LINKS BY GEORGE - DECEMBER 23rd

Aloha and welcome to my Christmas (and probably New Year edition of "links by george".
I invite you to check out my updated blog images in the new art images on the
"top part of the bottom" picture icons.
There is new art from visionary artist Chris Dyer and political portal artist David Dees.
The blog this week has many articles on Wikileaks as well as stories on psychedelics, spirituality, environmental, economy, health, political, conspiracies, quotes
and updated music news.
Being an end of the year issue, it's a bit bigger than usual. On a festive note, I have added quite a few Grateful Dead and other music YouTubes as well.
Of course not every article or detail is interesting to everyone, so I suggest one way to approach this digest is to skim the headlines and then go back to open the ones most personally interesting. My aim is to arrange them in a way that has a thematic flow (similar to how I would arrange the songs I would play in my radio show).



And if anyone would like to make a donation for the internet service,
it would be very appreciated. Even very small amounts would help.
We have a paypal contact at gsrain@yahoo.com


Our son John with Ariel latest music
www.myspace.com/ariel_and_john



LINKS BY GEORGE" DIRECTORY:


LIFESTYLE/ ARTS/ CULTURE/ ETC:

EVENTS
HIGH CONSCIOUSNESS
ARTS
ENVIRONMENT
SCIENCE
HEALTH
GLOBAL NEWS
NATIONAL NEWS:
GENERAL INFO
WAR
POLITICAL
ECONOMIC
SURVEILLANCE/FRINGE POSSIBILITIES:
QUOTES FOR THE WEEK
PUNMASTER MUSIC NEWS-SELECTED ARTICLES
-----------------------------------------

LIFESTYLE/ ARTS/ CULTURE/ ETC:

EVENTS:

Toward a Science of Consciousness 2011
Stockholm May 2-8



Three Days of Alternative Knowledge -
February 4th, 5th and 6th, 2011


HIGH CONSCIOUSNESS:

The psychedelic secrets of Santa Claus



Willie Nelson Wants A National Pot Party



Pot Revolution in New England



The War on Drugs Is a War on Poor People



Drug Czar Blames Rising Teen Pot Use On Medical Cannabis Laws
Rather Than On His Own Failed Policies




Feds Threaten Medical Pot Growers




THIS YEAR'S TOP 10 DOMESTIC DRUG POLICY STORIES




THIS YEAR'S TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL DRUG POLICY STORIES



Beckley Foundation drug information,
policy and activism site



Dutch Mayors Rush to Make Cannabis Cafes "Members Only"




Cannabis:
European Union will not block EU Member States...




1964 LSD test on British Marines
-youtube




Controversial halluclinogen Salvia study shows intense,
novel effects in humans




New Salvia divinorum evolution and origins paper in
Journal of Plant Research



Salvinorin study



What students on ketamine tell us about schizophrenia



Nice People Use Drugs Too



Tripping on Science: The Psychedelic Community Contests Terms




Psychonautica #61
-Thomas Roberts - benefits of psychedelics




Horizons Perspectives on Psychedelics Conference videos now online
-videos



Psychedelics and Human Destiny:
Notes from the Horizons Conference



Ram Dass
On Timothy Leary & Birth of A Psychedelic Culture



The Fusion of Spirit and Science
by Neal M. Goldsmith Ph.D.
-video



Wade Davis interview at Mind Hacks



Mavericks of the Mind: Conversations with Terence McKenna,
Allen Ginsberg, Tim Robert Anton Wislon, and Others
(Second Edition)



The Psychozoic Press,
Erowid Editions



The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience,
by Masters & Houston (PDF)



Better Living Through Chemistry:
the documentary
-film trailer




Launching of the book "Opening the Portals of Heaven:
Brazilian Ayahuaca Music"




Legislative Hearings Discuss Attempt to Ban the
Use of Ayahuasca in Brazil



Ayahuasca newsletter
Spiritual & Metaphysical Retreats at TheVine Center
in Bahia, Brazil




Future Primitive
podcasts



Awakening the Cosmic Serpent:
A Live Online Course




Psychobiology of Drug-Induced Religious Experience:
From the Brain “Locus of Religion” to Cognitive Unbinding



Australian Study Investigating Drug use and Spiritual Experiences,
Now Recruiting



Shamanism is the Technology of the Spirit --
an Interview with Mark Plotkin




Return of the Ancestors
-video
Shaman Kiesha Crowther also knows as the "Little Grandmother"



Singing to the Plants
KMO plays the second half of AyasminA’s interview with Dr. Stephan V. Beyer,
author of Singing to the Plants:
A Guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon.




Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
Reflections on the Spirit and Legacy of the Sixties
Fritjof Capra




Jnana Yogi with Bhakti
-Arthur Koestler



Deward E. Walker Jr. "Black Drink:
A Native American Tea (review).
" Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 2,



Review: Cunning-Folk and Familiar Spirits:
Shamanistic Visionary Traditions in Early Modern
British Witchcraft and Magic




Esoteric dance scene from "Meetings With Remarkable Men"




Another clip from Meetings With Remarkable Men




The End(s) of Mythology -video
Presented at Transhumanism and Spirituality




Did Washington and Jefferson Believe Jesus was a Myth?




Why Religious People Are Scared of Atheists




Jesus' Great-Grandmother Identified



Graham Hancock on The Supernatural
-video



HereAfterHere
"HereAfterHere is the soundtrack for Tandy Beal’s investigation of
the afterlife. Visually evocative, the music suggests alternative worlds
yet remains grounded in the here and now of this present world.
Art Lande contributes his musical magic on several of the piece"



Guided Chakra Meditation
-youtube



Infinity: The Ultimate Trip: Journey Beyond Death
A Film by Jay Weidner-film trailer




OSHO:
Why is Communication so Difficult Particularly
Between Lovers? (Preview)
-youtube



Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna



Dear Prudence: Won’t You Come Out to Play
Article on the Beatles in India with rare photos




The Beatles in India-
w/photos and videos



Very Rare Footage The Beatles in India 1968 part 1
-youtube




'Video Vision Quests' is a new way to experience a profoundly
spiritual and everlasting connection with our sacred earth.



25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World



Vision:
Can Human Beings Drop Their Divisive,
Reactionary Thinking and Move to a Higher Level?



Carl Jung and
The Holy Grail of the Unconscious



Carl Jung's Red Book



Margaret Mead's war theory kicks butt of neo-Darwinian
and Malthusian models




ARTS:

World Art Erotica



Our multi dimensional artist friend in Hawaii Mara Mayo



Houses of the Holy:
The backstory to the famous Led Zeppelin album cover



Don Van Vliet, ‘Captain Beefheart,’ Dies at 69



Captain Beefheart documentary (Part 1 of 6)
-youtube



THE DIGITAL STORY OF THE NATIVITY
-youtube



Jerry Garcia Band - Jingle Bells - 12/20/75 Winterland




Garcia & Grisman - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen -
December 7, 1991
-youtube



Cream Puff War - Grateful Dead
-youtube



Peggy-O, 5/11/77 - Grateful Dead
-youtube



Grateful Dead - Infrared Roses (composite)
-youtube



Grateful Dead~infrared roses
-youtube



Grateful Dead-"Alligator" Live 8/5/67
-youtube



Traffic & Jerry Garcia Mr Dear Fantasy
-youtube



Rolling Stones - 2000 Light Years From Home -
Live '90 Barcelona
-youtube



Rolling Stones -
2000 Light Years From Home-with nice visuals
-youtube



I Got A Line On You by Spirit
-youtube



Neil Young - Rockin' In The Free World
-youtube



I Can't Help But Wonder from our friend David Starsoul
This song, and video, is a dedicated to Native Americans--
and all the victimized animals in the world. "Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth."--Mat 6:10....



H.P. Lovecraft - Mobius Trip
-youtube



RECOIL: JOHN CIPOLLINA
- recent reviews




Dirty Fucking Hippies WERE RIGHT!
-youtube




John Lennon-assassinated Dec 8



John Lennon



Rolling Stone | John Lennon's Last Interview




Violence in Cinema:
"Torture Porn":
World Cinema at its Lowest Ebb


ENVIRONMENT:



Melting Glaciers Cause Droughts, Floods;
Norway Helps Himalayas




Marine World Heritage Managers' First Gathering
Celebrates Hawaiian Islands



A lost prehistoric Oasis in the Persian Gulf




Ancient secrets of Sir Bani Yas Island unveiled




Traditional Agriculture in Sri Lanka
Edward Goldsmith interviews Mudyanse Tennekoon




WikiLeaks:
US Ambassador Planned "Retaliation" Against France
Over Ban on Monsanto Corn





Holy Shit:
The Secret Behind Creating Truly Sustainable Food



Nicola Peel is now in Ecaudor helping in many ways and dimensions.
Check out her site and updates



Alaska Launches New Attack on Polar Bears
Endangered Earth:
Polar Bears Get Lump of Coal for Christmas



AUSTRALIA: TREES NOT TRICKS
Right now, international climate negotiations in Mexico are heating up --
but powerful timber companies are lobbying Australia for special favours
which would undermine the talks. Climate Minister Combet is already at the
climate summit, and we have just days left to shift his position -- let’s call on
him to oppose loopholes for loggers!



Another Reality –
The Gulf of Mexico is Dying



5 Awards For the World's Most Heinous Climate Villains




Top 10 green stories of 2010




Seattle’s impending car-centric mega-tunnel:
a chat with urbanist Cary Moon



Chicago has got it growing on




Watercorps providing bulk drinking water to the homeless people
living on the streets of Skid Row Los Angeles.




‘Water Man’ provides oasis for downtown homeless in LA




Defending the right to share food: Skid Row’s community picnic





Frazil Ice At Yosemite
-video



Giant Eruption Cut Down to Size



New Study Shows Urban Cycling Is Faster Than Driving


SCIENCE:


How the brain's architecture makes our view of the world unique




Very interesting - a brain scientist experiencing and researching
on her own stroke
-video



Nissan Leaf:
A revolutionary vehicle that drives like a car



Genetically Modified Mosquitos



Coexistence with Monsanto:
Hell No!



HEALTH:


One of America's Oldest Men
- Is His Controversial Anti-Aging
Advice Right For You?



Just Breathe:
Body Has A Built-In Stress Reliever




Medicinal mushroom powder



This Powerful Nutrient Improves Concentration
by 60% and Fights ADHD
-Omega 3





This Vilified Daily Food Slashes Heart Attack Risk in Half...
Butter



"Modern Twist on an Ancient Super-Food"




Why the New Vitamin D Recommendations Spell Disaster For Your Health





Are Depressed People Too Clean?




TV Watching Is Bad for Babies' Brains



FDA attacks raw milk




WikiLeaks cables:
Pfizer 'used dirty tricks to avoid clinical trial payout'




Nation of Pill Poppers: 19 Potentially Dangerous Drugs
Pushed By Big Pharma




This Kills Twice as Many People as AIDS –
Why are Doctors Ignoring it?
About $282 million was paid to doctors by drug companies last year.
Is this compromising the best interests of their patients?



The "Calcium Lie" Every Woman Should Know About




8 Skin Moisturizer Ingredients You'd Best Avoid





Alkaline Water
If You Fall for This "Water Fad" -
You Could Do Some Major Damage




The Most Dangerous Types of Water You Can Drink




Avoid this Type of Water Purification
-Distilled



Yoga Better Than Walking For Beating The Blues




Natural Miscarriage Methods



12 Year Olds Getting Bikini Waxes:
Why Do Women Do SuchTerrible Things to Their Vaginas?



Sex:
the next ethical industry?



What It's Like to Be 17 and Having Sex for Money



Is Marriage Becoming Obsolete?





GLOBAL NEWS:


Wikileaks: Documents Confirm US Plans Against Venezuela




Nigeria Files Charges Against Cheney in Halliburton Bribery Scheme




Halliburton May Pay $500 million to Keep Cheney out of Prison:
Report




US seeks access to key Australian military bases -
National News - National - General - The Canberra Times




Lebanese Newspaper Publishes U.S. Cables Not Found on WikiLeaks




A Missing Wikileak:
All roads lead to Tel Aviv



THE DILEMMA OF THE ISRAELI LEFT
Joseph Dana




Argentina Recognizes Palestine Within its 1967 Borders




Yugoslavia:
How Holbrooke Lied His Way into a War
By Sam Husseini




Rapists stalk women in Somali refugee camps




Michael Moore | Dear Government of Sweden




WikiLeaks cables:
Shell's grip on Nigerian state revealed Nigerian oil,
Shell Despite billions of dollars in oil revenue,
70% of people in Nigeria live below the poverty line



Europeans Criticize Fierce U.S. Response to Leaks
PARIS — For many Europeans, Washington's fierce reaction to the flood of secret
diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks displays imperial arrogance and hypocrisy,
indicating a post-9/11 obsession with secrecy that contradicts American principles.




Iceland may ban MasterCard, Visa over WikiLeaks censorship




Vatican bank gets caught money laundry. church loses assets.



Western Civilization Has Shed Its Values
By Paul Craig Roberts




Our friend Dieter A. Hagenbach anounces this message of an end to war inspiration from Switzerland:
Switzerland is one of the world’s richest countries, but as it has recently been learned, it cannot afford a real army. Our few jet fighters are antiquated and new ones have been dismissed by the Parliament, who also rejected an increase in the military budget of one billion up to 5.5 billion francs per year. The Federal Councillor in charge of the army is a member of the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP) and is now – against his and the will of his party – tasked with undertaking the necessary steps for a rigorous decrease in the size of our army.
It all began with the leftist-green Group for a Switzerland without an Army (GsoA), whose popular initiative “For a Switzerland without an Army and for a comprehensive Policy for Peace“ came to vote on 26 November 1989, and reached a surprisingly high approval rate of 35.6 percent.
Now the delegates of the Social Democratic Party (SP), also a governing party, have decided to campaign for the abolition of the Swiss Army.
It is quite possible that Switzerland may soon join those 25 countries who do not maintain an army, allowing left and right to achieve reconciliation, and our Confederation to set a positive and future-oriented example for all other countries: The world does not need armies anymore. Spread the word.
Wishing you all a loving and peaceful holiday season.
Cordially
Dieter A. Hagenbach





NATIONAL NEWS:

GENERAL INFO:


NBC/WSJ poll:
Nearly 60% approve of tax deal
''Can You Believe This (doctored?) Crock?:
Like, far from believing in Fairness, Justice, Equality, or a level playing field,
or paying their bills, or being able to provide for their families and children
it seems that, in the journalistic media-minds of NBC and the
WALL STREET Journal, 60% of numb-ass citizens would rather put
their money into the pockets and investment accounts of the
WEALTHIEST 1/2 of one percent of Americans!!''




Humanity's Road Ahead - Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers at the Howard Zinn Lecture




Who, Precisely, Is Attacking the World?
By Paul Craig Roberts



Ralph Nader | Institutional Insanity



William Rivers Pitt | Bernie Sanders and the True State of the Union



The Attack on American Education




Issues and Alibis news service




WikiRebels
-- The Documentary (original SVT.se)-
-youtube






Julian Assange:
Wanted by the Empire, Dead or Alive
By Alexander Cockburn



Death Squads versus Democracy:
Tom Flanagan’s "Joke" directed against Wikileaks Julian Assange



Pundits Openly Calling for Wikileaks Founder's Death Have
Crossed a Very Dangerous Line



Why Shouldn't Freedom of the Press Apply to WikiLeaks?




Wikileaks Mirrors
Wikileaks is currently mirrored on 2194 web sites




The US Government's pursuit of WikiLeaks could be its undoing



The 9 Weirdest Things About the WikiLeaks Story




Free Julian Assange! Hands off WikiLeaks!
By Bill Van Auken
It is almost certain that the ultimate goal of the shoddy legal frame-up
is to have Assange extradited to the United States to be tried as a spy or
even as an accomplice of terrorism.



"The Truth Will Always Win"
by Julian Paul Assange




Wikileaks vs the Right to Lie




Pentagon Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg:
Julian Assange is Not a Terrorist




Larry Flynt | Why I Am Donating $50,000 to WikiLeaks




Michael Moore:
Why I'm posting $20,000 for Julian Assange's bail




Was the Bush Administration Obsessed With Me?
by Michael Moore




Cover-ups, Coups, and Drones
A Holiday Sampler of What Wikileaks Reveals about the US
By Bill Quigley
The US claims broad authority to secretly snoop on the lives of
individuals inside and outside of the US. It also works tirelessly to
prevent citizens from knowing what is going on by expansively naming
basic government information "state secrets." The government says
it has to have the right to keep things secret in order to prevent crime.




US Offers Bradley Manning Plea Bargain If He Names Julian Assange
By Kim Sengupta and David Usborne in New York
Accused soldier offered plea bargain if he names WikiLeaks founder.




Bradley Manning's Life Behind Bars




Julian's background is from our cultural hometown Nimbin Australia.
Check out my friend Martin's podcast
(as well as all his excellent archived shows)



Julian Assange's Post-Bail Interviews
-film



Who's Who at Wikileaks?



WikiLeaks Cables are Dispatches from a Beleaguered America
in Imperial Retreat
Envoys provide devastating truths, but world can admire
Washington's patient mission to avert nuclear apocalypse




Glenn Greenwald:
"War on WikiLeaks"




WikiLeaks cables are dispatches from a beleaguered
America in imperial retreat



The Beginning of the End of the American Empire
Excerpt from "The Global Economic Crisis"




Scenarios for the Coming Collapse of the American Empire




The American Empire Is Collapsing,
And Americans Will Be The Last to Know




AMERICA:
Y UR PEEPS B SO DUM?
Ignorance and courage in the age of Lady Gaga




Study Confirms That Fox News Makes You Stupid



No Act of Rebellion Is Wasted
By Chris Hedges
Hope and justice live when people, even in tiny numbers, stand up and fight for them.



WAR:

135 Arrested For Civil Disobedience at White House; 40 Sec.
Video and Ray McGovern Interview
The Veterans for Peace civil disobedience action against the war,
which also turned into an event strongly supporting Bradley Manning,
Wikileaks and Julian Assange.




Daniel Ellsberg on Wikileaks, Assange, Manning,
Civil Disobedience and more



FBI:
Peace Activism May Now be Criminal"



How the Pentagon Turns Working-
Class Men into the Deadliest Killers on the Planet




Empowering youth to say NO to recruiters and YES to resistance



US Kills At Least 51 People In Pakistan
By The Express Tribune News
On Thursday, another US missile strike killed seven suspected militants
in Khyber Agency. Local security officials said the attack was an apparent
expansion of America's drone campaign in the country.



John Pilger
- The War You Don't See (review)



John Pilger
- The War You Don't See
Video Documentary

John Pilger says in the film: "We journalists... have to be brave enough
to defy those who seek our collusion in selling their latest bloody adventure
in someone else's country... In this age of endless imperial war, the lives
of countless men, women and children depend on the truth or their blood is
on us... Those whose job it is to keep the record straight ought to be the voice
of people, not power."




U.S. Savage Imperialism
by Noam Chomsky




The United States of War Criminals
By Mickey Z.
Roughly one million tax dollars per minute are spent to fund the largest
military machine (read: global terrorist operation) the world has ever known.




War dominated foreign policy is destroying the economy and national security


POLITICAL:


Ron Paul:
What We Need Is More WikiLeaks



Al Franken | The Most Important Free Speech Issue of Our Time



Bush v. Gore's Dark American Decade
Ten years ago, five Republican US Supreme Court justices put the
country on a path toward disaster, recalls Robert Parry.



When Zombies Win



Update:
Census Data Released, Revealing Gain in House Seats for GOP




Despite Calls for Pay Freeze, GOP Staff Payrolls Soar



Bernie Sanders Puts Barack Obama to Shame



Szandor Blestman:
I See Something and I'm Saying Something



Swami Beyondananda-political humor and more



ECONOMIC:


The 10 Greediest People of the Year



Corporate Profits Were the Highest on Record Last Quarter



Wall Street Considers Early Bonuses if Bush Tax Cuts Get Slashed





Downsize Nation:
Welcome to the New, Smaller American Dream



Western Civilization and Classical Economics:
The Immorality of Austerity



The New Tax Deal:
Reaganomics Redux



MINDSET WARFARE JEFF GATES
The U.S. is slipping into a debt-induced recession from which we're
assured that more debt is the remedy.



CHINA TO THE US:
STOP WITH THE MONOPOLY MONEY




Doomsday for the US Dollar:
Post Mortem for the World's "Reserve Currency"



How Our Trillion-Dollar Empire Is the Cause of Our 'Deficit Problem'




MasterCard, Amazon, PayPal "Counter-Cyber-Attacked"



Death and Profits
PGandE The Utility Protection Racket



Phone Companies' $100 Billion Rip-off --
Where Is That Hidden $6 a Month Going in Our Phone Bills?




SURVEILLANCE/FRINGE POSSIBILITIES:


Intel's Sandy Bridge processors have a remote kill switch



Facebook snaps could prove costly



McCarthyism on Steroids: Monitoring Americans




Monitoring America
By Dana Priest and SWilliam M. Arkin
The United States is assembling a vast domestic intelligence
apparatus to collect information about Americans, using the FBI,
local police, state homeland security offices and military criminal investigators.




The Doomsday Project:
Creating a State of Perpetual Emergency



EXCLUSIVE:
Anon on Operation Payback



Exclusive:
An Inside Look at the "Hacktivist" Attack on Visa's Web Site




Why Is the Government Waging a Doomed (and Illegal)
War Against WikiLeaks?




What's Behind the War on WikiLeaks



Assange Beseiged - Sweden takes the cake!



Report:
Assange's Swedish Sex Crimes Accuser Flees to Middle East,
May Not Be Cooperating with Police



Just like out of a Bond film:
Inside the astonishing subterranean WikiLeaks bunker
By Michael Hanlon




Obama and GOPers Worked Together to Kill Bush Torture Probe
By David Corn
WikiLeaks cable shows that when Spain considered a criminal
case against ex-Bush
officials, the Obama White House and Republicans, leaned on
Spain to derail this potential prosecution.



To Orwellian Governments Around the Globe
Censoring = Fortifying the Censored!




Wikileaks and the Worldwide Information War
Power, Propaganda, and the Global Political Awakening
By Andrew Gavin Marshall



WikiLeaks Server Goes Down, Julian Assange Facing
'Hundreds Of Death Threats'



Former top AIPAC official states passing US secrets to Israel is routine
for the Israel Lobby Thursday, December 16, 2010



Strawberry Fields Assassination Sequence
-youtube



Who Authorized The Assassination Of John Lennon?
(I now don't think Mark David Chapman shot John --
I believe a professional mechanic did the shooting --
With Chapman the MKULTRA mind-controlled patsy)
by Mark R. Elsis



Rethinking John Lennon's Assassination
by Salvador Astucia




The Assassination Of John Lennon
An Article Based On The Published Work Of Fenton Bresler,
British Researcher, Author (Who Killed John Lennon?) And Lawyer.




Was John Lennon's murderer Mark Chapman a CIA hitman?
Thirty years on, there's an extraordinary new theory



''CIA killed Lennon''



Mossad, MI6, the CIA and the case of the assassinated scientist




In Tapes, Nixon Rails About Jews and Blacks




Operation Paperclip
CIA's Denial of Protecting Nazis is Blatant Lie (Part 1)
by Hank P. Albarelli Jr.*



Hitler's Shadow Reaches toward Today
"The U.S. government protected Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie in the
years after World War II and later unleashed the infamous Butcher of Lyon
on South America by aiding his escape from French war-crimes prosecutors,
according to a new report issued by the National Archives"



Black Chamber



Melchizedek Communique, MC112210) Randy and Evi Quaid seek
asylum in Canada. They claim they need to get away from
so-called "star whackers," a shadowy group the
couple insist are out to kill them and whose victims have
included Heath Ledger and David Carradine.



"EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:
David Carradine's Ex Wife Supports Quaids;
Someone Is Killing Stars!",



Escape the Illusion:
"reality is an illusion; are your ready to escape"




America Has Become a Police State




Historic Georgia Inmate Strike:
Prisoners Demand Human Rights,
Education, Wages for Work




Justice Department Prepares for Ominous Expansion of
"Anti-Terrorism" Law Targeting Activists




Justice Dept. Renews Enforcement of Subpoenas for
Antiwar Activists Targeted in FBI Raids



Tension grows between Calif. Muslims, FBI after informant infiltrates mosque
Mosque infiltration feeds Muslims' distrust of FBI in Southern California
By Jerry Markon
Washington Post Staff Writer



Psychologists Conducted Torture Sessions for the CIA
- Millions of Dollars Involved



Officials:
CIA Gave Waterboarders $5 Million Legal Shield




UN Looking Into Bradley Manning's Treatment



Jesse Ventura Hammers The 9/11 Official Pentagon Attack Scenario




Fair Game: the Movie
"We can be pleased that a movie has been made that exposes how the
Cabal's Bush-puppet junta criminally outed an undercover CIA agent.
The movie reveals how the cabal lied to the American people, started a
war to reap huge oil profits for its top members, and reconfigured the
Middle East as part of its military imperialist machinations"



Body scanners used as porn by airport security




The 10 Funniest, Strangest Stories of the Year



Rock and Roll Conspiracy:
Roy Wood vs. Harold Wilson




Here is a very strange observation:
Type illuminati backwards into your address bar and put www.
at the front and .com at the end and see what happens...






QUOTES FOR THE WEEK :

"The doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind." - -- New Hampshire Constitution -- Source: Article 10
"The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive." - Thomas Jefferson

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." ~ Thomas Jefferson


"One of the major reasons for government secrecy is to protect the government from its own population," Noam Chomsky




"In the eyes of posterity it will inevitably seem that, in safeguarding our freedom, we destroyed it. The vast clandestine apparatus we built up to prove our enemies' resources and intentions only served in the end to confuse our own purposes; that practice of deceiving others for the good of the state led infallibly to our deceiving ourselves; and that vast army of clandestine personnel built up to execute these purposes were soon caught up in the web of their own sick fantasies, with disastrous consequences for them and us". - -- Malcom Muggeridge - May 1966


"Information has never been so free. Even in authoritarian countries information networks are helping people discover new facts and making governments more accountable." - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, January 21, 2010
The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the State." -- Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Propaganda Minister

"To be innocent in America is to permit the continued theft of hundreds of billions of dollars from the state by Wall Street swindlers and speculators. To be innocent in America is to stand by as insurance and pharmaceutical companies, in the name of profit, condemn ill people, including children, to die. To be innocent in America is refusing to resist wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that are not only illegal under international law but responsible for the murder of hundreds of thousands of people. This is the odd age we live in. Innocence is complicity." - Chris Hedges



"Military Intelligence" is a contradiction in terms
Groucho Marx

“If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships - the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together, in the same world at peace.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
-1 Corinthians 13:4-7




PUNMASTER MUSIC NEWS-SELECTED ARTICLES:


