My Song About Drinking

I wrote this song after being inspired by "Descending" by Lamb of God, a song in which the singer screams about his struggles with alcohol. So, in the spirit of my father and of myself, I decided I should express my feelings through some poetry. So here it is. (By the way, I envision this as an almost death-metal type song, with "Self- medication" being the only lyrics not being screamed.) "My Accursed Blood" I feel like this This is so right No thought No mind Give up my fight Swallow it down and close my eyes Awaken, arise, new and alive Feeling no pain Is like going home A flashback to that That time spent all alone My demon, my curse, my wretched spine Is this blood of my God, my curse, this wine Self-medication It's how I survive Self-medication Keeps me alive I'm not the person Who remains in control The drug, it worsens My ever-fading soul My father, my self, my pride, my time My blood swims free inside my mind So free me from this disease The one I'm born with, now I see You are not my friend All you do is prolong my end Break free of all the blackened nights Forget the pain, the tears, the fights Destroy this bottle Shattered glass I curse my demon This is the last... ...Time I'll ignore Reject my pain Turn the volume down And run away Self-medication Kept me alive Self-medication Left me in fright Self-medication This is no more Self-medication I! SHUT! THAT! DOOR!

Pleasant Surprise

It embarrasses me, as a Democrat, to see that the only presidential candidate who, to my knowledge, is advocating an end to the drug war is a Republican. This from Cannabis Culture's website: "Ron Paul, a family physician representing the Gulf Coast region of Texas around Galveston, is seeking the Republican nomination. Ron Paul was rated by Cannabis Culture Magazine as the number 1 Congressman of the last decade, far and away the number 1 Republican in the House of Representatives, and the highest score of all 435 Members of the House of Representatives in Cannabis Culture's Survey of the 109th Congress. Ron Paul voted against The Patriot Act, the Iraq War, every aspect of the Drug War." Also, click here to read an editorial by Paul on the war on drugs. An excerpt, if you're too lazy: "Another result of this unwise war has been the corruption of many law enforcement officials. It is well known that with the profit incentives so high, we are not even able to keep drugs out of our armed prisons. Making our whole society a prison would not bring success to this floundering war on drugs. Sinister motives of the profiteers and gangsters, along with prevailing public ignorance, keep this futile war going. Illegal and artificially high priced drugs drive the underworld to produce, sell and profit from this social depravity. Failure to recognize that drug addiction, like alcoholism, is a disease rather than a crime, encourage the drug warriors in efforts that have not and will not ever work. We learned the hard way about alcohol prohibition and crime, but we have not yet seriously considered it in the ongoing drug war."

A Proper Sendoff

Legendary douchebag Jerry Falwell passed away today, leaving behind a legacy few others can claim to match. Falwell was instrumental in turning the Evangelical Christian right into a major political force in this country. So I'm glad Jerry Falwell is gone forever. I would never wish for his death or ask for his murder, but I can say now that he has passed on the only feeling I have is relief. He was the enemy. Bottom line. Period.     So I thought we'd give Jerry his proper send-off, and honor his legacy by remembering some of his most amazing quotes. Enjoy. "If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being." "I had a student ask me, 'Could the savior you believe in save Osama bin Laden?' Of course, we know the blood of Jesus Christ can save him, and then he must be executed." "God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve." "I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!" "AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals." "The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country." "It appears that America's anti-Biblical feminist movement is at last dying, thank God, and is possibly being replaced by a Christ-centered men's movement which may become the foundation for a desperately needed national spiritual awakening." "There is no separation of church and state. Modern US Supreme Courts have raped the Constitution and raped the Christian faith and raped the churches by misinterpreting what the Founders had in mind in the First Amendment to the Constitution." "The Bible is the inerrant ... word of the living God. It is absolutely infallible, without error in all matters pertaining to faith and practice, as well as in areas such as geography, science, history, etc." "We're fighting against humanism, we're fighting against liberalism ... we are fighting against all the systems of Satan that are destroying our nation today ... our battle is with Satan himself." "Billy Graham is the chief servant of Satan." "The ACLU is to Christians what the American Nazi party is to Jews." "You'll be riding along in an automobile. You'll be the driver perhaps. You're a Christian. There'll be several people in the automobile with you, maybe someone who is not a Christian. When the trumpet sounds you and the other born-again believers in that automobile will be instantly caught away -- you will disappear, leaving behind only your clothes and physical things that cannot inherit eternal life. That unsaved person or persons in the automobile will suddenly be startled to find the car suddenly somewhere crashes.... Other cars on the highway driven by believers will suddenly be out of control and stark pandemonium will occur on ... every highway in the world where Christians are caught away from the drivers wheel." Oh Jerry, you crazy asshole, how is not existing treating ya?

Poor Ricky

Gosh, this one is getting old by now. Ricky Williams tested positive for marijuana again. In a schocking turn of events, Ricky Williams, who suffers from social anxiety disorder, returned to the one thing he loves more than football, the one thing that calms him down and lets him handle his own fame - marijuana.     What this means is that his reinstatement to the NFL following a suspension for multiple marijuana offenses will now be delayed, perhaps indefinitely. That's really sad, because this guy was a stud running back. Ricky Williams was arguably the best running back in the league prior to his departure from it to travel the world, smoke grass, and find himself. He literally retired for a year during the height of his career for this reason. What a guy.     I love Ricky Williams. I loved him when he ran the ball for Texas in the late 90's. I loved him before I knew he was an anti-social, peace loving, hippie. I loved him before I knew that I was an anti-social, peace loving, hippie. I support Ricky Williams. I support him in everything that he does. For being a world-class athlete, for smoking marijuana, and for being a world-class athlete while smoking marijuana, I respect Ricky Williams.     Clearly the issue here isn't the NFL's drug policy, but marijuana's legality itself. Nobody complains a peep when Lou Piniella pounds down a fifth of Jack Daniels after a ballgame because the stress of the 9th inning error gets to him. Nobodays says shit when players smoke cigarettes in clubs and bars. So why then does Ricky Williams get a lifelong ban from the game he both loved and dominated because at the end of the day, after thousands of people try to get in his face, he wants to kick back and have a joint?     It clearly didn't affect his performance. And don't give me that "Oh, well he wasn't on pot the whole time" bullshit. Every college athlete gets high. Do you hear me? I won't name names, but I know much of this from experience and stories from friends at other universities. The same blue-chipper prospect you're drooling over as a pro scout, is blazing up and getting drunk as fuck every Friday night, just like every single other college student that exists. So by the time these guys are adults, professionals, you know...responsible people, they are able to handle getting high without it affecting their athletic goals or work performance. I know I am capable of doing that. And if I can, I promise you Ricky can.

Right On Gravel

He may have seemed like just a crazy, angry old man at the debate, but the man makes some powerful statements. From Truthdig: "Gravel: Truth for America is that we think that we’re so much better than anyone else in the world, and we’re not. We’re no better than anybody else in the world. The truth is, we squander our wealth on the military-industrial complex for a defense that is totally inadequate. The truth is that 30 percent of our children do not graduate from high school. The truth is that one-fifth of the nation is functionally illiterate and in Washington, D.C., it’s 36 percent. I could go on. The truth is, there’s only two industrialized nations in the world that do not have healthcare for all their people. One is the United States, and the other is South Africa." Click here to read the entire interview.