Andrea has described the accident better than I ever could, so I'll just provide the link to her blog entry, and leave you with a couple preview shots:

 

I just uploaded my first new song in several months.  The song is entitled "Feels Like We're Living in 1984".  I picked up a book containing the complete works of George Orwell last year, and started reading 1984 for the first time since high school a about a month ago.  It really is striking how much of what Orwell wrote about back in 1949 is applicable to the modern political climate in the United States.

In Orwell's vision of the future, The Ministry of Truth was a giant propaganda outlet.  The truth was revised as seen fit by Big Brother.  Facts printed in a newspaper were of no significance, because the Ministry of Truth would simply order all copies of the old newspaper destroyed, and new copies printed with the revised facts.  We haven't quite reached that level yet, but we are close.  David Brock's non-fiction work, the Republican Noise Machine, documents how a corporate-backed network of right wing think tanks, radio talk show hosts, pundits and the Fox News Network work together to push their view of the world, and their agenda for the day.  This is a finally tuned machine.  The facts are obvious - Bush screwed up stupendously over the past six years, yet the public was somehow persuaded to re-elect the guy by a slim margin.  If it weren't for the persistent efforts of the Republican Noise Machine to continually to push their agenda and groupthink onto the national stage, the entire house of cards would have fallen apart long ago, but somehow some 38f the population continues to hold onto some delusional belief that the country is in good hands.

In 1984, the Telescreen was a device that resembles a modern television, with a microphone and videocamera.  There were telescreens all over the place.  In this science fiction setting, an individual had no privacy.  The citizens in this fictional setting had no idea when they were being watched.  The citizens lived in continual fear, and were forced to fall into line.  We haven't quite reached this stage yet, but we are close.  The U.S. government feels that spying on telephone conversations, reading emails, monitoring library book checkouts, and reading people's blogs are acceptable behaviors.  In general, when you talk to people about this issue, they are upset, but if you view the national media coverage on this issue, you get the feeling that the general public is completely indifferent.  This is just another case of the alternate reality pushed onto the unwitting American public.

We continually hear appeals to patriatism.  O'Reilly is quick label someone a traitor for failing disagreeing with the agenda of the president, or any prominent right wing politician.  In Orwell's novel, the equivalent is the thought police.  In addition to the telescreens, individuals had to be continously on the lookout for thought police.  If anybody in the fictional world envisioned by Orwell acted suspicous, his neighbor would not hesitate to report the behavior to the thought police.  In fact, reporting suspicious behavior was required (appeals to patriatism)  When an individual was reported, they were "disappeared", and any record of their existance was removed.  We haven't reached that level yet, but there are dangerous precidents.  There are stories of the FBI investigating students for simply taking out a library book.  The government has requested the authority to arrest individuals, torture them, and hold them indefinately without as much as public trial or criminal charge. 

I could go on and on with parallels between the novel and our current political climate.  Doublespeak is the method of saying one thing but meaning another.  The Bush administration has perfected this action, using completely false and misleading titles like the "Clear Skies' and "Healthy Forests" initiatives, designed to allow greater pollution and clearcutting.  The parallels are eary.  If we continue down this road of granting unlimited government power, the future is bleak.  I recommend picking up 1984 just to realize accurately Orwell was able to forecast the potential abuses of power available with modern technology over fifty years ago.

Feels Like We're Living in 1984

Fox News is the Ministry of Truth
They get away with lying on TV
Their viewers live in an alternate reality
Check you facts and nuanced arguements at the door

And it makes me want to scream like Bill O'Reilly
And I wanna like throwing things at the telescreen
And I think they might report me to the Thought Police
And I don't know how much more that I can take

I feel like we're living in 1984
Orwell must be rolling in his grave
Newspeak is the language of the day
And I wouldn't want it any other way