Meet Joe Black (1998) is basically a 2 1/2 hr anecdote, where an angelic Brad Pitt, the angel of death, comes and saves the day by impersonating an IRS agent investigating and exposing the vile young suitor Drew, as Brad takes fiancee Allison's father (Anthony Hopkins) to heaven. Brad quotes money-grubbing Drew: You can't avoid 'death and taxes'.

Yes, Death gets us all in the end, smokers and nonsmokers,

How can a cat be alive and dead at the same time?

I love how science has rediscovered religion. Leaving aside the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe, the universe itself is conscious. In the beginning was consciousness -- inner light. Then there was outer light, etc. Mind you it took billions of years, but what's that in divine reckoning? Religion was the first 'science', followed by astrology. Now both despised. How times have changed.

Peter Beinhart, Being Jewish after the destruction of Gaza: A reckoning, 2025.

My first thought on seeing Beinhart's title was: Argh. More Jewish angst, holier-than-thou hand-wringing, but leading nowhere. Half-way through I had completely changing my mind. Angst, yes. But lots of meat to chew on, ok, spitting out some grissle, but it was mostly intelligent, informative, and even inspiring (for a goy no less). Beinhart marshalls statistics that confirm my own extreme anger at not just Jews but anyone who does not mobilize themselves to fight this ongoing, LIVE, genocide.

The internet, computers have been a boon to essayists like Edward Curtin (and me!). He/you/we can publish at online sites (DissidentVoice.org is a favorite for us) and then publish our screeds in book form if we are prolific and eloquent enough. Curtin was a philosophy/social theory prof at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. This collection of Curtin's articles, At the Lost and Found (2025), is a case in point. There are some fine ones, certainly his introduction and his opening ones are challenging postmodern forays for the uninitiated and still readable. His students were very lucky.

As Trump-Musk take a hatchet to American higher education, I marvel at the thought that there are hundreds if not thousands of Curtins (maybe not as good)

Yes, sacred transport, even sacred ping pong. But can a card game have a spiritual grounding?* 

There's no question in my mind that bridge is the king of card games. It pushes the mind to the limit.