LLaMA NOT MMDMA

Meta unveils more cautious approach to ChatGPT frenzy

Fri, 24 February 2023 


Facebook-owner Meta on Friday unveiled its own version of the artificial intelligence behind apps such as ChatGPT, saying it would give access to researchers to find fixes to the technology's potential dangers.

Meta described its own AI, called LLaMA, as a "smaller, more performant" model designed to "help researchers advance their work," in what could be seen as veiled criticism of Microsoft's decision to release the technology widely, while keeping the programming code secret.

Microsoft-backed ChatGPT has taken the world by storm with its ability to generate finely crafted texts such as essays or poems in just seconds using technology known as large language models (or LLM).

LLM is part of a field known as generative AI that also includes the capacity to execute images, designs or programming code almost instantaneously upon a simple request.

Usually the more staid actor in big tech, Microsoft has deepened its partnership with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and earlier this month announced the technology would be integrated into its Bing search engine as well as the Edge browser.

Google, seeing a sudden threat to the dominance of its search engine, quickly announced it would release its own language AI, known as Bard, shortly.

But reports of disturbing exchanges with Microsoft's Bing chatbot -- including it issuing threats and speaking of desires to steal nuclear code or lure one user from his wife -- went viral, raising alarm bells that the technology was not ready.

Meta said these problems, sometimes called hallucinations, could be better remedied if researchers had improved access to the expensive technology.

Thorough research "remains limited because of the resources that are required to train and run such large models," the company said.

This was hindering efforts "to improve their robustness and mitigate known issues, such as bias, toxicity, and the potential for generating misinformation," Meta said.

OpenAI and Microsoft strictly limit access to the technology behind their chatbots, drawing criticism that they are choosing potential profits over improving the technology more quickly for society.

"By sharing the code for LLaMA, other researchers can more easily test new approaches to limiting or eliminating these problems," Meta said.

arp/sw

History says Fed can't tame inflation without recession: report

"Past Performance Is No Guarantee of Future Results" SEC


Fri, 24 February 2023 


There is no recent precedent for a central bank successfully defeating inflation without "substantial economic sacrifice or recession," said a report presented Friday to Federal Reserve policymakers.

The report, prepared in connection with a seminar organized by the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, came after fresh US pricing data suggested the Fed's aggressive moves thus far have been only partially successful.

The Booth analysis suggested a potentially rocky future for the US economy, which has thus far shown resilience despite aggressive Fed actions to counter inflation.


Citing historical "disinflation" cases dating back to 1950 in major economies, the report concluded that central banks "are likely to be hard pressed to achieve their disinflationary goals without significant sacrifice in economic activity."

The analysis, prepared by a team of academic and corporate economists, identified parallels between the current climate and that of the late 1970s when former Fed Chair Paul Volcker radically increased interest rates to counter soaring inflation.

As with the earlier period, the Fed in the recent episode also "fell behind the curve," the report said.

The Volcker case "shows how costly disinflation can be once a central bank has lost credibility for controlling inflation," said the report, which also recounted the bruising consequences, including more than 10 percent unemployment in the 1980s.



Recent robust US jobs and retail sales data do not show anything like that right now. But the Booth report predicted the Fed "will need to tighten policy significantly further to achieve its inflation objective by the end of 2025."

Philip Jefferson, a member of the Fed's Board of Governors, acknowledged the importance of looking at history, but highlighted the "unprecedented" nature of the pandemic that has made the current period distinct.

Economic models "while still useful in many respects, are going to have limited applicability," he said in prepared remarks.

Such tools "need to be used with careful interpretation and judgment when history does not speak to the current situation," Jefferson said.

"Sound decisionmaking requires that their findings be complemented with additional analytical tools, including careful scrutiny of real-time data."

A second Fed official, Loretta Mester, president of the Federal Bank of Cleveland, suggested the US central bank faces a challenging balancing act.

"The level of inflation matters and it's still too high," she said, while acknowledging later that the US central bank has a history of "overshooting a bit."

Timeline of strikes due to hit Britain over next few weeks

PA Reporters
Fri, 24 February 2023 

Industrial action in different sectors will continue to cause disruption across the UK in the coming weeks.

Services from health to education to transport are set to be hit by walkouts this month and beyond.

