Gold dealers don’t transact in cash. They’ll cut you a check, and it will have to go through your bank account where it will be subject to government-mandated spying by your bank to make sure you’re paying your taxes.

even if they see how much the dealer paid you for your gold, they still dont know how much you paid to buy that gold in the first place. you need both numbers in order to to figure out the profit/loss and the tax amount

And the check PROBABLY won’t include how MUCH you sold them…add that to the comment above and you’re pretty safe…

I believe banks automatically report any deposit of $10k or more.
Sale of gold is taxed at 28% gain. No, the IRS will not know about it. Just like the same of your used car, or those stupid video games you sell on message boards.

This is why IRS pick out random audits based on bank transactions. You’ll have to prove why you received a large sum of money, and what the cost basis is. If the cost was paid in cash without evidence, you’ll be taxed at 100% sale amount, without a cost basis. Who is there to say you didn’t steal it with zero basis?

You have the burden of proof for your basis, they don’t.

yup, also when you deposit your gold check it can trigger an audit and who knows what other irregularities they will find when going through your records for the last decade (its more like 7 years).

They can even cross-reference the records of the gold company to find exactly what you sold and how much, then you have to prove how you obtained that gold

She grew things. She loved digging her fingers into the earth and growing things…like zucchini. She loved life in all its forms and formats.

I miss her and will miss her until I die. And that is a measure of a life; whether there is or is not an afterlife, I will miss her in my "everafter."

God blessed her. I loved her and we shared the love of the Ave.

Grief is hard to get through.

for M
My general method is to avoid the funeral if at all possible, and only remember the fun/laughs/good times.

I lost my best friend a year and a half ago to cancer. I certainly still miss him, but I invariably remember better times, not the funeral, or the sadness that goes with it. I did go to a mass in his memory on the first anniversary, but that was more for his wife and kids than anything else. I keep in touch in case I can help, which he would have done for me.

It’s much less heartache to remember the good times than to always visualize a casket. In my case, I remember 12 hour arguments over trivial religious/philosophical/ethical issues when we were working together driving a truck in the early eighties. And all the stupid crap we got into from high school on.
not to rain on the parade but shouldnt this be in the asylum?

Thank you. Maybe I can improve, doubtful but I’ll try.
I lost my mother 3 years ago. I don’t dwell on her passing, but I’m not sure when the grieving will end. I still miss her immensely.
I am interested in how others handle grief. I have begun to experience the loss of family and friends and find myself almost paralyzed by the sadness.
I try to focus on the good things. The memories that make me smile and laugh. The small actions and little details about the person, things they probably don’t even remember and never notice about themselves.

I remember my grandmother as she was getting old and a little crazy yelling at me and my brother for going swimming in the ocean at night. We of course hadn’t been swimming. It was raining which is why we were wet. The reason I remember this moment was because she had managed to put her slippers on backwards somehow. I pointed it out to my brother and we about died laughing on the floor as she started scolding us about how not funny swimming in the ocean at night is.
Your neighbor actually died in hurricane Irene? Really?

She died 7pm Saturday in her home, not due to the storm but in the peak of the storm.

My friend was one of the finest people on this planet. She lived a simple and full life. She served in the military during the Korean "war," drove a school bus at one point, but mostly she was wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother…and a brilliant gardener. She never missed Sunday Mass, has a statue of the Madonna in her front yard and had a fondness for Danielle Steele novels.

There was a uniqueness to her speech, having a bit to do with the cadence of her southern drawl and tendency to mumble when she was describing something distasteful. She could talk your ear off. But I loved listening to her. If something was wrong she called it a "mess."

I’ll miss seeing her in her garden. I’ll miss our walks together. I’ll always wish that I’d taken a tape recorder over and just let her talk into it, because she was such a character, she could go on for hours jumping from one inane subject to the next; but she made it all seem riveting. She loved life but I suppose she must have been ready to die.

Since Saturday night I practically haven’t moved. I just want to be still and sad. I don’t want to go to her funeral because I’m pretty sure I’ll lose it, but I don’t want to disrespect her family.

I wonder how abnormal I am, because every time someone I’m close to passes away I find it harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning.
Go to the funeral.
And if you loose it, you loose it. It is fine.

When I was in my early 20′s my grandfather died. I was really close to him.

At his funeral our next door neighbors showed up.
This really struck me.
They didn’t know him.
I mean, they had met him, sure. Once or twice I am sure he was introduced to them. I imagine we had had a cookout and they were all there.
But these people hadn’t shown up because they had lost someone they cared about.

Then it struck me. They were here to support US. WE were the good people they cared about. Them showing up, it was an act of support and honor to the neighbors that they cared about.

I found it very touching. I have made it a point to try to return the favor whenever I can.

—-

By going to the funeral you have the opportunity to give the message to her loved ones that she touched more lives then they knew.

I spoke with her daughter last night. Apparently Mary had been in a lot of pain which she tried to hide from visitors. Believe it or not her daughter was trying to make ME feel better. She also said it would be okay to lose it, that everyone handles grief in their own way. Apparently my "way" is to shut down or fall apart and so I’ve been given permission to have a melt down.

Thanks to all for the kind words. I just wish I’d taken the collection of the Ave I’d put on my iPad over to her. I thought I had time.
There is no cure for grief, other than time.

In some cases, especially when the person you lost was a major part of your life, such as a child, spouse, or loved immediate family member, the grief never goes away. It may not be as bad at times, but it is always lingering.
I believe that everyone who is close to us gives a part of himself/herself to us. You explore that part and live with it….she is with you. Think about her good, inspiring things that motivated you & pay tribute to her by excelling in them. A friend wants his/her friends to be happy…I am sure wherever she is she wants same….
Now I can say with absolute certainty that those who advocate against going to the wake and funeral are wrong. The wake was harder than the funeral mass. But it was all good. I surprised myself, but in the words of her daughter: She left her strength with us.

for M

Wrong for you, perhaps. Right for me.

You are correct. Wrong for you, right for me…and that’s okay.

I just had a friend write: "There is a reason that we have rituals like wakes and funerals. We need them to help us accept what has happened, get and give support, and say goodbye. I’m glad it helped you."

She is a cerebral person driven by logic. I’m an emotional person driven by heart. I disliked her "rituals" word choice, particularly on the heels of a Catholic mass for my friend who was devout. I just would not have put it that way.

Her word choice was right for her but wrong for me.

Going on the assumption that our country quite possibly has staged some of its more important events, what do you think they will do next, and why?

Stage a 10 year anniversary attack of 9/11…virus, another ‘attack’?

Create a manmade earthquake near a US nuclear plant in order to comprise the plant and have a newsworthy topic for months?

Claim alien contact?

Release a revolutionary new technology to the US consumer that drastically changes our lives….assumed that its tech they’ve had for a while.

Insane gas shortage

Remember with most ideas they need to benefit someone…distracting us, the US citizen, from their profiting antics, etc.

No.

No.

No.

No.

And no.

Let’s start with the moon landing being fake.
Now really, don’t you think Russia, China and anyone else who doesn’t like America and has money, would have looked at the fucking moon and said "Hey America, we don’t see any of the shit you say is up there." Or do you really believe that America got the rest of the world to go along with a hoax?

We left a mirror on the moon. Take a laser, aim it at the mirror and the mirror bounces the laser back to you.
The point of the mirror was to allow people to run experiments measuring the exact distance of the moon from the earth.
It is such a simple experiment that anyone with a powerful enough laser (and ability to aim) can do the experiment.

The ability to reach out and touch one of the Apollo missions is available to universities and colleges the world over.
I suppose the lunar laser just happened to build itself up on the moon.

My advice to anyone that converses with anyone that says any of the above is to stop and walk away.

Why are you such an idiot? Do you know we carefully placed reflectors on the moons surface that we can point a laser at and read the reflected signal back and use the round trip time to determine the distance to that point on the moon to within a few meters? This is fact, I’ve seen it done personally. These reflectors were placed extremely precisely, they had to have been for this to work at all. We send quadrillions of photons in each laser burst and receive back only a handful due to scattering and dispersion over such a long distance. This precise placement is not something that could have been done on an unmanned mission that long ago, perhaps today with modern robotics but not 40 years ago.

Also, we can’t make earthquakes… I’d like to know how you think we would do that, I don’t think you understand how much energy is involved, more energy is released in large earthquakes than the entire country produces in decades.
I see I was beaten to it… oh well, I’ll try reading threads before posting from now on.
Okay, what will America do next?

Well, that assumes "America" (if you mean to say, our government or shadow elements within it) are behind such things, then I’d say.. well, not much except watch the ball roll. The real power players, while members of our government, aren’t acting on its behalf. I think this president was thrown into power, ignorant of which chess piece he really is on the worldwide game board. The next event is a social breakdown which follows a monetary collapse of the dollar and Euro. While everyone is hurting, someone comes in and says "here’s what we’re going to do…" and offer up a new monetary scenario. Just to one-up the conspiracy theorists and Bible-thumpers (the conspirators love doing stuff like this), they’re going to mimic some of the properties we see in the Bible’s book of Apocolypse (Revelation of John). For instance, the new money will be "virtual" and require an eye scan or thumbprint- no cards to lose or currency to carry.

There will be a decrease in power of local and county, and state government, and an increase in power to "districts" or some new term, each district being a swathe of states. Those districts will answer to the fedgov, which really doesn’t have any power, but answers to the One World Government (although it will go by a kinder, gentler name).

