Dizzy And Women
Disraeli’s attitude towards women was of a semi-platonic semi-amorous, half courtly and half familiar nature. At the end of his life he told Mathew Arnold:You have heard of me ,accused of being a flatterer. It is true.I am a flatterer.I have found it useful. Everyone likes flattery; and when you come to Royalty, you should lay it on with a trowel.”
In flattery also he equally showed his felicity. The queen was fond of him and let him treat her as equal. Once she presented him with her book ‘Leaves From The Journal Of Our Life In The Highlands.’ As Prime Minister one day talking of literature with her he referred thus, ’we, authors ma’m’
2.
The septuagenarian statesman fell in love with Lady Bedford with the same rashness that we associate among the youth, Lady Bedford was fifteen years his junior. Her name was Seline (Gk- moon) and he told her on one occasion, ”It is not the slice of the moon I want-I want all.”
He wrote her over a thousand letters at all sorts of times and places, sometimes twice or thrice a day that he admitted that his life was passed in trying to govern the country and thinking her.
3.
In the 30s Disraeli wrote, ”All my friends who married for love and beauty either beat their wives or live apart from them… I may commit many follies in life but I never intend to marry for love” In 1839 he married a widow Mrs Wyndham Lewis, a heiress and 12 years senior to him. By all counts the marriage proved to be a happy one. Later his wife remarked that ‘Dizzy married me for money, but if he had the chance again he would marry me for love.”
23.
In The House Of The Lords
The House of Lords was generally considered as the grave of eloquence. When someone remarked that Disraeli would find the Lords tame after the Commons, he replied,”I am dead;dead but in the Elysian fields.”
2.
A young peer once asked Disraeli what course of study he had best undertaken to qualify himself of speaking so as to catch the ear of the House of the Lords.
“Have you a graveyard near your house?” asked Dizzy.
“Yes.”
“Then I should recommend you to visit it earl of a morning and practise upon the tombstones”.
Final Days
Disraeli was already ill and as he corrected the proof of his final speech in Parliament,he said wearily, ”I’ll not go down to posterity talking bad grammar”.
As death drew near, Disraeli ravaged by gout and asthma,quipped, ‘ I have suffered much. Had I been a nihilist, I would have confessed all.’
24.
Disraeli and Whistler
So remarkable a man as Disraeli was many artists wanted to paint him. Whistler tried to make him sit for him and used the good office of the American ambassador. Yet Dizzy was not to be moved. Then one day the painter saw him seated at St.James Park lost in thought. Strangely enough Whistler felt shy and timidly introduced himself to the premier and spoke of the people both knew ,referred to his own work and at last said one great object of his life was to paint the most famous statesman of the age; not a sound or a sign from the somewhat sinister figure. At last the lips of the sphinx moved and he said,’Go away, little man, go away.”
Tuesday 30 September 2008
Sunday 28 September 2008
Chance vs Certainty
In my impressionable years one man who caught the attention of media was Dr. Albert Schweitzer of Lambarene.
The young Albert once got into a fight and knocked down his opponent. The boy told Albert that it would have ended differently had he been as well nourished as he was. It must have touched him deeply that later in the evening when he came to sup with the family he left his soup untouched. What the boy had said still rankled.
He was privileged while the other was underprivileged.
This revelation marked a definite break with his past and so did his sense of values. He became a caring person.
Even where he excelled in his intellectual achievements they were to be used in service of others. At 26 he had a triple Ph.D.
Whenever Dr. Schweitzer needed money during his stint in Africa he went on tour and gave concerts and talks. But what connects the son of a Lutheran pastor in upper Alsace to Congo?
As a child Albert had often wondered at a statue of a Negro, strong in body but head bowed and in chains. It made an impact on him. Of course the fight was the catalyst. It spurred him to refer to his memory, his past experience to take cues. (One cannot discount the role of chance. But what is chance to any one who is mindful of living with time distorted before him or her.) He knew Time was of the essence.
Against the reality of Time chance is a reminder to straighten out his or her attitude to time. Certainty is ‘chance’ set into right perspective.
2.
What made him decide to become a medical Missionary was due to a Paris Missionary society report, which he came across as if by chance. Thereupon he settled for Lambarene, in the heart of Africa. Where mind of man is colored by collective memory and of Time, chance must, so it seems to me, lose some of its mystery.
benny
The young Albert once got into a fight and knocked down his opponent. The boy told Albert that it would have ended differently had he been as well nourished as he was. It must have touched him deeply that later in the evening when he came to sup with the family he left his soup untouched. What the boy had said still rankled.
He was privileged while the other was underprivileged.
This revelation marked a definite break with his past and so did his sense of values. He became a caring person.
Even where he excelled in his intellectual achievements they were to be used in service of others. At 26 he had a triple Ph.D.
Whenever Dr. Schweitzer needed money during his stint in Africa he went on tour and gave concerts and talks. But what connects the son of a Lutheran pastor in upper Alsace to Congo?
As a child Albert had often wondered at a statue of a Negro, strong in body but head bowed and in chains. It made an impact on him. Of course the fight was the catalyst. It spurred him to refer to his memory, his past experience to take cues. (One cannot discount the role of chance. But what is chance to any one who is mindful of living with time distorted before him or her.) He knew Time was of the essence.
Against the reality of Time chance is a reminder to straighten out his or her attitude to time. Certainty is ‘chance’ set into right perspective.
2.
What made him decide to become a medical Missionary was due to a Paris Missionary society report, which he came across as if by chance. Thereupon he settled for Lambarene, in the heart of Africa. Where mind of man is colored by collective memory and of Time, chance must, so it seems to me, lose some of its mystery.
benny
Straightening Out Time
Time is of a vast scale and beyond our clear understanding. Nevertheless we walk the line or mark time here on the earth. Why would we then correct ourselves of mistakes we perceive them as unworthy of us if it were not so? Anyone who has some measure of self-esteem and respect for one’s true worth will strive to live in an exemplary manner. ‘When can I do better nothing less would suffice’. Time for us on the earth is to take us a notch higher day after day in moral terms as well as in our knowledge . Our mortal nature recognizes truth of nature ; but it is in context of Truth. We have a physical body but we have a soul: our soul is what we hold as Truth transcribed into human terms. Conscience is merely our recognition of it.
2.
St. Augustine led a dissolute life and he changed when he was convicted of such a life unworthy of him. Why would he want to do that when time is distorted for all? Yes we are finite beings and time runs for us in such a manner we tend to be distracted by superficials than by what is of our essence. For St. Augustine such a realization came from a chance hearing of verses from the Scriptures. His mother’s prayers that he would have heard often and the maternal concern for his soul resonated at the appropriate time to effect a change of ways.
Such changes work for so many in so many ways. I shall illustrate in another post how Albert Schweitzer found his way out.
Dr. Albert Schweitzer, St. Francis, Buddha and Gandhi for example learned to straighten out time from distorting their life’s work.
Benny
2.
St. Augustine led a dissolute life and he changed when he was convicted of such a life unworthy of him. Why would he want to do that when time is distorted for all? Yes we are finite beings and time runs for us in such a manner we tend to be distracted by superficials than by what is of our essence. For St. Augustine such a realization came from a chance hearing of verses from the Scriptures. His mother’s prayers that he would have heard often and the maternal concern for his soul resonated at the appropriate time to effect a change of ways.
Such changes work for so many in so many ways. I shall illustrate in another post how Albert Schweitzer found his way out.
Dr. Albert Schweitzer, St. Francis, Buddha and Gandhi for example learned to straighten out time from distorting their life’s work.
Benny
Friday 26 September 2008
Disraeli-4
15.
It would hardly be conceivable in British Parliamentary history that two personalities so diametrically opposed to one another as Disraeli and Gladstone could also represent two opposing ideologies at the same time. William Ewart Gladstone was the leader of opposition when Disraeli represented the Tories. Gladstone who changed opinions whenever it suited him came to represent the highest political morality while Disraeli who after he had found his party stuck to it all his life, was regarded as a man of few scruples. It was ironic that Dizzy should for his oriental outlook,and because of his race, be treated with distrust. In his opponent everything irrational and impulsive in the English people found home, which he could express with the religious emotionalism and a high moral tone that his supporters found very English. In short he represented qualities that Disraeli despised.
To Disraeli politics was a question of expedience whereas with Gladstone was a matter of morality and he could delude himself his was the voice of justice and truth. He played the politics as a demogogue combined with a missionary zeal that Dizzy thought he was mad; while his opponent thought Dizzy was a devil.
Gladstone carried common qualities on such a vast scale and without imagination and humor, the public saw in him a political prophet of his times. He was a humbug and not above stooping to underhand methods if it helped. As Henry Labouchere, M.P remarked,”I don’t object to (him) always having the ace of trumps up his sleeve but merely to his belief that God Almighty put it there.”
16.
Once Disraeli feeling indisposed got up from his seat in the Treasury office saying to his secretary,”Don’t bother me with the routine work. Please attend to all of it yourself.”He walked towards the door and opened it. “But of course if there is any really important decision to be made..”he paused and seconds before closing it behind he added,”...make it.”
17.
A M.P who had been offered a knighthood did not feel easy and he consulted Dizzy who advised him to accept it but tell everyone that he had refused it.
“Why?”
“Because you get all the credit of having rejected it until you recieve it.”
“And then?”
“You will get all the glory of receiving it after having rejected it.”
18.
While engaged in talk with some cronies he at one point said that he could not remember the pub which came up in discussion. The ‘King’s Arms’ at Berkhamstead it was.
One recalled a barmaid who was a very handsome and a jolly girl. ”You must have been in the ‘King’s Arms’ one insisted.
“Perhaps if I had been in her arms I might have remembered it.”Dizzy answered.
19.
In The House
His complete control of the entire House while in opposition and in power, no one else in his day or before equalled- possibly with the exception of Chatham, was due to his ability to take its pulse and respond to it. Towards this he was always present on the House and was prepared. He knew the subject of debate and had an astonishing memory for facts that he did not have to rely on notes.
He always entered the chamber some five or ten minutes before the proceedings began and he had a solemn air combined with easy confidence. He walked up slowly on the whole length of the floor and when he reached the corner of the table he made a low bow to the Chair. Many M.P’s have found this ceremony painful and feeling self-conscious often have tried to duck it as far as possible. But Disraeli thought it was a necessary duty, a courtly recognition of the supremacy of the Chair.
20. Dizzy’s physical appearance and immobility added much to his authority. He sat with rigid head and body gazing vacantly into space, his arms folded across his breast, his hat slightly tilted over his brows, one knee crossing the other. No one in the House heard him laugh or smile; his usual expression when speaking was one of patient stoicism tinged with melancholy. His impassivity bordering on a catatonic state often infuriated his opponents whose diatribes seemed to go past him. But no one could have administered a snub with more telling effect than he but even that was done in a manner that delighted everyone except the one at the recieving end.
21.
His preeminence in parliament was mainly due to his genius as a speaker, not an orator in the manner of Gladstone or Edmund Burke. He had none of the tricks of their trade. He was fully calm and in control of his emotions and spoke without slurring his words clear and low, more as a man of the world. Standing with his hands on his hips or his thumbs in the armholes of his waistcoat he spoke in a consistent manner using no emphasis. This supercilious and even tenor in his voice was the result of careful training and it contrasted immeasurably when he wished to make a point. Suddenly he became animated, the tone in his voice changed, an ironic note crept in, the words were enunciated with more care and distinctness; A slight shrug, a quick glance, a fleeting expression of that sallow face drew bated breath from his hearers. They knew what was to follow. It came with an unerring aim and made some gasp and break up the stillness of the House with resounding cheers. He took no notice of the cheers as if he was above such display and continued with his speech as before.
He indulged little in gestures depending entirely on his voice to achieve its effect.
compiler:benny
It would hardly be conceivable in British Parliamentary history that two personalities so diametrically opposed to one another as Disraeli and Gladstone could also represent two opposing ideologies at the same time. William Ewart Gladstone was the leader of opposition when Disraeli represented the Tories. Gladstone who changed opinions whenever it suited him came to represent the highest political morality while Disraeli who after he had found his party stuck to it all his life, was regarded as a man of few scruples. It was ironic that Dizzy should for his oriental outlook,and because of his race, be treated with distrust. In his opponent everything irrational and impulsive in the English people found home, which he could express with the religious emotionalism and a high moral tone that his supporters found very English. In short he represented qualities that Disraeli despised.
To Disraeli politics was a question of expedience whereas with Gladstone was a matter of morality and he could delude himself his was the voice of justice and truth. He played the politics as a demogogue combined with a missionary zeal that Dizzy thought he was mad; while his opponent thought Dizzy was a devil.
Gladstone carried common qualities on such a vast scale and without imagination and humor, the public saw in him a political prophet of his times. He was a humbug and not above stooping to underhand methods if it helped. As Henry Labouchere, M.P remarked,”I don’t object to (him) always having the ace of trumps up his sleeve but merely to his belief that God Almighty put it there.”
16.
Once Disraeli feeling indisposed got up from his seat in the Treasury office saying to his secretary,”Don’t bother me with the routine work. Please attend to all of it yourself.”He walked towards the door and opened it. “But of course if there is any really important decision to be made..”he paused and seconds before closing it behind he added,”...make it.”
17.
A M.P who had been offered a knighthood did not feel easy and he consulted Dizzy who advised him to accept it but tell everyone that he had refused it.
“Why?”
“Because you get all the credit of having rejected it until you recieve it.”
“And then?”
“You will get all the glory of receiving it after having rejected it.”
18.
While engaged in talk with some cronies he at one point said that he could not remember the pub which came up in discussion. The ‘King’s Arms’ at Berkhamstead it was.
One recalled a barmaid who was a very handsome and a jolly girl. ”You must have been in the ‘King’s Arms’ one insisted.
“Perhaps if I had been in her arms I might have remembered it.”Dizzy answered.
19.
In The House
His complete control of the entire House while in opposition and in power, no one else in his day or before equalled- possibly with the exception of Chatham, was due to his ability to take its pulse and respond to it. Towards this he was always present on the House and was prepared. He knew the subject of debate and had an astonishing memory for facts that he did not have to rely on notes.
He always entered the chamber some five or ten minutes before the proceedings began and he had a solemn air combined with easy confidence. He walked up slowly on the whole length of the floor and when he reached the corner of the table he made a low bow to the Chair. Many M.P’s have found this ceremony painful and feeling self-conscious often have tried to duck it as far as possible. But Disraeli thought it was a necessary duty, a courtly recognition of the supremacy of the Chair.
20. Dizzy’s physical appearance and immobility added much to his authority. He sat with rigid head and body gazing vacantly into space, his arms folded across his breast, his hat slightly tilted over his brows, one knee crossing the other. No one in the House heard him laugh or smile; his usual expression when speaking was one of patient stoicism tinged with melancholy. His impassivity bordering on a catatonic state often infuriated his opponents whose diatribes seemed to go past him. But no one could have administered a snub with more telling effect than he but even that was done in a manner that delighted everyone except the one at the recieving end.
21.
His preeminence in parliament was mainly due to his genius as a speaker, not an orator in the manner of Gladstone or Edmund Burke. He had none of the tricks of their trade. He was fully calm and in control of his emotions and spoke without slurring his words clear and low, more as a man of the world. Standing with his hands on his hips or his thumbs in the armholes of his waistcoat he spoke in a consistent manner using no emphasis. This supercilious and even tenor in his voice was the result of careful training and it contrasted immeasurably when he wished to make a point. Suddenly he became animated, the tone in his voice changed, an ironic note crept in, the words were enunciated with more care and distinctness; A slight shrug, a quick glance, a fleeting expression of that sallow face drew bated breath from his hearers. They knew what was to follow. It came with an unerring aim and made some gasp and break up the stillness of the House with resounding cheers. He took no notice of the cheers as if he was above such display and continued with his speech as before.
He indulged little in gestures depending entirely on his voice to achieve its effect.
compiler:benny
Thursday 25 September 2008
Is God Out There?
An individual molecule of water can spend 200,000 years undisturbed in an icesheet in Antartica whereas in the ocean it may spend some 40,000 years. The same molecule can manage 1000 years in an underground reservoir, 10 years in a lake,10 days in the atmosphere. The same molecule in an animal’s body will endure only around 10 hours. With such a variation for the same molecule depending on the state it finds itself we may apply our own case to the concept of Time. Man as terrestrial being may have life span of 80 years or about. As spiritual beings it may have another cycle. What comes after that is beyond any man’s guess.
Time is in short distorted for all corporeal beings.
God is defined as eternal being and omnipresent. If God is a reality, a molecule of water in a great icesheet in Antartica is no different than one in a human body.
In my case I believe God is part and parcel of my being since I mark time. ‘The Kingdom of God is within you’.
benny
Time is in short distorted for all corporeal beings.
God is defined as eternal being and omnipresent. If God is a reality, a molecule of water in a great icesheet in Antartica is no different than one in a human body.
In my case I believe God is part and parcel of my being since I mark time. ‘The Kingdom of God is within you’.
benny
Wednesday 24 September 2008
Disraeli-3
10.
Sometimes political hostility took on more personal forms. One jibed at him that his wife had picked him out of the gutter. His reply was a model of incisive wit delivered in his customary cool and unflappable composure. Dizzy replied,”My dear fellow, if you were in the gutter nobody would pick you out”.
11.
His power of ridicule when given a cause was superb and he could floor anyone whether in the House or outside with a verbal thrust. By nature he was genial and never went out to aggravate the feeling of those whom he disliked. Once in the House he chose to ignore a vicious attack of one whom despised with an excuse,”I have given him the mercy of my silence.”
12.
His sudden surges of eloquence which amazed people who he met before he became a power in politics is scarcely ever heard now. By the time his ascendency over his party was complete he had fixed in place the persona that characterised him henceforth: calm dignified and sphinx-like. Only his flashing eyes gave life to the face;his talk being measured, grave epigrammatic and delivered in a deep equable tone.
He was a master of prose and in his lifetime his novels were much talked about. He was also a master of verbal duel in which he never chopped where he could slice with his nimble wit.
13.
None of his novels area work of genius but they are the works of a genius. He had the poetic temperament without the poetic talents. His novels are so many attempts to reveal his feelings in his evolutions as a statesman. Lack of flesh and blood in his characters were to a certain extent saved by his coruscating wit.He once wrote:’ Nobody should ever look anxious except those who have no anxiety.”
14.
In his twilight years, whenever his illness and his duties permitted,Dizzy continued to dine out and deliver some deathless quips. Once when he was asked whether he read a novel that was making a stir, the author of Vivien Grey, Alroy, Coningsby, Lothair and Sybil replied,” When I want to read a novel I write one.”
compiler:benny
Sometimes political hostility took on more personal forms. One jibed at him that his wife had picked him out of the gutter. His reply was a model of incisive wit delivered in his customary cool and unflappable composure. Dizzy replied,”My dear fellow, if you were in the gutter nobody would pick you out”.
11.
His power of ridicule when given a cause was superb and he could floor anyone whether in the House or outside with a verbal thrust. By nature he was genial and never went out to aggravate the feeling of those whom he disliked. Once in the House he chose to ignore a vicious attack of one whom despised with an excuse,”I have given him the mercy of my silence.”
12.
His sudden surges of eloquence which amazed people who he met before he became a power in politics is scarcely ever heard now. By the time his ascendency over his party was complete he had fixed in place the persona that characterised him henceforth: calm dignified and sphinx-like. Only his flashing eyes gave life to the face;his talk being measured, grave epigrammatic and delivered in a deep equable tone.
He was a master of prose and in his lifetime his novels were much talked about. He was also a master of verbal duel in which he never chopped where he could slice with his nimble wit.
13.
None of his novels area work of genius but they are the works of a genius. He had the poetic temperament without the poetic talents. His novels are so many attempts to reveal his feelings in his evolutions as a statesman. Lack of flesh and blood in his characters were to a certain extent saved by his coruscating wit.He once wrote:’ Nobody should ever look anxious except those who have no anxiety.”
14.
In his twilight years, whenever his illness and his duties permitted,Dizzy continued to dine out and deliver some deathless quips. Once when he was asked whether he read a novel that was making a stir, the author of Vivien Grey, Alroy, Coningsby, Lothair and Sybil replied,” When I want to read a novel I write one.”
compiler:benny
Tuesday 23 September 2008
Disraeli-anecdotes-2
Disraeli Contests
In 1832 Disraeli stood for High Wycombe as a radical. From the portico of the Red Lion he spoke with flourishes and verve for one and a half hours. Winding up his speech to the electorate he declaimed pointing the head of the lion above,” When the poll is declared I shall be there,” and pointing to the tail he continued,”my opponent will be there.” The mob applauded him warmly but the Corporation and burgesses who controlled the election consigned him to the tail.
6.
After many futile attempts to enter the House of Commons Disraeli managed with the active support to enter the House on 1837. On Dec.7 he rose to make his maiden speech, following Daniel O’Connel whose Irish Party gave the Whigs their majority. His elaborate sentences and stylish manner were to the radicals, like red flag waving before a bull. They had not forgotten his attacks on O’connel a few years ago. They laughed uproariously as he began and despite his persistent appeals to gain a hearing he was booed at. Nevertheless he persisted and he was barely audible. He said,”I am not at all surprised at the reception I have experienced. I have begun several things many times, and I have often succeeded at last as they had done before me.”More hubbub. Upto this point he had appeared unruffled and good humored. But now in a voice almost a scream he shot out,”I sit down now, but the time will come when you will hear me.”
7.
His difficulties lay in the fact both Whigs and Tories distrusted him. He was too individualistic to subscribe to any political program. He disliked the Whigs who had substituted a selfish oligarchy for government while the Tories were on a nosedive loosened from traditions, as leaders of the people and supporter of the monarch. To regain this historical position would sum up his own work for the next half a century.
No one in 1830’s could have guessed that it was feasible , still less that the flashy young Jew would be the motive force behind the Tories. In 1834 Lord Melbourne then Home Secretary met Disraeli in one of the parties. Attracted by his conversation he asked what was his aim. “I want to be the Prime Minister,”replied Disraeli gravely. Melbourne with a weary sigh explained the utter impossibility of such an achievement. He ended with,”You must put all these foolish notions out of your head. This won’t do at all.”
Melbourne when towards the close of ’48 just before his death, heard that Disraeli was to be the leader in the Commons he exclaimed,”By God the fellow will do it, yet.”
8.
Viscount Palmerston, war secretary under many prime ministers was a man of great personal charm and exceptional abilities,perhaps the only member of the House whose brain, Disraeli respected. He was a Lothario and his many amatory adventures were no secret. He stood for many years in the way of Disraeli’s ambitions from achieving their fruition. One of Dizzy’s supporters before an election had collected evidence of a furtive love affair publication of which he was certain would discredit his adversary. Disraeli refused.”Palmerston is now seventy. If he could provide evidence of his potency in his electoral address he would sweep the country,” was his reason.
9.
Like many people who were not native but made England home he was fond of England and the English way of life. However his acute intelligence and robust imagination elicited responses which were so different from that of an Englishman. He loved meeting people from various walks of life especially during political meetings and exchange pleasantries. His opponents seldom missed an opportunity of heckling him.
In delivering a speech he would invariably began slowly and quietly.”Speak up! I can’t hear you!”shouted someone at a Newpost Pagnell meeting in Dec,49. Back came the answer,’Truth travels slowly, but it will reach you in time.’
To one heckler, with whom he was on familiar terms, who called out,’Speak quick!’ he replied,”It is very easy for you to speak quick when you only utter stupid monosyllables.” He added,”But when I speak I must measure my words; I have to open your great thick head. What I say is to enlighten you. If I bawled like you, you would leave this place as great a fool as you entered it.”
compiler:benny
In 1832 Disraeli stood for High Wycombe as a radical. From the portico of the Red Lion he spoke with flourishes and verve for one and a half hours. Winding up his speech to the electorate he declaimed pointing the head of the lion above,” When the poll is declared I shall be there,” and pointing to the tail he continued,”my opponent will be there.” The mob applauded him warmly but the Corporation and burgesses who controlled the election consigned him to the tail.
6.
After many futile attempts to enter the House of Commons Disraeli managed with the active support to enter the House on 1837. On Dec.7 he rose to make his maiden speech, following Daniel O’Connel whose Irish Party gave the Whigs their majority. His elaborate sentences and stylish manner were to the radicals, like red flag waving before a bull. They had not forgotten his attacks on O’connel a few years ago. They laughed uproariously as he began and despite his persistent appeals to gain a hearing he was booed at. Nevertheless he persisted and he was barely audible. He said,”I am not at all surprised at the reception I have experienced. I have begun several things many times, and I have often succeeded at last as they had done before me.”More hubbub. Upto this point he had appeared unruffled and good humored. But now in a voice almost a scream he shot out,”I sit down now, but the time will come when you will hear me.”
7.
His difficulties lay in the fact both Whigs and Tories distrusted him. He was too individualistic to subscribe to any political program. He disliked the Whigs who had substituted a selfish oligarchy for government while the Tories were on a nosedive loosened from traditions, as leaders of the people and supporter of the monarch. To regain this historical position would sum up his own work for the next half a century.
No one in 1830’s could have guessed that it was feasible , still less that the flashy young Jew would be the motive force behind the Tories. In 1834 Lord Melbourne then Home Secretary met Disraeli in one of the parties. Attracted by his conversation he asked what was his aim. “I want to be the Prime Minister,”replied Disraeli gravely. Melbourne with a weary sigh explained the utter impossibility of such an achievement. He ended with,”You must put all these foolish notions out of your head. This won’t do at all.”
Melbourne when towards the close of ’48 just before his death, heard that Disraeli was to be the leader in the Commons he exclaimed,”By God the fellow will do it, yet.”
8.
Viscount Palmerston, war secretary under many prime ministers was a man of great personal charm and exceptional abilities,perhaps the only member of the House whose brain, Disraeli respected. He was a Lothario and his many amatory adventures were no secret. He stood for many years in the way of Disraeli’s ambitions from achieving their fruition. One of Dizzy’s supporters before an election had collected evidence of a furtive love affair publication of which he was certain would discredit his adversary. Disraeli refused.”Palmerston is now seventy. If he could provide evidence of his potency in his electoral address he would sweep the country,” was his reason.
9.
Like many people who were not native but made England home he was fond of England and the English way of life. However his acute intelligence and robust imagination elicited responses which were so different from that of an Englishman. He loved meeting people from various walks of life especially during political meetings and exchange pleasantries. His opponents seldom missed an opportunity of heckling him.
In delivering a speech he would invariably began slowly and quietly.”Speak up! I can’t hear you!”shouted someone at a Newpost Pagnell meeting in Dec,49. Back came the answer,’Truth travels slowly, but it will reach you in time.’
To one heckler, with whom he was on familiar terms, who called out,’Speak quick!’ he replied,”It is very easy for you to speak quick when you only utter stupid monosyllables.” He added,”But when I speak I must measure my words; I have to open your great thick head. What I say is to enlighten you. If I bawled like you, you would leave this place as great a fool as you entered it.”
compiler:benny
Monday 22 September 2008
Uncertainty Principle
Each generation must deal with the events gone before. How the combined effort of one generation would deal with consequences of causes set in motion already is mind boggling. Each man and woman has his or her own viewpoint and specific goals. They merely respond to their own needs but their cumulative effect is an avalanche that will wipe away the cobwebs of ideologies any politician may represent. How? There is an uncertainty principle at work here.
2.
Consider the present economic woes in the US. The idea that market regulates itself is a premise that many Americans robustly would subscribe to. Correct me if I am wrong: The Republican party ‘ emphasize the role of corporate and personal decision making in fostering economic prosperity. They support the idea of individuals being economically responsible for their own actions and decisions. They favor a free market, policies supporting business, economic liberalism, and fiscal conservatism…’(wikipedia). How would that be translated, I mean, with the uncertainty principle set into the process?
Let me explain.
Traditionally banks gave out home loans to customers and they were directly responsible to the customers as well as to the Central Bank, which saw to the banking practices conformed to the directives. In India as far as I know it still is the practice.
But with time in America banks became intermediaries and many investment banks competed with one another to get a piece of the action, in this case customers. In such a competitive world they must boost margins. And securities firm took very large bets with very little resources of their own. Where was the U.S regulation when dog-ate-dog and risks changed hands in such manner the right hand didn’t know what the left hand did? The traditional banks in the middle were left holding a chain of upstream and downstream links, none the wiser for all the brouhaha of economic activity about them. They didn’t know off balance sheet risks when they routinely scanned them.
GOP abhor controls. Free market for them spells salvation. When the Giants like Merril Lynch, Lehman Brothers bite the dust, the much vaunted Republican spirit would need a bailout plan from Washington. Cumulative effect of economic transaction is an avalanche that wipes out the cobwebs of ideologies of the party. Republican party’s plan for fostering economic prosperity sounds good on paper. But their lack of proper understanding of human motives or this principle makes it far from sound.
benny
2.
Consider the present economic woes in the US. The idea that market regulates itself is a premise that many Americans robustly would subscribe to. Correct me if I am wrong: The Republican party ‘ emphasize the role of corporate and personal decision making in fostering economic prosperity. They support the idea of individuals being economically responsible for their own actions and decisions. They favor a free market, policies supporting business, economic liberalism, and fiscal conservatism…’(wikipedia). How would that be translated, I mean, with the uncertainty principle set into the process?
Let me explain.
Traditionally banks gave out home loans to customers and they were directly responsible to the customers as well as to the Central Bank, which saw to the banking practices conformed to the directives. In India as far as I know it still is the practice.
But with time in America banks became intermediaries and many investment banks competed with one another to get a piece of the action, in this case customers. In such a competitive world they must boost margins. And securities firm took very large bets with very little resources of their own. Where was the U.S regulation when dog-ate-dog and risks changed hands in such manner the right hand didn’t know what the left hand did? The traditional banks in the middle were left holding a chain of upstream and downstream links, none the wiser for all the brouhaha of economic activity about them. They didn’t know off balance sheet risks when they routinely scanned them.
GOP abhor controls. Free market for them spells salvation. When the Giants like Merril Lynch, Lehman Brothers bite the dust, the much vaunted Republican spirit would need a bailout plan from Washington. Cumulative effect of economic transaction is an avalanche that wipes out the cobwebs of ideologies of the party. Republican party’s plan for fostering economic prosperity sounds good on paper. But their lack of proper understanding of human motives or this principle makes it far from sound.
benny
Sunday 21 September 2008
Anecdotes-Disraeli
Benjamin Disraeli(1804-1881)
1.
In 1831 Disraeli during his visit to Cairo met Mahmet Ali who after a career of corruption and bloodshed made himself a Pasha of Cairo and master of Egypt. He was toying with the idea of parliamentary government asked Disraeli for his comments. The visitor mentioned a few difficulties in the way of Egyptian democracy as he saw it. Mahmet was silent and thoughtful but at the next levee he gave Disraeli the benefit of his meditations.”God is great,”he began,”you are a wise man. Allah Kerim!”and he spoke of having as many parliaments as the King of England himself. “See here,”he showed two lists of names,”here are my parliaments. But I have made up my mind to prevent inconvenience, to elect them myself.”
2.
While engaged in an after dinner smoke at one of the parties, Colonel Weber who had a reputation as a rake said to Disraeli, ”Take care, my good fellow, I lost the most beautiful woman in the world by smoking,”and he added that the custom has prevented more liasons than the dread of a duel or a divorce.
“You have proved that it is a very moral habit,”replied Disraeli between puffs.
3.
He could be extremely cutting when occasion called for it. Once during a party the host after praising a certain wine urged him to drink it.”Well,”said the host,”I have got wine 20 times as good in my cellar.”
“No doubt,: replied Disraeli glancing around the table,”but my dear fellow this is good enough for such ‘canaille’ as you have here today.”
4.
Even when Disraeli was young he lived by the maxim:’To govern men you must either excel them in their accomplishments or despise them.”Dizzy hated every bodily exertion and everything his contemporaries were passionate about. While at Malta he happened to remain in the galley watching English officer at a game of tennis. Ever at pains to play a dandy he picked the ball which flew and stopped by his side. While the player waited for the ball to be thrown back he gingerly picked it up. With exaggerated affectation he asked the one near to him for the ball to be forwarded to the court. His excuse was that he had never thrown a ball in his life.
compiler:benny
1.
In 1831 Disraeli during his visit to Cairo met Mahmet Ali who after a career of corruption and bloodshed made himself a Pasha of Cairo and master of Egypt. He was toying with the idea of parliamentary government asked Disraeli for his comments. The visitor mentioned a few difficulties in the way of Egyptian democracy as he saw it. Mahmet was silent and thoughtful but at the next levee he gave Disraeli the benefit of his meditations.”God is great,”he began,”you are a wise man. Allah Kerim!”and he spoke of having as many parliaments as the King of England himself. “See here,”he showed two lists of names,”here are my parliaments. But I have made up my mind to prevent inconvenience, to elect them myself.”
2.
While engaged in an after dinner smoke at one of the parties, Colonel Weber who had a reputation as a rake said to Disraeli, ”Take care, my good fellow, I lost the most beautiful woman in the world by smoking,”and he added that the custom has prevented more liasons than the dread of a duel or a divorce.
“You have proved that it is a very moral habit,”replied Disraeli between puffs.
3.
He could be extremely cutting when occasion called for it. Once during a party the host after praising a certain wine urged him to drink it.”Well,”said the host,”I have got wine 20 times as good in my cellar.”
“No doubt,: replied Disraeli glancing around the table,”but my dear fellow this is good enough for such ‘canaille’ as you have here today.”
4.
Even when Disraeli was young he lived by the maxim:’To govern men you must either excel them in their accomplishments or despise them.”Dizzy hated every bodily exertion and everything his contemporaries were passionate about. While at Malta he happened to remain in the galley watching English officer at a game of tennis. Ever at pains to play a dandy he picked the ball which flew and stopped by his side. While the player waited for the ball to be thrown back he gingerly picked it up. With exaggerated affectation he asked the one near to him for the ball to be forwarded to the court. His excuse was that he had never thrown a ball in his life.
compiler:benny
Saturday 20 September 2008
A Level Playing Field?
Compare an event to a stone dropped into the still water of human consciousness. Effect is then the ripples produced by it. No man can sort out all events and their consequences to his advantage. You can merely ride with them or get a push that is all. Let me cite an example from the life of Woodrow Wilson.
One characteristic of his character was his certitude that he was right. He was full of idealism and came to the presidency on the belief God put him there.
Wilson fought tooth and nail to keep his country from the World War I. But influx of immigrants from Austria and Hungary and Southern and Eastern Europe were events that had been going on and this had hit the peak when he took office in 1913. He did not wish to upset these ethnic minorities, which had found their home in America. They made it a land of promise.
Then there were other chains of events, which dealt with economy: by 1915 most American banking was tied up with British and French interests. Which course he took is too well known to merit repetition here. Where he wanted to keep neutral he was pitched into the thick of a broil against his will.
Events get in the way and they often spoil the simple or direct link between cause and the effect.
The fact that we haven’t yet sorted out events already in the field makes it a very uneven field. A classic example from modern history we have in the way the US went into Iraq. Who benefited more from that exercise: America or Iran?
benny
One characteristic of his character was his certitude that he was right. He was full of idealism and came to the presidency on the belief God put him there.
Wilson fought tooth and nail to keep his country from the World War I. But influx of immigrants from Austria and Hungary and Southern and Eastern Europe were events that had been going on and this had hit the peak when he took office in 1913. He did not wish to upset these ethnic minorities, which had found their home in America. They made it a land of promise.
Then there were other chains of events, which dealt with economy: by 1915 most American banking was tied up with British and French interests. Which course he took is too well known to merit repetition here. Where he wanted to keep neutral he was pitched into the thick of a broil against his will.
