totalitarianism today

Hostages, poker, Sudoku, and Deep Throat-- A motley crew.

A former FBI official comes forward as "Deep Throat".

Anglophiles and trendwatchers take note-- Sudoku puzzles are making waves among the Brits.

Slavoj Zizek can't resist reviewing Revenge of the Sith. Zizek writes:

"In a 2002 Time magazine interview, George Lucas explained the personal level through a type of pop-Buddhism: "He turns into Darth Vader because he gets attached to things. He can't let go of his mother; he can't let go of his girlfriend. He can't let go of things. It makes you greedy. And when you're greedy, you are on the path to the dark side, because you fear you're going to lose things."

But more resonant than how Anakin turned into Darth Vader is the parallel political question: How did the Republic turn into the Empire, or, more precisely, how does a democracy become a dictatorship? Lucas explained that it isn't that the Empire conquered the Republic, but that the Republic became the Empire. "One day, Princess Leia and her friends woke up and said, ‘This isn't the Republic anymore, it's the Empire. We are the bad guys.' " The contemporary connotations of this reference to Ancient Rome suggest the Star Wars transformation from Republic to Empire should be read against the background of Hardt and Negri's Empire (from Nation State to the Global Empire).

The world's best poker player is a Romanian. According to The New York Times, Daniel Negreanu deserves the title "card stud". Apart from the last name, another clear indicator of Negreanu's Romanian origin comes with the token food-obsessed mother-- "Come home, I'll make you some mamaliga".

Negreanu's two basic rules for poker playing-- "First, maximize your best hand and minimize a mediocre hand. Too many novices play too many mediocre hands when not bluffing, which increases their chances of losing. Great players only play hands when they have ''the nuts,'' or unbeatable cards; otherwise they fold hand after hand. Second, play hours, not results. Negreanu sets a time limit for his play and sticks to it, whether he's winning or losing. If he goes beyond his time limit, he risks playing ''tired hands'' when he is not sharp."

Ivan Eland sees a connection between the "messianic foreign policy" of the United States government and a rise in anti-American sentiment around the world.

Is Romanian President Basescu cashing in on the political benefits of a hostage crisis? Razvan Amariei reports. Of peculiar interest is the role played by one of the kidnappers in the former ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD). Kidnapper Omar Hayssam was a member of the PSD who even ran in internal elections for a place on the candidate list for Parliament. Political corruption takes many forms. In representative democracies, where leaders elected on the basis of generalized values they purport to represent, the bigger question might be if any politician has refused to turn a hostage crisis into a political issue?

Individualism and corporations.

Mike Hoy lays down the gauntlet for those who call themselves "libertarians"-- apply theories of individual rights to challenge the legal entity otherwise known as a "corporation". Hoy dispassionately observes:

I'll say it again: corporations are not market entities – they are government entities. This was proven by the libertarian/objectivist Robert Hessen in his 1979 book, ironically titled In Defense of The Corporation (Hoover Institution). This is a very funny book, because he states in his prologue: “In this book, the belief that corporations require government permission to exist and that they are the recipients of special privileges will be challenged. I will present an alternative known as the 'inherence theory': i.e., corporations are created and sustained entirely by exercise of individual rights, specifically freedom of association and freedom of contract.”

   Now, the essential distinguishing characteristic of the corporate form of enterprise is limited liability for torts. If Hessen (or anybody else) is going to show that corporations are contractual entities, he is going to have to demonstrate that limited liability for torts can be fully accounted for as resulting from voluntary agreements between consenting individuals. Here is where Hessen then proves the exact opposite of what he said he was going to prove. He openly admits that limited liability for torts cannot be a part of the market order! He says:

   “Thus far, the inherence theory – the idea that corporate features are created by contract – has been applied to entity status, perpetual duration, and limited liability for debts. But how can limited liability for torts be explained by a contractual theory, since tort victims do not consent to limit their claims to the assets of the corporation? Surely, limited liability for torts would seem to be a state-created privilege.…

   “How, if at all, can limited liability for torts be integrated into a contractual theory of corporations? The answer is that it can't… either limited liability for torts is a state-created privilege or it is contractual (which it obviously is not).”

   So there, by the time the guy is only on page 19, he has already admitted that he cannot do what he said he was going to do: show that corporations are the result of voluntary agreements between individuals. He then adds: “Regardless of one's view about limited liability for torts, the whole issue is irrelevant to giant corporations, which either carry substantial liability insurance or possess sizable net assets from which claims can be paid.” (You know, like Enron.)

Hoy runs an online retail catalog, Loompanics, stocked with books, mugs, t-shirts, and provisions for the libertarian rank and file. He dedicates his catalog to "the second law of thermodynamics".

Puiu's periscope.

Cristi Puiu's film, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, struck next to gold at Cannes this year. J. Hoberman says Puiu's inspiration came from from Eric Rohmer and ER. In Puiu's words:

"When you watch the American TV series, there's movement in every direction, the choreography of the characters is amazing. . . . In my country, doctors and everyone else live in slow motion, as if they were on Valium, and still had 500 years to live."

Hollywood Reporter provides a decent synposis.

Everyone in my book club is a snob.

For Jerry's summer book salon, we polished off Joseph Epstein's Snobbery, the latest in that slew of bestsellers best placed under the category "Somewhat-Substantiated Generalizations About Abstractions". In analyzing snobbery as a social phenomenon, Epstein relies on his Jewishness, which he believes made him more sensitive to snobbery and status. A similar case might be made for any recent immigrant. Don't misread me, Epstein's analysis is interesting-- almost thoughtful (though he waits until the end of the book to mention Thorstein Veblen, which qualifies as absent-minded at best)-- ranging from self-deprecating chuckles to insightful observations about the nature of social tensions in modern democracies.

Yet while Epstein's observations about snobbery and snobisme hit the mark, the book feels flighty and insubstantial because he never manages to secure a working definition of snobbery. As Kelly Dean Jolley would have said, "there's nothing to work with-- define your terms". In fact, most of the book salon discussion chased Epstein's butterfly without coming to any conclusions. Snobbery is so broad as to be all-encompassing.

"Behind all acts of snobbery is, somehow or other, a false or irrelevant valuation." Good so far. Next, Epstein characterizes American snobbery as marked by contempt for social inferiors, while making a claim that disables the very integrity of social inferiority as an idea (i.e. snobbery involves arranging to make yourself look superior at the expense of others). With all this arranging and rearranging, what's left signified by snobbery? Surely I might miss someone's snobbishness because their conception of success (i.e. a high-paying job) is so far removed from my own. Is snobbery in the eye of the beholder? If so, then who is guiltier of snobbish thinking-- the beholder or the so-labeled snob?

The most engaging sections of this book are dedicated to revealing "virtucrats"-- a specific target of my personal schadenfreude-- or explaining how something as silly as snobbery is best incubated in a democratic republic. Epstein quotes sociologist Ronald Nisbet:

"A degree of proximity is required between two classes to make possible envy of the upper by the lower. This is why envy proliferates during periods in societies where equality has come to dominate other values."

In return for freedom and prosperity and incredible levels of upward social mobility, we have to tolerate a little name-dropping or otherwise ingratiating behavior. Big deal. We are all snobs. And we are all as snobby as we want to be. And we are snobs for thinking that X might be so. With social interaction comes one-upmanship. And with losers comes snobbery. But don't take it from me-- take it from the snobs below.

• Claire Zulkey decides the book should be subtitled, "It Takes One To Know One".
• Robert Finn reviews Epstein.
• The Salon.com review.
• God of the Machine offers his opinion.

What a girl wants.

In this case, it's very simple-- Advent Rising.

Oh, and maybe a lunch with the scientists of Alien Planet, quite possibly the most mind-boggling television event since the Bay of Pigs. How did the Daggerwrist (pictured) come about?

A few good movie trailers.

• Apocalypse Now Redux
• War of the Worlds (June 29)
• Incident at Loch Ness
• Haiku Tunnel
• The Man From Elysian Fields
• Stealth, (July 29)
• The Chronicles of Narnia. I should never be left alone around a wardrobe.
• Eros
• Land of the Dead (June 24)
• Palidromes
• Undead
• Vatel
• Mystery Science Theatre 3000
• It's All Gone Pete Tong
• Being John Malkovich
• Bulgarian Lovers
• Cinema Paradiso

And other eye-catching movie candy:

• "Crafting the Future": Babylon 5 actors Richard Biggs and Jerry Doyle and creator J. Michael Straczynski talk about grounding their concept of the future with basic human flaws.
• Audrey Tautou, Chiwetel Ejiofor and director Stephen Frears discuss the unique relationships among the characters in the movie Dirty Pretty Things.
• Extended trailer and interview with Hedwig and the Angry Inch cast.
• Clips from The Royal Tenebaums, including "Thank You For Raising Our Children".
• Lots of great clips from Simone, including her self-description.
• Music video with scenes from Underworld and Kate Beckinsale.

H.R. 1528.

Bill Piper brings the latest legislative travesty in the war on drugs to light. H.R. 1528 (a.k.a. "Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act") would force people to spy on their family members and neighbors, and wear a wire if the authorities deemed it necessary. The man or woman who chose to resist would face mandatory incarceration. Bill's break-down:

Here's how the "spy" section of the legislation works: If you "witness" certain drug offenses taking place or "learn" about them, you must report the offenses to law enforcement within 24 hours and provide "full assistance in the investigation, apprehension and prosecution" of the people involved. Failure to do so would be a crime punishable by a mandatory minimum two-year prison sentence, and a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Here are some examples of offenses you would have to report to police within 24 hours:

• You find out that your brother, who has children, recently bought a small amount of marijuana to share with his wife;
• You discover that your son gave his college roommate a marijuana joint;
• You learn that your daughter asked her boyfriend to find her some drugs, even though they're both in treatment.

In each of these cases you would have to report the relative to the police within 24 hours. Taking time to talk to your relative about treatment instead of calling the police immediately could land you in jail.

The scariest part of this legislation is the complacency and shrugs with which it will be met by many-- "there's nothing I can do about it" or "oh well, that's life" and maybe even "maybe it will work". The war on drugs will never be won, but the battle with Americans to cede more of their personal freedoms in the name of drugs, terrorism, the nuclear family, public health, etc. is a no-brainer. Read the bill-- or even peruse the sections, like Sec. 11 Life Imprisonment Without Release For Drug Felons and Violent Criminals Convicted A Third Time.

Greenspan and the housing market: something besides a bubble.

According to Annette Haddadd of the L.A. Times, Alan Greenspan "sees bubbles in housing". According to Reuters, Greenspan "doesn't see a national housing bubble". How to reconcile two seemingly contradictory headlines released on the same day? "Froth" is as good a compromise as any.

Time, techno-slacking, outsourcing, and happiness.

• Tutoring is being outsourced to India, much to the chagrin of the American Federation of Teachers.
• Time Magazine names the top 100 movies of all time-- choices range from the typical to the paltry. Curiously enough, Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" is listed.
• Maison Neuve can rate your "evilness" based on your horoscope. Apparently, I am a "high". Which can only be a lie.
• 12 questions to ask yourself about happiness, courtesy of a men's magazine that sells ads for titanium jewelry for men. Hey, happiness is complicated.
• Global labor standards might be closer on the horizon, thanks to Nike, Gap, and other sweatshop-worried corporations.
• Motley Fool takes a swipe at the US Bureau of Labor Statistics' survey of how people sue their time. A few interesting tidbits, including a note about how mothers' work is undervalued.
• For those unfortunate enough to still be lacking some flavor of psychiatric diagnosis to revitalize dull cocktail conversations, have no fear. A psychiatrist discovered that "techno-slacking" is here.
• The transcript of a German propaganda film, Pilots in Pajamas (1967), is available in its entirety online. This film is about captured American pilots from the Vietnam war, some of whom ended up in the German Democratic Republic.

The real deal.

Meet the American soldier behind "War Is Real". Preparing now for his second tour in Iraq, he warns other soldiers not to visit the mental health assistance, since it is a "one-way ticket down zoloft and ambien avenue". His posts on coping with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder read like a mix of Henry Miller, Franz Kafka, Hunter S. Thompson, and Seymour Hersh. For example, in "How I Stopped Learning to Kill and Take The Pill", he recounts a conversation with a medical specialist:

she says to me, you could always go back out there, man up and be a true soldier. bitch, i was there once and i need some FUCKING HELP before i can go back and see those things again. are you not comprehending this? do i need to spell it out for you? i fucking hate the fact that i'm required to kill evil people who are only evil because our president wills them to be.

yeah, i'm going back to iraq. if i get shot at or placed in danger, i'm going to kill everything that moves on the other site. i won't enjoy doing it, but it's my job, and my battle buddies are more important to me than life itself, and THEY are the reason i'm going. screw iraq, screw bush, screw the army -- just remember that it's me and my battle buddies out there, and we are the ones fighting a sham war just so we can come home and get a nice welcome reception for being heroes, and then six months later nothing changes and we're back to being grunts.

Due to recruitment difficulties, the US military is sending more young men and women on second tours of duty.