Weed Psychosis is exploding in America (but nobody warned us)
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
(African Diaspora News Channel) Feb. 10, 2026: Rosemarie Havsom reports: Marijuana (from the Chinese mahua,* not Spanish "Mary Jane," weed, pot, the Devil's cabbage, cannabis, THC/CBD) is being sold as “safe,” “natural,” and “harmless” — but emergency rooms across America are seeing a disturbing surge in weed-induced psychosis, paranoia, hallucinations, schizophrenia and violent breaks from reality. This isn’t about old-school [2% THC] weed. Today’s high-THC products are 10–30x stronger than what past generations used — and the brain is paying the price.
*According to our botany and plant medicine teacher, USC's Dr. Adams, who is fluent in Chinese and whose wife is Chinese, our word "ma-rijuana" (potent strain of hemp) comes from the Chinese word ma, including mahua (麻花), mafen (麻蕡), and mabo (麻勃), referring to specific parts of the male and female flowers of a cannabis plant with differing cannabinoid ratios. More
Don't smoke drugs, Kids, because according to good Dr. Gabor Mate if one has early childhood traumas, one will become addicted to its use and abuse.
This video segment was produced by the African Diaspora News Channel team. All content is human-generated and delivered. Connect with Rosemarie: @havsom
Why we try to control everything – and why it never works – The Buddha's answer
(Buddhism Podcast) April 9, 2025: Buddhism Explained.
This podcast explores a quiet habit that many of us carry — the habit of trying to CONTROL everything in life.
Through simple language and gentle reflection, we look at why the mind/heart holds on, how this creates tension and stress, and what begins to change when we stop forcing things.
With stories from the Buddha’s life and clear examples, this talk offers a calm and thoughtful way to understand clinging, change, and the freedom that comes from letting go.
Women of Crime: nepotism from corrupt cop (police chief) dad who got her five felony charges knocked down to three misdemeanors for his beautiful, fine and upstanding princess.
One of the great problems of life is clinging (upādāna). Among all the things we cling to(that clump and cling to themselves as we imagine we are them), we are inadvertently clinging to suffering (disappointment, dukkha). There is temporary release and bliss through the meditations, the jhanas, but really letting go results from "seeing things as they truly are," which is also called "clear seeing" (vipassana).
I won $10,000,000 and have never been happier. Oh, wait, I would have burned it if I'd known
Life is short. What’s the purpose of living? | Buddhist Wisdom
(Buddhism Podcast) Buddhism Explained. Life is short — but what is it really for? This video looks into the quiet question many of us carry: Why are we here, and what gives life meaning? Using simple Buddhist wisdom, it shows how our constant chasing and avoiding can lead to deep restlessness. Instead of trying to fix life, we can learn to be fully present with it [to see it for what it really is and, seeing it, letting go and thereby being liberated from it]. The answer may not be something we find, but something we live.
00:00 - The question beneath all questions — Why ask at all?
04:03 - The Endless Cycle — chasing happiness, fleeing from sorrow
08:07 - The ripple of our actions — Why death isn’t an escape
14:40 - The Middle Path — walking through life, not around it
18:14 - The point is presence — Living the answer in this moment
Ego (Buddhism podcast) Does Buddhism approve of sex?
"This is an age in which sexual matters are discussed with great openness. There are many who are puzzled to know what the Buddhist attitude towards sex is. It is therefore to be hoped that the following guidelines may be found helpful towards an understanding. It is, of course, true to say that Buddhism, in keeping with the principle of the Middle Way, would advocate neither extreme puritanism nor extreme permissiveness. But this, as a guiding principle without further specification, may not seem sufficiently helpful for most people.
In the first place, we must distinguish between the rules undertaken by Buddhist monks [and nuns] for their own conduct and any guiding principles for lay people.
Ego (Buddhism podcast), Dec. 3, 2024 [with appropriated text uncredited to Maurice O'Connell Walshe from Buddhism and Sex, 2006 (Wheel 225, BPS.lk), as this channel often does with Ven. Thanissaro texts]; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
Why does the Buddha say letting go of sex is the most skillful thing to do with sex?
