, judicial activism runs rampant, as the nation’s courts create law rather than interpret it, trade barriers drive up production costs and hurt both producer and consumer, unwise foreign alliances and tedious appeasement policy attempt to band-aid wounds that need comprehensive surgery, border crises reveal that U.S. immigration policy is essentially nonexistent, and reform is desperately needed.
Winston Churchill famously said, “The best argument against democratic government is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” Some of the voting bloc recognizes that there is much work to do, but this is overshadowed by low voter turnout and apathy. In presidential elections, voter turnout is about 60 percent, while midterm elections turn out roughly 40 percent of eligible voters and local elections turn out embarrassingly low numbers. People are angry at government, yet many would rather take to Twitter or Facebook to express their frustration than apply themselves to careful study of the issues and express their concerns at the polls. Alexander Hamilton’s firm declaration at the New York Ratifying Convention in 1788, “Here, Sir, the people govern: Here they act by their immediate representatives,” does not resound so pointedly when half of the voting population does not participate in the process by which our government must subsist. In addition to simple voter apathy, there is rampant lack of interest in the electoral process. A Pew study in 2017 found that an estimated 22 percent of citizens do not even register to vote, showing nothing but simple negligence and utter carelessness for the system that grants them the ability to have a say in how they are governed.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/red-alert-politics/on-election-day-dont-forget-its-a-republic-if-we-can-keep-it