Issue 115
News: Mary Ann, Mary Jane, and The One Percent.
Two news stories have converged around the same time. The first is that Dawn Wells, Gilligan's Island's Mary Jane had Marijuana discovered in the car she was driving (curiously, this actually was old news that I only discovered recently.) As it turns out, she ended up only having to pay a small fine and do half a year's worth of probation. Around this same time, (come to think of it, on the same day as the sentence was announced), it was revealed that, for the first time in American, and possibly even modern, history, more than 1% of all American adults are currently behind bars. Now, what is behind this rate of incarceration? The answer is simple: The war on drugs. As I have stated before, I know that while drugs can be dangerous, there are a lot more dangerous activities than drug use (joining the Republican party, for instance). Even throwing away the fact that arresting somebody for the possesion of a plant which grows naturally throughout the world, the fact is that throwing people in jail for minor offenses like drug possession and use, ultimately, they do not end up learning their lesson that drug use is supposed to be wrong, but they often develop camaraderie with other, more dangerous, inmates. Either as a result of this, or as a result of the fact that many employers are reluctant to hire ex-cons, they often return to jail for crimes which are more detrimental to society than smoking a joint. With this in mind, what benefit does illegalization of drugs do, except fill our prisons and cause drug lords to grow fat on the profits of something which often used to be sold in pharmacies, as Heroin was. Of course, the major reason that drugs became illegal, and the ultimate goal of these laws is to create a drug-free society, wasn't it? Okay, I'll give you that one, but there is one peoblem with that line of reasoning: For every culture that knew that there was some way that they could get a high, they always managed to do so, even if it just meant planting grape vines for Caecuban wine (read Horace if that phrase means nothing to you), and virtually every attempt to try to completely end intoxification has failed horribly. For instance, Take Prohibition. In 1919, it was decided that alcohol was not to be sold at all. What were the consequences? It didn't lead to widespread sobriety; All it lead to were creation of inferior liquors, bad men growing fat off the profits of good liquors, and a constitutional amendment ending it.
Band Name: Come to think of it, the Title for today's news seems like a better band name than anything I can come up with.
Film Idea of the Day: A promising college student disappears. When she is found, she, through her split personalities (Svetlana, the Russian whore; Mickey, the male brooklynite heroin addict; Kate, the British psychopath; and Bobbye [sic], the fast-talking and androgynous con girl, all played by different actresses and actor), reveal a shocking criminal past.
Film Review of the Day: 24 Hour Party People. The story of Factory Records as told by Steve Coogan as Factory Records founder Tony Williams. While the scene showing Ian's suicide is glaringly inaccurate, since it shows him already dead as Stroszek is still airing, when in reality, it didn't happen for several hours afterwards, and the fact that I am unfamiliar with the non-JD section of Factory Records' history, I still think it is good, although I'm sure that Control will most likely be more suited to my interests.
Quote of the Day: "Tristram Shandy was a post-modern classic written before there was any modernism to be post about."
__________Steve Coogan, Cock and Bull Story.
Link of the Day: The famous Denis Leary monologue.
Two news stories have converged around the same time. The first is that Dawn Wells, Gilligan's Island's Mary Jane had Marijuana discovered in the car she was driving (curiously, this actually was old news that I only discovered recently.) As it turns out, she ended up only having to pay a small fine and do half a year's worth of probation. Around this same time, (come to think of it, on the same day as the sentence was announced), it was revealed that, for the first time in American, and possibly even modern, history, more than 1% of all American adults are currently behind bars. Now, what is behind this rate of incarceration? The answer is simple: The war on drugs. As I have stated before, I know that while drugs can be dangerous, there are a lot more dangerous activities than drug use (joining the Republican party, for instance). Even throwing away the fact that arresting somebody for the possesion of a plant which grows naturally throughout the world, the fact is that throwing people in jail for minor offenses like drug possession and use, ultimately, they do not end up learning their lesson that drug use is supposed to be wrong, but they often develop camaraderie with other, more dangerous, inmates. Either as a result of this, or as a result of the fact that many employers are reluctant to hire ex-cons, they often return to jail for crimes which are more detrimental to society than smoking a joint. With this in mind, what benefit does illegalization of drugs do, except fill our prisons and cause drug lords to grow fat on the profits of something which often used to be sold in pharmacies, as Heroin was. Of course, the major reason that drugs became illegal, and the ultimate goal of these laws is to create a drug-free society, wasn't it? Okay, I'll give you that one, but there is one peoblem with that line of reasoning: For every culture that knew that there was some way that they could get a high, they always managed to do so, even if it just meant planting grape vines for Caecuban wine (read Horace if that phrase means nothing to you), and virtually every attempt to try to completely end intoxification has failed horribly. For instance, Take Prohibition. In 1919, it was decided that alcohol was not to be sold at all. What were the consequences? It didn't lead to widespread sobriety; All it lead to were creation of inferior liquors, bad men growing fat off the profits of good liquors, and a constitutional amendment ending it.
Band Name: Come to think of it, the Title for today's news seems like a better band name than anything I can come up with.
Film Idea of the Day: A promising college student disappears. When she is found, she, through her split personalities (Svetlana, the Russian whore; Mickey, the male brooklynite heroin addict; Kate, the British psychopath; and Bobbye [sic], the fast-talking and androgynous con girl, all played by different actresses and actor), reveal a shocking criminal past.
Film Review of the Day: 24 Hour Party People. The story of Factory Records as told by Steve Coogan as Factory Records founder Tony Williams. While the scene showing Ian's suicide is glaringly inaccurate, since it shows him already dead as Stroszek is still airing, when in reality, it didn't happen for several hours afterwards, and the fact that I am unfamiliar with the non-JD section of Factory Records' history, I still think it is good, although I'm sure that Control will most likely be more suited to my interests.
Quote of the Day: "Tristram Shandy was a post-modern classic written before there was any modernism to be post about."
__________Steve Coogan, Cock and Bull Story.
Link of the Day: The famous Denis Leary monologue.
Labels: Drugs
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