Remember to use the ‘-i’ flag when starting an interactive python session from cygwin if you’ve installed python with a windows installer.

cygwin session (bad):

> python
| (... nothing ... perpetual annoying blinking cursor ... grrr)

cygwin session (good):

> python -i
< -- version info deleted -- >
>>> print 'ABJPGRSJWRPF'
ABJPGRSJWRPF
>>>

I run windows on a couple of computers at work, and I also use cygwin.
I usually install python on its own, using one of the windows installers (for instance, ActivePython), but often call it from cygwin. Especially when I want to open an interactive python session just to try something out, verify some syntax, etc.

It’s not that big of a deal to remember to use ‘-i’. However, before I figured out this fix, I wasted a lot of time trying to get around it.