Hammer Mill Days

Connect blue wire (A) to terminal (3). Check. Connect yellow wire (F) to terminal (48c). Check. Hit boot switch, but first, insert index fingers (K) and (M) into ears (7) and (8). Hmmm.... okay. Oh, hi. Caught me in the middle of something, as usual. Always some task to perform here at the abandoned Cheney Hammer Mill, our adopted squat-house in lovely upstate New York. As you may recall from previous posts (or not), we are preparing for an upcoming interstellar tour to support extraterrestrial sales of our new album, Cowboy Scat: Songs in the Key of Rick . Fact is, we make most of our money on units sold outside the bounds of the known solar system. (The rest we make on Neptune and some of the smaller, rockier moons of Saturn.) Anyhow, as you might suspect, we will be needing some means of transportation for ourselves, our hangers-on, our instruments and gear, our provisions, etc. We have an old 1954 GMC City Coach (or we at least have access to it in the junk yard across the stre...

Well, so that's it, then. You captured one of us, threatened all of us... All right, I couldn't resist channelling Captain Pike for a moment, even if it does make for a non-sequitur type of opening. Still, there's something in the tone of that speech that reflects how I feel about this government shutdown / debt ceiling revolt by the stark minority of hayseeds known as the tea party. Sure, I'm relieved that they didn't upend the global capitalist system they profess to adore so much. And yes, I am heartened by news that hungry poor folks will be getting food assistance, and sick children will get treatment, and veterans will get aid, etc. That's all important. But relief shouldn't blind us to the rank selfishness that caused those people to lose their badly needed benefits. The fact is, the minority of House Republicans that make up the "tea party" caucus, led by their Senate mentor Ted Cruz, caused about $20-25 billion in losses to the U.S. ec...