EL D'RAGE RANTS

Welcome to the ElderRap Blog. I wrote this stuff a few years ago as El D'Rage, when I recorded "When We Were Kids". I don't know if I still agree with everything I wrote, or even if I believed it at the time. What do you think?

"During the course of the day, you and I read the newapaper, we read books, we talk with friends, family and colleagues, we watch TV (OK, I don't have a TV), and we learn about the world around us. Then we think about what we've learned.

"Then we get mad.

"El D'Rage's Rants is my little corner of the internet. Like my music, this blog gives me an opportunity to discuss our world, offer suggestions for change and blow off a little steam.

"Enjoy your stay!"

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The underlying cause of all religious strife is certainty. Once a man is certain he knows "The Truth" of the universe, then all others must either be converted or destroyed. Here's "The Truth": we're all wrong. The universe is not as it appears! We can no more know "The Truth" than my chihuahua can write a sonnet.

Woof, woof!!

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Here's how not to fight a war: go it alone against an enemy you spend years creating, spend a zillion bucks on bombs, do tons of collateral damage and declare victory every six months or so. We've tried this strategy in Viet Nam, Iraq and Afganistan. We've also tried it against the drug lords and even against folks trying to sneak across the border.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." -Albert Einstein

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We learned in the '60s that mind-altering chemicals can be dangerous. Today, the majority of Americans are on perscription mind-altering drugs. Hmmmmmmmm.

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If a child preditor knocks at your door, you wouldn't let him in. Well, parents, the predator is on TV, in the movies, the computer and your kid's iPod. Yoohoo! Are you paying attention?

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The basic building block of education is this: parent educates child. If that block is missing, no amount of spending, no standardized testing, no magnet school programs - nothing - will allow a child to learn and grow. If our kids are failing to keep up with the rest of the world (and they are), it is because our parents are failing. PARENTS - DO YOUR JOB!

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Other than greed on the part of consumers (that's me and you) and big profits for companies' investors (me and you again) and management, why would you take good American jobs and give them to Chinese and Indians?

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Our present economic system is a perversion of capitalism. The way capitalism is supposed to work: I give you something of value to you and you give me money in exchange. The way we do it now: You give me money and I'll give you the least I can get away with - and then jack the price even higher. We're mistaking cheap for a good deal ... it is not!

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America's institutions are a shambles. Government has become the plaything of special interest money, political campaigns are an overpriced orgy of negative media mania, business leaders rob their shareholders blind, churches are increasingly led by corrupt clergy, our hospitals are now the third leading cause of death and our legal system is a tawdry joke. Anyone for a change?

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Self control: trying to cut back on burgers and fries on the morning of your bariatric surgery.

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America's new service economy - that's where an underpaid Asian overbooks you on a flight between two cities she's never heard of on a plane maintained in Honduras so the airline's CEO can ride in a private jet.

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Used to be, progress was Grandma turning a batch of fresh strawberries into a delicious jam. These days, it's called progress when a money-grubbin' land developer turns a beautiful meadow into a traffic jam.

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Abortion as a form of birth control is a disgusting symptom of a sick society. Men and women need to act responsibly. Any unwanted fetus that ends up in a trash can cries out to our culture's moral bankruptcy.

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People still want to become Americans. We can use their brains and their brawn. We ought to establish a "Future Citizen Corps" where immigrants can work for a living wage while they learn America's history, values and language. It time, they will become American citizens just as our ancestors did.

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Over the past 40 years, America has attempted to lead the world. We have failed. We need to pull back, lick our wounds, rebuild our society and learn from our mistakes - and we need to do it soon!


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The vulgar rap that is on the music store shelves is a red warning flag that we are failing our young people. We've let our kids grow fat, they're under-educated and they are surly consumers of tons of trash TV, music, movie and video game violence. The reason? Because we parents are too busy and self-absorbed to raise them properly.