(PA Graphics)

Here are some of the strikes planned:

– February 24

Contracted-out staff working for ISS on the Docklands Light Railway will stage a 48-hour strike, the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has said.

– February 28

National Education Union (NEU) strike action in England and Wales is due to take place on February 28, March 1 and 2 – but the union has suggested these could be paused if “real progress” is made in negotiations over pay.

NEU members in the Northern, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber regions in England are due to strike.

Teachers from the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) will start a fresh wave of strikes.

More than 350 Amazon workers at the West Midland fulfilment centre in Coventry will walk out, the GMB union has said.

The University and College Union (UCU) has paused a further seven days of strikes, which were due to start from February 21, after “real progress” was made in talks with employers over pay, conditions and pensions.

– March 1

Teachers from the NEU in the East Midlands, West Midlands and Eastern regions in England will strike.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has called off a 48-hour strike by members at 128 NHS employers in England that was due to start at 6am on March 1 after the Government agreed to enter pay talks.

Teachers from the EIS will strike.

– March 2

Teachers from the NEU in the London, South East and South West regions in England will strike and members of the NEU Cymru are also due to walk out in schools across Wales.

Amazon workers in Coventry who are members of the GMB union are to strike again.

– March 6

Ambulance workers will strike in a dispute over pay and staffing, after GMB said more than 10,000 of its members, including paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers and other staff, will walk out.

Unite members employed by different ambulance trusts will be striking in the West Midlands; the North East; the East Midlands; the North West and Wales.

Driving test examiners will take the first of 10 days of strike action across England, Scotland and Wales, with more than 1,600 members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) employed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency set to take rolling days of industrial action from March 6 to 28.

Unite members within the Welsh Ambulance Service are to strike.

Teachers from the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) union take part in a rally earlier this month (Jane Barlow/PA)

– March 7

EIS members will take targeted strike action in Glasgow Southside, Dunfermline, Perthshire North, the part of Clydebank and Milngavie constituency that lies within the East Dunbartonshire Council area and Mid Galloway & Wigtown West from March 7 to 9 in a dispute over pay.

– March 8

Unison health workers in England, including, healthcare assistants, cleaners and porters, will strike on March 8.

Unison members working for ambulance services in London, Yorkshire, the North East, North West and South West will also walk out.

– March 10

Welsh ambulance workers who are members of Unite to strike again.

– March 13

Teachers from the EIS will begin a rolling programme of strikes for 20 days from March 13 until April 21.

Junior doctors in England will strike for three days from March 13 in a dispute over pay, the British Medical Association announced.

Amazon workers in Coventry are to take further industrial action for one week from March 13 to 17.

– March 15

Some 100,000 members of the PCS union, and London Underground workers in Aslef will strike on Budget day in separate disputes.

Teachers from the NEU in England and Wales are due to stage the final two days of walkouts.

– March 16

RMT members will take nationwide strike action across the railways in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

Teachers from the NEU in England and Wales will strike in a final day of walkouts.

– March 18

Members of the RMT union at train operators strike again.

– March 20

GMB and Unite ambulance workers will strike in a dispute over pay and staffing.

– March 30

RMT members walk out.

– April 1

RMT members strike again.

https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/download/mass-str.pdf

The Mass Strike, the Political Party and the Trade Unions 

The revolutionary struggle in Russia, in which mass strikes are the most important weapon, is, by the working people, and above all by the proletariat, ...

Japanese anime sees challenge from China at Berlin fest


Femke COLBORNE
Fri, 24 February 2023 


Anime director Makoto Shinkai on Friday said China could eventually leapfrog Japan on the global animation stage as Chinese animated drama "Art College 1994" had its world premiere in Berlin.

Shinkai's "Suzume", among the contenders for the Golden Bear at this year's Berlinale film festival, has made a splash amid a global boom in Japanese anime.

But "Art College 1994", Chinese director Liu Jian's animated portrait of a group of art students in the 1990s, has also got the critics talking.

Screen Daily said it "evokes a specific time and a place so vividly that you can almost taste the stale cigarette smoke and cheap beer".

"The quality of (Chinese) movies is improving rapidly, and they're also able to build those unique characters that we have in Japan," Shinkai told AFP.

"So I think that sooner or later they're going to overtake us."

