https://www.heritage.org/index/?gclid=cjwkcaia_kz-brajeiwahjny75zil09vwbzu6dbrcsgwpgoqtol7bz2ksawedblh7zmujriqtwlxzrocf3aqavd_bwe?gclid=cjwkcaia_kz-brajeiwahjny75zil09vwbzu6dbrcsgwpgoqtol7bz2ksawedblh7zmujriqtwlxzrocf3aqavd_bwe conservative
https://www.cato.org/blog/new-human-freedom-index-us-15-new-zealand-switzerland-freest libertarian
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-10-most-liberal-countries-of-the-world.html liberal
or ahem "socialist" whatever that is http://blog.peerform.com/top-ten-most-socialist-countries-in-the-world/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2020/10/06/the-most-socialist-countries-according-to-americans-infographic/?sh=6e842a0f5705
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/democratic-socialist-countries
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_socialist_states#Socialist_territories_with_limited_recognition
these are just guides and i apologize if they don't mesh with your definition or the textbook you got it from
but left or right, conservative or liberal tell me about your ideal society past or present or hell future if you are time traveling https://www.pastemagazine.com/politics/universal-basic-income/fully-automated-luxury-gay-space-communism-univers/

China's government condemns North Korea's nuclear tests. However, are there any in China who think 'now Japan feels what it is like to be scared, in the way that we were scared during WW2?'.
I am not taking sides but I know Japan has never in the perspective of many in Korea and China apologised properly for its actions in WW2 and the murder, torture and theft that came with these.

The ever-constant threat of war, lack of food, the fear of being ousted by your neighbors, the threat from the infallible and all-powerful big brother (Kim Jong Un) always watching you.

'''
The men fighting alongside the Spartans at Thermopylae were Thespians and Thebans, not Helots.
Spartan society being what it was (the Classical Greek equivalent of North Korea) there is no way the Spartans would trust the Helots with weapons, ever. They were a ritually terrorized slave caste whose responsibility was to work the non-military economy of Sparta.
'''
Context Link
Go1dfish undelete link
unreddit undelete link
Author: PaxEmpyrean

No they actually suck, but what if.

I contemplated Christianity and even read some of the Bible as well, but not to offend your beliefs, it seemed just as absurd as the Quran if not more so.
There different versions of the Bible, some add and remove specific gospels, which then some churches/denominations deem cannon or non cannon. For example the book of enoch, the whole story is basically absurdity about a race of half human half angels, was originally in the catholic bible but later renounced. Except it is still used in some versions of the bible followed by orthodox churches in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Note that this is just one example, there are many of things being added and removed from the new testament. In fact historically, the apostles of jesus thought he would return in their lifetime, but when people alive in jesus’s lifetime started dying, they decided to wrote everything down and compile it together.
Second is the fact that jesus did not fufill the jewish prophecy of a messiah, and started claiming he was son of god and had attributes of god, which is why they decided to crucify him as they he basically went against the teachings as attributed in the hebrew bible. Now christians claim that when jesus returns he will fulfill the remaining prophecy, but this is not a jewish belief, the messiah was supposed to establish God’s kingdom and what not outright, also its been over 2000 years where is Jesus???
Third, the ridiculous amount of denominations and sects within Christianity. It has more denominations than any other religion. The fundamental belief of christians non is in the trinity and that jesus sacrifice was to free us from the original sin. Yet the original christian sects did not necessarily believe this, the original christians were jews and there were gnostics, nazarenes, ebionites the later two who rejected jesus as god or the son of god and claimed that jesus never died but was taken to god by heaven. When the concept of the trinity and resurrection were introduced, which came quite some time after these were considered heresies and condemned. Now in the modern perspective we have catholics, protestants, baptists, mormons, latter day saints, just to name a few on top of countless other denominations we span on and on. How do you know which is the right one? They have fundamental conflicting beliefs, and not all of them can be right. Simply believing in the trinity and original sin is not enough, there’s more to fundamental christian beliefs, and jesus even claims in the bible not all who call him their lord and perform miracles in his name will get to see heaven.
Fourth both religions are similar in their ridiculous theology. A lot of people bring up mohammad being a pedophile for the case of aisha. But the virgin mary was reported to be about 12 when jesus was born, some sources claim older but no more than 14. This is hardly any better, wtf god decides to impregnate a 12 year old? I understand that obviously she conceded a baby without intercourse by your beliefs of course, but it still disturbing that given her age God made her conceive his child, who was also him in flesh form (which again seems absurd, but not the point). Then there’s the stories where God commands the israelites to massacre entire villages, including the animals and children. At time God himself just sounds fairly evil. Add in how humanity was organized destined to go to hell for the original sin, adam eating the apple. It doesn’t make logical sense because why would someone be punished for another person’s mistake, when they knew nothing about this or couldn’t stop this from happening? And then jesus comes in to die for our sins, but only if we believe he’s god, son of god, and that he sacrificed himself for us, and we follow his teachings, and we abstain from further sin. Okay... why did he need to die? How can he die if he’s god? Why can’t god just forgive us without the need for all this absurdity’s? Why are even being punished for a forgotten ancestor’s mistake? What did any of this prove if people are still going to go to hell, for choosing to wrong religion, thinking its the path to god, or the wrong sect thinking that their path to salvation was the true path and that the path to salvation was narrow and that few find it?
This is no better than Islamic theology where you can be a really good person, do your best to help animals and humanity, avoid harming anything or anyone with your words or actions, and even hold onto a belief that maybe god exists but no being able to know which god given the thousands of religions and sects. In the end youre spend an ETERNITY being tortured in a gruesome manner while some asshole who believed and asks for forgiveness for his sins before he dies goes to heaven? This is fundamentally bullshit, how can God claim to be loving, benevolent, merciful and then condemn people to being tortured forever because they believed in a wrong version of him or didnt know if he existed???? Not even the worst of humanity would do that! And not only this but the lack of proof of his existence! All these stories of him performing crazy miracles back in the day, raising the dead, water into wine, all sorts of stuff and now he does nothing? All we have are arbitrary books which are incredibly vague, make no sense, contradict themselves and each other, require centuries of study and still can’t be explained properly with millions of interpretations? As for miracles of god, how many times if you prayed for something genuine, like for a loved one to be safe, or for God to help you pass a test, or something innocent, and been refused? People who pray for their cancer or diseases to go away but still died and were not christian thus sent to hell? This is not love, this is not justice, this is EVIL at its core. This is the most significant contradiction I find in these two religions, and aside from this we find countless other contradictions, God gives us free will but predestines us and has his own plan for all of us, God tells us not to kill but then commands us to kill anyways, God says he loves us more than anyone else but smites us for making a mistake, then theres the literal contradictions in the bible where one thing is said, then the opposite is said later.
Atleast hindus, jains, sikhs, bahais, buddhists, jews believe that we’re judged for our own actions and not arbitrary belief. Some religions remove the idea of hell altogether saying that life on earth (given how much pain and suffering there is) is the closest to ‘hell’ we would be and to become close to god we just have to be good to those around us, and if we fail, we get to try again in another life until we get it right.
The fact of the matter is though that Newton’s third law, an action has an equal and opposite reaction, is justice. If I don’t believe in God for 60 years, he doesn’t believe in me and I cease to exist for 60 years, that’s fair. But what isn’t fair is an eternity of burning in a fire. Even a serial killer, he deserves to be punished for a finite period of time in relation to his sin. He kills 10 people, he should die 10 painful deaths, he lives 50 years as a murder, okay then 50 years in hell, not an eternity. But even then, a serial killer probably did some things in his life which were good as well, those can’t go ignored either right? Eventually he should get salvation. Now God claims to love us more than anyone else and be super merciful or whatever, more than anyone else. How can that be, if he creates a literal place for eternal torture for a creation of his that he made imperfect, and basically now way to affirm his presence but plenty of ways to reject everything i his sacred to texts. I remember Abdullah Sameer saying that if you create a product with a 8% failure rate, thats very bad and you need to improve it before releasing it to the public. But if the failure rate is fuckin over 80% this is horrible and by no means should you release it. That’s basically what God did tho, if were given destiny by him we don’t even have a fact in the matter. He’s punishing us for something he himself willed. This world is proof enough that God isn’t most merciful, kind, loving, whatever. Look at all these natural disasters, disease, war, torture, starvation. People resort to its God’s punishment, okay but I thought God was most merciful? I am indifferent to most people most I would anyone, not even a crazed pyscho murdering pedophile rapist to be inflicted with a painful disease or beaten to death. Rather I would want him to get the appropriate help so that he can reform and become a productive member of society who does good for the people and the world. So now by that logic, me, an ordinary dude on reddit, is more merciful than God. Now take in how entire nations get killed due to trivial shit. Look at what happened to the jews in the holocast, look at whats happening to kids starving in africa and india, look at how christians and enslaved are being killed by ISIS in arab countries, look at how muslims are being tortured and killed in China, Burma, and North Korea, look at the extensive history of racial violence of large scale disasters that killed and gravely injured millions. Not all of them could have been bad people or had the wrong belief right? Wtf. Meanwhile some of the richest people in the world are funny enough agnostic or atheist. Elon Musk, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Larry Page. It doesn’t take much faith or proof to look around the world and see that it isn’t fair or just which goes against the principle that God if fair or just, and throw in an afterlife, were the majority if people are tortured forever, and this basically sounds no different than a fairytale.
Funny enough Islam and Christianity are also the only two religions that really had forced conversion indoctrinated into them. That explains why the majority of the world falls into these two, because of people killing and enslaving each other for not believing its the truth, and using the fear of the death penalty, punishment in the grave, and hell to beat them into submission.
To this very day I am still terrified of what happens if I die, thanks to the harmful ideologies imposed by my family through their religion, and if I was born Christian it would have been the exact same. Sorry for the rant but I feel I just had to let all of this out lmao.

I know this has been asked before, and I think if China in its current iteration would be the greater of two evils (compared to the US) if it becomes the global superpower (or even just a superpower), but the more I think about it, the more I wonder whether people’s fears (to one degree or another) are overblown. As a Chinese-Canadian who’s lived in China for the last 2 years (well I have my own issues with Canada but that’s a story for another day), I can see the good points but when it comes to the country’s issues, I feel it has a long way to go before it can be remotely considered a modern country in the Westphalian / democratic sense (not to sound overly Fukuyama-esque).

1. The huge population is both a strength and a curse, in fact I’d say just as much of a curse. I say this because the parts that most foreigners won’t choose to visit / live in are really the “heartland” of the country, poor and underdeveloped and uneducated. Bringing all those masses up to anything resembling contemporary standards of thought and understanding is a monumental task that will be even more challenging than what the CCP keeps saying as “lifting them out of poverty.” I’m sure many of you have experiences whether personally (if you’re married to Chinese women) or less directly when it comes to just how backwards and archaic much of the country still is.
   I’m pretty much a failure by Chinese / Asian standards when it comes to STEM, and yes eventually the country will have more STEM grads than perhaps the total number of students (at any level / studying any subject) in the States and Canada and Europe combined, but the rigid bureaucracy and still rampant intellectual theft (due to the flaws of the education system) really hinders real, quality scientific thought. You can send as many missions as you want to the Moon and Mars and Proxima Centauri (eventually, I guess), but the overall level of scientific knowledge among the general population is about as good as your typical American Hillbilly or Redneck but on a population magnitude that’s 200 times larger.
   Plus, China is also becoming an aging society though perhaps not to the same degree as Japan, Korea, or Taiwan. Prohibitive barriers such as the hukou, along with rising living costs in cities, and outdated traditions like the bride price and 嫁妆 (dowry) are making it harder and harder for young couples to start families and have kids. And the kids are thrown into the meat grinder at an early age, facing extreme competition that essentially strips away whatever desire they have to pursue their own unique talents / and get to feel that their unconventional intelligence is appreciated. This is an Asia-wide problem but it occurs in China on a more massive scale due to the population.
   
2. The increasing gap in development levels between the north and the south. The north has traditionally been the political center (with a few exceptions such as Southern Song, Southern Jin and part of the Ming) while the southern coastal areas were the focus of Deng’s reforms. I cannot give any specifics, but I feel that this increasing trend towards unbalanced / unequal development and income levels will lead to social divisions and eventually unrest further down the line. The fact that so many resources (economic and security) are being invested in the two regions (you know which ones) that I feel will frankly never accept or not fully accept Han Chinese rule, is further straining the centralized state, I feel is letting down the country’s potential.
   
3. The fact that the overall geopolitical environment has changed around 2014-ish and not in the regime’s favor. From the late 1990s up until 2014-ish, many countries including the US had somewhat warmed up to the regime in sort of a “trial phase”, with the hope that letting the regime engage in more global affairs would provide it incentive to become better. That hasn’t worked out, and as we’ve seen they’ve only used their economic leverage to silence any critics and anything they don’t want to see. And their reach is far and wide. Even back in the day, I don’t think many countries viewed the PRC so much as a “friend” or “ally” as much as a novelty that they waited to see how it would unfold. The fact is the PRC lacks any close allies. Mutual suspicion towards Russia that’s only downplayed because of a joint threat (the national ethos, at least that of the leaders, has never really gotten over the Treaty of Nerchinsk, Russian incursions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, current influx of Chinese labor into Siberia and so on), relations with a majority Muslim country (Pakistan) mostly because of India, Africa as China’s China, Southeast Asia as its own backyard with the Philippines and Vietnam (a fellow authoritarian regime) being the two big bastards in the CCP’s view, constant spats with Japan, intermittent spats with South Korea, and North Korea as its watchdog that it feels the need to keep on a leash.
   As much as I have criticisms towards America’s role in the world, it’s undeniable that the US is in a much safer position geographically. It’s isolated by 2 oceans, has transnational arrangements such as NAFTA with its neighbors, has European and Asian allies (if only for the sake of having shared interests), and nobody in its backyard can pose a remote economic or military challenge to it whether unified or on their own.
   
4. I hate to admit this as someone who’s essentially Chinese, but we’re more likely to screw over each other before gathering together to screw someone else. A century ago I think it was Lu Xun or Sun himself that said “the Chinese people are like a plate of scattered sand.” The constant infighting, gossiping, face-whoring, and passive-aggressiveness are still very much characteristics of Chinese society today, whether in China or in diasporas including what I’ve experienced in Vancouver. Many behaviors of the regime are an extension of the people’s behavioral characteristics, often fraught with different complexes and insecurities and fallacies. Of course not everyone is like this but it’s very much a thing.
   
5. Sooner or later China’s economic growth is going to slow down, as it is the case with all countries once they get past a certain level of development. Sure many argue that the pull of nationalism (which BTW in its modern form was a Western construct) is stronger, but no country’s nationalistic / expansionist dreams, China or not, were fulfilled merely through constant rhetoric. The excess / surplus of capital has led to the construction of empty cities and residential complexes while the housing bubble continues to reach all-time highs. Of course, I’m sure many of you know that housing is a religion in the country.
   
6. Militarily, I don’t care how many new toys the PLA is procuring but war’s about a lot more than just what gear you have. Even if China manages to build 20 aircraft carriers, catching up to the operational doctrine and experience of other navies is a different matter. It’s Air Force still has a large number of J-7s and J-8s, perhaps 3/4 of it is 4th / 5th generation and until recently just the domestically produced engine for the J-20 was enough of a hassle. The FC-31, supposedly the equivalent of the F-35, is still in its test stages. The whole PLA, we have to remember, is still the armed branch of the CCP rather than a true national military. It will only be as effective as the country’s political coherence. Whether in quality or quantity, I highly doubt the PLA will be able to win a prolonged war with anyone unless it utilizes the country’s sheer population and just throws soldiers. In terms of more complex operational capabilities, they’re not up to par and even if they keep playing catch up, their neighbors and rivals won’t just sit there.
   Not to mention this current generation of soldiers are likely part of the One Child Policy (though it may be different for those from the countryside). Even less well-off families tend to indulge their kids these days. Once casualties start being reported from the beaches of Taiwan or anywhere else (if that day ever comes), and I’m sure the news will leak one way or another, a lot of unpredictabilities will emerge.
   
7. I don’t know if I’m the only one to ask this question, but is China as a unified entity more the result of a natural desire to unify, or rather because regions with vastly different languages, cultures, goals and beliefs were tied together by force and coercive / repressive ideas (Confucianism, Legalism) from (usually) Northern conquerors?
   

A few years ago I watched a documentary about communist purges in indonesia. It wasn't something I heard before so I gave into my curiosity. What I saw was pure evil, evil who had won. We were never taught in school about the indonesian communist purges, which surprised me considering how determined they are to speak of the holocaust and it's horrors. I figured we would have heard about this happening in another country. Its not just the holocaust, we learned about Rwanda as well, the balkans. So many genocides and purges, yet somehow the indonesian communist genocide gets taken out of this context?
I soon found out why, when watching this documentary I essentially saw what would have happened had the axis powers won world war 2 or had the Rwandan genocide succeeded. The people that committed the purges were happy and unrepentant about slaughtering 500,000 people. They get together with their former death squads and celebrate what they did during that time. Bragging about the suffering they inflicted and the way they got away with it. These figures are held high in their society, as if they're somehow heroes for what they did. Which to me is bone chilling, what's even more bone chilling though.
All the things they did, save of course the actual purge that hasn't happened here yet is happening. The dehumanization and lies that are being spread from right wing alternative media in an attempt to drive outrage and dehumanize political opponents is the exact same tactics used by those indonesian death squads. See, what I found was, Indonesia had alternative media outlets just like here at the time. They intentionally spread misinformation to destroy the communist's integrity and paint them as those deserving of what they got. They actually admitted it, one of the main writers of these newspapers straight out said that it was his job to spread lies about them, to effectively to destroy their integrity and dehumanize their opponents so a successful purge could take place.
Worse is, The United States knew what was going on and encouraged the purge to take place. It was a way to strengthen the fight against communism. So Washington turned a blind eye and aided the purge within the country. The indonesian authorities turned their backs on what was essentially mass murder happening within. To top it off, there were many sympathizers within the government, military, police, and etc. That enabled the purge or even took part in it. Which is part of the reason why this genocide was successful, they isolated and dehumanized their political opposition. So they could not escape what was coming. So essentially to wrap up....here's the parallels I want to share between our society right now and Indonesian society before and during the purges.
. Growing discontent with the political atmosphere of the nation. So much so that violence is entertained by a political faction.
. Dehumanization, lies, and other nefarious tactics are being used to destroy and undermine the political opposition
. Vast numbers of sympathizers within the military and police forces, that they are unwilling and even supportive of such violent actions to destroy their political opposition within the nation
. Foreign agitator's encourage this behavior in order to achieve their own aims ( russia, Iran, china, and north korea)
. Literal isolation attempts of the targeted group in the nation's society. I've heard many stories of Democrats and Biden voters being threatened, harrassed, marginalized, and even outright harmed. Not to mention literal enclaves of political opposition are targeted, described as hell holes, cesspits, and much worse.
All of it, everything that has happened thus far sounds exactly like what's happening here. Which keeps me up alot of nights. Before what happened January 6th, we all laughed. At least I did, thinking these Yokels are all talk. Unfortunately, we were all proven wrong. I see the posts here lately, about how they want to murder their liberal neighbors and go into cities and begin violent purges of democratic voters. I want to believe that such posts are just all talk, but then again. We believed that before too, and they were more than willing to back up their talk with action.
Its possible were dealing with something incredibly dangerous within the country that we simply cannot ignore. There could be very dark intentions behind the actions taken by the far right, that they indeed do intend to create great pain and suffering to achieve their goals. Look what happened when Jared Kushner was tasked with defending blue states and cities during the coronavirus surge. He deliberately let the virus ravage these states to gain political benefit. Letting tens of thousands of Americans die and suffer so they could in hope, to achieve their goals. If a bunch of grifters and conmen, with no care in the world for such beliefs of racial superiority and or total control are ok with these kinds of atrocities. Then what will happen, I wonder? When someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene or Lauren Boebert get put in charge?
I think the point here is proven, it's very possible that we are on our own with this and that no one will protect us or help us, IF the time comes. I don't want to believe it's inevitable, but I won't lie when I tell you how bone chillingly similar the times are today, to the times before the indonesian communist purge.

