Society

Imagine a family of drugs that could treat addiction, depression and post-traumatic stress: sicknesses of the soul for which modern medicine, in all its surgical wizardry, has few cures. Substances that were a fillip to creativity and could provide those who took them with an experience comparable to seeing God or witnessing the birth of a child. Say these wonder chemicals were found: why would a society make them illegal? The question has dogged Amanda Feilding since the 1960s, when during her teens and early 20s she first tried psychedelics. Through cannabis, LSD and magic mushrooms she found that the doors of perception were flung wide open. A blissful period of experimentation followed, in the heyday of that swinging decade, before the doors were slammed shut again in what she says was a panic about their dangers. “It was a tragedy,” she tells me on a wet morning at Beckley Park, her home outside Oxford. “Ann Shulgin [psychedelics pioneer, and widow of its patron … [Read more...] about Is LSD about to return to polite society?

Affluenza: How to Be Successful and Stay Sane In his 1997 book Britain on the Couch, Oliver James asserted that "advanced capitalism makes money out of misery and dissatisfaction, as if it were encouraging us to fill up the psychic void with material goods". In this book, he explores the idea further, and it's terrific. A lot of readers, wanting to put their finger on why the affluent world they live in makes them so uneasy, will want to cheer. Here he is saying, loud and clear, that capitalism is bad for your mental health. And then he tells us why this is the case, and what we can do about it. "My focus," explains James, "is on why we are so fucked up, not with dangling a false promise of the possibility of happiness." He's right - he doesn't offer false promises. By the time you've finished this book, you, too, might be feeling pretty pessimistic. As if we weren't already - as James points out, almost a quarter of Britons suffer "emotional distress". "Cards on the table," he says, … [Read more...] about The sick society

Leeds building society has launched a mortgage with a "zero" interest rate for the first six months. The deal, thought to be the first of its kind in the UK, would cut a borrower's monthly payments by hundreds of pounds during the first few months, freeing up cash for home improvements, furniture or other spending, the lender said. The deal is available on a three- or five-year fix and gives customers the option of paying no interest for the first three or six months. The interest rate paid after that will depend on the chosen interest-free period and how long the borrower chooses to fix. The three-year fix starts at 3.79%, with three months at 0%, and the five-year fix at 4.23%. During these months the customer will still have to pay off the capital, and the interest they do not pay at the beginning will be added into the later payments. But the initial payments will be considerably lower than if they had opted for a standard deal. For example, for someone borrowing £300,000 and … [Read more...] about Leeds building society launches ‘zero interest’ mortgage deal

The global NGO Open Society Foundations (OSF) confirmed on Thursday that it was considering closing its Budapest office, following a years-long campaign against the OSF founder George Soros in Hungary. OSF chief and former US ambassador Patrick Gaspard personally traveled to Budapest to inform the local staff, according to Austria's Die Presse. The OSF now reportedly aims to open a new office in Berlin during the summer of 2018. The Hungarian news web site 444.hu said the OSF office would close by the end of August. The OSF later told DW that closing the branch was one option it was considering, but that a move would most likely take place if the Stop-Soros Act came into force in its current form. "We are in the process of thinking, of planning, weighing our options," OSF spokesman Csaba Csontos told Reuters in Budapest. "The government has committed to passing the Stop Soros law... It will be a symbolic step which serves to stifle non-government groups." "At this moment we … [Read more...] about George Soros’ Open Society Foundations may move Budapest office to Berlin

They've been hard at work alongside each other on BBC's new drama The Trial Of Christine Keeler. And Ellie Bamber joined her co-star Sophie Cookson for Serpentine Galleries and Chanel's Summer Party 2019 at Kensington Gardens on Tuesday night. While she looked stylish in the white jumpsuit, as the 22-year-old actresses left the bash with the Kingsman star, 28, it became clear that she had ruined her trousers and shoes as they were covered in mud.  Serpentine Summer Party 2019: Ellie Bamber RUINED her white jumpsuit as she emerged from bash in London with a muddy hem alongside co-star Sophie Cookson on Tuesday When she arrived, Ellie set pulses racing in a a halterneck backless white top and matching flared trousers, which she paired with pearl heels that became dirty as the night wore on.  The Les Miserables star styled her blonde locks into loose waves, and she used a light palette of make-up to highlight her pretty features. RELATED ARTICLES … [Read more...] about Serpentine Summer Party 2019: Ellie Bamber RUINS her white jumpsuit as she emerges from star-studded society bash with a muddy hem