A Tale of Two Pictures

Posted on September 10, 2015 by jimmie

picture printed by media of little Kurdish boy on beachKnavery’s plain face is never seen till used.

 Othello, act 2, sc. 1

We accept that deception is to the art of government, what the brush is to the art of painting. But there are instances where deception oversteps even the more tolerant bounds of disgust and nausea.

I refer to the heart-rending picture of the little Kurdish dead boy (Aylan Kurdi), strewn on the foreshore of the Mediterranean. For we could not realize that, though the death was real, the picture was staged. And the impact of the doctored picture was designed to prevent any other reaction than horror. Continue reading →

Posted in Elegant Shakespearean Quotes, Fighting your Adversary, Historical Quotes, Insults Shakespeare-style, Polite Insult, Psychological Shakespeare, Sayings about Life | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on A Tale of Two Pictures

October Surprise

Posted on September 7, 2015 by jimmie

october surprise“…With colours fairer painted their foul ends.”

(The Tempest, act 1, sc. 2)

We are approaching the 35th anniversary of the so-called “October Surprise” of 1980. Given the workings of the inaudible and noiseless foot of time (1) most will probably have forgotten, or may have stored the event in what is loosely called the “historic memory” – that is, something occurred in the past, to be remembered only by the determined few. Continue reading →

Posted in Best Shakespeare Quotes, Historical Quotes, Insults Shakespeare-style, Sayings about Life, Shakespeare in Politics, Shakespeare on Mass Psychology and Group Behavior | Tagged , , | Comments Off on October Surprise

Terror On The Paris Express

Posted on August 29, 2015 by jimmie

Image of the Thalys speed train from Amsterdam to Paris“Who cannot steal a shape that means deceit?”

(King Henry VI p2, act 3)

I was determined to believe that the drama on the fast train to Paris, was a stellar victory in the War on Terror. The mainstream media informed us, with the abruptness of ecstasy and the pleasure of the extraordinary, – informed us of the timely intervention by the US Marines, who prevented a heinous crime and were promptly rewarded for their bravery with the highest tribute of France, the Legion of Honor, of Napoleonic origin and memory. Continue reading →

Posted in Best Shakespeare Quotes, Elegant Shakespearean Quotes, Fighting your Adversary, Insults Shakespeare-style, Sayings about Life, Shakespeare in Politics, Shakespeare Invocations | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Terror On The Paris Express

Atom Bombs, Babes & Cakes

Posted on August 25, 2015 by jimmie

image of atomic mushroom after explosion“You are too shallow, Hastings, much too shallow,
To sound the bottom of the after-times.”

(K. Henry IV part 2)

Given Obama’s visit to Hiroshima, I am re-publishing this post from last year. (May 2016) I think it is relevant, for the accepted vulgata does not tell the whole story.

(The year 2015 has already featured some momentous anniversaries, the Magna Charta** (Feb 1215), the end of WWII in Europe (May 1945) and the biblically spectacular slaughter of Japanese civilians with the first atom bombs in August 1945. Continue reading →

Posted in Amusing Shakespeare, Fighting your Adversary, Historical Quotes, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Atom Bombs, Babes & Cakes

French Fries & Strange Flesh

Posted on August 4, 2015 by jimmie

Illustration of a box of french fries, illustrating a Shakespearean quoteKnowing that flattery is the infantry of negotiations, Octavian, on meeting Antony after a long time, starts the conversation by recounting, for the benefit of the audience, one of Antony’s feats, the fame of which reached even Rome,

“…on the Alps
It is reported thou didst eat strange flesh,
Which some did die to look on…”, (1)

a line I am reminded of when seeing someone eating a Macdonald hamburger. Continue reading →

Posted in Amusing Shakespeare, Best Shakespeare Quotes, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Sayings about Life, Shakespeare on Food, Shakespeare on Health Care, Shakespeare on Mass Psychology and Group Behavior | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on French Fries & Strange Flesh

