myopia

Even if it scares the willies out of me, I still have to marvel at the terrible genius of a method of control and repression so awesome that Stalin could only dream of it. He tried to impose his will forcefully -- big mistake. Today's leaders have worked out a way of getting the people to think they want it, then pretend to be enacting the people's will when curtailing freedoms. Just make the people think they are under attack.

But it seems they don't quite have the foresight to think this all the way through. What do they think the long term holds for them when they peddle this Orwellian future?

Boy: Daddy, what did you do when you were in government?
Man: Well son, you know all those laws that make free speech impossible? You know how you can be thrown in jail for an arbitrary amount of time with no recourse to justice? You know how you can be blocked from the net on an official's say-so, no reason given?
Boy: Yes Daddy. Did you do all that?
Man: (smiles expansively and puts his hand on his kid's shoulder) Not exactly, but I didn't oppose it. I sat in the back and voted with the party. I said "Go totalitarianism!"
Boy: And I'm glad you did. After all, if I could think for myself I would probably hate you for it.
Man: Ha ha ha! Yes son. Thinking for yourself is dangerous. Just let the authorities think for you. We all know what good and clear thinkers politicians and big business leaders are, how incorruptible they are, and how dearly they hold us in their hearts.

anti-war demonstrations

They are springing up all over the world! About 600 cities!!!

This is so wonderful. All the people who have had their feelings denied by an increasingly cyclopean news media are now being vindicated.

An estimated 750,000 in London; 2 million in Madrid; 500,000 in Berlin; 250,000 in New York. They marched in Toronto, Quebec, Havana, Montreal, Santiago, Asuncion, several cities in Uruguay, Honduran capital Tegucgalpa, Nicaragua's Managua, Bankok, Wellington, Auckland.