I've been through more cold turkeys than there are freezers."
- Keith Richards (from his new autobiography, "Life")
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – It's a strange sheaf of documents for Florida's governor to have. The thick notebook describes how Jim Morrison discussed sex with a lamb he held on stage, ordered fans to "love your neighbor 'til it hurts" and later, at trial, defended his boozy singing to a prosecutor.
But did the lead singer of The Doors show his genitals to the crowd at the 1969 concert in Miami, a charge on which he was famously convicted? Gov. Charlie Crist wants to posthumously pardon him of indecent exposure and profanity convictions, and the governor's last chance is coming up at a Clemency Board meeting next Thursday. Crist leaves office in January.
To prepare for the meeting, Crist asked his staff to find whatever information they could about the Miami concert, and the governor received a three-ring binder with dozens of pages. The documents paint a vivid picture of a wild night.
At one point, Morrison told the Miami crowd, "I'm talkin' about love your neighbor 'til it hurts! I'm talkin' about grab your friend! I'm talkin' about some love, I'm talkin' about some love, I'm talking about some love, I'm talkin' about love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love! Grab your (expletive) friend and love him! Come on! Yeah!"
The quote was transcribed from a recording of the show by the editor of a fan magazine and included in the binder, a copy of which was provided to The Associated Press. Other materials detail some of Morrison's trial testimony, a letter from Morrison's father to the Florida Parole Commission and other information about the long-dead rocker. It also includes information on other arrests of the singer in Tallahassee when Morrison was a Florida State University student; New Haven, Conn.; Las Vegas and Phoenix.
The research, much of it culled from websites such as http://www.rockmine.com., projects the image of a man who had problems with alcohol and had a penchant for mischief. But Crist believes it also casts doubt on the 1970 conviction. After reviewing it, he said he was reminded of something Bob Butterworth, his predecessor as the state's attorney general, once told him.
"It is very important to prosecute the guilty, but it is more important to exonerate the innocent, and I can't help to have that over and over in my mind with Jim Morrison," Crist said. "The more I think about it the more I think an injustice was being done."
The governor's office stressed that the binder is an informal report and that the Parole Commission is conducting its own investigation, the results of which will be presented to Crist and the rest of the Clemency Board.
One of Crist's documents is a reconstruction of the March 1, 1969, concert at the Dinner Key Auditorium prepared by Rainer Moddemann, editor of "The Doors Quarterly Magazine." He prepared it from a recording of the event, along with photos and witness accounts. Morrison often slurred through songs, or stopped in the middle of them to rant against authority.
During the show, Morrison put his hand in his pants and fiddled with his belt, but The Doors' road manager pulled Morrison by the belt and held him before he could unbuckle it, according to Moddemann's article. Morrison responded by saying, "No, c'mon, wait a minute! Wait a minute! I'm not gonna go on! I'm not gonna take this (expletive)! I'm coppin' out."
Later in the concert, Morrison was brought a live lamb. He talked about having sex with it, but ultimately decided: "She's too young!"
Morrison was acquitted of a lewd and lascivious behavior and drunkenness charge. He was sentenced to six months in jail and a $500 fine for the profanity and indecent exposure convictions. But he never did the time: With his case on appeal, he was found dead in a Paris bathtub in 1971 at age 27.
In a partial transcript from Morrison's trial, he told a prosecutor the custom-made leather pants he wore that night didn't have pockets. "Since the pants don't have pockets, sometimes I put my hand in, you know, with the thumb hanging out in lieu of pockets."
He also revealed he was wearing boxer shorts that night.
"It was kind of unusual, really, because I don't usually wear undergarments," Morrison testified. "I got out of the habit about four years ago."
At times Morrison answered prosecutor's questions sarcastically, such as when he was asked how much his band mates were drinking: "Well, I don't count how many beers they drink, you know."
The prosecutor asked Morrison about his singing being "off that night." Morrison said, "I am sure that you are aware that that is just a matter of opinion."
"Was it or was it not off timing?" the prosecutor asked.
"What is timing?" Morrison responded.
"Answer the question," the prosecutor ordered.
"Well, some people think I sing off key, but I don't. And some people might think I sing off time. I might not," the singer said.
Another item is a letter Morrison's father, Navy Admiral George Morrison, wrote at the request of the parole commission before Morrison's sentencing hearing.
"As in all his academic work through grade school, high school, and college, he was an excellent student. While he had always been an intellectual rebel, he had always obeyed and respected authority," he wrote.
A Florida State University transcript released to The Associated Press on Friday shows Morrison was mostly an A and B student during his four trimesters from 1961 to 1963. Some of his best grades were for courses called Philosophy of Protest, Collective Behavior, Essentials of Acting and The Nature of Theater. He received Cs in a few science course, and his worst grade, a "DC," was in intermediate Spanish.
Aretha Franklin stricken with cancer
http://detnews.com/article/20101208/ENT04/12080413/Aretha-Franklin--Queen-of-Soul--stricken-with-cancer
JORMA TURNS 70
http://jormakaukonen.com/cracksinthefinish/
This page list details of the various Bill Graham promoted shows held at the
Fillmore East in New York City, 1968-1971.
http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Fill%20East%20Shows.htm
LENNON’S FINAL INTERVIEW RELEASED
John Lennon’s final interview has been released, marking the first time the entire chat has been published. It took place in 1980 for a Rolling Stone cover story and in it, a happy and hopeful John talks about his music, his life and fatherhood. He also says he isn’t “interested in being a dead (expletive) hero.” Lennon goes on to predict that Bruce Springsteen is the future of rock. After John’s death, only snippets from the interview were printed and the reporter who spoke to the singer never went back to their three hour chat until a few months ago, when he found the tape as he was cleaning a closet. Read more at RollingStone.com.
GREGG ALLMAN LIKES TOURING SOLO
Allman Brothers Band founding member Gregg Allman recently turned 63, but his age isn’t slowing the rocker down. Later this month, Gregg kicks off a 13-city East Coast tour with his own band. Although he enjoys playing with the Allman Brothers Band, he told us what it is like to play solo.
(Cut #3) “It’s a little more structured, you know. We play songs off my six solo records and then we play some songs that I wrote for the Allman Brothers – they’re totally rearranged. You know, that’s the thing about having you’re band, I mean it’s just the doors are wide open, you can play anything you want to.”
As for playing with the Allman Brothers Band, you can catch them all together again when they head out on tour beginning in March. Meanwhile, Gregg’s new solo album, Low Country Blues, is due out January 18th. For more information and all the singer’s dates, head to GreggAllman.com.
JON ANDERSON’S STATUS WITH YES
Yes spent the better part of the year touring, but it was with new singer Benoit David and not original frontman Jon Anderson. David sat in for Jon as the singer recovered from a respiratory issue but has since replaced him. So how does Jon feel about the group touring under the Yes name but without him?
(Cut #1) “It was a disappointing thing. There’s no reason why those guys couldn’t go out as themselves but they have majority control over the name so you just let it go and say, ‘That’s life.’ You just gotta get on with your next experience, you know.”
So will Jon ever be part of Yes again? He filled us in.
(Cut #2) “Well, no. I asked last year when I was ready to go back and they just weren’t interested. So I just go, ‘Ok, I’ll just get on with things that are going to give me a lot more excitement.”
Anderson is definitely doing exciting things. Along with working on new solo music, he’s also putting out an album with fellow former Yes member Rick Wakeman. For now, Jon is on a solo tour, something he prefers much more than trekking with an entire band.
(Cut #3) “I found that it’s a lot more fun to tour on a simpler level rather than a group level. You know, you tour with a group for 30 years, 35 years as I did and it’s exhausting. It’s not a happy experience all the time. Sometimes it is but generally, it’s not a really happy experience. It was in the early days but the last time we went touring, it was just so hard work and that was when I got really sick. So being able to drive around America in a car with a couple of guitars and my wife, it’s like being on holiday all the time.”
His album with Rick Wakeman, The Living Tree, is out on January 11th.
KEITH RICHARDS STILL GOING STRONG
Keith Richards is 67. It’s rumored that the Rolling Stones will be hitting the road again at some point in 2011 and for his age, many have wondered what has kept him motivated to still tour. Here’s what Keith told us.
(Cut #1) “Well actually, the crowds are the motivators. You know, I mean you’re living off their adrenaline. It’s surprising what can be done with a lot of adrenaline.”
There are also rumors that next year, the Stones plan to do a new album as well. Nothing is official yet but you can stay up to date at RollingStones.com.
JIM MCCARTY'S “SITTING ON THE TOP OF TIME”
Jim McCarty's SITTING ON THE TOP OF TIME features instruments and a chamber pop influence courtesy of flautist Ron Korb and pianist Donald Quan, guitarist Ray Hickey and bassist George Koller, plus guest guitarists Steve Hackett and Jean-Michel Kajdan (who, in addition to his exhaustive credits, was the Yardbirds guitarist for the 2008 European tour), and pianist Lou Pomanti.
(Of course a debate could be made for Jim as one of the bearers of this progressive pop style of music (in addition to co-creating the Yardbirds). This drummer/singer/songwriter also co-founded Renaissance, Illusion and Stairway--all important orchestral rock and pop bands.)
Jim started the album at home, but had limitations in his studio, so he connected with Jason Relf (younger son of the late Keith Relf, who-of course- founded Renaissance with Jim). Jason is a studio wiz and teacher, and came to Jim's home in France to install a “state-of-the art” digital system. “The great thing with the system was that there was no limit to the number of ideas I could record, so I could put every one of them down, without judgment.”
With some songs together, in June 2006, Jim went to Toronto, Canada and recorded in Quan's studio, Q Music. “There seemed to be a good group of session players available, very much like in London in the 60's and thanks to Ron, I soon had a good team together: Ron, Donald, Ray, and George.
“It was a magical day for me, when all of a sudden my ideas from France came to life in a new way, each of the musicians adding their particular influence.” Each time Jim toured the States with the Yardbirds, he would go to Toronto to make more tracks on SITTING ON THE TOP OF TIME.
Online sources: Song Facts' Carl Wiser interviews Jim on his insights of making music through the years and his spirituality. http://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/jim_mccarty_of_the_yardbirds/
Track by track analysis on MUSIC STREET JOURNAL, http://www.musicstreetjournal.com/index_cdreviews_display.cfm?id=102799
Music video created by fan of Jim's song, “Sitting On The Top of Time.” I like this interpretation as we see Jim sitting at his drumkit. Time. Drum. Enjoy the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiC7q2K7EFA
http://www.jimmcarty.co.uk
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Drummersingersongwriter-Jim-McCarty-of-the-Yardbirds-and-Renaissance/122296587811690

Links By George- December 6th

I invite you to check out my updated blog images. There is new art from visionary artist Daniel Friedemann and others. The blog this week (as does the newsletter) has many articles on Wikileaks as well as stories on psychedelics, spirituality, environmental, economy,health, political, conspiracies, UFO and updated music news.

More photos at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsrain/



Stephanie has been uploading some beautiful videos of our life. Her latest is the Lava Boat ride on the Big Island. All her videos can be seen at
http://www.youtube.com/user/stefunnyd


Our son John Douvris has samples of some of his fine music at
http://www.myspace.com/johndouvris


If anyone would like to make a donation for the internet service,
it would be very appreciated. Even very small amounts would help.
We have a paypal contact at gsrain@yahoo.com

-----------------------------------------

"LINKS BY GEORGE" DIRECTORY:
LIFESTYLE/ ARTS/ CULTURE/ ETC:
EVENTS
HIGH CONSCIOUSNESS
ARTS
ENVIRONMENT
SCIENCE
HEALTH
GLOBAL NEWS
NATIONAL NEWS:
GENERAL INFO
WAR
POLITICAL
ECONOMIC
SURVEILLANCE/FRINGE POSSIBILITIES:

QUOTES FOR THE WEEK
PUNMASTER MUSIC NEWS-SELECTED ARTICLES


LIFESTYLE/ ARTS/ CULTURE/ ETC:

EVENTS:

Culinary Cocophanies events at Starseed Gardens Nursery
December schedule
Byron Bay AU


Summer Academy for Drawing and Painting
with one of the world's greatest artists
PHILIP Rubinov Jacobson
July, August, September 2011 schedules in Austria



"The Spirit Molecule" screening of this excellent film on DMT
Portage Theater 4050 N. Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
Jan 14 8pm.
The producer Mitch Schultz will be there for Q and A




The 7th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference: "As Above, So Below".
This event is a world class event that I recommend your attending if possible.
When registering, mention your learning about if from this newsletter which
will entitle you to a discount upon registration.
July 6th - 22nd, 2011 Peru


High Society exhitibion UK till February 27


HIGH CONSCIOUSNESS:

Dangerous Outlaw Willie Nelson Detained
by Border Patrol



Arizona Joins the Medical Marijuana Club



Going Dutch!
Marijuana cafes could close to foreigners




FEDERAL AND STATE POLICE CONDUCT MARIJUANA TERRORISM DRILL [FEATURE]
You've got to be kidding! A terrorism training exercise at
Shasta Dam in Northern California this month featured pot growers
as the terrorists.



Feds Prohibit Fake Marijuana



DVD REVIEW:
"JACK HERER IS THE EMPEROR OF HEMP"



WILLIE NELSON WANTS MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION
"TEAPOT PARTY"




HALF OF CANADIANS SAY LEGALIZE MARIJUANA



40 Years later,
Elvis as a narc remains a bizarre story




Templar cannabis wine recipe




The effects of MDA in healthy volunteers,
published in the open
access online journal PLOS one



PSYCHEDELIC PIONEER ALEXANDER SHULGIN SUFFERS STROKE




RADIANT MINDS: Scientists Explore the Dimensions of Consciousness
edited by our friend Jean Millay and author Dean Radin




A new, in depth interview, which might be of interest,
with James L. Kent,
author of Psychedelic Information Theory:
Shamanism in the Age of Reason




Sci Am on psilocybin




Ibogaine:
Can it Cure Addiction Without the Hallucinogenic Trip?




VINE OF SOUL:
A Phenomenological Study of
Ayahuasca and its Effect on Depression




Cannabis Religions




Psychobiology of Drug-Induced Religious Experience:
From the Brain “Locus of Religion” to Cognitive Unbinding



Psychedelics and Human Destiny:
Notes from the Horizons Conference




Psychedelic Science in the 21st Century
-videos



Rainbow Gathering photos and panoramas from Ziv



Golan Heights Rainbow Gathering 2010




Greek dancing as the yurt goes up
-youtube



Saint Misbehavin':
The Wavy Gravy Movie



Gary Lachman's
"Turn off Your Mind" website "where consciousness
and culture meet or at least come as close
together as possible"




David Wilcock's Divine Cosmos site




Course of Awakening offered by my friend Tobias



Course of Awakening
-youtubes



Awakening The Human Angels:
The Holy Grails
-youtube



Our friend Ariadne is an expert on soul mate relationships




Partners in Kindness




Our friend Jojo is a wonderful example of person to person
helping as this video shows in Indonesia
-youtube




Siddhartha Foundation-
Compassion in Action-Bringing Hope
to Tibetan Children in Nepal




Our friend's life of spiritual example Mahadev - Arvinda
-youtube




The School of Wisdom and founder Count Hermann Keyserling




Arnold Keyserling is the original "new age thinker" in
Europe who first introduced both the Human Potential
movement and the Native American shamans to Europe
in the 1970's and 1980's.



Mithra:
The Pagan Christ




When Was the First Christmas?




CREDO MUTWA AND DAVID ICKE :
TEMPLES OF PEACE
-youtube




Survival of the Godliest
Does strong religious belief provide an evolutionary advantage?




