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farlaI can't find a transcript of the Katrina hearings, let alone the video. If it wasn't for references to it in a couple places, it might as well not exist.
There's really no point in knowing these things. No one would believe me if I tried talking about it, and it's not like anyone can accomplish things these days short of a sniper rifle.
How depressing.
There's really no point in knowing these things. No one would believe me if I tried talking about it, and it's not like anyone can accomplish things these days short of a sniper rifle.
How depressing.
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no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 09:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 10:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-19 01:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-19 01:27 am (UTC)What just annoys me so much is that what was a cautionary tale is now...like it's the opposite. Instead of seeing parallels people point to it and say 'because this one exaggerated part has not literally come true, we aren't in a situation anything like that so STFU'.
...and we have always been at war with
IraqEurasia.1984
Date: 2006-10-16 05:21 pm (UTC)Re: 1984
Date: 2006-10-20 06:41 pm (UTC)Rather than seeing parallels, it's seen as a literal checklist, and until all of it is true, nothing is wrong.
Re: 1984
Date: 2006-10-20 06:45 pm (UTC)And I also don't recall ever hearing anyone say something along the lines of 'we've got fake journalists being paid to write propaganda.' Perhaps next time you could get your information more accurate, less general and somewhat correct?
Re: 1984
Date: 2006-10-20 07:50 pm (UTC)You (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armstrong_Williams) are (http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Covert_propaganda) so (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_administration_payment_of_columnists) right (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Gannon). I (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/15466239.htm?source=rss&channel=miamiherald_local) really (http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-05-10-ag-dept-story_x.htm) should (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Gallagher#Pay_scandal) have (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_McManus_%28columnist%29) done (http://fuckinggoogleit.com/) more (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/01/politics/01propaganda.html?ei=5088&en=15a816ad2c204281&ex=1291093200&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print) research (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56330-2005Jan7.html). It's (http://www.locustfork.net/blog/bush_fake_journalists/index.html) not (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0503-04.htm) like (http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/04/web.us/) it's (http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/14/152202) true (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distorted_news#United_States) or (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54651-2005Jan6.html) something (http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/37/9592).
Re: 1984
Date: 2006-10-21 06:30 am (UTC)Re: 1984
Date: 2006-10-21 04:51 pm (UTC)I mean, what's the point? Because obviously, if you don't know, it's not true. Reality is inside your skull, after all.
Orwell is reported to have said that the book described what he viewed as the situation in the United Kingdom in 1948, when the British economy was poor, the British Empire was dissolving at the same time as newspapers were reporting its triumphs, and wartime allies such as the USSR were rapidly becoming peacetime foes ('Eurasia is the enemy. Eurasia has always been the enemy').
In many ways, Oceania is indeed a future metamorphosis of the British Empire (although Orwell is careful to state that, geographically, it also includes the United States, and that the currency is the dollar). It is, as its name suggests, an essentially naval power. Much of its militarism is focused on veneration for sailors and seafarers, serving on board "floating fortresses" which Orwell evidently conceived of as the next stage in the growth of ever-bigger warships, after the Dreadnoughts of WWI and the aircraft carriers of WWII; and much of the fighting conducted by Oceania's troops takes place in defense of India (the "Jewel in the Crown" of the British Empire).
The party newspaper is the times, identified in Orwell's time (and to some degree even at present) as the voice of the British ruling class — rather than, as could have been expected, a publication which started life as the paper of a revolutionary party (like Pravda in the Soviet Union). Note the lack of capital letters in the name. This is a feature of newspeak, the official party language.
O'Brien, who represents the oppressive Party, is in many ways depicted as a member of the old British ruling class (in one case, Winston Smith thinks of him as a person who in the past would have been holding a snuffbox, i.e. an old-fashioned English gentleman).
Orwell may also have taken a parody of Catholic dogma as part of his inspiration. For example, the term "Big Brother" may be seen as a parody of the Catholic's "Heavenly Father". Like the Catholic's "Holy Father", Orwell's "Big Brother" is an all-seeing, all-knowing figure from which the ruling classes derived their ultimate authority. Orwell suggests, gently, that Big Brother has never existed. Just as some of the more esoteric points of Catholic dogma have sometimes required that the believer disregard or devalue the physical evidence of his/her senses (such as the "miracles" of Transsubstantiation, and the Odour of Sanctity), the Party's notions of "doublethink" champion belief over rational thought.
Alex Warlorn
Date: 2006-09-19 12:55 am (UTC)Re: Alex Warlorn
Date: 2006-09-19 01:30 am (UTC)Now leave me the hell alone.
Re: Alex Warlorn
Date: 2006-09-19 06:21 am (UTC)As for what you're saying about Katrina, since you 'know' that Fox is just a state controlled puppet media source, what have -you- heard?
Ryu the Weredragon
Date: 2006-09-19 06:29 am (UTC)Re: Ryu the Weredragon
Date: 2006-09-19 12:31 pm (UTC)I remember, I was paying attention, I spent hours and hours trying to dig stuff up because it just didn't make sense, trying to double-check references I heard on the news or find some explanation.
But if I said something like 'They shot at people trying to leave New Orleans', or 'They refused to distribute supplies' or 'They bought ice and then turned the trucks around to go stockpile it in some other state', or 'When independent agencies went there to help people, FEMA threatened to arrest them'...or that, when supplies got there, the troops stockpiled them rather than distributing anything.
Because you didn't care, and didn't bother to listen, it must not have happened. You're certainly the one who knows what's going on. All the stuff I'm saying, certainly it's just a fringe conspiracy theory I dug up somewhere.
Well, Timor. I'm not trying to say this like it's something new. You're right, it really is pathetic. I don't understand why I bother to look at all this stuff when everyone else is so much smarter. I mean, it's so stupid to go through all this effort.
I did find it, you know. The Dec 6th Katrina hearing. But who cares about witnesses or research when there's some prick who already knows the whole story after watching five minutes of packaged news? Obviously you're the credible one here.
Re: Ryu the Weredragon
Date: 2006-09-20 01:30 am (UTC)Re: Ryu the Weredragon
Date: 2006-09-20 01:44 am (UTC)But actually I'm just making another vague complaint about how it was everyone's fault, when really it was three rich guys high up in the organization somewhere. Thank you for clearing that up. I'm sure you've done infinitely more research on the subject than me, as shown by your masterful command of information, brilliant reading comprehension and general eloquence.
However could I have doubted that things will turn out well in this glorious democracy with people like you around?
no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 06:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 06:43 pm (UTC)America sucks.