Posts by Kenneth Alvarez98

It cleared up, everything's fine... I totally misread the situation... just delete the key because it's acting weird

Hey guys, I’m stuck. I’m trying to change my password—been meaning to do this forever, actually—but it keeps telling me I entered the wrong one. I swear I didn't. I've tried ten different times now and nothing works. It just keeps saying the password is incorrect, so I’m starting to wonder if there's some kind of glitch going on?

Olivia Turner49 said:I’m pretty skeptical about that, even then.
Generally speaking, interest rates drop when economic risk goes down.

Right now, I have no clue how much that risk is actually going to decrease. I used to understand the math behind risk assessment back in the day, but one of the huge factors is political stability. In our case, the only thing feeling relatively stable—and even that's just creeping up slightly—is the fact that we joined the EU. Meanwhile, almost every other indicator, especially the actual economy, is looking worse and worse, and the country is basically just idling. So, I can't exactly say the risk is dropping.

Look, if the entire global economy is tanking, the cost of money stays high. But if things are looking good everywhere else, then the price of money generally goes down.

Take us back a few years, for example. We were borrowing money at massive interest rates back when the economy was actually doing way better than it is today. Now, even though the economy is struggling, interest rates are lower simply because the world finally moved past that massive global financial crisis.

What kind of math are they using to calculate that risk? All I know is Value at Risk, but that's for stocks, and honestly, I'm not even great at that. Got any "risk for dummies" links?

Like, look back a few years ago. We were taking on massive debt at huge interest rates back when the economy was way stronger than it is now. Now, the economy is struggling, but interest rates are lower because the biggest global crisis finally passed.

But I'm asking about the Eurozone specifically. If the Eurozone is growing, but a country is relatively underdeveloped compared to the rest of the group, shouldn't interest rates logically be lower? Also, another question: what's the downside to lower rates? Does every rate cut just lead to citizens and the government overleveraging themselves way beyond what the actual economic growth can handle?

For example, if a rate cut triggers proportional economic growth, how much does the credit structure (like mortgages vs. business loans) impact household debt, and eventually end up hurting economic growth again in the long run?

Steven Price11 said:

Amanda Vaughn3 As requested:
If America adopts the Euro, we’re looking at becoming the next Greece, Cyprus, or Portugal.
Or perhaps a new Spain—the land of the Lidl clearance sale. 😁

It’s true. Every Mediterranean nation has already proven that in practice. I just don't understand why the Northern states haven't ended up in the exact same mess yet.

I don't think it's quite that complicated. Basically, interest rates dropped, so they just started racking up debt (look at Greece). But instead of investing in growth or the economy, they spent it on importing cars or hosting the Olympics, and now those debts are finally coming due. It only took one percent of the system hitting a wall to trigger a total chain reaction.

I don't see the US changing anything special by joining the Eurozone. Even before this, the US has kept its currency pretty steady without much fluctuation. So, I don't really see a huge difference.

That’s honestly my question too. All I know for sure is that interest rates will drop, but other than that, nothing 🤷 .

Besides, if they actually knew what the consequences of adopting the Euro would be, they could adjust their policies to meet expectations so they wouldn't end up like Greece.

But honestly, that's not even about changing currencies. It's just a debt crisis triggered by bad investments. Also, I'm a bit confused by this part: "Reserved assets were exhausted and Greece’s currency, the drachma, was depreciated." That doesn't sit right with me because if a currency loses value, exports actually become cheaper and more competitive. So, I seriously doubt that was the actual cause of the crisis. Plus, shouldn't a country facing a massive debt crisis see its currency value spike instead? Is that why we see those "currants" dropping during Western crises? (And what even is a "currant" in this context?)

What I'm really trying to figure out is this: if a country is relatively stable and uses its own currency, but then ends up adopting someone else's—a currency used by way more people—what kind of shifts happen and why? I know I should probably look for a specific case study, so if anyone knows how that went down in a place like Canada or somewhere similar...

I’ve got a few questions about the Euro and joining the Eurozone. Can someone walk me through how the Euro actually caused that economic meltdown in Greece? And before that, how would joining the Eurozone (if it even happens) affect us here in America? Like, what does it do to exchange rates and purchasing power? Specifically, how will they decide the rate for swapping our local currency for Euros? Will our money lose so much value that it's smarter to start saving in Euros right now, or will they set a fixed conversion rate ahead of time? I'm mostly just curious about the general impact on any country joining the Eurozone and what kind of baggage comes with it...

Also, since we’re eventually heading toward the Eurozone, if I take out a loan in our current currency at a rate of, say, 7.20, but our currency drops significantly to 7.50 before we join, wouldn't that mean the loan becomes way cheaper once it converts to Euros (since our old currency won't be legal tender anymore)? If I borrow $0.33, that's 139 Euros at the first rate, but only 134 Euros at the 7.50 rate. So, how did they handle this in places like Canada? Did banks adjust interest rates or find some way to hedge against that currency risk? Because from where I'm sitting, taking out a long-term loan in the local currency seems like a genius move if that depreciation actually happens. I know there’s a catch somewhere, I just can't figure out where

Harold Anderson3 said:Yeah, I agree. That man certainly deserved his own movie, at the very least 🙂.

I am so incredibly sorry to hear that; she’s so young to be dealing with this. Personally, I didn't face my own challenges until I was twenty-one, though I had been in psychiatric care even before then. As for how to help, I think it comes down to constant encouragement from everyone around them, staying consistent with psychotherapy, and making sure the medication routine is followed closely. I also find a lot of comfort in reading self-help books; I tend to feel much more capable when I focus on positive thinking and hold onto the belief that things will eventually work out. Just stay brave. 😉

Honestly, he deserves a movie and a Nobel Prize. Given everything he went through, pulling this off is a massive win. It’s like he was meant to be a beacon of hope for anyone struggling with schizophrenia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Forbes_Nash,_Jr.

crimsoncanyon6 said:It’s true—LSD is actually proving to be an effective treatment for cluster headaches right now.
🙂
Even its relative, melatonin, can be used to help with headaches.
But there's a catch—if you go too high with the dosage (anything over 20mg), it actually does the exact opposite and triggers a headache instead. 🙂
Whenever I overdose on melatonin, I run into another side effect: bleeding.
My gums start bleeding like I’ve caught Ebola—at high doses, melatonin acts on the blood much like aspirin or high-dose omega-3s: it thins the blood and prevents clotting, which leads to bleeding.

I don't think Austin Davis3 meant it like that...

"What you see isn't actually what you're seeing."

With LSD, the thing is, reality isn't some objective truth. It's so subjective that some people just can't handle the idea that the foundation of everything is just our own emotional reaction to whatever's around us. Reality doesn't really exist—there's just this "trip" we're all building ourselves... and we call that trip "life." Man, once you realize it's all just one big trip, you start wondering what the point even is.🙂

:P

crimsoncanyon6 said:Ketamine—the anesthetic used in operating rooms all over the US—can actually trigger psychosis (things like dissociation or schizophrenia). It’s reportedly 100 times more likely to do that than LSD; some researchers even refer to it as a "ketamine model of schizophrenia." http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/arti...ticleID=172364

It makes me wonder if the real reason LSD is banned isn't just about the psychosis risk. 🙂

The same goes for psychoanalysis—in someone who's already emotionally unstable, it can trigger a psychotic break.

Personally, I'd much rather deal with a psychotic episode under the care of a psychiatrist than wake up from surgery feeling that way. 🙂

The thing is, when people use ketamine recreationally, they're taking way higher doses than what's used in a medical setting. That's when you get into that whole trip phase. Users lose touch with their surroundings and deal with intense hallucinations. But for patients on actual medical doses? It doesn't act like that at all. It's super safe for clinical use—they even use it on kids without any issues. Zero danger there.

You’re just talking about how certain drugs hit you physically. In that sense, LSD is relatively harmless. But that doesn't mean it can be used as a psychological cure-all for everyone. Look, I’m all for legalization, but not based on the arguments you're making about physical safety.

First off, LSD can trigger schizophrenia in people who are mentally unstable, at worst. Even in the best-case scenario, even the most grounded people might go through an adjustment period involving some psychosis. Most "bad trips" happen because people walk in thinking it’s totally safe, and then once that initial nausea kicks in during the first hour, they start fighting the shift in consciousness. Once that happens, there's a huge chance the whole trip is going to suck.

So, using psychedelics in psychology won't necessarily grant you some grand cosmic enlightenment, though for an individual, it can definitely be a turning point. The issue is that everyone struggles with some form of psychosis or mental baggage they don't understand. The biggest problem with LSD is that it carries this "medicine" label, so people take it thinking it's a magic fix. That’s where things go sideways. LSD might help you grasp the nature of reality and time, but it sure as hell isn't going to solve your personal problems. It can actually lead to withdrawal or that feeling that "it’s all just a trip"—basically triggering symptoms of derealization and depersonalization. It can even progress into bipolar disorder.

And yeah... just so we're clear, these aren't super rare scenarios. This isn't just something that happens to long-term users; it's actually pretty common even with short-term use. There’s no test out there to tell if someone is truly ready for a trip. And honestly, those little mental annoyances—those small issues that nag us every day—they aren't small anymore after a trip. They become massive. How ready are people to face the reality of impermanence? If they can handle that, then maybe they're ready for the trip...

crimsoncanyon6 said:It’s funny how they banned LSD while leaving alcohol completely untouched. 🙄
They’re being totally hypocritical here.

Their logic was basically that too many people abuse LSD—plus, they claim it isn't naturally occurring in the human body.

Yet, nobody claims alcohol is being abused—and sure, alcohol exists in the system. 🤣😂 Use some common sense.

It's also interesting that they went after DMT, despite knowing it exists naturally within us.

Honestly, it’s a miracle they haven't banned melatonin in the States yet; over in Germany, they actually treat it as a controlled substance: http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/fh_011.htm
I take one 3mg tablet of melatonin every day. To actually get any psychedelic effects, you'd have to take about 100mg—which means popping 30 tablets, or just an entire bottle. 🙂

You can mess with alcohol for years without totally wrecking your mental health, whereas just one bad trip on LSD can cause massive issues.

And look, DMT is easily one of the most intense psychedelics out there. Just imagine if someone could get it legally—like some high school kid trying to act tough in front of his friends without any guidance or supervision. DMT changes you forever. People say it’s the first time they truly grasp what time actually is. A five-minute trip on that feels like 5 or 6 hours in your head... just think about hearing your own heart pounding or random noises from the room. And don't even get me started on the visuals. Those distortions are way too heavy, so it's probably better that it isn't available openly, or even on the black market. By the way, DMT is closely linked to NDEs (near-death experiences).

Benjamin Sullivan7 said:Stop talking nonsense about conspiracy theories. 🙂

The method of treatment just changed.
Pharmacology has evolved more than almost any other industry since the 60s, producing countless effective psychopharmaceuticals. Patients can actually hold down jobs now; they don't need to spend months in sanitariums, deal with electrodes frying their brains, or be strapped down with LSD just to cure alcoholism.

Nobody made psychoanalysis a laughingstock; pharmacology simply took the lead.
"Psychoanalysis"—if you mean Freud’s methods—works, but it takes forever, results are hit-or-miss, it's expensive, and there aren't enough specialists.

Besides, look at where tons of narcotics end up.

And what do you think antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, and neuroleptics are made of?

Poppies and chamomile? 😬

The truth is, they've pumped out tons of psych meds that are just as useless. At the end of the day, Big Pharma's main goal is the bottom line, so they just repackage the same stuff under different names. Real cures don't exactly drive massive profits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkwoq0KwkcU

But hey, that sounds like a conspiracy theory, so I won't dive too deep into that rabbit hole. The real power of LSD is self-awareness and shifting how you perceive reality. I don't think LSD is some magic cure for alcoholism or PTSD, but it might be a tool that helps us make peace with those issues and gives us the push to fight our own "inner demons." First off, LSD isn't a magic pill that fixes you. It basically just shows you a new reality you haven't experienced before. What comes from that experience is totally up to the individual.

As for saying LSD isn't harmful—that's a mix of lies and truths. Maybe there aren't physical side effects for everyone, but you have to realize not everybody is wired to handle a total shift in consciousness. For some people, it can trigger intense psychological shifts that are incredibly hard to recover from later. Plus, we still don't fully get how it affects the brain. Facts like "LSD doesn't hurt your cognition" could easily be debunked once more research actually gets done.

Alex Cooper8 said:What are your thoughts on using Psychedelics within the field of psychology?
I was just listening to some lectures by Stanislav Grof, who is pretty much considered one of the heavyweights in personality psychology—basically the face of transpersonal psychology—and he brought up some truly incredible stuff. I ended up watching a documentary on LSD afterward, featuring several psychologists who were actually involved in those research projects back in the day.

For the most part, there were massive amounts of positive results in psychotherapy, whether you were looking at treating addiction, alcoholism, or PTSD...
It seemed like the perfect tool for deep psychoanalysis, too. From what I can gather, LSD was being used in psychological practice for a solid decade... I have no idea why it was so abruptly "forgotten." The whole shift away from working with LSD happened basically the moment the government banned it.
Generally speaking, not a single shred of evidence was ever found to suggest that LSD is harmful, and when things are done under controlled conditions, the chance of having a "bad trip" is minimal.

There’s also this book about DMT, which is arguably the most potent tryptamine-based Psychedelic out there, and it's something our own brains naturally produce. It’s the only official study conducted on DMT, which, incidentally, is released during birth, orgasm, REM sleep, near-death experiences, and dying.

And more recently, there was research done with psilocybin—the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms—to treat people with chronic OCD, and the results they got were exceptionally positive.

Then there’s another controversial substance I saw a documentary on, which is MDMA (or what people call ecstasy today). Back in the 80s, it was used as a therapeutic aid for people suffering from PTSD. Psychotherapists claimed MDMA was the ultimate tool for analyzing and treating individuals with deep-seated trauma, and when it was banned, hundreds of American therapists voiced their frustration...
This last one might be a bit more contentious because it's widely documented that it can damage the serotonin system, but if you were to administer pure MDMA synthesized in, say, a Pfizer lab, paired with some antioxidants and a tiny bit of diazepam afterward, the harm would be reduced to almost nothing.

Essentially, the main theory is that almost all Psychedelics are banned in psychology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy simply because if people can actually "heal" themselves in a single session, pharmaceutical companies won't have anyone left to sell their drugs to—drugs that mostly just mask symptoms.

Anyway, what’s your take on using Psychedelics for healing or exploring the mind?

Oh, and one little quote: a psychologist once said that psychology without Psychedelics is like astronomy without a telescope.🙂

Actually, that was Carl Jung🙂

Look, I’ve got my reasons, but I’m keeping them to myself. Honestly, you should probably stop posting for a bit... you're sitting right at exactly 666 posts 🙂

Brian Martinez77 said:Who cares, man? You live in Miami. 🙂

What's your deal with ST anyway?

What an idiot... I mean, what am I supposed to do? Walk around Miami wearing a shirt that says "Chicago belongs to me"? Hahaha... and then I’d have to explain that it's just because of some random British punk band. Yeah, right... real genius move there, guys.

redmarlin3 said:The first time they lit up the back behind the drum riser, then the second time it was left of the stage 😁

Also, what's the deal with those "Chicago belongs to me" shirts? 🤔

It's kind of like saying "England belongs to me"... like some weird letters... lol. Anyone actually selling one of those shirts?

So, it turns out the government isn't actually to blame for the economic meltdown. Honestly? I don't think they are either, but at the end of the day, it's still on them to fix this mess. I just can't wrap my head around where the cash for all these massive new investments both parties are promising is going to come from. How are we covering the deficit? More debt, obviously. Realistically, we’re looking at hitting a debt-to-GDP ratio of 100% by the end of 2011, maybe even mid-2012.

Our only real shot is pouring money into infrastructure—specifically the rail system. If we make moving raw materials easier, we lower costs for companies dealing with complex manufacturing. Right now, complex export-oriented manufacturing makes up only 3% of the US economy. Shipbuilding is sitting right in the danger zone. On top of that, tax cuts are inevitable, which means more borrowing to cover the resulting deficit.

The third thing we absolutely need is judicial reform. We need clear rules for how the government and private businesses interact. The way the legal system works right now is just strangling the economy and fueling corruption. There’s zero competition; it’s just monopolies and oligopolies in basically every sector, and the citizens are the ones paying the price. Because of that, the standard of living is just going to keep sliding, which kills everyone's purchasing power.

How do we actually jumpstart production? Everyone keeps saying we need to boost export-oriented manufacturing to dig ourselves out. But how? Through more government subsidies that usually do more harm than good? Or by joining the European Union? That just clears the path for foreign corporations to swoop in and swallow up local producers. We should be investing in education, but let's be real: the payoff for education takes 7 or 8 years, and politicians hate that. They want quick wins to guarantee their next election victory. Instead, we’re just setting ourselves up to be cheap labor for foreign investors looking to make a buck in America. Basically, there's no progress coming for the next 10 years. It's a lost cause, folks.