why psychedelics are illegal

 this is taken from a caitlin johnstone writing:

Terence McKenna once said, “Psychedelics are illegal not because a loving government is concerned that you may jump out of a third story window. Psychedelics are illegal because they dissolve opinion structures and culturally laid down models of behaviour and information processing. They open you up to the possibility that everything you know is wrong.”

and this is from a response to that writing, from one 'Carolyn L Zaremba'

'This is why I took as many psychedelics as I could in the 1960s and 1970s. All forms. Many, many, many times. Psychedelics really do alter your consciousness forever. Back in the 60s at first LSD was legal. Then it was suddenly banned. It wasn’t anhedonia. It was that problem of people waking from their social hypnosis and absolutely refusing to go along with the game of the capitalists and warmongers. The government tried to portray Timothy Leary as some kind of madman. It was the government that was mad: then and now.'

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/10/04/the-psychedelic-renaissance-is-entirely-about-corporate-greed/

it bothers me

 i've been a fan of the journalism of abby martin for several years. an apparently uncorruptible radical progressive. journalists like her aren't employed by big corporate media; they exist on the fringes. only known to those who seek them outside of the mainstream (lamestream). one of abby's chief concerns in recent years has been the plight of palestinians under israeli apartheid. the video linked below was put out 5 years ago. it graphically portrays their suffering and oppression in gaza, referred to as an open air prison, i think with good reason. i think this portrayal of life in gaza under israeli military control is accurate. it is of course in sharp contrast to the reporting of the situation there and the conflict according to our national government and corporate media.

is it possible that our government and media are simply honestly mistaken in it's eternal support for zionism and it's portrayal of the downtrodden palestinian people as 'terrorists' which our good ally israel has every right to suppress? do u think they could have been wrong consistently for the past century, as the zionist colonization of palestine and the violent displacement of the palestinian people has been ongoing? do u think there's even a remote chance that the institutions which govern and inform our worldview are honest and as virtuous and well meaning as they would have us believe?

does it bother u to live in a society whose most powerful institutions r thoroughly corrupted and dishonest? it does me. 

does it bother u to live in a society in which government and media aren't held accountable for their corruption and dishonesty? does it bother u that so many, i think a great majority of americans r brainwashed and lack sufficient critical thinking ability to discern for themselves that their government and media  can't be trusted? it does me.

does it bother u that there's little to no acknowledgment (or perhaps awareness) even among progressive intellectuals (as presumably many here r) that we're living in a society of massive systemic deceit and misinformation? it does me.

does it bother u to be part of a very small and impotent minority as our corrupt and dishonest establishment continues to prop up a status quo of extreme inequality, injustice, and war profiteering and criminality? and as most americans for whatever reasons continue to support the establishment and status quo? it does me.

it bothers me. i wish i knew something more effective to do about it than this ineffective post.

Gaza Fights For Freedom (2019) | Full Documentary | Directed by Abby Martin

Gaza Fights For Freedom (2019) | Full Documentary | Directed by Abby Martin

nobody / me too / who needs a devil?

life is not all good. it's being destroyed by industrial civilization. as warren hern termed us, homo ecophagus. as derrick jensen wrote, we're turning a living planet into a dead pile of money.

sheeple r flocking crazystupid ignorant. even sheeple like me. my lack of activism, not knowing what can effectively be done, not knowing what to do, how to confront and overcome it. i've failed to attract any followers/supporters. i've succeeded at alienation and isolating myself. it's very discouraging.

nobody notices or cares and nothing i can do about it. only act like i too am stupidcrazyignorant.

i don't want to be a quixotic hero/martyr. is it to be my fate? have i any choice? (i don't)

i'm not. but i'm not happy with what i am. or what this world is. not happy with god if it exists. what sort of screwball universe/life is this? does god have a sick sadistic sense of humor? or is it simply inscrutable and utterly indifferent towards us? is life some meaningless much-to-do about nothing? what will any of this matter billions of years from now when we're dead and long forgotten?

i'm obsessed with this quandary. what to do with the rest of my life and knowledge. i need to try and share it. for myself and life on earth. but i'm not trying very hard or having any success. i too am stupidcrazyignorant. if god exists, i assume it's it's will. with such a god, who needs a devil?

