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

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Why People Don't Evacuate: Bottom Line


George, like thousands of others in the low-lying parish of Plaquemines, had ignored an evacuation order despite hammering rain and the fateful anniversary of hurricane Katrina. "I suppose it was foolish to stay, but I had no money, so I stayed," he said.

Interesting, isn’t it, that this can be said in a British newspaper, but we don’t print this sort of thing in either the local or national papers in the U.S.

At the moment, people are having to evacuate along the Louisiana - Mississippi border. They are being removed if they don't go voluntarily.

According to NPR News (as of 1 PM), Jindal is ordering the intentional blowing of the Plaquemines's levee on the east bank today. Shades of the dna memory of the Flood of 1927, which is referenced in Beasts of the Southern Wild.

No comments: