2 Talks + Mackey Honored + Other Things

One of the most enjoyable aspects of academe beside teaching and working with students--yes, there is more that's enjoyable--is going to hear talks delivered by visiting scholars and creative people, and colleagues discussing their ongoing research. Today I heard two fine short talks, one by Landon Y. Jones, the former editor-in-chief of People magazine and the visiting nonfiction writer in residence at the university's Center for the Writing Arts this fall (and coiner of the term "baby boom"), the other by Leonardo Pereira, a professor at the University of Brasília and Rockefeller Foundation fellow at the university's Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

Jones's talk, "Celebrities in the Attic," explored the issue and role of celebrity in American culture from his perspective at People. He began by discussing some of the academic interest in celebrity and the celebrification of American culture, which has unsurprisingly grown over the years as celebrity has gained an even greater social space and force in our society and culture. After hitting touchstones like Andy Warhol's famous 15 minutes dictum, he spoke about how most editors of the major mainstream news magazines had ranted about the pox of celebrification, and pointed to their own personal projects, which tended towards the biographical and scholarly (Jones in fact wrote one of the few biographies of Meriwether Clark). He also noted how People's first cover featured actress Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby, but how through reader demand and sales pressures, the focus shifted from actors and actresses in their fictional roles to stories about them as larger-than-life figures in their everyday lives, and then, after Betty Ford's outspokenness and confessionalism on her travails (her alcoholism and substance abuse, her depression, etc.), to narratives of trauma, suffering, degradation, and redemption, or to put it another way, to a verticalization of the celebrities themselves, a transformation of them from deific and heroic status, through stories about their life crises, to very famous, important and rich people who were, at their core, no different from the regular mass of People's readers. Mass consumption in visual and narrative form of young, white attractive females and females bodies--or female bodies in general--especially if in crisis of some sort (think Karen Carpenter, Kristi McNichol, etc.) became one of the magazine's organizing principles. Jones pointed to the late Princess Diana of Wales, who graced 54 (I believe he said) People covers as a particularly important emblem and symbol, as her death apotheosized what he said had become his editorial charge: deaths, diets and Di--but he also noted how celebrity culture had also become an American lingua franca, and pointed to a discussion in 1992 with Bill and Hillary Clinton, which opened with him breaking the ice with the future First Lady and junior Senator from New York by discussing Diana's appearance in people the week before. Shortly before I stepped out, he was concluding with a recent issue of the magazine that featured the typical series of articles about celebrities in crises (Nicole Kidman, etc.), but which located the idea of "heroism" in, well, everyday people like People's readership. He also noted that there are limits to celebrity culture saturation; although People paid a reported seven figures for photos of Brangelina's Baby Shiloh, the editors were surprised that far more readers snapped up copies of the issue memorializing the accidental death by stingray of late naturalist and zoologist Steve Irwin. (Death sells.) I wish I could have stayed to hear some of the questions, but the talk, geared for a broad, non-academic audience, provoked a number of thoughts I may try to articulate on here at some point down the road.

I raced from this talk to another building to catch cultural historian Leonardo Pereira's lecture on dancing clubs as a form of social organization and site of cultural production in Rio de Janeiro, during the early 20th century. Titled "A Borough in Fun: Leisure and Social Identity in Bangú (1892-1930)," the talk, which Pereira delivered in English in a lilting paulista accent, explored the development of dancing associations in the Bangú district, northwest of the then-capital city of Rio de Janeiro. Bangú had once been an estate or fazenda up to the period after the official end of Brazilian slavery (which occurred in 1888, through the Lei Aurea, also spelling the death of the Brazilian monarchy), but in the early years of the Brazilian Republic, it became the site of an industrial plant that drew many workers from the surrounding regions, as well as a number of immigrants from rural Italy, Portugal and Spain, and British technocrats. Many of the native workers were former enslaved Blacks or mixed-race people, mostly from the Valé do Paraíba near the town of Vassouras and the Fluminense region (near the city of Rio de Janeiro proper), and one of the issues was how to create a sense of cohesion and community. I won't even try to summarize Pereira's sparkling, nuanced and complex arguments, but I will note how he began by situating his work beside prior studies, often based on the accounts of the European immigrant labor organizers, who looked askance at what they thought were merely sites of popular leisure, which is to say, social alienation, rather than on the Afro-Brazilian workers themselves. Pereira mapped out the importance of these organizations, and sites of leisure in general (such as football clubs, Carnival celebrations, etc.) not only in terms of locale-specific social, political and cultural organization, but how, in advance of the usual top-down narratives about early 20th century Brazilian identity and racial formation, the clubs in the first two decades had begun to create a space for the post-Emancipation and republican articulation and affirmation of mixed-race and Afro-Brazilian identities and cultural formations, as opposed to strictly European-white identities and cultural ones, within the larger critical matrix of Brazil's anxieties about being a mestiço, rather than a European, nation. Participants in these clubs, especially the grémio (club) Prazer das Morenas (established in 1909) staged, produced, embodied, and performed versions of mixed-race/Afro-Brazilian social, political and cultural identities and products, using musical forms (instruments, dances, genres) derived from African and Afro-Brazilian traditions, such as samba, as opposed to what was considered "modern" music of the time (maxixe, etc.), which circulated outwards, engaging with similar and different cultural products throughout the region and the society, to be celebrated and championed by Brazilian scholars, artists and intellectuals (such as Olavo Bilac and Mário de Andrade) some time later (the 1930s). One of the attendees inquired about the relation between these dance-social clubs and the "gafeiras," or well-known open dance clubs of Rio, and Pereira pointed out that the Prazer das Mulatas considered itself to be the "first" gafeira. Another attendee suggested that Tannenbaum's Theory of Labor concept that the origins of labor organization was that it was social, and this did tie into some of Pereira's findings. Afterwards, I got to chat with Pereira, and with another Rockefeller fellow, Professor Silvia Hunold Lara, who will be speaking soon about her work on the quilombo of Palmares, and who's also exploring the tradition of the jongos, the metaphorical worksongs of the Afro-Brazilians of the Valé do Paraíba, which have their source in Angola-Congolese material traditions, and which are linked directly and indirectly in various ways to the samba and its historical and aesthetic development.

After that, I caught a snippet of Emmitt Smith and his dance partner Cheryl Burke winning Dancing with the Stars. Both he and Mario López deserve props for what they accomplished. Ah, popular culture!

Nathaniel Mackey Wins National Book Award
Author, critic and scholar Nathaniel Mackey received the 2006 National Book Award for Poetry for his newest collection, Splay Anthem (New Directions, 2006)! This is a well-deserved honor for an incredible book and thinker!

The GOP Goes Backwards
On the political front, the Republicans have made it clear that they are going to go as far backwards as they can. In addition to electing Mitch McConnell (KY) as their minority leader, the Senate Republicans chose white supremacist Trent Lott (MS), who had to resign in shame several years ago after touting Strom Thurmond and segregationism, as their minority whip. Here's one of Lott's recent gems, that I couldn't make up if I tried:

Why do they hate each other? Why do Sunnis kill Shiites? How do they tell the difference? They all look the same to me.

Now, of all the Senate Republicans--and I do understand that their Senate caucus is heavily dominated by FAR right-wing Southerners and Southwesterners--they couldn't find anyone else? He was running against Lamar Alexander (TN), a not especially unlikeable person, so I take it that the Senate Republicans are trying to send the country a message. All of you Black Republicans, check your frequencies and please do listen up, they're sending it loud and clear! They want to go back to 1906 or 1806--and Lott is the person to get that wagon rolling! (BTW, I do wonder what the Black Republicans have to say about this. I can't wait to read the first paean to Senator Segregationist that comes over the wires from the Hoover Institution or the Manhattan Institute or wherever it is Kenneth Blackwell ends up.)

The GOP also chose Mel Martinez as the new head of the Republican National Committee. Supposedly Michael Steele, the buffon noir from Maryland, fancied considered himself perfect for this job, but Mr. "Magic Numbers" "genius" Karl Rove had other considerations, such as, how could the Republicans be as cynical and hypocritical as possible in the shortest amount of time? After pushing several extremely draconian immigration bills and attacking Latino immigrants--and mind you, the anti-immigrant rhetoric wasn't targeted at illegals from Russia or anywhere else--relentlessly leading up to November 7, the Republicans saw their share of the Latino vote fall to around 29% (from the often touted 40% or so in 2004), and they very well--we can have faith, can't we?--may have alienated a generation of future Latino voters, so Rove took the craven step of nominating a someone who makes the idea of meritocracy look like a cruel joke. Now, perhaps you don't remember Senator Mel Martinez, who previously starred as Dubya's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

• He's a former Florida trial attorney who was determined to keep little Elián González in the United States, despite the fact that the traumatized boy's father was alive and well and wanted him to come home--to Cuba.
• He's the colorful anti-gay bigot who labeled his 2004 Republican opponent the "darling of homosexual extremists," leading to a rebuke from fellow right-winger, retired Florida Senator Connie Mack, yet Mel had homosexuals in his employ, including disgraced ex-Congressman Mark Foley's former assistant, Kirk Fordham.
• He's the bumbler whose staffer, Brian Darling, wrote the infamous memo urging the Republicans to make great hay of the Terri Schiavo debacle--and Martinez is so bright he claimed he didn't know about it, though he actually passed the thing off to a Democratic senator, Tom Harkin!
  
• He was fingered in court papers by convicted ex-Congressman Bob Ney (OH) in relation to the Jack Abramoff bribery scandal;
  
• He's the accounting genius who underestimated his campaign debts by, oh, about $500,000, which is why he's currently under investigation by the Federal Election Commission.

Whew, talk about a winner! Unfortunately for Senator Mel, he's already angering the far right nutcases in the Republican's shrunken, hood-shaped tent. I can't be sure if it's because he a (sort of) brown person, not Talevangelical enough, isn't Trent Lott, or what. But something tells me if the firebreathers keep up their attacks, he may politely or impolitely pass the hotseat on to someone else. I don't think it'll be Michael Steele, though. Maybe Trent Lott can fit it into his schedule.

Hurricane Katrina Action
One thing I've been thinking about this past week is that every J's Theater reader who's eligible could do a wonderful thing by making sure that between now and January 31, 2007, you contact your Congressperson and Senators, and urge them to make sure that they do not forget the federal government's promises to the people who were displaced and whose lives were devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Phone calls, emails, a fax, a letter--all would be useful in keeping the pressure on, especially on the newly empowered Democrats, to do the right thing and not let this matter disappear from the federal docket. The newspapers have featured a number of feel-good stories about the situation down along the Gulf Coast, but the reality is that many people are still displaced, still homeless, still jobless, still suffering. It is crucial that we not let up one bit from keeping this ongoing crisis and its solution part of the national discourse.

Other Things Happening in the World
Let's see:

• Sri Lanka is again on the verge of another civil war, or maybe it's already begun.
• The people of the Congo Republic voted but the putative loser is charging the winner, President Joseph Kabila, with vote fraud, which could lead to yet another war, or continue the ones already underway.
• 70 or 39 or an indefensible number of Iraqis were abducted from the Education Ministry yesterday, and reports now say some were released, though the truth remains unclear.
  
• So many horrors occurring in Iraq day in, day out...
  
