August 17th, 2014 → 6:38 am
“Yield not thy neck
To Fortune’s yoke.” – Henry VI, Part III
The demonstrations continue in Ferguson. And I support them. A few days ago a Facebook friend posted a wish for Governor Nixon to impose a curfew already. I was surprised. How was that going to solve the underlying problem? Then another Facebook friend complained that his flight into St. Louis was delayed because of the protests and he wished they’d stop. I’m not sure the airport is affected because of a few protests in Ferguson, but assuming it was, really? Mass injustice should just go on so you don’t lose a few hours in an airport? Are so many local St. Louisans really that ignorant and self-absorbed? Don’t yield, peaceful Ferguson protestors, I wouldn’t.
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians
July 30th, 2014 → 5:36 am
“‘There is no sure foundation set on blood,
no certain life achieved by others’ death.” – King John
There are so many bloody conflicts ongoing in the world right now – Syria, Iraq, Sunnis/Shiites, Israelis/Palestinians, … – that it is worth remembering the above quote.
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians
July 25th, 2014 → 6:18 am
“I have in equal balance justly weighed
What wrongs our arms may do, what wrongs we suffer,
And find our griefs heavier than our offences.” – Henry IV, Part II
I think Nicholas Kristof got it right when he said, “…this is a war in which both peoples have a considerable amount of right on their sides.” Unfortunately, that doesn’t help any in solving it.
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians
June 28th, 2014 → 7:05 am
“More are men’s ends marked than their lives before.
The setting sun, and music at the close,
As the last taste of sweets, is sweetest last,
Writ in remembrance more than things long past.” – Richard II
100 years ago today Archduke Francis Ferdinand was assassinated, and the world slid into its first World War. It is humbling to look back on it now; the horror, the uninevitability of it, the profound waste. There is a world that existed before June 28, 1914, and a rather different world that was borne after it.
Filed under: Blog & Economics/Money & Literature/Theatre/Art & Other & Politics/Politicians & Stupid/Evil People
June 24th, 2014 → 5:12 am
“[They] hath been most notoriously abused.” – Twelfth Night
The lengthy prison sentences given to a number of journalists in Egypt, and the sham trial that went with it, are shocking. I pray for the Middle East.
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians
June 12th, 2014 → 6:40 am
“Down, down I come, like glist’ring Phaeton,
Wanting the manage of unruly jades.
In the base court? Base court, where kings grow base,
To come at traitors’ calls, and do them grace.” – Richard II
[Note: The first two lines refer to the fable of Phaethon, who
drove a chariot of sun but couldn’t control the horses (or jades),
and they drove too close to the earth and set fire to forests and cities.]
Cantor couldn’t control the unruly Tea Party and now he’s thrown down; thrown down in the base court of Congress.
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians & Stupid/Evil People
June 8th, 2014 → 6:49 am
“Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety.” – Antony and Cleopatra
I noticed at the grocery checkout aisle that Hillary Clinton is on the cover of People magazine this week. If that doesn’t imply she IS running for president, I don’t know what does.
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians
June 5th, 2014 → 6:03 am
“He would drown the stage with tears,
And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,
Make mad the guilty and appal the free,
Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed
The very faculties of eyes and ears.” – Hamlet
Egypt’s brave satirical comedian has finally succumbed to the death threats and agreed to go off the air. It is a sad day.
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Politics/Politicians
May 27th, 2014 → 3:48 am
“There is a tide in the affairs of men.” – Julius Caesar
It didn’t get much coverage in the U.S. – at least not relative to the truly historic nature of the event – but India has elected a new prime minister from a new party with a new background and a new agenda. The world shifts.
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians
April 28th, 2014 → 6:01 am
“Truth will come to light.
Murder cannot be hid long – a man’s son may, but
in the end truth will out.” – Merchant of Venice
Mahmoud Abbas has at last admitted to the horrors of the Holocaust. Progress is possible.
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians