Soundscape #24: "The Clocks Are Striking Thirteen"

Dom Dada. Crowd Policing, August 2006.

Even if George Orwell meant it as a piece of fiction, 1984 is a prescient account of a very real loss of privacy in our world today. If you need proof, think of Bush and his "Patriot Act" or the recent outrage that it is apparently not illegal for the Pentagon and CIA to go through the bank and credit records of ordinary American citizens. Mr Dick (head) Cheney tried to defend it by saying that it's "reaffirmed in the Patriot Act" and that "there's nothing wrong with it or illegal." Note how, in the context of the article, that he didn't give any real reason or justification, other than citing the Patriot Act. How is it legal to go through someone's personal information without the person's knowledge, much less approval?

I'm reminded of all those countless murder trials I've watched on TV where a murder weapon or something is not "admissible" in the trial because the officer/whoever found it has conducted an illegal search. You have to wonder how TV gets its inspiration from real life when both worlds are becoming increasingly disparate. Why is it that we are suddenly all guilty until proven innocent? All these laws and rules are suffocating our individual freedoms. There is sure to be a record of everywhere you go and everything you do. If you think about it, the old Police song ("Every breath you take, every step you make, I'll be watching you") is a perfect theme song for Big Brother.

So, what do we do when the world is on a direct flight to hell? Listen to your mom: never pick your nose in public; you'd never know who's watching. And always, always, clear your work pc's cache before you leave cos, you know, just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get you.



Playlist:
1. (0:00) M83 - Car Chase Terror (Buy Before The Dawn Heals Us)
2. (3:52) Elliott Smith - A Distorted Reality Is Necessity To Be Free (Buy Future Soundtrack For America)
3. (8:15) British Sea Power - Something Wicked (Buy The Decline Of British Sea Power)
4. (11:29) Green Day - Give Me Novacaine (Buy American Idiot)
5. (15:15) The Organ - Brother (Buy Grab That Gun)
6. (19:22) The Thermals - Here's Your Future (Buy The Body The Blood The Machine)
7. (21:46) Arcade Fire - Wake Up (Buy Funeral)
8. (27:20) Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next (Buy This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours)
9. (32:12) Pavement - Fight This Generation (Buy Wowee Zowee)
10. (36:37) Radiohead - You And Whose Army (Buy Amnesiac)
11. (39:45) Nine Inch Nails - March Of The Pigs (Buy Downward Spiral)
12. (42:43) Interpol - Not Even Jail (Buy Antics)
13. (48:26) We Are Scientists - This Means War (Buy The Great Escape EP)