March 11, 2025
James Carse’s The Religious Case Against Belief provides a fascinating framework for analyzing political rhetoric, particularly that of Donald Trump’s recent address to Congress. While Carse focuses on religious contexts, his insights about belief systems, boundaries, and poetic authority offer valuable tools for understanding Trump’s speech and the political moment it represents.
Boundaries
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Trump’s address exemplifies what Carse would recognize as a mature belief system. It creates clear boundaries between supporters and opponents, establishes Trump as the ultimate authority, and provides a comprehensive explanation of America’s problems and their solutions.
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February 17, 2025
Dear XXX University Administrators,
I am writing to express my concerns about current copyright policies.
The landscape of academic publishing and information access has transformed with the
advent of artificial intelligence. Institutional policies remain rooted in an outdated
paradigm. Recent developments highlight this disconnect: major AI companies are
training language models on vast collections of academic literature and books.
As reported in January 2025, both American and foreign companies are using bulk text collections.
This technological revolution in how knowledge is processed and utilized demands a fresh
examination of our approach to academic access. While I fully support protecting
intellectual property rights and compensating creators fairly, the current system
creates barriers to legitimate academic inquiry and learning.
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December 21, 2024
This https://oregonstatecannabis.org/thc/delta-8 is a travesty.
We don’t make lettuce illegal because it might be contaminated
with salmonella. We regulate it. We should be doing the same
for Federally legal hemp-derived cannabinoids. The state can
mandate independent lab testing for contaminants.
October 3, 2024
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-170/issue-129/extensions-of-remarks-section/article/E809-3
Summary of the letter:
- The PATH Caucus was created to raise awareness about the therapeutic potential of psychedelic and entactogenic drugs for mental health conditions.
- The Caucus is seeking input on implementing programs and policies for novel therapies using these substances.
- The Caucus aims to gather input from the public, those who have received psychedelic-assisted therapies, and stakeholders in the behavioral health ecosystem.
- The Caucus acknowledges the cultural significance of certain psychedelic substances and seeks input from indigenous communities.
- The Caucus is interested in input on risk mitigation frameworks, including public education, substance misuse prevention, and safety monitoring strategies.
- The Caucus is seeking input on how to support states in developing infrastructures and service delivery systems for these therapies.
- The Caucus is interested in input on how to ensure equitable access to these therapies.
- The Caucus is seeking input on data standards and repositories for collecting data on the use of these substances.
- The Caucus is seeking input on how to protect public health and safety when implementing these novel therapies.
Response:
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September 17, 2024
2025 Jan 08 UPDATE: OLCC clarified that Oregon prohibits the sale of artificially derived cannabinoids. There is no prohibition against possession. You can verify this by visiting Chapter 845 and searching for “penalty.”
Oregon’s approach to regulating synthetically derived cannabinoids has evolved significantly in recent years. Initially, the focus was primarily on controlling their sale and distribution, while possession was treated as a minor infraction under Measure 110, which broadly decriminalized drug possession.
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January 12, 2024
Rick Doblin/MAPS calls entheogen-based religious claims “bogus” at Cannadelic 2023.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/rick-doblin-maps-96044704
Rick has done such great work. Maybe there is some misunderstanding?
December 18, 2023
Drug regulation should not be a criminal matter, but addressed by health care providers. I urge the DEA to drop this attempt to schedule more substances.
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Personal Liberty: At the heart of the decriminalization movement lies the principle of individual autonomy. Adults should have the right to choose what they put into their own bodies, as long as their actions don’t harm others. Criminalizing personal drug use infringes on this fundamental freedom, treating individuals as criminals for making private choices.
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December 5, 2023
The dangerous rift between open and classified research.
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By Kate Brown
In 1987, a year after the Chernobyl accident, the US Health Physics Society met in Columbia, Maryland. Health physicists are scientists who are responsible for radiological protection at nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons plants, and hospitals. They are called on in cases of nuclear accidents. The conference’s keynote speaker came from the Department of Energy (DOE); the title of his talk drew on a sports analogy: “Radiation: The Offense and the Defense.” Switching metaphors to geopolitics, the speaker announced to the hall of nuclear professionals that his talk amounted to “the party line.” The biggest threat to nuclear industries, he told the gathered professionals, was not more disasters like Chernobyl and Three Mile Island but lawsuits. After the address, lawyers from the Department of Justice (DOJ) met in break-out groups with the health physicists to prepare them to serve as “expert witnesses” against claimants suing the US government for alleged health problems due to exposure from radioactivity issued in the production and testing of nuclear weapons during the Cold War. That’s right: the DOE and the DOJ were preparing private citizens to defend the US government and its corporate contractors as they ostensibly served as “objective” scientific experts in US courts.
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September 10, 2023
I spent about a decade in the Southeast. I lived in Charlottesville, VA from 2011 to 2017 and in Richmond, VA from 2017 to 2021. Although I identify as one of the most privileged demographics, a white heterosexual man, I suffered from the racism of the Southeast. There is a subtle vibe of cruelty that taints everything from wealthy suburbs to the decaying downtown. I am so glad to leave that place.
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September 6, 2023
Bruce Levine is one of my personal heros.
Interviewed by Mollie Adler on August 22, 2023
