the examples i am about to list did not make me unhappy, but they made me shake my head in disgust (or at least think ill of them).
they all have to do with the impending sense i have that the "big brother" thing is really starting to happen.
1._________________
i drove to my friends place about 300 km away to buy some smoke (not tobacco) for the next few months, and as i was going there i was listening to the radio which was on an AM talk back station, and the subject was random roadside drug testing for drivers that is now in addition to random breath testing.
i have not been drinking for more than 2 weeks so i felt comfortable, and i have not smoked anything for about 2 weeks either, so i was sure i would not have anything to worry about.
then a caller phoned in and said that they were busted for having tested positive to cannabis, but that he had not smoked for at least 3 weeks prior, and the police spokesperson who was with the radio jock in the studio said that it can take up to 2 months for cannabis to completely leave your system, so it is not surprising he tested positive, and he said that the caller deserved all he got.
wow. i speculated that marijuana can be detected in hair more than a year after the last ingestion (depending on length) ! thc is fat soluble and so leaves the body very slowly, so it can be present in lipids from the saliva even though the psychoactive effects have long worn off. like vitamin A and other fat soluble things, it tends to get lodged in the fat and does not get expelled until that fat is metabolized.
so random cannabis testing is really a surreptitious way of busting people for being users of the drug rather than busting them for driving whilst under the influence of it.
so i could be tested as positive and so have my car searched (on the way back when it would not be good (1 oz aboard)), and i was on edge for the whole trip after that.
2._________________
after a while, another subject came on about the new years eve celebrations in and around the harbour (sydney).
there were interviews with people who had "secured" a spot from where to watch the fireworks on the bridge and opera house. one person who sounded like a pushy arab said "i woz here from last thursday brudda! i got here first and no one's gonna take this spot now". really ? he is still thinking in terms of invasion and aggression in defending his "turf"? what a vibe in those crowds. "get your eyes off my woman!" "get your eyes of my kids!" "keep your distance buddy, the line is there, i own this spot!" etc. people spluttering in stupid laughter about dumb things all around and they all clamber for a position to be among it. shirtless young men groping their six packs and swigging on a stubby (bottle of beer) among pouting young girls all jostling to have their face included in each other's selfies etc....puke!
but the big brother thing comes in when i consider that they all have such an homogeneous mindset. it is like all the marketing and advertising and magazines and other media exposure they have had over the past few years has made them all the same.
then some other people who were being interviewed from nearer to the bridge said that they paid $400 for their 2 square meters of turf. really? so you have to pay now just to stand where other people want to stand if they are willing to pay. whoever has the money is the boss.
one fellow said he had saved all year to be able to afford a small area where his family and he could watch the fireworks from. by george he even seemed to be obsequiously thankful, and moreover, he seemed to be proud of his achievement of hard work and frugality in order to throw his money to thieves who claim ownership of the free land where he can sit for few hours among other people who are bursting to trample on his spot. others who may think ill of his claim to ownership of his spot and just crowd in as if he had never paid for it.
then the police are going on about zero tolerance and anyone who is caught outside of sanctioned drinking areas with a drink on them will be severely prosecuted. well tolerance comes from discretion, and zero tolerance also means zero discretion.
whether or not you made an innocent mistake by transgressing their boundaries or were blatantly flouting them, you will be treated the same. a number fed through a program and the result is final. eek.
then some caller from new york called in and said that australians had it easy.
he said that everyone has to crowd into times square which was a very small area and therefore the tension was insane with the police everywhere looking for the slightest infraction to pounce upon. he said that there were cherry picker type vehicles posted every few hundred feet along the roads and each one had on it an array of cameras trained on every square foot of the area. imagine the amount of monitor screens being studiously scrutinized by behavioural specialists and mob psychologists etc who are constantly on the watch for uncommon behaviour.
this man said that it is a good idea to keep ones hands out of ones pockets at all times because one can be focused upon as suspicious due to the fact that what they are doing with their hands is concealed.
he said there was no way one could enter or leave the area for ages on either side of midnight as it was effectively in lockdown for 2 hours. there was no way to go to the toilet because the perceived security nightmare associated with public toilets meant that none were provided etc etc etc......
jee...whiz! why are they such lordly bosses?
now people are seen merely as the components of a crowd, and the crowd is the only thing that matters.
oh well.. there was more than that but i am tired of explaining this.
30 Dec 2015, 4:36 pm
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