The Scary Amphetamine Pill Fueling Middle-Eastern Fighters
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The Kennedy White House found "speed" a reliable means to "better living through chemistry" and the Rolling Stones sang about "Mother's Little Helper" aka "diet pills" aka amphetamine. And thousands of college students find those same pills, though the brand name has changed over the last half century, keep them going through an "all nighter" when they cram for a test they could have studied for all term but, funny how things happen, they did not. Instead of Bennies and Dexys (Benzadrine and Dexadrine), now the call it Adderall and use it just like those who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), one of those trendy new psych diagnoses.
A major force in biochem "advancements" has long been the military making an effort toward "super soldiers" of the kind featured in many science-fiction movies. These certainly go back to WWII, not only for Axis fighters but in the United States, where many bombing pilots became hooked on their prescribed (required) energy boosters to focus their attention and attenuate their sleep deprivation.
The ideal "smart pill" might be (fictious) NZD, currently highly featured as the brain stimulant for the hunky star of "Limitless," which has brought Bradley Cooper back to the television machine where he occasionally appears in stories taking place a year or two after the movie "Limitless," in which he starred. Based on the movie and the original story by legendary Philip K. Dick (his latest novel to be adapted for the silver screen is "The Man in the High Castle," which apparently is about to be released. And perhaps you know some of his other film adaptations, such as Blade Runner (also about to get a sequel), based on "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"
And then there are the two versions of "Total Recall," the first in 1966, based on "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale." Paranoid much?
NZD would maybe be a fine thing if it existed. Makes you instantly able to correlate all the contents of your mind, using your total recall to learn languages (Right Now!) put all your math exposure into efficient overdrive, have a photographic (eidetic) memory, and so on. But the search goes on for "smart pills" better than vinpocetine and huperzine, which are useful but hardly the stuff of hit television programs.
Related is the story this week with the headline used above, found at:
http://crooksandliars.com/2015/11/scary-amphetamine-pill-fueling-middle
Excerpts from the story:
A pill known as Pervitin, widely used by Hitler's army and Hitler himself, was one of the reasons the Axis Power became a little too ambitious. Apparently, there's something more powerful and more dangerous floating around war zones like Syria: Captagon.
"Syrian government forces and rebel groups each say the other uses Captagon to endure protracted engagements without sleep, while clinicians say ordinary Syrians are increasingly experimenting with the pills, which sell for between $5 and $20," Reuters reported.
[Fenethylline ("commonly known by the trademark name Captagon") is a Schedule I drug in the U.S.]
Secular ex-Syrian fighter: "So the brigade leader came and told us, 'this pill gives you energy, try it,' " he said. "So we took it the first time. We felt physically fit. And if there were 10 people in front of you, you could catch them and kill them. You're awake all the time. You don't have any problems, you don't even think about sleeping, you don't think to leave the checkpoint. It gives you great courage and power. If the leader told you to go break into a military barracks, I will break in with a brave heart and without any feeling of fear at all — you're not even tired."
In case you think that the fighters of Daesh are Islamic in their ideology, keep in mind that Islam clearly forbids any mind-altering drugs, especially illegal substances, as well as alcohol. From the 'Christian' immigrant-fearing people in America to these 'soldiers of Islam,' hypocrisy seems to accompany malevolence anywhere it rears its ugly head.
A perhaps more useful brain boost is a prescription drug intended for narcolepsy, the problem that afflicts River Phoenix in "My Own Private Idaho," where he and Keanu Reeves played male hustlers.
Narcolepsy medication modafinil is world's first safe 'smart drug'
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/20/narcolepsy-medication-modafinil-worlds-first-safe-smart-drugModafinil: The ‘smart drug’ leading the charge towards a future of neuroenhancement
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/modafinil-the-smart-drug-leading-the-charge-towards-a-future-of-neuroenhancement/Modafinil, also known as Provigil, was the subject of an ABC News Report on what the American Broadcasting Network called "The Secret Success Drug." Their story is available online for the curious at:
http://www.mindbendingvideos.com/the-secret-success-drug/
All of which reminds me of an old joke, originally done in "comic" racial dialect, but that will be posted under Jokes where it belongs.
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"Pervitin, widely used by Hitler's army and Hitler himself…"
Housewives, workers, soldiers bent on survival and kids looking for recreation ― they all had their own reasons and agendas for using Pervitin which didn't always go hand in hand with NSDAP policy. Its use was eventually restricted to small military groups like the Luftwaffe. Mostly it just made life more interesting for members of the Volksgemeinschaft without sacrificing too much of its social fabric.
