For starters our classrooms are too big. Every teacher I've ever spoken to has told me 10 to 15 students per class would be ideal, 15 to 20 at the most. Our classrooms average 30 to 40 students which means they aren't getting the individual attention they need and that makes a big difference.

Teachers are grossly underpaid and, in far too many cases, under qualified, and that is not their fault. It is a system which not only has failed to evolve, but is no longer effective on the basic reading, writing, and arithmetic level. My generation's school years (the 50's and 60's) are considered the golden years compared to what is going on now. But you know what, the system wasn't much better then.

Time needs to be spent determining and encouraging a child's inclinations and supporting their individuality, not destroying it.

At the same time, teachers must find a way to make the basics interesting and relevant. They must find a way to communicate a practical application for what they are teaching, to make education sexy, rather than making kids memorize a bunch of shit that they won't have any use for or understand for 10 or 20 years. Teachers are competing with TV and movies. They need more show biz.

We need to teach what it means to be an American. We must teach respect for ethnic backgrounds and discuss countries of origin, but we must define what being an American means.

We need to teach our true history. In spite of all our mistakes there is plenty to be proud of and if we teach America as a work in progress, kids might feel like they are part of this thing and, who knows, might even vote when they are eligible.

We are the only country in the world that considers the arts unimportant. Half of the arts related budgets have been cut and the other half are an afterthought. The arts are not a luxury, not a secondary consideration, they are essential to a healthy individual and a healthy society.

I see life in terms of revolutionary war. This war is fought with education, not guns and fear, and measured by enlightenment, not how powerful your corporate position is or how much money you have in your bank account.

Once the DJ's lost their freedom radio never recovered. Not just in Cleveland but nationally.

Organize.

It doesn't have to be a big issue. Focus on local, attainable goals.

Keep learning. Keep growing.

I assume you're referring to the recent Playboy interview with Governor Ventura. I've never met him but I like him and I must admit I cringed a little bit when I heard that. When you read his comments in context though he's actually being more critical about the power of the religious right.

People who are passive about religion, taking the Bible literally, letting the priest or preacher do all the thinking, could legitimately be accused of being lazy about their spirituality. Some use it as an excuse to avoid learning about themselves, or avoid confronting one's parents, or whatever. Generally speaking I feel life is tough enough and whatever helps get somebody through the day is beyond criticism. As long as they're not hurting anybody, any animals, or the environment, or trying to impose their beliefs on me, who cares? You've got to admit though - what an unbelievably ballsy thing for a politician to say.

I left a lot of the songs on "Savage" intentionally vague and unresolved to allow greater participation by the listener.

I would never advocate surrender to anything or anyone. The truth maybe. But that's it.

There is no higher power than yourself.

Spirituality is not a safety net for jumping off the cliff of reality. It is the path that will guide you safely down the cliff and up any mountain you choose to climb.

As I've spoken of before somewhere {note from Holly: See Born Again Savage Essay}, my spirituality is based on logic and reason and science.

Yes I approach each record with a specific musical idea as well as a compatible, cohesive concept for the lyrics.

Just kidding.

Silvio answered before I could stop him.

Before I participate in any kind of work I ask a couple of simple questions.

Is it of the highest conceivable quality?

Does it express the truth?

Is it insightful?

Will it engage people and stimulate an intelligent conversation?

Is it something I would want to watch (or listen to, or read)?

In addition to the literal truth, is there a universal truth being expressed, metaphorically or symbolically?

Etc.

I have always been interested in gangsters and outlaws. This is probably why I played Rock and Roll all those years. As a kid all I remember is Cagney's gangster movies, John Wayne's westerns, war movies, and an occasional horror flick. All of which contained violence, prejudice, rewritten/romanticized history, and fantasy. And yet I grew up against guns, an American Indian rights advocate, anti-war, and most all of my work rooted in hard core reality.

Go figure.

Maybe it's the values instilled by one's parents and family that matters most and not the input from the external media.

As I've said many times, anybody watching The Sopranos and deciding to run out and join the mafia truly does need a psychiatrist. We go out of our way to portray that lifestyle as realistically as possible. There is no romanticizing or glamorization going on. One of the great achievements of the show is showing how mundane that lifestyle is without boring the audience to death.

Consider for a moment what the show is all about.

It is about having two families, one at home, and one at work, and how you balance the two and cope with the modern dilemma of never having enough time for either one.

It is about men who are watching the daily disintegration of the only life they've ever known. Watching the way they make their living and support their families becoming more and more irrelevant every day.

It is about the destruction of a value system that generations lived by. The end of all things once considered tradition.

It is about the confusion and insecurity felt by people who are in the middle of some of the most dramatic cultural changes that have ever taken place in the history of the planet.

The show does not advocate or encourage anything I am philosophically opposed to in real life. And even if it did, if it was casting light on a subject worthy of thought or discussion, I'd still do it.

I consider it a compliment that you would suggest that anything I participate in is an endorsement. That happens to be true. But remember art is not life. Art, at it's best, illuminates and dissects and exaggerates and dissembles and reassembles life in a way we may not have thought of and, by doing that, helps us understand ourselves and the world around us a little bit better. And keep in mind art speaks to a place and a time. What is meaningless or even offensive today may speak to you tomorrow and surprise you with its revelatory truth.

Do you believe that Anthony Hopkins is endorsing serial killing by being in "Silence of The Lambs"? Is Michael Douglas endorsing greed by being in "Wall Street"? Do you think Joaquin Phoenix thinks it's okay to murder his father because he did so in "Gladiator"?

Repeat after me.

All I know is this.

Anybody who wants their own homeland should have one.

Terrorism is wrong.

Oppression is wrong.

Every political problem has a logical solution.

Applying that solution can be difficult but that doesn't change the facts.

The U.S. or the U.N. or somebody needs to sit down with everybody, see what they want, and figure out a logical, compromised solution. I assume they are doing that but nothing seems to come of it.

There has to be a way of figuring out how to achieve an independent Palestinian nation and a secure Israel.

If that goal is agreed upon by everybody then it's just a matter of where it is.

If Jerusalem is the stumbling block then make it a joint capital. A neutral zone both countries share. All three of the main Semitic religions came out of there anyway so why not let all three share the sacred sites and maybe learn more about each other.

I'm trying to get my records back and make them available on the website but no luck so far.