And it’s downhill fast from there, along with WW-III.
If you believe the moon landing is faked, the Russians would have to be in on it too.

You’re right, and I guess we hand delivered this too:

once again I did not create this thread to troll or start an argument.

Yes, we did. I don’t think you understand how precisely it had to be placed and how impossible it would have been at the time to just "dump" it there from orbit or something…

You realize that’s after like 40 years of technological advancement, right? What we were able to do with robotics and computers in the 60s doesn’t even scratch the surface of what we can do now.

Mars rover…was not hand delivered.

…

Going to be banned the next time you do this alert.
Going to be banned the next time you do this alert.
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Going to be banned the next time you do this alert.
Going to be banned the next time you do this alert.
Going to be banned the next time you do this alert.
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Going to be banned the next time you do this alert.
Going to be banned the next time you do this alert.

Just fyi.

Just assume my claim to be true, then run with it. WHAT WILL WE DO NEXT?????

I like how you staged the question to avoid having to support your base assumption.

I don’t know what you’re giving me that face for, I’m siding with you on this one…I was disputing his assumption that since we NOW have the ability to land unmanned rovers on a distant planet, we should’ve been able to do it in the 1960s. You’re also the one that quoted his picture of the Mars rover and said it was hand delivered.

Oh, if you posted a picture or smiley I can’t see it I have images disabled at work on this site, I must have misunderstood your post, sorry.
Mars rover didnt have to be placed exactly. In fact, the first one fucked up.

Oh, now I see the source of confusion… when i said "yes we did" I meant hand deliver the reflector to the moon, not the mars rover, sorry.

You can’t really have this discussion with anyone except someone who also believes in these conspiracy theories.

It’s unproductive to say "XX was a fraud perpetrated by the government. What do you think the next scam will be?" Such a statement presumes the person you are asking also buys into the examples you gave. How can anyone give an honest answer if they do not believe the premise of the question?

You might get further with this if you post it on a conspiracy theory-oriented website (prisonplanet.com comes to mind). Just sayin’

Ban me for calling out some idiot but allow a totally worthless and unproductive thread in On Topic to continue. Makes sense!

Grow up. You don’t spam shit in On Topic because you don’t like the thread content. How about you follow the rules, and let me do the moderating, eh?

Grow up and knock it off.

Context, how does it work?
After getting into conspiracy theories to the point of being fearful of the ridiculous, I had to take a step back and tell myself the likelihood of all the conspiracies I’ve stumbled across are plausible, but irrational.

One thing though, propaganda can be used by (good) governments to protect it’s people.

My theory: All this New World Order, Police State, One World Government, 4th Reich insanity, is purposefully out there to get us as humans ready for something. I have some ideas of what this "something" could be but I have NO facts, just my own imagination.

Suppose some individuals realized that the more free a country is, the more ignorant and carefree it’s citizens become in regards to survival. If some big earth changing event or threat is coming, do you as a government want to tell your people now and instill crippling fear in the populace, or do you want to slowly push their buttons and get them alert and "awake" for survival purposes.

I’ve taken a good long look at happenings in the news from the USA to all across the world. It appears that things are changing. If you can sift through all the USELESS bullshit, you can see the big picture. The big picture I saw was not pleasing. It was tough for me to accept the real world and all it’s woes but I took it on. After some extreme suffering and anxiety, I gained clarity.

-There are multiple world conflicts in which large groups of allied forces are fighting a common cause of "terrorism", so this going on might as well be called World War III in my opinion.

- It appears that there is an increase in natural disasters

-The "world" economy is reported as being a disaster.

-It appears to ME, that the rich are staying rich (or getting richer), the middle class being dissolved into lower class, and there are more "poor"

My soul is telling my mind that something is very wrong with this planet, and I can’t exactly put my finger on what’s wrong, but I have enough to piece together a picture. It’s kind of disgusting that on one side of planet earth could be the richest human in the world, and on the other side someone is starving to death.

I’m personally feeling limited in the material world we live in. I’m not saying I’m better, I’m saying my mind feels it’s ready for something much more. And those of you who are realists, excuse me for being utopian but I see two different paths for planet earth, one with world peace, and one with forever war. I realized that both are just a choice to individual human beings. If there are 7 billion humans on the planet, I can say at least I’m one that is for world peace and will contribute towards it the best I can, and I hope there are others like me. I have always believed the USA to stand for "liberty and justice for all". There are plenty of examples where we are contradicting our declarations, many to name, but on the other hand there are plenty of examples where the torch of freedom is still burning brightly. So what, you can’t buy a new car, or a flat screen, or get that house just yet, but there is a hidden wealth for those who have the eyes to see. In no particular order, one thing are libraries. Another, the internet. Another is nature.

So, what will America do next? Whatever "we the people" want. There is no "we the people" without the individual contributing to the collective. Everything starts at an individual level, especially a thought. And there can be no real action without thought. I’d make sure that my thoughts will lead me to do good actions.

blah blah blah

I really hope you’re trolling.
This thread is what happens when ONE basement dwelling conspirator comes out of his hidey-hole and tries to get normal people to indulge him in his bullshit.

There are forums around the internet where, when you ask a question like the TS did, you get a like-minded response from people who share the conspiracy theories. Around these parts though, there are alot of normal and rational people.

Having said that, you lost me at "fyi i don’t believe in the moon landing…"
Fake seven moon landings, even after the public pretty much lost interest after the second. Sure…..

also, why about meerschaum from other countries? I know Africa produces some, which is considered inferior, and America has something that’s similar, but where can I get these?

Friends of a friends are looking for someone to donate. Not sure why they are having a hard time finding a willing donator. Most of us guys whack it anyway! lol

On a serious note…what is the process? How do they…"harvest" the specimen? Do you just go into a room and frap into a container? Do they offer any…visual aids? Movies? Mags?

I can’t believe it’s like you see in the movies…what was that movie? Road trip? Where the nurse came in and gave a prostate massage?

I would never, ever do this.
The possibility does exist that you can be looked up some years later and be sued for child support.

It is wrong, it is insane and it has happened.

I can’t even begin to describe the rage this makes me feel.
I actually convinced myself I should do it when I was short on cash years ago. I worked up the nerve to call some sperm bank and the bitch on the other end managed to stop laughing long enough to inform me that no sperm banks in the state of Florida $compensate for ‘donations’ wtf

The repository close to where I live pays $100/sample; however, I feel my sperm is worth much more than that.
Do they pay constantly or is it only available at certain times? How often can you do it? Are there any requirements or restrictions? I do it for free might as well make $100 each time.

At the one here, you sign a contract for 6 months or a year. You donate up to 3 times per week, $100 a pop. You get an extra $500 or so for fulfilling your contract. There are a lot of requirements. You have to have a high sperm count w/ enough viable sperm after freezing. They do lab work. Screen you for STD and genetic disease. Get medical history from you and both sides of your family. You have to be a certain height and age. Need a certain education level. Maybe some other stuff.
Oh wow that is a lot more involved than I thought it would be, I probably wouldn’t qualify due to a genetic medical condition.

The man in the story made a serious mistake and the woman involved is a grade-A bitch, but since there was no contract, the judge’s decision was correct

He did majorly fuck up, but it still gives me some mad fucking rage.

i feel ya
I’ve done this. They do a very long family history questionnaire, examination by doctor, etc… and if you are deemed to be of high enough ‘quality’ they accept you into the program. The one I found paid approximately $100 per donation.

You pretty much just show up, grab a cup, go into some room full of porn and aim for the cup.

I was eventually kicked out because questions were raised about my mental health… but it was great college income.

edit: And don’t let that news story worry you – the idiot had his name on the birth certificate, and it sounds like he didn’t do it through a program but instead as a friendly gesture. Donors in a program can choose to be completely anonymous, nothing more than a donor # etc. I can’t fathom anybody having child support troubles through a legit program.

Is this in Hawaii?

Every time you masturbate you spawn a bastard child?! Crazy!

I could be wrong, but I remember one of the requirements to donate (maybe just in my state) was that you needed a bachelor’s degree. Also, be >6′.

I imagine that each program has their own requirements. I’m pretty sure height was included in mine… it may have been that you had to have or be in pursuit of a bachelor’s. Can’t remember anymore.

This happened because he maintained a relationship with the child. You could be held liable for child support even if you are not the biological father but are involved in the child’s life and take a parental role. My advise is if you donate sperm, DO NOT have any contact with any child born of your seed.

Yep. Very typical sperm donation incident. As soon as any sperm donor is tracked, they can always be sued, as depicted in your example.

The man, married at the time, agreed he would not have any rights or benefits in rearing the child, but the oral agreement never was put in writing, according to court documents.

But he took the unusual step of allowing his name to appear on the child’s birth certificate because he thought it was in the child’s "best interests that he would have an identity when he grew older," he said in court documents.

Before the mother, her partner and the child moved to Oregon in 1993, the man had contact with the child, he said. He also sent the child money, gifts and cards and letters signed "Dad" or "Daddy," and spoke to him by phone about seven times in the past 15 years.

Typical :OnTopic: garbage.

if you live in california

$65 bucks a pop, twice a week

damn I might have to do this

I missed the part where he sent cards and signed them as "Dad" or "Daddy"

What a fucking idiot.

Still a fucked up story though

genetic includes things like cloning new body parts etc, cybernetic would also include nanomachines
Isn’t someone in a wheelchair, by definition, a cyborg?

