DURBAN STREET CULTURE: July 2013

31.7.13

Smiley Faces by Gnarls Barkley

Leonardo da Vinci

Just as iron, Rusts from disuse, Even so does inaction, Spoil The intellect

Leonardo da vinci

Motivation: Fighting a Drug Problem

Motivation

Many years ago James Baldwin stated (and I paraphrase him), "Confronting the problem does not always bring a solution, but until you confront a problem, there can be no solution."

For years in America we've been talking about the drug problem and "winning the war on drugs," yet we continue to lose the "war." It's true - drug usage temporarily declined, but recently the use of marijuana, heroin and LSD has substantially increased and teenage girls, especially, are taking up smoking in ever-increasing numbers. This is preparation for disaster.

I say this because virtually every destructive habit starts gradually, perhaps "innocently," before escalating into something far more serious. Obesity, promiscuity, gambling, hard drug use, alcoholism, smoking, profane language, violence, etc., all begin casually or with no serious thought of where the habit will ultimately lead.

It is a well-known fact that in virtually every instance the person involved in hard core drugs started with either smoking or drinking. Drugs, including nicotine, have a dramatic effect on a young person's brain chemistry. That effect, while satisfying at first, begins to cry for more, bigger, stronger, faster "fixes," and the person gradually moves into the heavy stuff with tragic results.

The way to solve the cocaine, heroin and other hard drug problems is to solve the smoking and alcohol problems. Think about it: In 1994 cigarettes caused the premature deaths of over four hundred thousand people and alcohol caused the premature deaths of over a hundred fifty-thousand people. While it's true that hard drugs generate a significant portion of crime, it's also true that less than 50,000 lives are lost because of hard drug use.

The point is clear: Solve the smoking and drinking problems and we will save many lives, prevent innumerable broken hearts and homes, avoid considerable economic disaster and avert the crime problems which are associated with hard drugs. Become part of the solution and

I'll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Zig Ziglar

30.7.13

LoveHate Thing by Wale featuring. Sam Dew

27.7.13

Carry On poem by Robert William Service

Carry On

It's easy to fight when everything's right,
And you're mad with the thrill and the glory;
It's easy to cheer when victory's near,
And wallow in fields that are gory.
It's a different song when everything's wrong,
When you're feeling infernally mortal;
When it's ten against one, and hope there is none,
Buck up, little soldier, and chortle:

Carry on! Carry on!
There isn't much punch in your blow.
You're glaring and staring and hitting out blind;
You're muddy and bloody, but never you mind.
Carry on! Carry on!
You haven't the ghost of a show.
It's looking like death, but while you've a breath,
Carry on, my son! Carry on!

And so in the strife of the battle of life
It's easy to fight when you're winning;
It's easy to slave, and starve and be brave,
When the dawn of success is beginning.
But the man who can meet despair and defeat
With a cheer, there's the man of God's choosing;
The man who can fight to Heaven's own height
Is the man who can fight when he's losing.

Carry on! Carry on!
Things never were looming so black.
But show that you haven't a cowardly streak,
And though you're unlucky you never are weak.
Carry on! Carry on!
Brace up for another attack.
It's looking like hell, but -- you never can tell:
Carry on, old man! Carry on!

There are some who drift out in the deserts of doubt,
And some who in brutishness wallow;
There are others, I know, who in piety go
Because of a Heaven to follow.
But to labour with zest, and to give of your best,
For the sweetness and joy of the giving;
To help folks along with a hand and a song;
Why, there's the real sunshine of living.

Carry on! Carry on!
Fight the good fight and true;
Believe in your mission, greet life with a cheer;
There's big work to do, and that's why you are here.
Carry on! Carry on!
Let the world be the better for you;
And at last when you die, let this be your cry:
Carry on, my soul! Carry on!

Robert William Service