The J-7 mailbag--That's all she/he/it/shim wrote, that stalwart of J-7, old Bobby Crane. You know, Colonel Hogan, that goy who was murdered by John Carpenter (not the director). Most sites get these emails at some point or another, but I acknowledge the intensity of this material on this site. The senders hope to throw the recipient off-base, get them to feel beleaguered, embattled, and depressed. Well, that works if they're a conformist who cares what others think.
Unlike most Americans, I'm not one. So, my reaction is to actually enjoy when someone I dislike gets this angry and writes me something like this. It's my candy, my television. It cures whatever ails me. Bobby came around right before the end of the Palfrey trial. Their sell was interesting, and they weren't alone: I was close to the Palfrey case, and some wanted "access" to the late madam, and myself. Oh yeah, and they were offended by some things I wrote too...
One of them was the ambulance chasing L.A. attorney Sam Deskin (do a word search on this site with his name, enjoy), who had approached Palfrey sometime around January of this year for exclusive access and control of her phone records for deeper research and publication (for money, you got it). Sam once tried to get our sites fused together, and I stupidly agreed to this not knowing who he was or what he was about (money, crass power-grabs). Luckily, the blog software and his own site's were incompatible. Ah yes, there were several others who will remain nameless--but then along came "Bobby" (oooohhhh!).
Bobby wanted me to stop writing comments of praise about Sen. Barack Obama's former preacher, the Rev. Wright. I still agree with the majority of statements made by Wright, who could be described as someone practicing liberation theology. Bobby said I was being offensive..."as shit." Yeah, a real rocket scientist, that. Then, after the rude approach, Bobby plied me with the confidence game, very clever.
This is the gist: "Hey, we can be friends. I have this site you once passed through, and I'm trying to create an alliance of progressive sites that will communicate directly with Democratic national candidates--but you'll have to change your writing." I'm paraphrasing.
Since I was only born the day-before-yesterday, it didn't work. I was wise to the ruse. Do I think it's something scary, some kind of a conspiracy? Of course not, unless you count assholism as a global cabal (hmmmm...). And so, as chronicled in other parts of this blog, I told Bobby to fuck-off and that "I don't care what you think about anything at all." As as a matter of fact, I don't care what the readers of this piece think either.
To make things short, Bobby got more-and-more abusive--I'd already beaten him to it on that count. But Bobby and his ilk never got it and never will: I enjoy the bile, the hate, and the rejection. I like watching scoundrels writhe in agony. It's my badge of honor in what I consider to be a virtually soulless world void of much humanity, a place of idiots and meat puppets. I see conformists who wish to be liked by everyone as very pathetic creatures indeed. Do I believe I'm right about everything on this blog? Of course not, I'm human, but it's my right to express myself. But let's get to the crux, the original message that comprises the title of this piece, because it's all she wrote.
"Your soul contains all that is found in insects, pigs and vermin." I'm unsure why anybody would think this would offend me, especially someone who has no problem using a panoply of expletives (especially "fuck," popular favorite). But let's get a little quasi-scientific here: what's found in "insects, pigs and vermin"? The same elements that make up all life on earth, meaning hydrogen, oxygen, and of course, carbon. Yes, Bobby is a dumb-ass, and I'm being irritating. What's a soul made of? This is where the pixie-dust factor comes-into-play. Who fucking knows? Who cares? Exactly. I sure don't.
Bobby and his ilk are my entertainment, my video game. I love Bobby. Bobby makes me laugh at how impotent and ineffectual most of us are, myself included. But he also makes me feel a lot smarter, and that's always good for the ego, let's be honest. He's the proverbial duck in the barrel that I can shoot at. Any other takers? Snips, snails, and puppy dog tails--that's what your momma eats for brefist.' Thanks Bobby. Thanks for being ewe.
Postscript, 07.03.2008: I'm leaning towards it being Rob Cappriccioso of Bighead DC, he's probably still smarting from that whole Sam Donaldson flap.
Monday, June 30, 2008
"Your soul contains all that is found in insects, pigs and vermin."
Question: Is Reason Magazine's Michael Moynihan Related to the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan?
WWW--Who was Daniel Patrick Moynihan? In case you don't know, the late senator had a deeply-rooted fear of Black people, and Black women in-particular. His 1965 report, entitled "The Negro Family: The Case For National Action," still rankles those familiar with it.
There are the apologists, but it's hard to get away from the fact that Moynihan blamed the social problems of Black Americans on a female, matriarchal trend in families. For those who still believe it--tell it to Obama and the Black Middle Class. Some of them had single-parent families headed by mothers too. Oh, and most of the American populace under 35. What was wrong with Daniel Moynihan?
Most American men have a deep-seated fear in being penetrated by Black men, so what gives with the late senator? There's an element of sexual intimidation there, and it is wrong. Not morally. Not factually. It is simply wrong, like a platypus or a Black Republican. We're all still waiting for that epochal moment when Alan Keyes implodes up his own ass.
The Moynihan Report, object-proof of its late-author's feelings of sexual inadequacy: http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/webid-meynihan.htm
Revised 07.02.2008
CNN: "IS U.S. FUNDING A SECRET WAR [IN IRAN]?"
Washington D.C.--Seymour Hersh has been writing at-length on this in recent months, but it's not exactly a new story. In 2004, I was told by a source who has been working in the Middle East for a private security firm since before the invasion of Iraq that Special Forces and Rangers groups were hitting Iranian infrastructure.
