Noah Smith: “Many types of ideological regimes emphasize a desire for self-sufficiency […] Trump ultimately isn’t much different. His inherent suspicion of other countries makes him want to be less dependent on them. To Trump, this goal is much more important than Americans’ prosperity. It’s more important than manufacturing strength or the fate of the working class. It’s a political goal whose value to Trump can’t be measured in dollars or jobs or production numbers.”

Tweet: the American system is tearing itself apart with no outside pressure.

Μένανδρος ἐρωτηθεὶς τί διαφέρουσιν ἀλλήλων Σοφοκλῆς καὶ Εὐριπίδης εἶπεν ὅτι Σοφοκλῆς μὲν τέρπεσθαι ποιεῖ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, Εὐριπίδης δὲ σκυθρωπάζειν τοὺς ἀκροατάς.(*)

Watching How to Die in Oregon tonight. “I want to go in there some night, go to sleep, and not wake up. That’s the decent thing to do.”

Elvis Presley – Little Sister (wiki)

Elizabeth: “What a long, strange grift it’s been.”

Funny characertization by Noah Smith: If Star Wars were real, the galactic internet would be flooded with screeching tirades about Han Solo’s criminal past, how Princess Leia got her position through nepotism, or how Luke Skywalker once made out with his sister.

Lifelog, example of what I’m not trying to do, or see the sense in doing.

Tweet (a caption): The Leader of the Free World, sitting next to Donald Trump.

Tweet: Being a U.S. enemy may be dangerous, but being its ally or partner may be fatal.

haplology: The process of deleting one of two almost identical syllables within a word.

un moment de bascule: a turning point.

AOC rightly bringing attention to Musk’s very stupid “what is a pharmacy benefit manager?” remark, emblematic of his approach.

Had the food pantry volunteer visited Kafka’s house on any of his trips to Prague? No, he didn’t like Kafka much. Did he think there was any value in seeing authors’ houses in general or in going to Mount Vernon even? As a native of Connecticut, but not only for that reason, he would say that Mark Twain’s house was worth seeing. Did the food pantry volunteer recommend visiting the thermal springs around Budapest? Emphatically yes.

What movie had two of the three Food Pantry Volunteers seen in the theater recently? Wicked. What movie from 2007 did the third volunteer rewatch recently which the two who’d seen Wicked never heard of? There will be Blood. What architect that was spoken of by the volunteers who’d seen Wicked made the volunteer who’d seen There Will Be Blood mentally note he would need to look him up? Walter Gropius. (“Basically unheard of you would have two by Gropius in one town,” said a volunteer.)

What was said to the food pantry volunteer as he adroitly reoriented his cart full of boxes of tomato sauce from back-facing to front-facing in a narrow corridor by a passing school administrator? “You handle that better than I do.”

What subject most dominated the banter and small talk of the food pantry volunteers as they worked? Politics. Did the food pantry volunteer find the President entertaining? No. Were there any topics on which the food pantry volunteer differed with her husband with respect to politics? They broadly agreed but didn’t get into specifics, which maybe they should more.

Did the food pantry volunteer share the food pantry volunteer’s opinion that immigrants to a country have a kind of distorted view of its politics? Politics were shaped by experiences, said the volunteer. Immigrants to this country have different experiences than people who were born here.

Were politics actually formed by experiences or by genetics I wondered aloud? I remember having heated political debates with a libertarian oriented kid in the fourth and fifth grades. We didn’t know anything, we hadn’t experienced anything, but we knew which side we were on.

Were any boxes of corn and tomato sauce carted up from the storage area? Yes, eight of each. How many boxes of sized 5 diapers did you place into ziplock bags, six per bag? Perhaps four. How many boxes of size two diapers did you put in bags? About a half of one.

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To wrte as to take “one’s stand in the rites.”…o tone’s .”
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lia…..b……vel
swin…ang…ines
ging..siron.. sand
Maryof Egypthami
dabashitru
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…

Liberace: Stardust ; As Time Goes By. . . . This is a Louis Armstrong version of Stardust, by way of contrast.

Noting how the repetition of κλίνω in these lines at the opening of Iliad book 22 contrasts the Trojans leaning on their battlements with the Achaeans leaning their shields on their shoulders. Book 22.2-4.

κεκλιμένοι καλῇσιν ἐπάλξεσιν: αὐτὰρ Ἀχαιοὶ
τείχεος ἆσσον ἴσαν σάκε᾽ ὤμοισι κλίναντες

“they leaned on their beautiful battlements; but the Achaeans / drew near the wall, their shields leaning on their shoulders.” 

So shields are contrasted with battlements, as a means of self-defense, yes; but also, the Trojan battlements are leaned on, indicating exhaustion, or a need for shelter, while the Achaean are leaning their shields on their shoulders, indicating, I’m not sure what: maybe that they don’t anticipate using them?

Finally, there is a curious symmetry to the syntax of these lines: with “leaning” serving as bookends, “walls” (teixos — another defensive work) occupying a middle ground between them; and “battlements” and “shields” occupying a middle point between them.

“Their terminating so many contracts pointlessly obviously doesn’t accomplish anything for saving money.” (AP)

Reporter Laura Rozen: “Feels a bit like we have entered one of those alternative history novels, like The Plot Against America.”

Vernon Dalhart’s “I’ll Be with You When the Roses Bloom Again“