At the most recent Wisconsin Film Festival, I saw a superb movie that is probably one of the most important documentaries of our time. It's called The Corporation, and it's co-directed by Mark Achbar, who was partially responsible for Manufacturing Consent.

The Corporation has a very intriguing premise: Insofar as corporations are legally defined as persons, what kind of persons are they?

To more precisely assess the “personality“ of the corporate “person,“ a checklist is employed, using actual diagnostic criteria of the World Health Organization and the DSM-IV, the standard diagnostic tool of psychiatrists and psychologists. The operational principles of the corporation give it a highly anti-social “personality”: It is self-interested, inherently amoral, callous and deceitful; it breaches social and legal standards to get its way; it does not suffer from guilt, yet it can mimic the human qualities of empathy, caring and altruism. Four case studies, drawn from a universe of corporate activity, clearly demonstrate harm to workers, human health, animals and the biosphere. Concluding this point-by-point analysis, a disturbing diagnosis is delivered: the institutional embodiment of laissez-faire capitalism fully meets the diagnostic criteria of a “psychopath.”

I would love to see this film get the publicity and acclaim that F9/11 is getting. (Alas, I doubt it will happen.) Meantime, I'll do my part.

This movie is coming to Madison (Hilldale Theatre) on 20 August. (Other cities listed here.) Until then, make sure you check out the trailer. (There are other clips too at Rotten Tomatoes, where the Tomatometer is at a whopping 95%.)

Political, Financial, Musical

Check out this excellent interview between Jon Stewart and Ted Koppel.

STEWART: I'm a news anchor. Remember this is bizarro world. And I say, the issue is health care and insurance, and why 40 million American kids don't have insurance -- 40 million Americans are uninsured. Is this health insurance program being debated in Congress good for the country? Let's debate it. I have with me Donna Brazile and Bay Buchanan. Let's go. Donna. "I think the Democrats really have it right here. I think that this is a pain for the insurance companies and the drug companies and this is wrong for America." Bay. "Oh no, what it is..." And then she throws out her figures from the Heritage Foundation, and she throws out her figures from the Brookings Institute, and the anchor -- who should be the arbiter of the truth -- says, "Thank you both very much, that was very interesting." No it wasn't! That was Coke and Pepsi talking about beverage truth. And that game has, I think, caused people to think, "I'm not watching this."

Thanks for the link, Diane.

I'm somewhat less thankful to Diane for notifying us about The Music of Senator Orrin Hatch. You've all heard John Ashcroft's atrocious Let the Eagle Soar; well, apparently he's not the only right-wing crackpot turning out mindless pablum tunes.

Meanwhile, check out this excellent article from Dollars & Sense about how our in-the-toilet economy has impacted black workers.

The tight labor market of the late 1990s was very beneficial for African Americans. The black unemployment rate fell from 18% in the 1981-82 recession, to around 13% in the early 1990s, to below 7% in 1999 and 2000, the lowest black unemployment rate on record. But the 2001 recession (and the job-loss recovery since then) has robbed African Americans of much of those gains. . . .

Prolonged unemployment is scary for most families, but it puts the typical African-American family in deeper peril, and faster. The median white family has more than $120,000 in net worth (assets minus debts). The median black family has less than $20,000, a far smaller cushion in tough times.

Laid-off workers often turn to family members for help, but with almost a quarter of black families under the poverty line, and one in nine black workers unemployed, it’s less likely that unemployed African Americans have family members with anything to spare. Black per capita income was only 57 cents for every white dollar in 2001.

Eat that, CEOs.

Candy Bar Watch

The other day I purchased and ate a new M&Ms candy bar, which was pretty much what it sounds like -- M&Ms stuck on a candy bar. Nothing to exceptional, except now I can't find any evidence that it exists. The M&M site has nothing. Oh well, I shouldn't be shilling for M&Ms anyway, insofar as they refuse to take a stand against worker abuses in chocolate production.

Random

We're going to see The Manchurian Candidate tonight. I'll let you know how it is, of course. We saw the original last week. It's got some problems with race and gender, but nothing out of the ordinary for its time. An interesting story to say the least. I'm really eager to see Denzel in action again. I just hope it's not another John Q or Training Day.

TimeWaster™

Imagine (Backwards) is pretty impressive. If you're looking for a game, try Stick Avalanche. Both via ABS.


Today I'm listening to: Drum & Bass Selection 3!