INTERNET WAR - it's on!!! - choose your side: WIKILEAKS OR AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

Brian of Euphonic Dissonance on FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND THE INTERNET.

Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give the appearance of solidity to pure wind.
- George Orwell

I can't believe what I'm seeing unfold in the media. We are finally caught up in the worlds first INTERNET WAR. It's time to choose a side and it's not an easy choice to make - especially if you live in America - the frontline of this war. Your choices seem to be hacker Julian Assange - or supporting the United States government and it's troops. At least that's the way our government is painting this particular picture. From where I'm standing it looks like a picture of Julian Assange holding a pistol to an American soldier's head - but there's something about the picture that just doesn't look quite right. It's like it's been photoshopped - like when people were putting Sarah Palin's head on the bodies of supermodels.

Or in this case her head superimposed onto random gun toting white trash girl.

The United States of America's government has launched a witch hunt hate campaign that is sweeping over our country and threatens to destroy freedom of speech on the internet as we know it.

In this corner we have lightweight Julian Assange. An ex-hacker (1987 found guilty of hacking in Australia),  journalist, publisher and internet activist.

And in this corner we have heavyweight contender .... give a big round of applause for ..... THE US GOVERNMENT.

The U.S. government has made it's first strikes in the form of manipulating businesses to deny wikileaks service (paypal cuts off wikileaks account, wikileaks U.S. server shutdown) and perhaps also manipulating other world governments to take action against wikileaks (France to ban wikilinks, Hillary Clinton calls world leaders to express regret on Wikileaks) and maybe even trumping up rape charges against the founder of wikileaks in Sweden.

Oh, president Obama - you disappoint me. You said you would support internet neutrality....

"President Obama is strongly committed to net neutrality in order to keep an open Internet that fosters investment, innovation, consumer choice, and free speech." - White House Blog

...and yet when someone comes along and exposes something that might show all the filth and corruption hiding in United States government you're suddenly just as much a corrupt politician as everyone else in Washington. Thanks for showing who you really are Mr. President.

“WikiLeaks has put at risk not only the cause of human rights but also the lives and work of these individuals. We condemn in the strongest terms the unauthorized disclosure of classified documents and sensitive national security information.’’ — White House

So here we are. The country with an amendment to it's constitution that ensures a persons freedom of speech and we're launching hate campaigns that spit on that very amendment. 1st Amendment U.S. constitution

Well, I suppose that Glenn Beck was right. Obama must be a Nazi because now he's the equivalent of a Nazi book burner in my mind. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you Glenn. It was hard to pay attention after you labeled Obama a racist. That just doesn't make any damn sense. Did you even rehearse your show that day? What were you thinking? Were you dosing on Limbaugh's pills or something? And then on top of that you called him a socialist and a communist and who knows what other words with -ist on the end.

The irony of this - it's mind boggling. America government invents the internet - a canvas for all the world to voice their opinions and practice free speech  - and they end up running in fear of the thing they created when it starts reading their minds and telling all their secrets. They can't control their creation so now they'll find anyway they can to kill it. You can't blame the government for being upset but that doesn't make them right. They're trying to convince us all that this is going to kill American soldiers when in reality it really just caused a lot of the Washington diplomats some extra stress while they covered up their lies.

Euphonic Dissonance supports free speech and we support Wikileaks and Julian Assange in his efforts to fight this smear campaign. What America is doing is wrong. We don't support this gross violation of our constitutions first amendment. The internet made every individual in the world a journalist. There are actually people in Washington trying to argue that Assange isn't a journalist.

"He is not a journalist. He is not a whistleblower. He is a political actor. He has a political agenda," State Department spokesman P J Crowley

Well, Mr. Crowley (can't help but think of Ozzy Osbourne when I say his name) the definition of journalist is ...

1

a : a person engaged in journalism; especially : a writer or editor for a news medium b : a writer who aims at a mass audience

2

: a person who keeps a journal

definition from Miriam Webster

... so according to that definition Mr. Assange is a journalist, and come to think of it so are you Mr. Crowley (there it is again), and so am I, and so is anyone who chooses to write a blog because they are a writer who aims at a mass audience. There is no badge or rite of journalism.

America, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a person innocent until proven guilty? Why does everyone suddenly believe that Julian Assange has committed a crime. There is no evidence of this. There is simply a lot of political and media rhetoric that tries desperately to imply a crime was committed. Until America can show solid evidence of wrong doing then we should not be swayed by these political contortionists.

So please don't fall for the hype America. Let's all join together and raise our voices and let our leaders know we won't tolerate them trampling on our constitution. Let's save free speech and save our internet. Let's all be the journalists that we can be and post blogs that expose our government for what it truly is. Viva la internet revolution!!!

Thank you fellow American patriots and journalists around the world.

Other ways you can help:
Donate to Wikileaks

Save The Internet Donation

EARTH DAY is a SELLOUT - THE AL GORE HIPPY SPINZONE

Another rant from Brian Copeland of Euphonic Dissonance

EARTH DAY LOST THE WAY

I have a theory. I BELIEVE THAT ALL INSTITUTIONS BECOME CORRUPT OVER TIME. When an institution loses the founder/s (and they always do) then someone takes over with a slightly different vision and at that point the INSTITUTION IS CORRUPT!!!! It's unavoidable. It's a fact of life that we just have to learn to live with and work around. Sadly this seems to be the fate of the EARTH DAY movement. They have lost sight of their original intentions. They have become the thing they despise - A BIG GREEDY CORPORATE WHORE. EARTH DAY and all this GREEN stuff is becoming a huge money making industry and that money is going directly into the pockets of cats like AL GORE.

If you don't believe me then check out this NEW YORK TIMES article:

At 40, Earth Day Is Now Big Business

To quote a small section of the article....

"To many pioneers of the environmental movement, eco-consumerism, creeping for decades, is intensely frustrating and detracts from Earth Day’s original purpose.  This ridiculous perverted marketing has cheapened the concept of what is really green,” said Denis Hayes, who was national coordinator of the first Earth Day and is returning to organize this year’s activities in Washington. “It is tragic."

I sincerely hope that the current planners of EARTH DAY turn this thing around. It shouldn't be a CORPORATE WHORE. It may seem to those that support this effort that all this corporate attention is a good thing but think about the cost. Maybe a logo that gets more to the point would be a step in the right direction. May I suggest the following....



And this brings me to what I really want to talk about.

GREEN LIVING VS ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

When GREEN LIVING faces off with ENERGY INDEPENDENCE in the boxing ring my money is on ENERGY INDEPENDENCE. Sadly these two things shouldn't be fighting but I find it hard to get behind SOLAR POWER ENERGY because it saves us from the evils of fossil fuels. However, if you tell me it might make America slightly less reliant on foreign oil you suddenly have my attention.

What's my point? Well, I feel that the GREEN MOVEMENT is missing a middle ground that would bring a lot more people to their cause. I'll support just about anything that makes the United States less dependent on foreign import and makes good financial sense. I support anything that also helps me not be indebted to the big ELECTRIC AND GAS COMPANIES. I'm not a tree hugging hippy but I can definitely get behind a movement that improves our standing in the world. Why aren't they marketing this stuff to people that think the way I do instead of telling me how many trees I'm saving!!!! I don't give a rat's ass about a bunch of trees that aren't even my friggin' trees. I have no emotional attachment to some cute little furry animals in a forest that I've never even been to. However, I do understand a need to conserve and become more efficient. That we can talk about. There are no melting icebergs/glaciers in my backyard so I don't have firsthand knowledge of such things - that we can't talk about. I do see that we need to be less reliant on the rest of the world. That we can talk about. If you're going to make a sale to me then you had better tell me something I want to hear and I guarantee you there are a lot of people out there just like me that are missing the GREEN LIVING message because it sounds too much like HIPPY RHETORIC.

And I will straight up kick you in the jimmy if you even mention a CARBON FOOTPRINT!!!

Have a great EARTH DAY. Hope you're doing it for all the right reasons.

Opinions expressed by Brian Copeland do not necessarily reflect the views of Euphonic Dissonance - most of the time.

