Bush-Cda-Visit-Renewal,: "On a delicate foray where he'll get a gruff greeting from protesters who view him as a divisive one-man wrecking crew, outgoing top diplomat Colin Powell will be there to smooth his path among Canada's power elite. For extra muscle, he's bringing Condoleezza Rice, one of his closest advisers and the woman who's been named to replace the popular Powell early next year.
And his wife Laura will try to help Bush put a more humane face on his presidency as he officially renews ties to a country he rebuffed over staying out of Iraq and the anti-American tirades that followed the decision.
More than 70 journalists, mostly American, will travel with Bush to record a visit that will likely provide ample evidence that many Canadians are unhappy with Bush's stronger mandate in his second-term election win almost a month ago. "
Civic Arousal - Nader for President 2004 - www.votenader.org: "Ours was a model, clean campaign. We fought the good fight. We feel great about keeping the progressive agenda alive. People keep asking-*how are we doing?*-as if the corrupt parties and their corporate paymasters would ever discourage us. They have not and they will not. I predicted before the campaign that liberal Democrats who supported us in 2000 would abandon us in droves this year; sadly, they did. But in our travels to all 50 states, we have met thousands of active citizens, young and old alike, who don't give a hoot for corporate politics and are working with us in the ongoing campaign to break up the corporate-controlled two-party duopoly.
The picture you see here is me with one of the many Nader/Camejo supporters we met in Minneapolis. She represents the new young generation that will carry us forward into a brighter and more confident future."
Grilled cheese that looks like the virgin mary?!?? And these fucking idiots can vote?? Wait. Not only CAN they, but Bush was reelected. Fucking wacko christians. Even if it WAS the virgin mary in a sandwich, wouldn't she and Jesus want you to spend that $35,000 on ANY charity?? Fuck. Help your brother man. Stop trying to get close to god with fucking sandwiches and oil stains, you lazy hypocrites. Stop fucking up my peaceful and loving world.
When asked to write an article about marijuana, I thought for sure that I was qualified enough. My only problem was where to start…
So I figured I’d start writing where I started smoking-- My first time with the pot. My memory is hazier than it used to be (hehe), but I think it was winter break in 11th grade. My best friend in the entire world had been telling me for a few weeks how he had been smoking and how it had been lots of fun. I figured: it’s vacation, I don’t have school for a few weeks, I’ll try a hit. It was glorious. I smiled and laughed and tingled and just felt great about life.
Oh, how times have changed. I went from not smoking if I had school in the next week, back in high school, to smoking every night during finals last semester. I went from hiding my smoking habits from my parents to talking about them casually over the dinner table.
So, I guess what I’m saying is that marijuana is a gateway drug. It helps with the passage from adolescence through the gateway of adulthood. This is not to say that one needs marijuana to grow up, merely that for some people, it helps.
So lately, in Canada (and god, how I love this country), there’s often talk of decriminalization and softer penalties for small-time users. www.canadaonline.about.com goes as far as to say that: “A discussion paper released by the Senate committee says that marijuana should be treated more like tobacco than like harder drugs. The Senate committee also says marijuana is not a ‘gateway drug,’ and does not lead to the use of harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin.”
So what’s the problem here? I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who thought that marijuana was a bad thing. Certainly, I have friends who never smoke and never want to smoke, but they would never insist that I don’t smoke. They would never insist that marijuana be made illegal. It seems to me that the outlawing and prohibition of marijuana is a relic of the days of yore when people cared more about going to heaven. No, but seriously, it’s an archaic law that nobody would disagree seeing repealed.
Anyone who has ever seen anyone high can attest to the should-be legality of the drug. Nobody gets high and wants to fight. Nobody gets high and wants to vandalize things. People get high and vegetate. They want junk food and crappy TV. They want discovery channel and Bob Marley. I for one, used to love getting high and making music playlists. Does that harm anyone? I can honestly say that violence on TV (read: the NEWS) and in video games does more to hurt human society than marijuana smoke. Even driving, which most pot-smokers agree is not something people should mix with drugs, is doable while high. Certainly, some studies have seen improvements in the focus and ability to drive of some people. Being tired or on caffeine pills probably harms drivers more than marijuana, but I can understand one wanting that illegal, just in case.
So why don’t we treat marijuana like alcohol? Legal. Legal in bars. Legal in your house. Legal above an age. Illegal in the street. Illegal with minors. Illegal while driving.
So, I’ll close this article with the last time I smoked up with the wacky weed. It was, I think, I few days ago, at a friend’s apartment in the ghetto. I had never been any good at rolling joints, so I asked my friend to teach me. He did, we smoked the products of my education, and ended up watching some TV and having some nice political discussions (I think we were high, preaching the benefits of gay marriage, Canada and slushies and boo-hissing George Bush.) We didn’t fight. We didn’t declare war or formalize any “axis of evil”. We loved. We philosophized. We relaxed. We enjoyed life. Is that so bad?
Sorry Clinton, but what moral fiber you DIDN'T show was getting that B.J. in the oval office behind your wife's back. How can you even pretend to play the victim here? I mean, I'm no fan of the mainstream media, don't get me wrong, but... fuck off. You're the adulterous sleeze-bag of a president who was caught with his pants down. You deserve to be hounded. Granted, there were some good things that you did as a president, I for one, however, hope that you're remembered, as a warning to other would-be fuck-ups, as the lecherous old hick that you are.
"A seven-year, $70 million investigation conducted mostly by Starr ranged from Clinton's involvement in the Whitewater land deal in the 1980s to the president's affair with Monica Lewinsky. "
That sounds fair, Mr. Clinton.
All I can say is, at least he apologized. But I wonder if he's sorry he got the B.J. or if he's sorry he got caught.
Being sick puts things in perspective. It turns out, I'm just a weak biological being, infected with some parasite. Something is living (well, not "living" as its a virus, but reproducing and causing me problems) in my body. Freaky.
I can remember thinking that I could deal with being sick, and just muscle through it. Like, force myself to go on with life, and nothing would be a problem. But honestly, putting that theory to the test, I had to leave my lab early for fear of vomitting in my petri dishes.
So I go to the health clinic here on campus, which is great, because nothing beats waiting in a room full of sick people for two hours to see a doctor for 10 minutes. Then I manage to get told that I have VIRAL GASTROENTERITIS, and that, even worse, I'm not getting any drugs for it. Bummer. Instead, the nurse tells me that I'm not allowed to eat food for the first 24 hours, then to slowly increase from... jello to... steamed plain rice... and melba toast (if I'm feeling EXOTIC).
Joy. Joy to being sick.
So anyways, there's a virus making me sick in my intestines. I can't eat so I have no energy. I have no energy so I have no work done. I have no work done so I'm feeling shitty about that on top of being sick. Fuck gastroenteritis. Fuck feeling shitty.
Oh, on the plus side of things, I had my first article published in the McGill Daily last thursday. It was about fatty food cravings. That's pretty rockin'.
In two and a half years, I’ll have a bachelor’s degree in biology. What the shit am I going to do? This is it, man. The waves of life are splashing upon my little boat. It’s time to wake up. Life thus far has been a cushy ride, floating on the river of relaxation. The river is ending. A waterfall rumbles in the distance. Time to wake up. Time to take control of this rudder. Time to steer out of danger.
So here are my options on this river of life. I float along and hope to happen into a dock or a port of some kind, which, more or less randomly, will give my life direction. Or. I aim for a specific port, paddle my ass off, and maybe pull into a harbor of gold and fortune.
In the end I’m sure I’ll do what I always do: wait until the last second and make an impulsive decision. I can’t plan life. Hell, I’m not even sure I’d want to. Paddles break, leaks spring up, maps get wet and crumbly. In the end I’ll do what I always do. I’ll lie back down in my little boat and float until I’m washed up on some distant, unimaginable shore. I’ll float through life. It’s what I do.
But that's just my opinion.
Zac.
Muse Wisely: "[Democrats] need somebody who can cogently explain (citing chapter and verse) why Jesus does in fact NOT hate gay people. For those of you who are secularists and want to see the society move away from religion, not towards it, I say that before a society moves away from their religion in general, they need to move away from fanatical versions of it (and I would describe many of the right-wing evangelical denominations as fanatical). We need to present a world in which you can be a Christian and a liberal, not where one necessarily excludes the other."
