Chowder Monkey Rock & Roll Halloween Bash
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“War on Drugs Really working? Commentary by Jon Tucker
Is the War on Drugs really working, or is it just a money pit?
You hear it in the news all the time, “Police raid dealers hideout, seizes
300 kilos of cocaine”, or “Largest bust in the the Northern U.S.” or of
accounts of people getting caught with drugs. To the average American that
seems like a victory for law enforcement, but on the grand scheme of things,
is a cocaine bust that obtains 300 kilos really that much of a hurt on the
drug trade? If it doesn’t work now, will it ever work in the future? And,
what are our alternatives?
First off, to see if we are making a dent, you have to first look at the
demand. I’ve read studies that says 7 out of 10 people either smoke
marijuana, or have tried it for the first time, and of that 70%, roughly
more than half that do it on a regular basis. *Regular basis defined as
weekly user, that even counts for the weekend warriors* Okay so lets say in
a metropolitan area, 70% of the people are either trying for the first time,
has done it already, or are current users. Now roughly 55% of that is
current users. So a city of lets say Tampa, of 340,882 in 2009, 70% of that
is 238617.4 of either people trying it for the first time or already have,
or who continue to do it. Then you have the current users 131,239.57. Now
then, this is only statistical math, this doesn’t account for all cities,
and personal choices that have been made, but this will be the math we’re
following to explain the example. Now of those 131,239.57, say each one buys
a quarter ounce of pot per month, that is alone 8,202.47 lbs. a month, and
that is underestimated. So does a bust of 10 lbs. of marijuana being caught
affect the flow of pot? Maybe for that dealers connections for short while,
but as long as there is demand there has been someone there to fulfill it.
This isn’t even talking about different drugs such as cocaine, LSD, and
Ecstasy, which are more expensive and has higher risks.
So the question now is does it work, or will it ever work? Well, unless more
man power, and law enforcement would target on the suppliers and not the
middle-men, or even the big timers, there is no way of stopping it. The
demand is to high, the risk is still great, and more and more people are
trying it these days. Another reason why the “War on Drugs” isn’t working is
because wherever there is money to be made, it will be motivated by greed,
and it will find it’s way to the end user. The black market has always been
a lucrative business, and that is why the drug trade will never go away.
So what alternatives can we come up with to be more affective in combating
America’s drug problem? First take away the harsh laws. You take away the
laws that bans these drugs and you will take away the risk, you take away
the risk, the price drops, and so does crime. Drugs will no longer be
lucrative, so there for drug dealers will be less paranoid, less violent,
and would have to go into other forms of crime to make money. Drugs are a
gangs life line. You take away that ability to make that much money and you
take away their ability to expand and fight wars, thus reducing criminal
activity. Another way is to prosecute the dealers and rehabilitate the
users. What good does it do to arrest the dealer, when the demand is still
out there. How does arresting the dealers and users going to keep the demand
down? You arrest one dealer and put them away for a long time. Okay that’s
great, but now there is two to three more taking his place. You see you
haven’t taken away the demand. People who get caught with these drugs should
be put through more effective rehabilitation programs. Once the user is
rehabilitated, the demand has dropped significantly. Then you have really
made a impact.
With the billions of dollars spent on the “War on Drugs” little has been
done to slow down the mass amount of drugs being brought into the country
daily. More effective ways should be placed, and major changed needs to be
done. Take away the allure and you have taken away from the desire. To fight
a losing battle will only make you tired, and wastes a lot of useful energy
that could be put to better use. There are many different ways changes could
be made and that’s by writing letters, signing petitions, and rallying
together. Its not impossible, other states have shown that it works with
little problems, why cant we do this nation wide, and change the laws that
are in place now.
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Alice Cooper/Rob Zombie concert review by Terrell Parker
On October 20,2010, The Halloween Hootenanny Tour stopped in Nashville and a Hootenanny it was. The Gruesome Twosome of Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie brought their legendary stage shows to the Music City and to add to the festivities they brought along the ghoulish Murderdolls.
The Murderdolls, featuring Wednesday 13 on vocals and Slipknot and Rob Zombie drummer Joey Jordison on guitar, hit the stage full of anger and energy. At one point Wednesday cracked, “We are not Bon Jovi”. I think after the opening songs “Chapel of Blood” and “Slit My Wrist” no one was confused about who they were. They played a tight, fast set that had the crowd responding with enthusiasm, which is impressive. It is rare to see an opening band receive such a favorable response but the crowd could tell that the Murderdolls are the real deal and not a gimmick. When they sing of murder and mayhem you get the feeling they mean it. By the end of their set I was thinking they make Marilyn Manson look like the Osmonds.
Alice Cooper was next on the bill. I had been waiting 30 years to see Alice and my fear was that I had built up such high expectations that he could never meet them. I am proud to say that Alice not only met, but exceeded those expectations. Alice was in top form as he stalked the staged and played out the various theatrical scenes that have made him famous. We were privileged to witness Alice die not one, not two, but four times. The stage show alone was worth the money but we were treated to all of the Alice classics such as “School’s Out”, “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, “Eighteen”, Billion Dollar Babies”, “Cold Ethyl”, “Only Women Bleed”, “Be My Lover” and “The Ballad of Dwight Fry” along with later in his career songs such as “Feed My Frankenstein”, Dirty Diamonds” and “Vengeance Is Mine”. He also pulled out a couple of deep tracks with “From The Inside” and “Nurse Rozetta” that also provided some good theatrics, including Nurse Rozetta using a grinder on her crotch. Alice has a great backing back of veterans consisting of Damon Johnson (Brother Cane) and Kerri Kelli on guitars, Jimmy Degrasso (Megadeth) on drums, and Chuck Garric on bass. Alice, being the great artist he is, also gave his band a time to shine in the spotlight on the Black Widow Jam. There were a couple of surprises during Alice’s set as well. During the encore Steve Hunter, who played with Alice on many of his classic albums joined the band on stage and earlier in the show pop star Keisha was on stage throwing out confetti filled balloons to the crowd. I admit I had no idea who she was and didn’t know until later she had participated in the show. Alice Cooper proved that he is still the king of theatrics when it comes to shock rock. The only thing that could have made the show better was if he had a troupe of midgets dressed as the Peanuts gang and they reenacted “It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”……and of course he then kill them. Alice I bow to your greatness. At 63 you are still doing it better than anyone.
After that amazing set I told myself there was no way Rob Zombie could compete but there was an electricity generating in the crowd so I knew Zombie must be something special live. Being a Zombie virgin I was unsure of what to expect. From the second the lights went down to the end with Rob and the band throwing out Halloween candy, it was almost sensory overload. First of all, Rob’s vocals were very good. I have always heard he is hit or miss live. In Nashville, he hit a home run. Rob Zombie is also a great front man. Like Paul Stanley, minus the lisp, he knows how to work the crowd and get a cheap pop. The stage was part horror movie, part pits of hell, which was fitting for this tour as it was home to robots, monsters, and demons throughout the night. The various video screens were constantly showing clips of horror movies but with all the stage effects the videos were barely noticeable. Rob currently has an all-star band backing him and one can only hope he keeps this lineup together for awhile. John 5 is well known in the metal circles for his guitar playing ability and with a solid rhythm section of Piggy on bass and Joey Jordison on drums, the music was almost CD perfect. My only complaint of Zombie’s set was that it was too short. They played something like 14 songs, which is several less than Alice played. John 5’s guitar solo was good, as was the drum solo, but I had rather they stuck “Feel So Numb” in the set in place of those. Don’t get me wrong, the set was a blistering set and had the crowd going from start to finish. I literally thought the roof was going to blow off when Thunderkiss 65 was played. It reminded me of why I no longer stand in the pit. O to be young again. The setlist was a lot of Zombie standards, “Living Dead Girl”, “Dragula”, “Thunderkiss 65”, “More Human Than Human”, “Superbeast”, “Never Gonna Stop”, and “Scum of the Earth” and some newer songs, “Werewolf Women of the SS”, “Sick Bubblegum” and “Jesus Frankenstein”. A nice surprise was during the second encore and they played “The Lords of Salem”. Rob Zombie has a different style of stage show than Alice but it was almost as impressive. I always said that KISS had the greatest stage show on Earth but Alice Cooper/Rob Zombie out KISSed KISS. If this tour comes to a town near you all I have to say is GO!!!
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