FatAss WiFi American Nation - Poetry Slams - Randomness

Sitting in bed - in the bedroom - with the lights off - the air conditioner on full blast - it's a rainy day outside - I'm listening to Imogen Heap's new album "Ellipse" -----and as far as I'm concerned --- this is what makes life worth living. I love how technology allows me to access any album I want to hear from any computer in my house via the wonders of WI-FI. I hereby thank my fore fathers (and mothers...no one ever says anything about the fore mothers) for allowing me to live a life of such excess. It's good to be a fat lazy american. I appreciate the life god has given me and I don't thank him nearly enough for the blessings he bestows on me.

I like to listen to another artists work before I begin to work on music. I find it gives me a sense of direction. I'm not exactly sure where this Imogen Heap album is directing me but I'm really thrilled that I heard her say LEGOLAND EMPIRES just now in the lyrics of the song "EARTH" track 4. Ah, I want to build my own LEGOLAND EMPIRE. I want to hide away there and just play with legos all day long.

I'm finding it very hard to let go of my recluse lifestyle. I like shutting myself off from the rest of the world for long periods of time. It allows me time to find myself again. However, I'm pretty sure I found myself a long time ago. I just don't want to leave the safety of the fold. I did go out recently though. I attended a poetry slam with newest Euphonic Dissonance band mate Sarah Star. Quite a delightful scene they have going at the Agora coffee house. What a incredible outpouring of angry - jagged poetry. It was like an emotional roller coaster ride through my soul. Being a musician and a lyricist I have always been fascinated with the design and execution of poetry. This should be no surprise - I did start reading Shakespeare about the same time I hit puberty. Good lord I was a messed up child. Now I'm a messed up adult. Why is it the world continues to change but I remain the same. I suspect the squids have something to do with it.

Meanwhile at the Agora coffee house..... an honorable mention goes out to poets Seth Walker and Claire Collins. Wow, way to rock the house with some amazing use of the english language.

Seth Walker delivers a message that you just can't ignore even if you don't necessarily agree with it.

Somehow I seriously doubt he gives a sh*t if you don't agree with it. I respect that. His delivery is that of a good novel ..... here in lies that emotional rollercoaster ride I mentioned earlier. I almost cried when he read the open letter to his little brother who was thinking of joining the Navy. By the by ..... Seth ain't too cool with the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and he definitely makes that clear. He's traveling across are great nation with a message for every american and near as I can tell one of those messages is "WAKE THE FU*K UP YOU DUMB ASS LAZY AMERICANS AND PAY ATTENTION TO THE SH*T THAT IS GOING DOWN AROUND YOU". That part of the message I agree with. Check him out at SETHWALKERPOETRY.COM

Now I have to throw a shout out to the poet that invited us to this event. CLAIRE MOTHERFU*KIN' COLLINS is a phenomenal poet that has a delivery that resembles that of a chainsaw buried into your skull. You can tell that she has a message and she'll tear right through you to deliver it.

Hmmm, she seems subdued in that video clip. You're truly missing out. You need to go see her live.

Well, I suppose it's about time I did something productive. Time to take all these influences and put them to work on creations of the Euphonic Dissonance kind. If you're lucky you might hear from me later today with more musical creations from the musical group known as ED. Love you all.

1984 - Second Track with an Official Title from the TECH MESSIAH recording project

More music from the zany labs of Aromatone Recording Studio. Enjoy the madcap adventures of our team Euphonic Dissonance as they set out to destroy the evil empire of the TECH MESSIAH.

I haven't really been able to process this track properly. Some things on the computer still aren't fixed but they will be soon. It's just so much more raw this way. It might be a bit more quiet that our usual mixes. Hope you love the new song.

1984 - CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE NEW SONG

And the LYRICS if you enjoy reading stuff...

