I'm a cannabis user who gets a lot of benefit and joy out of it. It's too bad that a lot of people he are coming from a place of ignorance about it. It's understandable, in a sense, because all drugs are abused in our ridiculous. People overuse everything, including weed, and when you overuse it, it can have a negative effect that causes stereotypical laziness (though it still doesn't cause physical harm). I take two or three hits a day, and it adds a wonderful spiritual dimension to my life, inspires me creatively, and is very beneficial to meditation. It also opens up that "third eye" and helps me see the effect of food on my consciousness. I also sleep better, and don't have the low-level depression that I used to. On the contrary, life is very joyous when you respectfully use plant allies such as cannabis. Another amazing one is ayahuasca. People who are on a spiritual path should really try this stuff; you have no idea how profoundly healing it is without trying it, but almost everyone who tries it has a life-changing experience for the better. These substances used properly seem to carry a theme of getting in touch with our true nature and with the Earth. Good-quality cannabis really brings nature to life, and it helps you laugh. It's medicinal qualities are incredible. More and more is coming out about its medicinal benefits (for epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, chronic pain, and some cancers, yes).

The fact that we have a natural endocannabinoid system in our brains is evidence that we SHOULD be using cannabis. Cannabis fits perfectly into receptors that exist in our brains; the endocannabioid system is very fundamental to our moods and happiness. That's why people like weed so much! It's also being studied as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. There's a lot of benefit to conscious use of this stuff as a plant medicine, not a "drug." The notion of lumping all "drugs" together is a product of our whacked out society and this ridiculous "War on Drugs." Cannabis has no relation to cocaine; in fact, they're more like opposites. And cannabis is incredibly physically benign. Sure, you can get psychologically addicted to anything, but weed has no physical addiction; even if you use it heavily, if you stop, you won't get withdrawal symptoms. This is unlike even caffeine, which has physical withdrawal symptoms associated with it (coffee- now there's a spiritually destructive drug in our society). Weed has also never killed anyone in all of history. That's indicative of it's safety.

We're in a time right now in history when society is taking another look at marijuana. I really urge every to do that. Sanjay Gupta of CNN is a doctor who was originally opposed to marijuana- until he actually looked at the scientific evidence. Now he's a public champion of it's medical use. Check out his two CNN segments that a re up on youtube: "Weed" and "Weed." I wish everyone would take some time to look at the evidence and re-think your knowledge and position on cannabis. If you've never tried it, or haven't in ten years, why not try it? The key is to use it very moderately. The pothead culture of smoking "blunts to your head" gives this plant a bad name. I literally take exactly one hit at a time. If you've never enjoyed a simple weed high- you're missing out on one of the more beautiful, mentally healthy, and fun experiences of life.

I'm glad to see people supporting legalization of weed on a pro-freedom basis. Honestly, I don't think people should be going to prison for ANY drugs. Drugs should be a public health issue, not a criminal justice issue. We should be using public tax money to fund research and education and treatment, not prisons. Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2002, and they've seen a drop in violent crime and teen addiction. It's time to end the "War on Drugs" and progress to a more compassionate and healthy approach to the entire issue.

In my experience fruit is meant to be eaten ripe. That's why it tastes so delicious when it's ripe. There may be exceptions. But trust your own experience.

Oh, no, I guess I missed the context. Gingrich is not a Bohemian Club attendee; he's just an idiot.

But re: Ron Paul- I agree wholeheartedly about ending U.S. imperialism and the Drug War. But massively slashing social services domestically would be totally devastating to poor people. Some of you don't seem to have an actual class consciousness. The secret truth of the western world is that the vast majority of wealth comes through inheritance. And when you're born poor it's very hard bordering impossible to get out of it. The "American dream" is a lie, and I think we all know it. It's not really funny to slash the hell out of social service programs. Nor is it cool to support environmentally destructive projects such as what the Keystone Pipeline would have been, and to threaten to abolish the EPA. These are all libertarian aims, as well as disempowering unions. It sounds nice to put 100% faith in "the market," but here in reality unchecked corporate power is actually *the problem,* not the solution. We should regulate corporations and banks and provide social services to poor and middle-income people and building up infrastructure; that's what government *should* be doing. What it shouldn't be doing is waging wars all over the world and a phony Drug War at home. We should tax huge corporations (GE paid no taxes this year) and the Mitt Romneys of the world.
I like Ron Paul to a degree, but someone like Dennis Kucinich is much on point overall.

