Topic: DRUGS - on January 8, 2017 at 10:38:00 PM CET
My First Day Microdosing With LSD
Looking for a new way to regulate her moods, the writer Ayelet Waldman happened upon “microdosing”: the practice of taking tiny doses of psychedelic drugs (less than you’d need to make you hallucinate). In her new book, A Really Good Day, she describes her experiences — which began with the challenge of getting her hands on LSD.
Today I took my first microdose. My senses are ever-so-slightly heightened, a feeling all but unappreciable, so perhaps it’s psychosomatic, though that word carries little meaning when anything that might be happening to me right now has inevitably to do with the interaction of mind and body. I feel a tiny bit more aware, as if my consciousness is hovering at a slight remove, watching me tap the keys on my keyboard, rub my ankles together, sip a mouthful of tea and swallow it. The trees look prettier than usual; the jasmine smells more fragrant.
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Topic: POLITIK - on January 8, 2017 at 10:37:00 PM CET
Russland soll draußen bleiben
Jeder darf mit jedem: Im EU-Parlament ist dem Zusammenschluss von Parteien zu Fraktionen kaum Grenzen gesetzt - das wollen die Konservativen nun ändern. Auch die Einflussnahme von Ländern wie Russland soll unterbunden werden.
Die Fraktion der Europäischen Volkspartei im Europaparlament (EVP) will radikale Gruppierungen in Europa künftig effektiver bekämpfen und schärfer gegen Fremdfinanzierung europafeindlicher Parteien, etwa durch Russland, vorgehen. "Wir sollten die Regeln für die Parteienfinanzierung auf Ebene der EU weiter verschärfen", sagte EVP-Fraktionschef Manfred Weber (CSU) dem SPIEGEL. Parteien sollen demnach künftig weniger EU-Finanzierung erhalten, wenn Mitglieder oder Partnerbündnisse von autokratischen Regimen mitfinanziert werden.
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Topic: POLITIK - on January 8, 2017 at 10:34:00 PM CET
Trump said he had $315 million in debt. He left out $1.5 billion.
A new report reveals the breathtaking scope of Trump’s conflicts of interest.
Trump filed documents with the FEC over the summer that revealed he owed at least $315 million to ten entities. This debt, some of which is personally guaranteed by him, was a clear conflict. As president, Trump will be responsible for regulating entities that he also owes money to. Worse, these debts are frequently renegotiated, giving these companies leverage over Trump in the regulatory process.
A report this afternoon from the Wall Street Journal, however, revealed that Trump’s disclosure was the tip of the iceberg. The FEC required Trump only to report debt from entities he fully controls. The disclosure left out “more than $1.5 billion lent to partnerships that are 30%-owned by him.” That debt has been securitized and is owed to at least 150 financial entities.
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Topic: POLITIK - on January 8, 2017 at 10:31:00 PM CET
The Soviet Union Is Gone, But It’s Still Collapsing
And 5 other unlearned lessons from leading experts about modern Russia and the death of an empire.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the creation of 15 new countries in December 1991 remade the world overnight. The Cold War and the threat of nuclear annihilation disappeared, and democracy and free-markets spread across the now defeated Soviet empire. Of course, 25 years later, events didn’t exactly unfold as initially predicted. The forces of globalization have mutated former Soviet countries in unseen ways, emboldening autocrats and entrenching corruption across the region. Meanwhile, the geopolitical animosities of the Cold War are resurgent, with relations between Moscow and Washington at their lowest point since the Soviet-era arms race. The creation of new countries, meanwhile, has given rise to nationalism and autocracies that are shaping foreign-policy decisions and altering societies in unforeseen ways. Yet, the significance of this quarter-century of change is still not fully understood. Why did the Soviet Union really collapse and what lessons have policymakers missed? How is history repeating itself across the lands of the former superpower? In search of answers, Foreign Policy asked six experts with intimate knowledge of the region from their time in finance, academia, journalism, and policymaking. Here are the unlearned lessons from the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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