2008-04-30

SCRAPs, AD.2008.04.30.ICT - Liberation Day, Saigon

While re-synthesizing the LSD, he accidentally ingested a small sample (through his fingertips) [3] and serendipitously discovered its powerful effects. Three days later, on April 19, Hofmann deliberately consumed 250 micrograms of LSD before his bicycle ride home. This was followed by a series of self-experiments conducted by Hofmann and his colleagues. He first wrote about these experiments on April 22 of that year.

...

In December 2007, Swiss medical authorities permitted a psychotherapist to perform psychotherapeutical experiments with patients who suffer from terminal stage cancer and other deadly diseases. Although not yet started, these experiments will represent the first study of the therapeutic effects of LSD on humans in 35 years, as other studies have focused on the drug's effects on consciousness and body. Hofmann supported the study, and continued to believe in the therapeutic benefits of LSD.

-- From Wikipedia page for Albert Hofmann, 2008.04.30


Never thought much about the old inventor of "acid" (LSD), but it seems most of the media i monitor is eulogizing Albert Hofmann's "final trip" today. The "real" acid i remember back in the '70s was pretty scary stuff. I can't say i regret having tried it -- just the social consequences of tripping out among folks who aren't, and who have no idea why you're acting so nuts. Inevitable conclusion: go directly to nut-house; do not pass "Go". Somewhat surprisingly, Hofmann lived to be an apparently happy 102, even after what must have been some of the best acid trips known to man.

But today is also the 33rd anniversary of Liberation Day for Saigon -- what folks outside Vietnam (US Vietnamese mostly, it seems) call the "Fall of Saigon" -- AD.1975.Apr.30.ICT, the day Vietnamese forces took back Saigon and the US choppered the last of its official forces and government staff out to ships offshore, tails twixt legs.

Before heading home, of course, the US dumped more bombs and chemicals on Vietnam than were dropped on all of Europe over all of World War II.

Interestingly, for this sot at least, the English online press coverage of the event, both inside Vietnam and abroad, is virtually nada so far. Most news about Vietnam today was still fixated on the happy ending for the Olympic torch relay here and Vietnam's ending its US adoption program over US reports of baby sales.

By 21:00 today, in Vietnam, only the "organ" of HCMC Communist Party, Saigon Liberation (Sài gòn Giải phóng), had even mentioned Liberation Day on its Web front page. Not a word was to be seen on the Web fronts of the Viet Nam News Agency, VietnamNet or Thanh Nien (Youth) Daily.

Google news had about 140 reports for "Saigon Fall" and 40 for "Saigon Liberation", most not relevant -- which doesn't seem to bode very well for Vietnam's English-language "propaganda" efforts, as the Vietnamese media still call those efforts themselves.

Still, it's Liberation Day for yours truly at least, liberation from this blog and this obsessive Web RAP SCRAPing. Today, some 22,538 unique Web SCRAPs have been saved to disk since March 2007. That's enough. It's time to get out a bit more.

Yet again, each SCRAP listed is linked to the location it was saved from by this blog. See BeLow. For more on method/madness, see right.

The Pic

From one of the Web pages SCRAP'd, BeLow. The Taj Mahal, No. 7 in
concierge.com's Top 12 of TRAVEL'S MOST ENDANGERED PLACES

NotIons from the NotAblesSCRAPs

By ADMarshall at 23:13 1 comments

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2008-04-29

SCRAPs, AD.2008.04.29.ICT - EcoBuddhism?

As I filed out with the excited, chattering, and very young crowd, I felt the kind of heart-stopping pity that makes it hard for me to be hard on my students. After all, I’m not going to be around for that much longer. But these bright young beings, full of energy—do they think they can inherit the economy, but not the earth?

-- Wendi Adamek, of Columbia's Green Tara Dialogues, in The 'Economics of Climate Change' Koan, 2007.Jun.10


This day in IndoChina, the "NotAble NotIons" section evolved into "NotIons from the NotAbles", since it usually includes the most interesting, amusing or frightening SCRAPs from the most authoritative sources of the day. The "Pic" section became "The Pic".

And... the Climate Cull continues: more epidemic fears, more oil-addiction cold turkey, rich humans fearing they too may face feed shortages, more Asian rain-forest slashing for feeding more humans, another earthquake, in Okinawa this time, etc, etc, etc, ad nauseum.

Concurrently, humanity's over-stuffed, affluent oldies have been offered new software to counter senility. Canada's conservatives are outed on their attempt to sabotage the Obamanon. Iraqi children weep over Saddam Hussein's birthday. And Chinese kids are sold into slavery "like cabbages".

On the lighter side, there may have been "Crystal Meth[od]" in the madness of CNN's Richard Quest -- when he tied his balls to his neck with a friend in New York's Central Park. "Real" solutions to the Climate Cull are proposed. Buddhism has some suggestions, too. The Worldometer puts "real-time" stats online so we can all supposedly gauge global hope versus despair, whenever we want. Canadian strip club polecats complain they're losing work to Net porn. And the Stitch n' Bitch appears! (See knithappens.com ;))

And also today, some 22,347 unique Web SCRAPs have been saved to disk since March 2007. Each is linked to the location it was saved from by this blog. See BeLow. For more on method/madness, see right.

The Pic
EcoBuddhism web site
From one of the Web pages SCRAP'd, BeLow

NotIons from the NotAbles
SCRAPs

By ADMarshall at 18:45 7 comments

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2008-04-28

SCRAPs, AD.2008.04.28.ICT - Climate Cull

Set factories afire at last! Make a little room on the crippled earth! Depopulate it so that the grass may grow again, and woods, meadows, heather, stream and moor return to this world of dust and concrete.

-- Hermann Hesse, Steppenwolf, 1929


Today, more from the many too many of us folks worldwide, all now facing petro-consumer cold turkey, environmental rejection and our own imminent culling by climate. Today we're mulling North American water wars, more food shortages, delusions of religion and toxic trash islands at sea bigger than Texas. On the lighter side, there was more mumbling over decriminalizing the Bud and more eroticomic "Unmotivational Posters" went online to spice up one's day.

And today some 22,244 unique Web SCRAPs have been saved to disk since March 2007. Each is linked to the location it was saved from by this blog. See BeLow. For more on method/madness, see right.

Pic

From one of the Web pages SCRAP'd, BeLow

NotAble NotIons
SCRAPs

By ADMarshall at 21:28 3 comments

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2008-04-27

SCRAPs, AD.2008.04.27.ICT - Facing Cold Turkey

Here’s what I think the truth is: We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial, about to face cold turkey.

And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we’re hooked on.

-- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr, Addicted To Oil And Violence, CounterCurrents, 2004.May.13


Today, the 22nd day of the 3rd lunar month, the 27th day of the 4th solar month, some 22,129 unique Web SCRAPs have been saved to disk since March 2007. Each is linked to the location it was saved from by this blog. See BeLow. For more on method/madness, see right.

NotAble NotIonsPic
From one of the Web pages SCRAP'd, BeLow

SCRAPs

He punched the playback button on the recorder before him, and I heard myself telling Paul Slazinger, privately, I’d thought, that the two principal currencies of the planet were the Yen and fellatio. -- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr, Hocus Pocus, 1990

By ADMarshall at 22:22 2 comments

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