unreality

my school is somewhat notorious for problems and recently a kid I knew died of a heroin overdose. This stuff (not just heroin, speaking in general) may be illegal but you cannot pretend like there aren't problems. That's why the government's strategy needs to change. We need to control less, not more

the same one i linked to a couple pages, but in this case it's less of a factual source and more of an opinion. That being said it's a well shared and well documented opinion. The opinion part of it is that corporate america forced marijuana out of the picture because hemp products are so much better than theirs, however the fact is that of the history of the United States, the events surrounding the alcohol prohibition, the big pharmaceutical companies etc. I never said it shouldn't be as easy to get. I said I wanted to lower the drinking age, accompanied by a class and test. You don't let your kids drive without 'showing them the ropes' and making sure they can go out without killing anyone. It should be the same with alcohol. Right now we have the by-far worst documented system in the ENTIRE WORLD. No instruction other than maybe a half-hearted 6th grade Health class, and the j, high/ high school years to initiate and college too but even so, a lot of misconceptions and lack of knowledge & safety exists until one turns 21 at which point they go out and binge and many people die. The fact of the matter is that making it legal to some but not to others makes it more appealing and more daring to drink younger and easier to get into trouble (legally or medically) because of it. As Izzy was saying, in Europe, it's the other way around. It's easier to get alcohol younger so kids are more used to it being part of life so they're not as likely to go out on deadly binges. You confused my point: I was saying marijuana is safer than alcohol to emphasize the comparative (and not just relatively but objectively) safety of the plant; you mistook my point as if saying that alcohol was really dangerous and BOTH should be illegal. While alcohol is indeed dangerous and marijuana is not, my repeated opinion is that both should be legal to the extents that I've already said (age 18).

see my post addressing the economics of drugs. I can only simplify what I understand, but in short there's a bunch of money in drugs. Even without outright legalization, the government can make inways into decriminilizations and restrictive legalizations and get a LOT of money, such that money won't have to be taken from taxpayers (maybe even the reverse, taxes could go down in certain areas) I agree... we do a lot of pussyfooting around religion, drugs and sex This is my point. Marijuana HAS been used extensively for at least 5000 years, almost as widely as alcohol (almost). From a source I used earlier (but independently verifiable) : vvvvvvvv Marijuana is the least harmless, healthiest, least dangereous drug available today. So why is it illegal? Did you ever think about why it is illegal to get stoned in the first place? Yeah, if you are against any intoxication, thats fine, more power to ya. But it isn't illegal to smoke cigarettes. It isn't illegal to get drunk. So why is government saying you can go out, get drunk, possibly get violent, possible get in an awful car accident, and kill someone or die of alcohol poisoning? Is it for the health aspects? No, we just saw how many benefits the plant can have. Plus, the government doesn't care about cigarettes, which are far worse for your health. So whats the issue here? I'll explain why I think the government is in prohibition of weed. Marijuana is part of the Cannibis family, and it's cousin is Hemp. Hemp is an incredible plant. Plastic made form hemp fiber is just as effective as petroleum plastic, and biodegradable. Oil from hemp seeds is very clean burning and biodegrable. It would make a fantastically effective fuel source. Quality paints were made from hempseed oil for hundreds of years. Rope, canvas, clothing, and other textiles made from hemp fiber are very very strong, and would be far better products than most things on the market today, and far cheaper to produce. Frames made from hemp fiber are stronger than their equivalent in steel. Hemp paper is cheaper and cleaner to make requiring no chemicals, and it never yellows like tree pulp paper. In fact the first Model-T ford had a frame of hemp. Betty Ross's flag was made from hemp. The drafts of the Declaration of Independence were written on hemp paper. For thousands of years, sailing rope and canvas was made from hemp. The first bibles were printed on hemp. In the colonies, hemp was almost the most common crop for farmers to grow. For severla years in Virginia, it was even illegal for farmers not to grow hemp! Hemp was the FIRST cash crop to exceed a billion dollars in annual business potential.Hemp is very easy to havest, has a much shorter propegation period of only 4 months (it take far less time to grow), and grows in almost any temperate climate, requiring only moderate water, and only adverage soil fertility. Hemp grows in months when trees grow in decades. Hemp grows where petroleum is mined. Hemp even oxidates and fertilizes the soil after it is harvested, leaving the soil very effective and fertile. Hemp could easily replace current paper products, rope, textile, clothing, plastic, some fuels, and even food and medicine. So why arent we using it? Because it has traces of THC? Good luck getting high from hemp. You would be smoking for hours straight. It is because corporations make more profit from their products that pollute the environment, are expensive and not as effective, and cost our economy more than is necessary. Early Corporate America conspired with congress to get hemp out of the picture and to do so, they attacked Marijuana and used that argument to ban the growth, sale and use of Canibbis products; aka, anything containing THC. Of course that argument made no sense since hemp has a negligable amount of THC, but in the early 1900's, citizens were very easy to lie to. The spread of information was easier to control because there was no internet and limited TV, and people didn't really have an alternative to believing what the government told them. The government spread propaganda with movies and yellow journalism, and the lies about Marijuana became very easy to believe. The propaganda film Reefer Madness was so rediculous it is now categorized as comedy. It told people that a young man, "under the influence of the drug he killed his entire family with an ax", and that "more vicious, more deadly even than these soul-destroying drugs (heroin, cocaine) is the menace of marihuana!". Of course this is nonsense, but it was very easy for parents and naive people to believe. The film didn't end with 'The End', or 'Fin', but 'Tell Your Children'. This characterizes the effort of the government to spread lies about Marijuana, as it demonstrates how we not only got an entire generation to believe the Madness, but we bred generations to come to think the same way. It was brainwashing. Tell Your Children has been the attitude towards Marijauan since. We don't explain to our kids how Alcohol tears families apart and cause violence and drunk driving- our society encourages it. All because companies like Dupont, that made petroleum products that could not rival hemp products, wanted to turn a profit and maintain control of the industry for generations to come. So what is the issue? A lot of people sadly still believe the Reefer Madness of the thirties, so support isn't as widespread for legalization as it should be. The government is unlikely to admit its mistake anytime soon, so good luck getting support from the inside. But, slowly, Marijuana is getting support on the state and local levels. ^^^^^

