Dear M----,
Nothing new, or anyway NOT MUCH. Saw 'A Single Man' and 'The Last Station', both seriously bad films though extremely well-acted in the first case, Colin Firth and Julianne Moore, and tritely in the second, except, of course, Helen Mirren, who does what she can to save it but doesn't manage to. 'A Single Man' is like some bizarre reversion to the 1940s and 50s code that any story involving homosexual anything has to end in the protagonist's death, which is completely not what the Isherwood novel is about; also, it was directed by some fashion designer and the characters all live in places that look like they were designed by Rem Koolhaus, when the book's set in the old crappy Santa Monica bohemian colony of 'Inside Daisy Clover' as it's being overrun by returning GIs, their wives and ghastly children. 'The Last Station' a long-winded bore about Tolstoy's groupies. An extremely hammy performance by Christopher Plummer and it also has that really annoying actor who played in "The Last King of Scotland," the one with the big cow eyes. He's getting fat like a cow, also. I've soured on Paul Giamatti, who plays Tolstoy's evil sycophant, being bald and unattractive just isn't enough. He was just ghastly in this patriotic mini-series about John Adams a couple years ago, and then as a villain in a piece of shit starring Clive Owen called "Shoot 'Em Up," now they just cast him as villains I guess. Based on some "novel" by Jay Parini, who should really know everything about being a sycophant and I suppose really "wrote what he knew" with all his heart and drippy sentiment, still it doesn't quite come off. The New York Review ran a long pointless diatribe against Céline, by some academic wastebasket, which George Steiner somewhat redressed this week in the TLS. The NYR has some continuing campaign going against the Warhol Foundation, supposedly based on its de-authentication of a painting, or a series of paintings; it's peculiar to me how this dreary dishrag of the NY intelligenCIA, which doesn't know arsefuck about Warhol and hates most contemporary art, unless it's some bore like Howard Hodgkins, has been keeping this particular "scandal" churning away in its letters pages. If they didn't run such a good book publishing outfit I would say this whole New York Review enterprise has become totally superannuated. This week they've got this interminable blowjob to Isaiah Berlin, perhaps the most superfluous intellectual of the 20th century...oh, PLUS letters about the Google Settlement, which nobody can make heads or tails of. Google earned a lot of brownie points a few weeks ago over the Chinese cyberattacks and then lost them again with its ongoing attempts to violate everybody's privacy, first with that face recognition technology they were planning to put in people's cellphones and now with some sort of info-sharing mechanism that slices all the way across the internet. "Do no evil" my arse...Google IS evil with a human oogle in it...
xxoo
G.

I hate to say this Santa but you’re acting like a dick
you should give presents to everyone that’s good
and not just to your personal clique
if you bring me a toy to open Christmas morning
I’ll let you be my boyfriend all bearded, fat and horny
oh yeah oh yeah

What does Jesus have to do with you?
You’ve got as much to do with Jesus as you do with Scooby Doo,
what do you have to do with Jesus,
you have as much to do with him
as you do your mother’s penis oh yeah

so I don’t think he’s the son of god
I think he was still a nice boy
if you ask yourself what would Jesus do
he’d say give the Jew girl toys,
give the Jew girl toys, give the Jew girl toys,
don’t be a douche, what would Jesus do,
he’d say give the Jew girls toys,

Claus – is that German,
Santa Claus, Santa Claus,
you made a list and I checked it twice
and there’s nobody named Silverman, or Moskowitz or Weiss,
you have a list well Schindler did too,
Liam Neeson played him, Tim Allen played you,
give the Jew girl toys,
don’t be a douche, what would Jesus do,
he’d say give the Jew girl toys
give the Jew girl toys

Sarah Silverman

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Christopher Hitchens: Sporting Fool

February 14, 2010

By Dave Zirin

Dave Zirin's ZSpace Page
Nuance is the mortal enemy of essayist Christopher Hitchens. Whether it’s his rapturous support for Bush’s Iraq invasion or his best-selling dismissal (God is NOT Good) of religion, Hitchens will always eschew a surgical analysis for the rhetorical amputation. Beneath the Oxford education, he has become Thomas Friedman in an ascot, with all the subtlety of a blowtorch.

