I’m sure if I looked up the top five mistakes you could make on a first date, the following things would be on the list: ditching your studying to go out on said date, allowing the guy to handle your drink without keeping a watchful eye on it, riding in an unknown man’s car, going to his house in the middle of nowhere and letting him blow shotgun kisses into your previously unkissed mouth.

So much wrong in one night.

After we got into the car, I felt relaxed. I thanked my Carrie Bradshaw guardian angel up above for sending me a nice, polite, attractive, well-dressed, date-paying, college educated, law school-pursuing, job-having and car-owning young man. He was totally second date worthy, I thought. Read More »

Kim Jong Il, the longtime, ruthless dictator of North Korea, died from a heart attack on Saturday at the age of 69. Under Kim’s reign, hundreds of thousands of North Koreans died from a devastating famine and North Korea embarked on a dangerous nuclear journey. Kim didn’t want anyone to forget his country’s nuclear power, either. He used it to squeeze resources and aid from other nations and sent ‘practice’ missiles out over the ocean, hoping to build one strong enough to reach North America. North Korea will now enter an unstable period as Kim’s third son, Kim Jong Eun, transitions into power.

The Iraq War is over. Wait, really? You’d think there’d be more hub-bub surrounding the end of such a controversial, significant war (it’s a war, hello!) but, yes, there was a quiet ceremony on Thursday to mark its finish. After eight years, the American flag that flew over the U.S. troops’ headquarters in Baghdad was lowered indefinitely. Hopefully, the democratic government that has been set up will continue to grow stronger, but some are worried the negative influence of Iran will be too strong without American support. The Iraq War cost 4,483 American lives and about 110,000 Iraqi civilian lives. The total monetary price tag was a steep $800 billion.

Teenagers are smoking record amounts of weed. Yes, we have reached the pot-smoking levels of the 1960s, free-love era. According to a University of Michigan study, half of students surveyed had smoked by the time they graduated high school, and one in four had gotten high in the past month. Numbers on other tsk-tsk inducing behaviors are down, including smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and teen pregnancies. Could there be a correlation? Maybe we’re just so blazed out we can’t do anything else?

Pic o’ the Week:

Pete Souza/White House

The Obamas released a new family portrait just in time for the holidays. Some commentators takeaways? The president is aging fast. Well, what do you expect?

See? She smokes pot and she turned out OK! Oh wait....

According to the LA times, 1 in 3 high school seniors smoke pot. This news is not that shocking to most of us, but apparently surprising enough that Obama’s “Drug Czar” and the rest of the old people in this country are up in arms (and probably somehow blaming Miley). Look, I get it. Despite the recent research proving the many benefits of tokin’ a little green now and then, many people still only see the negative side of things.

Studies centered on long time marijuana use have shown impaired coordination, difficulty with thinking/problem solving, problems with memory and learning. Chronic users may even have learning and memory loss that can last for days or weeks. Even scarier, “Estimates from research suggest that about 9 percent of users become addicted to marijuana; this number increases among those who start young (to about 17 percent) and among daily users (25-50 percent)” (Drugabuse.gov).

Yes, those are some scary facts and most definitely should concern us all. But one thing many people (namely those people who are freaking out about the recent rise in marijuana use) don’t realize is that those results are based on participants who are long time and chronic pot smokers, not to mention people who might dabble in some other recreational drugs.

So instead of focusing on the negative, let’s find the silver lining, shall we? Read More »

If you notice that your mom’s eyes are a little bloodshot the next time you see her, it might not be because she’s been crying about how much she misses you.

As Slate’s Daniel Engber reports, a 2007 survey reveals that about 6 percent of Americans between 50 and 59 reported smoking pot in the past year. That means that more baby boomers than ever before are lighting up—and it’s fairly likely that our parents are among them.

Worried? I know I am. Sure, my mom and dad were teenagers in the ‘60s and ‘70s, when pot was as prevalent as ridiculous hairstyles, but it’s weird to think that they ever smoked in the first place—let alone that they might be doing it this very moment. And because I’m at school, I can’t keep tabs on them to make sure that our house is a toke-free zone.

But if any of the following things happen, I’ll know for sure that Mom and Dad are celebrating 4/20 a few months early. Without further ado: 6 Signs That Your Parents Might Be Stoners. Read More »