What's killing us this week?

[Grammatron]

I'm reading that LSD is safer than caffeine. Good too know. I've never done the stuff, or anything else on the graph other than alcohol, but it's good to know that LSD is so safe. :roll:

What's with the eyeroll?

[Doctor X]

What's with the eyeroll?

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u264 ... kc9krm.gif

--J.D.

[Anaxagoras]

I'm reading that LSD is safer than caffeine. Good too know. I've never done the stuff, or anything else on the graph other than alcohol, but it's good to know that LSD is so safe. :roll:

I doubt that LSD is all that safe in practice. Nor that caffeine is particularly dangerous.

There's a new documentary on Netflix called "Wormwood" about early CIA experiments with LSD. Apparently they gave some poor guy LSD without his knowledge and he ended up either falling or jumping out of a window. I did try it a couple times in my youth and I wouldn't do it again. The effects last at least half a day. If you have a "bad trip" it's going to last probably 10 or 12 hours. I remember it made my spine hurt among the other effects. It wasn't a pleasant experience, but I got through it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Olson

Frank Rudolph Olson (July 17, 1910 – November 28, 1953) was an American bacteriologist, biological warfare scientist, and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee who worked at Camp Detrick (now Fort Detrick) in Maryland. At a meeting in rural Maryland, he was covertly dosed with LSD by his CIA supervisor and, nine days later, plunged to his death from the window of a 13th-story New York City hotel room. The U.S. government first described his death as a suicide, and then as misadventure, while others allege murder.[1] The Rockefeller Commission report on the CIA in 1975 acknowledged their having conducted drug studies.

Olson asked to quit the biowarfare program the week after the retreat:

Ruwet was surprised to see Olson at 7:30 in the morning, but asked him in. Olson told Ruwet that he was dissatisfied with his own performance at the retreat, that he was experiencing considerable self-doubts, and that in fact he had decided he would like to be out of the germ warfare business. He wanted to leave Camp Detrick and devote his life to something else.[6]

Olson subsequently suffered severe paranoia and a nervous breakdown. The CIA sent him to New York City to see one of their physicians, who recommended that Olson be placed into a mental institution for recovery. This was Harold Abramson, an allergist-pediatrician, who was helping the CIA with the psychotropic research into the effects of the drug.[7]

The ensuing police report said that on his last night in Manhattan, Olson purposely threw himself out of the window of his tenth-floor hotel room at the Hotel Statler, which he had been sharing with Lashbrook, and died shortly after impact.[4]

[ed]

Didn't they show that episode in The Good Shepard? Similar but different as I recall.

[Rob Lister]

In my youth I took acid at least a dozen times. A couple of those were not nice experiences but the vast majority were. Never once did I have the urge to jump out a window or otherwise harm myself. Never once was I unable to distinguish the difference between the drug's effects and reality. From my perspective it is utterly safe so long as you don't try to operate that backhoe in your driveway or fly that dragon in your living room.

The Wormwood anecdote aside, I think the increased risk from the use of it is essentially zero; sober folks also jump from windows.

So I'll see that Wormwood anecdote and raise you a forum post.

[ed]

So we should take the word of a self admitted drug abuser over a hollywood anecdote?

I think not.

[Rob Lister]

Best trip music
Pink Floyd (far ahead at number one)
Mamas and Poppas (a distant but worthy second)
Moody Blues (a sad note there)

[Witness]

Nor that caffeine is particularly dangerous.

Abstract

Caffeine is one of the most widely consumed psychoactive compounds and is often marketed for its physical and cognitive performance benefits. The ingestion of potentially toxic amounts of caffeine in the forms of energy drinks, over-the-counter supplements, or anhydrous caffeine products places vulnerable pediatric and adolescent individuals at risk for accidental overdose, resulting in neurologic and cardiac toxicity.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 011730040X

I can confirm from personal experience that drinking a whole pot of robusta (working on my exams) can have very unpleasant effects.

[Bruce]

I binged the entire Fringe series on Netflix. No intention here of ever trying LSD or other hallucinogens. Life is already a life-long bad trip. :P

I have Wormwood bookmarked. Looks interesting.

