Izzy

Not for everyone, but it has been noted: http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/dxm/faq/dxm_general_info.shtml . Hah, I sometimes find sleep either unnecessary or inconvenient. If it can occasionally be bypassed when necessary, mehs why not. ;P I've never heard of Provigil. Yeah, I agree with that. That's why I'm going to enjoy extreme moderation.

I'm going to agree with most of what you said, but disagree with amphetamines. I LOVE caffeine, and I've never had the urge to do cocaine, so can't argue there, but amphetamines are no where near as bad they're made out to be. Let's go over the health effects, which can be found here. Lemme copy and paste the common ones. 1. Cardiovascular Stress: Increased heart rate and blood pressure. Tachycardia (fast heart) and palpitations are common at high doses. Frequency: very common. Certainty: clear causation. *shrug* Same with DXM. Since it's a temporary increase, I don't consider it a problem. If you know you're at risk of heart attacks/stroke, avoid the drug. 2.Overheating: High doses can cause overheating (hyperthermia) which can be dangerous in certain environments or for vulnerable people. Frequency: common. Certainty: clear causation. Remember to stay hydrated and in a cool environment. This shouldn't be a problem when used as a study aid. Part recreational use of amphetamines has never really appealed to me. That's what MDMA is for, and is arguably its only downside. Just know when you've had to much. 3.Poor Sleep Quality: Mild sleep disruptions are very common and include difficulty falling asleep and poor sleep quality. Frequency: typical. Certainty: clear causation. I'm totally cool with this. No different from caffeine, and if your intention is to stay awake, that's pretty much what's happening. 4. Bad Driving: Lack of sleep can lead to impaired judgement and poor driving. Frequency: common with sleep deprivation. Certainty: link established. I'm going to assume we all know not to drive under the influence/after not sleeping for a very long time. This is actually given to members of the military (especially fighter pilots) to make them more aware of their surroundings and more attentive. 5.Damage to Teeth and Gums : Jaw tension can lead to teeth grinding (bruxia/bruxism) and permanent wear and cracking. Long-term use of amphetamines can result in tooth rot (dental caries) and loss of teeth. [shaner 2002] Regular amphetamine use can lead to gingivitis (inflammation of the gums). This may be the result of prolonged dry mouth which can cause the gums to become inflamed, worsening oral health. [Hasan 2004]. Frequency: common. Certainty: link established. Definitely the worst one on the list. I don't really know how to avoid it (wear a retainer?) but try to avoid chronic use, and always brush your teeth/floss. I'm actually convinced it's controllable, but.. *shrug* have a good dentist! 6. Dry Mucus Membranes: Dried mucus membranes can lead to bloody noses, painful sinus dryness, and increased likelihood of sinus infections. Frequency: common. Certainty: link established. This is actually also a benefit because it reduces allergy and cold symptoms. ..Not really that bad. Worth the benefits.