Events get in the way and they often spoil the simple or direct link between cause and the effect.
The fact that we haven’t yet sorted out events already in the field makes it a very uneven field. A classic example from modern history we have in the way the US went into Iraq. Who benefited more from that exercise: America or Iran?
benny
Friday 19 September 2008
One Man's Gain Is...
One man’s Gain Is…©
King Pepin of the kingdom of Blissfully Ignorant was going on a pilgrimage and he was disguised as a miller. Till the party reached Canterbury he was ridiculed and teased mercilessly because he could not move a single pace without breaking wind. When he reached The Red Lion the inn keeper came to meet the party and he ignored all except the miller.
‘Oh sire,’ he said bowing and scraping, “ the royal suite awaits your pleasure.” The pilgrims were astounded and they discreetly made enquiries and found their butt of jokes was none other than a king.
Next morning a varlet who, throughout the journey, had not spared the miller for a moment went up to him and kissed his feet. The king asked as if nothing had happened what was the matter. The silly fellow became bold at the thought he was not recognized. Thereafter he was ever after the king trying to make himself useful. Before the pilgrims returned to their homes the man begged him to take him in his service. “ I can serve you in any capacity, Master”. The king politely refused him.
Because we are connected, one man’s gain somehow sets me back. For this very reason life can never run on the same plane. Advance of others contains subtle shifts in our lives. Either we lead or fall back.
Benny
King Pepin of the kingdom of Blissfully Ignorant was going on a pilgrimage and he was disguised as a miller. Till the party reached Canterbury he was ridiculed and teased mercilessly because he could not move a single pace without breaking wind. When he reached The Red Lion the inn keeper came to meet the party and he ignored all except the miller.
‘Oh sire,’ he said bowing and scraping, “ the royal suite awaits your pleasure.” The pilgrims were astounded and they discreetly made enquiries and found their butt of jokes was none other than a king.
Next morning a varlet who, throughout the journey, had not spared the miller for a moment went up to him and kissed his feet. The king asked as if nothing had happened what was the matter. The silly fellow became bold at the thought he was not recognized. Thereafter he was ever after the king trying to make himself useful. Before the pilgrims returned to their homes the man begged him to take him in his service. “ I can serve you in any capacity, Master”. The king politely refused him.
Because we are connected, one man’s gain somehow sets me back. For this very reason life can never run on the same plane. Advance of others contains subtle shifts in our lives. Either we lead or fall back.
Benny
God Of Small Things
Zeus got up one morning with thundering headache. He had no idea what made him unwell. Hera suggested a change of air. The chief God snorted at it and said, “ The air of Mt. Olympus never disagreed with me. So why should it now?”
In the end he decided to go visiting. The god of fire was already up and bent over the bellows. On seeing the chief god he explained what he was at the moment working on. Striking on the anvil with his hammer he said,“ See these sparks? These have a life of their own.”
Zeus was incredulous. The sparks rearranged themselves to read thus: “We cure headaches.”
Zeus nodded and let the cloud of sparks to cure his headache.
Zeus had but one question. As if the cloud of sparks anticipated the question they wrote before his eyes: ‘ We just became a part of your godhead in order to work the cure.’
The chief god asked the god of the forge, “ Who would have thought these sparks have a life of their own?”
Hephaestus the lame god answered, “ It made me also wonder. The hammer that I wield is so ponderous. Do not tell me this lump of iron picked up my skill to cure you.”
Zeus before departing said, “I don’t say anything except that I am well again.”
benny
In the end he decided to go visiting. The god of fire was already up and bent over the bellows. On seeing the chief god he explained what he was at the moment working on. Striking on the anvil with his hammer he said,“ See these sparks? These have a life of their own.”
Zeus was incredulous. The sparks rearranged themselves to read thus: “We cure headaches.”
Zeus nodded and let the cloud of sparks to cure his headache.
Zeus had but one question. As if the cloud of sparks anticipated the question they wrote before his eyes: ‘ We just became a part of your godhead in order to work the cure.’
The chief god asked the god of the forge, “ Who would have thought these sparks have a life of their own?”
Hephaestus the lame god answered, “ It made me also wonder. The hammer that I wield is so ponderous. Do not tell me this lump of iron picked up my skill to cure you.”
Zeus before departing said, “I don’t say anything except that I am well again.”
benny
Wednesday 17 September 2008
Anecdotes
Vespasian, Titus Flavius Sabinus (9-79 AD)
As the emperor lay dying, he stood up suddenly and cried out, “An emperor should die on his feet.”A few minutes later he gasped, “Dear me!I think I am turning into a god!” and he dropped dead.
------
Kalakaua, King of Hawai, from 1874 to 1891 was a colorful monarch who enjoyed his poker game. In one poker game the sugar baron Claus Speckel laid down four aces and claimed the pot. Kalakaua held four kings, which with his royal person, he claimed gave him five kings thereby beating his four aces. He took the money.
----
compiler:benny
As the emperor lay dying, he stood up suddenly and cried out, “An emperor should die on his feet.”A few minutes later he gasped, “Dear me!I think I am turning into a god!” and he dropped dead.
------
Kalakaua, King of Hawai, from 1874 to 1891 was a colorful monarch who enjoyed his poker game. In one poker game the sugar baron Claus Speckel laid down four aces and claimed the pot. Kalakaua held four kings, which with his royal person, he claimed gave him five kings thereby beating his four aces. He took the money.
----
compiler:benny
Life's Fatal Gift
If our lives are a succession of trivial pursuits how come we still hold onto our lives as though life were the most precious gift?
Let me briefly write from the life of a king. Albert I of Belgium.
Born Albert Léopold Clément Marie Meinrad in Brussels, he was the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders, and his wife, Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. Albert grew up in the Palace of Flanders, initially as fourth in the line of succession to the Belgian throne. Under normal circumstances Albert didn’t stand ghost of a chance to sit on the throne. However, the only son of his uncle, Leopold II, died as a child, and Albert's older brother, Prince Baudouin of Belgium, who had been subsequently prepared for the throne, also died young, Albert, at the age of 16, unexpectedly became the Heir-Presumptive to the Belgian Crown. We are connected and it gives life dimensions that are incalculable.
2.
Life sucks and also throws surprises that none may predict. Dame J.K Rowlings was once on welfare but now with the life’s ambition fairly in her grasp with the runaway success of Harry Potter series, do you think she was meant to settle for anything less? Her difficulties were as with any other of not connecting with what life signified, on a proper footing.
Our lives are a succession of trivial pursuits and in that linear progression from one day to another there is something exponential that catapults some to higher plane. Since examples of millions of lives show such a higher ground are we not living far below our full potential?
Tailspin: In the case of the author of Harry Potter I said, ‘life’s ambition fairly in her grasp’ and let me explain. Unless she tries next her hand to produce something better than Harry Potter what she is? A has been. Life prompts you to set still higher goals as long as you are able. We shall not have plumbed our full power till Death stops us from trying.
benny
Let me briefly write from the life of a king. Albert I of Belgium.
Born Albert Léopold Clément Marie Meinrad in Brussels, he was the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders, and his wife, Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. Albert grew up in the Palace of Flanders, initially as fourth in the line of succession to the Belgian throne. Under normal circumstances Albert didn’t stand ghost of a chance to sit on the throne. However, the only son of his uncle, Leopold II, died as a child, and Albert's older brother, Prince Baudouin of Belgium, who had been subsequently prepared for the throne, also died young, Albert, at the age of 16, unexpectedly became the Heir-Presumptive to the Belgian Crown. We are connected and it gives life dimensions that are incalculable.
2.
Life sucks and also throws surprises that none may predict. Dame J.K Rowlings was once on welfare but now with the life’s ambition fairly in her grasp with the runaway success of Harry Potter series, do you think she was meant to settle for anything less? Her difficulties were as with any other of not connecting with what life signified, on a proper footing.
Our lives are a succession of trivial pursuits and in that linear progression from one day to another there is something exponential that catapults some to higher plane. Since examples of millions of lives show such a higher ground are we not living far below our full potential?
Tailspin: In the case of the author of Harry Potter I said, ‘life’s ambition fairly in her grasp’ and let me explain. Unless she tries next her hand to produce something better than Harry Potter what she is? A has been. Life prompts you to set still higher goals as long as you are able. We shall not have plumbed our full power till Death stops us from trying.
benny
Tuesday 16 September 2008
Albert I-anecdotes
Albert I of Belgium (1875-1934)
On the eve of the outbreak of World War I he was entertaining a powerful chieftain from the Belgian Congo at the palace; after dinner at a signal, the royal orchestra filed into the hall and began tuning their instruments.
“Tell me the kind of music you like best and my orchestra will be happy to oblige.” proposed the king. “That is it,”replied the guest,”they are playing it now.” The king nodded graciously and for the rest of the evening the assembled guests listened while the orchestra tuned up.
2.
At the beginning of World War I, Albert resisted the illegal German demand to move troops through neutral Belgium in order to attack France. (The refusal to permit the passage of troops was based on a respect for international law, and a concern for the balance of power in Europe, which, at the time, required that Belgium be a neutral buffer zone between Germany, France, and Great Britain.)
Albert famously responded to the German desire to move soldiers through his country: "I rule a nation, not a road!"(ack:wikipedia)
compiler:benny
On the eve of the outbreak of World War I he was entertaining a powerful chieftain from the Belgian Congo at the palace; after dinner at a signal, the royal orchestra filed into the hall and began tuning their instruments.
“Tell me the kind of music you like best and my orchestra will be happy to oblige.” proposed the king. “That is it,”replied the guest,”they are playing it now.” The king nodded graciously and for the rest of the evening the assembled guests listened while the orchestra tuned up.
2.
At the beginning of World War I, Albert resisted the illegal German demand to move troops through neutral Belgium in order to attack France. (The refusal to permit the passage of troops was based on a respect for international law, and a concern for the balance of power in Europe, which, at the time, required that Belgium be a neutral buffer zone between Germany, France, and Great Britain.)
Albert famously responded to the German desire to move soldiers through his country: "I rule a nation, not a road!"(ack:wikipedia)
compiler:benny
Monday 15 September 2008
FWD:doublethink
A very good friend of mine sent me this post.
"I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....
> * If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're
> "exotic, different."
>
> *Growing up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential
> American story.
>
> *If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
> * Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.
>
> * Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
> * Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well
> grounded.
>
> * If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become
> the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter
> registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12
> years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State
> Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman
> of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend
> 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million
> people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs,
> Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you
> don't have any real leadership experience.
>
> * If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the
> city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000
> people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000
> people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest
> rankingexecutive.
>
> * If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while
> raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches,
> you're not a real Christian.
> * If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left
> your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a
> Christian.
>
> * If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education,
> including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of
> society.
> * If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only,
> with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while
> your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're very responsible.
>
>
> * If your wife is a Harvard graduate laywer who gave up a position
> in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner
> city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's
> values don't represent America's.
> * If your husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one
> DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote
> until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the
> secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable."
Democracy is what everyone praises skyhigh but drags in mud everything that makes it worthwhile.
benny
>
>
"I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....
> * If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're
> "exotic, different."
>
> *Growing up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential
> American story.
>
> *If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
> * Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.
>
> * Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
> * Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well
> grounded.
>
> * If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become
> the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter
> registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12
> years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State
> Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman
> of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend
> 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million
> people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs,
> Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you
> don't have any real leadership experience.
>
> * If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the
> city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000
> people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000
> people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest
> rankingexecutive.
>
> * If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while
> raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches,
> you're not a real Christian.
> * If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left
> your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a
> Christian.
>
> * If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education,
> including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of
> society.
> * If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only,
> with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while
> your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're very responsible.
>
>
> * If your wife is a Harvard graduate laywer who gave up a position
> in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner
> city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's
> values don't represent America's.
> * If your husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one
> DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote
> until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the
> secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable."
Democracy is what everyone praises skyhigh but drags in mud everything that makes it worthwhile.
benny
>
>
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)