Now Hitchens has turned his attention to sports and the ensuing essay in Newsweek, called Fool’s Gold: How the Olympics and other international competitions breed conflict and bring out the worst in human nature is everything you might fear. I’m no fan of the politics that surround the Olympic games but when Hitchens takes out his dull saw, nothing connected to sports is spared.

As he writes, “Whether it's the exacerbation of national rivalries that you want or the exhibition of the most depressing traits of the human personality (guns in locker rooms, golf clubs wielded in the home, dogs maimed and tortured at stars' homes to make them fight, dope and steroids everywhere), you need only look to the wide world of sports for the most rank and vivid examples. As George Orwell wrote in his 1945 essay ‘The Sporting Spirit’ after yet another outbreak of combined mayhem and chauvinism on the international soccer field, ‘sport is an unfailing cause of ill-will.’"

It’s interesting that Hitchens doesn’t quote Orwell’s more known critique that sports is “war minus the shooting”, possibly because Hitchens has been such a cheerleader for the “humanitarian” virtues of empire over the last decade.

This also isn’t the first time Hitchens has sought shelter in Orwell’s genius to cloak his own doggerel. But the Orwell who wrote Homage to Catalonia never detested ordinary working people the way Hitchens does. Orwell's sympathy for workers came from living, writing and even fighting fascists among them. For Hitchens, they are the people who serve him drinks in Georgetown. And he finds them odious.

As Hitchens writes,

“[Have you ever] seen the pathetic faces of men, and even some women, trying to keep up with the pack by professing devoted loyalty to some other pack on the screen? If you want a decent sports metaphor that applies as well to the herd of fans as it does to the players, try picking one from the most recent scandal. All those concerned look—and talk—as if they were suffering from a concussion.”

Please spare us your disdain. Yes there is much to detest in the world of sports. But why then is it also such a source of solace, joy, and - heaven forefend – fun? Hitchens doesn’t care to explore this question. His contempt for the “rabble” triumphs any effort at reason. Just as with his ham-fisted analysis of religion, our love of sport is also proof-positive of our irredeemable idiocy.

Hitchens also shows no interest in the fact that sports also have a progressive political power. When racism, sexism, and homophobia have been challenged through struggle in the streets, it has ricocheted with electric results in the world of athletics. This is why we associate Jackie Robinson with the Civil Rights movement or Billie Jean King with the women’s liberation struggles of the 1970s. And lest we forget, the most famous draft resister in world history is a boxer, Muhammad Ali. On a far more grass roots level, sports are where many people - particularly young people - find confidence, friendship, and a sense of self. For many it's where the deeply segregated dynamics of our society are broken down. This is not true in every case of course. For every story of sports-as-savior, there are 100 gym class horror stories. Yes, it is absolute truth that sports can bring out the worst in athletes, fans, parents, and coaches. But it can also bring out the best. In this case however, it has brought out the worst in the Artist Formally Known as Hitchens.

To use one of his despised sports analogies, Christopher Hitchens is like an aging pitcher whose fastball abandoned him years ago. But in sports, once the skills are gone, you are kicked to the curb. Writers clearly get to just keep on going.

