From Yahoo News
George Carlin mourned as a counterculture hero

LOS ANGELES - George Carlin, the frenzied performer whose routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" led to a key Supreme Court ruling on obscenity, has died.

Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, went into St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham. He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. He was 71.

"He was a genius and I will miss him dearly," Jack Burns, who was the other half of a comedy duo with Carlin in the early 1960s, told The Associated Press. read

NAFTA Superhighway

From Chris Floyd
Torturegate: Truth, But No Consequences
Friday, 20 June 2008

This has been one of the most extraordinary weeks in modern American history. The many isolated streams of evidence about the Bush Administration's torture system – and the direct responsibility of the Administration's highest officials for this vast crime – have now converged into a mighty flood: undeniable, unignorable, pouring through the halls of Congress and media newsrooms, lashing at the walls of the White House itself. In the course of the past few days, a series of events has laid bare the stinking sepsis at the heart of the Bush Regime for all to see.

It began last Sunday with the launch of a remarkable series by McClatchy Newspapers, detailing the torture, brutality, injustice and murder that has riddled the Bush gulag from top to bottom. Then came fiery Senate hearings, in which long-somnolent legislators finally bestirred themselves to confront and denounce some of the torture system's architects, including Dick Cheney pointman William Haynes III, who was left reeling, shuffling, dissembling – and bracing for perjury charges after his blatantly mendacious testimony. read

The Lightbulb Conspiracy!

Don't Break The Flourescent Bulb!

From Counterpunch.Org
Exposing Pentagon and CIA Corruption
By STEPHEN LENDMAN

Information for this article comes from long-time business, finance and political writer and analyst Bob Chapman who publishes the bi-weekly International Forecaster. It's power-packed with key information and a valued source for this writer. He obtained voluminous material directly from its source. People need to know it. Read on.

SueAnn Arrigo is the source. She was a high-level CIA insider. Her title was Special Operations Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). She also established the Remote Viewing Defense protocols for the Pentagon in her capacity as Remote Viewing Advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). It earned her a two-star general rank in the military. She called it a "ploy" so the Pentagon could get more of her time and have her attend monthly Joint Chiefs of Staff meetings. Only high-level types are invited, and she was there from October 2003 to July 2004.

Part of her job involved intelligence gathering on Iraq and Afghanistan - until August 2004 when she refused to spread propaganda about a non-existant Iranian nuclear weapons program and left. She followed in the footsteps of others at CIA who resigned for reasons of conscience and became critics - most notably Ray McGovern, Ralph McGehee, and Phil Agee.

On May 16, 2008, Arrigo sent extensive government corruption and cover-up information to Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee - in 12 separate cases. This article covers four of them or about one-third of what Congress got. The 12 are explosive and revealing but just the tip of the iceberg:

-- of government corruption and war profiteering;

-- sweetheart deals and kickbacks;

-- high-level types on the take;

-- trillions of missing dollars;

-- on September 10, 2001, Rumsfeld admitting "According to some estimates, we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions;"

-- imagine the current amount;

-- its corrosive effect on the nation; and people should

-- demand accountability - who profits, who pays and what are the consequences of militarism gone mad.

read entire article

How Much Was Fox Paid to Shill Bush's War Crime in Iraq?
(From What Really Happened)
The many lies told by Fox and Bill O'Reilly are probable cause to suspect Fox of criminal complicity with the Bush regime. It is reasonable to suspect that Fox is called Bush's 'propaganda ministry' because it is Bush's propaganda ministry. Bush may yet stand trial for war crimes and mass murder. But what of his enablers inside his 'propaganda ministry'? It is reasonable to ask how many members of the Fox board, how many executives, how many on-camera shills share Bush's guilt for having perpetrated a murderous lie upon the American people and the world. read

You are free to do what we tell you

From: Information Clearing House
A Special Thank You To George W Bush
By Ted Twietmeyer 6-7-8

On behalf of the American people, today I step forward and extend my thanks to you. During your two terms in office, you've worked very hard to help the average American's life. I'd like to take a moment or two and specifically thank you for the following:

* The stress of going to work for millions of Americans has been greatly relieved by your diligent efforts by sending all those terrible sources of income to China.