Until 10 years ago, Japanese anime creators were "very confident that they were creating the best and most unique animation movies in the world", Shinkai said.

"But I think that this has changed in recent years, and most of my peers think that way as well."

The global market for Japanese anime grew 13 percent to an all-time high of 2.74 trillion yen ($20 billion) in 2021, according to the Association of Japanese Animations.

But Chinese films are catching up.

"In recent years there are more and more Chinese animation films coming out and they are becoming more and more diverse, not only commercial but also arthouse," Liu told AFP.

"Many commercial Chinese animations are influenced by Japanese animation but they are starting to find their own style," he said.

- McDonald's and Michael Jackson -

"Art College 1994", based on Liu's own experiences as an art student in the 1990s, is also competing for the Golden Bear, to be awarded Saturday by jury president Kristen Stewart.

The film tracks half a dozen young people as they pursue their studies, caught between Chinese traditions and Western influences.

Deep discussions about French literature and German philosophy are held as the students contemplate the meaning of art and their place in the world.

Not-so-subtle signs of Western influence are everywhere, with McDonald's and Michael Jackson both putting in a cameo appearance.

The early 1990s was "a very special period... where art and literature were prospering not only in China but also worldwide", said Liu, 53.

"At that time not only students but also people outside the campus were talking about these kinds of topics. It was a very energetic period."

Liu himself studied painting at Nanjing University of the Arts and began making animations in 1995.

He now also works as a college teacher and said some of his students who were born in the 1990s or later had watched the film.

"They are very curious about that period because it's very different, they don't have cellphones or the internet at that moment," he said.

Liu's dark comedy "Have a Nice Day" was the first Chinese animated film to compete at the Berlinale in 2017.

fec/dlc/cw

UK
Moonpig to stop selling cards with pugs over animal welfare concerns

Zoe Wood
Fri, 24 February 2023 

Photograph: Square Dog Photography/Getty Images

Moonpig is to stop selling cards featuring pictures of pugs and French bulldogs after criticism from vets and campaigners who fear the images fuel demand for the breeds, which often have serious health complaints.

Last year, the British Veterinary Association (BVA) wrote to the Greeting Card Association and card retailers, including Moonpig, Paperchase and WH Smith, urging them to stop using pugs and other flat-faced dogs on cards.

There has been a sharp rise in ownership of flat-faced breeds, including pugs, French bulldogs and English bulldogs in the UK in recent years, with the BVA concerned that their growing presence in advertising as well as on cards and gifts is normalising perceptions of their short noses and big eyes.

While some perceive the squashed wrinkly faces of these breeds as “cute”, vets warn that dogs with short muzzles can struggle to breathe, even when doing day-to-day activities such as walking or eating. Other problems faced by brachycephalic, or flat-faced, dogs include eye disease and an inability to mate or give birth naturally.

Related: Moonpig flotation price, like so many, was always pie-in-the-sky thinking | Nils Pratley

A Royal Veterinary College study published in May 2022 suggested “urgent action is needed as many health issues of pugs are associated with their extreme body shape”.

It concluded that the health of pugs in the UK is now substantially different from and largely worse than other breeds, revealing they are almost twice as likely to experience one or more disorders annually compared with other dogs.

Despite this backdrop the popularity of these breeds has surged thanks to celebrity owners and social media exposure and in 2018 the French bulldog overtook the labrador retriever to become the UK’s most popular. That reflected an almost 3,000% increase in numbers in the previous 10 years. Faced with the increase, the BVA has run several campaigns including #HugsNotPugs and #BreedtoBreathe to raise awareness.

On Friday, a search for “pug” and “French bulldog” on Moonpig’s website on Friday did not yield cards showing either breed. However, several cards adorned with images of English bulldogs, which are also flat-faced, remained on sale.

The animal rights lobby group Peta had also raised concerns with Moonpig about promoting “breathing-impaired” dog breeds such as pugs and French bulldogs on its cards. The company has now confirmed to Peta that it is the process of removing any cards that feature pugs or French bulldogs from its website. It also told Peta that it will not be designing or sourcing any card designs featuring these breeds in future.

Yvonne Taylor, Peta’s director of corporate projects, said Moonpig was acting responsibly by banning images of pugs and French bulldogs. The move would help “put an end to the promotion of dog breeds with painful, life-threatening deformities”.

“Peta is celebrating this compassionate first step and will keep working with Moonpig to extend this new policy to all breathing-impaired breeds, including boston terriers, boxers and shih-tzus,” she said.

Moonpig has been approached for comment.

UK

Landlords face crisis as mortgage costs surge higher than rents

Melissa Lawford
Fri, 24 February 2023 

Buy-to-Let

The buy-to-let business model is imploding as landlords’ mortgage costs surge higher than their rental income, according to new analysis.

Landlords who own properties in their own names are suffering as their investments rapidly become loss-making after their fixed-rate deals expire.

Research by Capital Economics suggests that buy-to-let investors are at risk of losing almost £100 a month as higher interest rates bite.

A string of rate increases by the Bank of England means that the average interest-only mortgage bill in the first three months of this year will cost 220pc more than at the end of 2021, according to analysis by Capital Economics, a research consultancy.

Since the Bank started raising rates in December 2021, the monthly cost of an interest-only mortgage on an average home will have rocketed from £269 to £860.

That means a higher rate tax-paying landlord will face a monthly loss of £90.

Although average monthly rents have climbed to £996, this will no longer cover a landlord’s mortgage costs and income tax bills combined.

Tax changes which came into full effect in April 2020 mean that landlords who own properties in their own names can no longer offset all of their mortgage interest costs against their rent when they make their tax calculations. Instead, they can only deduct 20pc of their mortgage interest.

A landlord who owns a property in their own name with an £860 mortgage interest bill and £996 rental income will therefore have to pay £226 per month in tax.

Andrew Wishart, of Capital Economics, warned that landlords will likely be forced to sell up when their fixed rate deals expire.

Rob Jones, of Property Investments UK, a buy-to-let specialist, said investors who own properties in more expensive areas will get hit hardest.

He said: “If a property is worth more than £400,000, in most areas it will just not generate enough income for a landlord to cover their costs. There are many areas where the buy-to-let business model just doesn’t have any cash flow.

“Rents are rising but it is just not enough to cover the increase in landlords’ running costs.”

In addition to higher mortgage costs, landlords face higher management fees, insurance bills and maintenance costs, Mr Jones said.

The vast majority of landlords have interest-only mortgages. Although these are cheaper than capital repayment mortgages, landlords are being stung by much bigger percentage increases as a result of rising interest rates.

Average monthly costs for a repayment mortgage are now £1,210 – a jump of 48pc compared to at the end of 2021, Capital Economics estimates.

This means renting now costs £214 less per month than buying with a repayment mortgage. At the end of 2021, it cost £143 more per month to rent.

THANKS FOR TELLING US
Helleniq Energy to decide on exploratory well off Greece in 18-24 months

Fri, 24 February 2023 at 10:22 am GMT-7·1-min read

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's biggest oil refiner Helleniq Energy could decide on exploratory drilling in Greek offshore blocks within the next two years, its chief executive officer said on Friday.

Greece has had indications of significant gas reserves of around 600 billion cubic metres, and last year decided to push ahead with collecting seismic data via survey vessels in areas that potentially carry significant gas reserves.

Helleniq holds licences to explore for oil and gas in four blocks in the Ionian Sea and off the island of Crete, and has concluded seismic surveys there.

"All in all, we have a portfolio of offshore prospects which have been... through the seismic works," CEO Andreas Shiamishis told analysts.

"Effectively, we are in a position where we could see a decision for an exploratory well in the next 18 to 24 months."

Citing higher refining margins and exports, Helleniq on Friday reported a jump in quarterly profit.

Excluding inventory holdings and a windfall tax, Helleniq's profit came in at 261 million euros ($275.4 million) in the fourth quarter, up from 92 million euros in the same quarter of 2021.

($1 = 0.9479 euros)

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Louise Heavens and Jan Harvey)

Flying Scotsman whistles into Edinburgh for 100th birthday

 the Flying Scotsman represents the "coming together of mechanics and magic"

Fri, 24 February 2023

The Flying Scotsman, the first steam train to reach over 100 miles an hour, turned 100 on Friday, whistling its way into Edinburgh's Waverley station to mark the day.

Judith McNicol, director of the National Railway Museum, said the train is an icon and is recognised worldwide.

