Hammer Mill Days

Is that where I left it? Oh, Jesus. Well ... I'll have to pick up another one, then. It'll be long gone by now. Bloody inconvenient. Oh, hi. Yep, I left my hand-carved walking stick at the bakery again. Second time this month. Last time, some old guy walked off with it ... and yes, he was older than ME. Not exactly an heirloom, you understand. It's actually just a branch that fell off the poplar tree in back of the Cheney Hammer Mill, by the canal. I cut some bits off of it, peeled back some of the bark, and voila! Cheap crutch. Not that I need a walking stick. Fact is, I've been trying to stay close to the Mill as we plan our next interstellar tour. Nothing particularly ambitious, you understand - just a couple of the major star clusters, maybe a jaunt out to Aldebaran. (Matt's not real crazy about that last one. The gravity's a little strong for his taste.) I've asked Marvin (my personal robot assistant) to crunch some numbers on possible itineraries t...

Once again, the administration has its hair on fire about Ukraine and a supposed Russian incursion; this while their military operations in Iraq are expanding and their commitments deepening. Now I know how all those people felt after electing that peace candidate, Lyndon Johnson ... or that other peace candidate, Woodrow Wilson. Both Democrats, I should point out. This Russia/Ukraine matter is remarkable in its stupidity. It's as if our "National Security" state imperial institutions cannot justify their own existence anymore without resurrecting the Cold War, and in so doing, are attempting to make it seem like Putin is intent on resurrecting the Soviet Union. I have to say, that's pretty weak sauce, as they say on the "coast". (The sauce must be kind of weak there.) It's the usual appeasement/slippery slope narrative - sure, it may seem like small potatoes to you, sliding a handful of armored personnel carriers across the border, but if we let him ...