CULTURE & COMEDY

DIEGO S DIEZ—They aren’t talking about me, because I never heard another Latino use this phrase, but I searched it – “Latinx” is all over the place! Definition, from (why should we believe them, but why not, on such a dumb issue) the Huffington Post: “Latinx is the gender-neutral alternative to Latino, Latina and even Latin@.” This raises many problems, including what is a “Latin@“ – are Latinos supposed to digitize themselves or something? “It’s part of a “linguistic revolution” that aims to move beyond gender binaries and is inclusive of the intersecting identities of Latin American descendants. In addition to men and women from all racial backgrounds, Latinx also makes room for people who are trans, queer, agender, non-binary, gender non-conforming or gender fluid.”

DIEGO S. DIEZ—Isn’t the non-death of many vapers worth a bit of smoke in SOME public areas? We allow people to drink alcohol, and surely that is more costly to the local and federal taxpayer?

The student asks a simple question, demanding a straight answer. Os the candidate for or against free college tuition? Watch Klobuchar do shameless rhetorical fireworks and Olympic sommersaults to avoid saying outright where she stands.

STEVE ALMOND—In a 1906 address at Carnegie Hall entitled “Taxes and Morals,” Mark Twain lambasted plutocrats who advertised their piety while lying about their incomes. “I know all those people,” Twain noted. “I have friendly, social, and criminal relations with the whole lot of them.” He said that word—criminal—knowing that many of these folks were seated in the gallery before him. Twain had this to say about the patriotism of his day: “The Patriot did not know just how or when or where he got his opinions, neither did he care, so long as he was with what seemed the majority—which was the main thing, the safe thing, the comfortable thing.”

ED CURTIN—while Van Gogh sought reality by breaking the mold, the rich and powerful have devoured the results of his efforts and have transposed them into commodities. Last year, his painting, Laboureur Dans Un Champ, painted from an asylum where he had committed himself, sold for $ 81.3 million at Christie’s after a frenetic auction.