When Medicine Turns Evil: “No association or guild was more complicit in the rise of Nazism and the desecrations committed by its leaders and followers than the profession of medicine.” — Sherwin Nuland (The New Republic via walker)

Putting the faces of the fallen before the public:

“Coming just days after the 1,000th U.S. soldier died in the war in Iraq, the display was organized by Army veteran Nicholas Cohen, who said merely listing deaths in the newspapers each day did not capture the human cost of the war.” (Yahoo! News)

FAQ about this vision-inducing plant which is a member of the sage family.

Q. What is a Salvia divinorum experience like?

A. It is almost certainly not like what you expect. Even if you have considerable experience with other psychoactive drugs, you will find that salvia is significantly different from what you may have encountered before. Salvia is unique, and it is best understood on its own terms, and not by analogy with other substances. Salvia is not a recreational drug, rather, it is best used by those wishing to explore deep meditative states, spiritual realms, mysticism, the nature of consciousness and reality, or the possibilities of shamanistic healing. Experiences vary with the individual, set, and setting as well as with dose and route of administration. It produces a short-lived inebriation that is very different from that of alcohol. However, like alcohol it interferes with the ability to drive, produces incoordination (ataxia), and may produce slurred speech.

The inebriation, at low doses, can facilitate aesthetic and sensual appreciation. However, the experience is not marijuana-like, and salvia is not a marijuana substitute. At somewhat higher doses, visionary trances occur.

This ‘divine inebriant’ has a long history of sacred use in shamanic highland Mexican indigenous cluture. Pharmacologically, the active ingredient of Salvia, salvinorin, appears to be difficult to categorize and unlike other psychoactive compounds. One psychonaut has called the plant a ‘phantasticant’. Salvia is relatively easy to grow and entirely legal. Other members of the mint-like sage family also reputedly have psychoactive properties, although none as robust as those of Salvia. Interestingly, culinary sage itself containes thujone, the compound which is central to the vision-inducing properties of absinthe (derived from wormwood). Although, during the 60’s and 70’s, there was a folklore about getting ‘high’ by smoking sage leaves, they are probably better left for use as a spice, as thujone is thought to cause brain damage (although that may be just a typical scurrilous piece of anti-drug anti-visionary lore).