Eliminating Evil: Getting over the urge to light up

I figured I needed to write all this down eventually. I'm trying to quit smoking cigarettes, and I need to talk about how hard this really is. It's torture, plain and simple.

Addiction to cigarettes comes in two parts: the nicotine itself and the habit. Eliminating nicotine from the system involves a steady process of confronting one's demons and figuring out the best way to control urges and cravings. It's not rocket science, but it is torture. For any who feel like they "know" something about trying to quit (without actually smoking for multiple years and trying to quit), you don't know. You just don't. You could be trying to help, you could be legitimately concerned about health, or you could have a personal experience that affected your point of view (like a death in the family), but unless you've tried to quit smoking after multiple years and even more packs and cartons, lay off.

This feels like I'm getting over a disease. And as the minutes go by, I realize that I really am.

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Fifty more lessons learned throughout this year

50. Mike the Tiger can’t be fed in public because of “security reasons.”

49. LeBron James is the next Michael Jordan.

48. Twitter is evil.

47. iPhones are worse.

46. Smart phones were not made for smart people.

45. Talent isn’t skin deep. Yes, this one’s about Susan Boyle, the British singing sensation that looks like the offspring of Joan Rivers and Austin Powers.

44. It’s tough to talk when you’re teabagging.

43. Michelle Obama is — and should be — the hottest woman on the planet.

42. Short shorts with words displayed on the rear end will never go away.

41. Rap music is dying. Case in point: the new hit song, “Do the Ricky Bobby.”

40. Felons do the best work, as evidenced by their tireless efforts on Student Government’s Class Gift project.

39. Members of SG don’t realize how little they matter or how pretentious they are.

38. It’s tough to get to “The Next Level” when you’re at the bottom of the top tier. It’s even tougher to do “More” with budget cuts.

37. Crying gets you nowhere.

36. Hannah Montana is to America what hepatitis is to the third world. It’s curable and life would be better without it.

35. I’m kind of a jerk.

34. The Octomom is getting exactly what she wants in coverage of her lack of parental skill.

33. Sarah Palin thought about getting what she would outlaw across the country.

32. There’s no difference between Sarah Palin and the Octomom, only California isn’t dumb enough to elect Octomom governor.

31. “Scrubs” is dead.

30. “The Office” is dying.

29. For a hint into the stupidity of America, tune into any matchmaking series on VH1.

28. Jon Stewart is a better journalist than Sean Hannity.

27. Stephen Colbert, the current comedian, is a better journalist than Glenn Beck, the former comedian.

26. Rachel Maddow might singlehandedly save the value of cable news.

25. Chancellor Michael Martin looks more like the Monopoly Man than former Chancellor Sean O’Keefe.

24. Vice President Joe Biden doesn’t have a filter between what he thinks and what he says.

23. Neither does Rush Limbaugh.

22. Neither does Bill O’Reilly.

21. The Twilight series will destroy humankind before global warming ever melts us.

20. If you lived in Somalia, you’d be a pirate too.

19. Navy Seals are amazing.

18. If Al-Qaeda were smart, they would recruit geese.

17. America is only No. 1 in obesity and imprisonment.

16. Friedrich Nietzsche was right.

15. Martin Heidegger was dead wrong.

14. Joel Osteen missed the point.

13. The correct debate about torture is not whether those techniques worked, it’s whether those techniques were torture.

12. Ask the Japanese we executed after they waterboarded our troops in World War II.

11. None of us know anything, but we all share the same capacity to learn.

10. The truly wise questions. The truly dumb assumes.

9. Liquor before beer, never fear. Beer before liquor, never been sicker. Marijuana at all, you’re going to jail.

8. Bobby Jindal is running for president in 2012.

7. I’m not voting for him.

6. Neither is the rest of the country after his Mr. Rogers impression.

5. Capitalism is more dangerous than socialism.

4. Greed in a free society is more dangerous than piracy.

3. Taking a semester off from doing something you love to refocus study habits pays off in the end.

2. Taking a year and a half off school to refocus after tragedy pays off a year and a half after returning.

1. Fear the hat.

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Twitter is fodder for 21st century misinformation

How much twit could a Twitter twit tweet if a Twitter twit could tweet twit?
Apparently, not enough.

