On Sunday, five years ago…

…an F5 tornado blew Joplin, Mo., to thunder. It destroyed a third of the town, debarked the trees, and left people staring at piles of rubbles-that-used-to-be-homes. In the aftermath I started reading local writer Carolyn Trout’s work. Here’s her latest, on the anniversary: Today we mark the fifth anniversary of the Joplin tornado.  It is …

Bless Joplin’s heart

And I mean that. Last weekend, they had a love fest for their Muslim neighbors. Authorities are still investigating a suspicious fire that destroyed the mosque earlier this month. Meanwhile, the rest of us are on Day 25 of Hillbilly Watch, waiting for someone who knows something about the fire to do the right thing. …

While we await the results of investigations into Joplin’s mosque-burning:

Let me take this opportunity to remind you that we are on Day 19 of Hillbilly Watch, in which we wait for someone to do the right thing and tell authorities what they know. And there’s a Saturday rally to support Joplin’s Muslims. I hope that someone is spending this weekend in fruitful self-examination. Onward, …

Eid Mubarak and Happy Day 11 of Hillbilly Watch

As Muslims worldwide prepare to end their month of Ramadan fasting this weekend, we wish them a powerful and bountiful Eid-al-Fitr. Meanwhile, we continue the Hillbilly Watch, where our thoughts are with that someone out in Joplin, Mo., who knows something about the mosque burning, and knows that s/he needs to tell authorities, and soon. …

Day 9 of the Hillbilly Watch

While we wait for someone who knows something to talk to authorities about a suspicious fire that destroyed the mosque of the Islamic Society of Joplin, the Joplin Muslims have settled on a local hotel for their Eid al-Fitr to celebrate the end of Ramadan this weekend. Meanwhile, check out the donations that have been …

Day 8 of the Hillbilly Watch

Just sayin’. Check out what a guest columnist in the Joplin Globe had to say on the mosque burning.

This just broke my heart

We went to the Sikh (pronounced “sick“) candlelight vigil on Friday in Southington, Conn., and it was moving and hard and sad and beautiful, all at once. There was much talk about Sikh teachings of peace, and love for one another. One young man who came to the vigil holds a Sikh Awareness Day every …

Day 5 of the Hillbilly Watch

Still waiting for a hillbilly to do the right thing out in Joplin. And here’s Salon’s Glenn Greenwald’s take on things. And — again — if you want to help, here’s another venue to aid the Joplin Muslims. Looks like things are going well in that effort. Go, hillbillies!

Day Two of Hillbilly Watch

Yesterday, it appears that some yahoo burned down the Islamic Society of Joplin’s mosque. I wrote this for Salon (yes, I’m linking to it again, but I have a point, I promise), and I couldn’t be more certain that if this was arson, someone out in HillbillyLand knows something about this, and that someone needs …

Cheeky of me, linking to my own stuff.

But I wrote this for Salon today, about Joplin’s burned mosque. Good people of Joplin? Step up.