LINES OF THE DAY

". . . But the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something over there only because I am here. But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past -- or more accurately, pastness -- is a position. Thus, in no way can we identify the past as past." p. 15

". . . But we may want to keep in mind that deeds and words are not as distinguishable as often we presume. History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it into their own hands." p. 153

Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995) by Michel-Rolph Trouillot

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Crunch Time

Grading papers, Vaquero off to San Francisco cruelly early in the AM of Wednesday, the third episode of Treme to watch, deadlines to meet, research to be accomplished re slave dance troups, Ostrogoths and Visigoths, AND Jefferson Davis -- personally?  It's not factually accurate for people to refer to him as President Davis, or as living in the White House.  He was never POTUS, and he never lived in the White House in Washington D.C.  Nor did Lincoln and his administrations in any way ever recognize Davis as president of anything.  Nor did any other nation in the world.


Vaquero in San Francisco, in his own words:

Looking forward to seeing my people in San Francisco -- April 29 at the
Museum of the African Diaspora for my talk "Eh, Eh, Bomba! The Haitian
Revolution as a Generative Explosion of Popular Music in the Hemisphere."
http://www.cubacaribe.org/festival6/press/specialeventflyer2010.pdf
and May2 at the Mission Cultural Center for my concert, "Noche Bohemia con El Vaquero."
http://www.examiner.com/x-12553-SF-Ethnic-Communities-Examiner~y2010m4d18-Noche-Bohemia-con-El-Vaquero-Ned-Sublette-concert-at-MCCLA
By the way, and off topic: Is everyone in Arizona deranged? How 'bout those bills and laws for possession and open carry of weapons (none) and deporting people on the basis of what shirt and shoes they wear?  This puts all the burden of dealing with the immigration mess on local law enforcement, where, as so many state as excuse for what is going on, is located a corridor for drug smuggling. This means some serious trouble is inevitable and don't always bet that the law enforcers won't be the ones shot, and that the perps will be caught. In the meantime not a thing is moving ahead in D.C. for the federal cleanup of the immigrtion mess for which it is responsible. Though that's not so easy, with all the special interests, i.e. big agri biz, etc., arrayed against doing anything, and, of course, states rights.

4 comments:

New Orleans Ladder said...

I beg to differ on that last part, Fox: "deporting people on the basis of what shirt and shoes they wear?"
It appears that you can get taken in simply on the basis of the Shoes you Look Like you are probably wearing.
Like if you look pretty tanned and brunette, then you are probably wearing Pay Less Shoes and that means you probably paid Cash for them which means you sent most of that home to your poor family illegally since you are Probably here illegally since you outta be wearing shoes that the illegals wear... yikes!
And if you drive through AZ from a week in Death Valley, brunette again, then you have an 85% chance of getting pulled over, asked to provide proof of citizenship and probably searched.
I hope you get my sarcasm here. I'm a tanned southern boy, brunette, my daddy's name was Leonidas, (that looks kinda Latino... in Arkansas) always looking like I've done something wrong, suspicious of authority... me, a Mississippi boy.
So I don't feel comfortable driving through AZ. Cause I get my shoes at Payless or Walmart. I work in the sun. I don't speak a Lick of Spanish, but that doesn't matter when they decide to pull me over. I will fit the visual profile like probably 10,000,000 other Americans.

Oh and your Word Thingy Formentor (WTFr) for this comment is "trantica".
TRANTICA...
You're a writer, do something wit'dat. Take us to Trantica!

Thanks youz,
Editilla~New Orleans Ladder

Foxessa said...

Thank you so much for this, but I confess to not knowing what you mean, though I am willing, as always, to be instructed:

"Oh and your Word Thingy Formentor (WTFr) for this comment is "trantica".
TRANTICA...
You're a writer, do something wit'dat. Take us to Trantica!"


Also, don't expect to take a legal piss no matter who you are, driving in Arizona. All the rest stops have been closed to lack of budget.

I do have enormous sympathy and share the anger that those who live close to the borders must have with undocumented forever crossing their lands, interfering with their hoses because they are dying of thirst, eating up their garden stuff because they are hungry, and scaring the livestock -- and then, yes the druglords and their minions, who are truly evil, though yes, their biggest customer base is Real Amurkans's kids and politicians it seems. It would drive me nutz as well. Hell, the Real Amurkans from out of state and upstate, illegally colonizing every bit of sidewalk where I live in order to sell junk and put up signs and do fortune telling for tourists drive me nutz. They're just damned lucky we have laws here that insist you must register and be trained and checked before owning a firearm, and nobody except a cop (or those Real Amurkans who are exceptions, like Goldman Sachs executives).

Love, C.

New Orleans Ladder said...

Oh, the Word Verification thingy, I have renamed Word Formentor Thing, that is there to prevent spam... I see it in SciFi terms.
Sometimes that thingy actually has actual words, while other times they are Almost Words, and at other times just pure mathematical gibberish... but I'm just saying... in a William Gibson Neuromancer world I see this as Wintermute, pay phones ringing as you walk by down the street... emergent AI asking "Candy? Yes?"...
Or to quote the ole medicine man in Little Big Man "Sometimes it Works... and sometimes it doesn't"

Actually, it is just a little Meme Game I have tried to get going, watch out for the Word Thingy Formentor WTFr! Talk to it. Let it know ya'care!
Yaaaaaaaaaa
hehehe

Editilla

Foxessa said...

Ah -- As per usual. Bill was prescient about so much.

Love, c.