Mmmmmmmmm, Ritalin

Today I was browsing around yahoo to find a topic and stumbled across an article that discussed over use of anti-depressants. I'm not blogging about that, however, seeing the article reminded me of a 60 Minutes story on the use of ADD medication at colleges that my friend mentioned. The article was exactly what I hoped it was going to be. You see, I find this issue very interesting and have wanted to blog about it for a while now. This particular 60 Minutes investigation takes place at the University of Kentucky. The host asks students how common the use of Ritalin and Adderall is on campus and how commonly it is used with out a prescription. Students all agree that these drugs are incredibly common. Over 80% of students at the Univeristy of Kentucky claim to have used them while only 4% of the students have prescriptions. The controversy brought up is whether or not it is fair for kids to use these drugs. One student says no, "I definitely do. I feel that it is an unfair advantage. If the person next to me that has the exact same schedule takes an Adderall they can stay up the entire night knowing the material and come in and make a grade better than me". What do ya'll think? Is abusing Ritalin and drugs like it wrong because it gives students an unfair advantage? Is it wrong because the majority of the students using it don't have prescriptions? Because it has many harmful long term affects most students never think about? I think that the abuse of these drugs is very interesting and welcome any comments regarding the subject.

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Hawaii Gone Republican

First things first, I don't know jack-schnitzel about politics. Just thought I'd throw it out before I got underway. So, it appears that a republican has recently won the house seat in Hawaii. I don't know whether there are one or fifty house seats, but alot of Republicans (my dad mentioned something about it) are saying this victory is a huge indication that Obama is doing a poor job. Some are saying that because a republican is representing the state that Obama was born in, a state that has had a democrat house representative for the last 20 years, his support is surely diminishing. In my opinion, that's a load of rubbish. I don't think this republican victory is any more significant because Obama was born in Hawaii. Would someone really vote democrat because our democratic president was born in there state? Highly doubt it. But this piece of news ties into a larger issue. More and more government positions that have been historically been held by democrats are going to republicans. Positions in Massachusetts, Virginia, and now Hawaii have made the change. Is this a result of Obama's incompetence (if he is indeed incompetent)? If not, why the changes? Write about any thoughts you have on this subject or anything that is even a little related to it.

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Ehhhhh she's alright, probably a 7.5

This year's Miss America pageant has been the cause of some controversy. Some right wing bloggers are saying the winner, the gorgeous Rima Fakih, was judged more leniently because of her Muslim roots. Conservative blogger on middle eastern affairs and thorough d-bag Daniel Pipes said that the sudden increase of middle-easterners winning beauty pageants make him, "suspect an odd form of affirmative action". Although I have a thing for darker women, I think that Pipes' statement may have an ounce of truth in it. Historically the winner of the Miss America pageant has been a blond woman with large breasts (the 60 year old male judges swear it's a coincidence). It seams odd that the pattern would break in a time when we are in serious conflict with the Middle East. On the other hand though, I'm guessing that there are more Muslims in America who want to "compete" for the Miss America crown than ever before. If so, the chances of a middle eastern woman winning would be higher. I also think it is possible that racism prevented women of color from from winning the crown in the past. At the end of the day I don't really care about the Miss America pageant. However, I'm not down with racism and only occasionally think affirmative action should be used. What do you guys think? Is this actually a sign of an odd form of affirmative action? Is it a sign of a slow news week when I post about a beauty pageant? If you have anything to say about this topic or something that's even slightly related to it, POST!

Prime Minister Election and other

As I am sure you all know, England's Prime Minister election is raging on. Right now there are three men in the running. I don't know anything about any of them and to be honest I could not care less who wins. However, a few nights ago on Colbert a writer for Atlantic Monthly talked about how the election in England works. Apparently the general election only takes a month long and the candidates are not allowed to use televised advertisements. This topic brought another election related piece of news to my mind. I recently heard that in California they are trying a new system of primary election where people cast their vote for a candidate from a single list (i.e. there will be no separating democrats and republicans). In the end the two candidates receiving the most votes, regardless of their party, will go head to head. In my opinion, both England and California are on the right path. I think the idea of minimal advertising and a one month election is great. I also like the sound of the top two candidates moving on from the primaries regardless of whether they represent different parties or not. What do ya'll think? Is our system fine? Do we need a change? Would it be wise to follow in either England's or California's footsteps? Should should there be a limit to how much can be spent on advertisement and should our elections be shorter?

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