Hmm. Can we stick to this thread merely being the pros/cons of various narcotics, not whether they should be legalized? (Uhh, for legal purposes, all things described below are limited to someone I know, not me.) I'm probably going to talk more about positive emotional benefits than health benefits, haha. I assure you this stuff is hardly worse than a few meals at MaccyD's. Ima start with meth, because amphetamines are what I've been most interested in lately. >_> I've actually accidentally done meth twice, and I didn't experience any of the teeth falling/face destroying symptoms demonizers usually go on about. Then again, I probably didn't do enough. However, regular amphetamine, is just lamping (f**king) amazing. This, under the brand name Adderall, is actually prescribe to kids under five to help deal with their ADHD. But when someone who doesn't have ADHD takes it, you just get completely wired. You'll literally be able to stay up for hours and crash for an exam, or write an essay, or whatever. There's also ways to split it up. Like, if you have to write an essay, snort 5 mg, and for two hours it's like you and that essay are the only things that exist. Or, if you need to learn a few hours' worth of material in a night, take like 30 mg oral, and you're good. The best I've ever heard it described is caffeine on caffeine. It's an *incredible* study aid. Someone who isn't me (from here on out will be referred to as SWIM) hasn't used it enough to experience any negative side effects. It's really just brilliant. Not physically addicting, though you'll probably enjoy it so much that you'll want to do it again periodically. Then there's MDMA. Omfg. As long as you remember to stay hydrated, you're good bro. You'll feel happier than you've felt in your life. You'll be so lamping energized that you'll feel like you can do anything. Your serotonin receptors are going crazy. It's like you're at peace with the world and everything's awesome. I mean, go ahead and call it a delusion, but what's reality anyway? So long as *you're* happy, why does it matter where that happiness comes from? I can't even really describe that. You know when you like someone and you found out they like you back, and you get butterflies in your stomach, and it just feels like you can jump to the moon? It's that times 1000. MDMA in the past was actually used to treat people with depression. Also, you're one with the music. This can help artists really bond with the world, culturally and socially, feeling the waves of every trance. Seriously hypnotic. Sort of like with mushrooms/LSD and dissociative anapestics (Ketamine, DXM), you won't really know where you end and the world begins. Hallucinogens are seriously a good way to spend a few hours. You can have such a huge experience just in your closet. Blast some Aphex Twin, watch the ceiling pulse, and leave your world into the world of your mind, into a stream of self-discovery. Dance with aliens, swim on the moon, ride a dragon. It's just all so surreal. I know it isn't real, but its real for those few hours it's happening, and I swear I've never regretted any of it. It's really hard to explain. I've watched music, heard sounds, twisted inside out of myself. I've hung from the ceiling and divided by zero. Hallucinogens, especially dissociatives = <333. Then there's opiates, which.. I'm still kinda undecided about. SWIM's experiences have been about half good half bad. It'll either go like this: "Wooah, mannn. I feel so.. numb...and indifferent.. nothing matters.. I'm so free... Meh.." but it's the best "meh" you've ever felt. ..Or, you'll throw up a lot. I also recognize their addictive properties, which.. can be a little intimidating. Pot I just don't like. I'm sure people will call me on this, haha, but it just isn't for me. That about wraps it up. Could do with elaboration, but I've typed so much today. Btw, I'm not encouraging drug use in minors. I just think people should have the freedom to their body, and drugs are a nice way to pass some time, so long as you aren't abusing. If you want any advice, hit up Erowid.org or send me a PM. Drugs CAN be dangerous, but DARE has demonized them way too much I sorta feel like not everyone knows what they're really about. Oh, so to summarize, benefits: You'll feel amazing. And htat's all that matters.

Haha, yeah, it makes sense. Hmm, for the sake of not going off topic, feel free to make a new topic while I get some thoughts together.

Aww, I'm sorry. I realize we disagree, but the people that actually stick up for their opinions are the ones I like most.

I just googled. 32 weeks, evidently. This is the point where personally, I'd say no for the abortion. Luckily, people usually decide before this point anyway. 1. Yeah, it's still rape. Drugs can actually be very beneficial. Lemme know if you want to discuss it haha. 2. I agree with 2 and 3. 4 I disagree with. I still think it should ultimately be up to the woman, regardless of the situation leading to pregnancy.

At that point, it's still no more alive than it was at the beginning. It's no more alive than say, your fingernails, your hair, or a few skin cells. The fetus is still incapable of surviving without being a parasite, and this is hardly alive. The heart is just a muscle, it's really not anything special. I think people often inappropriately equate it with love, which.. meh. To each their own. 1. I mean anything. Personally, I think people should have complete freedom over their bodies, which involves the ingestion of amphetamines, hallucinogens, what have you. The problem comes when someone else takes advantage of your impaired state. 2,3,4. Yeah. Meh.

Nah. Normal and unnormal are just.. different, there is no better or worse. I define normal sort of as the peak of the bell curve, but the extremes on either end (the unnormal) don't really matter in any sense. Diversity is preferred.

Really? I hadn't noticed. Wow bro, way to be for equality. I mean, I know some people are just entirely incapable of thinking for themselves, but if you grew up in a society where the norm was severe racism, putting down woman, etc. you wouldn't stop for a sec and go "Man.. maybe this isn't right." I love how the golden rule means absolutely NOTHING to you. Would you be one of those people fighting for something because it's what you grew up with and are selfishly comfortable with, not because it's right? ..Maybe we just haven't finished evolving and aren't hermaphroditic yet, which, evolutionarily speaking, is the best form an animal can be? There's a logical fallacy you're employing here, but I can't remember what it's called, so can't provide a link, unfortunately. It's basically something along the lines of thinking that because something appears to be designed some way, it's meant to be used that way. Like the Bananaman asserting that the banana was designed to be eaten by humans because of how perfectly it fits in our hands. I mean, I'm not denying that the reproductive organs can be used to procreate, but they aren't primarily used as such. Like many things, they have multiple uses (urinating for instance) and can be pushed into multiple orifices. If someone's primary goal is reproduction, then yeah, a man-woman relationship would be ideal, but relationships are also about love, and just sex. Both can be married out in male-male, male-female, and female-female (and, multiple people) relationships, so I don't see the problem. Oh, and as for it "not being normal", Google homosexuality in animals sometime. You're assuming it is the job of every person in the world to carry out the continuation of humanity. It's NOT. Some people don't want to have babies, some people can't have babies. They shouldn't be punished for this. Telling someone they have to be with a partner of the opposite sex so they can have kids isn't far off from eugenics. You are FORCING people to do something they don't want to do. I can't really see you carrying out a crusade against single people, so just leave gays alone, yeah? Also, adoption. I'm going to assume you have a problem with that, but honestly, it helps. Actually.. I get the feeling you, I, and practically everyone else have been bombarded with a "KILLING, SMOKING, DRINKING, AND DOING DRUGS ARE BADDDDDD" campaign since primary school. Unfortunately, that's how our society works (ie brainwashing, though it's not always negative) and not a lot of thinking is left up to the individual. [/color=purple]Hmm, how to word this without getting too graphic. Basically, unless you're having only missionary sex... there's really nothing to be uncomfortable about. If you know what I mean. I mean, I can't change the fact that you're uncomfortable with it, but it's still an irrational discomfort. I'm not saying you should go out and screw some other chick, but at least sympathize with knowing it's not a choice, and that there's nothing wrong with what you're putting where.

But *why* have you never agreed with it? Not killing people is an evolutionary trait of altruistic behavior, something ingrained in all of us to up our chances of reproductive success. I mean.. I guess this also holds true with heterosexual relationships, but so along as it hurts no one (very untrue for killing people), why do you care? Name one reason why you think it's wrong, or one way it hurts someone.

Haha, oh man, what have I spawned. >_> Okay, here we go. 1. Why would you base it off of something as arbitrary as the beating of the heart (the brain is much cooler, lol)? All this phase really shows is that the fetus is capable of pumping blood by itself, but it is still in no way independent from the mother. The fetus's existence depends entirely on the health of the mother, so if she doesn't eat enough or whatever, it will steal her nutrients in a parasitic away. To ask her to involuntarily give up her body is inhumane. A lot of people will agree that if the fetus threatens the life of the mother, an abortion is alright. ..What if it threatens her happiness, financial security, etc.? I define life by happiness, and.. I think it should be fully up to the woman to decide whether or not she wants to give up her body and time for the next ~18 years. Don't steal the rights of someone already alive to protect the rights of someone who isn't even born that you'll ignore once s/he is born. Anti-abortionists, it's not a problem you'll have to deal with, it's one the mother will. 2. ...Because the rape will make a person unhappy, right? Well, what if someone had consensual sex but was under the influence of mind-altering drugs? Or just young/stupid? Or the bro just didn't feel like using a condom? Rape is bad, but the abortion resulting from a rape is due to the nature of an unwanted child. The above situations can lead to unwanted children as well. Don't draw the line at rape just because the woman had a little less of a say in her actions that the above.

If by just as bad, you mean completely harmless, YOU'RE RIGHT. WELL REALIZED. Let me put it this way. Fetuses aren't children, they are potential children. Gametes aren't children, again, they are potential children. By not engaging in sex every moment of the day, you, are preventing the conception of potential children. This, by your argument, is just as bad. Now, here's why abortion is.. justifiable. Your fetus isn't human, it's a parasite. By definition, a parasite is an organism that lives in or on another, and benefits by deriving nutrients at the host's expense. This is precisely what a fetus is. The mother has to give up HER body the same way she does with the presence of a tapeworm, for instance. Now, I mean, for the most part, fetuses and mothers enjoy a positive mutual relationship, so I'm not trying to impose some sort of negative connotation on it as is usually normal with the word "parasite". However, the parasitic partnership of a fetus to a woman means that its survival requires her consent. If she continues the pregnancy unwillingly, her rights and bodily integrity are violated. More info. here. Homosexual relationships? Still all about consent. By consent, in instance of the mother or the gay partners, the humans rights of no one are being transgressed. The unborn have no right to life. That sounds harsh, but.. it's true. Peace brought up a good point with population control. I read Beyond the Betrayed in.. second or third grade, I think. Scary stuff. However, statistics show that societies that have a same death rate as birth rate are the most successful, and this is definitely true with planned parenthood and responsible breeding (limiting yourself to a few kids and not having 982394850). For gawd's sake, stop treating every bundle of cells like it's special!

Izzy's back. ... I haven't read the new posts since my departure (..waay too many), but I'll start keeping up with this topic starting here. Fresh meat?

If a topic makes me want to vomit, does that mean I should stop reading? Phillip, you posted first. Let's begin! Where is the immorality in this? People can be born with conditions rendering their reproductive systems incapable of proper function. These people can't procreate. Are they immoral? I have friends that can personally testify that the environment a child placed in when adopted by or given birth to by homosexual parents is hardly different from children with heterosexual parents. If ANYTHING, said children will be more open minded, and less likely to discriminate against their peers based on arbitrary attributes such as sexual preference. ...So.. if your parents get a divorce, would it make sense to take you away from them to live with a married couple? You need a mother and a father, after all. Forget the desires of the child and the bond it has created with its biological parents. I'm sorry, Gawd made STDs. In all seriousness, dude, HIV didn't even originate in humans. It came from primates a while back and was eventually transferred to humans in the 20th century. AIDS is MUCH more of a problem in Africa than it is within the gay community. Should we ban an entire continent from having sex because they're immoral because they have STDs? (Remember, your words.)In fact, let's ban hospitals from administering drugs IV/IM and pharmacies from handing out diabetic syringes, because, GMOZ!! DRUGGIES! THEY'LL GET STDS!!!one11!!1111. (I'm totally not undermining how bad STDs are here, I'm just pointing out that there's a LOT more to it than some people screwing around with each other. Yeah, first sensible thing you've said. Personally, let people do whatever they want so long it infringes upon the rights of no other person. Oh, gay marriage? Totally for it. Please stop using your gawds to justify heartless discrimination for something that existed as a form of tribal affinity way before your church decided to claim it.

Zeno's Paradox of the Tortoise and Achilles has been solved. While infinity cannot be concretely defined in real terms, it can be worked with in math. Many of Zeno's paradoxes can be resolved with some simple math of infinite geometric series. (My emphasis) Bow down to mathematics as your god, then. I recommend reciting pages 406 and 407 of your math textbook tonight in prayer.

^ When people post in the threads where people whine and complain about the idiotic things other people do. When teachers promise to post something online by a certain time, and three hours later it isn't up. I realize they have lives, but my exam grade is waaay more important.

I hate having an essay due but having no motivation to write it. I also hate how "But my shoulder hurts..." is the excuse I'm using to not start the essay, yet I'm online posting away. >_> I think I tore a muscle..

In math today, my teacher showed us how to create a scatter plot of information, clicking some stuff to find a screen where it gives you the c, a, and r values fulfilling the equation y=c/(1+ae^(-rx)), and outputting random integers (unrelated, actually). So, cool, I know how to do all of this on a TI-84, but that's not really helping me too much. ;P From my apps screen I've managed to find the Stats/List editor and input data, but I don't know how to graph it. Nor do I have any idea how to find the c, a, and r value screen. I can graph the logistic growth function no problem once I have them, though. Oh, and for the random integers, on the 84 it's <number>->randInt(x,y), but I don't have randInt? (At least not under Math -> Probability.) Any help is appreciated. Hahaha. My homework is to find the point of maximum growth for Starbucks.

Negative. Indescribable doesn't describe something which cannot be described. It's merely a hyperbole that exaggerates that complexity of whatever it is describing.

I thought one of the switches did nothing instead of two controlling the same light. >_>