[Dave Zirin is the author of the forthcoming “Bad Sports: How Owners are Ruining the Games we Love” (Scribner) Receive his column every week by emailing dave@edgeofsports.com. Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com.]
From: Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives
URL: http://www.zcommunications.org/christopher-hitchens-sporting-fool-by-dave-zirin

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Drug War Chronicle - world’s leading drug policy newsletter Feature: It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's... Methadone Man? Harm Reduction at the Vancouver Olympics from Drug War Chronicle, Issue #620, 2/12/10 The Vancouver Olympic Games are getting underway today, and along with thousands of athletes and an estimated half a million visitors from around the world, the harm reduction community will also be there. A consortium of local, national, and international harm reduction and advocacy groups have crafted a campaign calledSafeGames 2010 to bring harm reduction theory and practice to the forefront during the Olympic games. In addition to bringing harm reduction messages to the Olympic masses, the campaign may help serve as a corrective to the drop-in international media, who come to Vancouver for the Olympics, then look around for local stories to cover, and then discover the city's Downtown Eastside with shock and dismay. The Downtown Eastside is home to one of the largest and densest concentrations of hard drug users in the hemisphere and has the appearance of a Skid Row. But it is also home to the innovative harm reduction and other drug policies that have put Vancouver on the cutting edge of drug reform. Led by Vancouver's Keeping the Door Open Society, SafeGames 2010 will provide an array of resources, including tips on safe sex and reducing the harm associated with drug and alcohol consumption, in a bid to keep the Olympic community safe and protected. The campaign has the added benefit of highlighted Vancouver's progressive stance on drug policy and harm reduction. "Vancouver is a community that respects its citizens for who they are," said Gillian Maxwell, head of Keeping the Door Open and project director for the SafeGames 2010 project. "Over the last decade, Vancouver has paved the way for some of its most marginalized community members, including people who use drugs, are in the sex trade, are living with HIV/AIDS, and those with mental health issues and other concerns, to be treated with respect and dignity." The campaign kicked off Wednesday with a press conference featuring Maxwell, several Vancouver and British Columbia officials, and a trio of caped and costumed superheroes: Methadone Man, Buprenorphine Babe, and Captain Condom. The superheroes will be among the 200 volunteers handing out 20,000 "safe kits" containing condoms, lube, hand heaters, glow sticks, and DVDs, as well as information about the sex trade in the city and referrals to local service providers to people attending Olympic events and visiting the city's sure-to-be bustling night life districts. The campaign's web site also provides a range of local resources and contacts to connect visitors with harm reduction services available in the area, such as the city's InSite safe injection site, the only one in North America. The web site also provides informational videos and handouts, as well as information on various SafeGames members. Vancouver Police Inspector Scott Thompson told the press conference that while Vancouver police don't support drug use, they do support SafeGames 2010. "Unfortunately, people are going to engage in activities like this. And the goal would be that when they do that, we want them to be safe when they do it." This isn't the first time harm reductionists have worked the Olympics. During the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, harm reductionists led by SafeGames campaign founder Luciano Colonna undertook a similar program there. But the campaign is only getting better, said Colonna. "Our partners -- from HIM, which works to strengthen the health of gay men, to the SafeVibe campaign of Women Against Violence Against Women, to InSite, have been working overtime to respond to the harm reduction needs of those coming here for the games," he said. "This is harm reduction for the mainstream," said Maxwell. "We will be outreach workers, going out in teams to bar and party areas and handing out the safe kits. There are a whole range of things that people do that can be risky, and we say do it safely. What I like most about the campaign is that we are explaining harm reduction in many different ways, and you can't really argue with any of them. We are going to be getting out some very good public health messages," Maxwell said. SafeGames isn't the only one doing some harm reduction work for the Vancouver Olympics. The city of Vancouver has announced it will hand out 100,000 condoms on its own. For Maxwell, SafeGames is not just about harm reduction at the Games. It's also about educating people about the Downtown Eastside and what goes on there. "Every city has that sort of thing," she said, "but ours is very open and big, with thousands of people. It could be hard to take if you're from a different culture, but we're thinking it's a great opportunity to educate people. We're even talking about doing some tours of the Downtown Eastside." As the countdown to the Olympics draws to end, Maxwell could feel the excitement building. "A lot of people were against spending the money it costs to have the Olympics here, and I'm not really into it myself, but there is a real buzz on downtown now," she said. "There are all these young athletes, and this is their dream, and here they are. You can't help but notice the vibe." And maybe, thanks to SafeGames 2010, some of those athletes and the crowds who come to cheer them on won't be able to help but notice the harm reduction messages and messengers circulating among them. Bookmark/Search this post with: digg | reddit Drug War Issues Harm Reduction - Sports PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet) is hereby granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification for our records, including physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail drcnet@drcnet.org. Thank you.

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Israel feels under siege. Like a victim. An underdog

---

By Robert Fisk

Source: The Independent

Saturday, February 06, 2010

Robert Fisk's ZSpace Page

Join ZSpace

So the propaganda war is on. Forget Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and the 15,000 Lebanese and Palestinian dead. Forget the Sabra and Shatila massacre that same year by Israel's militia allies as their troops watched. Erase the Qana massacre of 1996 - 106 Lebanese killed by Israeli shellfire, more than half of them children - and delete the 1,500 in the 2006 Lebanon war. And forget, of course, the more than 1,300 Palestinians slaughtered by Israel in Gaza last year (and the 13 Israelis killed by Hamas at that time) after Hamas rockets fell on Sderot. Israel - if you believe the security elite of Israel's right wing here in Herzliya - is now under an even more dangerous, near-unprecedented attack.

Britain - this came yesterday from Israel's ambassador in London, no less - is "a battlefield" in which Israel's enemies wish to "de-legitimise" the 62-year-old Jewish state.

Even Israel's erstwhile friend, that fine Jewish judge Richard Goldstone, is now, in the words of one of Israel's staunchest American-Jewish supporters, Al Dershowitz, an "absolute traitor to the Jewish people" and "an evil, evil man". (Headlines for this, of course, in Israel yesterday.)

Israel under siege. That was the dreary, familiar, hopelessly misunderstood theme at the 10th annual Herzliya conference of diplomats, Israeli civil servants, military gold braid and government yesterday.

Israel the underdog. Israel the victim. Israel whose state-of-the-art, more-moral-than-any-other army was now in danger of seeing its generals arraigned on war crimes charges if they set foot in Europe.

Heaven forbid that Israeli officers should ever be accused of atrocities! The Jerusalem Post yesterday carried a photograph of Kadima leader Tzipi Livni looking at a Krakow poster abusing her as "wanted for war crimes in Gaza". Forget that she did nothing as Foreign Minister when the Israelis rained phosphorus on Gaza. This whole judicial attack on Israel was an abuse, a deliberate use of international law to de-legitimise the state of Israel - like all the other condemnation of Israel. Would that it was. This current identity crisis is indeed a tragedy for Israel - though not in the way that its right-wing government now suggests.

I remember all too well how, after the disastrous Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, a huge London conference sought to find out how Israeli "propaganda" failed. Never mind the slaughter of the Lebanese and the growing Israeli military casualties. How come Israel's message didn't get across? How come the anti-Semitic press was allowed to get away with such calumny? It was an identikit forum to this week's Herzliya confab.

Today we must forget Operation Cast Lead against Gaza and its savage casualties. We must condemn the Goldstone Report for its unspeakable lies - that the army of good may have committed war crimes against the terrorists of evil - and realise that Israel only wanted peace.

In reality, Israel has made a series of terrible diplomatic mistakes. I'm not talking about the humiliation heaped on the Turkish ambassador by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon - he, too, was at Herzliya. I'm not referring to the preposterous complaints by Ron Prossor, the Israeli ambassador to Britain, that in times of crisis there was "a cacophany of voices from Israel", rather than a single voice.

No, Israel's gravest mistake in recent years was to refuse to contribute to Goldstone's report on the 2008-09 slaughter in Gaza. A "foolish boycott", the daily Haaretz called it. A disaster, according to Israel's liberal left, who rightly spotted that it placed Israel on the level of Hamas.

I have sat through hours of the Herzliya conference - it ends with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cheerleading for the masses tomorrow night - and the Goldstone Report and the fear of "de-legitimisation" has run like a thread through almost every debate.

I sat next to an Israeli PhD student yesterday who shook his head in despair. "I and my friends are filled with terrible disappointment when we hear these statements from our government. What can we say? What can we do?" It was an enlightening comment. Is this not what millions of British people said when Tony Blair took them to war on a sheaf of lies in 2003?

One of the most distressing moments at Herzliya came when Lorna Fitzsimons, former Labour MP and now head of Bicom, a British-based pro-Israeli think-tank, pointed out that "public opinion does not influence foreign policy in Britain. Foreign policy is an elite issue." Deal with the elite, and the proles will follow - that was the implication. "Our enemies are going out to international courts where we are not supreme," she said.

And that, in a sense, said it all. International legitimacy is what Israel demands. And as a state it is legitimate. It was voted into existence by the United Nations. And, as the Israeli historian Avi Shlaim has said, its creation may not have been just - but it was legitimate. Yet when an international juridical team invited Israel to participate in its inquiries, Mr Netanyahu smugly refused.

In this sense, the Gaza war proved what is so deeply troubling about the current Israeli body politic. It wants the world to recognise its democracy - however flawed this may be - but it will not join the world when asked to account for its behaviour in Gaza. It claims to be a light among the nations but will not let anyone look too closely at that light, to examine its fuel and to look precisely at what it illuminates.

Goldstone, Goldstone, Goldstone. The eminent lawyer who so bravely sought justice for the murdered and raped victims of the Serbs in the Bosnian war - and whose bravery inspired the world, including Israel, at that time - has been on the lips of every Israeli government apologist at Herzliya.

Tzipi Livni spoke of him. So did Yossi Gal, the Israeli foreign affairs ministry director-general. He spoke of the "attempt to use the Goldstone Report to push Israel to the margins of legitimacy". So did Malcolm Hoenlein of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations. He noted that the US administration had been "overwhelmingly responsive" - ie dismissive - of the Goldstone Report. Even the mouse-like US ambassador to Israel, James Cunningham, suggested that the Goldstone Report might be used as an attempt to de-legitimise Israel.

What is this nonsense? After the 1982 massacre of Sabra and Shatila Palestinians, Israel appointed a government commission of inquiry. The Kahan Commission's report was not perfect - but what other Middle Eastern nation would examine its sins so courageously? It stated that the then Defence Minister Ariel Sharon's responsibility - he had sent in the Lebanese militias - was "personal". This report did not expunge Israel's guilt but it proved that it was a worthy state, one that was prepared to confront this slaughter with honesty rather than abuse.

Alas, no Kahan Commissions for Israel today. No judgment for Gaza. Just a slap on the wrist for a couple of officers who used phosphorus and a criminal charge against a soldier for stealing credit cards.

As it happens, I met Goldstone after he was appointed head of the war crimes tribunal for ex-Yugoslavia in The Hague. A palpably decent, honest man, he said that the world had grown tired of allowing governments to commit war crimes with impunity. He was talking, of course, about Milosevic. He wrote a book on the same lines, warmly praised by Israel. But now he is the earthquake beneath Israel's legitimacy.

I dropped by the eminently sensible Israeli army reserve colonel Shaul Arieli at his NGO's office in Tel Aviv yesterday afternoon and discussed the attempts to arrest Israeli military officers for war crimes if they visited Britain and other European countries.

"All this is much more disturbing to us today than it was a few years ago," he said. "We are afraid of this trend after Operation Cast Lead. It affects the image of Israel all over the world, not just for military officers. If they were charged, it would show that the state of Israel couldn't protect its soldiers. I am sure that the Goldstone Report affects these things."

All of which suggests that the real earthquake beneath Israel, the real danger to its image and standing and legitimacy, is a nation called Israel.

