Category: Text fragments

“(…) if that does happen then we are not going to allow that to be manufactured hére in Oklahoma. (…)”

This is a fragment of a statement about the use of human embryonic kidney cells in some kind of chemical process. This woman is against it. What strikes me is the emphasis on the word ‘here’ in ‘here in Oklahoma’. This reflects so much of involvement, and proud, I guess.  For me it’s not very clear what is actually said in this fragment, but it looks like in the end there is no problem at all. So what made her so ardent at the start of this recording…

“Überlegen Sie sich das gut, Max.”
“Seien Sie unbesorgt. Die größte Medizin existiert seit über eintausend fünfhundert Jähr.”
“Soll ich wirklich?”
“Der Höchste hat aus den erde ein ausleihe geschaffen. Der Kluge Mann wird für die [….]”
“Was ist dar überhaupt in?”
“Kamille, Eberraute und noch einige andere Krauter.”
“Nah gut, warum nicht.”
(Er trinkt)
“Und?”
“Schmeckt irgendwie seltsam aber gar nicht mal schlecht!”
“Sonst nichts?”
“Nein, sonst nichts.”
“Das ist ja auch kein Zaubertrank.”
“Es dauert einige Minuten bis der Wirkung einsetzen. Wen Sie mochten zeige ich Ihn die Plätzen wir Extrakten sie gerade getrunken hat.”
“Ja! Gerne! Außer der Inspektor hat noch fragen.”
“Nein. Wir sind hier fürs erste fertig.”

This is a fragment from a German radio play.  It is a very polite, formal conversation, between, I guess, a doctor, a patient (or  a suspect), a friend and an inspector.  A man has to drink a cocktail of herbs and apparently some kind of effect is expected.  For me this small fragment visualizes the whole setting, by how these people interact with each other.

(I’m afraid the German text is not free from errors…)

(…) “Do not panic. Rip currents are powerful channels of water flowing quickly away from shore. (…) Please be advised by the lifeguards and beach patrol. Pay attention to flags and posted signs. If you become caught in a rip current, do not panic. Remain calm and begin to swim parallel to shore. Once you are away from the force of the rip current begin to swim back to the beach. Do not attempt to swim directly against the rip current. Even a strong swimmer can become exhausted quickly.”

This is a synthesized reading of a High Surf Advisory, “effective now until 5 AM Tuesday”.

“Okay, thank you very much.”
“And say now – I’m married, and I have a kid, and I have a life! It’s a bit of a struggle, but I have a life. And you can do the same thing, I did it… Í did it! And I could have been dead, and trust me if she wanted to be dead she’d be dead.”
“Right.”
“That’s the thing.”
“Thank you very much.”
“But, the problem is that when people play with being dead, sometimes they, eh, they get dead when they didn’t exactly plan it either.”
“Especially with guns.”
“Yeah, that’s… see that’s not very typical for females, females tend not to be messy…yeah…”
“I know.”
“Yeah, we’re always… we are even fuzzy when we’re doing that, weird… Alright. Call me back after you have this talk, because I think it’s going to be cathartic for you, and a bíg bólster for her.”
“Okay, thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Bye.”

This is the final part of a radio talk show, hosted by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Her radio program consists mainly of her responses to callers’ requests for personal advice. This piece of conversation, without any further context, puzzles me. What is the problem here?

“Do not listen too much to what your government says. One plus one is two! We all know this. It’s a universal fact, that one plus one is two. But if your government comes out and tells you one plus one is four, does that make it right? Well the government told us it’s four, so it must be four, no! it doesn’t deviate from the fact one plus one is two, these guys are out lying to us!”

Good story. Nice and short.

“Scientist say a parasite carried by cats, appears to influence the behavior of humans. In this case, women infected with the parasite, were slightly more likely to attempt suicide.”

A small message in a news broadcast. But it’s something you start thinking about. Why woman? Why cats? What is ‘slightly more likely’? Is that even measurable? And whut!? Not an itchy spot or a nasty cough but attempt Suicide??

“Prison Management. Prison physical designs and inmates separation policies do not protect inmates in the environment designed for them. Violence threats to all […] could be divided into three levels: Inmates with a zero violence threat level to all […] have no physical or communicated violent tendencies. Inmates, with a non-physical violence threat level towards others they express violence without physical harm or contact. Inmates with a physical violence threat level towards others they express violence through physical harm or contact. Inmates must be separated by rigid physical boundaries twenty four hours a day based on their intentional violence threat level. As a result, inmates security, counseling and benefits  could be managed based on common threat level needs. (…) “

This is a synthetic reading of a study about prison management. It took me a while to recognize it was not read by a real life voice. For instance, notice the emphasis on every single occurrence of the word “phýsical”.  “Prison Management”… never spend one thought about it, certainly not with the perspective of the “protection of inmates”.

You can listen to a fragment of this reading.  I put a slightly threatening sound under her voice. After all, a prison remains a nasty place to stay.

“The government and its friends are indoctrinating our children for the control of their minds, your freedom and our choice and our future. It must Stop!”

I’ve never seen him in a live broadcast of TV, but Glenn Beck, a conservative political commentator in the United States, has been discussed several times by Jon Stewart in the Daily Show. It’s impressive to see how someone can proclaim a message with so much passion!

I repeated this statement a couple of times, to make it indoctrinating itself.

“Hey, this sounds right! I heard a lot of things but this makes sense.”

“(…)  and let me, let me remind people that physician assisted suicide… ehm… the dóctor writes out the prescription for a justifiable case, for somebody is close to death and suffering, and wánts this request, there have to be two requests for the doctor, ehm, then the pátient fills out the prescription with the pharmacist, and  íf the patient so chooses, eh, he or she drinks the lethal doses, that’s  eh that’s  supplied, and dies very quickly. (…)”

This is part of a discussion about the Right To Die Movement, and Physician Assisted Suicide, on 89.3 KPCC radio, hosted by Pat Morrison. I just ran into it by clicking randomly on radio stations and I recorded it because I liked the sound of the voice. Then I started to listen more carefully. It’s moving to hear the first man explaining the guidelines so respectful and doing his best not to offend someone. Than Pat Morrison switches to a caller of the Euthanasian Prevention Coalition, who apparently is not convinced by the guidelines. I like the way how Pat, as a host, takes a passionate position in this discussion.

At the end I echoed “care for people” because that reflects what’s it all about.