Archive for February, 2007
23
Feb
Doing my civic duty.
Me and Senator Feinstein have had a few back and forths on this issue. (Rather, me and the intern who responds to her e-mails.) I’m curious to see what my other representatives have to say about the issue.
I wanted to bring a few news stories to your attention. To any thinking person, these have to serve as further evidence that our country needs to radically change its laws regarding marijuana.
In order for there to be a nation-wide dialogue about this issue—which is long overdue—we need esteemed national leaders like you to have the courage to tell people the truth.
Thanks for your time.
Nick Adams
http://alternet.org/drugreporter/47815/
American taxpayers are now spending more than a billion dollars per year to incarcerate its citizens for pot. That’s according to statistics recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics.
http://alternet.org/drugreporter/48322/
A new study, just published in the journal Neurology…found marijuana to be safe and effective at treating peripheral neuropathy, which causes great suffering to HIV/AIDS patients.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070221/ap_on_he_me/medical_marijuana
Armed with a new study showing the drug can ease pain in some HIV patients, medical-marijuana advocates sued the federal government Wednesday over its claim that pot has no accepted medical uses.
…you can now shut the fuck up. White boys brawl like this on a regular basis. Where is the outrage?
I could try to explain it, but you should just go here and see for yourself.
Chef, best-selling author, and television host Anthony Bourdain took a turn at the keyboard on Michael Ruhlman’s blog recently. Bourdain gave his opinion of the talent on The Food Network. Clearly, his is not a Rachel Ray fan.
RACHAEL: Complain all you want. It’s like railing against the pounding surf. She only grows stronger and more powerful. Her ear-shattering tones louder and louder. We KNOW she can’t cook. She shrewdly tells us so. So…what is she selling us? Really? She’s selling us satisfaction, the smug reassurance that mediocrity is quite enough. She’s a friendly, familiar face who appears regularly on our screens to tell us that “Even your dumb, lazy ass can cook this!” Wallowing in your own crapulence on your Cheeto-littered couch you watch her and think, “Hell…I could do that. I ain’t gonna…but I could–if I wanted! Now where’s my damn jug a Diet Pepsi?” Where the saintly Julia Child sought to raise expectations, to enlighten us, make us better–teach us–and in fact, did, Rachael uses her strange and terrible powers to narcotize her public with her hypnotic mantra of Yummo and Evoo and Sammys. “You’re doing just fine. You don’t even have to chop an onion–you can buy it already chopped. Aspire to nothing…Just sit
That’s why we roll with Nigella in our house.
Shoot on over to Maximum Fun to see a piece I wrote on why Jim should choose Karen over Pam.
If you want to join the movement, check out the My Space page.
Suck it, Beesly!
At least you are according to the racist drivel spouted by Ken Levine over at the Huffington Post. Writing about Tim Hardaway’s recent idiotic rant, Levine wrote.
Here’s what the average sports fan sees when he comes across an NBA game: mean, arrogant, scary looking, tattooed, prison inmates. Not exactly All-American role models unless you’re a gang member or skinhead.
Wow. A non-moron might just appreciate their skill and ability without making sweeping generalizations because of their body art. Levine takes a quote from one former player and spins every single NBA athlete into a menace to society.
Mean? Arrogant? Scary looking? Prison inmates? Come on Ken. At least be man enough to say what you really mean. Niggers. The way you worded it only makes your comments racist and cowardly.
The intelligent thing might have been to take some time and see what other players had to say about John Amaechi’s revelation. I wonder what one of the leagues many bright, educated, considerate individuals had to say about the situation. Grant Hill, what are your thoughts?
“The fact that John has done this, maybe it will give others the comfort or confidence to come out as well, whether they are playing or retiring.”
It would probably be a good idea for Levine to avoid writing about the NBA at all since he clearly has no idea what he’s talking about. As evidenced by this gem:
The NBA wonders why it has such a horrible image, why its glittering All-Star game isn’t even televised on a broadcast network. Then it allows kids to drop out of college or skip college altogether to join the league.
Allows kids to drop out of college? First of all, players have to be at least one year removed from high school to declare for the NBA draft. Second, it’s not the NBA’s business or responsibility to make sure that individuals go to or stay in college. The last I checked, there are tons of professions that allow people to join their ranks without a college degree.
Ariana, you can’t be this desperate for contributors.
It only lasted two nights. Both films were screened in our living room by an exclusive audience numbering four. Two human. Two feline.
Two nights ago we were blown away by an amazing Fela Kuti documentary called Music is the Weapon. My TiVo has strict instructions to record anything about Fela or his son Femi, and this was a great find. The brief, 1982 documentary is amazing examination of his struggle with the Nigerian government, his political and personal philosophies, and his music. Take one part John Coltrane, one part James Brown, one part Bob Marley, give him a compound to live in and a venue in which to play every night, surrounding him with musicians, friends and bodyguards, add about fifteen wives and apparently the largest weed stash in all of Nigeria. You got yourself a documentary. Here’s a clip:
Last night, we followed that up with How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It) over on IFC. It’s a biography of Melvin Van Peebles. I don’t throw words like pioneer, visionary and renaissance man around lightly. But anyone who’s made important cinema in two different languages, invented a genre of film, had two plays on Broadway at once and recorded several influential albums has earned the right to be called all those things and more.
Here’s the trailer:
Stand up comedy beef. Gotta love it.
