Category Archives: Philosophical, Psychological & Historical Considerations

Bertrand Russell complained about one of his grandmother’s preferred puns, “What is mind? Doesn’s matter. What is matter? Never mind.” And yet we, as a species, continuously attempt to fathom the mystery of the mind, with the help of philosophy, psychology and history. Shakespeare has given us much food for thought on all three, as well as music for those who love the music of words.

Italian Referendum

Posted on December 8, 2016 by jimmie

“Small choice in rotten apples” (Taming of the Screw 1.1) The Italians said “no” in the recent referendum. Its main objective was to reform the Italian Constitution, strengthen the authority of the government and reduce the power of the electorate at large to influence political outcomes. “ …and wonder greatly that man’s face can fold Read More

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Trump, Revolution in a Tea Cup

Posted on November 15, 2016 by jimmie

“Men judge by the complexion of the sky, the state and inclination of the day.” King Richard II The apparent enthusiasm for Trump’s success in the US presidential elections is an event historically recurrent and humanly understandable. The wonderful vignette by the Italian artist Vincenzo Apicella perfectly illustrates it. Even the famous horse, nominated senator Read More

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Self-Help and the War on Common Sense

Posted on October 26, 2016 by jimmie

“… I talk of dreams, which are the children of an idle brain, begot of nothing but vain fantasy, Which is as thin of substance as the air And more inconstant than the wind Romeo and Juliet, act 1, sc. 4 We know of the war on drugs, the war on terror, the war on Read More

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Burkini and Bikini

Posted on August 29, 2016 by jimmie

“Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy…” The debate about the admissibility of burkinis on European beaches has mostly spared the American audience. But the issue is sufficiently grotesque to deserve a few related notes.

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The Clintons’ War on Women

Posted on July 10, 2016 by jimmie

“I do condemn mine ears that have so long attended thee” (Cymbeline, act 1, sc. 6) This is an unpleasant blog to write and I apologize in advance for the language, to my twenty-five readers. As a mitigating factor, the unpleasant language is extracted verbatim from Roger Stone’s book titled “The Clinton’s War on Women.” Read More

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Shakespeare on Brexit

Posted on June 29, 2016 by jimmie

The championship of exaggerations is over and the first dust of time is settling on the Brexit referendum. In the circumstances, it may be somewhat amusing to evaluate the reactions rather than the results. Considering that opinions are formed in abysses of approximation, prejudgment and passion. Eventually a new fact is evaluated less for its Read More

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Orlando’s Horror

Posted on June 16, 2016 by jimmie

Twill vex thy soul to hear what I shall speak; for I must talk of murders… Titus Andronicus, act 5, sc. 1 I will not repeat comments and reflections on the Orlando massacre. Rather, I will follow an imaginary trail from the denouement to the origins of the horror – or I should say horrors, Read More

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Chicago Burning

Posted on June 9, 2016 by jimmie

“…a man’s life’s no more than to say ‘One.’ ” Hamlet, act V, sc. 1 During the recent Memorial Day week-end in Chicago, eight people were killed, and at least 57 more wounded. For somewhat  folkloristically funereal reasons, it is a tradition to count the murdered, the shot and the wounded  during this quintessential American Read More

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Spectacle, Ornaments and Marionettes

Posted on May 17, 2016 by jimmie

“Thus ornament is but the guiled shore To a most dangerous sea; the beauteous scarf Veiling an Indian beauty; in a word, The seeming truth which cunning times put on To entrap the wisest.” (Merchant of Venice, act 3, sc. 2) When I sat down in the coffee-shop, the conversation between the two clients at Read More

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Victory Day Memories

Posted on May 9, 2016 by jimmie

…memory, the warder of the brain, shall be a fume… Macbeth, act 1, sc. 7 Seventy-one years ago, May 9, 1945, was Victory Day. Nazi Germany officially signed the unconditional surrender to the Soviet Union. For Russia, WWII became the “great patriotic war”, celebrated each year, as you know, in Moscow’s Red Square. “Nothing ‘gainst Read More

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