I don't believe that vaccines categorically are a good thing. Yes, I agree that some - and probably even most - vaccines provide tremendous benefits. But based on my research over the years, there is now, without a doubt, sufficient proof that some vaccines can be quite dangerous.

That was great too (although I like the NIN version better). I especially enjoyed how much fun she was having (which you can see through her dancing). I just don't understand how the dog can be that calm. :)

BTW, you can display the video in the comment - you're not limited to posting the link.

Ever since learning about beat box music from this, I can't get enough of it. Amazingly talented woman.

Thanks for finding this /u/digdug. And, yes, the new functionality does work :)

Different browsers are a constant nightmare for developers. This problem looks specific to Firefox. It should be fixed now.

His shoes were ridiculously big.

As a gentleman, that's as far as I'm going to take this.

A very sweet birthday card, but... uhm... is "What size are your feet" a reference to this? If so, at 14?!

Did everyone take the full, official, paid Myers-Brigg test, or just a free test version (that link is just one example - there are many free versions around the web)?

The "meaningless" refers to the scientific validity - people who take it multiple times can very easily get a completely different result (and research shows “that as many as three-quarters of test takers achieve a different personality type when tested again”). Granted, pretty much any testing in the "social sciences" is questionable and based on opinions (e.g., What's scientific about political science? Nothing). But if you can't use it for predictive value and you get different results from the same tests, it's unreliable and, thus, meaningless.

Thank you /u/Clarisse88 for this suggestion and, if all went well, you have just received a message indicating you were tagged. :)

Here's the way it works:

1. In either a new post or comment, when you enter /u/ and then the user's name (exactly as they chose it), users will get a notification in their inbox. For example, /u/c_prompt will now get a message I was tagged. Users tagged as part of editing a post or comment will not be notified.
2. The user tags will automatically turn into clickable links to the user's profile.
3. Your inbox will now show the first 200 characters of your message, making it easier to see what the tag/mention says about you.
4. Your Settings page now includes a new option: "User tags/mentions notification by email." This allows you to turn off getting emails sent to you whenever you are tagged, but still retains the separate setting "Message notification by email (excluding user tags/mentions)" for comments and other messages.

While I was in the code, I also added another option on the Settings page: "Automatically subscribe to all comments." Selecting Yes for this option will now automatically check the "Subscribe to comments" box whenever you add a comment to a post. This should make it easier to keep track of your comment conversations. However, as before, if you ever want to unsubscribe to a comment thread, simply uncheck the "Subscribe to comments" box and Submit a blank comment.

Please let me know if this works for you.

Edit: It works!

Interesting idea. I think we could probably implement something like that. It probably wouldn't work exactly as it does in Facebook but let's see what we can do. Thanks for the suggestion.

Step 1: TattooedWanderer gets Clarisse88 "curious."

Step 2: To be determined

Step 3: It's all downhill from here. :)

I am interested in your opinion: do you think it would be the best solution for East and West Ukraine to split into separate countries? I've never been anywhere near Ukraine and don't understand any of its history or politics. Also, I don't trust anything I read about Ukraine in the Western mainstream media as most all of it is US hegemonic propaganda.

I don't expect there is a simple solution or, as the English idiom goes, a "silver bullet." But what do you think the solution is? If you were in charge, what would you do?

Ukrainians are suffering, which is one reason they are seeking and accepting "help." My heart goes out to them

Relevant: Ukraine: The War Must Go On? and U.S. Hasn’t Helped Kiev’s “Endless Dysfunction”

Wow.

One of the things I find fascinating about your article is that you seem to remember so clearly what happened. Alcohol tends to make us forget but drugs help you remember as hallucinations are so vivid. Does that happen in all cases when using drugs? Are memories always retained like that?

Do "bad trips" only come from mushrooms or from other drugs as well? I can't even fathom what it would be like to hallucinate that I was a glass of lemonade and truly wonder what long-term physical and psychological damage could come from such an experience. Nonetheless, just trying to imagine what the feeling would be like is incredible and gives me goose bumps.

"freak out ball?" ROFL. Thank goodness for locked hotel windows and your boyfriend. So the "bad trip" in Vegas was because you took too much relative to your body weight? How do you determine what the correct amount is?

To get a hug that "feels like home..." makes me so envious.

BTW, why were you so rude and offensive to the spirit guide anyway? Didn't anyone ever teach you manners?

That would depend not only on cultural factors, but on moral values and on how advanced they would be.

You're assuming aliens would have a moral system.

Another thing is that I strongly believe (and that is just my personal choice) that extraterrestrial beings are already here on earth.

My father used to joke with me when I was a kid and had a bad idea: "the next time you have another idea like that... keep it to yourself." I heard that a lot in my childhood.

On valME, that translates to: "the next time you have another post like that... post it in your own community." :P

Blech. You call this art?

That older boy did deserve that beating...

Or, alternatively, he needs (as you said) psychiatric help and to be kept away from others.

I would like to have read more in-depth about his experiences with these drugs. E.g. what happened specifically? What did he see? He didn't get into much detain about that...

Why is it important what happened or what he saw?

We don't necessarily 'alter our consciousness' by doing the things he mentioned above. Our perception of the world remains the same, I think he just means to change our surroundings so that we perceive a major number of pleasant experiences rather than unpleasant ones

As I said, I've never tried any drugs so I can't state my experience of how drugs alter consciousness. But I have been drunk. And I know for a fact that being drunk changes your perceptions. Where do you think the term "beer goggles" comes from anyway? :)

It's perfectly logical that your perceptions would change because the drugs are altering the way you perceive reality, just as alcohol does. In fact, you are not altering your surroundings - you might not leave your living room where you're getting high. But what your mind perceives would be different. 

But, for the sake of this argument, let's assume he's right and that "everything we do is for the purpose of altering consciousness." I don't think that's right. In fact, I know everything we do is not for that reason.

Using the definitions you provided for consciousness, ultimately, everything we do does impact our state of being, our surroundings, and our perceptions. So, although we probably don't think in terms of consciousness when we take actions (for whatever reasons), our consciousness is impacted.

But, even if this were solid 100% accurate evidence, the fact that these two drugs may not be addictive doesn't mean they can't damage your brain on a different way... so let's be aware of that possibility at least.

He states clearly that "Drug abuse and addiction are real problems" and "This is not to say that everyone should take psychedelics. As I will make clear below, these drugs pose certain dangers." He's not encouraging prolonged use. Referring to his daughters, "But if they don't try a psychedelic like psilocybin or LSD at least once in their adult lives, I will wonder whether they had missed one of the most important rites of passage a human being can experience." In other words, he's advocating trying it just "once." Sure, there are risks and dangers even with just trying it once but, as long as you're in a safe place with someone to watch out for you (and don't take too much), I can't imagine the risk or danger would be too significant. Crossing the street can be risking and dangerous but, as long as you do it responsibly, you'll experience the other side safely.

I think a life without drugs could be totally awesome, and it just depends on what you achieve in life, the things you do to make it that way, and the people you share your life with. I don't think anyone "needs" drugs to have a desirable life...

Agreed. And what you learned about drugs in your psychology class is dead-on. But, again, those are cases of prolonged usage, so keep it in context.

You're right - there is so much we still don't understand about the brain. (By the way, given your interest in this subject, you'd probably love the book The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks. It's one of my favorites and I linked to my favorite story here.) But that's all the more reason to try these different mind alteration drugs to see what else can be learned... for science!

:)

This is a great article, and describes the model that valME is pursuing.

The CPM metric is not designed for creators; it’s designed for advertisers. It’s how much advertisers pay, not how much creators make.

Exactly. To use the author's words, as content creators, the world we should want to live in is one where we can reap the direct benefits of our content, rather than just the indirect pittance that advertisers throw our way. And he proves in the article that this model works.

Content creators don't need a ton of money to make this work. But, in the current model, they need a major amount of traffic with the expectation of more advertising views and clicks:

The other thing to remember (and that we so often forget) is that the ultimate value exchange in content is between creator and consumer of content (not creator of ads and consumer of ads)...

Well first, the internet is completely disinterested in paywalls. This makes sense. There’s pretty much an infinite amount of quality content online, especially when it comes to entertainment. Why would I pay for one thing when all the other things are free? Online creators also live and die by “discovery” (figuring out how to get new eyeballs on their content) and it’s pretty hard for content to get “discovered” if everyone (including Google’s algorithms) has to pay before they can see it.

This feels like a classically unsolvable problem. We need people to pay for content, but we can’t make them pay for content.

The solution we found is so strange and so antithetical to capitalism that I’m not quite comfortable suggesting that it’s a long-term, wide-ranging solution. But here it is: We just asked.

...What excites me most about the “Just Ask” model is that it encourages a different kind of content. Instead of challenging creators to figure out how to get the highest view counts, creators have to puzzle out how to make the most valuable content. How can I create something that someone will watch and say, “I would feel better if I had paid for that.”

That’s a different sort of content, and it especially encourages small-scale niche content.

Right again (excluding his comment about this being antithetical to capitalism, as this approach is completely consistent with capitalism).

If we want to see higher quality, we must keep this top-of-mind as we use and develop social networks and blogs. Most social networks and blogs currently don't provide an easy way for readers to contribute to the author for value received. That's a big problem. If content creators are ever to break away from their reliance on advertisers, they must have a different way to monetize their content. Google's founders identified this problem at Google's inception, and it was the genesis of the idea that later became valME.

So what can we do at valME to make this more enticing to you?

That was an INCREDIBLE article. I was just talking to someone about this and explaining I've never taken any drugs (never even smoked marijuana), but this makes me interested in doing so for the experience.

Of course, if the abs video above doesn't work for you, there's always this:

What's the  for - alerts?

Tipped - he just saved me a few minutes each day.

Damn, there certainly is far too much truth to these.

I've now listened to their top tracks and these two women are terrific (I adore Valeska Steiner's voice). As an aspiring guitarist, they are an inspiration. In some of their videos, I love how they often look at each other with a smile. You can just read into those smiles their knowledge of how good they sound. The confidence in those looks is incredibly sexy.

Their website, for anyone interested: http://www.listentoboy.com/.

More from The Intercept:

Chicago police have a notorious record of human rights abuses. In 1968, police beat Vietnam War protestors at the Democratic National Convention. Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton was assassinated during a 1969 operation involving Chicago police and the FBI. And last October, former Chicago Police detective Jon Burge was released from prison after serving time for perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with his alleged torture of more than 100 victims. Four of his victims were pardoned after claiming their confessions were false and coerced. Other torture victims are now seeking reparations, while Burge is enjoying his police pension.

Today is election day in Chicago, with incumbent Mayor Rahm Emanuel seeking a second term against four under-financed, and lesser known, opponents. When reached for comment, a City Hall spokesperson said, “The Mayor is getting the vote out”, while a spokesperson for Chicago Police Superintendent Garrry McCarthy declined comment.

Here you go:

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

The lack of small-talk makes me want to move there immediately. Thick skins and "[t]he pervasive fear of litigation that infuses most public activities in the United States is virtually nonexistent in Germany" are bonuses.

Ah, never mind. I see it's only occurring in certain browsers. I'm on it.

Thanks. Can you provide an example please of the overlap problem?

Or not: Tribler "decentralized BitTorrent" software's crypto is completely broken

Where's the vote button in your community for "completely and utterly depressing?" 

https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl 

I've now listened to most of his YouTube channel and it's all incredible. I was so inspired that I made a pledge to his new, upcoming album. I especially like his version of The Beach Boy's I Get Around but, if you want to hear something that's really mind-blowingly sick, check out Somebody That I Used to Know:

And let's not forget that Nazis called their torture “enhanced interrogation” too, in which they used exactly the same methods. Hey, if the shoe fits...

I am learning to play guitar and this is so inspiring. I don't ever expect to be as good as he is (and my voice is beyond awful), but this makes me want to work all the harder. Amazing video.

No doubt women's magazines sell these headlines in their attempts to market products, especially given the significant amount of Photoshopped models (excluding Verily). But we also shouldn't lose sight that, generally speaking, kids typically aren't being taught to eat healthy or exercise. Nearly 40% of children’s diets come from added sugars and unhealthy fats, and between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese. So, while I agree adults need to be careful with messages that can harm self-esteem, I suggest caution on how far you take the interpretation of this image. Teaching kids to ignore the consequences of unhealthy lifestyles and how they look doesn't leave them any better off.

I recently watched the movie Chocolat. I cannot recommend it highly enough, especially given what you wrote above. Amazing movie.

Putting aside that any story by 60 Minutes should be viewed with skepticism, as mentioned here, governments never tell the truth about nuclear meltdowns. The lies told about Chernobyl were awful and downright murderous. History will show Fukushima propaganda to be similar.