Nobody's saying that's not the case (well at least I'm not). The "hard", highly-abusable, addicting drugs (thinking of cocaine, meth, heroin) are well known for that. That's certainly not the only facet of their existence but enough to make them sufficiently dangerous to society and individuals. Enough that they should be at least restricted in some way, and you know me saying that means a lot. I disagree with Izzy when she says drugs dont cause violence (except for sometimes PCP and alcohol and probably some other ones).... they dont DIRECTLY cause violence, but they do indirectly. They do indirectly in two ways: (1) drug gangs - this is what Izzy was alluding to. This is caused by drugs being ILLEGAL, putting money in the hands of illegal violent street gangs and making the world a worse place (2) addiction - this is what Izzy wasn't thinking about as much, but is just as important. The addiction itself wont directly cause violence but people often need to steal (either stealing money or directly stealing drugs) for their fix, which if you want to consider Theft violent, is violent, or can lead into further criminal activity, debt, violence,etc. #1 can be avoided by legalization. #2 cannot, but it can be helped in other ways. Our current War on Drugs is NOT working, We need a new approach. That includes further legalization (or at the very least decriminilization) of marijuana & most hallucinogens, lowering age of drinking along with alcohol class/test and general tests... and a new set of restrictions on those "harder" drugs I mentioned in lieu of the older set of restrictions. Making them flat out illegal is not working, but nor do I think we should make them outright legal either. There are middle grounds though and I think that for people that WANT to quit, there are more and more methods devised each year on how to help them, funded plentily by taxes from legalization of softer drugs. Amsterdam legalized marijuana to great criminal & financial success. Another country (maybe Portugal? or maybe not?) did an all-out legalization and the results were positive, maybe that's what izzy was thinking of.

