BROKEN WINDOWS

Thursday, November 13, 2003

Ha. On my referers page tonight were web searches for "oprah naked," "naked peace man," "more [sic] famous voodoo priestess new orleans," "drive-thru daiquiris," "daiquiris a go-go," "BARE KNUCKLE FIGHTER" (all in caps), and "mormons vampires myth."

Long live Google!!

11:51:19 PM |

I've spent the evening grading "Notes of a Native Son" papers. In the background, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. (yes, it has camp value I guess. S wants it on for background noise while he writes a paper on Maya trade routes.). The papers have been interesting. So far two students have argued against affirmative action. Humph. One student even attempted to link housing discrimination against African-Americans to affirmative action and how it is "racist" against everyone except African-Americans. (I said "attempted.") My mind hurts from reading so many freshman essays. Ouch.

Earlier today we went to Crabby Jack's, a fish market/po' boy stand in Jefferson Parish owned and operated by the owner of Jacques-Imo's, Jack Lombardi. Yum yum! I saved half of my smoked duck po' boy for tomorrow. Who knew pickles and mayo could go so well with duck. And all of it on a fresh-baked French roll. Mmm mmmm.

I've been wanting to write about a number of subjects lately, just haven't had the time. On my mind: The Spirit of Annie Mae, a film I saw a couple of days ago about Anna Mae Pictou Aquash; Mami Wata, the water-spirit diety found in Western Africa and the African diaspora; Jesus Malverde, the "narco-saint" from Sinaloa (and the narcocorridos sung in his honor -- I love corridos!); and the cult of Blackhawk, a peculiar blend of Catholicism, voodoo, and Blackhawk-worship that is practiced in a spiritual church down here in NOLA. Reading about Mami Wata made me think of Jesus Malverde, who in turn made me think of Blackhawk. There's a connection between them, I think, and I hope to touch on it in a future post. They are "modern saints" that blend long-ago tradition with nearly hyper-contemporary elements. Mami Wata in particular, of course, with her underwater swimming pool and cell phones. I'll try to get to some of this tomorrow or over the weekend.

9:57:14 PM |

The Cult of Personality: We've Fallen for it Again	7/17/05
Ignorance Leading to Fear Leading to Descrimination in NYC	7/17/05
How the cycle begins, how it is perpetuated	7/16/05
Speak truth to power? You must be out of your mind...	7/16/05
Preach it, Sister Vowell	7/16/05
A few links to follow up on the Christian Fascism thing....	7/16/05
"Not in the Name of Islam"	7/16/05
Doc's thoughtful question and a couple of other reads	7/16/05
Friday Baja Blogging	7/15/05
The rise of Christian Fascism: the Blue Voice on Pat Robertson's anti-semitism	7/15/05
Operation Truth needs our help	7/14/05
"Am I Next?": The endless tragedy of a futile mission	7/14/05
Hey France: Happy Independence Day, Y'all	7/14/05
The compounded tragedy of a young man's murder	7/14/05
Seven more...	7/14/05
Word of the Day for Wednesday July 13, 2005	7/13/05
Will someone please get Tom Friedman a dictionary?	7/13/05
Jeremy's rant on Op Truth	7/12/05
Karl Rove has got to go	7/12/05
Beauty and the injection of violence	7/11/05
Excellent Sunday Reading	7/10/05
"The Stain of Torture"	7/9/05
Swerve Left on how to stop terrorism	7/9/05
Where they came from, who they killed	7/9/05
A love of violence and a fear of death	7/9/05
A few worth your time today	7/8/05
Friday Baja Blogging	7/8/05
From the vault	7/8/05
I can't believe it	7/8/05
The sudden rupture of nostalgia	7/7/05
"What is truth?"	7/7/05
What a dark day	7/7/05
Yep.	7/7/05
Morgan Spurlock's "30 Days" Is Genius	7/6/05
And then we jail the journalists...	7/6/05
Eric Alterman goes off on Stingy America	7/6/05
Sarah Vowell in the New York Times	7/6/05
Exvotos and Giving Thanks	7/5/05
Thank our Liberal Ancestors Today	7/4/05
It's hard for me to celebrate independence this year	7/4/05
The warped use of rhetoric to defend the indefensible	7/4/05
"Remember Petey"	7/3/05
The Bush Administration: Balancing Facts with Fiction since 2001	7/3/05
To all the keyboard kommandos out there in cyberspace	7/3/05
The casualties of war	7/2/05
"Criminal suspects are treated better..."	7/1/05
Friday Baja Blogging	7/1/05
My short-lived fantasy	6/30/05
Rieckhoff on Bush	6/30/05
Our war against an "abstract noun" and our glorification of warriorship	6/30/05
"I can't forget the dead."	6/30/05
Coincidence?	6/30/05
"The Live Bait Approach to National Security"	6/29/05
Onward, Armchair Soldiers! May God Bless You All!	6/29/05
The Tragedy of Bush's flawed argument	6/29/05
So thankful for email...	6/28/05
Thank you, mom. I needed that reminder.	6/28/05
Too much worry	6/28/05
Paul Rieckoff on Bush's Ft. Bragg Speech	6/28/05
"Amid the Turmoil, Iraqis...Turn to Books"	6/28/05
China's cyber wall	6/28/05
Sam Hamill on Poetry, War, and Protest	6/28/05
Afghanistan, still broken	6/28/05
Thank you, Washington Post, for keeping on the DSMs	6/28/05
The Nightmare	6/27/05
Deconstructing Michael: Ignatieff on the Butcher's Block	6/27/05
It's about trust	6/27/05
Michael Smith on Downing Street, from the LA TImes	6/24/05
Tom Friedman, the Left's David Brooks	6/24/05
Fighting Myself	6/24/05
Our new reality of the absurd	6/23/05
Quagmire? There's no quagmire!!	6/23/05
Photos from S: Asadabad	6/23/05
Karl Rove on the Downing Street documents	6/23/05
"I only feel bitter disappointment"	6/23/05
In the swing of things	6/23/05
Sorry...light posts for another couple of days	6/20/05
Knock, knock. There's still a war on.	6/20/05
"God Save Our President"	6/18/05
Granta's "What we think of America" and Mishra's article on jihadists	6/17/05
The Chicago Tribune is pathetic	6/17/05
Joe Conason on the press's coverage of the Downing Street Memos	6/17/05
Chalk another one up for our good neighbors, KBR	6/16/05
Operation Truth's Jeremy Lewis on the Downing Street Memo	6/16/05
Email from S	6/16/05
Downing Street Live Chat: Read it, Please!	6/16/05
The "Colombiazacion" of Mexico, the "Mexicanization" of the US	6/16/05
Downing Street Memo Live Chat -- Right Now	6/16/05
Check it out! Sgt. Zach in the news!	6/15/05
"...the purpose of regime change 'has no basis under international law'"	6/15/05
HanniBolton Lecter at Zen Comix	6/15/05
Trying to keep it together	6/15/05
Fanning the flame of hatred	6/15/05
