Dr. X's Free Associations

Black Mirror

We've seen two episodes of Black Mirror. Whoa. That's some tough TV watchin'. If you haven't heard of this program, you can read up on it here.

It's The Twilight Zone, but for post-millennium culture, with all that entails: pop fame, viral fame, viral shaming, terrorism, look-at-me, vote-for-me, give-me-likes, scapegoating, porn, rampant sexualization, branding, the virtual world as the opium of the masses, post modernism, performance art, class, inequality, you name it... in just the first two episodes.

It's gotten great reviews, even in China where it's quite popular, but I'm not sure I like it. The first two episodes definitely nail some serious problems with modern culture and lifestyles, but Episode One was especially hard on the senses and the stomach. If I continue to watch it, I'll probably have to do so on my own.

For Americans, the program streams on Netflix.

Update: Here's a tweet referring to Wednesday's Roanoke shooting. Many tweeted the same observation.

Today, we lived an episode of Black Mirror. Some people couldn’t turn it off, here. This is an unwelcome novelty. https://t.co/FK4eSlAjcZ

— Alex Howard (@digiphile) August 26, 2015

Strange Story In Breaking News

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that two men are dead and four injured police officers have been hospitalized as a result of a hazardous materials incident at a private home in suburban Des Plaines, IL.  No further details available at the time of this posting.  A meth lab accident?

Usain Bolt taken down by camera man

This is a much better Vine of the Usain Bolt accident - mainly due to the Italian commentator's cry of "MAMMA MIA!" https://t.co/XPN9LonOQn

— Tara Mulholland (@tara_mulholland) August 27, 2015

Shaky Stocks and Bubble Trouble

Q&A with Joseph Stiglitz:

Q: You’ve said the booming stock market of the last few years was a symptom of America’s weak economy, not a sign that the economy was recovering. What did you mean by that?

A: The stock market had done well for basically two to three key reasons—low wages, so when wages are low profits are high; low interest rates, but the low rates are because the economy is sick; and the third was through much of this period the dollar was weak, and when the dollar is weak and our multinationals make profits abroad, when that money gets converted back into dollars it looks very strong. Now that the dollar is strong, it’s having just the opposite effect.

A lot of the skittishness now is people realizing the fundamentals weren’t that strong; interest rates may be going up faster than the fundamentals might justify because of the deserved concern that quantitative easing and low interest rates lead to asset price bubbles including the stock market. And that’s the agony the Fed [the U.S. Federal Reserve] is going through. The economy is not in a robust state, with no signs of inflation, so for all of the talk about the increase in the interest rate, it might not happen.

One more Second City Fire

Looking West on North Avenue in Chicago. Latest report says the fire didn't spread to the theater.

Update:

Previously, this building survived the Great Chicago Fire with only partial damage.

Second City Burning

Huge fire at the offices of Second City.

iPhone shots

School Resuming

Out-of-town students will be arriving in Chicago soon, and classes will resume the week leading into Labor Day. We'll do another little getaway in a couple of weeks, but I have to report for duty before that. Last year, the first prof who greeted me upon my arrival said: "you look like I feel. Don't want to be back yet, eh?"

I'll try to wear my happy face this time. The flood of new patients always makes my head spin at first. Eventually, I get my bearings, but it's especially mentally taxing for a month or so as I become familiarized with a new crop of intensely anxious patients. They aren't just anxious about the challenges they're bringing to therapy. They're anxious about therapy itself. That's normal and I expect that, but it's a lot to handle when all that tension arrives in one big wave.

I don't display bumper stickers, but this one is tempting

This sticker was spotted in a pickup truck window in Alaska Lmfao pic.twitter.com/wnI6ylJfs1

— Jade Helm Commander (@Anomaly100) August 24, 2015

It is not about you

A Saturday Chicago Tribune report on the heroic Americans who took down a heavily-armed, would-be terrorist on a TGV turned into a chest-thumping, nationalistic orgy in the comment section, with commenters declaring the USA tough, the French are pussies, and "we always bail them out." Never mind, " we" don't know much about the nationalities of the passengers on the train, at least some of whom were international travelers who began their trip in Amsterdam. We also don't know who was in a position to act when the danger became apparent.

The latest reports say that a Frenchman was actually the first to tackle the gunman, and relieve him of one of his weapons, possibly getting wounded in the process. According to reports I read today, a French-American dual citizen also jumped into fray, as well as a British citizen and, of course, the three courageous Americans we've all heard so much about.

All of these passengers were heroic. Their actions tell us something about how these men react in a dangerous situations. They don't tell us about universally shared characteristics of the French, the British or Americans.

Also consider that while the actions of the Americans were praised, an implicit element of self-aggrandizement lurked in that praise. The stripped down version of the maneuver says they're American, I'm American, so that makes me heroically-inclined because Americans are heroes. The maneuver is pretty straightforward, but narcissism isn't satisfied with simple self-aggrandizement. Narcissism requires a sense of superiority, which means that others must be demeaned. In this story, the role of lesser beings fell to the French, so it's interesting that we now learn that a brave Frenchmen was the first to reach the terrorist. Like the Americans, he is also to be awarded the Legion of Honor, though reports I read say that he asked to receive the award in a private ceremony.

None of my observations lessen the heroism of the three Americans, but let's maintain a measure of personal humility and respect for others when we offer accolades.

Florida Prosecutor with Ashley Madison account holds press conference

Jeff Ashton is the Florida state's attorney who prosecuted the Casey Anthony case. This week, he was outed for opening an Ashley Madison account about three years ago.

Ashton claims that he joined the site and explored it on and off for about a year-and-a-half, but never acted on his fantasies. He feels at a loss to explain why he would be curious enough to join, but not actually attempt a hook-up.

There's nothing strange about that. I wouldn't be surprised if half the people who signed up never actually made a move to meet someone. They probably indulged their fantasy up to a point, but in the end couldn't pull the trigger because of fear of getting caught, or guilt, or both.

A reporter asked Ashton about the possibility that the outing was the work of a political opponent. That might be the case or it could be the work of someone angry about a prosecution, or even a coworker or fired employee. Ashton was right to brush aside concern about who outed him, while redirecting the discussion to the fact that his own actions were very stupid, hurtful and wrong.

I feel badly for Ashton's wife, his children and even for him. While the Ashley Madison hacker claimed the moral high ground, my best guess is that the hacker had a personal beef with the Ashley Madison owner, decided to go nuclear, and engaged in moral rationalization to justify the collateral damage that would come of his illegal vengeance. I can think of other possibilities, but if I had to choose, I think that explanation for the hack is the most likely.