Even at that time Winston had not imagined
that the people had actually committed the crimes
that they were accused of.
4. Old World Destruction
Winston was struggling to think his way backward into the dim period of his early childhood. It was extraordinarily difficult. Beyond the late 'fifties everything faded. Everything had been different then. Even the names of countries, and their shapes on the map had been different. Airstrip One, for instance, had not been so called in those days: it had been called England or Britain, though London, he felt fairly certain, had always been called London.
Winston could not definitely remember a time when his country had not been at war, but it was evident that there had been a fairly long interval of peace during his childhood, because one of his early memories was of an air raid which appeared to take everyone by surprise. Perhaps it was the time when the atomic bomb had fallen on Colchester. It happened when he was eight or nine years old. He did not remember the raid itself, but he did remember his father's hand clutching his own as they hurried down, down, down into someplace deep in the earth, round and round a spiral staircase which rang under his feet and which finally so wearied his legs that he began whimpering and they had to stop and rest. His mother, in her slow, dreamy way, was following a long way behind them. She was carrying his baby sister. Finally they had emerged into a noisy, crowded place which he had realized to be a Tube station.
There were people sitting all over the stone-flagged floor, and other people, packed tightly together, were sitting side by side on a bunk. The old man had on a decent dark suit and a black cloth cap pushed back from very white hair: his face was scarlet and his eyes were blue and full of tears. He reeked of gin. It seemed to breathe out of his skin in place of sweat, and one could have fancied that the tears welling from his eyes were pure gin. But though slightly drunk he was also suffering under some grief that was genuine and unbearable. In his childish way Winston grasped that some terrible thing, something that was beyond forgiveness and could never be remedied, had just happened. Every few minutes the old man kept repeating: "We didn't ought to 'ave trusted 'em. I said so, Ma, didn't I? That's what comes of trusting 'em. I said so all along. We didn't ought to 'ave trusted the buggers." But which 'buggers' they 'didn't ought to have trusted' Winston could not now remember.
In the times after the bomb they revolutionized with force. For several months after there had been confused street fighting in London itself, some of which he remembered vividly. There were great purges in which dissenters and resistors were wiped out. His father disappeared during these rackety, uneasy times. There were periodical panics about air raids and the sheltering in Tube stations ...the piles of rubble everywhere... the unintelligible proclamations posted at street corners... the gangs of youths in shirts all the same colour... the enormous queues outside the bakeries... the intermittent machine-gun fire in the distance.
When he was around twelve his mother disappeared. It was during the time when they were living in a room and when there was never enough to eat. He remembered spending long afternoons with other boys in scrounging round dust bins and rubbish heaps and also in waiting for the passing of trucks which traveled over a certain route and were known to carry cattle feed which sometimes split a few fragments of oil cake. After his father disappeared his mother seemed to become completely spirit less. It was evident even to Winston that she was waiting for something that she knew must happen. For hours at a time she would sit on the bed, nursing his young sister, a tiny, ailing, very silent child of two or three. Very occasionally she would take Winston in her arms and press him against her for a long time without saying anything. He was aware, in spite of his youthfulness and selfishness, that this was somehow connected with the never-mentioned thing that was about to happen.
...When he came back after several hours his mother had disappeared. This was already becoming normal at that time. It was possible that she had been sent to a forced-labour camp. As for his sister, she might have been removed, like Winston himself, to one of the colonies for homeless children (Reclamation Centres, they were called) which had grown up as a result of the civil war; or simply left somewhere to die.
The sixties were the period of the great purges in which the original leaders of the Revolution were wiped out once and for all. By 1970 none of them was left, except BIG BROTHER himself. All the rest had by that time been exposed as traitors and counter-revolutionaries. Goldstein had fled and was hiding no one knew where, and of the others, a few had simply disappeared, while the majority had been executed after spectacular public trials at which they made confession of their crimes. ...They had confessed to intelligence with the enemy (at that date, too, the enemy was Eurasia), embezzlement of public funds, the murder of various trusted Party members, intrigues against the leadership of BIG BROTHER which had started long before the Revolution happened, and acts of sabotage causing the death of hundreds of thousands of people. ...Even at that time Winston had not imagined that the people who were wiped out in the purges had actually committed the crimes that they were accused of.
