Biscuit's plane accidentally set down in a Philip K. Dick story

In this story, the newspaper headlines include:

Terror suspect C released
An Egyptian terror suspect known only as C has been freed after being interned in the UK under anti-terror legislation for more than three years. [Guardian Unlimited]

Athletics: New steroid found
The World-Anti Doping Agency says it has unearthed a new "designer steroid". [BBC News]

CO2 emissions put corals at risk
Israeli scientists predict coral reefs could begin to collapse in as little as 30 years from now. [BBC News]

Also, in this story, there are highway signs like this one, courtesy of Orcinus, who also reminds us that plenty of people still hate Jews.

And something called research-intensive rapid response blogging: " a new blog ready to revolutionize the world of research-intensive rapid response. Debuting in tandem with the State of the Union address on Feb. 2, Thinkprogress.org will give journalists and the public real-time access to American Progress’s highly regarded rapid response operation for the first time ever." (From TPM)

Also via TPM, I learned that a powerful organization called the GOP, headed by a chimpanzee, controls the government in this Philip K. Dick story. The GOP's control appears to stem from something called their 'branding strategy,' which is devised by a ruthless pumpkinheaded person called Karl Rove, and promulgated to the 'media' through press releases, advertising, political theater, and Mr. Rove's minions, who resemble Nazgul. Right now, for example, this 'GOP' is working on dismantling a reasonable-sounding social insurance program that is extremely popular and saves many old people from abject poverty. In this quote from a newspaper, two minions (one, a minor person named Santorum who apparently has sex with dogs, the other, even more minor, referred to only as a 'congressional aide'), release the new words to be used in describing the planned abolition of the popular social insurance program:

At the center of the GOP pitch is a language "branding" plan that Republicans hope will undercut Democratic criticism of Republican plans. For instance, the GOP has been pushing to move from describing the investment accounts as "private," preferring to use "personal," which they believe is less loaded politically. Similarly, Santorum said Friday he preferred to avoid calling costs associated with the creation of the accounts "transitional," favoring the use of "prepaying." A senior GOP Senate aide acknowledged that both of these semantic changes are part of the party's broader strategy to reframe the Social Security debate.

I first thought this must be a joke -- but it turns out this 'GOP' has been very successful with Orwellian word games in the past.

In this Philip K. Dick story, the country is engaged in several wars at once: a War on Terror, a War in Iraq (this one is a War to Bring Democracy and Freedom to the Middle East, although at one time it apparently was a War To Rid the World of Dangerous Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Hands of a Madman Who Cavorted With Terrorists), and a War on Drugs. There may be more wars, I'm not sure yet. These wars are invoked as justification for all sorts of bizarre behavior on the part of the government and individuals.

Also, there is something called The Bill of Rights, a mythical document created at the country's founding and still invoked regularly by some citizens in need of defenses against the government. However, more and more of the country's inhabitants, especially the younger generation, are unaware of it, don't believe in it, are shocked to discover it exists, and when told what rights it guarantees, find they disagree with it. The more modern citizens believe that the Bill of Rights, like another mythical document, the Geneva Convention, which apparently set down the laws of war, is "quaint" and "obsolete". The current wars are not being fought according to the Geneva Conventions, and all those who call for a return to them are "branded" traitors. It is said that those who cling to these ancient documents "aid the terrorists" and "hate freedom."

The more I find out about this story I'm stuck in, the more terrified and bewildered I am. It has given me an awful migraine, this Philip K. Dick story. I think I will have to go lie down for a while, and perhaps when I get back up, I will be in a more pleasant story. If not, I will continue to write about what I find in this strange story-land. I have read that if I appear too much to be "aiding the terrorists" I may be seized myself by the Homeland Security Department, and subjected to something called "waterboarding," a process by which, if I understand it correctly, I am drowned repeatedly until I confess to being a witch and having evil lesbian sex with Satan.