I have always wondered how most people who "love" and support socialism have never lived in a socialist country. I get it, it sounds nice, it sounds promising, it sounds like the best solution to solve all major problems of society right? Yeah, there is only one problem, since communism/socialism exists, there is one single country in the world that follows their ideology that is a prosperous country. To avoid getting too deep in what system is better. I will only leave a few questions here to make you reflect a little bit:
Why is it that people from Cuba, which has been a Communist country for over 60 years now, prefer to risk their lives in a hand made boat, than to live in that so-called paradise?
What kind of Socialist paradise in Venezuela when millions of people are forced to migrate throughout Latin America in order to survive or be able to put the most basics needs for the family they support?
Why is it that socialist governments, apparently can not coexist with the most basics individual freedoms needs, such as free press, free speech, free elections, freedom of religion?
Why is it that people who have lived in communist/socialists countries such as Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, China, North Korea, Russia, etc, dream of escaping their home countries' paradises?
If Socialism is so much better than Capitalism, why we don't see people from the United States (the most savage capitalist country in the world) migrating in mass to socialist systems already in place?
Note: Before you respond, I beg you to please think well your responses, don't be superficial. Provide facts, no ideas. Every single question I have asked in this post is based on the experience of my own experiences, not what I have heard in the news, but what I have seen and lived with my own eyes. I was born in a Communist country and lived there for more than 20 years. For example, if you are going to come with some bullshit like the Cuban embargo, I hope you can tell me why is the embargo in place, and what it does.

hi.
you're on a rock floating in space.
pretty cool, huh?
some of it's water.
fuck it, actually most of it's water.
i can't even get from here to there without buying a boat.
it's sad.
i'm sad.
i miss you.
how did this happen?
a long time ago, actually never, and also now, nothing is nowhere.
when?
never.
makes sense, right?
like i said, it didn't happen.
nothing was never anywhere.
that's why it's been everywhere.
it's been so everywhere you don't need a where.
you don't even need a when.
that's how every it gets.
forget this.
i wanna be something.
go somewhere.
do something.
i want things to change.
i want to invent time and space.
and i know it's possible because everything is here and it probably already happened.
i just don't know when to start.
and that's exactly where it started.
whoah, i paused it.
i think there's a universe now.
what's it made of?
quarks & stuff
ah, that's a thing.
in a place.
don't like it?
try a new place.
at a different time™.
try to stick together, because the world is gonna get bigger.
and emptier.
but it's not empty yet.
it's still very full, and about a kjghpillion degrees.
great news!
the quarks are now happily married, in groups of three called a proton or a neutron
and there's something else flying around too that wants to join in but can't cause it's still too
HOT
great news!
the protons and neutrons are now happily married to each other.
and some of them even doubled up.
great news, the electrons have now joined in
congratulations, the world is now a bunch of gas in space.
but it's getting closer together.
and it's getting closer together.
and it's getting closer toge-
it's a star
new shit just got made!
some stars burn out and die.
bigger stars burn out and die with passion, and make some brand new, way crazier shit.
space dust
which allows newer, more interesting stars to be made, and then die, and explode into
even crazier space dust
so now stars have cool stuff around them, like rocks, ice, and funny clouds, which can make some very interesting things.
like this ball of flaming rocks for example.
holy shit, we just got hit with another ball of flaming rocks.
and it kind of made a mess.
which is
now the moon
weather update:
it's raining rocks from outer space.
weather update:
those rocks might have had water inside them, and now there's hot steam in the sky.
weather update:
cooler temperatures today, and the floor is no longer lava.
weather update:
it's raining.
severe flooding alert:
the entire world is now an ocean.
volcano alert:
that's land!
there's life in the ocean
what?
something's alive in the ocean
oh cool, like a plant or an animal?
no, a microscopic speck.
it lives at the bottom of the ocean and eats chemical soup, which is being served hot and fresh, made from gnarly space ingredients left over from when it was raining rocks or whatever.
oh yeah, and it can do that.
it has secret instructions written inside itself telling it how to build another one of itself.
so that's pretty nifty, i would say.
tired of living at the bottom of the ocean?
now you can eat sunlight!
using a revolutionary technique, you can convert sunlight into food
taste the sun
side effect: now there's oxygen everywhere and the sky's blue.
then the earth might have been a snowball for a while, maybe even a couple of times.
it's a sponge.
it's a plant.
it's a worm, and some other types of weird strange water bugs and strange fish.
it's the Cambrian explosion
"wow, that's animals and stuff"
but we're still in the ocean, hey, can we go on land?
no
why?
the sun is a deadly lazer
oh okay.
not anymore, there's a blanket
now the animals can go on land.
come on, animals, let's go on land!
nope, can't walk yet.
and there's no food yet, so i don't care.
ok, will you learn to walk if there's plants up here?
maybe, said some bugs, and fish.
ok, so i can go on land, but i have to go back in the water to
have babies
learn to use an egg.
i was already doing that.
use a stronger egg.
put water in it.
have a baby, on land, in an egg.
water is in the egg.
baby, in the egg, in the water, in the egg.
works for me.
bye bye ocean
and now everything's huge.
including bugs.
wanna see a map of the land?
sure.
oh fuck, now everything's dead.
just kidding, here are the survivors.
keep your eye on this one because it's about to become the dinosaurs.
here's another map of the land.
yeah, it broke apart, don't worry about it, it does that all the time.
here comes a meteor.
and the dinosaurs are gone
it's mammal time, here come the mammals.
look at those breasts.
now they're gonna dominate the world and one of them just learned how to grab stuff.
and walk.
no, like, walk like that.
and grab stuff at the same time.
and bang rocks together to make pointed rocks.
"ouch"
and set things on fire.
"yeouch"
and make crazy sounds with their voice.
"gneurshk"
which can mean different things.
that's a human person
and now they're everywhere.
almost.
ice age
what, you can walk over here?
cool.
not anymore
well i guess we're stuck here now.
let's review.
there's people on the planet.
and they're chasing their food.
fuck it, time to plant some grass.
look at this.
i control the food now.
now everyone will want to be my friend and live near me.
let's all build houses except mine is bigger because i own the food.
this is great, i wonder if anyone else is doing this.
tired of using rocks for everything?
use metal.
it's underground.
better farming was just invented, in a sweet dank valley right in between these two rivers.
and the animals are helping.
guess what happens next
more food.
and more people who came to buy the food.
now you need people to help make the food and keep track of the sales.
and now you need houses for people to live in and people to make the houses, and now there's more people and they invent things, which makes things better and more people come and there's more farming and more people to make more things for more people and now there's business, money, writing, laws, power.
Society
coming soon to a dank river valley near you.
meanwhile, out in the middle of nowhere, the horse is probably being tamed.
why is all my metal so lame and lumpy?
tired of using lame, sad metal?
introducing
Bronze
made with special ingredient tin from the far lands of tin land.
i don't know, my dealer won't tell me where he gets it.
also, guess what?
egypt
meanwhile, out in the middle of nowhere, they figured out how to put wheels on a horse.
now we're getting somewhere.
also
china
and did i mention
indus river valley civilization
norte chico
the middle east is getting more complicated, maybe because it's in the middle of the east.
knock knock, er, clop clop.
it's the people with the horses.
and they made an empire.
and then everyone else copied their horses.
greeks
ah look, it must be the greeks, er, a beta version of the greeks.
let's check in with the indus river valley civilization.
they're gone.
guess who's not gone?
china
new arrivals in india, maybe it's those horse people i was talking about, or their cousins or something
and they wrote some hymns and mantras and stuff
you could make a religion out of this.
there's the bronze age collapse.
now the phoenicians can get down to business
also, can we switch to a metal that's a little easier to find?
thanks.
look who came back to israel, it's the twelve tribes of israel.
and they believe in God
just 1 though, he's got like a ten step program.
here's some huge heads.
must be the olmecs.
the phoenicians make some colonies.
the greeks copy their idea and make some colonies.
the phoenicians made a colony so big it makes colonies.
here comes the assyrian empire.
never mind, it's the babylonian- median-
it's the Persian Empire
"wow, that's big"
ah, the buddha was just enlightened.
who's the buddha?
this guy, who sat under a tree for so long that he figured out how to ignore the fact that we're all dying.
you could make a religion out of this.
oops, china just broke, but while it was breaking, confucius was figuring out how to have good morals.
ah, the greeks just had the idea of thinking about stuff.
and right over here, alexander just had the idea of conquering the entire persian empire.
it's a great idea.
he was great.
and now he's dead.
hopefully the rest of the gang will be able to share the empire evenly between them.
knock knock, it's chandragupta, he says get the hell out of here.
will you get the hell out of here if i give you 500 elephants?
ok thanks, bye
time to conquer all of india
or
most of india
but what about this part?
that's the tamil kings, no one conquers the tamil kings.
who are the tamil kings?
merchants, probably
and they've got spices
who would like to buy the spices?
me, said the arabians, swiftly buying it and selling it to the rest of the world.
hey, china put itself back together again, with good morals as their main philosophy.
actually, they have three main philosophies.
out here, the horse nomads run wild and free, and they would like to ransack your city.
let's check the greekification levels of the greekified kingdoms.
greekification overload!
bye, said the parthians.
bye, said the jews.
hi, said the parthians, taking over the entire place.
heyyyyyyyy, said the romans, eating the entire mediterranean for breakfast.
thanks for invading our homeland, said the jews, who were starting to get tired of people invading their homeland.
hi, everything's great, said some guy who seems to be getting very popular and is then arrested and killed for being too popular, which only makes him more popular.
you could make a religion out of this.
want silk?
now you can buy it from china.
they just made a
brand new road to the world
or you can
get there on water
sick! new trade routes! said india, accidentally spreading their religion to the entire southeast.
hmm, that's a good place for an epic trading kingdom.
there goes buddhism traveling up the silk road.
i wonder if it'll reach china before it collapses again.
remember the persian empire?
yep, said the persians, making a new one.
axum is getting so powerful they would like to build a long stick.
has anyone populated madagascar yet?
let's do it together.
china is whole again
then it broke again
still can't cross the sahara desert?
try camels.
hell yeah! now we've got business
said the ghana empire, selling lots of gold, and slaves
hi, i live in the roman empire, and i was wondering
is loving jesus legal yet?
no.
actually, ok, sure, said constantine, moving the capital way over here to be closer to his
main rival
don't worry about rome, it won't fall.
it's the golden age of india
there's the gupta empire, not chandragupta, just gupta.
first name chandra.
the first.
guess who's in rome?
barbarians
what's a barbarian?
non-romans, said the romans, being invaded by non-romans.
r.i.p., roman empire, er, actually just half of it, the other half is just fine, but it's not in rome anymore so let's give it a new name.
the mayans have figured out the stars
oh and here's a huge city, population: everyone
the göktürks have taken over the entire eurasian steppe.
great job, göktürks.
how's india?
broken.
how's china?
back together
how's those trading kingdoms?
bigger, and there's more of them
korea has 3 kingdoms.
japan has a kingdom, it's the sunrise kingdom.
deep in the arabian desert, on the top of a mountain, the real god whispers in muhammed's ear.
so he goes down to the cube where everyone worships gods and he tells them their gods are all fake.
and everyone got so mad at him that he had to leave town and go to a different town.
you could make a religion out of this.
and maybe conquer the world as well.
the roman empire is long gone, but somehow the pope is still the pope.
plus there's
new kingdoms all over europe
i wonder if there's room for moors.
here's all the wisdom.
in a house.
it's the baghdad house of wisdom.
just in time for the
islamic golden age
let's bring stuff to the coast and sell it, and become the swahili on the swahili coast, said the swahili on the swahili coast.
remember this tiny space you have to go through to get from here to there?
someone owns that now.
wanna get enlightened in the middle of nowhere?
the franks have the biggest kingdom in europe, and the pope is so proud that he invites the king over for christmas.
surprise! you're the new roman emperor, said the pope, pretending to still be part of the roman empire.
then the franks broke their kingdom into what will later be called france and not france.
but the northerners, or just norse if you don't have much time, are exploring.
they go north, from the north to the northern north.
and they find some land.
two types of land.
and they name them accordingly.
they also invade some other places, and get called many names, such as vikings.
there's the rus.
the kievan rus.
are they vikings?
i don't think so, said the kievan rus.
ok, fair enough.
the pope is ready to make some more emperors.
of the "roman empire".
the holy roman empire.
it's actually germany but don't worry about it.
new kingdoms.
christianize all the kingdoms
which brand would you like?
mine's better.
mine's better.
mine's better.
time to conquer england, said william.
it's a bird, it's a plane
it's the seljuk turks
aah! said the byzantine empire who's getting so small and almost doesn't exist anymore.
we need help!
they need help, so they call the pope.
hey pope, can you help us get rid of the seljuks?
maybe take back the holy land on the way?
come on, i know you want to take back the holy land.
yes, i do actually want to do that.
let's do a crusade.
crusade
they did many crusades, some of which almost didn't fail.
but at least the italians got some sweet trade deals.
goodbye mayans.
hello toltecs
goodbye toltecs.
hello mississippi
look at those mounds.
there's the pueblo.
i always wondered how to build a town in a cliff.
guess who's here?
khmer.
where?
here.
and pagan is there.
vietnam unconquered itself, korea just became itself, and japan is so addicted to art that the military might have to take over the government.
china just invented bombs, and typing.
and the mongols just invaded most of the universe.
nice going, Genghis!
i bet that will last a long time.
some of the islamic turks were unaffected by the mongol invasions because they were busy invading india.
is it tonga time?
i think it's tonga time.
i just found out where the swahili gets all their gold.
look at this chad.
means "lake".
there's an empire there.
right in the middle of
Africa
the king of mali is so rich he's going on tour to let everyone know.
wow, that guy's rich, everyone said.
the christians are doing a great job reconquering iberia, which will soon be called spain and not spain.
please remain christian.
we will check in later to see if you're still christian when you least expect.
whoops, half of europe just died.
ming
china's back, yay!
hey khmer, time to share.
new kingdoms here and there.
oh, look who controls all the islands.
it's the mahajapit.
majahapit.
mapajahit.
mahapajit.
mapajahit.
majapahit?
oh, italy's really rich, time for them to care a lot about art and the ancient classics.
it's kinda like a rebirth.
here's a printer.
let's make books.
so you think you can conquer the byzantine empire?
yep, said the ottoman turks.
nice job, ottoman turks.
whoops, you missed a spot.
don't forget to ban europe from the indian spice trade.
what? that's bullshit, said portugal, spiceless.
well i guess we'll have to find another way to india
wait! said christopher columbus, probably smoking crack.
if the world is round, let's go this way to india.
nah, don't worry, we already got this, said portugal.
so chris goes to spain.
hey spain, wanna hire me to find india by going around back of the world?
no.
please?
no.
please?
no.
please?
ok.
so he sails into the ocean.
and discovers more ocean.
and then discovers the indies.
and japan.
let's draw a line to decide who gets which half of the world.
the aztec and inca empires are off to a great start.
i wonder if they know that europe just discovered their continent?
the habsburgs are marrying into so many royal families they might have to start marrying each other.
move over lithuania, here comes moscow.
ivan wants to make russia great again.
move over timurids, maybe go invade india or something.
persia just made persia persian again.
let's make it the other kind of islam.
the one where we thought the first guy should have been the other guy.
hey christians!
do you sin?
now you can buy your way out of hell.
that's bullshit.
this whole thing is bullshit.
that's a scam.
fuck the church.
here's 95 reasons why, said martin luther, in his new book, which might have accidentally started the protestant reformation.
you know what would be magnificent, said suleiman, wearing an onion hat?
what if the ottoman empire was really big?
which it is now.
what if russia was big? said ivan, trying not to be terrible.
portugal had a dream that they controlled the entire indian ocean, including the spice trade.
and then that dream was real.
and spain realized that this is not india, but they pillaged it anyway.
damn, said england and france.
we gotta start pillaging some stuff.
then the dutch revolt and all the hipsters move to amsterdam.
damn, said amsterdam.
we gotta start pillaging some stuff.
question 1: can you get to india through north america?
no, but at least there's beaver.
question 2: steal the spice trade.
that's not a question, but the dutch did it anyway.
sugar
guess where all the sugar's made?
in brazil.
stolen
and the caribbean.
and it's so god damn profitable you might forget to not do slavery.
the next thing on russia's to-do list is to get bigger.
britain and france are having a friendly discussion about who should control the entire world.
more specifically, ohio.
then it escalates into a seven year discussion, giving prussia a chance to show austria who's boss.
but what about britain and france, did they figure out who's boss?
yes they did.
it's britain.
guess who's broke?
also britain.
so they start taxing the hell out of america.
fuck you, says america, declaring their independence, and fighting for it.
and france helps them win, now france is broke.
and britain'll have to send their prisoners to a different continent.
wait, if france is broke, why do the king and queen still wear such fancy dresses?
let's overthrow the palace and cut all their heads off! said robespierre, cutting everybody's head off until someone eventually got mad and cut his head off.
you could make a reli- no, don't.
haiti is staring to like the idea of a revolution.
especially the slaves, who free themselves by killing their masters.
why didn't we think of this before?
wait, who's in charge of france now?
me
said napoleon, trying to take over europe.
luckily, they banished him to an island.
but he came back
luckily, they banished him to another island.
there goes latin america, becoming independent in the latin american wars of independence.
britain just figured out how to turn steam into power.
so now they can make
many different types of machines and factories with machines in them so they can make a lot of products real fast
then they invent some trains.
and conquer india and maybe put some trains there.
hey, china! said britain.
buy stuff from us!
nah dude, we already got everything, says china.
so britain tried to get them addicted to opium.
which worked, actually.
but then china made it illegal and dumped it all into the sea.
so britain threw a hissy fit, and made them open up five cities and give them an island.
britain and russia are playing a game where they try to stop each other from conquering afghanistan.
also, the
sultan of oman lives in zanzibar now
"that's just where he lives"
india just had a revolution, and they would like to govern themselves now.
nope, said britain, governing them even harder than before.
technology is about to go crazy
the united states finally figured out whether slavery is good or bad.
it's bad, they decided.
and then they continued manifesting their destiny, which is to kill the rest of the natives and take their land and maybe kick out the mexicans too.
i know, let's rape africa, said europe, scrambling to see who could rape it the fastest.
they never got ethiopia
britain and france are still hungry.
they never got thailand
the united states ran out of destiny to manifest, so they're looking for more.
hawaii
cuba
wait, spain controls cuba.
well, blame something on them and go to war!
what should we blame on spain?
let's blame the maine on spain.
so they blame the maine on spain.
now we're in business.
to celebrate, they kick panama out of panama and make a canal, connecting the two oceans.
britain just found oil in the middle east.
it makes cars go
china is so tired of being bossed around that they delete their old government and make a new, stronger government, which is accidentally weaker and controlled by a guy from the previous government.
europe hasn't had a war since the last war.
so they start world war 1.
look at those guns.
it's gonna be a great war.
so great we won't need a second one.
after it's over, they blame germany.
russia went on strike and the workers overthrew the government.
now everyone's paycheck is the same.
communism
in the soviet union
the arabs revolt and britain helps.
now the ottoman empire's gone so we can give the
jewish people a place to live
hopefully the arabs won't mind.
let's cut the cake, said sykes and picot, carving up the remains of the not-so-ottoman-anymore empire.
except turkey, turkey makes a brand new turkey
and then the saudis conquer arabia.
it just seemed like the right thing to do.
hello?
yes, it's the 1920's calling.
let's get in the car and drive to a party and listen to jazz on the radio and go to the movies.
the economy's great and it'll probably be great forever, just kidding.
germany's back, featuring hitler, the angry mustache model.
and he's mad at the jews for existing.
japan is finally conquering the east, and they're so excited they rape nanking way too hard.
they should probably just deny it.
hitler's out of control.
so the international community tackles him and then tries to explain why killing all the jews is a bad idea.
but he kills himself before they could explain it to him.
that's world war 2
bonus round!
pacific showdown.
united states vs. japan.
fight!
finish him
let's unite all the nations and have some
world peace
seems legit.
hi, i'm gandhi, and if britain doesn't get the hell out of india, i'm gonna starve myself in public.
wow, that worked?
bonus, now there's pakistan.
actually two pakistans.
one of them can be bangladesh later.
the jews and the arabs finally figured out which one of them should live in the holy land.
me, they both said at the same time.
let's divide up the land so everyone's happy.
sike, they both get angrier
look out china, there's a new china in china.
what's on the menu?
communism!
no thanks, said the other china, escaping to an island.
i wonder which one is the real china?
there's the korean war, korea versus korea.
nobody wins, then it's on pause forever.
let's meet the sponsors.
oh, it's the two global superpowers.
they're having a friendly debate over which economic system is good, and which one is an evil virus of Satan.
and they both have atom bombs.
fight!
wait, no, that would be the end of the world.
let's just keep it cool and spy on each other instead.
and make sure we have enough atom bombs.
i'll race you to space.
now let's make some more countries fight themselves.
europe is tired of pillaging other continents, so the continents they were pillaging are tired of being pillaged.
so here's a new map, with new countries.
now you can't tell who they're being pillaged by.
the united states finally decided whether racism is good or bad.
they decided it's bad, and the world agrees.
south africa might need another minute to think about it.
let's check the world population.
whoa.
okay.
technology's better too, that might keep happening.
the soviet union decides to relax a little, and accidentally falls apart.
europe makes a union, so now they can all use the same money, except britain, because they don't feel like it.
let's check the mail.
surprise, it's on the computer.
whoops, someone just attacked america.
i bet they'll remember that.
phone call.
surprise, it's in your pocket.
wanna learn everything?
surprise, it's on the computer.
now your phone's a computer, which is in your pocket.
whoops, the economy just crashed.
don't worry, the big banks won't fail because they're not supposed to.
surprise!
flying robots.
with bombs.
wanna print a brain?
some people have no friends.
some people have no food.
the globe is warming
and the ocean is full of plastic
let's save the planet! said everybody, not knowing how.
let's invent a thing inventor, said the thing inventor inventor, after being invented by a thing inventor.
that's pretty cool.
by the way, where the hell are we?

