Love the song, but can't stand it when performers do what Pink did here. Save the interjections for in between songs, not verses, and do try to make it through the whole song without taking the mic away from your face multiple times. Shitty performance of a great song...too bad too as she has an awesome voice.

Liked the clip, thought I'd help out with the translation, as some expression Google translate totally misses Tried to keep it as literal as possible, here you go


[Flynt]
My friend is my buddy even though he has no money
He’s my appearance, my face but doesn’t look like me
He’s my brother, but we weren’t carried by the same arms
He’s my s’rab (= friend), he surely won’t be the one to denounce me
My friend is my big but he’s not Pierre Menes
He doesn’t break sugar on my back (literal translation of French expression, it means he doesn’t talk about him behind his back)
He can support OM (French soccer team Olympique Marseille) and if it helps him I’d lie to his wife without a problem
And If my friend comes from far away, he or his parents
Black, white, yellow or brown, it makes me one ignorant less
I do not expect you to wax my shoes (again French expression, it means he doesn’t expect him to kiss his ass)
It will not be because of you being straightforward if I burn the bridges
I wouldn’t put you in my mess if I did something stupid
I wouldn’t ask you to come down with a shovel at night without asking any questions
But if it is needed, bring me back home
If I go crazy bring me back to reason
We can disagree, we can take our heads (French expression, it means We can argue, fight)
But there will always be a piece for you on my plate
My buddy does not scream with wolves
We do not wash our dirty laundry in public (to take care of your personal business) but between us
It is not always the good wind that brings my buddy (It means it is not always a happy reason why his friend is coming to him)
I’m not always OK with how he behaves
I wouldn’t like to learn that he has betrayed me or that he’s plotting
It would bury our relationship even if it’s strong
I have not sealed my fate to his, for me things are clear
My friend is my friend but he’s not my father
I want to keep him a long time so I avoid interfering
Between him and me, money, women and all that could divide us

[Orelsan]
My friend has always been there
Too long, my best friend was me
My buddy stays at my home, we spend sleepless nights
We remake the world, we hear each other even in the silences
My friend always answers my phone calls
That we every hour or every twelve years
I can make him understand everything with a blink
At the edge of the explosion buddy is the pin (goupille is the metal pin of a grenade)
Where I am many people mix friends and groupies
But I’ve understood treason since Fox and the Hound
My buddy isn’t trying to please me at all costs
Doesn’t pretend to look away when my verses are bad
Late evening, always a corner of a sofa
My car is not in the ditch because he keeps the key
Nothing separates us even large sums (of money)
We don’t raise pigs but have raised some sluts
My buddy lowers no one to bring himself in the spotlight
He’s my reflection, breaking us apart is risking seven years of bad luck
My buddy is not a beast in heat
And I can sleep peacefully at night when I introduce him to my sister
Loyal in friendship
If I am not down to earth anymore my dude reminds me of the laws of gravity
Always ready, always the first to come down
in case of a dip or for a game of Play(station)

He’s my antidepressant, my lexo(mil), my friends aren’t all heroes

In practice we all have our faults
If one day in my life I forget to be legit

I’ll listen to this piece again as a kind of memo

[Flynt & Orelsan]
This is for my friend of 20 years
For my buddy of now
He’s my disgusting friend and my dapper dude
For my ugliest friend
For my dumbest pal
For m most down to earth friendy friend
For my friend on Pluto

This is for my easy-talking friend and my dyslexic friend

My buddy that my friend (girl) said no to but persists
For my unemployed buddy, my buddy who works

For my kickeur buddy, my buddy who raps poorly
(kickeur apparently means good rapper: it does)

Boxer buddy, my pianist friend
Performing buddy, buddy artist
Buddy hook, buddy Roger
My friend who crashes at a mate’s house and has no projects

Dude in a suit, buddy in Coste-la (Coste-la is actually ‘verlan’ for Lacoste, the brand)
My friend who lives in the countryside

My first posts were short and small..since then I have simply been replying to what people have been saying to me and asking me about. Yes, I will continue to post scripture verses in answer to questions that people ask me about my beliefs, or to support my beliefs, or because I think they are relevant to the conversation, or for any other reason. I don't critique what you post so why are you critiquing me? Am I interested in all of the things that people post on the sift? Are you?

I wouldn't call a series of left-handed compliments defending someone. What it sounded like is that you support the idea of me being here, theoretically, but would prefer it wasn't me particularly.

