More accurately, this is a â6-Bullet Surprise,â as we needed some extra sweetness to balance things out.  â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
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[5-Bullet Friday](=) Hi All!
Here is your weekly dose of â5-Bullet Friday,â a list of what Iâm pondering and exploring. More accurately, this is a â6-Bullet Surprise,â as we needed some extra sweetness to balance things out. This edition is like a delicious selection of strange sushi. Between the intense items, there are some bullets of âgingerâ to serve as palate cleansers. Sometimes you need both, and sometimes [ç¥ãã¬ãä»](=).What Iâm watching â[IN-SHADOW - A Modern Odyssey - Animated Short Film](=). This is the most gripping short animation Iâve seen in years. I think anyone who spends time on a computer or phone needs to watch it. The intensity is followed by redemption, and the artwork and art direction are spectacular throughout. It is written, directed, and produced by Lubomir Arsov ([@lubomirarsov](). For more, here is [the official website](=). And thanks to Joe P. for the great recommendation.
Music for ginger intermission â â[Mama Clo](=)â ([YouTube](=), [Spotify](=)) by [Thornato]() and [BenjamÃn Vanegas](=).
What Iâm reading and celebrating â â[MDMA Reaches Next Step Toward Approval for Treatment](â by [Rachel Nuwer](=) (The New York Times). This is a very big deal, and the results further reinforce [why I became involved]( with these Phase 3 trials, the first conducted on psychedelic-assisted therapy. Huge thanks to all of you who supported the campaign! Thus far, the data represent a home run. Here are just a few highlights, and bolding is mine:âTwo months after treatment, 67 percent of participants in the MDMA group no longer qualified for a diagnosis of PTSD, compared with 32 percent in the placebo group.
MDMA produced no serious adverse side effects. Some participants temporarily experienced mild symptoms like nausea and loss of appetite.
âThis is about as excited as I can get about a clinical trial,â said Gul Dolen, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the research. âThere is nothing like this in clinical trial results for a neuropsychiatric disease.âââ¦âAn estimated 7 percent of the U.S. population will experience PTSD at some point in their life, and as many as 13 percent of combat veterans have the condition. In 2018, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs spent $17 billion on disability payments for over one million veterans with PTSD.
For the approximately half to one-third of people who do not find relief through treatment, PTSD can become chronic, lasting years or even a lifetime.The 90 participants who took part in the Phase 3 trial included combat veterans, first responders and victims of sexual assault, mass shootings, domestic violence or childhood trauma. All had severe PTSD and had been diagnosed, on average, for more than 14 years. Many had a history of alcohol and substance use disorder, and 90 percent had considered suicide. The trial included data collected by 80 therapists at 15 sites in the United States, Canada and Israel.â
What Iâm reading â[Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch]() by [Dan OâBrien](). From the description: âFor twenty years Dan OâBrien struggled to make ends meet on his cattle ranch in South Dakota. But when a neighbor invited him to lend a hand at the annual buffalo roundup, OâBrien was inspired to convert his own ranch, the Broken Heart, to buffalo. Starting with thirteen calves, âshort-necked, golden balls of wool,â OâBrien embarked on a journey that returned buffalo to his land for the first time in more than a century and a half. Buffalo for the Broken Heart is at once a tender account of the buffaloesâ first seasons on the ranch and an engaging lesson in wildlife ecology. Whether heâs describing the grazing pattern of the buffalo, the thrill of watching a falcon home in on its prey, or the comical spectacle of a buffalo bull wallowing in the mud, OâBrien combines a novelistâs eye for detail with a naturalistâs understanding to create an enriching, entertaining narrative.â
Podcast Iâm nail-biting through ââ[Engineering the Apocalypse](=)â on the [Making Sense]( podcast by [Sam Harris, PhD](. ([@SamHarrisOrg]()). Description: âIn this nearly 4-hour special episode, [Rob Reid](=) delivers a 100-minute monologue (broken up into 4 segments, and interleaved with discussions with Sam) about the looming danger of a man-made pandemic, caused by an artificially-modified pathogen. The risk of this occurring is far higher and nearer-term than almost anyone realizes.â Rob and Sam also discuss concrete, affordable, and scientifically-fascinating steps that can be taken now to massively mitigate the risks. Almost all those steps are also 100% applicable to natural pandemics, so they can decrease the odds of a future COVID-like outbreak. As an indication of Samâs own urgency, his Waking Up Foundation has donated ~$500,000 to two organizations in the pandemic-resistance space ([Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at Harvard University]( and [The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations]()). Sam discusses them in the first few minutes of [his prior episode](.
Quote Iâm pondering ââAnd I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, âIf this isnât nice, I donât know what is.âââ [Kurt Vonnegut](=)Smile this weekend!And, as always, please give me feedback on Twitter. Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know. Just [send a tweet to @tferriss](=) and put #5BulletFriday at the end so I can find it.
Have a wonderful weekend, all. Much love to you and yours, Tim P.S. Deal of the Week â [Laird Superfood](. I love Laird Superfood productsâ[their creamers]( especially. Right now, you can get 20% off for a limited time when you use code TIM20 at checkout. Two of my favorites are the [Turmeric Superfood Creamer]( and [Unsweetened Superfood Creamer](=). I put one of them in practically everything. They instantly turn my coffee or tea into a functional latte. Those naturally occurring MCTs go a long way.
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