A Walk in the Black Forest?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS15ACUhTww

I love your paranoia. Unfortunately no organization has the forethought, skills and determination to carry this through for longer than a few years. I think the East German Stasi needs special mention as they kept millions of jars containing smells of their population.
What is actually happening is a direct result of the 'War against terror'. It is the governments of the world spying on their populace to root out terrorists. From there every government is becoming more and more paranoid and is casting their nets in private lives.

The dumbed down TV/Celeb/Politico shit is just that. All it takes is a news organisation to focus on some subjective grub of matter and it floods the consciousness of the public.
How can this happen???
Simple - the secret is that humans are highly susceptible to suggestion. That's why so powerful ideologies like religion, nazism, communism, dictatorships, advertising and (add your own) take root so easily, cause wars, degeneration of thought and rationality.
We're all convinced too easily; we fall into one camp or the other, whichever has the greatest pull on our sensibilities. It is a disaster.
For the general public, it is hard to cure them of this suggestible susceptibility. For the individual, it is much easier.
What I would like to see is an advertising campaign and maybe school curricula that teaches freedom of thinking and suggestibility.

I do this one-on-one with my kids. I point this stuff out to them in ads, TV shows etc.
For example: There is a laugh track on 'That 70's Show'. If you ignore the laugh track, then the show stops being funny. Ads are the same. Instead of an ad stating the product/price/availability, it is mostly always linked to sex and security.
Educate your kids/friends etc and that will wake them up and maybe give them freedom of thought and critical thinking will arise in them.

The problem in Australian politics is that they can't see the wood for the trees and pretty much no-one in Australia gives a shit - typically an Australian characteristic.

Damn Sri Lankans!

Which brings to mind the very best divorce notification ever:
An older family couple (retired in their 60s), George and Mildred, lived close by. Both have been our friends for decades. George was a bit weird however.
One day Mildred came back from a shopping trip and checked her mail. One letter was from social security stating that her benefits had increased due to her change of status and she should contact the local office asap. She immediately got back into the car, drove to town and found out that she was now single. So she asked for a review.
She got back home and found George slaughtering a rabbit in the shed out back. (He bred rabbits for food). He politely informed her that he'd had enough of her spending ways and he was divorcing her.
Eventually they sold their house and split the money.
She blew all of her's on poker machines and he died of brain cancer about 5 years later.

Let me know when we get to Pizmo beach.

Agree. Similar things happened with the Birds ;), but it was worse in Romania.
However I can't accept the fact that a lot of the Eastern block countries are finding it so hard to create a democratic government. I think a lot of the older population still yearn for the security of the old system - so my aunt tells me.

Yes! If it were me, I'd just walk up to the control panel, turn the dial to 4 and hit the ON button.

Currently there is research on that very question.
Also, does data have mass? Also being measured!

I actually agree with that. I'm old enough to see that the malaise that has infected Australia has taken a few decades and is not the result of just one election. Gillard is ok and as a Prime Minister, she's held her own as you say.
Voting informal is pretty much the only choice, but I think next time I'll vote LDP or some other fringe libertarian party. They probably won't get representation, but if enough vote, then it'll give the major parties something to think about.

I can define it. He's bat-shit crazy.
The problem isn't Abbot or Gillard. Everyone forgets that in Australia you don't vote for the individual, you vote for the party behind the individual.
I think Oz needs an equivalent Ron Paul for about a term just to shake things up.
I'm sure after we tell everyone to piss orf and get out of the country, things will settle down a bit, normalcy will occur and we can get back to BBQs and pubs owned by women.