We can create ideals that judge us and find us all to have fallen short of what it is to be human. But some have fallen a quantum leap more than others. A quantitative difference becomes qualitative. We can argue over where it applies practically in the real world. But we can't argue that it applies unless we are willing to destroy an important part of our humanity. That is why I don't address Adorno. I don't know to what extent I can influence future events by what I do with my life, but I am ignoring a part of the ideal if I don't try to tip the future towards what I profess to believe in, no matter that my words may be twisted. I will not buy that music has such a special importance, like a powerful politician, that it can live above the law that sustains it. Art as folk culture preceded a system of laws at least claiming some basis in ethics but not high art. Sorry, guys, lost myself in the argument. This high falutin' stuff makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, too. But we gotta do it like someone says "for the children." A. Carlan Still standing up for Nielsen--and a very happy birthday, indeed, to one who has given me such constant pleasure over so many decades in the changes life always brings.