Hey Dave
Any viable theory of gravity has to address the
most dramatic displays of gravity in action, for example a supernova.
So what is the _acting mechanism of causation_ whereby a massive star
is crushed down to a black hole? That is to say, what property of the
"aether" literally POWERS the gravity that powers the stellar collapse
that that drives the fusion that rebounds as a SN blast, leaving
behind the collapsed mass?

This is the litmus test of any theory of gravity.

And the same litmus test applies to far more energetic gravitational
phenomena such as hypernovae and quasars. What property of the
"aether" conveys this level of energy?

And a related question - what accounts for the fact that there is _no
perceptable upper limit to the amplitude of energy transmissible by EM
radiation_?

And why, pray tell, do "aetherists" still cling to the archaic and
stigma-ridden term (aether / ether)? It provokes the Pavlovian
response in the hearer to simply laugh at it and ridiclue it. If you
want to be taken serious and intend to present a working model that
answers the above 'litmus test', get rid of that scarlet-letter word
fercrissakes. Strike it from the lexicon. Start out with an untainted,
neutral term.. like the spatial medium. Then coin a term that
adequately *defines* as well as describes the spatial medium in terms
of the enormously energetic properties it displays.