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If Not Adverts, Then What?

Too many of us are obsessed with the bottom line, making money, and taking advantage of others if it means increasing the balance of our bank accounts. America has always been about betterment — even if it means taking advantage of others to get there.

The American Way is no longer the American Dream, or home ownership, or education — no, the American Way is all about serving, and collecting, the mighty advertising dollar. Sell your eye for a penny; click your wrist for a nickel.

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Teachers in France Have The Right Idea: Strike!

The other day, I was watching television and I saw a commercial for a certain credit card company that showed a teacher shopping for their own school supplies. I was reminded how bad our education system currently is — bad enough that it supplies teachers with a certain budget for the year but when that budget is exhausted, as it often quickly is, they have to pony up if they want to give their students crayons or colored paper or project supplies — regardless of how important those supplies may be for their education. I couldn’t imagine a bank teller being told by their employer that they could only have a certain number of pens at their station, and that they would have to pay for any others if they needed them.

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Stuffing City Coffers by Increasing Traffic Citations

Recently, a person who shall remain nameless, was visiting her family in the Midwest.  She was out driving with her mother and was subsequently pulled over by a police offer three blocks from her mother’s house.  The alleged offender was given a $200.00USD traffic citation for not yielding to a school bus. Now, not yielding to a school bus is a serious violation, but the only problem is that neither she, nor her mother, ever saw a school bus!  Was there ever a school bus?  Or was this a virtual stickup with a badge and a ticket book?

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Rutgers Pays Toni Morrison $30K: Commencement Speeches as a Pageant Play

Over the weekend, the most incredible news broke that Nobel and Pulitzer prize winner, and living institution, Toni Morrison was charging Rutgers University $30,000.00USD to speak at this year’s commencement ceremony.  I can’t decide who has the tinnier ear here:  Morrison or Rutgers.  Perhaps they’re both equally culpable.

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As CUNY Drowns in Remedial Studies

CUNY — The City University of New York — is a unique institution dedicated to teaching “regular people” really great things at a highly affordable, yet sophisticated, intellectual level.  If you have a high school diploma, or an equivalent degree, a CUNY college is required to accept you as a student.

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The Quietest Fourth of July Ever

Last night was the quietest Fourth of July can I remember.  There were no sonic booms or bangs or bashes or even bops.

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New Jersey Students Pick Up Pitchforks and Torches and Storm the Castle

In a delightful — and necessary — sign of a furious protest, students in New Jersey left their classrooms yesterday and took to the streets to reject the absolute decimation of their schools by newly elected governor Chris Christie.  Christie cut $820 million from the schools in an effort to keep a campaign promise to reduce spending.  The protest was inspired by, and directed through, a Facebook movement to fight back against an unfair budget axe.

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