Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Bird and Diz
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Tuesday, November 18, 2025
It is something of an axiom among sex crime prosecutors that rape is about exercising power as much as it is about sex, and it seems to me that this is the aspect of the Jeffery Epstein matter that is being overlooked. The abuse is horrible, absolutely, but it seems to me that the real story is that Epstein was using the sexual exploitation of the children as a means to access and manipulate powerful people. I've seen no other explanation for where his money came from except that rich people just gave it to him, and that, to me, looks quite a bit like extortion.
Sunday, October 26, 2025
Ron Rosenbaum's Playboy interview with Bob Dylan is an important touchstone for Dylan scholarship. We should never trust everything that ol' Bod says, but this has always impressed me as notably candid, and gave us, "thin, wild mercury sound"
Friday, October 17, 2025
I am having a DMV experience for the ages. For reasons nobody can explain to me New York will not accept my application to transfer title of my parents' car. There is a specific New York statute (EPTL § 5-3.1) that provides that a surviving spouse can transfer title without going through probate, but because title on this car was issued by South Carolina the DMV insists that I go through probate in the Palmetto State. This is not consistent with choice of law principles and is infuriating.
Thursday, September 04, 2025
I have often thought that a tour of the studios where the music I love was recorded would be fun. At the top of my list would be Rudy Van Gelder's
Friday, August 29, 2025
I have always kind of wondered why Kent State didn't just shut its doors out of shame. (I wonder the same thing about Penn State.) A surprising number of people in WNY go to school in Ohio, and quite a few go to Kent. I cannot imagine why. As it happens I worked for the lawyer who represented the families of the Kent State students, and I have often thought it would be interesting to visit the campus. It isn't that far.
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
The past couple of months are gradually jelling into a narrative, starting with the cat attack that put me in the hospital for five days, through my Mom's attendance at a No Kings rally, all the hospitals she was in. Auyjourd'hui, maman est mort, and now how we go forward.
