Around 1962, Hunter volunteered for psychedelic chemical experiments at Stanford University, research covertly sponsored by the CIA in its MKULTRA program: other participants included Ken Kesey and Allen Ginsberg. He was paid to take LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline, and then report on his experiences, which were creatively formative for him. After a friend attempted to dissuade him, he said, “It’ll be fun! I’ll take my typewriter and no telling what’ll come out.” This incident was the first substantial experience any of the Grateful Dead had with psychedelic drugs, and the creative surge he experienced would prove influential on their collective outlook. Around this time, Hunter was briefly involved with Scientology, and also struggled with addiction to methamphetamine and speed, which drove him to move briefly to Los Angeles and then to New Mexico. Some of his hallucinations later inspired his lyrics, such as those to “China Cat Sunflower”.

💬 Wikipedia

💬 Word

“The fact that Trump is accepting the medal says something about him as a person: a classic braggart who wants to adorn himself with other people’s awards and work,” Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, former finance minister and the current leader of the Center Party, told NRK.

💬 Bloomberg

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that xAI’s Grok will join Google’s Gemini as the second frontier AI model on GenAI.mil, the Pentagon’s internal generative AI platform. The integration, set to go live later this month, will give 3 million military and civilian personnel access to Grok’s capabilities across both classified and unclassified networks — even as the model faces mounting international criticism over safety failures.

💬 The Information

What could possibly go wrong?

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To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.

💬 Henry Kissinger

… via John Naughton

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I have been thinking about the future and how we might respond to it. We are sliding into a period of transition like no other, most likely triggered in three waves; AI, quantum computing and the brain computer interface. Artists have a role to look into the mists and, when they catch sight of something, to hold up a mirror.

These are my lumpy bits – i/o: the inside has a new way out and o\i: the outside has a new way in.

We are not, and have never been, the exclusively self-determining, independent beings that have been given the run of the world. We are something else, a part of nature, a part of everything and feeling a connection, shaking our booty and giving and receiving some love can help us find our place - and put a big smile on our faces.

💬 Peter Gabriel

The leading edge is defined by the fact that most of us aren’t on it.

💬 Seth Godin