Big Brother lives

You've undoubtedly read 1984, although it was probably a long time ago, and you undoubtedly remember Newspeak, the 1984 lexicon in which war was redefined as peace, and so forth.

Guess what, it's still happening. It shouldn't be surprising that a regime that is dedicated to wiping out dissent by making independent thought impossible would use the perversion of the English language ("oldspeak") to carry out its aims.

For example, under the Bush administration we have PATRIOT, a law dedicated to wiping out the American values of liberty, privacy, and dissent.

Here's the latest: Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people's private communications and financial information.

Yes, I'm not kidding. Privacy means that the government is carefully monitoring everything you do and say, and guarding that information.

If you don't like it, go talk to the Minstry of Truth.