Over the years, cigarettes have gotten an increasingly bad rap. Cigarettes cause cancer, has been the major cry from the non-smoking public. News reports claim that cigarettes contain cancer causing chemicals.

Whereas I don't doubt that cigarette smoking can lead to lung cancer, I became curious as to what these deadly chemicals are, and why they are used.

Anyone can see that there is a definite over population problem within the prison system here in the U.S.. Politicians talk about it, law makers have brought it to the table and brushed it aside, and some foolish men in power, actually decided that the solution to the dilemma would be to offer 'early release' to quite a few prisoners. I'm not talking about petty criminals either. All the pot smokers doing time are still doing it; violent criminals have been put through 'early release. Let me say that another way... Violent criminals have been freed to walk among us.

I recently read an article regarding bad parenting. One thing that was brought up in the piece was that it was not a good idea to try to be your child's friend. The piece went on to state that attempting to be your child's friend was a major failing of parents of my generation. I beg to differ.

Just before Christmas, I was desperately in need of some feel-good music. I am not one to listen to Christmas music, and I'm not real into the popular music of today, so I took it upon myself to purchase a Christmas gift for myself. I knew what I needed and went to Amazon.com to get it.