Ego (Buddhism Podcast) April 13, 2025: Buddhism Explained. Ever wonder why the Buddha considered letting go of sex the most skillful action we can take [in the Sensual Sphere]?
In this poorly worded and mildly insightful talk by American (Thai Theravada Forest Tradition monk) Ven. Thanissaro, let's explore the Buddha's teachings on sensual desire, attachment (clinging), and the profound freedom gained through a sense of urgency (samvega) non-complacency and mindfulness.
Discover how the mind creates reality through constant choices and learn practical techniques to transform commonplace attachment into extraordinary liberation.
Explore how mindfulness and concentration can help us understand and skillfully handle sexual desires and other sensual attachments.
(Of course, the strongest attachment is to views, which is what insight and wisdom are for, helping us break free of ignorance manifesting as delusions, illusions, and wrong views).
Find out why heedlessness can become our worst enemy, and how the Buddha’s path to freedom leads to a state of genuine liberation, peace, and happiness.
Let's take an enlightening journey towards mastering the minds and emotions we habitually identify with and fixate on until we're completely trapped in webs of delusion with no easy way out.
Reduced to essentials, the great debate about sex revolves, for many, around the concept of "sin." To the Puritan, indulgence in sexual activity for the sake of pleasure is evil, wicked, or as Christians say, "sinful" (i.e., displeasing to their God).
To the permissive person, this is nonsense. One probably rejects the term "sin" as meaningless and not only sees nothing "evil" in sexual pleasure but regards it as highly legitimate, perhaps as the highest pleasure there is and certainly as something to which, in principle at least, everybody has a right.
Many [American and European] people, coming from a more or less Christian background with at least some Puritanical overtones, find the true Buddhist attitude to this problem rather difficult to see. Perhaps they have never even been given a clear explanation of it, or if they have, it may have seemed too technical for them, and they have not grasped the point.
The point, in fact, is of considerable importance, so it is worthwhile attempting to make it clear. It involves a proper elementary grasp of what is meant by karma — something that many people, who may have been "Buddhists" for years, have never had.
However, we may begin more profitably by considering the word. "Sin" to a Christian is primarily thought of as a breach of their God’s commandments. This explanation is correct so far as it goes in terms of theology, but it is not applicable in Buddhism, where there are no such "commandments" upon which one can infringe.
The Buddhist precepts are undertakings given to oneself, which is something different. They are more on a par with the instruction, "Look both ways before crossing the road." Of course, there is much agreement between the content of the Five Precepts and some of the Ten Commandments, so it may be wise in many cases to behave accordingly, whichever formulation one follows.
However, there is another rendering of the word "sin" which in fact (though less well-known) comes much closer to the Buddhist view of things.
In the Bible, "sin" is a rendering of Hebrew and Greek words that literally mean "missing the mark," that is, behaving inadequately or unskillfully.
The sinner, then, is like an unskillful archer who misses what is aimed at. (Could this be the real meaning of Zen and the Art of Archery?) This comes, surely, very close to the idea of akusala karma or "unskillful action" in Buddhism.
The Pali word kamma (Sanskrit karma) literally means "action" (i.e., cetanā, "volitional deed"), which can be either skillful (kusala) or unskillful (akusala).
The results of action (karma) accrue to the doer as vipāka ("resultants"), which is pleasant when the action was skillful, unpleasant when it was unskillful. (If one looks before crossing the road, one shall get across safely, which is pleasant; if not, one may get run down, which is unpleasant).
The feelings we experience are of the nature of resultants (vipāka). They are dependent on past karma. And of course, we are continually creating fresh karma most of the time.
Gnostic Christianity on the "virgin birth"
It should be noted that the feeling of pleasure (sexual or otherwise) is not an action but a result. There is, therefore, nothing either "skillful" or "unskillful" about experiencing such a feeling, and we should therefore not regard it either as "virtuous" or "sinful." So far so good.
Such pleasant feelings can be enjoyed with a clear conscience and no guilt feeling, [Alanis]. If this were all, there would be no problem.