[Anaxagoras]

In my youth I took acid at least a dozen times. A couple of those were not nice experiences but the vast majority were. Never once did I have the urge to jump out a window or otherwise harm myself. Never once was I unable to distinguish the difference between the drug's effects and reality. From my perspective it is utterly safe so long as you don't try to operate that backhoe in your driveway or fly that dragon in your living room.

The Wormwood anecdote aside, I think the increased risk from the use of it is essentially zero; sober folks also jump from windows.

So I'll see that Wormwood anecdote and raise you a forum post.

I think the key is that Olson was dosed without his knowledge, much less consent. If you know that you are taking a hallucinogen, you can prepare your mind. If it happens without your knowledge, you might think that you are going crazy. Of course, as you say, lots of people commit suicide anyway, so maybe it's just a sad coincidence. The nervous breakdown thing though suggests that it might have played a role.

[Doctor X]

Someone I once knew made the profound mistake of dropping acid in my presence.

--J.D.

[Grammatron]

I doubt that LSD is all that safe in practice. Nor that caffeine is particularly dangerous.

I get that, but the data is clear on its safety. Of course that doesn't mean people should be taking LSD with their morning coffee.

[Rob Lister]

I doubt that LSD is all that safe in practice. Nor that caffeine is particularly dangerous.

I get that, but the data is clear on its safety. Of course that doesn't mean people should be taking LSD with their morning coffee.

Mama Cass did for 15 years. It was the ham sandwich that killed here.

[ed]

I doubt that LSD is all that safe in practice. Nor that caffeine is particularly dangerous.

I get that, but the data is clear on its safety. Of course that doesn't mean people should be taking LSD with their morning coffee.

Mama Cass did for 15 years.

http://www.hollywoodgravehunter.com/sit ... tgrave.jpg

[Rob Lister]

Ham sandwich.

Don't eat ham before 9 am.

[Pyrrho]

Nope. Just looked it up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Elliot#Death

[Rob Lister]

Nope. Just looked it up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Elliot#Death

According to forensic pathologist Keith Simpson, who conducted her autopsy, her death was due to "heart failure due to fatty myocardial degeneration due to obesity".

In order to believe that, we also have to believe ...'

A drug screen that was part of the forensic autopsy revealed there were no drugs in her system.

I'm going with the ham sandwich.

[Anaxagoras]

Nope. Just looked it up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Elliot#Death

Not impossible but hard to believe at her age. Must have had a bad ticker.

[Doctor X]

Nope. Just looked it up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Elliot#Death

The description given of the days before her death fits that of heart failure.

--J. "Those are All Mistakes, Otto! I Looked Them Up!" D.

[Anaxagoras]

Trying to stifle a sneeze

A Man Ruptured His Throat by Holding in a Sneeze

[Pyrrho]

https://nypost.com/2018/03/30/sex-touri ... gonorrhea/

Prostitutes in Southeast Asia could fuel the rise of “super gonorrhea,” experts have warned.

It comes as a British man became the first person in the world to catch the strain of the sexually transmitted infection that is resistant to almost all treatments.

The two antibiotics typically used to treat the bug have been powerless to stop the super-strain, health officials warned.

The unidentified man, who had a partner in the UK, discovered he had the STI after getting tested a month after he returned from Asia, where he had “sexual contact” with a woman.

[Pyrrho]

Salad Panic
The CDC finally gets people interested in lettuce.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/arch ... ce/558623/

The national imagination was running wild on Twitter. This would have never happened with a story telling people that salad remains a good and healthy food option. Fear, though, brings attention. Moments that capture the collective consciousness like these can sometimes be good opportunities to take stock of how we’re allocating our own attention and fear. As potentially significant as this outbreak could be—and I don’t mean to minimize it—it pales in relation to known, ongoing, preventable dangers.

At the moment the utility of this story may be to jolt us out of complacency about the kinds of risks we come to accept as background noise. In just the last few months, influenza has killed 156 kids in the U.S. Around 10,000 Americans have been killed already this year in automobile crashes. We’re all more likely to be harmed or killed in our cars on the way to the store to buy lettuce than by the lettuce itself. We are all more likely to be harmed by the air pollution caused by driving cars to get the lettuce. Driving cars is a tremendous and serious health risk which most of us could do a lot more to avoid. Push alert.

[Bruce]

Salad Panic
The CDC finally gets people interested in lettuce.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/arch ... ce/558623/

The national imagination was running wild on Twitter. This would have never happened with a story telling people that salad remains a good and healthy food option. Fear, though, brings attention. Moments that capture the collective consciousness like these can sometimes be good opportunities to take stock of how we’re allocating our own attention and fear. As potentially significant as this outbreak could be—and I don’t mean to minimize it—it pales in relation to known, ongoing, preventable dangers.

At the moment the utility of this story may be to jolt us out of complacency about the kinds of risks we come to accept as background noise. In just the last few months, influenza has killed 156 kids in the U.S. Around 10,000 Americans have been killed already this year in automobile crashes. We’re all more likely to be harmed or killed in our cars on the way to the store to buy lettuce than by the lettuce itself. We are all more likely to be harmed by the air pollution caused by driving cars to get the lettuce. Driving cars is a tremendous and serious health risk which most of us could do a lot more to avoid. Push alert.

Over the course of the past month, at least 70 cases have been reported to CDC. None have yet proven deadly, but the potential is there. The contaminant is a notorious strain of E. coli known as O157:H7. This is the only strain of E. coli most doctors can name, and they take it seriously.

e.coli didn't become a problem until the Hippies insisted on "organic" farming, which required the replacement of synthic fertilizers with shit. The shit must be sterilized, but sterilization of shit tends to be very expensive, and the yields from shit-fertilized crops tends to be way lower than the scientifically vetted and developed synthetic fertilizers, so organic farmers tend to forgo the sterilization process. As a result, e.coli outbreaks became a thing.

Yet another case of Hippies shooting themselves in the foot, even without the guns that they so abhor. :roll:

[sparks]

It's perfectly simple: Wash the goddamned greens!

[Bruce]

It's perfectly simple: Wash the goddamned greens!

You expect Hippies to wash their food? They don't even wash themselves.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/64/5a/7c ... 215b6c.png

[sparks]

"They bought their tickets. I say: Let 'em die!"

[Pyrrho]

Well do you want to die from the glutens or good old natural E. coli?

[Bruce]

I love ordering food when I'm out with my coworkers. After they each order gluten-free this and gluten-free that, I ask for extra gluten. :twisted:

In fact, just give me all the gluten and carbohydrates that these weaklings can't handle. For dessert, I'll have the deep-fried wad of sugar, salt, fat, and preservatives with extra cholesterol.

I watched grandparents die slowly from old age. That's not how I want to go.

[Witness]

As a result, e.coli outbreaks became a thing.

And you can get all the intestinal parasites you want.

Ethnographic note: Russians in Algeria washed their salads with bleach added. :)

[sparks]

Well do you want to die from the glutens or good old natural E. coli?

Yes.

[sparks]

Crash program: Tape worms.



Eeeeewwwwwwwww.

[ed]

I asked my Dr. about introducing tapeworms into my system to loose weight. He looked at me funny.

Luddite.

[Witness]

introducing tapeworms into my system to loose weight

Eat sushi. :twisted:

[Pyrrho]

https://twitter.com/YoniAshar/status/987899238540394496

Link:

[Witness]

Not this week, but get ready anyway:

https://i.imgur.com/3IKdG73.jpg

[Pyrrho]

fitbit.JPG

[Pyrrho]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DhD3SdzUEAAKk48.jpg

[Witness]

https://i.imgur.com/m0Uo4lw.jpg

Rat lungworm disease is popping up in the mainland United States

Experts advise everyone to wash produce carefully and not eat raw snails or slugs

So no raw snails & slugs for you! :Hungry2:

https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/scienc ... ted-states

[Pyrrho]

Wash your vegetables. Skip the salad bar.

Anyway...

Link:

[Witness]

https://i.imgur.com/hlHiFF6.png

Not sure if this hasn't already been posted. :?

Link to enlargeable for shemp: https://i.imgur.com/hlHiFF6.png 8)