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tkdguy

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10 hours ago, Sociotard said:

 

Do they not have magnets or metal detectors in Australia?  I know it's a Bronze Age penal colony, but geez.

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7 hours ago, Cancer said:

 

Turns out my guess was wrong, and it is much more boring than anyone would guess.

 

Turns out an employee was using the site's high-bandwidth internet connection to collect child porn. 

 

If there's one valid justification for waterboarding and Guantanamo, this would be it.  I hope they work that guy over with different pieces of metal.

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1 hour ago, Old Man said:

 

If there's one valid justification for waterboarding and Guantanamo, this would be it.  I hope they work that guy over with different pieces of metal.

 

If you add gelding, I think my mother would be on board for this as punishment for child molesters.

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5 hours ago, Cancer said:

 

Source: an "open"? paper in today's Science link

I am allowed to see the Abstract. Ther acutal paper? Probably not (not that I'm understanf the details). This element of the abstract was particular striking:

 

Quote

Paradoxically, there has been substantial variability with which specific drugs have become dominant in varying populations and geographic locales. This variability all but negates the possibility of confident predictions about the future role of specific drugs. Indeed, it is possible that a future overdose epidemic may be driven by a new or obscure drug that is not among the leading causes of drug overdose death today.

The implication is that laws that target specific substances (like heroin or prescription opiates) are not going to be all that effective in reducing the overall mortality rate -- or even making a significant dent in its growth. It even seems likely that the sort of policy decision that would have any effect at all simply doesn't exist.

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It's my understanding that drug addiction is generally a symptom rather than a cause. For instance, you've probably heard about how addictive heroin is; why, that rat in the classic experiment kept pressing the lever for another hit at the expense of eating! Well, a critical detail that scientists failed to consider the first time around is that rats are intelligent and social animals, and THOSE rats were kept in a tiny, empty cage all alone. They were in solitary confinement; no wonder they turned to drugs to ease the pain of their existence. When the experiment was repeated, with the critical difference of providing the rats with a large habitat with enrichment features and, most importantly, other rats to socialize with . . . the heroin wasn't a big deal to them.

 

It's largely the same with humans. When you find a human who has a crippling substance addiction problem, you'll probably find that they have significant mental/emotional needs that aren't being met. The way to minimize drug abuse is to provide better community connections, and better health care, both physical and mental.

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On 9/21/2018 at 5:39 PM, Zeropoint said:

It's largely the same with humans. When you find a human who has a crippling substance addiction problem, you'll probably find that they have significant mental/emotional needs that aren't being met. The way to minimize drug abuse is to provide better community connections, and better health care, both physical and mental.

I think that only applies to those who have never been addicted. To my knowledge, none of the "rat paradise" rats were former addicts.

 

This is relevant because each of us will have times when we feel like we're in the "rat prison" experiment and times when we're in "rat paradise". If we become addicts during a "rat prison" period, we'll always have the burden of addiction.

 

So fixing an addict isn't as simple as fixing his condition. 

 

I will agree that seeing an epidemiological increase in addiction probably means the community as a whole has problems that need addressed.

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9 hours ago, Badger said:

Well, I have to admit I am a bit mixed on addicts.  I want to feel empathy, but I did have a friend in childhood, who had an alcoholic father,  and frankly the family would have been better off if the @$$hole had died off or something.  

 

I'm an adult child of an alcoholic, and I attended Alateen and Al-Anon when younger. I'd have to say that there are probably more folks who have struggled with some kind of addiction than you realize. My experience is that underlying personality doesn't really change, but it does get amplified by alcohol--I've seen plenty of belligerent drunks get clean and sober and still be a**holes.

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On ‎9‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 7:06 PM, pinecone said:

I once entertained my son by explaining that Beer is the reason for civilisation. We need agriculture, to grow stuff for beer! Weneed storage devices, like pots for Beer! We need writing and math, to keep track of the beer! ;)

In this regard, I recommend The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers. Arthurian fantasy set during the Siege of Vienna. The Fisher King is also involved, along with the oldest brewery in the world. These elements are all related.

 

Dean Shomshak

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6 hours ago, Ternaugh said:

 

I'm an adult child of an alcoholic, and I attended Alateen and Al-Anon when younger. I'd have to say that there are probably more folks who have struggled with some kind of addiction than you realize. My experience is that underlying personality doesn't really change, but it does get amplified by alcohol--I've seen plenty of belligerent drunks get clean and sober and still be a**holes.

 

Yeah, that is true.  I don't think the one in question was ever physically abusive to be fair to him, at least.  Still he was there as an emotional leech, my friend didn't seem to get "affected" too much, but his older brothers did act out and get themselves in trouble (well, one did become a preacher, ironically).   I guess I do have an unconscious protective instinct that kicks in for people in my circle.

 

Maybe I should say I have a measure of sympathy, but not so much empathy.  And it starts to end at the point where those around them get affected negatively.

 

 

 

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9 hours ago, DShomshak said:

In this regard, I recommend The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers. Arthurian fantasy set during the Siege of Vienna. The Fisher King is also involved, along with the oldest brewery in the world. These elements are all related.

 

Dean Shomshak

Thanks! I'll track that down.

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