11:07 pm CST
DREAM: I find myself in a group of new arrivals in the Afterlife.

The Afterlife is something of a let-down: No pearly gates, streets of gold, or rivers of wine, just asphalt streets, ordinary buildings, signs, power lines, and cars—the ugly sprawl that is Modern America.

And there is no one to greet us upon our arrival—no bearded St. Peter to gravely look up our names in The Book, no welcoming committee with banners and baskets of fruit, not even a smelly old shuttle bus to take us wherever we’re supposed to go. We have to figure it all out for ourselves and make our own way—with the result that we scatter in different directions, no one with any idea where they’re going.

A few of us stay together and start walking down a residential street. Night falls. We come to a house with a sign in the front yard that says, “Visit My Home Theatre.”

So we go inside the house and sit down in a crowded living room with a big-screen television. Some theatre, I think. Also, there’s nothing on the television. I don’t mean there’s nothing good on. I mean there’s nothing on—the screen is blank and no one can figure out how to turn the damned thing on.

But an interesting thing happens. While we’re sitting around, we discover that, if we look into someone’s eyes, we can tell if he or she is a Friend.

The word "Friend," it seems, has a particular definition here in the Afterlife. That is, it is someone with whom you share a soul. About one in ten people are your Friend, I find out.

One Friend of mine is a woman about my age. She reminds me of my wife in waking life.

After she and I discover we are Friends, we decide to leave the Home Theatre. However, the owner of the house—a robot—tries to stop us at the door. There is a short scuffle, the robot breaks, falling apart in a shower of sparks, and we vamoose.

We end up in a café where we buy some Cokes and talk about how the Afterlife is not much different from the world we left.

“How long do you’ll think we’ll be dead?” I ask. I mean it as a joke, because of course when you’re dead, it’s forever.

On a nearby television screen, a news bulletin flashes: Billy Sol Estes has run off and they’re looking for him. Next to a picture of him is a map showing the last place he was seen. It is not explained where he ran off from, but the impression I get is that no one is supposed to leave the Afterlife.

But my Friend and I leave anyway. We get in a car and go to Dallas, driving east under the Triple Underpass into Dealey Plaza, where we start tracing President Kennedy’s motorcade route.

Dealey Plaza looks exactly as it does in waking life, except the streets are paved with 1930s red brick, like Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth.

As we turn the corner in front of the Texas Schoolbook Depository, I start clowning around, pretending I’m Kennedy, smiling and waving to imaginary crowds.

At the crucial moment, I clutch my throat and pitch forward (as if acting in a slapstick passion play), then shout “BLAM!” and fly backwards, as in the Zapruder Film.

But my Friend, who is seated to my left, like Jackie on that fatal day, says, “Not yet. We haven’t reached the Grassy Knoll.”

I look up and see that she is right: the Grassy Knoll is down the street. Not yet, not yet. But soon …

10:58 pm CST
A READER WRITES: Hello Mack, I found myself lost in your story about the brazos trip .. but it just stopped after part 5 .. I was wondering if you have finished the story but have yet to post it … I would really enjoy reading it ... if not I will stay tune..great website … Thanks

My apologies for waiting so long to finish this story. When I began it, I did not anticipate just how much work The Bush Junta would entail. I have barely had time to post a few links and brief commentaries; however, work on the book will be completed by the end of this month, at which time I will finish the Brazos River story and begin adding new features to this site. I have also neglected my other site, BisonBill.com; the other day I realized that the Bison Bill Christmas story is still the latest attraction. That’s rather embarrassing, like leaving your Christmas decorations up too long. Anyway, look for big changes in the Weird West as well.

11:07 pm CST
A READER WRITES: Hello Mack,   regarding your posting from the reader who called your site "laugh out loud funny", I must say that you're just too kind in your response to him/her. This person is typical of those who are blissfully ignorant of the real world and all that goes on behind the proverbial closed doors. No, not everything is a conspiracy, but if one decides to get off his/her lazy butt and investigate these stories rather than ridicule they would find out that most things are definitely  not at all as they have been portrayed historically. And by the way, people have been conspiring against one another since recorded time. Put three people in a room and two will conspire...it's human nature.  I wonder, does this person believe in a government that will go to any length to keep the lid on information that is damaging? Consider the recent (attempted) action against Bev Harris with her website black box voting.org? She is the very brave lady who has uncovered all sorts of lies, fraud and general foul play with the electronic voting machines by Diebold and others, and their direct connections to the Republican party and  Bush  specifically. She has exposed the FACTS that these machines can be easily manipulated to give the desired outcome without leaving any paper trail ,thus usurping and nullifying our vote. Well, since blowing the lid off of this well kept secret she has been tailed by the Treasury Department ,who are now also threatening to subpoena her web records for the email addresses of EVERYONE who has visited her website. So, to this skeptical sarcastic moron who wrote you I challenge: check out Bev Harris' website and see if it's true. Or are you afraid that soon you just might get a visit from the Feds wanting to know why you were viewing a website discussing ballot tampering?  If  you don't have the balls to investigate these things, go get another beer, sit down in your chair and watch re-runs of "Friends" or some other mindless program designed t o amuse the herd and keep them quietly contented. Lastly,  you mentioned Mao and the raping of 12 year old girls... check out the Bohemian Grove in Monte Rio, Calif. (where Daddy and Junior Bush, Kissinger, Cheney et al are members)  The sexual perversions that take place there, as well as the documented occult rituals are mind blowing ,not to mention the fact that they make policy apart from the prying eyes of the public, that is ,apart from our democratic process.