PM candidate promises Martial Law (opposition withdraws ad exposing "soldiers with guns in Canadian cities") & PM hopeful pledges army in cities (100 regular troops & 500 reservists each). VancouverSun-TorontoStar, Jan 12, 2006. Go to ANIMAL FARM DOGS
Diana's driver's blood test faked (wouldn't be able to stand) & Diana evidence sealed 100 years (available to close relatives only). DNA/ContactMusic, Oct 21, 2005. Go to GOODNIGHT SWEET PRINCESS & CONSPIRACY THEORIES
Sniffer dogs to detect tube bombs (used by police in London). BBC, Jul 20, 2005 & Jackal blood makes perfect sniffer dogs (used all over USSR). Go to ANIMAL FARM DOGS
Timothy McVeigh executed 2001 (Declaration of Independence drafted 1776 calling for freedom from Britain). On-This-Day, Jun 11, 2005. Go to 34.Miniluv & TIMOTHY MCVEIGH'S LAST WORDS & BIG BROTHER SYMBOLISM
Oklahoma bombing 10th anniversary (Waco bombing 12th anniversary) & Timothy McVeigh's father torn (son died on Jun 11, 2001, 3 months before Sep 11, 2001). BBC & BuffaloNews, Apr 19, 2005. Go to OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING
Nichols not planning 2nd bombing (says 'Devil is twisting the truth' after FBI find explosives). Detroit Free Press, Apr 19, 2005
Rudolph pleads guilty to abortion bombing (in 1998 & Olympic bombing in 1996 & other abortion clinic bombings). ABC & BBC News, Apr 13, 2005. Go to UNBORN FACTS OF LIFE
UN giving self more power (wants "right & duty to intervene if gov'ts fail their responsibility to protect their citizens"). BBC, Dec 2, 2004. Go to 9/11 IS COLCHESTER BOMB & BIG BROTHER BUGGERS
JFK FASCINATES BERLINERS (cherished as charismatic leader who stood up to Soviet Union). Reuters, Jun 25, 2004. Go to LBJ SWORE ON JFK'S BIBLE
RFK shot 36 yrs ago today (women in campaign straw hats would scream blood-curdling screams). Press Democrat, Jun 5, 2004. Go to RFK DEATH COINCIDENCES
Nichols convicted of state murder charges (no witnesses identified Nichols as man who bought fertilizer or stole explosives or committed robbery). Yahoo! AP, May 26, 2004. Go to 28.Reality Control & OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING & TERROR BILL IS TERROR
CANADA FORCED LABOUR CAMPS? (mayor giving free steering wheel clubs to anyone who backs him). Canada Press, Feb 17, 2004. Go to JOURNEY THROUGH RUSSIA, 1933
We didn't ought to 'ave trusted those BIG BROTHER BUGGERS. Feb 9, 2004
Killer of future PM heard voices (couldn't resist the voices, doesn't remember actual attack, was in care of psyciatrists who gave him psychiatric drugs). Reuters, Jan 15, 2004. Go to 34.Miniluv & MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE MOVIES
Cattlemen say Mad Cow is no risk (hope common sense kicks in soon). Daily World, Dec 31, 2003. Go to MAD COW TERROR & WHO SPREADS SLOPS
UK BLAIR'S SOCIETY (this is Orwell's vision). Dec 4, 2003. Go to 8.Classes of People
Sales of cloned cattle multiply (world's largest hog producer cloning for faster-growing pigs). Houston Chronicle, Nov 3, 2003. Go to CLONING BIBLE STORY & FOOD CONTROL & FACTORY FARMING
Unlimited powers of arrest in Australia (to citizens who've committed no crime). SydneyMH, Jun 27, 2003. Go to 21.Crimestop & TERROR BILL IS TERROR
Wolfowitz to oversee military tribunals (with power to sentence to death). Yahoo!AP, Jun 27, 2003. Go to 7.Systems of Thought & WOLF IN WOLF'S CLOTHING
Rudolph a hate-criminal (for calling gays "sodomites" & speaking against abortion). ABC News, Jun 6, 2003. Go to 21.Crimestop & 27.Goodthink
