Last week accusations popped up that a video showing Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto, smoking crack. I'm not here to say whether it is true or not that Rob Ford smokes crack, I'm just waiting for the video to come out. Although the video has not been released, these accusations have to be investigated. Toronto is the 5th largest city in North America. If people are saying that the mayor, Rob Ford, is smoking crack, that could be very detrimental to the city of Toronto.
    So far, we have seen a picture of mayor Rob Ford hanging out with 3 men who are alleged drug dealers, one who was shot and killed a few months ago. The editor of a U.S. gossip website "Gawker" claims to have seen the video, and witnessed Rob Ford smoking what appears to be crack. The owner of the video is asking for $200,000 dollars for the tape. 2 reporters from the Toronto Star also claim to have witnessed the video.
    We know that Rob Ford has stirred up controversy in the past, but this is a serious accusation, and cannot just be dismissed so easily. It could be real, it could be fake. There is a lot to question on both sides. If it is true, Rob Ford will be arrested and there will be a new mayor. If it is not real, then this will have been a big waste of time for the mayors office. A lot of members of Rob Fords' office are resigning. It will have a lot of people upset if it's a hoax.
    Gawker is currently raising an online donation campaign to raise $200,000 for the video. If he cannot get the video, he has promised to donate the money to a charity for substance abuse. A poll was released that over half of the Toronto population believes Rob Ford smokes crack. That brings in a lot of negative attention towards the mayor and wouldn't be fair for this whole thing to be a hoax (although I may not necessarily be a supporter of Rob Ford and agree with how he is running the city and other previous actions). This is a very controversial matter.
    In conclusion, this is a serious topic of discussion. The allegations are there, now all we need is solid evidence. We have seen evidence that it MAY exist and it needs to be investigated. All we can do now is just wait and see if the mayor of our countries largest city is a crackhead.

We had to do a spoken word poem for English class. I thought mine was terrible and I performed it awfully. But surprisingly I was one of the winners for it. I planned on doing actions and everything but once I got up there I just wanted to get it over with. There were some mispronounced words (gracias Nasir), and some stumbles. I'm not completely dis-satisfied with it because it was different than everybody else's poem, but it could have been performed better. Everybody else did really well. I was surprised at the stuff some people could think of.

_Cans rattling I battle my paranoia with aerosol, it's blocked out till I can't even taste clean air at all, wounds heal with the pungent sense of my presence, roam the deteriorating exterior and transmogrify the rust, the crumbling walls, to form beauty in which the norm could never perceive, the blinded man walking home from his 9 to 5 he ain't alive, I'm alive, when I release my pain in the most peaceful way, so whatever your perception is I create while you destroy yourself, closed minds can never build, at least I have a will, to create something that allows me to see the beauty in dilapidated matter, what's it matter? What does anything really matter, I'd rather be alone in the midst of night salvaging my mind, than thinking on my life hating myself, my job, my wife, my heart beats to the tune of the quickest tempo, few stories up hanging to the nearest bar thinking don't let go, the night unfolds as if my whole life was a lie, how come sooner I never came to discover this sight, I may be worthless to the world but I found worth in myself, ubiquitous I'm in the eyes of everybody else, sneakin out the sheets that the world has placed upon me, gazing from an uncharted scene watching everybody sleep, and as you lay unconscious I slither past insomniacs and police, initiate and vitalize the death of open space, as if I keep the gray melting pot's cultural distress to pace, I spill layers of paint to feed my only sense of greed, I'm at ease and injected with libidinal energy, the cathexis transitions to my sanity, and I watch the world unfold as it battles with me, my only army my motor skills, use of 5 senses, and contained space containing stains with controlled exits, quiesce and invisible yet felt like the wind, quietus all around the muss and the hideous, a single life strays to get up, for the love and not the lust, every sense penetrated and noticed, vibrating like the ripples sending strikes to a lotus, spray strictly CO2 to fabricate a path through the cap, scan around look back and implement the task, do you live or just exist, even when I'm put to rest I'll later be present, my creations are my friends and my doppelgangers, posthumous until the Earth seizes to see dusk, caught up, persecuted and striving infinitely, unceasingly tryna see the light in this modus vivendi.

I don't know why, but riding trains has to be one of the most fun thing to do. Just wait for a train to roll by and bam jump on it and chill. Free transportation too.

