“Undoing all, as all had never been!” (King Henry VI, part 2, act 1, sc. 1)
Comment. And so it has come to this, after the ‘war on drugs’ and the ‘war on terror’ we have the ‘war on Social Security’ and the ‘war on Medicare’.
For the many (thank you) international friends of this website, Social Security is a state-sponsored, but employee-paid, retirement system. An employee is obliged Continue reading
“Thou know’st ‘tis common – all that lives must die,(Hamlet, act 1, sc. 2)
Comment. That Margaret Thatcher would make as much noise with her death as with her life was expected and inevitable – inevitable as the cycle of life in Queen Gertrude’s words to Hamlet.
Thatcher imposed a new mode of thought on British society and in history books will remain a socially divisive figure. Continue reading
“Faith, there have been many great men that have flattered the people, who never loved them; and there be many that have loved, they know not wherefore; so that, if they love they know not why, they hate upon no better a ground.”(Coriolanus, act 2, sc.2)
Comment. As a means to influence society free speech means little or nothing, if that speech remains unheard. Or rather, given the post-orwellian power of propaganda, free speech is almost irrelevant. Simply because the only speech heard is what the power-elite wants the rest to hear, via the boom-box of monopolized corporate media.
The job of media is not to inform, but to misinform and to divert public attention Continue reading
“…our very eyes(Cymbeline, act 4, sc. 1)
Comment. By not acknowledging a problem we cannot fix it and as long as it remains invisible it will remain insoluble. In the instance, overpopulation is visible and its effects disastrous, but for reasons due to the sum-total of collective blindness (as per quote), the problem remains unacknowledged and unseen.
Furthermore, overpopulation is, paradoxically, a phenomenon where the extremes of the ideological left and of the right (religious or otherwise) coincide. For the right more people represent an inexhaustible pool of cheap labor. Eventually (and it is already happening), they will already be happy to work for bread like the “rude mechanicals, that work for bread upon the Athenian walls” in Midsummer Night’s Dream. Continue reading
“How use doth breed a habit in a man!”(Two Gentlemen from Verona, act 5, sc. 4)
Comment. Now that this year’s Easter is past, here is some related or, if you like, remarkably useless information.
To begin with, the strong though invisible chain of habit (as per this article’s quote) leads most of us to overlook things we take for granted – and the habit is further strengthened by the “inaudible and noiseless foot of time”.
For example, we all know what Easter is. And it is already an inconsequential complication that the festivity is called “Easter” in the Anglo-saxon languages and Continue reading
“…she that sets seeds and roots of shame and iniquity”(Pericles, act 4, sc. 6)
Comment. The appellation, let alone the profession of moralist is historically suspect. Who has the qualifications or the right to dictate moral canons to others? For this reason morality is inevitably intertwined with theological opinions – opinions that, supposedly coming from ‘God’, are beyond questioning.
Even so, moral-theological opinions cannot easily be preserved without the artificial help of priests, temples and sacred texts. Disregarding that often religious moralists censure with asperity what they practice with impunity. Continue reading
“A good sherris-sack hath a two fold operation in it. It ascends me into the brain; dries me there all the crude, dull and foolish vapours which environ it: makes it apprehensive, quick, forgetive, full of quick, nimble, fiery and delectable shapes; which deliver’d over to the voice (the tongue) which is the birth, becomes excellent wit….”… to be continued, King Henry IV part 2, act 2, sc. 3
Comment. Tradition and historical records show that wine was the first medicine officially declared as such. Wine-making depictions appear in an Egyptian tomb dating about 4000 BC. Furthermore, the ancients attributed supernatural powers to wine. That wine caused a form of frenzy Continue reading
“I might not this believe(Hamlet, act 1, sc. 1)
Comment. The video (link following comment) speaks by itself. It is posted here because there are still some who believe that the US administration and governments are the mirrors of democracy and staunch defenders and implementers of human rights.
Apologies for the language in the video. Continue reading
“… that is the question,(Hamlet, act 3, sc. 1)
Comment. Yes, indeed, is it nobler in the mind to be deaf and blind towards criminals in power, or to take arms against unspeakable crimes against humanity and by opposing (at least try to) end them? The answer would seem obvious, especially if he or they who must decide are the appointed or self-appointed prime minister and ministers of God, respectively.
Instead the answer is anything but obvious Continue reading
“To die by thee, were but to die in jest;(King Henry VI, part 2, sct 3, sc. 2)
Comment. In the beginning there was the word. Less widely perceived is the importance of how the word is used at the beginning. Here is an example and we should inform our international visitors that what in most country is called ‘medicine’ in the USA is called ‘health care’. And the practice of medicine is called the ‘health-care industry’. There are some who may argue that medicine and health-care are synonyms. If so why “health-care industry” and not “medicine industry”? You probably know the answer. Continue reading