Sun, 04 Apr 2004

Ibogaine cures heroin addiction?

I ran across a link to the KRON 4 website that describes the use of a hallucinogen called ibogaine in the treatment of heroin addiction. Ibogaine and Heroin They're not just calling it a treatment, they're saying it's a full on cure, one dose and people are totally over a crippling addiction.
There even seems to be a detox program at Ibogaine.net
Interesting if it's true..
(12:05) [Misc] Permanent link

Cool Binary LED watch @ Tokyoflash.com

I really dig this Binary LED watch
(11:15) [Misc] Permanent link

Various Bush Lies Cataloged

Bush has spent a lot of time claiming that he's provided steady leadership and that Kerry has flip flopped on a lot of issues. Here's Bush's List of Flip-Flops
Also interesting is the progression in the Bush administration's story on the Iraq war. Bush's changing War Rationale
I need to mention that I was all for getting rid of Saddam. I also believe that it's useful to go into other countries and get rid of despots. But I think that it's best to be up front about what you're doing. Clinton did this with the Balkan situation. The UN was against action, but NATO initiated a bombing campaign and Milosevic is out of power.
(10:35) [Politics] Permanent link

Resetting your sleeping patterns

I found a good article on the Seattle Times website: How to rise and shine when you're nocturnal by nature which contains the following advice on resetting your internal clock:

Resetting the clock 

Before you decide to jigger with your internal clock, ask yourself if you 
really need to become a morning person. 

"There's no reason to reset your clock if there's no social or occupational 
consequences for you," Pascualy says. After all, we need people to run the 
other half of our 24-hour world. "But in our society there is a strongly held 
belief that getting up early is a sign of industrious, highly productive 
people," he says. In other words: Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man 
healthy, wealthy and wise. 

If you're a night owl with sunrise envy, sleep doctors say you can reset your 
body clock by following these steps: 

- Find out how much sleep you really need. Let yourself sleep at least 10 
hours, several nights in a row, to catch up on sleep debt, Pascualy recommends. 
Then experiment to see how many hours you need to wake up feeling refreshed. 
The standard advice is eight hours for adults, but some people feel best with 
only six and others can't function without 10 solid hours of shut-eye. Pick 
what time you need to wake up and count backward to select your goal bedtime. 

- As soon as you wake up, get sunlight exposure for at least 15 to 30 minutes. 
Whether you take the time to walk the dog or drink your coffee on the patio, 
get outside. Dr. Al Lewy, sleep researcher and professor of psychiatry at 
Oregon Health & Science University, says even on cloudy days, there are 
usually enough rays to signal to your brain that it's daytime. If you need to 
wake before dawn or it's just too dreary outside to kick your brain into 
action, you may need to sit in front of a light box. On the flip side, avoid 
light exposure in the evening. 

- Go to bed earlier each night, in about 15-minute increments. This is the 
hardest part, so some doctors recommend using a melatonin supplement. 
Melatonin is a hormone made in the brain that tells the body it's dark 
outside, time to turn in. Lewy recommends taking a small dose (1/2 milligram) 
eight hours after you wake up. Melatonin has been the subject of controversy 
because its results in insomnia have been mixed, and side effects such as 
fatigue and constriction of arteries have been reported. Also, because it's a 
dietary supplement and therefore not controlled by the Food and Drug 
Administration the way drugs are, talk to your doctor before using it. Don't 
exercise within a couple hours of bedtime and skip caffeine after noon. 

- Stick to your schedule. Don't let your wake-up time slip on weekends, 
vacation or holidays, Sutton emphasizes. If you stay up late on a Saturday 
night, don't sleep in more than 30 minutes on Sunday morning. One slip and 
your body will try to revert to it's default owl setting, she warns. 

- If you've got the opposite problem: a lark who'd like to make it through New 
Year's Eve, for instance, just reverse the advice, Smolensky says. Expose 
yourself to light in the evening to help you stay up, and when you wake up 
too early, take melatonin to remind your body it's still dark outside.

Gay Marriage

I'm totally in favor of gay marriage and find the religious arguments against it to be quite silly. So when I found Protestants for the Common Good's posting on Biblical Marriage I was more than amused. They've dug up a bunch of biblical quotes on marriage that demonstrate why following the word of the bible is just generally a bad idea. It includes such gems as

Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines in addition to his
wife or wives (II Sam 5:13, I Kings 11:3 II Chron 11:21

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