Head in the Sanders

Posted on July 28, 2015 by jimmie

illustration of an ostrich with head in the sand - symbol of the analysis of Bernie Sanders' presidential candidacy.There is a history in all men’s lives,
Figuring the nature of the times deceased,
The which observed, a man may prophesy,
With a near aim, of the main chance of things
As yet not come to life, which in their seeds
And weak beginnings lie intreasured. (1)

If this is true of the lives of men, it should be even truer of American presidential elections. Their history observed, would enable us to easily Continue reading →

Posted in After Dinner Quotes, Amusing Shakespeare, Best Shakespeare Quotes, Business Presentations, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Psychological Shakespeare, Shakespeare in Politics, Social Exchanges Shakespeare style | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Head in the Sanders

Much Ado About Tsipras

Posted on July 11, 2015 by jimmie

Greek flag as an illustration of the quote and article, "Much Ado About Tsipras"     For one who spent five years of his misspent youth toiling with (ancient) Greek, the recent limelight on Athens feels like a return to the past.

For suddenly the ancient Greeks are on the lips of politicians, economists, commentators and media pundits of all shades and colors.

There is Plato, Socrates, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristotle, Plutarch, Alexander, Leonidas and the Thermopylae. Continue reading →

Posted in Amusing Shakespeare, Best Shakespeare Quotes, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Polite Insult, Psychological Shakespeare, Shakespeare in Politics, Shakespeare on Education, Shakespeare on Mass Psychology and Group Behavior | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Much Ado About Tsipras

Unofficial Charleston

Posted on June 24, 2015 by jimmie

columbia statehouse & the charleston murdersA man’s life is no more than to say “one”

(Hamlet, act 5, sc. 2)

 

Given the massive media coverage, to further expostulate on the Charleston murders, why day is day, night is night and time is time, were nothing but to waste night, day and time, to borrow from Polonius.

Call for indignation? Yes, with some reservations, lest, unawares, indignation becomes an indirect instrument to set the conscience at rest. Continue reading →

Posted in Best Shakespeare Quotes, Elegant Shakespearean Quotes, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Presentation Ideas, Psychological Shakespeare, Sayings about Life | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Unofficial Charleston

Early Elections, Bush or Clinton?

Posted on June 15, 2015 by jimmie

Pensive silhouette, to illustrate perplexity about whom to vote & Shakespeare's lines, I would with such perfection govern, sir, To excel the golden age“I would with such perfection govern, sir,
To excel the golden age”

The Tempest, act 2, sc. 1

I finished my coffee, closed my book, paid my bill and got up to leave. When the unknown man at the next table – whom I will henceforth called UM – said to me, “May I ask you a question? You are a frequent customer here. I observed that you read slowly, mark your books, often stop to seemingly reflect… In my view, you qualify as a free thinker, and therefore a free spirit. So may I ask you, whom will you vote for in the next elections? Bush or Clinton? I am sure you agree, elections Continue reading →

Posted in After Dinner Quotes, Amusing Shakespeare, Best Shakespeare Quotes, Elegant Shakespearean Quotes, Shakespeare and Politics, Shakespeare in Politics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Early Elections, Bush or Clinton?

FBI’s Football Fever

Posted on June 12, 2015 by jimmie

A football or soccer ball to illustrate a Shakespeare quote, “I have some sport in hand Wherein your cunning can assist me much.”“I have some sport in hand
Wherein your cunning can assist me much.”

Taming of the Shrew (act 1, sc. 1)

 

After the media’s fitful fever (1), the business of FIFA, the corruption of the corruptible, the FBI’s arrest of the corrupt, the theories of conspiracies, the election of FIFA’s president and his subsequent resignation – all this has already sunk into the swallowing gulf of blind forgetfulness and dark oblivion (2). Continue reading →

Posted in After Dinner Quotes, Amusing Shakespeare, Elegant Shakespearean Quotes, Presentation Ideas | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on FBI’s Football Fever