I am profoundly aware that the paraphernalia of the substance consumed is an important component in the pleasure we get. I keep water in a vodka bottle and drink said water from a thick whiskey glass.

To that water I add Tabasco sauce when I miss the kick of alcohol. The grimacing and gustatory kick of alcohol is experienced. It's kind of like drinking decaf instead of regular coffee.

A thing about all substance use is that reducing and quitting their consumption is never a sprint but a marathon. And if one day you use too much, then the next day you start again in your path to either moderation or abstention.

Some people do great with alcohol, some don't. I had to quit it because even two beers made me tired the next day and affected my performance at work.

If you are not exercising, do. And use simple affirmations to ensure that your spirits remain up.

Osama bin Laden has been killed in Pakistan by US Forces in a firefight.

Text of President Obama's Speech tonight on the announcement:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_obama_binladen_text

From the above link:


"Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abad Abad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties.

After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body. "

-Zeno

cheers world.

Daniel Quillen died. Great mathematician who made important contributions to algebraic K theory and other topics in algebra.

Delousing if it doesn't.

I agree that the power of prayer(and meditation) can have a great effect on creating the emotional displacement or psychological shift an addict may need to recover. Fasting, too, possibly...but I don't know if that would be advisable right away, as there is much malnutrion risk, aenemia for one, that occur due to the abuse of alcohol and other drugs.

This is awesome. I guess it could work on some type of placebo level, but I solely drank for the "effect" alcohol produced. Not to discount the subliminal triggers that paraphernalia, situations, etc. have. When I turn on a football game, do I think a few beers would be standard procedure to accompany it? Yes. When I see a pretty girl sitting alone at a quiet bar sipping a martini, do I think walking up beside her, ordering a martini, and chatting it up would be standard procedure? Yes. But these are just fantasies that quickly disintegrate once I have one drink. Because it's not the nostalgia of it all that I am ultimately after, it's the effect of getting good and drunk and more drunk.

Well God bless you and good luck. I think it's only from godly inspiration that such a place as AA even exists.

If you read the bible long enough and study people against it you will probably notice that self government is one of the hardest things for all people to learn. You really do need supernatural help to learn it because some time our own resources aren't enough with all the constant worldy temptations. Some temptations like alcohol are so prevalent in the world that they are always sneaking up on you unless you can make a shield around yourself with your own godly thoughts. I would try focusing on God's promises when you are tempted if you are in a place where it is hard to pray. It gives you an alternate lighted route away from the temptation.

Thank you. Yes, definitely one of the greatest movements of the the 20th Century.

I'm not sure what you mean by self government. The people against the bible teachings are impediments to healthy self governing bodies?

See, I would consider something just as broad as thinking about God's promises, a form of prayer also. I think there is a fine line between becoming fanatical about the "God" thing, which is highly unhealthy, and being more humble about it, which will probably improve mental health/lifestyle in the long run.

this is pretty cool. God's control panel?

http://www.shambles.net/worldclock/worldclock.swf

I meant self government as in individual self control as in everyone's ability to govern himself. Sorry if I used the term in its' very old fashioned usage. I can see why you thought I was talking about political governments, but I wasn't.

Would have totally guessed that the prison population increased at a mucher faster pace.

Ah yes, you were speaking of that Olde English. A very nice concoction that produces the satisfactory "effect", preferably in the 40 ounce biblical dose.

ya same here. But I suspect this may mean and actual prison, not prisoner?

Hi guys, I have a random question which probably wasn't deserving of its own thread. At what speed are the most distant observable galaxies currently moving away from us? And what is the current thinking on the continued acceleration wrt the speed of light?

Yeah...lol.

I don't know why we moved so far away from our Olde English roots where the truth was easier to know and where plain speaking was considered more honest. It must be the devil through all the pressure of the "pc" culture and the psychologizing that casts aspersions on honest people trying to make them look stupid and tone their honesty down.

Self government is a very eloquent term used in the old fashioned sense instead of the modern day political one. In fact the political sense most likely grew out of the Olde English personal sense or definition.

Maybe not the correct thread for this, but surely you are joking about AA? The success rate is abysmal, and no better than simply "quitting cold turkey" or any other conceivable program. Like any homeopathic or nonsense cure, those who it "works" for laud its virtues and the vast majority for whom it fails, well, thats "their fault" and they just werent ready to receive the message, or hadnt hit "rock bottom."

That was cool.
Thanks.

Yeah, not really the right place to argue the validity of this particular treatment path. I do think your perception of it is wrong, although shared by many within the AA walls. Even the book for which the program is based on shares experiences where you don't have to hit rock bottom to recover. There is always going to be flaws in an organization. Humans are imperfect, right. But you can't deny the rapid growth of support groups to millions of members in such a short amount of time in our history. It's even ingrained in our legal system regarding drug and alcohol offenses, which I do disagree with and think treads a fine line against the principles of AA's "attraction rather than promotion". And the fact that the support groups have helped save at least hundreds of thousands of lives is visible. My "greatest" comment was more on the notion of the scale of people it has affected and planted itself in our modern society.

Yeah.

Hi pen15.

I was thinking of leading some kind of introductory class using some of my old notes and assignments. I was thinking maybe doing undergrad Quantum out of Griffiths or doing some kind of Numerical Analysis "class". Would anyone be interested in it?

Yes.

Hey guys. Don't usually post in here, but something is driving me insane.

I recorded the new "Known Universe" show on the Science Channel a few days ago. Before it started it recorded a few minutes of the previous show. I have no idea what the show was... But I really want to know.

I apologize for asking this but I'm hoping someone can help me. "You remember that one movie with that one guy..?" lol

It was narrated by Richard Dreyfuss and the scientists (Lawrence can't remebmber his last name, Krauss? and a few others...) were talking about how our lives might essentially be infinite depending on perceptions or something.

It was extremely interesting. Anyway, sorry for asking such a vague question. I searched Dreyfuss' wikipedia and imdb for the credit to no avail.

Thanks,
Jon

Weirdest. Spam. Ever.

This was sent not to any E-mail account that I've published papers in, but to a totally random E-mail account of mine. The name "Zachary" was one that I had used to register for play-by-email Diplomacy and within that community I had claimed I was a computer programmer. Aside from sending commands to an automated program judge and some Diplomacy-related correspondence with a tournament coordinator, the last E-mail I sent from this account must have been 7+ years ago.