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News & ArtsMonday, February 8, 2010
Media Haiti and the Super Bowl Triumph
Posted by Charles Mudede on Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 1:35 PM
In the way the Haitian slave revolt played a role in the Louisiana Purchase, the recent Haitian earthquake can be seen as playing a role in this:
NEW YORK — The Super Bowl was watched by more than 106 million people, surpassing the 1983 finale of "M-A-S-H" to become the most-watched program in television history.The Haitian catastrophe cannot be separated from the one that happened in New Orleans. The two are linked for the rest of history. And we can see in the order of those natural disasters the reverse of the terrorist actions that link Nairobi to New York City. Where as one begins in the presidency before Bush (and has its end as a defining moment in the Bush years), the other ends in the presidency after Bush (and has its beginning as a defining moment in the Bush years). Nairobi is the entrance; Haiti is the exit.The Nielsen Co. estimated Monday that 106.5 million people watched the New Orleans Saints upset the Indianapolis Colts. That beats the "M-A-S-H" finale, which had 105.97 million viewers in an era when there were fewer television sets.
And this is middle:
2
Yes, well, you -- wait, what? Haiti and the Super Bowl? Because both places had catastrophes in the past five years? Um, how does that work again?
4
Because of the costs of putting down the efforts of enslaved persons in st. domingue to have freedom, France sold off an asset called Louisiana. (Actually, it was held by Spain but France had control over spain its ally at the time....so spain quitclaimed it back to France to be sold to the USA).
That's a link.
And if you want more there's tons and tons more Haiti-New Orleans links, like:
--30,000 people fleeing Haiti who went to NOLA
-- that whole free people of color thing, and
-- (yup!) voo doo.
But that doesn't mean Haiti now is linked to something called Louisiana now.
Or that an earthquake is linked to a superbowl.
But hey selling a little mumbo jumbo gris gris bullshit to whitey never hurt anybody did it?
That's a link.
And if you want more there's tons and tons more Haiti-New Orleans links, like:
--30,000 people fleeing Haiti who went to NOLA
-- that whole free people of color thing, and
-- (yup!) voo doo.
But that doesn't mean Haiti now is linked to something called Louisiana now.
Or that an earthquake is linked to a superbowl.
But hey selling a little mumbo jumbo gris gris bullshit to whitey never hurt anybody did it?
6
I always bristle slightly at Charles' non-negotiable language "can not" (or "cannot", I think he meant), etc. And here I thought these were opinions he was throwin' around!
8
Obviously we need to annex Haiti. Every time we help them, we always end up hurting them.
Well, except for the cheap Haitian Superbowl knock off t-shirts ... those should sell like hotcakes.
Well, except for the cheap Haitian Superbowl knock off t-shirts ... those should sell like hotcakes.
10
@6, I absolutely agree. he makes these seemingly arbitrary connections, and then then takes the stance that his tenuously supported observations would be self-evident to any intelligent reader.
bristle bristle
bristle bristle
11
@4, yes, I understand the connection between the Haitian revolution and New Orleans. Where I got lost was on the way to the Super Bowl 200 years later.
12
Isn't there a copy editor at The Stranger? I'd be able to parse Charles's twisted logic much easier if his writing was cleaned up a bit.
13
@11
D'accord.
He went back and changed it to add more mumbo jumbo re: terrorism.
and throwing out a bushbaby, that always is a good distraction.
his connections usually are about as valid as the GWB saddam-9-11 "linkage"...
D'accord.
He went back and changed it to add more mumbo jumbo re: terrorism.
and throwing out a bushbaby, that always is a good distraction.
his connections usually are about as valid as the GWB saddam-9-11 "linkage"...
14
Charles,
You lost me partner. The only similarity between Haiti and New Orleans is that both (one a country and the other a US city) experienced a horrible natural diaster (the former by an earthquake and the latter by a hurricane). As far Nairobi and Haiti there is no connection whatsoever. The terrible events from Nairobi/Dar es Salaam through the attempt to down an airliner near Detroit recently are either acts of terror or attempted acts of terror. All are tragic. Both natural diasters and acts of terror occur under any administration. These just happen to occur under the three most recent administrations (Clinton/Bush/Obama). And, I believe none of these have anything to do with the Super Bowl. What I think is charming about the Super Bowl victory of New Orleans is that it shows the city is "recovering" (My present tense emphasis) in some capacity.
Granted, one can decline to participate (read not watch the SB) in the rapacious commercialism that the Super Bowl represents. And in addition, one doesn't have to watch a fine American football game, at least this year. But, heck let the people of New Orleans celebrate. They haven't had much to celebrate about recently. Laissez les bons temps rouler!
You lost me partner. The only similarity between Haiti and New Orleans is that both (one a country and the other a US city) experienced a horrible natural diaster (the former by an earthquake and the latter by a hurricane). As far Nairobi and Haiti there is no connection whatsoever. The terrible events from Nairobi/Dar es Salaam through the attempt to down an airliner near Detroit recently are either acts of terror or attempted acts of terror. All are tragic. Both natural diasters and acts of terror occur under any administration. These just happen to occur under the three most recent administrations (Clinton/Bush/Obama). And, I believe none of these have anything to do with the Super Bowl. What I think is charming about the Super Bowl victory of New Orleans is that it shows the city is "recovering" (My present tense emphasis) in some capacity.
Granted, one can decline to participate (read not watch the SB) in the rapacious commercialism that the Super Bowl represents. And in addition, one doesn't have to watch a fine American football game, at least this year. But, heck let the people of New Orleans celebrate. They haven't had much to celebrate about recently. Laissez les bons temps rouler!
15
Obviously what happened in Haiti, New Orleans and the Holocaust are also all directly related. And it is best to view in light of the destruction of Vulcan in the last Star Trek movie.
Oh, we should consider the executions that Mary I of England carried out as well. It helps to add perspective to all of it.
*sigh*
Oh, we should consider the executions that Mary I of England carried out as well. It helps to add perspective to all of it.
*sigh*
17
And the argument falls apart completely: the Haitian devastation was the result of a natural disaster, the New Orleans devastation the result of faulty levees built and maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers - which is why Spike Lee called his documentary 'When the Levees Broke.'
Katrina largely spared New Orleans and took out the Mississippi Gulf Coast, which was the victim of a natural disaster. What happened in New Orleans was a man-made disaster.
Here's a link to the Associated Press story in which a US District Court judge found the federal government responsible for the inundation:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34028940/
Katrina largely spared New Orleans and took out the Mississippi Gulf Coast, which was the victim of a natural disaster. What happened in New Orleans was a man-made disaster.
Here's a link to the Associated Press story in which a US District Court judge found the federal government responsible for the inundation:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34028940/
18
@12 Amen. This made no sense. Charles, if the point you're making is that George W. Bush was an all around disaster, I can get on board.
19
@17, to be fair, the real man-made disaster wasn't the levees, it was the hundred-year project to channel and contain the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. If it wasn't for the US Army Corps of Engineers, there wouldn't be a city at New Orleans in the first place; it would either be underwater, or 100 miles away from the water, depending on what the "natural" river decided to do. There's nothing remotely natural about the river now. The city that's there now bears little relation to the one that was there 200 years ago, what with the loss of silt, the collapsing soil, and a hundred other factors. Every forty years there's a devastating flood there, and each time it's worse. That will always be true. Better levees would help, but ultimately you can't be safe in a city that's below sea level, dropping all the time, and adjacent to the most powerful moving body of water on the planet.
20
I'm pretty sure the 200 year old buildings I've stayed in in New Orleans are the same buildings built 200 years ago.
I'm also pretty sure there will always be a New Orleans at the same spot in one form or another.
I'm also pretty sure there will always be a New Orleans at the same spot in one form or another.
21
Haiti is also a man-made disaster.
When earthquakes hit rich cities built with first-class materials up to well-regulated standards, they don't cause nearly as much damage as when they hit poor cities in poor countries run by corrupt governments with no standards.
Same goes for hurricanes, I suppose.
When earthquakes hit rich cities built with first-class materials up to well-regulated standards, they don't cause nearly as much damage as when they hit poor cities in poor countries run by corrupt governments with no standards.
Same goes for hurricanes, I suppose.
22
Please read up on the history of the Mississippi channel -- I suggest you start with the pertinent chapter in "The Control of Nature" by John McPhee -- and then tell me how relevant one 200-year-old building is. The Corps is the only reason the Mississippi runs in the channel it runs in. 200 years ago "New Orleans" occupied something like 1/5 the land that the current city occupies. And the ground is sinking at a rate of up to an inch a year. The areas where those 200-year-old buildings are located is only sinking a quarter of an inch a year -- that's FOUR FEET since it was built. Many areas of the city are basically at the water table already; if you take a shovelful out of your yard, water fills the hole. Levees aren't going to fix that. Note that the levees themselves are sinking too.
Lower Louisiana is an ecological catastrophe zone that has nothing to do with Katrina. Katrina made a lot of geologists' fears visible, and exposed a lot of the problems, political more than technological, but it didn't cause them.
Lower Louisiana is an ecological catastrophe zone that has nothing to do with Katrina. Katrina made a lot of geologists' fears visible, and exposed a lot of the problems, political more than technological, but it didn't cause them.
23
A real triumph, a miracle that exemplifies the resilience of the Hatian people:
www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/08/ha…;
www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/08/ha…;
24
See this NG article from a year BEFORE Katrina, which pretty much predicted it: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/04…
and
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/0…
Quote: "dams, levees, and other flood protections may actually increase flood losses because they spur new development in the floodplain". The levees were "a development scheme".
and
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/0…
Quote: "dams, levees, and other flood protections may actually increase flood losses because they spur new development in the floodplain". The levees were "a development scheme".
25
A real Haitian triumph, a miracle that exemplifies the resilience of the Hatian people:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/0…
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/0…
26
Agreed.
Also agreed that the city pre-Katrina was way too large, was built in a stupid way on land that should never have supported structures, and was run by gangsters too stupid to steal.
So long as we move stuff across the Gulf and up and down the river, there will be a city in one form or another pretty much where New Orleans is now.
If the Italians can do it, if the Dutch can do it, we can do it.
Until Katrina, the Army Corp of Engineers were heroes. This is a story more about political corruption and poor planning than engineering failures.
-- What's going on with the world, btw? You and Will agree on more and more. Until last week, I don't think I ever disagreed with anything you wrote. Strange.
Lower Louisiana is an ecological catastrophe zone that has nothing to do with Katrina. Katrina made a lot of geologists' fears visible, and exposed a lot of the problems, political more than technological, but it didn't cause them.
Agreed.
Also agreed that the city pre-Katrina was way too large, was built in a stupid way on land that should never have supported structures, and was run by gangsters too stupid to steal.
So long as we move stuff across the Gulf and up and down the river, there will be a city in one form or another pretty much where New Orleans is now.
If the Italians can do it, if the Dutch can do it, we can do it.
Until Katrina, the Army Corp of Engineers were heroes. This is a story more about political corruption and poor planning than engineering failures.
-- What's going on with the world, btw? You and Will agree on more and more. Until last week, I don't think I ever disagreed with anything you wrote. Strange.
27
Where do I agree with Will?
The Dutch and Italians are not dealing with the world's largest delta system. Nor are they dealing with subsistence caused by such a combination of factors -- oil and gas removal, loss of silt. And the Italians, if you are referring to Venice, are losing the battle; Venice will be underwater in a decade or two. The main plaza is already flooded about half the time. If they want to survive they're going to have adapt to the upper floors.
The Dutch and Italians are not dealing with the world's largest delta system. Nor are they dealing with subsistence caused by such a combination of factors -- oil and gas removal, loss of silt. And the Italians, if you are referring to Venice, are losing the battle; Venice will be underwater in a decade or two. The main plaza is already flooded about half the time. If they want to survive they're going to have adapt to the upper floors.
28
Don't ever accuse Fnarf of agreeing with Will. That's just guaranteed to piss him off. (Me too, FWIW.)
29
Another thread. Lesbians and DADT.
Then there was another thread on DADT where you and he agreed that thousands and thousands of women are raped or sexually assaulted every day.
Then there was another thread on DADT where you and he agreed that thousands and thousands of women are raped or sexually assaulted every day.
30
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…
Maybe agree is too strong a word.
Blind squirrel, meet acorn - Will @17 actually made a true statement. Lesbians are far more likely to be kicked out of the armed forces under DADT than gay men.
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…
Maybe agree is too strong a word.
31
@30, note that my post there included a link to a new article that backed up my claim. Unlike some other posts I could mention.
32
Fnarf is right, we better warn folks in other cities about their folly in locating in places where disaster might strike!
they will certainly appreciate our superior wisdom, and helpful hints to just move the location of their city!
they will certainly appreciate our superior wisdom, and helpful hints to just move the location of their city!
33
Is Slog just a long-standing competition between you guys to see who can post the most dumbshit thing for the day?
Yes, this Super Bowl beat MASH in the ratings because one of the teams is from Norleans which has a hurricane several years ago and Haiti recently had an earthquake.
Yes, this Super Bowl beat MASH in the ratings because one of the teams is from Norleans which has a hurricane several years ago and Haiti recently had an earthquake.
36
a a actions after and and and are as as as be before beginning begins bush bush bush bush can cannot catastrophe city defining defining disasters end ends entrance; exit for from haiti haitian happened has has history in in in in in in is is its its link linked moment moment nairobi nairobi natural new new of of of one one order orleans other presidency presidency rest reverse see separated terrorist that that the the the the the the the the the the the the the the those to two we where years years york
That long paragraph -- I recognize all those words, but they make absolutely no sense in the order you put them. As an attempt to help, I've alphabetized them for you! Good luck with that.
That long paragraph -- I recognize all those words, but they make absolutely no sense in the order you put them. As an attempt to help, I've alphabetized them for you! Good luck with that.
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