1984 workout

Follow the Party Line, comrades.

No Escape

In the future, every camera will see at least one other camera.

Not even the ocean will be safe, thanks to 1st Lt. Flipper and friends.

Eyes of a Robot

It's cool visuals, but not realistic. There's no way we could ever smash all the cameras they'll deploy. In the sky, on the sides of buildings, on street poles, on power lines, etc. Drones flying overhead. Satellites far above. Cameras everywhere.

Curiosity, on Mars. Not sure how this photo is made, since Curiosity is all alone on Mars.

Not a manual

Sadly, I think there are some Repuglicans who read 1984 and said "Whoa! Awesome ideas! Let's do that!". And they are doing it. When you read the book as an instruction manual, it's terrifyingly effective.

Orwell was a prophet of the modern age, and his prophecy, and the reality, is DOOM.

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.

Freedom is Slavery

It's like a Black Fly in your Chardonnay. But where I'm from, a dead Black Fly in your wine is one less bug that will bite you, so, yay!

Ironic, yeah?

Soviet the Magazine

Get the latest issue of Soviet Union, the Magazine, to keep up on all the happenings in the superhip USSR!

See the many plazas and stately buildings and learn about plans for even greater public works!

Just saying hi!, Comrade. :)

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?

Tomorrow's Women

A logical next step - some hands free computing device. Glasses are a sensible design since you need to be able to see it. Maybe something on the wrist could work too, Dick Tracy style. Michelle Bachman's on the bleeding edge, however, and that should give us all pause.

Future technology will be far more powerful. Too powerful? Can we trust people with technology that can cause mayhem with the push of a button? Of course we can't! But that won't stop us. Push it!

Antarctica party scene - a new thing for the super rich and the uber rich. Soon enough the ice will melt back far enough to open up resorts and what not. Yay, capitalism! The button has been pushed, our machines are melting the ice, killing all the creatures, ripping down all the forests, digging up all the earth. We're the Destroyers, woman!

But also of course the future, and all life. Yay, life! And boo, testicular cancer!

For want of charisma

Big Brother is but a name for a charismatic enough leader, with enough power, who shapes the State to his will.  With today's insane Republican party, a charismatic leader could do pretty much anything if given the power to do so. But I don't think there's a charismatic enough GOP leader alive today.

Oh for the days of St. Ronaldus Magnus Reaganus! The greatest bestest leader America's ever had - it's true. Ask a Republican. But thankfully, today's Republican party has eaten its own product (Propaganda) for too long, and is now batshit stupid insane. I look upon the GOP horizon and see nothing but crackpots and hypocritical assholes. Old people gone completely bitter and deluded by the grifters and liars of the GOP.

Reagan has become unto a God to these Teabaggin' morans. For real - it's weird and creepy. Fun fact you could tell them and they'd never believe it: Reagan signed 11 tax increases during his two terms.

Cuz facts don't matter anymore to the so called "Conservative" party. They are 100% in with pure Ideology, whatever it is that given day in opposition to Liberals - because that's the gist of it: Whatever you're for, they're against.

If they get full power of the Government again anytime soon, we're in big trouble. If FSM be praised we can have a Democratic Administration and Congress from 2014 - 2024, we could do some serious work of undoing the damage they've done to this country and the world over the past 35 years.

It's up to us to decide - literally, the weight of the world is on our shoulders, upon our choices.

The All Seeing Eye

You might tag and smash a few, but the effort is ultimately futile. The cameras are only going to proliferate, in dramatic fashion. Soon enough there will be public cameras so small and cheap they'll be everywhere. The computer programs able to read the happenings on all the cameras will come along, and there will no escape.

So, until then, enjoy some British graffiti:

The cameras will not only be the Government's but also too the stores and not just the businesses but homes - right now, as you read, you can pay to have a security company install cameras in your house that they are, indeed, able to monitor 24/7. If you call them in an emergency, ostensibly, for now. Later? Or when needed? Always on.

For the children, of course - don't you want to keep your kids safe from murdering Eurasians? Then years go by, technology gets cheaper and better, and whammo! Total surveillance state.

Read 1984. Don't vote RANDPAUL.

Or any Republican, if you value your freedom - literally.

Hero to some

Against the evil NAZI hordes, mind you, who had just lain waste to your country. Would not any man in this army be considered a hero to his fellow countrymen? Every tribe is looking for heroes, and war often provides them. So too, revolution.

Vladmir I Lenin, nerd who changed the world.

The nerd celebrated at sporting events.

The nerd who would sweep away the royalty of earth in the name of the common man.

The nerd who is a hero to many, but certainly not all. Are there any heroes who are? Lenin was sincere in his revolutionary beliefs, and is not responsible for any of the later horrors of the USSR - that's Stalin and his successors, but mostly Stalin. Dude was whack and in the running for "Evilest human, ever". Don't blame his deeds on Lenin, who liked kittens, and fighting authority. Here's an 1895 mugshot:

A nerd who got inspired by some other nerds (Marx, Engalls), and led a worldwide revolution. It would be incredibly awesome if it didn't collapse so quickly into totalitarian nightmare. Maybe there's a lesson there.

Or maybe not.

Not a water based prank

A real photo, apparently, from Tibet, of a monk aflame. If it's come to people lighting themselves on fire in protest, safe to say society has become overly authoritarian, and needs to relax, quite a bit.

Some serious stuff to light one's self on fire, right? Damn.

The Age of Propaganda

We've entered an ironic age - we have all these forms of media, for information, and yet a sizable percentage of the population believes in lies as facts instead of empirical truths. As long as the Other Tribe is for it, their against it, whatever it is.

Tribe over truth. It's very strange, and yet probably pervasive throughout history.

The difference today is the media, now used as sophisticated propaganda and marketing tools, worldwide. Their 24/7 influence can shape the opinions of many to such an extant that they will un/knowingly accept propaganda as fact, and any word otherwise, treason.

Crazy times.
Objectively a very interesting time to be alive - we're all very lucky.
Maybe.

Living in America HAHA

Let's tell a story! This guy:

Loved America, clearly. Alas, he fought and died at the hands of this guy:

Grace Jones had nothing to do with this tale - but maybe some other day... Anyways, with Apollo Creed dead, there was only one way for this to go:

Which of course led to:

Yay, America! I don't think it's a co-incidence that soon after Rocky 4 hit the big screen the USSR - realizing their vaunted boxing machine men were no match for American Grit - collapsed and FREEDOM rained across the World. 

Rocky liked to fight, as that's who he was. What he did. What made him up. That was the whole point! Like:

Don't remember that, do you? And also:

Clubber Lang. Or his other acting name, Mr. T.. Who looks like this now adays:

I seriously doubt that's a solid gold frying pan. But you never know.... Anyways, the end of my story:

WrestleMania I. It was 1984, and everything was possible - like, the greatest wrestling event of all time. And it was! I don't want to use any hyperbole, but it might have been the greatest event in human history. Check out the wiki - it's like some weird soap opera where instead of romance and a'cheatin', it's men fake fighting. 

Yay, America. Ain't FREEDOM grand?

A porpoise full of holes (Laughing)

Happy 9/11! It's been everywhere today, and I've been on top of the Mountain with no TV (radio only). I don't begrudge the coverage due to the anniversary, but hoo boy am I tired of it. It's a cudgel to beat down a fearful population - a population that is collectively much worse off then before 9/11. America has gone down the shitter since, thanks to the evils and stupidity of Republicans, who continue to go to great lengths trying to destroy the USA.

In this regard, the attacks of 9/11 were spectacularly successful. We've gone bankrupt, given up numerous freedoms, allowed the extreme concentration of wealth, let our infrastructure rot, our education system wither, our government is barraged by hateful and greedy louts, or, conversely, run and driven into the ground by Republicans. OBL stated he wanted to do economic damage to the USA and thus the entire "Western World". Look at the world's economy today and it's clear to see he was in part successful - he didn't cause the banks to fail, or the housing bubble, or Enron et al - but the attacks of 9/11 became the blank check the banaly evil Bush Administration cashed again and again. A terrible situation, since they blundered into every trap set, fucked up every action they took. It was a running disaster and this was the consequence of 9/11 - the empowering of the Republican party to wreak untold damage to America, which they continue to pursue. Witness:

I don't make fun of 9/11 because I am laughing at the tragedy of all the folks who were killed - that is tragic. All death is tragic - but then, it's not, either. Since it is the inevitable end for all lifeforms. And there are tragic losses of life all the time around the world, some far, far larger than 9/11, yet these events barely penetrate our collective consciousness. Thus, I make fun of 9/11 to take the fear out of it, the fear used to wield power for evil ends for many years - remember "TERROR ALERTS!!!"? There's no need, no need at all, to be afraid of terrorism. Any fear you have is directly the goal of the terrorists - that's the only way they can win. And Bush and the gang did their best to make it happen. Thank FSM for Obama to right the ship as much as it can be righted.

We've changed as a country since 9/11, and I don't think in many good ways. Darker, more depraved and bloodthirsty, the forces of hate and fear let loose and running wild. Recall the "Torture Debate", and that we now have to have a debate about torture at all.

Along these lines, I encourage you again to read or re-read "1984" by George Orwell. It's scarily prescient and quite a good story too. Here's a quote from Smith's diary (an illegal act):

April 4th, 1984. Last night to the flicks. All war films. One very good one of a ship full of refugees being bombed somewhere in the Mediterranean. Audience much amused by shots of a great huge fat man trying to swim away with a helicopter after him, first you saw him wallowing along in the water like a porpoise, then you saw him through the helicopters gunsights, then he was full of holes and the sea round him turned pink and he sank as suddenly as though the holes had let in the water, audience shouting with laughter when he sank. then you saw a lifeboat full of children with a helicopter hovering over it. there was a middle-aged woman might have been a jewess sitting up in the bow with a little boy about three years old in her arms. little boy screaming with fright and hiding his head between her breasts as if he was trying to burrow right into her and the woman putting her arms round him and comforting him although she was blue with fright herself, all the time covering him up as much as possible as if she thought her arms could keep the bullets off him. then the helicopter planted a 20 kilo bomb in among them terrific flash and the boat went all to matchwood. then there was a wonderful shot of a child's arm going up up up right up into the air a helicopter with a camera in its nose must have followed it up and there was a lot of applause from the party seats but a woman down in the prole part of the house suddenly started kicking up a fuss and shouting they didnt oughter of showed it not in front of kids they didnt it aint right not in front of kids it aint until the police turned her turned her out i dont suppose anything happened to her nobody cares what the proles say typical prole reaction they never --

There's a whole genre on the internet of "funny" TAZER videos. Cuz people getting shocked is funny, right? And how about this? Good old Florida has allowed all mug shots to be publically accessible. And thus websites exist of everyone who gets a mugshot in Florida - guilty or not. Though of course if you're on the internet in a mug shot, you're guilty. It's depressingly addictive. A sample:

The hat only comes off for mug shots.

Know your Zombie!

I'm not sure how this is possible, but here you go.


I await the day when an execution is televised - you know it's just a matter of time. On Fox!

Seriously though, 9/11 sucked, but let's move on.

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!