The Puritans would be routed and the permissive people justified. Unfortunately, there is another side to the matter.
Years ago, there was a song called "Money is the Root of all Evil." Some pointed out that it is not money, according to the Bible, but the love of money that is the root of all evil. And here is the snag. Sexual pleasure (like money) is not "evil" (or unskillful), but attachment to sexual pleasure (like the love of money) is.
If we can experience the pleasure without attachment, we are all right; if we become attached to it, we are "missing the mark." Now, of course, it is rather difficult (to put it mildly) to experience pleasure of any sort without developing attachment. Attachment is karma, unskillful karma at that. The results of that will inevitably, according to Buddhism, be something unpleasant in the future.
Many people will find this explanation novel. Some will find it puzzling. Some will undoubtedly reject it — with or without investigation — with the excuse that it is overly subtle, or arbitrary, or something of the sort.
What they mean is that they find it inconvenient. But it will repay a lot of consideration and mindful investigation. Careful study should show that it is the key to the whole problem.
The matter can also be considered in terms of the law of Dependent Origination: "Contact is the basis for the arising of feeling; feeling…of craving; craving…of clinging," and so on, the ultimate outcome being the continued process of becoming, with all the suffering that entails.
Therefore, if we wish to adjudicate between the Puritans and the permissive people, we cannot say that either side is entirely right. We might suggest that the Puritans are partly right for the wrong reasons.
Sexual indulgence is not wicked, but it may be to some degree inadvisable. Most people will not feel able to refrain altogether, nor are they being urged to, but there is merit in moderation.
Marriage
Calm down, Hun. - Don't call me Hun, you SOB!
What is the Buddhist attitude towards marriage? For many Buddhists, East and West, there is no great problem. They live a reasonably normal married life just as others do by luck or enjoying the results of favorable past karma. For others, serious problems arise. In the Christian tradition, marriage is a "sacrament." In some branches of Christianity it is treated as an unbreakable bond with a few loopholes.
Other branches of Christianity permit divorce in certain narrowly defined circumstances and of course in most countries the state permits divorce and remarriage, with or without the approval of the Church.
In Buddhism, marriage is not a "sacrament," as such a concept does not exist. And it is not any part of the functions of Buddhist monastics to join people together in wedlock (or deadlock). It is occasionally done in Japan as a modern idea in conformity with a tendency to imitate (perhaps unwisely) Christian institutions....
Sex Outside Marriage
That was awkward. - Good thing we didn't marry.
We should try to look at things calmly and clearly and, above all, responsibly. Nowadays there is pretty frank acceptance of what has always been the case, that a lot of people in fact have sexual intercourse without going through the formality of getting married (the "sin" called fornication).
No doubt there is more of it now than before because, for one thing, contraception is more effective than it formerly was and also because religious prejudices are fast breaking down.
This is a statement of fact, not of what ought or ought not to be. In the case of engaged couples, it is probably now the usual thing and is not heavily frowned on by most people. But it is not rare among couples who have not the slightest intention of getting engaged.
In the past, premarital sex was widely considered (and almost openly admitted) a good thing for young men but a bad thing for young women.
Now sexual equality has caught up. We may as well accept the fact that whatever we may think about it, preaching by older generations will, by and large, have precious little effect on the young. This is probably something most parents are worried about. More
Maurice O'Connell Walshe, Buddhism and Sex, BPS.lk; edited by Wisdom Quarterly
For adults only. Are you 18? Pretend to press here <> if you are. Otherwise, go away. Not suitable for monastic eyes.
"Sex with Sadie" (or it could've been "Sex With Emily") was a show by graphic feminist sexologist Dr. Sadie Allison (that was Rated somewhere between R, NC-17, and XXX), CEO of TickleKitty.com, a "toy" company concerning itself with base sensual pleasures of every description, the practice of villagers.
Sex or passion for Valentine's?
Happy Valentine's Day, elementary school class!
Dr. Sadie, is there Nothing Higher to Live For than [boinking, schtooping, and the ChoctawHeimlich]?
Sure there is, Wisdom Quarterly. My TEDx Talk (below) is all about fearlessgiving not mutual wham-bam-thank-you-mam'ing.
No, we'd just like an honorific title, too. What we mean by "sexy" is passionate. We're interested in Turning Passions Into Profits like that shady guru Howard Christopher, Lisa Garr's motivational speaker pal.
Wisdom Quarterly, what about turning your passion into fearless giving?
VIDEO: Nothing Higher to Live For: A Romantic View of Romantic Love Some people have nothing but romantic love to live for. It may not be bad but done out of instinct and passion. Love is sweet, and it is our greedy (lusty) nature to give in. But why do we worship relationships so ardently, and why do we stop our search for real fulfillment with it? We see no better gods than Cupid, Mara, Kama, and Eros. If love is the highest thing to live for then it is a hopeless universe, because we should see in a calm hour that Cupid's arrows thrill and make us bleed, leaving us pathetic and clingy. Where does hate come from other than a prior attachment now broken? Nothing Higher To Live For?
*Turning sexual PASSION into skillful action of Fearless Giving with Dr. Sadie
Turning sexual passion into skillful karma
Wretch, right, Dr. Sadie? - No, stretch, Dear, and get limber. - I thought you said get Limburger.
.
How can we empower real intimacy?
(TEDx Talks) How did a renowned American sex educator develop the passion for "fearless giving" (dana) that allows her to teach intimacy techniques to millions? What obstacles and prejudices did she overcome to blossom as America's Pleasure Coach? And how can we adapt her "fearless giving" model to create happiness in our own lives -- in and out of the bedroom?
In her short TEDx talk, Dr. Sadie shows how to face life's challenge with true determination, especially when one's drive to give fearlessly runs smack up against daily reality.
She offers examples from her own childhood, where intense family dysfunction, coupled with being fiercely ostracized at school for guiding girlfriends through their budding sexuality, could easily have kept her from ever being successful.
Yet, her drive to give fearlessly and passionately has led her to become one of today's leading authorities on sexuality and an award-winning sex self-help author with over two million books sold (as of 2013).
Watching Dr. Sadie enables us to discover our own inner "fearless giver." By the end of the talk, we'll know the best moment to fully embrace it.
I go to nightclubs for the restroom camaraderie
ABOUT: Dr. Sadie Allison is one of America's leading experts on human sexuality. Founder and CEO of Tickle Kitty, Inc., Dr. Sadie is the IPPY Best Sexuality Award-winning author and publisher of today's bestselling line of fun, informative, sex-help guides — the kind we wish we'd read earlier in life. Her ever-popular classics include Ride 'Em Cowgirl! and Tickle His Pickle. Dr. Sadie's mission is to empower women and men to embrace an even deeper enjoyment of their sexuality through encouragement, information, and inspiration [rather than the standard American discouragement, ignorance, and guilt/shame of our parents and teachers] — topped-off with a dash of humor.
TEDx: In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = "independently organized TED event." The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized* (*subject to certain rules and regulations).
Dr. Sadie Allison, TEDxGoldenGatePark, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Nov. 14, 2013; Vanessa (Klein Ally Show, KROQ, 2025); Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Dhr. Seven, Shauna Schwartz, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Did your date give you 'the ick'? Here's the science behind the feeling
"Ugh, eww, and ick! I'm out! H to the NO!"
The food was top-notch, the atmosphere was cozy, and my date aimed to entertain. I love a good personal story, so I invited him to relate one that he'd referenced in his profile. Good fodder for a first date, I thought.
At one point in the story, as he recounted it, a goat butted its head into an outdoor toilet that he happened to be using, shoving the door open.
You could say I got "the ick" — that feeling of disgust when someone you're dating does this one thing that you just can't get past. The term was used on Ally McBeal in the 1990s and then popularized more recently on the reality show Love Island and on Nobody Wants This.
What gives me the ick and what gives you the ick can be worlds apart. From wearing acrylic nails to laughing too loud to using a Borat voice in the middle of a make-out session, a little internet searching will reveal a whole universe of "icks."
There's an idea in psychology that all emotions, from fear to disgust, were evolutionarily advantageous traits. But is the ick really serving us now?
One theory posits that disgust evolved to protect humans from pathogens that make us sick. And that kind of makes intuitive sense: If a piece of fruit or meat smells disgusting, you probably won't want to eat it.
But Professor of Psychology Josh Rottman, who studies disgust at Franklin & Marshall College, says disgust isn't just a biological function; it's a product of our socialization. And that means if you get the ick on a date, it might be time for some self-examination.
Prof. Rottman spoke with It's Been a Minute host Brittany Luse about the psychology of disgust and the case for pushing past the ick when it comes to choosing a partner. Here are four takeaways from their conversation:
1. Little kids don't feel disgust — and that tells us something
Maybe innocence means not having disgust yet.
"Unlike many emotions that emerge within the first year of life or so, it seems like disgust doesn't really robustly come online until around 5, 6 years of age," Prof. Rottman says. (Think about the toddler who has no qualms about eating a stale Cheerio off the floor.)
If disgust were all about keeping us healthy, he says, researchers would see it in younger children. Instead, kids start experiencing disgust around the same time they start thinking about "cooties" — and who's in the "in" group and "out" group on the playground.
2. Disgust is more gut reaction than conscious thought process
If you're at the movies and you see your date pick her nose before reaching for your hand, you don't think, "This behavior is indicative of poor hygiene and lack of consideration." You just flinch and pull your hand away. This revulsion response happens almost instantly; it comes without any thought, says Prof. Rottman. And he says once you feel disgusted by something, it can be really difficult to overcome that feeling.
As host Luse of It's Been a Minute puts it, it's just "this tiny bit of disgust that you just can't look past or get over."
3. Disgust is related to social norms — often ugly ones
"I think a lot of the specific icks that people have are reflections of social norms that we might want to challenge," says Prof. Rottman.
For instance, actress Millie Bobby Brown has said her "biggest ick" is when a man holds an umbrella, because "there's something about it that just feels really pathetic."
Prof. Rottman says Brown's ick might be an "aversion to the norm violation against masculinity."
And research shows that the consequences of disgust can get a lot worse than getting rejected on a date.
Prof. Rottman says that disgust may have served an evolutionary purpose in that it could help your reputation to distance yourself from people who your group considered undesirable. "I think disgust has evolved as a way to really embody a lot of xenophobia and bigotry," he says.
"There's a lot of good evidence that genocides and a lot of horrific things that have happened in society have been correlated in some way with disgust," Prof. Rottman says.
Tables turn on racist/implicitly biased Karen
Nazi princesses promoted by racist Disney
For example, Nazi propaganda used terms like "parasites" and "lice" to describe Jewish people. Disgust has been leveraged throughout history to create the feeling that certain people are "impure" or less than human.
"The ick is probably a much more minor version of that," Rottman says.
4. It's worth trying to get past the ick
Why can't I find my one and only perfect prince?
Prof. Rottman says that while it's difficult to completely shake a feeling of disgust about another person's particular behavior, getting the ick doesn't have to be a deal breaker.
And, he adds, there's good reason not to give it too much weight in dating: "I think…these feelings of ickiness are not going to be great signals of whether someone's going to be good for us and a good partner."
He shared that he even gets the ick from his partner from time to time — when she walks around barefoot in the garden, developing big calluses on her feet. "I think I can realize that…she's great in so many other ways, that that shouldn't be something to drive me away," Prof. Rottman says. (The professor said he got his wife's permission before sharing this story.)
As host Luse suggested to Prof. Rottman, perhaps "love is persevering against the ick."
So next time you get the ick, consider whether that says more about you than the other person.
And Luse says on It's Been a Minute, maybe "it's a you problem."
Corey Antonio Rose, B.A. Parker, Barton Girdwood, Liam McBain, and Jasmine Romero contributed to this story. Lead photo: munandme/Getty Images/iStockphoto
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