B. (because there's no v in Japanese)

[ish mailian]

But the modern mechanical unit worker, so easily replaced with automation,
robots, is not all that different from the office worker who sits in a
cubical.  One of the most misread, or should I say, misused texts, since by
definition a classic is not read but only misused, is Adam Smith's TWoN, a
book that, ironically, is forever married to conservative politics, and is
one of the greatest arguments against the exploitation of modern labor. In
the book Smith describes work, pre-modern work. We crossed over to modern
work, as we readers of M&D know, long before Ford and Vibe. In any event,
it's impossible to uphold the band of brothers myth on the American side.
Restrepo is not a documentary of brotherhood or courage, but a film, an
imitation, pornography.

On Sunday, August 30, 2015, John Bailey <sundayjb at gmail.com> wrote:

> This is all true. I don't think there's an absolute category difference.
> But I think the drone operator's experience, which is almost entirely
> devoid of direct contact with colleagues on their own side, is quite unlike
> those in a base or barracks (for whom the experience of war is still one of
> disconnect, but in other ways). The drone operator is more like the office
> worker, as opposed to the mechanical unit of modern industry. Neither are
> working on the floor of the shambles.
> On 31 Aug 2015 11:28 am, "ish mailian" <ishmailian at gmail.com
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','ishmailian at gmail.com');>> wrote:
>
>> Cool. Just to play the advocate from down under here....was the pilot, an
>> American pilot, ever in grave danger when she piloted a machine of such
>> superiority? To argue that the glory in facing death is gone once the pilot
>> is stationed in the chair force seems a bit of a stretch since American
>> pilots in Afghanistan, rarely fly very dangerous missions, that is missions
>> that involve a serious threat from the people and the equipment they bomb.
>> And, we can extend this, for the most part, to Americans in any theater of
>> war, in any capacity. The Americans are so well equipped, so we'll
>> protected. They are not quite all sitting in chairs droning, but close to
>> it when contrasted with the fighting men, women, and children on the other
>> end sides.
>>
>> Anyways, thanks...
>>
>>
>> On Sunday, August 30, 2015, John Bailey <sundayjb at gmail.com
>> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','sundayjb at gmail.com');>> wrote:
>>
>>> Have I ever mentioned the play Grounded by George Brant here? It's
>>> worth reading or seeing if you get a chance. About an F16 pilot who is
>>> grounded after she falls pregnant and is forced into the "chair
>>> force". The way it contrasts her earthy, dirty, fecund humanity with
>>> the abstract and ethereal transcendence of her new role is absolutely
>>> gripping when performed right. The drone eventually takes on aspects
>>> of a Rilkean angel or something that would definitely be at home in a
>>> Pynchon novel, and the production I saw did things with lighting and
>>> afterimages that really made credible the possibility that we were
>>> witnessing a divine transfiguration.
>>>
>>> Highly recommend. Apparently there was a Julie Taymor NY production
>>> recently with Anne Hathaway of all people:
>>>
>>> http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/theater/anne-hathaways-solo-turn-as-a-fighter-pilot-in-grounded-at-the-public-theater.html?_r=0
>>>
>>> On Sat, Aug 29, 2015 at 3:47 AM, ish mailian <ishmailian at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> > We know. Ironically, the use of dummies to simulate life saving, may
>>> retard
>>> > our natural life instinct and advance the death instinct. Like my
>>> chatting
>>> > here with you as I neglect my friends and family who are sitting right
>>> here.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > On Friday, August 28, 2015, ish mailian <ishmailian at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> Took classes in childbirth and learned how to hold, feed, bathe, etc.
>>> a
>>> >> new born, and yes, we were given dummies, and I took classes in CPR
>>> and AED,
>>> >> and, we practiced with dummies. Though we learned the skills to
>>> preserve and
>>> >> even save a life, we may have unlearned how fragile, vulnerable, dare
>>> I say,
>>> >> sacred (?) life, human life especially, is. A doll is a dummy; it is
>>> so much
>>> >> plastic and manufactured parts, engineering, bereft of the miracle of
>>> >> nature's billions of years of unplanned generations. The toy, the
>>> dummy or
>>> >> doll, the I-Pad has a built in obsolescence, and we know it, and we
>>> know
>>> >> that a baby, a man choking on the floor, a woman suffering congestive
>>> heart
>>> >> failure, is not a factory good, a complex machine like Man, but is
>>> only his
>>> >> project, his compilation of junkyard parts, his Carl Barrington not
>>> his V..
>>> >>
>>> >> On Friday, August 28, 2015, John Bailey <sundayjb at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Last night I stayed at the "robot hotel" about an hour outside of
>>> >>> Nagasaki. Staff are almost all automated.
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/16/japans-robot-hotel-a-dinosaur-at-reception-a-machine-for-room-service
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Got me thinking how the contention in V. about humanity using
>>> whatever
>>> >>> is its current level of technology as a metaphor through which to
>>> >>> understand itself is such a wonderful one. The uncanny valley crap is
>>> >>> 1% of it. Anyone who says with a straight face that we're hardwired
>>> to
>>> >>> freak out at the sign of something close to but just a little
>>> >>> different to us should be invited into a discussion of race,
>>> >>> disability, transgender, and so on.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> But the "robots" there were just automata, not AI, and not much more
>>> >>> technically advanced than the automata of Europe and Japan 200+ years
>>> >>> ago. They're objects of delight, the same way.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> On the plane to the airport, back in Melbourne, I was sitting
>>> opposite
>>> >>> two Middle Eastern kids who were cradling a robot baby. I'd heard
>>> >>> about these - automaton infants that cry etc to teach youngsters what
>>> >>> it would mean if they got pregnant as teens. They were as embarrassed
>>> >>> as all hell to have to be carrying this thing around in public. They
>>> >>> obviously came from a refugee family, too, given our neighborhood.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> The robots V. warned us about are none of these but, to me, are more
>>> >>> like the drone pilots that carry out missions in the Middle East.
>>> >>> 12-hour shifts in a dull portable in the Nevada desert, disconnected
>>> >>> from the acts they're carrying out on a muted screen, and forbidden
>>> >>> from discussing any of this when they get back home each day. That's
>>> >>> humanity driving itself into the deathkingdom.
>>> >>> -
>>> >>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>>>
>>
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