Hammer Mill Days

Did you feel that? No? Okay, check. How about that? Really. Right, then. Check again. Now let's try the pointed stick. You don't want to do it? Well, aren't you the sensitive one. Yes, we're back. I'm just interrogating Marvin (my personal robot assistant) to get some idea of the degree to which his primitive analog circuitry has the capability to emulate human emotions and mock the various senses we take for granted. So far, it's not going very well. His brass exterior seems impervious to brillo pads, water, even fire. Not sure about pointed sticks - that may be his Achilles' heal. (I guess I could wait until he's feigning sleep, then try it on his heel.) Why am I wasting my time in such a manner? Well, while I'm waiting for Matt to get here and start recording the next episode of our podcast, THIS IS BIG GREEN, I am consuming myself with summer projects, some of which I've blogged about over the past few weeks. Annoying Marvin is one, thoug...

No shortage of news this week, again. What the hell - is there something in the water? We just can't get through the week without some kind of disaster, and this time it was at least three kinds. First, another sickening attack in France. Horrendous loss of life, and from what seems obvious, almost completely avoidable. Forgive me, but is this what a state of emergency looks like in France? They know they are being targeted. When you have a mass attendance event like Bastille Day, and a huge crowd on an ocean-side boulevard, you need more than a few cops minding the traffic. Holland is extending the state of emergency, of course (you can see how well it works at keeping them safe) and will probably double down on their attacks in both Syria and Iraq. And the perpetrator? A Tunisian-born French citizen who thought it appropriate not only to kill people at random but to throw millions of French North Africans under the bus as well in the land of Le Pen. Nice freaking work. Second...