As social networking continues to remain the fastest, most efficient way to connect with friends and family, the newest craze in Internet information is Twitter. People on Twitter are given 140 characters to send a brief message, telling people anything from where they are to what they’re doing.

This past February, Compete.com named Twitter the third biggest social networking site on the Internet, just after MySpace and the reigning champion, Facebook.

Celebrities and politicians alike tweet what they’re doing, most notably the gaggle of congressmen tweeting during President Obama’s Feb. 25 address to the nation.

This isn’t a good thing.

The prompt for new users on the Web site labels the service as a micro-blog in response to a simple question: “What are you doing right now?”

But if you can see beyond twit level, congratulations. You don’t buy into fads.

The media, however, bit long and hard.

Most notable of the media twits is CNN’s Rick Sanchez, broadcasting his hour of CNN’s
“Newsroom” at 2 p.m. He dedicates his hour of news coverage to asking viewers to respond to stories he reports through Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

CNN’s own breaking news Twitter was recently put to the test of gaining one million followers — those who follow the tweets of others — against the eventual Twitter champion, none other than Ashton Kutcher.

When Kutcher reached one million followers, he went on Larry King — who delivered some trash talk during the competition — and, along with Sean “Insert New Nickname
Here” Combs and Jimmy Fallon, talked about how Twitter has inspired a new generation of user-updated media.

When the Mumbai terrorist attacks occurred in India last year, it was Twitter leading the way, delivering information about the attacks to those who couldn’t rely on traditional forms of media for access.

But interactive reporting has its pitfalls.

This weekend, the world learned of a possible pandemic, in the form of a new case of swine flu. Twitter became flooded with information requests about the subject, comprising 2 percent of all tweets this past Monday.

The controversy spawned a debate on how health information is obtained and disseminated, as the PC World all of a sudden became at odds with the Center for
Disease Control and Prevention, the leading authority in tracking and accessing the threat of swine flu.

“This is a good example of why [Twitter is] headed in that wrong direction,” Brendon Slattery, contributing writer for PC World, said. “It’s just propagating fear amongst people as opposed to seeking actual solutions or key information.”

The CDC countered by praising Twitter’s online community for discussing the subject, meaning people held a vested interest in learning more information on the subject. The Center still advocates seeking help from established medical institutions for the most up-to-date and accurate information.

As the world becomes increasingly interactive, it’s tough to assess the difference between needless hype and genuine information. For all of the hype about swine flu, an estimated 36,000 people die from flu-related symptoms every year in the U.S.

“Bad news always travels faster than good news,” said Al Tompkins, who teaches broadcast and online news at the Poynter Institute.

What happened to the journalists in this country? Is the advent of social networking responsible for the decline and fall of credibility in journalism?

Are we all journalists now?

If so, I’ll call us exactly as I see us:

A nation of twits.

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The planet is warming because fat kids love cake

Do you like cheeseburgers?

If you do, you’re killing the planet.

A new study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine blames fat people for the increase in global warming, as increased energy costs for food production, increased carbon emissions and a heavier reliance — forgive the pun — on cars contribute more to climate change.

The study outlines the differences between the U.S. and slimmer countries like Vietnam, whose population consumes 20 percent less food and produces less greenhouse gases than the U.S., where 40 percent of the population is obese.

Food production alone is responsible for about 20 percent of all carbon emissions on the planet and will continue to get worse, considering the average body mass index continues to increase in America and the United Kingdom, where 25 percent of the population is obese and is set to increase to at least 40 percent in three years.

Less energy is required to transport skinny people, as fatter people are more prone to driving cars, increasing carbon emissions and furthering the death of the planet, according to an April 20 article in the International Journal of Health.

