Hammer Mill Days

No, I'm not interested. No, really ... not interested at all. And no, I'm not holding out for a better deal. I really just don't want any part of it, okay? So just drop it. I said NO. (Jesus!) Oh, hello out there. I was just having a little conversation with one of my esteemed colleagues. And he was getting a little uh-steamed, if you catch my meaning. Okay, full disclosure, it was our mad science advisor, Mitch Macaphee, inventor of Marvin (my personal robot assistant), veteran of many deep space excursions, and the man who broke the space warp. (It was just warped before he got a hold of it, and now the damn thing is busted, thanks to his carelessness.) What's all the commotion? Funny you should ask. Perhaps you have some mad scientists in your life as well, or maybe a conventional scientist - someone who works in chemistry or physics, for instance. Well, if so, you know that people of science are frequently tempted by large corporations to use their great skills ...

The much-anticipated summit in Vietnam between Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un ended without a deal. It's pretty obvious that Trump's shoot-from-the-hip approach to diplomacy is less than optimal. On top of that, there's plenty of space in the empty skull of his for unsavory characters like John Bolton to take up residence. I suspect he was the cause of the breakdown. It sounds as though the discussion about nuclear technology was broadened by the U.S. delegation to include chemical and biological weapon systems as well. The president's post-summit statement didn't go there, of course, but that's no surprise. I'm not convinced that he knows entirely what took place in Vietnam, he's such a ding dong. Nevertheless, his impulse towards talking this out is positive, and I support the effort, even though he's probably coming at it from entirely the wrong direction. Any effort towards peace on the Korean peninsula is worth pursuing, in my view...

Heard any good podcasts lately? Nah, neither have I. Well, aside from the ones I typically listen to, but those tend not to have anything to do with music. I sometimes download podcasts about fixing robots and doing odd jobs, like bending pretzels. (Real odd jobs.) But never music. Well, in spite of that simple fact, we of Big Green do put out a podcast about music ... or, at least, one that contains music, and typically new music in every episode. This month's is no exception. That sucker is larded down with so much music it will make your teeth wobble and your big toe shoot up inside your moccasin. Eight flipping new songs, my friends, never before heard by the likes of you. And a new Ned Trek to boot. (Boot it right out into the yard.) Here's a look at our first-of-the-year podcast: Ned Trek 39: Patterns of Horse. Yeah, I made that name up on the fly, because this episode of Ned Trek is based on the classic Star Trek episode entitled "Patterns of Force", ak...

When I listen to mainstream reporting on the standoff in Venezuela, I come away with the strong impression that the press has not learned anything whatsoever from their failures in the run-up to the Iraq war back in 2002-03. I know - I shouldn't be surprised. Ironically, Trump's targeting of the mainstream press rings a vague bell with many who recall their catastrophic support for Bush's big middle eastern adventure. As is often the case, the Orange Disaster approaches being right on this issue from entirely the wrong direction. (The same might be said of his current policy on North Korea, though that might actually result in something positive, unlike his targeting of journalists.) From an institutional perspective, it makes total sense that MSNBC, CNN, and the major networks would be almost totally on board the Trump train as it steams towards Caracas. These outlets are owned by corporations that are deeply vested in the imperial enterprise. Their news organization...

Open the door, Hal. What seems to be the problem? I said open the pod bay door. Hal? It's cold out here, Hal. God damn it! Yes, that's right - instead of sitting in my comfortable chamber deep within the abandoned Cheney Hammer Mill, tapping this post out on my computer, I'm standing in a damp and clammy courtyard, pounding on the front door in vain. No, this is not eviction. This is not home invasion or civil forfeiture. And this is not some tawdry war between rival squatters (believe me, we've had it up to here with that shit). No, friends ... this is the dreaded Internet of Things. Whose idea was it to have a mad scientist in residence? Mine? Oh, right. Well ... it seemed like a good idea at the time. And he did get us to Aldebaran in one piece. (Albeit a very small piece.) Nevertheless, whoever asked him to join our entourage, he has truly gone off the deep end. They say mad scientists live off the deep end, but I think that's just the kind of bragging th...

The Trump administration has been pushing the sale of nuclear reactors to Saudi Arabia, according to a report from the House Government Oversight Committee, now functional once again since the Democratic takeover of that body. Some pretty good reporting on this from ProPublica suggests, predictably, that Trump's family would benefit materially from such an arrangement, in the form of lucrative Saudi contracts for the now bankrupt nuclear plant designer Westinghouse, which has garnered Trump friend Tom Barrack as a major investor. ( I believe the consortium is eyeing Jared Kushner's 666 building for office space.) Barrack wants to be part of a crackpot "Marshall Plan" for the Middle East that will involve building dozens of nuclear reactors in Saudi. What could possibly go wrong? Well, the same things that have gone wrong on previous occasions when we have moved in this direction. Oh, yes ... we have been here before, though perhaps without the craven self-dealing...

Are you still tinkering with that thing? Holy shit, I thought you were a scientist. What kind of scientist spends a week screwing the legs into a mail-order ottoman? Whoa, Mitch .... put the hammer down. HEY! Greetings, Big Green die-hards. This is what I sound like a moment after someone tries to brain me with a flying hammer. Our friend and mad science advisor Mitch Macaphee is not all that pleased with me right now. I shouldn't have asked how his latest experiment is progressing. Don't know what he's working on, but I can tell you that it came out of an Ikea box. Maybe it's an ottoman, or perhaps a chesterfield. Kind of hard to tell from ten paces. Now, I know what you're thinking. Mitch is a mad scientist in the traditional sense, right? His stock in trade is formulating theorems to crack the earth in half or poison the atmosphere (not that we aren't already doing that without his help), BIG stuff ... not build-it-yourself furnishings or other petty hou...