oxydiser

I've ordered catha from SAB and gomaos recently, both from over east and both arrived without problems. As such, my plants are fairly small, but I do have a spare red strain khat if you want to trade. PM me if interested.

When we have children, doing so consciously, and invest in their future we are investing in the future of humanity It is this 'populate and conquer' mentality that has contributed to the over-population woes of the planet earth. Through goverment welfare systems and increasing improvements in health care technology (although mostly in developed countries), the human race has effectively lost the 'natural selection' mechanisms built into every other species of animal across the world. Our failure to save the world as individuals no longer seems a failure as much as just being a link in the intergenerational effort But the earth is so special because it is our home and we want to keep living here and i think anyone who gives a shit has an obligation to ensure that they pass on that culture to another generation Rev, you are contradicting yourself. I agree with Tort that having large families (i.e. over replacement level) is selfish. I myself come from a family of 5 children, and think how much easier life would have been for the family as a whole if Mum had stopped at two (I'm number four in line). Even if it is your decision to not have kids, you can be sure that there are at least 10 other welfare-for-life-dependent females would will happily have 5 kids to four different men to make up for your choice. It's sorta like recycling, I do it full well knowing that there are others around me that don't, but knowing I am contributing for the greater good is the most important thing. The hardest thing is convincing other people of the environmental benefits, something that only happens to a small extent. I wonder how a state-enforced one child policy would go down in Australia? Ignoring all the "moral and ethical" gripes from some sectors of the community, and without a gender bias like we see in China, could we get over the fact that a generation without any siblings would mean a greater environmental and economic benefit for this country? seeing as how you are deadends anyway why use up those extra resources in the next 40 to 50 years of your life when there is no point in doing so? So because I am choosing not to have kids, I have no point in life?? Yes, I understand I have no point from a biological point of view, nonetheless this is somewhat of a close-minded statement to make. This is always going to be a null argument. BTW, good website creach. Funny as hell and true in some parts, I especially like the 'Why Breed?' explanation table

Blast. Does anyone else have any cuttings of Eileen they are willing to sell? I'm mad keen to get one for propagation.

crap! things just got a whole lot worse..... ----------------------------------------- Bird Flu Virus Resistant to Tamiflu Excellent... the prophecy has been fulfilled. Reminds me of the Bhagavad-Gita... "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds" There are other ways to achieve negative population growth and these should be tried first, especially in countries that can afford them. I fully agree with you Torsten, but these population control methods need not be expensive. HIV/AIDS is already doing a good job, and widespread chemical sterilization would pay for itself after a few generations.

When rooting cuttings, where do the new roots emerge from? I have read that they come from the central core, but is this still true for cuttings that are rooted horizontally?

The likely hood of either of these is VERY slim and hence an avian influenza hybrid is a done deal. At least that's what the story is at the moment. Because of the widespread use of tamiflu I presume that if the hybrid doesn't emerge for another 5 years, tamiflu will probably be useless as most strains will be resitant. So, if we assume a hybrid within the next 2 or 3 seasons and assume that neither strain has resistance to tamiflu, then tamiflu will indeed be highly effective against the 'new' virus. Hence, starting preparations now will indeed not be futile. This is a little bit too deterministic for me. Human/avain influenza hybridization is definitely possible, but not a done deal, not in the sense that global warming is a done deal. As you have pointed out Torsten, there are too many assumptions at this point to make any concrete statements. So do i. Not because it will kill many people, but because by doing so it will show people that the current population trends and urban environments are not sustainable. But just because I think that's a good thing doesn't mean I want to die. Isn't everyone, including you and I and everyone that doesn't live in a vacuum, a part of the over-population and over-consumption problems of this planet? Don't mind me as I excuse myself from the human race. <_< i think the chances of the virus mutating enough to get around it are pretty small at this stage but there are sooo many viruses in so many people they tend to win at the end of the day. when are we going to give up on trying to fight viruses and bacteria with new medications?

