True story. I didn't realize that the "official" term for marijuana is cannabis. I've heard that word thrown around before but, as much as it pains me to admit, I've always gotten it confused with Cerberus. So I thought cannabis was another multi-headed animal.
That pretty much sums up my experience with marijuana. I've never tried it, I've never touched it. I wouldn't know who to ask for it. I don't even know if I've actually seen it. Those Black & Mild cigarettes or cigars - I thought that was weed when I first came to Southern and I still equate that smell with marijuana. I think I know what it smells like now that I'm a junior, but I'm not positive. Does that create an assumption that I was sheltered? Or that I'm a prude? I've never been given the opportunity to try it, and that is insanely rare coming from Peachtree Ridge High School. I know a kid that ate a bag of pot so that the cops wouldn't find it. During school hours.
From watching the news sporadically and listening to everyone and their red-eyed cousin talk, I've gathered that the "legalize marijuana" crusade is a powerful one. According to...wikipedia...medical marijuana positively affects the conditions of cancer patients, AIDS patients, and people suffering from glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, nausea and vomiting, and depression.
That's great, I guess. You'd think they could find something less controversial to use, like Tylenol or Advil, and I know how insensitive that reads, but it seems like the medical benefits are being touted to mask the recreational use. Perhaps if I had experience with the soothing effects of marijuana I would be on the other end of the spectrum, but until that happens, I'm on the fence. I won't knock it if it makes you feel better, and I might smile as you inhale and embrace the buzz, but I'll probably be judging you.
–noun a continuing rise in the general price level usually attributed to an increase in the volume of money and credit relative to available goods and services
That definition of inflation is provided by Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary. When the price level rises, the dollar (or other form of currency) is worth less. Each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. This does not affect non-monetary values, such as real estate or possessions.
Inflation damages businesses. Inflation forces companies to hone in on gains and losses in profit, as opposed to bettering products and services. Higher prices in the economy means that wages and personal income are worth less. If employees demand higher wages to afford the inflation of goods and services, that company in turn may need to raise prices to afford the increase in payroll...which, in turn, requires more money for the consumers to afford the goods and services.
There are instances when the inflation rate of a country is negative, which is deflation. The decline in the supply of money and credit leads to deflation. This leads to an increase in the value of money, but a problem arises from this scenario. If gas costs $3.02 a gallon on Wednesday and you know that the price will drop tomorrow, will you buy gas today? It is a necessity for the majority of the country, but if you can afford to wait, would you save the 70¢? Would you buy something today if you knew it would be cheaper tomorrow? While inflation can be deemed a catch-22, there are many factors that contribute to its rise and fall. The resources below delve deeper into the economical, political, and social aspects of inflation. The video below is a "humorous" and obviously biased satire aimed at explaining inflation.
I arrived home at 7:52 on Tuesday night. I had the shakes. I had gone to Wendy’s for dinner with friends and a man with Tourette syndrome was having an attack next to us in line, cursing and shouting every minute or so. The manager kicked him out. It was awkward. we ate peacefully and then went to Starbucks for Open Mic night. That was eventful, if I say so myself. This kid completely butchered Hallelujah but he did try and that is admirable, at best.
The night ended. I dropped everyone off and returned home at 7:52. Went into my room. Turned off the lights. Locked the door. Changed into my pajamas. Turned off my phone. The recap for LOST began at 8 and chronicled the most important characters and moments from the past five seasons. at 9, my head exploded.
The season premiere began with Jack on Oceanic Flight 815, just as it was in the beginning. Jack was a little shaky so the flight attendant Cindy, who hasn’t been seen or heard from since season three, I believe, gave him a small bottle of vodka.
Oh, but wait.
In the season one premiere, Cindy gave Jack TWO bottles of vodka. TWO. Here, she gives him one. I’m confused at this point. Jack speaks briefly with Rose, another Oceanic survivor from the series, and then he goes to the bathroom. When he looks in the mirror, he appears puzzled. Perhaps he’s wondering why his hair is so long. No, instead he notices that his neck is bleeding, apparently from a shaving error. He dabs away the blood. Goes back to his seat. It was a very random scene. When he returns, he finds a man has joined him – Desmond. Desmond…who should be on the island at that very moment, running through the island to go press the button the hatch. He should be failing to do so right about now, which is the reason that the plane crashed in the first place. Instead, he’s on the plane, sitting next to Jack, reading a newspaper.
What?
So Jack asks where they know each other from and neither can figure it out. I was hoping at this point that they would realize that they jogged up and down stadium steps together four years ago, but they don’t. The camera pans past Jack, down into the ocean, where it is revealed that the infamous island is submerged to the bottom of the sea. And then my head exploded once more.
The show relied on flashbacks to flesh out the characters in the beginning. The first three seasons featured that storytelling device. The season three finale introduced flash forwards, which lasted for one season. Last season, they switched between two timelines: 2007 and 1977. This season, the writers have introduced an alternate reality through the use of flashsideways. Yes, that’s new word now. The reality that we have been following for five seasons now is continuing in 2007, where the Losties are still separated from one another in complex situations. This new reality takes place in 2004, where Oceanic flight 815 does not crash, and everyone gets off the plane unscathed.
There are differences, however. For one, Desmond is a passenger on the plane. Charlie tried to commit suicide in the bathroom. Shannon is nowhere to be seen, nor are Michael or Walt. Claire isn’t seen on the plane but she is seen later in a cab that Kate hijacks. Jack’s father Christian has been lost by the airline and he freaks out until, of all people, John Locke calms him down. John is still handicap in this reality.
What I liked most about this episode, independent from the Man in Black’s spine-tingling glare and the first tour of the mysterious Temple, was that I would watch this other reality play out as if it were an entirely different show. The interaction between Jack and John was bittersweet, especially knowing that their alternative history doesn’t even exist or apply here. Kate’s storyline is somewhat riveting because she’s now on the run and she’s wound up in a cab with Claire, who is probably due to give birth soon. Hurley is a lucky man, Sawyer isn’t immediately seen as the antihero, and Sayid isn’t labeled as a terrorist from the get-go. This could have easily been the show to begin with and I probably still would have watched it.
Barack Obama recently completed a full year as the president of the United States. He was elected as the 44th president with 52.9% of the popular vote (69,456,897 votes). It is a widely-accepted opinion that Obama inherited a troubled nation when he was inaugurated January 20, 2009. The American economy was in shambles and the general public had high hopes that Obama would have a quick fix. After just one year, the economy is, at best, stable. The varieties of numbers and percentages aren’t dwindling as quickly as they were the past two years, and the media is no longer fixated on exploiting fear. We probably have Tiger Woods to thank for that.
During his campaign to the presidency, Obama made a number of promises. According to St. Petersburg Times’ PolitiFact.com, he has made 522 promises so far, and placing complete trust in this random, Pulitzer Prize winning website, I think he could be judged fairly based on how many promises he has been able to keep and how many he has disregarded.
According to PolitiFact, President Obama has kept 91 promises to date.
• Established a credit card bill of rights • Expanded loan programs for small businesses • Sending additional troops to Afghanistan • Subtracting the number of troops in Iraq • Pushed for the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act • Invested in different types of alternative energy • Reversed restrictions on stem cell research • Announced a repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy
Those are just a few promises. The promises he has been able to fulfill are mostly geared towards equal rights issues, environmental issues, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has broken a total of 15 promises to date.
• Has not allowed five days of public comment before signing bills • Has not made move for full equality for same-sex couples and their families • Has not doubled funding for afterschool programs • Has not televised health care reform negotiations • Has not created a tax credit for companies that have added jobs • Did not give a “State of the World” address during first year
These broken promises are mostly related to government spending and Obama’s expectation that he would be able to broadcast and share everything once he became president. Although he should be able to grant the LGBT community equal rights under the law, he can’t without some kind of support. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have it. And unfortunately, a legitimate reason has still not been found for that blatant legal bigotry.
In the crosshairs are 33 compromised promises, 86 stalled promises, and 276 promises that are in the works. Now, this of course is not a signifier or a litmus test that ends all debate, but it is at least an aggregate of facts that reveals what Obama has accomplished and what he plans to accomplished. It certainly counts for something when grading his first full year as the president of the “free” world.
I love Conan O’Brien. I’ve loved him since I was at least eleven. Some pop thing of the time performed on his show in 2001 and I stayed up until 12:37 to see whoever that was. This dorky, lanky, redheaded giant came bouncing onto my screen to a catchy jazz theme playing. He did the string dance. He said something funny. I was flabbergasted. I started watching every night and continued on until that fateful night last summer when Coco ended his run on Late Night.
In 2004, Jay Leno announced his retirement, which he admitted was a lie. He was prompted to do so because Conan’s contract with NBC was coming to a close and he had an ultimatum – he wanted The Tonight Show or he was jumping ship. NBC soiled themselves and told Leno that Conan would be hosting The Tonight Show as of 2009. He would be out of a job and he wasn’t prepared to leave. Leno threatened to jump ship too, which forced NBC to think. They thought long and hard. Their solution?
Give Jay Leno a talk show at 10 o’clock. Five days a week.
This announcement hit Hollywood hard. Five hours of original programming were replaced with five hours of…original programming. I believe that the decision to give Leno an opportunity to continue his show was responsible for the poor ratings of the Tonight Show. NBC hoped that Leno fans would tune into Conan at 11:35, but with Jay doing the exact same show at 10, his fans had no reason to watch Conan.
I can’t think of any other way for this debacle to have unfolded. Conan wanted a guarantee that NBC wouldn’t do to him what they did to David Letterman, and it giving him that guarantee, they screwed over Leno, but then they gave Leno another slot and gave Jimmy Fallon Conan’s slot. Seven months later, Jay wants his slot back and instead of screwing over Jimmy, Conan lets himself be screwed over. Tough break. NBC shouldn’t have pushed Leno out in the first place, but Leno shouldn’t have accepted the 10 o’clock slot, nor should he have publically ridiculed Conan’s ratings. Everyone and their mother knows that Leno wouldn’t be anywhere if Hugh Grant hadn’t picked up a stripper. He got lucky. And now Conan’s screwed.