Here is the end of the story: this is dags site and he has said many times that he thinks I belong here. Beyond that there is nothing else to say, unless you'd like to actually respond to my earlier reply about "progressing" and continue our conversation.

@shinyblurry
@newtboy has offered you his reasoning on the "whys" and he is not the first who has pointed this out to you.
his criticism does not come off as an attack on you at all but rather a fair assessment on how you interact in discussions here on the sift and i have seen many others (including myself) who have offered the same criticism.
@bareboards2 alluded to this very practice right here on this thread.

so while i will defend your right to be here and say what you need to say and ask empathy from others who may interact with you,i cannot understand your logic in posting walls of text peppered with biblical verses.
you acknowledge the fact this is a secular site yet continue to post scripture to people who have no interest in said scripture.

you cannot force people to give scripture the validity that you give it.

so you really cant blame people for tuning you out when you quote-mine,deflect,contradict and go verse crazy.

if you are trying to reach people then speak to them as people.but stop using the very vehicle they hold zero belief in,thats just a waste of time.

disagreements are fun but repetition is boring.you cant ask for a certain amount of patience and understanding and then not give it in return.

oh shit....I failed to capitalize "God" while quoting scripture(Gen:1:1)..Apologies to shinnyblurry, it was intentional laziness and a subtle jab at a surety encountered daily here in Bible-central, Texas.

And No, I am unconvinced that "God" as referenced in the verse above refers to "Jesus."

Ironically, this is verse that proves what I am trying to explain to you:

Matthew 5:17

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

Do you notice that Jesus said He came to "fulfill" the law? Here is the dictionary definition:

ful·fill

Bring to completion or reality; achieve or realize (something desired, promised, or predicted).

He brought the law to completion on the cross:

John 19:30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

The theology behind this is a little deep but I'll be happy to discuss it with you if you're interested in understanding it.

I have a lot of relatives in Oklahoma and am well versed in how steeped they are in their religion. I am very careful about the way I talk there -- I"m not an atheist, but am pretty dang close to one.

I don't ever say it though. Too afraid of negative consequences on my relationships with family members.

@Lann understood my point, and called me out on my own ignorance of the true diversity in Southern communities. Plenty of atheists there. I always presumed them to be silent atheists -- and here this woman claims it for herself on national TV. Because she is a moral person, and wasn't going to lie.

So @newtboy, you got it right about my original motive, in general. However, you conflated me with shinyblurry.

I never said that morality comes from Jesus. I meant the exact opposite. My point is you don't need religion or Jesus or any god to be a moral person. I'm sick to death of some religious folks claiming only Jesus lovers can be moral.

For me, this short vid is proof of morality outside of religion -- she could have taken the easy way, and just politely nodded. But she didn't -- she didn't want to LIE. That is a moral choice, to me.

And good on her. Glad to know from Lann that there probably won't be any negative consequences to public act.

I can't believe all of the things they say about me
Walk in the room they throwing shade left to right
They be like, "Ooh, she serving face"
And I just tell 'em cut me up and get down
They call us dirty 'cuz we break all your rules down
And we just came to act a fool, is that all right?
(Girl, that's alright)
They be like, "Ooh, let them eat cake."
But we eat wings and throw them bones on the ground

[Pre-Chorus]
Am I a freak for dancing around?
Am I a freak for getting down?
I'm coming up, don't cut me down
Yeah I wanna be, wanna be

[Verse 2]
Is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror?
And am I weird to dance alone late at night?
And is it true we're all insane?
And I just tell 'em, "No we ain't" and get down

I heard this life is just a play with no rehearsal
I wonder will this be my final act tonight
And tell me what's the price of fame?
Am I a sinner with my skirt on the ground?

[Hook]
Am I a freak for dancing around?
Am I a freak for getting down?
I'm coming up, don't cut me down
Yeah I wanna be

[Verse 3]
Hey brother can you save my soul from the devil?
Say is it weird to like the way she wear her tights?
And is it rude to wear my shades?
Am I a freak because I love watching Mary? (Maybe)

Hey sister am I good enough for your heaven?
Say will your God accept me in my black and white?
Will he approve the way I'm made?
Or should I reprogram the programming and get down?