I agree with you Torsten, antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza are fairly useless against even the 'normal' influenza strains, they would have to be taken on a long term basis by a large proportion of the population to have any significant effect on the spread of the virus or the number of people killed by it. By nature of the mechanism of action of neuraminidase inhibitors, virulent bacteria are prone to gaining resistance to these drugs which will render them ineffective. Remember how quickly SARS spread? SARS did spread very quickly across the globe but was also quickly contained. If it wasn't for the inadequacies of some of the East Asian goverments SARS may have been a non-event. yesterday the WHO stated that an avain flu pandemic would likely kill between 5 and 150 million people I think this was irresponsible of the WHO to release a statment like this, regardless if there are any truths or half-truths in it. Saying things like this leads to paranoia and hysteria which only serve to make companies like Roche rich. Heck, if I were Roche now I would subcontract out antiviral production and ride the wave of paranoia and profits. It makes good sense to stock up on your dose of Tamiflu asap. You might also want to start organising where you are going to stay and how you are going to survive financially. if you have friends or family in the country this might be a good time to discuss your options with them. I really can't see how cities will be a viable option during such a crisis. In the same light as the WHO statement, this is scaremongering. Reminds me of how all the yanks went on a gas-mask buying spree after the whole anthrax debacle. I hate to take a leaf out of Jonny Howard's book, but it better to be 'alert, not alarmed' The bugs were here a long time before the human race and they will be here for a long time after us. In reality, a widespread outbreak of SARS or bird-flu within the next 10 years would be unstoppable. It may sound macabre, but we are well overdue for another pandemic and I think they are one the natural population control mechanisms built into life on this planet.

The flu is not a bacterium by the way, but rather a virus Woops, sorry my bad there... I had a feeling that antivirals were used against viruses I think it's funny that you say we are overdue for a pandemic and yet you think pointing out the obvious situation is scaremongering I think the point I was trying to make was that it is impossible, nay, futile to try and prepare for the next pandemic. Strain of 'flu that precipitate pandemics are significantly different from 'normal' subtypes or are subtypes that have never circulated among people or that have not circulated among people for a long time. I am still waiting for the big '12 monkeys style' pandemic, but my opinion is that bird flu doesn't have the potential of 1918-19 "Spanish flu style"... yet. I welcome the the next influenza pandemic. Avian flu will be nothing like SARS Care to elaborate on this? I am aware they are two different viruses, but why will a pandemic H5N1 avain flu be nothing like SARS? I am surprised that you appear to have more knowledge about these things than some of the most respected scientists in the field, who have been warning about this for several years. I don't pretend to be an expert in virology, I am just throwing in my educated? $0.02 in the hat Oxidiser on the other hand will have statistical odds, whatever they might be at the time. Couldn't have said it better myself Tort, 'cept your statistical odds will only be slightly better than mine

I may be showing my psychedelic naivety here, but can someone please explain to me the concept of ego loss/destruction? I have had experience with acid/shrooms/HBWR and have yet to experience this, though have read about it many times on Erowid and the like. It certainly doesn't sound like a pleasurable experience in any way, but a valuable life experience nonetheless. Maybe I should wait my acacia and psychotria grow up a bit?

May I ask, which member of the black eyed peases wig is it? If it's that blondie scrag bitch... sell it If it's one of those other guys... sell it In fact just sell it on Ebay now, right now! The black eyed peas are probably on top of their commercial peak right about now, in a few years time they will be forgotten like every other popular music group that has come before them. Don't procrastinate, sell sell sell and try to make a buck riding the wave? of hype surrounding them. That is, unless you have some sentimental attachment to this wig and/or the black eyed peas... wigs creep me out, especially the horse hair ones... stinky

...but what exactly about Tool do you like? They fucking suck donkey dick!

No worries with the 23rd here. Is there any more word on the location creach?

quote: My understanding of anti cholinergics is that they block the flow of acetylcholine and thus fuck with the way serotonin/dopamine is distributed or somesuch. I believe benztropine (synthetic tropine) is/was used to fight Parkinsonism. True, anticholinergics (atropine, scopolamine) block the action of acetylcholine on parasympathetic muscarinic receptors which account for all of the effects following administration, which some people may be familiar with - inhibition of secretions, modest increase in heart rate, dilated pupils, mild decrease in GI motility and of course the CNS excitation effects of restlessness, agitation and delerium. Anticholinergics also affect the extrapyramidal system, reducing the involuntary movement and rigidity of patients with Parkinson's. Up until levodopa was discovered in the 1960s, the anticholinergics were the main form of treatment for Parkinson's. They are effective because acetylcholine receptors have an excitatory effect, which is opposite to that of dopamine, on the neurons involved in Parkinson's. Suppression of the excitatory effects (using anticholinergics) partly makes up for the lack of dopamine that is characteristic of Parkinson's. As such, anticholinergics are used in Parkinson's as a physiological antagonists - the beneficial effects occur because anticholinergic are used to treat the symptoms rather than the underlying cause. quote: So, if I were to partake of an SSRI, such as say, sceletium and then smoke some Datura flower, would this change the effect? I know from personal experience there is a definite difference in the combination compared to just the SSRI or just the Datura, but I'm curious from a brain chemistry perspective. Would inhibiting serotonin reuptake for even a short while reduce the harmful effects of cholinoceptor antagonists such as scopolamine or atropine? Vary interesting questions apoth, although I am no neuroscientist I am leaning strongly towards what Salviador has said and I would also suggest that the combination of an SSRI would not interact with anticholinergics with regard to brain chemistry. Care to elaborate more on the difference between sceletium, datura and sceletium+datura?

