My life a gift and a curse

 Lustfull. Intense desire or craving for gratification and excitement.Strictly sexual lust ,altthough i also commonly speak of  “lust for women” , “lust for power” and to “lust for love”. There is no negative connotation in this but it has developed to be my sexual sin.
 Gluttony could be my second quality.Over-indulgence and over-consumption of food,drinks or intoxicants to the point of waste. My way of taking pride in the security of having enough food,drink to consume to show it off, but it always results in a moral backlash when confronted with reality of those less fortunate then me.
  Greedy. My selfish desire for the prusuit of money,wealth,power,food or other possessions especially when this denies the same goods to others.Greed should not be considered a negative trait and should instead be embraced, I claim that greed is a profoundly benevolent force in human affairs, as well as a necessary foundation for the capitalist system. many have argued this definition confuses greed with self-interest, which can be benign.
  Sloth would be my common label from many. A spiritual apathy or laziness, putting off what “God” asks you to do, or not doing it or anything at all.An absence or insufficiency of love is the thing to get me there.laziness or indifference, of an unwillingness to act, an unwillingness to care. My failure to utilize one’s talents and gifts.
   Wrath. Inordinate and uncontrolled feelings of hatred and anger that i get. These feelings can manifest as vehement denial of the truth, both to others and in the form of self-denial,impatience and the desire to seek revenge and generally wishing to do evil or harm to others.Encompassed anger pointed internally rather than externally leads to suicide. So rather you than me.
  Envyous. I have envy everyone has it. This instabile desire that we all get. My unhappiness of anothers person fortune or love of one’s own good perverted to a desire to deprive other men of theirs? a reluctance to see our own well-being overshadowed by another’s because the standard we use to see how well off we are is not the intrinsic worth of our own well-being but how it compares with that of others.
  Pride/Vanity..Perhaps this is the reason why all of the above even define me. A desire to be more important or attractive than others, failing to give compliments to others though they may be deserving of them, and excessive love of self. If i only could take the pride as the crown of the virtues, distinguishing it from vanity it with be more simple, but selfishness overcomes it most cases.

Do not ask me of chastity,temperance,charity,diligence,patience,kindness,humilty. I will not know how or when to act them.
I am what i am!

Au trecut 17 de ani de cand Kodak a lansat pe piata prima camera digitala DSLR. Cu o rezolutie de 1,3 megapixeli si un pret piperat de 13.000 de dolari, odata cu asta scriind si prima pagina de istorie in fotografia digitala. La 4 ani mai tarziu, cu ajutorul standardului JPEG si MPEG creeat in 1988, Casio ofera clientului prima camera cu un display LCD si compresie de date foto-video folosind ca spatiu de stocare pentru prima data Compact Flash. In 1999 corporatia Nikon pune bazele primului DSLR destinat fotografilor profesionalisti cat si consumatorilor high-end, la pretul de 6000 de dolari. 2003, Canon introduce in joc Canon 300D, o camera revolutionara cu 6 megapixeli si deasemnea primul SLR sub 1000 de dolari, largind astfel orizontul fotografiei semi-profesinale, catre orice tip de utilizator. Dealungul timpului nevoia de a fotografia a fost suplinita cu profesionalism de firmele de prestigiu precum Fuji, Olympus,Sony,Panasonic sau Ricoh. Exista o camera foto pentru cerintele si asteptarile oricarui client. 2008 ofera cea mai vasta gama de camere foto-video. Canon si Nikon cei mai mari producatori de camere foto si video reusesc sa atinga fiecare segment de piata cu oferte sub 150 de dolari sau peste 6000 de dolari. Pentru 4 milioane lei vechi, oricine isi poate imortaliza digital o clipa din viata lui. Dar nevoia de diversitate a tehnologiei creste la un ritm alert. Fiecare produs are strategia lui de marketing care te impinge spre mai mult, mai sofisticat, mai multe optiuni, “full manual”. Posesorul unui “point&shoot” va fi mereu tentat de optiunile extra care le ofera o camera mega-zoom sau bridge, precum si posesorul unui mega-zoom este ispitit de un DSLR abordabil ca pret . Noile aparitii in materie de entry-level DSLR usureaza drumul clientului. Canon isi schimba arhitectura formatului de stocare, de la Compact Flash-ul cu preturi destul de inabordabile la un format intalnit pe multe aparate compacte cat si mega-zoom, cardul SD/SDHC pentru a diminua investitia clientului in accesorii consumabile.Olympus anunta reduceri de preturi de aproximativ 200 de euro pentru entry-level DSLR Olympus E-410 si E-510. Orice client dispus sa ofere o anumita suma pentru calitate are o multitudine de optiuni. Daca acum ceva ani, titlul de DSLR era exclusivist pentru profesionisti, astazi vanzarile de DSLR au crescut cu 600% fata de 2007 iar 2008 anunta cea mai larga gama de optiuni entry-level DSLR.

