Hammer Mill Days

Are you sure it's July? Absolutely sure? How is that even possible? All right, Jesus . Where did the freaking Spring go? No, no ... not THAT spring. I meant the SEASON spring! God almighty. Yes, here we are ... three months after posting the last episode of our podcast, THIS IS BIG GREEN, and we're still short of posting the next episode. Sure, it's summer, but this is about wading in the water at the nearest beach resort. God, no! This is about the wheels coming off. This is about a leak in the hull. This is about a seized engine, smoke drifting lazily skyward from its molten husk. (Do engines have husks? Well .. ours does.) This is about production delays that are not voluntary, but ultimately necessary. Brother Matt is our show editor. I think it's common knowledge that he has been caught up with fledgling Peregrine Falcons for the past three months in particular. Aside from that, his computer imploded, taking many of his work files with it. Not a good circumst...

Another black person is dead as a result of wrongful arrest. That in itself is not remarkable, unfortunately. And while there appears to be some social media debate as to who was in the right and who was in the wrong in this case, a look at the police dash-cam video is as unambiguous as, well, the one featuring Eric Garner's summary execution. Sandra Bland, pulled over for not signalling a lane change (for Christ's sake!), is arrested for not being sufficiently subservient to a Texas State Trooper with a chip on his shoulder. "I will light you up," the trooper threatens when Bland resists his order to leave the car - a demand issued because the young woman declined to extinguish her cigarette when asked. (Yes, asked , if somewhat testily.) The video of this incident is chilling, and instructive. It is a window into the mentality of entrenched white domination of black people; nothing less than this. Irritation should not be sufficient cause for arrest, whether it...