Here here! I second that notion, where in freo did you have in mind creach?

Hey coin, to reiterate what others have said, it is bloody excellent that you are furthering you studies and it is important that you choose a field that you are deeply passionate about... ultimately the satisfaction you recieve while working in your dream job will be more important than the pay check you bring home. IMO it would be better to continue studying rather than obtaining full time work (or only work for 6 months to save up) as returning to the stress and poverty of full-time study looks increasingly irrelevant after work. To agree with devance and Darklight, a BSc in anything is basically a glorified lab-technician, and in your first job you will be paid as such (speaking from experience here - my first job after 3yr BSc I was being paid the same as a 6 month graduate of a TAFE Dip in Lab Tech). In order to figure out whether or not you are interested in biochemistry, go to a library and browse through several Biochem textbooks. After completing several 2nd year Biochem units, I found the subject interesting in parts but mostly too tedious for my liking. It is a bit of a mish-mash subject and I found it more interesting studying chemistry and pharmacology which I ultimately majored in. I wish I had spoken to Rev and Darklight before graduating last year as I became throughly disillusioned after 4 months of the lab tech job. I promptly quit that mind-numbing shithole of a job and went back to uni to study towards a MPharm, which btw is twice as hard as the double-major BSc but four times as intersting :D :D

mmmmmmmm......I love the smell of chloroform......so sweet and heavenly......reminds me of sleep sleep time..........must.......smell........more

How does rockwool go for loph sprouting? I mean does it have some advantage over cacti mix/CSS? How long can they be kept in the rockwool before the need to transplant?

Fuck yeah, pharmacology is the most interesting subject I did throughout my BSc, I liked it so much I ended up being my major along with chemistry. Only thing I disliked about it was it was a little too lab-based for me, so I ended up going back to uni to start my MPharm about 5 weeks ago. I have a 10 minute presentation to give on a complementary medicine next week and was assigned some whacked out chinese herb that bored the shit from my arsehole. Seriously dude pick kava, I switched to it last week and it is a very interesting topic that has been well researched so there is no shortage of information in the literature (medline and sciencedirect yielded ~30 relevent journal papers). A section of the presentation I am giving has to detail the availabilty of our complementary medicine in Austraila. Looking at the TGA website the only thing I am certain of is that the TGA has made a royal cock-up of the kava scheduling situation in Aus. Could someone with an authority on the subject ( winks at Tort) please clarify the regulations? My understanding of the kava scene is Aus is such: Kava root is illegal to import without a licence and a permit for each shipment (all states except NT which is a bit stricter) Kava extracts/tablets are not allowed to be sold commercially in herbal stores and the like Kava in any form is illegal to import/possess/sell into WA [ 25. August 2005, 13:47: Message edited by: oxydiser ]

On that note, has anyone ordered from urbantribes recently? I have sent them several email enquiries over the last two weeks and no love

Hey all, last wednesday I was contemplating the prospect of getting myself a small (maybe 2x2m) greenhouse so that I might be able to grow my psychotrias, b.caapis and HBWDs throughout winter. I was wondering if any of the ethnoheads in the colder states (south-west WA, SA and the Vics) could discuss their greenhouse set-ups with regards to size, materials and overall costs?

Not meaning to offend anyone, but directly following the attacks Bush and Blair come out with statements like "the terrorists will not succeed" and "we will not yield to the terrorists". Excuse me for saying, but every time any terrorists successfully bomb a target they have succeeded. I am not a terrorist sympathiser, but it makes you wonder about the utter desperation of the people behind the attacks...

Hey all, are there any perthites out there that are successfully growing hawaiian baby woodrose in Perth? I have several seedlings that I planted late March/early April (I know... prolly too late in the growing season but I was keen as) which are looking rather sickly at the moment, all splotchy brown patches. But then again, I have catha and datura seedlings that are still growing strong, can anyone help me out?

Hey Torsten, do you outsource for Lophophora williamsii seed or is it all derived from plants within Australia? I was wondering whether or not there would be more seed available before the start of spring?

Hey Khatman, would you care to divulge the location of the catha trees around your work? I've been looking around Perth for a while for the mythical catha to take some cuttings from, with no luck... or maybe I have seen some and just not recognised them?? What strain is common around Perth?

A question or three... With regards to mushrooming in W.A, is there any point of going to Balingup during the prime season, or is it just crawling with cops? Also where have people had luck with successful finds in the south west? I'm not asking for exact spots, just localities if you will...