Hello all,

We now have a website for our new CEL organisation. You can find the CEL website at: http://www.cel-hub.com
The contents will be filled gradually.

Please check it out and let me know what you think of it. Any comments are welcome.


Kind regards,

The Traveler

It's got a simple, clean design which I like. There is some problems with the search box as it's halfway above the header for me. I'm also not so sure about the header itself. There's something about the text...

Thank you for the compliments.

About the search box: you must be using IE6, that browser has a problem with it (IE7/8, FF3.5, Chrome, Safari4 and Opera10 work fine with it). When I have time I'll make some nice IE6 fixes (thank you M$).

The Logo and the Slogan aren't set yet.


Kind regards,

The Traveler

Great job, Traveller. A terrific platform to start building from.

Great design on the site traveller I too like it's simple strightforward design.

two quick things:

first the 2nd goal on the homepage might need some rephrasing as it currently states
"2.Defend those who needlessly drain the resources of our justice system"

I get what it is supposed to mean but either the word defend must be changed or the sentence rephrased otherwise it sounds like we are for the status quo or those who drain resources anyway.

the second thing is about registering, i want to register as my regular name, but since i don't know how the dynamic between the CEL and media/public/government goes I was wondering if I should just use my alias until that is more known?

Thanks for your thoughts and hard work I love you all immensely

This is really great trav!

I have the same concern. The CEL website already has a link directly to the Nexus e-book. I'd like 0 direct connection from the CEL website to the Nexus, as difficult as that may become.

....Perhaps we might be allowed TWO identities?
ALTHOUGH any clever hacker could quickly use this against us methinks?






This needs much thought, and has come up in the Warning thread....
We certainly need to codify some sort of practical ethics regarding the cross pollination of the sites. This will take some honest conversations. Including the fact whether hiding The Nexus is even possible? And that in time, The Nexus will in fact change, it will grow MUCH bigger, and one day it will die.


I would like to think of CEL as the Clean Nosed Brother of The Nexus. Though i am unsure of how to technically do this.



thinking thinking thinking

Alight, I've slept on this issue and now i have some more thoughts:


Friends, please search "Coalition for Entheogenic Liberty" and see what pops up. We are already running around naked.... perhaps we might have this project section be a "login only" like that of the "Suppliers" SubForum? This will at least minimize CEL's / Nexus search engine trace?

The key is that these servers in fact reside in a country with very generous freedom of speech laws. How generous remains to be tested, and something we need to explore.


I personally, will still remain anonymous throughout CEL's web history (in whatever form it takes). There is little benefit for my resume to have Leadership of a Psychedelic Advocacy Group publicly associated with my real name and i am on a mission. BUT FOR SOME OF YOU THIS MAY BE OKAY! and i welcome that, and in fact this is needed. one of you has even volunteered to be a spokesmen!!


Let's start drafting a policy:

+ CEL will remain clean of the many internal "drug laws"

+ CEL will never publicly and directly advertise The Nexus

+ The Nexus will help CEL brainstorm and work on projects in a hidden Project SubForum

+ Late Stage Projects will be moved to the CEL website to be finalized and publicized



thoughts? criticisms? additions/subtractions? areas in need of explanation?

I agree with all these. I think that they are necessary. I also would like to see something along the lines of:

+ CEL members do not discuss ANY personal illegal activities on the CEL website. (we have the Nexus for that)

+ The source for all Experience Reports should not be labeled as the members themselves. (that's as good as self-incrimination)

+ If you feel that you have to say "SWIM," don't say it at all.

+ CEL forums are reserved for activism, publicizing and CEL project-related issues. There should be no discussion of philosophy, religion, vendors, entertainment or experience reports.

Another consideration:
Should there even be an Experience Reports section? I don't see the point. There are other sites for that, like this one.

Consider this done.


Kind regards,

The Traveler

Great website traveler!


~Bhagavan

Agreed with the other comments. Site looks good. Clean, professional, and sharp (I really dig the logo also!). Great launchpad.

I also agree with the policy points being drafted as listed by Acolyte and Kartikay. Important points there.

I also raised my eyebrow when I saw the 'experience reports' section. Seemed out of place. Actually, I thought the entire forum seemed out of place? Both of these seem like they could totally work but would need to be very defined in terms of intent, activity, and moderation. Keeping everything focused, on topic, and on message would require constant direction.

Looks good.

I'd add this somewhere, maybe on the homepage front and center:



--
K

Maybe we should move the work off the nexus. I was considering this yesterday. When CEL does grow to maturity, I could hear the oppisition now talking about how CEL was born "On a website where drug abusers talk about different ways to cook drugs and get high."

Definately want CEL to be as legit as it possibly can be.

This is why we need to cover our bases by improving the internal workings of the Nexus, rather than sever the organization from the community. CEL must clearly, though not overtly, serve as the public mouthpiece of the community--not hiding the connection, but not going to great lengths to shove it in the public's face. The Nexus is, and will likely always be, visible to the public eye, but it's difficult to understand from the outside; CEL could function to explain it in a way that the public can potentially grasp and possibly appreciate.

The Nexus and anything that stems from it will always bear an outlaw quality as long as the policies of prohibition persist, but outlaws often become darlings of public opinion.

In any case, if we're not open about the connection, it could be used against CEL at some point later on.

I have to respectfully disagree here. Similar to how BBB is now receiving bad press and possibly legal implications from their own forums, CEL will not benefit but may actually suffer major repercussions from an association with a forum that can openly discuss use of illegal substances.

By associating itself with the Nexus directly, some people will not be as willing to support our efforts. We will have to garner support from people who support the use of entheogens, religious freedom, smaller government, environmentalism, alternative medicine and all sorts of advocacy issues that don't really relate to the main discussion topics in the Nexus. These people, who may or may not have any direct interest in the spiritual or enlightenment aspect of entheogens, will not support CEL if it has ties to extremely questionable activities (in their eyes) and often directly illegal activities.

CEL should be a group that people can join without joining the Nexus, even indirectly.

Some people on the Nexus say outright that their use of DMT or other psychedelics is not spiritual or religious (which I don't rightly understand), but that means that some discussion of these substances cannot even be considered a discussion of "entheogens," but rather a discussion of mind-altering illegal substances. This is separate from CEL's cause... and can easily lead to the devaluing of the legitimacy of the organization. The media can easily corrupt the name of CEL with just one or two quotes of irresponsible use or use of a "drug" and not an "entheogen." I assure you there are more than just one or two quotes available.

Traveler,
The Donations link at CEL is not active. I would like to see it become active and also would hope that it would use PayPal too. I'm sure it will soon. Thanks so very much for taking on this long needed effort!

My point is that we can't duck it, no matter how much we'd like to. The BBB situation is hardly comparable to any potential situation CEL or the Nexus would find itself in. BBB was a business that attempted to expand their business by advertising the illicit use of their products. I would bet that regardless of whether their site linked to their forums or not, the connection would still be brought up in court. The Nexus is based on this discussion and CEL is born of those who wish for this discussion to persist and progress without strain of the threat of legal repercussion.



I agree that the two shouldn't associate overtly, but I don't think it would benefit from attempting to cover it up. It should grow into its own entity, but that's not going to happen without the explicit support of the Nexus community. I see this as an evolution of the community, but it's not going to come over night. I say, reduce the public visibility of the connection, but severing it prematurely would severely limit its potential for growth. The Nexus is the heart and soul of CEL, and if we pretend that it's otherwise, we just might find ourselves being the only ones doing so.



This is going to be brought up, regardless. If we can't armor ourselves against it and assert the legitimacy of individual choice in the matter while advocating responsibility and sincerity, then what are we fighting for that's so uniquely worth fighting for? What do we have to bring to the table that's so different from any of the other advocacy groups? Why should this community organize as a community?



Absolutely, but the stance of the Nexus at large needs to be clear in order to combat this. I would think Erowid to be a decent model of this, but the Nexus has the edge of being a bit more involved in the advocacy of safe practice. The Nexus needs internal change, rather than being left as something that can be perceived as "the dirty little secret of CEL."


The connection is already visible, and if we don't make it, the wrong people will. What we don't want is for it to be out of our hands. I don't think we should trick people into joining something with the connection already established. CEL should be allowed to mature to the point of not needing explicit support from the Nexus, but this should be allowed to happen organically, rather than a full-scale cover-up.

My head hurts!!! So much to think about.


hm..... i think this discussion is perfect. i love it.


i think we need to be careful about the whole idea of "public opinion."
There's no pleasing everyone. We might theoretically create the cleanest, most boyscout-esque organization with NO TRACEABLE illicit connection, and then watch flabbergasted as conservative opinions shit all over something they don't understand.


There are only two outside voices we need to consider: the voice of reason, and the law. I respect the law, i work for the law, I've been willing to defend the law with my life (veteran). But the law is NOT a moral or ethical authority. it is public policy. And when the public is in the dark, and needs to be educated, then it is our job as Bodhisattvas to effectively use our every ounce of wit, and every sweatdrop of effort, to create as effective an effort against Public Ignorance as we can. It may need to be our nature to endure.


This is why our eBook is so important, as it is our statement of belief and worldview to a reasonable public. A reasonable, skeptical (although ignorant public) is our number one audience--this is the only way to even we may remotely speak on a respected level with the law.


These reasonable folks will hopefully care more about the ASTOUNDING implications of what we say, than how we've learned to say it (a hideaway place called The DMT-Nexus). I think we need to remember how fundamentally earth shattering some of the content we casually toss around here is: "oh yeah, last night SWIM realized the hyperspace side of his thoughts were actually alive and full of hyperspace critters which needed a cleaning out, well at least that's what a 478,000 year-old Alien told him"


And to be honest, i don't expect anyone to even notice CEL untill a few months AFTER we have the damn ebook published. THAT's when things will get interesting, so we have plenty of time... but proper planning is key!


we're on the right path.