• A US marine gets 18 months under a plea deal after admitting to killing an Iraqi citizen; another soldier pleads guilty to raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing her and her family.
• The IAEA has found traces of plutonium in Iran....
• France's Clintonesque presidential front-runner, Socialiste Ségolène Royal, has stirred up a mess with comments now circulating on France's version of YouTube.
• Someone affiliated with Fox News paid a $2 million ransom for the kidnapped reporter Centanni and photographer Wiig, and according to the linked article, the hostage takers are claiming they're using the money to kill Israelis. Brilliant move, Fox and Bush administration!

Harrison & Harris @ Myopic + Short Takes

There're always about 10-20 things that I want to write about but don't have time to, so this evening I think I'll post about a reading I attended on Sunday night and then list some links to other news that I find to be of note.

On Sunday I dropped by Myopic Books, in the Wicker Park neighborhood, to see and hear Duriel Harris and Roberto Harrison read their work, though with Duriel, I should say perform, since she is a singer and performer, in multiple genres and media (as well as a scholar, video and sound artist, and conceptualist, with her fellow Black Took Collectivists Dawn Lundy Martin and Ronaldo Wilson), and always brings something more than extra. Harrison read first. Before the reading I knew nothing about him, except what Myopic's bio stated, which is that he's a native Oregonian who grew up in Panama, lives in Milwaukee, and co-edits a literary journal. He read a series of poems from his book Counter Daemons (Litmus Press, 2006), and what struck me immediately was that he seemed to be offering up a number short lines which permitted lots of rapid transitions, many based on jarring juxtapositions of imagery, but bound together by rhyme. It also struck me that there wasn't much variation in the tone or voice (not just his soft voice--he seemed somewhat shy) of the pieces, which reinforced my sense of their being serial poems. They washed over into each other, with the main aural anchors being sometimes striking images that resonated after he'd passed on to the next piece. Hearing them made me want to read them on the page to see what Harrison was doing, how they fit together, what the music broke down as and added up to.

Duriel went second, and as always lit things up. She mostly read from her new project, which she intends to have appear in multiple forms and genres. It's called Amnesiac, and she presented some of it at the Cave Canem10th Anniversary Celebration (and I've seen her read very early pieces of it in the past). A lot of it appears to focus on bodily and psychic traumas--on pain, on wounds, on the aftereffects of sickness, suffering, history, and violence--but what Duriel does is to construct a fascinating, dense and carefully elaborated architecture of language around each of these moments, their various articulations, such that you find yourself born along by the intricate fretwork of the lyric itself until that jagged piece of tooth, that tumorous mass nesting in the neck abrupts you, and you viscerally experience (at least some of) the materiality of the pain, its utter ugliness and the horror it evokes, which is at battle with the beauty of the lyric form itself, that Duriel seeks to convey. This is just one aspect of a really productive tension, I think, that Duriel is developing. She does this better than anyone else I know--it is a very corporeal, performative poetry, very much in search of what I would call hard and sometimes uncontainable truths. Another way of saying is that the work stages and aims to embody truths that are opposed to a unified, universalistic and universalizing notion of truth, particularly one based in or gesturing towards a transcendental or humanistic ideal. Her work is about as anti-Platonic (and I'd say anti-Kantian) as you can get--and she works it. At the same time, I would imagine that a reader or listener anywhere would hear or read one of these poems and register in its specificity its universal resonances. Who has not suffered? I'm thinking in particular of the one that conjures Mrs. Mamie Till Mobley and powerfully summons the plangent suffering the poem successfully embodies. She has many excellent examples (she read "Thritch," one of my favorites) in her first book, Drag, and I am looking forward to the new multiplatform project, which she has said will include a DVD. I especially want to see/hear/witness that.

Roberto Harrison

Duriel Harris

From left: Krista Franklin talking with Duriel's mother, Paul Carter Harrison (!) in the background between them, Rone Shavers, and Tyehimba Jess

(I also got to meet Duriel's mother and father, which was a real pleasure.)

‡‡‡

South Africa's parliament, dominated by the African National Congress party, has approved gay marriage, making it only one of a handful of countries across the globe (Denmark, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, Britain) to do so. In a sop to the religious clergy there, the law will allow religious and civil authorities the right to opt out of performing a ceremony on moral grounds. The legislation has another step before going forward to President Thabo Mbeki, who will sign it into law. South Africa's visionary Constitution was the first in the world to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation; let's see how long it takes the "beacon of freedom" to catch up.

Mexico City's assembly voted to allow same-sex civil unions, and the city's mayor will sign the bill into law. The new law will not permit gay marriage per se, but will afford gay couples numerous equal rights under the law. As in South Africa, Christian leaders, especially from the Catholic Church, and conservatives strongly opposed the bill, and the right-wing National Action party of outgoing president Vicente Fox and incoming president Felipe Calderón constituted the strongest political opposition to it.

At the same time, within the last few days, the government of Iran hanged a man on the charge of sodomy. According to Michael Petrelis, who quotes the Iran Focus site, Shahab Davirshi was executed in the city of Kermanshah for organizing a "'corruption ring', deliberate assault, and 'lavat'," which means sex between two men. Hundreds of people supposedly watched, and an influential cleric used the occasion to denounce gay marriage in the west, which he decried as a "weakness" of Western culture.

On a completely different note, the Democrats have elected their leaders in the Senate, and Harry Reid unsurprisingly will again be the Majority Leader. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin will serve as the number 2 in the Democratic Caucus. The Senate's standing committees will be chaired by a liberal lineup that includes Tom Harkin, Teddy Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Chris Dodd, Daniel Inouye, Dan Akaka, and Jeff Bingaman. Some of these senators are quite progressive, and the least liberal of this group, like Max Baucus, Byron Dorgan and Robert Byrd, are more liberal than the administration-enabling extremists they're replacing. "Independent Democrat" Joe Lieberman unfortunately will be chairing the Homeland and Government Affairs Committee, either in spite of or because he suggested, in a veiled threat, that he could switch to caucusing with the Republicans. One little noted point is that Republican Craig Thomas of Wyoming is suffering from leukemia, and were he to resign or worse, Wyoming's Democratic governor, Dave Freudenthal, could appoint a Democrat to Thomas's seat, thus temporarily obviating the need for the Democrats to cater to the truculent narcissist from Connecticut. The House will be electing its leaders on Thursday, and a battle has arisen between Pennsylvania Democrat and veteran John Murtha, and Maryland representative Steny Hoyer. Both are socially quite conservative and both have ties to lobbyists, but Murtha has been extremely outspoken in the last few years on the war, and House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi is backing him over Hoyer, a decision that will seriously test her leadership abilities and power over the next few days. The Democratic House committee chairpeople should mirror far more the diversity of the US than the Republicans did, with women, African-Americans, Latinos, and very likely at least one Asian-American and one out gay person to assume leadership roles.

In response to an ACLU suit, the CIA is acknowledging that--get this!--the Bush administration secretly authorized foreign detentions and interrogations! Gee whiz whillickers, I'm shocked, I really am shocked! Who could ever believe it? Will we ever be able to have confidence in our leader again? Because this is the man who has operated with deadly determination and secrecy since taking office, who has engaged in potentially illegal warrantless wiretapping of private US citizens, who has trolled through Americans' bank records without warrant, who never adequately addressed his and his administration's failure to stop the 9/11 attacks or respond properly to them, and then took the country to the war based on grossly blatant lies, who started a war in Iraq that has turned into an abysmal quagmire, resulting in the lost of hundreds of thousands of American, Iraqi and other lives, who has bumbled while North Korea developed and now Iran is developing nuclear bombs (and both countries are in a stronger position than when he took office), who has found a way to transfer the tax burden onto middle and working-class Americans while enriching the superwealthy overlord class and corporations at a rate not seen in American history, who got this moribund sitting Congress to sign off a bill affording him and the Vice President the right to detain citizens and anyone else without due process, torture them, and so on, suspending habeas corpus, indefinitely. Oh, and on that same day, he also signed another very disturbing bill that allows him even greater power to nationalize the National Guard and station them on US territory. Yes he did. So really, who's even mildly suprised by this CIA revelation? One can only imagine how much worse it will all turn out to be when the rest of the rocks are turned over.

William Jefferson, who is facing charges of bribery, could not eke out a victory in his Louisiana House race, so he'll face fellow Democrat Karen Carter in a runoff. It's clear to me that everyone who can should help Carter out; Jefferson would probably appreciate having as much time with his legal support as possible, rather than being ignominiously convicted, like Bob Ney, while a sitting legislator.

The multiply adultering, sleazebag-connected, bad-judgment marked racist Rudy Giuliani has officially decided he wants to be president. Given that he'll have to pass through the burning-crap lined ring of the Southern, Talevangelist-dominated Republican Party, I don't think he has a chance in hell. But hey, George W. Bush got elected twice selected and elected, so anything is possible.

On yet another completely note, RIP artist Benny Andrews and journalis, critic, activist and scholar Ellen Willis.

The New York Times's Holland Cotter rhapsodizes on a David Hammons show at the Jack Tilton Gallery. Although Hammons's work can easily provoke ecstatic responses, one reason behind Cotter's enthusiasm is that it isn't only a Hammons show, but opens a window onto the rarely explored Los Angeles-based Assemblage movement, which included now acclaimed artists like Melvin Edwards and Betye Saar. It closes on November 22, and Cotter says it's not to be missed.

The Times is on a roll: Larry Rohter profiles Brazilian singer Marisa Monte (I love the pronunciation of her name, Ma-HEE-za MONCH-h), who's probably best known in the US as a member of "Os Tribalistas," the group featuring Timbalada star Carlinhos Brown that had some breakout hits a few years ago. The first time C. and I went to Brazil, I asked one of the people in a record store in Rio to pick out several really excellent CDs that I porobably would find in the US. The guy selected Bebel Gilberto's first album, which became a hit, and Monte's Barulinho Bom, which it took me a while to listen to but which I fell in love with. Now she's finally getting more international play. The guy had great taste and she's definitely worth listening to.

John Hope Franklin, the dean and doyen of African-American historians, and Yu Ying-Shih, a retired professor of intellectual history and Chinese studies at Princeton University, are co-recipients of the $1 million John W. Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanity. I'm not familiar with Yu's work at all, but Franklin's landmark scholarship helped to create a new field, and has continued to contribute through an array of projects, including his memoir of a few years ago. It has also been essential for my own intellectual development. Congratulations to both of them!

There's a new TV show starring Taye Diggs. That alone is enough to make me type this sentence and the prior one; watch it, I'm not so sure. I did watch tonight's Dancing with the Stars, which featured former Dallas Cowboys superstar Emmitt Smith and actor Mario López, both accompanied by professional dancers, in the finals. Was anyone watching this really interested in the dancing?

J's Theater Is Back

The blog is back! Following up on a repeatedly extended invitation, I decided to switch J's Theater from its longtime home on Blogger.com over to Blogger Beta, to try out the new features, such as drop-and-drag image posting and so on. Everything appeared to fine until, as some of my regular readers quickly noticed, I ended up losing J's Theater for nearly two days!

After a number of Blogger Help online appeals which received no response whatsoever, and two separate bombardments of email messages from Blogger Beta, I logged on to Google's Blogger Help site and posted about my blog's disappearance. After receiving some commiseration (one blogger lost 100 posts, another also lost his/her blog completely), someone from Blogger wrote back to say that the blogs were back up, and at that very moment, C. called to say that the blog was indeed visible again.

