Is Tweeting Now a Felony Under Federal Law?

John W. Whitehead November 18th, 2009

Say you want a revolution.

We better get on right away.

Well you get on your feet

And out on the street.

–John Lennon, "Power to the People"

The ominous rise of the surveillance state continues unabated. With each passing day, hope fades that the Obama administration will diverge from George W. Bush's erection of a police state.

The government's treatment of Elliot Madison is a case in point. Madison, a 41-year-old self-styled anarchist and social worke … (Read More)

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Loving Big Brother: The Future Is Now

John W. Whitehead October 5th, 2009

"He loved Big Brother."–George Orwell, 1984

1984 portrays a global society of total control in which people are not supposed to have thoughts that in any way disagree with the corporate state. There is no personal freedom. Snitches and surveillance cameras are everywhere. And people are subject to the Thought Police, who deal with anyone guilty of such thought crimes. The government, or "Party," is headed by Big Brother, who appears on posters everywhere with the words: … (Read More)

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Chinese Totalitarianism, American-Style

John W. Whitehead August 5th, 2008

Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson

China is becoming more like us in very visible ways (Starbucks, Hooters, cellphones that are cooler than ours), observed Naomi Klein in Rolling Stone in May 2008, and we are becoming more like China in less visible ones (torture, warrantless wiretapping, indefinite detention, though not nearly on the Chinese scale).

Kleins expose, Chinas A … (Read More)

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Orwell Cinema: Living in the Land of the Blind

John W. Whitehead May 20th, 2008

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face."

–George Orwell

It has been 60 years since George Orwell published his novel 1984. Described as political satire, it is, in reality, a political prophecy.

1984 portrays a global society of total control in which people are not allowed to have thoughts that in any way disagree with the corporate state. There is no personal freedom. Snitches and surveillance cameras are everywhere. And people are subjec … (Read More)

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