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This week on Uprising:

* Beyond Rising Gas Prices
* Empire Notes on Obama, Iran, and Latin America
* Justice for Victor Jara, Justice for Chile
* Black Agenda Report on US Imperialism and Latin America
* Goodnight Bush: An Unauthorized Parody

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Beyond Rising Gas Prices

GUEST: Tyson Slocum, Research Director for Public Citizens Energy Program

Gas prices across the nation rose to record levels over the Memorial Day weekend and stayed high for a record 20 straight days. What traditionally kicks off the summer travel season, was an unusually slow three day weekend with many Americans tightening their belts as gas prices hovered above $4 a gallon. The national average of $3.93 a gallon is up more than 20% since last year. The retail market is expected to be severely affected between high gas prices and a sluggish economy. Fewer Americans are buying gas-guzzling SUVs with Ford Motor Co. announcing a steep decline in truck sales. Effects are being felt in the skies too – air fares are also expected to rise as a result of increased fuel prices. Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil released its first-quarter results earlier this month – the oil giant made a record $8.8 billion, up $2.7 billion from a year earlier as the price of crude oil now tops a whopping $130 a barrel.

For more information, visit www.citizen.org.

Empire Notes on Obama, Iran, and Latin America

GUEST: Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade

Empire Notes are weekly commentaries filed by Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade. Today’s commentary is on Obama, Iran, and Latin America

Empire Notes is online at www.empirenotes.org.

Justice for Victor Jara, Justice for Chile

GUEST: Joan Jara, widow of the late Victor Jara, author of the book “An Unfinished Song,” and founder of the Victor Jara Foundation

On Monday May 26th, a judge in Chile ordered the arrest of nearly one-hundred former members of the Chilean military and police on charges of “aggravated kidnapping,” in an unprecedented move. Ninety-eight people in all, including civilians, were detained in the largest mass arrest for human rights abuses committed during the Pinochet dictatorship. The charges in the case center on the kidnapping and killing of 42 people in 1974 in what was known as “Operation Colombo.” As investigations continue in the case, demonstrators took to the streets, also on Monday, to demand the re-opening of another human rights case stemming from the dictatorship, which was recently declared closed. Judge Juan Eduardo Fuentes ruled on May 15th that retired Colonel Mario Manriquez was the sole perpetrator in the murder of renowned Chilean folk singer Victor Jara in the days following the September 11th, 1973 coup. Manriquez, who was found guilty of first degree murder, was the commanding officer at Estadio Chile where Jara and thousands of others were detained but was not the gunmen who actually fired the bullets that killed the legendary singer. The Jara family met with Judge Fuentes on Wednesday to demand that the case be re-opened to find all responsible parties in the interests of justice for Victor Jara and for Chile.

Gabriel San Roman spoke with Joan Jara, widow of the late Victor Jara, about the case and the Justice for Victor Jara campaign.

For more information, please visit: www.fundacionvictorjara.cl

Black Agenda Report on US Imperialism and Latin America

GUEST: Glen Ford is a writer and radio commentator and the Executive Editor of The Black Agenda Report

This week’s commentary is about US Imperialism and Latin America. Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.

Goodnight Bush: An Unauthorized Parody

GUEST: Gan Golan, co-author of “Goodnight Bush,” an unauthorized parody of the children’s book, Goodnight Moon

As President Bush’s 8 year tenure finally draws to a close, a number of creative products have popped up in the retail market to bid him goodbye. Items like the George W. Bush Out of Office Countdown Handbook, the 2008 George W. Bush Out of Office Countdown Calendar, the official Bush countdown clock, and the Bush countdown clock keychain. One of the most creative new products is a children’s book by Erich Origen and Gan Golan, based on the ubiquitous children’s book, Goodnight Moon. The original book, Goodnight Moon, written more than 60 years ago, has helped countless parents ease their children to bed and is basically a short poem of goodnight wishes from a young rabbit preparing for–or attempting to postpone–his own slumber. Goodnight Bush, according to its authors, lets us “bid sweet dreams to Bush and his White House playmates and hope they sleep for a very long time.”

For more information and to purchase the book, visit www.goodnightbush.com.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“Because free peoples believe in the future, free peoples will own the future.” — George W Bush.