High on the Hill

Seeds for Change

Nearly two months ago the voter in Washington D.C. passed a law that allows adults to possess up to two ounces of marijuana and grow plants themselves. They cannot buy it, or sell it, but they can own it. This means that hundreds upon hundreds of people will be raising their joints just near miles away from the Congress and the rest of our nations elected officials.

Even though voters overwhelmingly passed the law, it is still under federal oversight because marijuana is still illegal under federal laws. The new law is being highly debated by both Capitol Hill and the people of the city.  The legalization of marijuana has been hard fought battles; the drug is labeled “in the same category as heroin”. Obviously there is some legal hoops the states and districts have had to jump through, but Washington might be the tightest competitor to date.

The people of Washington D.C and the other states who passed similar laws are arguing the social impact that these laws can help with. Holly Dixon a women in line for marijuana seeds said, “My brothers, my cousins, my friends who are African-American males aren't getting locked up for having a $5 bag of weed. That, to me, means a lot."

The article stated that between 2001 and 2010, 8 million people where arrested for minimal marijuana possession. This equals about 3.6 billion of the taxpayer dollars per year.

The national debate on legal marijuana goes on as more states an districts push for medicinal and recreational marijuana laws are being pushed for.  “Is it high time for a change?”

The March

The March is a movie documentary, which focused on the 1963 March on Washington and the plight of Martin Luther King Jr. and all of his supporters. The movie was voiced over by Denzel Washington, which gave it a more powerful feel. This movie gave a deeper background into the groups of people that supported the march.

I realized the immense impact that college students and other people my age had on the march. Even more than that, how much of an impact they all had on the Civil Rights Movement in general. People of all ages and backgrounds came together to support and stand behind the March on Washington and the Civil Rights Movement. 

The movie was chockfull with footage of MLK Jr. and other Civil Rights leaders, which made very powerful statements. I think this documentary still can move the hearts of people in our nation today. The national debate of civil rights has dwindled in recent years, this movie could help spark the fire again.

“Women shouldn’t run for President”

No Women In the Whitehouse

Hilary Clinton: Secretary of State, New York State Senator, First Lady of the United States and Yale Law School Alum…. “should not run for the presidency.”

Personally, I love HilDawg, I think she is tenacious and has a good head on her shoulders. But Cheryl Rios, CEO of Go Ape Marketing, disagrees. Actually, she disagrees with the notion of any women attempting to run for the presidency. She continually said in her interview that is isn’t attempting to discourage powerful women or girls dreams, but it is in her own opinion “not a job for a women.”

Rios argues that: “ We’re built differently, we have different hormones…. I understand that there’s equal rights…. I don’t support a woman being president.”

This statement to me does seem inherently sexist, but maybe I am being too sensitive.  Oh, plus that fact that it came from a women, so does that make it not sexist off the bat?

 I’m sure if a woman made the same claim about a man that would not be sexist one bit. But imagine if a man said this about a woman?  Oh now that would be a step too far.

Rios went on to say that other female leaders that have been successful haven’t been at the same level as the President of the United States. She said the women have “their place”… I mean as long as no one makes a kitchen joke then I think we are all fine.

Terrorism doesn’t support Terrorism:

 Jihad on a Jihad

A few days ago ISIS terrorist thugs detonated a suicide bomb in Faizabad, Afghanistan. This attack led to the deaths of 33 and the injuring of 125 innocent bystanders. This heinous act was so terrible that it was “even denounced by the murderous Taliban.”

Zabihullah Mujahid the Taliban spokesman said, “It was an evil act. We strongly condemn it.” This is a very powerful message, the fact that it is coming from yet another Terrorist group makes it even more potent. The Taliban states that they target foreigners or the Afghan military in their attacks, they are disgusted that ISIS avidly takes credit for killing groups of civilians.

Afghan President  Ashraf Ghani publicly spoke out against not only the cowardness of the ISIS attacks but also that it is “critical that the world understand[s] the terrible threat” that ISIS is to the rest of the world. Ghani even went to the length to reach out to the Taliban and asked them to join with the government in Kabul.

If ISIS has the ability to strike fear and disgust into the Taliban, should the United State be more concerned with them? If they are terrible enough to force the Taliban to “call jihad” on, should we take them more seriously as a threat?

It seems to me that the War on Terror has done little to calm the tension in the Middle East. Can our troops even help? Are we supporting a war that cannot be won?

“If Ignorance is bliss, then America must be a pleasure junkie, because we sure are chasing the dragon.”

First of all… wow.

National Foreign Language Week, hey lets say they pledge in each language for the days… great idea right?....

In Pine Bush, a school local to me in New York, there was an outrage when during “Afghanistan Day” the pledge was recited in Arabic. This caused complaints from a Jewish family according to the superintendent. First of all… in Afghanistan they speak mainly Dari or Pashto, so chalk one up for American Ignorance. Keep it up public education.

The great thing is that the pledge will not be heard in Italian, Spanish, Japanese or French. Which honestly, I would love to hear the legal action that could have been taken after those pledges, because I’m pretty sure these nations have some enemies as well.

The district actually had to apologize, which is just a great victory for ignorance isn’t it?

Isn’t it great where in modern-day American education is trumped by some hurt feelings over a language, that wasn’t even the correct language to use, uttered by people who have never hurt the family and used in a week promoting “international camaraderie.”  Wonderful.

The story even gets crazier when colleges come into the mix, so stayed tuned for the next blog:

Heres the Story