Party last night, was outstanding. It wasn't so much a party as it was a performance. Vaquero talked, read, took questions, played his guitar and sang his songs. The weather was horrible -- that peculiar polluted over-amped toxic brew of still humidity and 'too warm too chill at the same time' air, that is Our NYC on occasion. It was one of those days the health advisory board advises you to exercise indoors, not go running outside. Additionally, traffic was held up, messed up, at all points of egress, ingress, partly due to the demonstrations and protests going on around the Sean Bell police shooting case, because the non-juried trial acquitted all the cops in question of all charges.
Nevertheless the small theater of the Brecht Forum was filled to capacity, with old friends, new friends and people we don't know.
Among them was the music director for The Wire, Blake Leyh. He gifted me "The Five Years of Music From The Wire". I got him to autograph it. I screamed and nearly swooned like a fan, when he was introduced to me. Vaquero, who made the introduction, marveled, "She NEVER does that! whoever you are! You really must be special." He'd already read The World That Made New Orleans. He'd already given a copy to David Simon. He bought another, to give to Jonathan Demme. I've been harassing people, that SOMEBODY should be bringing this book to the notice of those crews. So now I can rest easy on that matter. He also bought a copy of Cuba and Its Music, and a Cowboy Rumba cd.
I met some new friends face 2 face that I've made via online. It was so wonderful that they came, and gave The World That Made New Orleans their blessing. They, and all our friends, old and new, created a very special night, and a memory that I will cherish.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
The Clintons & Their War on Obama
Since Parry says he's known all this since December, why was this information only published post Clinton's poor showing on Tuesday, in May?
Some may believe that dem or rethug matters not at all because they are the same (Hillary's campaign certainly enforces that conviction, doesn't it?), but I still kinda hope that if Obama's in the White House the U.S. may wind down in Iraq, put some breaks on hemoraging all the tax money to Halliburton and Blackwater types, NOT bomb Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and anywhere else.
_________________________________
The Clintons and the 'War on Obama'
by Robert Parry
The Consortium News
May 4, 2008
[ Last December, when I first learned via Clinton insiders that their "oppo"package would include Barack Obama's associations with fiery black preacherJeremiah Wright and Vietnam War-era radical William Ayers, I shrugged atwhat sounded to me like sub-standard fare from the dark side of American politics. ]
[ Besides those two themes, Clinton insiders were plotting how to exploit Obama's past political ties to indicted real-estate developer Tony Rezko,and they even were hashing over how they might slip in suggestions that Obama's dead mother had been a leftist. (When I heard the "oppo" about the dead mother, I really couldn't believe my ears.) ]
[ Even then - in December before the first votes had been cast - the Clintons were so caught up in their ambition to return to the White House that they were veering toward the worst aspects of politics, what is generally associated with the American Right and the most ruthless Republican operatives - guilt-by-association, red-baiting, McCarthyism and racial messaging. ]
And then there's this:
Carol Felsenthal’s new book, Clinton in Exile: A President Out of the White House, is based on more than 150 interviews with the former president's friends, associates, and enemies.
Felsenthal said today, stressing that this is HER OPINION AND IMPRESSION ONLY (though formed from decades of watching the Clintons in narrow focus), that if Hillary doesn't get the nomination, she's going to do her very best subtle sabotage of Obama, hoping McCain's a 1-termer, and go for it again in 2012. FWIW -- which may be less than 2 cents in today's debased U.S. currency.
Some may believe that dem or rethug matters not at all because they are the same (Hillary's campaign certainly enforces that conviction, doesn't it?), but I still kinda hope that if Obama's in the White House the U.S. may wind down in Iraq, put some breaks on hemoraging all the tax money to Halliburton and Blackwater types, NOT bomb Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and anywhere else.
_________________________________
The Clintons and the 'War on Obama'
by Robert Parry
The Consortium News
May 4, 2008
[ Last December, when I first learned via Clinton insiders that their "oppo"package would include Barack Obama's associations with fiery black preacherJeremiah Wright and Vietnam War-era radical William Ayers, I shrugged atwhat sounded to me like sub-standard fare from the dark side of American politics. ]
[ Besides those two themes, Clinton insiders were plotting how to exploit Obama's past political ties to indicted real-estate developer Tony Rezko,and they even were hashing over how they might slip in suggestions that Obama's dead mother had been a leftist. (When I heard the "oppo" about the dead mother, I really couldn't believe my ears.) ]
[ Even then - in December before the first votes had been cast - the Clintons were so caught up in their ambition to return to the White House that they were veering toward the worst aspects of politics, what is generally associated with the American Right and the most ruthless Republican operatives - guilt-by-association, red-baiting, McCarthyism and racial messaging. ]
And then there's this:
Carol Felsenthal’s new book, Clinton in Exile: A President Out of the White House, is based on more than 150 interviews with the former president's friends, associates, and enemies.
Felsenthal said today, stressing that this is HER OPINION AND IMPRESSION ONLY (though formed from decades of watching the Clintons in narrow focus), that if Hillary doesn't get the nomination, she's going to do her very best subtle sabotage of Obama, hoping McCain's a 1-termer, and go for it again in 2012. FWIW -- which may be less than 2 cents in today's debased U.S. currency.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Kate and Constance Talk: With Each Other
Up now on DeepGenre is a conversation about war, slavery and women between Kate Elliott and Constance Ash, conducted while Constance was reading Kate's new novel, Shadow Gate.
You can participate too, by going here.
Happy May Day!
Workers of the world, unite!
You can participate too, by going here.
Happy May Day!
Workers of the world, unite!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Dominican Republic - Feria del Libro
Now.
Derek Walcott spoke tonight at 8, Junot Diaz tomorrow at 8.
Reception with Junot Díaz and Derek Walcott at 8 p.m. Friday.
Vaquero does his talk on the Haitian Revolution (in Spanish -- and if you know the history of the DR and Haiti's relations, this talk of the Haitian Revolution at all is revolutionary) at 7 on Friday. His music performance is scheduled at 9, in another venue, so we figure he may be poorly attended. Ah well, there it is.
Happiness is in effect, nevertheless, and now, declares Vaquero, it is time to search for the perfect mofongo, which will provide even more happiness (for him -- if I ate a mofongo, I'd never be able to eat again).
There's a new Vaquero in town (meaning the DR), by the way. Except he is a rapper and he spells it ViKaro.
The Vaquero business began when he was down here, recording some of what went on Cowboy Rumba, ("Ghost Riders in the Sky") and making the video that went with it. His name is difficult, if not impossible, for native Spanish speakers to say. It was just easier to tell everybody to call him Vaquero. So that's how he was introduced on the DR television programs and radio shows he was on back then -- Vaquero!
Derek Walcott spoke tonight at 8, Junot Diaz tomorrow at 8.
Reception with Junot Díaz and Derek Walcott at 8 p.m. Friday.
Vaquero does his talk on the Haitian Revolution (in Spanish -- and if you know the history of the DR and Haiti's relations, this talk of the Haitian Revolution at all is revolutionary) at 7 on Friday. His music performance is scheduled at 9, in another venue, so we figure he may be poorly attended. Ah well, there it is.
Happiness is in effect, nevertheless, and now, declares Vaquero, it is time to search for the perfect mofongo, which will provide even more happiness (for him -- if I ate a mofongo, I'd never be able to eat again).
There's a new Vaquero in town (meaning the DR), by the way. Except he is a rapper and he spells it ViKaro.
The Vaquero business began when he was down here, recording some of what went on Cowboy Rumba, ("Ghost Riders in the Sky") and making the video that went with it. His name is difficult, if not impossible, for native Spanish speakers to say. It was just easier to tell everybody to call him Vaquero. So that's how he was introduced on the DR television programs and radio shows he was on back then -- Vaquero!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
The U.S. 4th Fleet returns to the Caribbean & South America
Nor does one expect that either Clinton or Obama would pull it out if they got the White House, their mutual profound ignorance of the regions exhibited every time anyone thinks to ask one of them about policy there.
The first part of the article:
[ April 24 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Navy plans to re-establish its Fourth Fleet, disbanded in 1950, to oversee ships, aircraft and submarines operating in the Caribbean and Central and South America, a Defense Department statement said.
Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, current commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command, will lead the fleet effective July 1, Admiral Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, said in a statement. The fleet will be based in Mayport, Florida, coordinating efforts with the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command, which also is based there.
``This change increases our emphasis in the region on employing naval forces to build confidence and trust among nations through collective maritime security efforts that focus on common threats and mutual interests,'' Roughead said.
The U.S. Navy has been planning to build up its forces in the region. Admiral James Stavridis, who oversees military affairs for Latin America, told Congress on March 6 that he backs plans to designate a new fleet, led by a nuclear aircraft carrier, to patrol the waters of the Caribbean and Latin America in support of counter-terrorism operations.
The move comes as South American nations, including Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador, boost military spending to counter tensions and protect oil reserves. ]
The first part of the article:
[ April 24 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Navy plans to re-establish its Fourth Fleet, disbanded in 1950, to oversee ships, aircraft and submarines operating in the Caribbean and Central and South America, a Defense Department statement said.
Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, current commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command, will lead the fleet effective July 1, Admiral Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, said in a statement. The fleet will be based in Mayport, Florida, coordinating efforts with the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command, which also is based there.
``This change increases our emphasis in the region on employing naval forces to build confidence and trust among nations through collective maritime security efforts that focus on common threats and mutual interests,'' Roughead said.
The U.S. Navy has been planning to build up its forces in the region. Admiral James Stavridis, who oversees military affairs for Latin America, told Congress on March 6 that he backs plans to designate a new fleet, led by a nuclear aircraft carrier, to patrol the waters of the Caribbean and Latin America in support of counter-terrorism operations.
The move comes as South American nations, including Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador, boost military spending to counter tensions and protect oil reserves. ]
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