1) Intro - 🎯
Algernon Pharmaceuticals inc is a clinical stage pharmaceutical development company, focuses in the areas of non–alcoholic steatohepatitis, chronic kidney disease, inflammatory bowel disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, chronic cough, and acute lung injury associated with COVID-19 in Canada and Australia. It is also developing AP-188 (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine), a psychedelic compound that is part of the tryptamine family for the treatment of Ischemic stroke in humans. Algernon HQ is in Vancouver, Canada 🇨🇦
2) key Activities and annual progress in 2020 : 🎯
Year End summary of Key Activities in 2020
👉a) NP-120 (Ifenprodil) Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) and Chronic Cough Clinical Research Program :
March 30 - Submitted for ethics approval in Australia for a Phase 2 study of the Company’s re-purposed drug Ifenprodil for IPF and chronic cough.
May 6 - Received first ethics approval from the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Human Research Ethics Committee.
July 7 - Began screening patients for suitability at five sites in total that are participating in the study, with three located in Australia and two in New Zealand.
August 5 - Announced that the first patient had been dosed at the Waikato Hospital located in Hamilton, New Zealand.
October 13 - Announced that the IPF and chronic cough study reached 25% of its enrollment target.
👉b) Ifenprodil COVID-19 Clinical Research Program :
March 6 - Announced exploring the potential of using Ifenprodil as a novel treatment for COVID-19 based on an independent study that found that Ifenprodil significantly reduced acute lung injury and improved survivability in an animal study with H5N1 infected mice. H5N1 is the most lethal form of influenza known to date with an over 50% mortality rate.
March 13 - Filed a pre-IND (Investigational New Drug) meeting request with the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (U.S. FDA), initiating formal communications to investigate Ifenprodil in a multinational Phase 2b/3 clinical trial for COVID-19.
March 19 - Agreed to support an investigator-initiated Phase 2 clinical trial of Ifenprodil for COVID-19 patients in South Korea (subsequently withdrawn due to low patient enrollment).
March 23 - Awarded the contract to manufacture the Company’s own supply of the active pharmaceutical ingredient for Ifenprodil, to U.S. based Cascade Chemistry.
April 22 - Submitted a Clinical Trial Application (CTA) to Health Canada for the Company’s planned multinational Phase 2b/3 COVID-19 study of Ifenprodil.
April 29 - Received a No Objection Letter from Health Canada for its CTA.✅
May 25 - Submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the U.S. FDA for its planned multinational Phase 2b/3 COVID-19 study of Ifenprodil.
June 4 - Received clearance from the U.S. FDA for its IND application. ✅
June 25 - Received ethics approval from a central institutional review board for U.S. study sites.✅
July 16 - Completed a clinical trial agreement with Westchester Research Center at Westchester General Hospital in Miami, Florida, the first active U.S. clinical study site.
August 5 - Announced enrollment of first patient for its Ifenprodil COVID-19 study.
August 13 - Announced enrollment of its first patient from the U.S. for its Ifenprodil COVID-19 study. ☝️
October 30 - Announced that at its second review meeting, the Ifenprodil COVID-19 study external Data and Safety Monitoring Board had once again unanimously approved the continuation of the Company’s Ifenprodil COVID-19 study (first approval announced on September 16th).
November 30 - Announced that the final patient had been enrolled in its Ifenprodil COVID-19 study.
December 15 - Reported, in a descriptive format, positive trending interim data for the Phase 2b part of the Company’s Ifenprodil COVID-19 study. 👍
December 24 - Announced that the last patient from the Phase 2b part of its Ifenprodil COVID-19 study had completed both the treatment period and two week follow up. 🤏
🤌Also their Financial matters of Last Year 2020 : ⬆️
February 21 - Closed a non-brokered private placement issuing an aggregate of 18,304,939 Units at the price of CDN$0.085 per Unit, raising gross proceeds of CDN$1,555,919.82. Each Unit was comprised of one Class A common share (a “Share”) and one Share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one additional Share at a price of CDN$0.12 per Share.
May 13 - Closed a private placement offering of special warrants of the Company and issued 19,605,285 warrants at a price of CDN$0.35 each, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately CDN$6,861,849.00 (the Company filed a prospectus shortly thereafter to qualify the 19,605,285 special warrants issued, with each special warrant converted into one common share and one common share purchase warrant at $CDN.55).
November 16 - Received a refundable tax credit of approximately CDN$600,000 from its clinical research work in Australia, representing 40% of allowable expenses refunded from the Company’s Ifenprodil IPF and chronic cough Phase 2 clinical study, with additional refunds expected.
December 23 - Exercised its acceleration right under the warrant indenture governing the common share purchase warrants of the Company (issued on November 1, 2019), when the daily volume-weighted average trading price of the common shares of the Company exceeded CDN$0.35 for the preceding 20 consecutive trading days on the Canadian Securities Exchange. 🤨
👉 C) About NP-120 (Ifenprodil) :
NP-120 (Ifenprodil) is an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist specifically targeting the NMDA-type subunit 2B (GluN2B). Ifenprodil prevents glutamate signalling. The NMDA receptor is found on many tissues including lung cells, T-cells, and neutrophils.
The Company believes Ifenprodil may be able to reduce the infiltration of neutrophils and T-cells into the lungs where they can release glutamate and cytokines respectively. The latter can result in the highly problematic cytokine storm that contributes to the loss of lung function and ultimately death as has been reported in COVID-19 infected patients.
3) Plans for 2021 : 🎯
a) New Clinical Research Programs : 🤏
The Company is planning to establish a minimum of one and possibly two new clinical research programs in calendar Q1, with plans to start a Phase 1 or a Phase 2 clinical trial(s) before the end of the year, for a new disease indication(s). Potential target compounds include the drugs that have been investigated by the Company in preclinical animal models or other compounds that the Company has been considering, that have established preclinical and possibly clinical efficacy for a new disease indication.
The focus will be on off patent compounds that are already approved in limited markets, but have not been approved in the U.S. or Europe and may include natural occurring compounds that have shown potential as new therapeutic treatments for serious global diseases.
The Company will continue to rely on a number of approaches to protect its intellectual property rights including filing method of use patents, new formulation and dosing patents, and also by utilizing propriety drug delivery technology.
The Company may also advance compounds for diseases that are rare in the population, referred to as orphan indications. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) provides 7 years and the European Union provides 10 years of market exclusivity to specific clinical indications with orphan designations.
Finally, the Company may also rely on the 5-year period of exclusivity granted to new drug applications for products containing chemical entities never previously approved by the U.S. FDA either alone or in combination.
B) NP-120 (Ifenprodil) Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) & Chronic Cough Clinical Research Program : 🤏
The Company is currently working to increase the enrollment rate of its IPF and chronic cough study that was slowed due to COVID-19. The Company is working to expand access to the clinical trial to additional Australian and New Zealand patients beyond those who attend the specific clinics where the trial is being conducted.
Once the trial is closed and the final data has been reviewed and is positive, the Company will evaluate next steps, which may include filing a pre-IND application with the U.S. FDA for IPF or chronic cough or for both. 🤨
C) Ifenprodil COVID-19 Clinical Research Program: 🤏
The Company has projected that the final data set for the Phase 2b part of its Phase 2b/3 clinical trial from its Ifenprodil COVID-19 clinical study will be available by the end of February 2021. If the data is positive, the Company will consult with the U.S. FDA on an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). ( which is this month Feb’21 )🤝
The Company will also evaluate all aspects of conducting a Phase 3 trial, which will be required regardless of whether or not the Company receives an EUA.
“The Company is in a unique position to leverage its capabilities in identifying compounds for repurposing and managing clinical trials, and to advance additional compounds into clinical studies in a timely and cost-effective manner,” said **Christopher J. Moreau, CEO 👀 of Algernon Pharmaceuticals. “Our CSO Dr. Mark Williams and I have stated many times that one of our key corporate goals was to have multiple compounds in clinical trials at the same time in order to improve our chances of a success, and that is what we intend to achieve.”
The Company advises that it is not making any express or implied claims that Ifenprodil has the ability to eliminate, cure or contain COVID-19 (or the SARS-2 Coronavirus) at this time. 👏
4) Recent Major News & Development that we’ve missed : 🎯
Ok so what is the progress & update in 2021 ? Let’s see 👀
a) Major : ☝️Algernon pharmaceuticals company, is pleased to highlight an independent research review (the “Review”) published in the January 5th edition of the European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, that identified Ifenprodil as a possible re-purposed drug candidate for the treatment of COVID-19. 🤨
The Review focuses on the sigma-1 receptor in the endoplasmic reticulum, a network of membranes inside a cell through which proteins and other molecules move, and its important role in SARS-CoV-2 replication in cells. The Review proposes the repurposing of traditional central nervous system (CNS) drugs that have a high affinity at the sigma-1 receptor, naming Ifenprodil as a potential treatment of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients.
The Review can be found here at Sigma-1 Receptor Research and was authored by Kenji Hashimoto and supported in part by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development.
The Company recently announced that the last patient from the Phase 2b part of its multinational Phase 2b/3 human study of NP-120 (Ifenprodil) for the treatment of COVID-19, completed treatment as well as the required two-week follow up. The Company is projecting the final data set will be available before the end of February 2021. 🤏
“To date, we have mostly focused on Ifenprodil’s role as an NMDA receptor antagonist when exploring its potential as a COVID-19 therapeutic,” said Dr. Mark Williams, CSO of Algernon Pharmaceuticals. “However, its role as a sigma-1 receptor agonist is also well established and the connection with this receptor being a key therapeutic target involving SARS-CoV-2 replication is a very promising discovery, and adds to our confidence as we wait for the final results from our COVID-19 Ifenprodil study.”
b) Green Signal : ✅
Algernon is pleased to announce that the external Data and Safety Monitoring Board (“DSMB”) has completed its latest review of the Phase 2b part of the Company’s Phase 2b/3 human study of NP-120 (Ifenprodil) for the treatment of COVID-19, and has provided approval for the Company to continue on with the Phase 3 part of the study.
The DSMB is a committee of clinical research experts, including physicians, statisticians, and patient advocates, who are monitoring the progress of the Company’s clinical trial, and are reviewing safety and effectiveness data while the trial is ongoing.
“While we await final data from the Phase 2b part of our Ifenprodil COVID-19 study, it is critical for us to know that from a safety perspective, we are now clear to move into the Phase 3 part of the study,” said Christopher J. Moreau, CEO of Algernon Pharmaceuticals. 🤏
c) Stroke Treatment program with Psychedelic Drug DMT : 🤏
Algernon Pharmaceuticals is pleased to announce that it has established a clinical research program for the treatment of stroke focused on AP-188 (“N,N-Dimethyltryptamine or DMT”), a known psychedelic compound that is part of the tryptamine family (other drugs in the tryptamine family include psilocybin and psilocin). Algernon plans to be the first company globally to pursue DMT for stroke in humans and is planning to begin a clinical trial as soon as possible in 2021.
Algernon has also filed new provisional patents for new forms of DMT, in addition to formulation, dosage and method of use claims for ischemic stroke. The Company has also filed claims for combination therapy of DMT and Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (“CIMT”).
The Company announced in early January that it would be establishing a new clinical research program in Q1 2021 to add to its current pipeline. Repurposing DMT from its psychedelic effects to a new potential treatment for stroke could have a positive impact on the millions of people that suffer the debilitating consequences of a stroke each year.
The Company’s decision to investigate DMT and move it into human trials for stroke is based on multiple independent, positive preclinical studies demonstrating that DMT helps promote neurogenesis as well as structural and functional neural plasticity. These are key factors involved in the brain’s ability to form and reorganize synaptic connections, which are needed for healing following a brain injury.
A recently published preclinical study in an animal model for stroke, showed that rats treated with DMT recovered motor function more quickly and to a greater extent, and also exhibited lower lesion volumes when compared to control group animals that did not receive DMT. Key data from the study achieved statistical significance.
Unlike other companies recently researching psychedelic drugs, Algernon will be focusing on a sub-hallucinogenic, or microdose of DMT provided by continuous intravenous administration. By pursuing a continuous active microdose, the goal will be to provide patients with the therapeutic benefits of DMT, without having a psychedelic experience. This is an important element when considering treating a patient who has just suffered a stroke, wherein medications that cause a hallucinogenic response would cause unwanted confusion and stress.
The Company also believes that a microdosing approach to developing a DMT treatment may enable a much wider review and acceptance of its data, including garnering the early interest of research investigators, the interest of clinical trial patients, and ultimately clinical acceptance. Algernon’s approach may also allow for a quicker pathway to regulatory approval including a Breakthrough Therapy designation from the U.S. FDA, which enables priority review of a drug candidate if preliminary clinical trials indicate that the therapy may offer substantial treatment advantages over existing options for patients with serious or life-threatening diseases.
“While other research is exploring DMT for its hallucinogenic qualities and effects, Algernon will be working to unlock DMT’s non-psychedelic potential to help promote healing and recovery in the brain from a stroke, one of the most devastating injuries a human being can experience,” said Christopher J. Moreau, CEO of Algernon Pharmaceuticals. “The Algernon team, which now includes global experts in DMT and stroke research, is uniquely positioned to quickly repurpose DMT into human trials in the most cost and time effective way possible, just as we did with Ifenprodil in the on-going Phase 2 trial for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (“IPF”) and chronic cough, as well as with our on-going COVID-19 trial.” 🤨
🎥 A Streetsmart LIVE webcast interview that explains the new clinical program in greater detail can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bACQ52aOlo
d) Global Stroke Treatment Market: Overview 🤏
According to a 2019 report from Transparency Market Research:
The global stroke treatment market was valued at ~US$ 8 Bn in 2018.
Projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of ~7% over the forecast period, the global stroke treatment market is expected to reach a value of ~US$ 15 Bn by the year 2027.
Rise in the prevalence of stroke across the world, surge in the elderly patient pool, and rapid rise in comorbidities such as atrial fibrillation, diabetes, and hypertension leading to high risk of developing stroke are anticipated to drive the global stroke treatment market during the forecast period.
North America is the leading regional market in the global stroke treatment market, and will continue to have a major share throughout the forecast period of 2019 to 2027. 🤔
e) DMT Background : 🤏
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, is a hallucinogenic tryptamine drug producing effects similar to those of other psychedelics like LSD, ketamine, psilocybin and psilocin. DMT occurs naturally in many plant species and animals and has been used in religious ceremonies as a traditional spiritual medicine by indigenous people in the Amazonian basin. DMT can also be synthesised in a laboratory.
At higher doses, DMT has a rapid onset, intense psychedelic effects, and a relatively short duration of action with an estimated half-life of less than fifteen minutes. Like other hallucinogens in the tryptamine family, DMT binds to serotonin receptors to produce euphoria and psychedelic effects. Because the effects of DMT do not last very long, it has been referred to in some circles as the “businessman’s trip”.
Named the “Spirit Molecule” by Dr. Rick Strassman, an American clinical associate professor of psychiatry and DMT research pioneer, DMT has been shown to induce neuroplasticity in a number of key preclinical studies. DMT is believed to activate pathways involved with forming neuron connections and has been shown in studies to increase the number of dendritic spines on cortical neurons. Dendritic spines form synapses (connections) with other neurons and are a major site of molecular activity in the brain.
While Dr. Strassman’s Phase 1 bolus intravenous human study identified the sub-hallucinogenic dose of DMT in humans, another preclinical animal study demonstrated this same dose level still retains the neuroplastic effect seen in higher hallucinogenic doses.
Algernon will be investigating an intravenous sub-hallucinogenic dose of DMT in its research and clinical studies.
DMT – Building the Case for Stroke
Data from a study published in Experimental Neurology, in May 2020 showed that in a rat model of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, DMT reduced the infarct (dead cells) volume and improved functional recovery.
Key Findings: 🗝
Animals treated with DMT displayed lower lesion volumes than control animals measured by MRI 24 hours following the occlusion. (p = 0.0373)
Animals in the DMT group improved motor function more quickly and to a greater extent than the control group; The differences became significant on the 4th day (p = 0.0325) and persisted throughout a 30-day follow-up.
The full study can be viewed at the following link: https://www.globenewswire.com
5 ) Algernon’s DMT Clinical Research Plan : 🎯
a) Ischemic Stroke 👈
Currently, medication treatments for ischemic stroke are primarily limited to Tissue Plasminogen Activator (“TPA”) or blood thinners. However, these treatments are stroke type specific and cannot be given until the patient has received a CT scan to determine if the stroke is ischemic or haemorrhagic. Patients being treated with TPA must receive the drug within 3 hours of the injury. As a result, only 5% of stroke patients receive TPA.
Additional treatment options involve surgical intervention such as catheter embolectomy and decompressive craniotomy.
Based on its preclinical data research, Algernon plans to test DMT in the clinic in patients as soon as possible after the stroke injury occurs. If it is established in the Company’s preclinical research phase that DMT can be used to treat both haemorrhagic and ischemic stroke, the patient will not have to wait for a CT scan and treatment can begin immediately, possibly while being transported to the hospital. 🙏🏻
Algernon’s preclinical research is designed to help establish the optimal treatment period duration for DMT as well as the clinically effective sub-hallucinogenic dose.
b) Post-Stroke Rehabilitation : 👈
Eighty five percent of stroke survivors will end up with from some form of disability after having suffered a stroke. Intensive physical rehabilitation has been shown by researchers to improve function and reduce long-term disability.
While Algernon will investigate DMT to treat a patient as quickly as possible after the stroke occurs, it will also investigate the potential of the drug as a treatment during the rehabilitative process. Rehabilitation therapy, which includes motor-skill exercises, mobility training and range-of-motion therapy, and can begin as soon as 24 to 48 hours after the stroke has occurred.
One specific type of rehabilitation therapy, previously referenced, is called CIMT. It is focused on improving upper extremity function in stroke patients and involves intensive training of the weaker arm while restricting the use of the stronger arm.
Algernon will investigate DMT in preclinical animal models of CIMT for the promotion of neurogenesis and structural and functional neural plasticity during various time periods after the stroke has occurred. If the final data is positive, the Company will move DMT into a separate clinical trial to test for its efficacy as a post stroke rehabilitation adjunctive treatment.
Pathway to Clinical Trials
A) Pre-IND U.S. FDA and CTA - Health Canada 🇨🇦
Based on historical data showing that several DMT Phase 1 studies have already been conducted, the Company believes that it will be able to use this data to seek approval to begin its own Phase 1 study without having to complete certain toxicology work.
In order to confirm its regulatory plans, Algernon’s goal is preparing to submit a pre-IND (Investigational New Drug) meeting request with the U.S. FDA in calendar Q1 of 2021, and to present all elements of the Company’s clinical program design in order to receive their guidance and advice. 🇺🇸
The Company also intends to submit a Clinical Trial Application (CTA) to Health Canada in order to obtain additional insight and options for the Company’s planned clinical research program.
B) U.S. FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation : 🇺🇸
Breakthrough Therapy designation is a process designed to expedite the development and review of drugs that are intended to treat a serious condition where preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over available therapy on a clinically significant endpoint(s).
The Company plans to file an application with the U.S. FDA for a Breakthrough Therapy designation as soon as possible. ( points to be noted ) 📌
6) Manufacturing : 🎯
Algernon is currently engaged in discussions with a Health Canada and U.S. FDA approved drug manufacturing company that has the experience and required licensure for the manufacturing and handling of DMT.
7 ) CRO’s : 🎯
Algernon has retained CRO Clinical Development Solutions (“CDS”), to support all aspects of the investigational brochure, study protocol and Pre-IND and IND application with the U.S. FDA as well as the CTA with Health Canada. CDS will provide high-level oversight and management of all clinical trials.
The Company has also retained Novotech to conduct a feasibility study for Algernon to conduct all or part of its DMT stroke clinical research program in Australia. The Company has currently engaged Novotech for its Phase 2 clinical study for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and chronic cough as well as COVID-19. Australia is a favoured country for clinical research because of its government supported 43.5% refundable tax credit program.🇦🇺
Algernon is also exploring conducting its DMT clinical research program in other countries as well.
8 ) Latest Update : 🎯
AGNPF a clinical stage pharmaceutical development company, is pleased to announce that Algernon’s CEO Christopher J. Moreau and CSO Dr. Mark Williams, will be discussing the Company’s New DMT Stroke Clinical Research Program on an upcoming BioPub webcast.
The BioPub webcast was held Wednesday February 3, 2021 hosted by Dr. KSS at Noon EST. The Company invites interested shareholders, investors, members of the media and the public to listen to the interview free of charge.
About BioPub :
BioPub.co is a biotech investment discussion website.
9 ) Final verdict: 🤝 Now just to Cut it short i will finish this dd by providing few good news about Algernon Pharmaceuticals- 📰
Doctor says ‘ The medicine fights the cytokine storm — a potentially lethal immune overreaction to the coronavirus infection that is believed to be responsible for much of the deaths associated with the disease. This is what AGNPF does, the Israel drug has just completed phase 1, and we are ahead going into phase 3. ✅
Details Here : https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-israeli-drug-cured-moderate-to-serious-covid-cases-within-days-hospital/
👉Another doctor saying good things : Key portion of the article.... 🤝
But there is hope. Westchester is among a few hospitals around the world studying a new drug.
Dr. Jose Suarez: “So we’re doing a trial with Algernon, a medication called Ifenprodil, which has been around since the ’70s, and we’re starting to use it on COVID patients, and it’s a potent anti-inflammatory.” It’s hoped the drug will reduce the scarring of lung tissue which has led to so many long term problems.
Right now, it’s only being used on critically ill patients, and Dr. Suarez says the results are looking good.
Dr. Jose Suarez: “These patients are not getting that scarring that we usually see with the COVID patients, and their reactions to the treatment is phenomenal.”
Dr. Suarez says 10 patients who have received the drug have recovered from COVID without the scarring, and he believes studies like this one provide hope for future COVID patients.
👉 So here it goes Finally i can say that , Algernon can do really great in the future as their trial results are till now very positive : 🤝💎🚀
Ticker : Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CSE: AGN) (FRANKFURT: AGW) (OTCQB: AGNPF) 🍭 Their website: http://algernonpharmaceuticals.com/ ✅
This is for only Long time holders, short time holders may not find any gains anytime soon but it has potential so HOLDING till future can be Huge ! 🤝💎 🚀🤽‍♂️
Watch out LegendaryPennyPickers ! 💪🏻🧘🏻‍♂️💎🚀