[Hook]

[Spoken Word]
Even if it makes others uncomfortable
I wanna love who I am
Even if it makes other uncomfortable
I will love who I am

[Breakdown: Erykah Badu]
Dance 'til the break of dawn
Don't mean a thing, so duh
I can't take it no more
Baby, we in tuxedo groove
Monae and E. Badu
Crazy in the black and white
We got the drums so tight
Baby, here comes the freedom song
Too strong we moving on
Baby there's melody
Show you another way
This joints for fight unknown
Come home and sing your song
But you gotta testify
Because the booty don't lie

No, no, the booty don't lie
Oh no, the booty don't lie

[Verse 4: Janelle Monae]
Yeah
Yeah, let's flip it
I don't think they understand what I'm trying to say

I asked a question like this
"Are we a lost generation of our people?
Add us to equations but they'll never make us equal.
She who writes the movie owns the script and the sequel.
So why ain't the stealing of my rights made illegal?
They keep us underground working hard for the greedy,
But when it's time pay they turn around and call us needy.
My crown too heavy like the Queen Nefertiti
Gimme back my pyramid, I'm trying to free Kansas City.

Mixing masterminds like your name Bernie Grundman.
Well I'm gonna keep leading like a young Harriet Tubman
You can take my wings but I'm still goin' fly
And even when you edit me the booty don't lie
Yeah, keep singing and I'mma keep writing songs
I'm tired of Marvin asking me, "What's Going On?
March to the streets 'cuz I'm willing and I'm able
Categorize me, I defy every label
And while you're selling dope, we're gonna keep selling hope
We rising up now, you gotta deal you gotta cope
Will you be electric sheep?
Electric ladies, will you sleep?
Or will you preach?"

Big hair, Lauper-garb, and cocaine blowing around the room like pollen- 80s music videos: They were cheese, but it's better than the 90s M-vid-formula: gang-bangers, pool-parties with giant booties,and alpha-male douchebags iambicly vomiting verse to simpleton beats and remedial melodies-

Tremendous amount of ignorance in here; not the faggoty liberal 'being a meanie' ignorance, but the dictionary definition 'you don't know what the fuck you're talking about' ignorance.

There's very little room for multiple interpretations of Islam. The Qur'an was written by a single (insane) author; with clear instructions on how to interpret it - literally; and how to resolve any inconsistencies within the text - the chronologically later passage supercedes the earlier.

The various Islamic sects differ over the authenticity of the Hadith, accounts of Momo's opinions and behaviour, which they are expected to emulate. None of them dispute the authority or the text of the Qur'an, which they imagine to be the infallible word of god.

There are peaceful, conciliatory passages in the Qur'an; which generally date from early in Muhammad's career, when he wasn't so secure in his position that he could afford to be a total cunt to non-believers. There are violent, xenophobic passages in the Qur'an; which generally date from later in Muhammad's career, when his success as a warlord left him far better placed to be a total cunt to non-believers. The chronologically later passages supercede the earlier.

The favorite example is At-Tawbah 5, the 'Verse of the Sword'; from the chronologically penultimate surah of the Qur'an it scrubs out any earlier peaceful passages by commanding that Muslims:

"fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war)"

THIS IS WHAT ALL MUSLIMS BELIEVE

There's a peculiar general tendency to conflate the violent historical practice of other religions, like Christianity, with the actual scriptural commandment to violence of Islam. These are not equivalent. In any case the big M positioned Islam as a continuation and successor of Christianity and Judaism, admitting the validity of their prophets and texts, so it has to inherit their crimes as well.

Ultimately, all the religious are criminals. In abandoning reason and responsibility for their own actions, in turning over their volition to the dictates of invisible spirits, they have disposed of ethics and their own humanity.

F REA K S H o W

Ok can we trust these factoids?

Letter mountain: Who commisioned it?
Ballooned form what weight after his mom died? Was he skinny then suddenly fat or on his way already? He's eating himself into an early grave who cares, fuck you.

Who cares when he was born or why he is a head of state? A state of what? Children with nuclear weapons? Who cares, fuck you.
Daddy paid his way into Switzerschool, free case-study for Jungian opportunists. All the better to fuck him with, SCORE 1 for the demise of Pok Choi. Maye he can get in the douchebag protection program.

Who hasn't been found with a bondage-porn magazine during an exam?: Non-information.

Scared of barbers and calling his new self-crop the, "Ambition?" Uh, paranioia, need more cocaine and advisers, maybe that chemist with the syringe of happy-splooge...

SO he used to be like a regular kid and then he got groomed for dad's seat because the other son was kinna weakly for wanting pussy...OOOooooKay. Son with no ambitions for fageena gets to play with bombs....Riiiiight.

Gotta give it up to his new propaganda campain
of bad-hollywood-nods with 30-yr-old CG technology, cheesy bastards are as cheesy bastards do, ad infinitude. He can't help it, he's retarded.

Plastic surgery to look like the first-Reich cunt?? Brilliant. Keep up the Shatner until you destory an entire culture, fuck you Kim, yer a cunt.

(Anyone well-versed in my rants on the NK clan will remember, I fear and grieve and always have for the people of Korea, north and south. We make fun of this cunt, but let other cunts tell us we need to let him live, and that's fucked.

Start with him, and work your way up to the rich white folks who run the world into the ground, and then you have a party.

I have an apology to make
I'm afraid I've made a big mistake
I turned my face away from you, Lord

I was too blind to see the light
I was too meek to feel Your might
I closed my eyes; I couldn't see the truth, Lord

But then like Saul on the Damascus road,
You sent a messenger to me, and so
Now I've have had the truth revealed to me
Please forgive me all those things I said
I'll no longer betray you, Lord
I will pray to you instead

And I will say thank you, thank you
Thank you, God
Thank you, thank you
Thank you, God...

Thank you, God, for fixing the cataracts of Sam's mum
I had no idea, but it's suddenly so clear now
I feel such a cynic, how could I have been so dumb?
Thank you for displaying how praying works:
A particular prayer in a particular church
Thank you Sam for the chance to acknowledge this
Omnipotent ophthalmologist

Thank you, God, for fixing the cataracts of Sam's mum
I didn't realize that it was so simple
But you've shown a great example of just how it can be done
You only need to pray in a particular spot
To a particular version of a particular god,
And if you pull that off without a hitch,
He will fix one eye of one middle-class white bitch

I know in the past my outlook has been limited
I couldn't see examples of where life had been definitive
But I can admit it when the evidence is clear,
As clear as Sam's mum's new cornea
(And that's extremely clear! )

Thank you, God, for fixing the cataracts of Sam's mum
I have to admit that in the past I have been skeptical
But Sam described this miracle and I am overcome!
How fitting that the sighting of a sight-based intervention
Should open my eyes to this exciting new dimension
It's like someone put an eye chart up in front of me
And the top five letters say: I C, G O D

Thank you, Sam, for showing how my point of view has been so flawed
I assumed there was no God at all but now I see that's cynical
It's simply that his interests aren't particularly broad
He's largely undiverted by the starving masses,
Or the inequality between the various classes
He gives you strictly limited passes,
Redeemable for surgery or two-for-one glasses

I feel so shocking for historically mocking
Your interests are clearly confined to the ocular
I bet given the chance, you'd eschew the divine
And start a little business selling contacts online

Fuck me Sam, what are the odds
That of history's endless parade of gods
That the God you just happened to be taught to believe in
Is the actual one and he digs on healing,
But not the AIDS-ridden African nations
Nor the victims of the plague, nor the flood-addled Asians,
But healthy, privately-insured Australians
With common and curable corneal degeneration

This story of Sam's has but a single explanation:
A surgical God who digs on magic operations
No, it couldn't be mistaken attribution of causation
Born of a coincidental temporal correlation
Exacerbated by a general lack of education
Vis-a-vis physics in Sam's parish congregation
And it couldn't be that all these pious people are liars
It couldn't be an artefact of confirmation bias
A product of groupthink,
A mass delusion,
An Emperor's New Clothes-style fear of exclusion

No, it's more likely to be an all-powerful magician
Than the misdiagnosis of the initial condition,
Or one of many cases of spontaneous remission,
Or a record-keeping glitch by the local physician

No, the only explanation for Sam's mum's seeing:
They prayed to an all-knowing superbeing,
To the omnipresent master of the universe,
And he quite liked the sound of their muttered verse.

So for a bit of a change from his usual stunt
Of being a sexist, racist, murderous cunt
He popped down to Dandenong and just like that
Used his powers to heal the cataracts of Sam's mum
Of Sam's mum

Thank you God for fixing the cataracts of Sam's mum!
I didn't realize that it was such a simple thing
I feel such a dingaling, what ignorant scum!

Now I understand how prayer can work:
A particular prayer in a particular church
In a particular style with a particular stuff
And for particular problems that aren't particularly tough,
And for particular people, preferably white
And for particular senses, preferably sight
A particular prayer in a particular spot
To a particular version of a particular god

And if you get that right, he just might
Take a break from giving babies malaria
And pop down to your local area
To fix the cataracts of your mum!

I miss it too. It was fun and engaging back in the day.