We claim the present as the pre-sent, as the hereafter.
We are unraveling our navels so that we may ingest the sun.
We are not afraid of the darkness, we trust that the moon shall guide us.
We are determining the future at this very moment.
We now know that the heart is the philosophers’ stone
Our music is our alchemy
We stand as the manifested equivalent of 3 buckets of water and a hand full
of minerals, thus realizing that those very buckets turned upside down
supply the percussion factor of forever.
If you must count to keep the beat then count.
Find you mantra and awaken your subconscious.
Curve you circles counterclockwise
Use your cipher to decipher, Coded Language, man made laws.
Climb waterfalls and trees, commune with nature, snakes and bees.
Let your children name themselves and claim themselves as the new day for
today we are determined to be the channelers of these changing frequencies
into songs, paintings, writings, dance, drama, photography, carpentry,
crafts, love, and love.
We enlist every instrument: Acoustic, electronic.
Every so-called race, gender, and sexual preference.
Every per-son as beings of sound to acknowledge their responsibility to
uplift the consciousness of the entire fucking World.
Any utterance will be un-aimed, will be disclaimed - two rappers slain
Any utterance will be un-aimed, will be disclaimed - two rappers slain

One cool thing about the human race is that everybody is pretty much different, with the exception of everybody who lives in Moldova: they’re all a bunch of buckwheat-chewing jerks. But outside of those dirty hicks, everybody has different opinions and preferences. While I enjoy Hong Kong action movies and Half-Life, there are plenty of people out there who think the only good action movies star Bruce Willis and that all first-person shooters are derivative pieces of crap.

That being said, I’d like to present my terribly biased and totally inaccurate reasoning behind my distaste for role-playing games (RPGs, as they say on the street). Before I get started here, keep a few things in mind. Firstly, I’m an idiot. Obviously. Secondly, my hatred of RPGs probably stemmed from the fact that I got stuck 3/4ths of the way through NES Dragon Warrior and didn’t even get past the sailing ship thing in Final Fantasy before getting my ass whooped. Which probably means I have the RPG-playing ability of a drunk 3-year-old.

Finally, I got really addicted to an old BBS MUD-type game (for those of you that don’t know, MUD’s are like Everquest without graphics, only text… kinda) called Swords of Chaos or something and have been dearly afraid of getting obsessed with something so inconsequential ever again. Uhh, anyways, here’s ten stupid reasons RPG’s suck, in my horrible opinion, based completely on my poor knowledge of the genre.

Top Ten Reasons RPG’s Suck:

10. Everybody Talks Stupid

An example of how dorks in RPG’s talk: 

                                                                      

“Forsooth, merry traveler! Hail and well met! ‘Lo, there be a sparkling wench in the City of the Forked River. Pay heed with honor, noble crusader! May thy journey be blessed by Arthur the Might heself!”

 

WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?! Speak American, you armor-clad asswipe! Why does everybody in RPG’s need to talk in some kind of old-English slang only the Queen Mother can understand? I don’t understand it. I swear that all those cliché medieval phrases like “forsooth” (I don’t even know what that means) were made up by some drunken dudes at a renaissance fair like forty years ago. For all we know, people in the 1300’s gave “mad props” to each other and ended every other sentence by screaming, “Bitch, uh-uh!” So what’s with all this “thou hast enchanted thy crotch plate” junk? Get with the times, dudes!

9. Classes

     Team Fortress has classes all figured out. You got your soldier, you got your pyro, and you got your spies. Those make sense. But with RPGs you’ve got crap like the half-dwarven shaman, troll ranger, erudite cleric, and halfling shopkeep. What the hell!?!? I know exactly what a spy or a soldier does, but I have no idea what a troll ranger is. Do they wander around national forests looking for bridges to hide under?

And Gnomes? “LOOK AT ME EVERYBODY I AM A GNOME! I BELONG ON THE FRONT LAWN OF AN ELDERLY PERSON BUT INSTEAD I AM BASHING RATS WITH A STICK IN EVERQUEST!” That’s pretty dumb if you ask me.

Oh yeah, and what’s with the females in these games? Apparently, they don’t need to wear any armor: a small strip of tiger hide across their chest is considered to be sufficient protection, I guess.

                                                

Oh no! It’s a tar troll! Look, I tried to find a picture of some hot RPG babe wearing nothing but a couple inches of bearskin or something so they could put the picture on the front page and get people to click on it, but all I found were pictures from Jurrasic Park. Go figure.

8. Lazy NPCs

RPGs are commonly populated with single-minded people who stand in the same place all day and dispense pretty much useless background information. Don’t these people have homes? Lives? Hobbies? Desires? More than two frames of animation? 

 Here’s an example:

                                                                    

Oh yeah? Well, if Pravoka is so friggin’ great, what are you doing hanging around this dump? Are you looking to cheat on your wife with the dancer twenty pixels away that is constantly complaining about how evil has descended upon the countryside, causing her scalp to develop a nasty waxy buildup? Why are you here? What is your name? Why are you prancing around in some skimpy red tunic? These are all questions I cannot ask. All I can do is run up to this guy, touch his stomach, and watch him spout the same spiel about how great Pravoka is over and over. LAME!

Also, these lazy bums don’t exactly motivate me to save their stinking little town from the forces of darkness. All they do is wander around in patterns all day and bitch about how bad things are. Don’t you think at least a couple of them could drag their asses to the sword shop, go outside the city walls, and kill some monsters their own damn selves? Oh no, they’d rather wait around for some “noble warrior” to do all the dirty work for them. And once you do, how do they reward you? They’re all like “oh thank ye” and “rock on!” No parades, no payment, no piles of merrywidows. Thanks for the encouragement, kind townspeople. That’ll really help numb the pain of the massive sword wound some evil knight inflicted on me for 49 damage points.

7. Quests

Some NPCs do more than just complain about how helpless and pathetic they are. Some NPCs give you quests. Whoopie. This is total bullocks, guvnah. I mean, I’m already saving your town from this evil sorcerer or whatnot, but now you want me to do your inane little errands for you? “Find my lost golden amulet.” “Slay the dragon of the red caves.” “Rescue my daughter from the clutches of her Brownie Troop.” “Bring back my clothes from the dry cleaners and don’t forget to pick up a loaf of bread at the market on your way back.”

Yeah, sure, no problem. I love wasting my time servicing your every need when I could be out picking extra constitution points from bushes! Quests are just busywork, like those sheets of crossword puzzles the teacher gives you in Junior High Study Hall to keep you from throwing chairs at the Debate Team or impregnating leftover meatloaf from the previous lunch periods. Quests. Pfah!

                                                   

                       The King dishes out yet another pointless quest designed to add another cheesy fifty hours of “gameplay.”

 

6. Lord British 

                                               

Hahaha, a picture is worth a billion words.

5. The Same Damn Theme

Why is it that almost every RPG takes place in “the days of yore” anyway? Sure, there’s exceptions like Deus Ex and… umm… Wasteland, but beyond that, almost every RPG has orcs, dragons, taverns, trolls, and that kinda stuff. Some RPGs try to differentiate themselves by adding futuristic elements, but a wood elf whizzing around in a hover car while talking on his computer videophone really doesn’t do anything for me. Aren’t you people sick of beating the same collection of slimes and ogres over the head with different kinds of +3 broadswords by now?

  Dudes running around in funny hats? Check. Stupid looking robes? Check. Excessive use of “Huzzah?” Check. It’s gotta be an RPG. 

4. Skills 

Hello, my name is Cristian, a level 12 Nose Goblin. I be have a +2 grammar skills (ooops, make that +1) and a -2 intelligence. My constitution is about +5 and I drank a potion to make my strength +4. I also have a +7 lock pick skill, a +4 microwaving food skill, and since I’m a Paladin I have enchanted my shoes with Velcro straps so I never need to tie any laces. Oh no, my Mana is low I better take a nap on this burlap sack full of gems before I sell it to the merchant, who for some reason keeps buying all these worthless gems from everybody even though he probably has a stockpile of twenty million of them squirreled away in the back room.

Oh yeah, since I brushed my teeth for the first time in eight years this morning, my charisma and charm levels have been raised +3 and +6 respectively!

This garden gnome has a whopping +93 Bonsai tree trimming skill. Don’t mess with him or he’ll prune your landscaping something fierce. 

 In case you haven’t realized what I’m getting at, skills are dumb. Don’t make me abjurer +18 the hell out of your clothes.

3. Tepid Soundtracks 

Huh? What’s with all these pan flutes and harpsichords and piccolos and harps and stuff? All RPG soundtracks are littered with these antiquated instruments, which were cool before people discovered the nifty music you could create with electricity. Since I only like music with electric guitars, samples from popular 80’s sitcoms, and phat repetitive drum loops, all game soundtracks should cater only to me. After all, since I am the center of the universe, I am the only person that matters. All game developers should contact me before beginning production of their game since if I don’t like their game it’ll never make any money. Come to think of it, I’m kind of a God amongst men. My opinions matter more than yours because my Mommy said I’m special!

Even if RPG’s had soundtracks by DJ Slopheap and MC WaffleSnatchah, I still wouldn’t play ‘em. 

2. Magic 

What a cheap cop out. Magic is the RPG equivalent of crates in first-person shooters: if you need to fill up a room in an FPS, you use crates. If you need to justify why some item is particularly important or create some kind of cool special effect, then you have to use magic. Since all these games take place in an enchanted land of fairies and leprechauns, I guess this make sense in a twisted kind of way. But it’s still a shoddy excuse. “Why is this amulet so important,” you ask? Because it’s a MAGIC amulet, of course! And if you use this MAGIC amulet with this MAGIC instilled battle-axe you’ll have enough MAGICAL power to beat the evil MAGICIAN.

Wanna know why these sheep are glowing? Because they’re MAGICAL sheep, of course! Once you think about it, RPG’s are like a box of Lucky Charms cereal, except the only parts of an RPG you can eat are the cloth map or the dice that come with the game. 

Wizards and sorcerers are pretty lame too. All they need to do is read a scroll and all of the sudden they can shoot giant balls of flame from their hands. Yeah, right. These days people have to go to magician school for years just to learn how to pull a bunny from a friggin’ hat, and these dunce-cap wearing bearded old geezers glance at a moldy piece of paper and instantly know how to summon huge hurricane attacks with a snap of their wrinkly fingers and a suppressed yawn? OK, sounds good to me!

And my number one reason which really isn’t a good reason at all is…

1. Turn-Based Fighting 

Some RPGs use real-time battle systems, but most of them are turn based. What the hell!? NOBODY takes turns when they’re fighting. That’s because fighting is NOT chess. What, do the rules of chivalry decree that you’re always supposed to disembowel your enemies in a polite and courteous manner? If RPG’s were like real-life, this is what your average fight would look like:

The Ninja and the King square off! See, the King was just walking around the office from a top-down perspective when his vision went all blurry and this Ninja appeared out of nowhere, in a side-view perspective. Such is the RPG. 

It’s the Ninja’s turn first, and he hits the King for 16 damage. The Ninja can see how badly he hurt him because the number appears above the King’s head. 

Next it’s the King’s turn, and with a gentle tap he nearly slays the Ninja for a whopping 78 damage. This is because the King is level 50 and the Ninja is only level 10. Too bad! 

So that’s it. I hope I’ve proven without a shadow of a doubt that all RPG’s are crap. Or at least made an ass out of myself. Either way, I win.

[Disclaimer: Nothing in this Top Ten is meant to be taken seriously, so don't get all riled up.] 

Marijuana is a drug obtained from dried and crumpled parts
of the ubiquitous hemp plant Canabis sativa (or Cannabis
indica). It is smoked by rolling it in tobacco paper or
placing into a pipe. It is also otherwise consumed
worldwide by an estimated 200,000,000 persons for pleasure,
an escape from reality, or relaxation. Marijuana is known
by a variety of names such as kif (Morocco), dagga (South
Africa), and bhang (India). Common in the United States,
marijuana is called pot, grass, weed, Mary Jane, bones,
etc. The main active principle of cannabis is
tetrahydrocannabinol. The potency of its various forms
ranges from a weak drink consumed in India to the highly
potent hashish. The following consists of pure cannabis
resin.

Marijuana is not a narcotic and is not mentally or
physically an addictive drug. One can use mild cannabis
preparations such as marijuana in small amounts for years
without physical or mental deterioration. Marijuana serves
to diminish inhibitions and acts as an euphoriant. Only
once in a while will it produce actual hallucinations. More
potent preparations of cannabis such as hashish can induce
psychedelic experiences identical to those observed after
ingestion of potent hallucinogens such as LSD. Some who
smoke marijuana feel no effects; others feel relaxed and
sociable, tend to laugh a great deal, and have a profound
loss of the sense of time. Characteristically, those under
the influence of marijuana show incoordination and impaired
ability to perform skilled acts. Still others experience a
wide range of emotions including feelings of perception,
fear, insanity, happiness, love and anger.

Although marijuana is not addicting, it may be habituating.
The individual may become psychologically rather than
physically dependent on the drug. Those who urge the
legalization of marijuana maintain the drug is entirely
safe. Most data on marijuana does not support this point of
view but rather indicates that Marijuana occasionally
produces acute panic reactions or even transient psychoses.
Furthermore, a person driving under the influence of
marijuana is a danger to themselves and others. If smoked
heavily and with great consistency, its use has been
clearly associated with mental breakdown. In many persons
who smoke chronically, the drug reinforces passivity and
reduces goal-directed, constructive activity. The chronic
use of pure resin (hashish) has been associated both with
mental deterioration and criminality. One of the major
complications of marijuana use is the tendency on the part
of some users to progress to more dangerous drugs. Users in
economically deprived areas usually go on to heroin,
whereas more affluent individuals tend to move from
marijuana to more potent hallucinogens such as LSD. There
is no established medical use for marijuana or any other
cannabis preparation. In the United States, its use is a
crime and the laws governing marijuana are similar to those
regulating heroin. Many authorities now urge that the laws
be modified to mitigate the penalties relating to
conviction on marijuana possession charges.

The Case For Legalizing Marijuana Use in the United States
stems froms the nation’s deep respect for the individual.
The strong belief in personal freedom appears early in the
nation’s history. The Declaration of Independence speaks of
every citizen’s right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.” The Constitution and Bill of Rights go further,
making specific guarantees. They forbid the government to
make unwarranted entry into dwelling places. They forbid
seizure of personal property, except when very clear
reasons are approved by the courts. They allow every
citizen to remain silent in court when accused of a crime.
Legal decisions have extended these rights, so that every
citizen may feel safe, secure, and sheltered from public
view in the privacy of his or her home. Americans have
referred to privacy as one of the basic human rights.
According to U.S. traditions, there is a strong case to be
made against legislating the private behavior of adults, so
long as that behavior does not in turn violate the rights
of others. Some people feel that this reasoning should hold
also for marijuana. A person who smokes at home is not
doing injury. The marijuana user is indulging in a minor
pleasure over which the government should have no
jurisdiction.

It is quite clear from survey data that most people do not
become physically dependent on marijuana. The majority use
it as others use alcohol - to relax occasionally and to
indulge a festive mood. How can a mild intoxicant, taken
less than once a day by most users, be seen as a public
threat? Even those who are “hooked”, or psychologically
dependent upon their habit, should not be penalized by the
law. Some people find any compulsive and unproductive
behavior disgusting. But that is not a reason for outlawing
it. Consider eating, many people develop compulsive habits
about food. They talk about it frequently. They spend many
of their waking hours anticipating, planning, obtaining,
and consuming food. This may be unattractive. It certainly
is not productive and it can be harmful if the “food
addict” is overweight. But there are no laws to prevent
food addiction. If Congress tried to forbid the eating of
ice cream sundaes or cotton candy, many people would be
outraged, others would simply laugh. The same sort of
argument is raised by some people with respect to
marijuana. Even compulsive marijuana smoking by an adult is
not so offensive that it injures neighbors or requires
government intervention.

The attempt to use the law to tell people what they may and
may not consume at home is an arrogant invasion of personal
privacy. Protecting the Drug User’s Physical Health
Sometimes it is said that the law must protect the drug
user from himself. The argument takes two forms. One has to
do with the damage a drug may do to a person’s health and
the other with the individual’s power of self-control or
freedom. First consider the health effects. By any
reasonable standard, marijuana is a mild drug and as for
overdosing, there is no scientifically valid evidence of
anyone dying of an overdose of marijuana smoke. Of course,
it is possible to commit suicide by consuming large amounts
of marijuana. But it is possible to die by eating too much
salt. Salt is not illegal. Aspirin kills by overdose and
that’s legal. Many people die by drinking too much alcohol,
an addictive drug. It too is legal. Why is marijuana
considered more dangerous?

One argument made against the legalization of marijuana is
that it damages not only the user but innocent bystanders.
This argument, like the one about protecting the user, has
two parts. The first deals with physical injury and the
second with spiritual health. The main physical threat to
society is that users under the influence of a drug with
crash a car or airplane, or lose control in some way and do
harm. People who have recently smoked marijuana do show
signs of clumsiness and disorientation. They should not
operate machinery in this condition. One study estimates
that alcohol plays a part in 55% of all fatal highway
crashes. Marijuana may present similar risks, but at
present there are no reliable data on its importance in
accidents. According to John Stuart Mill’s writings, the
government should try to control only the aspects of drug
use that injure society. In this vein, it makes sense to
have laws against driving under the influence of marijuana
similar to those governing driving under the influence of
alcohol. In other words, driving while on marijuana should
be outlawed but not the use of marijuana itself. Some
people believe that marijuana threatens society in a more
insidious way. They argue that it drains workers’ energy
and makes them less productive. This in turn lowers the
vitality of the economy, depressing the overall quality of
life. In addition, drug use- including marijuana smoking-
is seen as a plague on society that must be isolated. This
disease theory holds that legalizing marijuana would make
it more widely available and that this would tend to
increase its use as well as the use of all kinds of drugs.
One of the detriments of tolerating drug use, according to
this theory, is that is encourages the use of more and
different drugs. The National Institute on Drug Abuse;s
1984 report to Congress cited no evidence to support the
idea that drug use is hurting economic productivity. It
said: “The fact is, very little is known about the complex
relationship which undoubtedly exists between drug abuse,
worker performance, and productivity, or the lack
thereof…. Simply put, the number of unanswered questions
currently far outnumbers the available answers.” Nor is
there any strong evidence that legalizing marijuana would
increase use of the drug. In fact, there is some evidence
suggesting that drug use under a relaxed legal system might
not increase at all.

Many states have removed the penalties for marijuana
possession that were on the books in the 1950s and 1960s.
The change occurred during a reform movement that swept the
nation in the mid 1970s. Yet in spite of the less stringent
laws, studies show that the use of marijuana in the
affected states has, after an initial increase, declined.
Although marijuana became easier to use (from a legal
standpoint), it also became less popular.

Examining the U.S. policy on marijuana on the basis of
performance, one must judge it a miserable failure. The
number of people who have smoked the drug at least once has
grown from an uncounted few in the 1950s, when some of the
strictest antimarijuana laws were imposed, to nearly 50
million today. During this period the federal government
has made steadily increasing efforts to stop its production
and importation, and seizures of marijuana in the ports has
grown steadily. Elaborate and costly international police
campaigns have been launched, and the number of drug
arrests in the United States has increased. The federal
budget for drug enforcement reflected in several agencies
has gone above $1 billion a year. And yet the illegal trade
in marijuana continues. Supplies are so plentiful that the
price has actually come down. The response has been to
redouble police efforts and hope that things will change.
The result is that more money is spent on a failed policy,
creating an ever-growing army of drug enforcers dedicated
to keeping the policy alive. The illegal market for
marijuana grows even faster than the police force, however,
because the drug users are willing to pay more to get what
they want than taxpayers are willing to pay to stop it. The
drug police enjoy their work and are not going to quit. And
why should they as long as their salaries are paid?

The admission that the marijuana laws have failed will have
to come from someone else- not from the police. Marijuana
is a common weed, easier to produce than the bathtub gin of
the Prohibition years. It is not surprising that thousands
of “dealers” have been drawn into the marijuana business.
Despite the great risks they face, including bullying by
other dealers and the threat of arrest, they are attracted
by the profits. The law cannot change the economics of this
market because it operates outside the law. All the police
can do is to make it risky to get into the marijuana
business. This is supposed to drive out the less courageous
dealers, reduce the amount of marijuana available, and
inflate prices. But even by this measure, the police effort
has failed. As mentioned earlier, the price of marijuana is
declining. There are several ways in which the policy on
marijuana imposed a burden on society. The obvious one is
the cost of supporting the federal enforcement effort.
Aside from this, there is a hard-to-measure but significant
impact on society because the law creates a huge criminal
class. It includes not just dealers who are out for profit
but a much larger group of users. Consider three major
penalties for having such a large criminal class.

By lifting the ban on marijuana use and treating it like
other drugs such as tobacco and alcohol, the nation would
gain immediate and long-term benefits. This change in the
law would greatly improve the quality of life for many
people. Victims of glaucoma and those needing antinausea
treatment, for example, would find marijuana easily
available. If the medical advantages that are claimed for
marijuana are real, many more patients would benefit.
Research, which has been slowed in the past by the
government’s reluctance to frant exemptions to the
marijuana laws, would be easier to conduct. The cloud of
suspicion would disappear, and doctors could get on with
investigating marijuana’s medical uses without fear of
controversy. It might become possible to discuss the
dangers of marijuana use without getting caught up in a
policy debate. Meanwhile, the black market would disappear
overnight. Some arrangement would be made to license the
production of marijuana cigarettes. Thousands of dealers
would be put out of business, and a secret part of the
economy would come into the open.

