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Sam

WFG Retired
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Posts posted by Sam

  1. I figured out the trick to calibrating the pen, and thats don't touch where it tells you, on the edge of it, because the way it thinks you hold the pen isbt natural.

    Yeah, I really wanted the MacBook. Plus they came with free shuffles!

  2. Hey all, I'm now on my new computer that I got for college today. It's not exactly the one I would have chosen had I been given a choice, but it is better than I originally thought.

    The college I am attending in the Fall (Winona State University) gives students a choice between PC and Mac. I was hoping for the Mac, but couldn't because I'm majoring in Computer Science.

    This is the program they offer. http://www.winona.edu/its/laptop/

    I'm sort of dissapointed in the tablet aspect of the computer. The swivel screen is a great feature, but the stylus pen isn't that great at all. Your supposed to be able to take notes on the screen with it, but the calibration feature is poor. Maybe I just need some practice.

    The specs of the computer is suprising for what I pay through the university too!

    http://www.winona.edu/its/laptop/Models/gwTabletM285e.htm

    (The spec given for the GFX card was thankfully wrong. It came with a ATI mobility X1400 256MB instead.

    I attached an attempt at using the OneNote program that came with for using the tablet. It's quite confusing actually. Note the title of the file on the screenshot. Thats what the program thinks I wrote in on the first line :P

    Just wondering, has any one else had any experience with a tablet laptop?

    post-171-1150871056_thumb.jpg

  3. Thanks for the compliments all. :P

    Sam, have you or do you smoke marijuana? Sometimes this can sway people either way, either because they've had bad or good experiences on it.

    Yes, I do. And I have had both good and bad experiences with it.

    I agree that it is a problem with society and not the drug. It's too bad Denver, Colorado had to ruin the decriminalization they had. Moderation is key. :P

  4. For my senior english class, I had to do a speech on any topic of my choice. Heres the exact "outline" I used. I got a 94% on it. Most facts, figures, or numbers given will be for the USA. Also, sorry for the poor formatting job, but I included the actual document if its too illegible. The super-scripts are explained at the bottom.

    ------------------------

    INTRO: Why is it that when you hear someone say “Marijuana should be legalized” you conjure of the image of a long-haired, red-eyed, burnt out hippy who loves nothing more than giggling at nothing. Yet, when you hear someone saying the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18, you couldn't agree more, even tough it wasn't the high kids you were stumbling around fighting that caused Riverboat to be a disaster1. You think this because from the moment you understood English, the idea that drugs (mainly Marijuana) are the cause of all the problems of society.

    QUOTE - Fact is, according to P.J. O'Rouke, that

    “no drug, not even alcohol causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we should test for stupidity, ignorance and greed, not drugs.”

    With the war on drugs, MJ has been propagandized to be the most evil thing in society.

    Thesis: However, MJ should be legal because it is a personal freedom I, as an American2 should be able to choose, it is an economical and medicinal benefit to society as a whole, and the cause of problems related to MJ are because it is illegal.

    I. The question should not be “why should MJ be legal?”, but “why shouldn't MJ be legal?”

    A. After all, it grows naturally on this planet.

    i. For you evolutionists, that means that MJ is older than mankind is. And for you Creationists, that means that God himself created MJ.

    ii. Doesn't the idea of making nature illegal seem a but...unnatural to you? Who is George Bush to say that God is wrong anyways?

    B. The fact that MJ is a schedule 1 drug is reason enough for speculation

    i. schedule 1 means that

    1. It has a high potential for abuse
    2. Has no current accepted medical benefits
    3. And a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug

    ii. Arguably, MJ meets NONE of those criteria

    • It is widely accepted among doctors that MJ is not physically addicting
    • As far as it having no current medical benefit, doesn't the fact that is it legal in 10 states for medicinal purposes seem a bit contradictory?
    • And a lack of accepted safety? Come on... I think the stats speak for themselves
      • Tobacco related deaths annually: 395,000
      • Alcohol related deaths: 195,000
      • Legal AND illegal drugs: 40,000
      • Now, MJ caused deaths since the beginning of time: 0!

    C. It is used in religious ceremonies as well.

    i. Buddhists and Hindus use MJ just as Christians use wine in communion.

    ii. And they make up the 4th and 5th largest organized religions respectively, according to 2000 census.

    II. In addition to it being a personal choice, it is an economical benefit to society.

    A. The whole reason selling MJ is a federal crime, is it is a form of tax-evasion.

    i. Think of how many billions of dollars are exchanged yearly in illegal drug sales.

    a) If the US were to tax those billions, think of what that money could do for our economy.

    b ) Not only would the taxes be going straight into the economy, but it would be going into the hands of honest entrepreneurs and not the pockets of drug traf@#$%ers.

    B. Aside from the potential tax revenue, all the citizens who were wrongfully incarcerated will no longer be eating up valuable prison space to go to rapists and murderers.

    i. At any given time, 59, 300 prisoners charged with violating MJ laws are behind bars. Thats 3.3% of total prison pop.

    ii. Held at a total cost of $1.2 billion to hardworking taxpayers nationwide.

    C. And get that notion of MJ being a health problem out of your head, because it doesn't cause cancer like alcohol, or tobacco, it 'cures' it.

    i. How many times have you heard the stat that 1 joint has same tar as 3 cigs?

    a) This may be true, but think of it this way.

    1 Joint is enough to get lets say 3 people high, thats 1 cig per person. OK, now, how many cigs does a person smoke a day? Some smoke a couple packs a day, thats around 60 cigs, when it only takes 1 to get someone high. Which sounds more dangerous now?

    ii. If that doesn't convince you, then maybe this study released by the most credible online medical source, Web MD, will.

    a) In it, ex Harvard psychiatrist Lester Grinspoon shows that through his study of 400 regular MJ users, and non-MJ users, that long term use does not cause memory loss. Nor did it cause a decrease in reaction time, motor skills, reasoning ability, and the ability to learn new information, which was also looked for.

    III. And the whole reason MJ has become such an issue today, is because it is illegal.

    A. It wasn't alcohol that caused the crime rate to skyrocket in the 20's and 30's, it was the prohibition of it.

    B. Similarily, MJ is not the gateway drug that is often times prevented as fact.

    i. Imagine this

    a) In a good, free, democratic society, when Bob wants to go get high with his friends, he can walk on down to the corner store, and buy himself some MJ and have a good time.

    b ) But in America, Bob is forced to walk around the bad side of town, asking every sketchy looking guy he sees “can i score some pot?” While down there, Bob is also exposed to the actual hard drugs, cocaine and heroine, and meth. Instead of never being exposed to those drugs, it has become a constant pressure he gives into.

    c) What I mean is, if I were to be able to buy MJ over the counter instead of under it, I wouldn't even know where to look to get some acid, or crack.

    MJ being illegal is only helping the black market further hook innocent bob on meth.

    Conclusion: I would like to end with a quote by Leighann Lord

    “Did you know America is ranked one of the lowest nations in education, but the highest in drug use? It's nice to be number one, but we can fix that. All we need to go is start a war on education. If its anywhere near as successful as the war on drugs, in no time we'll be hooked on phonics.”

    1. Riverboat was a school sponsored dance (on a boat on the Mississippi) which was brought to an immediate hault when between 30-40 kids (all underage) began puking due to mixing alcohol and boats. :P

    2. Said jokingly, not to sound arrogant.

    ------------------------

    So, what do my fellow forumers think about the issue? I'm also curious to hear what other country's laws/ attitudes are regarding recreational drugs.

    Marijuana_Legal_Speech.doc

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