I thanked Blogger's representative. I do wish they'd have responded, even with an autobot or similar automated message, to confirm that they'd received my repeated pleas. In fact, one of my prior problems with Blogger before the sale to Google did receive a swifter, direct response. Nevertheless, the blog is back and I'm thankful, while also mindful that the service is free for now, has become part of a growing corporate conglomerate, and I shouldn't count on its permanence. I should also add that while I don't doubt that the new system is working for some blogs, just be careful before you switch over....

This Blogger blogger had a similar problem.

Black Conservative Candidate Crack-Up

Steve Gilliard has already touched upon this, I think, but on Tuesday, Black political conservatives had a very poor showing. Meanwhile, Black progressives like Deval Patrick in Massachusetts and Keith Ellison, the first Muslim member of Congress, won handily. Black political conservatives (and here I define political conservatism by combining its social, economic and political forms) in both parties may want to rethink some of their beliefs and alliances if they want to gain national office. In the South, they still don't have a chance in hell (and Democratic former Virginia governor Doug Wilder was politically to the left of most southern Republicans of the late 1980s and early 1990s or today), while in the North, Midwest and West, being a too-conservative Black candidate is not going to get you over either. Either way, the Black right-wingers are not attracting African-American voters, nor enough non-Black voters, to gain federal or statewide offices. J.C. Watts, who was always good for some Republican palaver, was the last African-American Republican in the US House, and before him, the lone wolf was Gary Franks of Connecticut. Just think about that: out of 535 US House seats, there is not a single Black person affiliated with the Republican Party holding even one of them anywhere in this country, and there hasn't been one in four years. There has not been a Black Republican in the Senate since Edward Brooke of Massachusetts lost to Paul Tsongas in 1979. And Brooke was a liberal Republican, in the Nelson Rockefeller mold. While I do respect the rights of others to have very different viewpoints from my own, I still marvel at the belief of some Black right-wingers that their ideological stances, some of which are intrinsically racist, misogynistic, classist, homophobic, religiously chauvinist, and so on, can somehow overcome the inherent racism--let alone misogyny, homophobia, etc.--of many of the people who espouse their ideologies, or appeal, primarily on race, to people against whom the daggers of their ideological positions are aimed. Surmounting this double paradox appears to be one of their chief challenges; they didn't resolve it this time around, and I don't see them doing it anytime soon.

On the Republican side, Ohio gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell, who'd been intimately involved in the 2004 Bush-Cheney electoral trickery in Ohio, and who'd run one of the more reprehensible midterm campaigns this year, ended up losing, and losing badly, to liberal Democratic congressman and Methodist minister Tom Strickland. No amount of tacking to the far right, none of his ever-expanding Christianism, none of his games with balloting, none of his attempts to smear his opponent, not even his dance with White supremacists, worked. None of it. He lost in a blowout, and ended up looking like a pathetic buffoon in the process. I doubt that was his goal, but that's how it turned out and now, he should ask himself, was it worth it? Was it worth disenfranchising Black and poor voters back in 2004? Was it worth all the hateful things he spewed since then? Where did it get him? He's now intimately tied to a group of people who are facing multiple indictments on a range of charges. Not only will he not get to be governor, but he probably will have to testify when some of his friends face prosecution. Redemption being ever possible in our society, who in their right mind would elect this man to any statewide office ever again?

Then there's Michael Steele, the Lt. Governor of Maryland, whose preposterous campaign almost unfolded like an In Living Color skit, or something that Dave Chappelle might have thought up before his flight to South Africa. Steele was and is the protegé of Maryland's soon to be ex-Governor, Robert Ehrlich, and he really started to believe the hype about the appeal of Republicanism in a politically moderate state, while also buying into the horribly racist idea--and Steele is, to all appearances, Black, let's not forget--that Black people are so dumb we can't tell the difference between a Republican running as whatever he claims to be on a given day and real Democratic candidates. From the overblown accounts of the Oreo cookie spectacle at Morgan State to the yard signs listing him as a "Democrat" to Steele's infamous "anonymous" interview with the Washington Post in which he claimed that "R" was a "scarlet letter," a charge he later dissembled about by claiming that Bush was his homeboy before turning against the man only weeks later, to his manipulation of Philadelphia homeless men to engage in deceitful electioneering, everything about Steele pointed to his deeply ingrained meretriciousness, which is to say, his gross unsuitability for higher office. (There are candidates just as bad who have been elected, but that doesn't exculpate Steele). Now we learn that he very well might head up the RNC, which to me is probably the most appropriate next job he could have. Perhaps he'll hire Ken Blackwell as his assistant and enforcer.

Let me not forget Lynn Swann. What exactly were his qualifications to be the governor of Pennsylvania, which isn't exactly a podunk? Attractiveness, celebrity, and wealth alone, without a platform or political identity don't cut it, at least not in a state known for its politically engaged citizenry. I actually took a hot minute to read up on Lynn Swann's political aims, and came away with the conviction that he had none, or rather, there was little beyond Republican talking points that he envisioned, if that word is even appropriate, for Pennsylvania. I had no doubt the residents of the Keystone State would recognize this right away, as they did, and to be sure, his candidacy was dead on arrival. Even his former teammate Franco Harris, who I thought was the sexiest man alive during the Steelers' championship runs of the 1970s, supported his opponent. Were the state's economy stronger and had there not been voter anger at the state legislature, incumbent Ed Rendell would have won by an even larger margin.

What about Vernon Robinson? First, if I may put it politely, the man is cuckoo, out of his mind, certifiable. Once again he ran one of the most extreme campaigns in the entire country, to right of his patron Jesse Helms--he has even proudly and affirmatively called himself the Black Jesse Helms!--in North Carolina. Among the lowlights, he viciously attacked immigrants, airing inflammatory commercials and going so far as to state that Spanish speakers "had no place" in the United States; while speaking to college students, he supposedly declared that social acceptance of multiculturalism was "a stupid notion; and he alleged that his opponent Brad Miller was gay because he'd married late in life and his wife had borne no children (Miller had to explainn that before they married she'd had a hysterectomy), etc.--that is, he yet again basically acted like a complete and total fool. Lo and behold, for all his extremism, he lost to Miller 64%-36%! I get the idea that in addition to an overwhelming desire for attention, he's also operating on deeply held principle(s), which means he's pretty much in the Alan Keyes category, which means, well, that he's bonkers. The sad thing is I don't think he's going to stop. Each loss seems to embolden him more. Fortunately, unless he's running for a US Congressional seat against, oh, Osama bin Laden, he's going to keep losing.

On the Democratic side, there's Harold Ford Jr. Several entries ago I called him a "right-wing" Democrat, and I meant it. No, he's not as far to the right as Blackwell or Robinson. But as Democrats go, he's politically an outlier. There's no other way to put it. Though cute as a button and suave as all get out this is a man who, against all better judgment, publicly declared, "I love"--I am not exaggerating--"President Bush." He actually said this, and even in context--as a statement let's say of Christian agape or something--it's still unnerving. I would respectfully suggest that there is not another African-American Democratic Congressperson, including fence straddlers and hustlers like Gregory Meeks or Albert Wynn--not even the most devout Christian of any of them--who would go that far. But Ford Jr.'s beliefs in general seem to be pitched to the right side of the aisle, and he was always picking up Republican and RNC memes, such as his criticism of John Kerry's bumbling statement to college students which, as should have been clear to anyone who listened to it or read it, was not an attack on the troops. But Ford Jr. did his part to keep the Republican testeria surrounding Kerry alive for longer than it needed to be. One of his most craven acts was his public denunciation of the New Jersey Supreme Court movement on gay marriage. While I'm sure he thought it might win him some votes, he could have taken a moment to consider that less than 30 years ago, interracial marriages were still illegal in a number of southern states (Tennessee instituted its own interracial marriage ban in 1871, during Reconstruction, and made it constitutional in 1896, which kept it on the books up until only a few years before he was born), and that the sorts of friendships he's engaged in across the racial and gender line often resulted in vast array of terroristic acts against Black people. Ironically enough, the very interracial sex panic inherent in these laws was part of the vile yet successful attacks waged against him by his opponent, Bob Corker, the RNC and their associates. From that outrageous commercial alluding to Ford Jr.'s frolicking with white women, to the radio commercial that included drums beating whenever his name was mentioned, the Republicans resorted to overt racist appeals. Yet Ford Jr. apparently saw little wrong with promoting heterosexism and homophobia in his own campaign--Brothaman, wake up! Yet as of yesterday or so, Democratic insider and operative James Carville was touting Mr. Black Republite as the new head of the DNC, despite the fact that its current leader, Dr. Howard Dean, had a winning, Netroots-derived 50-state strategy that mean that there were viable Democratic House and Senate candidates running in places like Montana and Indiana, not just the coastal states and urban areas. Mr. Carville, no thank you. Actually I hope Harold Ford Jr., a handsome, thoughtful and ostentatiously devout person, does find an opportunity better suited to his interests and talents; perhaps the DLC, which has been tacking ever rightward, will let recognize that he's the best person to lead its outfit. They'd be making the right choice.

Is conservatism a dead end for Black candidates? At least right now it is. Meanwhile, it definitely pays for hucksters in academe and elsewhere. If you're Black, you can surely put some extra cash in your pocket and get some nice gigs if you make fellow Black folks, especially poor and disenfranchised ones, your chief targets. Pitiful I know, but some can't wait to take up the opportunity....

Veterans Day

Lest we forget, here, courtesy of The News Blog, is the list of US service people killed in Iraq so far this year. Behind every number is and was a human being. Let's not ever forget that.

2006 Verified Iraq War US Military Fatalities (as of November 7, 2006)
Name Age Rank Month/Day Year

1. Jason Lee Bishop 31 Army Sergeant 1st Class Jan 01 2006
2. Christopher J. Vanderhorn 37 Army Staff Sergeant Jan 01 2006
3. William F. Hecker III 37 Army Major Jan 05 2006
4. Jason Lopezreyes 29 Army Sergeant Jan 05 2006
5. Robbie M. Mariano 21 Army Private Jan 05 2006
6. Johnny J. Peralez Jr. 25 Army Sergeant Jan 05 2006
7. Christopher P. Petty 33 Army Captain Jan 05 2006
8. Ryan D. Walker 25 Army Specialist Jan 05 2006
9. Stephen J. White 39 Army Sergeant 1st Class Jan 05 2006
10. Michael E. McLaughlin 44 Army National Guard Lieutenant Colonel Jan 05 2006
11. Adam Leigh Cann 23 Marine Sergeant Jan 05 2006
12. Albert Pasquale Gettings 27 Marine Corporal Jan 05 2006
13. Ryan S. McCurdy 20 Marine Lance Corporal Jan 05 2006
14. Radhames Camilomatos 24 Army Sergeant Jan 07 2006
15. Joseph D. deMoors 36 Army 1st Lieutenant Jan 07 2006
16. Douglas A. LaBouff 36 Army Major Jan 07 2006
17. Michael R. Martinez 43 Army Major Jan 07 2006
18. Clinton R. Upchurch 31 Army Specialist Jan 07 2006
19. Jaime L. Campbell 25 Army National Guard 1st Lieutenant Jan 07 2006
20. Michael I. Edwards 26 Army National Guard Specialist Jan 07 2006
21. Jacob E. Melson 22 Army National Guard Specialist Jan 07 2006
22. Chester W. Troxel 45 Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jan 07 2006
23. Stuart M. Anderson 44 Army Reserve Major Jan 07 2006
24. Nathan R. Field 23 Army Reserve Sergeant Jan 07 2006
25. Robert T. Johnson 20 Army Reserve Specialist Jan 07 2006
26. Darren D. Braswell 36 Dept. of Defense Civilian Jan 07 2006
27. Kyle W. Brown 22 Marine Lance Corporal Jan 07 2006
28. Jeriad P. Jacobs 19 Marine Lance Corporal Jan 07 2006
29. Jason T. Little 20 Marine Lance Corporal Jan 07 2006
30. Brett L. Lundstrom 22 Marine Corporal Jan 07 2006
31. Raul Mercado 21 Marine Lance Corporal Jan 07 2006
32. Michael Joseph McMullen 25 Army National Guard Sergeant Jan 10 2006
33. Mitchell K. Carver Jr. 31 Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jan 13 2006
34. Kyle E. Jackson 28 Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jan 13 2006
35. Jonathan Kyle Price 19 Marine Lance Corporal Jan 13 2006
36. Michael Anthony Jordan 35 Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jan 13 2006
37. Justin J. Watts 20 Marine Corporal Jan 14 2006
38. Kasper Allen Dudkiewicz 22 Army Private 1st Class Jan 15 2006
39. Dustin L. Kendall 21 Army Specialist Jan 15 2006
40. Ruel M. Garcia 34 Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jan 16 2006
41. Rex C. Kenyon 34 Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jan 16 2006
42. Adam R. Shepherd 21 Army Private 1st Class Jan 17 2006
43. Dennis J. Flanagan 22 Army Sergeant Jan 20 2006
44. Matthew C. Frantz 23 Army Specialist Jan 20 2006
45. Rickey Scott 30 Army Staff Sergeant Jan 20 2006
46. Clifton J. Yazzie 23 Army Specialist Jan 20 2006
47. Carlos Arrelano Pandura 22 Marine Corporal Jan 20 2006
48. Brandon Christopher Dewey 20 Marine Lance Corporal Jan 20 2006
49. Brian McElroy 28 Air Force Staff Sergeant Jan 22 2006
50. Jason L. Norton 32 Air Force Technical Sergeant Jan 22 2006
51. Lance M. Chase 32 Army Staff Sergeant Jan 23 2006
52. Matthew D. Hunter 31 Army Sergeant Jan 23 2006
53. Peter D. Wagler 18 Army Private 1st Class Jan 23 2006
54. Lewis T. D. Calapini 21 Marine Private Jan 23 2006
55. Joshua A. Scott 24 Marine Lance Corporal Jan 23 2006
56. Sean H. Miles 28 Marine Sergeant Jan 24 2006
57. Jerry M. "Michael" Durbin Jr. 26 Army Staff Sergeant Jan 25 2006
58. Joshua Allen Johnson 24 Army National Guard Sergeant Jan 25 2006
59. Hugo R. Lopez Lopez 20 Marine Lance Corporal Jan 27 2006
60. David L. Herrera 26 Army Sergeant Jan 28 2006
61. Brian J. Schoff 22 Army Private 1st Class Jan 28 2006
62. Felipe C. Barbosa 21 Marine Corporal Jan 28 2006
63. Garrison C. Avery 23 Army 1st Lieutenant Feb 01 2006
64. Marlon A. Bustamante 25 Army Specialist Feb 01 2006
65. Anthony Chad Owens 21 Army Specialist Feb 01 2006
66. Caesar S. Viglienzone 21 Army Private 1st Class Feb 01 2006
67. Sean T. Cardelli 20 Marine Private 1st Class Feb 01 2006
68. Simon T. Cox Jr. 30 Army 1st Lieutenant Feb 02 2006
69. Walter B. Howard II 35 Army Specialist Feb 02 2006
70. Scott A. Messer 26 Army Private 1st Class Feb 02 2006
71. Lance S. Cornett 33 Army Sergeant 1st Class Feb 03 2006
72. Jesse M. Zamora 22 Army Specialist Feb 03 2006
73. Roberto L. Martinez Salazar 21 Army Specialist Feb 04 2006
74. Jeremiah J. Boehmer 22 Army Sergeant Feb 05 2006
75. William S. Hayes III 23 Army Specialist Feb 05 2006
76. Sergio A. Mercedes Saez 23 Army Specialist Feb 05 2006
77. Christopher R. Morningstar 27 Army Staff Sergeant Feb 05 2006
78. Patrick W. Herried 29 Army Specialist Feb 06 2006
79. Orville Gerena 21 Marine Corporal Feb 06 2006
80. David S. Parr 22 Marine Lance Corporal Feb 06 2006
81. Brandon S. Schuck 21 Marine Corporal Feb 06 2006
82. Jacob D. "Jake" Spann 21 Marine Private 1st Class Feb 06 2006
83. Allen D. Kokesh Jr. 21 Army National Guard Specialist Feb 07 2006
84. Steven L. Phillips 27 Marine Lance Corporal Feb 07 2006
85. Javier Chavez Jr. 19 Marine Private 1st Class Feb 09 2006
86. Ross A. Smith 21 Marine Corporal Feb 09 2006
87. Felipe J. Garcia Villareal 26 Army Specialist Feb 12 2006
88. Andrew J. Kemple 23 Army Corporal Feb 12 2006
89. Nicholas Wilson 25 Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Feb 12 2006
90. Matthew Ron Barnes 20 Marine Lance Corporal Feb 14 2006
91. Michael S. Probst 26 Marine Lance Corporal Feb 14 2006
92. Rusty L. Washam 21 Marine Corporal Feb 14 2006
93. Anthony R. Garcia 48 Army Captain Feb 17 2006
94. Amos C. Edwards Jr. 41 Army National Guard Sergeant 1st Class Feb 17 2006
95. Charles E. Matheny IV 23 Army Sergeant Feb 18 2006
96. Matthew D. Conley 21 Marine Corporal Feb 18 2006
97. Jessie Davila 29 Army National Guard Sergeant Feb 20 2006
98. Daniel J. Kuhlmeier 30 Dept. of the Air Force Civilian Feb 20 2006
99. Jay T. Collado 31 Marine Staff Sergeant Feb 20 2006
100. Almar L. Fitzgerald 23 Marine 2nd Lieutenant Feb 21 2006
101. Gregson G. Gourley 38 Army Staff Sergeant Feb 22 2006
102. Curtis T. Howard II 32 Army Staff Sergeant Feb 22 2006
103. Rickey E. Jones 21 Army Sergeant Feb 22 2006
104. Christopher L. Marion 20 Army Private 1st Class Feb 22 2006
105. Gordon F. Misner II 23 Army Sergeant Feb 22 2006
106. Allan A. Morr 21 Army Private 1st Class Feb 22 2006
107. Thomas J. Wilwerth 21 Army Specialist Feb 22 2006
108. Dimitri Muscat 21 Army Sergeant Feb 24 2006
109. Joshua Francis Powers 21 Army Private Feb 24 2006
110. Benjamin C. Schuster 21 Army National Guard Private 1st Class Feb 25 2006
111. John Joshua Thornton 22 Marine Lance Corporal Feb 25 2006
112. Adam J. VanAlstine 21 Marine Lance Corporal Feb 25 2006
113. Clay P. Farr 21 Army Specialist Feb 26 2006
114. Joshua U. Humble 21 Army Specialist Feb 26 2006
115. Joshua M. Pearce 21 Army Specialist Feb 26 2006
116. Christopher J. Schornak 28 Army Staff Sergeant Feb 26 2006
117. Dwayne Peter R. Lewis 26 Army Staff Sergeant Feb 27 2006
118. Tina M. Priest 20 Army Private 1st Class Mar 01 2006
119. Christopher S. Merchant 32 Army National Guard Specialist Mar 01 2006
120. Joshua V. Youmans 26 Army National Guard Sergeant Mar 01 2006
121. Matthew A. Snyder 20 Marine Lance Corporal Mar 03 2006
122. Kevin P. Jessen 28 Army Staff Sergeant Mar 05 2006
123. Adam O. Zanutto 26 Marine Corporal Mar 06 2006
124. Ricky Salas Jr. 22 Army Private 1st Class Mar 07 2006
125. Justin R. Martone 31 Marine Gunnery Sergeant Mar 07 2006
126. John D. Fry 28 Marine Gunnery Sergeant Mar 08 2006
127. Bunny Long 22 Marine Lance Corporal Mar 10 2006
128. Amy A. Duerksen 19 Army Private 1st Class Mar 11 2006
129. Kristen K. Marino (Figueroa) 20 Marine Lance Corporal Mar 12 2006
130. Corey A. Dan 22 Army Sergeant Mar 13 2006
131. Bryan A. Lewis 32 Army Staff Sergeant Mar 13 2006
132. Marco A. Silva 27 Army Staff Sergeant Mar 13 2006
133. Angelo A. Zawaydeh 19 Army Private 1st Class Mar 15 2006
134. Carlos M. Gonzalez 22 Army Specialist Mar 16 2006
135. Amanda N. Pinson 21 Army Sergeant Mar 16 2006
136. Nyle Yates III 22 Army Corporal Mar 16 2006
137. Ricardo Barraza 24 Army Staff Sergeant Mar 18 2006
138. Dale G. Brehm 23 Army Sergeant Mar 18 2006
139. Antoine J. McKinzie 25 Army Specialist Mar 21 2006
140. Brock A. Beery 30 Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Mar 23 2006
141. Randy D. McCaulley 44 Army National Guard Sergeant 1st Class Mar 23 2006
142. Frederick A. Carlson 25 Army National Guard Specialist Mar 25 2006
143. Michael D. Rowe 23 Army Sergeant Mar 28 2006
144. Sean D. Tharp 21 Army Private 1st Class Mar 28 2006
145. Robert Hernandez 47 Army Reserve Staff Sergeant Mar 28 2006
146. Walter M. Moss Jr. 37 Air Force Technical Sergeant Mar 30 2006
147. Joseph J. Duenas 23 Army Private 1st Class Mar 30 2006
148. Jacob Walter Beisel 21 Marine Lance Corporal Mar 31 2006
149. Darrell P. Clay 34 Army Staff Sergeant Apr 01 2006
150. Israel Devora Garcia 23 Army Sergeant Apr 01 2006
151. Michael L. Hartwick 37 Army Chief Warrant Officer (CW3) Apr 01 2006
152. Timothy J. Moshier 25 Army Captain Apr 01 2006
153. Jeremy W. Ehle 19 Army Private 1st Class Apr 02 2006
154. Andres Aguilar Jr. 21 Marine Corporal Apr 02 2006
155. David A. Bass 20 Marine Corporal Apr 02 2006
156. Patrick J. Gallagher 27 Marine Lance Corporal Apr 02 2006
157. Kun Y. Kim 20 Marine Lance Corporal Apr 02 2006
158. Eric A. McIntosh 29 Marine Staff Sergeant Apr 02 2006
159. Eric A. Palmisano 27 Marine Lance Corporal Apr 02 2006
