Ah, well, sorry if I came off as a bit snarky -- your original post mentioned "reading" and clearly that is no substitute for actually experiencing. Anyway, apparently they did not do much for you, still I wouldn't presume to make blanket statements about what they might do for others.

I would never recommend using entheogenic substances to anyone who wasn't very curious and confident. Having said that, those who've never tried it can not possibly know just what is and isn't bullshit about the effects. I'm not a believer in supernatural or magical things, but nevertheless some of these substances have allowed me to learn valuable lessons about myself and in one case basically cured a mild phobia. Like GP says, there can be real benefits (and dangers) to this kind of mind annealing.

The harmala component in ayahuasca is there (mostly) to facilitate ingestion, yes, but DMT can be used without it when smoked or snorted (which I think was the original use, powder processed from yopo bark).

Anyway, it might be a regional thing, but my impression is that to the extent that is to be found at all, "DMT" here in the EU refers to synthetic stuff meant to be smoked in a base pipe, and probably is not the 5-MeO-DMT variant found in ayahuasca. Is this use of the terms different in the US?

Mescaline can come from peyote, of course, but also from San Pedro. The effects are reported to be distinct, to some extent, due to the various other components in either plant. Which presumably make both slightly different from synthetic mescaline. I can't actually say this from personal experience though, these things are not at all commonplace or easy to procure where I'm at.

I'm not sure GP was talking about pot, but probably about psychedelic drugs like LSD, mescalin, psilocybin, ayahuasca, DMT and so on. But even for pot I'm sure that, while there certainly are some who use it strictly as recreation, there are also those who achieve real insights under its influence.

Or he might be an international observer, to whom the American "left" seems rather far to the right of what they would normally consider the left wing, or even the center for that matter.

Thanks! I don't have a 2-nic machine handy though without swapping cards.

Yeah mine has a camera and mic. But I have duct tape, so that's all right.

Plus if companies do get caught on this kind of thing, they tend to be hardly punished (by regulators nor consumers). So there's almost no reason for them to play fair.

Having said that, not connecting it at all is not an option for me, that would break netflix. If only we could configure our own hosts file on our tv, or something.

Maybe APK can lead the way.

I recently got my first Smart TV (I had an almost 20yr old Philips that just would not die, and in the end it never did).

It's a Samsung and I made a point of not accepting the privacy policy. So far I have noticed nothing that does not work, which made me wonder if Samsung actually bothers to check whether or not the policy was accepted.

How would I know if they were selling my viewing habits anyway?

Decriminalisation of drugs would also go some way toward slightly less insane levels of incarceration? Having 5% of the population the US account for 25% of the world's prisoners. That is just batshit unhinged.

Wait, a seven-foot rise is not a reasonable prediction but our being beings of translucent energy in 400 years is? Allrighty then.

Most likely, there will be no significant change to speak of. Maybe some cosmetic tweaks. Certainly new promises which will be broken on day one. Almost definitely a populace who will continue to fail to demand real change.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

TFS and TFA are both ridiculously vague.

How exactly does this work, in terms of jurisdiction? Is this a case for the ICC? WTO?

Or is it now (officially) the position of USJ that its jurisdiction covers the whole planet?

Worked wonders for Scientology, that.

Or Unthinkable in which, after Samuel L Jackson tortures a guy for the whole film it turns out he didn't go far enough. Having slashed the detainees wife's throat before his eyes, they stopped short at doing same to his kids. Moral of the story, torture works but only as long as you're willing to go all the way. Sickening.