Everyone knows the infamous "Capitalist Death Toll" so I put it on myself to debunk all of the Commies' "arguments" one by one so follow along with me boys and girls...
"The Death Toll"
The Number System I will be going by

1. First off Imperialism and Authoritarianism isn't exclusive to Capitalism neither it is to Socialism, but on a side note my definition of Death Toll isn't by Authoritarianism but by Death by Economic System, but if the Economic System brings forth Authoritarianism I would count it.
2. See #1
3. All the Famines listed were caused by Government Intervention
4. Again See #1
5. Mussolini and Franco were Fascists and considering how they opposed capitalism (Source) this is not due to capitalism and if you somehow prove they are see #1
6. Again See #1
7. See #5
8. First off evidence shows Israel did not murder Palestinians and so this is false and if it was I would just revert you too #1
9. Wars and Political Anarchy are considered Capitalist now? While you might attribute this to Anarcho-Capitalism but according to Hans-Hermann Hoppe the Covenant Communities (Entities to replace modern-day states) would have Authority and handle crimes and such, something Somalia does not have.
10. Oh yes a society where you are forced to do labor and there is no free enterprise is capitalist
11. See #9
12. See #1 also a Society where you can not travel freely or engage in Free Enterprise based on your race is capitalist totallyyyyy
13. See #1
14. Nazis were not Capitalist Source 1 Source 2 and if they were then see #1
15. Political Instability and Governmental Weakness was the main cause
16. See #9 and secondly, the Soviets slightly caused WW2 by helping Germany invade Poland
17. Caused due to the government's incompetence
18. Unlike common belief, the Industrial Revolution was actually prosperous and actually raised the standard of living. While there were some crappy things about it for the most part it helped the people exponentially. (Source Timestamp 8:57)
19. *Sigh* see #1
20. Again Fascists were not Capitalists see #5 and #14
21. No comment what so ever
22. Poverty exists no matter what system you are in. Secondly, most of these instances occur in Africa which was colonized, and an Imperialistic system where the state takes what it wants and where free enterprise does not exist is totally Capitalist.
23. India was socialist and is just now reforming similar to China
24. Stalin and Marx smoked
25. Bonus (Great Depression): While it was caused due to the market crashing, the tides and balance of wealth and power are common throughout history. At first, North Korea was the Leading Korean state, in everything from the economy to the infrastructure and quality of life, and well now look at it. Also, FDR extended the Depression for 7 Years because of his New Deal Policies according to UCLA

Thank you for coming with me on this not so wonderful ride, we probably lost some brain cells and gained a couple of chromosomes, but it was all worth it to debunk these points! Right! Right?
(I spent too much time on this)

This post is mod-approved and I hope it's helpful.
My name is Jared A. Brock and today is my 35th birthday. It’s been a wild ride: I’ve walked across hot coals, swam up an underground river by candlelight, eaten bull’s testicles, and roasted marshmallows on flowing lava.
I’ve written three books, directed four films, published 400+ articles everywhere from Esquire to The Guardian to TIME Magazine, road-tripped through 45 American states and nine Canadian provinces, helped get some laws changed, and traveled to forty countries including North Korea and the Vatican.
I’ve enjoyed nearly thirteen years of marriage to my seventh-grade sweetheart, and we’ve been blessed to fundraise hundreds of thousands for charity. Though not without tons of mistakes and some major setbacks — financially, physically, emotionally, spiritually — it’s been a pretty decent trip so far.
I’m lucky, blessed, downright spoiled. And even though I certainly don’t claim to be wise in any way, shape, or form, here are 35 things I wish I’d learned far sooner. None of these are rules or commands for you to follow, just personal reflections from a decade of journaling. I hope they save you a lot of time, energy, struggle, and life:

1. “Save the best for last” is terrible advice.

A French monk taught me this one. Every morning, I put on the newest pair of socks in my drawer. Why wear the rattiest pair? When I sit down to eat, I eat the tastiest bits first. Why let them get cold? After every shower, I put on my favorite clean t-shirt. I have a great bottle of 10-year-old Laphroaig scotch in my cupboard, but I probably won’t drink it for months because I received two bottles of reactor-aged Lost Spirits single malt for Christmas.
Why? Because life is hard enough and we aren’t promised tomorrow. This doesn’t mean we should throw caution to the wind and “live in the moment” at all times, but it does mean we should try to find the golden middle and glean a little bit of pleasure from every day we’re blessed to live. “Save the best for last” is poverty-mentality thinking. It expects worse in the future. Enjoy the best right now — in your marriage, parenting, work, travel, faith, friendship, contribution. Keep all the chips on the table. Be ready at all times to leave without regret.

2. Tools use us.

A hammer literally cannot hit a nail without using a human.A saw cannot cut through a board without using a human.A phone cannot deliver ads without using a human.

3. Avoid false dichotomies.

When given two great options, choose both.When given two horrible options, choose neither.

4. Failure is overcome by one word.

“Next.”

5. Give yourself a shove.

The best way to eat more candy and drink more vodka is to leave them side-by-side on the kitchen counter.
You get it. Willpower is useless. Instead, line up a series of little nudges to automatically get you through your day. If you want to work out, leave your shorts by the door or your cleats in your fridge. My blue diode glasses rest on top of my laptop so I have to protect my eyes before logging online. I can’t not see my vitamins when I brush my teeth, or chia seeds when I reach for the Brita. There’s a book beside my bed, toilet, desk, and car’s gear shifter.
Line up enough nudges and you can shove yourself in the right direction.

6. Awkward is awesome.

My best friend says that The Office gave society a beautiful gift: the ability to embrace cringe. When you meet someone new and it’s slightly weird, pretend you’re Michael Scott. Just glory and bask in the discomfort.
You can awkward-proof your life by being bold: Ask for discounts. Ask for refunds. Ask for phone numbers. Ask for pay raises. Ask inappropriate questions at inappropriate times. Lather yourself in awkward and pretty soon nothing sticks.

7. Ambition is ruinous for your happiness.

Most goal-setters (myself included) live much of life in anticipation of tomorrow, and when that day arrives, they’re either disappointed by their failures or underwhelmed by their successes.
Instead: trust the process. Whiskey, pasta, bread, beer, and cereal all require just two ingredients — wheat and water — but the outcome is completely different based on the process. Identity precedes action. Determine what you want to be, then determine the process that will get you there every single time.

8. The Marines were right: slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

As teenagers, my friend Tyler and I were in a hurry to get somewhere quickly so we drove 120+ miles per hour for forty-five straight minutes before nearly crashing when the speed burned a footlong gash through the tire. By the time we replaced it with a spare, we were late to our destination by more than an hour.
But nevermind driving. Pump the life-brakes sometimes, or at least, let off the gas. You might get there faster.

9. Most “leaders” aren’t leaders.

Celebrities, politicians, and book-hocking business gurus all call themselves leaders. They’re not.
Real leadership is influence that serves. True leaders are selfless and servant-hearted. They put the best interests of others ahead of their own. Politics and media, by comparison, attracts sociopaths like flies to firelight. Never give power to those who seek it. Nearly everyone worth following is dead.

10. Old people know better.

Honoring our elders is one of the most underrated practices in our newness-obsessed society. Sure, there are a ton of old crazy far-right conspiracy theorists, but there are also good people who have survived four wars, six recessions, and twelve presidents and are somehow still smiling. Get to know them.
Also: meet your old-person self. I try to invent a new word every week — one of them is preflection. To ponder the present through the eyes of your future self. Take an hour in silence to listen to your eighty-year-old self. They might know something you don’t.

11. Fire all your employees.

The employer-employee relationship creates an unhealthy power dynamic between humans that simply didn’t exist when we worked cooperatively to feed our clan or village. I love my work life so much more now that I only work with independent entrepreneurs who are my equals. For me, it’s either a one-man show (my writing business), an equal partnership (my film company), or a co-operative endeavor. Life’s too short to be a boss or be bossed around.

12. Accept that you are a voracious locust of doom.

Nail a roll of paper to the wall and write down everything you consume for a year — food, toilet paper, electricity, car fuel, movies, music, social media content, other people’s time, everything. See what I mean?
Saint Augustine said that the human heart can only fully be satisfied by one thing aside from God himself: everything. All the sex, all the money, all the power, all the possessions, all the glory. All of it. Nothing short of everything could ever fully satiate the human heart. We are wired for more.
Understanding this truth is the first step toward real contentment.

13. Forget what the market wants.

Listen to your gut. Your body knows the difference between good and great. Someone said you should never record a song or code an app or write an article unless it makes you laugh, cry, or orgasm. If an idea doesn’t move you, it won’t move an audience, no matter how “commercial” you think it is.

14. Happiness isn’t the purpose of life.

Hitler really was following his bliss by offing millions of Jews. I’m sure Jeffrey Dahmer genuinely enjoyed the taste of human flesh. Bernie Madoff seemed content to bilk charities for decades.
Happiness isn’t the purpose of life. It’s not even in the top ten. Happiness is a seasonal fruit, not a foundational root. Find firm and fertile ground.

15. There is no ugly.

My grandpa re-proposed to my grandma on their fiftieth wedding anniversary and called her the most beautiful woman he’s ever known. Old wrinkly grandma? Yes. Because we choose our definition of beauty through our thoughts, disciplines, habits, and patterns, be they conscious or otherwise.

16. We are what we consume.

The statistical average American is a walking bodybag of sugar, alcohol, caffeine, porn, pills, and digital stimulus. Imagine how different life would be if our only inputs were nature, sleep, sunlight, organic food, and embodied human interaction?
Guard your inputs carefully.

17. We’re going to die quite soon.

Make sure you live first. Practicing memento mori will help.

18. Fame is poison.

One in four Gen Zers thinks they’ll be famous by age 25. One in 3.9999999 Gen Zers are going to have a miserably disappointing life.
Why do people desire the attention of strangers? Because we all need to love and be loved, to know and be known, but are too afraid to risk personal heartbreak to seek it out. Attention is not affection. Influence is not intimacy.

19. Boomers are to blame for half our troubles.

The Me Generation took a free ride at the planet’s expense and is hellbent on taking the rest of it with them. They’re statistically low on empathy — blame the lead, asbestos, and hairspray if you must — but at least acknowledge the reality that life is hard for everyone, and no one has it easier.

20. Children are dope.

Kids are the blood transfusion in our sick system. We need to stop manipulating, brainwashing, colonizing, and propagandizing them, and learn from them instead.

21. It doesn’t have to hurt.

Joy is a choice.

22. Watch comedy before calls and meetings.

Five minutes of gut-busting laughter will prime you for even the most tedious conference call. Your co-workers and customers all have tough lives like everybody else, so brighten their day by pre-brightening your own.

23. No ragrets.

Tattoo it on your neck. Most people play it far too safe. Instead: optimize your life for the least number of regrets and the most amount of selfless contribution.

24. There are better ways to vote.

I’ve manned several local voting stations, and I’ve also hob-nobbed with politicians in Canada, America, and the UK. The reality is that they don’t work for us. They work for their corporate sponsors and private interests.
Democracy isn’t dead. It just hasn’t happened yet, with all attempts to date being stillborn or aborted. Democracy = one voice one vote. Athens wasn’t a democracy — women, slaves, and tenants had zero say. America isn’t a democracy either — no representative system is, because it’s far too easy for private interests to buy politicians. The charade of voting is illusory. All elections are sham elections.
So what to do? Vote with your money and time and attention. One sham vote every four years versus tens of thousands of dollar-votes each year? It’s a no-brainer. My wife and I haven’t stepped foot in a Walmart in more than a decade because thousands of its suppliers are based in China, the billionaire heirs are anti-democratic tax-avoiders, and they treat their employees like indentured servants. Vote for pro-democracy third-party candidates if you must — just understand the game, and also vote in the ways that actually matter.

25. Everything easy has already been done.

So run a little further. And if it hasn’t been done, it won’t be as easy as it appears. The question to ask is: what’s been standing in the way this whole time? Achievement is all about knocking down obstacles. Just make sure what’s on the other side is rightly worth the effort.

26. Broccoli still tastes terrible.

But you’re not a child anymore. Adults do hard things.

27. Fixed-order scheduling > fixed-hour scheduling.

Discipline is great, but it’s also subject to the law of diminishing returns. Life is just too dynamic to schedule with military precision. Free yourself from the tyranny of “only people who wake up at 5 AM are successful.”
All hours are not created equal. It depends on your sleep drive and chronotype. Know yourself. Unapologetically get some sleep, then do your best work at your best time in your best state.

28. “Freedom” isn’t freedom.

America wasn’t founded on freedom. America was founded on violent autonomy.
The ancient Greeks had an entirely different definition of freedom: it was the ability to choose the right regardless of circumstance.

“We talk about freedom all the time, but we’ve stopped talking about freedom a long time ago. Now we’re talking about autonomy. Freedom is different than autonomy. Freedom has boundaries. Truth is one of those boundaries. And morality is one of those boundaries. Autonomy is the ability to do whatever you want whenever you want in whatever way you want. The problem is this: If I’m autonomous and another person is autonomous, and I have preferences and those matter more than the truth, and that person has preferences and their preferences matter more than the truth, when two autonomous preference-seeking beings come together and their preferences don’t match, who is going to win? If truth is on the bottom shelf, truth won’t decide. What will decide will be power. And isn’t it ironic that in our quest for “freedom”, someone gets enslaved?” — Abdu Murray

29. Grandma didn’t use toilet paper.

She used pages from the Sears catalog. Splinter-free wasn’t available until 1935. The Romans used sponges. The Greeks used clay. Francois Rabelais recommended using “the neck of a goose.” Arabians used their left hand.
Never assume our extremely unique cultural moment is “normal.”

30. The quest for wealth is destroying life.

We need a shared global vision. My invented word for it is benevitae: the sustainable flourishing of all creation. Our collective goal should be socioenviroeconomic sustainability. Where to start? We’d do well to let biology determine ecological sustainability and real democracy to determine economic fairness. Our current trajectory is worse than the Space Shuttle Challenger.

31. Ninety-nine isn’t enough.

Water boils at 100 degrees Celcius. The difference between 99 and 100 is the difference between zero and one. Not-boiling, boiling.
Corollary: 101 doesn’t make it any more boiling.

32. Divide-and-conquer is a business model.

Near the end of high school, dozen friends and I binge-watched multiple seasons of LOST in our friend Mike’s basement. It was one of the most hilarious, riotous, enjoyable experiences we had as a group.
And it was the last show we ever watched together.
People used to go to restaurants in large numbers, to the movies by the dozen, climbing over each other for one of the limited video game controllers, packing out our churches, cheering on our sports teams by the busload. We were almost never alone, and we were far happier. Now we order in, watch Netflix, stream Minecraft, catch the highlights, watch porn, and go to bed. It’s killing us.
Resist the urge to be alone. It’s too easy, and it’s the exact opposite of what we really need. The #1 thing that’s correlated to human happiness is human togetherness.

33. Self-improvement won’t save us.

The great lie of individualist-consumerist culture is that we can improve our way to personal perfection and communal utopia. But it’s incrementalism at best.
It’s just chasing infinity.

34. We know nothing +/-.

On the scale of all that is known, and all that is knowable, our individual understanding is essentially mathematically zero. The entirety of human knowledge is a rounding error.
This is the beginning of humility.

35. The sun is not on fire

This whole list began in Texas. I was at an observatory in the Davis Mountains and it was the first time I’d paid attention to astronomy since grade school. For three decades, I’d wrongly assumed the sun was a giant ball of flames.
But there’s no fire in space because there’s no oxygen in space. It just looks like fire because of how our eyes perceive light through the atmosphere and prism.
As I stared at the real-time image of the sun on the observatory wall, I nearly wept. The sun actually looks like a giant, boiling, grey brain. And then it hit me: I have so many assumptions to set aside and so much left to learn.
So pay attention. Don’t worship the “question everything” mantra, but instead spend your life seeking truth, and wisdom, and understanding.
You know what you need to do to get where you want to be.

Hey everyone, I wanted to do a series of posts talking about the relation between the Cold War and the Israel Palestine conflict.
This first post will just be some context to what happened here, particularly what the Soviet Union did relating to the conflict.
https://www.rbth.com/history/327040-ussr-and-israel-from-friends-to-foes
The Soviet Union was the first country to recognize Israel in 1948, and the US recognized Israel a few months later.
Even before the Cold War had began, Stalin had hoped that Israel could be a strong communist ally. “From late 1944, Joseph Stalin adopted a pro-Zionist foreign policy, apparently believing that the new country would be socialist and would speed the decline of British influence in the Middle East.”
However, things quickly took a turn for the worst. “When the Israeli ambassador Golda Meir arrived in the USSR, Stalin was angered by the Jewish crowds who gathered to greet her.
He was further angered by Israel's growing alliance with the U.S. After Stalin fell out with Israel, he launched an anti-Jewish campaign within the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc.
In November 1948, he abolished the JAC, and show trials took place for some of its members. The Soviet press engaged in attacks on Zionism, Jewish culture, and "rootless cosmopolitanism", with growing levels of anti-Semitism being expressed across Soviet society.” (Wikipedia Cold War)
The USSR began to become a powerful enemy of Israel, and began funding the PLO and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Soviet-made weapons were provided to wage a war of terror against Israel.
By 1967, the Six Day war had come. The Soviets gave weapons and money to the Arabs in order to destroy Israel. There were even a few Soviet troops sent over to fight the Israelis.
As we know, Israel won. Back in the Soviet Union, “the war stirred Zionist passions among Jews in the Soviet Union, who had by that time been forcibly assimilated. Many Soviet Jews subsequently applied for exit visas and began protesting for their right to immigrate to Israel. Following diplomatic pressure from the West, the Soviet government began granting exit visas to Jews in growing numbers.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War?wprov=sfti1
“The United States' absolute support towards Israel further exacerbated relations between the Soviet Union and Israel which furthered the Soviet Union's decision to break off diplomatic ties to Israel. Other factors included the fact that Israel was considered to be an actively belligerent state towards its neighboring Arab countries that held prominence in the Soviet Union's Middle East agenda.”
Now, the United States and the USSR were clearly using the situation to advance their own agendas. Peace could have been achieved by now had the USSR not helped and led the Arabs during the Six Day War.
You may be wondering, How does this relate to the current conflict?
Well, notice how all of the countries that still do not recognize Israel are Middle Eastern, mostly Arab, and the ones that are not Middle Eastern are communist. North Korea and Cuba in particular. These two viewed Israel as an “imperialist satellite”. They were both helped and inspired by the Soviets, and that’s how they are enemies of Israel today.
You may also notice how many people who hate Israel today happen to be alt-left communists. There are plenty of them in the United States government, who both hate Israel and hope socialism spreads. Tlaib, Omar, Sarsour, there are so many of them that despise Israel.
This is concerning. Nobody clearly cares about the Israel-Palestine conflict, it is viewed as an opportunity to make the world as the Soviets intended. That’s why you don’t see anyone calling for the destruction of Iraq and Saudi Arabia, friends of the Soviets, but what you see are people calling for the destruction of Israel, the enemy of the Soviet Union.
It makes you think, maybe the Israel-Palestine conflict is much bigger than what we thought it is. Maybe it is a continuation of the Cold War, as once again, it’s the West vs the Arabs, and right now, the West is losing.

No disrespect intended by this question. I know we are very privileged to live in a free and wealthy society. That being said, the image that we have of North Korea seems so horrible in the media, as well as what some defectors have said. They make the place seem like hell on earth where there is nothing but suffering. If it truly is so unbearably hard though how was the regime able to hold power for so long? Just wondering if North Korea is more nuanced and of a spectrum, compared to all the doom and gloom we've been shown?