Articles of interest!

[grysar]

Ezra Klein has an interesting discussion of the American handling of terminal illness:

Stage IV metastatic breast cancer isn't something you recover from. So the question is not how to get better, it is how to live until you die.In other words, the question we're theoretically asking all the time. Reframe to the old cliché: If you were going to die tomorrow, or next year, what would you do? The answer is never go home. Some people say they'd steal a car, or go to Hawaii, or travel to Tibet. Running for president and spending your time advocating for what you believe to be a better world isn't a particularly strange choice.

Andrew Sullivan links to a Lancet study on the lethality of various types of drugs. Not shockingly, alcohol is among the worst and well past many illegal ones. I've skimmed the extended article, interesting stuff. I was rather surprised how low LSD rated.

The first private rocket reached orbit, although it only accomplished a half-orbit before it lost control. Seems like the company still has a ways to go, but good luck to them. (Linked from Slate's Human Nature column.)

Discussion of what stone-aged women were probably like and the major problems in the conventional wisdom. This actually reminds me a lot of discussions I had with bannoubunkacoby and capfox on Angel's question of whether a caveman could take an astronaut. This certainly supports the idea that even without weapon, the astronaut would kick ass. Massive mammoth hunts similarly seem to be a matter of collective imagination rather than historical fact.

Comments

[insheepsclothng.livejournal.com]

Yeah astronauts! I called it from the beginning - they are ATHLETES people, not just nerdy scientists. And certainly not malnourished huner-gatherer mostly-gatherers.

[grysar.livejournal.com]

Ah, right, forgot to credit you with being right on that too.

I think the whole misconception got started because some primates are really strong. So people think of cavemen as an average of the average of a human and a gorilla or a human and a chimp.

[capfox.livejournal.com]

Very interesting, about mortal illnesses. There are, of course, some people who just choose to live out their lives the way they've been doing it until they can't anymore. I actually kinda hope that I'll enjoy what I'm doing enough for that to be the case.

Yeah, astronauts all the way. I hope never to meet an astronaut; it might be too dangerous. =P

[grysar.livejournal.com]

::nods:: It's a good goal. Although I'd stop putting money towards retirement.

[korgmeister.livejournal.com]

NUTMEG?!

[grysar.livejournal.com]

For when it's not Christmas and you want to get in the "holiday spirit" if you know what I mean.

Actually I had no idea.

I'm guessing this means that it's actually really hard to get buzzed off nutmeg. Hmm... this actually wasn't the Lancet article but another one (he's cited both recently). I'll probably throw that one up sometime soon.

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

They can take my nutmeg when they pry it from my cold, dead hands!

(I need it for spatzel and rice pudding. That's all. Honest!)

[grysar.livejournal.com]

Mmm.. spatzel and rice pudding high.

[grysar.livejournal.com]

It's still the LSD that throws me though. I feel mislead by Dragnet!

[korgmeister.livejournal.com]

Mind you, LSD and Marijuana most definitely fall into the category of "Won't kill you, but can fuck your mind over like a 300 pound prison buddy".

Most people I know who have been using either heavily for a long time, their mind is so screwed up they're unable to function in proper society and only have a roof over their heads thanks to a benevolent family member.

[feonixrift.livejournal.com]

And caffeine didn't even end up on their list. Pity.

[korgmeister.livejournal.com]

That's a good point. People regularly forget that it's a drug, and caffeine can kill you pretty easily.

[feonixrift.livejournal.com]

They also left lethal doses of vitamins, minerals, etc. off the list (yet included nutmeg). It would have been funny to see iron poisoning along side those drugs.

[korgmeister.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but nutmeg and caffiene can get you high. Vitamans can't, AFAIK.

BTW, I think your hat is cool. (I tend to notice hats as I work in a hat store)

[feonixrift.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I picked it up at a local farmer's market to keep the sun out on my next hiking trip, but ended up rather fond of the style.

As for high-or-not... Yeah, that'd put them rather far over on the lethality vs. "effect"iveness scale.

I'm curious, is sars the drink they renamed to sarsi? 'cause if so, that stuff's *good*. (There's a little philipino shop on the corner here that carries it.)

[korgmeister.livejournal.com]

Nah, it's a local brand of Sarsparilla.

[feonixrift.livejournal.com]

I like your writing, so just put you on my reading list; hope you don't mind.

[korgmeister.livejournal.com]

Not at all!