BIG BROTHER GETS EVEN BIGGER WITH THE NEXT GENERATION IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM.

How can any citizen be assured “fairness” under this insatiably omnivorous New Generation Identification System if we are forbidden from actually seeing what information has been collected and stored?

College students and recent graduates are carrying nearly a trillion dollars in student debt. According to a recent report, college graduates in 2010 walked away owing an average of $25,250 in loans; 9.1% of them were unable to find work. Others were forced to take low-wage jobs that did not reflect their skill level. Add to that the escalating cost of a college education— California public universities increased tuition by 21%—and you all but eliminate low-income students from the collegiate ranks. It’s a scandal that America has done so little to make higher education affordable to every citizen.

To those who have been frozen out of the education system, I say don’t give up. I left school in the eighth grade. When I was 15, I joined the Navy (with a fake ID). Painfully aware of my lack of education, I subscribed to a book-of-the-month club. That was followed by a series of correspondence courses. And more reading— everything I could get my hands on. My message is this: You can teach yourself everything you need to know to be successful. You just have to want it. Being self-taught won’t open any doors for you, but it will teach you how to go around them.

THE ONETIME CRIME FIGHTER WAGES WAR WITH BUSH AND RELIGION

Interview by Kimberly Cheng for HUSTLER Magazine

As a Los Angeles County prosecutor, Vincent Bugliosi had a perfect record in murder convictions. He is best remembered for the Sharon Tate/ Charles Manson case. Of the 106 felony cases he tried, Bugliosi lost only one. Since leaving public service, he has written 11 books on crime, three of which have topped the New York Times bestsellers list. His first, Helter Skelter—which chronicled every aspect of the Manson Family’s gruesome 1969 killing spree—went on to become the biggest-selling true-crime book in publishing history. Also enjoying critical acclaim, Bugliosi is a threetime recipient of the Edgar award, the highest literary honor devoted exclusively to the crime-and-mystery genre. Outraged by the deaths of U.S. servicemen and civilians during the Iraq War, Bugliosi penned The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder. In a startling departure from the subjects of law and government, Bugliosi’s latest book— Divinity of Doubt: The God Question—takes aim at organized religion, specifically the Bible. He stopped by HUSTLER recently to discuss his efforts to indict Bush and why he believes Divinity of Doubt will shake the very foundations of Christianity.

FARTS IN THE WIND from HUSTLER Magazine

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has caused a big stink thanks to accusations that it censored information about global warming in a report about Galveston Bay. This included an article written by the Houston Advanced Research Center’s John B. Anderson, a professor of oceanography at Rice University. Anderson says the state agency deleted all references to climate change and sea-level rise. “I don’t think these are contentious points—that’s the sad part,” he told the New York Times. “This is information that needs to be out there for the general public, for schoolteachers when they teach their kids.” After a Texas lawmaker voiced concerns about watering down the report “without a valid explanation or alternative,” TCEQ spokesman Andy Saenz countered, “Why should we include questionable information we don’t agree with?” He failed to mention that the panel’s members are appointed by Governor Rick Perry, who derides global warming as “an unproven scientific theory.” We agree with Anderson’s assessment: “It’s all politics.”

DOWNSIZING THE MIDDLE CLASS IS A RISKY BUSINESS.

by Robert Scheer for HUSTLER Magazine

While the superrich scurry for safety in their fortress enclaves, suburbs across the country feature boarded-up houses with mortgages that are deeply underwater.

Scientists tell us that dolphins and porpoises have a complicated language and can actually learn to use an iPad. An octopus can build its own house, birds sing complicated melodies, and parrots can remember as many as a thousand words. Monkeys can be taught sign language, how to drive a car and smoke cigarettes. I’m told that dogs, which possess the intellectual capacity of a three-year-old child, can understand more than 50 words, although from my experience, none of those words include “Don’t shit in the house!”

On the other hand, many humans don’t believe in global climate change, evolution or that President Barack Obama was born in America. They do, however, believe in astrology, angels, virgin birth, a God with a long white beard (whom they should thank when winning an Emmy) and the ability to cure homosexuality through prayer. My question is this: Just how much smarter are we than our animal cousins? From my point of view we humans have very little to be smug about.

HOW OUR COUNTRY WAS BETRAYED BY THREE PRESIDENTS

by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman for HUSTLER Magazine

That White House lie led to a horrific war that has cost the lives of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis—not to mention a trillion or more U.S. dollars.

The not-so-slow death of our nation by betrayal, bankruptcy and despair has not happened by accident. Three treasonous backstabs by Republicans Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan (in cahoots with George H.W. Bush) and George W. Bush have poisoned our body politic and bled us into chaos. The first act of treason came in 1968 as the Vietnam War reached a critical turning point. Democratic President Lyndon Baines Johnson was desperate for a truce between North and South Vietnam. His Vice President, Hubert Humphrey, was in a tight Presidential race against Richard Nixon. With demonstrators in the streets, Humphrey needed a cease-fire to get himself into the White House.

AMERICA DESPERATELY NEEDS A NEW DEAL FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, BUT DON’T ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET FOR ANOTHER REPUBLICAN.

by Robert Scheer for HUSTLER Magazine

We think of America as a place where every generation is doing better, but we’re looking at a period when the median family is in worse shape than it was in the late 1990s.

It started when a bunch of college kids, responding to a tweet, descended on Wall Street. They stayed, and the crowd grew. Now there are thousands of them, and they’re not just in New York City anymore. Nor is the movement still limited to undergrads. In a nation where 1% of the population controls almost half of the wealth, these protesters have chosen to call themselves the 99 Percent. They are the working class, the poor, the disenfranchised. They represent everyone excluded from a political process that has been hijacked by corporations and multimillionaires. The 99 Percent want their government back. This looks and feels like something different. It feels organic. It reminds me of the 1960s’ antiwar movement. A long-simmering undercurrent of unrest in our country is now bubbling to the surface. Our politicians ignore this movement at their peril.

As Bob Dylan said, “The times they are a-changin’.”

Larry Flynt was awestruck after seeing his name on the American National Tree for the first time during a recent visit to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. As a courageous defender of the First Amendment, Flynt has been honored with a plaque on the monument, which pays tribute to 100 Americans—both famous and obscure—whose actions have helped safeguard the U.S. Constitution. We sat down with Larry to discuss his thoughts on being part of such select company and why freedom of speech is so important.