The author of this picture is Andrew Lichtenstein, a New York-based documentary photographer and former Open Society Institute Justice Fellow.He writes:
The picture is from the funeral of Bunny Long, a Cambodian American marine who was killed in Anbar province on March 10, 2006, and buried outside of Modesto, California on March 22nd, 2006. The actual carrying of the casket in a military funeral is a very formal ritual. So much so, that many honor guards who have been assigned the task choose to practice at the graveside before the funeral party has arrived. But the "dry run" is not formal at all-that is, it is not a built in part of the military funeral ceremony, just a rehearsal. I was able to make the photograph because I had been to plenty of funeral before this one, and saw on several occasions military honor guards practicing their steps without a casket. So it was a picture that I was aware of, in that I had seen it, but not found the right light, moment, or mood. At the Long funeral, which was held at a veterans cemetery in Hughson, it was really raining. I am not someone who minds the rain, in fact I kind of like it. But this was a relentless, cold, downpour. I like the picture because it is something that I admire about the marines, or soldiers in general, or for that matter anyone with heart. Here they were dressed in their finest uniforms, and it did not stop them for one second from leaving the shelter of the funeral tent and walking in the rain, stepping in the puddles with their dress shoes. It seemed to sum up not only the sorrow of the occasion, but also the spirit.
An Update on the Summit on Sustainability ~CenLamar
~Editilla shout'outs shin'shillas~
These cats up in Alexandria are kicking down on this entire Summit.
Get that, right here in the oil industry's nuptial bed of love and grief: Louisiana. Ya'gotta love'em.
Stay tuned to CenLamar and of course da'Ladda as they fang down on the issue of the day for our State: To Be or Not. That is da'forking Question, eh?
Volunteers from New Orleans headed to Cedar Rapids
Louisiana's credit rating upgraded
Mixed Ruling in Tulane Lawsuit on ‘Donor Intent’
Breaking: Zach Scruggs gets 14 months in prison for failing to report an attempt to influence a state court judge. UPDATE ~slabbed
The ignored nonrecovery ofNew Orleans
EPA recommends against Corps of Engineers' Yazoo Pumps project
Funding squeeze puts La. levee building at risk
Locks expected to reopen on Mississippi River
Flood level falls at foot of the Arch
Unsettled territory: Flood victims forced to search for housing in tight markets
FEMA says 40 trailers on their way to eastern Iowa
President of Algeria donates to Elkader flood relief
Up A Creek
Jus'sayin... another page on Corps Spokesman Gerald Galloway's Corporate interests.
Editilla notes: To bring it up to speed, Gerald Galloway is the ASCE / Corps of Engineers' learned mouthpiece, and former commander, who has been all over the national media the past week, from the NYTimes to the LATimes, spreading the rumor that the Corps is not responsible for their own engineering failures, that they did not build these breached levees. Given Mr Galloway's Corporate interests as a VP at TITAN, one really wonders why this creep is always showing up around Corps flood control problems. If we could but investigate this at the congressional level perhaps we might find that Mr Galloway indeed may have caused some of these failures. Is Gerald Galloway the engineer who signed-off on our levees?
We are still waiting for those names by the way:
who built our levees?
Doolough~Citizen K
Announcing the world premiere of our first New Orleans participatory film!
~Video Voice Collective
Marcia Ball: Standing Tall for Her Texan Musical Roots
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