Shakespeare on the Pope Blessing the CIA Director

Posted on January 20, 2013 by jimmie

beyond thought, Thank you for helping to keep the world safe“’Tis too much proved – that with devotion’s visage
And pious action we do sugar o’er
The devil himself.”

 (Hamlet, act 3, sc. 1)

Comments. If the director of the CIA, Leon Panetta, can get a blessing from the Pope, it is high time to dial up Milton and from his Paradise Lost call up Lucifer suggesting an equivalent undertaking. Of course, it is entirely possible that the Pope had not been informed of drone strikes, mass killings at weddings, at funerals, at markets and other venues. Nor of the 1.3 million victims in Iraq. Plus torture, targeted killings Continue reading →

Posted in After Dinner Quotes, Best Shakespeare Quotes, Elegant Shakespearean Quotes, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Presentation Ideas, Sayings about Life, Shakespeare in Management, Shakespeare in Politics, Shakespeare Invocations, Shakespeare on Mass Psychology and Group Behavior, Social Exchanges Shakespeare style | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Shakespeare on the Pope Blessing the CIA Director

Shakespeare on King who had a dream and Obama who has a drone

Posted on January 18, 2013 by jimmie

I have heard too much; for your words and performance are no kin togetherIAGO. Will you hear me Roderigo?
RODERIGO. Faith, I have heard too much; for your words and performance are no kin together.

(Othello, act 4, sc. 3)

Martin Luther King is a cultural icon who, these days, must be used sparingly by the apparatkit. Obama did not mention him in the original inauguration speech. It will be interesting to see how stretched will shortly be the connection – given that the inauguration this time coincides with King’s national holiday.
King is a national figure who, in the current cultural-political climate, Continue reading →

Posted in Best Shakespeare Quotes, Chances Quotes, Elegant Shakespearean Quotes, Fighting your Adversary, Insults Shakespeare-style, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Presentation Ideas, Shakespeare in Management, Shakespeare in Politics, Social Exchanges Shakespeare style | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Shakespeare and the Hounding to Death of a Noble Heart

Posted on January 15, 2013 by jimmie

Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest“Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince:
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!”

 (Hamlet, act 5 sc. 2)

Aaron Swartz, Internet pioneer, crusader for open access and a social justice activist, took his life last week in Brooklyn, NY. He was 26 and the victim of a malicious and vindictive prosecution by federal authorities.
In July 2011, Swartz was indicted on federal charges Continue reading →

Posted in Best Shakespeare Quotes, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Shakespeare in Politics, Shakespeare Invocations, Social Exchanges Shakespeare style | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Shakespeare on Saudi-Arabian Style Executions

Posted on January 12, 2013 by jimmie

Richard III pre-sentences Lord Hastings to deathBUCKINGHAM
Now, my lord, what shall we do, if we perceive
Lord Hastings will not yield to our complots?
GLOUCESTER
Chop off his head, man; somewhat we will do…

(King Richard III, act 3, sc. 1)

Last Wednesday, Saudi Arabian authorities beheaded a 24-year-old Sri Lankan housemaid by the name of Rizana Nafeek. Nafeek had been convicted of murdering her employer’s infant child (when she was 17) though she denied the charge.
The execution shows two things. One, the type of “democracy” that the US supports Continue reading →

Posted in Best Shakespeare Quotes, Chances Quotes, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Presentation Ideas, Sayings about Life, Shakespeare in Management, Shakespeare in Politics, Social Exchanges Shakespeare style | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Shakespeare on Saudi-Arabian Style Executions

Shakespeare on Anger and Rampant Injustice

Posted on January 10, 2013 by jimmie

My tongue will tell the anger of my heart, or else my heart concealing it will break“My tongue will tell the anger of my heart,
Or else my heart concealing it will break.”

(Taming of the Shrew, act 4, sc. 3)

Few people know about Lynne Stewart, as the corporate media is adroitly quiet about such scandals, while busy to publicize sex gossip and to advertise horror shows, pills and junk food.
The matter about Lynne Stewart is so incredible that, if in doubt, I suggest the reader to find the person on Wikipedia to verify the facts. Lynne Stewart is a 74 year old attorney who has spent her life defending civil right cases and others where the defendants Continue reading →

Posted in Best Shakespeare Quotes, Fighting your Adversary, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Presentation Ideas, Shakespeare in Politics, Shakespeare Invocations, Social Exchanges Shakespeare style | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Shakespeare, Heavenly Shows & the Presidential Inauguration

Posted on January 8, 2013 by jimmie

devil2“When devils will the blackest sins put on,
They do tempt at first with heavenly shows,
As I do now.”

(Othello act 2, sc. 3)

The topic “heavenly show” referred to in this entry is the President’s Inauguration Phantasmagoria shortly to be broadcast on your corporate television screens.
What is new this year is that corporate sponsors are paying for Obama’s second inauguration. Which, some may say, saves taxpayers’ money, were it not that the payment Continue reading →

Posted in After Dinner Quotes, Best Shakespeare Quotes, Chances Quotes, Elegant Shakespearean Quotes, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Presentation Ideas, Sayings about Life, Shakespeare in Politics, Shakespeare on Mass Psychology and Group Behavior, Social Exchanges Shakespeare style | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Shakespeare, Heavenly Shows & the Presidential Inauguration

Shakespeare on the Afghans’ Point of View

Posted on January 6, 2013 by jimmie

In time we hate that which we often fear“In time we hate that which we often fear. ”

(Antony and Cleopatra, act 1, sc. 3)

The news from the corporate media is such that, should they declare that today Jan 6, 2013 is Sunday, it is advisable to check for yourself that it is really so. It follows that many (or rather that part of the population more addicted to thought) have given up on following the customary news sources.
Therefore, you may remember that 2014 is the deadline to end “NATO” operations in Afghanistan (the quotes underscore the Orwellian fig-leaf to avoid saying “US”).
Which means that the administration Continue reading →

Posted in After Dinner Quotes, Best Shakespeare Quotes, Chances Quotes, Elegant Shakespearean Quotes, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Presentation Ideas, Sayings about Life, Shakespeare in Management, Shakespeare in Politics, Shakespeare on Mass Psychology and Group Behavior, Social Exchanges Shakespeare style | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Shakespeare on the Afghans’ Point of View

Shakespeare on the Bleak Future of the Middle Class

Posted on January 3, 2013 by jimmie

The blood weeps from my heart when I do shape In forms imaginary the unguided days And rotten times that you shall look upon“The blood weeps from my heart when I do shape
In forms imaginary the unguided days
And rotten times that you shall look upon
When I am sleeping with my ancestors”

(King Henry IV part 2, act 4, sc. 4)

Comments. At the end of these comments I will post a link to a video that, surprisingly comes, or is said to come, from North Korea (!). The first minute or so is filled with the usual flamboyant and complimentary greetings to the heavenly leader (or words to that effect). But the rest is an eye-opening, or rather an eye-confirming experience on what America is today (and the western and westernized world at large is).
As a follow up to a previous entry (Dec 29) remembering the massacre of Wounded Knee (Murder most foul, as in the best it is, but this most foul, strange and unnatural), Continue reading →

Posted in Best Shakespeare Quotes, Elegant Shakespearean Quotes, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Presentation Ideas, Shakespeare in Management, Shakespeare in Politics, Shakespeare Invocations, Social Exchanges Shakespeare style | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Shakespeare on the Bleak Future of the Middle Class

Shakespeare, the New Year and the Power of Hope

Posted on December 31, 2012 by jimmie

True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings: Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings“True hope is swift, and flies with swallow’s wings:
Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings.”

 (King Richard III, act 5, sc. 2)

Comments. True, we only have to look at the news and we see things that leave us astonished, even though most of us are inured to the limitless possibility of wickedness by men and institutions. And those men are particularly wicked who hide their disgusting wickedness in the shadow of institutions, so as to escape the justice and the vengeance of those they hurt or the family of those whom they kill.
But what would be the world without hope? The Romans Continue reading →

Posted in After Dinner Quotes, Best Shakespeare Quotes, Chances Quotes, Elegant Shakespearean Quotes, Encouraging Quotes, Motivational Sayings, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Presentation Ideas, Sayings about Life, Shakespeare Invocations, Social Exchanges Shakespeare style | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Shakespeare, the New Year and the Power of Hope

Shakespeare, Murder, Anniversary of Wounded Knee, Freedom and Democracy

Posted on December 29, 2012 by jimmie

murder most foul as in the best it is, but this most foul, strange and unnatural“Murder most foul, as in the best it is;
But this most foul, strange and unnatural”

(Hamlet, act 1, sc. 5)

Comments. Dec 29 is the 122nd anniversary of the Massacre of Wounded Knee. The story has not been forgotten among what remains of the American Indians. It is interesting to read what the then Indian Commissioner Morgan wrote prior to the massacre, “The Indians must conform to “the white man’s ways,” peaceably if they will, forcibly if they must. They must adjust themselves to their environment, and conform their mode of living substantially to our civilization. This civilization may not be the best possible, but it is the best the Indians can get. They cannot escape it, and must either conform to it or be crushed by it. Continue reading →

Posted in Best Shakespeare Quotes, Fighting your Adversary, Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations, Shakespeare Invocations, Shakespeare on Mass Psychology and Group Behavior | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Shakespeare, Murder, Anniversary of Wounded Knee, Freedom and Democracy