The reasons you gave are not why alcohol is legal. It's legal because it always has been, and marijuana would be the same way if not for the whole 'reefer madness' and whatnot a hundred years ago. It's certainly not illegal because it's dangerous, because (1) it's NOT, and (2) the government allows the sale of tobacco and rat poison and flamethrowers for chrissakes It will never be used by everyone and shouldnt. I'm not saying I use it and i'm not saying anyone/everyone should use it. it's not for everyone. But neither is drinking. I do agree with your last sentence though; this status quo is what's holding that kind of legislature back by the way this thing you listed as an effect: * Trouble with thinking and problem-solving Is wrong. Marijuana has a subtle effect on the brain that lets people think more "out of the box" so to speak, more abstractly and creatively. That's why it's been used by artists for centuries

I don't know how I can make you understand this but alcohol is sooooo much worse than marijuana. As far as "distorted perception", "memory impairment" , "loss of coordination", et al go (disregarding that those are often DESIRED effects lol), Alcohol takes the cake. Not only that but Alcohol can actually kill you, very easily. And make you pass out and throw up and give you liver disease and a lot of other short term and long term problems. And yes it's true that cannabis becomes more hallucinogenic/psychedelic when eaten or smoked in high doses, that too is desired if done. Sometimes if someone "smokes too much" then they know it and back down. Increased heart rate is the only negative effect out of that entire list, so if you have a heart condition I would do more research before trying it (or anything else for that matter), but even the amount of caffeine in a few bottles of coca cola is worse as far as the heart goes (and definitely the amount in a Monster). Cannabinoids actually have anti-cancer properties, though in general smoking Anything isn't a grand idea, that can counteract the negative effect on the lungs (though getting something like a Vaporizor or a well designed water pipe can also do that). Some more positive benefits (I didn't write the following myself but I can verify any of it if you want) -It alleiviates your circulatory system by inducing hypotension, aka lowering blood pressure. This is very healthy, and has the practical uses for any disorder which causes high blood pressure, and for glaucoma, which is a disorder of hypertension (high blood pressure (notice hypo vs. hyper if you didnt catch that) in the retina which is the leading cause of blindness world wide. If that didn't make sense to you- summary: it expands your blood vessels, which is very beneficial to health -It reliefs pain and nausea. This is very good for any kind of patient of surgery or chemotherapy. Especially in cancer and AIDS patients who get treatments, this is the most effective medication as is it the best drug for nausea relief and alleiviates the obvious pain of cancer and surgical recovery. -It relieves muscle spasms. This is especially helpful to patients of Multiple Sclerosis to contol muscles. -It actually does not cause cancer, in fact, it helps cure it. There are drugs in marijuana that help kill cancerous cells in the lungs. -It helps insomniac victims. Take a couple hits before bed and lights out. One of the more obvious negatives of marijuana as a recreational drug is drowziness. Any person who suffers from a disorder or pain that prevents them from sleeping, marijuana will be a very good, but partially habit forming (not addiction forming, habit) sleep aid. -Marijuana is one of the few if not only substance to be known to promote neurogenesis. This means that yes, marijuana does not kill brain cells, it aids in the growth of new ones. The misconception comes from the fact that smoking ANYTHING, as in burning any plant materials or substances and inhaling them kills brain cells and damages the lungs. But there are alternatives to smoking it. You could just as easily vaporize it with a pricey, but very effective, efficient, and in my opinion, invaluable Vaporizer machine or bake it into foods. Any food containing lipids such as butter (perfect for baked goods), milk, fats, oils will absorb the THC very effectively. Just be sure to heat it to 360 degrees F to boil the THC. Summary: Smoking kills brain cells, Marijuana grows new ones. So find an alternative to smoking and you're golden. -Munchies, munchies, munchies! Marijuana stimulates the appetite. This is a wonderful application for many sick people. Every year, hundreds of cancer victims die not of the disease, but of starvation. They have no appetite. But marijuana gives you the munchies. This is a great application for cancer and AIDS patients who have no appetite. -Marijuana makes you happy! IT is more effective than any uppers or antidepressants. This is even a great application for victims of terrible or fatal diseases. Most chemotherapy medications for AIDS and cancer have very depressing tolls on the patients, and the situation of mortality sure isn't helping. So Marijuana is so effective for cancer and AIDS patients, making them happy, hungry, helping them sleep, and reducing pain and nausea. . Now that we know just how helpful and healthy marijuana is, lets look at other drugs and their legal status. Question: How many people die each year from alcohol poisoning and related incidents such as homicide, crashes, accidents? Over 100,000 people in the US. How many from a drug we look at as harmless, such as aspirin? 500 each year. Hmm... How many from Marijuana? Oh, wait, there arent any. 0. ZERO DEATHS. In the history of mankind, never has there been a substantiated report of cannibis poisoning (Keywork: substantiated. There was a reported case in England a few years ago, but that was never substantiated and it happened to come at a very convienent time for political opposition of the change of Marijuana's legal status in UK. Just because the guy was high when he died does not mean marijuana caused the death). I don't actually think alcohol should be illegal lol... but I think you are simply trying to justify the status quo here. There is no doubt that alcohol is much more dangerous for you and your friends & family than cannabis

are you saying that pot being more accessible than crack is a bad thing? Cocaine is addictive with all kinds of negative effects on the body whereas I would go so far as to say marijuana is harmless in most situations. I don't see anything "exciting" about "grabbing some crack". There's not just more to lose, there's everything to lose. yeah I wouldnt advocate the hands on use haha, at least not at first. But I think most people could get behind an idea like this: when you're 17 or 18, take a class on alcohol use, abuse, effects, driving laws, etc, etc, etc, with an actual HARD test that ensures that the material is known. Then it's legal for purchase at age 19 or so. Working for there similar tests could be constructed So in short you're saying addictive substances should be illegal to make taxpayers spend less. Makes sense, but then why isnt alcohol illegal and marijuana legal? There's a lot of social/political/religious elements feeding it too, it's just not purely economical. But if we're regarding just the economics, the money the government would make off of taxes on such substances would fund the rehab programs 10x over and then the taxpayers would have to pay for NONE of it I'm sure it's more complicated than that but you get the idea; legalizing itself (or even partial legalization) adds a huge new source of income for the government. And if we're talking about less harmful, non addicting, "safer" "softer" drugs (marijuana, hallucinogens, ecstasy, what have you) the income is there without as much as the expense yeah I was going to bring this up at some point, religion definitely plays a role... which is ironic because the cannabis plant is actually well promoted by the Bible and other major religions (not just Rastafarianism ), and I read somewhere that it's likely that Moses' diet included a lot of shrooms yeah, the U of M property is officially owned by the US government

In fact for the town in which I live (Ann Arbor) it has already been decriminalized (small civil fine on the level of a parking ticket)

I agree with most of what you said. About the plants thing, I realize that it's unreasonable in some ways, though it came from my initial emotion that the government shouldn't make a plant illegal. But I suppose you're right. Say a certain plant contains a deadly disease that can kill everyone on earth, I wouldn't protest it being illegal, so I guess that could be extended to plants that have the potential of creating widespread problems. So I would say illegalizing them and scheduling them is acceptable (if they have harm potential like, say, the coca plant) but NOT spraying millions of gallons of pesticides and fungicides each year, killing MUCH MORE than just the illegal plant itself (and often not even the illegal plant, and that which does get through now has bad chemicals on it). I also agree that accessibility of alcohol is what makes it the leading cause of death. But some drugs are non-conducive to driving, ie, you dont really hear of "stoned driving accidents". But I wouldn't want someone tripping out on LSD to drive a car. I don't think that happens because the kind of people who use LSD are generally highly intellectual but if it were made more accessible, idk (haha maybe you should have to pass an iq test to get it ) .. or actually, a safety test, which reminds me of an idea I had during a debate on the Drinking Age (ii think it was here on brainden, not sure). You don't let someone drive a car without giving them a class on safety, technique, etc, and then making sure they pass a test. I think the same should be true with alcohol... and with other drugs. People should understand the categories they fall on, the positive & negative effects on the body & mind, the dosages, the street names, street prices, and have to pass levels of tests to get access. My personal philosophy is more like Anarchy haha but I know that a government's job is hard and the lines between rights and priveliges are not well defined, so having Class+Test+Permission setup would be acceptable to me. What does anyone else think about that? About whether Government should protect Individuals from themselves, that's at the core of this debate (regardless that many substances can be used without overdue harm). Go to the extreme example... is it illegal to kill yourself? No. I agree that parents should chastise their children for some self-destructive behaviors but it's the government's responsibility to stop us from hurting others, not hurting ourselves Nope I expect marijuana to be legal within 15 years. The benefits of legalization (of at the very least the hemp plant) farrrrr outweigh any negatives, it'll just take a while for politics to get over the social stigma (even though 2/3 or more of the people in many states voted Yes for more legalization, so the stigma is just perceived).

Framm you are making a fundamental mistake of probability/reasoning. First let's simplify your poker scenario: Assume you are playing a game in which you pick a number from 1 to a million, or choose to walk away with 999,999 dollars. If you decide to pick, and get it right, you get 1 million dollars. If you pick and get it wrong, you get nothing. Clearly the reasonable thing to do is to walk away with the 999,999. Who cares about the extra dollar? Now say Bob plays and picks 123456 which happens to be the magic number. Bob gets a million dollars! Clearly Bob made the "right choice" or did he? Nope, Bob made the wrong choice. Even if you get only 10,000 if you walk away, he still made the wrong choice. It was just the 1-in-a-million chance happened to match up and Bob got lucky. But if presented with the same scenario again, Bob should NOT do the same thing. He should do the reasonable thing and walk away. Because 999999/1000000 times, walking away is the best option. So even if one time Bob happens to guess the 1-in-a-million number and get a larger reward (in my scenario it was $1 dollar more but it could even be up to 999999x more money I believe and the net payout would favor walking away still). Back the poker scenario. The best choice WAS to fold. I would go so far to say he SHOULD have folded. He made a stupid bet and happened to get lucky, that's all. If you were in the same situation I would advise folding instead of betting and losing money.

basically in short, for the large majority of the population, DXM is not of high concern of abuse, it even has some anti-addictive properties. Also while it is a derivative of the opiate family and is made from morphine, its properties on the human body are classified as a psychedelic dissociative and anesthetic, in the category of Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) and Ketamine. To die/overdose from DXM you have to take an unbelievably unrealistic amount.

opiate DERIVATIVE. It's *similar* structure wise but is actually a flip through 3d space from its opiate partner. You can't tell when looking at the 2d version of the molecular structure edit: also, no matter how similar it is, or how they produce it, one tiny difference (it is a derivative after all) can COMPLETELY change how the brain handles it (and knowing that you have done both hydrocodone and DXM, you know how different the effects are), DXM binds to NMDA receptors (hence the dissociative effects) and others that put it in the category of dissociative anesthetic, like laughing gas. NOT in the category of narcotics

This is not reasonable. What if it's one day before the heart starts beating? Then it's okay? When you think about morality you have to factor in potential. Just because the heart hasn't started pumping baby blood yet doesn't mean it won't tomorrow. The potential to live is from the very beginning, ergo there's no point IMO where it becomes 'alive', it's a gradual process with the only real events being the Conception and the Birth. Any event picked in between is too arbitrary. I don't know. I agree I guess, and think mothers should have the ultimate say-so, but I hope they will choose to have the child anyway. Find positive solace in a negative event, etc. The whole "unwanted" argument is just an attitude, just one perspective. In short, I frown on abortion. I'm not religious at all but for me that makes life all the more precious. I think if someone is under 18 and/or was raped, abortion should be an option. Beyond that I'm not sure.

not to nitpick but PCP is a dissociative (like laughing gas or ketamine), not a hallucinogen. And yeah PCP is one drug I would definitely illegal, along with meth, the strong opiates, and cocaine. I don't know about MDMA but I think it should be legal only to make sure it's pure and thus safer than street variety for users, because it's not addicting (unlike other amphetamines, especially meth) No I mean for harvest too. I just think it's ridiculous to say that any plant should be illegal. Is "poison ivy" illegal? What about nightshade? What about even more deadly poisons? Are poison dart frogs "illegal to exist"?

the legit source is the plant... you can grow it yourself, or buy it from someone else. You can directly smoke those plants for a safer, more natural high. Head shops could sell extracts too that could also be legal, given certain guidelines. But I don't think morphine or its derivatives/analogues should be straight up sold legally... the idea actually makes me sick haha. I do think our current strategy for the "war on drugs" is terrible but that doesnt mean I think everything should be legalized with no consequences DMT is in every living thing (or most of them). In fact it directly supplies lizards' "third eye" and has been used by humans for thousands of years to access their spiritual/inner "third eye". It subjectively is similar to LSD, peyote (mescaline) and shrooms (psilocybin). I don't know where you're getting the "it can really mess people up" unless you mean temporarily Nooo I don't think that's a good idea. That would unnecessarily expose people. Like i said, the only laws in need of dire changing are marijuana laws and the justification for scheduling hallucinogens as Schedule I.

but for me, the only legality statuses that really NEED to change are those for cannabis/marijuana/hashish and for most psychedelics/hallucinogens. I think the laws for most other substances are adequate

peace*out, when I said that the opium poppy and coca leaf plants should be legal, I was assuming that you did know that they could be made to make some of the most addictive drugs in existence (opium, morphine, heroin, cocaine/crack), drugs I would never ever try, my point was that even in that case, I think the plant itself should be legal. All plants should be legal. The actual chemicals of heroin, opium, morphine, thobaine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, fentanyl (and a bazillion more opiates, etc) should remain controlled by hospitals and pharmacies, because they are dangerous, with the exception of codeine maybe (but even that should be regulated to some extent I think). But the actual origin plant itself which can be used (if you know your stuff and are good at chemistry) for good or for bad, should be legal IMO.

I don't think that's a recognized effect of DXM haha. But I agree that's not in general a problem but is for daily users of caffeine (or amphetamines) agreed indeed but I hate messing with the biological sleep schedule, one of the main reasons I don't really like stimulants nor depressants haha. But it can't really be avoided with something like this, especially if you're trying to do that. But have you heard of Provigil? It can keep people alert for a long time without some of the other negative effects of caffeine/amphs the losing-your-teeth thing does it in for me, sorry

Yeah we all know about the terrible stuff, the crack cocaine and methamphetamine and heroin (and other abusable strong opiates), but people have way too many misconceptions about other, safer drugs. For example, most people think ecstasy (MDMA) is a "hard drug", when really it's not (the main downside is getting worse chemicals and amphetamines cut in with the pills, a danger that would be go away if it were legalized). People also associate gangs with drugs, which is true, but the majority of gang income and violence is related to the illegal drug trade, a problem that would be solved immensely by legalizing most substances. Moving away from chemicals for a second and focusing on just plants, I think it's absolutely ridiculous that any government could be as impudent to say any living plant is "illegal". Obviously thinking about marijuana here, but many other plants as well. Have you heard of the church UDV that had to struggle just to be given the religious freedom to practice spiritual rites with psychedelic tea? Have you heard of the millions and billions of dollars governments have spent on fighting mostly harmless drugs? What about kids that die from inhaling dangerous household products because there are no other options? What about millions of square acres of environment DESTROYED by governments in South America spraying chemicals to prevent coca plant growth? Regardless of what you think of other drugs, alcohol and tobacco are two of the most dangerous substances in existence. They have killed more people than almost anything else and especially any other legal or illegal drug. So legality is clearly not a result of "it's for your own safety". and if you don't think alcoholism is real I have stories for you. A grand total of ZERO people have died from marijuana usage. LSD and other psychedelics are almost impossible to overdose on, the worst is a bad trip. Marijuana has a long list of health benefits I can rattle off if you wish, as well as other things (it's good for the environment, relatively easy to grow, can be made into all kinds of paper products, medicines, etc, and reduce use of deadly and carcinogenic plastics, etc)... but someone inevitably already has, here check out TotoroSanjay's post here: http://askville.amazon.com/marijuana-considered-drug-opinion/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=701268 In short, I stay away from amphetamines, cocaine and other stimulants (I even feel bad drinking caffeine but I've had to a few times, my abstinence from it though means that I never build up a tolerance to caffeine). Alcohol is a bad-good thing. It and marijuana are so ingrained in our society that it's hard to judge... but I think that cigarettes should be illegal, they should sell the natural tobacco & cannabis plants and people can make their own. As far as opiates go, I'm glad they're illegal but I think codeine should be sold OTC. Beyond that they're just far too addicting. I do think that all hallucinogenics and psychedelics including dissociatives should be legal. I also think all plants (yes, including the opium poppy and the coca leaf) should be legal. Well there's my opinion/philosophy/experience on the matter

yeah the problem has gone back to the Others forum again Let me know if you need anyone to help you test or anything, rookie

actually Kate's flashback was in the episode Tabula Rasa which was the third epi (or second, depending on your POV, because the Pilot was 2 hours/parts/eps in a single). I have to say that was a good shock, so was EVERYTHING in season one though because we were knew to the island then... when we saw what John Locke was in in his flashback in Walkabout (the epi following Tabula Rasa), the hatch, the rafts, the characters' mysteries and relationships and redemptions and whatnot... season one was great. But my favorite seasons are 2 and 3, for different reasons. Season Two was really psychological and thrilling and very trippy and I really liked the direction they went with that with the research stations and also further elaborating on their characters. How they switch between main characters each episode to detail their lives really fleshes them out and makes it a great show. I would talk about various twists, events and moments that I love from season two (and three) but to say any more (even about the main plot of season three) might be chalk-full of spoilers if you haven't seen those seasons yet

yeah people criticize for being kind of far-out, but like I said the first 3 seasons keep it real and universally applicable and really anyone can get into those for so many reasons; the last 3 seasons (four through six) take one aspect of it (the sci-fi part) and kind of run with it in that direction at the expense of some other aspects. I feel like a lot of tri-seasons could be made sprouting out from the solid first three. So my suggestion to you peace*out is to get back into it and watch them in order seasons 1-3, it really is a masterpiece

I'm a high school senior (woot class of 2010 haha) but yeah one of our electives is Comparative World Religions yeah I have done a lot of elaborating/elucidating/thinking on my own to clarify my own beliefs and lacks thereof; I guess i'm happy that I was given little to no guidance which personally I prefer. That's something I clash with my dad a lot on, he believes in not reinventing the wheel but I believe in learning from experience (I'm not saying history is unimportant, far from it, but that some things need to be experienced and cant be taught or simply told and expected to be followed/believed)

With the SERIES FINALE fast approaching, let's discuss our favorite LOST moments, lives, deaths, births, shockers, twists, stories, episodes, mysteries, mythologies, finales, premieres, and everything else and put our heads together to predict the future (NO FUTURE SPOILERS THOUGH) Also curious to see how many fellow BrainDenizens watch LOST. For such a mindbending, psychological, character-developing show I'd hope that a lot of fellow BD'ers are into it Personally I love seasons 1-3. They are so perfect and form a great, complete, consistent story arc that feels right to me. Seasons 4,5,6 kind of shatter the ambiguity and go out on a limb in a specific direction and IMO definitely don't live up to the first three but I love a lot of s4 and s5, I just think this final season could be a lot stronger, so I hope they finish with an awesome finale!

I'm a pretty individualistic person (as far as philosophy of freedom goes) so I respect what others do and hope they respect what I do. I think homosexuality is great and it's great that it's becoming more accepted. It's a good facet of our ever-diversifying society and one helpful reprieve toward the imminent over-population/under-resource problem our planet is facing. I know quite a few gay/bisexual people and most are proud of it, because it's either the way they grew into it or biological or both, but either way it's part of who they are and for most of them, not hugely different from us straight people. Anyway the STD argument is bs IIRC, but that's just a justification, not the real reason people don't like it. People don't like it because it's different, and I admit that often the idea is aversive to me, but I still respect everyone for their sexual orientation no matter what it is. Regarding having sex with (1) inanimate objects, (2) animals, and (3) children: (1) to be perfectly honest I don't care. Let Mrs. Eiffel Tower have at it all she wants. If it conflicts with france's laws so be it haha, either way this is such a small thing and probably only half-true in the first place. But even if there was a solid 10% sub-population that was into inanimate objects (what about dildos and other sex toys? The only difference between them and a rock is that they are designed specifically for the purpose), even if so, so be it. I don't care and it's a tiny strange issue lol (2) bestiality is another weird thing, maybe less rare, I don't know. But yes as with children there is a consent issue here. If you somehow knew the animal was intelligent enough to be aware of it and was also into cross-species relations (highly unlikely), then I guess, um, go for it. Regardless of the morality of it I would hope animal brutality laws cover this to some extent. Either way I don't see how this affects anything haha (3) I know that dawh said "law" but he meant (or at least I mean) it's more than law, it's innate human sense of morality, that until we've reached a certain point of intellectual and physical maturity we're not ready to consent to that kind of thing. I don't think you need to worry about homosexuality opening a floodgate of "pro-molestation" laws In short it's ridiculous that homosexual wasn't "legal" until a short time ago, along with a lot of other ridiculous laws like marijuana illegality (though thankfully that's starting to change), etc.