Damn "good" (read: incredibly scary and infuriating) video. And, typically, I don't even like rap music. I'll see and raise you: in Chicago, it's impossible to get dirty cops investigated, even with video.

Touche.

I agree with the premises of both essays: date a person who reads. Whenever I look at dating profiles, one of the first things I look at is their last read/favorite books section. If there is any reference to magazines like People or InStyle, I click next. If it's empty, I click next. If it states something like "I don't have time to read," I click next. A reader is a great indicator of a thinker, and I believe the window to the soul is better reflected in a woman's library than it is in her eyes.

That was a great story. Of course, there are plenty of people and organizations who are charitable without religion. And religion has a terrible history of evil done in the name of God.

I don't remember how old I was when I stopped believing in God (probably 9 or 10), but I remember where I was. My younger sister was deathly sick at the time with cancer, and my parents forced me to go to holiday services (which I hated). The doctors said she didn't have much chance to live and my parents were grasping at straws. While they prayed next to me in desperation, I vividly remember thinking: "This doesn't make any sense. We're praying to God to save my sister's life. But if there really is a God, why would He have brought this pain and suffering on my sister and family in the first place? She didn't do anything to deserve this. Neither did my parents. And there are many other children in the hospital just like my sister. I'll bet they didn't do anything to deserve cancer either. Our lives are being destroyed - why would anyone, especially a God who could do anything - put us through this? No. No one could do such a horrible thing. Therefore, there can't be a God."

After that, although I respected the religion my parents chose to practice, I never doubted my logic and remain an atheist to this day. But I will admit something that I didn't know as a child - I now know there are plenty of evil people in the world who don't have any problem destroying a child's life (or an adult's for that matter). In other words, I now know there are people who could do (and do) such horrible things. Thus, even though I know my conclusion is correct, I understand my logic was unsound and I didn't have all the facts.

The sadness and suffering that comes through in this poem is intense. So many events in life can completely drain every bit of energy and happiness out of you. It's so easy to forget anything good or positive. When you feel so diminished and depressed, it seems impossible to feel hope. Everything hurts. You just want the pain to stop. You just want to rest and be at peace. I used to think that depression would leave you feeling numb, but it doesn't seem to work like that. At least for me, it's almost as if every emotion becomes intensified. Fear becomes terror. Weakness becomes lethargy. Concern becomes anxiety. Even fleeting moments of happiness become jubilance.

Though I understand there isn't one "correct" way to discuss suicide, your advice seems sound. A few suggestions for safe, supportive spaces for anyone struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts:

https://www.reddit.com/r/depression/

https://www.reddit.com/r/SuicideWatch/

I ADORE ballet. These pictures are absolutely amazing.

As a follow-up, and because we use Bootstrap 3, to make your images responsive:

<img src="..." class="img-responsive" />

To make your images right justified, use something like:

<img src="..." class="img-responsive" style="float:right;padding:0 5px 0 15px;margin:10px 30px 20px 20px;border-style:none;max-width:50%;" />

If you want your videos right justified, it's as simple as:

<div class="embed-responsive-item" style="float:right;padding:0 5px 0 15px;margin:10px 30px 20px 20px;border-style:none;max-width:50%;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="..." width="420"></iframe></div>

Even having the discussion about love, which encourages us to think, is helpful. Love that goes bad can be extremely hurtful. At least for me personally, if I had put any "intellectual" thought into love before experiencing it, I'd have made very different choices and probably had different feelings. Maybe people don't think about it in these terms because they don't think about it at all. I agree we all have our own standards but, the more we can think about it, the better we're likely to define those standards (or maybe even control the feelings). And thinking before acting usually provides better results.

I don't see anger as negative per se. As long as anger is based on reason, it is useful - it can help us focus, it provides adrenalin for action, it helps us address injustice, it reminds us of what we find important, etc. I agree that learning to deal with it rationally is easier said than done. But if the rage is only lessening as the years go by, it's a good sign the injustice still exists and you're just becoming numb. I've never liked the adage "time heals all wounds." Time doesn't correct injustice; only action does.

But at some point I think I realized that someone needs to start speaking up. It is only through fear and intimidation that the weak are held silent. But maybe it's their stories we should be screaming from the roof tops? Maybe by sharing your story you can light a dim candle of hope in someone's life, and they in turn can spark another, until we have a forest fire of brave souls speaking out against their pain.

Inspiring.

You mean this? :)