* Now that we have Homeland Security we can all sleep better knowing that when the doors of our homes are kicked in at night, it will be only for our protection and our own good. We trust you implicitly to do the right thing.

* Millions of Americans, who have been stressed out for years by living the American Dream of owning a home, will no longer have these worries. Living in a car or RV is so much simpler, and far more comfortable.

* The mice, ants, roaches and other pests brought on by having food in American cupboards and pantries has finally been brought under control. The New America you've given us has made that happen, by emptying pantries and cupboards all across America. Companies like D-Con, Rent-A-Kill and Orkin may have their very existence in peril with the lack of food.

* Your 100 year war you have bestowed upon the American people and indeed, all of the western world to fight terrorism will provide jobs for all. All those children from your wonderful "No Child Left Behind" public school policy that are now graduating from high schools everywhere are unfit for college. But they will find food, shelter, training and employment under the loving organization of Homeland Security.

* You have shown us you must be a God, for you could see the first plane crashing into the World Trade Center which was never televised. You were so humble that you didn't want to admit you could see it without the aid of television, so you stated you saw it on television.

* We all thank you for your gift of the Patriot Act. Since the 1200+ page document was all ready to sign the same week as 9-11, clearly you have the gift of foresight and had it all ready ahead of time. You saw that terrible evil coming on 9-11, but you didn't stop it because all those deaths were good forAmerica.

* Your quiet, diligent work to take down America's borders by leaving them effectively undefended to allow millions of illegal aliens to enter America and burden her down in her time of need, is a love for America beyond compare.

* We all understand even another way you show us love, by the special protections you give to corporations like Blackwater that help destroy America's reputation. We realize that it's for our own good.

* We're all so sorry that those six nuclear weapons that reached Barksdale, Louisiana last year (the logistics staging airbase for the mid-east war) were stopped by those annoying patriotic Americans. They should have been allowed to proceed to destroy Iran and officially start WW3. After all, you know what's best for America.

* All Americans everywhere want to join together and thank you for the highest fuel prices in the history of the planet. It took you considerable hard work and the courage to give away all the Iraqi oil to foreign corporations that many thousands of American soldiers died for, to make this gift become a reality. Because of this wonderful gift, millions of Americans will no be troubled by making vacation plans. And they will not have to endure all that stress relief that goes with a nice vacation.

* We all want to extend a special thank you for staging not one war, but two wars without any means to pay for them. Foolish people on Capitol Hill during WW2 wasted so much time selling war bonds to pay for that war. Perhaps by the end of 2008, you can get a third front started for us to enjoy with no possible way to pay for it.

* Millions of homeowners everywhere are so grateful that you have pulled funding from minor projects like rebuilding America's aging infrastructure. Cities and towns everywhere have created tremendous tax increases, and homeowners everywhere are so happy about it they have used garage and yard sales to display and celebrate their gratitude for taxes they cannot afford.

* We're all grateful for you not working too hard to find your arch enemy and supposed architect of 9-11, Bin Laden. We understand your need for him, and that finding him would end all justification for the mid-east conflict. No one wants to let the air out of your war tires.

* There all are those careers you've so graciously destroyed in the military to protect yourself. These patriotic men and women have no business upholding the Constitution like they have, despite their oath when each was sworn in at the induction center. Their allegiance must be to you, not the Constitution. You have stated to us that the Constitution is "just a God-Da..d piece of paper" and this is how we know that you are where everyone's faith must be centered.

* Surely there are many more gifts you've given America, and we're terribly sorry if we have omitted them. And we're all sure, that the coming atrocities you'll bestow upon us and the world before you leave office will be for the good of America, and the entire world.

In closing, I'd like to say that destroying America with a carefully crafted plan is a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. Certainly, you make Mike Rowe proud. But I don't think he'd be able to do your dirty job in a short segment on his cable show, "Dirty Jobs."

From TBR News:
The Voice of the White House
Washington , D.C. , June 1, 2008 : “My colleague here showed me an overview, official study concerning U.S. detainees. It is not generally knows to the public but the U.S government now has over 30,000 (31,082 as of May 19, 2008 ) people in secret custody, all over the world.

An official U.S. program of torture and ‘rendition’ has been going on since before 9/11 and has never stopped. A number, estimated to be approximately 3,500, have been killed during these interrogations or have died as the result of them. read

ARE YOU ANGRY YET? ~~ YOU SHOULD BE!
A must read post by Michael Rivero of What Really Happened.

You should be! You’ve been lied to. Your tax money has been taken from you and spent under false pretenses. Your children have been sent off to kill and be killed in an illegal war launched without Congressional approval. You who fought in the war and think you came back home healthy, well, you’ve been lied to as well. Your health is all downhill from here (ask any Vet from Desert Storm), and your children will have a higher incidence of birth defects because that depleted uranium isn’t as harmless as you were told it was. And those VA medical benefits you were promised? That was a lie too. Are you angry yet? read

From Yahoo News:
Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan reveals truth about IRAQ war

WASHINGTON - Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan writes in a new memoir that President Bush relied on an aggressive "political propaganda campaign" instead of the truth to sell the Iraq war, and that the decision to invade pushed Bush's presidency "terribly off course.'

The Bush White House made "a decision to turn away from candor and honesty when those qualities were most needed" — a time when the nation was on the brink of war, McClellan writes in the book entitled "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception."

The way Bush managed the Iraq issue "almost guaranteed that the use of force would become the only feasible option."

"In the permanent campaign era, it was all about manipulating sources of public opinion to the president's advantage," McClellan writes.

White House aides seemed stunned by the scathing tone of the book, and Bush press secretary Dana Perino issued a statement that was highly critical of their former colleague. read

From Keyhole Publishing
Orwellian America: 9/11 and the Road to Iran
Richard M. Dolan - May 9, 2008

Played Like Suckers

As the father of two homeschooled children, I find myself doing all kinds of unusual, albeit engaging, activities that I might not otherwise be doing. For instance, my son, Michael, who is nearly 12 and shares many of my interests, graciously encourages me to read some of the books that he’s reading. He’s still trying to hook me on his Dungeons & Dragons library – not much luck there yet – but we do love history both ancient and modern. Last year, we read all of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey together. Most recently, we finished George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

I have been a fan of Orwell since my teens. Yet, it’s been many years since I read this little classic novella, a brilliant allegory of the Russian Revolution. Napoleon the pig was modeled on Stalin – he eventually becomes indistinguishable from the humans, even to the point of walking on his hind legs and carrying a whip.

One of the horses, Boxer, is the tragic hero. Boxer believes in the Revolution, he believes in Animal Farm. He works and works, and then works himself into exhaustion. His two mottos are “I will work harder,” and “Napoleon is always right.” At the end, he is sold to the slaughterhouse and turned into glue. The money from his sale brings in a crate of whisky for Napoleon. read

For Profit
By Malcolm Martin
From 19/05/08 ICH

Our children are taught that the United States of America is a democracy. As the tale is told, at the founding of the nation, a government “of, by, and for the people” was established. Four score and seven years later, a President Abraham Lincoln called the nation’s people to join and die in a great civil war that such a form of government might not perish from the earth and their eventual victory preserved American democracy into the future.

Those children can someday refer to the sermons of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright for the full story. But aside from how closely this lesson is in accord with the historic truth, the idea has today become an outright lie and an utter absurdity. The United States of America is now better described as a corporatocracy. The government is owned and the people are dictated to by these capitalist creations whose God is Mammon. Ironically as Lincoln spoke his immortal words at Gettysburg, the Industrial Revolution had begun to generate these entities that would have completely removed any vestige of American democracy seven score and five years later.

Corporations are, of course, different from people. They are devoid of human emotion. They are constitutionally unable to generate empathy. They feel nothing if people suffer exploitation, if people live in misery, or if people die horribly. Union Carbide was unaffected by the thousands dead and dying in Bhopal. It registered only on a balance sheet as a $470-million loss taken for the sake of future corporate viability under a new name, Dow Chemical. The corporation cannot be reasoned with, pleaded with, or shamed into changing course even in times like these, when life on the planet hangs in the balance. McDonald’s is in the process of teaching Starbucks that even the pretense of a social conscience is too expensive a marketing ploy. read

This suicide is 'stinky'