Are We Becoming an Atheist Nation?
3 Reasons Young People Are Abandoning Religion



No Arms No Legs No Worries
-youtube



Incredible Optical Illusions Videos Will Baffle Your Brain



ARTS:


The Mad Artist's Brain:
The Connection between Creativity and
Mental Illness More evidence for the long-suspected
physiological link between inventiveness
and mental illness




Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd site:
Saucerful of Secrets




Mose Allison -
Your Mind Is On Vacation
-youtube



A celebration of Jimi Hendrix's life and music
JIMI'S 68TH BIRTHDAY




Announcing the release of RECOIL:
John Cipollina




Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) -
George Harrison
-youtube



It Must Have Been the Roses -
Grateful Dead (very beautiful images)
-youtube



Althea, 3/9/81- Grateful Dead
-youtube




GRATEFUL DEAD - Blues for Allah part 1
-youtube


Arabian wind, The needle's eye is thin, The ships of state sail on mirage,
And drown in sand, Out in no-man's land where Allah does command.

What good is spilling blood? It will not grow a thing;
Taste eternity the swords sing: Blues of Allah In 'sh'Allah.



Joni Mitchell-Cactus Tree (BBC) 1970
-youtube



Jackson Browne -Sing My Songs To Me,
8- 20- 04 , Live



Talking Heads -
Live in Rome 1980 - 05 Drugs w/Adrien Belew
-youtube




Talking Heads -
Live in Rome 1980 - 03 Cities
-youtube



Grand Funk Railroad-People, Let's Stop The War
-youtube



Rare Earth with Peter Rivera -
I Just Want To Celebrate
-youtube



Rare Earth - Good Time Sally (1972)
-youtube



KRIEGERGOTTES " REFUGE" PRODUCER LOU RICCA,
DIRECTED BY MARCO ALLEGRI
-youtube



Check out the music of our drummer friend Dave LaRocca



Visions in art from Daniel Friedemann




7 Rock Songs Exploited for Commerce and Conservatism




Actor Leslie Nielsen Dies At Age 84



ENVIRONMENT:

Dholavira was the lake city of the great Indus Valley civilization



Saudi oil minister helped craft climate accord




Japan Turns Its Back on Kyoto Protocol




Catastrophic Blizzards, Heat Waves and Floods:
Global Warming or Just Crazy Weather?



Hawaii Sustainable Community Alliance (HSCA)




1,000 Earthquakes Hit Yellowstone Super Volcano



Oil and Indians Don't Mix



Ocean Dead Zones



How Cold Does It Have to Be to Snow?




Animals are getting fatter, too
Is something in the environment making everyone -- animals and humans
-- gain weight?



Amazing Underwater Caves



A Trove of Unearthly Species Uncovered in New Guinea's 'Eden'



SCIENCE:


Father and son film outer space, do-it-yourself style


HEALTH:


Wikileaks:
State Dept. wants intel on African acceptance of GMOs



Experts split on global warming, highland malaria



Bayer Pesticide Chemicals Linked to Devastating
Collapse of Honeybee Populations




Are We Killing Ourselves with Cleanliness?
As Number of Allergy Sufferers Soar,
Potential Cures Are More Radical




The Cleaner, Cheaper "Toilet Paper Alternative"
Everyone Should Adopt (It's Environmentally Friendly



What the TSA is NOT Telling You about Full Body Scans...



NON-THERMAL EFFECTS AND MECHANISMS OF INTERACTION BETWEEN ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND LIVING MATTER -
An ICEMS Monograph




Tomato ketchup:
what's really in your favourite sauce?



3 out of 4 People Should Avoid This Common Food



A Newly Discovered Reason to Avoid Fast Food and Popcorn




The Label All Milk Drinkers Should Look Out For
(Unless You Like Cancer)



15 Dangerous Drugs Big Pharma Shoves Down Our Throats



"Secret Ingredients Your Eyes are ‘Starved’ For… "



The Supplement Almost Everyone Should Take
When They Are Sick
-vitamin C




The Colorful History of Colloidal Silver
& Other Silver Compounds



''Bow Down To The Medicinal Power Of Cranberries''



Natural Medication:
Foods From the Countryside - Woodland




The Best and Worst Vegetables to Eat




The Best Kept Secret for Avoiding Alzheimer's... B12



Vaccines & Dental Fillings Cause Alzheimer's
-youtube



Most kids with autism Misdiagnosed.
They Have Vaccine-
induced Brain Damage
-video



"Half of Americans will be diabetic or pre-diabetic by 2020."




Finally, Proof that Cancer is a Man-Made Disease




Eating This "Healthy" Food?
It Could be Slowly and Silently Killing You
Dangers of Soy




Poor People Denied Organ Transplants




GLOBAL NEWS:



WikiLeaks Honduras:
State Department Busted on Support of Coup




Nigeria to Charge Dick Cheney in Pipeline Bribery Case
By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo
Nigeria will file charges against former U.S. Vice President
Dick Cheney and officials from five foreign companies including
Halliburton Co. over a $180 million bribery scandal,
a prosecutor at the anti-graft agency said.



The "Great Game" and the Conquest of Eurasia:
Towards a World War III Scenario?
Mackinder's Geo-Strategic Nightmare



Global Poverty Doubled since 1970s: UN



Ireland:
The Bank That Ate A Country
Editorial
Like the mythical Atlas holding the world on his shoulders,
the Irish coalition government heaped the financial
institutions on the shoulders of the Irish state.




Russia and NATO:
`Not a piece of furniture'
Eric Walberg





WikiLeaks Release to Feature Corruption Among World Leaders, Governments
By Daniel Tencer
The imminent document dump will include reports
from US diplomats on corruption within foreign
governments and among world leaders.




Egyptian Civil Rights:
156 Christians Arrested Over Church




The History of Palestine
-youtube




Fiji Water Shuts Down




Will G20 Police Succeed In Covering Up Reports
of Rape and Torture?





NATIONAL NEWS:


GENERAL INFO:


Why Europe Thinks We're Insane



US mercenary firms hired Afghan 'dancing boys',
WikiLeaks cable reveals




Wikileaks' Julian Assange Speaks




WikiLeaks Server Goes Down
Julian Assange Facing 'Hundreds Of Death Threats'
By JOHN HEILPRIN
"There are hundreds of mirrors of WikiLeaks now," he said.
"It's a test for Internet censorship. Can governments
take something off the net? I think not.
There are copies of the website everywhere.




Assange Accuser Worked with US-Funded,
CIA-Tied Anti-Castro Group
By: Kirk James Murphy, M.D.
Julian Assange's chief accuser in Sweden has a significant
history of work with anti-Castro groups, at least one
of which is US funded and openly supported by a former
CIA agent convicted in the mass murder of seventy three
Cubans on an airliner he was involved in blowing up.




CIA and the Culture of Corruption




Take Off the Blindfold.
Don't Be Afraid to See the Truth!



Tom Hayden
WikiLeaks vs. The Empire



Amy Goodman
The WikiLeaks Diplomatic Crisis
The whistleblowing website WikiLeaks has begun releasing a giant trove of confidential U.S. diplomatic cables that is sending
shockwaves through the global diplomatic establishment.
Among the findings: Arab leaders are urging the United States
to attack Iran; Washington and Yemen agreed to
cover up the use of U.S. warplanes to bomb Yemen;
the United States is using its embassies around the world
as part of a global spy network and asking diplomats to gather intelligence; and much more.




WikiLeaks Site Under "Attack"
as Diplomatic Cables Go Public




WikiLeaks Releases State Department Cables
Washington - U.S. diplomats and officials said they're
bracing Sunday for at least three newspapers and
WikiLeaks to publish hundreds of thousands classified
State Department cables that could drastically alter
U.S. relations with top allies and reveal embarrassing
secrets about U.S. foreign policy.



WikiLeaks Releases Diplomatic Bombshell
A small glimpse of the more than 250,000 secret diplomatic
cables released by WikiLeaks discloses that Arab leaders
are privately urging an air strike on Iran, and that US
officials have been instructed to spy on the UN's leadership.




Noam Chomsky:
WikiLeaks Cables Reveal
"Profound Hatred for Democracy"



Wikileaks:
Yemeni President Agreed To Cover up US Attack in Yemen
Cables Shine Light Into Secret Diplomatic Channels
By SCOTT SHANE and ANDREW W. LEHREN
"We'll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours,"
Mr. Saleh said, according to the cable sent by the American
ambassador, prompting Yemen's deputy prime minister
to "joke that he had just 'lied' by telling Parliament"
that Yemeni forces had carried out the strikes.




Saudi King: US Should Plant Chips in Gitmo Detainees.
By Full US Embassy Cable
The King, proposed implanting detainees with an
electronic chip containing information about them and
allowing their movements to be tracked with Bluetooth.
This was done with horses and falcons, the King said.




Pakistan - China - Iran
Wikileaks Cables: Key Issues
By BBC
Pakistan stand-off: The cables show the US has been
attempting to remove highly enriched uranium from
a research reactor in Pakistan
since 2007.



US Embassy Cables Leak Sparks Global Diplomacy Crisis
By David Leigh
More than 250,000 dispatches reveal US foreign strategies ·
Diplomats ordered to spy on allies as well as enemies
· Hillary Clinton leads frantic 'damage limitation'




WikiLeaks Under Attack; No Comment From State Department
By Chris Good
Scanned front page of Monday's Der Spiegel quotes
officials calling Ahmadinejad 'Hitler'.




WATCH:
Bill O'Reilly Says WikiLeaks Leakers
Should Be Executed




Daniel Ellsberg Says Boycott Amazon
Daniel Ellsberg's Goodbye Letter to Amazon



Israel Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Iran
WikiLeaks: Netanyahu Warned U.S. Iran 'Months Away' From Nuclear Bomb
By Haaretz Service
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in 2009 that Iran was months
away from achieving military nuclear capability, classified documents
released by WikiLeaks on Sunday quote a State Department official as saying.




Deceits, Plots, Insults: America Laid Bare
By Jerome Taylor, Cahal Milmo and David Usborne
Diplomatic communiqués released by Wikileaks shine
unprecedented light on the US and how it sees the world.




Alfred McCoy, Taking Down America




White Southerners Plan Parties Celebrating Confederacy,
Secession, Civil War -- Pretend Slavery Didn't Happen



Latest edition of Issues and Alibis



Christopher Colombowicz:
America's discoverer Polish not Portuguese,
claim historians



'Porno Scanner' Scandal Shows the Idiocy of
America's Zero Risk Culture




Questions Media Won't Ask About WikiLeaks Release




THE INTELLECTUAL DEATH OF A NATION!!




