I grew up with ghost stories.

This week the subject of haunting has been weighing particularly heavy on my mind.

Bloomington feels like a ghost town today. I love the December mid-holiday lull. People linger longer than usual over late breakfasts downtown or newspapers in the library. Those who always seem too busy to talk stop and say hello. In the small physical space of two blocks I unexpectedly see old friends, high school classmates, and a bizarre assortment of family members. It feels haunted in a comforting way, the way Bloomington feels when it's not "progressing," when old good things come back.

The deer at Griffy always look like ghosts--their white tails almost translucent as they glide away. This morning I saw three and Toby didn't even notice.

I watch Bush briefly on CNN in the staff breakroom as I refill my water bottle. Two employees laugh about Condoleeza Rice, saying what she's thinking, they say it's something like 'I gotta get back to that ranch and get something to drink! Just gotta get to '07 and I'm outta here!'--I often wonder what she's thinking, standing behind him, surveying the crowd. Bush's speeches are frighteningly repetitive. Hauntingly so. I hear one phrase ("This is an important step in the war on terror...") and I swear I've heard it seventy times before. Maybe more.

I've lost myself in the Best American Short Stories * 2005 this past week. There is no theme so to speak, but all of the stories are strung together with an eerily haunting strand of images and interactions. Perhaps it is the literary clime of the hour. My favorite in the collection is Edward P. Jones' "Old Boys, Old Girls," a story of a prisoner who serves a five year sentence for murder. Most interesting is the post-release tale of a man who resolves the only way to make it through is with such a thick stoicism that life is barely recognizable. He lives like a ghost. Family connections find him, old lovers, he tries to turn away from them all, in the end he commits an amazingly loving and intimate act in the midst of such a fucked up situation (vague so as not to spoil) that I almost couldn't believe Jones hadn't written it with more emotional embellishment. I love his writing style. He tackles huge difficult subjects with such an even tone.

An Angela Davis speech was on Democracy Now today. She mentions the ties between the legacy of slavery and the birth of the prison as we know it. Describing the prison as haunted by the history of slavery she says she believes in ghosts, well--the ghosts of history. Most haunting to me right now continues to be the murder of Sean Bell and the ghosts that his murder dredges up--most poignantly that of Amadou Diallo.

We made a hat...

This was just a test run, thus the floral pattern, but I think it turned out really nice. I'd like to try again with a heavier fabric in black.

In progress:









Finished!:

See the original idea & pattern at Curiously Crafty: http://curiouslycrafty.wordpress.com/milinery/

UCLA taser-incident

Haven't heard about this in a few weeks, but Exploded Library has posted a summary of librarian reactions to the taser-incident at UCLA back in November. Took 'em long enough, but the ALA (via president Leslie Burger) has sent a letter to UCLA Chancellor condemning the incident.

See all the drama: http://www.explodedlibrary.info/2006/12/librarian_react.html

Thanks, Mitch Daniels...

For all the little things you do.

Dustin's mom works at the State [mental] Hospital in Logansport, so she keeps me abreast of all the ways in which the Daniels administration has effected her job as a state employee. First thing he did was get rid of the union. See: http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/1409 for more about this.

Now, in a low-blow move for a number of reasons, he has outsourced the laundry jobs to a neighboring prison in Miami county. The only mention of this I can find on the internet is a short article in the Pharos-Tribune (Cass county paper) and a letter to the editor complaining about "lack of ink" on the issue.

Bizzare concept for a T.V. show

Working at CATS this afternoon, dumping down programs to play on air, came across this program recently donated called Fantasy Bedtime Hour--it is two girls laying in bed discussing Stephen R. Donaldson's Lord Foul's Bane--in all its fantastical detail--they're not done yet and they already have 37 episodes! This officially restores my faith in Public Access TV.

