cultcrit

You've got to be kidding me

2007-04-17T23:44:00.000-04:00

While many of us are shaken to the core by the VT shootings, plenty of media corps are lining up to take advantage. My vote for most sensationalist bleat so far goes to Inside Edition:

INSIDE EDITION has obtained court documents showing Cho had several run-ins with the law. He was pulled over twice for speeding, the latest offense taking place April 7th, just 9 days before the massacre.

He was charged with speeding, driving 44 mph in a 25 mph zone, and was scheduled to appear in court on May 23rd.

Come on, now. We are all desperate to know why. The media lie when they promise us easy answers.

RIP to all the fallen, and comfort to their survivors.

"We" are Muslim, Too

2007-04-09T23:32:00.000-04:00

Dear Editor
It was a shame to open the DNR and read a letter suggesting that "We are at war with Islam." What could that "we" have meant? Certainly it could not refer to Americans. A war with Islam would threaten millions of Americans who profess the Islamic faith, and destroy the religious freedom that has been claimed as an American core value since the nation's founding.
The letter-writer suggests that we remember 9/11, and it is good if we do. Muslims died that day who were not hijackers. Muslim Americans died at work in the twin towers, whether waiting tables or managing large-scale financial transactions. Muslims were among the innocent passengers on the planes that were turned into bombs. There were also Muslims in the ranks of the emergency responders who died trying to rescue people, and who are rightly remembered as the heroes of that grim day.
Recently a farm in this area was damaged by fire. Members of Harrisonburg's Islamic community were at the front of the line to offer whatever help they could. The spirit of cooperation and mutual aid among people of different faiths went far beyond "tolerance." It was an example of a kind of "we" to be proud of and to cultivate: we in America help each other in a crisis. I hope this sense of community among neighbors can't be injured by a few hateful words in a newspaper.
Sincerely,
Ben Chappell
Harrisonburg

Obama: Inexperienced just the way we want

2007-02-12T11:07:00.000-05:00

Well, this log has been in hibernation for a good while, but I'm finally inspired to post again. Not because I'm in danger of writing letters to the local editor again (keep.... hands.... off...... keyboard) but because for the first time I can remember I am actually excited about the way-too-early launch of a presidential campaign. And I just have to weigh in:

Barack Obama's announcement was of course no surprise, but it still gives me a bit of spring in my step. I have no (ok few) illusions about him being anything like a perfect candidate (that is, anything close to being as far left as the right has him pegged), but there's definitely a sense that in this case, a little compromise on the part of conscientious voters (like me) would go a long way. Whereas I am quite certain that if I compromised enough to vote for Clinton, I would just get bitter about it all over again-- shades of 1992.

One thing that ought to be squashed immediately (or as soon as the lame-o madrasa story is dealt with) is the complaint that Obama has no experience. Beg pardon? What was that? It reminds me of when people were sniffing about Jessie the Body getting elected governor of Minnesota. When people said things about his being unqualified, I had a prof at Texas at the time who was like, "and our governor is exactly how qualified?" Yes, it was that governor. Now
"president."

What exactly is the experience advantage that people like Bush have over people like Obama? Experience with secret societies and blue-blood family circles in Maine and Connecticut? Listen, Obama's experiences-- having an international family, living in Indonesia as a child, working as a community activist, living in urban neighborhoods most people in the political class won't even drive through-- are way better preparation for the presidency than anything any Bush has ever done (OK, except maybe Jenna, who worked at a great school with my cousin Claire. But other than that).

Course maybe the experience card is one that Hillary will play more than um... Rudolph or whomever the GOP throws up. Granted, Hillary has hill skills. I have no qualms about her ability to work those corridors and make deals. So make her VP. Make her Chief of Staff, or anything, really. The thing is, I don't trust her priorities. She's a conservative poll-watcher, no doubt about it, and represents the same elitism that has been ammunition for Democratic self-in-the-foot-shooting since the rise of the DLC. I know Obama went to Columbia, ok, but he also went to Occidental College, as well as that public school in Indonesia, etc. etc. He knows there's a world out there off the golf course, and it's not just noblesse oblige that motivates him politically. On our marathon post-Christmas drive this year we listened to his memoir, and it sold me. Of all the candidates so far, he's the one we want setting the agenda in the white house. For the insider Washington stuff, he can get help.

As for the not-being-black enough thing? Come on, now. Nobody in this country who has ever looked at him has ever been confused. So he's not Harold Washington, but he applied to work for him once. Enough said.

So I'm starting to figure out this schematic for the Dem primary race, and basically everybody is selling themselves as one thing, but probably will turn out to be something else. Somebody should do the graphics on this:

Hillary Clinton wants to be Clinton, but she's probably actually Kerry.
Barack Obama wants to be Kennedy, but he's probably actually Clinton.
J0hn Edwards... anyone?

No time to update, but...

2006-04-19T22:15:00.000-04:00

wtf?

click.

There is no free ipod

2006-03-22T12:13:00.000-05:00

Note to self. There is no free ipod. I know that. I'm educated. I am not a sucker. But I have to confess, I did, just a little bit, out of curiousity, for research purposes, click on one of those links. Actually, it was a free ibook. Can you blame me? Plus, Marike needs a new computer! I was only looking for a way to surprise her! The free ipod came later, in a pop-up window.

Ok, so I wanted to know how it worked. I found out-- you get a page full of little radio buttons and they say just look at a couple of these valuable offers and you're get your free gift! Should have been suspicious red flag no. 1: they are talking about "free gift" and not the ibook. Hm. But they SAID free ibook earlier, so it must be in there somewhere. I clicked on. I started setting rules for myself: ok, if it's free, then I won't buy anything. I won't give out any credit card numbers. I won't apply for any credit cards. The game became all about find the most innocuous "offers" that I can complete and get the ibook. How could I have known that in a matter of days I would have plunged my family into telemarketing hell and I would be a glass-eyed zombie, authorizing credit checks to strangers?

Turns out the most innoucuous offers seemed to be refinancing companies. I thought what the heck, I'll let them give me a quote. Maybe we can fold our home equity loan into our mortgage and make debt management a little less complicated. Before long, though, I was getting the same pages over and over again, and these little entreaties about "just click on TWO MORE offers and get your free gift." I figured out that the free stuff is like a special award for having a superhuman capacity for patience and not getting annoyed. Kind of like those "rebates" at office supply stores.

Well, whatever that capacity is, I don't have it. I gave up and figured we could start a new pennies jar for the ibook (though progress is not exactly speedy in the espresso machine penny jar. Still, slow and steady wins the race). I had very carefully given out only a useless email address, so I figured this little adventure was over. Far from it.

We got on the no-call list right when it was announced a few years ago, so it's been plenty annoying those few times we've gotten calls about student loan consolidation or the ones with the heavily South-Asian-accented "Hello, this is Sarah... Franklin." We had no idea how post-telemarketing we actually were, though. Now, after my little internet safari, the refinance people are positively swarming. The thing is, they know exactly how to appeal to the same gene or personality defect as the free ibook ad-- I listened, and provided information! What am I, an idiot? Thoughts like "Well, maybe a cash-out isn't such a bad idea... We probably have more equity than we realize... We DESERVE to have more equity than we do..."

The first guy to come back with an actual quote offered me a rate a couple of points higher than our current one. I took to telling people right out "No, we're no longer interested, because it looks like a refinance just won't be worth it." For inexplicable reasons, certain callers got through to me, though, and I let them do the numbers.

So, this morning, I got a quote from a guy at Continental Lending. It sounded pretty good: the rate was fixed and lower than our current mortgage. Our monthly payments would be like $200 less, and the only out-of-pocket expense was a $350 appraisal. I was on the verge of being sold. But it was strange that the overall loan amount seemed higher than what we needed. I asked him to break it down. He said, very clearly, but verrrry quickly, something like "The rest of that is 11,000 in closing costs and fees."

Squeeze me? 11,000 American dollars? How many ibooks is that? This is for a refinance, not a new home purchase, mind you. I somehow managed to change personalities and become the no-nonsense, show-me, midwestern, used-car-buying version of myself. He asked me if we could get the paperwork moving. I said I had to think about whether it was worth 11,000 to get a lower monthly payment. He said, "Just focus on the fact that right now, you are paying $200 less a month, with a lower rate." What is this, hypnosis? I was focusing on the 11 Gs he thought he could slip onto my bill.

After we hung up cordially, I did a more appropriate kind of surfing around and basically decided that this was a scam, according to sites like the mortgage professor. I pulled out the calculator and figured out that I could pay off the closing costs with my $200 savings in about 50 years. So that would not exactly be a free ipod. Still, I was willing to just let it go until the next call.

The next caller let me know that I apparently clicked some other debt consolidation link. I mumbled that I had been considering a refinance, but had decided not to. He says "Well, we also have a refi department, do you want me to transfer you?" I said no, I had just mentioned that I decided not to do it. Like he didn't hear me: "But refinancing is something we do. Shall I put you through to them?" No, dude. I explained again. His response: "Ok, have fun jeopardizing your home." Click.

What? Are you kidding me? I was ready to *69 him and say "LOOK, buddy, you don't hang up on me! I hang up on you!" I restrained myself because I am at work, and plus there's probably some thing about how if you call them they can call you back for all time. But that is why I decided to post the story here. I mean, go ahead and try to scam me out of $11,000, but don't be RUDE about it!

OK, so repeat after me. There is no free ipod. There is no free ibook.

But if you get one, let me know how you did it.

Let's get this onto google:

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I love it

2006-03-21T13:19:00.000-05:00

A genre is born:
stop.

cool:

2006-03-20T15:46:00.000-05:00

http://www.graffitigames2006.com/

I realized recently that my reader (or are there 2 of you by now?) must have wondered from time to time where the cult has gone-- this log tends to read more like "policrit." Not that we need to re-crayon in the line between politics and culture more heavily, but... I guess the thing that most quickly motivates me to write a letter to the editor (dubious activity which this log is designed to divert energy from... less embarrassing) is our dear administration, so policrit it has been.

Still, I am all about culture, man! So here, let me direct you to the latest formalization of graffiti anarchy: the Melbourne games. This is a step better than the graffiti video game, imho. But curiously, I only learned about it from a somewhat reactionary site and my host-mate, that was complaining about the graffiti games and their stated aim to create a "total tolerance zone."

So it appears that, still lacking a satisfying public sphere in which to find all the flashes of danger I need, the best way to discover cool stuff is to look for right-leaning rants and follow their finger-pointing links.

Oh, or just find out about what's hilarious and cool from Marike (here's the latest thing she surfed on to and told me I had to see. I did. You do, too).

You've got to love these guys

2006-03-08T21:42:00.000-05:00

From a Forbes.com article looking for Katrinagate:

"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."
President Bush made the statement in a television interview last Sept. 1...

White House spokesman Scott McClellan has said Bush's comments were not intended to suggest that no one had anticipated levee failures.

Is it 2008 yet?

Speech Acts II

2006-02-22T13:43:00.000-05:00

Speaking of free speech, has anyone noticed how the story about the Fred-Phelps-inspired ban on funeral demonstrations disappeared? The conspiracist who lives behond my right shoulder says it was about the same time as the Danish cartoons blew up.

Man, Phelps is a piece of work. No one can accuse him of red-blue partisanship now that he's protesting at military funerals, saying "God Hates America." He is in his own little world...

But the response to his latest insanely offensive activity is scary. Now people want to ban protests at funerals, which just goes to show that we are not really interested in free speech in this country. Not really. Nor in any limitation on government. At least those of us in the red states (I almost forgot which is which). No, what we want is theocracy. We want laws against bad stuff. You don't like something that Phelps spewed at a funeral? Let's ban all demonstrations. The legal moralizing this represents is totally over the top. It's like if kids get caught reading an Abbie Hoffman book about how to blow up the school: ulp, we better ban.... books.

Phelps needs to be shut down or drowned out, no doubt. But counter-Phelps actions in civil society are infinitely better than legislative ones.

With laws like these, there will be no need to complain about Jimmy Carter or Rev. Lowrey speaking the truth at Coretta Scott King's funeral-- you could just have them arrested.

This is another instance of an attempt to "depoliticize" American public life, which basically whitewashes the deeply political character of military funerals. Patriotism, warrior jingo, and all the rest is not politics, it is natural truth. Anti-war speech is the political speech. That can be excluded, but extolling the virtues of the Empire need not be disturbed.

The harder it gets to counter that idea, the deeper the trouble we're in.

Speech Acts

2006-02-22T13:26:00.000-05:00

Ok, I was going to comment on the Danish cartoons issue a while ago, and never found my way here. I admit it is scary to see the reaction, and I support the idea of a secular public sphere, in which blasphemy is not acceptable grounds for violence. But still, you have to marvel at the arrogance of the Danes. The prime minister refuses to meet with Muslims who want to "dialogue" about the issue. Even more egregious: the paper refused cartoons of Jesus because they were deemed offensive, before putting out a call for cartoons about Muhammed, basically saying "please send us something offensive."

But what's the appropriate response? Certainly not legal action against the paper or the cartoonist. Some gestures of goodwill toward Islam by the government wouldn't hurt. It's a good opportunity, though, to think about how to struggle with media without censorship. How to hit them where it hurts for doing something stupid? What motivates newspapers? Obviously sales, but I'm not holding my breath that the usual readership are going to do anything.

It occurs to me that awards carry some weight for cultural institutions like this. Clearly, it's high time for a negative award system. While competing for pulitzers and their equivalent, then, newspapers also have to try to avoid nomination for an award for the worst abuse of the journalistic profession, or some such. That would get interesting.

In any case, the rioting and burning and general anti-Danish business is a perfect opportunity for all of us not to be Christopher Hitchens. That guy is so annoying-- his islamophobia is intense. Somehow he is getting all this praise as a "public intellectual," when his thinking is mush: there are scary Muslims out there, including people like the 9-11 hijackers. They critique western society, so anyone else who critiques western society must be destroyed. Meanwhile, the Bush empire promises to destroy the scary Muslims, so rah, Empire! Man, when lefties go right they go all the way wrong.

That's no way to say Dubai

2006-02-22T12:47:00.000-05:00

Anybody there? Hello?

Good. Now that I've neglected this log long enough to get rid of everyone I can... rule the world... Mwa ha ha !

No, but really. Come on, now. This business about the ports is ridiculous. "The Arabs" are not going to be in control of our ports, unless "they" are in control of the U.S. coast guard. I heard some apparently conservative JMU kids on WXJM last night complaining about it. Their logic (which is pretty funny in itself, because you can hear them figuring it out as they go, on the air) was basically that the Arab emirates needed to be shunned because, while they did not FUND the 9/11 attacks (thanks for clearing that up), they did allow their banks to be used to fund it. I think the dude said something like "they allowed themselves to be touched by terrorism."

Ok, now we're going to close the Boston airport for the same reason. For that matter, how about we close the Pentagon? It was certainly touched by terrorism when that plane hit it. Come on, boys, don't be silly.

There is so much to critique this administration for, and I am usually not one to pull back the reins in that department (read the Conyers Resolution and impeach the creep at once!), but people need to lay off the ports issue. I've heard it called "political grandstanding," but think about what the basis for critique is here: folks are upset because an Arab company is getting involved in our shipping business. No matter how you spin it, that's a racist concern. It only plays into Bush's should-be-nonsensical idea that critics of the empire don't want brown people to have democracy. So cut it out, already.

The thing that's really depressing about it is that this is an opportunity to grandstand. Basically, there's no political liability for equating Arab with terrorist in the public discourse. That's a disgrace, and nobody should take advantage of it to embarrass the prez. He is perfectly capable of embarrassing himself.

Say What?

2006-02-04T22:48:00.000-05:00

Hello? Hello? Can you hear me now?

It's been a way long time gone since I've weighed in here--not that there have been a dearth of moments of danger, but if I were an NPR personality, I guess they'd have been saying "Ben Chappell is.... Away." Just haven't logged in for awhile.

But this is just too interesting not to comment. Marike and I have been watching casually but with interest the resurgence of the left in Latin America. Seems like the whole continent is joining in with those crowds in Mexico that met Salinas & Zedillo's promises of the bounty of free trade with "First World? Ha Ha Ha!"

Like Hamas's polling victory in Palestine, the elected left governments are a direct challenge to US lip service about democracy. If you go on and on about democracy and then you see it happen and the last people you (the empire) want elected end up on top, things get weird. Like this:

Marti, who died in 1895 during Cuba's war of independence with Spain, has been glorified in Cuba as the ultimate anti-imperialist, a label both Chavez and Castro have embraced for themselves in their struggles with the United States.

Far from seeing them as regional heroes, the Bush administration considers the men to be populists who threaten democracy and individual rights.

Rumsfeld expressed the same fears about Bolivia's new leftist president, Evo Morales, during a National Press Club appearance Thursday. "We've seen some populist leadership appealing to masses of people in those countries. And elections like Evo Morales in Bolivia take place that clearly are worrisome."

Ok, everybody follow that? Populists are people who threaten democracy and individual rights, principally by appealing to masses of people. I presume this explains why, rather than working to make Mexico more like the U.S., Curious George has been trying so hard to make the U.S. more like Mexico, i.e. tilting the whole economy toward the benefit of a smaller and smaller group. If he manages to alienate everybody and entrench policies that are beneficial to the richest few, at least no one can accuse him of being a populist (not even with the alien accent, for a Maine Yankee).

So, if a handful of people are pleased and the masses pissed, democracy is secure. Maybe this is one of those unknown knowns or something. Explain, please, Rummy. In the meantime, everybody vote for populist impeachers come this fall.

Bombing Al-Jazeera

2005-11-23T00:31:00.000-05:00

Weird when the news starts to resemble a prequel of the movies. I just got through showing Jehane Noujaim's amazing doc Control Room in class, and now this. So, Georgie wasn't content to ignore the news he didn't like to hear, he contemplated bombing the messenger. The predictable reactions to stories like the Post's and the NYT's is indignation about how preposterous an idea it is. But watch the movie, and you see that on the same day, headquarters of two Arab channels were bombed, plus the Palestine hotel where so many journalists crash. Anybody not ready to believe the worst about this administration is not paying attention.

One of each

2005-11-03T13:08:00.000-05:00

If its guest list is any indication, the white house is starting to resemble the kind of after-school television that the "conservative base" likes to ban (remember Buster's friend with two moms?). Will wonders never cease?

Gitmo is no gulag, THIS is a gulag!

2005-11-02T12:42:00.000-05:00

We totally misunderstood the indignation when human rights advocates raised concerns about the "gulag" conditions at Guantanamo. I guess Bush, Rumsfeld, & Co. didn't want to dilute the term's applicability to secret prisons in old Soviet compounds. When do we stop being shocked by this stuff?

Support the troops-- vote for them

2005-11-02T12:39:00.000-05:00

Interesting twist on our post red state-blue state existence: soldiers coming back from Iraq and running as Democrats for public office. What does it say about our system that this seems surprising? Dayton Daily News covers it, as does Air America.

How did this not get around more?

2005-10-27T13:22:00.000-04:00

Ok, am I not keeping up with the news? Or was there insufficient outrage over a Pakistani-American air force vet being beaten down for peaceful protest?

Hertzberg Strikes Again: Quagmier

2005-10-26T11:39:00.000-04:00

The New Yorker's Talk of the Town has become the most regularly incisive and gratifying source of political commentary I know of. Recently, there was a spot-on critique of the Harriet Miers nomination, including this historical context: Henrik Hertzberg cites Alexander Hamilton about how the senate confirmation of judges should make the president

both ashamed and afraid to bring forward, for the most distinguished or lucrative stations, candidates who had no other merit than that of coming from the same State to which he particularly belonged, or of being in some way or other personally allied to him, or of possessing the necessary insignificance and pliancy to render them the obsequious instruments of his pleasure.

Read Hertzberg's whole piece. Do it now.

"I hate Illinois Nazis"

2005-10-16T21:43:00.000-04:00

I believe it was Jake Blues, said that one. Now the nazis have come to my home lil corner of Ohio, or darn close. What's more surprising is that some "unruly protestors," "rioters," or "gang members," depending on who you ask, didn't stand for it. Not only that, when the nazis beat it, these Toledoans started to throw down with the cops. What is this, Berlin? Wow. I wonder what would have happened if I had been in high school still this week. One sure outcome: a new member of the caption writing hall of shame, for Fox News's story, with the either scary or embarrassing photo essay title "Nazi Rally Gone Bad." Does a nazi rally really have to "go" bad? Oh, well, the first photo is interesting enough since we see the arm of a Toledo's finest, "stopping" a nazi according to the caption-- but it sure looks like a fascist salute. Strange days, indeed.

That makes it easier

2005-09-30T12:49:00.000-04:00

I have been on the fence about Judith Miller's jail time-- from a free speech perspective, it's appalling to see a journalist imprisoned (Hugo Chavez pointed this out when a Post interviewer asked him about freedom of the press in Venezuela). On the other hand, I want the vast right-wing conspiracy of the administration exposed. Now, though, it looks like there may be more self-made martyrdom than journalistic crusading going on. Seems like the Times just can't get a break-- the newspaper of wreckard.

Mexicanos...

2005-09-16T10:59:00.000-04:00

¡Que viva Hidalgo!

¡Que viva Mexico!

9-11 or New Orleans?

2005-09-06T13:15:00.000-04:00

Which was the greater disaster? I asked my students yesterday. My point is not to relativize trauma-- please don't. But I wanted to (a) check and see if students had been following the Katrina aftermath in the news, and (b) give them a little jolt if not. Then I got this from Betsy... Here are the conditions of possibility for an interesting dicussion (at best. Maybe more likely is me continuing to rant "Katrina was not a natural disaster!" to myself). Want to join in? Take the quiz.

Oh, goodie

2005-09-06T13:02:00.000-04:00

Our president speaks:
"Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house," cracked Bush, "there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch."

I wish he were kidding. Might as well say "Let them eat MREs." The real Bush comes off even more out there than a satirized one.

Jebus, help us.

and in more heartening news, Napalm Death

2005-09-04T00:15:00.000-04:00

... is still around, according to the New Yorker. OK, completely different lineup than my college days, but they're playing NYC and getting a preview writeup in the upper hair of the middle brow. Two things I learned from the piece: (1) that weird grindcore vocal style, which in my mind I always associated with lines like "My name is legion," is called "Cookie Monster." This is great to know, because it will enable me to tell a story that I love but so far have enjoyed only in memory. I was at a "death metal" show in Wichita with Johann, the punk rock conscience of my college days, and there was a grindcore opening act (incidental detail-- I was wearing a white shirt from the funk band Punkinhead, while everybody else in the place was in only black). The dance floor was empty but for two rather unthirsty (not anymore, anyways) and decidedly unpunk girls who I then considered "sorority" types, but in retrospect, I remember teased hair that definitely would not have survived a serious rush. After a couple of tunes, they called out to the singer "What's wrong with your voice?" He dropped the cookie monster (broke character? He had been using it for "Next song! Called! Ugga-bugga!" and the like) and said "No, nothing's wrong with it. That's just how we do it." Nice Kansas diction as you please.
(2) The review calls the ND wall of sound "gorgeous." That's the best descriptor since (but not better than) my college roomie Dave Wall's: "I like music like this... spunky!" I bet the reviewer also never heard Dave whistling the monotone tune of
Multi
National
Corpo
Rations
Genocide
Ofthe
Starving
Nations
Whuuuuuuuuuuu...

