music sales

Thurston Albini, 55, Brooklyn, NY

“This is great news. Vinyl is back, man. If the sales of vinyl keep going up like this, at 50% every year, and digital and CD sales keep going down, eventually it’ll be like the good old days when it was only vinyl. None of this digital garbage, man. I mean, can you hold an MP3 in your hands and read the liner notes while you’re listening to it? Or roll a joint on your phone while you’re streaming a song from the internet? It’s really hard to do. I’ve tried.”

Tucker McFaddish, 16, Menlo Park, CA

“I pretty much just stream music from Spotify and SoundCloud nowadays, so I’m not really surprised CD and digital music sales are down. It’s all out there for free, so why pay for it? Although I kinda got into vinyls when my uncle gave me a stack of his old stuff. Now I buy vinyls every once in a while at Urban Outfitters if it’s a band I really like. I still need to get a record player though. Maybe my parents will buy me one for Christmas.”

Janice Wilcox, 70, Hood River, OR

“I haven’t bought a CD in years. This new music today, it just doesn’t grab me. Too vulgar, and loud! Well, I understand you can get music off of the internet, even through your phone. My grandson tried to show me how to get some of my old favorites like the Beatles on my phone but it was just too complicated! I’m perfectly happy listening to the oldies radio or NPR, thank you very much.”

Patty Fritter, 66, Guyman, OK

"I think these restrictions are all on the right track but don’t really go far enough. I would like to see more restrictions put in place to do away with the barbaric practice of abortion altogether. That we even have a debate about the morality of this issue really shows how debased this country has become. Every unborn child is precious and has a soul from the moment of conception, and we should not allow the murder of these innocent babies, no matter the circumstances."

Skylar Windsong, 21, Boston, MA

"These restrictions are really dangerous, and harmful to women. The idea of an underage woman having to obtain parental involvement to get a procedure is particularly scary to me, as some women could face dangerous repercussions from conservative parents by disclosing their condition. Those fearful of talking to their parents could be forced to seek out an abortion in a back alley, putting their health at risk also! A woman should not have government butting into their affairs – an abortion is a personal choice that lawmakers have no right to interfere with."

Fred Feltch, 40, Sacramento, CA

"Abortion is ultimately a woman’s own decision. Probably one of the biggest decisions they may make in their life. For that reason, I think some of these restrictions are good, like having a mandatory waiting period and ultrasound to make sure they have time to think it over. I would hate to be in the position of regretting getting an abortion after the fact because I rushed into making my mind up. I support a woman’s right to choose, though, because some people are in no position to raise a kid if they’re messed up on drugs or too poor to provide for them."

"Safe" injection sites?

"Safe" injection sites safe for WHO?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF_mPzwKMfM

     The opioid epidemic has ballooned to tragic proportions in North America. Now in an effort to reduce overdose deaths, some are proposing the creation of safe injection sites similar to the one in Toronto featured in the above video. But I believe that these sites are not the answer to the nation’s drug problem.

     These sites will create more crime. As we all know, junkies are not to be trusted. They even steal from their closest friends and family members to feed their sick and sinful addictions, and they will not hesitate to commit gruesome acts of violence against strangers to steal money for a fix. These so called “safe” injection sites would anything but safe for the honest people living in the neighborhoods they pop up in like fungus after a rainstorm. Imagine the property crimes that would occur. Car break ins, shoplifting, and even burglary. No thank you!

     Of course, these sites would draw junkies to them, creating filthy hobo villages in neighborhoods previously clean and tidy. Residents would soon be accosted by ugly homeless drug users every time they set foot out of their home on their way to work or to walk their dog. Thriving black markets would be the natural outcome of these conditions, with drug dealers hawking their disgusting wares openly day and night to the vile shells of human beings on their way to shoot up at the injection sites.

      Finally, these sites would normalize drug use. With our brave men and women in law enforcement powerless to arrest junkies at these sites, more people would begin using intravenous drugs because they would be seen as less likely to get busted for doing so, as long as they stuck to these abhorrent tent villages. And think of the children! It makes me sick to imagine explaining the goings-on at these lurid shooting galleries to my precious angel child as we walk past on the way to a day of healthy family fun in a local park. How do I shelter them from life’s grim realities when drug use is happening openly on our streets and the police and politicians turn a blind eye to it?

     What we really need in this country is a strong leader like President Duterte of the Philippines. He knows how to deal with the drug problem: lock them all up, junkies and dealers alike, and throw away the key. And if you can’t lock them up, well, violence is a strong deterrent also. Many drug dealers have met their fates at the hands of police in the Philippines, but then that’s far fewer dealers selling to children on the streets! Yes, it’s a drastic solution, but the problem has become out of control. Safe injection sites are a foolish and naïve solution to a problem best addressed with an iron-clad fist.

Please note: I DO NOT SUBSCRIBE TO THESE BELIEFS AND ACTUALLY LIKE THE IDEA OF SAFE INJECTION SITES