I’m gonna go with cybernetics.
Yeah, I played the new Deus Ex too

Question is pretty vague. I mean, to a certain extent we are already doing cybernetics.

Well, we already have pacemakers and artificial limbs and those bluetooth earphone thingies for cell phones. So I guess cybernetics will come first.
Yes but things are pretty primitive

in prosthesis, the most advanced system they have is this "myoelectric control" system where electrical impulses from the rest of the limb are interpreted by sensors in the prosthesis.. you concentrate hard about closing your hand, and the hand closes. the problem is, from what I understand, is that it depends on the amount of limb remaining and at which point the nerve were lost, it is probably harder flex a finger for someone who lost their entire forearm than someone who lost it at the wrist (most of the nerve was maintained).

DARPA says they plan to create a neural interface where a chip in the central nervous system (spine or brain) will transmit movement information to a prosthetic limb to allow effortless manipulation just by thinking about it… but DARPA also talks a about a lot of crazy shit like robot armies and cloaking.

its up to our understanding of physiology vs genetics.. if we figure out genetics before we figure out physiology, it might just be easier to use the existing machinery of life and the human body to grow or modify existing cells to our specifications…

that’s pretty amazing.

Amazing times.

The next 30-50 years will be simply mind blowing.
Cybernetics IMO. It creates less controversy so it’s easier to get the heavy funding needed for its advance.

Genetic modification has some strong active opposition while Cybernetics enjoys a pretty wide consensus.

BTW, does a heart-valve fall into cybernetics by your definition? Because there’s some pretty awesome stuff nowadays, no need to look into the future for the answer.

it does but its very primitive.. and its a good example of the problems cyber implants have. A biological (ie from a pig or a cow) heart valve (not cybernetic per se) needs to be replaced every 10 years because your immune system will eventually eat it away. A synthetic one will last forever, but you must be put on anti-coagulants for the rest of your life because your blood will constantly clot in response to the foreign body, risking embolization… cybernetics would have similar problems (which is actually part of the plot of the new DE game where the company has a monopoly over anti-rejection drugs)

a gentically engineered valve, although not possible with todays technology, would cause none of these problems since its from your own DNA

Primitive or not, if we’ve been doing cybernetics for years but are just now starting genetic modification, haven’t you answered your own question?

I think the question you’re trying to ask is which one will have the greater effect in the long run.

The 1948 Convention on Genocide clearly states:

Article 2(c), "Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part"

And, (e) "Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group"

Forced integration is genocide.

Even Article 3(e) "Complicity in genocide" is punishable.

You should try again and attempt to actually make sense this time.

U mad bro?

FYI, I’m white and actually consider myself racist.
I’m not trying to stir up s**t. I’m just attempting to bring awareness to the issue. Trying to genocide an entire race is insane. I think (I hope) we can all agree on that.
I’ve been called a racist for as far back as I can remember. I do not call myself racist though. I am definitely pro-White. And being pro-White can get you called all types of names. But I prefer not to label myself. Anti-whites do plenty of that for me.

ah… The labeling begins.
I’m closing this because you don’t know how to make a proper thread.

I’ll begin with recent world events, some making the news, some only available by subscription.


Russia has put forward "proposals" to build new nuclear power plants in Iran after the completion of the Bushehr project, local media reported Sunday quoting the Islamic republic’s atomic chief. "We have held negotiations with the Russians regarding the construction of new nuclear power plants. They have put forward some proposals," Fereydoon Abbasi Daavini was quoted as saying by Resalat newspaper.
"The exchange of ideas and proposals will continue until a clear result is reached," Abbasi Davani added.
Russia has built Iran’s only nuclear power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr against the backdrop of a series of delays, with Tehran hoping to link the facility to the national grid in late August.
Abbasi Davani meanwhile insisted that any future deals with Moscow would be clinched "in a manner that would safeguard the interests of both parties."
He did not give details about the number of future power plants or their locations.
He also did not specify whether the proposals were made during talks with Russian officials earlier this week in Tehran on how to resume negotiations between Iran and world powers on the country’s controversial nuclear programme.
Also, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi was in Moscow earlier this week to discuss a Russian proposal aimed at solving a stalemate in the talks.
Iran, the oil cartel OPEC’s number two oil exporter, has repeatedly denied allegations that its nuclear plans have a military dimension amid fears in the West that Tehran seeks to develop an atomic weapons capability.
Officials in Tehran contend they are only after civilian energy.
In recent years, the Islamic republic has announced its intentions to build research nuclear reactors and uranium enrichment facilities as well as 10 to 20 nuclear power plants to eventually generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity.
But it is yet to make public concrete plans to construct atomic power plants besides Bushehr, whose fuel must be provided by Russia.
In 2007 Iran sought international bids to build two new nuclear plants alongside Bushehr, and later announced plans to revive an old project in Darkhoin in the southwestern province of Kuzestan near the border with Iraq.
Like Bushehr, Darkhoin is a project whose original plans date back to before the 1979 Islamic revolution. There have been no developments on the project since then.
Iran is under four UN Security Council sanctions and unilateral measures imposed by the United States and the European Union over its refusal to abandon its uranium enrichment programme, a process that can be used to make both nuclear fuel and the highly enriched uranium needed for a nuclear bomb.
As you can see Iran and Russia have been striking alliances. What does that mean to the average American? I believe that within next several months, but no more than a year, we will be engaged in the next World War. All my sources are pointing in that direction. Me personally, I’m preparing myself both mentally and physically for the inevitable.
Surprise, Russia has the kind of US-level technologies like nuclear power that Iran wants. The Iranian government despises the US, I wonder who they’ll do business with?

