Hammer Mill Days

A little colder than I expected for this time of year. Minus 254 degrees Kelvin. Crikey - better put on another pair of socks. Yes, friends - Big Green is spending another traditional family holiday a long, long way from home. It's Thanksgiving on Neptune, and I have to say, this holiday doesn't mean much to folks up here. The casinos are filled with punters, and I don't think they're shipping them in from Saturn. It's just another day to these creatures. And as we enter the final (turkey) leg of our [INSERT NAME HERE] Interstellar Tour 2011 , we have another succession of bizarre events to greet us. Here is the week that was: 11.14.2011 - Took up residence in the Neptune Hyatt resort. A bit seedy if you ask me. I think they stole the name, actually - everything's bootlegged up here. Even our albums. Hell, we're giving them away on Neptune and they still bootleg them. I think it's for the sheer joy of doing it. There is, I imagine, a certain satisfacti

This has been quite a year. Who would have thought it? One that started with massive uprisings in the middle east and is ending with a major economic justice movement in the United States - perhaps even more unlikely than the popular overthrow of Mubarak. Now we've seen renewed attempts to evict the protesters from Zucotti Park and other encampments across the country, but as many have said, you cannot kill an idea. The Occupy movement has gotten people accustomed to standing up again. And to paraphrase Dr. King, a man - even if he's a millionaire - can't ride on your back when you stand up straight. And contrary to what is argued by Ayn Rand acolytes like Paul Ryan and (Ayn) Rand Paul, the wealthy truly do ride on the backs of working people. That has always been the case. Rand imagined the world being brought to a standstill by a wealthy, innovative class of overlords who withhold their beneficent participation in Rand's dystopian top-down economy. The truth is, they