Last week, Scottie Pippen announced that he’s planning to end his retirement and return to the NBA at age 41. As expected, the majority of the sports world criticized Pippen’s decision, arguing that he can no longer compete and would therefore tarnish his reputation as one of the best players in the game’s history.

Despite what the critics say, I have no doubt that Pippen still has the talent to compete with professional athletes. As one of the 50 greatest players of all time –a point I will defend to the death!!!!!!—Pippen has the experience and basketball smarts to make up for his deteriorating skills. Although he won’t be able to compete on (or near) an all-star level, he certainly will be able to provide 10-20 minutes of solid play for a championship contender.

Nevertheless, Pippen’s comeback will be probably be short-lived and deemed unsuccessful. Why? Because the world expects more from a player of Pippen’s caliber. Case in point: Michael Jordan’s final comeback with the Washington Wizards was deemed a failure, even though he averaged more than 20 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds per game. Although he was still among the best in the league, he was no longer the MJ that we knew and worshipped.

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New research gives more ammunition to those hoping to change federal marijuana policy.

New Study Shows Medical Value of Marijuana
By Rob Kampia 

Ever since California and other states began passing medical marijuana laws in 1996, the federal government has claimed that — as a 2003 White House press release put it — “research has not demonstrated that smoked marijuana is safe and effective medicine.” A new study, just published in the journal Neurology, definitively refutes that claim and underlines the urgent need for the federal government to change its prohibitionist policies.

The study, conducted by Dr. Donald Abrams of the University of California at San Francisco, found marijuana to be safe and effective at treating peripheral neuropathy, which causes great suffering to HIV/AIDS patients. This type of extreme pain, which is caused by damage to the nerves, can make patients feel like their feet and hands are on fire, or being stabbed with a knife. Similar pain is seen in a number of other illnesses, including multiple sclerosis and diabetes, and cannot be treated effectively with conventional pain medications. Standard pain medicines — even addictive, dangerous narcotics — have little effect on this type of pain.

Marijuana doesn’t cure neuropathy, but in the UCSF study marijuana was clearly shown to give relief. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (the design that’s considered the “gold standard” of medical research), a majority of patients had a greater than 30 percent reduction in pain after smoking marijuana. For many, that level of relief means having a bearable quality of life.

This result is all the more remarkable because researchers like Abrams are only allowed to test government-supplied marijuana, which is of notoriously poor quality. There’s every reason to believe the results would be even better if scientists were permitted to study a better-quality product.

Abrams’ study is only the latest in a growing mountain of research showing that medical marijuana can provide real — and potentially even life-saving — benefits. In a study published last year of patients being treated for the hepatitis C virus (HCV), those who used marijuana to curb the nausea and other noxious side effects of anti-HCV drugs were significantly more likely to complete their treatment. As a result, the marijuana-using patients were three times more likely to clear the deadly virus from their bodies — in other words, to be cured — than those not using marijuana.

For the rest of the article, click here.

Today’s photo of the day show’s the newest Black celebrity couple, India Arie and Chris Tucker. Thoughts??????

Today’s video of the day comes from Shai. Doesn’t this make you want to go back to the early ’90s?

Can you believe it’s been a year aleady?

More than 12 months ago, I started the Barbershop Notebooks Blog as a place to occasionally share random ideas with a few friends. Somehow, within a few months, the blog turned into a daily (unpaid!) job that is as integral to my day as showering or brushing my teeth.

Since my first blog post, a lot has changed. We have added photos, learned how to use video, gained thousands of readers, picked up a few wonderful new writers (more coming!), and earned a major web award. While I certainly deserve a small amount of credit, the bulk of our success is due to the remarkable contributions and loyalty of all of you. Without your consistent humor, critical commentary, and honest insights, we would have far fewer victories.

In all sincerity, words cannot express the amount of joy that I have received from hanging with all of you over the past year. Although I haven’t met most of you, I still feel like I have a new network of family and friends about whom I care very deeply. Hopefully, the Barbershop has been as rewarding for you as it has been for me.

I pray that you will continue this ride with me!

In Struggle and Love,

MLH