Tyler: 10 years old in the same group home, one common connection none of us know home

Nasir: Saw my parents drop to the floor, the gunmen spared my life, only took off with $10 dollars and a lamp light

Tyler: August fifth on highway six the whole car flipped parents never made it but for some reason God let me live

Nasir: Abandoned by any other form of family, before notice they handed me, to an orphanage, felt like I was singing a song of peace in front of the entire population and forgot what the chorus is

Tyler: Before I could even fabricate any emotion of the incident, I found myself walking up the steps of my new home, like I had died that night and was about to take my final steps and storm through the door of the afterlife

Nasir: Went up to get to know some of the other kids, they quick set up, circled me, rhetorically asking me what the hell is this, but before I could present myself in the wind I heard a voice it said "back up right now bitch", turned to see another kid ready to swing, had his bags packed to ready to get settled in, before I could even get a glimpse of the bags drop I swung a fist, let the rumble begin, got broken up and begins the start of a posthumous friendship

Tyler: 6 years later, on the streets fiending to eat, doing what we can to simply make ends meet

Nasir: 6 years later, still friends, an amends for the reaper, slashing, gat smacking, all the victims that we're tracking

Tyler: None the less we can't rest cause are chests are hallow, stomachs shallow and suffering withdrawl from our fix, ready to provoke the demise of both our lives for this shit

Nasir: This is it, tomorrow at six, I got the gun now all we need is the right place to hit, I cock it, to let the absence of any form of peace know we mean business

Tyler: Let's hit that business, on the the intersection of 32 and Linix

Nasir: Ain't that a bank?

Tyler: Yea, it's worth the risk our lives already sank to the sea banks of shame, you think I got any regard for another human on this planet?

Nasir: Damnit, whatever, you sure you wanna go through this? I know a crew that hits anything for the purchase of a ticket

Tyler: Nah, you wanna get shit done, gotta do it yourself, we pull this off, we'll be chillin in Panama or down in hell

Nasir: Fine, you got it, let's get it done, just know if shit goes sideways I got your back like thieves and my hands are free

Tyler: Likewise, tomorrow at 9, gimme the 9, can't believe what's going through are minds, we need that fix I say it's worth the risk

Nasir: One day later, this bad feeling's permeating my thoughts, eating at it like a prisoner on death row's last meal, I can feel it, something's wrong, I disregard

Tyler: Hands shaking, in the parking lot across the street, time to gather up every drop of worth I've been given, give it one last glimpse and gamble it into the events about to take place in that building across the street

Nasir: Let's go, jump out the shadows like robbers in the night no cop cars in sight all I can brandish is a knife and my very will to fight I just pray everyone can go home safely tonight

Tyler: Stray down, the gun cocks, step through the doors, get on the floor, let one shot off, if no one cooperates I swear to God you're gonna hear a few more, maybe one then none

Nasir: Jumped over the counter held the knife to the tellers throat, take us to the back or I'll give you a choice your jugular or back

Tyler: Escorted her, opened up a bag filled it up with cash, got about $50 thousand whipped her now we running like scared cats

Nasir: Got across the street the cops came I didn't look back, heard a round blast I twitched but kept up looked at Ty, had a wound to his neck, the vision hit me as if every bit of energy in the world creating tension, was released into the single region of my face, picked him up we're still getting chased

Tyler: Just go on leave me here I can hear them getting closer, this right here is kosher, I ain't worth it I'm boutta die go on and live your life

Nasir: I ain't leaving not after all that we've been through, that's the truth if you go down then I'm going with you

Tyler: Sat down we cornered by the cops behind a trashcan, yelling put your gun down and stick your hands out

Nasir: You losing blood quick, this shit right here I can't take it, we've been to hell and back how could it just end like this, what have I done to be given this life comprised of piss

Tyler: I'ma die right here, but just know we'll be comrades from the cradle to the grave, from the womb to the tomb just promise I'll be the only leaving today

Nasir: His eyes shut, my heart shut, my sincerest apology, but no promises, I got this kid, stood up quick with the gun in my grip, before it even pointed and a single shot slipped, I got hit in the heart through the ribs fell down quick, took one last look at our bodies, summed up our lives in 60 seconds, all the times we spent robbing and gobbling others earnings, all the lives I've lost and all the fights I've fought, the blood gushed out my lips, why'd our lives have to end like this

    In class we just watched a documentary called Generation Jobless. It was about how there aren't enough jobs for youth and that unemployment for graduates is increasing. My thoughts on this are that, it's true. I agree a university degree is just a ticket into debt. My mother took University for 4 years after being accepted for going back to college for a few years. But after all that work she doesn't have a job and is 42 years old. She is in a lot of debt and can't afford to pay it off. She handed out hundreds of resume's but she is jobless and broke. So basically, she got f**ked. Imagine how it is for the thousands of students graduating that don't have that career experience. How can somebody get experience if they don't get an opportunity for it?

    For me personally, I want to become a tattoo artist. And I hope to get an apprenticeship as soon as possible. I am working on my portfolio right now. I don't plan on doing too much college or university. Because I saw how much my mother struggled during university. She barely had time to speak, she was constantly doing work and studying. That would personally drive me to ram my head into a wall, especially when I most likely won't have the slightest care about what I'm studying or what I want to work as. Not the SLIGHTEST bit of passion. It seems like if I fail as a tattoo artist I will fail in the world and will be working picking up scraps for money the rest of my life. So I have to succeed. Ain't a damn thing thousands of dollars for a class can do to teach me how to use a tattoo needle and expand my artistic abilities. It's a joke. A scam. I want 1. A job that pays well that I enjoy, and 2. To not have to go to school ever again. But if it doesn't work out. I do what I gotta do. And I'll have to live the rest of my life waking up every morning with no sense of happiness in me to work a job I don't enjoy the slightest bit.