عشرات الضحايا في تفجيرين بكراتشي

الحافلة المستهدفة في كراتشي (الفرنسية) قتل 22 شخصا وجرح العشرات في تفجيرين وقعا بمدينة كراتشي، أحدهما أمام المستشفى الذي نقل إليه المصابون في تفجير أول استهدف حافلة كانت تقل عددا من المشاركين بإحياء مناسبة دينية لدى المسلمين الشيعة. وأفاد مراسل الجزيرة في إسلام آباد أحمد بركات أن انفجار كبيرا وقع أمام مدخل الطوارئ في مستشفى جنة جنوب مدينة كراتشي مما أسفر عن إصابة عدد من الأشخاص، وذلك أثناء قيام سيارات الإسعاف بنقل المصابين في التفجير الأول الذي استهدف حافلة تقل عددا من المسلمين الشيعة كانوا يحيون ذكرى أربعينية الإمام الحسين. وقالت مصادر طبية باكستانية إن 12 شخصا قتلوا وأصيب أربعون آخرون بعضهم في حالة خطيرة جراء التفجير ونفذه -بحسب ما ذكرته مصادر أمنية- انتحاري يقود دراجة نارية مفخخة اصطدمت بحافلة الضحايا، بينما تسبب الانفجار الثاني في المستشفى بمقتل عشرة أشخاص على الأقل. أصابع الاتهام وذكرت المصادرالأمنية أن الهجوم وقع عند جسر على طريق فيصل السريع في قلب كراتشي، وأن قوة الانفجار تسببت بتحطم وتطاير نوافذ المباني والمساكن القريبة من موقع الحادث حيث هرعت سيارات الإسعاف لنقل جثث القتلى والمصابين في حين قامت قوات الأمن بتمشيط المنطقة. متظاهرون يهاجمون الشرطة في موقع الحادث (الفرنسية) من جهته قال قائد شرطة المدينة وسيم أحمد إن الدراجة النارية المستخدمة بالهجوم كانت محشوة بعبوات ناسفة مصنعة محليا مشيرا إلى أنه لم يتم التأكد بعد ما إذا كان الهجوم نفذه انتحاري. وأشارت مصادر أمنية أخرى إلى أن الحادث يحمل بصمات حركة طالبان باكستان التي سبق وأعلنت مسؤوليتها عن حادث مماثل وقع بكراتشي في ديسمبر/ كانون الأول الماضي، واستهدف موكبا من المسلمين الشيعة كانوا يشاركون بمراسم عاشوراء مما أسفر عن مقتل العشرات. أعمال عنف وذكر مراسل الجزيرة أحمد بركات أن قوات الأمن الباكستانية كانت تشهد أصلا حالة تأهب قصوى في كراتشي منذ أن اندلعت موجة أعمال العنف بين تيارات سياسية متناحرة قبل عدة أيام أوقعت 37 قتيلا على الأقل. ونقل المراسل عن مراجع محلية مخاوفها من أن يتسبب تفجيرا اليوم باندلاع أعمال عنف انتقامية، مشيرا إلى أن بعض المتظاهرين قاموا برجم الشرطة بالحجارة. وأضاف أن التفجير الذي وقع في ديسمبر/كانون الأول الماضي تسبب باندلاع مصادمات طائفية وسياسية طالت أكثر من 5 آلاف محل ومرفق تجاري فضلا عن استغلال البعض لهذه الأحداث لأغراض النهب والسلب. وأوضح أن بعض مصادر في حزب الشعب الحاكم اتهمت جهات داخلية بالوقوف وراء التفجيرين في كراتشي، بهدف خلق واقع أمني غير مستقر تمهيدا للإطاحة بحكومة الرئيس آصف علي زرداري. " اقرأ أيضا: باكستان الأعراق والقوى السياسية " محسود حي وفي شأن أمني متصل، أكد المتحدث الرسمي باسم طالبان باكستان عظيم طارق في تصريح لمحطة سي أن أن التلفزيونية الأميركية الخميس أن زعيم الحركة حكيم الله محسود لا يزال على قيد الحياة، ويقود الحركة من أحد المخابئ. وكذب طارق تقارير إعلامية أميركية وباكستانية ذكرت مؤخرا أن محسود قضى الأسبوع الماضي متأثرا بجروح أصيب بها بغارة طائرة أميركية بدون طيار على منطقة القبائل شمال وزيرستان. يُشار إلى أن الجيش الباكستاني رفض تأكيد هذه المعلومات، وقال إنه لا يزال يحقق بمدى صحة تقارير تحدثت عن مقتل محسود الذي سبق وكان هدفا لغارتين أميركيتين.

José Padilla

Stammheim prison, Stuttgart

Camp 6, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Cologne-Ossendorf prison

Ulrike Meinhof was put in the so-called "dead wing" at Cologne-Ossendorf prison, where Astrid Proll had previously been held. In order to ensure the women remained separate, Proll was transferred to the men's wing.

The "dead wing" was intended not only to isolate, but also to induce a breakdown through sensory deprivation torture. It consisted of a specially soundproofed cell painted bright white with a single grated window covered with fine mesh, so that even the sky could not be viewed properly. The cell was lit twenty-four hours a day with a single bald neon light. It was forbidden for the prisoner to hang photographs, posters, or anything else on the walls. All other cells in the wing were kept vacant, and when other prisoners were moved through the prison--for instance, to the exercise yard--they were obliged to take a circuitous route so that even their voices could not be heard. The only minimal contact with another human being was when food was delivered; other than that, the prisoner spent twenty-four hours a day in a world with no variation.

The use of sensory deprivation had been studied by doctors in Canada and the United States since the late 1950s, the line of research being taken up in the FRG by Dr. Jan Gross of Hamburg's Eppendorf University Hospital. Studies carried out by Gross found that sensory deprivation consistently caused feelings of unease ranging from fear to panic attacks, which could progress to an inability to concentrate, problems of perception (including hallucinations), vegetative disorders including feelings of intense hunger, chest pains, disequilibrium, trouble sleeping, trembling, and even convulsions.

[The Red Army Faction: A Documentary History, introductory texts and translations by André Moncourt and J. Smith]

Wherever the Kubark method has been taught, certain clear patterns--all designed to induce, deepen and sustain shock--have emerged: prisoners are captured in the most jarring and disorienting way possible, late at night or in early-morning raids, as the manual instructs. They are immediately hooded or blindfolded, stripped and beaten, then subjected to some form of sensory deprivation. And from Guatemala to Honduras, Vietnam to Iran, the Philippines to Chile, the use of electroshock is ubiquitous.

This was not, of course, all the influence of Cameron or MKUltra. Torture is always an improvisation, a combination of learned technique and the human instinct for brutality that is unleashed wherever impunity reigns. By the mid-fifties, electroshock was being routinely used against liberation fighters by French soliders in Algeria, often with the help of psychiatrists. In this period, French military leaders conducted seminars at a U.S. military "counterinsurgency" school in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in which they trained students in the Algeria techniques. It is also clear, however, that Cameron's particular model of using massive doses of shock not just to inflict pain but for the specific goal of erasing structured personalities made an impression on the CIA.

[Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine]

Frances Farmer

The individual who in the service of

the spectacle is placed in stardom's spotlight is in fact the opposite of an individual,

and as clearly the enemy of the individual

in himself as of the individual in o thers.

Stars of consumption, though outwardly representing different personality types, actually show each of these types enjoying an equal access to the whole realm of consumption and deriving exactly the same satisfaction therefrom.

Khrushchev had to become a general in order to have been responsible for the outcome of the battle of Kursk--not on the battlefield but twenty years later, as master of the State. And Kennedy the orator survived himself, so to speak, and even delivered his own funeral oration,

in the sense that Theodore Sorenson still wrote speeches for Kennedy's successor in the very style that had done so much to create the dead man's persona. [Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle]