Hammer Mill Days

A little more to the left. I said LEFT! (Schmucks...) Little more.... little more... good. Okay, now we need another one for the north wall. Hurry... I think I hear the sound of bricks crumbling. Oh, hi. Didn't notice you there on the other side of the computer screen. Greetings from the abandoned Cheney Hammer Mill, just one week after our triumphant return from the great beyond (where we do nearly all of our performances). Did I say triumphant? Wrong word. Ignominious is a better fit to the circumstances. What can I tell you? Broken down spacecraft (nothing new there). Problematic re-entry (nearly a burn-up, as it happened). Crash landing on solid ground (ouch!). Limping home in disgrace (with the exception of the man-sized tuber, who had to be wheeled in a cart... being a vegetable and all...). Being met at the Hammer Mill door by virtually an entire police department (investigating an abandoned space vehicle complaint... and yes, it was down to us). So that thing about "tr...

The Obama administration and members of congress of both parties are still sparring over the stimulus package as I write these words. Now, I've mostly heard from Republicans on the topic this week (because I listen to NPR), and they seem determined to characterize everything in the bill that is not a tax cut as "wasteful spending," as "pork," etc. Not sure they quite grasp the concept of Keynesian stimulus in this context at least. That's the general impression I'm getting. They are philosophically welded to tax cuts - specifically, capital gains tax cuts and those that benefit the wealthy disproportionately. That's all they ever talk about, practically. And though more than a third (now, 42%) of the stim package is just that, they're still squawking. Their idea of "compromise" is having the other side sign on to their program. Once would hope that's not going to happen, but with the Democrats, anything is possible (though Obama doe...