sigh

gatekeeper chomsky

recent article in common dreams reported noam chomsky is ailing, 95 years old, and had a major stroke last year. it was a very complimentary piece calling him the 'lion of the left'. this was posted a few days before i got to it. there were about 20 reader comments already. below is the comment i posted:

coming perhaps too late to this discussion, my comment here probably won’t be seen by many of the readers of this article. i have basically one comment to make which somewhat surprisingly to me hasn’t been made yet here: chomsky is a very puzzling ‘radical’ intellectual whose own writings and statements seem to be in essence unharmonious. on the one hand he is the author of MANFACTURING CONSENT, which powerfully makes the case that the ‘western’ corporate media is basically a tool of propaganda that promotes western militarism and imperialist wars, a view which everyone here seems well familiar with. but on the other hand there is the chomsky who expressed utter disdain for the ‘conspiracy theories’ regarding the JFK assassination and the 9/11 false flag terrorism. this latter has led many ‘conspiracy theorists’ (a term i recognize as meant to be pejorative, but still use for lack of a more commonly accepted one) like myself to conclude that chomsky is/was what we refer to as a ‘gate keeper’; that is a leftist who uses his well earned reputation as a brilliant intellectual to dissuade his admirers from looking into the actual facts which lead to the conclusion that there does exist a very mysterious and powerful criminal ‘deep state’ (another term which has been sullied by it’s misappropriation by the moronic likes of donald trump, unfortunately) which has both the means and the will to execute quite elaborate high level conspiracies and then cover them up and effectively deceive most of the public and in doing so alter the course of history. this suggests that chomsky wasn’t the pristine uncorruptible towering intellectual that his most ardent admirers would have us believe. it suggests that he was in fact an agent of deception regarding the existence of the ultimate powers that be which rule over us by means of ruthless violence and deceit.

https://corbettreport.com/meet-noam-chomsky-academic-gatekeeper-video/

https://educate-yourself.org/cn/noamchomskyindex.shtml

what friends?

the TED talk i posted by dr. james o'keefe a couple days ago led me to seeking more wisdom from that man. this led to finding the video linked below which stresses the importance of having an enjoyable and fulfilling social life, titled GO OUT AND PLAY WITH YOUR FRIENDS. this advice isn't new, as i've read from multiple sources that the lack of a satisfying social life is a major health liability, as bad as being a smoker or an out of shape couch potato in terms of life longevity.

i have no friends to pal around with or confide in. i've never had such friends. i want them but it seems i can't have them, for a number of reasons. the main one now might be a lack of compatibility and my pickiness, my perception that most sheeple are too stupidcrazy.

i hate 'conservative' views, dogmatic puritanical 'faith' and 'morality'. i see how much damage they do to individuals and to society and to the ecology. they pretty much are responsible for our being dystopian and doomed imo (in my opinion [i don't use the much more popular and well known acronym imho because i like to be honest, and my opinions aren't generally humble]).

i want companionship that matches my intelligence, knowledge, and sanity. it seems to be damned near impossible to find.

i'm being very open and honest here thanks in part to knowing nobody reads this blog, so if i'm coming across as conceited or too judgmental, who will take note?

perhaps i'm too judgmental, too picky about companions.

or maybe i'm not very likable or attractive to others as a companion, regardless of what i think of them. at any rate, no one's clamoring to be my friend, my confidante, my pal, my companion; nor do i know anyone who i'd love to hang with more. this is a problem i wish i understood better, so that i might either accept it better or do something about. it sure would be nice to have friends (and lovers!).

on further reflection, i think my society/culture is quite repressive, a great barrier to public authenticity. perhaps if i could be more authentic/spontaneous publicly, i'd be more popular, have more friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPz5_esb2ZM

gay pride videos

in honor of pride month here's a couple of great videos. the first is a great TED talk, a short scientific treatise on why homosexuality makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. the 2nd is an old tv movie, Doing Time On Maple Drive about a family with communication issues with conservative religious parents, a gay son, very dramatic twists and turns, and their struggle to come to terms with their truth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Khn_z9FPmU

https://vimeo.com/242773246

nightmare at Al-Aqsa

i haven't posted anything about the zionist slaughter of palestinians lately, posted a few times about it towards the end of last year. it's still going on.

i feel kind of dirty, kind of complicit, since i haven't done anything to try to stop it myself, besides write a few pieces of indignation both here and in emails to 'the choir', such as they may be, a few local progressives. whenever i read a report like the one linked below detailing a recent war crime, i think once again about doing a public protest. such thoughts never go far tho. they falter and die when i think about the vast ignorance and indifference of the public, plus facing opposition of brainwashed pro-zionists.

president genocide joe biden and a great majority of congress remain staunchly pro-zionist in the face of these ongoing war crimes, and the american public en masse continues to support the whole zionist political establishment in america, which continues to supply 'aid'/arms to israel, further enriching american arms manufacturers at the expense of american tax payers and palestinian lives. what a sick, stupid, crazy, and evil nation!

https://www.commondreams.org/news/israeli-hostages-gaza