This is funny, because I'm on something of a "fast" from animal foods right now, for the past couple weeks. Pretty much just fruits and veggies, including a lot of coconut. But it's because I had been eating tons and tons of butter and cheese there for a while (I used to live on a farm with people who eat intensely rich all the time, so it's kind of a default for me)... and started eating more red meat than I usually do, too. I overdid it, so now I'm on a cleansing thing. Presumably, if I had been more moderate, instead of getting overly excited that I could eat so much cheese and butter, I wouldn't need the cleanse. Still, though, it's been good, and I've been eating more veggies than ever in my life.

If you don't crave it don't eat it. Personally, I'm all set with "absolute" fasting but a day or two of a fruit fast can hit the spot.

I do fine with fruit by itself, as long as I eat a lot of fat separately.

I tolerate fruit much better in the summer and tolerate meat much better in the winter.
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Ditto. I find a significant difference. But I live up north.

If you get dates from the Date People or some such company they haven't been dried; they're fresh. Still, in my opinion, dates aren't as good as higher water-content fruit, but I eat them once in a while, and they feel a lot better than dried fruit.

If you find dried fruit without preservatives that's a lot better (Living Tree Community Foods has sun-dried fruit that's the best dried fruit I've ever had)... but fresh fruit is *infinitely* better than dried. It just makes you feel so much better. In my opinion hydration is a big part of why fruit is so good. Nothing beats a ripe fresh mango. No access to fresh mangos?
Dried fruit can be a backup. There are definitely worse things one can out in one's body.

Coffee is extreme poison, so you'll have no way of knowing if the honey was bad, really. Incidentally, I've thought that it was weird that lots of you eat straight raw honey, especially with the mixed feelings towards fruit on this board. But I decided to give it a shot last time I went food shopping... bought a local raw honey, and four or five spoonfuls really hit the spot, actually. I haven't wanted it since, though. Seems like a power once-in-a-while food to me.

No doubt that the extreme near-fruitarian crowd is only managing to function because of their exercise obsession. Obviously, they do *nothing else in life* besides obsess over fruit and exercise.
I think it's pretty simple re how much fruit- it should taste insanely delicious every time you eat it. If it tastes anything short of insanely delicious it's not time for fruit. Sometimes I go overboard and then need a day off from fruit. Today may be such a day....

Damn the illegality of raw milk cheese! I've been eating raw goat's cheese recently and loving it.

No reason fruit and cheese should be mutually exclusive; you could eat a little of each.

Good luck with that budget!
One thing to consider is water content. Papayas are very light. Not as light as, say melons, which are like 90% water, but still quite light. Mangos are somewhat denser, and things like sapotes and jackfruit are much denser. The ultimate dense fruit is dates.
Personally, I mostly go for lighter, more watery fruit in the summer and denser in the winter... but that's just me.  Right now I've got sapodillas, slow-ripening persimmons, and durian.

Most tropical fruit has a few-month season, but papaya is a year-round phenomenon. Papaya is hands-down my favorite high-water-content fruit-- divine. I've found since eating a lot of fruit that my body rejects drinking water. The water naturally occurring in fruit seems more ideal than water from the tap (even good well water). And hydration is one of the big keys to feeling good; imo that's part of why eating fruit is important, and I eat more fruit than veggies.
Waiting until fruit is *truly ripe* is really, really ideal. It should melt in your melt. It can be eaten a couple days before true ripeness, but if you practice the virtue of patience you're rewarded in both how it tastes and how it makes you feel. Most folks don't wait until fruit is truly ripe, and thus they don't understand the full wonder of fruit.

Re: organic, I go by flavor, and their stuff always tastes awesome to me, so I don't worry about certification. A lot of small farms are low-spray but can't afford or don't feel they need certification.
Re: papayas, that's actually one that I don't get from Florida/Fresh Gardens, because I don't like their varieties as much. I order papayas obsessively over the summer from Hawaii- ten pounds of sunred papayas for $55 from Hawaii: http://www.papayas.net/order.php
They're always timely, and the papayas are outrageous, even though they're also not certified organic. To each his/her own, but I'm a papaya connoisseur, and I think most of the ones in Whole Foods are crap, but these are the real deal.