One of the targets was very provocative: a water reservoir. Other targets were military, specifically outposts and bases, while others were general attacks to create a sense of disorder in the Iranian populace. It doesn't take much real looking, it's out there. Start asking those who are there, they'll tell you. CNN is merely begging-the-question, but this writer can assure readers that they've known this at least as long as me.
Hoosier alert: CNN had a call-in on the Seymour Hersh stories--and he's nobody important, just the man who uncovered the My Lai massacre and inhuman abuses at Abu-Ghraib prison in Iraq--where a jackape named "Kevin" called the noted journalist a traitor. Welcome to Indiana, home to the genus, stupid American male.
Seymour Hersh's article on the coming--and stupidly pointless--war with Iran:
Sunday, June 29, 2008
There was no Murder in the Cathedral: On Tim Russert, Ruslana, and all the rest
The Parapolitical Mind (is there one?)--Why did the Kazakh supermodel fall to her death? No, this wasn't because of the bear market mini-crash (mini?!) this week. It's clear--even though there's no evidence whatsoever--that Kazakh supermodel Ruslana Korshunova was murdered by the United States Government. So was Tim Russert--or at least according to the predictable crop of banal paranoid-schizophrenics who are pronouncing it.
"But," they will say, "Her life was fine, she was successful and had so much to live for." Says you. Methinks thou dost protest too much. What's good for the goose isn't necessarily good for the gander, but nobody's silly enough to claim this was a case of defenstration yet:
Witnesses described seeing her plunge from a ninth-floor balcony in the building on Saturday afternoon.
Local media, citing police sources, said there was no sign of a struggle inside her apartment and that Korshunova was believed to have leaped to her death.
A friend told The New York Post, however, that Korshunova had just returned from a modeling job in Paris and seemed "on top of the world."
"There were no signs," the unidentified friend was quoted as saying. "I don't see one reason why she would do that."("Kazakh Model in Suicide Plunge," Reuters UK, 06.29.2008)
These are the same kind of observations I kept getting around the time that Jeane Palfrey committed suicide--that's suicide, not murdered. But we're all credulous about something, and we've all made those wild leaps in our lives. God knows this writer has. It's just that some of us do it nearly every single time someone famous dies, or when it doesn't fit our personal--even national--mythologies. Anti-authoritarians, take-note: not everything is state-sponsored.
When overweight press lapdog Tim Russert died of a heart attack, the response was involuntary for some of us, just as it was with the Palfrey suicide and a gauntlet of others over the decades. If you follow the pseudo-logic of these paranoid-schizophrenic reactionaries who populate the internet, nearly everyone who ever died in human history was murdered by the United States Government, even before there was one.
Yes, there is a humorous side to all of this.
Why am I writing about this? The answer is simple: being involved in the Palfrey affair has brought me into contact with this kind of peculiar social animal--the sensationalist kook who claims to "have the facts," like Obama accuser Larry Sinclair. Self-deception is a mental game we've all played. These claimants never do have the "facts," just lies, half-truths, innuendo, high talk, and self-serving delusion. They aren't alone. Just look at the millions who still believe the war in Iraq and Afghanistan is legitimate. Why do they--we--do it? Why do we deceive ourselves? A look at the worst of us is in order.
Many of these individuals are washed-up hustlers like Larry Sinclair, or Alex Jones, and they see an opening in a scandal, especially when someone controversial and famous dies. Simply-put, they smell money. Others just wish to believe something that makes easier sense of a very complicated modern reality. Others simply cannot face a horrible personal reality. Some might be a combination of both, like Kathleen Willey, an accuser of the Clintons:
According to Willey, during a meeting in the private study off the Oval Office, Clinton embraced her, kissed her on the mouth and fondled her breast. She also claimed he placed her hand on his crotch.Clinton denied ever assaulting Willey in the incident which allegedly took place five years before the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Willey never gave evidence to a Clinton's impeachment trial after some members of the House and Senate refused to allow her to testify.
On the same night the alleged assault took place in November 1993, Willey's husband Ed died from a single gunshot wound.
The Virginia lawyer was over £300,000 in debt and had embezzled money from a client.
He left a suicide note in which he apologised for running up the debts, and also a $100 lottery ticket for his wife.
Willey claims in her book that the autopsy on her husband failed to show it was suicide. ("Hillary Clinton faces sensational claims from another woman in Bill's past, The Daily Mail, 11.07.2007)
As you can tell, the widowed Mrs. Willey has a very real motive in constructing a fantasy narrative that obscures the obvious reasons behind the untimely suicide of her husband Edward, an inarguably fallen attorney (sound familiar?). It's possible she was involved in his road to ruin. Who knows? It's likely that Willey doesn't remember much of the run-up to her husband's suicide at all.
If we're honest with ourselves, we have to question her integrity and credibility, as well as her sanity. Did Clinton assault her? There's no solid evidence of this, only her claims, and we all know how well that holds-up in a courtroom. Actually, it sounds a lot like recovered memory, or more accurately, false memory syndrome.
Human memory works in some very funny ways. Our minds often protect themselves from threatening experiences and memories by editing or altering them. Nation states are no exception to this, being an amalgamation of millions of individuals. Our memory is not infallible, which is the reason why eyewitness testimony in courtrooms doesn't merit much credibility. And of course, we all tend to believe what we want to believe. These are the shortcomings of subjective experience.
The only way to prove a memory is through corroboration, as there is a human tendency to believe the impossible, and to miss what's right there in front of us. Memory is fallible, but there's more at work. We tend to move towards that which we wish to believe:
There is no use in multiplying examples. The point is that we are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield.
