Btw, have you read Stuart Isacoff's "Temperament"? I highly recommend it.

That is why the battle matters so much. Those who are on the side of the goods you mention--including fixed-note music--have to defeat those who want to return to "traditional" values of authoritarianism, racism, misogyny, anti-intellectualism, and the notion that the Earth is ours to destroy.

Don't forget the cuckoo clock!

And, on the other hand . . .

www.jpost.com/israel-news/...

Your loss, I fear.

"In other words, when protecting 'Western civilization' — with a focus on race and faith — becomes the centerpiece of U.S. national security, the biggest threat becomes uncontrolled immigration into America and Western Europe — not Russia or China."

Tom Friedman has a much saner--and less sanguine--take on the Trump National Security Strategy statement (see also his discussion with David Brooks).

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/o...

cont'd

Now, America has shed its blinkers and wishes to return itself and Europe to the old set of common values. It views the EU as an obstacle to this program. This causes angst for modernist, globalist, individualist forces in the EU, who attack America.

Bullshit!

"[P]olitical expression has become...more ubiquitous in public schools...the[r]e are causes with near unanimous support among parents and teachers...[b]ut eventually, an issue arises for which there is no consensus. By then it’s too late to suddenly invoke a principle of political neutrality."

There is a variant of this that infects both Left and Right.

"Indoctrination by one side has led to speech codes from the other."

cont'd

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/o...