Hammer Mill Days

Look at that. Chip off the old block, eh, Mitch? You should be proud, very proud. You are ? Good, good. (Arrogant sonofabitch...) Whoops . Didn't know I was typing my thoughts as well as my spoken words - very careless of me. Do me a kindness and overlook that last remark... I'm just not in a very good state of mind right now vis-a-vis Mitch Macaphee, our resident mad scientist. Truth be known, he's not arrogant. The son of a bitch part is fairly accurate, but I wouldn't call him arrogant. Stubborn, perhaps. Okay, okay - obstinate. But not arrogant. And I am trying to hold my tongue around him, as it took a good long time to convince him to return to the abandoned Cheney Hammer Mill. Wouldn't want to be responsible for sending him packing once again. Marvin (my personal robot assistant) would never let me hear the end of it. (A devoted son, it seems.) Why am I annoyed at Mitch? Well.... I'm told I'm being unfair. After all, it was he who ultimately shifted ...

There was a lot of noise this week about Iran once again, this in the wake of an IAEA report that raises questions about some aspects of their nuclear program. The occasion prompted appearances on evening news shows of all manner of expert, so long as they share the view that Iran should never, ever be allowed to possess nuclear technology. One "expert" opined that such an eventuality would set off an arms race in the Middle East, prompting Saudi Arabia to get the bomb and so on. Not sure how closely he's been paying attention to his area of expertise, but that train left the station decades ago. Israel has a substantial arsenal of nuclear weapons which, though undeclared, has inspired nuclear development programs in Iraq, perhaps Syria, and yes, Iran, if not elsewhere. That is the elephant in the room - the massive destructive power in the hands of a state that has recently and repeatedly attacked its neighbors, and that regularly threatens Iran with air strikes. This ca...