Nuclear Beef

Former Republican Senator Audio Beef Today. NOT MUSIC! Bob Dole gets fed up with biased and off-topic questions and lets Terry Gross know about it.

'Fresh Air Interview - 04/12/2005 - Advice To John Kerry' (4mb .mp3, 64Khz mono)

'Fresh Air Interview - 04/12/2005 - NPR Is Part And Parcel Of The Democratic Party' (2mb .mp3, 64Khz mono)

by Bob Dole and Terry Gross from NPR's Fresh Air, April 12th, 2005

(Partial transcript is mine. Copyright obviously belongs to NPR. All emphasis and errors mine.)

Here's the bit about Kerry, where Dole weighs in on Kerry's service and its effect on the failure of his campaign. This part of the transcript is in the "Full" and "Advice To John Kerry" files above.

T: Being a veteran and being injured in the war was such a life changing experience for you, so some people were surprised that you became one of the people who criticized John Kerry for his military service during the period of the Swift Boat Campaign against him. You said "Three Purple Hearts and he never bled that I know of, I mean, they're all superficial wounds. Three Purple Hearts and you're out." How did you decide whether to say anything and then what to say about Kerry's service during the 2004 Presidential Campaign?

B: Well, I only said it once. And John Kerry and I are friends, and we're still friends, even though this.. politics is not beanbag, it's hardball. And I'd sent word through one of his friends (who I will not name because he doesn't want to be involved) to tell John to stop talking about Vietnam. I mean it seemed to me that he overdid it. I really think he may have won the election had he not talked about his.. when he saluted at the convention and everything was sorta based on him being a Vietnam Hero and I acknowledged when I said that that he was.. I don't quarrel with his war record, it's a great record and he ought to be pleased about it. But I was also in the Senate when he came back with that terrible display and in effect said our soldiers there were raping and killing babies and that was only a report, he was reporting what he had picked up, but he should have been more responsible. If he didn't know the facts he shouldn't have been spewing all that bad news about, or charges against our own forces. But I talked to Kerry after I made that statement because he just kept pushing and pushing and pushing his war injuries, and the fact the injuries weren't severe at all. I felt it necessary to make a statement, I mean you get the feeling after a while if somebody is out there telling how bad they were wounded or injured.. the facts didn't bear it out.

T: Maybe I'm mistaken, but my memory is that he wasn't emphasizing being wounded as much as, you know, the bravery and a sense of leadership he had to display when he was in Vietnam.

D: Oh, I think he referred to his Purple Hearts frequently, and his Silver Star. And I don't quarrel with the fact that he served in Vietnam. But I always felt, when I ran in 96 and Clinton evaded service (he didn't avoid service, he evaded it), can I capitalize on that? And say this guy is a so-and-so because he didn't serve? I didn't think that was appropriate. I thought I could talk about, I'd get up and say I'm proud to be a veteran and then go and talk about the issues. I wouldn't stand there for 20 minutes and say this happened to me and this happened to me and this happened to me, and I couldn't use my left arm, my right arm, dah-dah-dah-dah. I don't know whether people want to hear that every time you stand up. And I think that was.. but that's not in my book. I'm not talking about politics.

T: No, I realize that. Weren't you concerned, though, that as a result of the Swift Boat campaign, that it kinda opened up the door for anybody who had been a veteran, who had risked their life to serve their country, that their record could be impugned, that in spite of risking their lives for their country that someone could come along and say well it didn't really happen, or you didn't do what you said you did and that, you're, you know..

D: Well, I don't know, I wasn't part of the Swift Boat operation, so I don't know. I mean, I think that they had.. it's hard to believe that 260 men, I guess in this case, who were in that group were all telling.. were all liars and were not telling the truth. So it may be that their recollection was a little cloudy but this is not.. it's about my book, it's not about the last campaign.

[ transcript break at 4:11 in the "Full" file ]

Here, Dole reveals that he told Kerry to stop talking about Vietnam so much, and that he believes it may have cost Kerry the election. Bob Dole knows something about losing a Presidential election, so it might have served Kerry to listen to him.

In addition, Former Senator Dole points out something which is factually unquestioned : that none of Kerry's injuries were severe. He also comes out with the obvious rejoinder to the accusation that the Swift Boat Veterans were lying, the fact that there were over 250 of them. I've never really been able to believe that all 250 men were so motivated by partisan politics that they would stake their word on personal opinions which were entirely made up. This doesn't mean that I necessarily believed every one of them, but that those who shared their opinion of Kerry as a soldier and an individual must be presumed to be sincere. Even if some of them were inaccurate in their version of events, an opinion cannot be factually disproved.

Terry Gross ignores Dole's first grumblings about the political questions, and proceeds to ask him to speculate on whether Tom DeLay is threatening judges with impeachment if they disagree with Republicans. The transcript resumes when Gross asks Dole a final question about Tom DeLay. Bob seems to have had enough and lets Terry know exactly what he thinks about NPR and a host of others besides. This part is in the "Full" and "NPR Is Part And Parcel Of The Democratic Party" files, above.

[ transcript resumes at 6:53 in "Full" file]

D: I really didn't come to discuss all that, I came to talk about my book.

T: No, I understand that. One more question about Tom Delay, though. Do you think that he should resign because of the ethical issues?

D: Why? Why, because the New York Times says that? I mean, they're part and parcel of the Democratic party, as some think NPR is, too.

T: I'm.. I'm sorry but do you feel like you need to say that I'm asking questions from a biased view, that it's not ok to just ask questions?

D: No, it's fine to ask that question, I don't have to respond to it, because I don't have the facts.

T: Absolutely, you have the right to not respond if you don't want to, and.. Ok.

D: You give me the facts, I'm a pretty good judge, but you give me what the New York Times says or the LA Times or the Washington Post, who are out to get DeLay in the first place, then I don't think that I can make a judgement. If they want to bring out every member of Congress who may have done the same thing (and again, I don't know what was done) but lets just say it'd be a great thing for NPR to look down both parties and see how many parties quote allegedely end-quote have abused a system when it comes to trips or who pays for trips and I think that would be doing a public service. But when you just single out one person because of his philosophy and his party affiliation, then I think that's wrong. It seems to me that there are a lot of.. most of the members of Congress, regardless of party, are well intentioned men and women who want to get the job done. And this gotcha journalism that some people promote is not.. I don't think it's healthy.. or it's not right, either.

T: I want to get back to your book.

D: Good. Yeah, I thought that's what I came for.

T: I thought that you might say that.

When I originally heard this interview, this is the point where I was pumping my fists in the air and chanting "BOB DOLE!! BOB DOLE!!" because he was letting it all hang out. One of the benefits of being 81 and retired, I presume.

Terry completely ignores his (fourth of fifth) protestation about the political questions and asks him a loaded question about Tom DeLay. You can sense that he's had enough, and he accuses the New York Times and NPR of being "part and parcel of the Democratic Party." Priceless.

(To forstall inevitable kvetching: I absolutely love NPR. I've listened to it all my life, and I credit All Things Considered as a significant contributor to my knowledge of the world and my interest in it. But let's be honest, here. NPR is a liberal media bastion, as is PBS. Everyone knows it. They're not as far left as, say, The Nation, but they're at least as far left as the New York or LA Times. It sometimes bugs me, but every media source comes with caveats, and NPR is better at the business of news and commentary than most. I value it, but it's clearly liberal. Ok?)

Terry, clearly flustered, asks him a mealy-mouthed question about "just asking questions" and Dole freestyle rants some more. This time it's about the degree to which media elites focus on a given person when attempted to create sensational stories. He points out that many members of Congress engage in the behavior which DeLay has been accused of and accuses the media of practicing "gotcha journalism." In my opinion, this is true on both sides. It's disgusting no matter who is doing it, and counterproductive.

After his tirade ends, Terry finally gets the message and asks him a question about his book... truly a classic Conservative-on-NPR moment. Enjoy!

(Shouts out to incitor, who was also chanting "BOB DOLE!! BOB DOLE!!" when he heard this on the radio in his car. Jeers to NPR for not providing transcripts of their shows, so I have to spend hours of my time typing it up. Sheesh.)

Posted by darwin at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (1)

House OKs Family Copyright Bill

The House of Representatives passed copyright legislation on Tuesday that would dole out criminal penalties to those who make unauthorized recordings of films in movie theaters. The Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 (HR357) also would permit technologies that allow users to skip objectionable content in movies viewed at home.

When we look inside this cuddly little Family Entertainment act.. what's this?

Establishes criminal penalties for willful copyright infringement by knowingly making a computer program, musical work, motion picture, or sound recording being prepared for commercial distribution available to the public on a computer network.

(full bill text here)

As I understand this bill, it creates a seperate federal crime when one wilfully releases music on the Net if said music is 'being prepared for commercial distribution.' Thanks to 1994's NET Act, it's already a criminal offense to use a computer network to infringe copyrights, even if the infringement is done without commercial intent. Why, one wonders, should it be more illegal to infringe a copyright if the material in question is 'being prepared' for 'commercial distribution?'

Presumably because the people who paid their Congressholes to create this bill want another cudgel to use against those who would leak their precious intellectual 'property.' Of course, if they wanted to keep people from leaking their promo material, the obvious choice would be to stop distributing promo material to everyone and their mother but hey, we're not talking about reasonable people here. We're talking about the copyright cartel and their lawyers, who are clearly total fucking assholes.

How long will it be before a mp3 blogger is arrested and charged with willful infringement for leaking a track from a forthcoming release?

RIAA, MPAA and so forth, I have a message for you. Your business model is already dead and no amount of punative law or suing of media consumers will save you. These actions will only increase the well deserved hostile backlash from the very same artists and consumers you have shamelessly exploited over the last hundred years. When your dinosaur companies all go bankrupt, I won't be shedding a single tear. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Posted by darwin at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cheese Progressive House Vocoder Nirvana Cover Audio Beef Today. Wix proves that no song is too angry or incoherent for a club mixxxx.

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Here's a little bit of electro-cheese for the Nirvana lovers who didn't get enough with last week's sampling of 'Love Buzz' by Cajmere. In honor of the recent anniversary of the (murder? suicide?) of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Copy, Right?'s recent chock-full-of-Nirvana covers post, I bring you a club mixxx of the song that started it all.

Unlike the White Lion cover which Liza posted recently, this is actually sorta listenable. Yes, it's cheesy. Yes, there's a vocoder. Yes, German people pronounce 'albino' as 'al-bean-o.' So why did I post this?

Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile, which I think is the exact opposite of the mood imparted by the original. Small wonder that it cracked the German Top 40 charts, which after all are currently dominated by Schnappi, The Rapping Crocodile. In the future there will be a button on every music device which will immediately convert the song you're listening to a bumping hardstyle remix.

I, for one, welcome our new cheese-house masters.

(There's no 'buy' link because this track does not appear to be commercially available, other than white label vinyl. There's no other information in Google about Wix, either. That's extra confusing because Google also indicates that this was released on Warner Music. WTF? Also, Shouts out to Liza of Copy, Right? and Oh Yeeeah!!! for throwing down the tech-cheese cover gauntlet. Props to her for many moons of great covers, including the unforgettable Frogs cover of 'Vacation' by the Go-Gos, Thin Lizzy's 'The Boys Are Back In Town' vs. R. Kelly's 'Ignition (Remix)' covered by the Mountain Goats and so many more. I know for certain that I can't step to her cover-maven-ness, but that won't stop me from trying! On another note, those of you who are into deep underground indie rock would do well to check out my first mp3-blog son, a blog called Em P M3. It's run by a feller named Mike who describes himself as a "former DJ, Music Director, record label owner and tour promoter." He's been posting for a week and is already blowing up all over the internets. Definitely one to watch!)

Posted by darwin at 09:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

(click for larger)

Heartfelt (and inappropriately executed) tributes to Pope John Paul II continue to appear throughout the American landscape. Thanks to db and his fiance l for this little piece of graffiti hilarity.

Posted by darwin at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Genre-Busting Bassline Jacking Chicago House Audio Beef Today. Cajmere consults Nirvana for a groove in Jack's House.

It's Monday morning, so here's a little pick-me-up courtesy of Chicago's finest : Cajmere, AKA Green Velvet. This man has been producing dancefloor hits for years now, from the groundbreaking 'It's Time For The Percolator' to 'Flash,' 'Answering Machine' and other quirk-laden classics. Unlike many other techno luminaries, however, Cajmere just plain never falls off.

This track is a good example of Cajmere's musical sensibility. You may recognize that bassline from somewhere.. it's Nirvana's 'Love Buzz.' From this suddenly funky foundation, he assembles (in classic tracky Chicago House fashion) a track which will blow up dancefloors. There's a somewhat irritating female vocal for a bit.. I did mention that this is House music, right? The vocal is reasonably inobtrusive in much of the song and used to great effect in the breakdowns, so I can't complain too much. By the time the lead guitar arrives to kick things into high gear, you should clearly understand this man and his music. Hands in the air, smile on the face.

Or perhaps just a.. Love Buzz.

(Special thanks to Cinnacism who asked me very kindly to post this. Also, I absolutely insist that anyone who appreciates DJs at all visit this incredible history of Radio Bahrain, which was founded in 1977 and has broadcast DJed music throughout the Gulf ever since. A truly fascinating read. Oh, and Gem US Records appears to have this vinyl as their single release, and no webpage whatsoever. Hooray for non-existent techno 'labels.')

UPDATE : As "Kurtz" points out in the comments, the song 'Love Buzz' is originally by a group called Shocking Blue, a 70s band from the Netherlands which had a huge hit with 'Venus.' I believe that the version of 'Love Buzz' sampled here is the Nirvana cover. RIP to Kurt Cobain, dead 11 years last Friday.

Posted by darwin at 12:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I've been accused of focusing too much on the misdeeds and pecadillos of my peers on the left side of things. Here's an hilarious example of the derangement on the right over the Terri Schiavo fiasco, from a commenter named 'Carol Herman' on the right-wing Captain's Quarter Blog.

The miscarriage of justice is complete.

But to michael, I'd say this. Hitler cremated so many, and there are no places to go to see the final resting place of the dead. Ditto, 9/11. It's not as if Americans haven't come to terms with 'no grave doesn't mean out-of-sight."

And, when the medical examiner releases his report, we'll see that Terry was a mere concentration camp victim anyway. How much does a body weigh, after it's been starved of water and dehydrated? Did she weigh 65 pounds?
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Does michael do a dance if the medical examiner says that in Terri's starvation her brains were reduced to the size of a prune? Does it matter? Can greer run his confidentiality seal around the medical examiner's tongue? I think not.

And, a dancing goul is still just a dancing ugly-man. Most of us know that a young 21 year old Terri married a monster. And, got locked in.

Now, we're told by the felos types that homosexuals also want marriage rites. Made to order. Just like that. But with a dabble of promiscuity added.
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Oh. And, let me add a secret. A neurologist told me. Everybody's brains sits in liquid. That's why we can be bruised. Our brains shaken. And, the FLUID (LIQUID) works as a SHOCK ABSORBER.

Will the medical examiner find "liquid?" REALLY?

She was starved to death for 14 days. Dehydration did it's poisonous work.

And, if the dem-dim-dumbs think this was very clever of them, I think they'll lose more soldiers yet, in their battles and skirmishes with the PEOPLE.
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Did ya learn anything new?

All brains sits in liquid.

Whatever the medical examiner did, he still must do it with accountability. If he's the last left loon on earth, others will go over his report with a proctoscope. That means they'll stick the microscope high up into his behind, searching for the liquid in his brains, if he GOOFS.

Now you tell me? You've spent a fortune going to medical school. You end up with the refrigerators as your profession. You're always called to crime scenes. You know, for a FACT, that when homosexuals kill each other the view is a bloodbath worse than anything "normals" can do.

You're testifiying when you're not slicing and dicing.

And, you're thinking the medical examiner is a bozo?

Nah.

He goes to events where Michael Baden stars. He certainly knows what it feels like when other doctors think you're a moron. Even if you're in Florida. Home to Disney. The last thing you want to be in LIFE (where you mother and father might even still be alive to see your reputation mentioned in the "dailies.") ... The last thing you want in life is to be called one of the dwarves.
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What future comforts ahead? I'll leave that in the capable hands of God, upstairs. And, between our President and Tom DeLay, we shall see what we shall see?

Imagine there are still goofs around who don't think concentration camps happened? And felos spoke of Terri as brain dead?
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Water in Terri's head? How? She was dehydrated.
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On the other hand, when the cororner releases his report, he can claim (if he were a silly loon) that Terri died of Alzheimer's Disease. Not a Chinaman's chance in hell that it's gonna come down the pike this way.

But the CAUSE OF DEATH: Dehydration.
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What Terri did, and the Shindler's did, was similar to Dorothy arriving in Oz; and finally she was able to pull back the curtains.
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No wife in the world deserves to be treated the way an out of the way court, in Florida's hindquarters, decided to do, to compete with Shir'a laws. Which are no laws, to begin with. Just bullies and sticks.
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I think that what the coroner reports will deal with what he finds examining her body. What to look for are the mistakes. If he says he found fluid in her cranium; HA! All the fluid is dehydraded out. What putz would say a raisin has fluid? And, we're talking about dehydration beyond "raisin" here.

Yes, I'm quite sure that the coroner will soon report that there was no fluid in Terri Schiavo's brain as, you know, she was dehydrated. Which means somehow that the atrophy of half of Terri Schiavo's brain was all a lie, and when the truth comes out in the autopsy there'll be hell to pay for the evildoers!

I swear, I couldn't make this paranoid raving homophobic crap up if I tried.

Someone seems to have put the brain of this Carol Herman person in a liquid... pickling brine.

Posted by darwin at 09:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Feed: REDACTED
Title: Pope.Has.Passed-AWAY (Misc) by REDACTED

Pope John Paul II, the spiritual leader to more than 1 billion Catholics who spread his message worldwide in his 26-year papacy, has died, at 9:37PM local Rome time. May he rest in peace. This will probably get deleted, but as sign of respects and with the over 1 billion catholics, i just want to show my respect for him. You didnt have to be Catholic to respect him for what a great being he was.

Aww. The post was, in fact, baleeted.

UPDATE:

Stolen © HIP Interactive 04/2005 :..... RELEASE.DATE .. PROTECTION .......: Stolen 1 :.......... DISC .. GAME.TYPE ........: Adventure This release is dedicated to pope John Paul II who passed away 02.04.2004

Do you suppose the Pope really wants people dedicating warez to him?

(I, of course, did not download this. I merely looked at the nfo!)

Posted by darwin at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

IDM, errr, Tech-house, err, Downtempo Audio Beef Today. Metamatics shows us how manly neon can be.

'Man-Q-Neon' by Metamatics from his 1999 album Mind Mushing Git on Hydrogen Dukebox Records

For your Thank- Bob -It's-Friday pleasure, here's some sunshine music from IDM all-star Metamatics, aka Lee Norris. Originally recorded in 1999, this album was limited to 200 copies and only distributed in Scandanavia. In 2003, the UK's long-running Hydrogen Dukebox label decided it was worthy of wider release and issued it. I sure am glad they did!

I've been into Metamatics for a confusingly long time. In fact, in the days before mp3 blogs I found out about music like this by.. guessing. I would occasionally come across a realaudio sample, but they were few and far between. Metamatics is a discovery which I owe to this 1998 review (from Hyperreal.org's web-zine Reverb) of Metamatics first 12" on the seminal English label Clear Records. Clear released much of the early Metamatics work as well as innovative music from Morgan Geist and other heavyweights. I had no idea, of course, but I happened to find the CLR001 12" at In Your Ear! Records in Providence. I bought it and played it and loved it to death even though it was totally unlike any of the techno records I was playing in 1998.

It sounded a fair bit like the IDM and Ambient which db had introduced me to (instinct ambient, autechre, etc.) but something was different about it. Listen to this track and you'll understand at about 1:30. Metamatics never fails to put a smile on my face because it's intricately constructed without losing that swing. I imagine my old apartment on Brook Street in Providence, a sunny day with the windows open, reading along to their music in the sunshine.

(PS, I must push this link on you because it makes me so happy to see people take the law into their own hands. W00t.)

Posted by darwin at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)