livus

livus, 10 months ago

That's a really good point. I don't want to be on their radar.

livus, 10 months ago

Until I got to the part about your country's history of suppressing opposition, I thought you were talking about my country's subreddit!

We went through the exact same trajectory from being a small friendly place with meetups, getting bigger, becoming negative and political arguments all the time. In the end I stopped dropping in there at all.

livus, 10 months ago

Yes, we do, but not everyone can. There's a person upthread who had an accident and was literally stuck inside.

I recognise your username already, so I think you're as "terminally online" as the rest of us. But maybe you're posting from outside... :-)

livus, 10 months ago

Feels weird after all these years.

I'm excited about the fediverse though!

livus, 10 months ago

It's terrifying. I think one of the problems we face in getting people to demand change is that the collapse so terrifying and unthinkable that people don't allow their minds to dwell on it for long.

livus, 10 months ago

Hi!

livus, 10 months ago

From the article:

In a controversial move, Australia will become the world’s first country to allow the drugs psilocybin and MDMA to be prescribed by doctors to treat psychiatric conditions including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. But many scientists are concerned that research has not yet conclusively shown that these drugs are safe or effective. And some clinicians fear that the regulation that will govern access to the drugs is insufficient.

Australia’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which approved the move, says that the decision followed a nearly three-year process and included extensive consultation with experts.

Research over the past few decades1 has shown that some drugs that are illicit, but are often used recreationally, are effective in treating certain mental-health disorders when combined with psychotherapy. MDMA is widely known as the party drug ecstasy, and psilocybin is the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms. A phase II trial, published late last year2, showed that a 25 mg dose of psilocybin was twice as effective as a 1 mg dose in combating treatment-resistant depression, although significant side effects were noted. And a report on a phase III trial of MDMA described it as a “potential breakthrough treatment” for PTSD. The drugs have also shown potential in treating anxiety, anorexia and substance addiction.

Nations including the United States, Canada and Israel allow individual use of these drugs on compassionate grounds or in clinical trials, but on 1 July Australia will be the first to regulate the drugs as medications, to be prescribed by approved psychiatrists...

The TGA approval follows an application in March 2022 by Mind Medicine Australia, a non-profit group in Melbourne that advocates psychedelic therapy, for MDMA and psilocybin to be made available in therapeutic settings. In December 2021, the TGA had denied a 2020 application by the organization after a long consultation process involving an independent expert panel.

livus, 10 months ago

From the article:

The Governing Council of Galapagos said on social media that it had negotiated a total of six flights with the Ministry of National Defense to transport perishable foods, such as eggs, and medicine, reports Xinhua news agency.

Isla de la Plata, one of the two ships that used to supply the Galapagos twice a month, had a mishap on March 26 and became inoperable.

Only one vessel, with a capacity of 3, 500 tonnes, has been running supplies since then, leading to shortages and price hikes of essential foods.

According to local authorities, the residents on the islands consume some 9, 000 tonnes of products monthly.

The islands are also facing a shortage of domestic gas cylinders, which has affected hotels and restaurants amid the peak tourism season in the Galapagos.

livus, 10 months ago

Tankies get their name from the people in the West who still supported Soviet communism in the late 1950s and saw nothing wrong with the USSR sending tanks into Hungary to quell a worker uprising.

livus, 10 months ago

Klara And The Sun by Ishiguro.

livus, 10 months ago

Do you like his other work? I'm only halfway through it and had a crying fit even though I had promised myself I wasn't going to let him get to me.

livus, 10 months ago

I can see he's not for everyone, but I really like it so far. He tends to write narrators that are mistaken in some way and it gradually unfolds how tragically wrong they are. But I'm only halfway through.

livus, 10 months ago

Thanks I hate it.

livus, 10 months ago

I actually am.

Everyone has been saying it is for years, but I was never able to find any hard evidence despite it being the subject of numerous studies.

I feel kind of naive now.

livus, 10 months ago

Thanks for the explanation! I guess it does make sense to use the precautionary principle.

livus, 10 months ago

I think that would depend on magnitude if probability was low or indeterminate?

livus, 10 months ago

Berocca has it for some reason. I'd quite like them to replace it, even though it's been pointed out to me that it's probably fine.

livus, 10 months ago

I can see it and it's not a double post.

Yes that does sound like overkill.

livus, 10 months ago

I discovered that California cancer thing recently when I bought a keyring tool. Crazy.

livus, 10 months ago

Just the largest. Thanks for the link, this is a really worrying situation.

livus, 10 months ago

Yes, we have seen this last year with the famine in the Horn of Africa. They had arranged to ship in grain from Ukraine but then the war happened.

Even though they knew they were going to have another bad harvest and were proactive about supplies, that wasn't enough.

livus, 10 months ago

Right now I'm about to go to sleep and wondering if I've had too much coffee.

livus, 10 months ago

There must be such a lot of them. Accounts get sold on third party websites.