You’re deluded if you think this is some sort of nefarious alliance – the Russians dislike Muslim totalitarianism just as much as the West does. However, the Russia needs money and international influence again, and building nuclear reactors for Iran gives them both. China has monopolized much of Africa already, the Middle east and central Asia are Russia’s best bet for regaining a measure of superiority without having to shoulder against entrenched European/American/Chinese interests.
Also

which clearly leads to

The US went to war with Spain once, I’m preparing myself mentally and physically for the next wave of terror issued from Madrid.

Agreed. I have no reason to believe it’s part of some evil conspiracy. I just see people drawing lines in the sand.

In my opinion, Russia gets most of what they need form German soft-power; however, that could be a topic on its own.

also agreed, but for reasons stated above.
I also see Israel pushing for war as opposed to a "nefarious alliance" between Iran and Russia. They said so. As Israel drags us into war with Iran, I see the Russians, and possibly the Germans taking sides with Iran.
As for when? If it hasn’t already started, I give it several months. I definitely wouldn’t want to be over there right now.
just an fyi, if you could include a link to your sources, that would be great.
It’s a shame you still don’t know how to make a thread.

When you’re ready to rewrite this post so that it conforms to the forum rules, let me know and I’ll unlock it.

That means sourcing your material, and it means giving your assessment of it and some original thoughts to start the conversation. You can’t just say "Here’s this article" and that’s it.

My sister’s boyfriend apparently went in for a job interview recently and the job was in the bag, until they told him to take a drug test. He hadn’t smoked weed in a month, and even then wasn’t a regular user. Out of paranoia he did that whole detox thing the night before/day of the drug test just to "be safe." Two days later the company called and told him the job was no longer his and that not only did the urine test show marijuana, but also something trying to mask it

I was blown away. The last time I had to take a drug test was almost 4 years ago for my current job. Back then I remember I had smoked once maybe 3 weeks before the drug test and was terrified, so I also did the detox….except I passed.

I was curious if anyone in here has done a drug test in the last few years (after doing a drug) and passed or did not pass. I’m still blown away at the idea the urine test could prove something was used to cover the drugs themselves.
how are you blown away ? It’s a chemical, they can test for that shit. Companies aren’t stupid.

Or if you try to flush your system, they’d just see that your urine wasn’t "normal"

I guess I just keep thinking back to the test I took a few years ago after a detox and passed.

I’m really curious if anyone here has (or knows someone) who also detoxed but failed
I know a Marine who failed his original drug test. The recruiter took him to buy the detox and swore he would be fine. I presume they have an idea of what to look for in terms of detox chemicals and are also skeptical of dilute urine (the old flush your system trick)
Ouch, I took test pure for FLACRA when I got a DWI in 2007.

It worked everytime, even when I had smoked the day before. I drank a massive ammount of water, I pissed three times in the hour before before I took the test. It was a 20 minuet drive to the place and I had to piss like a racing horse when I got there.

I juat figured that it was a vitamin drink and that all the water you drank turned your pee into water and then the overdoes of vitamins threw off the test. When I had to take the random test I happend to drink a shit load of water before because I was suspisious. There was no male counlsor there that night, so I was set into the bathroom by myself, I turned the hot water on when I went in, just a little bit I peed in the cup and added more than 1/2 hot water. I was desprate, I passed.

Must be that the job used a better test than the FLACRA in geneva NY did.

I feel bad for the guy. It is beyond stupid that weed is illegal.
My understanding is that most of the ‘detox’ kits for flushing marijuana out of your system actually consist of having you drink so much goddamn water that it becomes harder to detect (that is, whatever they sell you is bullshit, it’s the 9 gallons of water they tell you to take with it that might fool the test).

At any rate, it’s not very difficult to tell when someone has been drinking an absurd amount of water before a urine test, so some of them also recommend you take (or, I suppose, include) a bunch of vitamins to make it less obvious. Those are detectable.