You want gorgeous.

New Orleans

2005-09-03T23:54:00.000-04:00

Aw, man. I'm back to work for the fall semester, and starting to need this outlet again. And what's the first thing to write about but this... disaster. One of my colleagues, frustrated with his students' ignorance of the scale of the problem, saw a chance to shake them up with the question "Which was worse; 9/11 or Katrina?" It looks like this is becoming more and more a real question in terms of death toll. Somehow this one is shaking me harder than 9/11, though (Calvin's due date). I have more personal memory of New Orleans than New York: a 22nd birthday party by Jackson Square with some homeless guys, street musicians, and close college brothers. Hearing about the death of my best friend's father when I was in high school, while there on an adventure with my dad. A nostalgia-inducing night of anthropologists gone wild during the AAA meetings, making (I gather) a bit of a reputation for "the Texas crowd."
But I refuse to believe it's just me who is getting torn up by watching the news--it's not only personal. It is too painfully obvious how ready our society and the managers of our resources are to simply brush off the thousands of people who live on the edge of disaster every day. How many more times have New Orleanians been brushed off before there was a hurricane to put them on the front page? How often have we discounted these thousands ("people of the abyss" that racist socialist Jack London wrote about) just like the reporters did in the days following the hurricane, when the quick verdict was that NO had dodged the bullet? Or when the authorities say "Everybody out" and then dust off their hands while thousands, THOUSANDS have no car, or no gas, or no bus showing up at the depot?
In any case, this was not a natural disaster, though it involved nature. I was getting furious watching NBC the other night and their insistence on looping everything around to a narrative of hope. I still feel more anger and despair than hope. I know some people will hear of the "looters" and "hoodlums" and have a ready explanation of social pathology. I think I hear some dirty south rage, though, and I don't blame anybody who's feeling that.
Aw, man, and the big-selling tourist drink on Bourbon St. is the hurricane. That just ties up the tragedy of that grim joy you see in the Quarter. God, New Orleans.

dead air...

2005-06-21T23:46:00.000-04:00

I know, there's been a looooooong silence. What if a blog fell in the forest when no one was around to hear it land? The absence of multitudes clamoring for my next post in deafening silence should tell me something...

Oh, well, imagining that there's somebody on the reading end, I will extend my apologies for not posting in a long while.

The obvious reasons:
finals
grades
students complaining about grades
summer teaching
grades
world-record turnaround on complaints about grades

Plus, yesterday, I was trying to explain to Calvin (age 3 1/2) what research is and how I plan to do it this summer. He said "Daddy, is that what deadline means?"

The better reasons:

Felix James Janzen Chappell
born 17 June 2005, 3:11 AM in Harrisonburg, VA
8 lbs. 5.9 oz. 19 1/2 inches

here's a pic of Felix.
here's another one.

Stay tuned for details on name associations. I'll post details... someday.

About time this happened

2005-05-04T09:13:00.000-04:00

The baseball player with two moms. What's really interesting is that on google news, searching for Joe Valentine returns as many hits about games as it does about his family.

Gamers as peaceniks

2005-04-29T09:48:00.000-04:00

Ok, so the pac-man quote was one of those arguments that disproves itself (is there some Latinate rhetorical term for this? I'd love to know it). But I just ran across another bit that unselfconsciously seems to mitigate a games-are-ruining-society panic (at least from my perspective).

I don't play first-person shooters for several reasons:
1. they're a bit after my time (I think Doom came out the year after I graduated college, so it's not in my golden-age set like Crystal Castle would be. Or Centipede).
2. I tend toward the addictive and have heard of far too many people who can't get offline once the killing starts
3. they scare me: the realism smudges any line that might otherwise be there between entertainment and training.
4. I don't have a gaming-oriented computer or fast internet connection.

So I confess being susceptible to a kind of left-conservatism (or at least pacifist-) about violent gaming. I can see how people expect it to produce nihilists, desensitized to the real effects of violence.

But after reading a fascinating student paper about Quake 2 gaming clans (which, by the way, come across in the paper as a stark example of Foucault's notion of disciplines), I checked out the Online Gaming League website (ogl.org). Here's a little nugget of a poll that got me thinking:

Should we go to war in Iraq?
No: 41%
Yes: 38%
Don't give a crap: 21%
105 responses

Interesting.... Wonder when it was taken.

it had to happen

2005-04-19T13:25:00.000-04:00

Zizek is a movie! That's hilarious. I wonder how it is.

Ok, so two things made me laugh out loud

2005-04-18T10:04:00.000-04:00

this weekend. The other one (besides the pac-man quote) was the Post's word play column, Style Invitational. Scroll down to week 602. I think my favorites were Bong Mot and Bananab.

best thing I heard this weekend

2005-04-18T09:58:00.000-04:00

a bit of weblore that is probably old hat to those in the know, but I only saw it for the first time the other day:

Apparently a Nintendo representative once said something like this:

"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids,we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music."

Confirm or deny, anyone? Or maybe just buy the T-shirt. DJ ghost is the bomb.

Scholar Activists

2005-04-12T09:28:00.000-04:00

Like Bourdieu said, time for an intellectual international.

Public anthropology

2005-04-04T11:36:00.000-04:00

What they're reading in the white house/state dept.

What they should be reading.

Especially the bit taking down Thomas Friedman.

My favorite bit (not from the book, but the page I linked to Tommy's name):

In his New York Times article, Thomas Friedman challenges the critics of "globalization" to name "a single country that has upgraded its living or worker standards, without free trade and integration." As the above list suggests, every single one of today's developed countries did exactly that. You can file that under "facts you won't hear" from the mainstream media.

You know those motivational posters in airplane magazines?

2005-04-01T11:02:00.000-05:00

They should look like this.

Obvious reminder of the Simpsons, remember when it went something like this?

Homer: Boy, if something's too hard, just quit. It gives you more time to watch TV.
Bart: Thanks, Dad. What's on?
Homer (voice and soundtrack swelling with emotion): it doesn't matter.

But that's too easy. Real life provides better self-parody. This from Steve Striffler's ethnographic article on working in a poultry plant in Arkansas:

At 3 p.m. sharp, Javier, my orientation leader, gathers up the new recruits and escorts us into a small classroom that contains a prominently displayed sign. "Democracies depend on the political participation of its citizens, but not in the workplace." Written in both English and Spanish, the message is clear in any language.

Why fight the power?

2005-03-31T10:11:00.001-05:00

If there were only clearchannel, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have heard about Murat Kurnaz (as is the story has been pretty well buried since Sunday's Post. Maybe because of the big newsflash that Bush lied. Ok, either lied or was incompetent. Honestly, though, which is better? In either case, what is the sound of 48% of the electorate all saying "no duh" at once? But I digress...)

Murat's story is astonishing not because it happened under the military tribunal system, but that people involved continued to defend the tribunals for so long after Murat's hearing. Basically, he's been held at Guantanamo for three years even though the evidence is overwhelmingly in his favor. This did not become an issue for anybody until the materials were declassified. The implication of the story, then, is that, far from being capable of policing itself, the military-security apparatus is out of control. It's not that current policy could be abused or that innocent people could fall through the cracks. It is and they are. Read David Cole to throw more wood on this fire.

Murat's case shows that you don't have to be involved in anything terroristical to be legally treated as a terrorist. The situation of Dora Maria Tellez shows that you don't even have to have a Turkish or Arabic-sounding name. Being a revolutionary is all it takes for the state to step in and declare you persona non grata. If I were Harvard, and the state were telling me I couldn't invite Tellez to campus, I would be pretty worried about my lofty self-concept as a utopia of freely exchanged ideas. It sounds like even a bigger crisis than having an idiot president. So, when do we start deporting old contras, or stop hosting Haitian death-squad types on state visits?

All of this is putting me in a Bastille-storming mood. It's time, let's go! But first I have to prepare for my 11 oclock class. Meet you there.

Fight the power

2005-03-31T10:02:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness for Rob Vining.

Clear Channel Sucks!

Stinky lives

2005-03-31T09:37:00.000-05:00

Extrapolating on the robot story, in which undocumented Mexican high school kids out-engineer MIT experts:

I stumbled on the robot contest story right at the same time as I was reading a student's observations on the documentary Spellbound. Both of these stories are about contests that in some ways are quintessentially American (by being contests, for one thing, but also by being so American-dreamy), and it's telling that immigrants did so well. Lots of confirmation of Sara Mahler's point that cultural constructions of "america" and "immigrant" continue to be intricately and contradictorily (word?) bound up with each other.

The David-and-Goliath engineering angle on Stinky also reminds me of Secrets of Silicon Valley. Dealing with labor and the digital divide in high-tech world, this doc shows how insane this annual soap-box derby race gets when venture capitalists start sponsoring cars. The robot-building kids who beat MIT at their own game echoes how some kids from the "wrong" side of Palo Alto get into designing a car, but the robot story is even more Cool Runnings (who gets to be John Candy?)-- except they won!

The heartbreaker is at the end of the Wired story, when it becomes clear that being undocumented is going to stop these kids' education at high school. The author points out that for undocumented students, higher ed means no federal aid and out-of-state tuition no matter where you go, so at least $50,000 cash for a state school. It may seem like a stretch, but to me this leads directly back to the rumblings about an impending draft. The Stinky story is evidence that we already do have de facto conscription into the volunteer military.

Not that Stinky's builders mention this at all, but enlisting seems to me to be an obvious response to this kind of situation, and the only evident way for talented kids to pursue their passion for building and ideas. It's pretty clear that the need to replenish the military with warm bodies is a vulnerability of empire. Holding out carrots like the possibility of accelerated naturalization or legal residency and free or at least attainable education is what keeps recruiters in business. Anyone who would oppose a draft out of self-interest ought to be profoundly concerned about the plight of folks like Team Stinky.

sometimes life is just so hollywood

2005-03-30T13:59:00.001-05:00

except the happy ending:

un corrido de stinky the robot

What does the empire require of us?

2005-03-21T12:04:00.000-05:00

A successful demonstration in the provinces this weekend... Ok, call it a speak-out, followed by a vigil (one organized by anarchists and the other by "the faith community," so they had to be separated), whatever, it was at least a little version of what they call in Spanish a manifestacion. We had a couple of hundred folks out on the courthouse steps for a good couple hours. We heard from a WWII vet, a Muslim poet, those ubiquitous drumming kids who sew patches on the seams of their pants, bunches of others. I went home feeling cold but good, did my part, participated in the historical marking of 2 yrs since Gulf War II began (one day to be remembered as the second act, after Afghanistan, of the permanent war).

I think those of us manifesting out there felt good, even though some creep came and stole a bunch of brownies in order, as I heard him suggest to a friend later on, to teach the socialists a lesson. Were we heard? Maybe by folks driving by in the traffic circle around the square. Maybe not. Maybe as blips on a global picture of what our prez calls "focus groups" that met to protest and resist the war on that day. It's hard to be hopeful about the effects of a demonstration, though. Let alone a speak-out/vigil.

This has been a mulling point for a long time with me. I came to the conclusion once, after watching a documentary on nonviolent resistance to apartheid, that demos have value in sustaining those of us who would constitute a resistance. In the SA film, the point was that boycotts and other such actions that come off "successfully," but don't tangibly advance the larger cause nonetheless are important for creating a mobilized body politic. So maybe demos are mainly for the demonstrators, so we can feel like we're not alone, that there's some response to the war machine that has run amok.

But for what are we being sustained? To cope with disagreeing with out government? To be able to sleep while the world burns, because we've sterilized ourselves from Bushism by registering our protest? Where does the resistance go when the manifestation is over? That to me is the unanswered, persistent question facing us.

The traditional answers are all there: organize. Write. Call. March. But is anyone listening? Moreover, if they do (let's say, we get a letter read by a member of congress), are they in a position to do anything?

One thing that's so unsettling about these questions is the disconnect between conventional means of political action and the view of the world which I've acquired from social and cultural theory. Whether you read it in Marx, Gramsci, Foucault, or some other foreigner, the persistent theme is that society works on a much less individualist/voluntarist basis than we think. That we collectively "make our own history" (not under "conditions of our own choosing"), rather than being lead into it by the members of the state.

So my question, as I walk home and warm up from the sustaining demo, is what is it that we do on a daily basis that creates the possibility of empire? What micro-level actions, speech acts, gestures, and habits are required of us for empire to continue? The only hope I can find in a moment like now, in which the state seems immune from the will of the governed, is that the regime depends on some level of complicity from its subjects, and that the form this complicity takes has not been fully uncloaked.

What does the empire require of us? What do we do that constitutes us as imperial subjects? What subversive discrepancies are possible, beyond turning out to stand in public and voice opposition?

That's the question

2005-03-21T11:51:00.000-05:00

Here's the opening salvo of an interview with Zizek I just surfed onto:

The contemporary political discourse, changed by events such as the altering of communist regular patterns, should be giving new meaning to the actual signifiers. What speech act is involved in this context?

ummm, could you repeat the question?

Lunchtime activity

2005-03-16T13:12:00.000-05:00

Dear Editor:
I must disagree strongly with the editorial page’s celebration of Antonin Scalia. Far from being an ideal candidate for Chief Justice, Scalia periodically espouses views that are profoundly anti-American. A telling example is his reference to the gospel of Paul when writing on the death penalty in the journal First Things. Discussing the morality of government policies, Scalia suggests that government “derives its moral authority from God.”

This is in stark contrast to the founding ideas of our republic. The Declaration of Independence asserts that all people are endowed with rights by our “Creator,” which establishes them as “unalienable” human rights. Rights, however, are not government. Government is a human invention (“instituted among men”) used to secure rights. The authority to do so derives from the “consent of the governed,” an idea that is fundamental to Enlightenment democracy. To attribute government’s power to God is place it at a moral level above and beyond human beings. Scalia’s distortion places the moral authority of government above that of the governed, which is a position better suited to totalitarianism than democracy.

The Declaration is even clearer about the non-divinity of government in the next, rightly famous phrase: “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.” If government derived its authority from God, then this would be a call to abolish the authority of God. He can’t have it both ways-- either Scalia is misapplying the scripture or the Declaration is a blasphemy to Christians.

It is scandalous to hear someone discrediting the Declaration of Independence from the most powerful bench we have. If his views were to be enshrined and affirmed in a chief justiceship, it would be a disaster for the republic.

Sincerely,

Ben Chappell
Harrisonburg

back and grimmer than ever

2005-03-13T22:55:00.000-05:00

A long hiatus-- call it a new semester, a quick spring break, overwhelm on all sides. I finally got a look at a recent New Yorker, and Hertzberg, in his brilliance, got me in the mood again to spout.

What my imaginary friend HH , the man who is 1/2 of 25% Calvin's namesake, has to say supports a running theme in this log: things are looking bleak for the republic.

Consider his breakdown of the Senate:

55 Republicans
44 Democrats

Take each senator to represent 1/2 of his/her state. That means the parties represent:

Republican: 131 million people
Democrats: 161 million people

More specifically, consider that the last 3 elections since 2000 put them there. How many voted for each party in senate races?

Republican: 97.3 million
Democrat: 99.7 million

As Hendrik puts it, "unless acres trump people," this is not democracy.

The piece is a discussion on the filibuster and judicial appointments. In another sobering shot, content of which of course we all knew, but HH draws our attention to it just right, he reminds us that Scalia, Bush's choice for exemplary supreme ct judgemental, takes it as fact that gov't derives its power from God. I prescribe mandatory viewing of the constitutional peasant scene in The Holy Grail ("supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses..."), preferably a la A Clockwork Orange reprogramming scene.

This is the necessary salt with which to take all Repub. references to the "elite" who have coopted the nation, not to mention silly talk of "political capital," etc.

Bad news

2005-02-01T13:32:00.000-05:00

I heard the news today, oh, boy. It was depressing drive time to work this morning (yesterday by posting time). NPR had two stories back-to-back that showed the poverty of political culture these days.

First, and not surprisingly, Bush is courting black conservatives. The approach, of course, is an appeal to "lifestyle" issues. Somebody they interviewed, though, also spoke of the NAACP's trouble with the IRS, suggesting that they are acting in the interest of a "political agenda," not in the interest of black people.

The next story was second verse, same as the first. This time a Catholic school in California where constituents were trying to boot out some twins who had two dads. The idea was that since the gay parents were not in accord with Catholic doctrine, the kids had to go. Someone from the school was saying they didn't want to go down that road, because it led also to booting kids of divorced parents, investigating what parents used birth control, etc. The anti-twins spokesperson distinguished this case by saying that the twins were just pawns in their dads' agenda to force the church to accept homosexuality.

That gay agenda again. I can picture it this time:

8:00 drop off twins
8:30 groceries
9:00 pick up at cleaners
10:00 mass

What's going on? For a long time now, we've heard politicians claiming to be above politics. But now, everywhere you look the right is pressing an aggressive agenda that is labelled as simple, apolitical values, while others of us just go about our business and are slapped with the charge of pressing an agenda. Since when are the "interests" of black folks supposed to be clear of the taint of politics? How is it not an "agenda" to get these kids kicked out of school because of who their parents are?

Barthes is gaining relevance like crazy: myth is depoliticized speech. The right is not only carrying out a crusade abroad, it is pressing a mythical crusade at home. How long till the inquisition? Time for a little semioclasm, but I don't know how to start.

Oh, no!

2005-01-17T11:59:00.000-05:00

I just read this in my email newsletter from Bethel College:

The Young Alumni Committee invites members of the Young Alumni Association--those with class years approximately 1995-2004--

Ok, I graduated in 1993. So it's official, I'm no longer young. Ouch. When do I get the surge of absolute power over a college that comes when you become "real" alumni?

American fascism

2005-01-17T08:55:00.000-05:00

This weekend, I stayed up just about all night to finish Phillip Roth's latest. If you don't know, it's a historical novel about what might have happened had Charles Lindburgh defeated Roosevelt on an isolationist Republican ticket with anti-semitic overtones. What does happen? Pogroms, martial law, and war with Canada, for starters.

The easiest way to dismiss Roth's it-could-happen-here scenario is to complain that he has slandered the historical figures in the book, principally Lindy. He pre-empts this argument somewhat with appendices that are supposed to help draw a clear line between fact and fiction (intriguing material in their own right, but I'm kind of disappointed they're there at the same time. Why not leave us guessing?). My judgement, biased of course, is that he wasn't necessarily unfair to Lindburgh, especially because the character in the book functions almost more as a symbol than anything else.

The book has a lot to say about cults of personality, and especially about the banality of evil. Like the appendices, the conclusion is a bit disappointing in that it seems that Hitler was behind the scenes all along, pulling the strings. What was most gripping about the book was how quickly and completely ordinary people let anti-semitism and fascism consume them and direct the mundane habits of their lives; what was most moving was the courage of ordinary people who resisted in some way. To have an evil kingpin who's actually controlling it all is a bit of a deus ex machina that lets "America" off the hook. On the other hand, the Hitler conspiracy is presented as a possibile explanation for what happens, not the definitive conclusion, and anyway, what could be more American than a good conspiracy theory?

If the image of a president gaining mass approval for flying his own fighter plane chills you and you don't know why, or if the thought of emigrating to Canada has crossed your mind, read this book. Read it anyway.

oh, great

2005-01-15T02:16:00.000-05:00

get ready for war without end.

Finding ways to spend millions more

2005-01-10T11:27:00.000-05:00

I was moved by the rumors and lore about people cancelling new year's parties to send money as aid to the tsunami zone. Then the news that George II's party (estimated tab at $40-50 million) will go forward as planned.

read about it.

back in action

2005-01-06T12:14:00.000-05:00

just back from the winter break, without having really broke that much, and swamped with the work of getting back to work. Still, over lunch I stumbled on this for the first time. Always historicize!

I'm thankful for

2004-11-29T12:24:00.000-05:00

this breath of fresh air. Not that Giroux is all that "fresh," but I hadn't seen the site. Thank you, professor.

Brenda Jo Bright, RIP

2004-11-15T14:15:00.000-05:00

I learned today, a year late, that lung cancer finally took Brenda Jo Bright, the pre-eminent scholar of lowriding. Having sunk a good 7 years of my life and virtually all of my scholarly activity into the topic, I owe her virtually everything. When I first searched for lowrider scholarship in spring, 1997, Brenda's work provided the main hits. Her dissertation at Rice provided me with a theoretically and ethnographically rich starting point, not to mention giving the project I was starting to dream up legitimacy. To my knowledge, her book with U. California Press never appeared, but I hope it still does.

I never met Brenda, and only communicated with her through a couple of emails, but I feel a significant loss. Like Judith Butler's recent eulogy to Derrida, this experience brings into focus the affection it is possible to feel for someone whom you have read, if not met.

Somewhere, there should be a car mural of Brenda, the originial antropo-loca. RIP.

those voting machines

2004-11-10T13:11:00.000-05:00

Looks like it's not just paranoia. Activists, including the League of Pissed Off Voters, are compiling testimony about voting machine failure. Does anybody else think Kerry conceded too early? Apparently Zizek does. I'm reminded of the spectacle in Farenheit 9-11 of Gore presiding over the official theft of the 2000 election. If that's liberal, let's get some radicals out next time, eh?

what a crusade costs

2004-11-05T12:50:00.000-05:00

This forwarded from my mom: the new wall.

One thing that's so moving about the Vietnam memorial in DC is just seeing what 58,000 names look like. Visiting there, I've wondered whether the blades of grass around the wall are numerous enough to represent the lost Vietnamese.

Imagine how long it would take to scroll through a list of Iraqi dead.

(clip)
Thursday, November 4th, 2004

My first thoughts about the election...

Cpl. Roberto Abad, Sgt. Michael D. Acklin II, Spc. Genaro Acosta, Pfc. Steven Acosta, Capt. James F. Adamouski, Pvt. Algernon Adams, Sgt. Brandon E. Adams, Spc. Clarence Adams III, 1st Lt. Michael R. Adams, Pfc. Michael S. Adams, Lt. Thomas Mullen Adams, Spc. Jamaal R. Addison, Lance Cpl. Patrick R. Adle, Capt. Tristan N. Aitken, Spc. Segun Frederick Akintade, Lance Cpl. Nickalous N. Aldrich, Spc. Ronald D. Allen Jr., Sgt. Glenn R. Allison, Lance Cpl. Michael J. Allred, Capt. Eric L. Allton, Cpl. Nicanor Alvarez, Cpl. Daniel R. Amaya, Pfc. John D. Amos II, Lance Cpl. Brian E. Anderson, Airman 1st Class Carl L. Anderson Jr., Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael C. Anderson, Spc. Michael Andrade, Pfc, Spc. Yoe M. Aneiros, Lance Cpl. Levi T. Angell, Army Spc. Edward J. Anguiano, Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Todd Arnold, Lance Cpl. Alexander S. Arredondo, Spc. Richard Arriaga, Staff Sgt. Jimmy J. Arroyave, Spc. Robert R. Arsiaga, Sgt. Evan Asa Ashcraft, Pfc. Shawn M. Atkins, Maj. Jay Aubin, Capt. Matthew J. August, Lance Cpl. Aaron C. Austin, Spc. Tyanna S. Avery-Fedder, Lance Cpl. Andrew Julian Aviles, Pfc. Eric A. Ayon, Sgt. 1st Class Henry A. Bacon, Sgt. Andrew Joseph Baddick, Staff Sgt. Daniel A. Bader, Staff Sgt. Nathan J. Bailey, Spc. Ronald W. Baker, Spc. Ryan T. Baker, Sgt. Sherwood R. Baker.

