Hammer Mill Days

Do you really want to go? I don't know. It's a pretty inhospitable place. Very hot and dry, I'm told, and almost absolutely nothing grows there ... not even mold. Though that's a good thing, sort of, right? Still ... I'm less interested in Mars after having played there a few times. Not our crowd, really. Oh, hi. Just having a momentous discussion with our mad science adviser, Mitch Macaphee, about what to do this weekend. What's that you say? A trip to Mars is too ambitious for the sabbath? Not sure I agree. In any case, we weren't talking about going to the planet Mars; we were debating over whether or not we should go see "The Martian". I was complaining about the condition of our local movie theater. Arid as sandpaper in there, and the seats are twice as rough. Then there's the foul aroma of popcorn - uuuhhl ... As you know, we're not particularly big on movies or other forms of entertainment, frankly. Mitch likes to go to science ...

United Nations week is always entertaining on some level. Probably the best moments of this go 'round involved the usual great power hypocrisy. Putin talking about Assad's "valiant" fight against the terrorists - that's a bit over the top. But no one beats the U.S. in this category. Obama delivered cautionary rhetoric about how a world that can countenance Russian interference in eastern Ukraine would be setting a dangerous precedent: ... we cannot stand by when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation is flagrantly violated. If that happens without consequence in Ukraine, it could happen to any nation gathered here today. Imagine, great nations feeling as though they can intervene in other nations at will, in service to their own purported national interests. Whoever heard of such a thing? One can only guess what was running through the minds of so many members of the General Assembly when they listened to this balderdash, particularly those who ...