2,000 CAN troops to Afghanistan (without public or gov't ok). National Post, May 30, 2003. Go to 11.Ministry of Peace & AFGHANISTAN REMEMBERED
Supreme Court okays secret hearings (no media, friends or relatives of detainees allowed). Wired, May 27, 2003. Go to TERROR BILL IS TERROR
Tawain is a SARS laboratory (video cameras in 2000 homes & quarantine in military camps). NY Times, May 12, 2003. Go to 3.Surveillance & HEALTH CRUSADERS: ACT II
Bush approves nuclear response. Wash Times, Mar 29, 2003
Atom-bomb proof bunkers (keep leaders safe underground). Scotsman, Mar 29, 2003 & From No Nukes to Go Nukes (Hollywood making nukes nice). National Post, Mar 29, 2003. Go to NUKES GO MAINSTREAM
Eyewitness: Zimbabwe torture victim (MDC sec'y of Tsvangirai). BBC, Mar 24, 2003
Korea can nuke America ('so let's build missile-defence' says Bush spokesman Fleischer). NY Post, Feb 13, 2003. Go to 13.Weapons
USA may nuke Iraq (Rumsfield wants to rumble). Yahoo!Reuters, Feb 14, 2003
Argentina has starving babies (corrupt gov't & foreign bankers destroyed world's foodbasket). National Post, Jan 18, 2003. Go to GREENSPAN FROM JEKYLL ISLAND
Police fire at pigs in riot control experiment ("pigs didn't even squeal"). Ottawa Citizen, Jan 12, 2003. Go to 9/11 IS COLCHESTER BOMB
Israelis storm Gaza City (forces, tanks, helicopters). Globe & Mail, Nov 13, 2002
CIA break Muslim cleric (tells all after 3-months torture). Aussie Age, Oct 21, 2002. Go to 39.Interrogation & Torture & 9/11 IS COLCHESTER BOMB
Go to jail, directly to jail (Canadian fundamental freedoms gone). National Post, Oct 11, 2002
Argentinians scavenge dumpsters (1/2 of 36-million impoverished). New York Times, Sep 22, 2002
Accused hometown reels at arrests (say "innocent until proven guilty"). Rochester Chronicle, Sep 17, 2002
Canadian teen denied human rights (may be sent to Guantanamo Bay). Toronto Star, Sep 17, 2002
USA building penal colony in Cuba (for "enemy combatants"). Bloomberg, Sep 16, 2002
Argentina's children starve (exporting food instead of eating). BBC, Sep 14, 2002
Hellish plan: Camps for citizens (will Americans remain silent?) Los Angeles Times, Aug 15, 2002. Go to TERRORIST means DISSIDENT
Despair in once-proud Argentina (globalization, banks & corrupt politicians). Washington Post, Aug 6, 2002. Go to 11.Ministry of Plenty (Starvation)
Bush dusts off Cold War doomsday plan (secret underground sites for "shadow" government). The Associated Press, Mar 2, 2002. Go to DR STRANGELOVE IN CHARGE
Argentina declcares state of siege (half of population below poverty line). Globe & Mail, Dec 20, 2001
New terror bill targets protesters, MP says (military can be used against citizens). Toronto Star, Nov 29, 2001. Go to TERRORIST means DISSIDENT
FBI considers torture as suspects stay silent. The Times, Oct 22, 2001. Go to 34.Ministry of Love
Crop-dusters stay grounded on anthrax fear. National Post, Sep 25, 2001
Morning that left the U.S. speechless. Daily Telegraph, Sep 11, 2001. Go toORDER OUT OF CHAOS
Execution stay denied. The Oklahoman, June 6, 2001
Mugabe's foes forced into TV humiliation. The Sunday Times, March 18, 2001
Schools to close for McVeigh execution. Fox News, March 16, 2001
Farmers 'falling into the abyss'. National Post, March 14, 2001
Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~
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