LSD: My Problem Child – Forward

LSD � My Problem Child

Albert Hofmann

Foreword

There are experiences that most of us are hesitant to speak about, because they do not conform to everyday reality and defy rational explanation. These are not particular external occurrences, but rather events of our inner lives, which are generally dismissed as figments of the imagination and barred from our memory. Suddenly, the familiar view of our surroundings is transformed in a strange, delightful, or alarming way: it appears to us in a new light, takes on a special meaning. Such an experience can be as light and fleeting as a breath of air, or it can imprint itself deeply upon our minds.

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How to stop the drug wars

Prohibition has failed; legalisation is the least bad solution

Illustration by Noma Bar

A HUNDRED years ago a group of foreign diplomats gathered in Shanghai for the first-ever international effort to ban trade in a narcotic drug. On February 26th 1909 they agreed to set up the International Opium Commission—just a few decades after Britain had fought a war with China to assert its right to peddle the stuff. Many other bans of mood-altering drugs have followed. In 1998 the UN General Assembly committed member countries to achieving a “drug-free world” and to “eliminating or significantly reducing” the production of opium, cocaine and cannabis by 2008.

That is the kind of promise politicians love to make. It assuages the sense of moral panic that has been the handmaiden of prohibition for a century. It is intended to reassure the parents of teenagers across the world. Yet it is a hugely irresponsible promise, because it cannot be fulfilled.

2 months into 2009, US deaths spike in Afghanistan

By JASON STRAZIUSO – 2 hours ago

KABUL (AP) — U.S. deaths in Afghanistan increased threefold during the first two months of 2009 compared with the same period last year, after thousands more troops deployed and commanders ramped up winter operations against an increasingly violent insurgency.

Capital punishment laws around the world

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Death_Penalty_World_Map2.png

Fidel Castro says Cuba could talk with Obama

Fri Dec 5, 2008 7:54am EST

By Patrick Markey

HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba’s former leader Fidel Castro said on Thursday his country could talk to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, in Havana’s latest overture to the incoming Democratic administration in Washington.

Top 10 differences between Europe and America

Published on November 25, 2007 – 207 Comments

Though only a stone’s-throw away across the grand Atlantic, Europeans and Americans are as different as night and day. And being anywhere from 5 to 7 hours difference in time, they literally are, too. Back in the days of old when that rag-tag batch of ticked-off Englishmen decided to brave the snarling sea and make new their lives in America, we’ve held similarities close to our hearts. However, times force great changes and leaps in advancement force gaps in our likenesses and make them far more diverse and different. Gone are the days when the ‘New’ Americans would take tea time, instead, we, as Americans, stumbled upon the idea of lunch… similar, but still, quite different. Well, you get the idea. Here are ten (of many, as we all know) ways we, as Americans, are different from our jovial brethren across the pond: the Europeans.

10 common German prejudices about the USA

Whenever people talk about the USA, it doesn’t take long until you hear sentences that start with “That’s typical. Americans are all…”. Well, what are you? I’ve asked around, talked to people and this is a list of the 10 prejudices I’ve heard most often.

Blackwater likely to be fined millions in Iraq weapons case

Posted on Thu, Nov. 13, 2008

Warren Strobel | McClatcly Newspapers

last updated: November 12, 2008 07:35:33 PM

WASHINGTON — The State Department is preparing to slap a multi-million dollar fine on private military contractor Blackwater USA for shipping hundreds of automatic weapons to Iraq without the necessary permits.

Putin may return to presidency in 2009

Reuters

November 6, 2008 at 3:11 AM EST

MOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could resign from his post in 2009 to pave the way for Vladimir Putin to return to the Kremlin, Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an unidentified source close to the Kremlin.

Pinay girl writes to Obama, gets response

By Doreen Yu Updated November 07, 2008 12:00 AM

Eight-year-old Fil-Am Karina Encarnacion recommended a dog that president-elect Barack Obama should get for his daughters, and in return got “three bits of advice that will make your life more fulfilling.”