Yes, the attempted government action against Bev Harris and BlackBoxVoting.org is an obvious example of a very real conspiracy. A similar example would be the attempt by the Grocery Manufacturers of America to launch a smear campaign against anti-RFID activist Katherine Albrecht. In fact, there are so many proven examples of conspiracy that one could easily spend hours listing them and still barely trace the tip of the iceberg.

The mainstream media has been astoundingly successful in demonizing the word “conspiracy.” I never cease to be amazed by the number of people who are satisfied to let the media do their thinking for them, and who as a result will react violently to the very suggestion that powerful men would even consider conspiring to enhance their power.

I’ve noticed that people who react strongly to the suggestion of conspiracy, whether in emails such as the one posted below or on message boards, will often make sure to let you know that they think your “theories” are funny. They do this, of course, to hurt your feelings, to belittle you and cause self doubt. But there is a deeper purpose, I think. Their laughter is not authentic; it is the forced, nervous kind of laughter that comes from false bravado. For, beneath the flimsy façade of superior knowledge, such a person is actually a quivering, sniveling, snarling little animal who is frightened by your “theory”—who, at least on a subconscious level, knows that it is actually FACT and resents being awakened from the cozy little dream land created for him by Peter Jennings, Rush Limbaugh, and other propagandists of various stripes.

As for the doofus who wrote the email in question, it is now 24 hours and he still has not written to let me know when he will be sending me the hundred dollars he owes me for insinuating I am a Stalinist (?). I’ve already begun making plans for how to spend that money and might become very irritated if I do not find it in my mailbox pronto.

12:23 pm CST
A READER WRITES: Man your site is laugh out loud funny. Is everything a conspiracy? I'm sure the government was really relieved when Lennon was assassinated. What a threat that guy was.

“Laugh out loud funny”? Yeah, the assassination of John Lennon is hilarious. Operation Northwoods, the documented conspiracy by the Joint Chiefs to create a pretext for an invasion of Cuba by blowing up airplanes, killing Americans, etc., is hysterical. You’ve got a warped sense of humor, my friend.

As for whether or not Lennon was a threat to the government, the FBI, CIA, and Nixon White House documents are clear: They considered him a threat. Period. Nothing more to be said about the subject. But don’t take my word for it. Read the documents.

I'll bet you also think that Josef Stalin was a kind and noble man. It's just that historians are lying about the atrocities commited by Uncle Joe because they fear socialism and how successful it's been around the globe.

Socialism successful? When and where did I ever say that? Socialism has only been successful for the globalists who created it to manipulate the world’s population.

As for your “bet” that I think Josef Stalin was a good man, I hope you had cold, hard cash laying on the table when you said that, because I live by the Code of the West: I take all bets seriously and I always collect. A hundred dollars will satisfy my offended honor. Send your money order to me at P.O. Box 49575, Austin TX 78765.

And how about Chairman Mao? He didnt really murder millions of people. And he didnt really rape 12 year old girls because he was a sick old pervert.

Since you enjoy lurid sex stories of the rich and powerful, you should read The Franklin Cover-up. When it comes to sick old perverts, Mao was an amateur compared to George H. W. Bush.

The internet is a great place for people like you, isnt it? I must agree because I think people should see how crazy the extreme left is. You're just as crazy as the extreme right.

“Extreme left”? Where did you get that? I am neither a left-winger nor a right-winger. And, if I am an extreme anything, I am an extreme Constitutionalist. The history of the United States is the history of a people that was conned into giving up the Bill of Rights and the republican form of government created by their forefathers. All I seek is the return of those precious gifts. Is that so “crazy”?

And, yes, the Internet is a great place for people like me, and people like you, and for all people. It offers something that is missing from the mainstream media: the free exchange of ideas and information. I just wish that people like you would make better use of the Internet. I appreciate your taking the time to email me, but I believe your time would have been better spent reading the articles linked on this site, especially the links at the bottom of the Lennon piece. Everything is documented, you poor, addled coincidence theorist. I don’t make it up.

12:23 pm CST
DREAM: I enter an auditorium where preparations are being made for a rock concert. I am aware that this is a special concert, as it is being staged in Dream Time. I recognize Bono and a few others milling about, preparing for the sound check. Behind a table sits an attractive young woman. I talk to her about something or other. She smiles, seductively caressing my arm. But when I reciprocate by touching her arm, she stiffens and will have nothing more to do with me. I walk away. As I’m leaving the auditorium, I see Ronald Reagan; his smiling face bringing back my early memories of G.E. Theatre. I ask him, “What’s it like being dead?” Reagan says, “It’s no different from being alive.” He reaches out to shake hands, but I hesitate, not wanting to touch a corpse. But he keeps his hand extended, so I shake it and am surprised. “Your hand’s not cold,” I say. He says, “I told you, it’s no different from being alive.” His face begins to change; his features are becoming less like Reagan’s, more generic. As I walk towards the door, I wonder aloud: “How were they able to arrange this concert in Dream Time? The logistical difficulties must be enormous.” Someone answers: “The Masons helped out …”

The dream wanders off into scenes now mostly forgotten: Something about a hermaphrodite, an encounter with some hoodlums in a parking lot, and trying to find a place to take a leak.

I wake up, reach for the remote, and turn on the television in time to see Reagan’s flag-draped coffin being carried into the cathedral. It’s mid-morning; the University of Texas is closed today in memory of Ronald Reagan, so I don’t have to go to the office. I can stay home and work on The Bush Junta …

11:47 pm CST
It’s been a long night at the computer. I’m writing the Flight 93 segment for my September 11 piece in The Bush Junta and it’s been tough going. Anyway, before I go to bed, here are two last links for the night …

Last February, Col. Donn de Grand Pre, in an interview with Alex Jones, said that a coup d’etat might occur in the near future. The other day Sherman Skolnick suggested the same thing. (See previous blog entries for links to the interview and article.) Now, comes this article from Michael Ruppert which connects the resignation of CIA Director George Tenet to a Watergate-style coup d’etat that will be “worse than Watergate.” If any of this is true—if an overthrow of the Bush government is in the works—then the stakes would be high enough for someone to stage a SUMMER OF TERROR. According to this article by Webster Tarpley, terror attacks are imminent and would involve the use of ABC (atomic, bacteriological, and chemical weapons). “The goal of these operations,” Tarpley writes, “would be to produce a worldwide shock several orders of magnitude greater than the original 9-11, with a view to stopping the collapse of the Bush administration, the Wall Street-centered financial structures, and the US-UK strategic position generally. The attacks would be attributed by US/UK intelligence to controlled patsy terrorist groups who would be linked by the media to countries like Iran, Syria, Cuba, or North Korea.”

4:40 pm CST
Ten thousand cops in riot gear, military helicopters and jets patrolling the skies, the delivery of 2,000 body bags--not surprisingly, these and other preparations for the G-8 summit on Sea Island have scared the B. Jesus out of everyone: the locals are evacuating as if a Category 10,000 Hurricane was headed their way and there has also been a noticeably small turn-out of protesters (so far).

1:52 pm CST

Former president Ronald Reagan’s death occurred just as I was about to post the above excerpt from David Paleo’s contribution to The Bush Junta, the book I am co-editing with Gary Groth. “The Bush-Hinckley Connection,” drawn by David and scripted by myself, concerns the curious social and business connections between the Bush family and the family of John Hinckley, Jr., who attempted to assassinate Reagan in 1981.

By the way, you can pre-order your copy of The Bush Junta now at this Amazon link.

1:49 pm CST
Dave Merrill, whose blog may be viewed HERE, wrote the other day with his observations on Police State’s preparations for protests at the upcoming G-8 summit meeting:

Hey Mack, long time reader, first time emailer. I saw on your blog a link to the Prison Planet article about Patriot batteries in the Sea Island/St. Simons Island/Jekyll Island area, and I felt like adding my two cents.

My family was also in the area over Memorial Day weekend; my uncle is a business owner on St. Simons. We saw Patriot missiles at the airport on St. Simons, and from what I heard from the locals, there are also Patriots stationed on the seaward side of St. Simons and at the bridge between Brunswick and St. Simons. There are also batteries installed to defend the big new US 17 bridge across the river. It's a swell new bridge and well worth a few Patriot batteries, in my opinion.

Most of the locals are entertaining each other with horror stories about what those crazed hippy protesters are planning (hurling fecal matter, mostly) and while there's some concern about traffic, the recent beach reclamation project seems to have generated more controversy than G-8. There's not a Starbucks on the island, so the anti-corporate rage will have to be focused on the Piggly-Wiggly, I guess.

There were lots of Federal agents around; most of them seemed to be enjoying themselves. The island itself was swamped with visitors to the beaches and there didn't seem to be any trouble, so maybe the G-8 will turn out OK. I sure hope so; it's a beautiful island and a great place to visit, even if you're not a high-level government offical, a federal agent, or a poo-flinging protester.

1:32 pm CST
Gianluco Costantini sent me a link to his website containing some great artwork and political commentary. Check it out HERE .

1:29 pm CST
According to this story, President Bush has not been acting right lately. In fact, there are strong indicators that his already feeble mind is disintegrating at a rapid rate; he has been quoting the Bible, raving about “God’s will,” launching into obscene tirades against “enemies of the state” (that is, anyone who disagrees with him), and in general behaving like a demented cretin.