160. Scott J. Procopio 20 Marine Corporal Apr 02 2006
161. Felipe D. Sandoval-Flores 20 Marine Lance Corporal Apr 02 2006
162. Brian R. St. Germain 22 Marine Corporal Apr 02 2006
163. Abraham G. Twitchell 28 Marine Staff Sergeant Apr 02 2006
164. Marcques J. Nettles 22 Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Apr 02 2006
165. Geovani Padilla Aleman 20 Navy Hospitalman Apr 02 2006
166. Ty J. Johnson 28 Army Specialist Apr 04 2006
167. Dustin J. Harris 21 Army Specialist Apr 06 2006
168. Daniel L. Sesker 22 Army National Guard Specialist Apr 06 2006
169. Chase A. Edwards 19 Marine Private 1st Class Apr 06 2006
170. Bryan N. Taylor 20 Marine Lance Corporal Apr 06 2006
171. Richard P. Waller 22 Marine Corporal Apr 07 2006
172. Shawn R. Creighton 21 Army Specialist Apr 08 2006
173. Jody W. Missildine 19 Army Private Apr 08 2006
174. Philip John Martini 24 Marine Lance Corporal Apr 08 2006
175. Juana NavarroArellano 24 Marine Lance Corporal Apr 08 2006
176. David S. Collins 24 Army Specialist Apr 09 2006
177. Joseph I. Love-Fowler 22 Army Private 1st Class Apr 09 2006
178. Gregory S. Rogers 42 Army Sergeant 1st Class Apr 09 2006
179. James W. "Will" Gardner 22 Army Specialist Apr 10 2006
180. Randall L. Lamberson 36 Army Sergeant 1st Class Apr 10 2006
181. Joseph A. Blanco 25 Army Corporal Apr 11 2006
182. James F. Costello III 27 Army Private 1st Class Apr 11 2006
183. Kenneth D. Hess 26 Army Specialist Apr 11
184. 2006
185. George R. Roehl Jr. 21 Army Private 1st Class Apr 11 2006
186. Scott M. Bandhold 37 Army Specialist Apr 12 2006
187. Roland E. Calderon-Ascencio 21 Army Private 1st Class Apr 12 2006
188. Marcus S. Glimpse 22 Marine Lance Corporal Apr 12 2006
189. Andrew K. Waits 23 Army Specialist Apr 13 2006
190. Salem Bachar 20 Marine Corporal Apr 13 2006
191. Stephen Joseph Perez 22 Marine Lance Corporal Apr 13 2006
192. Darin T. Settle 23 Marine Lance Corporal Apr 14 2006
193. Mark W. Melcher 34 Army National Guard Specialist Apr 15 2006
194. Derrick J. Cothran 21 Marine Lance Corporal Apr 15 2006
195. Pablo V. Mayorga 33 Marine Corporal Apr 15 2006
196. Justin D. Sims 22 Marine Lance Corporal Apr 15 2006
197. Ryan G. Winslow 19 Marine Private 1st Class Apr 15 2006
198. Clinton W. Cubert 38 Army National Guard Master Sergeant Apr 16 2006
199. Ian P. Weikel 31 Army Captain Apr 18 2006
200. Robert J. Settle 25 Army Private 1st Class Apr 19 2006
201. Patrick A. Tinnell 25 Army Private 1st Class Apr 19 2006
202. Jason C. Ramseyer 28 Marine Staff Sergeant Apr 20 2006
203. Jacob H. Allcott 21 Army Private 1st Class Apr 22 2006
204. Michael E. Bouthot 19 Army Private Apr 22 2006
205. Kyle A. Colnot 23 Army Sergeant Apr 22 2006
206. Eric D. King 29 Army Specialist Apr 22 2006
207. Travis C. Zimmerman 19 Army Private Apr 22 2006
208. Eric R. Lueken 23 Marine Corporal Apr 22 2006
209. Jason B. Daniel 21 Army Corporal Apr 23 2006
210. Robert W. Ehney 26 Army Sergeant Apr 23 2006
211. Shawn Thomas Lasswell Jr. 21 Army Corporal Apr 23 2006
212. Metodio A. Bandonill 29 Army Staff Sergeant Apr 24 2006
213. Aaron William Simons 20 Marine Lance Corporal Apr 24 2006
214. Raymond L. Henry 21 Army Private 1st Class Apr 25 2006
215. Richard J. Herrema 27 Army Sergeant 1st Class Apr 25 2006
216. Michael L. Ford 19 Marine Lance Corporal Apr 26 2006
217. Bobby Mendez 38 Army 1st Sergeant Apr 27 2006
218. Mark A. Wall 27 Army Staff Sergeant Apr 27 2006
219. Matthew A. Webber 23 Army National Guard Sergeant Apr 27 2006
220. Jose Gomez 23 Army Sergeant Apr 28 2006
221. Bryant A. Herlem 37 Army Staff Sergeant Apr 28 2006
222. Edward G. Davis III 31 Marine Sergeant Apr 28 2006
223. Brandon M. Hardy 25 Marine Corporal Apr 28 2006
224. Lea R. Mills 21 Marine Sergeant Apr 28 2006
225. Steve M. Sakoda 29 Army Sergeant Apr 29 2006
226. Robbie Glen Light 21 Army Corporal May 01 2006
227. Robert L. Moscillo 21 Marine Lance Corporal May 01 2006
228. Christopher M. Eckhardt 19 Army Private 1st Class May 03 2006
229. Benjamin T. Zieske 20 Army Private 1st Class May 03 2006
230. Joseph E. Proctor 38 Army National Guard Sergeant May 03 2006
231. Brian S. Letendre 27 Marine Reserve Captain May 03 2006
232. Bryan L. Quinton 24 Army Specialist May 04 2006
233. Gavin B. Reinke 32 Army Staff Sergeant May 04 2006
234. Stephen R. Bixler 20 Marine Corporal May 04 2006
235. Elisha R. Parker 21 Marine Sergeant May 04 2006
236. Alva L. Gaylord 25 Army Private 1st Class May 05 2006
237. Carlos N. Saenz 46 Army 1st Sergeant May 05 2006
238. Teodoro Torres 29 Army Specialist May 05 2006
239. Nathan J. Vacho 29 Army Sergeant May 05 2006
240. Dale James Kelly Jr. 48 Army National Guard Staff Sergeant May 06 2006
241. David Michael Veverka 25 Army National Guard Staff Sergeant May 06 2006
242. Leon Deraps 19 Marine Lance Corporal May 06 2006
243. Matthew J. Fenton 24 Marine Sergeant May 06 2006
244. Cory L. Palmer 21 Marine Corporal May 06 2006
245. Emmanuel L. Legaspi 38 Army Staff Sergeant May 07 2006
246. Gregory A. Wagner 35 Army Staff Sergeant May 08 2006
247. Aaron P. Latimer 26 Army Specialist May 09 2006
248. Alessandro Carbonaro 28 Marine Sergeant May 10 2006
249. Armer N. Burkart 26 Army Specialist May 11 2006
250. Eric D. Clark 22 Army Private 1st Class May 11 2006
251. Stephen P. Snowberger III 18 Army Private 1st Class May 11 2006
252. Jason K. Burnett 20 Marine Lance Corporal May 11 2006
253. David J. GramesSanchez 22 Marine Lance Corporal May 11 2006
254. Michael L. Licalzi 24 Marine 2nd Lieutenant May 11 2006
255. Steve Vahaviolos 21 Marine Corporal May 11 2006
256. Brandon L. Teeters 21 Army Specialist May 12 2006
257. Adam C. Conboy 21 Marine Lance Corporal May 12 2006
258. Ron Gebur 23 Army National Guard Specialist May 13 2006
259. Richard Z. James 20 Marine Lance Corporal May 13 2006
260. John W. Engeman 45 Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 May 14 2006
261. Jamie D. Weeks 47 Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 May 14 2006
262. Robert H. West 37 Army Master Sergeant May 14 2006
263. Matthew W. Worrel 34 Army Major May 14 2006
264. Shane Mahaffee 36 Army Reserve Captain May 14 2006
265. Jose S. Marin-Dominguez Jr. 22 Marine Lance Corporal May 14 2006
266. Hatak Yuka Keyu M. Yearby 21 Marine Lance Corporal May 14 2006
267. Grant Allen Dampier 25 Army Private 1st Class May 15 2006
268. Marion Flint Jr. 29 Army Staff Sergeant May 15 2006
269. Santiago M. Halsel 32 Army Staff Sergeant May 16 2006
270. Lee Hamilton Deal 23 Navy Petty Officer Third Class May 17 2006
271. Lonnie Calvin Allen Jr. 26 Army Sergeant May 18 2006
272. Nicholas Cournoyer 25 Army Private 1st Class May 18 2006
273. Daniel E. Holland 43 Army Lieutenant Colonel May 18 2006
274. Robert Seidel III 23 Army 1st Lieutenant May 18 2006
275. William B. Fulks 23 Marine Corporal May 18 2006
276. Benito A. Ramirez 22 Marine Lance Corporal May 21 2006
277. David Christoff Jr. 25 Marine Sergeant May 22 2006
278. William J. Leusink 21 Marine Lance Corporal May 22 2006
279. Michael L. Hermanson 21 Army National Guard Specialist May 23 2006
280. Steven Freund 20 Marine Private 1st Class May 23 2006
281. Robert G. Posivio III 22 Marine Lance Corporal May 23 2006
282. Robert E. Blair 22 Army Specialist May 25 2006
283. Douglas A. DiCenzo 30 Army Captain May 25 2006
284. Caleb A. Lufkin 24 Army Private 1st Class May 25 2006
285. Adam Lucas 20 Marine Lance Corporal May 26 2006
286. J. Adan Garcia 20 Army Corporal May 27 2006
287. Richard A. Bennett 25 Marine Corporal May 27 2006
288. Nathanael J. Doring 31 Marine Captain May 27 2006
289. James A. Funkhouser 35 Army Captain May 29 2006
290. Jeremy M. Loveless 25 Army Corporal May 29 2006
291. Brock L. Bucklin 28 Army Specialist May 30 2006
292. Bobby R. West 23 Army Corporal May 30 2006
293. Alexander J. Kolasa 22 Army Corporal May 31 2006
294. Benjamin E. Mejia 25 Army Sergeant May 31 2006
295. Brett L. Tribble 20 Army Private 1st Class Jun 03 2006
296. Darren Harmon 44 Army Reserve Staff Sergeant Jun 03 2006
297. Ryan J. Cummings 22 Marine Corporal Jun 03 2006
298. Michael D. Stover 43 Marine Major Jun 03 2006
299. Issac S. Lawson 35 Army National Guard Specialist Jun 05 2006
300. Jamie Jaenke 30 Naval Reserve Petty Officer 2nd Class Jun 05 2006
301. Gary Rovinski 44 Naval Reserve Petty Officer 1st Class Jun 05 2006
302. Andy D. Anderson 24 Army Corporal Jun 06 2006
303. Daniel Gionet 23 Army Sergeant Jun 06 2006
304. Carlos E. Pernell 25 Army Sergeant Jun 06 2006
305. Ryan T. Sanders 27 Army 1st Lieutenant Jun 06 2006
306. Richard A. Blakley 34 Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Jun 06 2006
307. Mark T. Smykowski 23 Marine Sergeant Jun 06 2006
308. David N. Crombie 19 Army Private 1st Class Jun 07 2006
309. Scott M. Love 32 Army 1st Lieutenant Jun 07 2006
310. John Shaw Vaughan 23 Army 2nd Lieutenant Jun 07 2006
311. Clarence D. McSwain 31 Army Sergeant 1st Class Jun 08 2006
312. Luis D. Santos 20 Army Specialist Jun 08 2006
313. Daniel Crabtree 31 Army National Guard Sergeant 1st Class Jun 08 2006
314. Ben Slaven 22 Army National Guard Private 1st Class Jun 09 2006
315. Jose M. Velez 35 Army Reserve Sergeant Jun 09 2006
316. Salvador Guerrero 21 Marine Lance Corporal Jun 09 2006
317. Brent Zoucha 19 Marine Lance Corporal Jun 09 2006
318. Zachary M. Alday 22 Navy Seaman Jun 09 2006
319. Michael A. Estrella 20 Marine Corporal Jun 14 2006
320. Jeremiah S. Santos 21 Army Specialist Jun 15 2006
321. David J. Babineau 25 Army Specialist Jun 16 2006
322. Kristian Menchaca 23 Army Private Jun 16 2006
323. Thomas Lowell Tucker 25 Army Private 1st Class Jun 16 2006
324. Brent W. Koch 22 Army National Guard Specialist Jun 16 2006
325. Robert L. Jones 22 Army Specialist Jun 17 2006
326. Reyes Ramirez 23 Army Sergeant Jun 17 2006
327. Christopher D. Leon 20 Marine Corporal Jun 20 2006
328. Brandon J Webb 20 Marine Lance Corporal Jun 20 2006
329. Christopher N. White 23 Marine Private 1st Class Jun 20 2006
330. Benjamin D. Williams 30 Marine Staff Sergeant Jun 20 2006
331. Jason J. Buzzard 31 Army Sergeant Jun 21 2006
332. Sirlou C. Cuaresma 21 Army Sergeant Jun 21 2006
333. Nicholas J. Whyte 21 Marine Lance Corporal Jun 21 2006
334. Riley E. Baker 22 Marine Corporal Jun 22 2006
335. Paul A. Beyer 21 Army Private 1st Class Jun 23 2006
336. Mario J. Bievre 34 Army Staff Sergeant Jun 23 2006
337. Ryan J. Buckley 21 Army Corporal Jun 23 2006
338. Devon J. Gibbons 19 Army Private 1st Class Jun 23 2006
339. Channing G. Singletary 30 Army National Guard Specialist Jun 23 2006
340. Benjamin J. Laymon 22 Army Sergeant Jun 24 2006
341. Justin Dean Norton 21 Army Sergeant Jun 24 2006
342. Virrueta A. Sanchez 33 Army Staff Sergeant Jun 24 2006
343. Paul N. King 23 Marine Reserve Corporal Jun 25 2006
344. Terry Lisk 26 Army Sergeant Jun 26 2006
345. Michael J. Potocki 21 Army Private 1st Class Jun 26 2006
346. Raymond J. Plouhar 30 Marine Staff Sergeant Jun 26 2006
347. Jeremy Jones 25 Army Corporal Jun 27 2006
348. Terry O.P. Wallace 33 Army Sergeant 1st Class Jun 27 2006
349. Jason W. Morrow 27 Marine Corporal Jun 27 2006
350. Rex A. Page 21 Marine Private 1st Class Jun 28 2006
351. Ryan. J. Clark 19 Army Corporal Jun 29 2006
352. Bryan C. Luckey 25 Army Sergeant Jun 29 2006
353. James P. Muldoon 23 Army Sergeant Jun 29 2006
354. Christopher D. Rose 21 Army Specialist Jun 29 2006
355. Kyle Miller 19 Army National Guard Specialist Jun 29 2006
356. Carl Jerome Ware Jr. 22 Air Force Airman 1st Class Jul 01 2006
357. Collin T. Mason 20 Army Private 1st Class Jul 02 2006
358. Justin Noyes 23 Marine Sergeant Jul 02 2006
359. Paul Pabla 23 Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Jul 03 2006
360. Omar Flores 27 Army Staff Sergeant Jul 08 2006
361. Troy Carlin Linden 22 Army Specialist Jul 08 2006
362. Joseph P. Micks 22 Army Specialist Jul 08 2006
363. Damien M. Montoya 21 Army Specialist Jul 09 2006
364. Duane J. Dreasky 31 Army National Guard Sergeant Jul 10 2006
365. Irving Hernandez Jr. 28 Army Sergeant Jul 12 2006
366. Jerry A. Tharp 44 Naval Reserve Petty Officer 1st Class Jul 12 2006
367. Al'Kaila Floyd 23 Army Sergeant Jul 13 2006
368. Thomas B. Turner Jr. 31 Army Sergeant Jul 14 2006
369. Andres J. Contreras 23 Army Sergeant Jul 15 2006
370. Manuel J. Holguin 21 Army Specialist Jul 15 2006
371. Jason M. Evey 29
372. Army Staff Sergeant Jul 16 2006
373. Nathaniel S. Baughman 23 Army Corporal Jul 17 2006
374. Michael A Dickinson II 26 Army Staff Sergeant Jul 17 2006
375. Kenneth I. Pugh 39 Army Staff Sergeant Jul 17 2006
376. Scott R. Smith 34 Army Sergeant 1st Class Jul 17 2006
377. Mark Richard Vecchione 25 Army Sergeant Jul 18 2006
378. Geofrey R. Cayer 20 Marine Lance Corporal Jul 18 2006
379. Derek J. Plowman 20 Army National Guard Private 1st Class Jul 20 2006
380. Julian A. Ramon 22 Marine Corporal Jul 20 2006
381. Matthew P. Wallace 22 Army Corporal Jul 21 2006
382. Christopher T. Pate 29 Marine Captain Jul 21 2006
383. Adam J. Fargo 22 Army Corporal Jul 22 2006
384. Blake H. Russell 35 Army Captain Jul 22 2006
385. Christopher Swanson 25 Army Staff Sergeant Jul 22 2006
386. Dennis K. Samson Jr. 24 Army Specialist Jul 24 2006
387. Jason M. West 28 Army Captain Jul 24 2006
388. Stephen W. Castner 27 Army National Guard Specialist Jul 24 2006
389. Joseph A. Graves 21 Army Specialist Jul 25 2006
390. Edward A Koth 30 Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Jul 26 2006
391. James W. Higgins 22 Marine Lance Corporal Jul 27 2006
392. Adam R. Murray 21 Marine Lance Corporal Jul 27 2006
393. Timothy D. Roos 21 Marine Corporal Jul 27 2006
394. Enrique Henry Sanchez 21 Marine Private 1st Class Jul 27 2006
395. Phillip E. Baucus 28 Marine Corporal Jul 29 2006
396. Anthony E. Butterfield 19 Marine Lance Corporal Jul 29 2006
397. Jason Hanson 21 Marine Private 1st Class Jul 29 2006
398. Christian B. Williams 27 Marine Sergeant Jul 29 2006
399. Joshua Ford 20 Army National Guard Specialist Jul 31 2006
400. Hai Ming Hsia 37 Army Specialist Aug 01 2006
401. Dustin D. Laird 23 Army Sergeant Aug 02 2006
402. Ryan D. Jopek 20 Army National Guard Sergeant Aug 02 2006
403. Joseph A. Tomci 21 Marine Corporal Aug 02 2006
404. Marc A. Lee 28 Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Aug 02 2006
405. Kurt Edward Dechen 24 Army Reserve Lance Corporal Aug 03 2006
406. George M. Ulloa Jr. 23 Marine Sergeant Aug 03 2006
407. Bradley H. Beste 22 Army Sergeant Aug 04 2006
408. Leroy Segura Jr. 23 Army Sergeant Aug 04 2006
409. Clint J. Storey 30 Army Staff Sergeant Aug 04 2006
410. Brian J. Kubik 20 Army Private 1st Class Aug 05 2006
411. Carlton A. Clark 22 Army Sergeant Aug 06 2006
412. Tracy L. Melvin 31 Army Staff Sergeant Aug 06 2006
413. Stephen A. Seale 25 Army Staff Sergeant Aug 06 2006
414. Jose Zamora 24 Army Specialist Aug 06 2006
415. Jeffery S. Brown 25 Army Sergeant Aug 09 2006
416. Aaron Jagger 43 Army 1st Sergeant Aug 09 2006
417. Steven P. Mennemeyer 26 Army Sergeant Aug 09 2006
418. Ignacio Ramirez 22 Army Specialist Aug 09 2006
419. Shane W. Woods 23 Army Specialist Aug 09 2006
420. Jeremy Z. Long 18 Marine Lance Corporal Aug 10 2006
421. Kenneth A. Jenkins 25 Army Staff Sergeant Aug 12 2006
422. Michael C. Lloyd 24 Army Staff Sergeant Aug 12 2006
423. Kevin L. Zeigler 31 Army Staff Sergeant Aug 12 2006
424. Jeffrey S. Loa 32 Army Staff Sergeant Aug 16 2006
425. Michael Dennis Glover 28 Army Reserve Lance Corporal Aug 16 2006
426. John James McKenna IV 30 Army Reserve Captain Aug 16 2006
427. John P. Phillips 29 Marine Sergeant Aug 16 2006
428. James J. Arellano 19 Army Private 1st Class Aug 17 2006
429. Ruben J. Villa Jr 36 Army Sergeant 1st Class Aug 18 2006
430. Marquees A. Quick 28 Army Sergeant Aug 19 2006
431. Gabriel G. DeRoo 23 Army Sergeant Aug 20 2006
432. Adam Anthony Galvez 21 Marine Corporal Aug 20 2006
433. Randy Lee Newman 21 Marine Lance Corporal Aug 20 2006
434. Chadwick Thomas Kenyon 20 Navy Hospitalman Aug 20 2006
435. Brad A. Clemmons 37 Air Force Master Sergeant Aug 21 2006
436. Paul J. Darga 34 Navy Chief Petty Officer Aug 22 2006
437. Thomas J. Barbieri 24 Army Specialist Aug 23 2006
438. James Daniel Hirlston 21 Marine Lance Corporal Aug 23 2006
439. Jeremy E. King 23 Army Sergeant Aug 24 2006
440. William E. Thorne 26 Army Private 1st Class Aug 24 2006
441. Gordon George Solomon 35 Marine Staff Sergeant Aug 24 2006
442. Dwayne E. Williams 28 Marine Staff Sergeant Aug 24 2006
443. Jordan C. Pierson 21 Marine Corporal Aug 25 2006
444. Edgardo Zayas 29 Army Specialist Aug 26 2006
445. David G. Weimortz 28 Marine Corporal Aug 26 2006
446. David J. Almazan 27 Army Sergeant Aug 27 2006
447. Kenneth Cross 21 Army Specialist Aug 27 2006
448. Dan Dolan 19 Army Private 1st Class Aug 27 2006
449. Seth A. Hildreth 26 Army Specialist Aug 27 2006
450. Moises Jazmine 25 Army Sergeant Aug 27 2006
451. Joshua D. Jones 24 Army Specialist Aug 27 2006
452. Qixing Lee 20 Army Specialist Aug 27 2006
453. Shaun A. Novak 21 Army Specialist Aug 27 2006
454. Tristan Smith 23 Army Specialist Aug 27 2006
455. Darry Benson 46 Army National Guard Sergeant Aug 27 2006
456. Jeffrey J. Hansen 31 Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Aug 27 2006
457. Donald E. Champlin 28 Marine Lance Corporal Aug 27 2006
458. Matthew E. Schneider 23 Army Specialist Aug 28 2006
459. Shannon L. Squires 25 Army Corporal Aug 28 2006
460. Matthew J. Vosbein 30 Army Sergeant Aug 29 2006
461. Christopher Tyler Warndorf 21 Marine Corporal Aug 29 2006
462. Joshua R. Hanson 27 Army National Guard Sergeant Aug 30 2006
463. Colin Joseph Wolfe 18 Marine Private 1st Class Aug 30 2006
464. Michael L. Deason 28 Army Staff Sergeant Aug 31 2006
465. Angel D. Mercado-Velazquez 24 Army Staff Sergeant Sep 01 2006
466. Cliff Golla 21 Marine Lance Corporal Sep 01 2006
467. Eugene Alex 32 Army Staff Sergeant Sep 02 2006
468. Edwin Anthony Andino Jr. 23 Army Private 1st Class Sep 03 2006
469. Justin W. Dreese 21 Army Private 1st Class Sep 03 2006
470. Richard J. Henkes II 32 Army Sergeant 1st Class Sep 03 2006
471. Nicholas A. Madaras 19 Army Private 1st Class Sep 03 2006
472. Jason L. Merrill 22 Army Sergeant Sep 03 2006
473. Ralph N. Porras 36 Army Sergeant Sep 03 2006
474. Shane P. Harris 23 Marine Lance Corporal Sep 03 2006
475. Philip A. Johnson 19 Marine Lance Corporal Sep 03 2006
476. Ryan Edwin Miller 21 Marine Private Sep 03 2006
477. Hannah L. Gunterman 20 Army Private 1st Class Sep 04 2006
478. Marshall A. Gutierrez 41 Army Lieutenant Colonel Sep 04 2006
479. Germaine L. Debro 33 Army National Guard Sergeant Sep 04 2006
480. Jared M. Shoemaker 29 Marine Reserve Corporal Sep 04 2006
481. Eric P. Valdepenas 21 Marine Reserve Lance Corporal Sep 04 2006
482. Christopher Walsh 30 Naval Reserve Petty Officer 2nd Class Sep 04 2006
483. John A. Carroll 26 Army Sergeant Sep 06 2006
484. Jeremy R. Shank 18 Army Private 1st Class Sep 06 2006
485. Luis A. Montes 22 Army Sergeant Sep 07 2006
486. David J. Ramsey 27 Army Specialist Sep 07 2006
487. Vincent M. Frassetto 21 Marine Private 1st Class Sep 07 2006
488. David W. Gordon 23 Army Sergeant Sep 08 2006
489. Anthony P. Seig 19 Army Private 1st Class Sep 09 2006
490. Johnathan Benson 21 Marine Corporal Sep 09 2006
491. Alexander Jordan 31 Army Specialist Sep 10 2006
492. Harley D. Andrews 22 Army Specialist Sep 11 2006
