Down Orwell’s Memory Hole – Becoming An Invisible Man
(An Exercise In Becoming Nobody)
Orwell’s brilliant book “1984” maintains relevance in these dark times.
But it’s not just Trump and his cult who deploy Orwellian tactics.
Here’s the original 2002 DEP official website and NJ Register Public Notice text that went down Orwell’s “Memory Hole” and became the “404 Error” you see above. That DEP website scrubbing erased me and my work from history. Here’s what DEP says you can’t know:
PUBLICLY IDENTIFIED WATERS FOR CATEGORY ONE (Don’t bother hitting the link – it’s another “404 error”)
To date, DEP has received over 47 public nominations from individuals, groups and public entities for Category One designations. These public nominations include approximately 337 named rivers and streams equaling 7,655 linear waterbody miles and 23 reservoirs, lakes and ponds representing 6,593 surface acres. A map of the public nominations is available at www.nj.gov/dep/antisprawl/c1map.html. (don’t bother, that link is down the Memory Hole too!)
DEP has not had the opportunity to fully evaluate all the public nominations for Category One but will seriously consider all public nominations over the upcoming months. DEP is continuing to accept public recommendations for Category One water designations. Public recommendations for Category One water designations should be sent at this time to Bill Wolfe.
View Map of PUBLICLY Identified Waters (Down the Memory Hole too).
I was reminded of the fact that I was discarded down Orwell’s memory hole in just now reading a terrifying must read piece (h/t Margo!) in The Atlantic about modern Orwellian disinformation & propaganda campaign tactics, which are likely to deployed again in the 2020 election by the Trump campaign, see:
I only take issue with the inclusion of a Russian intervention angle. DNC corporate Democrats have beat that dead horse to a pulp as a means of avoiding having to deal with the sabotage of Bernie Sanders and real reasons for the Hillary Clinton loss and rise of Trumpism.
Anyway, that Atlantic piece used the term “sock puppet”, a phrase I had not heard in a long time. That jogged painful memories of going down Orwell’s Memory Hole and of when I was falsely accused of being a “sock puppet”. Here’s that story:
Back in 2009, I had multiple internet accounts and identities:
1. I was a columnist at the Star Ledger’s NJ Voices page under my real name.
2. I had a blog at Wolfenotes.com
3. I was a commenter on Star Ledger webpage news articles under the pseudonym “No Hesitation”.
4. I was a blogger at Blue Jersey under the pseudonym “Winston Smith”.
I frequently cross linked posts in all these sites. I never attempted to conceal my real identity.
At other internet sites, I commented under different names including Publican, Civil Society, and NewDeal. I assumed this was standard practice.
At Blue Jersey, I frequently criticized NJ and NJ Democrats – a taboo there – and got into arguments with the Editor, Rosi Eftim (spelling?) (BTW, if you search the Blue Jersey site for Winston Smith, the prior link is the ONLY post and working link for me you will find there.)
Rosi warned me several times about posting what I felt were truthful and fact based critiques of Democrats and other Blue Jersey posters.
Finally, she used the pretext of accusing me of being a “sock puppet” to ban me from Blue Jersey.
Since then, I have been banned at the Star Ledger and NJ Spotlight for similar fact based accurate criticism.
DEP has erased me and the media has banned me.
NJ Voices has taken down all the beautiful photos I posted in that column (thankfully, the text is still there).
The PEER DC Office has taken down 10 years of my work at NJ PEER (scrubbed completely and all the links are dead).
I’m feeling like Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” – guess I checked my white male privilege at the wrong door.