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In This Issue:
- Editorial - Dio Takes the Stage
- Lunch With Bob - Twice!!
- World Press Review - parmi les français


Editorial

I asked a few congress critters who'd voted against the MPP with Pakistan why they hated e-America so much. Responses were interesting. If you consider icy-cold death-stares alluring. Which I do. Kidding! I only got one death threat in response to my pestering. No! No! Kidding! They were all super-nice.

The response I liked best was, and I paraphrase, something like: "It's always good to have someone voting 'No' against stupid shit." As a devoted contrarian, I sympathized with that sentiment.

Most responses included a reference to Dioism. Generally along the lines of "screw it" or "tired of it" or "foreign policy shouldn't be based on Dioist BS". Being nothing if not fair, I should note that one correspondent notated that their No vote should NOT be considered an anti-Dioist knock.


Thing of it is, I hadn't given Dio much thought in quite some time.




And then, to my surprise, there was a wee kerfuffle recently about some fighting carried out by the erstwhile Rainy Sunday, a Dutch citizen and music critic who is popular (with 17,001 friends) in various places around the e-globe. Being preoccupied with an important barn-raising, followed by a mutual-aid potluck and punk-metal hootenanny on the SFP Commune celebrating the development, by yours truly, of a new genre of peoples' music called "Cape and Western", I couldn't find the time at the time to follow up on the details of the latest round of such sniping amongst the English. I did note, however, that the malarkey at issue seemed to involve Comrade-Sister Sunday violently violating the Swedes, which evidently got Our Glorious Leader, the chicken-guy's, feathers ruffled.

Well, I'll tell ya, being one who's wise to the ways of the world outside our idyllic socialist homestead here at Bear Mountain, I quickly detected the Dioist underpinning to these politics. You know, given the "traditional" Dioist aversion to all things Swedish or Spanish.

(Evidently there's also a question bopping about as to whether the immigration chief for e-USA shouldn't be a US citizen. But I'll leave that for another day. My quick opinion is that "my nationality" in e-Rep is pretty much like a potential song phrasing, much like "I like big booties and I cannot lie" or "All the trees are falling".)



I am pumping out these Dioist news notes neither to praise Dio nor to bury him. My long isolation away from the worldly English and their bizarre obsessions has left me at peace. I have no beef with Dioists, nor with anti-Dioists. Nor do I intend to dredge up Phoenix Quinn's deep and outstanding ideological analysis of Dioism as the initial stage of socialist consciousness in eRep, with the 2nd stage being Ramonist-Chuikovian internationalism and the 3rd stage being Quinnist-Spoonerist horizontal autonomy, in the context of a network of confederalized communes.

What I find perhaps more useful to consider at this juncture is Dioism as the exemplar for the theatricalization of eRep life. Please bear with me.


First, I'd note that there is an uncanny moment in many art forms where they appear, in hindsight, to have been plagirizing from the future. And that this in turn reflects the reality of all symbolism (that is, inventing and "believing" in words about things), in the way that it always tends to retroverse, that is, to retroactively not only re-explain things, but to re-define and even (in a symbolic sense) to re-create them.

And second, that historical, political and even ideological events (I hesitate, obviously, to say "truths") can similarly have effects that, upon retrospection, are not what they seemed to be at the time of the event.



An example from literature: there is a scene in a lesser-known Guy de Maupassant story, written 30 years before Proust's magnum opus, which describes how a chance encounter with an everyday object can trigger multiple half-forgotten memories.

An example from politics: The assassins of Julius Caesar intended to take down a tyrant and restore Rome to its republican glory. They could not have foreseen that their acts would instead open the door to Empire, and that their dagger strokes would be enigmatized forever as back-stabbing, rather than the glorious act they'd envisioned.



So... what does that have to do with Dioism? My hypothesis is that all forms of e-"literature", including the oft-maligned, oft-edited Book of Dio, are an immanent part and parcel of the historical, political, military, ideological and ludic procedures in which the symbolic order of eRepublik unfolds. As the French say, l'appétit vient en mangeant ("the appetite emerges through eating"). We discover what we mean to say about the New World only in the course of saying it. To put it more boldly: truth is an effect of surprise, triggered by its enunciation.

I was not particularly a fan of the Dioist narrative until I began to unwind it myself -- to speak it, the play at it. I am much too fond of Spaniards and Swedes in real life to accept some of its foundational scripts as decent play, but, on the other hand, like PQ, I too get a lot of joy from developing a different "Dioist" story-line in an attempt (a hopeless one, of course, given the inevitability of retroversion) to give "meaning" and "structure" to the emblematic continuity of eRepublik.




