Friday, January 30, 2015
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Monday, January 26, 2015
Movies For Thought.....
Blogbuddy Leigh writes:
I watched a couple programs this weekend. One showed the path we were headed down, and the other illustrated the reason why.
The first was the original 1984 by George Orwell, made by the BBC in 1954: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
The other was PBS's American Experience analyzing HG Wells' radio broadcast : War of the Worlds , and the impact it had. http://video.pbs.org/video/236
1984. Anyone over the age of 40 can remember having to read it in High School. Some may have even seen the original film. The re-tasking of language, persecution for ideas that ran contrary to the state, endless financial and political propaganda, re-writing of history to fit the official party line, being spied on every moment of every day, and never ending war.
It is scary how relevant that story line is today. Even if the imagined tech is laughably inept, compared by today's standards. When I saw it in 1986, I scoffed - nothing like that could happen here.
How wrong I was.
The problem was, at the time it seemed implausible. I didn't realize that the game was already afoot. Statists had been pushing hard for years to get to where we are now. This just didn't happen over night.
The part that struck me the hardest during that film was when Winston Smith turned to the camera and spoke - "Julia, if there is any hope for the future, it lies with the proles. 85% of the population. If they only became concious of their own state, all they'd need to do is rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. They'd throw off the party............If their was any way to show them.....". Gave me a chill, because he was looking right at me through the camera. Not that he was looking at me, but everyone watching. The message was clear - WAKE THE HELL UP!
The documentary about War of the Worlds, while interesting, didn't show much significance until they looked at how people reacted in investigation testimony against the broadcasting company. People blindly accepting what they heard as true. Others blaming the stations for their panic. People calling for the government to step in and regulate radio.....You could almost hear, "...for the children", in the background.
Articles in newspapers pointed to the gullibility of the public at large for the problems befalling the world, and rightly so. The connections to how easily the sheep could be spooked directly correlated with what was happening in Europe, and the rise of the Nazis. Information - whether it was true or not, cold be used to sway the masses. All you needed was to package it the right way.
Now, when you go home at night and flip on the six o'clock news - What are they trying to sell you? What are they trying to distract you from?
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
This for your own good proles.
You aren't smart enough to tend to your own lives.
Now sleep.
Sleep......
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Ok Angel, Can I Call THIS Snowmeggedon?
...BLIZZARD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM MONDAY EVENING THROUGH LATE TUESDAY NIGHT... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM MONDAY EVENING THROUGH LATE TUESDAY NIGHT. * LOCATIONS...EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND. * HAZARD TYPES...HEAVY SNOW...STRONG WINDS AND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS. CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. * ACCUMULATIONS...SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 18 TO 24 INCHES. * TIMING...THE WORST OF THE STORM WILL BE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON. * IMPACTS...HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS WILL RESULT IN THE POTENTIAL FOR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WITH NEAR ZERO VISIBILITY. ALONG THE SOUTHEAST NEW ENGLAND COAST...THE SNOW MAY BE WET ENOUGH TO RESULT IN SOME DOWNED TREE LIMBS AND POWER OUTAGES. TRAVEL MAY BECOME IMPOSSIBLE AND LIFE THREATENING ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION. THIS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE A HISTORIC STORM. * WINDS...NORTH 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH. * TEMPERATURES...IN THE LOWER 20S. * VISIBILITIES...ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS AT TIMES.
WXRISK shows this map:
