Zappos CEO’s final months describe drug-addicted psychosis in court documents(8newsnow.com)
8newsnow.com
Zappos CEO’s final months describe drug-addicted psychosis in court documents
https://www.8newsnow.com/i-team/i-team-tony-hsiehs-final-months-described-as-drug-addicted-psychosis-as-family-fights-off-lawsuits-staking-claim-to-estate-zappos-las-vegas-nevada/
132 comments
> They often say that there's no one more hopeless than a rich junky. If they have a very large amount of money, they never hit rock bottom until they're dead.
She’s fortunately still alive, but when I divorced my ex-wife over her substance abuse, she walked away with ~$1M in cash.
It took three years of partying, but she finally ran out of money, hit rock bottom, went to AA, and is actually looking for a job.
It was sad to watch, and infuriating to be forced to be her enabler by the state after she’d already cost me so much. No-fault divorce is a broken system.
She’s fortunately still alive, but when I divorced my ex-wife over her substance abuse, she walked away with ~$1M in cash.
It took three years of partying, but she finally ran out of money, hit rock bottom, went to AA, and is actually looking for a job.
It was sad to watch, and infuriating to be forced to be her enabler by the state after she’d already cost me so much. No-fault divorce is a broken system.
"No-fault divorce is a broken system."
Or was it a community property state?
Or was it a community property state?
It’s an “equitable distribution” state; property is divided without regard to marital misconduct or fault.
For whatever it's worth, those laws were built around an idea of marriage that's very different than the institution as it exists today.
Maybe it'd help if states were required to provide marriage applicants with property allocation statistics from the last year of divorces, and list every penalty and rule that would execute upon divorcing their spouse. Oh, showing how much money people pay in alimony, and how much divorce lawyers rake in would be good, too.
Maybe fewer people would get married. Maybe it'd prompt some changes.
Maybe it'd help if states were required to provide marriage applicants with property allocation statistics from the last year of divorces, and list every penalty and rule that would execute upon divorcing their spouse. Oh, showing how much money people pay in alimony, and how much divorce lawyers rake in would be good, too.
Maybe fewer people would get married. Maybe it'd prompt some changes.
That's a pre-nup
More like a codified collection of what the default pre-nup is if you don't have one customized. Probably more than 80% of the married people I know fell into it without a whole lot of intention and planning, and it shows. "Marriage, because baby" is like compound interest, except it's compound stupid.
> No-fault means what?
> One of them got a "guru" who he paid several thousands of dollars a day to. The "guru" fed him Ayahuasca and people who visited the rich guy at his house said he had removed all furniture from his house, was wearing robes and said he could control the winds with his thoughts.
I think we have this acquaintance in common.
I think we have this acquaintance in common.
Bill Murray said try being rich before being rich and famous. I'm rethinking the rich part.
Rich is better than famous. Plenty of people are quietly rich and basically just go about their business and live their lives, secure in the knowledge that there's money in the bank if they need it.
There's no such thing as quietly famous. Many of pitfalls of being rich & famous, like greedy enablers and a larger-than-life lifestyle, stem from the "famous" part.
There's no such thing as quietly famous. Many of pitfalls of being rich & famous, like greedy enablers and a larger-than-life lifestyle, stem from the "famous" part.
The key is to slowly become rich. Tony Hsieh died at 46, around the time most pre-rich people haven't even made it out of upper middle class. Amass wealth slowly and your poor grifting friends will slowly be replaced with rich friends whose grifts will at least have a chance of return.
You see many examples of quiet famous people from Letterman, Carson, Conan or most politicians or most actors like Nicole Kidman. The ones making the headlines are a small percentage.
> This Zappos article is like the whole catalog of rich people problems in a nutshell: drugs, parasitic relationships, arrests, and dumb accidents.
Not all "rich people" have these problems. You just don't tend to hear about the ones who live normal lives.
Not all "rich people" have these problems. You just don't tend to hear about the ones who live normal lives.
I don't think he was referring to rich "normal" people. The types of problems you can only have if you have a lot of money. Most people can't afford to be on 2 week drug binges. And you probably need a job to pay for your drug habit and most of those jobs like being a forklift operator come with mandatory drug testing.
But if you have 200 million to play with then that is a whole nother ball game.
But if you have 200 million to play with then that is a whole nother ball game.
Lol, do you how many homeless drug addicts there are? It doesn’t take that much money to go off the rails and sustain a habit. Even if you’re going broke and can’t get the expensive stuff, there’s always alcohol which can be had for as little as $1.50 for a 24oz.
Homeless junkies and criminal junkies don’t act like Zappos guy did
Woah, quite a sheltered life you live. I’ve seen people spazz out ion all kinds of drugs and alcohol just on the subway.
The point being made is that it’s hard to get by and be deep in more one of those situations if you’re poor.
Poor people don't get deep into drugs, aren't involved in numerous parasitic relationships, don't get arrested or do dumb things? That's only something rich people get deeply involved in?
Of course not, it's just no one cares when a poor person does it. The reason we care about when rich people do it is precisely because we don't expect someone who is rich and seems to have it all to get into these situations, and the reality is that for the most part, they don't.
Of course not, it's just no one cares when a poor person does it. The reason we care about when rich people do it is precisely because we don't expect someone who is rich and seems to have it all to get into these situations, and the reality is that for the most part, they don't.
It can get a lot worse when you have the money to enable drug use, have money to be parasitized, have lawyers for any arrest to pay a meaningless fine, or house-arrest on your compound(s) instead of jail time, pay for any accidents and pay to do dumb(er) things.
So yeah, rich people can get wayyyyy deeper in any and all of those than poor people.
A rich person is just a better resourced poor person. I’d argue their quality of life isn’t much different except one can buy their way out of any problem while the other has to suffer it directly.
So yeah, rich people can get wayyyyy deeper in any and all of those than poor people.
A rich person is just a better resourced poor person. I’d argue their quality of life isn’t much different except one can buy their way out of any problem while the other has to suffer it directly.
I have never tried any drugs/alcohol, but I'm curious about Ayahuasca. Don't know anyone personally who has been through the ceremony, but I've listened to a bunch of interviews, read a bunch of articles about it.
It mostly seems legit, but I have no clue. Anyone here tried it? What was the experience like?
It mostly seems legit, but I have no clue. Anyone here tried it? What was the experience like?
If you’ve never tried any drugs/alcohol then I would strongly recommend not do it. I’ve tried plenty of drugs but ayahuesca is still something that I would have to think about before trying it.
Seconded.
It's a door that's better off not opened.
Of course, it's hard to know really good advice until you're well beyond not having taken it.
It's a door that's better off not opened.
Of course, it's hard to know really good advice until you're well beyond not having taken it.
Ayahuasca, hmm, a drug you might choose to use for health reasons in the same way a car accident might re-align your back, it's extremely dangerous to use and anyone who tells you different is probably trying to sell something that cannot be bought.
I've seen enough intelligent and otherwise reasonable people go down that road and not come back that I would caution you to be very, very wary and to suspect that anybody that invites you to join them in their trips is a lobster looking to pull you down into the pot, not to lift you out of it.
Googling [ayahuasca experience reports] should provide a better mix of writeups (including both rigorously-reported mainstream articles & deep-forum anecdotes) than any number of responses inline here could.
Try shrooms or acid before Ayahuasca. DMT is something not to be taken lightly
I know someone who, for all practical purposes, destroyed their life after an Ayahuasca trip. He was a VP at a major international company and is now a new age hippie.
Depends how you consider what is your life. If your life is work, yeah, stepping down from some VP-role looks pretty terrible. When your life doesn't revolve around work, you have enough money, etc... Better to fuck off from that VP position.
Personally how I view myself destroying my life is by trying to climb the corporate career ladder. There is nothing in there except for money. Your morals, your values, everything that makes you "you" goes out of the whack when you are selling your soul to a corporation.
No, thank you.
Personally how I view myself destroying my life is by trying to climb the corporate career ladder. There is nothing in there except for money. Your morals, your values, everything that makes you "you" goes out of the whack when you are selling your soul to a corporation.
No, thank you.
It sounds like he found something and left the rat race. Was his life destroyed?
Our lives in this backwater rock are short, and our acts meaningless in a universal scale. Leaving or staying in the rat race are equally valid life choices.
Is he less happy now? A burden for anyone else?
lol at the money junkies trying to justify there high over the people who use substances to give them delusions of grandeur.
> They often say that there's no one more hopeless than a rich junky. If they have a very large amount of money, they never hit rock bottom until they're dead.
Why doesn't anyone make the argument of quality vs. quantity when discussing such examplers
5 years spent as a rich junkie must be worth a lifetime as a 9-5 cubicle worker
Why doesn't anyone make the argument of quality vs. quantity when discussing such examplers
5 years spent as a rich junkie must be worth a lifetime as a 9-5 cubicle worker
"5 years spent as a rich junkie must be worth a lifetime as a 9-5 cubicle worker."
This claim demands great evidence.
This claim demands great evidence.
I don't think there is a measurement who'd satisfy the requirement of statistical evidence.
Empirically it seems to me that people nowadays are more scared of death than they are euphoric about life.
All sorts of problems happen when this condition presents itself in vast pockets of the population.
The fact that nobody makes a quality vs. quantity analysis is further proof of this
Empirically it seems to me that people nowadays are more scared of death than they are euphoric about life.
All sorts of problems happen when this condition presents itself in vast pockets of the population.
The fact that nobody makes a quality vs. quantity analysis is further proof of this
> Empirically it seems to me that people nowadays are more scared of death than they are euphoric about life.
Have you not talked to a teenager lately?
Have you not talked to a teenager lately?
Teenagers today are definitely less rebellious and less hedonistic: they have less sex and take much less intoxicants than previous generations.
I don't agree that it's because they're "scared of death," but they do seem to be less euphoric about life, for whatever reason.
I don't agree that it's because they're "scared of death," but they do seem to be less euphoric about life, for whatever reason.
John McAfee is not here to testify but I think the last few years of his life are certainly evidence - whether for or against that proposition I’m not sure
Toward end, he apparently said he regretted nothing.
That's different from not being sad etc. He can still be satisfied that his decisions were best they could be within his parameters.
That's different from not being sad etc. He can still be satisfied that his decisions were best they could be within his parameters.
In theory if you value variety of experiences than 5 years as junkie may be better outcome than the a desk job.
Most people don't value variety all that much which is why 9-5 workers are lot more common than perpetual travellers etc.
Most people don't value variety all that much which is why 9-5 workers are lot more common than perpetual travellers etc.
Romantics yearn for a life where the highs are higher and the lows are lower... until they hit that first low.
Not saying that your "may" is invalid but in practice I don't think most junkies vary their experience all that much. Getting high/stoned/intoxicated/etc every day does not variety make.
Of course, you're assuming that a quality life is measured by the amount of worldly pleasures experienced.
Hedonists vs Utilitarians in a nutshell.
[deleted]
Tell that to your (non-existent) kids
> According to friends, Hsieh used “as many as 50 cartridges of nitrous oxide a day, often in public, or during 'meetings' with people
I mean, it’s a lot, but I’m surprised it’s not higher. Each cartridge yields a minute, maybe two, of intoxication before a quick return to baseline.
Probably less intoxication than hits of ketamine with its half life of 1-2 hours.
But it may have been on top of other substance use. Nitrous use is just very overt.
The chronic nitrous use will make it extremely difficult to maintain adequate vitamin B12 levels. Nitrous is very effective at deactivating it, and diet doesn’t have a ton. B12 deficiency has lots of nasty neurological effects: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_B12_deficiency
Even passive (same room) exposure to nitrous oxide leads to 25% reduced b12 levels.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17951609/
Who the hell knows what else nitrous is oxidizing away over the long term.
Cartridges often have a little machine oil impurity that will add up when consuming the amount that would be in 1L of whipped cream 50x a day. Hopefully he acquired the good ones.
I mean, it’s a lot, but I’m surprised it’s not higher. Each cartridge yields a minute, maybe two, of intoxication before a quick return to baseline.
Probably less intoxication than hits of ketamine with its half life of 1-2 hours.
But it may have been on top of other substance use. Nitrous use is just very overt.
The chronic nitrous use will make it extremely difficult to maintain adequate vitamin B12 levels. Nitrous is very effective at deactivating it, and diet doesn’t have a ton. B12 deficiency has lots of nasty neurological effects: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_B12_deficiency
Even passive (same room) exposure to nitrous oxide leads to 25% reduced b12 levels.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17951609/
Who the hell knows what else nitrous is oxidizing away over the long term.
Cartridges often have a little machine oil impurity that will add up when consuming the amount that would be in 1L of whipped cream 50x a day. Hopefully he acquired the good ones.
Dissociatives (e.g., ketamine, nitrous oxide, xenon, phencyclidine, dextromethorphan in cough syrup) are too addictive, too pleasurable, and reliably produce long-lasting delusional states (e.g., as observed in John C. Lilly and Marcia Moore and Tony Hsieh).
It is disturbing to read Marcia Moore's "Journeys Into the Bright World" (http://pdf.textfiles.com/books/journeysbrightworld.pdf) where she recounts that John C. Lilly warned her to stop using ketamine. She died in the woods not long afterward, hypothermia after injecting ketamine, trying to hide her addiction from her family. John C. Lilly himself went clean after decades of delusion, but never fully recovered, mentally.
For a frank summary of the dangers, see D. M. Turner's "The Essential Psychedelic Guide". Before he died in his bathtub (after injecting ketamine), he wrote the following (https://www.ketamine.co.uk/dmturner/index.html):
On the other hand, there are other classes of psychedelics that are unambiguously good: tryptamines (e.g., psilocybin) and phenethylamines (e.g., mescaline). These drugs produce informative, useful, introspective, challenging mental states and are NOT prone to abuse. These are the valuable psychedelics.
It is disturbing to read Marcia Moore's "Journeys Into the Bright World" (http://pdf.textfiles.com/books/journeysbrightworld.pdf) where she recounts that John C. Lilly warned her to stop using ketamine. She died in the woods not long afterward, hypothermia after injecting ketamine, trying to hide her addiction from her family. John C. Lilly himself went clean after decades of delusion, but never fully recovered, mentally.
For a frank summary of the dangers, see D. M. Turner's "The Essential Psychedelic Guide". Before he died in his bathtub (after injecting ketamine), he wrote the following (https://www.ketamine.co.uk/dmturner/index.html):
"A major concern regarding safe use of Ketamine is its very high potential for psychological addiction. A fairly large percentage of those who try Ketamine will consume it non-stop until their supply is exhausted. I've seen this in friends I've known for many years who are regular psychedelic users and have never before had problems controlling their drug consumption. And I've seen the lives of several people who developed an addiction to Ketamine take downward turns."
"After about two years of once-per-week Ketamine use I even found that I had developed an addiction. Although it was less severe than what I've described above, it took considerable effort to break the cycle of repeatedly using it, even though I was aware of detrimental effects that it was causing. Since that time I've used Ketamine only occasionally, but find that I must continually exercise a high degree of will power to prevent myself from falling into a pattern of regular use. Amongst those I know who use Ketamine, I've seen very few who can use it in a balanced manner if they have access to it."
On the other hand, there are other classes of psychedelics that are unambiguously good: tryptamines (e.g., psilocybin) and phenethylamines (e.g., mescaline). These drugs produce informative, useful, introspective, challenging mental states and are NOT prone to abuse. These are the valuable psychedelics.
>On the other hand, there are other classes of psychedelics that are unambiguously good: tryptamines (e.g., psilocybin) and phenethylamines (e.g., mescaline).
I don't know that I would necessarily classify hallucinogenic psychedelics as unambiguously good. I suspect the potential negative effects are understudied and under reported. Beyond hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (admittedly rare), medium-long term induced psychosis (also probably rare), while users frequently report positive effects both short and long term, there are potentially profound psychological/neurological alterations occurring post use which may not be obviously detrimental. What further complicates the issue is that, because of the strong dependence on existing psychological state (set and setting), its quite possible that a user's culture becomes a significant confounding factor and that some groups of people may in fact be worse off after using some or all such psychedelics.
Personally, a year or two post experience I noticed that certain emotions are more apparent to my perception which honestly I would have preferred to continue ignoring.
I still suspect that for the vast majority of people hallucinogens can be positive but let's not make the mistake of preemptively asserting that they are harmless.
I don't know that I would necessarily classify hallucinogenic psychedelics as unambiguously good. I suspect the potential negative effects are understudied and under reported. Beyond hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (admittedly rare), medium-long term induced psychosis (also probably rare), while users frequently report positive effects both short and long term, there are potentially profound psychological/neurological alterations occurring post use which may not be obviously detrimental. What further complicates the issue is that, because of the strong dependence on existing psychological state (set and setting), its quite possible that a user's culture becomes a significant confounding factor and that some groups of people may in fact be worse off after using some or all such psychedelics.
Personally, a year or two post experience I noticed that certain emotions are more apparent to my perception which honestly I would have preferred to continue ignoring.
I still suspect that for the vast majority of people hallucinogens can be positive but let's not make the mistake of preemptively asserting that they are harmless.
Would you please elaborate on emotions which are more apparent then before? In email [email protected] if not in public.
What happened to Lilly? I was always curious about that.
(Side note while I have you: if your real name isn't SashaShulgin can you please email [email protected] with a different username we can rename you to? It's distracting to use a username like that if it's communicating the wrong thing.)
(Side note while I have you: if your real name isn't SashaShulgin can you please email [email protected] with a different username we can rename you to? It's distracting to use a username like that if it's communicating the wrong thing.)
Sasha and Ann Shulgin famously believed that dissociatives have no safe role in psychedelic therapy:
Is it really so confusing that I use his nickname as a handle online?
John C. Lilly died of heart failure at age 86 in Los Angeles on September 30, 2001. His remains were cremated.
"We are strongly prejudiced against psychedelic drugs which cause such mind-body separation, as we are against any drug which causes separation from feelings and emotions. However, we acknowledge that the ketamine state can be highly instructive for researchers trying to understand the functions of the human mind."
Is it really so confusing that I use his nickname as a handle online?
John C. Lilly died of heart failure at age 86 in Los Angeles on September 30, 2001. His remains were cremated.
I thought he might have had a kid named Sasha and that it might be you. So yeah, I'd say it's confusing - you have to distinguish your own point of view (no doubt entirely clear on the point) from the rest of us who are looking at this with a lot less information and widely varying assumptions. Not everyone knows that he has died, for example.
Re Lilly - sorry for not being clearer - what I'm curious about is that you seemed to imply that at a certain point he was adversely affected by his own use of dissociatives, that it had some profound effect on him, and that he never fully recovered from it. I was curious to hear more about what happened there. I'm not super familiar with his work but I read a bit and found it to be a mixture of penetratingly lucid and completely unintelligible (mostly the latter).
Re Lilly - sorry for not being clearer - what I'm curious about is that you seemed to imply that at a certain point he was adversely affected by his own use of dissociatives, that it had some profound effect on him, and that he never fully recovered from it. I was curious to hear more about what happened there. I'm not super familiar with his work but I read a bit and found it to be a mixture of penetratingly lucid and completely unintelligible (mostly the latter).
Ok, rename me to NotSashaShulgin if you must.
John C. Lilly's later books are a beautiful example of ketamine delusions and loss of contact with reality.
Quoting Wikipedia:
John C. Lilly's later books are a beautiful example of ketamine delusions and loss of contact with reality.
Quoting Wikipedia:
In 1974, Lilly's research using various psychoactive drugs led him to believe in the existence of a certain hierarchical group of cosmic entities, the lowest of which he later dubbed Earth Coincidence Control Office (E.C.C.O.) in an autobiography published jointly with his wife Antonietta (often called Toni). Lilly states that "[t]here exists a Cosmic Coincidence Control Center (CCCC) with a Galactic substation called Galactic Coincidence Control (GCC). Within GCC is the Solar System Control Unit (SSCU), within which is the Earth Coincidence Control Office (ECCO)."
> unambiguously good: tryptamines (e.g., psilocybin) and phenethylamines (e.g., mescaline).
My friends uncle died jumping off a building on acid. Not one of the psychedelics you named, but having done all three I certainly think such a drastic action is possible on mushrooms or mescaline. Whether this means they aren't unambiguously good is up for debate I guess.
My friends uncle died jumping off a building on acid. Not one of the psychedelics you named, but having done all three I certainly think such a drastic action is possible on mushrooms or mescaline. Whether this means they aren't unambiguously good is up for debate I guess.
Stupid tourists on mushrooms have killed themselves in Amsterdam more than once by defenestration.
technically defenestration is when you throw someone else out the window
The word would be self-defenestration. Which is how I learned of the word defenestration to begin with.
I think your generalizations are very wrong. Ketamine may be bad when abused, but when used correctly for depression, it can be extremely effective and good. It changed my life greatly, for the better. And I wouldn’t say that psilocybin is unequivocally good either. The worst trip I ever had was on mushrooms. It was extremely traumatic in a way that had lasting effects. It changed my life greatly, for the worse.
So, I'll agree with that but with a caveat, because I have a loved one who was part of a licensed esketamine (s-ketamine) trial. It certainly can pretty much just "turn off" some depression and I've seen it do that (even somehow avoiding problems from accidentally forgetting to take the other meds soon after).
But it can also cause powerful and disturbing psychosis. In our case, I woke up at knife point to someone driven to tears by a psychosis telling them to kill me. I managed to de-escalate that without any harm done, but suffice it to say, caution is strongly advised with such things.
But it can also cause powerful and disturbing psychosis. In our case, I woke up at knife point to someone driven to tears by a psychosis telling them to kill me. I managed to de-escalate that without any harm done, but suffice it to say, caution is strongly advised with such things.
I'm not going to argue with you in general about the dangers of ketamine et al, I have seen it myself. But personally (this is anecdata) I have never had the compulsion to use it like so many others for some reason. Quasi-autism, a very strong internal governor limiting any compulsions <other than work...>, my NON-use of it as a substitute for cocaine like the majority of people... Drugs are only the tools for trying to manage whatever internal psychological processes are driving you to take them and if those processes are too 'strong', people go down the path you speak of. It is not the tool's fault, etc.
I was using K as a temporary vacation from reality aka k-hole. Lovely wonderful experiences and I innately knew it was helping with the depression. The most important factor was the set/setting/almost ritualistic use. And I don't do it anymore, never did it so much like so many other people.... and no compulsion to either. I have been sitting on some MXE for a decade now as well... I am an outlier??
Ritual is an element that is sorely lacking in the majority of westerner's use of psychedelics - it does comes with the ayahuasca package "just because that is what you're supposed to do" aka drugs tourism. But the other stuff... This element of ritual is what I think you're overlooking. Ritual also would have prevented DM Turner from taking ketamine before taking a bath which is a very really bad idea; he was really blatantly ignoring the risk factors for whatever reason.
This reminds me of a psychologist, Mexican I think, who in the 70s IIRC was using datura and other such things in his work helping patients. He's a bit obscure and I haven't found much info (I will hunt down my notes if people insist). So my opinion is that dissociatives have their use, but you really need to know what you are doing which most people do not. Personally, I think salvia is very useful... but I am sort of autistic and there is an Internet theory I came across that only the autistically inclined really take to salvia; neurotypicals can't handle the weirdness at some deep level. I have no proof of this but from what I've read and personally know, of course...
As an aside, I met Ann and Sasha a number of times 20 odd years ago. So I personally find it a bit irksome you're using such a handle. You've agreed to change it which I commend you for... For the newbies who know the name, but not that he's dead, it would be confusing. But you are relaying correct and valuable information, so that is good - except for the wide ranging generalizations ... ;)
I was using K as a temporary vacation from reality aka k-hole. Lovely wonderful experiences and I innately knew it was helping with the depression. The most important factor was the set/setting/almost ritualistic use. And I don't do it anymore, never did it so much like so many other people.... and no compulsion to either. I have been sitting on some MXE for a decade now as well... I am an outlier??
Ritual is an element that is sorely lacking in the majority of westerner's use of psychedelics - it does comes with the ayahuasca package "just because that is what you're supposed to do" aka drugs tourism. But the other stuff... This element of ritual is what I think you're overlooking. Ritual also would have prevented DM Turner from taking ketamine before taking a bath which is a very really bad idea; he was really blatantly ignoring the risk factors for whatever reason.
This reminds me of a psychologist, Mexican I think, who in the 70s IIRC was using datura and other such things in his work helping patients. He's a bit obscure and I haven't found much info (I will hunt down my notes if people insist). So my opinion is that dissociatives have their use, but you really need to know what you are doing which most people do not. Personally, I think salvia is very useful... but I am sort of autistic and there is an Internet theory I came across that only the autistically inclined really take to salvia; neurotypicals can't handle the weirdness at some deep level. I have no proof of this but from what I've read and personally know, of course...
