Save Chuck!

I am a couch potato, so I have been spending too much time catching up on the season finales of some of my favorite shows. "Chuck" is an action comedy show that runs an hour long. Featuring a great cast, led by Zachary Levi (Chuck)and Yvonne Strahovski (agent Sarah Walker), the spy show mixes laughs and gun fights to create a unique feel that is missing from TV today. Its finale on Monday was more emotional than most episodes, but hit all the right chords.

NBC has yet to renew it for a third season and that has brought fans out of the closet to muster support. A critical darling the show has struggled to gain a large audience. I encourage everyone to check it out, there is alot of bad TV on the air and it would be sad to see one of the better shows die as it approaches its prime. Watch Chuck and his CIA handlers, John and Sara, below in an action packed clip. Sarah Walker might be reason enough to watch a few episodes!

Another Banner on the Horizon

The Kansas Jayhawks already had two potential All-Americans returning next year. Their logic simple, Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins wanted to become legends in Lawrence. To some they already are, they helped the Jayhawks capture the 2008 title. Instead of them moving onto the NBA after this season, they wanted to hang their own banner, together.

Aldrich passed up the chance at being a lottery selection, no one is quite sure where Collins would have ended up, but it appears he was a fringe first rounder. His fate could have been similar to Mario Chalmers who fell to the second round, even after making the shot. Collins who delivered the pass, was the man at the end taking all shots for KU last year. He was clutch, it was difficult to see at times because of the Jayhawks youth and inexperience that forced him to try to do everything by himself.

Collins was gassed by the end of most games last year. He was our fearless leader, always refusing to back down. Everyone else on the team shied away from the spotlight, the last game was a sad display of his teammates all being scared to take a shot. People throughout the year were critical about Collins taking too many shots, frustrated that he continued to shoot even when it wasn't falling.

Jayhawk fans have been following the recruitment of Xavier Henry with a microscope since John Calipari left for Kentucky. On Thursday he announced he was coming to Kansas, his brother is tagging along. CJ Henry will be a walkon with the New York Yankees paying his tuition. After verbally committing to KU he was drafted in the first round by the Yankees.

Paul Biancardi from ESPN discusses how Henry will fit in at KU, and his opinion seems to be the same as everyones. Its a perfect match. His parents both played at KU and this is the final puzzle piece to the Jayhawks national title run next year.

4/20 Video Blog

Posting videos is something I am going to start doing on a regular basis. Watching videos online is usually great entertainment with an endless sample size, and I don't know anyone who doesn't appreciate a hilarious youtube clip.

Here are some entertaining videos honoring the holiday yesterday. Leading it off is a song from "Family Guy's" newest episode which aired Sunday night. It starts in the middle of the episode but I encourage anyone who enjoys the show to watch the whole episode on hulu.com.



The video below was aired 4/16/09 on "CNBC Reports". It features Bruce Mirken, the communications director for Marijauna Policy Project and John Carnevale, president of Carnevale Associates.



Next is a commercial that hopefully everyone will be seeing soon on TV. It is sponsored by The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. NORML held a contest to choose the commercial that would launch their national TV campaign, the ad began airing across the country yesterday. Visit their website for more info.


Last but not least, current President Obama's opinion on the drug war in 2004. Before he got to Washington D.C.

Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding Part II

Our country is finally starting to acknowledge that we have a drug problem, and it’s about time we do something to solve it. The billions we spend need to be examined closer, alternative solutions should be explored. We can’t just keep throwing money at the problem and expect it to go away. Change is necessary, this social stigma and fear surrounding marijuana shouldn’t prevent our country from progressing. The saying goes; “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”, but the system is broke, Americans need an open mind to allow ourselves to find the best solution.

Currently the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is going through a complete overhaul, facilitated in 2008 when congress chose the National Academy of Public Administration to assist in developing a new, more effective strategy to deal with our country’s drug problem. Their report “ONDCP: Building the Capacity to Address the Nation’s Drug Problems”, is a thorough examination of ONDCP with recommendations on how to make the agency more effective.

The report doesn’t suggest any new drug policies or present any magical solutions to our problem. It is an overview of how to improve the ONDCP operations and better utilize their 14 billion dollar budget. The deficiencies in the ONDCP since its existence boggle the mind. Here is an excerpt from the executive summary page.

In consultation with ONDCP, the Panel determined that the review should focus on the following areas:

• Structure, organization, and management of ONDCP;
• Resource management, planning, and budgeting;
• Hiring, recruitment, and utilization of personnel; and
• Policy development, coordination, and implementation.

The Panel determined in the course of the study that the following areas merited more detailed Treatment:

• National Drug Control Strategy, budget, and ONDCP funding;
• ONDCP statutory requirements;
• ONDCP workforce; and
• ONDCP goals and performance measures.

Sounds like a lot of important areas they need to improve in. The report seems to go into every detail. Recently Attorney General Eric Holder reaffirmed the new administration’s drug policy regarding state medical marijuana rights. Only people violating both state and federal law will be in danger of prosecution from the federal government. Reallocating DEA investigations and insuring legitimate medical cannabis dispensaries will not be raided.

This differs from George W. Bush supporting the governments’ raids on medical marijuana dispensaries. One might say it’s not his fault; Bush followed Presidents previous positions on fighting marihuana. I almost believed that argument, until I found this old Dallas Morning News article where he contradicts himself. Before Bush was elected President he was against the federal government interfering in what he deemed a state issue.

Now think back to 1971 about this conservative commission. Their report provides the foundation for my beliefs, and hope that we can end our “war on drugs”. Why would our politicians ignore a bipartisan commission’s findings? They came to three conclusions about the total prohibition of marijuana; “Application of the criminal law to private possession is philosophically inappropriate, application of the criminal law is constitutionally suspect, and that total prohibition is functionally inappropriate.”

It has been almost 40 years and our federals laws still prohibit marijuana. Doesn’t this sound like hypocrisy at the highest level? The commission recommended two changed in the federal law to Nixon.

“Possession of marihuana for personal use would no longer be an offense, but marihuana possessed in public would remain contraband subject to summary seizure and forfeiture. Casual distribution of small amounts of marihuana for no remuneration, or insignificant remuneration not involving profit would no longer be an offense.”

Here are a couple of inspiring messages to reflect on, located in the report's “A Final Comment” section, considering members were conservatively selected by Nixon. I wonder where our country would be if Nixon would have heeded their advice, from chapter 5 Marihuana and Social Policy.

“On the basis of our findings, discussed in previous Chapters, we have concluded that society should seek to discourage use, while concentrating its attention on the prevention and treatment of heavy and very heavy use. The Commission feels that the criminalization of possession of marihuana for personal is socially self-defeating as a means of achieving this objective.”………

“Considering the range of social concerns in contemporary America, marihuana does not, in our considered judgment, rank very high. We would deemphasize marihuana as a problem.

The existing social and legal policy is out of proportion to the individual and social harm engendered by the use of the drug. To replace it, we have attempted to design a suitable social policy, which we believe is fair, cautious and attuned to the social realities of our time.”