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Putin just lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons—whatever that means.
Does this raise the likelihood that Russia will deploy nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine?
They’re saying “No,” but I’m not entirely sure who “they” are or how “they” can expect me to calmly go about my own life with devastation looming. But apparently “they” do—and it’s not as though I can actually do anything about the situation, right? I mean besides having panic attacks.
That’s Cormac McCarthy above, in his 40s and about to embark upon an affair with a 16-year-old lover.
That was the big literary news yesterday.
He looks a bit like Don Johnson in Miami Vice, doesn’t he?
I wonder if he wore socks with his loafers!
True Confession time: I have never read a single word by Cormac McCarthy.
In general, I am not a big fan of Southern Gothic or extreme violence.
But Cormac McCarthy is a literary archetype, so I know all about his life and career trajectory, of course.
Read the interview with one of his X-wives: We lived in total poverty. We were bathing in the lake. Someone would call up and offer $2,000 to come speak at a university about his books. And he would tell them that everything he had to say was there on the page. So we would eat beans for another week.
What a smug asshole, I thought.
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It’s fascinating to watch the do-si-do between sexual mores from one era to another.
Right now, in 21st century America, having sex with someone significantly younger than you are is a big no-no. Legal if the sexual partner is over 18 and not someone you supervise in some capacity. But still frowned upon. You should read the hundreds of Reddit & ONTD postings screeching about 50-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio’s taste in 20-something models.
Thing is this is not a moral absolute.
I think you could reasonably argue that not having sex with a prepubescent is a moral absolute.
But not having sex with pubescents? No, that really varies with national culture & chronological era.
21st-century Americans are not more enlightened because they so rigorously patrol the age boundaries between romantic partners. They are merely responding to a different set of semiotics, anthropological cues, ones left over, perhaps, from fears of overpopulation & indignation over soaring teenage pregnancy rates, both of which were very big 50 years ago in the 1970s. It made cultural sense to stigmatize activities that led to unwanted population increases, hence also the remarkable & rapid about-face in acceptance of homosexuality.
These days, underpopulation is the Big Bad!
So I think within the next 15 years, you will see a general easing in attitudes toward sex with teenage girls & quite possibly less tolerance for gays.
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Meanwhile, I spent yesterday Remunerating & panicking over the upcoming California trip. (The plane will crash over Denver! Weather conditions will be so miserable that take-off will be delayed, & I’ll have to spend 29 hours in LaGuardia airport! An undocumented, cat-eating Haitian migrant will stab me on the #4 subway!)
I made it up to the Ellenville Walmart.
If the Zombie Apocalypse ever happens in the Hudson Valley, you know it will start in the Ellenville Walmart.
Today, I must finish this pivotal Remunerative segment, back up my laptop, power up my TaxBwana Chromebook, and get a manicure—since gardening season is over, I can paint my nails again.
