my thoughts are with those that are dealing with this tragedy.
Yes, etaoin, may God be with England.
And may God be with the families of the innocents.
Holy s**t--I hadn't heard, so I went to on-line news; thanks, eta. Damn it--why on earth do people have to be so stupid! Dixbie, I'm sure glad you're not in London any more, Sweetie.
why on earth do people have to be so stupid!
There is no sense trying to make sense of out things/events which are not sensible. In the same way that a psychiatrist does not attempt to enter the thought world of the insane, we ought not attempt to understand why such insane acts as these are committed against all humanity. What we can control is our response. I pray that it will be more intelligent, more rational, more considered, and more wise than the decisions of those who elected to kill innocents.
A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel!
O wise young judge, how I do honour thee!
A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel!
O wise young judge, how I do honour thee!
Maverick qoutes Shylock, speaking to Portia, in The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene 1. One is not well praised by so conniving a wretch as Shylock but to be compared to the biblical Daniel is honour enough, even from such as him.
> so conniving a wretch
;) guilcup, m'lud - levels of irony as charged!
Portia was not a judge, neither in "real life" in the play nor in the masquerade in Act IV in which she pretends to be Balthasar -- a young lawyer sent to defend Antonio is his suit against Shylock. The Duke is the judge in the courtroom scene.
The reason that Shylock calls Portia/Balthasar a "Daniel" is because the biblical Daniel was a judge of renowned wisdom. Shylock has no idea what he is saying and one of the most delightful ironies of the play is just how "Daniel" Portia turns out to be.
When the biblical Daniel judges Susanna (in the Old Testament Apocryphal book), he not only finds her not guilty of adultry but finds her accusers guilty of conniving to kill an innocent woman. In a similar reversal, Portia not only sees to it that Antonio is delivered from his legal predicament but convicts Shylock of attempted murder. Little did Shylock know, when he praised Portia/Balthasar for Danielic wisdom how parallel the two stories would be.
I've been meaning to post this for a couple of days: on one of our news channels they were interviewing an American tourist who'd been going about his vacation where one of the bombs went off. He said his job here in the States is Emergency Medical Technician (a guy who serves on ambulance runs), and he said how great the local response there was: very efficient and organized. Kudos to London's emergency-response folks.