As one of those obese 40 percent, I cringe at this study. There’s nothing wrong with large quantities of beef. After all, this is America. But now I’m killing the planet.

I used to be comfortable with slowly killing myself and increasing a trend of undocumented workers in ungodly conditions to make the Whoppers I so regularly consume.

I used to be comfortable with the slow death I inflicted on myself on a daily basis.

Now, I’m being blamed for tsunamis, floods and Hurricane Katrina. It’s no secret America is the fattest nation on the planet. The Daily Reveille also reported Louisiana is the second fattest state in the country. But what difference can a nation that invented the Big Mac and the Super Size really make?

As inclined as I am to side with the Republicans — in that global warming is a myth Al Gore invented to sell movies and books — it’s tough to feel responsible for liking things that are delicious.

Message to PETA: Roul’s Deli is delicious. Also, I won’t stop ordering Mega Shrimp Burgers until they cease to be delicious.

In this instance, I’m more than willing to blame America first. After all, our obesity has gotten exponentially worse during the past 40 years.

When McDonald’s first opened, the “large” size beverage was 20 ounces. Today, the 20 ounce drink is a “small.”

As the standard of living in America got larger, so did our bellies, favoring the convenience of cheap, quick food in favor of locally grown, fresher alternatives.

Our own self-indulgence has led to new, thoroughly uninspired artery cloggers as the Triple Whopper, the 24-hour drive thru and, my personal favorite, Baconnaise. Thank you, Jon Stewart.

It’s OK to feel bad about killing the planet. It’s OK to indulge in guilty pleasures every once in a while.

But when a wall has to be torn out of your house so paramedics can transport you to the hospital after your heart attack because you can’t fit through your front door, it’s time to change.

I wrote a column last month about my ongoing crush on Michelle Obama and her new vegetable garden. I argued, “We can show the world we aren’t a nation of lazy slobs addicted to high fructose corn syrup as if it were crack.”

Now, it’s not just for us. It’s time to save the world — one celery stick at a time.

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Prohibition didn't work once, isn't working now

Raise your hand if you remember Chicago in the early 1930s, at the height of alcohol Prohibition.

The early ‘30s saw mafia warfare at its highest, featuring all-time highs in black market profiteering and bootlegging what so many enjoy on a nightly basis today.

Alcohol was prohibited by the 18th Amendment, but for the next 16 years, alcohol sales thrived underground while violence and murder rates skyrocketed.

Prohibition was eventually repealed in 1933 by President Franklin Roosevelt at the height of the Great Depression.

Yet today, the country faces another pandemic as a black market incites violence caused by demand of an illegal product.

Today, Americans want to smoke marijuana.

Over 100 million people, including President Obama, have admitted to smoking weed and another 25 million admit regular use over the past year, according to The Washington Post. Moreover, in 2007, 62 percent of those who admitted first-time use of the drug were under age 18.

Marijuana is by far the most commonly used illicit drug in the U.S., yet the substance itself stands alone in comparison to legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco.

In 2000, alcohol by itself, without counting drunk drivers, claimed the lives of 85,000 people. Tobacco holds a rate six times higher, killing 435,000 people, according to the Journal for the American Medical Association.

Not a single person has ever died from a marijuana overdose, yet 775,137 people were arrested for simple possession in 2007.

The momentum from the 1980s in fighting our “War on Drugs” has taken a different turn, as more and more citizens plead with lawmakers to produce legislation to decriminalize, regulate and tax marijuana.

Chairman Betty Yee of the California State Board of Equalization endorsed a bill in February to regulate the estimated $14 billion marijuana market, citing a potential income for the state of $1.3 billion. The $14 billion figure came from eliminating expenses in marijuana law enforcement and a taxation level comparable to alcohol and tobacco.

The state currently collects $14 million from marijuana dispensaries — marijuana shops legal under state law — a figure that will grow after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced Feb. 26 the DEA would no longer raid them.

