Hammer Mill Days

Man, is that the wind? Sounds like a freaking freight train. There goes the good weather. It was a nice couple of days, but hey .... all good things must end. (Hey Marvin ... got any more platitudes I can borrow? Thanks, man.) Well, it's November in upstate New York. Things start slowing down a little bit around these parts. That's partly why we had time to finish another episode of THIS IS BIG GREEN and post it this past week. Haven't heard it yet? Well, this is what you have to look forward to: Ned Trek 34 - Shitty and a Bit of a Stretch. Another Ned Trek non-musical episode, this one loosely based on the classic Star Trek script "City on the Edge of Forever," originally written by famed sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison. Captain Willard, Mr. Ned, Mr. Perle, and the Nixon android all leap into Earth's history in an attempt to stop a crazed Doc Coburn from changing the past and foreclosing on the future. Will they succeed? Well ... robo Nixon does start a home...

My reaction to Tuesday's off-year political races is the same I always have with regard to elections: you can't win by staying home. A lot of people on the left get frustrated with the Democratic Party (I certainly do), but in our current political system, only two parties have a reasonable chance to win elections, particularly on a national scale. We have to work within the Democratic Party even as we organize outside of it; and we have to vote Dem (when such a vote is available) even if the candidate is not our preferred choice. The alternative (i.e. sitting on your hands) results in what we have today: a national government run entirely by the most reactionary Republican Party in history - a political cabal that is doing enormous damage by undermining the work of vital agencies, appointing right wing judges, and more. This destructive work is moving at such an alarming pace that it is doubtful as to whether we can regain sufficient political power to stem the tide, let alo...