Hi kids!
So I have not posted in a week. Been reading, and then reading a second time, the marvelous "Conquering Venus" from award-winning poet and playwright, Collin Kelley. I'll be posting a full review very soon.
Other stuff:
Had a wonderful visit with my Dad--John, only a few weeks ago(but miss him so much already, it feels like he's not been here, in years).
We visited "Big Canoe", a resort-like community in the North Georgia mountains. Tiny cottages, mid-sized houses, and sprawling estate homes, all co-exist in a densely wooded(think "Pan's Labyrinth", without the scary)forest. The amenities include paddleboating, canoeing, kayaking, on your choice of three lakes (one of which is huge, and completely God-created), fishing, swimming in three pools, hiking, etc. We just visited for a couple of hours, but it felt like a relaxing vaction.
We wanted to go see a film, too, but I had to be convinced to go see a film about war. In my trek to become more Peace-filled, war, or films that champion war,are not a thing(s) I support.
And my Dad disagrees on whether peace is ever possible.
My Dad: "Well, Lisa, do you REALLY BELIEVE World Peace is possible someday?"
"I absolutely do. In fact, I believe it's MORE LIKELY, than not, Dad."
"Really?!" he asked, incredulously.
"I do!"
The conversation could've become heated, and my Dad has "pushed it" before, but since I'm all-about-the-peace, I decided to simply smile sweetly.
What I Didn't Say(but what I truly believe):
"One day, everyone will figure out it's too costly--in terms of dollars, AND PEOPLE--to keep fighting one another. It's a ridiculous, outdated method of dealing with each other. It makes no sense."
So......in the in-town-Atlanta-things-we-did-category, we saw a great little film called "Hurt Locker", and it feels like a film about war, for people who never go to what my ol' Grandpa Reed Allender would call a "war picture".
It centers around explosive-device experts, and the ever-impending loom of death these brave soldiers face, every day in the "new wars" of Iraq and Afghanistan. (IED's being the preferred weapon instituted by those fighters.) The film explores the tenacity, the mistrust, and the unlikely brotherhood that is formed because of the interactions our soldiers and even those they must fight, create. I seldom recommend a "war" film, but this one is a requirement, in order to better understand the incredible sacrifice made every day, by these brave young men and women.
The film was directed by a woman, Kathryn Bigelow, best-known for her 1991 surfer/bank-robber-film, "Point Break". While researching her, I discovered she's a very talented painter, and it is easy to believe, since her filmed images of desert cities at dusk, sandstorms and explosions, achieve icon-status.
When you go to see it, be like a soldier with heightened awareness: if you do, you'll spot an extremely well-known, Academy-Award-winning actor, in a pivotal, but un-credited, cameo role.
Peace, kids.
Showing posts with label Afghanistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Afghanistan. Show all posts
Friday, August 21, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
DRUGS, ANYONE?
Drugs, Anyone?
There's been a lot of talk about legalizing marijuana to establish a means of raising more money for individual states who choose to legalize it. President Obama was asked about it the other evening(He said "I don't think that's the way to go.")
I personally think it would raise a lot of money, but I doubt it could "solve" the economic crisis we're currently in.
My politics have certainly skewed much more Liberal the past several years, but even Liberals do not espouse "legalization of all drugs" as Libertarians (who believe in the freedom to do with your own body, what you will, so long as you hurt no one else.)do.
My feelings? While I freely admit I've personally tried marijuana (3 times in my life) and even the potentially very dangerous "Ecstacy", or "X" as it is commonly called,(4 times in my life), I can say positively that if tomorrow, drugs were free, legal, and even if they were unable to hurt me, I still would have NO desire to use them.
I do not want to be intoxicated, simple as that.
Which is why I do NOT believe legalization would cause more folks to use, or use more frequently. The fact is, some people feel a desperate need to get high--no matter what. These people will do so--no matter what. If these folks would get counseling, and discover WHY they need to get high(Bipolar Disease(what used to be called Manic-Depressive Illness is one possibility, as users often say they don't feel "normal"--the "self-medication"(using) that results is often an attempt to "feel better"), they might not feel the need to keep using. Talk-therapy with a quaified therapist, and possibly prescribed medications(Medicine has come a long way, and if deemed absolutely necessary,some meds are incredibly effective, when used short-term)could "stabilize" their brains so that using drugs to get high, would not be so attractive. Sadly, most of these folks will continue to use, until they develop lung cancer from smoking, or pancreatic cancer, or sclerosis of the liver, from drinking(Alcohol is certainly legal, but every bit as damaging to both body, and soul) and die.
There is also the argument that by definition, a user/addict is hurting others, and I know first-hand, how true that statement is. The lives of countless friends, siblings, sons, daughters are damaged irrepairably by friends, siblings, or parents whose first focus is on getting high, not on being a friend, a sister or brother, or a parent.
Bill Maher and other witty, creative folks(including the late, great George Carlin) have long argued for legalization of marijuana and other drugs, for "practical" reasons(how much time,money, and energy are we spending on chasing down, and locking up pot smokers?How about the lack of room at our jails and prisons?Shouldn't that be used for violent offenders?)as well as their obviously "personal"(they enjoy smoking dope) ones. While I absolutely support one's right to indulge, SO LONG AS YOU DO NOT HURT ANYONE ELSE(whatever that means), I feel a need to speak up about something no one ever seems to address.
If you currently smoke pot, or use any illegal drug, unless you get it "home-grown"--that is, grow it yourself, or obtain it from persons THAT YOU KNOW are unaffiliated with drug cartels, you are SUPPORTING TERROR AND MURDER. Yes, you are.If you purchase from someone whose "contact" or "supplier" is from Mexico, Bolivia, Columbia, etc.--you are supporting, in a very real way, kidnappings and murder which occurs in those countries(as well as many others) on a daily basis. If you receive your drug of choice from Afghanistan, or Pakistan, you are supporting The Taliban, and those who would do harm to the United States via their religious-political extremism, no question about it.
I cannot respect you as a human being, if you don't think about this, let it sink in, and vow to NOT use from "outside" sources.
While I do not smoke ANYthing, or use ANY drugs, I am NOT judging the behavior of using. I AM telling you to be mindful of WHERE your drugs come from--if you are engaging in exchanges of money or accepting--even for free--the drugs from folks who work as distributors for cartels, you are supporting the murder of not only those men who work with these thugs of organized crime, but the rape, torture, and murder of their families--women and children, too. Period.
Read CNN's columnist on the drug war, below. And think about WHERE you get your intoxicants, if you must intoxicate yourselves.
Peace, kids.(Peace doesn't harm your body or mind, and Peace can be a great "intoxicant")
______________________________________________________________________
Read Jack Cafferty's column, from CNN, below!
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/31/cafferty.legal.drugs/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
There's been a lot of talk about legalizing marijuana to establish a means of raising more money for individual states who choose to legalize it. President Obama was asked about it the other evening(He said "I don't think that's the way to go.")
I personally think it would raise a lot of money, but I doubt it could "solve" the economic crisis we're currently in.
My politics have certainly skewed much more Liberal the past several years, but even Liberals do not espouse "legalization of all drugs" as Libertarians (who believe in the freedom to do with your own body, what you will, so long as you hurt no one else.)do.
My feelings? While I freely admit I've personally tried marijuana (3 times in my life) and even the potentially very dangerous "Ecstacy", or "X" as it is commonly called,(4 times in my life), I can say positively that if tomorrow, drugs were free, legal, and even if they were unable to hurt me, I still would have NO desire to use them.
I do not want to be intoxicated, simple as that.
Which is why I do NOT believe legalization would cause more folks to use, or use more frequently. The fact is, some people feel a desperate need to get high--no matter what. These people will do so--no matter what. If these folks would get counseling, and discover WHY they need to get high(Bipolar Disease(what used to be called Manic-Depressive Illness is one possibility, as users often say they don't feel "normal"--the "self-medication"(using) that results is often an attempt to "feel better"), they might not feel the need to keep using. Talk-therapy with a quaified therapist, and possibly prescribed medications(Medicine has come a long way, and if deemed absolutely necessary,some meds are incredibly effective, when used short-term)could "stabilize" their brains so that using drugs to get high, would not be so attractive. Sadly, most of these folks will continue to use, until they develop lung cancer from smoking, or pancreatic cancer, or sclerosis of the liver, from drinking(Alcohol is certainly legal, but every bit as damaging to both body, and soul) and die.
There is also the argument that by definition, a user/addict is hurting others, and I know first-hand, how true that statement is. The lives of countless friends, siblings, sons, daughters are damaged irrepairably by friends, siblings, or parents whose first focus is on getting high, not on being a friend, a sister or brother, or a parent.
Bill Maher and other witty, creative folks(including the late, great George Carlin) have long argued for legalization of marijuana and other drugs, for "practical" reasons(how much time,money, and energy are we spending on chasing down, and locking up pot smokers?How about the lack of room at our jails and prisons?Shouldn't that be used for violent offenders?)as well as their obviously "personal"(they enjoy smoking dope) ones. While I absolutely support one's right to indulge, SO LONG AS YOU DO NOT HURT ANYONE ELSE(whatever that means), I feel a need to speak up about something no one ever seems to address.
If you currently smoke pot, or use any illegal drug, unless you get it "home-grown"--that is, grow it yourself, or obtain it from persons THAT YOU KNOW are unaffiliated with drug cartels, you are SUPPORTING TERROR AND MURDER. Yes, you are.If you purchase from someone whose "contact" or "supplier" is from Mexico, Bolivia, Columbia, etc.--you are supporting, in a very real way, kidnappings and murder which occurs in those countries(as well as many others) on a daily basis. If you receive your drug of choice from Afghanistan, or Pakistan, you are supporting The Taliban, and those who would do harm to the United States via their religious-political extremism, no question about it.
I cannot respect you as a human being, if you don't think about this, let it sink in, and vow to NOT use from "outside" sources.
While I do not smoke ANYthing, or use ANY drugs, I am NOT judging the behavior of using. I AM telling you to be mindful of WHERE your drugs come from--if you are engaging in exchanges of money or accepting--even for free--the drugs from folks who work as distributors for cartels, you are supporting the murder of not only those men who work with these thugs of organized crime, but the rape, torture, and murder of their families--women and children, too. Period.
Read CNN's columnist on the drug war, below. And think about WHERE you get your intoxicants, if you must intoxicate yourselves.
Peace, kids.(Peace doesn't harm your body or mind, and Peace can be a great "intoxicant")
______________________________________________________________________
Read Jack Cafferty's column, from CNN, below!
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/31/cafferty.legal.drugs/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
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