    The other day, an 8 story sweatshop in Bangladesh collapsed, killing over 200 people. It is unfortunate, and the worst part about it was that a day earlier police ordered an evacuation of the factory to be implemented due to dangerous cracks in the building. Disregarding the signs of collapse, factories based in the area had ignored the order and kept around 2,000 people working. It's sad, that people really have that much of a disregard for human life just because they don't want to risk losing profits. The major western manufacturing companies don't care about the terrible working conditions people in 3rd world countries have to submit to in order to keep manufacturing costs as low as possible. The average teenager doesn't care about that either when it comes to their want for the new Louis Vutton shirt, or Guess pants.

    Fox News said that "The biggest myth of all time is that sweatshops are bad." and yet paradigms like this always pop up. One of the largest news sources in the west with such a large audience is telling lies such as this. That is a slap in the face to all those who have died in this accident. It is disgusting. The majority of sweatshops workers in Bangladesh earn much less than minimum wage. Set at 3,000 taka a month (less than $25 in Canadian dollars). They work in horrible conditions. And are forced to work around 14-16 hours a day. They work harder than the average Canadian could ever dream of and don't even make enough for all the basic necessities needed to survive. It is like they are slaves for major western corporations who want to make as much profit as possible on top of their pile of gold. I can't even fathom how an individual can be that greedy. It makes me sick.

    Over 200 dead. The people that died were wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, children, sisters, brothers etc. Nobody should have to lose their life, or one of their loved ones just because someone who has a lot wants more. Greed, one of the biggest flaws our society has to offer. One of the worst cataclysm's that came to existence. Don't let it consume you.

    People take too much pride in things that have no real meaning in their life. We label each other so much to the point we can't even remember who the hell we are. You lose the humanity in a child when you place all the labels on them. They are not seen as a human, they are seen as a label (Although "human" is technically a label haha). We become a label before we are born. A lot of these labels cause us to be treated differently, whether good or bad. Labels are meant to organize, but they are more so used to "define" and are a shameful excuse to treat somebody worse or better just because of that. The funny thing is, the labels that dictate our treatment have no bearing on our personality. It really doesn't make any sense. Somebody falls out of a pussy x amount of miles in a different direction and somebody thinks that makes them superior. Where is the logic in that? People make assumptions about someones behavior based on an individuals race.. What does your racial genetics have ANYTHING to do with who you are as a person? Nothing. You must have the IQ of a dog turd to believe that. It's ironic, labels are defined and meant to show who we are, but never to understand us. I could say, "Look over there, that man is Asian." Now, you'd be able to tell me that he's Asian, but could you tell me how he treats women? Could you tell me if he is a nice person or not? Etc.

    I understand that some people are raised and influenced to think like that which is unfortunate. But you reach a point in your life to where you have to grow the hell up and start thinking for yourself. I used to be a really ignorant judgmental child (not racist but I was just a regular stupid child), but I have fortunately realized how much of an idiot I was. So that can't simply be dismissed with that excuse. In the end you could think "who cares about what people think about my race" and I think like that a lot too. But, the impact is much larger. Oppression branched to racism still exists today. And something as simple as a label can drive someone to murder another person because of it.

    Nowadays, I see a lot of people take too much pride in things that aren't necessarily important. People take more pride in their race than they do in their accomplishments. It is so important to some people they care more about that than how they are treated. In the end it is just your race. It means nothing. How could you possibly take more pride in your race than positive accomplishments? I'm not saying it's wrong to take pride in where you come from and your culture, (i.e. ethnicity, which is different than race). But don't become so indulged in pride to the point you don't even know who the hell you are.

    Below me are some of the drawings I have done within the past year. Some of them are just doodles or quick drawings. Some are drawings I have sold and worked hours on. I focus mainly on simulacrum realism and surrealism. The realism is mainly just to improve the visual quality and capabilities of my surreal drawings. I still have a lot to learn, and hope to begin building up a portfolio to pursue a career as a tattoo artist.

This drawing (above) was just a quick doodle.

This drawing (above) was a quick drawing I did.

This doodle (above) was.. just a doodle haha

The drawing above was just an outline for a graffiti piece, I was too lazy to colour it in.

The drawing above took around 2 hours and was sold. It was rushed really bad. Could have done a lot more with it, so I only sold it for $20.

The drawing above is my most recent drawing. Done with charcoal and graphite. It was a fairly quick drawing. It was late at night and I just had this urge to draw something so I grabbed my tools and just started drawing randomly. This is what came of it.

The drawing above is a portrait of Aaliyah. She is an entertainer that has passed away. And I decided to draw her because it was her birthday. The drawing took around 10 to 11 hours and is for sale, $45. (Which is REALLY cheap for 10 hours of work).

View my inforgraphic at http://infogr.am/Money-laundering-Canada-2000-to-2009