Fun with local news

There were two stories in The Daily Mississippian today that were absolutely fantastic for the discerning person. For those of you who do not know, The Daily Mississippian is the student newspaper here at the University of Mississippi. It comes out every weekday even in the summer. More often than not the writing is very adequate.

So much for the introductions. The first story is more of a picture that I found amusing rather than the story itself. As many of you know, the University here is engaged in marijuana research sponsored by the federal government. Recent reports released have announced that the potency of marijuana has increased over the last few decades. The pro pot group NORML has had responses in the subsequent issues of the paper. You do not need to read the article but check out the picture here: http://media.www.thedmonline.com/media/storage/paper876/news/2008/06/18/News/Norml.Director.Seeks.Pot.Regulation.Education-3382916.shtml

Now maybe its just me, but that looks like a hand rolled cigarette in the hand of the (presumably) woman out in the weed field. Of course we all know that most rolled cigarettes are of the marijuana variety rather than tobacco. I really have no opinion on the merits of the story of the controversy surrounding the potency of the drug, however it seems to me like the wolf is guarding the sheep.

The second story that I found amusing is this one: http://media.www.thedmonline.com/media/storage/paper876/news/2008/06/18/News/Unknown.Number.Of.Ferals.Roam.Oxford-3382922.shtml

Feral cats are a huge problem and packs of feral dogs wandering around a town is certainly no laughing matter. I do think the mention of a feral goat problem is fairly humorous. I have never seen, nor did I foresee packs of wildish goats menacing our local tin can population. This is made even funnier by the classified advertisement "For Sale: Quality Meat Goats. All Sizes Available. Prices vary according to size" which was also in today's The Daily Mississippian. It seems like the demand would be low for goats when you can apparently find them roaming about town. I applaud the paper for continuing during the summer even though there are few students and apparently nothing to really write about. When the work day grows too long, or the task grows too difficult, I hope those of you who read this blog will take time out to think of the packs of feral goats around town and have a chuckle.

-J