Chuck Taylors and The Pillows

Today I had my first assignment as an intern reporter for WV Public Broadcasting. This assignment consisted of me going to a town hall style meeting at the Cabell-Huntington Health Department, this meeting discussed the issue of addiction in WV and specially the Cabell County area. I grew up in Boone County and I have always heard about cases of addiction in WV, be it alcohol, drugs, tobacco, or something else. I knew that many people suffered from addiction, but I had always presumed that the WV government was doing thing to help those affected by it and those who didn't seek help only had themselves to blame. I had always looked down on those who I'd heard was addicted to something. I was very naive and before this meeting today, I really didn't know much about this issue. It turns out, I was pretty much wrong about everything. Addiction is a disease, not a decision. People that are far into an addiction are no different then people directly before they are diagnosed with diabetes. A person that has gained weight and continues to eat badly with little to no exercise to compensate do these things of their own free will and I've seen personally that typically nothing can make these people change their behavior until their doctor tells them they have diabetes, and in most cases, this new disease serves as a wake-up call and these people have to drastically change their lifestyle, or they very well may die. This situation is not very different from someone suffering from addiction. An addict may have made the initial decision to use a drug or drink alcohol, but when they are in the addiction, there is nothing they can do to stop it without some kind of serious treatment. Most addicts in WV who want help don't know where to go to get it. I learned tonight that the WV government is offering nothing to help these people. There are 210 treatment beds (a place for long term treatment for addicts) in the entire state of WV. This is nowhere near enough. Not only is there not enough, but many of these beds cost anywhere from $60 to $210 a day, and I don't know many addicts that can afford this. I was unaware of this issue before tonight, but now I know that something has to be done. The WV government needs to offer some kind of cheap or free treatment for these people on a mass scale. I know that although one voice may not do much, many can do a lot, so I will take it upon myself to make people aware of this problem. I'm sure there are others like me out there that knew little of this serious dilemma and if I can just let people know what's going on, I am certain we can make a difference. If you too didn't know about this before today, all I ask is that you tell people, tell your parents, your best friend, just spread the word, something has to be done and if one community like Huntington, WV can offer help, then maybe WV and the rest of the country can take notice and offer help to all those that need it.

Leave it to me to find inspiration in the least likely of places. So I'm watching the news and I see a story about Rosie and Elisabeth on the View going at it. At this point I'm unsure what exactly they're talking about, but I know they're heated. I've had a slight interest in Rosie on the View for a while now, she has brought attention to a show people had forgotten about and that's from someone we all thought was washed up. I look up the video on You Tube and realize that the whole argument started over politics. This is one of the best debates I've seen on television for a while, and this is not a political show. I found myself drawn into this argument and I wanted to hear what both sides had to say. While listening to Rosie state her liberal opinion and Elisabeth show how conservative she really is it hits me, I really like to talk politics. When I get going I'm totally one of those crazy liberals you hear about on the news and most times I actually know what I'm talking about, why had I never considered this as a career move? I've been so into music and entertainment I never thought about doing something that could help the American community notice real issues. So yeah, I'm seriously thinking about starting up a show on WMUL that allows me to discuss politics with a conservative and let my opinion be heard, and maybe even make people start to think for themselves. I'm open for feedback from you guys, you think I'm tough enough to take the political world by storm? Let me know!

As you know, I have always worn my pop-loving heart on my sleeve. I've always been a big fan of pop music and I feel like I do a good job of sorting through the good and bad, because there is a lot of bad out there. With that being said, I've found some of the good, and its pretty good.

When I was growing up there were three blonde girls who stood out as pop singers. You know the ones I'm talking, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and Mandy Moore. Now we know that they each have something different about them, but back then they all kinda looked like clones of one another and we just sorta had to pick one. I bought the CDs of Britney, Christina, and Jessica and never delved that deep into Mandy Moore. I enjoyed each of the CDs I bought and as they got older, so did I, and I kinda drifted away from them. However, everytime Mandy Moore released a new single, I always thought, wow, she's grown as an artist, I should buy this upcoming album, but I never did. I remember several singles I was really into by Mandy, but I have no clue how good or bad the other music she made was. But now, after looking her up on Myspace, I am really into her new music. So that's really why I'm writing this post, I'm hoping that after announcing that I plan on buying Mandy Moore's upcoming album, I will actually follow through. I guess we'll see on June 19th.