When one looks at the all-prevailing schizophrenia of democratic societies, the lies that have to be told for vote-catching purposes, the silence about major issues, the distortions of the press, it is tempting to believe that in totalitarian countries there is less humbug, more facing of the facts. There, at least, the ruling groups are not dependent on popular favour and can utter the truth crudely and brutally. Goering could say ‘Guns before butter’, while his democratic opposite numbers had to wrap the same sentiment up in hundreds of hypocritical words. (George Orwell, "In Front of Your Nose," Tribune, 03.22.1946)
And so on. Yet, that aforementioned "source"who's only tangential to the Palfrey case is unlikely to change their opinion that the DC Madam was murdered. Never mind that there's no evidence of foul play: according to them, everything points to it, and all madams who go public who are found dead are murder victims. Some of this is because it's in their interest to hold this view. Just ask Larry Flynt.
The problem: there's no corroboration that Palfrey was murdered, and none is likely to be forthcoming. Not for Palfrey, not for Tim Russert, and not for Ruslana Korshunova. Just because we want some kind of notoriety or big payday doesn't mean it's true. This creature is everywhere on the internet, and lurking within all of us. It's the tendency towards individual and mass psychosis, often the prime-mover--if not a central cause--of social upheaval.
Don't believe it? Before the American Revolution, many colonists felt moved towards revolt against the Crown because they believed it was part of a Catholic conspiracy to topple their liberties. Pamphlets and handbills sold the story, just as the internet is today. As we now know, this "Papist conspiracy" was a phantasm, but it aided in mobilizing the mob towards revolt.
On the suicide of Ruslana Korshunova, Reuters UK, 06.29.2008: http://uk.reuters.com/article/mediaNews/idUKB65890320080629
"Hillary Clinton faces sensational claims from another woman in Bill's past, The Daily Mail, 11.07.2007: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-492205/Hillary-Clinton-faces-sensational-claims-woman-Bills-past.html
A gaggle of disturbed people positing that Tim Russert was murdered (sans evidence): http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?noframes;read=126372
The False Memory Syndrome Foundation: http://www.fmsfonline.org/
George Orwell, "In Front of Your Nose," Tribune, 03.22.1946: http://www.orwell.ru/library/articles/nose/english/e_nose
Saturday, June 28, 2008
A Message to Obama Accuser and Gay Hustler, Larry Sinclair & His Followers
WWW--This was submitted to Larry Sinclair's site on a thread about D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor regarding Sinclair's arrest at his recent press conference at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. :
Larry & his disciples:
Oh sure, Larry, we'll believe you. A 27 year rap sheet, all the admissions of being a grifter, a deceiver, and admitting that you have mental problems--of course we should believe you, why not?
All of you are so incredibly misguided to believe one word of this individual, and I believe the warrants will be found to be valid. This is coming from someone who doesn't trust our police, our government bureaucracy, nor the politicians.
This whole story is a pipe dream of a hustler who's run out of options, lies, but he certainly hasn't run-out of "marks" and rubes he can shakedown for some quick cash. But thanks for allowing myself and others to better understand the real dynamic of the Palfrey affair: mental illness. Thanks!
The rest of us are out there fighting power directly while those here are chasing ghosts and wasting their resources on a liar and an admitted con man. Larry had the First amendment right to have that press conference...except that he's a criminal who's wanted in more than one state. Doesn't matter, this horse and pony show is ending naturally.
P.S.: I'm a Nader supporter and have serious doubts about Senator Obama that have nothing whatsoever to do with a washed-up, lying gay hustler named Larry Sinclair. Jeane was guilty, and I personally believe you are too. May justice be served, either way.
Sens. Larry Craig & David Vitter team-up to...protect the heterosexual marriage
Washington D.C.--Alright, this must be what's keeping them all so very busy in Congress, and making it so difficult to move towards impeachment investigations and hearings...uh, and that ever-present lack of will because they're complicit in Bush administration/GOP crimes.
But hey: never mind all that, this bill has been reintroduced since 2000 without any real support, and forget about $4.00-$5.00-a-gallon-gas--we needs to be protectin' them-thar' heterosexual marriages, and these fellers should know (better--they do). Clearly, this is the most important (impotent?) thing these two could erect at one of the most momentous periods in American history.
PageOneQ--a gay publication and website--has noted that Craig and Vitter are working hard at...what, I have no idea of, but it sounds like more pre-2006 midterm rhetoric about "protecting heterosensual marriage" from itself. Read the statistics on marriage in America. They aren't pretty, and neither are you. This is interesting, since most legislation begins in the House, but who cares:
Two United States Senators implicated in extramarital sexual activity have named themselves as co-sponsors of S. J. RES. 43, dubbed the Marriage Protection Amendment. If ratified, the bill would amend the United States Constitution to state that marriage "shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman." ("Sens. Larry Craig and David Vitter co-sponsor Marriage Protection Amendment," PageOneQ, 06.27.2008)If only Mark Foley were still in Congress, it might bring tears to his eyes (maybe it has anyway, which is good). Perhaps a talk with Montgomery Blair Sibley is in order for these guys, but it's unlikely anytime soon, especially for Senator David Vitter...or is it? Stay tuned.
In case you don't know, it's been objectively confirmed through his presence in phone records that Senator Vitter had sexual-intercourse several times with prostitutes who worked for the late Deborah Jeane Palfrey's Pamela Martin & Associates escort service in 1999. Palfrey was convicted before sentencing of money laundering and racketeering, which sounds more like a Republican than a madam. Does Vitter like them with big tits? I know I do, c'mon. Get real, who doesn't? Even gay men find them interesting, but that's for another time.
But the GOP's Vitter couldn't keep IT in his pants--and who in the GOP's hierarchy can? After promising under oath to his former prosecutor wife that he would keep it in his pants around the same time that Bill Clinton was denying he'd sinned, Senator Vitter sinned it like a beast, again-and-again-and-again, then continued to deny it. Got all that? The Louisiana senator was also caught soliciting prostitution on FBI surveillance tapes in 2001 when they were wiretapping the brothel of the "Canal Street Madam" in New Orleans.
Rumors have circulated for over a decade in Louisiana that Vitter's a sex-addicted whore-monger. Since July of last year, it's been an established fact, though one wouldn't know it from reading the American press. Craig's problems began a few weeks before that in June of 2007. Now, just a year later, we have them introducing this legislation to protect marriage. But they needed more physical coverage for their smokescreen. Safety comes in numbers, and a Roman phalanx of six other senators backing this questionable bill doesn't hurt, I hear tell. Will it go anywhere? Of course not...
Remember that at the time Vitter was chasing poontang, the 9/11 hijackers were in states like Florida, taking flight lessons and getting things in order for their attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the White House. Hearings in 2002 revealed the FBI's surveillance operation in the big N.O., and then came the subsequent confirmations in the summer of 2007 that Vitter had solicited prostitutes through Palfrey's agency.
Yet Vitter wouldn't meet the same fate as the former governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, and that's because he wasn't a Republican incumbent. It also didn't help that he had prosecuted dirty lenders on Wall Street with ties to the GOP as attorney general for the State of New York. All hail the oligarchic patriarchy--but what about Senator Vitter and his closeted GOP brethren with intense sexual (c)ravings?
Controlling the Justice Department helps here, in this, our American banana republic. It's all about cherry-picking, folks, so just keep your eyes on the middle-shell and win big. And don't forget to peruse our snake oil concession, it's a cure-all. Now: is there no one who will save the widow's son (from himself)?!
PageOneQ on the Craig/Vitter Sperm Cult of the Eight, 06.27.2008: http://pageoneq.com/news/2008/CraigVitter_0627.html
Govtrack's page showing the historical lack of support for the bill, 06.25.2008: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=sj110-43
The Murdered SPC. Megan Touma and the Symbol
Ft. Bragg, North Carolina--It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes--or even the fat and lethargic Mycroft--to understand the meaning of the symbol enclosed in a letter claiming responsibility for the murder of Ms. Touma. Whomever sent it is taunting the authorities, society, and maybe even the decedent's family.
The letter itself is likely dated on the same day that Touma was murdered--the sender notes that it is his "role model's" symbol (it comes from ZODIAC), and it was sent to a Fayetteville newspaper (The Observer), not the police.
The authorities are telling us that they don't know what caused the death of Ms. Touma, but it appears that a murder has occurred. An autopsy has been completed, but remains unreleased. Touma had only been in country from her station in Germany as a dental specialist for a mere two weeks.
The decedent was not reported AWOL when she should have been under United States Army procedure. This suggests that someone with intimate knowledge of Touma and details of her life killed her. They might have even written the letter. In tandem with all of this, we might be seeing a social trend in this and another murder.
In January of this year, Marine Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach was also murdered while pregnant. It is assumed that she was brutally murdered by Corporal Cesar Laurean for reasons that remain unknown, but could be guessed with reasonable accuracy. Laurean is presumed to have assassinated Lauterbach and burned her body in a pit in his backyard so as to dispose of the evidence of his crime. This suggests panic with very little premeditation, something done on-the-fly.
Laurean was captured in Mexico around April 10th of this year, thanks to his constant logging online to communicate with his wife and to access their bank account. The actual wife cooperated with Mexican authorities and helped them bag Laurean. We could be witnessing a very peculiar sociological phenomena that has its roots in our current embattled male-identity.
Are we seeing the rise of the military serial killer, or is that an oxymoron? Are our military installations and their environs becoming a stand-in for the streets of Whitechapel? After all, assassination is what the military does best, and soldiers murdering each other is not a very long walk from warfare.
AP: "Bush says US developing additional penalties against Zimbabwe, calls election a `sham'"
Washington D.C.--Having disenfranchised millions of Black Americans, he would know the real thing when he saw it. Correct, he has no moral authority whatsoever. Takes one to know one, dunnit?
AP(ing):
Kill the FISA compromise bill by confronting your Senators
Washington D.C.--We've gotten a reprieve from the House and Senate granting the telecommunications companies and the Bush administration a free-pass on illegal surveillance of the rest of us. Use this time well, and diplomatically confront your senators as they come home to meet with you, their constituency, over the 4th of July.
Remind them what the Independence Day and the Bill of Rights mean, and that at least you haven't forgotten. Also, be sure to remind them that you're an active voter who holds-sway over the voting behavior of others. The Electronic Frontier Foundation had this to say after our short reprieve this week:
Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold succeeded in giving us a gift: no FISA votes in the Senate until July 8th -- after the Fourth of July recess. That means that when all the Senators go home for the holidays, to ride in those parades, you have a chance to be seen and heard. Not by the intern who downloads and counts the emails, not by the staffer who answers the phones and logs the calls, but by the Honorable Senator.
In person, face to face.
In public, where they can't turn away.
In front of the cameras, everywhere they look.
...If you have a place reserved for a float in your town's parade, maybe you need an idea for your decorations. If you have a place reserved for your lawn chair or the curb, maybe you need an idea for the sign you'll hold up when the Senator or Representative comes by.
"Hey Senator, can I have some immunity, too? -- Vote NO on FISA!"
"I like the WHOLE Bill of Rights -- Vote NO on FISA!"
Time for some old-fashioned American bird-dogging folks, so get out there and give them a civil and polite slice-of-hell. Remind them that they can be fired, removed, and discarded, legally.
One from the Vaults of a pre-9/11 world: A 2001 Interview with avante garde hip-hop group dälek
DÄLEK INTERVIEW
words: Matt Janovic
Big hip-hop groups and artists come and go, but some names stick, and are recalled as timeless. There is the word, and the thing itself. Without question, the New Jersey unit, dalek is of this calibre, and hip-hop is what they do so well. With their acclaimed first release of "Negro Necro Nekros", on Gern Bladsten in 1998 (and their new 12" on Matador with "post-everything" Techno Animal), the reminders of rap's wilder days were clear.words: Matt Janovic
And this is one of many paradoxes to this enigmatic group: a synthesis of the past, present, and future of rap, as well as life. And the future (by way of the past and present?) is what dalek and this interview are all about, oddly enough.
[Conducted via-the internet towards the end of January/early-February of 2001. All content the intellectual property of the author.]
| Q: | One would find it odd that a hip-hop group would be on a punk label like Gern Bladsten, but you guys are unique. How did the deal with them ever come-into-being? |
| dälek: | The O. recorded a lot of bands on the Gern Blandsten roster (Rye Coalition, All Natural Lemon and Lime Flavors, Trans Megetti, Chisel, The VanPelt, etc). From there I met Charles Maggio (owner and lead singer of RORSCHACH) and hit him off with a tape of what would be "Negro, Necro, Nekros". After listening to the demo and seeing us live with Computer Cougar he wanted to put out our record. |
| Q: | Any future plans with Techno Animal? |
| dälek: | Yeah, no doubt. I dropped vocals on the And/Or remix they did for 2nd Gen (available on NovaMute Records). We did a remix for Kid606 (Ruin It, Ruin Them, Ruin Yrself, Then Ruin Me) which Kevin Martin played sax on. And I'm dropping vocals on a track for Techno Animal's full length "Brotherhood of the Bomb" which will be available in May on Matador Records. N ot to mention future tours as well as Oktopus' barbecue this summer!! You should come out. |
| Q: | I think there is a real connection between your sound, and the cinematic. A good part of the "Negro Necro Nekros" album is made up of extended-jams, and a lot of the sounds and instrumentation is exotic. But even better than that is the feeling of tension building and releasing in your music. Like an impending explosion of violence--that sometimes never comes until you've forgotten it was always coming! |
| Oktopus /dälek: | A lot of what we do musically is built on extremes. Ying and Yang so to speak. Dynamics. We try and build up to a certain level and then drop down to nothing (which lends itself to the "cinematic experience"). Most of pop music these days seems to be at one dynamic, but if you listen to jazz (American classical) or European classical or even African or Indian classical you can feel the tension build between the high and low. It used to be that rock emulated these tensions, and hiphop/punk had the feel, but lately, everything seems dead. So it might be cinematic, it might not be, but we just feel the extremes. We're waiting for a cinematographer who can depict it. |
| Q: | In "Untraveled Road", the line "Its all this vision that obstructs our sight...", really stood-out for me. With the intensity of your music, it reminds one of the media-overload we are all exposed to every day. And also, the sensory-overload of the urban environment.; do you think at some point the overload is intentional? |
| dälek: | Of course. Desensitatation is the answer to calm a blind society. 20/20 vision only lets you see what they want you to see (laser vision correction makes you of them). Vision, one of the senses that DESCARTES doubted, does not bring you closer to the self or to creation. Without senses we are left unconnected to the world that we think we experience. Blind-men could never commit racism. |
| Q: | How exactly did the Matador 12" with Techno Animal come about? Were you aware of them before that, or did they approach you? |
| dälek: | Like I said, we had a split 12" in the works. Techno Animal became the other half. They got signed to Matador Records, and they asked if the split 12" could be a Matador release, and it worked itself out. |
| Q: | Who are your favorite Jazz artists? |
| dälek: | Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Miles Davis (Fusion Era), Rashied Ali, Gateway Trio, Jan Hammer, Thelonious Monk, John McLaughlin, Ron Carter, Canonball Adderley, Ornette Coleman Quintet, Cecil Taylor, Wes Montgomery, William Hooker, Jesse Henry, Tor Snyder, John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, Dave Brubeck, Charlie Parker, Trilok Gurtu, Grant Green, Johnny Hammond, Roy Campbell, Dave Douglass, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Bruce Eisenbeil, Jim Black, Mark Hennen, Kai Eckhart, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington (Cara), Ravish Momin, Herbie Hancock, Danny Zanker, Eric Gale, Chick Corea, Revolutionary Ensemble (Jerome Cooper, Sirone, Leroy Jenkins), Charles Hayden, Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Don Cherry, Ramsey Lewis, Hubert Laws, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, Jack DeJohnette, Paul Desmond, Philly Joe Jones, Dizzy Gilespie, Anthony Davis, and those who we may have forgotten and are yet to discover. |
| Q: | So exactly who makes up Dalek, and what do they do? |
| dälek: | Still (DJ, Co-Producer); Oktopus (Co-Producer/Engineer); dälek (MC/Co-Producer) and Deadverse which includes said members and: Joshua Booth (Co-Producer) and Balthazar (Co-Producer). |
| Q: | There seems to have been some confusion that the Gern Bladsten album, "Negro Necro Nekros" was an EP. You guys want to clear that one up for the folks? |
| dälek: | I look at it like a jazz album. Its five songs, but its close to 40 minutes of music. |
| Q: | The Raga samples are great, it wasn't obvious at all. I've heard a few hip-hop acts use Indian music alright, but it always came-off as too "hippie." But you guys use a pretty nice palette of sounds--just about anything. What makes you decide on using one sound over another? |
| dälek: | We don't really choose one sound over another, its what works best with the song. We don't tend to think about it that hard, it needs to be natural. Scott LaRock. |
| Q: | What is your basic instrument/turntable setup (no need for exact specifics if you don't want to) live or the studio? |
| dälek: | Laptop, Turntables, mad Efx, and Vocals. |
| Q: | Hah-hah, back to the psychedelic question again. Any experiences that you would say opened new doors in your mind(s)? It's fairly well-known what Justin Broadrick's feelings on that are (I'm unsure about Kevin Martin's), so was there a feeling of "kinship" on the issue of creativity and the psychedelic experience? |
| Oktopus: | Yeah, I would say we definitely feel a kinship with Techno Animal, except that Justin is always rollin something?? And dälek is for the CHILDRENS!!!!!!! |
| Q: | In "Images of .44 Casings", the line, "Cruel, evil world, I hear your laughs--I just never gave a fuck.", just hit me so hard. It made me think of all the generations of humankind that has suffered for no good reason. But what it made think of most of all was the ancient Gnostic/occult idea that the world is "evil"-- that creation and matter itself is evil. Do you guys subscribe to the idea that the world is irrevocably flawed? |
| dälek: | Although I'm not very familiar with the Gnostic philosophy (I'm now interested), I do hold the belief that the world is flawed. Through my own personal experiences I feel that human nature is inherently evil. The "good" of the world seem to be a biological accident (though a necessity). Even Darwin's "Survival of the Fittest" validates the need of violence and evil to insure existence. What does "good" and "evil" mean anyway? Those are "human" terms. On the level of nature good would equate survival, not moral judgement. |
| Q: | A lot has been written about the "reporting-side" of hip-hop/rap, telling Middle America/"white America" about conditions in the >inner-cities, or the ghetto. But what I noticed is there are many narrators in your cuts. Sometimes, it's like God looking-down and telling us, then a quick-switch into the mind of a "Swollen tongue bum," for example. It's almost like telepathy! Am I wrong on this? |
| dälek: | As flattering as your analogy is, the lyrics in our songs only portray my VERY PERSONAL experiences. Your interpretation is what you get out of it, obviously. I write lyrics for myself and music for ourselves. Interpretations are secondary. Your analogy only inforces my belief in the omniprescence of a creator (NOT RELIGION). The idea that this creator exists in all of us can make this imperfect world work. Religion is a POISON. |
| Q: | Exactly how did the whole relationship with Kevin Martin and Justin Broadrick of Techno Animal come about? |
| dälek: | It was because of Dan Hill. He wrote a review of our 1st album which completely hit the mark. I sent him an email thanking him. Meanwhile, Kevin Martin had read our HipHop Connection interview and was interested in contacting us to work together. Dan Hill basically hooked it all up as he was a friend of Kevin's. We had recorded our half of the split 12" and were looking for a band to do the other half. A lot of different groups were offered, but didn't work out. Once Kevin contacted us and we heard the Techno Animal stuff it fell into place. That initial contact led to a tour with Techno Animal in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland which developed into a brotherhood. |
| Q: | When will we be seeing a national tour for Dalek? |
| dälek: | Hopefully this summer. July/August???? |
Friday, June 27, 2008
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
- by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney (1931)
- They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob,
- When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job.
- They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead,
- Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?
- Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time.
- Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
- Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
- Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
- Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
- Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
- Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
- And I was the kid with the drum!
- Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.
- Why don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?
- Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
- Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
- Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
- And I was the kid with the drum!
- Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.
- Say, don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Songs from the Site Meter: A Visitor from Venezuela!
Site Meter--This was exciting at first. A visitor from Venezuela, citadel of socialist reform in Latin America! What did they read? Probably more than just the link below, but it was an article I wrote on the spread of syphilis in Europe and the Americas. Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes. They were looking for a Latin porn star who relocated to Poland. You tell me, man, it's a germ's life, this human society.
| Domain Name | cantv.net ? (Network) | ||||||||||||||||
| IP Address | 190.74.102.# (CANTV Servicios, Venezuela) | ||||||||||||||||
| ISP | CANTV Servicios, Venezuela | ||||||||||||||||
| Location |
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| Language | Spanish (Spain) es-es | ||||||||||||||||
| Operating System | Microsoft WinXP | ||||||||||||||||
| Browser | Firefox Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; es-ES; rv:1.8.1.14) Gecko/20080404 Firefox/2.0.0.14 | ||||||||||||||||
| Javascript | version 1.5 | ||||||||||||||||
| Monitor |
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| Time of Visit | Jun 27 2008 4:10:17 am | ||||||||||||||||
| Last Page View | Jun 27 2008 4:27:05 am | ||||||||||||||||
| Visit Length | 16 minutes 48 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Page Views | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| Referring URL | http://www.google.co...ial&client=firefox-a | ||||||||||||||||
| Search Engine | google.co.ve | ||||||||||||||||
| Search Words | klaudia figuera | ||||||||||||||||
| Visit Entry Page | http://chickasawpick...urope-by-way-of.html | ||||||||||||||||
| Visit Exit Page | http://chickasawpick...urope-by-way-of.html | ||||||||||||||||
| Out Click | http://www.eurosurveillance.org/em/v09n12/0912-222.asp http://www.eurosurve.../v09n12/0912-222.asp | ||||||||||||||||
| Time Zone | UTC-6:00 | ||||||||||||||||
| Visitor's Time | Jun 26 2008 3:40:17 pm | ||||||||||||||||
| Visit Number | 37,456 | ||||||||||||||||
Dear Congress...
Viddy well, brothers (and sisters--kick out the jams), viddy well: Go fuck yourselves. I'm hardly alone in this sentiment. You've read the polls, you know why, and you won't change. Therefore, you've got to go, and go many of you will in November. You're complicit in the ruination our country.
That means you too, Joe Donnelly. Your campaign people were actually stupid enough to call my home to ask if I'd volunteer to help in your reelection. What?! For a meat puppet, human compost-heap like you? A sell-out? A twit? A yes man? Disappointed? Civility? You won't listen to the will of the people, you don't deserve any, you stupid asshole, you petit bourgeois businessman (that was the first obvious sign-of-trouble).
Nope, I knew you were a liar and cheat before you ever beat that other idiot, Chris Chocola, another former politician you resemble in behavior. And Tony Zirkle is horrible, but at least we know what to expect out of him every single time: the same as from you, so we don't vote for him if we're sane.
You've got to be fucking kidding me, Joe, I want you gone, forever (and that's a mighty long time, but there's something else--the afterworld...). You didn't get my vote in the primary, and I'll vote against you in November.
I'll also encourage my friends and family to do likewise. Rocky & Bullwinkle might get that vote, or even Madonna, but whoever it is, it's going to beat voting for your two-faced husk. Go away, fuck-off. Take this incumbent away, it is wrong.
On the Supreme Court's 2nd Amendment Ruling Today
Washington D.C.--While not advocating anything actionable, see dictionary definition below. For educational purposes only. Time to open a gun shop in D.C., a wide-open frontier! The American Dream writ large!! Do not remove tag under penalty of law. The number three: that's odd. That'll learn ya.'
The New Devil's Dictionary: Assassination
Assassination, v.--An amoral act by the citizen of a country to alter the social order when the legal recourse of the rule of law has broken-down. With extremely mixed-results, assassination is also utilized by the State against citizens and foreign leaders when they stop following the orders of their superiors.
The last resort of the desperate under conditions of an anthropological crisis that threatens the survival of a nation, even human civilization, and makes a great gift.
A single moment in human history--capable of irrevocably altering the course of events--where the last are first, and the first are last. The power of the little man against the big man, and a reminder to the powerful that they too are mortal (the act of defecation and the aging-process not being persuasive enough).
The reemergence of the competitive-drive of the simian human race within the polity, and the end of nations. An amoral seizure of power through violence, as seen in the revolutions of the 20th century. A method of the State and economic interests in holding-back social reforms through the murder of sincere progressive leadership. Collateral damage. Also known as and entertaining form of performance art for the mentally-ill and the rest of us.
The wholesale and justifiable slaughter of civilians for the enrichment of the few. The logical ending of the social contract, and the descent into the maelstrom, as well as a nice appetizer before the main course. The beginning and the end of everything. What human beings were designed to do when things get too comfy.
In the High School of the future: Diagramming the Bush administration and her players
The America of the Future--Besides having to wash radioactive fallout off of their school lunches, dodging bullets between classes, and trying to find pencils in the rubble of civilization, it's very likely that American children will be taught about the Bush years in stunning and graphic detail. The only way to make any sense of it will be to create a sprawling RICO diagram, projected via a holographic system onto the charred, bullet-pocked classroom walls. Oh yeah, and they'll all have their 15 minutes of fame too, it's all good. Thus endeth the lesson.
Ralph Nader replies to Obama caveats, "He's not paying attention to my campaign," and "He's just trying to get attention."
The Campaign Trail of Tears--Nice try, mainstream media...Ralph Nader is Lebanese, he's not exactly "white," and the race-baiting game of division doesn't play so well anymore. This is a great example of why third parties are crucial to a genuine democratic dialog. Many of us don't want to get this fact. Obama is trying to "talk white," and yes, we're paying attention out here. Nader has virtually clinched this writer's vote. If you don't apply pressure to the candidates, they're not going to deliver very much, if anything at all. No real social agenda, no real reforms, just more rollback of jobs overseas and a rollback of our cherished rights.
Today, Obama will either vote for the FISA "reform" bill, granting the telecommunications companies and the White House a free-pass to continue spying on American citizens (as well as granting them legal immunity for crimes already committed), or he's going to sit it out so we don't know what he's thinking (again). [Ed.--At this writing--6:11PM--the vote on the bill has been postponed until after the July recess. Interesting...]
He's done it before, even with this particular legislation, and he's going to do it again. Independent voters are the most important voting bloc there is--aside from those eligible to vote who do not. Never mind that the National Lawyers Guild of America (http://nlg.org/news/index.php?entry=entry080624-090840) and the ACLU has called for the Senate to vote against the legislation, and forget that the public doesn't want to be spied-on--Obama's charging ahead and is supporting the FISA overhaul bill. He's not appearing very "progressive" at this time.
Obama's comments against Nader don't address the issues raised by the third party candidate in any real depth or meaning, and it's telling. Nader said this to the Rocky Mountain News yesterday, so it must have missed the news cycle at that time:
There's only one thing different about Barack Obama when it comes to being a Democratic presidential candidate. He's half African-American," Nader said. Whether that will make any difference, I don't know. I haven't heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos. Payday loans, predatory lending, asbestos, lead. What's keeping him from doing that? Is it because he wants to talk white? He doesn't want to appear like Jesse Jackson? We'll see all that play out in the next few months and if he gets elected afterwards. ("Nader: Obama Trying to 'talk white,'" The Rocky Mountain News, 06.25.2008)
and:
I mean, first of all, the number one thing that a black American politician aspiring to the presidency should be is to candidly describe the plight of the poor, especially in the inner cities and the rural areas, and have a very detailed platform about how the poor is going to be defended by the law, is going to be protected by the law, and is going to be liberated by the law. ...Haven't heard a thing. He wants to show that he is not a threatening . . . another politically threatening African-American politician. He wants to appeal to white guilt. You appeal to white guilt not by coming on as black is beautiful, black is powerful. Basically he's coming on as someone who is not going to threaten the white power structure, whether it's corporate or whether it's simply oligarchic. And they love it. Whites just eat it up. (ibid)And he's correct, it's accurate. Instead of really addressing the issues raised, the Obama campaign has decided to make personal comments on Nader and to stonewall. Sound famiar? There is a cure for this, and it's called the power of third parties to pressure the other candidates, for balance. Without Ralph Nader's candidacy--and that of other third parties--there would be none, only more the two party monopoly we're suffering under.
Obama's got a lot of proving to do, and it's up to us, the polity, to apply this pressure. This can only come from entering the races for office directly, and bird-dogging candidates into responding to the issues. There would have been no New Deal and no social programs had the American public not pressured candidate--then president--Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Congress into acting on important issues that affect us all. That's called the national interest for those who don't know.
This was all Barack Obama could muster today. This writer would like to know the exact speeches and legislation that the Deomcratic candidate has pushed addressing a real commitment towards changing these conditions.
"Ralph Nader hadn't been paying attention to my speeches, because all the issues that he talked about -- whether it be predatory lending, the housing foreclosure crisis . . . I've devoted multiple speeches," Obama said. "Ralph Nader is trying to get attention. [Ed.--No, he's doing what's called "running for office," part of our First amendment rights of free expression and the right of assembly, Mr. Harvard Law Professor.] I think it's a shame because if you look at his legacy in terms of consumer protections, its an extraordinary one."
But now, Obama said, "He's someone . . . whose campaign hasn't gotten any traction. So what better way to get some traction than to make an inflammatory statement like the one that he made? It is what it is."("Obama rips Nader's 'talking white' remark," The Chicago Sun-Times, 06.26.2008)
That's what it is, and tis' all that it is--that is the question. Oh sure, I always look at elections like a football game or a round of poker--a kind of "winner-take-all" mentality of social darwinist winners and losers. But this isn't really a game, this is life, and it has repercussions that affect millions, possibly billions.
Talk is fine, but Obama isn't even acting now, as a Senator, in any real substantial way. He's just engaging in more business-as-usual that passes for leadership--only it's not going to float anymore. The cost of failure will be high for him, and it will come at the personal level. We'll all be in the same boat then, and it will be everyone's fault. If you know anything at all about Ralph Nader, it's that he's always paying attention. If only the rest of us did...
 | June 25, 2008 |
Senator Obama said earlier today that I haven't been paying attention to his campaign. Actually, I have.
Senator Obama is opposed to single payer national health insurance. Why? Because he favors the health insurance giants over the millions of Americans in poverty or near poverty who are uninsured or under-insured. Eighteen thousand Americans die every year because they cannot afford health insurance, according to the Institute of Medicine. Senator Obama wants to expand the military budget which is loaded with waste, fraud and abuse - instead of cutting it and investing the long ignored peace dividend in the inner cities with good jobs and public works - including schools, clinics, and libraries. Why? Because he fears and favors those thousands of lobbyists in charge of enlarging the military industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us against. Senator Obama says he favors a living wage. But he doesn't say he would immediately increase the minimum wage to $10 an hour, which is the equivalent of the 1968 minimum wage adjusted for inflation - because by doing so he would offend the big corporations who exploit labor in places like Wal-Mart and fast food chains. (The minimum wage needs to be increased immediately, not phased in over a number of years, as Senator Obama would have it.) So Senator Obama, let's get specific. We're looking for deeds, not, as Shakespeare put it, words, words, mere words. Your public career, which I have also been paying attention to, is long on words, and short on action when it comes to consumer protection, cracking down on corporate crime, curbing the violence of toxic environmental racism, and extending clean, affordable public transit, among other issues. For the purposes of the here and now, three things: One, why don't you support single payer national health insurance, which is supported by a majority of doctors and the American people? Two, why do you favor expanding the military budget which is replete with waste, fraud and abuse? And three, why don't you come out and support an immediate increase of the minimum wage to $10 an hour? When can we expect the authenticity of hope and change? | |
And it's clear from Senator Obama's campaign that he is not willing to tackle the white power structure - whether in the form of the corporate power structure or many of the super-rich - who are taking advantage of 100 million low income Americans who are suffering in poverty or near poverty."Nader: Obama Trying to 'talk white,'" The Rocky Mountain News, 06.25.2008: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/25/nader-critical-of-obama-for-trying-to-talk-white/
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