"It's been to America. It's been to Australia. It's well travelled, so it's well recognised as well," she told AFP.

The 97-tonne train was designed by Edinburgh-born Sir Nigel Gresley and was built in Doncaster at a cost 7,944 pounds at the time.

It left Doncaster Works on February 24, 1923 and was named Flying Scotsman a year later at the British Empire Exhibition in Wembley after taking the 10:00 am route from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley.

It was the first train to complete the journey non-stop and in 1934 became the first steam train to travel at over 100 miles per hour.

The Flying Scotsman also holds the world record for the longest non-stop run for a steam locomotive, set in 1989 with a 422-mile (679-kilometre) trip.

- 'Mechanics and magic' -

One of the reasons the train could make the non-stop trip was an access corridor that allowed drivers to switch places easily when they needed a rest, McNicol said.

It retired from regular service in 1963 after covering over two million miles.

Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, who read out a poem at the celebration for the train's 100th anniversary, said the Flying Scotsman represents the "coming together of mechanics and magic".

"There's something very dreamlike about the whole thing," he told AFP.

"It's a big, filthy, noisy, messy beast as well as being very beautiful and very powerful".

The train, owned by the National Railway Museum in York, will spend the rest of the year travelling across the Britain to give people the chance to see the engine in action.

srg/giv/jj

Rail union calls for Caledonian Sleeper to be taken into public ownership

Alan Jones, PA Industrial Correspondent
Fri, 24 February 2023 


A leading rail workers’ union is calling on the Scottish Government to take the Caledonian Sleeper into public ownership.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said it expects a decision next week on who will operate the service between Inverness and London from this summer.

It is currently operated by private company Serco.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “We have pressured the Scottish Government alongside politicians and others to do the right thing and take Caledonian Sleeper into public ownership.

“It is what our members on the service want and would be in the interests of the travelling public.”

Signal threatens to shut down in Britain over Online Safety Bill


Gareth Corfield
Fri, 24 February 2023 

The Signal messaging app logo is seen on a smartphone - Dado Ruvic / Reuters

The encrypted messaging app Signal has threatened to shut down its service in Britain if the Government's controversial Online Safety Bill forces it to violate users' privacy.

Signal, which has around 40 million active users worldwide, would “absolutely, 100pc walk” if the bill goes ahead in its current form, according to company president Meredith Whittaker.

Critics claim that the Online Safety Bill, the government’s flagship internet regulation law, would force companies to break their own encryption so users' messages can be read.

When asked if the Bill would jeopardise Signal's ability to keep its users safe, Ms Whittaker told the BBC: “It could, and we would absolutely 100pc walk rather than ever undermine the trust that people place in us to provide a truly private means of communication.

“Encryption is either protecting everyone or it is broken for everyone.”

Signal and rival service WhatsApp use end-to-end encryption, which means only the sender and receiver of a message can read its contents.

This helps protect messages from hackers, business rivals and hostile foreign governments.

It also means police and other law enforcement bodies such as the National Crime Agency cannot break into suspects’ conversations and digitally eavesdrop on them to gather evidence.

Alan Woodward, a professor of computing at the University of Surrey, said: “By causing certain vendors to withdraw from the UK, the government could actually make the UK less safe for everyone.”

Opponents of encryption, including the Home Office, say that it provides a safe haven for criminals to hide their illicit activities from police.

Jake Moore, antivirus company ESET’s global cyber security advisor and a former constable with Devon and Cornwall Police’s cybercrimes unit, said: “Making ways to scan encrypted messages may sound like the best way to safeguard people but doing so will unfortunately give different bad actors [new] entry points.

“This will undermine the technology and see more companies remove themselves from the UK.”

The online safety bill is currently passing through Parliament. A Home Office spokesman claimed that it does not represent a ban on end-to-end encryption, adding that the draft law’s current wording only forces tech companies to break their encryption when “technically feasible”.

Privacy advocates say that once a digital “master key” is cut to unlock end-to-end encryption for police, technically adept hackers can copy that master key to gain the same level of access to everyone’s messages.

The head of WhatsApp previously also threatened to abandon Britain over fears that the Online Safety Bill would place its users at risk of increased harm online.

Will Cathcart

In December, Will Cathcart said: “The bill provides for technology notices requiring communication providers to take away end-to-end encryption – to break it.

“The hard reality is we offer a global product. It would be a very hard decision for us to make a change where 100pc of our users lower their security.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “Child sexual abuse is a sickening crime, and it is vital that online predators are identified and brought to swift justice.

“That is why it’s important that technology companies make every effort to ensure that their platforms do not become a breeding ground for paedophiles.

“It is not a choice between privacy or child safety – we can and we must have both.”

Ms Whittaker said: “If the choice were between operating in the UK, while undermining our privacy promises, or pulling out of the UK, we would pull out of the UK.”

Ms Whittaker described the Government's plans as “magical thinking” and said: “You can have as many working groups and as many exploratory research grants as you want. It's never going to make two plus two equal five.”

Ayahuasca, 'source of knowledge' in the heart of the Amazon

Hervé BAR
Fri, 24 February 2023


In the heart of the Ecuadoran Amazon live the Cofan Avie, masters of ayahuasca -- the powerful hallucinogenic concoction said to open the door to the "spirit" world.

Here, they call it "yage" and consume it for health and wisdom.

"God once lived here on this planet", recounts Isidro Lucitante, the patriarch and shaman of nine Indigenous Cofan Avie families spread over 55,000 hectares of river and jungle along the border with Colombia.

This god "pulled out one of his hairs and planted it on the Earth. Thus was born the yage, source of knowledge and wisdom," the 63-year-old, his face painted in striking animal motifs, told AFP.

Extracted from the "Banisteriopsis caapi" vine that has grown in the Amazon for thousands of years, ayahuasca has also gained a reputation in the outside world.

In neighboring Peru, and to a lesser extent also Ecuador, a tourist industry has taken root around the vine that is now also available for sale -- in capsules or as an infusion -- online.

For the Cofan Avie, yage is not a business but an umbilical cord that connects them to one other and to long-dead ancestors.

"Yage is not a drug. On the contrary, it is a remedy that makes us better," said Lucitante, who insists he is, above all, a healer, and dead set against the commercialization of yage.

"My grandfather drank yage every week, he lived to 115! We are all healthy!"

Becoming increasingly fashionable and even punted as a treatment for drug addiction, ayahuasca can be dangerous for people who take antidepressants or suffer from heart or psychotic problems, epilepsy or asthma, according to medical experts.

Its active ingredient dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, is illegal in the United States, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, and in other countries.

Back in Bermejo, in the jungle, friends and neighbors gather every weekend in a wooden hut decorated with painted parrots, snakes and panthers, settle down in hammocks and imbibe some of the brown, bitter beverage.

Sometimes a visitor joins in.

Under the supervision of shaman Lucitante and his assistants, songs are addressed to the "spirits" as the concoction -- crushed, mixed with water and boiled for hours -- starts to kick in.

- 'Rebalance the world' -

The Cofan Avie are known in Ecuador for a legal victory over the mining industry in 2018 that led to the scrapping of 52 gold mining concessions granted by the State.

Last year, Lucitante's son, Alex, was a co-recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize for his contribution to that triumph. He had been responsible for setting up an Indigenous guard to conduct patrols to collect evidence of intrusions by gold prospectors.

Today, he acts as an assistant at his father's yage ceremonies, which he also accompanies with guitar song.

"It was a long and difficult struggle to protect our territory and Nature," the 30-year-old told AFP, wearing a necklace of animal teeth, a feather stuck through his nose.

"We were inspired by the wisdom of the ancients and the knowledge of yage" which he started drinking at the age of five, said Alex Lucitante.

"The plant is everything to us, just like our territory. We could not live without it. It is through yage medicine that we can connect to the spirits and... rebalance the world."

The ritual is a grueling one that starts for most people with violent vomiting as part of a purge of the body.

"It’s like a great cleansing," explained shaman Lucitante.

Only then "can the visions come. First colors. Then, if you concentrate, the jungle appears. Then the animals: the boa master of rivers, the catfish, or the jaguar master of the hunt. And finally people and spirits... but not everyone can see them."

In the hammocks, everyone prepares for their "journey" -- novices in an apprehensive silence and regulars chatting away.

Lucitante invites each in turn to take a drink. Then orders AFP's cameras to be turned off.

hba/mlr/caw