nuclear Bob Dylan; -ise vs. -ize

[Mark Spahn]

On October 16, 1962, President John F. Kennedy, having been informed
that Soviet missiles were on Cuba, went on TV to announce this and to
"inform the world that there might be a global nuclear war in the very
near future."  So says page 207 of the 2019 book "The End Is Always
Near:  Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near
Misses" by Dan Carlin, a footnote fanatic who puts multiple footnotes on
almost every page.  The footnote on page207 says that in response to
this televised speech "Bob Dylan supposedly kept working on a song
because he wanted to make sure to finish it before he died if nuclear
war broke out."

That's a bombshell of a revelation, but it leaves out what the reader
will most want to know.  There was no nuclear war, so Bob must have
finished the song.  But what song was it?

- - - - -

In American English, the ending -ize is used on words that in British
English end in -ise.  But in American English there are two words that
end in -ise even though they are pronounced "-ize".  These two words are
_advertise_ and _televise_.  Why are they not spelled with -ize? 
Probably because there are no words "televization" aod  "advertization".

-- Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY)