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HBOs latest hit series The Last of Us, based on the 2013 video game of the same name, depicts a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Cordyceps one type of which, Ophiocordyceps, is known to infect insects like carpenter ants and control their behavior evolves to be able to infect humans. It is suggested that this is caused, in part, by global warming. A rapid spread of the virus worldwide paired with a futile government response (deja vu!) results in total societal collapse.

For the first five episodes of the season, the main characters, Joel and Ellie, fight tooth and nail as they travel west from a Quarantine Zone in Boston to Jackson, Wyoming in search of Joels brother, Tommy.

When they find him in episode six, theyre surprised to find a thriving community in Jackson. After seeing the repressive authoritarianism of FEDRA the official authority of what remains of the U.S. military that imposes backbreaking labor on a permanently-impoverished underclass in the Quarantine Zones and the senselessly violent post-revolutionary terror of the gang in control of Kansas City, Jackson is a welcome relief.

As Joel and Ellie walk through Jackson, decked out with Christmas decorations, schools, and even movie theaters, Tommys partner, Maria, explains how their community operates. Everything you see in our town, greenhouses, livestock, all shared. Collective ownership. They make impressive use of hydropower for renewable energy. Work is shared. Government positions are appointed democratically and regularly rotated to create the widest possible participation in the administration of society. So, communism, Joel teases, which Tommy denies. Maria corrects him: This is a commune. Were communists.

Is this actually communism as Marxists would describe it? Not really. But many experiences in the history of the communist movement, whose lessons live on today, bear resemblance to Jackson. Attempts at creating cooperative villages were undertaken by philanthropic capitalist Robert Owen in the early 17th century. Later in 1871, the Paris Commune saw the armed working class driving off the French state to establish a workers state which survived for a short period. The Paris Commune left a lasting mark on consciousness with its example of what a communist society could accomplish, as the workers of Paris rapidly implemented progressive reforms like separation of church and state, equal pay for women, and the requirement that state officials take only the average workers wage.

A genuine communist society, which would take shape through a period of socialism and transitioning away from capitalism would need to be truly global. While the people of Jackson make the best of what they have, they dont have enough. The democratic organization of production would need to be coordinated locally, regionally, and globally to ensure everyone has what they truly need, from the best medicine to technology and production techniques. Furthermore, theyre under constant threat from the outside: the people of Jackson nearly killed Joel and Ellie when they first arrived, aware that hostile forces could come in and destroy everything theyve built. There can be no socialism in one country or in one town, city, or parish for that matter that wont immediately suffer hostility and sabotage from the rest of the capitalist world hell-bent on eliminating any threats to their system.

And the good news is, it wont take an apocalypse that turns the population into zombie-like monsters to achieve. On the other hand, we wont be able to rely on a freak accident of nature to wipe the billionaire class off the planet and render useless their wealth and the institutions that defend it.

While we cant say episode six of The Last of Us was genuine socialism or communism, many young people watching the show, the majority of whom prefer socialism to capitalism, were no doubt pleasantly surprised to see a positive depiction of a non-capitalist, collectivist society. But for this type of society to be won, to survive in the long term, and to truly flourish, it will take a fight. This fight wont look like the Fireflies tactics of underground networks and terrorism, but a broad movement of working people and the oppressed united in solidarity to overthrow the regime of capitalism, seize the wealth and means of production from the ruling class, and build from the ground up a society of our own.

The Last of Us, starring Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Pedro Pascal (who is related on his mothers side to Chilean socialist leader Salvador Allende) as Joel, is an exciting watch. While the story of The Last of Us, in the show and the game, ultimately puts forward nihilistic theses on violence and human nature, the post-apocalyptic setting provides for interesting depictions of how society might be organized without the fetter of capitalism. With Season 1 wrapped up, HBO watchers can now look forward to the dysfunctional antics of the wealthy megalomaniac Roy family in the final season of Succession!

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Communism Gets a Cameo in The Last of Us - Socialist Alternative

Official trailer for Big Jake starring John Wayne

John Wayne, who stars in the 1947 flick Angel and the Badman on STZEN from 3pm on April 2, was once the target of death threats by Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin, who believed the Hollywood pin-up would be detrimental to his communist crusade. Stalin led the Soviet Union between 1924 and his death in 1953, and accused Wayne and his close associates of using anti-communist rhetoric. Among the others also targeted was Orson Welles, the acclaimed actor, director and producer of the 1941 film Citizen Kane.

The details of Stalin's desire to kill one of the world's most recognisable faces was laid bare in the 2001 book John Wayne - The Man Behind The Myth, which was written by film historian Michael Munn.

According to Munn, Stalin became aware of Wayne's influence during conversations with the Russian filmmaker Sergei Gerasimov. He himself learned about Wayne when attending a peace conference in 1949, in New York.

As the pair talked, it soon became clear that Gerasimov believed Wayne embodied ardent anti-communist beliefs, and the actor was on Stalin's hit list.

Munn recalled being told of this plot by Welles during a dinner in 1983, and that the actor said: "Stalin had decided that he would have [Wayne] killed."

While admitting that Welles was a "great storyteller", the tale itself was offered to him without a prompt.

Stuntman Yakima Canutt, Munn detailed, also saved Wayne's life, the actor once told him. Munn continued: "Yakima told me that the FBI had discovered there were agents sent to Hollywood to kill John Wayne.

"He said the FBI had come to tell John about the plot. John told the FBI to let the men show up and he would deal with them."

Wayne reportedly carried out a scheme with his scriptwriter Jimmy Grant to abduct the assassins, drive to a beach and then mimic an execution in a bid to frighten them. Munn was unsure if this actually happened.

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He added: "Afterwards though, John shunned FBI protection and did not want his family to know. He moved into a house with a big wall around it."

In a bid to stay away from communists looking to kill him, Wayne's stuntmen came to his aid. "He then gathered all the stuntmen, went to the communist meetings, and had a huge fight," Mr Munn said - the moment Canutt "saved Wayne's life".

The order for Wayne's death was reportedly cancelled by Nikita Khrushchev following Stalin's death. Khrushchev and Wayne met to discuss the scenario in 1958.

Khrushchev, the book claims, said the death threat was "a decision of Stalin during his last five mad years... when Stalin died, I rescinded that order".

Wayne was renowned for detesting the values of communism, so much so he even played a prominent role in creating the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals (MPA) in 1944, becoming President five years later.

Its membership included the likes of Ronald Reagan, Walt Disney and Clark Gable.

For a man so intrinsically linked to stereotypical personas of what a man should look like in the Thirties and Forties, it is a surprise that, unlike his fellow Americans, Wayne did not fight in World War Two.

His contemporaries, such as Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Mel Brooks and Kirk Douglas, all served, but Wayne was excused on medical grounds and instead continued his film career.

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Being unable to serve was a "terrible embarrassment" for Wayne, Carolyn McGivern's 2000 book John Wayne: A Giant Shadow argued. The star reportedly said: "Mine became the task of holding high and ever visible the value that everyone was fighting for."

However, there were counterclaims that Wayne could have served, including by author Marc Eliot, who discussed the topic in his 2014 book American Titan: Searching for John Wayne.

He claimed Wayne did not want to fight Germany on account of his relationship with Marlene Dietrich, a German actress he reportedly had an affair with. Unwilling to end the bonk, Wayne instead just vetoed taking part in the war.

In 2014's publication John Wayne: The Life and Legend, by author Scott Eyman, Wayne, who won the Best Actor Oscar in 1970, described how one encounter affected him while he grew up.

He wrote: "Duke Morrison [Wayne]'s learning experiences were not always pleasant, but deeply imprinted on his ethical compass. He remembered catching a bee, and tying a thread around the creature so all it could do was fly in circles. A boy who was about three years older and had recently arrived from Poland walked by and said, 'Don't do that.'

"Morrison ignored him and kept tormenting the bee, at which point, he remembered, 'The roof fell in.'"

He added: "[Wayne] found himself lying on the ground with the Polish boy standing over him. With a heavy accent, the boy said, 'I've just come from a war, from Poland. Don't ever be cruel to animals. Or people.'

"'It was quite a lesson,' Duke said. 'I'll never forget it.'"

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John Wayne's death was 'ordered' by Joseph Stalin because of star's threat to communism - Express

Justin Hendrix is CEO and Editor of Tech Policy Press. The views expressed here are his own.

The hearing was billed as an opportunity for lawmakers to get to the bottom of issues ranging from data privacy to national security to consumer protection. One lawmaker referred to alarming revelations in recent months, including how foreign actors abuse the social media platform to take millions of Americans personal information without their knowledge in order to manipulate public opinion, while another worried about how it might hurt peoples mental health, especially young people. Yet another brought up the platforms racially discriminatory practices.

The CEO, in a dark suit, crisp shirt and blue tie, extolled the values of free expression, but reassured the lawmakers that when violative content is discovered, it is removed. He defended the companys use of personal data, and suggested he would welcome new privacy regulations. He promised lawmakers he took their concerns seriously, and committed to changes that would better protect the American people. And on numerous occasions, he promised hed have his staff follow up on questions posed by lawmakers for which he did not have an immediate answer.

Of course, that CEO was Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, in his 2018 testimony before the Senates Commerce and Judiciary committees. That there are so many obvious parallels to the dialogue between lawmakers and TikTok CEO Shou Chew in this weeks hearing in the House Energy & Commerce Committee underscores a crucial fact that was lost in the blizzard of pointed questions, open disdain, and at times xenophobic vitriol directed at him: Congress needs to accept its share of blame for the harms of TikTok. The failure of lawmakers to pass any significant statute to address the dangers of social media is what created the conditions for TikToks extraordinary growth.

There were glimmers of self-awareness from the lawmakers during this weeks hearing, to be sure:

Yet especially when it comes to privacy concerns, the reality that this is a problem for social media companies generally undercuts the primary logic for a TikTok ban. As Washington Post staff writer Will Oremus pointed out, reams of data on Americans shopping habits, browsing history and real-time location, collected by websites and mobile apps, is bought and sold on the open market in a multi-hundred-billion-dollar industry. If the Chinese Communist Party wanted that data, it could get huge volumes of it without ever tapping TikTok.

Indeed. TikTok is not a product of Chinese communism, it is a product of American surveillance capitalism. If Congress wants to address the apps underlying harms, it should ban surveillance advertising, not TikTok.

One lawmaker who appears to understand this most clearly is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who is not a member of the Energy & Commerce Committee. In a video (on TikTok- her first on the platform), she explained the crux of the matter:

Some of the arguments about banning TikTok have come with respect to discussions around Chinese surveillance and utilization of data that is tracked, and the enormous amount of tracking on U.S. citizens and data that is harvested by TikTok. And they say because of this egregious amount of data harvesting, we should ban this app. However, that doesnt really address the core of the issue, which is the fact that major social media companies are allowed to collect troves of deeply personal data about you that you dont know about without really any significant regulation whatsoever. In fact, the United States is one of the only developed nations in the world that has no significant data or privacy protection laws on the books.

Energy & Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Ranking Member Pallone, of course, are two of the primary architects of a potential solution, along with Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL). But in the last Congress, lawmakers failed to advance their American Data Privacy and Protection Act, despite bipartisan approval in the House Energy & Commerce Committee and overwhelming public support for its key provisions. If they want to truly protect the U.S. from the harms of TikTok, then the leaders of both parties should focus their members less on whether Xi Jinping is using TikTok to propagandize Americans and more on how to move such legislation forward.

Our first priority should be in protecting your ability to exist without social media companies harvesting and commodifying every single piece of data about you without you and without your consent, said Rep. Ocasio-Cortez. That calls for less hearings, and more action. No more theater with contrite executives in dark suits, crisp shirts, and blue ties; weve heard enough promises. If Congress cant deliver on that most basic priority, then it must accept its portion of blame for all the harms that follow.

Justin Hendrix is CEO and Editor of Tech Policy Press, a new nonprofit media venture concerned with the intersection of technology and democracy. Previously, he was Executive Director of NYC Media Lab. He spent over a decade at The Economist in roles including Vice President, Business Development & Innovation. He is an associate research scientist and adjunct professor at NYU Tandon School of Engineering. Opinions expressed here are his own.

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Congress Deserves Its Share of Blame for TikTok's Harms - Tech Policy Press

by Nathan Braisted

The third Creed movie has been released, and to help increase the hype, Netflix added all 37 Rocky movies to its repertoire. Well, theres only six, but it feels like there are just too many.

The only problem I have with both the Rocky and Creed franchises is that the filmmakers refuse to let sleeping dogs lie. But if the films continue to consistently make money, then I wouldnt stop either.

The Rocky franchise is one of the most iconic movie franchises of all time, and absolutely dominated box offices in the late 70s / early 80s. With so many iconic plots throughout the series, its hard to pick the best film of the six.

Not for me and most Rocky fans, who know that Rocky IV is miles ahead of other installments, and thats what were breaking down this week.

Rocky IV is a 1985 film written, directed and starring Sylvester Stallone. The film came out during the Cold War, and the films primary motif is America beating communism.

Russian super-athlete boxer Ivan Drago comes to America and is promoted by his manager to be unbeatable by the inferior American boxers. Rockys enemy-turned-mentor Apollo Creed sees these challenges and wants to prove himself as a true American patriot in the ring, so he agrees to fight Drago.

Rocky warns him against it but agrees to at least help him train for the match.

The fight is set in Las Vegas, and Creeds entrance is an over-the-top display of American showmanship to psych out Drago, but he just stands there completely unphased.

This dude is a stone-cold boxing machine, and I dont blame Rocky for sitting on the sidelines.

Creed gets absolutely demolished in the first round, leading Rocky and Apollos other trainer, Duke, to beg him to stop. Apollo is willing to die for his name and his country before a forfeit, and steps back in for round two.

Unfortunately, Apollo ends up losing his life at the hands of Drago by the end of the match. Apollos death is the motivation Rocky needs to fight Drago himself (and will be the motivation Donnie needs in Creed II).

Because of some league rules, Rocky will have to give up his championship if he wishes to fight Drago, which he does without care.

The fight is set in the Soviet Union on Christmas Day. Rocky flies out to a remote cabin in Russia to train, and were shown my favorite training montage of the whole series (I feel like it trumps the Philadelphia stair-climbing sequence) in which we have Rocky chopping logs with an ax, pulling sleds in the snow, and growing a cool beard in the process.

During Rockys training montage, we see Drago in a multi-million dollar training facility with dozens of researchers studying his every move. If the conditions werent unfair enough, we also learn that Drago has been pumped up with steroids the entire time. So not cool.

Now its time to fight. Rockys team decides their best way to win is to tire Drago out and strike when hes vulnerable.

While the speech Rocky gives at the end of the film may not have held true in reality, it makes for a really good ending in-universe.

The Cold War aspect of the whole movie is probably my favorite part. Both fighters represent so much more than just themselves; they represent their entire country.

The story is really good, and its interesting how it indirectly sets up the Creed franchise. The pacing is great, and its such an easy watch with a ton of replay ability.

The villains of the movie are really well done. If youre watching an 80s movie (or even an 80s-set movie), 90% of the time, the villain is going to be Russian. You think Red Dawn would have been half as good if Patrick Swayze was attacked by Antarcticians? Absolutely not.

Although it makes most of those villains seem a little less original, it shows just how influential the Cold War was in every aspect of American life.

Rocky IV is an absolute classic movie, and holds strong to this day. Like I said earlier, Netflix has picked up most of the Rocky movies, so give them a watch and see which you think is the best.

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'Rocky IV' The Only Reason I Know Roman Numerals - Troy Tropolitan

Standing at nearly 2 meters tall, with the physique of the former athlete that he is, wearing sneakers and a leather jacket, and speaking without mincing his words, Edi Rama is more like a rock star than a prime minister. His entire demeanor, in fact, says unconventional.

Kathimerini met with the Albanian leader on a Sunday earlier this month at Zappeion Hall in downtown Athens, where he and curator Katerina Koskina were setting up a massive installation of his artwork. Because apart from politics and basketball, Rama also studied and taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Tirana, has shown his work in different parts of the world and also combined his sense of aesthetic with politics as mayor of the Albanian capital from 2000 to 2011.

The invitation to hold a show in Athens was extended by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias after they visited Rama at his office in Tirana in December and marveled at the art adorning its walls in the form of wallpaper and at the art supplies on his desk. The Zappeion show, which runs to March 31, comprises paintings on sheets of A4 paper and a series of ceramics he made at a friends workshop.

Is the Albanian prime minister at all torn between political cynicism and artistic idealism? It is certainly a battle, he says. I never thought Id become involved in public life. I thought Id become an artist. But the universe laughs at our plans and it had a very good laugh with mine, sending me on a completely different path. Politics can be a cause of catastrophic decisions, developments and turns in history, but it can also be a means of significantly improving peoples lives, a massive transformational force. We would have nothing without politics; not democracy or freedom or equal rights. Ultimately, these are the reasons why people become involved with it.

Our discussion inevitably turned to the deadly rail crash in central Greece on February 28. Your tragedy is our tragedy, the Albanian prime minister had said immediately after the incident, going on to declare March 5 as a national day of mourning in Albania, with flag flying half-mast. Sympathy is a natural reaction and the people always feel closer to each other than their leaderships do, he comments. When a tragedy befalls us, we realize how similar we are and that we are both vulnerable to nature, children of the same God. And when that tragedy strikes a neighbor, you fell their pain even more intensely. So, average citizens have a lot to teach politicians about what they are and what they want and the leadership should emulate them more.

I follow up on that thought and ask him whether he feels that politics has caused him to give up on a certain part of himself. I try to be me, but that is easier said than done sometimes. I dont always wear the politicians suit, and I am also not the product of a party, but of an age of great change for my country. As an artist, I also felt societys need for more freedom. I know what it feels like to be restricted and I dont mean in terms of your livelihood or career, but something bigger than that. The fall of communism was like having to break down a symbolic wall for us Albanians. We experienced politics in action and we made it. But even then, I did not want to be a part of the political system, says the 58-year-old.

The people always find a way to work things out. But there are politicians who are serving their own agendas

Indeed, with the end of communism and Albanias isolation, Rama moved to Paris to make a go of a career as an artist. I went after my freedom. I traveled all the time, staying with friends here and there and selling paintings to get by. It was then proposed that I should be culture minister and later mayor of Tirana. Those were very different times; and again, it was the circumstances that determined those positions. At the time, the Albanian capital was completely chaotic and disorganized, and residents had a lot to contend with. As a mayor, but also as an artist, I knew that a mandate to repaint the facades of buildings in bold, bright colors would transform the capital, change its tune. And it did; it worked.

For Rama, its always about circumstances. Would I have become mayor if I was born in Sweden? No. Tirana is not Stockholm or Zurich. There isnt much to change in Zurich. Mayors are a lot like artists: if you do a good job, the result is immediately visible, people see it. A prime minister is more like a maestro conducting a symphony. Being mayor is great, he says.

He laughs when I ask what he would change in Athens. Im obviously not going to answer that question; thats for your own authorities to say.

Ties with Greece

Greece, says Rama, feels like home in terms of the landscape, the people and its warmth, but it also had the good luck to become a member of the European Union, to have leaders like Karamalis, Papandreou and Mitsotakis who served that vision, and to have the Olympic Games.

As far as Albanias EU prospects are concerned, Rama says its a tough process.

The accession process is a lot more complicated and demanding than it was for other countries in the past. Lets just say that its a matter of political subjectivity, a difference in criteria. Everything is much stricter now and some countries would not have become members if they applied today, says Rama, who recently suggested that Greece had cheated to become a member of the bloc.

There are also unresolved issues between the two neighbors, mainly the matter of maritime zones and the Greek minority in Albania. With regard to the former, Rama says that the two sides have agreed to disagree and the matter will be settled by the International Court at The Hague. We have a fantastic relationship with Greece and personally with Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who knows how to speak and how to listen.

In terms of the former, Rama says that the people always find a way to work things out.

We have always been close. We were temporarily separated by communism and there was a wave of immigration from our country to yours after it fell that caused some concern, but over time this became mutually beneficial, for your country as much as for mine. The people, as I said earlier, always find a way to work things out. But there are politicians who are serving their own agendas and so bilateral ties are not defined by the human relationships but by the leaderships, and especially when were talking about countries that are neighbors.

Regional developments

Our conversation turns to the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the regional chessboard of geostrategic relations and the possibility of new outbreaks of tension in the Balkans.

People say that we produce more history in the Balkans than were able to consume. I am optimistic about the Balkans, though, especially if we find a way to work together and even more so to get under the EU umbrella. We have our issues, of course, our disagreements and our tricks, but thats who we are otherwise, wed be the Benelux. Sometimes I even think were just playacting. My grandmother had a good saying: The happier your neighbor, the happier your home. Sure, well fight and argue, but when disaster strikes, its your neighbor who will come to help first. Sympathy always comes first and the people know this.

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We are both children of the same God - Kathimerini English Edition