1984

should have paid attention

when the corporations shut our mouths

tied us to a chair

and turned the lights out

in god we trust

on the tit of the government

we suck

pay attention to the screen

remember what you’ve seen

in god we trust

god i hope they remember us

in god we trust

in god we trust

and they say to hell with it

they say oh to hell with it

here comes a candle

to light you to bed

can’t express our point of view

you know exactly what to do

just keep it bottled in

don’t say it, it’s a sin

running around in the rat race

gotta save a little face

just keep it bottled in

don’t say it – it’s a sin

he’s not our messiah

we don’t have to like it

just pray they don’t find us

kick in doors and crush heads

terror swelling to compelling

can’t trust the government

in god we trust

where’s that getting us

hope you like guns

bullet to each head

fade with defined precision

fade to gray with intention

tuck in tight baby girl

daddy’s gonna rule the world

here comes a candle

to light you to bed

here comes a chopper

to chop off your head

iron bars on windows

look at them through the peephole

paranoid delusion

or striking reality

in god we trust

in god we trust

doesn’t seem to matter much

worshipping your idols

here comes a candle

choppers overhead

remain standing

do not move until ordered

rest your precious head

caress away the pain

tuck in tight baby girl

daddy’s gonna rule the world

© 2008 Euphonic Dissonance / Aromatone Records

INSIDE STUDIO - Working on the TECH MESSIAH ALBUM - HEAR NEW TRACKS

Busy busy busy busy busy. Wow, what a creative day this has been. Look at what I have to show for all my sweet labors - an almost finished track which we are calling Tech Messiah 3 for the moment and a fresh concept of something totally new that I've titled New Bass Line (yeah, I didn't spend a lot of time thinking that one up). I have a sneaking premonition that the track titled TECH MESSIAH 3 will probably be the first track of the album. The intro track if you will to this our concept album. Looking forward to finally delivering a finished piece of art to the masses. A long string of events that tell a story of the delivery of the lazy human to a land of thriving technology where you give yourself over to be controlled by the machine. A place where you fall asleep dreaming of jagged metal lips touching your soft skin. We look forward to delivering each and every one of you to your new and rightful place amongst the swarming ** flying ** buzzing ** nonsense ** noise ** bzzz ** bzzz ** bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Here's the tracks.

Tech Messiah 3

New Bass Line

I definitely need more coffee. Not buzzing nearly enough.

Nanotech delivery of Salvation - Be careful which cosmetics you buy

[caption id="attachment_310" align="alignnone" width="243" caption="Delivering Tech Salvation"][/caption]

STOP USING COSMETICS!! MICROWAVE THEM BEFORE USE!!!

Click on the picture to be delivered to an article that will show you the truth about what the government is really working on. They say they are developing new more efficient energy strategies, better health care, a healthier planet - and yet nothing ever seems to get better. Nothing really ever CHANGES!!! The truth is those are all just smoke screens for their real agenda. Soon you all will march lock step to the beat of a new drum. You will be driven to productivity by the constant throbbing inside your skull. They will sell these things to you in the form of cosmetics. They will wash away your sins (and your individuality) with new products developed in the labs of DARPA. George Orwell would have sh*t himself if he had lived to see Big Brother crawl through a humans pours and bury propaganda deep inside the living tissue. Thank god for technology. Praise our Tech Messiah. Soon all will call out to him with devotion and praise because the nanotech has latched onto your brainstem and you have no choice. Beware those with too much power. Beware the social elite because all they want to do is control the sheep.

I repeat .... stop using cosmetics. Microwave them before use - that should kill the nanotechnology inside.

There Be Pirates On The Internet - Bittorrent Insanity

I've been doing a lot of reading about internet piracy and copyright infringement. As a musical artist these kind of things interest me. There are really good arguments for and against policing the net for said pirates.

I was reading about the legal battle that The Pirate Bay is currently involved in. They're a Swedish group of individuals that have a bittorrent website where you can find all kinds of copyrighted material that is free to download. Well .... it was there that I found an article about author Paulo Coelho aka Pirate Coelho.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Coelho

He claims that posting his works on the internet for everyone to download actual increased his book sales from 3000 to one million in three years. Can this really be true? Well, if you read the wiki article he's no small fry. This guy knows his stuff and it's given me a lot of food for thought.

I believe that copyright is important in order to protect an artists property but at the same time the enforcement methods that are being used aren't working. YOU CAN'T STOP THE PIRACY!!! I strongly believe that to be true - that's why I typed it in all caps. Just as soon as they stop one website another one pops up. Suing an individual for millions of dollars doesn't impress anyone and the new method of trying to get the isp to do something isn't effective either.