It is difficult to say whether this change would reduce
crime because criminals would probably continue to sell
other drugs. But it would have an impact on the amount of
money flowing through criminal channels, and this might
weaken organized crime.

The federal budget would benefit in two ways, Federal
revenues would increase, because marijuana cigarettes would
be taxed at the point of sale. The companies that make the
cigarettes would also pay income taxes, adding to the
federal coffers. Seconds, there would be a reduction in the
amount spent on law enforcement efforts to apprehend and
prosecute users and sellers of marijuana. The drug
enforcement authorities might reduce their budget requests,
or, more likely, focus more intensely on hard drugs and
violent crimes. The courts would be relieved of hearing
some drug cases, as well. The most important gain would be
in the quality of government. The sorts of temptations and
opportunities that lead to corruption would be
significantly minimized. The illogical pattern of law
enforcement, which now considers marijuana as being more
dangerous than alcohol, would end. It would set more
achievable goals for law enforcement, and this would lend
strength and credibility to the government.

The following are statistics on Alcohol vs. Marijuana

1. Over 100 thousand deaths annually are directly linked to
acute alcohol poisoning.

2. In 4,000 years of recorded history, no one has ever died
from a pot overdose.

3. Alcohol causes physical and psychology dependence.

4. Alcohol is reported to cause temporary and permanent
damage to all major organs of the body.

5. Cannabis is a much less violent provoking substance than
alcohol.

With over 60 million people using cannabis in the U.S.
today our laws and law makers should view it under the same
light as they do alcohol. Marijuana Status 1970: 11% of
high school seniors said they were using marijuana every
day. 1975: About 27% said they had used marijuana sometime
in the previous month. 1978: The monthly users grew up to
37% then in 1986 dropped to 23%. 1979: 12 to 17 year olds
reported using it within the last month has dropped from a
high point of 17% and in 1987 dropped to 12%.

Did my home work … and came up with this … here’s a list of my inspiration:

Adams, Leon; “Marihuana”. Encyclopedia International. Vol
11. pp. 365-347. Lexicon Publications. Philippines, 1979.

Lorimer, Lawrence; “Marijuana”. Encyclopedia Year Book
1993. pp. 214-215. Grolier Incorporated. Canada, 1993.

Snyder, Solomon. The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Drugs.
Series 2. “Legalization: A Debate.” Chelsea House
Publishers. New York, 1988.

Enjoy!

Yes I was, yes I am and yes I would always be. This is nothing more then a love story … let me break you down the passing years.
I met this girl when 10 years old, she was nothing I ever seen or heard, she came from over the sea’s distant places not used to my country’s ways but she adapted fast and gave it more flavor. She was speaking on my language telling me the right stories and exactly what I was supposed to hear and learn. I learned so many beautiful things. She had so much soul and was so old school when I was a young. It was love at first site … never new throughout my life she will be there for me. So many nights I sat down and listened to hear thinking I would love to do her physically and mentally, she was not about the money or the studs but not a church girl. I respected her because she was pure underground untapped sister.
Years have passed and our relation ship grew stronger, I felt her style and she was filling mine, couldn’t believe something like this was created. Other lady’s tried to tempt me with their ways but this girl was in my mind body and spirit could not betray her because we where meant for each other.
Nothing separated us and the feeling that she gave me made us grow together. This girl was amazing she got a little in to R&B, bass and jazz but I was cool with that. Other brothers tried to tap her but for the untrained mind nobody could handle such a complex creation. She was blossoming by the passing of the day and I was happy that I was apart of her that I could prosper along her.
By the touring of the new millennium things changed. Internet broke what ever magic we had. Now I see her in the clubs and at different parties having fun and not worried about anyone but the road she took was paved with diamond and gold. I was happy for her as long as she kept her essence. I might failed to mention this girl was creative but in the final round vanity got to her. Big mogul type character told her if she had and image and a gimmick she could make a lot of money…the girl didn’t think about what she was doing to my soul and did anyway. I see her now in commercials at hype party worried on how to dress and trying to be more hip telling me how real she keeps it and how she is fucking the funk, always smoking blunts and getting drunk, rolling rocks and shooting up on people stressing to impress me how underground she does it.
So here I am today looking at her and how she tries to bring it back to what we once was and although sometimes she is that perfect image other brothers mess her style up destroying what ever mind and soul I fell in love with. I’m afraid it will take long time before she can return to her one true self and even about that I have doubts … only time will tell. But no matter the stains and mistakes she does I still love her cause I’m committed to her and will always be no matter what. Off course the girl I’m talking about is Hip-Hop

For all the youngsters and dabblers out there, hip-hop is not dead, so calm down. If anything, hip-hop is deaf. Rappers, bloggers, and fans have become so averse to criticism that the mere title of this album flung them into defensive hysterics. So, Nas’ plan worked. People are at least trying to come up with reasons why hip-hop is indeed alive instead of just stealing an album per week and dropping weird science on the internet. He wants us to care again, to think when we listen instead of simply consuming, because his career and the survival of the culture depend on it. Nas couldn’t be a pop guy, even with Puff’s help. He couldn’t write a club song if his life was at stake, which, after “Oochie Wally” it probably should have been. And he certainly isn’t going to make any money off his crew (see also: “Oochie Wally”). Nas is a writer, and he needs our attention. He needs us to read lines, between the lines, put it all together. He needs us to give a fuck about the art, the history, and the craft or we won’t get what he’s saying. Hip-hop isn’t dying because Nas hates it; it’s dying because not enough people love it. If that sounds corny or offensive, well, there’s the rub, and Hip Hop Is Dead is made for you. If you lecture on rap forums all day, post daily pics on your blog of Lil’ Wayne kissing people, wonder why we write about hip-hop on this site, or just want to know what the best rapper alive really sounds like, listen to this album.

