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March 2, 2004
Cusco, Peru
sitting here in a little cafe in cusco with zanfir on shuffle-replay ...
munching coca cookies, drinking cusquenan beer and reading about the
impending collapse of modern society. (google:
peak oil) other than the
wonderful buzz i'm getting by mixing my uppers and downers, i can feel
some powerful insights coming on about the future of our planet.
yes, coca leaves and all coca products (other than cocaine itself) are
legal here in peru, though very tightly regulated in terms of transport
and export. cusco is the center of historical production and use here in
peru, since the incas used this plant extensively in their daily lives.
of course, when you see the immense rocks that they were able to move
into place, shape and then fit with a precision that you will not find
elsewhere in any civilization in any time (ok, we'll give the egyptians
honorable mention)-- then and only then do you begin to appreciate the
true power of this wonder plant. it wasn't sophisticated block and
tackle techniques, levers and inclined planes and all that... it was a
plug of coca between the cheek and gum. i can attest to a powerful
desire to get out and move some rocks around right now myself.
in all seriousness, the coca plant in its unprocessed form... either
simply chewed as with chewing tobacco (coca does not cause lip or mouth
cancer) or ground into a powder has a prounouncedly different medical
effect than the post-processed form of cocaine which isolates and
amplifies only one of the stimulative ingredients found naturally in the
plant. (cocaine also happens to be processed using white gas, which
can't be good for you). it has many benefits other than simply that of
an amphetamine. one of the most pronounced benefits it has is a
dramatically increased ability of the body to function effectively at
altitude. (which would be important around here--simply walking across
the town square here in cusco will wind you, the idea of trying to move a
10 ton rock around at 4500m is a preposterous one for my sea-level
mind.)
later: well, sitting here measuring my resting pulse at about 120
after mindlessly plowing through a box of these coca cookies, i guess i
can say with some empirical support that the at least some of the
'beneficial' effect is that same 'ol fashioned kind. lets hope i
don't pull a
len bias here.
----
it seems the
nasa folks think they've found evidence of water on mars today.
i sure hope they find more, because we might need some down here.
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