Upon reflection regarding my last post I realized it could be construed as me suggesting I believed in laziness and evading responsibility, and getting out of promises to yourself and others. First of all, that post was largely humor but I don't want to send an underlying message that I don't believe in. So, I clarify: my stance is that you should make promises to yourself that you can and will keep. Perhaps my own resolutions were made in light of the fact that an injury prevented me from accomplishing my goal of running the Chicago Marathon last year. I was very disappointed with myself when in reality I had no control over the situation.
In fact, I ran through this injury (apparently in such denial that it existed) to the point where I could no longer walk normally. The realization that this was not sustainable came when someone at work commented on the fact that I had been limping around for the past two weeks. I decided to take a short break from running. Months later, I was still limping and a year later I am still doing PT to hopefully be able to run again at some point. In fact, recently I have been able to run for 15 or 20 minutes at a time, a huge accomplishment which I am very proud of. Yet nothing compared to the hour or hour and a half runs I used to do. Although I had failed at my goal to run the marathon I realized that I had to accept that I had clearly (given my inability to walk normally for 5 months) given it my best effort. So, the point of that post was you should reach for the stars every day of your life, but be sure that if you fall short you don't consider it a failure. After all, the stars are pretty high up there!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Who Said A White Man Don't Want a Baby's Mama?
Recently, I have really embraced the use of YouTube.com, as evidenced pretty clearly by my blog. I find it to be an interesting source of thought provoking information or simply a place to find entertainment. I stumbled upon this recently and thought it was fabulous for several reasons. I think, if you've watched it, the main reason is clear. That's right, the baby's mama.
However, it provoked many questions, for example, what does he mean, "stop growing"? Does he suffer from elephantitis? Of course when I say "he", you all know who I am talking about. The individual conducting the interview couldn't even keep a straight face when this man suggested that his New Year's Resolution was to find "a baby's mama". I think the piece was meant to be a serious piece and surely, had that comment not provided enough humor for me to post it and spend time commenting about it, I think the director would have cut it out due to background laughter. Here nor there.
Another question you might have is what does that "other guy" mean when he says "clip my toenails"? First, the "other guy" says he wants to stop his nasty habits and then he mentions clipping his toenails. This is actually an interesting concept. Clipping your toenails can be a nasty habit if done at an improper time and/or place. On the other hand, not clipping your toenails is just plain nasty.
As for the individual who doesn't make resolutions because they "don't keep promises to themselves", I have to say I can relate this year. My resolutions were as follows: (and so you know, I have them saved as a Word document in my computer, I guess in case I forget...?) (1) Go to church; (2) Be nicer, maybe find a female friend or two; and (3) "Great ass" (by which I mean on my own body, so get your minds out of the gutter... come to think of it, your minds might still be there...).
I guess, if I want to be a lawyer about it, I haven't really "not kept" any of my resolutions. I went to church on Easter. And, I think about going almost every week which is, well, 100% more than I thought about it last year (its amazing how you can make any fraction 100% when you don't consider how far you intended to go as long as you didn't do absolutely nothing). As for the second one, I can't say I have any new "best friends" that are girls, but I am certainly making an effort, which was the goal. And, after all, it did say "maybe". The ass thing. Well, I have pretty much ceased going to the gym but I like to think my ass was great to begin with. And, after all, isn't beauty relative? I mean, doesn't that resolution revolve around a subjective definition of the word "great"? Obviously it does! My ass is great!
Now, the intent that I had when I made these resolutions is a different story. I intended to go to church fairly regularly. The second one, I have probably achieved to some degree. As for the last one, I had an idea of "great" and my ass is not looking like what I had in mind. Frankly, I don't think, however, that my ass was ever meant to look like what I had in mind. So, the point is that that dude just needs to learn to lie to himself better. Or at least tell "half truths"! I didn't break any promises to myself! Moreover, I still have 7 months to go! I think he needs a motivational speaker. In my world I have not only made three resolutions but I have succeeded as to every one! He can't even do that because he didn't make any and therefore can't be as proud of himself as I am. The key is being very careful (lawyerly) in the resolutions that you do and don't make. When done properly you can always suceed and if nothing else, boost your self-esteem for having been sucessful. Finally, some wisdom!
So what have we learned today? New Years Resolutions should contain key words like "maybe" and be held to subjective standards like "great". If you say I am going to lose 15 lbs., as many Americans make the mistake of doing, you fail unless you do it. I am just helping your self-esteem here people!