And speaking of no WMDs in Iraq...	6/15/05
A few funny searches	6/14/05
Why the Downing Street Memo is important	6/14/05
Praying at the graves of al qaeda "martyrs"	6/14/05
Howard Dean in Chicago	6/13/05
"What is life worth?"	6/13/05
The NY Times: on the road to obsolescence	6/13/05
Back in J-Bad	6/13/05
The most important story of our time	6/12/05
The reality on the ground: training ANA and Iraqi troops	6/11/05
"Yellow is not our color"	6/11/05
The ever-growing disconnect	6/11/05
What I Miss	6/10/05
Why I hate Colin Powell	6/9/05
Photos from Afghanistan -- Around Jalalabad	6/9/05
It's too much to ask	6/9/05
Thank you John Conyers	6/9/05
This has got to stop.	6/9/05
Photos from Iraq on Operation Truth's website	6/8/05
Reality Check, Please	6/8/05
The Ideological Battle of our Time	6/8/05
Making Waves, Not Ripples: Thank you, Sgt. Zach	6/6/05
Who I am -- an attempt to keep me in the blogosphere	5/31/05
Too much bitter in that pie.	5/28/05
Maybe more funds for PTSD; meanwhile, "part-timers" get no coverage.	5/27/05
Inventor of Freedom Fries Chokes on His Own Creation	5/25/05
Leadership, anyone?	5/24/05
More evidence...	5/24/05
Watch today's edition of Democracy Now!	5/23/05
Truth obscured, again	5/23/05
"Maybe lying's not a big deal anymore"	5/23/05
Civil War?	5/19/05
"let's remember what it means to send people to war"	5/18/05
The only thing I can offer	5/17/05
"a democracy can die of too many lies"	5/17/05
That heartbreaking photo...	5/15/05
Oops	5/15/05
Our Excellent Support...	5/15/05
Complete and utter insanity...	5/15/05
"Identity Crisis" Indeed	5/15/05
The Stop-Loss: What it really means to soldiers	5/14/05
Help vets with PTSD: contribute to Operation Truth	5/14/05
What the hell is going on?!!	5/14/05
News from the war America forgot	5/12/05
Comments are back!	5/11/05
A Soldier's Thoughts...brilliant Iraq soldier blog	5/10/05
Our out-to-lunch press...	5/10/05
"A Deadly Guessing Game"	5/10/05
Cindy Sheehan's Mother's Day Letter	5/9/05
"The Marines' Flawed Body Armor"	5/9/05
Some New Orleans pictures...	5/9/05
Forty-eight soldiers dead	4/30/05
Photos from Afghanistan	4/30/05
Afghan Irrigation System -- from S	4/30/05
The Worry	4/27/05
Our Lady of the Kennedy Underpass, Chicago	4/24/05
A few outrages from the road...live from Mississippi	4/24/05
Where are the feel-good, hippie-type christians?	4/22/05
"Think About How Crazy All of This Is"	4/22/05
A Litany of Bad News	4/20/05
Thank you, Rhye	4/19/05
Heil Papa	4/19/05
No news to report...right?	4/19/05
I've had it with bigotry	4/19/05
Thank you!	4/18/05
Radio, Radio	4/17/05
A sea of white crosses	4/17/05
An absence of numbers	4/17/05
Eliminate! Eliminate! Eliminate!	4/16/05
Farewell, Gelertner. Thanks for the outrage.	4/15/05
Afghanistan in Pictures	4/15/05
Afghanistan in Pictures	4/15/05
Please don't speak about the wars in the past tense	4/14/05
Go to Iraq, Lose Your Job: Courtesy the US Government	4/13/05
Our Psychotic Big Brother: The Corporation	4/13/05
How many have gone to war? Over 1,000,000 and counting...	4/12/05
Oh New Orleans	4/11/05
Our Culture of Death: Viva Muerte!	4/10/05
Bouphonia	4/9/05
Study cancelled; shocking that it was ever considered	4/9/05
What can we do?	4/9/05
Wagner's "The Ring of Nibelung"	4/8/05
"Are we better off with a foreign policy that promotes regime change while justifying war with false information?"	4/8/05
Newsflash: Iraq Missing from Newspapers Nationwide	4/5/05
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill	4/4/05
Chicago Feminist in Burkha Opens Refrigerator Door	4/1/05
Afghanistan, from S	4/1/05
From France, with Love	4/1/05
What Else Is Going On in the World, You Wonder?	3/31/05
Belgian Store Windows	3/31/05
LA	3/31/05
Cork, Ireland	3/31/05
The Overwhelming Desire for a Narrative	3/31/05
Greetings from Europe	3/19/05
Escape from Reality	3/13/05
America the Red	3/13/05
Gunner Palace: War Without End	3/13/05
Private Contractors and Their Wads of Cash	3/12/05
Becoming the Army Wife	3/12/05
Orwell, Irony, and the Two-Year Anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom	3/11/05
No Light, No Hope: The Soldier's Heart	3/7/05
I'm Back	3/7/05