I've a sledgehammer and know how to use it...

No, I am not kidding. This goes too damned far: New car purchases starting in June will have a mandatory black box installed

I recall when seat belt use was made mandatory. There was (and still is) a lot of hype about lives saved. Fair enough but once we start there the list keeps growing, so we see "sin tax" that is touted as helping folks get off obnoxious habits, food policies at local schools where no candy is sold but "healthy alternatives" are pushed (I wonder about a black market in Twinkies, Dr. Pepper and MoonPies. Some enterprising "tweens" have probably got one going.).

Do I need to go into detail about the suspension of games such as dodgeball or kickball at schools (on the plus side though, they get all the free condoms they need without having to tell "Mom & Dad") ? The requirement that kids don what looks like full body armor to ride a bike down the street? How about recommendations of pulling on steel toed boots, safety glasses, gloves, long sleeved pants & shirt for mowing the lawn (no, I'm not kidding).

Then there are the safety recommendations ( in some places they're actual laws) regarding firearms in the home. Put a trigger lock on them, place them in a locked gun safe, keep the ammo locked up in a seperate part of the house. Yeah, noted. I know I can do all of that and still "lock & load" quickly if somebody invites themselves into my house. Sure I can.

The nannystate in action. Where does it end?

From cradle to grave, they'll have us supervised. When the mother gets pregnant some twit will review the family's current size and income status to determine "quality of life" issues. Another chair-polisher will check mandatory lab tests for any possible birth defects. CPS will then interview the parents for suitability before everyone agrees about carrying the child to term or aborting it.

Then the family will be monitored over the years for eating habits, adherence to safety rules, and any possible thoughtcrimes detrimental to "Junior". Those thoughtcrimes would include speaking out against the most recently revised history being pushed in his class.

After the kiddo leaves the home (having successfully graduated from state run schools that provide the latest information on cultural/sexual/groupthink matters while ensuring there is no harm to self-esteem) they'll be encouraged to become active in the community. This will be accomplished by time in AmeriCorp, the Peace Corp, etc. Should the young adult elect military service, they'll be indoctrinated in the most up-to-date sociological programs.

Finally, at life's end the state will ensure a calm and painfree termination that Jack Kervorkian would have been proud of. Did you notice how he took no help in shuffling off his mortal coil?

Could someone please tell me I'm completely full of shit? I'd love to hear that just so I can delude myself into thinking it won't be all that bad. While you're at it, tell me this technology won't be expanded to more fully monitor us in our daily lives? All for our own good of course.

I guess it's time to stop looking for the wormhole out of this Bizarro universe, we're all stuck here. Time to hunker down and prepare to fight it out to the end. That end will be in some reeducation camp not yet built but coming soon.

"Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant"