MERYL, SIMÓN, BOREF March 11, 2024 MERYL No movie / no Oscar — but she did offer these stunning 3 minutes at the 2017 Golden Globes. Just as relevant today. SIMÓN Equally relevant, though it will cost you $7.95 and take longer to watch (turn on the English subtitles), is this feature film. It’s the story of a Venezuelan asylum seeker who makes it to Miami. And, by extension, the story of how a once-thriving democracy looks once it’s slidden into “illiberal democracy,” like Hungary or, worse, Germany. Living in fear, as the Venezuelan opposition has for decades now had to do . . . as the opposition in any autocracy must . . . as high school kids who are bullied must . . . or shop-owners targeted by the mob or victims of abusive relationships or residents of high-crime neighborhoods . . . as Republican legislators who fear their leader or, increasingly, American poll workers and judges must . . . living in fear is a nightmare. And once the rule of law is lost . . . once the gangs take over . . . once the leader can walk down Fifth Avenue shooting people or murder his opposition with impunity, as Putin and Kim do and Trump’s legal team argued he can do (he was sitting right there as they argued this) — he, who alone can fix it — once the coarsened level of discourse has been normalized . . . how can decency, civility, and democracy be restored? Simón asks that devastating question. BOREF As noted last month, the stock is currently un-tradeable. I called the company, who say this limbo should lift if and when they file current financial statements. If the stock were tradeable, I wouldn’t sell at the 70-cent or 10-cent price brokers are now showing — or even at the $2.50 it fetched before the freeze. Having waited nearly 25 years for this “stock that’s surely going to zero” to pay off — or else go to zero — I’m not bailing now.