Of course, this is not to suggest that I don't believe in resolving to do things you are actually going to do. However, I would argue that our friend had a good argument against the making of resolutions. Rather than not making any, though, I would suggest if you are the type to break your resolutions, that you should heed my advice and its a win-win situation! At least in the latter case you have a chance at true sucess.
In conclusion, I got a deep belly laugh from "he", am very worried and confused by the "other guy" and think the non-resolving individual has taught us all a valuable lesson.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
The Great Debate
For those of you that know me well, you know that I am a firm believer in the legalization of marijuana. My beliefs on this topic revolve around the fact that marijuana use is a "victimless crime" and the "facts" the government has used to justify its criminalization of the "drug" are largely myths. For those that are interested, I would be happy to provide some suggestions of books and other objective sources of information on the topic. In any event, while doing some research, I came across this video which was very typical of the 1950s anti-drug sentiment and found it particularly interesting.
It is my belief that one of the most important reasons that we should legalize marijuana is that by doing so the government will obviate the need for millions of innocent smokers to go to the types of "peddlers" referenced in this anti-drug movie. This propaganda in and of itself concedes that it is not the drug marijuana that makes it a "gateway" drug, but rather its categorization as a criminalized drug which does so. Although I have no intention of getting into the harms and dangers (many of which are far worse) of prescription drugs, I think every American can concede that they never went to their pharmacist with a prescription for Vicodin and had their pharmacist pushing them to try Oxycontin. Both are nonetheless addictive narcotic drugs which are abused in this country every day. Nonetheless, because the government hasn't denied the basic principle that they do provide some medical benefit that is worth their potential risks, they are still sold on a regulated drug market.
This film refers to marijuana as a narcotic. Medically, it cannot be classified as such. Furthermore, the United States Congress has a classification of drugs by and through which they determine which drugs can be used for medicinal purposes. Marijuana has been classified as the most dangerous sort of narcotic drug (a Schedule I) with no medical purposes. This puts it in a category with drugs like PCP, Heroin, and Mescaline. This classification (and this movie)should be viewed as nothing short of undermining every drug education program in the world. When teenagers and young adults try marijuana and enjoy its calming effects they think these other drugs are in the same class because, after all, that's what they have been told their whole lives. So, they are likely to see little harm in experimenting with far more dangerous and deadly substances, like heroin because they are in the same "class" of drugs.
We do a disservice to our young people by continuing to hypocritically suggest every pot smoker uses other drugs and that the use of marijuana and other drugs are in any way related. This video is true in every respect except the conclusions they draw from the facts. Heroin is as addictive as they claim. People can become addicts in just a few days. More importantly, young people gain access when they participate in the harmless "crime" (what I would argue is a, potentially unproductive, recreational activity) because marijuana continues to be illegal, not because it is a gateway drug.
I would suggest that you look at this video clip:
This individual's book that he speaks about is a very short and informative book which I think every American should read.
The point is, by legalizing marijuana we can segregate it from the stigma of other far more dangerous drugs and prevent the gateway effect its criminalization inherently imposes. By legalizing marijuana we can regulate its use, find out exactly how many Americans are using marijuana, and better assess the dangers of the drug and its effects on the health, whether good or bad. More importantly, we would take a huge chunk out of "crime" by eliminating a black market that millions of Americans patronize. If the government is in control of that money, the taxpayers get to decide what we do with it. I would suggest we teach children about the dangers of heroin, a drug that kills, rather than spending millions annually on drug enforcement and keeping people like Mitchell Lawrence in jail for two years for selling a joints worth of pot.
The cost of criminalization of marijuana is great. It includes the costs of police officers and parole officers; it costs us to keep offenders in jail; it costs us the social benefit of those suffering from diseases who could benefit from medicinal marijuana. The costs for Mitchell Lawrence are likely to extend beyond his two year jail sentence because of the high rate of recidivism in this country. A rate caused by our own lack of compassion and ability to believe in the rehabilitation our criminal justice system is premised on providing. There are countless others like Mitchell Lawrence that taxpayers will support in the future through social services because they are unable to find jobs because of their criminal record. And why? The answer is simple and it is legalization. There are tons of Americans that want to and do smoke pot regularly. Anyone with a basic understanding of economics knows there is a price at which someone is going to be willing to supply the demand given his/her costs. These "costs" include those that are tangible and those which are not. They include the risk that the individual must take in order to provide the market demand. We are foolish as Americans if we think our drug laws are going to deter these "crimes". Rather, we continue to waste our money because of false conclusions like the ones evidences in this movie.
Other sources I encourage you to see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pfuYXIIhmU
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