In the medical community, scientists have produced repeated studies about the benefits of marijuana, specifically for those who suffer from glaucoma, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS and certain cancers, primarily those who suffer from loss of appetite.

Marijuana legalization will not come easily. But leaders need to be more honest about the nature of marijuana and what it does to people.

The truth changes from person to person.

“The problem is that it’s difficult to tell what the effects of marijuana will be for any given person at any time, because they vary based on the person, their drug history, how much marijuana is taken, and its potency,” according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Obama recently addressed legalization in terms of stimulating the economy at an online town hall meeting in the White House.

After pointing out the weed question was the No. 1 most asked question in three different categories, including the economy, law enforcement and health care, he belittled the online audience and hypocritically dismissed legalization altogether.

If Obama was arrested for his weed use, he wouldn’t be president.

Instead of lighting up a substantive debate over decriminalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana, Obama ignored the plea of a nation dealing with border violence, overflowing prisons, crippling diseases and a stagnant economy.

Presumably he doesn’t want to be remembered as “the weed president,” but he shouldn’t worry.

We don’t remember FDR for legalizing Jell-O shots.

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Student fees should be increased, called ‘taxes’

Oliver Wendell Holmes never needed to go to the University Student Recreation Complex.

But the former Supreme Court justice did offer some enlightenment for the situation confronting University students.

“Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society,” he said.

Across the country, Wednesday’s “Tax Day Tea Parties” brought together thousands of people nationwide to protest what they called “wasteful spending” by buying millions of tea bags and throwing them all away. The message has to do primarily with government bailouts but, thanks to Fox News’ corroboration disguised as “coverage,” turned into a nationwide exercise in hypocrisy.

The looming budget cuts will wreak havoc on the quality of living, setting the University back “decades,” according to Chancellor Michael Martin.

As a result, students now face larger class sizes, the elimination of scholarships and higher student fee increases.

The first two would limit the quality of learning, but student fee increases should be appropriately named to reflect their impact on the University.

We should be calling student fees “taxes.”

And they should be increased.

I just lost most of you — I can feel it.

The traditional argument against tax increases is the prevention of the growth of businesses, reducing the number of jobs allegedly created by small and large business owners. In this case, government is likened to its own entity, scheming and plotting to rob everyone of everything from their money to their guns and, inevitably, their beliefs.

What was lost on the crowds around the country was literally surrounding those crowds, as the parks and waters, the roads and bridges, the municipal buildings and the police guarding them, were all funded with taxes.

Here on campus, we can eat lunch in the Student Union, rent books from a vast library, work out at the Rec and even get checkups and mental health examinations complete with support groups and wellness units, all from student fees.

But some students act like facilities at this University should just be given to them without any method of payment, though not necessarily on a silver platter.

After all, tuition should go for something, right?

Wrong.

Student fees, like taxes, go into what we will of them, and we make those decisions based on who we put in office. Mayor-President Kip Holden should be commended for the construction projects around the city to repair outdated and broken roads.

Anyone upset with construction clearly can’t see the huge signs displaying the total state and federal funds, under the eight-foot long caption, “Your Tax Dollars at Work.”

Much like those in Massachusetts, who recently agreed to raise taxes to provide health insurance for its residents, I’d like to think my sales and payroll taxes are going to provide for the common good.

Personally, I’ve been to the Rec exactly once but I am a regular patron at the Student Health Center.

As a student, I’ll take every advantage to visit a counselor to help with a stressful semester or advice in handling major traumatic events.

As a New Orleanian, I’m hard pressed to find someone who can legitimately claim taxes are unfair, considering the levees that broke in my city in August 2005.

As an American, I’m confused when the same people who rail against taxes implore their fellow Americans to support our troops protecting our freedoms overseas. Protesting against taxes and supporting our troops don’t go hand in hand.

After all, as the old adage goes, freedom isn’t free.

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