493. Emily J.T. Perez 23 Army 2nd Lieutenant Sep 12 2006
494. Matthew C. Mattingly 30 Army Captain Sep 13 2006
495. Jeffrey Shaffer 21 Army Private 1st Class Sep 13 2006
496. Marcus A. Cain 20 Army Corporal Sep 14 2006
497. Jennifer M. Hartman 21 Army Sergeant Sep 14 2006
498. Russell M. Makowski 23 Army Specialist Sep 14 2006
499. Aaron A. Smith 31 Army Sergeant Sep 14 2006
500. David Thomas Weir 23 Army Sergeant Sep 14 2006
501. Clint E. Williams 24 Army Sergeant Sep 14 2006
502. Ryan A. Miller 19 Marine Lance Corporal Sep 14 2006
503. Cesar A. Granados 21 Army Corporal Sep 15 2006
504. David Sean Roddy 32 Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Sep 16 2006
505. David J. Davis 32 Army Sergeant Sep 17 2006
506. Adam L. Knox 21 Army Reserve Sergeant Sep 17 2006
507. James R. Worster 24 Army Sergeant Sep 18 2006
508. Robert Thomas Callahan 22 Army Specialist Sep 19 2006
509. Ashley L. Henderson Huff 23 Army 1st Lieutenant Sep 19 2006
510. Jared J. Raymond 20 Army Specialist Sep 19 2006
511. Eric Kavanagh 20 Army Private Sep 20 2006
512. Charles Jason Jones 29 Army National Guard Sergeant 1st Class Sep 20 2006
513. Robb Gordon Needham 51 Army Reserve Master Sergeant Sep 20 2006
514. Yull Estrada Rodriguez 21 Marine Corporal Sep 20 2006
515. Christopher Michael Zimmerman 28 Marine Sergeant Sep 20 2006
516. Allan R. Bevington 22 Army Sergeant Sep 21 2006
517. IV Kenneth E Kincaid 25 Army Private 1st Class Sep 23
518. III Velton Locklear 29 Army Sergeant Sep 23
519. Windell J. Simmons 20 Army Specialist Sep 23 2006
520. Carlos Dominguez 57 Army Reserve Staff Sergeant Sep 23 2006
521. Howard S. March Jr. 20 Marine Lance Corporal Sep 24 2006
522. Rene Martinez 20 Marine Lance Corporal Sep 24 2006
523. Casey L. Mellen 21 Army Corporal Sep 25 2006
524. Jose A. Lanzarin 28 Army Staff Sergeant Sep 26 2006
525. Henry Paul 24 Army Private 1st Class Sep 26 2006
526. Edward C. Reynolds Jr. 27 Army Staff Sergeant Sep 26 2006
527. Christopher T. Riviere 21 Marine Private 1st Class Sep 26 2006
528. James N. Lyons 28 Army 1st Lieutenant Sep 27 2006
529. James Chamroeun 20 Marine Lance Corporal Sep 28 2006
530. Christopher T. Blaney 19 Army Private 1st Class Sep 29 2006
531. Michael A. Monsoor 25 Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Sep 29 2006
532. Luis E. Tejeda 20 Army Corporal Sep 30 2006
533. Robert Weber 22 Army Specialist Sep 30 2006
534. Scott E. Nisely 48 Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Sep 30 2006
535. Kampha B. Sourivong 20 Army National Guard Specialist Sep 30 2006
536. Chase A. Haag 22 Army Corporal Oct 01 2006
537. Mario Nelson 26 Army Sergeant Oct 01 2006
538. Denise A. Lannaman 46 Army National Guard Sergeant Oct 01 2006
539. Justin D. Peterson 32 Marine Captain Oct 01 2006
540. Christopher B. Cosgrove III 23 Marine Reserve Lance Corporal Oct 01 2006
541. Aaron L. Seal 23 Marine Reserve Corporal Oct 01 2006
542. Raymond S. Armijo 22 Army Specialist Oct 02 2006
543. James D. Ellis 25 Army Staff Sergeant Oct 02 2006
544. Satieon V. Greenlee 24 Army Private 1st Class Oct 02 2006
545. Justin R. Jarrett 21 Army Specialist Oct 02 2006
546. Joe A. Narvaez 25 Army Staff Sergeant Oct 02 2006
547. Michael K. Oremus 21 Army Private 1st Class Oct 02 2006
548. Joseph W. Perry 23 Army Sergeant Oct 02 2006
549. Kristofer C. Walker 20 Army Specialist Oct 02 2006
550. Daniel Isshak 25 Army Staff Sergeant Oct 03 2006
551. Jonathan Rojas 27 Army Staff Sergeant Oct 03 2006
552. Dean Bright 32 Army Private 1st Class Oct 04 2006
553. Timothy Burke 24 Army Specialist Oct 04 2006
554. Christopher O. Moudry 31 Army Staff Sergeant Oct 04 2006
555. George R. Obourn Jr. 20 Army Specialist Oct 04 2006
556. Edward M. Garvin 19 Marine Lance Corporal Oct 04 2006
557. Benjamin S. Rosales 20 Marine Corporal Oct 04 2006
558. Nicholas A. Arvanitis 22 Army Corporal Oct 06 2006
559. John Edward Hale
560. 20 Marine Lance Corporal Oct 06 2006
561. Bradford H. Payne 24 Marine Corporal Oct 06 2006
562. Brandon S. Asbury 21 Army Sergeant Oct 07 2006
563. Carl W. Johnson II 21 Army Corporal Oct 07 2006
564. Lawrence Parrish 36 Army National Guard Sergeant Oct 07 2006
565. John Edward Wood 37 Army National Guard Specialist Oct 07 2006
566. Shane R. Austin 19 Army Private 1st Class Oct 08 2006
567. Timothy Fulkerson 20 Army Specialist Oct 08 2006
568. Stephen F. Johnson 20 Marine Lance Corporal Oct 08 2006
569. Derek W. Jones 21 Marine Lance Corporal Oct 08 2006
570. Jeremy Scott Sandvick Monroe 20 Marine Lance Corporal Oct 08 2006
571. Robert M. Secher 33 Marine Captain Oct 08 2006
572. Phillip B. Williams 21 Army Private 1st Class Oct 09 2006
573. Julian M. Arechaga 23 Marine Sergeant Oct 09 2006
574. Jon Eric Bowman 21 Marine Lance Corporal Oct 09 2006
575. Shelby J. Feniello 25 Marine Private 1st Class Oct 09 2006
576. Shane T. Adcock 27 Army Captain Oct 11 2006
577. Nicholas R. Sowinski 25 Army Sergeant Oct 11 2006
578. Justin T. Walsh 24 Marine Sergeant Oct 11 2006
579. Gene A. Hawkins 24 Army Sergeant Oct 12 2006
580. Johnny K. Craver 37 Army Lieutenant Oct 13 2006
581. Thomas J. Hewett 22 Army Private 1st Class Oct 13 2006
582. Kenny F. Stanton Jr. 20 Army Private 1st Class Oct 13 2006
583. Leebenard E. Chavis 21 Air Force Airman 1st Class Oct 14 2006
584. Joseph M. Kane 35 Army Staff Sergeant Oct 14 2006
585. Charles M. King 48 Army 1st Sergeant Oct 14 2006
586. Timothy J. Lauer 25 Army Specialist Oct 14 2006
587. Keith J. Moore 28 Army Private 1st Class Oct 14 2006
588. Jonathan J. Simpson 25 Marine Sergeant Oct 14 2006
589. Jr. Lester Domenico Baroncini 33 Army Sergeant Oct 15
590. Stephen Bicknell 19 Army Private 1st Class Oct 15 2006
591. Joshua Deese 25 Army 1st Lieutenant Oct 15 2006
592. Jonathan E. Lootens 25 Army Sergeant Oct 15 2006
593. Mark C. Paine 32 Army Captain Oct 15 2006
594. Brock A. Babb 40 Marine Reserve Sergeant Oct 15 2006
595. Joshua M. Hines 26 Marine Reserve Lance Corporal Oct 15 2006
596. Russell G. Culbertson III 22 Army Corporal Oct 17 2006
597. Joseph C. Dumas Jr. 25 Army Specialist Oct 17 2006
598. Nathan J. Frigo 23 Army Petty Officer 1st Class Oct 17 2006
599. Ryan E. Haupt 24 Army Staff Sergeant Oct 17 2006
600. Christopher E. Loudon 23 Army 2nd Lieutenant Oct 17 2006
601. Garth D. Sizemore 31 Army Staff Sergeant Oct 17 2006
602. Norman R. Taylor III 21 Army Sergeant Oct 17 2006
603. David M. Unger 21 Army Corporal Oct 17 2006
604. Daniel W. Winegeart 23 Army Specialist Oct 17 2006
605. Ronald L. Paulsen 53 Army Reserve Staff Sergeant Oct 17 2006
606. Joshua L. Booth 23 Marine 2nd Lieutenant Oct 17 2006
607. Patrick O. Barlow 42 Army Staff Sergeant Oct 18 2006
608. Jesus M. Montalvo 46 Army Staff Sergeant Oct 18 2006
609. Jose R. Perez 21 Army Not reported yet Oct 18 2006
610. Daniel A. Brozovich 42 Army National Guard Sergeant 1st Class Oct 18 2006
611. Edwardo Lopez Jr. 21 Marine Lance Corporal Oct 19 2006
612. Kevin M. Witte 27 Army Staff Sergeant Oct 20 2006
613. Tony L. Knier 31 Army Sergeant 1st Class Oct 21 2006
614. Clifford R. Collinsworth 20 Marine Lance Corporal Oct 21 2006
615. Nathan R. Elrod 20 Marine Lance Corporal Oct 21 2006
616. Eric W. Herzberg 20 Marine Lance Corporal Oct 21 2006
617. Nicholas J. Manoukian 22 Marine Lance Corporal Oct 21 2006
618. Joshua C. Watkins 25 Marine Corporal Oct 21 2006
619. Nathaniel A. Aguirre 21 Army Specialist Oct 22 2006
620. Matthew W. Creed 23 Army Specialist Oct 22 2006
621. Willsun M. Mock 23 Army Sergeant Oct 22 2006
622. Nicholas K. Rogers 27 Army Specialist Oct 22 2006
623. David G. Taylor 37 Army Major Oct 22 2006
624. Amos C. R Bock 24 Army 1st Lieutenant Oct 23 2006
625. Carl A. Eason 29 Army Specialist Oct 23 2006
626. Richard A. Buerstetta 20 Marine Reserve Lance Corporal Oct 23 2006
627. Tyler R. Overstreet 22 Marine Reserve Lance Corporal Oct 23 2006
628. Charles O. Sare 23 Navy Hospital Corpsman Oct 23 2006
629. Donald S. Brown 19 Marine Private 1st Class Oct 25 2006
630. Daniel B. Chaires 20 Marine Private 1st Class Oct 25 2006
631. Thomas M. Gilbert 24 Marine Sergeant Oct 25 2006
632. Jonathan B. Thornsberry 22 Marine Reserve Lance Corporal Oct 25 2006
633. Charles V. Komppa 35 Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Oct 25 2006
634. Ricky L. McGinnis 42 Army 1st Sergeant Oct 26 2006
635. Luke J. Zimmerman 24 Marine Sergeant Oct 27 2006
636. Troy D. Nealey 24 Marine Reserve Lance Corporal Oct 29 2006
637. Kenneth E. Bostic 21 Army Sergeant Oct 30 2006
638. Kraig D. Foyteck 26 Army Sergeant Oct 30 2006
639. Michael T. Seeley 27 Army Sergeant Oct 30 2006
640. Michael R. Weidemann 23 Army Sergeant Oct 31 2006
641. Jason Franco 18 Marine Private 1st Class Oct 31 2006
642. Gary A. Koehler 21 Marine Corporal Nov 01 2006
643. Minhee Kim 20 Marine Reserve Lance Corporal Nov 01 2006
644. Michael P. Bridges 23 Army Private Nov 02 2006
645. Paul J. Finken 40 Army Lieutenant Colonel Nov 02 2006
646. Joseph A. Gage 28 Army Staff Sergeant Nov 02 2006
647. Eric J. Kruger 40 Army Lieutenant Colonel Nov 02 2006
648. James Brown 20 Marine Lance Corporal Nov 02 2006
649. Jason D. Whitehouse 27 Marine Staff Sergeant Nov 02 2006
650. Luke B. Holler 21 Marine Reserve Lance Corporal Nov 02 2006
651. Michael H. Lasky 22 Marine Reserve Corporal Nov 02 2006
652. James L. Bridges 22 Army Specialist Nov 04 2006
653. Jose A. Galvan 22 Marine Corporal Nov 04 2006
654. Douglas C. Desjardins 24 Marine Specialist Nov 05 2006
655. Miles P. Henderson, 24, Army Chief Warrant Officer, Nov 06, 2006
656. John R. Priestner, 42, Army Chief Warrant Officer, Nov 06, 2006
657. Ryan T. McCaughn, 19, Marine Lance Corporal, Nov 07, 2006

Rutgers Defeats Louisville to Go 9-0 + Homolatte

Scarlet Knights Chop Way to Top
I'm not a Rutgers alumnus, but I do live in New Jersey (and Illinois, but that's for another day) and over the last few years, I've followed the school's football team. Its history is distinguished; Rutgers has been playing collegiate football for 137 years, including the first known intercollegiate game, against fellow New Jersey university Princeton, back in 1869. Nevertheless Rutgers achieved national notoriety for its 25-game losing streak a few years ago. In general, since it joined the Big East football conference in 1991, Rutgers teams have compiled middling or losing losing records, and hadn't gone to a bowl game since 1978. That is, until last year, when Rutgers compiled a 7-5 record, its best in years, making it eligible to face Arizona State University (its 1978 opponent as well) in the Insight Bowl, which it lost 45-40. Rutgers lost, but the long-beleaguered state university of New Jersey's football program was definitely on the upswing. Yet I doubt anyone--anyone--thought things would be swinging like this: Rutgers, one of only six undefeated teams in the nation, is now 9-0, having triumphed over 3rd-ranked powerhouse University of Louisville, and not only is going to a bowl game, but conceivably could play for the national championship if it wins its next few games. This was probably the biggest game, after that initial one back in the 19th century, in the program's history. I caught the tail end of the game, played in New Brunswick amidst a sea of excited scarlet-clad fans, and found myself cheering as a Louisville player's penalty invalidated a missed Rutgers field goal, allowing the host team another chance, which it seized, to win 28-25. It was incredible, in the true sense of that word. What happens now? Rutgers still faces tests against Cincinnati and 10th-ranked West Virginia, but no matter what happens, this will still be one of the greatest Rutgers season in decades--perhaps in a century.

Homolatte Reading Series
Tuesday night I read in the Homolatte reading series, which musician Scott Free founded a few years back and curates. The reading took place at a cute bar-restaurant I've never been to and didn't even know existed, Big Chicks/Tweet, at 5024 N Sheridan Road, not far past the turnoff onto Lake Shore Drive. I'd originally intended to read new fiction, but when I saw that both Scott, who started off the set with a couple of mood-setting original songs, and my fellow reader, musician Monica del Castillo (at left, my cellphone photo) had guitars, I realized plan A wasn't going to work. I very well could have tossed bricks rather than read fiction, even humorous prose. So I read the handful of poems I'd had the foresight to bring with me, and then ceded the stage to Monica, who sang a number of beautiful, stirring songs, including a moving rendition of the Mexican folk song "La Llorona," which is about a weeping woman who just happens to be Death itself (or a harbinger of it). I first heard the song in Frida, though I liked Monica's version more. Some of the lines:

Ay de mi llorona, llorona, llorona de negros ojos;
Ya con esta se despide, llorona, tu negrito soñador.

Todos me dicen el negro, llorona, negro pero cariñoso;
Yo soy como el chile verde, llorona, picante pero sabroso.

Si porque te quiero quieres, llorona, quieres que te quiera más;
Si ya te he dado la vida, llorona, que más quieres? quieres más?

Dos besos llevo en el alma, llorona, que no se apartan de mi;
el último de mi madre, llorona, y el primero que te di.

Ay de mi llorona, llorona, llorona busca un porrillo;
Y el que no sabe de amores llorona, no sabe lo que es martirio.

No sé que tienen las flores, llorona, las flores del camposanto;
que cuando las mece el viento, llorona, parece que están llorando.

I could have listened to her all night!

Ed Bradley RIP + Poem: Alain Mabanckou

Ed Bradley Passes
I imagine that like many people, I have a low opinion of television journalists and newscasters these days, which extends to the mainstream media in general. I didn't always feel this way, but the last decade has gradually burned off whatever residue of trust and faith I had in this increasingly corporatized and commodified, entertainment-focused, ethically challenged branch of professional journalism. Ed Bradley, however, was one of the journalists I continued to respect. From his years as one of CBS's few African-American reporters to his long stint with 60 Minutes, which began in 1981, he impressed me as a fair, thoughtful, ethically grounded journalist and reporter--a journalist and reporter who took the possibilities of his profession seriously. He cared about what he did and it showed, as he received 19 Emmys during his nearly 40 year career. He regularly and actively contributed a distinctive viewpoint to the venerable news program, not solely based on his race and experiences, but inflected by them, that otherwise would have been missing. I also should add that I admired his style and presence, how he came to embody the epitome of a TV news correspondent without sacrificing or blunting his Blackness--his performance and embodiment of a certain kind of Black American-ness, which included doses of swagger, cool, braininess, rigor, delicacy, humor and wit, motherwit. Sometimes he would ask a question that startled the person being intreviewed and investigated, and then he might crack that gap-toothed grin, in effect tossing in a kind of flavor you wouldn't get from any other journalist. This flavor enriched his TV work and made it special, setting a standard for other African-American journalists who followed.

At some point this spring or summer I'd said to C. that I noticed that Bradley was doing more and more profiles on 60 Minutes and fewer of the sorts of investigative reports of prior years. While it was also clear to me that he was ill in recently aired shows, I had no idea of the extent of his health problems. According to NPR, he died of leukemia. He was 65 years old.

Poem: Alain Mabanckou
I haven't posted a translated poem in a while, so here's a new one. It's a poem by Alain Mabanckou, whom I briefly wrote about on Monday. It's from his book of poems L'usure des lendemains (The Next Days' Wear and Tear, éditions nouvelles de sud, 1995). Most of the book's poems are written in sequences, but "Lettre au soleil" is a freestanding one that caught my eye. (I am placing the French original below the English.) One aspect of the poem that doesn't really come through is Mabanckou's use of "tu," the second person singular pronoun (or tutoyer, to use the 'tu' form), which is fairly common in everyday popular speech and online, but which would be somewhat impudent and rude to strangers as well as to someone of a higher status, politically, economically, etc. I still believe students are taught, as I was, to use the "vous" form, which is both the plural and the formal, when addressing someone you do not know. Here the "tu" connotes both familiarity, which would be tinged with impudence, as well as (hyperbolic) disdain and condescension.

LETTER TO THE SUN

Sun
Here is my registered letter
with accusations of deception

I summon you right here and now
to honor the tribute of light
you owe to the lump of Earth
which capers around you

Your revolutionary course
the spheroid halo of your kisses
don't impress me
I will await you at the bend
between the Aurora's timidity
and the Blue Sky's confusion
My rage will be at its noon,
tattooed with an unfading rancor
I will go if it's necessary
to expose you in the stellar dust
and the vagabond immensity of the Galaxy
I will then lodge a complaint alongside the Eclipse
to ridicule you at full zenith
before humanity which reveres your virtues….

Copyright © Alain Mabanckou, 1995, 2006. All rights reserved.

LETTRE AU SOLEIL

Soleil
Voici ma lettre recommandée
avec accusé de déception

Je te somme ici et maintenant
d'honorer le tribut de lumière
que tu dois à la motte de Terre
qui cabriole autour de toi

Ta course révolutionnaire
et le halo sphéroîdal de tes embrasures
ne m'impressionnent plus
Je t'attendrai au tournant
entre la timidité de l'Aurore
et la confusion de l'Azur
Ma rage sera à son midi,
tatouée d'une rancoeur immarcescible
J'irai s'il le faut
te dénicher dans la poussière stellaire
et l'immensité vagabonde de la Galaxie
Je porterai alors plainte auprès de l'Eclipse
pour te ridiculiser en plein zénith
devant l'humanité qui révère tes vertus...

Copyright © Alain Mabanckou, 1995, 2006, éditions nouvelles du sud. All rights reserved.