For everyone else, the standard Nas disclaimer: Hip Hop Is Dead is not Illmatic. Nothing ever will be. Nas and I are roughly the same age, so when his debut came out in 1994, it was a humbling experience for me. I was struggling through term papers while this slightly older dude from Queensbridge was writing the great literature of our generation and collaborating with producers I considered legendary. Pete Rock, Gang Starr’s DJ Premier, Tribe’s Q-Tip, and Large Professor of Main Source had produced a dozen or more of my favorite albums by the time they worked on Illmatic, and each dropped a gem on Nas, a rookie. (The Black Album was not the dawn of Dream Team production.) AZ, the only guest, got one verse on “Life’s a Bitch”, a verse so perfect it still haunts him in the same way Illmatic’s every verse haunts Nas. It’s a flawless album, my personal favorite, and I can listen to it today and not be bored for a second. Unfortunately, every album subsequent to Illmatic contained increasingly longer stretches of boredom, mine and Nas’. Even his recent “comeback” albums (aren’t they all?), including the infamous “Ether”-ing of Jay-Z on Stillmatic, were better in theory than in practice– the go-to criticism of Nas, his poor taste in beats, holding true for every failure. But, he was also getting lazier, less-focused, saying things without thinking and probably smoking way too many blunts. It was largely a lost decade for Nasir Jones.

When Nas signed with Jay-Z’s Def Jam, I didn’t guffaw. I didn’t care. I was happy that Nas was making money, but I didn’t believe rumors of a Nas/Premier reunion or the Return of Nasty Nas. It was what it was: a business deal. Whatever that deal promised Nas, though, pays off on Hip Hop Is Dead. He is, in fact, extremely nasty on almost every track, as committed and consistent as he’s been in a long time. Beginning with the L.E.S. & Wyldfyer-produced royal rumbler, “Money Over Bullshit”, Nas leans into the mic and doesn’t fall back until he’s said his last word on the a capella “Hope”. The two tracks with Kanye West are exceptional for both artists, confirming the chemistry of Late Registration’s “We Major” and bracketing the meditative middle of the album. On either side of that soulful stretch are “Black Republicans”, the fantasy duet with Jay, and “Hustlers”, or, Make-a-Wish for the Game. Jay and Nas are so ridiculous on a track together, it’s almost depressing that it took this long to happen, and the Godfather II sample is inspired. The Game, in what should be his template, sounds great rapping on a song with the rapper whose name he is dropping, especially when it’s Nas, whom the Game most closely resembles. The closeness of their voices actually makes the Game more tolerable by osmosis.

A few of the beats are mediocre, which, again, is Nas’ Achilles Heel. But if I’m going to talk negatives, it’s really only necessary to mention one song. Will.i.am produced three on the album, and all of them, at least his contribution to them, are decent to good. However, “Who Killed It?”, Will’s odd nursery-noir beat, is the worst concept song in the history of hip-hop music. Normally, I’m with Nas any time he wants to inhabit a persona or inanimate object, but here he assumes the voice of– I shit you not– character actor Edward G. Robinson (kids: think Chief Wiggum). The first time I heard it, I was genuinely shocked. The content is irrelevant. Truly, deeply embarrassing, but that’s what the delete key is for, people. Let’s hope it was the Black Eyed Pea’s idea.

At least Nas is trying again, though. He’s pushing himself, and that’s what his appeal has always been. He’s a virtuoso MC, but it has never been about style over substance or dazzling technique. Don’t get me wrong, there are verses on Hip Hop in which he rattles off minute-long torrents with more internal rhymes than Rick Ross had rhymes in toto on his album. But Nas is telling stories again and attacking the mic, and that is what is important. While his successors might impress with intricate wordplay, too often they’re just saying what’s on their minds instead of getting something off their chests. Maybe that’s what Nas means by Hip Hop Is Dead, that the art of rhyme is lost, but he also must accept some of the blame that he liberally places on others. It was his lack of effort, after all, that created a vacuum for others to fill with emptiness.

In the end, Hip Hop Is Dead is the album I’ll give to people in 20 years when they ask who Nas was. More than Illmatic, it represents the real Nas– not the ideal– the MC with all the skill, all the rhymes, and all the insight who sabotaged himself with bad decisions. There aren’t too many here, which is why I’ll recommend it. Whether he will revive hip-hop or not is for history to decide; I’m not sure it needs reviving. The need for Nas to play a vital role in whatever happens, though, is something I am sure of, so I’m glad he’s back with the living.

V.S.

Jay-Z
Kingdom Come
[Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam; 2006]

Jay-Z is bigger than this. He doesn’t leak singles to the street; he launches them on Budweiser commercials during the World Series. He doesn’t blog on Myspace; he flogs for Hewlett-Packard. He doesn’t beg for time at MTV; he owns the billboards above it. To most of the world, he’s not just a rapper, he is the rapper. When he calls himself the “Mike Jordan of recordin’,” he’s not talking about being the greatest player the game has ever known, he’s talking about being the game itself.

But, like athletes, we expect rappers to disappear when they turn 30. We have no use for them as they become older and more comfortable with themselves– even if their minds are as sharp as ever. We don’t want to see them smiling on the cover of Life or hear about their hopes for the future. In hip-hop, there is no future. Everything is now because, presumably, it could all end brutally tomorrow. Jay’s two biggest rivals are dead, and we canonized them partly because they were murdered in their mid-20s, most likely because of each other. Jay-Z didn’t die young, though. He dubbed himself Jay-Hova and lived beyond any of our imaginations, and now he’s left to figure out what the biggest rapper in the world is supposed to do when he gets old.

The early consensus on Kingdom Come is that it’s one of Jay-Z’s worst albums. He’s still more charismatic and intelligent than nearly any other rapper, but for every vintage run like the one on “Trouble” (“Y’all viewing y’all’s version of the Lord God/ MC, little nigga, applaud, or/ Forever burn in the fire that I spit at y’all/ I rebuke you little nigga/ The meek shall perish/ I’ll roof you, little nigga/ I’m a project terrorist”), there are dozens of uninspired stretches and a few horribly misguided rants like “30 Something”, on which Jay unleashes his new catchphrase “30’s the new 20,” and boasts of leaving rap as if he were ashamed of his past. His nose in the air, he spits the most ridiculous fiscal rap this side of Bloomberg, saying in the chorus, “now I got black cards, good credit and such, baby boy, I’m all grown up.”

He’s grown up, alright. With the energy Jay brings to most of these tracks, you’d think 30 was the new 60. His patented whispery change-up is used more than ever before, and often makes him sound like Dr. Moreau-era Marlon Brando when all we needed was a little Apocalypse Now. We didn’t expect the young, brash Jigga, but we never thought Jay would be flashing AARP brochures in our faces and dropping Gwyneth Paltrow’s name in a rap song. Twice he addresses his recent heavily publicized boycott of Cristal champagne which even he acknowledges is unimportant. But that’s Kingdom Come: Jay boringly rapping about boring stuff and being totally comfortable with it

The production doesn’t help, either. Jay-Z’s name on an album used to be a guarantee of at least a few certified anthems, but Kingdom Come is mostly certified anesthesia. Just Blaze’s flip of the Allman Brothers’ “Whipping Post” on “Oh My God” is a pretty good example of his new stadium rap sound, and his “Kingdom Come” take on Rick James is pretty clever. But the latter has been sitting on the internet for a long time which means Jay-Z now gets Just sorta Blaze instead full-on Blaze. The Neptunes’ contribution on “Anything” has been accurately compared to the The Legend of Zelda theme, and Swizz Beats’ “Dig a Hole” might be the worst beat to ever appear on a Jay-Z record. It’s never a good sign when Chris Martin of Coldplay makes the best track on your record, but that may be the case with Kingdom Come. It is the first album in Jay-Z’s career that doesn’t sound like he got first choice from his producers, and one has to wonder where the much-talked-about Timbaland songs went (FutureSex/LoveSound, perhaps?).

Still, despite the rampant mediocrity, there’s an interesting theme of spirituality and Jay’s own messianic tendencies running through this album, hence the title. When Jay-Hova has an identity crisis, the proportions are biblical. He believes he’s hip-hop’s savior, and Kingdom Come, at times, sounds like his Passion Play. From “The Prelude”’s genesis story to the title track’s sermon on the mount to the Kanye West-produced synth-hymn “Do U Wanna Ride?”– on which Hov introduces his “beach” meme– the narrative arc of the album loosely resembles that of the Bible’s Gospels, ending with Jay’s ascension on “Beach Chair”. The Beach Chair, of course, is not a beach chair; it is a metaphor for the hip-hop afterlife where all is happiness and one can wriggle his bare toes in the sand if one is not afraid to remove one’s sneakers. (Jay was emasculated last summer by former Rocafella artist Cam’Ron for wearing sandals on the beach; Jay responds on “Dig a Hole” with, “It’s like the disciples dissin’ Jesus, becoming his rivals.”)

It’s on the final song, the Chris Martin production, that Jay’s insecurities about getting old– or worse, irrelevant– are most naked. Over Martin’s surprisingly decent– if unsurprisingly epic, rock-ish beat– Jay muses, “If the prophecy’s correct, then the child should have to pay/ For the sins of the father/ So I bartered my tomorrow’s against my yesterdays…/ I’m both saint and sinner…/ I’m on permanent vacay/ Life is but a beach chair/ This song’s like a Hallmark card until you reach here.” Instead of just making a song about how nice it is to be able to sit on the beach, Jay defensively blows a ridiculous image up into a meditation on life. It’s strange to the point of discomfort at first, but it becomes oddly compelling.

But we don’t want oddities and bizarre narrative arcs from a Jay-Z album. We want unadulterated bangers and innovative hustler imagery, and we want the Jay that’s invincible and funny and venomous. And that’s probably the Jay that Jay wants too, but that’s not who he is anymore. He thinks he’s going to save hip-hop and New York City with his triumphant return, and maybe he might. But it won’t be because he shouldered their burdens; it’ll be because he shrugged and someone else carried the weight. If he wants to remain relevant, it’s likely with songs like “Minority Report”, on which he speaks honestly about his response to Hurricane Katrina, saying, “Sure I ponied up a mil/ But I didn’t give my time/ So, in reality, I didn’t give a dime/ Or a damn/ I just put my money in the hands/ Of the same people who left my people stranded.” It’s the only song on Kingdom Come that offers any real insight into the unique position Jay-Z is in, and possibly the only one that anyone will care to remember.