The political season makes everything complicated. So much damned hearsay and mud slinging it’s nearly impossible to know who is lying and who is on the up and up.

Is Obama a Muslim terrorist? (No. Of course not, that’s stubbornly and sadly idiotic. Still, some easily deluded McCain supporters seem to think so). Is Sarah Palin’s youngest, disabled son really her daughter’s first illegitimate child? Probably not (but it makes for an exciting story, yes?). Is Senator McCain a dangerously aggressive prick? Well….perhaps. But it may have nothing to do with “MY HOLIDAY WITH JOHN McCAIN.”

There’s a story currently circulating the internet entitled “MY HOLIDAY WITH JOHN McCAIN” about a weekend spent on a resort island with McCain, which may or may not be true. It’s all reprinted below, but let’s go over some facts first. The name attributed as the author, UC Santa Cruz professor Mary-Kay Gamel, is false - she has denied the letter, saying it was forwarded to her, and she passed it on, and along the way someone attributed it to her. Big red flag there. Number two, this reddit thread which eventually leads to this blog asserts that the real author’s name is Anasuya Dubey, and that she is in the process of working with both the New York Times and Washington Post to verify her claims. Waiting on an update to see if this is true.

Who knows what percent of the letter is fabrication; this might be some Swift Boat disinformation/fallacy tactics. Mud slinging, baby! Just take everything with a grain of salt this political season and educate yourself, check your facts, and pray to Jesus, Buddha, Mohamed, Bill Hicks or whoever else signs your final check when the ride’s over.

Begin Forwarded Message (from my pal Toby):

I haven’t bothered to fact check this… but then, that seems somehow fitting doesn’t it? Given the guy’s history… it doesn’t surprise. I mean, he did dump his model of a wife after coming home from Vietnam a gimp himself (oh sorry, I mean hero), because she had been severely injured in a car accident and he didn’t think she was as hot as she used to be (google McCain’s first wife if you don’t know what I’m talking about… moral fortitude indeed!) He traded up and married the Ice Queen Cindy (an AZ brewing family heiress) just three weeks after divorcing her.

What I did find surprising… is that he reads at all, let alone Faulkner.

————————————————————————————————-
MY HOLIDAY WITH JOHN McCAIN

It was just before John McCain’s last run at the presidential nomination in 2000 that my husband and I vacationed in Turtle Island in Fiji with John McCain, Cindy, and their children, including Bridget (their adopted Bangladeshi child).

It was not our intention, but it was our misfortune, to be in close quarters with John McCain for almost a week, since Turtle Island has a small number of bungalows and their focus on communal meals force all vacationers who are there at the same time to get to know each other intimately.

He arrived at our first group meal and started reading quotes from a pile of William Faulkner books with a forest of Post-Its sticking out of them.
As an English Literature major myself, my first thought was “if he likes this so much, why hasn’t he memorized any of this yet?”

I soon realized that McCain actually thought we had come on vacation to be a volunteer audience for his “readings” which then became a regular part of each meal. Out of politeness, none of the vacationers initially protested at this intrusion into their blissful holiday, but people’s buttons definitely got pushed as the readings continued day after day.

Unfortunately this was not his only contribution to our mealtime entertainment. He waxed on during one meal about how Indo-Chine women had the best figures and that our American corn-fed women just couldn’t meet up to this standard.

He also made it a point that all of us should stop Cindy from having dessert as her weight was too high and made a few comments to Amy, the 25 year old wife of the honeymooning couple from Nebraska that she should eat less as she needed to lose weight.

McCain’s appreciation of the beauty of Asian women was so great that David the American economist had to move his Thai wife to the other side of the table from McCain as McCain kept aggressively flirting with and touching her.

Needless to say I was irritated at his large ego and his rude behavior towards his wife and other women, but decided he must have some redeeming qualities as he had adopted a handicapped child from Bangladesh.

I asked him about this one day, and his response was shocking: “Oh, that was Cindy’s idea - I didn’t have anything to do with it. She just went and adopted this thing without even asking me. You can’t imagine how people stare when I wheel this ugly, black thing around in a shopping cart in Arizona. No, it wasn’t my idea at all.
”

I actively avoided McCain after that, but unfortunately one day he engaged me in a political discussion which soon got us on the topic of the active US bombing of Iraq at that time.

I was shocked when he said, “If I was in charge, I would nuke Iraq to teach them a lesson”.

Given McCain’s personal experience with the horrors of war, I had expected a more balanced point of view. I commented on the tragic consequences of the nuclear attacks on Japan during WWII - but no, he was not to be dissuaded.

He went on to say that if it was up to him he would have dropped many more nuclear bombs on Japan. I rapidly extricated myself from this conversation as I could tell that his experience being tortured as a POW didn’t seem to have mellowed out his perspective, but rather had made him more aggressive and vengeful towards the world.

