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This week on Uprising:

* Dissecting the Doublespeak on Domestic Drilling
* Empire Notes on Afghanistan
* Tim Robbins on Orwell’s 1984 and It’s Relevance Today
* Black Agenda Report on Capitalism and War
* Remembering George Carlin: In His Own Words

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Dissecting the Doublespeak on Domestic Drilling

GUEST: Dave Alberswerth, Senior Policy Adviser for the Wilderness Society

President Bush gave a speech last week in which he called for more domestic oil drilling in order to relieve record high gas prices. As part of his energy proposal, Bush called on Congress to lift a 27 year ban on offshore oil drilling and also to allow for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Pressing Democrats to act swiftly before the July 4th holiday, Bush warned that his critics will be left to explain why they failed to act to alleviate the public from soaring gas prices. However, an assessment by the Energy Information Administration in 2007 found that offshore drilling would not bring about a drop in oil prices until 2030 and that effects of such a drop would be insignificant. Despite this, a Reuters/Zogby poll recently found that nearly 60 percent of Americans favor domestic drilling and refinery construction. In reversing a previous stance taken in 2000, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain pledged his support for lifting the moratorium on domestic drilling should states allow for it. His rival, Barack Obama, criticized the policy and instead called for taxing windfall oil profits while closing an energy trading loophole.

For more information, visit www.wilderness.org.

Empire Notes on Afghanistan

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 about Afghanistan.

Empire Notes is online at www.empirenotes.org.

Tim Robbins on the Relevance of Orwell’s 1984

GUEST: Tim Robbins, academy award winning actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist, and musician. Robbins is director of “1984” for the Actor’s Gang

In 1948, British writer George Orwell wrote his seminal novel Nineteen Eighty Four, about a future world where the fictional-sounding country of Oceania was at war. As part of this war, the all-too-real totalitarianism that usually accompanies it, is out of control. Orwell’s protagonist, Winston Smith, is an intellectual worker at the Ministry of Truth, who is arrested by the government’s “thought police” and degraded and psychologically tortured. The government surveillance of citizens and incessant media propaganda are eerily reminiscent of George W Bush’s America. The fact that the terms “Orwellian,” “doublespeak,” and “Big Brother” are part of today’s standard lexicon, is a testament to how relevant Orwell’s book has remained for generations. Now, the Actors Gang, an award winning theater ensemble in Los Angeles, has brought 1984 to the stage touring nationally and internationally to packed audiences. The play is directed by Academy Award-winning actor and Actors’ Gang artistic director Tim Robbins. I spoke recently with Tim Robbins about Orwell’s book 1984 and why it is relevant today.

Black Agenda Report on Capitalism and War

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

This week’s commentary is about Capitalism and War. Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.

Remembering George Carlin: In His Own Words

America’s funniest counter-culture hero, George Carlin, passed away this past weekend at the age of 71. He died in Santa Monica of heart failure. The celebrated stand-up comic tackled all the taboo subjects: religion, patriotism, sex, drugs, and death. Combining hilarious delivery with biting social commentary, Carlin’s four-decade-long career influenced top-notch comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock. Carlin was particularly unafraid of offending people. His infamous “seven-dirty-words” routine aired on Pacifica station WBAI in New York, resulting in a landmark lawsuit, Pacifica vs. the FCC. As a result, those words cannot be mentioned on the public airwaves anymore. Carlin was a disciple of Lenny Bruce and found inspiration in Richard Pryor. His brand of comedy was unique – instead of subject threads that ended in punchlines, Carlin’s commentary on American society was named “observational humor.” Despite his battles with drug addiction and heart problems, Carlin hosted the first ever Saturday Night Live, produced 23 comedy albums, appeared in 16 films, 14 HBO specials, wrote five books and has had more television appearances than Wikipedia can count.

You’ve heard the “seven-dirty-words” routine several times on the air lately, so today, in memory of George Carlin, we’ll play two excerpts of recent performances. The first is about religion and human rights. The second is about education, and the American ruling class.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.” — George Orwell