War is Peace

Read 1984 again, ASAP. Seriously - it's an amazing book and an outline of our future society.

Then despair, as there's no escape.

America the Fantasy

Take a close look, behold the inner mind of a person living in multiple fantasies. Know that there are many people who think this is realistic art, depicting the founding of America. Christian America. White, but specifically, English. No Irish! Not sure about Scots. I assume they're OK. For who else to fight the English wars?

It's funny. I am afraid, today, of the Republican Party for their Orwellian impulses to total control - domestic spying, trumped up wars used for political purposes, doublespeak, etc, all the while using a cult like religion as the binding material - you wouldn't want to burn in Hell, would you? And yet here, in this art, you see a Wingnut's take on Orwell - the Liberal Nanny state, bent on total control through liberal agendas like peace and safety. It's ludicrous, though there's a point, I suppose. Authoritarians come in all kinds of different flavors. But one thing's clear about gun nuts, which this artist obviously is (or seeks to inspire), and that is

Your typical gun nut is a loser, scared of the world, of himself, and so he buys guns and swims in fear and is ready for the first attack, or so he thinks. Swimming in fear makes you jumpy, and error prone.

To wit: Despite attempts to create alternate realities (white Christian America defended with guns against the scary foreign hordes come to take all your stuff), there is such a thing as a more objective reality. One that can be agreed upon by a majority of folks. Here's the facts:

1. America was not founded as a Christian nation, though indeed many of the founding dudes were Christians, or - GASP! - Theists.
2. While America was very English/Scottish for the first 100 years or so, it quickly assimilated many immigrant populations such that even the Irish were welcomed to the cool kid's table.
3. Guns can be used for needed work, and sport. Owning an arsenal is not needed, and the possession of one marks the person as a lunatic.

Questions?

Why not call it the "Peace Star"?

Sure, the name "Death Star" conjures up fear and dread, and while that is ultimately the point, of course, why not use Orwellian language to tart it up a bit, make it more "brand" friendly? That is, the "GALACTIC EMPIRE" is not a force for evil, but rather peace and order, and justice. You can still be cold rollin' around blasting planets, but it plays way better in the Space Media to hear "And meanwhile in other Space News, the "Peace Star" was forced to neutralize the TERRORIST planet of Alderaan in order to prevent their immanent launch of deadly Space Missiles. Now, over to Bill with Space Sports."

Also, it's not really so much a star as a moon, ironically. So why not "Peace Moon"? Who could object to a Peace Moon?

Ministry of Fox

Believe it, for it is true: News Corp and all its dealings is a propaganda network without equal in American history. Profits come first, of course, but the best way to maximize profits is to maximize the audience. Brainwash your die hard followers and use various media outlets to shape the very conversation in the public sphere. For 30 years now there has been a systematic campaign to take over as many spheres of power as possible - business, government, media. And it's working smashingly well - there has never been more stratification between the wealthy and the rest in American history than right now. No hyperbole, we've surpassed the crazy extremes of the robber baron days of the late 1800's and early 1900's.

Fox News is the masterpiece of News Corp's strategy. It has totally changed the media landscape in America, and thus the world. Lies are routinely repeated as truths, and the agenda is crystal clear, yet denied. They are without doubt pro-Republican, yet loudly proclaim they are "Fair and Balanced". Doublespeak, in other words. I mean, forget all the specifics - Fox was unabashedly pro Bush during his administrations, and there was never a critical word to be said. The moment Obama became President, it was TEA PARTY TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY and it hasn't stopped. Pretty one sided, yeah? But go ahead and try to make that claim to a Republican - you'll never get them to agree. They're brainwashed, steeped in propaganda from the Party, and the facts no longer matter. History no longer matters. The very values they espouse to believe in yet directly contradict no longer matters. All that matters is the Party, and the destruction of the Other, whomever that might be today.

This isn't fun and games, though I always laugh. But mine is a crazy laugh. No, this is serious business, because with the now successful Foxification of America, the crazy people are taken seriously. And can you imagine Rick Perry with his execution happy finger on the button? Nuclear War might be the least worst of the outcomes.

Remember the world was supposed to end in May? Don't worry, even the True Believers don't remember anymore either. There's a new End Day coming up!

Wasn't meant to be a playbook

I encourage you to read 1984 again, or for the first time if you never have before. It's scarily prescient. Consider Fox News - just about everything they say and do are ripped from the pages of this Orwellian classic. "Fair and Balanced". "We Report. You Decide". Dissonance all day, every day. Pure Doublethink.

And we're caught in the gyre, a small percentage of lunatics and lizards representing an even smaller percentage of wealthy and powerful hold America hostage, and thereby directly threatening the world. Witness the evil deeds of the Murdoch empire in England and behold what has been going on in America for some time: Tycoons shaking the very pillars of democracy in the name of their own Profits.  They've successfully taken all the pointers helpfully laid out by Orwell and directly applied them to our Real World, with fantastic results.

Orwell would no doubt roll in his grave, were he not most likely dust and ashes by now.

As will we all, some day. So, might as well enjoy the ride, no matter how insane.

Kindlenacht

Folks, this is some incredible stuff. I'm slightly flabbergasted, and I thought myself immune to all forms of flabgastery. But, here I am. This is so... outrageous? Incredible? Chilling? So many things at once. Read the entire article below, original post from the NY Times.

This morning, hundreds of Amazon Kindle owners awoke to discover that books by a certain famous author had mysteriously disappeared from their e-book readers. These were books that they had bought and paid for—thought they owned.

But no, apparently the publisher changed its mind about offering an electronic edition, and apparently Amazon, whose business lives and dies by publisher happiness, caved. It electronically deleted all books by this author from people’s Kindles and credited their accounts for the price.

This is ugly for all kinds of reasons. Amazon says that this sort of thing is “rare,” but that it can happen at all is unsettling; we’ve been taught to believe that e-books are, you know, just like books, only better. Already, we’ve learned that they’re not really like books, in that once we’re finished reading them, we can’t resell or even donate them. But now we learn that all sales may not even be final.

As one of my readers noted, it’s like Barnes & Noble sneaking into our homes in the middle of the night, taking some books that we’ve been reading off our nightstands, and leaving us a check on the coffee table.

You want to know the best part? The juicy, plump, dripping irony?

The author who was the victim of this Big Brotherish plot was none other than George Orwell. And the books were “1984” and “Animal Farm.”

Scary.

I had been vaguely thinking about at least checking out a kindle, as I find the medium to be intriguing, especially the idea of instant downloads. But this, this is just beyond the pale in my mind, and ensures I will never buy a Kindle.

And that they would do this with George Orwell books? Boggling. In fact, I am thoroughly boggled and flabbergasted. Nice work, Amazon -- if you had the choice, you should have pushed back against the publisher rather than do this. No one will trust the product now with this kind of behavior.