Prison Stats & News

Coming out of a semester-long haze of school and (way too much) working, I've been trying to catch up on my current events... As usual, lots of alarming and intriguing research and news is coming out on prisons and jails... These are just a few highlights:

Crack Vs. Cocaine

Seen by many as a prime example of unjust sentencing disparities and a manifestation of the racism of the criminal (in)justice system, the minimums on crack and cocaine have varied wildly since the passage of 1986's Anti Drug Act.

“[F]ixing the crack cocaine disparity at one to one is the compromise. Crack is only one subset of the problematic mandatory minimum sentencing structure.” --Nkechi Taifa of the Open Society Policy Center

Interesting to read about the ADA turning 20, where was I in November?? Nevertheless, it doesn't seem that congress has reacted to the matter yet, so keep your ear to the ground for that. Though, if the past is any indication, they might just blow off the commission's findings. See "Some Facts to Consider as the Anti Drug Act faces Congressional Review Again"


Department of Justice Study Reports Incarceration Reaches Record Numbers

See the Sentencing Project's analyses of trends in the rising rate of incarceration, http://www.sentencingproject.org/news_09.cfm

This study is mildly interesting, but really sounds like the same old shit, which is a little disheartening. The U.S. has solidified its position as #1 incarcerater in the world--far surpassing its Russian competition. Despite declining crime rates and increased emphasis on parole, the numbers won't stop climbing. The Sentencing Project suggests this has a lot to do with the War on Drugs (still) and cites a huge jump in non-violent offenders held in federal prisons. Final count: the U.S. incarcerates 737 per 100,000 people.

Katrina Prisoners

Heard vaguely about this after the storm--but Critical Resistance is working on a project called "Amnesty for Prisoners of Hurricane Katrina"--this movement is for those incarcerated before the storm who were left in flooded cells and otherwise mistreated and left behind; for those criminalized due to "crimes" made necessary by the storm; and for those whose records have been lost who are now snagged up in the system indefinitely. They recently had a weekend of activism, read more about it at the above link.

Mumia Abu-Jamal Faces Final Appeal

See: http://www.freemumia.com/update.html

In more proactive news,

Prison Policy Initiative is offering spring break & summer internships for work on their "Prisoners of the Census" project... Must be a Law or Grad student... Considering applying.

The Census Bureau's practice of counting people in prison as if they were residents of the communities in which they are incarcerated creates serious political inequities in the redistricting process. Forty eight states bar prisoners from voting, but crediting large prison populations to local legislative districts dilutes the votes of every other resident in the state. -- http://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/

It's okay, we love you anyway

So, the rumors are true [according to SubPop]--

Dead Moon Calls It A Day

After 20 years, 15-plus albums and countless singles and hard-fought tours (mostly in Europe, where they're cult kings), Clackamas, Oregon's Dead Moon have decided to hang up their tattered black boots.

Though rumors of Dead Moon's demise have frequently crept up in the past, this break-up has been confirmed by Sub Pop, who released the fine Dead Moon 2-CD retrospective, Echoes Of The Past, last fall. While never rising much past cult status, Dead Moon garnered one of the most devoted followings of any band, and defined the very best of DIY aesthetics by self-releasing and most of the time even self-pressing their own records, touring when and where the hell they wanted to and basically ignoring all the tenants and rules of "the Man."

Their music was an inspiring mix of graveyard garage, AC/DC stomp and mid-century country-blues ghosts, all led by the warbly wail of Fred Cole. Cole has been making music since the mid-'60s his third band, the Lollipop Shoppe, is on the Rhino Nuggets Vol. I box set and he bent and sculpted his mad science through other unique combos over the years before forming Dead Moon with his wife Toody in 1987.

So there's a chance that this may not be just the end of the great Dead Moon, but a retirement for Cole. But don't bet on it, as anyone who has ever seen a Dead Moon show knows, Cole's stamina has no boundary.

Thanks for all the tunes, Dead Moon!!!

(from CMJ)

And, in the words of Fred Cole:

It has been a journey we will always treasure and feel that a worldwide family has emerged in its place. Dead Moon became much bigger than the band itself, it became a DIY underground hopeful for a lot of people. The candle is still burning!

I always try to put my finger on just what it is about Dead Moon that I love so much. I think it's that they're tough but sweet; hard but soft; and so fucking rock'n'roll--in ways that no other band is or has been. They bring DIY to an entirely new level and it's not out of any kind of forced aesthetic or subculture compliance--that's just the way they live. I guess I respect and admire their tenacity and individuality.

And god damn, I'm sad I'll never get to see them live again, but Fred's right, the candle is still burning--let's rock'n'roll!!

Dead Moon forever. [I'll drink to that].

I love when studies reaffirm my stubborn convictions and make me feel less guilty about my "bad" behavior....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/magazine/10bike.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

"First world problems..."

I like to be called out on my complaining. A thousand violins playing a sad song for me, or the world's tiniest record player turning just for me, but my favorite is Kevin's...

Me: Ugh, my day was so difficult, I went to Indianapolis and went shopping at thrift stores all day and now I have to be at work and in the morning I have a final exam that I haven't prepared for, my life is so difficult.

Kevin: Yeah, it's so hard for us, all these first world problems.

Found a great website tonight--

http://blackademics.org

Featuring interviews with such giants as Angela Davis and bell hooks. I particularly enjoyed the bell hooks interview for this little section:

PF: Alright, I want to go through a list of questions where I’ll shout out two things and you can pick one and expound upon it if you want but just looking for really brief answers. Diana Ross or Beyonce?

bh: Diana Ross.

PF: Bush or Nixon?

bh: Two uglies, it’s impossible, they should both be.. you know, go to a peaceful death.

PF: Haha, okay. Drive-in or DVD, like the movie- a drive in movie or DVD?

bh: DVD.

PF: Temptations or the Four Tops?

bh: Temptations.

PF: Okay, work at a desk or work in the streets?

bh: Work in the streets.

PF: Carter or Clinton?

bh: Carter.

PF: Okay, now another question-Shawn Carter or George Clinton? Shawn Carter being Jay-Z, the rapper.

bh: Shawn Carter without a doubt.

PF: Biggie or Tupac?

bh: Tupac. Tupac had more vision I think than Biggie had.

PF: John McWhorter or Alan Keyes.

bh: Another, like, strike.

PF: Haha. Okay, attack or be attacked.

bh: What’s that? Attack or be attacked… I think that’s another strike because I’m not violent.

PF: Okay, Cornel West or bell hooks

bh: Cornell West and bell you can’t separate the two that’s like the others are a strikeout that’s like you want them together cause then you have more power.

Later, she talks about the scholarship she's involved in these days--her new book is on black people and organic farming, and issues around diet and sustainability--sounds really fascinating. Also, I had no idea that she lives in KY!

The Angela Davis interview is a little less exciting, but she talks about the ever-present issue of energizing the activism of "our generation," and a little bit about the prison-industrial complex and penal abolition vs. reform.

Also, on the subject of the prison-industrial complex--for one of my final projects this semester I compiled a guide to researching this and its surrounding issues in IUB libraries and Monroe County in general--it's here.

New Orleans on my mind...

http://www.commongroundrelief.org/appeal

I was out at Lake Griffy yesterday hiking and (re)discovered "The Cabin in the Woods"--a small one-room cabin in the middle of the woods built on private property that butts up against the nature preserve. They have a few guestbooks in the cabin that say the cabin was built as a respite for weary hikers. It's always a fun place to visit. The sides of the walls are all covered in old pages of the local newspaper The Herald-Times and this time I noticed a clipping that was very interesting--the headline was something like "Bloomington in 2000!"--and it was predications about what Bloomington would turn into in 30 years (the article was written sometime in the mid-60's)--it mostly talked about how IU would be the main thing increasing Bloomington's population, thus they would need to step up to the plate and create some major initiatives for aiding "town/gown" relationships... It's always interesting to see prophecies come true. But even more interesting to think about what Bloomington has indeed become...