So if you test positive for marijuana and you’ve clearly been ingesting an insane amount of water and vitamins, it’s pretty obvious that you were trying (unsuccessfully) to mask a test result. I suppose that even if you don’t test positive, they might be suspicious and ask you to take another one.
Unless your friend is extremely fat and was a heavy user, or lied about his usage to you, it is highly unlikely there were any THC metabolites in appreciable amounts (above the error range of the test). However, your friend should have done his research instead of freaking and detoxing. Since they know there were masking agents, it was likely a GCMS test.

The reality of the situation is, if you’ve got low body fat and aren’t a heavy smoker you dont have much to worry about past 3 days, especially if you’re active. If you’ve got average body fat and aren’t a heavy user you dont have much to worry about past 7 days. If you’re high body fat and aren’t a heavy user it usually clears in 14-21 days. Of course, the more you smoke the longer it takes, but those of low and average body fat rarely see anything outside of error after 30 days. If he was a moderate to heavy user and of above moderate to high body fat and went out and took a bunch of flushing agents and did a bunch of exercise for the days leading up to the test, it is possible that there were some marijuana metabolites. Regardless, if they see masking agents in the urine they’re going to assume you were trying to beat the test.
He probably smoked more recently than a month ago and just didn’t want to admit that no way is it staying in your system for longer than 30 days
The best way to clear marijuana from the system is by fecal matter, not urine. Drinking a bunch of water just allows your body to metabolize efficiently. Cut out fats completely, go on a calorie deficient diet, and consume indigestible oils. Deal with the diarrhea. Because you will have diarrhea, drink plenty of water and electrolytes. On the days leading up to the test go to a calorie surplus diet with fats. Acidify your urine with natural sources (cranberry juice), take B vitamins, and be well hydrated the day before and of the test.

Detox systems dont actually detox. They acidify your urine and mask the metabolites. This works for on the spot dip tests. Generally, the sample is split into multiple aliquots. One is tested with a dip test. If it fails, they send the rest off to an analytical lab for GCMS testing to confirm the results, because false positives on dip tests are just as likely as false negatives.

if they can test for weed, why are you surprised they can also test for substances commonly used to mask weed?

if i dump oil in my back yard the EPA can test to see i dumped oil. if i cover it with an enzyme to break it down, why couldn’t they test for the enzyme?as well?

They can test for ANY compound. To nearly any realistic precision. In any sample. It’s what analytical chemists do. Cost leads to practical limitations so most stop at basic GCMS (Gas Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry). Even a basic GCMS test is several hundred dollars to the consumer.

that’s my point.

if a company is concerned about testing for weed, why would someone be surprised that they’re testing for things to mask weed?

420 Detox sauce marketing.

Sell diuretic, vitamin C, B12 supplement with metabolite binding proteins in nasty tasting liquid with a visually appealing bottle for $20. Claims it beats modern science. Why do the meatheads in F&N think their $40 can of "SUPER STRENGTH" amino acids is better than eating an egg?
Pot stays in your system for months…

If you, or someone you know, is worried about a piss test – why not stop using drugs?

If the employer is going to do an intial test for drugs initially – before hiring – they sure as shit are going to do it randomly after the hire…

The employee is bound to fail sooner or later

No one listen to this person.

Which person are you referring to?

You, the person I quoted.

Marijuana doesn’t stay in your system with in the error of a standard GCMS test for months. 30 days is the longest for even over weight individuals. 60 days and you are sure to be clean. Most companies have an initial drug test and then only test to follow is in the instance of an accident, which is blood or saliva. Blood and saliva also tests for THC, not THC metabolites. Thus, you must have smoked recently, to the point you are still under the influence to some extent. Saliva tests are so inaccurate people have been known to pass with in 30min of smoking. GCMS testing is expensive, unless you’re the military or otherwise associated with government or high risk work environemnts they’re not going to waste the money randomly testing. Even the military combines EVERYONE in unit samples into one sample. If it fails then they proceed to individual testing. Because of the dilution, people often get by using drugs in the military.

I seem to remember being told it stayed in your system longer than 30 days. This was when I was in the service on active duty.

In any event, if people are being screened for employment with a piss test, that means the employer is checking their integrity and honesty.

Cheating on a piss test doesn’t meet either of those characteristics.

What good’s a dishonest dirtbag ?

Of course the military is going to tell you it stays in your system longer. They dont want their recruits breaking the law. The employer is not testing integrity and dishonesty, they’re testing for insurance and legal liability. I’m glad you think someone is a dishonest dirtbag for using drugs. Real world experience would prove you wrong.

If a person is using illegal drugs and lies about it to his employer when asked, yes, that person is dishonest. I’ve been in the real world a long time son.