I cited boston here as he talks about what democrats need to do NOW. Having lost all three branches of government (and apparently, any hope of an olive branch of peace in this world, tee-hee) where do they go now? And I think one of the fundamental problems we're coming to, especially in the south and the frickin' bible belt, is that of christendom. I've never been a fan of any organized religion, especially running my country, but since we seem so polarized, we have to compromise. Look, the liberals lost this election HARD. And apparently that's because they didn't appeal to the voters. Apparently, and it pains me to say it, lots of Americas seem to prefer a Jesus who promotes the KKK and "throw-the-jew-down-the-well"esque presentations over those of peace and love. If we could fight those fanatical forms of christianity (where marriage isnt for gays, but for a man and his sister), we could probably bring this country back to the left. Barack Obama in 2008?
Performance enhancing drugs? Oh sure, we've all seen the sports stories and Olympic medals stripped away from cheating-ass athletes, but what about the little guy? What about the average work-a-day university student?
Let's face it: college is hard. It's competitive. It's harsh. It's really, really easy to miss a step and fall straight from the 4.0 summit to the bottomless pit of failure. Your GPA hangs as a yoke on your incessantly straining neck, struggling to stay above water, with your only carrot-stick incentive being entrance exams to grad school. Joy. It's amazing the suicide rates are as low as they are (what is it now? 500% higher than the rest of the population???) Some of us, however, accept our mediocrity and wash away our failures and depression by hitting the bottle.
But listen up you brave-heartened patrons of Bar Des Pins, there's still hope!
So you've got one more exam before midterms are over? One last final before you can head home for some well-earned December R&R? Just take this little pill and all your worries can be over. What is it you ask? It’s a drug. It’s approved by the FDA to help people focus when they can’t seem to do so on their own. You need to focus. You need to get work done. Why not?
What? Legal? Who cares? It's not like you're going to be taking the pill and robbing banks or raping school children. Your drug use is a quest for knowledge. You're just a nice, liberal university student. You're just trying to make it through that one last exam, that one last night of cramming before it's all behind you. So why not? One little Adderall (corrupted as Aderol) or maybe a couple of Ritalin and you're flying high over studious island with your seat in its upright and kick-ass position, drinking a knowledge-cocktail brought to you by Learning Airlines. And let's face it; you're still DOING the work. You're still sitting and READING the words, this is just a little memory aid—A little alertness tool. In 2 days the whole experience will be over. You'll score that last big A to impress the grad school of your dreams. Won't your folks be proud?
Think of it as leveling the playing field. Some students were unfairly blessed with more brains and organizational structure in their lives (and less alcoholism). Screw them. You'd be just as efficient if you didn't have a social life either, right? Well, now you can have both.
Plan on cramming your entire semester of learning into a few nights of drug-induced, educational ecstasy. Why not? You owe it to yourself. Go have a beer and relax. The studying CAN wait.
So there are some of you who say that it's cheating. It's not fair. Let me tell you something about fair. Is it fair when a professor decides arbitrarily (yeah, my ass) to put your exam the day after the biggest drinking holiday of the year? All of your friends are at the bar. They call you at 11:30 from their cell phones and you can hardly hear them over the FUN in the background. Everyone else is out and you aren’t. What’s your excuse? “I have to study.”
Is that fair? Did you waste the better of part of 20 years to sit in a goddamned room and read a boring book while greedy time passes you by? Carpe Diem, baby! Make ol’ Horace proud. When you’re old and grey and looking to die, what do you think you’ll look back upon more fondly? That one crazy night when you hooked up with those cute twins from out of town or reading over your pompous professor’s new book, which you were forced to buy at $200 (and last year’s edition is no good, so forget about getting it used). Oh, but you get to sell the book back at the end of the semester for $10. Is THAT fair? So here's what you do. You put the cap back on the pen, put on a nice clean shirt and get yourself to the pub for a pint. That sounds fair to me. You buy the prof’s book at $200 bucks, pretend like your read it all semester, actually read it in one night, and nobody knows the better. Sure you’ll be tired the next day, but how often do you wake up tired anyways? At least this time you’ll be tired from kickboxing the holy hell out of your studies, not struggling in vain to make sense of the same paragraph 6 times.
Maybe you DO have a learning disability. The tests they give you to decide are basically as arbitrary as your exam date, so who knows? I’m convinced that the doctors and the professors are in cahoots. They want you to fail. They want you to be as miserable as they were, lousy keeners, studying every night through undergrad and never getting to hook up with the cute twins like you, you lucky devil.
So what’s the WORST that could happen? Nobody is going to catch you. Let’s face the truth: this isn’t the first drug you’ve experimented with (be honest!) and you didn’t get caught then. You won’t now. You bought the pills from a friend of a friend (very un-sketchy) for only a few dollars. Sure, it’s addictive. Sure it’s basically speed or coke. We all know the horror stories of amphetamines (Requiem for a Dream??). But let’s not forget that drug use and drug abuse are two very different things. You’re an intelligent, aspiring-professional-class citizen, who just wants to enjoy youth while you’ve got it. You’re not some bumbling wino looking to score another high to make it through the night. You’re studying so that you can learn. You’re learning so that you can help to fix this crazy shit-storm of a world. Who can argue with that? Who can dare tell you that these don’t deserve to be the best years of your life? Who can dare tell you that you shouldn’t help humanity? You owe it to yourself. You owe it to the future. You owe it to god... well, maybe not, but it's his fault you can concentrate right now anyways, so go ahead and take one.
Take a pill for every major cram session that you have. Devote an entire day to studying. You were probably going to procrastinate anyway, so you may as well make sure that you CAN focus when crunch-time gets here. You’ve got 15 lectures to watch online still, and the exam is in two days. Yeah, you fucked up the planning. Yeah, you accept responsibility. But part of becoming a responsible adult is learning how to get out of the messes you’ve gotten yourself into. So here’s your shovel. With this pill you can dig straight up out of this hole. And you still get to honour St. Patrick.
Plus, these drugs are over prescribed as it is, right? You always read stories about children whose parents put them on Ritalin when there’s nothing wrong with them (aside from having lazy parents). So it seems like you were just out of the loop. Had you been growing up right now, you could probably go to the school nurse and explain your case: you can’t focus, you’re restless, you have a hard time retaining information that you read--the list goes on. They’d surely call up good ol’ Doc Jones to hook you up with some Ritalin. So forget him. Forget lining his coffers with more money so that he can share a bottle of champagne with your rotten Professor, who, by the way, probably took an Adderall (given to him by the doctor, of course) to write his crappy book in the first place.
I’m not saying it’s a perfect system. Actually, I’m saying that since it’s not a perfect system this is your way out. One pill is like the life preserver just in reach when you take that last breath and the yoke forces your head under the cold waves. So grab on. Pull yourself up and dust yourself off. Go to class early the next day and sit in the front row. Smile to yourself while you drink your coffee and eat your breakfast, looking at the signs that say “No eating or drinking in this lecture hall.” Read the newspaper for the first 5 or 10 minutes of lecture, just to let the professor know that his book was so great it covered the material for him. You couldn’t put it down. Hell, last night you actually read AHEAD in the class for the first time. Thanks to your little friend. Our little secret.
And it’s at that moment when you realize something. University isn’t that hard. It’s competitive, but you’re up for it. You’re a keener after all; you just needed to reach deep down within yourself. You just needed a little help along the way. The depression and stress you felt at being so far behind in your work is replaced with the satisfaction of knowing that you’re fully capable of handling everything. You’re fully capable. Now you’re on top of things. Now you’re learning because you love it. Now you’re kickboxing exams left and right, excited for grad school. The renewed vigor in your studies makes you smile to yourself as you remember that you actually ARE interested in your major. This IS what you want to do with your life, and can you believe you almost forgot that? Performance enhancing drugs? Refreshing reminders of why life is great. Refreshing reminders of why you want to be here in the first place. Who can argue with that?
