LilBambi’s Blog – BambisMusings

Frail, cowardly Winston saved us by Robert Harris, Times Online

Clearly much of Nineteen Eighty-Four is a satire on Stalinism, from the physical description of Big Brother’s face (“black-haired, black-mous-tachio’d, full of power and mysterious calm”) to the split in the party led by the Trotsky figure, Emmanuel Goldstein. And if that were the limit of Orwell’s ambition – to describe England as a Stalinist state – the novel would be regarded today as a brilliant period piece about the horrors of communism, comparable perhaps to his friend Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon: an important work, still read but confined to a limited audience.

However, what sets Nineteen Eighty-Four apart – the difference in ambition which means that millions of people who have never read a word of Orwell nevertheless know what “Orwellian” means – is that it parodies the totalitarian impulse in general. The original ideology behind this impulse may be communist or fascist, or nationalist or corporate or institutional, but the methods by which it proceeds are in each case the same: the stamping out of the capacity for individual thought and freedom, not merely by physical force but by a complete denial of privacy and by the control of all information, even to the extent of policing the language in which thoughts are expressed.

(BOLD emphasis mine)

Yes, I think at least to date, Winston did in a way save us, but whether Winston’s testament will continue to do so for another generation remains to be seen. Although, I see wonderful stirrings among the younger generations in the areas of privacy, liberty, freedom and individuality. It gives me hope to see this as we mark the 60 year milestone since the book 1984 (Nineteen Eighty Four) by George Orwell was published. Orwell’s last and greatest work — that took the last of everything out of him to bring to fruition. Thank you George Orwell.

Footnote: To Robert Harris: Maybe George Orwell didn’t get it wrong. Maybe, by publishing this book, and so many people taking the possibilities to heart is what in part helped to prevent this type of horrific society in 1984 from actually coming to pass? Just a thought…

Fewer Taxes for Real Economic Stimulus (Ron Pauls’ Texas Straight Talk)

Taxes are the issue this week as Americans struggle to make the April 15th deadline to file their returns. It is a good time to contemplate the effects of big government and what it does to our country. The income tax is one of the most egregious encroachments on our liberties today. It is a form of involuntary servitude, which was supposed to have been outlawed by the 13th Amendment.

Much more in the article! Must read.

Keith Olbermann on Obama and Wiretapping (at EFF.org with videos from MSNBC.com):

Olbermann’s second guest, GWU Law Professor Jonathan Turley, aptly summarizes why the new ruling is so disappointing:

“I think right now, the Bush people are bringing out their mission-accomplished sign, because they’ve not only gotten Obama to protect Bush and Cheney and others from any criminal investigation on torture, but he’s now gone even further than they did in the protection of unlawful surveillance. This is the ultimate victory for the Bush officials. They have Barack Obama adopting the same extremist arguments, and in fact exceeding the extremist arguments made by President Bush…

“You cannot any longer suggest that President Obama is advancing the civil liberties and the privacy interests that he promised to advance. This is a terrible roll-back. It’s a terrible decision.

These are must watch videos on this topic.

NO CLEAN FEED – Stop Internet Censorship in Australia

Help spread the word about the campaign by blogging about the filter, linking to nocleanfeed.com website, or including one of their buttons on your own site or blog.

If nothing else learn about what is going on in Australia … because Australia may just be the proving ground for a terrible worldwide or at least countrywide filtering system that may be coming to USA or wherever you live!

RIAA NAZIS DETERMINED TO DESTROY NEW AND FRINGE MUSIC:

I just got this new directive from the CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting) in the USA that applies to all public radio stations. Here’s an excerpt:

“In any three (3) hour period you can transmit up to three (3) different selections of sound recordings from any one CD, but you can transmit no more than two (2) consecutively. Additionally, in any three (3) hour period you can transmit up to four (4) different selections by the same featured artist, or up to four (4) different selections of sound recordings from any set or compilation of CD’s, but you can transmit no more than three (3) consecutively.”

As the Just As We Thought Blog noted — so much for dedicating programs to artists when they die or to honor birthdays.

Sad. They have to feel in total control! That is such an alien concept … controlling music. Music is all about freedom and speaking out, revolution, love, deep thoughts. That is so contrary to control!

I will be so happy when artists finally say, “That’s it! I have had enough of this!”

That will be a truly great day for all music lovers the world over.

The Martial Law Mind-Set by William Norman Grigg (LewRockwell.com)

While Archimedes is rightly revered for his many imperishable contributions to science, he could also be considered the first recorded victim of lethal police brutality.

A native of Syracuse, Archimedes did his considerable best in the doomed but worthy effort to repel Roman invaders. Following the conquest, Roman soldiers were dispatched to “pacify” the restive streets of the newly conquered city.

One afternoon, so the story goes, Archimedes was sitting inoffensively at the side of a street drawing geometric equations in the sand when some mouth-breather in Roman military garb trod heedlessly on the improvised tablet, ruining the elderly scientist’s calculations.

By this time, the venerable physicist was in his ninth decade, and he saw no point in enduring this act of thoughtless vandalism by an armored imbecile to pass without protest.

“Please don’t disturb my circles,” Archimedes insisted in what was probably a direct but polite tone of voice.

Like law enforcement officers who would follow in his footsteps – albeit in jackboots rather than sandals – the Roman soldier took offense that a mere civilian, and an elderly one at that, would demand deference from someone wearing the uniform and insignia of authority.

If the technology had been available, the Roman quite likely would have given Archimedes a “ride on the Taser.” Instead, the thug withdrew his sword and summarily killed him.

Much more in the must read article.

I have talked about my experiences with the Security at the Ferry system here in Virginia on this blog previously. I am sure some might have thought I was being silly for my concerns about this, until they read this article that is. Thanks Will Grigg for sharing in a great article the same real concerns I have had about all of this and couldn’t put it into words properly. You sure did!

They Thought They Were Free

“What no one seemed to notice,” said a colleague of mine, a philologist, “was the ever widening gap, after1933, between the government and the people. Just think how very wide this gap was to begin with, here in Germany. And it became always wider. You know it doesn’t make people close to their government to be told that this is a people’s government, a true democracy, or to be enrolled in civilian defense, or even to vote. All this has little, really nothing to do with knowing one is governing.

What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if he people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it.

“This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.

Much more in the article and on the site.

Sound familiar? Must read.

Freedom and Liberty are fragile … handle with care.

Malevolent voices that despise our freedoms – Phillip Pullman (TimesOnline)

Are such things done on Albion’s shore?

The image of this nation that haunts me most powerfully is that of the sleeping giant Albion in William Blake’s prophetic books. Sleep, profound and inveterate slumber: that is the condition of Britain today.

We do not know what is happening to us. In the world outside, great events take place, great figures move and act, great matters unfold, and this nation of Albion murmurs and stirs while malevolent voices whisper in the darkness – the voices of the new laws that are silently strangling the old freedoms the nation still dreams it enjoys.

Phillip Pullman, the childrens’ author, continues in the article to talk about reality that are echos of the Orwellian 1984.

I would suggest that you read first Phillip Pullman’s article and then read my 1984 posting from 2005. There is a sad and striking similarity.

And what of us (here in the USA)? And what of us?

Must read.

More great discussion at: http://www.modernliberty.net/

New plan may tax U.S. drivers for every mile traveled, says Transportation Secretary Roy LaHood (NYDailyNews)

What the…!?!

I can not believe this! How dare they! Do they know how many small businesses depend on driving to meet/have appointments with their clients? Small businesses that are struggling badly already!!

How dare they even consider this. It was bad enough when it was gas prices out of sight. But this is unbelievable. More TAX! More TAX that will not only hurt the small businesses in this country but every other American when they go to buy ANYTHING that is delivered to the grocery store, retail outlets, gas stations, shipping for packages, etc. etc. etc. … the list goes on forever!

Not to mention the curbing of individual freedoms with excessive taxation. How many people will be able to travel after this goes into effect? How many children and grand children will see their grand parents and vice versa after all the toll of this goes into effect.

Do they not remember what happened when there were extremely high gas prices? Or are they so beyond the pay level of the average American family to even have a clue how the rest of the country survives?

This is President Obama’s answer? This is the ‘leaders’ of various States answer?

Go back to the drawing board. Start cutting salaries of elected officials. That would likely take care of it right there.

Between everything else that’s been going on and this I am thoroughly disgusted.

Windows 7 Seemingly Blocks Audio Capture (LIfeHacker):

One rather feisty (and—surprise!—Linux-savvy) Slashdot reader writes about his DRM discoveries in Windows 7. Along with complaints about seemingly big-software-friendly firewall access and registration DLLs, the author’s chief discovery is that Windows 7 doesn’t allow for any kind of software audio capture. In other words, if you’ve got one application playing sound, Windows 7 doesn’t seem to allow you to use your same sound card to also grab the audio from that app.

Like one of the commenters said, I hope this is just a Beta issue and one that will be fixed by the time it is released. This is totally ludicrous. There are LOTS of valid, legal captures that can be done.

If this is some draconian DRM crap, Microsoft just did themselves out of a sale from me, and I will strongly recommend my clients move to the Mac.

This would be very disappointing if they didn’t fix this.