The Mythical United States of America:
Rushing into Backwardness




Hunger in America




US Infected Guatemalans With Syphilis in 1940s,
Obama Orders Commission



WAR:

The Mysterious "Laptop Documents".
Using Fake Intelligence to
Justify a Pre-emptive Nuclear War on Iran




US Lies About N. Korea Situation




Sarah Palin: '
We Gotta Stand With Our North Korean Allies':
Was it a simple blunder or did a possible 2012
presidential contender really get her geography wrong?




Oceans of Blood and Profits for the Mongers of War
By Robert Fisk
Coming soon to a war near you; oceans of blood, bodies
torn to shreds, of course. But bring your credit card.
Or a cheque book. It's big business.
And there may be profits.




Dennis Kucinich:
Fake Taliban Leader, Fake Elections, Fake Deadline,
Real Trouble Afghanistan War, Nightmare without
End for Troops, Innocent Civilians and US Taxpayers




The US of A Breaks the Soviet Record
US presence in Afghanistan as long as Soviet slog




US Cable Confirms US Killed Women and Children In Yemen
By Michael Isikoff
The U.S. media paid scant attention in June when Amnesty International released a report charging that U.S. cruise
missiles carrying cluster bombs had struck the village
of al Majalah in southern Yemen on Dec. 17, 2009,
killing 41 civilians, including 14 women and 21 children.



92% of Afghans Never Heard of 9/11
By Daniel Tence
Fewer than one in 10 Afghans are aware of the 9/11
attacks and their precipitation of the war in Afghanistan.
Study shows that four in 10 Afghans believe the US is
on their soil in order to "destroy Islam or
occupy Afghanistan."



Vietnam: The Last Battle
By John Pilger


POLITICAL:


Bush Gloats Over Dan Rather's Ouster



Ex-German Chancellor Says Bush is a Liar



WATCH: Barbara Bush Bad-Mouths Sarah Palin:
"She Should Stay in Alaska"
-youtube




Sarah Palin's Brand of 'Feminism' More Popular
With Men Than Women




Could She Reach the Top in 2012?
You Betcha



WikiLeaks Fallout:
Should Hillary Clinton Resign?




Obama's Captors




Obama Was Used, And Is Now Used Up




End of American Dream a Nightmare for Obama




Still the Best Congress Money Can Buy



ECONOMIC:

Join in on the World's Biggest Bank
Run This December



Soccer star could trigger revolution
ERIC CANTONA "KILL THE (CRIMINAL) BANKS"
(A MUST SEE)!
-youtube



Putin Ditches Dollar, Backs Euro
Putin - Euro should be World's Reserve Currency




ATM Fraud Gets Even More Brazen



Fail and Grow Rich on Wall Street



Financial Meltdown on Wall Street
Excerpt from Introduction to The Global Economic Crisis.
The Great Depression of the XXI Century



New Yorker:
What Good Is Wall Street?
Much of what investment bankers do is socially worthless.



How the Oligarchs Took America



Bid to Limit Tax Cuts to Middle Class
and Poor Fails in Senate



A Different Legal System for the Rich:
Imagine Getting Off Easy for Hit-and-Run
Because You Run a Hedge Fund




End Dynasty Welfare.
Start the "Dynasty Tax"




The 10 Biggest Chain Stores in NYC
as Mom and Pops Disappear
(Guess the Biggest! Hint, It's Not Starbucks)




Stop Them From Eating My Town
In Chapter 3 of Thom Hartmann's "Rebooting the American Dream"
(serialized exclusively on Truthout), the author looks at how chain stores run by "corporate Godzillas" are crowding out
local businesses and endangering communities.
He offers proven recommendations
- from elsewhere in the world and from this country's past
- to encourage entrepreneurship, keep small businesses healthy
and stop giant corporations from "eating your town next"


SURVEILLANCE/FRINGE POSSIBILITIES:


Tomgram:
Engelhardt, The United States of Fear



CONFIRMED:
Psychiatric Manual DSM-IV-TR Labels free Thinkers,
non conformers as Mentally Ill




Is the USA Attacking Wikileaks.org
With Hacker Technologies?



Government agency warns employees that looking
at Wikileaks could be a criminal offense



US government imposes world-wide website censorship



Here Come Homeland Security Internet Police,
and They're Already Shutting Down Web Sites
They Don't Like




US Shuts Down Web Sites in Piracy Crackdown




The "Hi Tech" Corporate Police State:
"Reengineering" the Internet ... for Persistent Surveillance
Ghost in the Machine:
Secret State Teams Up with Ad Pimps to Throttle Privacy



FBI Wiretapping of Internet Users.
"All Your Data Belongs to Us"
A Seamless Global Surveillance Web



Workers, Be Careful:
Facebook Snoops Looking Over Your Shoulder




Swedish probe into US 'espionage'




Edward Bernays :
on Propaganda and Public Relations
-youtube




EXCLUSIVE:
Controversial Drug Given to All Guantanamo Detainees
Akin to "Pharmacologic Waterboarding"



Obama and GOPers Worked Together
to Kill Bush Torture Probe




The CEO of one of the two companies licensed to sell full
body scanners to the TSA accompanied President Barack Obama
to India earlier this month, a clear sign of the deep ties between Washington politicians and the companies pushing to have body scanners installed at all US airports



The 'Porno Scanners'
A Bizarre Tale of Graft and Sleazy Political Opportunism
By Michael Collins
Chertoff was caught red handed shilling for full body
scanners on behalf of a company that was a client
of Chertoff's consulting company.



Travelers' 5 Most Demeaning TSA Horror Stories




TSA pat-down leaves Mich. man covered in urine



TSA is a far greater threat to Americans than are terrorists
By Paul Craig Roberts



TSA Gestapo Empire
By Paul Craig Roberts
It doesn't take a bureaucrat long to create an empire.
John Pistole, the FBI agent who took over the Transportation
Security Administration on July 1 told USA Today 16 days
later that protecting trains and subways from terrorist
attacks will be as high a priority for him as air travel.



Revealed:
The secret report that shows how
the Nazis planned a Fourth Reich ...in the EU




Jesuit manipulated Catholic Nazis




Who Is George Soros?
George Soros Conspiracy/Real Shadow Governments/Covert
Powers At War




Prognosis 2012:
Towards a New World Social Order by Richard K. Moore



Power and the Tiny Acts of Rebellion
By Chris Hedges
How can we battle back against those who will
mobilize hatred to cement into place an
American fascism?



Russian activist disappears after exposing vaccination
plans for Russia, Ukraine and Belarus



Absolute Proof chemtrails are real
-film



Who Destroyed the 9/11 Evidence?




The National Security State and the Assassination of JFK
The CIA, the Pentagon, and the `Peace President`



Jesse Ventura to Air JFK Assassination Deathbed Confession -
Alex Jones Tv 1/3
-youtube



George Bush and the Murder of John Kennedy
-video



John Hankey - 9/11 and JFK connection
-film



Lee Harvey Oswald's coffin up for auction



FKN Newz greatest rips part 4
-youtube



FEMA camps
Whistle-blower:
They're Training Local Police to Suspend Rights




David Icke ... How It All Started
-youtube




David Icke - The Schism People
-youtube




NASA creates buzz with ‘extraterrestrial’ announcement




Has NASA Discovered Life On Saturn's Moon?




BP oil spill incident commander dies in small plane crash





QUOTES FOR THE WEEK:

"The man who can keep a secret may be wise, but he is not half as wise as the man with no secrets to keep" - Edgar Watson Howe

=
"The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all; it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States, whatever the pretensions of politicians, pedagogues, and other such mountebanks, and that is its aim everywhere else....Their purpose, in brief, is to make docile and patriotic citizens, to pile up majorities, and to make John Doe and Richard Doe as nearly alike, in their everyday reactions and ways of thinking, as possible." -- H. L. Mencken - (1880-1956) American Journalist, Editor, Essayist, Linguist, Lexicographer, and Critic


THOUGHT FOR TODAY:A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary. -Thomas Carruthers
"A time comes when silence is betrayal." - Rev. Martin Luther King
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2564.htm


=
"In a free society, we are supposed to know the truth," - "In a society where truth becomes treason, we are in big trouble." Rep. Ron Paul (R) of Texas


PUNMASTER MUSIC NEWS-SELECTED ARTICLES:


NEW YORK (Billboard) – While Beatles fans celebrate the addition of the band's catalog to iTunes, Paul McCartney will help Sirius XM Radio ring in a milestone of its own this month.
McCartney will play New York's Apollo Theater for the first time on December 13, in an invitation-only event for listeners of the satellite radio service as it approaches 20 million subscribers.
The concert will be broadcast live on six different Sirius XM channels. The company also announced the launch of "Paul McCartney's Band on the Run Radio," a commerical-free music channel showcasing McCartney's catalog that will run 24/7 from November 29 to December 26.
The channel coincides with the reissue earlier this month of "Band on the Run," McCartney's 1973 album with Wings.
"Sir Paul's performance at the Apollo Theater is our way of thanking our subscribers," Sirius president and chief content officer Scott Greenstein said in a statement.
"We are thrilled to offer them an opportunity to attend the event and listen live to this once-in-a-lifetime concert on Sirius XM.
The news follows Apple's announcement that the Beatles' catalog is now for sale on iTunes.
It has been twenty years since David Crosby last took the stage solo in Los Angeles but he will end that drought on Monday, December 13 at the Avalon Hollywood in a show to benefit The Blank Theatre Company.
The company, formed in 1990, is dedicated to excellence and innovation in the theater arts, aiming to become Hollywood's first regional theater company. Noah Wyle (E.R.) is the group's artistic producer and vice chairman of the board while Debbie Reynolds, Tiffani Thiessen and Vanessa Williams are among those on the advisory board.
“My friend Noah Wyle took me to see a few of The Blank’s shows. I was duly impressed by the quality of production and the daring nature of the work. Supporting The Blank is just one small way that I can help,” David Crosby said.
“When David told me he wanted to play a benefit show for us, I was so touched that he felt inclined to respond to our work with his music. It is a rare and humbling honor for our organization,” Noah Wyle added.
John Cipollina represented the archetypal “Sixties” musician. His unique guitar tone, style, one-of-a-kind sound, along with his classic longhaired rock ‘n roll look and his charming and humble personality made this former Quicksilver Messenger Service guitar player an inimitable figure in the rock music history.
Recoil: John Cipollina In Music & In Memory is a deluxe 3 DVD box set that provides an almost six hour journey through the rock ‘n roll life and music of John Cipollina. Along with the 1991 produced one-hour re-mastered “Electric Guitarslinger”, this captivating rockumentary features interviews with Jerry Garcia, Bill Graham, Barry Melton, David Freiberg, Nick Gravenites, Gary Duncan, Nicky Hopkins, Greg Douglass, Merl Saunders, Dan Healy, Terry Dolan, Martine Fierro, Rocky Sullivan, Joel Selvin, Charlie Deal, Michael and Mario Cipollina and others. Also included are interviews with John Cipollina from 1984 and 1989.
The Concert DVD includes 17 previously unreleased songs performed by Quicksilver Messenger Service, Copperhead, Link Wray, Thunder & Lightning, Terry & The Pirates and Dinosaurs.
John Cipollina had style and was not only an amazing “Electric Guitar Slinger” he was also a true rock-n-roll gentleman. John had such a spirit of joyful freedom and expression which started off so celebratory in the sixties and it carried over into the eighties. His music and memory will live forever and with Recoil: John Cipollina In Music And In Memory it will.
Produced by Antonia Cipollina, Steve Keyser, Mike Somavilla and William Dire Wolff. Director and Videographer Jesse Block.
Recoil: John Cipollina In Music & In Memory is a limited edition release, of only 2000 units.
To order visit http://www.johncipollina.com
Thanks to Dave Basner for these news stories.....
AC/DC’S PHIL RUDD CONVICTED OF DRUG POSSESSION
AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was convicted of possession of marijuana yesterday. According to Stuff.co.nz, in October, police executed a search warrant on the rocker’s New Zealand home, where they found 25 grams of the drug. Another two grams were found on Phil’s boat. His lawyer argued that the court should drop the charge because the “low-level” offense could hinder Rudd’s chances of traveling internationally. The judge didn’t agree and felt Phil should’ve known better. Rudd was convicted and fined 250 dollars. As he left court, he said, “I’m not a bad person.”
Keith Richards Attacks Swedish Journalist
Guitarist Keith Richards proved he's still a 'Street Fighting Man' , threatening and attacking a Swedish journalist during an interview at a Paris hotel.
According to Swedish publication Aftonbladets, Richards reportedly got into an argument with the tabloid's music reviewer Markus Larsson during a promotional stop at Paris' Le Meurice Hotel for his new autobiography 'Life.' In August 2007, Larsson gave the Stones a 2 out of 5 rating for a concert in Gothenburg, Sweden and described them as "amateurs." Richards didn't forget the slight. In fact, he demanded a public apology.
"The meeting ended with the rock star threatening Markus Larsson and hitting him in the head," the article said, with Larsson adding that Richards hissed, "You're lucky to get out of here alive" prior to leaving.
NICK MASON TURNED DOWN FLOYD REUNION
Earlier this year, Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and David Gilmour played together at a charity event held at a socialite’s home in England. It turns out, drummer Nick Mason was invited to join the pair onstage in what would have been just the second time in 30 years that the surviving members of the band reunited. However, Nick told Classic Rock Magazine he turned down the offer, explaining that he didn’t believe the event was “right” for a re-formation of the group. Mason called it “a charity event for suits” adding, “Why play for a lot of posh totty instead of some other things we should save that up for a Live 8 type of thing.”
CLAPTON ANNOUNCES U-S DATES
Eric Clapton recently revealed 2011 dates in Asia and Europe and now, the legendary guitarist has announced concerts in North America. Starting on February 25th in Vancouver, British Columbia, Clapton will tour the West Coast. He’ll be on the road through March 9th, performing in Seattle, Portland, San Jose, Sacramento, Vegas, San Diego and L-A. Get all the dates at EricClapton.com. Los Lobos on selected dates.
JAMES TAYLOR TO TOUR WITH SON
James Taylor has announced a special tour. It kicks off on February 26th in Tulsa and during it, the “You’ve Got A Friend” performer will hit the road with his son, singer-songwriter Ben Taylor. It marks their first joint trek. As yet, only eight dates have been announced but more will be revealed on Friday. Stay up to date at JamesTaylor.com.
• Ben just finished his new album, Listening.
• Ben previously toured with his mother, Carly Simon.
ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND HEAD BACK TO BEACON
The Allman Brothers Band will be bringing their annual New York residency back to New York’s Beacon Theatre. The group will perform at the venue once again during eight days in mid-March, starting on March 10th. Tickets go on sale on December 4th. Learn more at AllmanBrothersBand.com.
• Over the past 20 years, the Allman Brothers Band played nearly 190 shows at the Beacon, more than any other act.
• Earlier this year, the band was unable to book the venue due to a Cirque du Soleil show.
NEW HENDRIX DOCUMENTARY DUE OUT IN 2011
Even though Jimi Hendrix passed away 40 years ago, new footage of the guitar legend continues to come out and next year will be no different. According to the late rocker’s sister, Janie Hendrix, who handles his estate, a documentary about Jimi’s 1969 concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall will come out in 2011. Janie described the flick to Billboard as “a day in the life of Jimi,” who was followed by cameramen during his European tour that year. The film, which features a side of Jimi rarely seen, will likely be released to theaters and on pay-per-view, then on DVD as well.
JASON BONHAM TALKS ABOUT INFLUENCES
Jason Bonham is currently touring the country with his Led Zeppelin Experience show, during which he pays tribute to his father, late Zep kitman John Bonham, by playing the band’s music. But aside from his dad, what other drummers does Jason admire? He told Canada’s Straight.com that The Who’s Keith Moon was “an innovative guy” and he is a huge fan of his. Another influential drummer for Jason – Rush’s Neal Peart. Read more at Straight.com.
McCARTNEY TO PERFORM ON SNL
Saturday Night Live will have an impressive musical guest in a couple weeks. Paul McCartney is set to perform on the December 11th show. It marks the former Beatle’s third time as musical guest. He’s promoting the deluxe reissue of Band on the Run. Comic actor Paul Rudd is the host that night. Check it out on NBC at 11:30 PM Eastern.
MORRISON’S NAME SUBMITTED FOR PARDONING
Outgoing Florida Governor Charlie Crist will officially submit Jim Morrison’s name to his state’s clemency board as a candidate to be pardoned. The Doors singer was convicted for profanity and indecent exposure at a 1969 concert in Miami. Crist told the New York Times he’s doing it because he thinks “it’s the right thing to do,” adding, “In some ways, it seems like a tragic conclusion to a young man’s life to have maybe this be a lasting legacy, where we’re not even sure that it actually occurred.”
ROLLING STONES TO HEADLINE COACHELLA?
Could The Rolling Stones headline this year’s Coachella Festival? According to Hits Daily Double, event organizers are “very close to finalizing a deal” with the band. The gig would reportedly earn the group five-million dollars. Coachella takes place in California every April. Learn more about the rumors at HitsDailyDouble.com.
JIMMY PAGE WANTS TO PLAY LIVE SOON
Jimmy Page is anxious to hit the road again. The Led Zeppelin guitarist told PlanetRock.com, “I’m desperate to be playing, but it won’t be ‘til next year.” Page went on to say, “I’ll get a good vehicle to get out there and do some concerts.” However, Jimmy did not explain what the “good vehicle” might be so we’ll just have to wait and find out.
PLANT’S BAND OF JOY ANNOUNCE TOUR DATES
Robert Plant’s Band of Joy has announced more North American tour dates. The updated version of the singer’s pre-Led Zeppelin group kicks off a trek on January 18th in North Carolina. They’ll be on the road through February 9th when they wind down in Nashville. Get all the dates at RobertPlant.com
WHO, BECK, HARRY TO PERFORM FOR CHARITY
Some big names in rock will be performing at an event in January, and it’s all for a good cause. The Who, Jeff Beck, Blondie’s Deborah Harry and The Verve’s Richard Ashcroft will take the stage at London’s Hammersmith Apollo on January 13th to raise money for the KILLING Cancer charity. Learn more at KillingCancer.co.uk.
DONOVAN TO PERFORM SUNSHINE SUPERMAN LIVE
Next year, Donovan will team up with the London Contemporary Orchestra to perform a live version of his 1966 album Sunshine Superman. The show will take place on June 3rd at London’s Royal Albert Hall and according to Uncut magazine, the singer is doing it as gift to his wife. The pair celebrates their 40th anniversary this year and when he asked her what she wanted to do, she answered, “Perform the complete Sunshine Superman album at the Royal Albert Hall.” Done and done.
A DEREK AND THE DOMINOS REISSUE COMING?
40 years have passed since Eric Clapton’s short-lived group Derek and the Dominos released their only studio album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, and now, according to a fan site, an anniversary edition of the set is coming out. WheresEric.com reports that in March, the record will come out in multiple forms including a CD remaster from the U-K master tapes, a two-disc Deluxe Edition and a Super Deluxe Edition with four CDs, a DVD and two LPs. Read more at WheresEric.com.
• Derek and the Dominos consisted of Clapton, Jim Gordon, Carl Radle and Bobby Whitlock. Duane Allman was a special guest on the album.
BUDDY GUY WANTS YOU TO HEAR THE BLUES
Buddy Guy might be 74 years old, but the blues legend isn’t slowing down. He’s just released his latest album, Living Proof, and on it, he speaks the truth – something he told us he thinks music lovers out there need to hear.
(Cut #1) “I think right now if they play it and somebody hear it, you can sell a few blues records because blues players been singing about good and bad times from jump street, from the beginning. And a lot of people’s having a really rough time and not dreamed of a rough time with the way the economy is now.”
Living Proof features appearances from B.B. King and Carlos Santana and it’s out now. Learn more at BuddyGuy.net.
• Eric Clapton has often said Buddy Guy was to him what Elvis Presley was to many of today’s famous rockers.
NEW MICHAEL JACKSON ALBUM
The anticipated album of newly completed recordings from Michael Jackson titled Michael will be released on December 14th. The world premiere of “Breaking News,” a full track from the album, is now streaming at MichaelJackson.com for one week only. Before his sudden death in June 2009, Jackson was writing and recording songs continuously everywhere from a friend’s home in New Jersey to studios in Las Vegas and Los Angeles with a small group of handpicked collaborators.
GIBSON TO UNVEIL MOST ADVANCED GUITAR EVER
Gibson are launching what they are calling the most advanced guitar ever made. It’s called the Firebird X and is loaded with futuristic technology. The instrument features an automatic tuner, built-in effects, wireless pedal controllers and something fancy-sounding called a turbo-charged Pure-Analog digital signal processing engine with Goldtone FX. The guitar will sell for 5,575 dollars and is available starting on December 11th. Learn more at Gibson.com.
PAUL RODGERS GETS AN AWARD
Paul Rodgers has been honored by BMI with their Million Air Award to acknowledge that Free’s hit, “All Right Now,” has been played over four-million times on radio and TV in America. In a statement, Paul spoke about writing the tune, explaining that “the lyrics and the melody flowed easily” and “it felt special.” The song recently topped PlanetRock.com’s fan poll for the Greatest Rock Single. Congrats Paul!
Deluxe DVD of historical blues summit released on Stax Records
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — PBS has announced that the Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan — In Session program will air as a special on its stations beginning November 27 and throughout the month of December (check local listings). Grammy Award winning bluesman Robert Cray will serve as special fundraising host on the public television broadcasts.

In 1983, when legendary blues guitarist Albert King, then age 60, was joined by his disciple Stevie Ray Vaughan, then age 29, on a Canadian sound stage for the live music TV series In Session, magic took place. Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan In Session is not simply a television program: it’s a summit of two master musicians. The only known recording of King and Vaughan performing together, this is the concert that blues fans in general, and Stevie Ray Vaughan fans in particular, have been waiting for.

The audio recording of the performance went on to sell more than 325,000 units from two releases: the first in 1999, the second in 2009. On November 9, 2010, Stax Records, a division of Concord Music Group, released In Session as both a DVD and a deluxe DVD/CD combination.

SonicBoomers.com noted: “Both men are gone now, but rare recordings like In Session remind us of a time when blues giants still walked the earth side by side.”

“As a document of what was probably the greatest night in the musical life of SRV (Stevie Ray Vaughan), this belongs in the collection of every true fan,” said the Austin American-Statesman. Musicologist Samuel Charters says in his new liner notes for the package, “it’s also clear, nearly 20 years later, that this was a special moment in the careers of each of the two men. It was evident from the first choruses that they were playing for each other. And that was the best audience either of them could ever have.”

An hour and 45 minutes, approximately, was taped of the two. What will thrill viewers who are fans of the blues, players of the blues, and who adore SRV, is that the televised concert includes at least one SRV tune — “Texas Flood” — that was not included on either of the two CD releases of the session.

The innovative Canadian television series was conceived with the intention of pairing musicians who were related stylistically, but seldom had an opportunity to play together. Albert King wasn’t sure whom he’d been booked to jam with on December 6, but he recognized the young Texan immediately — not as fast-rising star Stevie Ray Vaughan, but as Little Stevie, the skinny kid who’d been coming around and eventually sitting in every time Albert passed through Austin.
Stevie idolized Albert, as did many other “modern” electric axe-men. Albert may have been overshadowed by B.B., but Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Robbie Robertson, Mick Taylor, and Joe Walsh — all of them listened to him, listened again and again, and were heavily influenced by his style.

At the time of the taping, the buzz may have been around Stevie, but Albert was clearly in charge of the music. Earlier in the year, in May, David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” featuring Stevie at his blistering Albert King-inspired best, hit the top of the Billboard pop singles chart; in June, SRV’s debut album Texas Flood came out, and MTV put “Pride and Joy” into their rotation. He never looked back.

During their performance, Albert ruled over the proceedings like a benevolent father, retaining control while allowing his guest loads of solo space in which to display his awesome command of the electric guitar. The interplay between the two blues masters is uncannily empathetic, and Albert’s fans will find special pleasure in hearing him play rhythm parts at such length. Aside from SRV’s two vocals — “Pride and Joy” and “Texas Flood” — all the other tunes are from Albert’s repertoire. Viewers have the ineffable treat of seeing Albert King perform “Born Under a Bad Sign,” his trademark blues hit, as well as “Call It Stormy Monday.”

Sadly, King and Vaughan would not share a stage together ever again. Vaughan, 31 years King’s junior, died in a helicopter crash in the fog on the way back from a concert in 1990. King outlived him by two years, dying of a heart attack in 1992. They didn’t meet often, and their careers took different paths. But we can all be grateful for that one long day in a television studio when sparks flew and this timeless performance was forever captured.
The PBS special Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan — In Session contains the following songs: “Born Under a Bad Sign,” “Call It Stormy Monday,” “Texas Flood,” “Pride and Joy,” “Match Box Blues,” and “Don’t Lie to Me
Thanks to Kevin Becketti
Becoming Elektra
The True Story of Jac Holzman's Visionary Record Label
By Mick Houghton
October 2010
$29.95, 304 Pages
Becoming Elektra is an account of Elektra Records in the Jac Holzman years, from 1950 to 1973. It tells the story of Elektra's growth from a small independent folk label to a major, multi-faceted, hit making concern. Jac Holzman's role in founding and running the company is central to the story, and his capacity for lateral thinking - that led to innovations such as the first-ever sampler album, and a million-selling series of sound effects records - is a recurring theme. But the book is not just a story of one man's business success. It is also about the label's artists and the great music they produced, and other key people who gave the company its identity.
Becoming Elektra places the label in a broad context. A gripping narrative drawing in elements of musical and cultural history, and biographies of the main participants in the story, the book opens with a pivotal moment in Elektra's history, when Holzman discovered The Doors. It then goes back to the previously untold story of Elektra in the 50s, when the label brought folk music to a wide audience through artists such as Jean Ritchie, Josh White, Theodore Bikel and Bob Gibson.
Moving into the 60s the story takes in artists that have had an extraordinary resonance down the years including some, such as Tim Buckley, who are far more popular today than in their lifetime. His story is told, along with those of artists that read like an inventory of 60s and 70s musical innovation: The Doors, Love, Judy Collins, The Paul Butterfield Band (with Michael Bloomfield), Tom Paxton, Tim Buckley, Fred Neil, David Ackles, Phil Ochs, Bread, Queen, Mickey Newbury, The Incredible String Band, Carly Simon, The Stooges and The MC5.
Mick Houghton is a music publicist and journalist. Since 1979 he has looked after the Ramones, Talking Heads, Undertones, Echo & The Bunnymen, Julian Cope, Sonic Youth, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The KLF, Spiritualized, XTC, Bert Jansch and Richard Thompson, among many others. His writing has appeared in Let it Rock, Circus, Zigzag, Sounds, Time Out, Mojo and Uncut, and he wrote the book that formed part of the Grammy nominated Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra 1963-1973 CD box set. He first bought an Elektra LP in 1966.
A Wizard, A True Star
Todd Rundgren in the Studio
By Paul Myers
November 2010
$19.95, 320 Pages
"If you know what you want, I'll get it for you. If you don't know what you want, I'll do it for you." Todd Rundgren.
Few record producers possess the musical facility to back up such a bold promise, but in over forty-plus years behind the glass, Todd Rundgren has willed himself into becoming a not only a rock guitar virtuoso, an accomplished lead vocalist and vocal arranger and visionary keyboard player, not to mention a serviceable drummer. But arguably, Rundgren's greatest instrument of all is the recording studio itself. After learning his craft with Nazz, Rundgren engineered The Band's Stage Fright album and soon became the producer of a string of noteworthy albums for Sparks, Grand Funk, The New York Dolls, Badfinger, Hall & Oates, Meat Loaf, Patti Smith Group, Cheap Trick, The Psychedelic Furs and XTC. Meanwhile, Rundgren played almost every instrument on his solo albums such as Something/Anything?, A Wizard A True Star and Hermit Of Mink Hollow while collaborating on a series of albums by his band, Utopia. A Wizard A True Star: Todd Rundgren In The Studio by Paul Myers is a fascinating and authoritative trip through the land of flickering red lights inhabited by a studio wizard - and true star - who has rarely enjoyed a proper victory lap along the many trails that he has blazed. Researched and written with the participation and cooperation of Rundgren himself, Myers also draws upon exclusive new interviews with Robbie Robertson, Patti Smith, XTC, Sparks, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Meat Loaf, Jim Steinman, Cheap Trick, Grand Funk, The Psychedelic Furs, The Tubes, Steve Hillage, all members of Rundgren's legendary band, Utopia, and many other key Rundgren associates.
Paul Myers is the author of the critically acclaimed biographies, It Ain't Easy: Long John Baldry and the Birth of the British Blues and Barenaked Ladies: Public Stunts Private Stories. His writing has appeared in a wide variety of publications, including Crawdaddy, Mix, Electronic Musician, Canadian Musician, The Globe and Mail, The Georgia Straight, the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Myers is also a songwriter, guitarist and producer whose current project is The Paul & John, based in San Francisco. Born in Toronto, Canada, Mr. Myers now lives with his wife Liza, and their cat Buddy Guy, in Berkeley, California.
Seasons They Change
The Story of Acid and Psychedelic Folk
By Jeanette Leech
Foreword by Greg Weeks of Espers
January 2011
$19.95, 366 Pages
In the late 60s and early 70s the inherent weirdness of folk met switched-on psychedelic rock and gave birth to new, strange forms of acoustic-based avant garde music. Artists on both sides of the Atlantic, including The Incredible String Band, Vashti Bunyan, Pearls Before Swine and Comus, combined sweet melancholy and modal melody with shape-shifting experimentation to create sounds of unsettling oddness that sometimes go under the name acid or psych folk. A few of these artists - notably the String Band, who actually made it to Woodstock - achieved mainstream success, while others remained resolutely entrenched underground. But by the mid-70s even the bigger artists found sales dwindling, and this peculiar hybrid musical genre fell profoundly out of favour. For 30 years it languished in obscurity, apparently beyond the reaches of cultural reassessment, until, in the mid-2000s a new generation of artists collectively tagged 'New Weird America' and spearheaded by Devendra Banhart, Espers and Joanna Newsom rediscovered acid and psych folk, revered it and from it, created something new.
Thanks partly to this new movement, many original acid and psych folk artists have re-emerged, and original copies of rare albums command high prices. Meanwhile, both Britain and America are home to intensely innovative artists continuing the tradition of delving simultaneously into contemporary and traditional styles to create something unique.
Seasons They Change tells the story of the birth, death and resurrection of acid and psych folk. It explores the careers of the original wave of artists and their contemporary equivalents, finding connections between both periods, and uncovering a previously hidden narrative of musical adventure.
Jeanette Leech is a writer, researcher, DJ and music historian.
She writes regularly for Shindig! magazine, and as part of the B-Music collective she has DJ'd throughout the UK, including at the female acid folk events known as 'Bearded Ladies' and the Green Man Festival. She writes extensively in the health and social care fields. Seasons They Change is her first book about music.
Organist Howard Wales was best known for his collaborations with Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia. After honing his chops during the mid-1960s backing acts ranging from Ronnie Hawkins to the Four Tops to James Brown, Wales eventually settled in San Francisco, joining the group A.B. Skhy; he first performed with Garcia at the guitarist's weekly jam sessions with bassist John Kahn and drummer Bill Vitt at the Bay Area club the Matrix, and in 1970 played on the Dead's seminal American Beauty LP. Hooteroll?, the first joint Wales/Garcia album, appeared in 1971; in January of 1972, the duo also teamed with guitarist Jim Vincent, bassist Roger Troy and drummer Jerry Love in a band which performed regularly during the year to follow. In addition to a longstanding stint backing guitarist Harvey Mandel, in 1976 Wales released a solo album, Rendezvous with the Sun; a follow-up, The Monk in the Mansion, appeared a few years later. He performed infrequently with Garcia in the years leading to the latter's 1995 death; one of their 1970 Matrix jams was officially released in 1998 as the first volume in the ongoing Side Trips series.