Messages

Really, they ought to be closing the corporation tax loopholes, and penalize companies who outsource jobs to countries that don't have a minimum wage, or the freedom to form unions.  Though seriously, it's amazing how all the inflation under Bush never got mentioned, but now, when Obama is trying to sort out the mess he inherited, is taking all the flack.  The Republicans run huge deficits, partly because they seem to like to support every dictator out there, as long as he's not for the people at the bottom getting any money or property.  Most of those taxes listed were taxes before, that exemptions had been made for.  It's up to the congress to raise or lower taxes, so let's put the blame where it belongs.  I'm not saying Obama is perfect, mind you.  I mean, why the hell are we getting involved in Africa, ffs?  We can't even sort out the wars we already got going.  That's where the money's been going.  Instead, they ought to focus on education and on providing subsidized housing to those families that need it.  Pouring money into church agencies to administer to the homeless is a poor substitute than just going ahead and helping a family make the rent payments when they need it.

I think that a study like this would only be useful as giving information that would help indicate  areas that would benefit from a serious study.  Even if you're only in high school, I think that maybe your teacher could help you with setting up a scientific hypothesis.  It's important when doing research that you don't assume what results you're going to get before you get them.  In my experience, most people who use psychedelics could be classified as "failures" by the establishment.  That most of the ones I know made a conscious decision to not buy into the establishment, means that whether or not they'd be considered "failures" would depend on your definition and point of view.  I don't really think that kids should experiment with psychedelics, tbh.  I did a lot of LSD many years ago, and I still have some side effects from it.  It actually took a couple of years after I quit before I could even speak a whole sentence normally again.  Drug use didn't actually affect my ability to go back to school and get a degree in mathematics, but a large percentage of the hippies I had hung out with in the '80s were dead by the time I went back to school in '93.  Most of the rest had criminal convictions that would preclude them from having a successful career within the establishment.  Only a handful of us made it through in one piece.  Usually where you find one set of drugs, the others are nearby as well.  Though most of my experiences with psychedelics were very good (as I tended to drop acid at Grateful Dead concerts), it only takes one bad trip to make one not want to deal with them again.

I think that a study like this would only be useful as giving information that would help indicate  areas that would benefit from a serious study.  Even if you're only in high school, I think that maybe your teacher could help you with setting up a scientific hypothesis.  It's important when doing research that you don't assume what results you're going to get before you get them.  In my experience, most people who use psychedelics could be classified as "failures" by the establishment.  That most of the ones I know made a conscious decision to not buy into the establishment, means that whether or not they'd be considered "failures" would depend on your definition and point of view.  I don't really think that kids should experiment with psychedelics, tbh.  I did a lot of LSD many years ago, and I still have some side effects from it.  It actually took a couple of years after I quit before I could even speak a whole sentence normally again.  Drug use didn't actually affect my ability to go back to school and get a degree in mathematics, but a large percentage of the hippies I had hung out with in the '80s were dead by the time I went back to school in '93.  Most of the rest had criminal convictions that would preclude them from having a successful career within the establishment.  Only a handful of us made it through in one piece.  Usually where you find one set of drugs, the others are nearby as well.  Though most of my experiences with psychedelics were very good (as I tended to drop acid at Grateful Dead concerts), it only takes one bad trip to make one not want to deal with them again.

Sounded nice and jazzy!