Shakespeare in the Age of Twitter

Language, we are told, is fluid, and constantly evolving - and not always for the better.  To illustrate my point, I have taken Shakespeare's famous "To Be or Not to Be" soliloquy from Hamlet and modernized it using current speech patterns.  I have also reduced the speech to 140 characters (including spaces), the limit allowed on Twitter.

So, with apologies to The Bard himself and to Sir Laurence Olivier (who must be rolling over in their graves), Number 16 presents the Twitter version of Hamlet's existential ruminations - and yes, I have carefully checked the number of characters.  The total is exactly 140.

2B or not 2B: Totally the? Nobler to suffer or die & by dying to, like, sleep 4ever. Wish to end it but fear unknown. No1 returns from dead.

You see, it can be done.  By the way, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark was written about 1599 to 1601 and published in quarto edition in 1603.

- Joanne

Opposing the Quebec Charter of Values is NOT Quebec-bashing!

Quebec Preimier Pauline Marois

Nationalism is an infantile disease.  It is the measles of mankind.

- Albert Einstein

Not surprisingly, the Parti Quebecois government  is using its proposed Charter of Values to drive a wedge between French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians.  Many anglophone Canadians, such as myself, oppose this proposed charter not because we are anti-Quebec but because of some very sound reasons. Unfortunately, ultra-nationalist Quebeccers and the PQ are doing everything in their power to use this issue to whip up unrest and resentment between anglophones and francophones.  It's a very clever ploy and they are taking full advantage of it.

To criticize a policy of the Quebec government is not to demean or defame the people of Quebec. Neither is it interfering in the affairs of Quebec.  As an Ontarian, I would certainly not feel offended if Quebeckers criticized a policy of the Ontario government.

So what is so wrong about the charter?  First and foremost, the Quebec Charter of Values goes against the spirit of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  All Canadians have a right to freedom of religion in this country.  That freedom is severely restricted if religious symbols and head coverings can not be worn while working in the public sector.

In his column in the August 31, 2013 issue of Maclean's magazine, Colby Cosh bemoans the lack of English language writers who have defended Pauline Marois's policy.  Cosh then sets about defending the policy himself.  He proclaims that it is "just plain goofy to argue that a state cannot devise rules for the dress, the conduct, or the speech of its workers, and particularly of those workers who have responsibilities for education or advice, as teachers, daycare workers and nurses do."

Cosh does agree with me in one respect.  He admits that the true purpose of putting forth the proposal of a Charter of Values is "to invite the kind of outrage that English Canadian opinion leaders and federalist sages in Quebec have hastened to display."  In this case, however, the outrage is warranted.  (By the way, I strongly object to the term "English Canadian" in reference to all anglophone Canadians.  The term should only be used to describe those of English descent. All others are English-speaking Canadians).

Former Quebec premier Bernard Landry recently predicted that one day Canada will "deeply regret" embracing its policy of multiculturalism and proclaimed that three is no room for it in Quebec.  He also castigated the English language press for its coverage of the Parti Quebecois' minorities charter.  “Quebec is multiethnic, but not multicultural,” Landry proclaimed in an interview on Global TV's The West Block with Tom Clark.

Bernard Landry

                                   http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/deed.en

Well, given the Parti Quebecois' record, that's not very reassuring.  Remember the night when former PQ premier Jacques Parizeau blamed the pro-sovereignty camp's narrow loss in the October 1995 referendum on "money and the ethnic vote."  The PQ was unmasked when a bitter Parizeau stepped onto the stage at the Montreal Convention Centre and spoke those words.  Its narrow-mindedness and xenophobia was clearly revealed.  Parizeau resigned as premier the next day and his chief aide, Jean-Francois Lisée, later admitted to the CBC that he realized they were in trouble when he heard Parizeau use the French word "nous" ("we" or "us") to refer to native francophones only.

As for Bernard Landry, an August 28, 2013  letter to the editor of the Montreal Gazette, did a very good job of attacking his argument against multiculturalism.  In his letter, Gerald Silverman of Côte-St-Luc, Quecbec, made the following comments.

If Mr. Bernard Landry wants to delude his fellow Quebecers who have never visited New York City or Chicago, about his vision of their values, he should really get his facts straight.
NYC has officers wearing kippahs and others who wear Sikh head coverings. Their municipal offices are full of U.S. citizens of all persuasions, including South Asian women whose makeup includes traditional markings on their foreheads.

Mr. Landry wants us to behave in the manner of several countries of the world who display a constant disrespect for diversity and traditions other than their own. Personally, I would rather align our behaviour with countries like the U.S., Britain, Israel, Germany and many others who are confident enough in their heritage and customs that they allow their citizens and even their employees in the public sector to respectfully keep to their heritage and religious obligations while performing their duties.

One of the most outspoken critics of the proposed Quebec charter has been Calgary's popular mayor, Naheed Nenshi.  Nenshi stated, "What we’re looking at under this charter of secularism is intolerance. Plain and simple. We’re not talking about government neutrality. We’re actually physically saying to some children that because of the faith that you and your family follow, there are some jobs that you’re not eligible for.”

Naheed Nenshi

Nenshi is exactly right.  The proposed Charter of Quebec Values, would create thousands of second class citizens in the province of Quebec.  Many religious groups would feel excluded from jobs in the public sector.  Immigrants choosing to live in Quebec would feel unwelcome and undervalued.  Enforcing this charter is going to be complicated.  How is it going to be policed and how much is it going to cost to police it?

For example, the charter seeks to ban public service employees from wearing "ostentatious" crosses or crucifixes.  Who is going to decide whether a cross is "ostentatious?"  Will someone measure it to see if exceeds a specific size?  Will it be weighed on a scale to determine how heavy it is?

The introduction of the Quebec Charter of Values would ensure that an Orthodox Jew, a Muslim woman wearing a hijab or a male Sikh in a turban would not be able to be able to work in the private sector or sit in the Quebec National Assembly.  It's a policy of exclusion, pure and simple.

The issue is not about Quebec-bashing.  It's about injustice.  As Nenshi put it, "“I do think we have to use whatever podiums we’ve been given, whatever voice we have, to speak out against injustice."  The young, dynamic municipal leader did not mince words.  He described the PQ's charter as "social suicide."

Bernard Landry claims that Quebec welcomes immigrants but wants them to integrate.  I too believe that immigrants should integrate but I also believe that they should not be required to hide their heritage and their religious faith.  The government of Quebec is really advocating a policy of assimilation, not integration. It's a policy that goes against Canada's reputation as an enlightened country.  This is a nation that opens its doors to law-abiding people of all background and all religions.  It is not a nation that closes doors.  This is a nation that has benefited immensely from the contribution of people of all faiths.

For the record, I love Quebec and the people of the province.  I strongly oppose a particular policy of the government of Quebec, a policy based on the politics of fear.  Quebecers deserve better than to be  manipulated for political purposes.  All Canadians deserve better than the politics of division.

- Joanne

Labour Day and the dignity of work

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

“No work is insignificant. All labour that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr.


Today is the first Monday in September and it is Labour Day in Canada and the United States.  As Dr. King so eloquently pointed out, labour has dignity and it should be valued.  This is a day to reflect upon the significance of all workers, whether they be young or middle-aged, male or female, blue collar or white collar.  It is a time to consider how important work is to the health and welfare of our society.  If you have the day off today (not everyone does), enjoy yourself and relax.  You have earned your day of rest.

On this day, however, let us not forget the millions of unemployed around the world.  Readers, I implore you to think about those who earnestly seek work and cannot find it.  I especially urge you to think about those who have been laid off from a job after many years with same employer. They are not just numbers or names on a piece of paper.  The bean counters must be reminded that they are human beings with families and some of them find themselves unemployed at an older age.

Let us seek to provide employment for our youth.  They are our hope and our future and they need jobs with decent wages and decent pensions.  Canada, the United States and other developed countries are rich with resources and opportunities. Our leaders should place more emphasis on creating jobs than fighting deficits. Jobs  are the greater priority and jobs are needed now.  Of course, taxpayer's money should be spent responsibly.  Spending it to create jobs, however, is not wasteful.  It is necessary and beneficial.

A man willing to work, and unable to find work, is perhaps the saddest sight that fortune's inequality exhibits under this sun.

- Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), Scottish philosopher and writer
From Chartism [1839]

Thomas Carlyle

Let us also remember today the shameful exploitation of workers in sweat shops all over the world for the lowest wages imaginable and in the worst conditions imaginable.  Let us not forget the children who are forced to work long hours in hazardous surroundings.

Here are some grim facts from UNICEF, the International Labour Organization and CRIN (The Child Rights International Network.

• One in six children 5 to 14 years old — about 16 percent of all children in this age group — is involved in child labour in developing countries.
• In the least developed countries, 30 percent of all children are engaged in child labour.
• Worldwide, 126 million children work in hazardous conditions, often enduring beatings, humiliation and sexual violence by their employers.
• An estimated 1.2 million children — both boys and girls — are trafficked each year into exploitative work in agriculture, mining, factories, armed conflict or commercial sex work.
• The highest proportion of child labourers is in sub-Saharan Africa, where 26 percent of children (49 million) are involved in work.

Here are some other points to ponder this Labour Day.

Labour is prior to and independent of capital.  Capital is only the fruit of labour, and could never have existed if labour had not first existed.  Labour is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.  

- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), 16th President of the United States

State of the Union Address, December 3, 1861

Abraham Lincoln

Who built Thebes of the seven gates?  In the books you will find the names of kings.
Did the kings haul up the lumps of rocks? . . .

Where, the evening that the wall of China finished
Did the masons go?

- Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), German playwright
From Questions From A Worker Who Reads [1935]

Bertolt Brecht
Attribution: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-W0409-300 / Kolbe, Jörg / CC-BY-SA

Work is love made visible.

- Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), Syrian writer and artist  

From The Prophet [1923]

Kahlil Gibran

The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.

- Arnold J. Toynbee (1889-1975), British historian

Arnold Toynbee

HAPPY LABOUR DAY!


- Joanne

Boy, were they wrong!: Some really bad predictions

Bad Predictions

After compiling a list of some of the world's worst predictions for Number 16, I realize why the expression "Never say never." came about.  Here is a list of some really bad predictions and bad decisions.

Rugged Hollywood leading man Gary Cooper turned down the role of Rhett Butler in the epic 1939 film version of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind.  Cooper was quoted as saying that the film was going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history and that he was glad it would be Clark Gable falling flat on his nose rather than himself.

Gary Cooper

Here is how the New Georgia Encyclopedia describes the success of the motion picture Gone with the Wind.

 It remains one of the most popular and commercially successful films ever made. Its main theme, from the Max Steiner score, is recognized throughout the world. In its use of color, scene design, and cinematography, it set new standards. The film won eight Academy Awards, more than any film up to that time.

Note: Although Clark Gable was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Rhett Butler, English actor Robert Donat won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Goodbye, Mr. Chips.

One should be particular cautious in making predictions involving technology.  Thomas J. Watson, Chairman and CEO of International Business Machines (IBM) from 1914-1956, has been mistakenly quoted as saying, ""I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."  Although this quote, often dated to 1943, has been falsely attributed to Watson, it is most likely a corruption of a comment by Howard H. Aiken, a pioneer in the field of computer science.  Aiken, an American, once remarked that four of five computers could meet all of the United Kingdom's computer needs.

Thomas J. Watson, Sr.

Howard Aiken

Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones turned 70 years old on July 26, 2013.  On June 9, 1975, when Jagger was 31, People magazine published an article entitled "The Jaggers" which included the following statement about the singer's future.

Jagger and the Stones have endured at the top longer than any other rock band, but as for the future, Jagger admits that it could all suddenly end. “I only meant to do it for two years. I guess the band would just disperse one day and say goodbye. I would continue to write and sing, but I’d rather be dead than sing Satisfaction when I’m 45.”

Jagger, the septuagenarian, is still rockin' and still singing about getting no satisfaction.

Mick Jagger

The great Fred Astaire, who died on June 22, 1987 at the age of 88, was one of the most accomplished dancers of all time. When Astaire did a screen test, however, the studio executive evaluated his talent with these words.

"Can't sing. Can't act. Slightly balding. Can dance a little."

That's a little off the mark, don't you think?

Fred Astaire in action

Margaret Thatcher, who died on April 8, 2013 at the age of 87, was the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century and remains the only woman to have held that office.  In 1969, upon her appointment as Shadow Education Spokeman, Thatcher gave an interview to the Sunday Telegraph of London (October 26, 1969).  In the interview, she made the following prediction.

No woman in my time will be Prime Minister or Chancellor or Foreign Secretary - not the top jobs. Anyway I wouldn't want to be Prime Minister. You have to give yourself 100%.

In 1975, Mrs. Thatcher defeated Edward Heath in the election for the leadership of the Britain's Conservative Party, becoming Leader of the Opposition and the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom.  The Conservatives won the general election of 1979 and Thatcher was sworn in as Britain's first female Prime Minister on March 4, 1979.  She held that office, an office she had once claimed she didn't want, until November 28, 1990.

Margaret Thatcher

A mere three days before the devastating stock market crash in October 1929, prominent Yale University economist Irving Fisher declared, "Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."  That Wall Steet crash, of course, ushered in the Great Depression and untold misery.  Fisher, one of the earliest American neo-classical economists, later attributed the Depression to debt deflation or falling prices (the theory that recessions and depressions are caused by a combination of increasing debt and over-spending). Irving Fisher died on April 29, 1947 in New York City.  He was 80 at the time of his passing.  The late conservative economist Milton Friedman (1912-2006) praised Fisher's theories.

Irving Fisher

On New Year's Day, 1962, The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records at their studios in West Hamstead, north London, England (Pete Best, the group's drummer at the time of the audition, was replaced by Ringo Starr in August of that same year).  A Decca executive, Dick Rowe, rejected the four lads from Liverpool, telling their manager, Brian Epstein, that the group had no future.  He said that four-piece groups, especially with guitars, were on the way out.  Decca decided to turn down the Beatles in favour of Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, another British group based in London.  The Beatles eventually signed with Capitol Records and the rest is history.

Rowe later said that both groups were good but Decca decided to sign Poole and the Tremeloes because they were a local group while The Beatles were based in Liverpool.  According to Rowe, Decca felt it was more convenient to choose the local group.

The Beatles in 1962 with Pete Best (at front of line)

Here's a bad prediction that really resonates with Canadians.  When the city of Montreal won the right to host the 1976 Summer Olympics, Mayor Jean Drapeau proclaimed that "the Montreal Olympics can no more have a deficit than a man can have a baby."  Drapeau remained mayor until 1986 but those words haunted him until his death on August 12, 1999.  It wasn't until November of 2006. some 30 years after the event was held, that the cost of the Olympic Stadium (the Big O) , known derisively as the "Big Owe," was paid off.  The final tally for the stadium and the structures in the Olympic Park was a whopping $1.47 billion

Jean Drapeau

- Joanne.

Charles Whitman and the 1966 Texas Tower shootings

1963 photo of Charles Whitman

By now, Americans are virtually unshockable.  When we hear the latest workplace shooting, the latest school shooting, the latest loner who snapped and took others with him to his final rest, we are saddened, certainly, but not shocked.  It has happened so often that we've long since lost count of the shooters and the victims, long since forgotten which towns bear the indelible marks of random violence.  So it is difficult for us to understand the horror which Americans were introduced by Charles Whitman on August 1, 1966 . . .  After August 1, 1966, things would never be the same.

- Marlee MacLeod
From "Charles Whitman: The Texas Bell Tower Sniper," The Crime Library website

47 years ago today, a deranged man murdered both wife and mother and then killed 17 people and wounded 32 others in the vicinity of the tower of the University of Texas at Austin.  The perpetrator of this heinous crime was 25-year-old Charles Joseph Whitman.  On the surface, Whitman appeared to be a model citizen,  He was a former altar boy, an Eagle Scout and an accomplished pianist.  How and why did such a person become a mass murderer?

Charles Whitman was born on June 24, 1941 in Lake Worth, Florida to a well-respected upper middle class family.  He was the eldest of the three sons of Margaret E. Whitman (nee Hodges) and Charles Adolphus "C.A." Whitman, a successful plumbing contractor.

Young Charles became familiar with guns at an early age.  His father, Charles Sr., was a gun enthusiast and firearms collector.  The elder Whitman was also an authoritarian figure who made extremely high demands on Charles and his younger brothers, Patrick and John.  He was known to be physically and psychologically abusive to his family.

In June of 1959, Charles' father beat him severely after the teenager had returned from a party drunk.  Soon after the beating, and just a month following his high school graduation, Whitman enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. without informing his father.  At the age of 18, he was sent on an 18-month tour of duty with at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. While serving at  Guantanamo Bay, Charles Whitman won a Good Conduct Medal and the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal.  He was also awarded a Sharpshooters Badge for his prowess on the shooting range.

During his tour of duty with the Marines, Charlie applied for a Naval Enlisted Science Education Program Scholarship to assist him in earning an engineering degree at a selected college. He was granted the scholarship and in September of 1961, he entered the mechanical engineering program at the University of Texas in Austin.  It was there that he met the woman who was to become his wife.

On August 17, 1962, Whitman married Kathleen Frances Leissner, another University of Texas student, in a wedding that was held in Kathy's hometown of Needville, Texas.  The Catholic ceremony was presided over by Father.Joseph Leduc, a friend of the family.

While a student at Austin, Charles Whitman got himself into some serious trouble.  He gambled, was arrested for poaching deer and received low grades.  Due to his poor academic performance, Whitman lost his scholarship.  As a result, in February of 1963, he was returned to active duty with the Marines.  This time, however, he was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

In November of 1963, while at Camp Lejeune, Charles Whitman was court-marshalled for unlawful gambling, usury, possession of a personal firearm on base and threatening a fellow Marine with regard to a $30 loan, for which he had demanded an exorbitant interest payment.  For his transgressions, Whitman was sentenced to 30 days of incarceration and 90 days of hard labour.  He was also demoted in rank from Lance Corporal to Private.  In December of 1964, he was discharged from the Marines after his father had used his influence to get his service time reduced.

In 1965, Charlie returned to the University of Texas, switched his major to architectural engineering and attempted to make up for his failings as a Marine.  Although he found employment as a bill collector for Standard Finance Company, his ego was bruised by the fact that his wife Kathy, a biology teacher at Lanier High School in Austin, earned a higher salary than he did.  Moreover, he was depressed about being financially dependent on his father.  Kathy encouraged him to get help for his depression.

Kathy Whitman

In the spring of 1966, Whitman's mother, Margaret, decided to separate from her abusive husband.  She left their Lake Worth, Florida home and moved into her own apartment in Austin to be near her eldest son.  Charles, although disturbed by his parents' separation, helped his mother move to the Lone Star State.   Meanwhile, C.A. Whitman repeatedly phoned his wife and begged her to return, but to no avail.

In addition to his parents' breakup, Charles was trying to keep up with the demands of a heavy academic workload and holding down a job.  After leaving his employment as a bill collector, he took another position as a teller at Austin National Bank.  By the summer of 1966, a sleep-deprived Whitman was keeping himself awake during classes and his job as a research assistant at the university by consuming the amphetamine Dexedrine.

It was a stressful time and Charles began experiencing severe headaches.  Concerned about the state of his mental heath, he finally took his wife's advice and spoke with a therapist at the university, Dr. Maurice Dean Heatly.  He told the psychiatrist that he had fantasized "about going up on the Tower with a deer rifle and shooting people."  Heatly noted that the young man was "oozing with hostility"and recommended that he come back for another session the following week. Whitman, however, failed to return for more therapy and the ticking time bomb within him exploded.during the early hours of August 1, 1966.

On the evening of July 31st, Charlie picked up his wife Kathy at her summer job as a switchboard operator.  He then drove to his 43-year-old mother's apartment and brutally chocked her and stabbed her to death.  When he returned home, he murdered his 23-year-old wife with the same weapon as she lay sleeping.  Armed with an arsenal of firearms, he headed to the University of Texas.  His position as a research assistant allowed him access to the tower building.

Whitman wheeled a Marine footlocker with weapons and provisions (binoculars, compass, flashlight, radio, gasoline etc.) on a dolly and rode the elevator to the 27th floor.  He dragged his equipment up three flights of stairs to the observation deck where he killed the observation deck receptionist and hid her body behind a sofa.  After murdering and wounding some people who tried to open the barricaded door to the observation deck office, the madman went out on the observation deck and turned his 6 mm Remington at random on the people on the ground below. The murderous rampage ended when Whitman was shot and killed by Austin Police Officer Houston McCoy.

What caused the burning rage within Charles Whitman?  Obviously, his resentment toward his father fuelled Whitman's anger, as did his frustration and low self-esteem.  An autopsy, however. revealed that Whitman had a glioblastoma, a type of bran tumour pressing against the parts of the brain thought to control strong emotions.  Some neurologists have suggested that the tumour led Whitman to commit mass murder.  Whatever Whitman's motives, whatever made him lose control, one thing is certain.  Innocence was lost forever that August day in Texas  in 1966.

- Joanne

An afternoon in Aci Castello, Sicily

Buon giorno

My travels continue.  I am now in Italy and I am staying in the ancient seaside city and commune of Aci Castello in Sicily.  Aci Castello is just north of Catania on the Mediterranean Sea.  The streets are narrow and the beach is rocky.  Not surprisingly, it's scorching hot here in Sicily.

The city was built around a castle which was constructed by the Normans circa 1076 (You can see it in the background of the photo above).  The castle is now a museum.  The beach is located in the borough of Aci Trezza.

Church of San Giovanni Battista

The Church of San Giovanni Battista, in Aci Trezza, holds a feast in honour of St. John the Baptist every June 24th.


Joanne

Travels in France: Saint Emilion and Cognac

Saint Emilion

Bonjour mes amis.  Greetings as I continue my sojourn through France.  I spent yesterday morning in the quaint wine-growing town of Saint.Emilion  Saint Emilion, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located 35 kilometres (21.7 miles) east of Bordeaux.  This village can only be described as a jewel.  Its history can be traced back to prehistoric times.  There are wonderful Romanesque churches and amazing ruins. Here are some photos I took.

COGNAC    
                                      
In the afternoon, I visited the town of Cognac and toured the medieval castle of Jean-Baptiste Antoine Otand. Baron Otand established a French cognac house in 1795 and the company has since remained in the hands of the same family since.

Chateau de Cognac is birthplace of King Francis I of France who was born there on September 12, 1494.  Cognac, of course, lends its name to a variety of brandy produced in the wine-growing region surrounding the town.

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A section of the castle served as a prison during wars.  The prisoners carved their names and various images on the on the limestone as you can  see in the photo below. 

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- Joanne