Can you hear me now?

NYC police are practicing for disruptions during the DNC, and also will be using an incredibly loud accoustic sound machines that can be heard from four blocks away.

Quote from our friends at united for peace and justice:

United for Peace and Justice, which has planned a massive anti-war demonstration on the eve of the convention, called the sound system "a potential Big Brother nightmare."

Because when I think of oppression, I think of loud sound systems directed at groups of protesters whose stratagies include bomb threats, tying up 911, and tripping police horses to be a horrible act of suppression. I mean, the Chinese run over their protesters with tanks, but that is nowhere near as bad as loud speakers.

If loud speakers are a form of crushing of dissent, I'm guilty of repressing my parents for most of my high school years with my giant tower speakers. Sorry, Mom and Dad, didn't mean to keep you down like that.