“… woe upon ye,(King Henry VIII, act 3, sc. 1)
In the distant 1940 Bertrand Russell wrote, “Academic freedom in this country is threatened from two sources: the plutocracy and the churches, which endeavor between them to establish an economic and a theological censorship'”
73 years later the strength of the plutocracy Continue reading
“I think our country sinks beneath the yoke;Macbeth, act 4, sc. 3
For the unfamiliar Eric Holder is the US attorney general – he too partakes of the “niggerization of the plantation” to use Cornel West’s colorful expression. Meaning the trickery and the treachery of appointing a few African Americans in the administration. And this to give the illusion of change while hiding the functional apartheid affecting the overwhelming majority of the others.
The said Holder has dispatched an epistle to Russia “requesting” the delivery Continue reading
“… like oneHypocrisy is a flattering tribute to power. Occasionally political power must pretend to take into account the other power from which (theoretically) draws its source. Hypocrisy is enshrined, for example, in the ample collection of superstitions of nationalism, duty to one’s state, allegiance to the flag etc.
Yet, sometimes hypocrisy reaches unexpected and noteworthy heights. Continue reading
“To solemnize this day, the glorious sun(King John, act 3, sc. 1)
Comment. When a man becomes a myth to say anything un-mythical partakes of the sacrilegious – even if the dissonance from the crowd does not imply the impugning or the destruction of the myth itself.
Nelson Mandela has already been beatified Continue reading
“…And now remainsHamlet, act 2, sc. 2
Comment. There is a curious connection or analogy between the election of Obama as President and the outcome of the Zimmerman-Trayvon trial. The establishment has used both to change the subject. The ‘establishment’ means, of course, the corporate media, the Washington political machinery, the academic sycophants and the usual pundits. And regrettably, in the Zimmerman case, also the NAACP (for our international visitors the National Association for the Advancement of People of Color). Continue reading
“The seeming truth which cunning times put on(Merchant of Venice, act 3, sc. 2)
Comment. Watching a Senate confirmation hearing is a trying experience. Not because of the confirmation per se, but due to the abyss separating appearance from reality. Especially in the recent instance – the appointment of the director of the FBI. Continue reading
“…but you are all recreants and dastards, and delight to live in slavery to the nobility” King Henry VI, part 2, act 4, sc. 8
Comment. The kidnapping of the aircraft of the President of Bolivia in concerted action by some European countries has an ominous significance and a range of clear implications. Continue reading
“While you here do snoring lie,(Tempest, act 2, sc. 2)
Comment. It is universal knowledge that, in the 1600, the Vatican Inquisition condemned Galileo for stating that the earth goes around the sun rather than vice versa. Which, if only earth and sun had been involved, may have been debatable. In the realm of relative motion in space, who can positively say who runs around whom? Continue reading
“Treason and murder ever kept together,(King Henry V, act 2, sc. 2)
Comment. Rarely an episode shows the symbolic meaning of things and the current patterns of society as the recent developments arising from Edward Snowden’s revelations. Revelations about the immense spying operation by the US Government on US citizens and on the world at large.
After Snowden exposed the Obama administration’s worldwide surveillance program the political establishment and the corporate media have run a bi-partisan, non-stop campaign Continue reading
“O, for a horse with wings!” (Cymbeline, act 3, sc. 2)
Comment. If avarice were not the blindest of human passions, the motives of the topic and egregiously Christian pastor in Texas might excite our curiosity. That avarice seems to prevail in his Christian mind over other Christian sentiments will be shortly documented.
On the other hand, there is a signal propensity for the odd to come out of Texas, from the paradoxical, to the hyperbolical to the absurd to the criminal.
More in general, things that are grossly out of proportion either with logic, common sense or even emotions.
A few examples. Continue reading