Text of a message believed to have been posted online by the alleged pilot of a small plane that crashed Feb. 18 into an office complex in Austin, Texas: If you're reading this, you're no doubt asking yourself, "Why did this have to happen?" The simple truth is that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time. The writing process, started many months ago, was intended to be therapy in the face of the looming realization that there isn't enough therapy in the world that can fix what is really broken. Needless to say, this rant could fill volumes with example after example if I would let it. I find the process of writing it frustrating, tedious, and probably pointless… especially given my gross inability to gracefully articulate my thoughts in light of the storm raging in my head. Exactly what is therapeutic about that I'm not sure, but desperate times call for desperate measures. AWIP: The Fire Next Time: IRS Plane Assault Hints of Things to Come.

A new Rasmussen poll finds: The founding document of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, states that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Today, however, just 21% of voters nationwide believe that the federal government enjoys the consent of the governed. Seventy-one percent (71%) of all voters now view the federal government as a special interest group, and 70% believe that the government and big business typically work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors.That helps explain why 75% of voters are angry at the policies of the federal government, and 63% say it would be better for the country if most members of Congress are defeated this November...

On January 21st, Lloyd Blankfein left a peculiar voicemail message on the work phones of his employees at Goldman Sachs. Fast becoming America's pre-eminent Marvel Comics supervillain, the CEO used the call to deploy his secret weapon: a pair of giant, nuclear-powered testicles. In his message, Blankfein addressed his plan to pay out gigantic year-end bonuses amid widespread controversy over Goldman's role in precipitating the global financial crisis. The bank had already set aside a tidy $16.2 billion for salaries and bonuses — meaning that Goldman employees were each set to take home an average of $498,246, a number roughly commensurate with what they received during the bubble years. Still, the troops were worried. AWIP/Stephen Lendman: Selling Out America to Wall Street.

What George W. Bush didn't want you to know about the wealthiest 400 Americans. I can't say that I was surprised to learn, from a new report by former New York Times tax reporter David Cay Johnston, that "the incomes of the top 400 American households soared to a new record high... in 2007, while the income tax rates they paid fell to a record low..." Nor was I shocked to learn that those 400 taxpayers, who boasted an average income of $344.8 million, paid an effective tax rate of 16.2 percent, which is "lower than the typical effective income tax rate paid by Americans with incomes in the low six figures." This is America, right? We've come to expect shocking statistics on income inequality. They're practically our birth right. But then came the kicker: The annual top 400 report was first made public by the Clinton administration, but the George W. Bush administration shut down access to the report. Its release was resumed a year ago when President Obama took office.

US-led forces have lost six more soldiers during an anti-Taliban operation in the militants-infested southern Afghanistan. On Friday, a spokesman for International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed the total number of NATO soldiers killed on Thursday was six. Sergeant Jeff Loftin says the soldiers were slain in Helmand province, where US and British forces have lost several grounds to the Taliban militants. The alliance says the soldiers were killed in separate incidents by mines and gunfire. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan: Five German troops die as another German tank eliminated in bomb attack in Kunduz [Thursday night] + Remote-controlled bomb kills 5 U.S soldiers in Logar [Friday] + A dozen U.S-led coalition troops killed as their 3 tanks destroyed in Helmand [Thursday].

The attack, which began in late 2008 and was discovered last month, targeted proprietary corporate data, e-mails, credit-card transaction data and login credentials at companies in the health and technology industries in 196 countries, according to Herndon-based NetWitness. News of the attack follows reports last month that the computer networks at Google and more than 30 other large financial, energy, defense, technology and media firms had been compromised. Google said the attack on its system originated in China.

The quiet assassination of a Hamas commander gets unexpectedly messy. Exposed and forced to atone before furious allies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders the spymaster responsible to fall on his sword. AWIP/Gilad Atzmon: The long arm of Israel must be amputated: Gilad Atzmon argues that, given the close relationship between the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and the Mossad intelligence agency, Premier Binyamin Netanyahu must be held to account personally for the murder of a Hamas official in Dubai by Israeli Mossad agents travelling on cloned European passports. PressTV: Israel's Mossad had tipped off British intelligence that they were going to use fake British passports before the assassination of the Hamas commander, a new report says. + Dubai police chief wants Mossad head arrested. The Independent/Robert Fisk: Collusion. That's what it's all about: The British passports are real. They are hologram pictures with the biometric stamp. They are not forged or fake. Britain's explanation is riddled with inconsistencies. It's time to come clean. AWIP/Gilad Atzmon: The Tide Has Changed.

Andrea Fay Friedman, the voice actress who played the role of "Ellen" --the character depicted as having Down syndrome on the Valentine's Day episode of Family Guy, has responded to the criticism of sometime-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Of special significance, Friedman herself has Down syndrome. Palingates has Friedman's complete response: My name is Andrea Fay Friedman. I was born with Down syndrome. I played the role of Ellen on the "Extra Large Medium" episode of Family Guy that was broadcast on Valentine's day. Although they gave me red hair on the show, I am really a blonde. I also wore a red wig for my role in " Smudge" but I was a blonde in "Life Goes On". I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor. I thought the line "I am the daughter of the former governor of Alaska" was very funny. I think the word is "sarcasm". In my family we think laughing is good. My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life. My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes. Gawker: Family Guy Actress with Down Syndrome's Sarah Palin Smackdown Too Hot for NYT.

Sir Nicholas Winterton has angrily denounced plans to reduce first-class travel by MPs - telling the BBC he needs "quiet" and privacy to work. The veteran Tory MP said there was a "totally different type of people" in standard-class train carriages. A Tory spokesman said Sir Nicholas's remarks were "the out-of-touch views of a soon-to-retire backbench MP".

Joe Stack's eerie suicide screed rips the curtain open and reveals a bitter bile this country does not know what to do with. Liberals will surely dismiss Stack's rant as a broiling anti-government battle cry - Tea Party on steroids. Conservatives will dismiss it as the petulant whine of a "victim" who couldn't hack Capitalism. The tortured manifesto cannot be properly labeled as "left-" or "right-wing." Rather, it's a non-partisan screed against problems roiling the Republic - and Stack's head - for years. A crippled economy dominated by political and corporate potentates. A campaign and election system rotted by special interests and money. Byzantine tax laws that baffle small business owners and individuals. AWIP: ‘The inquisition is still alive and well today’ [Text of denunciation of American tax system by alleged pilot in Texas crash]. [Embed from EclipTV: IRS Tax Is Illegal - No Tax Law Exists!!]

The EU has called for each of its member states to derive ten per cent of its transport fuel from sustainably produced biofuels. It made this claim in a 2009 report, but Mr Richter has said that "the billions of pounds the EU has made a mistake spending every year on supporting biofuels would be much better used if we were to use the tried and tested methods of reducing transport emissions".

Seven in 10 Americans believe that Iran currently has nuclear weapons, according to a new national poll. The poll indicates that 71 percent of the public says Iran has nuclear weapons, with just over one in four disagreeing. More than six in ten think the U.S. should take economic and diplomatic efforts to get Iran to shut down their nuclear program, with only a quarter calling for immediate military action.

The community of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel is half a million strong and growing. They live in a parallel universe cut off from the modern world in tight-knit communities where everything revolves around religion. Only a few dare to abandon this life -- and the price for doing so is high.

Nicolas Sarkozy promised €230m (£200m) in aid for Haiti today as he made the first visit by a French president to what was once his ­nation's richest colony. Sarkozy, who was greeted by the Haitian president, René Préval, as a brass band played the Marseillaise, toured a French field hospital and viewed the remains of the capital through the door of a helicopter. LiveLeak/Al Jazeera: Haiti Quake Survivor Captures Footage on Mobile of Ordeal -VIDEO

A disastrous series of failed climate change publicity stunts cost taxpayers £9million, it emerged yesterday. The projects paid for by the Government’s Climate Challenge Fund did next to nothing to change public opinion, a Whitehall report found. It said the initiatives were almost entirely preaching to the converted and that trying to drum up interest through sensationalism only put people off. Daily Telegraph: Climategate: the official cover-up continues.

Dick Cheney's statutory crimes are notable for their severity, their number, and his public confessions to them. Torture is the least of it. We can start with the crimes found in the three articles of impeachment contained in H Res 333 in the 110th Congress. Let's Try Democracy: Cheney's Crimes and Confessions: Torture Is the Least of It.

1042 architectural and engineering professionals and 6635 other supporters including A&E students have signed the petition demanding of Congress a truly independent investigation. The petition is open to everyone. Please sign HERE.

US “leadership” and their corporate media minions are pushing juvenile-level propaganda for war with Iran; lies that anyone can verify with a few moments’ attention. If you haven’t already confirmed the Orwellian-level disinformation, stop and read the above two links now.

Many people hypothesize the confirmed lies for wars with Iraq and Afghanistan, and a final war with Iran, is to control oil. Connected is the theory that US political and economic “masters” are so confident in their propaganda, and so correct in their conclusion that the critical mass of humanity is too feeble to stop them, that they brazenly move forward for global hegemony.

Two senior Taliban leaders have been arrested in recent days inside Pakistan, officials said Thursday, as American and Pakistani intelligence agents continued to press their offensive against the group’s leadership after the capture of the insurgency’s military commander last month. Afghan officials said the Taliban “shadow governors” for two provinces in northern Afghanistan had been detained in Pakistan. Mullah Abdul Salam, the Taliban’s leader in Kunduz, and Mullah Mir Mohammed of Baghlan were captured about two weeks ago in a raid on a house in Akora Khattack, according to a leader at the Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqaniya madrasa there.

Tensions had been high in the west African uranium exporter since Tandja changed the constitution to extend his rule last year, a move that drew widespread criticism at home and led to international sanctions. Mutinous troops led by an army colonel captured Niger's President Mamadou Tandja after a gun battle on Thursday, and said they were suspending the constitution and dissolving all political institutions. Google/PressAssociation: Niger junta names leader after coup. University of Texas: Big Man Disease Killing Africa. Yahoo: Niger government says 2.7 million face hunger.