As an aside, I met Ann and Sasha a number of times 20 odd years ago. So I personally find it a bit irksome you're using such a handle. You've agreed to change it which I commend you for... For the newbies who know the name, but not that he's dead, it would be confusing. But you are relaying correct and valuable information, so that is good - except for the wide ranging generalizations ... ;)
> NOT prone to abuse
Citation needed.
Citation needed.
I picked psilocybin for you.
"Psilocybin is not considered to be addictive nor does it cause compulsive use" - [0]
[0]: https://drugpolicy.org/drug-facts/are-psilocybin-mushrooms-a...
"Psilocybin is not considered to be addictive nor does it cause compulsive use" - [0]
[0]: https://drugpolicy.org/drug-facts/are-psilocybin-mushrooms-a...
For those too lazy to follow the link:
"Psilocybin is not considered to be addictive nor does it cause compulsive use. One reason is that the intense experience, which can be physically and mentally challenging, may cause people using psilocybin to limit their frequency of use."
"Another reason is that the human body quickly builds tolerance to psilocybin, such that people require much higher doses after only a few days of repeated use, making it extremely difficult to have any effect after more than four days of repeated usage."I know people who got fucked up for years due to a single shroom or LSD trip. Some of them got sorted out eventually, others didn’t.
Throw my name in the hat, too. I had my worst experiences on mushrooms and am still thankful to this day that I had the good sense to stop using psychedelics over 20 years ago. My last trip was a complete fucking nightmare of an episode and I'm not convinced that I will ever fully recover from that night.
Anecdotally, After my one and only use of Psilocybin where I cried for about 5 hours straight, I did not feel the desire to do it again.
For me it was all fun, until i got a paranoia that this mental state will never end. Well it ended - but this couple of hours have been the worst.
Nitrous oxide abuse is really dangerous
> Hi Everyone,
> I have quite probably taken more Nitrous (at least in Whippit form) than anyone else alive. So I feel compelled to share with all of you - my experience.
Read more: https://www.bluelight.org/xf/threads/nitrous-oxide-experienc...
> Hi Everyone,
> I have quite probably taken more Nitrous (at least in Whippit form) than anyone else alive. So I feel compelled to share with all of you - my experience.
Read more: https://www.bluelight.org/xf/threads/nitrous-oxide-experienc...
Glad you're still here to share your (mis)adventures, the streets here are littered with those little silver 'bullets', I thought we had a problem, now I'm just wondering where you live...
Not the OP; the original poster lives on Vancouver Island, British Columbia
> Our European visitors are important to us.
> This site is currently unavailable to visitors from the European Economic Area while we work to ensure your data is protected in accordance with applicable EU laws.
I wonder if sites will ever stop lying about this.
> This site is currently unavailable to visitors from the European Economic Area while we work to ensure your data is protected in accordance with applicable EU laws.
I wonder if sites will ever stop lying about this.
“Important to us, but not profitable to serve.”
"Important, but not important enough."
I wonder if Europe will ever lift its Iron GDPR Curtain to allow its residents to access free-world websites!
You can just ignore it if you are not in the EU
These websites, based on their own internal analyses, have concluded ignoring it completely is not safe for them.
But also, they know that implementing (& maintaining!) compliance, moreso than a simple block, has nonzero cost, while EU readers provide them negligible benefit. So they take the easy way out, given the incentives created by the EU.
And what had been a free bonanza for EU readers – a peek into info sources from elsewhere, easier for the sites to provide than to limit in any way – has had extra friction added by the EU, to the detriment of EU subjects.
But also, they know that implementing (& maintaining!) compliance, moreso than a simple block, has nonzero cost, while EU readers provide them negligible benefit. So they take the easy way out, given the incentives created by the EU.
And what had been a free bonanza for EU readers – a peek into info sources from elsewhere, easier for the sites to provide than to limit in any way – has had extra friction added by the EU, to the detriment of EU subjects.
It’s perfectly fine that if the site is small/low budget and has a small percentage of European users they don’t bother being GDPR complaint. It’s their choice.
But at least they shouldn’t blatantly lie in the message they show, saying they’re working on it and how important EU visitors are.
But at least they shouldn’t blatantly lie in the message they show, saying they’re working on it and how important EU visitors are.
Note that this curtain isn't put in place by the EU, nor that compliance with the GDPR is hard.
It is an extra compliance cost & financial risk imposed by the EU, with essentially no benefit for the website.
It also provides negligible benefit for any EU subject, compared to what the privacy-conscious users could achieve via self-help for themselves – by not registering, or clearing cookies, or using other tech measures.
Have trillions (or quadrillions?) of EU cookie popups actually preserved any privacy at all? Or just wasted staff time, reader time, & trained a 'consent dialog blindness' into users worldwide?
It also provides negligible benefit for any EU subject, compared to what the privacy-conscious users could achieve via self-help for themselves – by not registering, or clearing cookies, or using other tech measures.
Have trillions (or quadrillions?) of EU cookie popups actually preserved any privacy at all? Or just wasted staff time, reader time, & trained a 'consent dialog blindness' into users worldwide?
It's a benefit to the public, the fact that companies go so far as to refuse to be compliant tells you how addicted to all this data they really are.
The cookie popups were the wrong response to well intentioned legislation, the proper response would have been to stop using cookies, not to use these stupid banners.
Functional cookies were never a problem, but tracking people indiscriminately is a problem.
Consent dialog blindness is a good term, but it is caused by the makers of the consent dialogs not by the legislators. Not tracking is a viable alternative and does not require any dialogs.
The cookie popups were the wrong response to well intentioned legislation, the proper response would have been to stop using cookies, not to use these stupid banners.
Functional cookies were never a problem, but tracking people indiscriminately is a problem.
Consent dialog blindness is a good term, but it is caused by the makers of the consent dialogs not by the legislators. Not tracking is a viable alternative and does not require any dialogs.
That US news sites find their EU visitors of such low value that they'd rather block them than spend to be compliant (& thus still get some aggregate or opt-in data) is a pretty strong refutation of the idea they're "addicted to all this data".
What's the tangible harm of this supposed "indiscriminate tracking" - especially as compared to other burgeoning EU initiatives like demanding law-enforcement backdoors into e2e chat sessions?
The consent-dialog-blindness is created by the regulatory demands for their constant re-display, for negligible benefit. If not even asking for cookies was 'viable', major sites – who have far better understanding of the relative tradeoffs than the regulators – would've gone that way. Can you name any that chose that 'viable' path? Are they winning their categories with that 'viability'?
You know what else is 'viable'? User self help. Clearing/disabling cookies. Running a privacy-protecting browser, like say Brave.
The EU could've protected a lot more privacy, without wasting the world's time & burning-out people's attention, if it had coached people into self-protection, rather than threatening businesses worldwide with fines. But hey, haughty mega-super-state's gotta do mega-super-stating.
What's the tangible harm of this supposed "indiscriminate tracking" - especially as compared to other burgeoning EU initiatives like demanding law-enforcement backdoors into e2e chat sessions?
The consent-dialog-blindness is created by the regulatory demands for their constant re-display, for negligible benefit. If not even asking for cookies was 'viable', major sites – who have far better understanding of the relative tradeoffs than the regulators – would've gone that way. Can you name any that chose that 'viable' path? Are they winning their categories with that 'viability'?
You know what else is 'viable'? User self help. Clearing/disabling cookies. Running a privacy-protecting browser, like say Brave.
The EU could've protected a lot more privacy, without wasting the world's time & burning-out people's attention, if it had coached people into self-protection, rather than threatening businesses worldwide with fines. But hey, haughty mega-super-state's gotta do mega-super-stating.
I'm strongly reminded of Howard Hughes, as mentally ill, drug-addicted prisoner of his "staff".
You're not far off but the sad thing is that Hughes died 30 years later. He died due to malnutrition and for years his various control centers had run operations separate enough from him that he had no clue what was going on sometimes, but he still was running much of his empire in that penthouse up to the early 70s.
Hughes was a direct part of Watergate.
Hughes was a direct part of Watergate.
[deleted]
Howard Hughes had severe allodynia in an age in which there was no real medical treatment for it
Still, to this day, there is no amazing treatment for it. Especially because there are more than a few not well understood causes of it. Some medications work well for some, but not at all for others.
Hughes was, by all accounts, essentially a prisoner of his unrelenting misfiring nervous system. I think he lived out his final years with it in a fairly reasonable way.
Speaking as somebody with a moderate case of allodynia caused by a functional musculoskeletal condition, if my case was a bit worse, with no hope for treatment in sight, and I was loaded like he was - I too would likely spend my time in isolation and on a lot of drugs, really anything that would relieve the sensory pain, no matter how cognitively impaired it may make me.
Still, to this day, there is no amazing treatment for it. Especially because there are more than a few not well understood causes of it. Some medications work well for some, but not at all for others.
Hughes was, by all accounts, essentially a prisoner of his unrelenting misfiring nervous system. I think he lived out his final years with it in a fairly reasonable way.
Speaking as somebody with a moderate case of allodynia caused by a functional musculoskeletal condition, if my case was a bit worse, with no hope for treatment in sight, and I was loaded like he was - I too would likely spend my time in isolation and on a lot of drugs, really anything that would relieve the sensory pain, no matter how cognitively impaired it may make me.
For some of us:
allodynia: “Allodynia is a type of neuropathic pain (nerve pain). People with allodynia are extremely sensitive to touch. Things that don't usually cause pain can be very painful. These may include cold temperatures, brushing hair or wearing a cotton t-shirt. Allodynia can result from several conditions.”
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/21570-allodyn...
allodynia: “Allodynia is a type of neuropathic pain (nerve pain). People with allodynia are extremely sensitive to touch. Things that don't usually cause pain can be very painful. These may include cold temperatures, brushing hair or wearing a cotton t-shirt. Allodynia can result from several conditions.”
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/21570-allodyn...
Sounds like shingles, I see that can be one of the causes.
There are also a number of credible reports that Hughes had severely screwed up his lower back, spine and tendons, ligaments and musculature in earlier airplane crashes. Never properly treated, and medicated over the years with increasing amounts of self-administered drugs of his choice.
There was at least one crash that he simply shouldn't have walked away from.
https://www.latimes.com/visuals/photography/la-me-fw-archive...
https://www.latimes.com/visuals/photography/la-me-fw-archive...
From the biographies I've read, it sounded like OCD was at the center - not dismissing persistent pain originating in multiple airplane crashes...
Wow. I didn't realize he had died. In early 2018, I came || this close to working for Zappos as a Cloud Architect to get them moved onto AWS. Presumably because Amazon had owned them for several years by then. I wonder what it was like working for Zappos at that time.
For those in the EU that 8newsnow blocks:
https://archive.md/ZEG3D
https://archive.md/ZEG3D
Anybody have a link to the court documents referenced in this news article, because I can't find it in the article itself? (As an aside I really would prefer news articles that are summarizations of other documents to please also provide the original document)
The case is docketed in Nevada State Court (District Court, County of Clark). A portal for various Nevada courts can be found at:
https://www.clarkcountycourts.us/Portal/Home/WorkspaceMode?p...
Searching is enabled at the bottom of the page. The index number of the case is: A-21-828090-B (the case caption is: Baby Monster LLC, Plaintiff(s) vs. PCVI LLC, Defendant(s)). Unfortunately, you have to register on the site and pay for a copy of the requested documents.
The Daily Mail printed a story with more detail - some of the individuals named in the original post really come off as horrible - in which they've embedded some of the pleadings:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10116643/Late-billi...
https://www.clarkcountycourts.us/Portal/Home/WorkspaceMode?p...
Searching is enabled at the bottom of the page. The index number of the case is: A-21-828090-B (the case caption is: Baby Monster LLC, Plaintiff(s) vs. PCVI LLC, Defendant(s)). Unfortunately, you have to register on the site and pay for a copy of the requested documents.
The Daily Mail printed a story with more detail - some of the individuals named in the original post really come off as horrible - in which they've embedded some of the pleadings:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10116643/Late-billi...
Awesome, thank you so much! Unfortunate that registration and payment is required for a government portal, but the Daily Mail's embedded images look to have a decent chunk of the arguments there.
if you want a thrill, without doing drugs please engage in these hobbies: motorcycles, planes, freediving / cliffdiving and well ultra triathlons etc. rich people like larry ellison take up sailing and buy used fighter jets. the important thing is to realize you need a thrill in your life, something dangerous that makes you kiss death every once in a while, while not dying or frying your brain!!!
Before he died, there were stories about how he'd tried to single-handedly reinvent downtown Las Vegas (not the Strip). Does anyone know what happened to all that?
More than stories. He put $350m into it and it's still going. https://dtplv.com/
the question is: with him gone, if it needs more money (which it will), where's it going to come from?
Real estate.
This Jennifer “Mimi” Pham seems like a real piece of work. Real scumbag behaviour.
There's a whole lot of fakers and takers in these communities. Lots of people who want to ride on coattails and take what they can but have very little to give.
As they say "it's lonely at the top" so people like to be part of those inner circles and take advantage of those who can.
As they say "it's lonely at the top" so people like to be part of those inner circles and take advantage of those who can.
What a tragic end to this man’s life. The “personal alarm clock” gets me more than a lot of the other behaviors, as it would be quite alienating and disrespectful to have a friend make such an absurd offer to you.
Whats sad is how everyone simply took advantage of him.
He pushed away people who tried to give him the honest truth
He wasn’t in his right mind for that to be held against him.
very sad though not new story about addiction and depression.
Here is my comment 10 month ago after reading his book "Delivering Happiness": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25326510#25326860 . Worth checking out the book in this context - a shadow-story about depression.
Here is my comment 10 month ago after reading his book "Delivering Happiness": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25326510#25326860 . Worth checking out the book in this context - a shadow-story about depression.
If I were close to him, I would have had him kidnapped and put on a remote island, far away from all these leeches.
This is why he hired security.
ketamine seems lately to my very common in drug and addiction related cases, including deaths.
Tony was probably the smartest person I have ever met. Such a sad and tragic story.
clearly struggling with extreme depression. like i get it, it is good to produce products and build a better life for us all. but there are unaddressed societal issues that cause this type of outcome
This picture is sad and disturbing. I also fear something like this could happen to a lot of people in the tech industry. Take care of your friends.
I could have sworn the Zappos CEO died after being murdered by his personal assistant in New York. Who am I thinking of?
Probably Fahim Saleh:
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/police-arrest-assistant-tech...
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/police-arrest-assistant-tech...
[deleted]
I think you're thinking of someone else. The Zappos CEO died in a house fire in New London, CT.
I know some people who know people who made a lot of money in the 2000s dot com boom. One of them got a "guru" who he paid several thousands of dollars a day to. The "guru" fed him Ayahuasca and people who visited the rich guy at his house said he had removed all furniture from his house, was wearing robes and said he could control the winds with his thoughts.
They often say that there's no one more hopeless than a rich junky. If they have a very large amount of money, they never hit rock bottom until they're dead.