Anyway, on to this topic.

Your definition of "God" makes him capable, uniquely among all things in the universe, of proving his existence to a human. (What about me? Don't I prove my existence to you by communicating with you? Or if I showed up in your neighbourhood and had a beer with you, wouldn't that prove my existence? What do you mean, "only God can prove Himself"?)

At the same time, my definition of human --and I hope you agree on this-- includes that humans can be 100% convinced of false things. There is plenty of evidence of this in the many religions and folk beliefs of the world, as well as in mental health documentation and police records. Agreed? Assuming yes, it is fully consistent with your experience then that you SB could be 100% convinced of a false thing. You, as a human, are incapable of telling the difference between 100% conviction of a false thing, and 100% conviction of a true thing. The proof of this is that you are human, and people exist who 100% believe things that are incompatible with what you believe, so it must be possible for a human to 100% believe something false.

Well, let me connect the thoughts in these two paragraphs. You certainly do prove your existence to me by communicating with me. If you showed up in my neighborhood and we had a beer together(i dont drink but i would drink one with you), I would come away being 100 percent certain that you exist. I'm fairly sure you will agree that my certainty about your existence would be justified. Does this 100 percent certainty about your existence mean I could 100 percent prove it to someone else, or even to myself? Certainly not. No matter what evidence I had, even a video tape, someone could say that I am really just sea turtle dreaming this and none of it is real. Is that plausible? Not even remotely, but I couldn't disprove that hypothesis using evidence, empirical or otherwise.

So I think the disconnect here is that you are equating 100 percent certainty with 100 percent proof. Yes, it is technically true I could be a sea turtle dreaming all of this, and I could never disprove that, but I am 100 percent certain that isn't the case. To believe otherwise would make rational thought impossible. Therefore rationality is impossible without first assuming you are capable of rational thought. I have to believe this even though I cannot necessarily prove it. This poses a problem for the atheist. Essentially, all an atheist can say is that "my reasoning is sound because my reasoning says it is"..which begs the question as to why the chemical soup in the brain of an exalted ape fizzing a particular way should be called rationality. Whereas I can say that I am rational because I was created in the image of a rational being, God. Both arguments do use circular reasoning, but the atheist argument is viciously circular.

So, this comes to my point about my belief in God. To me, His existence has been sufficiently proven to the point where I can claim complete certainty, just as if we hung out together I would claim complete certainty that you exist. There is no real difference there and in fact, God has provided me better evidence of His existence because He is with me all of the time. whereas you could only be with me some of them time. I cannot prove to you that God is with me, or that He runs my life, but it doesn't diminish the reality of what He has proven to me.

So I think this leaves you in the position of having to claim that we can be certain of nothing, but in actuality the argument is self-defeating because it requires you to be certain of something (that nothing is certain). It's just the same as trying to claim that only relative truth exists ("is that absolutely true?") Otherwise you will have to say there is a possibility my certainty is justified.

Maybe there are no gods, or maybe I simply am not perceiving your Yahweh while he chooses not to directly reveal himself to me. Both conditions appear identical from my point of view, and I am incapable of telling which is true, so long as I don't perceive Yahweh.

I agree, and think about this. When I got saved I quickly realized that I had been living in an information bubble my entire life. Living in secular culture, you get confronted with this illusion which makes it seem like you have your finger on the pulse of reality. You are consuming all of this information about where we are, where we are headed, where the culture is, the scientific advances, the dreams and aspirations of those who think like you, and you get this sense of being connected to what is going on in planet Earth.

But what I found out is that this is all just basically confirmation bias. I thought that because I had an extremely wide feed and a diversity of interests that my filter was very nimble and narrow and was just sloughing off all of the trivial and non-essential things, when in fact the filter was wider than the feed and I was staring into a hall of mirrors. When that happens it means you are actually just consuming everything that mostly confirms what you already believe, such as what television shows and movies you watch, and what music you listen to, and what books you read. People also tend to hang out with people who think like they do. The seeming diversity of secular interests is actually a very narrow band which reflects very little truth so you end up in a little bubble (which seems like a Universe).

Both of our experiences with direct communication with gods are consistent with both of our beliefs (me: no contact => there are no gods or just no contact yet; you: contact => there is a god or you're wrong because you're human). The difference is that I freely admit that either is possible, while you insist that your view is correct. Get it?

To you either could be possible, because both experiences look the same to you. Whereas, to me only one is possible because the two experiences are alien to eachother. When you look at me, you have no way to tell the difference because you see no difference, therefore you allow the possibility. If you allow the possibility therefore, it isn't necessarily wrong to think that I am justified in believing I am right.

As for what I've said about Yahweh, you must be confusing me with someone else. I have never said I don't want him to reveal himself. I once, on your recommendation, got down on my knees and prayed for it, remember? I really, really, really want to understand the human condition and the true nature of the universe. If that includes the fact that Yahweh actually is our supreme being exactly as described in the Bible I would be very upset to learn that (just as I would be upset to find that I had been sold into slavery), but if that were the case, I'd want to know so I could make informed decisions for my future.

Yes, you're right, I think I did confuse you with someone else. Sorry about that.

I believe you when you say you just honestly want to know the truth, even if that truth wouldn't be pleasing to you. I think it reveals a lot about your character and the way that you think. I admire that kind of personal integrity.

Just before I became a Christian, when I found out that Jesus is the way God has chosen for us, I was resisting it because I knew that it meant that I had to stop living for me. I knew I was going to lose my right to my own personal autonomy and would have to place it in the care and trust of my Creator. What I found out though is that what I thought was freedom was slavery, and that the slavery I thought I was signing myself into was the true freedom. When you are born again, God makes you a new person and sets you free from all of the bondage of sin, and your present condition and your past suffering. This is literal and it is transformative. There is a tangible weight that lifts from your shoulders the moment you accept Christ and your sins are forgiven. It is a weight that is bowing you down all of your life. Everyone has their own theory about where the weight comes from..such as other people, the government, or even religion as some atheists like to think..but the weight is a spiritual weight stemming from the judgment against your sin. People become slaves of many things because they promise to remove that weight, but the weight always remains in the end because only God can set us free from it.

I do remember that prayer. One of the ways that God reveals Himself is through the reading of His word. Would you be willing to take it one step farther and read the gospel of John? I'm sure you've probably read it before, but this would be specifically for God to reveal Himself to you in a way that you can understand and relate to. You could pray before reading it..God, I once prayed for you to reveal yourself to me..I am asking that you do that through the reading of this book. Please help me understand what is being said and use it to give me revelation of your existence. Then read through it slowly..perhaps a chapter at a time, and going over each verse until you understand what it is saying. Pray each time before you read for revelation. I feel the Lord leading me to tell you this so I believe God will honor it and guide you.

In any case, it is good to talk to you again. God bless.

I'm white, I play blues, but I just can't bring myself to sing shit like "mojo hand" or "freight train" or any of that re-verse Uncle Tom verse....unless I am making fun of myself-Then it's ok for white folks to steal black folks music and pretend to play the blues.-Besides....Hugh Lauries' from the fucking Oxfordshire, Jolly-Ole, So he knows DICK about any real blues AND EVEN LESS ABOUT LOUISIANA BLUES!!

@dag makes a point that has hindered the USA for a while now: we aren't the only ones, and we aren't always right.

Sometimes, the right thing is to let someone else be right. If we're obviously failing, the correct answer is not to make a nonsensical snap judgement response such as "we need smaller government" without even stepping back and asking any "why's". As I stated, many "failed" programs in the US have failed by design as part of long term strategies. However, when other countries do what our antagonists claim is evil, they somehow succeed. Why is that?

We rank pretty low on public education, so our solution is to get rid of it? Yet, in other countries with public education they can manage to out perform our students? Or places with universal health care and deliver more babies alive than we can?

The obvious answer to any socially complex problem is not "we need smaller government." Perhaps, and I know this may be way out there for Fox News Fans, but maybe we should use actual history, empirical evidence, statistics and the whole slew of scientific process to understand and address problems with a Living Code verses the failed stringent policies such as No Child Left Behind etc.



As far as the government not having your best interest at heart, well, frankly, there's a simple solution for that. GET INVOLVED! Stop trolling the internet and start trolling a politician. Go to meetings, Make your voice heard. Hold demonstrations. Do research. Present that research. Talk in a reasonable manner with people you disagree with and show them your evidence, not your baseless rhetoric. Or I know this may be way out there for some, BUT GET ELECTED. You hate your local politician? Take his job. That's supposed to be the beauty of our system. And don't for a minute think it cannot be done. In both 2012 and 2008 (and off year elections especially) there were numerous upset's. There are grassroot candidates who with 1/10th the financial resources won an election. There are people every day fighting, but if you're only sword stabs a post on VS, then you're not doing enough.