Pfc. Chad E. Bales, 1st Lt. Kenneth Michael Ballard, Maj. Spc. Solomon C. Bangayan, Lt. Col. Dominic R. Baragona, Pfc. Mark A. Barbret, Pfc. Collier E. Barcus, Sgt. Michael C. Barkey, Spc. Jonathan P. Barnes, Command Sgt. Maj. Edward C. Barnhill, Lance Cpl. Aric J. Barr, Sgt. Michael Paul Barrera, Maj. Carlos Barro Ollero, Sgt. Douglas E. Bascom, Spc. Todd M. Bates, Sgt. 1st Class Michael Battles Sr., Gunnery Sgt. Ronald E. Baum, Spc. Alan N. Bean Jr., Spc. Bradley S. Beard, Spc. Beau R. Beaulieu, Capt. Ryan Beaupre, Spc. James L. Beckstrand, Sgt. Gregory A. Belanger, Cpl. Christopher Belchik, Sgt. Aubrey D. Bell, Pfc. Wilfred D. Bellard, Staff Sgt. Joseph P. Bellavia, Sgt. 1st Class William M. Bennett, Spc. Robert T. Benson, 1st Lt. David R. Bernstein, Spc. Joel L. Bertoldie, Staff Sgt. Stephen A. Bertolino Sr., Staff Sgt. Marvin Best, Cpl. Mark A. Bibby, Sgt. Benjamin W. Biskie, Sgt. Michael E. Bitz, Sgt. Jarrod W. Black, Chief Warrant Officer Michael T. Blaise, Capt. Ernesto M. Blanco, Command Sgt. Maj. James D. Blankenbecler, Spc. Joseph M. Blickenstaff, Spc. Nicholas H. Blodgett, Sgt. Trevor A. Blumberg, Lance Cpl. Jeremy L. Bohlman, Gunnery Sgt. Jeffrey E. Bohr Jr., Lance Cpl. Todd J. Bolding, Sgt. Dennis J. Boles, Sgt. 1st Class Craig A. Boling, Petty Officer 3rd Class Doyle W. Bollinger Jr, Sgt. 1st Class Kelly Bolor, Staff Sgt. Stevon A. Booker.

Chief Warrant Officer Clarence E. Boone, Capt. John J. Boria, Pfc. Rachel K. Bosveld, Spc. Mathew G. Boule, Staff Sgt. Elvis Bourdon, Pvt. 1st Class Samuel R. Bowen, Staff Sgt. Hesley Box Jr., Pvt. Noah L. Boye, Lance Cpl. Aaron Boyles, Spc. Edward W. Brabazon, Cpl. Travis J. Bradach-Nall, Staff Sgt. Kenneth R. Bradley, Staff Sgt. Stacey C. Brandon, Spc. Artimus D. Brassfield, Pfc. Joel K. Brattain, Pfc. Jeffrey F. Braun, Chief Warrant Officer William I. Brennan, Staff Sgt. Steven H. Bridges, Spc. Kyle A. Brinlee, Staff Sgt. Cory W. Brooks, Sgt. Thomas F. Broomhead, Sgt. Andrew W. Brown, Tech. Sgt. Bruce E. Brown, Lance Cpl. Dominic C. Brown, Cpl. Henry L. Brown, Pfc. John E. Brown, Spc. Larry K. Brown, Spc. Lunsford B. Brown II, 1st Lt. Tyler H. Brown, Spc. Philip D. Brown, Pfc. Timmy R. Brown Jr., 1st Lt. Tyler H. Brown, Cpl. Andrew D. Brownfield, Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan B. Bruckenthal, Lance Cpl. Cedric E. Bruns, 2nd Lt. Todd J. Bryant, Sgt. Ernest G. Bucklew, Spc. Roy Russell Buckley, Pfc. Paul J. Bueche, Lt. Col. Charles H. Buehring, Lance Cpl. Brian Rory Buesing, Sgt. George Edward Buggs, Spc. Joshua I. Bunch, Staff Sgt. Christopher Bunda, Staff Sgt. Michael L. Burbank, Staff Sgt. Richard A. Burdick, Spc. Alan J. Burgess, Lance Cpl. Jeffrey C. Burgess, Pfc. Tamario D. Burkett, Sgt. Travis L. Burkhardt.

Pfc. David P. Burridge, Pfc. Jesse R. Buryj, Pfc. Charles E. Bush Jr., Pvt. Matthew D. Bush, Pfc. Damian S. Bushart, Sgt. Jacob L. Butler, Capt. Joshua T. Byers, Cpl. Juan C. Cabralbanuelos, Pfc. Cody S. Calavan, Sgt. Juan Calderon Jr, Sgt. Charles T. Caldwell, Spc. Nathaniel A. Caldwell, Staff Sgt. Joseph Camara, Spc. Michael C. Campbell, Sgt. Ryan M. Campbell, Spc. Marvin A. Camposiles, Spc. Isaac Campoy, Spc. Ervin Caradine Jr., Spc. Adolfo C. Carballo, Pfc. Michael M. Carey, Cpl. Richard P. Carl, Pfc. Ryan G. Carlock, Pfc. Benjamin R. Carman, Staff Sgt. Edward W. Carmen, Spc. Jocelyn L. Carrasquillo, Sgt. Frank T. Carvill, Capt. Christopher S. Cash, Spc. Ahmed A. Cason, Pfc. Jose Casanova, Lance Cpl. James A. Casper, Capt. Paul J. Cassidy, Staff Sgt. Roland L. Castro, Sgt. Sean K. Cataudella, Lance Cpl. Steven C. T. Cates, Pfc. Thomas D. Caughman, Staff Sgt. James W. Cawley, Spc. Jessica L. Cawvey, Petty Officer 3rd Class David A. Cedergren, Lance Cpl. Manuel A. Ceniceros, Cpl. Kemaphoom A. Chanawongse, Spc. James A. Chance III, Staff Sgt. William D. Chaney, Chief Warrant Officer Robert William Channell Jr., Spc. Jason K. Chappell, Pfc. Jonathan M. Cheatham, Sgt. Yohjyh L. Chen, Lance Cpl. Marcus M. Cherry, 2nd Lt. Therrel S. Childers, Spc. Andrew F. Chris.

Staff Sgt. Thomas W. Christensen, Spc. Brett T. Christian, Spc. Arron R. Clark, Staff Sgt. Michael J. Clark, Lance Cpl. Donald J. Cline Jr., Pfc. Christopher R. Cobb, Lance Cpl. Kyle W. Codner, 1st Sgt. Christopher D. Coffin, Pvt. Bradli N. Coleman, Cpl. Gary B. Coleman, 2nd Lt. Benjamin J. Colgan, Sgt. Russell L. Collier, Sgt. 1st Class Gary L. Collins, Lance Cpl. Jonathan W. Collins, Chief Warrant Officer Lawrence S. Colton, Spc. Zeferino E. Colunga, Sgt. Robert E. Colvill, Sgt. Kenneth Conde Jr., Sgt. Timothy M. Conneway, Spc. Steven D. Conover, Capt. Aaron J. Contreras, Lance Cpl. Pedro Contreras, Sgt. Jason Cook, Command Sgt. Major Eric F. Cooke, Sgt. Dennis A. Corral, Chief Warrant Officer Alexander S. Coulter, 2nd Lt. Leonard M. Cowherd, Spc. Gregory A. Cox, Pfc. Ryan R. Cox, Lance Corporal Timothy R. Creager, Sgt. Michael T. Crockett, Staff Sgt. Ricky L. Crockett, Sgt. Brud J. Cronkrite, Lance Cpl. Kyle D. Crowley, Pvt. Rey D. Cuervo, Pfc. Kevin A. Cuming, Spc. Daniel Francis J. Cunningham, Staff Sgt. Darren J. Cunningham, Spc. Carl F. Curran, Cpl. Michael Edward Curtin, Staff Sgt. Christopher E. Cutchall, Pfc. Brian K. Cutter, Pfc. Anthony D. D'Agostino, Spc. Edgar P. Daclan Jr., Capt. Nathan S. Dalley, Lance Cpl. Andrew S. Dang, Spc. Danny B. Daniels II, Pvt. 1st Class Torey J. Dantzler, Pfc. Norman Darling, Capt. Eric B. Das.

Spc. Shawn M. Davies, Pvt. Brandon L. Davis, Staff Sgt. Craig Davis, Staff Sgt. Donald N. Davis, Spc. Raphael S. Davis, Staff Sgt. Wilbert Davis, Staff Sgt. Jeffrey F. Dayton, Pvt. Jason L. Deibler, Spc. Lauro G. DeLeon Jr., Sgt. Felix M. Delgreco, Sgt. Jacob H. Demand, Staff Sgt. Mike A. Dennie, Spc. Darryl T. Dent, Pfc. Ervin Dervishi, Spc. Daniel A. Desens, Pfc. Michael R. Deuel, Pvt. Michael J. Deutsch, Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher M. Dickerson, Cpl. Nicholas J. Dieruf, Spc. Jeremiah J. DiGiovanni, Spc. Jeremy M. Dimaranan, Spc. Michael A. Diraimondo, Spc. Anthony J. Dixon, Spc. Ryan E. Doltz, Sgt. Michael E. Dooley, Chief Warrant Officer Patrick D. Dorff, Petty Officer 2nd Class Trace W. Dossett, Lance Cpl. Scott E. Dougherty, 1st Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy, Pfc. Stephen P. Downing II, Spc. Chad H. Drake, Pvt. Jeremy L. Drexler, Cpl. Jason L. Dunham, Staff Sgt. Joe L. Dunigan Jr., Spc. Robert L. DuSang, Spc. William D. Dusenbery, 2nd Lt. Seth J. Dvorin, Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason B. Dwelley, Pfc. Sheldon R. Hawk Eagle, Staff Sgt. Richard S. Eaton Jr., Cpl. Christopher S. Ebert, Sgt. William C. Eckhart, Spc. Marshall L. Edgerton, Pfc. Shawn C. Edwards, Spc. Andrew C. Ehrlich, Sgt. Aaron C. Elandt, Spc. William R. Emanuel IV, Lance Cpl. Mark E. Engel, Spc. Peter G. Enos, Senior Airman Pedro I. Espaillat Jr.

Pfc. Analaura Esparza Gutierrez, Sgt. Adam W. Estep, Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto, Pfc. David Evans, Cpl. Mark A. Evnin, Pfc. Jeremy Ricardo Ewing, Sgt. Justin L. Eyerly, Pvt. Jonathan I. Falaniko, Sgt. James D. Faulkner, Pfc. Raymond J. Faulstich Jr., Capt. Brian R. Faunce, Capt. Arthur L. Felder, 2nd Lt. Paul M. Felsberg, Spc. Rian C. Ferguson, Master Sgt. Richard L. Ferguson, Master Sgt. George A. Fernandez, Staff Sgt. Clint D. Ferrin, Spc. Jon P. Fettig, Cpl. Tyler R. Fey, Sgt. Jeremy J. Fischer, Sgt. Paul F. Fisher, Lance Cpl. Dustin R. Fitzgerald, Pfc. Jacob S. Fletcher, Spc. Thomas A. Foley III, Sgt. Timothy Folmar, Gunnery Sgt. Elia P. Fontecchio, Spc. Jason C. Ford, Capt. Travis A. Ford, Chief Warrant Officer Wesley C. Fortenberry, Sgt. 1st Class Bradley C. Fox, Spc. Craig S. Frank, Lance Cpl. Phillip E. Frank, Staff Sgt. Bobby C. Franklin, Pvt. Robert L. Frantz, Pvt. Benjamin L. Freeman, Sgt. David T. Friedrich, Spc. Luke P. Frist, Spc. Adam D. Froehlich, Pvt. Kurt R. Frosheiser, Pfc. Nichole M. Frye, Sgt. 1st Class Dan H. Gabrielson, Lance Cpl. Jonathan E. Gadsden, Capt. Richard J. Gannon II, Spc. Tomas Garces, Lance Cpl. Derek L. Gardner, Cpl. Jose A. Garibay, Spc. Joseph M. Garmback Jr., Sgt. Landis W. Garrison, Sgt. Justin W. Garvey, Spc. Israel Garza.

1st Sgt. Joe J. Garza, Pfc. Juan Guadalupe Garza Jr, Spc. Christopher D. Gelineau, Lance Cpl. Cory Ryan Guerin, Cpl. Christopher A. Gibson, Pvt. Jonathan L. Gifford, Pvt. Kyle C. Gilbert, Command Sgt. Maj. Cornell W. Gilmore, Petty Officer 3rd Class Ronald A. Ginther, Pfc. Jesse A. Givens, Spc. Michael T. Gleason, Cpl. Todd J. Godwin, 2nd Lt. James Michael Goins, Spc. Christopher A. Golby, Spc. David J. Goldberg, Lance Cpl. Shane L. Goldman, Cpl. Armando Ariel Gonzalez, Lance Cpl. Benjamin R. Gonzalez, Cpl. Jesus A. Gonzalez, Cpl. Jorge Gonzalez, Lance Cpl. Victor A. Gonzalez, Cpl. Bernard G. Gooden, Pfc. Gregory R. Goodrich, Sgt. 1st Class Richard S. Gottfried, Spc. Richard A. Goward, 2nd Lt. Jeffrey C. Graham, Sgt. Jamie A. Gray, Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael J. Gray, Sgt. Tommy L. Gray, Lance Cpl. Torrey L. Gray, Cpl. Jeffrey G. Green, Lt. Col. David S. Greene, Pfc. Devin J. Grella, Spc. Kyle A. Griffin, Staff Sgt. Patrick Lee Griffin Jr., Cpl. Sean R. Grilley, Pvt. Joseph R. Guerrera, Chief Warrant Officer Hans N. Gukeisen, Pfc. Christian D. Gurtner, Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, Pfc. Richard W. Hafer, Staff Sgt. Guy S. Hagy Jr., Spc. Charles G. Haight, Lance Cpl. Michael J. Halal, Pfc. Deryk L. Hallal, Pvt. Jesse M. Halling, Pfc. Andrew Halverson, Chief Warrant Officer Erik A. Halvorsen, Capt. Kimberly N. Hampton, Sgt. Michael S. Hancock.

Pfc. Fernando B. Hannon, Sgt. Warren S. Hansen, Sgt. James W. Harlan, Sgt. Atanacio Haro Marin, Staff Sgt. William M. Harrell, Sgt. Foster L. Harrington, Pfc. Adam J. Harris, Sgt. Kenneth W. Harris Jr., Pfc. Torry D. Harris, Pfc. Leroy Harris-Kelly, Pfc. John D. Hart, Sgt. Nathaniel Hart, Sgt. 1st Class David A. Hartman, Sgt. Jonathan N. Hartman, Staff Sgt. Stephen C. Hattamer, Staff Sgt. Omer T. Hawkins II, Sgt. Timothy L. Hayslett, Chief Warrant Officer Brian D. Hazelgrove, Sgt. David M. Heath, Spc. Justin W. Hebert, Pfc. Damian L. Heidelberg, Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, Spc. Jeremy M. Heines, Staff Sgt. Brian R. Hellerman, Staff Sgt. Terry W. Hemingway, Cpl. Matthew C. Henderson, 1st Lt. Robert L. Henderson II, Staff Sgt. Kenneth W. Hendrickson, Sgt. Jack T. Hennessy, Spc. Joshua J. Henry, Pfc. Clayton W. Henson, Spc. Armando Hernandez, Spc. Joseph F. Herndon II, Pfc. Edward J. Herrgott, Spc. Jacob B. Herring, Sgt. 1st Class Gregory B. Hicks, Spc. Christopher K. Hill, Spc. Stephen D. Hiller, Sgt. Keicia M. Hines, Pfc. Melissa J. Hobart, Sgt. Nicholas M. Hodson, Sgt. 1st Class James T. Hoffman, Spc. Christopher J. Holland, Staff Sgt. Aaron N. Holleyman, Staff Sgt. Lincoln D. Hollinsaid, Spc. James J. Holmes, Spc. Jeremiah J. Holmes, Cpl. Terry Holmes, Airman 1st Class Antoine J. Holt, Pfc. Sean Horn, Master Sgt. Kelly L. Hornbeck.

Staff Sgt. Jeremy R. Horton, Capt. Andrew R. Houghton, Lance Cpl Gregory C. Howman, Pfc. Bert E. Hoyer, Spc. Corey A. Hubbell, Pfc. Christopher E. Hudson, 1st Lt. Doyle M. Hufstedler, Staff Sgt. Jamie L. Huggins, Spc. Eric R. Hull, Cpl Barton R. Humlhanz, Lance Cpl. Justin T. Hunt, Spc. Simeon Hunte, 1st Lt. Joshua C. Hurley, Lance Cpl. James B. Huston Jr., Lance Cpl. Seth Huston, Pvt. Nolen R. Hutchings, Pfc. Ray J. Hutchinson, Pfc. Gregory P. Huxley Jr., Spc. Benjamin W. Isenberg, Spc. Craig S. Ivory, Pfc. Leslie D. Jackson, Spc. Morgen N. Jacobs, Chief Warrant Officer Scott Jamar, Cpl. Evan T. James, 2nd Lt. Luke S. James, Spc. William A. Jeffries, Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert B. Jenkins, Sgt. Troy David Jenkins, Spc. Darius T. Jennings, Pfc. Ryan M. Jerabek, Sgt. Linda C. Jimenez, 1st Lt. Oscar Jimenez, Capt. Christopher B. Johnson, Spc. David W. Johnson, Pfc. Howard Johnson II, Spc. John P. Johnson, Pfc. Markus J. Johnson, Spc. Maurice J. Johnson, Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Michael Vann Johnson Jr., Spc. Nathaniel H. Johnson, Staff Sgt. Paul J. Johnson, Chief Warrant Officer, Pfc. Rayshawn S. Johnson, Pvt. Devon D. Jones, Capt. Gussie M. Jones, Staff Sgt. Raymond E. Jones Jr., Spc. Rodney A. Jones, Lt. Kylan A. Jones- Huffman, Sgt. Curt E. Jordan Jr., Sgt. Jason D. Jordan.

Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Jordan, Cpl. Forest J. Jostes, Spc. Spencer T. Karol, Spc. Michael G. Karr Jr., Spc. Mark J. Kasecky, 1st Lt. Jeffrey J. Kaylor, Spc. Chad L. Keith, Lance Cpl. Quinn A. Keith, Lance Cpl. Bryan P. Kelly, Cpl. Brian Kennedy, Chief Warrant Officer Kyran E. Kennedy, Staff Sgt. Morgan D. Kennon, 1st Lt. Christopher J. Kenny, Spc. Jonathan R. Kephart, Cpl. Dallas L. Kerns, Chief Warrant Officer Erik C. Kesterson, Capt. Humayun S. M. Khan, Spc. James M. Kiehl, Pt. Jeungjin Na Kim, Staff Sgt. Kevin C. Kimmerly. Spc. Levi B. Kinchen, Staff Sgt. Lester O. Kinney II, Pfc. David M. Kirchhoff, Staff Sgt. Charles A. Kiser, Lance Cpl. Nicholas Brian Kleiboeker, Spc. John K. Klinesmith Jr., Sgt. Floyd G. Knighten Jr., Petty Officer 3rd Class Eric L. Knott, Spc. Joshua L. Knowles, Staff Sgt. Lance J. Koenig, Cpl. Kevin T. Kolm, Pfc. Martin W. Kondor, Chief Warrant Patrick W. Kordsmeier, Capt. Edward J. Korn, Sgt. Bradley S. Korthaus, Cpl. Jakub Henryk Kowalik, Sgt. Elmer C. Krause, Pvt. Dustin L. Kreider, Pfc. Bradley G. Kritzer, Capt. John F. Kurth, Sgt. 1st Class William W. Labadie Jr., Sgt. Joshua S. Ladd, Sgt. Michael V. Lalush, Lance Cpl. Alan Dinh Lam, Spc. Charles R. Lamb, Spc. James I. Lambert III, Pfc. James P. Lambert, Sgt. Jonathan W. Lambert, Capt. Andrew David Lamont, Staff Sgt. Sean G. Landrus, Gunnery Sgt. Shawn A. Lane.

Pfc. Moises A. Langhorst, Spc. Tracy L. Laramore, Spc. Scott Q. Larson Jr., Chief Warrant Officer Matthew C. Laskowski, Staff Sgt. William T. Latham, Pfc. Karina S. Lau, Cpl. Jeffrey D. Lawrence, Staff Sgt. Mark A. Lawton, Lance Cpl. Travis J. Layfield, Staff Sgt. Rene Ledesma, 2nd Lt. Ryan Leduc, Cpl. Bum R. Lee, Pfc. Ken W. Leisten, Staff Sgt. Jerome Lemon, Spc. Cedric L. Lennon, Pfc. Farad K. Letufuga, Spc. Justin W. Linden, Spc. Roger G. Ling, Spc. Joseph L. Lister, Staff Sgt. Nino D. Livaudais, Sgt. Dale T. Lloyd, Sgt. Daniel J. Londono, Spc. Ryan P. Long, Spc. Zachariah W. Long, Pfc. Duane E. Longstreth, Sgt. Edgar E. Lopez, Lance Cpl. Juan Lopez, Sgt. Richard M. Lord, Staff Sgt. David L. Loyd, Capt. Robert L. Lucero, Pfc. Jason C. Ludiam, Lance Cpl. Jacob R. Lugo, Pfc. Jason N. Lynch, Pfc. Christopher D. Mabry, Lance Cpl. Gregory E. MacDonald, Lance Cpl. Cesar F. Machado-Olmos, Pfc. Vorn J. Mack, Lance Cpl. Joseph B. Maglione, Spc. William J. Maher III, Staff Sgt. Toby W. Mallet, Chief Warrant Officer Ian D. Manuel, Pfc. Pablo Manzano, Pfc. Lyndon A. Marcus Jr., Staff Sgt. Paul C. Mardis Jr., Cpl. Douglas Jose Marencoreyes, Master Sgt. Jude C. Mariano, Spc. James E. Marshall, Sgt. 1st Class John W. Marshall, Pfc. Ryan A. Martin, Staff Sgt. Stephen G. Martin.

Sgt. Francisco Martinez, Pfc. Francisco A. Martinez Flores, Pfc. Jesse J. Martinez, Spc. Michael A. Martinez, Pfc. Oscar A. Martinez, Spc. Jacob D. Martir, Sgt. Arthur S. Mastrapa, Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata, Lance Cpl. Ramon Mateo, Spc. Clint Richard Matthews, Lance Cpl. Ramon Mateo, Cpl. Matthew E. Matula, Staff Sgt. Donald C. May Jr, Pfc. Joseph P. Mayek, Spc. Patrick R. McCaffrey Sr., Lance Cpl. Joseph C. MacCarthy, Pfc. Ryan M. McCauley, Cpl. Brad P. McCormick, 1st Lt. Erik. S. McCrae, Spc. Donald R. McCune, Spc. Dustin K. McGaugh, Pfc. Holly J. McGeogh, Sgt. Brian D. McGinnis, Spc. Michael A. McGlothin. Petty Officer 2nd Class Scott R. McHugh, Hospitalman Joshua McIntosh, Spc. David M. McKeever, Spc. Eric S. McKinley, Pvt. Robert L. McKinley, Staff Sgt. Don S. McMahan, Sgt. Heath A. McMillin, 1st Lt. Brian M. McPhillips, Cpl. Jesus Martin Antonio Medellin, Spc. Irving Medina, Spc. Kenneth A. Melton, Cpl. Jaygee Meluat, Petty Officer 3rd Class Fernando A. Mendezaceves, Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Menusa, Staff Sgt. Eddie E. Menyweather, Spc. Gil Mercado, Spc. Michael M. Merila, Spc. Christopher A. Merville, Sgt. Daniel K. Methvin, Pfc. Jason M. Meyer, Sgt. Eliu A. Miersandoval, Spc. Michael G. Mihalakis, Pfc. Matthew G. Milczark, Cpl. Jason David Mileo, Pfc. Anthony S. Miller, Pfc. Bruce Miller Jr., Staff Sgt. Frederick L. Miller Jr.

Sgt. 1st Class Marvin L. Miller, Sgt. Joseph Minucci II, Sgt. First Class Troy L. Miranda, Spc. George A. Mitchell, Sgt. Keman L. Mitchell, Sgt. Michael W. Mitchell, Spc. Sean R. Mitchell, Pfc. Jesse D. Mizener, Staff Sgt. Jorge A. Molinabautista, Pfc. Anthony W. Monroe, 1st Lt. Adam G. Mooney, Lance Cpl. Jason William Moore, Pfc. Stuart W. Moore, Sgt. Travis A. Moothart, Spc. Jose L. Mora, Sgt. Melvin Y. Mora, Pfc. Michael A. Mora, Master Sgt. Kevin N. Morehead, Capt. Brent L. Morel, Petty Officer 3rd Class David J. Moreno, Sgt. Gerardo Moreno, Spc. Jaime Moreno, Pfc. Luis A. Moreno, Spc. Dennis B. Morgan, Staff Sgt. Richard L. Morgan Jr., Pfc. Geoffery S. Morris, Pfc. Ricky A. Morris Jr., Lance Cpl. Nicholas B. Morrison, Sgt. Shawna M. Morrison, Sgt. Keelan L. Moss, Spc. Clifford L. Moxley Jr., Sgt. Cory R. Mracek, Sgt. Rodney A. Murray, Sgt. Krisna Nachampassak, Spc. Paul T. Nakamura, Spc. Nathan W. Nakis, Pvt. Kenneth A. Nalley, Chief Warrant Officer Christopher G. Nason, Maj. Kevin G. Nave, Spc. Rafael L. Navea, Spc. Charles L. Neeley, Staff Sgt. Paul M. Neff II, Pfc. Gavin L. Neighbor, Spc. Joshua M. Neusche, Cpl. Dominique J. Nicolas, Lance Cpl. Joseph L. Nice, Spc. Isaac Michael Nieves, Lance Cpl. Patrick R. Nixon, Spc. Allen Nolan, Spc. Marcos O. Nolasco.

Sgt. William J. Normandy, Spc. Joseph C. Norquist, 1st Lt. Leif E. Nott, Staff Sgt. Todd E. Nunes, Spc. David T. Nutt, Cpl. Mick R. Nygardbekowsky, Spc. Donald S. Oak Jr., Pfc. Branden F. Oberleitner, Lance Cpl. Patrick T. O'Day, Spc. Charles E. Odums II, Spc. Ramon C. Ojeda, Cpl. Terry Holmes Ordonez, Cpl. Brian Oliveira, Spc. Justin B. Onwordi, Spc. Richard P. Orengo, Lt. Col. Kim S. Orlando, Lance Cpl. Eric J. Orlowski, 1st Lt. Osbaldo Orozco, Pfc. Cody J. Orr, Staff Sgt. Billy J. Orton, Sgt. Pamela G. Osbourne, Lance Cpl. Deshon E. Otey, Pfc. Kevin C. Ott, Sgt. Michael G. Owen, Lance Cpl. David Edward Owens Jr, Sgt. Fernando Padilla- Ramirez, Pvt. Shawn D. Pahnke, Spc. Gabriel T. Palacios, Capt. Eric T. Paliwoda, 1st Lt. Joshua M. Palmer, Staff Sgt. Dale A. Panchot, Pfc. Daniel R. Parker, Pfc. James D. Parker, Pfc. Kristen Parker, Cpl. Tommy L. Parker Jr., Sgt. Harvey E. Parkerson III, Sgt. David B. Parson, Staff Sgt. Esau G. Patterson Jr., Master Sgt. William L. Payne, Sgt. Michael F. Pedersen, Staff Sgt. Abraham D. Penamedina, Spc. Brian H. Penisten, Sgt. Ross A. Pennanen, Staff Sgt. Gregory V. Pennington, Pfc. Geoffrey Perez, Staff Sgt. Hector R. Perez, Sgt. Joel Perez, Spc. Jose A. Perez III, Pfc. Luis A. Perez, Lance Cpl. Nicholas Perez.

Spc. Wilfredo Perez Jr., Petty Officer 1st Class Michael J. Pernaselli, Staff Sgt. David S. Perry, Pfc. Charles C. Persing, Staff Sgt. Dustin W. Peters, Spc. Alyssa R. Peterson, Staff Sgt. Brett J. Petriken, Staff Sgt. James L. Pettaway Jr., Staff Sgt. Erickson H. Petty, Pfc. Jerrick M. Petty, Lt. Col. Mark P. Phelan, Pfc. Chance R. Phelps, Sgt. 1st Class Gladimir Philippe, Sgt. Ivory L. Phipps, Capt. Pierre E. Piche, Pfc. Lori Piestewa, Capt. Dennis L. Pintor, Spc. James H. Pirtle, Pfc. Jason T. Poindexter, 2nd Lt. Frederick E. Pokorney Jr., Staff Sgt. Andrew R. Pokorny, Spc. Justin W. Pollard, Spc. Larry E. Polley Jr., Sgt. Darrin K. Potter, Pfc. David L. Potter, Sgt. Christopher S. Potts, Spc. James E. Powell, Lance Cpl. Caleb J. Powers, Cpl. Dean P. Pratt, Pfc. James E. Prevete, Pvt. Kelley S. Prewitt, Sgt. Tyler D. Prewitt, Pfc. James W. Price, 1st Lt. Timothy E. Price, Lance Cpl. Mathew D. Puckett, Sgt. Jaror C. Puello- Coronado, Staff Sgt. Michael B. Quinn, Staff Sgt. Richard P. Ramey, Sgt. Christopher Ramirez, Spc. Eric U. Ramirez, Pfc. William C. Ramirez, Pfc. Christopher Ramos, Spc. Tamarra J. Ramos, Pfc. Brandon Ramsey, Pvt. Carson J. Ramsey, Sgt. Edmond L. Randle, Pfc. Cleston C. Raney, Capt. Gregory A. Ratzlaff, Spc. Rel A. Ravago IV, Spc. Omead H. Razani.

Spc. Brandon M. Read, Pfc. Christopher J. Reed, Pfc. Ryan E. Reed, Sgt. Tatjana Reed, Staff Sgt. Aaron T. Reese, Spc. Jeremy F. Regnier, Sgt. 1st Class Randall S. Rehn, Sgt. Brendon C. Reiss, Staff Sgt. George S. Rentschler, Sgt. Sean C. Reynolds, Lance Cpl. Rafael Reynosa- Suarez, Sgt. Yadir G. Reynoso, Cpl. Demetrius L. Rice, Sgt. Ariel Rico, Spc. Jeremy L. Ridlen, Pfc. Diego Fernando Rincon, Cpl. Steven A. Rintamaki, Sgt. Duane R. Rios, Capt. Russell B. Rippetoe, Pfc. Henry C. Risner, Sgt. 1st Class Jose A. Rivera, Cpl. John T. Rivero, Spc. Frank K. Rivers Jr., Sgt. Thomas D. Robbins, Sgt. Todd J. Robbins, Lance Cpl. Anthony P. Roberts, Lance Cpl. Bob W. Roberts, Spc. Robert D. Roberts, Staff Sgt. Joseph E. Robsky, Sgt. Moses D. Rocha, Pfc. Marlin T. Rockhold, Pfc. Jose Francis Gonzalez Rodriguez, Cpl. Robert M. Rodriguez, Spc. Philip G. Rogers, Sgt. 1st Class Robert E. Rooney, Cpl. Randal Kent Rosacker, Staff Sgt. Victor A. Rosales, Pfc. Richard H. Rosas, Sgt. Scott C. Rose, Sgt. Thomas C. Rosenbaum, Sgt. Randy S. Rosenberg, Spc. Marco D. Ross, Sgt. Lawrence A. Roukey, Capt. Alan Rowe, Spc. Brandon J. Rowe, Sgt. Roger D. Rowe, 2nd Lt. Jonathan D. Rozier, Spc. Isela Rubalcava, Pfc. Aaron J. Rusin, Sgt. John W. Russell.

1st Lt. Timothy Louis Ryan, Chief Warrant Officer Scott A. Saboe, Spc. Rasheed Sahib, Cpl. Rudy Salas, Cpl. William I. Salazar, 1st Lt. Edward M. Saltz, Capt. Benjamin W. Sammis, Spc. Sonny G. Sampler, Spc. Gregory P. Sanders, Pfc. Leroy Sandoval Jr., Spc. Matthew J. Sandri, Staff Sgt. Barry Sanford, 1st Lt. Neil Anthony Santoriello, Spc. Jonathan J. Santos, Pfc. Brandon R. Sapp, Staff Sgt. Cameron B. Sarno, Staff Sgt. Scott D. Sather, Lance Cpl. Jeremiah E. Savage, Capt. Robert C. Scheetz Jr., Spc. Justin B. Schmidt, Spc. Jeremiah W. Schmunk, Pfc. Sean M. Schneider, Cpl. Dustin H. Schrage, Maj. Mathew E. Schram, Lance Cpl. Brian K. Schramm, Spc. Christian C. Schulz, Master Sgt. David A. Scott, Pfc. Kerry D. Scott, Spc. Stephen M. Scott, Spc. Marc S. Seiden, Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert, Pfc. Dustin M. Sekula, Lance Cpl. Matthew K. Serio, Sgt. Juan M. Serrano, Staff Sgt. Wentz Jerome Henry Shanaberger III, Spc. Jeffrey R. Shaver, Maj. Kevin M. Shea, Spc. Casey Sheehan, Sgt. Kevin F. Sheehan, Sgt. Daniel Michael Shepherd, Sgt. Alan D. Sherman, Lt. Col. Anthony L. Sherman, Pfc. Harry N. Shondee Jr., Lance Cpl. Brad S. Shuder, Capt. James A. Shull, Pfc. Kenneth L. Sickels, Lance Cpl. Dustin L. Sides, Cpl. Erik H. Silva, Pvt. Sean A. Silva, Sgt. Leonard D. Simmons.

Pfc. Charles M. Sims, Lance Cpl. John T. Sims Jr., Spc. Uday Singh, Spc. Aaron J. Sissel, Pfc. Christopher A. Sisson, Pfc. Nicholas M. Skinner, Petty Officer 3rd Class David Sisung, 1st Lt. Brian D. Slavenas, Pvt. Brandon Ulysses Sloan, Lance Cpl. Richard P. Slocum, Lance Cpl. Thomas J. Slocum, Pfc. Corey L. Small, Sgt. Keith L. Smette, Capt. Benedict J. Smith, Sgt. Benjamin K. Smith, Pfc. Brandon C. Smith, 2nd Lt. Brian D. Smith, Chief Warrant Officer Bruce A. Smith, Cpl. Darrell L. Smith, 1st Sgt. Edward Smith, Chief Warrant Officer Eric A. Smith, Pfc. Jeremiah D. Smith, Lance Cpl. Matthew R. Smith, Lance Cpl. Michael J. Smith Jr., Spc. Orenthial J. Smith, Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, Capt. Christopher F. Soelzer, Sgt. Roderic A. Solomon, Cpl. Adrian V. Soltau, Maj. Charles R. Soltes Jr., Sgt. Skipper Soram, Pfc. Armando Soriano, Cpl. Tomas Sotelo Jr., Pfc. Kenneth C. Souslin, Spc. Philip I. Spakosky, Pfc. Jason L. Sparks, Cpl. Michael R. Speer, Staff Sgt. Trevor Spink, Maj. Christopher J. Splinter, Sgt. Marvin R. Sprayberry III, Pvt. Bryan N. Spry, Sgt. Maj. Michael B. Stack, Pfc. Nathan E. Stahl, 1st Lt. Andrew K. Stern, Staff Sgt. Robert A. Stever, Maj. Gregory Stone, 2nd Lt. Matthew R. Stovall, Pfc. William R. Strange, Sgt. Kirk Allen Straseskie, Pfc. Brandon C. Sturdy.

Spc. William R. Sturges Jr., Spc. Paul J. Sturino, Lance Cpl. Jesus A. Suarez Del Solar, Spc. Joseph D. Suell, Spc. John R. Sullivan, Spc. Narson B. Sullivan, Lance Cpl. Vincent M. Sullivan, Staff Sgt. Michael J. Sutter, Pfc. Ernest Harold Sutphin, Chief Warrant Officer Sharon T. Swartworth, Spc. Thomas J. Sweet II, Staff Sgt. Christopher W. Swisher, Maj. Paul R. Syverson III, Sgt. Patrick S. Tainsh, Sgt. DeForest L. Talbert, Sgt. 1st Class Linda Ann Tarango-Griess, Spc. Christopher M. Taylor, Maj. Mark D. Taylor, Capt. John R. Teal, Staff Sgt. Riayan A. Tejeda, Lance Cpl. Jason Andrew Tetrault, Spc. Joseph C. Thibodeaux, Master Sgt. Thomas R. Thigpen Sr., Cpl. Jesse L. Thiry, Sgt. Carl Thomas, Staff Sgt. Kendall Thomas, Spc. Kyle G. Thomas, Sgt. Anthony O. Thompson, Spc. Jarrett B. Thompson, Sgt. Humberto F. Timoteo, Capt. John E. Tipton, Pfc. Joshua K. Titcomb, Spc. Brandon T. Titus, Spc. Brandon S. Tobler, Sgt. Lee D. TodacheeneCpl. John H. Todd III, Sgt. Nicholas A. Tomko, Master Sgt. Timothy Toney, Pfc. George D. Torres, Lance Cpl. Michael S. Torres, 2nd Lt. Richard Torres, Spc. Ramon Reyes Torres, Lance Cpl. Elias Torrez III, Sgt. Michael L. Tosto, Spc. Richard K. Trevithick, Pfc. Andrew L. Tuazon, Staff Sgt. Roger C. Turner Jr., Pvt. Scott M. Tyrrell, 2nd Lt. Andre D. Tyson, Spc. Eugene A. Uhl III, Lance Cpl. Drew M. Uhles.

Rick A. Ulbright, Pfc. Daniel P. Unger, Spc. Robert Oliver Unruh, 1st Sgt. Ernest E. Utt, Sgt. Michael A. Uvanni, Staff Sgt. Gary A. Vaillant, Lance Cpl. Ruben Valdez Jr., Sgt. Melissa Valles, Spc. Allen J. Vandayburg, Spc. Josiah H. Vandertulip, Chief Warrant Officer Brian K. Van Dusen, Lance Cpl. John J. Vangyzen IV, Lance Cpl. Gary F. Van Leuven, Staff Sgt. Mark D. Vasquez, Spc. Frances M. Vega, 1st Lt. Michael W. Vega, Staff Sgt. Paul A. Velazquez, Cpl. David M. Vicente, Sgt. 1st Class Joselito O. Villanueva, Cpl. Scott M. Vincent, Staff Sgt. Kimberly A. Voelz, Staff Sgt. Michael S. Voss, Spc. Thai Vue, Lance Cpl. Michael B. Wafford, Sgt. Christopher A. Wagener, Sgt. Gregory L. Wahl, Staff Sgt. Allan K. Walker, Sgt. Jeffery C. Walker, Sgt. Donald Ralph Walters, Pvt. Jason M. Ward, Pfc. Nachez Washalanta, Lance Cpl. Christopher B. Wasser, Pvt. David L. Waters, Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Waters-Bey, Maj. William R. Watkins III, Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher E. Watts, Chief Warrant Officer Aaron A. Weaver, Spc. Michael S. Weger, Staff Sgt. David J. Weisenburg, Spc. Douglas J. Weismantle, Pfc. Michael Russell Creighton Weldon, Lance Cpl. Larry L. Wells, Chief Warrant Officer Stephen M. Wells, Spc. Jeffrey M. Wershow, Spc. Christopher J. Rivera Wesley, Sgt. James G. West, 1st Lt. Alexander E. Wetherbee, Spc. Donald L. Wheeler, Sgt. Mason Douglas Whetstone, Pfc. Marquis A. Whitaker.

Staff Sgt. Aaron Dean White, Lt. Nathan D. White, Sgt. Steven W. White, Lance Cpl. William W. White, Pfc. Joey D. Whitener ,Spc. Chase R. Whitman, Spc. Michael J. Wiesemann, Cpl. Joshua S. Wilfong ,Sgt. Eugene Williams, Lance Cpl. Michael J. Williams, Spc. Michael L. Williams, Sgt. Taft V. Williams ,1st Lt. Charles L. Wilkins III, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher R. Willoughby, Spc. Dana N. Wilson, Command Sgt. Maj. Jerry L. Wilson, Staff Sgt. Joe N. Wilson, Lance Cpl. Lamont N. Wilson, Lance Cpl. Nicholas Wilt, 1st Lt. Ronald Winchester, Spc. Trevor A. Wine, Lance Cpl. William J. Wiscowiche, Spc. Robert A. Wise, Spc. Michelle M. Witmer, Pfc. Owen D. Witt, Spc. James R. Wolf, 2nd Lt. Jeremy L. Wolfe, Sgt. Elijah Tai Wah Wong, Sgt. Brian M. Wood, Capt. George A. Wood, Spc. Michael R. Woodliff, Spc. James C. Wright, Pfc. Jason G. Wright, 2nd Lt. John T. Wroblewski, Lance Cpl. Daniel R. Wyatt, Pfc. Stephen E. Wyatt, Sgt. Michael E. Yashinski, Sgt. Henry Ybarra III, Pfc. Rodricka A. Youmans, Sgt. Ryan C. Young, Lance Cpl. Andrew J. Zabierek, Spc. Nicholas J. Zangara, Spc. Mark Anthony Zapata, Pfc. Nicholaus E. Zimmer, Cpl. Ian T. Zook, Lance Cpl. Robert P. Zurheide Jr.

May they rest in peace.

And may they forgive us someday.

-- Michael Moore

Faith-based election

2004-11-04T12:57:00.000-05:00

Ron Susskind made a strong case in the New York Times that we had (and now have again) a faith-based presidency. This is clear enough when white housers talk disdainfully of the "reality-based community," and the leader of the free world operates on unsupported hunches (I tell my students that this is doxa. Maybe that's why he made Cs even as a legacy student). It also seems like Karl Rove was right, and it was the Christian right that really turned out on Tuesday. At least that is what we might gather from the poll info that "moral values" were of primary importance.

But this election was faith-based in a far more general way. We took a collective leap of faith about what goes on inside the voting machines. With the out-sourcing of the ballot, transparency has been trumped by intellectual property. The republic is over-- now our leaders will be ordained by a for-profit oracle. We have no way of questioning their authority.

The faith in the machines is an example that I needed recently in a discussion with my parents about whether the country is divided or not. I was arguing that there was a deeper political consensus than division (which, considering what I think the consensus is, is not a good thing), and grasping for examples. The deepest consensus among the public class on election day seemed to be this uncritical faith in technology and business as a neutral public sphere in which to weigh the will of the electorate. All the pundits on television were proclaiming the "real story" to be about the failure of exit polls, which in some places were overwhelmingly for Kerry.

Where did these polls go so wrong? they asked. Far be it from me to defend polls, but it should still be an open question WHETHER they actually were wrong, or whether the "official count" was off. In places where voting machines and ballot scanners were used, there is no way of checking. Once we start tracing the republican connections of the voting machine people, this election (as NAACP chair Julian Bond recently said about another issue) "doesn't pass the smell test."

Hand-counted, ink-marked ballots are the appropriate technology for elections in a republic. Without a paper trail, we accept the results of a vote on faith alone.

Yikes.

2004-11-04T12:55:00.000-05:00

NPR was saying that the turnout among young and college-age voters was much lower than Democrats expected.

Maybe they shouldn't have been so scared of the Dean scream.

anthropological fiAAAsco

2004-10-27T09:37:00.000-04:00

what a mess.

http://aaaunite.blogspot.com
http://www.unitehere.org/

debatable

2004-10-14T10:29:00.000-04:00

Ah, Kerry. Why do you have to sound like a broken record?
What you said:
I will hunt down and kill terrorists
Bush let Osama go
Now there are even Arabs crossing our borders!

What I wish you had said:
There can be no war on terror
The president hates the constitution
This is all about getting richer

if i were cool i might do something like this

2004-10-08T10:53:00.000-04:00

pop vultures

Richard Wright tells me to start a blog

2004-10-08T01:05:00.000-04:00

"I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to march, to fight, to create a sense of the hunger for life that gnaws in us all, to keep alive in our hearts a sense of the inexpressibly human."

Richard Wright, and there's an election on

2004-10-08T00:38:00.000-04:00

Read recently:

"With my pencil I wrote in a determined scrawl across the face of the ballots:
I PROTEST THIS FRAUD... I collected my ten dollars and went home" (298)

and

"... no man can possibly be individually guilty of treason, that an insurgetn act is but a man's desperate answer to those who twist his environment so that he cannot fuly share the spirit of his native land. Treason is a crime of the state" (302).

Black Boy (American Hunger) 1998 Perennial edition