Riley took this picture of the "Omega Complex" when they first built the parking garage on 7th and Walnut and right after this building was finished. It was a main attraction for those of us who hung around Secret Sailor. Earlier this week, a drunken IU wrestler jumped off the third story of this parking garage to evade the police and ended up in intensive care after hitting an electrical box on the way down.

Began reading Against the Wall tonight in the tub. It's an anthology that explores the politics of physical/virtual walls through the subject of Israel’s "peace barrier"--a wall that annexes Palestinian territory beyond the 1948 borders. Though Sorkin (ed.) calls this collection a "polemic" in his introduction, I find his assessment of the situation to be less dogmatic than other things I've read on the topic. It's not really pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian, but more a discussion of what it means to live in a world of nations that naturalize their own superiority, claims to territory, and aspirations by some notion of what it means to be a citizen of said nation. From the introduction: "Neither the utopia of a single state [as alluded to by E. Said] nor the dystopia of a bio-politicized planet offers much hope here: citizens of the world still enjoy very few rights. Only nations secure them." In this equation, nations secure rights, but nations themselves are tangles of imaginary borders and lines of demarcation [thinking of the John Sayles film Lonestar as I write this] that give the facade of permanence and necessity. Nevertheless, this has somehow become our reality. Sorkin's anthology further suggests the ways in which walls and barriers separate socially stratified members of societies from the wealthy and powerful. Also interesting in light of the attention Jimmy Carter's new book is getting is Sorkin's parallel of the annexed territories to Apartheid in South Africa. Should prove to be an interesting read... And I enjoy reading something that has only one star on Amazon -- must be truly radical! Its only review is a scathing one from someone who seems not to have read to book or if so is very reactionary.

On the back burner is Eco's Mysterious Flame which I can't seem to get into for its seeming frivolity. I liked the idea: an antiquarian book dealer who looses his memory of things that he's emotionally attached to or motivated by but retains his book-learned memory attempting to piece together his life's memories through said books... More and more I have little patience for male protagonists in fiction.

In attempting to read Eco's novel I've been thinking a lot about the human brain and memory, egocentrically about how my own life is understood through my memories. I've always thought of myself as someone who has a horrible long term memory constantly attempting to rediscover my past through audio-visual materials (family photos, videos, etc)... But imagining attempting to recreate this personal narrative through the pictures and records I currently have of my life would be a nightmare. And it keeps reoccurring to me the story one of my professors told in class a few weeks ago about how all of his family photos have his father's finger in them, imagining him leafing through these pictures only to regain a memory of his father being a horrible photographer, or having fat fingers, or some other explanation he can reconstruct.

In other news, the best pick-up line right now, I think, is "So grab ya friends and let's take ya back to my house, we can watch Sex in the City or Desperate Housewives..." (Name that song!)

And, in local celebrity news--there was a great interview with Chris Soghoian, IUB doctoral student known recently in the news for his misadventures with the FBI and TSA, on WFHB's Interchange last night. Most interesting is his discussion of Tor research at the end of the interview... Check it out--

download the interview at http://news.wfhb.org--
12/5/06 - Does the government's "no-fly" list make air travel any safer? Do other supposed "security measures" really protect us from terrorists? Host Chad Carrothers spends an hour with Chris Soghoian, the Bloomington grad student who drew national attention when he set up a website that allowed visitors to print fake Northwest Airlines boarding passes in an effort to expose flaws in national security policy. The federal Transportation Security Administration forced him to take down the page and the FBI raided his Bloomington home and "borrowed" his computers and passport. Find out why Chris did what he did, his views on the role that researchers, academics, and common citizens take in studying, criticizing and pointing out the flaws in our security systems, and why he thinks the federal government hasn't learned the intended lesson in this WFHB local radio exclusive.