It's unusual for all the major possibilities of a new art form to emerge quickly, but it's not impossible in principle; art doesn't "progress" in the way scientific understanding does. And being first has advantages: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle endure because they got to the big questions first.

And/or that some contemporary folk have found the "old" artifact or motif exceptionally illuminating of the present (or their feelings in/about the present). Which is pretty great. It's one reason literacy is useful

Isn't every day Labor Day?

It occurs to me on my ongoing (lifelong) search for work, that when I fail to get the interview/job, it's either because the folks hiring don't know me or because they do.

No. "They" can only be read as referring to "the fish," hence there's no grammatical need to write "the fish should pay" rather than "they should pay." Not all taxes are tariffs. A fish importing goods subject to tariff needs to pay ... a tariff. But, yeah, fish should pay other taxes, too.

"Off the coast of Florida"! You say these are "Florida's fish," but how do you know? They could have come here from anywhere. And it doesn't matter if the fish are legal American fish, if they're 'importing' in foreign pharmaceuticals, they should pay a tariff.

The merger of Taylor Swift, Inc. and Travis Kelce, Inc. is front page in the financial press. I spoke to a banker who implied the deal's not really a merger, and when I asked what the new entity would be named, she answered (kindly, as one does when addressing an ignoramus): "Taylor Swift, Inc."

And the fish are bringing drugs into the country. Why aren't there tariff's on these gilled traffickers?

Yeats believed Wilde was right to not flee, but I'm not aware he ever argued so to Wilde. And WBY wrongly assumed Wilde the artist would survive prison and "tragedy" would add "greater depth" to Wilde's writing. Had he fled, Wilde might have continued to write and even (as WBY would) write better.

Well, depends on what you're using them for, but mostly con. "Scary" kinda sums his feelings on the subject. It's the only part of his war experience he described so, which is odd considering the kind of things combat soldiers liberating places like Leyte and Luzon likely witnessed.

My father's been dead a quarter century. Before he left, he thought about his kids and apparently concluded that in some sense or another, we'd not be parted. In some sense or several, he's been correct. However, his typically sly suggestion that we were waiting for him to shut up is pure slander.

Hollywood, 6.14.2025.

My dad spent a few WWII years island-hopping in New Guinea and the Philippines. He had some trenchant opinions about flame-throwers. You remain a good son - and you're keeping the New Deal faith.

May 9 - 11, Lobby Theatre (L.A.) presents a reading of THE ANTIPODES. It's a rare opportunity to see Annie Baker's trenchant portrait of the story-industrial-complex. The outstanding cast includes maestro Arye Gross, and yours truly serves as dramaturg.

lobbytheatre.ludus.com/index.php

Because we've seen it all before .....

True meaninglessness, however, is the semi-finalist list with 20+ (!) or 40+ (?!) or 80+ ($%#@?!) names.

Excellent episode. I'd urge seeing 2025 in a 40 year context. Free trade neo-liberalism has been the 'religion' of U.S. centrists, left & right, since 1990. Trump shocked the GOP in 2016 (as Sanders did Dems) & (China policy aside) Big Biz Reagan Republicans (and Dems) are more cowed than converted.

Supreme Court Sides With Wrongly Deported Migrant A trial judge had ordered the Trump administration to take steps to return the migrant, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, from a notorious prison in El Salvador.

The headline's misleading. The government wasn't ordered to return Garcia; indeed, the equivocal ruling suggests courts have no authority to do so. Roberts fears challenging Trump because if Trump ignores the court's ruling, then the court will cease to matter.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/u...

It's kind of you to say so - all three things. I'd love to work with you (assist you, really) on anything.

Folks are only now realizing that laws don't matter if they are not enforced? That courts can rule and order but don't actually do the enforcing? That there's no authority that can enforce an order against the executive branch of the government other than ... the executive branch? A teachable moment

Thank you, Kelly! Most kind of you to say so. Not a sentiment I've heard expressed much over the last year or so. I am deeply impressed by your reportorial work and awed by your courage. I hope you are well in all ways -- and taking care of yourself.