That doesn’t make them a "dirtbag". No employer asks "do you use drugs." They say "piss here."

You’ve obviously never applied for a position that required any sort of clearance.
I took a drug test maybe 3 years ago and passed after smoking about a week before. It was only one bowl though, I was NOT a regular smoker, and I’m a very small frame with high metabolism. I did nothing to clean my system, just figured I’d either pass or fail.

A lot of my friends swear by stingers you can get at the smoke shop. I dunno how accurate this is, but I’ve also always heard if you drink cranberry juice, water, and vinegar it helps flush you out. Feel free to correct me.

Makes sense, I’ve just never even thought about it honestly Always just figured they had a way to just check for the certain drugs that could come up.

BTW, guy did not lie about when/how much he smoked. He’s a little chubby, so he was pretty sure that was why it was still in his system. He hasn’t smoked since and got a different job

You’re right, because I’d never join the military or work for a military contractor or US intelligence organization due to personal political and moral disagreements. Growing up in a military household, I know how shitty it is on a family as well.

Let’s try to stray from this derail…

For you, I will.

This was over 15 years ago – not sure about advancements in testing since then.

Tested for a job – was a regular user. I bought some of that "tea" where you have to drink an entire gallon within like 3 hours or something.

Test result was negative, but "specimen too dilute, suggest re-test." So I retested a couple days later – same tea — same result.

I was told I would be given one more chance to "pass" with non-dilute specimen.

I was looking at the box for the tea and there was a 100% guarantee. So I called up the place and told them my problem. They suggested a different product they made where you only drink one glass of their mix, plus one glass of plain water instead of a whole gallon. They also said to send them the proof of purchase for the teas and the results from the 1st two tests and they would refund me.

I got the other stuff and passed the test. I also got a refund as promised.

Drink enough water and you will dilute your urine to the point that the test becomes inadmissible. A week or more of not smoking and still partailly diluting is what got you the pass. Detox gimmicks are just that, gimmicks. Some work to a moderate extent on dip tests, nothing but sample dilution and being clean works on GCMS. Dont think for a second they actually "detoxifying" you. The methods used today are pretty much the same as then.

Wow, please stop postign.

Do you believe everythign you are told?

Off topic but I like your style man, you come off very intelligent…I could be wrong..but I doubt it

Lab tech crew?

Still in skool chem crew.
PS I have a drug test for a new job that I just got… I send the signed paper work today.

We don’t usually get very many interesting urines outside of a few crystals, sperm, trich, and occasionally some positive drug screens…but last week we got one into the lab that was 40

I enjoy reading classic stuff to my son. We’ve read the Jungle Book, Wizard of Oz, and Treasure Island. Currently been reading him Hans Christian Andersons Fairy Tales. He loves them but they always make me cry. Especially "The Angel". I’ve also got a book of stories from different cultures all over the world that I used to read as a child. It’s neat that his favorite stories in it are the same as mine were when I was young.

If there isn’t, there should be. I burn through books like a Nazi party rally, and I could really use some people to bounce discussion off of about them.
There are a lot of book threads in various places. If I might be so bold, I suggest The Outer Limits if you want to discuss scifi/horror/fantasy books.

Anything else, here is as good a place as any – I have no objections, and the fact that this thread is still open suggests to me that FB hasn’t got any either.

Just make a thread about whatever book you’re reading. Or even a "book club" thread.
was looking for this type of thing.

book club it up bro, name a title
im so good at analyzing books ill blow all your minds
anyone here read King Rat? Just finished it, great book.
If anyone wants to make an official book club thread I’ll sticky it. I’ll leave it up as long as it has a decent amount of activity in it. The way we ran it in LAOT was to have a poll to vote on a book to read, then read the book while discussing it along the way. Our’s took off at first, but lacked direction and died (my bad). I also suspect not many people were dedicated enough to keep reading. I’ll take part in one if its made, but I don’t want to run it this time.
^ that sounds cool, the voting on a book. I’m looking for something new to read and it would be cool to read it along with some other ppl and talk about it here.
My next attempt to re-read a classic will be either:

To Kill A Mockingbird
The Dollmaker

Or what I’d really like to step into a group with:

A Tale Of Two Cities.
I’ve been re-reading Dune lately after reading Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72. I’m about to start reading Windhaven by George R.R. Martin, I wanted to read the Game of Thrones books written by him but they were all out of stock at the library, most likely because of the show. I’ve also been reading A Case For Mars by Robert Zubrin to help with research for a science fiction novel that I’ve recently begun working on, but the book is from the mid-90′s and I was hoping to find a more recent non-fiction book about Mars at the library with no luck.
tale of 2 cities seconded.

never read it
anyone read Dismantled? Thanks

girl told me it was good any of you guys read? lol