My final encounter with McCain was on the morning that he was leaving Turtle Island.
Amy and I were happily eating pancakes when McCain arrived and told Amy that she shouldn’t be having pancakes because she needed to
lose weight.

Amy burst into tears at this abusive comment. I felt fiercely protective of Amy and immediately turned to McCain and told him to leave her alone. He became very angry and abusive towards me, and said, “Don’t you know who I am.” I looked him in the face and said, “Yes, you are the biggest asshole I have ever met” and headed back to my cabin.

I am happy to say that later that day when I arrived at lunch I was given a standing ovation by all the guests for having stood up to McCain’s bullying

Although I have shared my McCain story informally with friends, this is the first time I am making this public. I almost did so in 2000, when McCain first announced his bid for the Republican nomination, but it soon became apparent that George Bush was the shoo-in candidate and so I did not act then.

However, now that there is a very real possibility that McCain could be elected as our next president, I feel it is my duty as an American citizen to share this story.

I can’t imagine a more scary outcome for America than that this abusive, aggressive man should lead our nation. I have observed him in intimate surroundings as he really is, not how the media portrays him to be.

If his attitudes toward women and his treatment of his own family are even a small indicator of his real personality, then I shudder to think what will happen to America were he to be elected as our President.

–
Mary-Kay Gamel
Professor of Classics, Comparative Literature, and Theater
Arts
Cowell College
University of California, Santa Cruz

Admittedly, I was a little bit  concerned over the state of the music industry when Radiohead released In Rainbows last year as a pay-what-you-want downloadable album, but as it turns out, the stock market took a major tumble while the music industry just quietly gave itself an ulcer, and the Radiohead won on their  gamble.

Here are some cool Radiohead Stats from their Press Agents:

Little more than a year since Radiohead’s October 10, 2007 pay-what-you-like self-release  of its seventh album, In Rainbows, some conclusive statistics were made available at the recent “You Are In Control” conference in Reykjavik, Iceland.

For those who missed coverage of the conference while engrossed in something as trivial as the Presidential Debates or the world economic collapse, the following is a summation of key answers to FAQs:

* In Rainbows has sold three million copies thus far, a figure that includes downloads from Radiohead.com, physical CDs, a deluxe 2-CD/vinyl box set, as well as sales via iTunes and other digital retailers.

* The In Rainbows deluxe edition sold 100,000 copies via Radiohead fan service W.A.S.T.E.

* Radiohead made more money prior to In Rainbows’ January 2008 physical release than its total take on 2003’s Hail To the Thief.

* The physical release of In Rainbows entered both the US and UK charts at #1 in January, despite having been freely available since October 2007.

* In Rainbows was the first Radiohead album available on iTunes, where it went in at #1 in January, selling 30,000 in its first week.

In Rainbows also owns the singular distinction of being the first record widely regarded as album of the year in advance of its actual physical release: By the time TBD/ATO released In Rainbows to retail on January 1, 2008, the digital version had already topped the 2007 year-end lists at NEW YORK, THE NEW YORK TIMES, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, NPR, TIME, PEOPLE, ROLLING STONE, BLENDER, SPIN, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES and  many more.

Radiohead recently concluded a world tour in Japan, one that sold over 1.2 million tickets.

CHIODOS have just announced a co-headlining tour with Motion City Soundtrack this Fall. That’s cool, assuming homeboy can get his shit together. It’s pretty bold, actually, that Chiodos’ handlers are assuming Owens will be ready for life back on the road after his overdose and subsequent stay in a mental health facility. Cross your fingers for Craig folks.

From their publicists:

With frontman Craig Owens appearing on the latest cover of Alternative Press–for the second time in less than a year (October 2007, September 2008)–Flint, MI’s CHIODOS continue to gain momentum, almost a year after the release of their hugely successful second album BONE PALACE BALLET. Released in September 2007 on indie label Equal Vision Records, the album debuted at #5 on Billboard’s Top 200 Album Chart. Critical praise for their compelling post-hardcore music–from outlets, including New York Times, Blender, Billboard, Hollywood Reporter, Revolver, Village Voice and UK’s Kerrang! (see quotes below)–has helped bolster sales of the set to over 157,000 copies.

A mainstay on the road, with international appearances spanning clubs, arenas and major rock festivals, CHIODOS has announced their latest tour: a co-headlining fall U.S. trek with Motion City Soundtrack. Set to kick off September 22 in Louisville, KY, the band will bookend the tour with headlining shows across the continental U.S., Alaska and Mexico. Tickets for the tour go on sale to the public Friday, July 25, check www.myspace.com/chiodos for more information.

Here’s our sweet live footage of them from SXSW. More sweet Chiodos words and tour dates after the jump.

(more…)

According to the New York Times, a new track from Guns ‘ N’ Roses will be featured on the forthcoming second installment of the mammoth rad time waster known as Rock Band, due this September. Entitled “Shackler’s Revenge,” the song is purportedly from G’N'R’s perpetually soon-to-be-released “comeback” album, Chinese Democracy.

Word on the street is, when you play the song, if the deli trays and carved, fragrant soaps aren’t perfectly arranged back stage as the rider dictates, Axl is frickin’ out of there.

From Billboard.biz:

Report: New GNR Song Heads To ‘Rock Band 2′
July 14, 2008 - Digital and Mobile

By Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

A new Guns N’ Roses song, “Shackler’s Revenge,” apparently from the decade-in-the-works album “Chinese Democracy,” will be included in the video game “Rock Band 2,” according to a report in the New York Times. The game will be released in September.

The news makes it seem increasingly likely that “Chinese Democracy” will finally see the light of day before year’s end via Interscope. Nine seemingly complete tracks from the album, not including “Shackler’s Revenge,” leaked online earlier this summer.

“Rock Band 2,” developed by MTV and Harmonix, will support all songs downloaded for the game to date and will also support the original game’s instrument controllers. But it will also introduce new controllers for drums and guitar and boast a soundtrack of more than 100 master recordings.

In April, Motley Crue made its new single, “Saints of Los Angeles,” available for download “Rock Band” well in advance of the release of the album of the same name. The only other place to obtain the track was iTunes.

According to data provided in late May by the band’s management, Tenth Street Entertainment, the track was downloaded more than 47,000 times via the Xbox 360 version of the game alone in the first week after it became available. (”Rock Band” publisher MTV Networks was unable to independently verify these figures, and total downloads that include the PlayStation 3 version of the game were not available.)

By comparison, the same track received slightly more than 10,000 downloads via digital services like iTunes and Amazon, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The track has now sold more than 62,000 downloads

I can’t believe he hasn’t played on American Television before. UK heartthrob Ed Harcourt will be on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show this evening to promote his new album (well, that is to say his 2006 album that never got released in the States) The Beautiful Lie, which came out on Dovecote Records last Tuesday. Listening to The Beautiful Lie (and his back catalogue as well) it baffles me why he isn’t as huge in North America as he is in Europe. Last March during SXSW I ended up tagging along and filming Ed and his wife Gita as he got a sweet tattoo of one of his first songs, “Sing For My Supper” on his arm in Austin, TX. Enjoy our lil’ mini doc:

ED HARCOURT TO MAKE U.S. TELEVISION DEBUT ON THE TONIGHT SHOW JUNE 6, WEEK OF ‘THE BEAUTIFUL LIE’ RELEASE

LOS ANGELES, May 6, 2008 - Not long since wreaking havoc on Austin, Texas during SXSW, the illustrious Ed Harcourt will return to the States from his native England to perform on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” Friday, June 6. Timed perfectly with the release of his fourth full-length album, THE BEAUTIFUL LIE, due June 3 on Dovecote Records, Harcourt will celebrate the arrival of this much-awaited LP with a national television debut.

The Mercury Prize-nominated Harcourt has been keeping extraordinarily busy on tour with the Gutter Twins overseas, where he has been joining Greg Dulli, Mark Lanegan and co. on stage following his own opening set. “Ed Harcourt’s songs are as close to cabaret tunes and 1960s pop as they are to current rock,” recently noted the NEW YORK TIMES while UNDER THE RADAR hailed ‘The Beautiful Lie’ as “his best work to date.” The WALL STREET JOURNAL was on hand for one of his acclaimed Austin performances, calling Harcourt, “a gifted songwriter in the mold of Karl Wallinger and XTC’s Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding” adding, “and thus a descendant of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.”

Lead radio single, “Revolution in the Heart,” mimics Harcourt’s larger-than-life personality, brimming with his exquisite piano playing, booming delivery, thunderous rhythms and bursting backup vocals, compliments of The Magic Numbers. The track is currently going for adds at radio, already receiving early support across the country from stations like Starbucks XM Café, KBAC and others.

This visit is a precursor to additional U.S. tour dates this summer, to be announced soon.

I hope you appreciate what we here at this blog do for you. There are plenty of dangerous jobs out there, but did you know that blogging can kill you? Information Week’s Cora Nucci just found out, and she did what any good blogger will do. She blogged about it.

Three well-known tech bloggers have had heart attacks since December, and a story in the New York Times suggests that the high stress of blogging may be a cause.

The article she’s referring to calls the blogosphere “The digital-era sweatshop.” Here’s some more (just in case you’re not signed up at Nytimes.com (and why the fuck aren’t you — it’s free) or just too lazy to click the link and read the whole thing yourself):

A growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment.

Of course, the bloggers can work elsewhere, and they profess a love of the nonstop action and perhaps the chance to create a global media outlet without a major up-front investment. At the same time, some are starting to wonder if something has gone very wrong. In the last few months, two among their ranks have died suddenly.

Two weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December.

Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet.

So see, folks? Blogging is serious business. Leave the posting of barely researched Internet rumors, stupid memes and YouTube videos to the professionals.