fyzygy

Planted this fat beast out on the edge of a bushland reserve on a friend's property. I last saw it 6-12 months ago, with 4 or 5 lush green cucumber pups, nary a blemish in sight. Now this. Are those ... bite marks?

I'd have to watch it again to pick up on the ABC calling out MMA as vexatious litigants. I don't know anyone personally involved in the story. I don't know what WTGH-WTAF? stands for either. But I think I know what journalism is (or at least, used to be). I'd like to hear more about MMA and its "chilling effect" on discussion here. Any legal documentation to that effect?

I'm still not sure what the "warning about MMA" might have been -- that they're a bunch of fruitcakes? With shady financials? And the backing of a corrupt, now ousted, federal government? Seems pretty much par for the course, given the profligate proclivities of Australian political elites. Still, I don't see Tania's car rego plate on my screen. Or (unnamed) Andrew Robb's. Even if JP was doing something illegal "loudly and publicly" -- shouldn't he be extended the same journalistic courtesy as enjoyed by other citizens, including far more nefarious (and notorious) criminals? It seems to me that JP was just low-hanging fruit to be trampled on by cherrypicking moral crusaders. At the end of the story, I still don't have enough context or information to have an opinion on JP. If a public warning about JP were in order, then that warning would be better heeded had the ABC at least pretended to care about journalistic standards, IMO. What bothers me most is that the ABC didn't report any of the positive reforms and progressive directions of contemporary psychedelic therapy. Chacruna Institute, for one, has been vociferous in calling out the issue of sexual predation and economic exploitation (particularly of First Nations peoples) and has implemented various programs accordingly. On balance, I'd have preferred to hear more about the ten-second, organic-apple-juice method.

It's been decades since I worked as a journalist. I haven't seen the subject of an investigation's number plate openly displayed in any television media report in all that time, I don't think. It may be no skin off Julian's nose, so to speak, but where's the professional courtesy? Granted, there are bigger problems with this 4 Corners report than potential threats to privacy. In any case, I thought that the license plate issue might be useful in bringing a complaint against the ABC, if one were pending. It suggests a degree of overt hostility, rather than journalistic (ahem) impartiality.

https://www.samwoolfe.com/2022/08/ecstasy-power-unique-risks-of-mdma-therapy.html The "dark side of psychedelic therapy" meme just won't quit.

Looking for a fricii specimen that won't break the bank. Cash or trade.

spineless opuntia (prickly pear) is my preferred rootstock at the moment, at least for lophs. is your black bamboo the running or clumping kind? I'm looking for a non-invasive variety to grow

I'll be sowing Salvia recognita seeds. Grafting some LW pups. Not much else. Checking my cactus plants for signs that Spring has sprung early. (Fingers crossed). It's been a soggy Melbourne winter.

It's curious that the ABC made no effort to disguise the car licence plate number, standard journalistic practice as far as I'm aware (a professional courtesy in the interests of personal privacy). That didn't bode well, in terms of journalistic intent.

Approx. 15cm seedling, hardened off, due for potting on or planting out. 1 only available. PM if interested.

Gone to a good home.

I saw the Four Corners journalist interviewed on News Breakfast, her exposé was framed by comparison with a fictional drama series starring Nicole Kidman, Nine Perfect Strangers -- in which participants at a wellness retreat are unwittingly micro-dosed with psilocybin. Ugh. It's one of the worst TV series (badly written, poorly directed) in recent memory. But it demonstrates that psychedelic abuse is topical and current in the mainstream media--even alongside current Netflix offerings such as Michael Pollan's How to Change Your Mind. The insinuation seems to be that psychedelic drugs, in and of themselves, somehow attract rogue practitioners and sexual predators. The incident with the American woman could as easily have targeted exposure therapy (the problematic aspect of her treatment), rather than psychedelics per se. Far from showing potential therapeutic benefit, the reporter disputes that psychedelic "drugs" (as she insisted on correcting JP) are medicinal at all. She might have at least mentioned the work being done at Chacruna Institute, focused on eliminating sexist and racist practices from psychedelic therapy.

A pox on profiteers who desecrate this holy medicine.

https://www.specialplants.net/shop/seeds/salvia_recognita/

Looking for either Dracaena cinnabari or Dracaena draco viable seeds or stem cuttings. Please PM if you have any for sale/trade.

First time I've seen this plant, at a relatives' house. There are a few there like this, yellowing but with darker mottled patches, all looking a bit stunted. I'd love to know what the problem could be. Too much sun, was my only thought, as it's fully exposed.