What is the solution? Here's an idea for you - stop spending all your money on thwarting piracy and divert that money towards creating a great product that people will actually want to buy. Seems that these pirate sites are free publicity for these businesses and they are trying to shut them down. I believe that the majority of people on the internet aren't pirates. You have to have a lot of computer know-how to be a good internet pirate and most people don't have that knowledge. The small group of pirates downloads a ripped-off version and then tells all their non-pirate friends how great the book/movie/album is. WORD OF MOUTH. The pirate might try to explain to the non-pirate how to get it for free but the non-pirate is confused by all this tech talk and just downloads the book/movie/album from a legitimate site like iTunes. Looky there - they just made a sale. Funny how that works. Free friggin' advertising!!!!

This has led me to wonder if we should just post Euphonic Dissonance's music on a bittorrent site for free download. It worked well for Paulo - why can't it work for ED. If Euphonic Dissonance was more popular someone would rip our cd and put it out there anyway so why not beat them to the punch.

I really want to hear more opinions on this matter. Do you think that posting our songs for free would boost our sales? Has anyone heard of other success stories similar to Mr. Paulo Coelho?

So Proud To Live in Oklahoma - Now That FLAMING LIPS "Do You Realize" is state song

I couldn't possibly be more proud to live in Oklahoma than I am right now. For once this ass backwards state has shown an amazing amount of class. Governor Brad Henry - I would like to buy you a beer.

[caption id="attachment_112" align="alignnone" width="216" caption="I'm not really an evil politician...I just play one on television."][/caption]

Thank you for not making those of us that live in this great state of Oklahoma look like the bunch of redneck dumb asses .... even though we really are. Way to step up and show some balls Mister Henry.

So here's the deal.....I'm a little late getting to this story but I feel it needs to be told. Straight up......I love the Flaming Lips. I must admit I am only recently a fan. It took ten albums before I really enjoyed a Lips album all the way through but their album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is a work of indie rock genius.

[caption id="attachment_111" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Could the Flaming Lips be aliens from outer space or are they just from Oklahoma?"][/caption]

Wayne Coyne and band mates have created a masterpiece in this lp and if you haven't heard it you need to go out and get it immediately. Oh...and if you live in Oklahoma and you don't own this album then you are nothing more than a commie bastard!!! That's right....you're a communist.

You see.....some of us round these parts are still a bit concerned about them there communists.

The following article from the Reuters UK website should explain what the hell I'm babbling on about.

Flaming Lips prepare for Oklahoma honor

By John Benson

CLEVELAND (Billboard) - After weeks of controversy and uncertainty, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry is scheduled to sign an executive order Tuesday (April 28) that names the Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize??" as the official rock song of Oklahoma.

Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne told Billboard.com that the experience has been alternately exciting and disappointing, and, in quintessential Lips fashion, always surreal.

"It just seemed to me the whole thing was absurd to begin with, and now it even becomes more absurd," Coyne said. "Now I really feel like it's something worth fighting for because I don't want people to just think, 'Oh, Oklahoma is this backward state as we suspected.'"

The Oklahoma City band has watched as its popular song (from 2002's "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots") won an Internet contest for best Sooner State rock song -- over tracks by The All-American Rejects, Leon Russell and The Call. Over the course of a month, the Oklahoma state senate passed a measure to officially name the song the state's rock anthem, and then the state House of Representatives rejected it because band member Michael Ivins wore a T-shirt adorned with the image of a hammer and sickle, a Communist symbol.

"You know, when it happened a couple of months back, that seemed surreal ... and then when all of this (controversy) started, I think everybody's knee-jerk reaction in the beginning was, 'Ah, we knew it was too good to be true. That's more of the Oklahoma we thought we were dealing with,'" Coyne said. "But it's not true, and I think that's the main reason I wanted to make sure I got to say something about it.

"I don't think we're battling against what we feel is like a backwards mentality here. It's really just a few religious wackos that think they can tell everybody what to do. It's not even, to me, (a matter of) Democrats versus Republicans. It's really just a couple of these small-minded guys who are the most popular guys in their church and their little small towns. In some ways it's so absurd, it can only make us look good and them look stupid."

For Coyne, the best part of the ordeal is Gov. Henry's veto of the House's rejection of the contest results.

"There are a lot of other great things that are happening in Oklahoma," Coyne said. "And you know for the governor to stand up and veto it and be on our side, it's such a great story in the end."

Coyne hinted that the band has one more wrinkle planned for Tuesday's ceremony, when Henry will sign the executive order at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City.

"I think we'll print up a couple of thousand of these (hammer-and-sickle) T-shirts, and everybody who comes to this thing will be wearing one," Coyne said. "We'll see if we can get the governor to wear one too."

[caption id="attachment_113" align="alignnone" width="280" caption="The controversial Flaming Lips communist support shirt"][/caption]

(Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters)

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved.

I'm just a bit upset that Hanson's "MMM Bop" wasn't considered. What's up with that?

Big Brother Is Watching

For proper inspiration one should listen to the Ministry song "Faith Collapsing" from their The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste album. In this world of wire tapping and cameras watching your every move - well, I can't imagine anything more interesting to write a song about. This track is almost finished and should be posted soon.

1984

© 2008 Euphonic Dissonance / Aromatone Records

should have paid attention

when the corporations shut our mouths

tied us to a chair

and turned the lights out

in god we trust

on the tit of the government

we suck

pay attention to the screen

remember what you've seen

in god we trust

god i hope they remember us

in god we trust

in god we trust

and they say to hell with it

they say oh to hell with it

here comes a candle

to light you to bed

can't express our point of view

you know exactly what to do

just keep it bottled in

don't say it, it's a sin

running around in the rat race

gotta save a little face

just keep it bottled in

don't say it – it's a sin

he's not our messiah

we don't have to like it

just pray they don't find us

kick in doors and crush heads

terror swelling to compelling

can't trust the government

in god we trust

where's that getting us

hope you like guns

bullet to each head

fade with defined precision

fade to gray with intention

tuck in tight baby girl

daddy's gonna rule the world

here comes a candle

to light you to bed

here comes a chopper

to chop off your head

iron bars on windows

look at them through the peephole

paranoid delusion

or striking reality

in god we trust

in god we trust

doesn't seem to matter much

worshipping your idols

here comes a candle

choppers overhead

remain standing

do not move until ordered

rest your precious head

caress away the pain

tuck in tight baby girl

daddy's gonna rule the world

We All Worship The Machine

How much time do you devote in your day to prayer unto your false gods? You cannot lie to us and say that you would never do such things. We've been watching you. You spend hours of time worshipping your computer. You decorate your myspace to appease the gods. You seek solace in your cell phone. You take pride in your car. You boast about the size of your television. You wear your thumb drive like jewelry....on a necklace for all to see. You are accused of being a follower of the Tech Messiah. You are accused of telling others of this false religion. Don't try to deny the accusations. Is it not you that preaches almost daily to your friends and family on the benefits of owning an Apple? Was it not you that texted everyone you could possibly think of when you bought your new cell phone? Did you not invite your buddies over to watch the Super Bowl when Best Buy delivered your plasma television? You infect everyone you come in contact with. You fill their heads with dreams of heaven on earth. Salvation at the touch of a button. The washing away of all sin beeming forth from the lcd screen.

© 2008 Euphonic Dissonance / Aromatone Records

It Lies With The Proles

"If there was hope, it must lie in the proles, because only there, in those swarming disregarded masses, eighty-five percent of the population of Oceania, could the force to destroy the Party ever be generated."

"Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious." - George Orwell 1984

Listening to the news (NPR to be exact) I thought of the above lines from that famous book. I recall the prim and proper NPR reporter talking about our self serving government. How a particular official in Washington was doing some such thing strictly to motivate his political career. Gee, what a surprise!!! This line of thinking always leads me to a tragic end. The majority of the populace would never pay attention to such news. It's unimportant to them. They would rather watch American Idol or whatever other reality show is on or popular. God save us if the majority population ever made it past this way of thinking. Then they would no longer be proles. They would begin to pay attention to the important issues. They would overthrow all that is and create a wonderful new world. But this will never happen. The power struggle will never allow it to occur. The elite will always be there to batter these people down....keep them in their place. The public school systems will remain poorly funded. If you don't have loads and loads of money then you will probably end up with an 8th grade level education (did you know that all local newspapers are written on an 8th grade reading level so that the mass populace will understand them).

This blog just angers me. Strangely, it makes me want to go back to college. I don't really care what courses I take....I just enjoy educating myself and I feel sorry for those who don't strive to do the same. They will never be more than they are. They will become stagnant....complacent. Will someone please invent a motivational drug? But even if we had such a drug...would the apathetic people take it?