Within our shared game world, any intervention that attempts to mediate desire and feeling by use of imagination or fiction will, inevitably, socially mediate the character of desire-formation itself. In the real world, we can all feel that, more and more, it is largely the case that the line between actor and spectator is murky. In the e-world, this is doubly or maybe triply or quadruply so.

What are the modes in which that fourth wall get breached? In a tragedy, the individual actor (embodying a script) represents the universal character being played. In a comedy, the actor immediately is himself or herself on the stage; in other words, in comedy the gap of representation is closed. It is not that comedic actors play themselves, rather that there, on stage (on e-stage in our case), they are what they really are.

This explains why Bertoldt Brecht said that dialectics is always hilarious. And it's why Dioism is too.



I am thrilled to report on two wonderful lunch-time conversations. Continuing to reach out to players beyond the delightful but admittedly insular SFP caracol, I sat down with longtime Fed friend iamnameless and with WTP'er Jenkins87, whose writing in "The Modern Drunkard" I've enjoyed immensely.


I hope you enjoy these two conversations. Drop me a line if you'd like to share a bite!




A conversation with Jenkins87


Jenkins87 has been bopping around eRep for 10 years. He is the writer, editor and chief bottle-washer of a rollicking newspaper called "The Modern Drunkard".

We met up at a picnic table under the trees in his yard in Tucson. It was a little bit of heaven. While a chuck roast slowly smoked in the fumes from freshly-husked pecan shells, we sipped on rum and savored some giant burrito's, called burros there, followed by Sonoran dogs - yum! (For you Yankees, that's an Hermosillo-style hot dog, wrapped in bacon and served with onions, tomatoes, pinto beans and jalapeño salsa.)

Before getting into the interview questions, we comisserated over no longer being able (or willing) to puff on either tobacco or cannabis. Old guy stuff.


RFW: Do you mind telling us a little about who you are in real life?

Jenkins87: I'm a caucasian. Grew up in Reseda. (RFW - that's in Los Angeles, California) Now I live in Tucson, Arizona. after my ex-wife died and moved here to be with my son.


RFW: Oh thanks. Sorry for your loss. How did you get started playing eRepublik?

Jenkins87: I started in November, 2009. I worked for a company that made products to beat drug tests. My boss was a day drunk who rarely showed up. I found this game at work, and started playing. Then I got a girlfriend, she moved into my apartment and erepublik seemed less important.


RFW: Ha! Yeah, I could see that! Do you put much time and effort into eRepublik? What is your general take on the game?

Jenkins87: Now, I'm a daily player. I wish we were more united as a country. We were for a minute but that seems to be dissolving. But in RL America it is the same.


RFW: When you run away to join the circus, what will your circus act be?

Jenkins87: I am adopted. I found out my biological father was a lion tamer. So A lion tamer. I imagine a chair and a whip. The whole stereotypical thing.


RFW: Awesome! I think I will just feed and take care of the elephants. So, have you ever felt like taking a break from the game, or starting a new account?

Jenkins87: Get a woman, then you tell me!


RFW: Haha! The "get a woman" part is pretty unlikely in my case, but I hear ya. Would you tell us about one of the best (or worst) times you've had playing eRepublik?

Jenkins87: The best was helping CG's (RFW: "CG" is chickensguys, current CP of eUSA) becoming president! The worst was the story I wrote called "bible stories part I"


RFW: OMG, I loved that story! Guess I'm going to hell. OK, let's see... if you could change one thing about eRepublik, what would it be?

Jenkins87: The U.S.A. would be more united.


RFW: Quick, without thinking about it too much, name a song you like.

Jenkins87: Catch Hell Blues by the White Stripes


RFW: Awesome! There is nothing quite like a punk-country-metal Detroit take on the Delta blues. Anything else you'd like to share with the eRep community?

Jenkins87: Much love!








And now... here is an exciting SECOND lunch-time interview! Enjoy!


A conversation with iamnameless



iamnameless is a long-time survivor of eRepublik, having joined the game about the same time as Jenkins87 (and about the same time as the previous incarnation of yours truly, for that matter). A helluva nice guy with solid experience, iamnameless used to write for his paper, "Bras and Knickers", but hasn't been active in that department, umm, lately (like, since Day 1825. LOL!). Consider a sub though. Hey, help the dude out towards that medal, y'all!


In real life, iamnameless is legendary Hollywood actor Al Pacino, star of countless movie blockbusters and winner of every acting award that exists. We met up for a quick chat at the snack-bar of the Hollywood lot where he was getting all hot and bothered about upcoming preproduction meetings for King Lear. He was kind enough to answer a few questions about eRepublik and stuff while shouting-out to his various Hollywood-elite buddies and whatnot as they walked by. I played it cool and just nodded at Leo and the other big-wigs like we were old buds.

We chatted while wolfing down bacon cheeseburgers and washing them down with Diet Cokes. I was a little surprised when Al/nameless lit up a big ol' blunt after we ate. But hey, you know how these Hollywood types are, right? And evidently the weed is legal in Cali these days. Gosh, life among the English is weird. Anyway... here's how our conversation went...


RFW: Can you tell us how you got started playing eRepublik?

iamnameless: My then school-aged son got me into it; he gave it up years ago.


RFW: Do you put much time and effort into it? What's' your general take on the game?

iamnameless: The amount of time has varied, but I've only missed two or three days in ten years. I used to spend a fair amount of time on it when I was running the eUS Civilian MU years ago, then kind of went into two-click mode after that. Maybe a year ago I decided to start running factories and employing workers again, that's increased my activity just trying to stay afloat while paying decent wages without use of Tycoon Packs or any rl money. Recently it's been my honor and pleasure to become a 2nd Cmdr in EZC, which is a great bunch of people and imo probably the best thing the eUS has going for it.

As for the game itself... kind of meh, it's stagnant but still somehow fun enough to keep me playing daily for 10 years. It's a cliche at this point but it really is the people in the eRep community that make it work.


RFW: Wow, I don't know too many players who've played so consistently. Umm, I understand that along with playing eRepublik, you're also making like 3 films right now. BUT, once you decide to run away and join the circus, what do you think your circus act will be?

iamnameless: I would be a clown. They don't have any speaking lines and frighten children.


RFW: Haha! Good one! So, have you ever felt like taking a break from the game, or starting a new account?

iamnameless: Yes to taking a break. Not ruling it out in the future either.


RFW: Best or worst times you've had playing eRepublik?

iamnameless: The best times have all been about people who've never even met irl being kind and supportive to each other. No real bad times. I got blacklisted once, that was weird.


RFW: Gosh. Blacklisted! (RFW stares nervously off into the distance.) Wow, I wouldn't know anything about how that kind of thing might happen... So, if you could change one thing about eRepublik, what would it be?

iamnameless: Douchebaggery. If there's a setting for that, I'd like to dial it way down.


RFW: Cool. OK. Since I'm a musical guy, I always like to ask folks to name a favorite song.

iamnameless: Li'l Kim's "Eat My Pussy Right" (NSFW)

RFW: (red face) Holy crap! Does your mother know you listen to that?!


RFW: Anything else you'd like to share with my huge reading audience?

iamnameless: Be good to each other.









This week, I thought I'd take a spin around e-press I found interesting in the French-language or from French-speaking countries.




Belgique

Taking a look at the e-Belgian press reminded me of that old Talking Heads song, "Heaven". You know, the one with the chorus that goes "Heaven, heaven is a place, a place where nothing, nothing ever happens".

The most interesting posts I found were posts from mittekemuis' paper Doublestandard (in English) that provided reports from the Plato Foundation, an initiative that tries to spark activity and creativity in an organized way. Interesting to go through these back issues to see what some of the ideas have been.



Canada/Québec

Mann551 Investments by Mann551 in the paper Canadian Coverage

Here is a dude promising "100% return on investment plus your original investment within a matter of days". Just send money!

My favorite comments on this story:
- from Exalted Druid... "Just waiting for my Nigerian Prince funds to be transferred into my account then I'm in."
- from Thedillpickl... "Here's to AidenAstrup, wherever he may be!"



la France Rouge

Semaine du 7 janvier au 13 janvier by Service Militaire Aerien (SMA) "Week of January 7-13"

Not the most exciting headline I've ever seen, but this approach to helping players improve their air battle work is a good example of how to pull together for success. Reminded me of the SFP Bear Cavalry's own "Rapid Deployment Squad", which similarly offers rewards for participation in air battles.


Le Koinmunisme sert la France by Journel_Officiel "Quackmunism serves France"

The Parti Koinmuniste (PK), (which could be translated as the "Quackmunist Party", but sounds a lot funnier in French.. "koin" is the french way of saying the sound that a duck makes) is one of the longest-standing far-left parties in the e-world. In this issue, the Koinsident de la République addresses fellow citizens and kanarades, urging them participate in the revolutionary peoples government's new revenu minimum d’activité (RMA) ("minimum activity income") program.



Suisse

swiss news: japan's demise? by chris jonadicus

"The Fighting Independent" reports on shocking news about government banking entities in e-Japan and e-Austria being permabanned due to the malfeasance of certain players draining collective/government resources into their personal multi accounts. Folks are upset because a large amount of gold and CC was sequestered by Admin.




Thanks for checking out this edition of "Radio Free Dixie"! Please provide feedback and suggestions. If you'd like to have Lunch With Bob, drop me a line and I'll send you the interview form.

In-game: Use the handy comment section below, or send a message RF Williams, or go hang out with the anarko-koimmies for a while and chat me up on the Socialist Freedom Party feed.